Lauren Beukes (The Shining Girls) is an internationally award-winning and bestselling South African author. Her novels include Broken Monsters, Zoo City, and Moxyland. Her graphic novel work includes Vertigo&s Survivor&s Club, the Fables spin-off Fairest, and Wonder Woman. Beukes&s nonfiction has been published in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies including The Hollywood Reporter, The Sunday Times, Marie Claire, and Elle. Her fiction has won praise from the likes of Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, James Ellroy, Gillian Flynn, and her writing has been translated into twenty-six languages. Beukes's books have been regularly featured in best of the year roundups by outlets such as NPR, Amazon, and the Los Angeles Times. Amongst her many honors, she has received the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the University of Johannesburg prize, and the Strand Critics Choice Award. Beukes lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
Praise for Slipping A Book Riot 7 New Collections of Short fiction
for SFF lovers
A Book Riot Wonderful Book of 2016
A Barnes & Noble Blog Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Collections
and Anthologies of 2016
2016 Locus Recommended Reading List "An art installation so tactile
as to feel alive, a ghost that lurks alongside a promising
architecture student, a girl gutted from the inside to make a
premiere athlete: all stitched together into a punk tapestry of
stories and other short pieces. Cape Town author Beukes (Zoo City,
2016, etc.) makes good use of her South African homeland, though
she often turns Johannesburg and Cape Town into futuristic
wastelands, as in "The Green," a sci-fi militaristic nightmare of a
short story, or "Riding with the Dream Patrol," an unsettling look
at where our cyberfuture could be headed (hint: bad places). There
are also more straightforwardly bizarre entries, bordering on pure
science fiction but never losing Beukes' dark comedic edge,
particularly "Unathi Battles the Black Hairballs," wherein a
fighter pilot (a woman, of course) must save Tokyo. Also, there are
talking cats to spice things up (where there are hairballs, there
must be cats). Some of the most effective pieces are the shortest,
such as "Dial Tone," where Beukes evokes the lonely desperation of
her nameless narrator in less than four pages, as the character
places crank calls and is often simply soothed by the dial tone. Or
"Confirm/Ignore," in which the narrator berates readers, and
society at large, for their obsession with pop culture: "One day I
get Bette Davis and Bettie Page confused. This is not my fault.
It's yours." Her brief autobiographical pieces--on her first forays
into journalism and a letter to her young daughter on the meaning
of beauty--wrap up the slim volume nicely. Utterly bizarre and
equally addictive, these pieces demonstrate that Beukes has only
tapped the surface of her prodigious and wide-ranging talent with
her novels."
--Kirkus "Whether they're set in modern-day Johannesburg or on a
planet circling a distant star, these powerful, beautifully written
stories are always about today and the darkness of the human
soul."
--Publishers Weekly "A fantastic, comical, alternate historical
dieselpunk affair . . . filled with astonishing characters, fine
dialogue, and an abundance of ideas and is packaged with John
Coulthart's cool Futurist-Constructivist-inspired graphics, an
introduction by graphic novelist Warren Ellis, and an interview
with the author."
--Booklist "South African writer Beukes (Zoo City; Broken Monsters)
showcases her evolution as an author with these 26 pieces--mostly
short stories with a few nonfiction entries at the end. Stories
such as "Branded" recall Beukes's debut, Moxyland, with its
combination of cyberpunk elements and South African patois. That
distinct regional flavor gets sanded out of some of the later
tales, which hop among genres deftly. One of the more bizarre,
"Unathi Battles the Black Hairballs," features a cameo by magical
realism author -Haruki Murakami. Some selections are more likely to
appeal to readers unfamiliar with Beukes. For example, "The Green"
is a fantastically creepy sf story of grunt soldiers on a planet
with invasive local flora. Another good starting point is the title
story "Slipping," which tells of a runner who has undergone
extensive physical modifications. VERDICT Even the early stories,
many set in Beukes's native Johannesburg, have a rough energy and
imagination that shows why she -remains an author to watch."
--Library Journal "Beukes writes with passion and a hot immediacy,
employing demotic prose that often attains a gritty poetry. She
favors capturing the explosive instant rather than the multi-linked
chain of circumstances that constitute most stories."
--Locus "Shows off [Beukes'] skill across a range of genres . . .
brilliant."
--New York Journal of Books "Tantalizing, dark, and
thought-provoking."
--Booklist "Exceptional on all counts . . . Slipping is an
essential collection, one of the year's best." --Barnes & Noble Sci
Fi & Fantasy Blog
"Lauren Beukes's distinct voice and viewpoint have positioned her
as one of the freshest, most exciting talents in writing today.
Slipping will only further her reputation."
--Cemetery Dance "Being Beukes, hard topics are described and
explored, and being Beukes one can easily trust in the author to be
both sensitive, intelligent and eloquent throughout."
--Ventureadlaxre "Lauren Beukes is one of the most talented writers
working today. Moving from witty to sad to horrifying, she makes it
all seem effortless. We're lucky to finally have her short work in
one place."
--Richard Kadrey, author of the Sandman Slim series and The
Everything Box "Lauren Beukes is one of the best we've got, and
this fierce collection, showing the full breadth of her remarkable
talent, is a pure dark joy."
--Warren Ellis, author of Gun Machine and Transmetropolitan "Lauren
Beukes is a remarkable talent, that rare writer who can go in any
direction she desires and always deliver. In Slipping you have the
chance to see her at her most versatile and powerful. A wonderful
collection from one of the strongest voices in the game."
--Michael Koryta, author of So Cold the River and Those Who Wish Me
Dead "Slipping is a dizzying array of stories, a "greatest hits"
from a prolific and imaginative writer. There's a mash of scenarios
and genres from alternative histories to Manga, cyberpunk to
feminist fairy tale. It's kick-ass speculative fiction with brains
and heart. 10/10 stars."
--Starburst "Lauren Beukes is one of the most creative,
thought-provoking writers working today, and Slipping puts us right
in the bloody depths of her brain and gives us an intimate tour.
This book writhes with ideas and undeniable energy."
--Steph Cha, author of Dead Soon Enough "While each story in this
collection is unique, they all have that one piece in common that
make me so passionate about [Beukes's] previous novels--there's a
sense of some underlying real world threat in even the most
intensely science fiction story lines. Much like Margaret Atwood's
The Handmaid's Tale, the reader is left with feelings of unease,
that though what you've just read is fiction, it still hits too
close to home to not make you nervous."
--Pages and Pints "The dazzling short pieces collected in Slipping,
which range from reportage to tender bits of personal reflection to
weird sci-fi horror, together serve to confirm the impression
Beukes already created in her novels: this is a writer who can do
anything."
--Ben H. Winters, author of Underground Airlines and the Last
Policeman series "A ferocious collection from our brightest,
sharpest talent."
--Adam Christopher, author of Made to Kill "Bold, brazen, and
brilliant--now this is a collection to die for. Beukes fearlessly
skewers personal relationships, social injustice and pop culture
(among other things), and every story is a masterclass in flair,
wit and fresh ideas."
--Sarah Lotz, author of The Three and Day Four "Slipping is a rare
surprise, and one that demonstrates Beukes wide-ranging talent.
Whether she's writing about corporate branded future punks and
celebrants, or the downtrodden casual menaces of daily life, from a
compilation of tweets to a handful of remarkable non-fiction
essays, her stories prove, repeatedly, that she is a masterful
writer and that she has a voice that absolutely must be heard. Hold
on tight to this one--you do not want it to slip away."
--Michael Patrick Hicks, author of Emergence "Everyone should be
reading this author and start tracking her wonderful talent with
characters."
--Brad K. Horner "Not only is [Beukes] quite adept at the strange
science that surrounds time travel, a la The Shining Girls, she's
quite skilled at crafting the perfect and perfectly horrible short
work . . . literature in all its darkness and beauty."
--Drunk in a Graveyard "Slipping is a diverse and fascinating
collection of stories and essays. It contained some of the most
thought provoking pieces I have read in a long time."
--Femlitica "Lauren Beukes, judging from these tales, is one of the
best fictional chroniclers of modern life per se."
--See the Elephant "If you have read [Beukes] before, you
definitely need to get on it with this book, whether you like
science fiction, fantasy, contemporary, or just plain weird."
--This Ain't Livin' "Slick and stylish, Beukes' visions of the
future both entertain and alarm in the way that great science
fiction should."
--Pop Culture Beast "Each of these stories are wildly authentic,
vastly entertaining, and a constant focus on the darkness in this
world."
--For the Love of Words "Weird and wonderful ... Slipping is a
staggering mix of horror, crime, humor, dystopian views, and
science fiction."
--Lit Reactor "Lauren Beukes has established herself as one of the
genre's most exciting voices. The stories assembled here not only
show off her eclectic range of influences and interests, but the
strength of her voice, her passion for her subjects, and that
fantastic blend of anger, analysis, sensitivity and wit."
--Sci Fi Now "Lauren Beukes's fiction starts with big ideas and
runs them through an assortment of permutations . . . incisive
writing."
--Vol. 1 Booklyn "Beukes's writing is acerbic, sharp, and
intuitive"
--Fairy Bookmother "Beukes captures the essence of what it means to
be alive in all its many forms, as the life force of the characters
tears itself right off the page and meets the reader head on."
--Strange Alliances "Whether the story takes place in present day,
the near future, or somewhere else entirely, through sharp use of
dialogue and description, readers instantly get a handle on her
characters as they experience fear, love, hate, joy, confusion,
exploitation, and adventure. The stories are funny and freaky, sad
and scary. They are bold and beautiful, violent and vibrant. 10/10
stars."
--Fantasy Faction "Slipping is a stunning, diverse collection of
genre-spanning short fiction by one of South Africa's best
speculative fiction authors."
--Worlds in Ink "This is an excellent collection of stories,
essays, and tidbits."
--Fat Robot "I knew going in that Beukes was a powerfully talented
wordsmith; Slipping broadened my appreciation more than I was
expecting. Very highly recommended."
--Christopher East "...a lively mix of 19 stories, a set of twitter
mash-up stories, a poem, and five non-fiction pieces."
--Locus, Year in Review "This was hit after hit of what I like best
about [Beukes'] writing: sly, sharp digs at who we are, who we want
to be, and the tricks we fall for, all with a gritty, near-future
cyberpunk backdrop."
--Rhian Bowley, author of The Dream Feeders "Lauren Beukes is a
fantastic writer, no doubt about that."
--Fiction Fantastic
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