Book News

• Subterranean Press has announced four new titles for next year, including The Dragon Griaule by Lucius Shephard which collects all of the authors novelettes and novellas about a 6,000 feet dragon into one volume.  Included in the book will be a brand new novel.  You can read more about it and the other three announced titles here.

• A new television series based on Kim Harrison's Hollows series has been sold to the CW.  Whether or not it makes it to the air remains to be seen.  The majority of shows in development never make it on the air.  However, there is a lot to work with regarding the source material.  On the other hand, it is the CW so those supernatural shenanigans could end up coming across as cheesy.  

• Kill Shakespeare, a twelve issue comic/graphic novel, is among six properties to be invited to be part of the Sundance Institute's New Frontier Story Lab, a week long workshop focused on developing new properties for film and different media.  PW has the scoop.

• Cooper Union has refused to grant the St. Mark's Bookshop a reduction in rent which will force the store to find a new location, despite having been a mainstay of the area for close to twenty years.  The bookstore has seven more years on their lease which will give them time to find a new home but it will be a loss to the street.  Hopefully they'll be able to stay in the area.  Read more here. 

• The Consumer Affairs Department of Puerto Rico is preparing to file a lawsuit against Amazon for discriminatory practices.  Basically, Amazon has discontinued the Free Super Saver shipping option that has been available to residents of Puerto Rico for over a decade.   Other U.S. territories have been excluded from the Super Saver option but according to Amazon, due to a glitch in the system, Puerto Rican customers were able to utilize the free shipping option if they spent over $25.  Although geographically much further away from the U.S. mainland than Puerto Rico, Hawaii still retains the free shipping option.  Benefit of being a state, I guess.

• In further Amazon news, the company has received permission from the Office of Fair Trading to purchase the smaller company, The Book Depository.  A number of concerns have been raised by third parties.   A spokesman from the Booksellers Association has stated that the decision will make Amazon "the dominant supplier with a stranglehold over the market."

• With the success of HBO's adaptation of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones plus all the excitement over the (finally) published next installment to the series, is it any wonder that Hollywood is looking to bring other works by Martin to the big screen?  Syfy Films has acquired the screen rights to Wild Cards, an anthology series co-written and edited by Martin.  Already at twenty-two volumes, the series includes stories by many of the top writers of science fiction and fantasy.  Syfy Films hopes to turn the series into a modest-budgeted movie.