San Diego Comic Con 2016: Books, Authors & Panels I’m Looking Forward To

San Diego Comic Con is this week, you guys! If you love fantasy, science fiction and horror like I do, then Comic Con is the BEA of the speculative fiction world. Many people think of Comic Con as a place to break out your cosplay outfits, get up at 2:00 a.m. to get a space in line for Hall H, or *gasp* look for rare comics. But there is a lot more to Comic Con than meets the eye, and for me that means BOOKS! And AUTHORS! And PUBLISHERS! The SFF book scene at Comic Con is really strong, and I’ve learned from past experience that if you want to, you can do nothing but book related activities for the entire four days—and even then, you’ll have to choose because there is just so much to do.

The Books

I’ve only seen schedules so far from Tor Books and Simon & Schuster, so this list isn’t complete by any means, but here are some of the books I’m hoping to snag this year!

Many of these authors will be at Comic Con as well, so I hope to meet them! After reading some of my fellow book bloggers reviews, I’m particularly excited to track down Hope and Red, Hex, The Age of Myth and The Summer Dragon. Not sure all the books will be available, but I know the authors are attending.

The Authors

In addition to the authors of the books listed above, I’m looking forward to panels and signings from lots of my favorite authors, including Sylvain Neuvel, K.S. Merbeth, Patrick Rothfuss, Paul Tremblay, Greg van Eekhaut, and many more. There’s also a cool off-site event that will be held Saturday morning at the Upstart Crow in Seaport Village (near the convention center) with an amazing line-up of authors: Chuck Wendig, Kevin Hearne, Victoria Schwab, and Richard Kadrey! I’m definitely going to try to make this one:-) And for fans who didn’t get tickets, anyone can attend this event.

The Panels

Oh so many bookish panels on the schedule! I love listening to authors talk about their books, and here are a few I hope to catch (all descriptions taken from the Comic Con website):

1. New Authors Making a Splash in the Literary Pool – Come and meet new authors who are sure to be the next big thing in the literary scene, and you’ll forever have bragging rights that you knew them “before they were cool.” Alwyn Hamilton, Keira Drake, Sylvain Neuvel, Bob Proehl, Todd Lockwood, and K. S. Merbeth discuss with moderator Maryelizabeth Yturralde the joys, challenges, and insider secrets of being a debut author.

2. Fantasy Mixology: The Perfect Literary Cocktail – While the average happy hour involves a bit of gin, rum, or vodka, these authors mix things up with witches, demons, giants, ghosts, Celtic gods, and other magical beings. Top-shelf authors Paul Cornell (Witches of Lychford), Kevin Hearne (The Iron Druid Chronicles), Richard Kadrey (Perdition Score), Paul Krueger (Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge), Drew Magary (The Hike), and Mary Robinette Kowal (Ghost Talkers and The Glamourist series) discuss the ingredients that go into making your favorite fantasy cocktails. Moderated by Petra Mayer from NPR.

3. Spotlight on Seanan McGuire – This panel has traveled from Australia to Ireland, and now it’s coming to San Diego Comic-Con! Part Q&A, part stand-up comedy, part serious discussion, the only way to know what will be said is to show up and ask questions. For this one-hour period,Seanan McGuire will answer anything you care to ask her (although, as a warning, the answers will rarely be as simple as might be expected). There may be prizes for particularly good questions, depending on how much room she has in her suitcase.

4. The Female Geek: Women as Fans and Creators – There’s more to being a geek girl than meets the eye. From Princess Leia, to Katniss Everdeen, to Hermione Granger, fandom is full of awesome female characters-but what about the women who create these iconic individuals? Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha Trilogy), Sabaa Tahir (A Torch Against the Night), Kiersten White (And I Darken),Sarah Kuhn (Heroine Complex), Kathleen Smith (The Fangirl Life), andMargaret Stohl(Black Widow: Forever Red) discuss feminism and fandom in a panel moderated byMadeline Ashby (Company Town).

5. Worldbuilding: Creating Realistic Fantasy Settings – Words are important. But how are they made? Claudia Christian (Wolf’s Empire), Gini Koch (The Alien Series), Seanan McGuire (the October Daye and InCryptid series),Brandon Mull (Five Kingdom’s Series), Scott Sigler (The Generations Trilogy), and Jon Skovron (Hope & Red) discuss how they set the stage for their stories and explore the dos and don’ts of building a living, breathing world for their characters in a panel moderated by Cindy Pon (Serpentine).

The Publishers

This year there are four publishing panels, where you get to hear publicists and editors talk about their upcoming line-up of books! And bonus, there is usually a giveaway at each of them. Here are the publisher panels this year (all descriptions taken from the Comic Con website):

Swipe Right with Simon and Schuster:

Matt Pantaliano (marketing), Jodie Hockensmith (publicity), Nicholas Elliott(marketing), Catherine Hayden (marketing), and Liesa Abrams (marketing) give a sneak peek at the hottest books and properties coming from Simon & Schuster to give readers their perfect match. Their discussion will be moderated by Jon Anderson (executive vice president, publisher), and attendees will take home an exclusive prize.

What’s Up with Penguin:

Anne Sowards (Ace/Roc), Jessica Wade (Ace/Roc), and Christina Colangelo (Penguin Young Readers Group) give you the dish on forthcoming books from exciting authors and licensed properties, such as Jim Butcher, Ransom Riggs, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Anthony Ryan, Sabaa Tahir, Marie Lu, Anne Bishop, Taherah Mafi, and many others. You can expect giveaways like finished books or advanced reading copies!

What’s New from Del Rey Books:

Del Rey has been publishing some of the best science fiction and fantasy since 1977. Del Rey editor Michael Braff and authors Pierce Brown (Red Rising), Indra Das (The Devourers), Jason Hough (Zero World), Sylvain Neuvel (Sleeping Giants), Scott Sigler(The Generations Trilogy), and Alan Smale (Clash of Eagles) discuss current projects and preview other books to come in 2016 and 2017 from Terry Brooks, China Mieville, Naomi Novik, Star Wars, Minecraft, StarCraft, and more.

Stories of Imagination: Harper Voyager and Epic Reads:

Home to some of the industry’s biggest names in fantasy, Harper Voyager is also a breeding ground for new talent. This fall, they will announce such stellar additions to their list as Sarah Beth Durst, Amy S. Foster, and Patrick Hemstreet, as well as publish horrific new tales from the likes of Brom and Richard Kadrey. Experience the latest in teen fiction from the publishers of Red Queen and Divergent. Immerse yourself in everything from epic blood rebellions to teenage clones as HarperCollins presents what’s hot on the forefront of YA. Get ready to grab plenty of Epic Reads giveaways, limited-edition goodies, and advance copies. Panelists include Stephanie Hoover, Shawn Nicholls, David Pomerico, and Gina Rizzo.

And this is barely the tip of the iceberg. I haven’t even mentioned movies and TV shows! It’s all so overwhelming, but so much fun. Stay tuned for a wrap-up post in the near future. And please! Let me know if you’ll be going too!