The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have announced the 2011 Nebula Award winners for work published in 2010. The awards were presented today in Washinton, D.C.
Novel: Blackout/All Clear, Connie Willis (Spectra)
Novella: "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window", Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer ’10)
Novelette: "That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made", Eric James Stone (Analog 9/10)
Short Story (tie) "Ponies", Kij Johnson (Tor.com 1/17/10) and "How Interesting: A Tiny Man", Harlan Ellison (Realms of Fantasy 2/10)
Ray Bradbury Award (Dramatic Presentation) Inception, Christopher Nolan (director), Christopher Nolan (screenplay) (Warner)
Andre Norton Award (Young Adult) I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett (Gollancz; Harper)
Reaction:
I've read "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window" and have already written here that it was one of the best novellas of 2010 (novella discussion). I am halfway through Blackout/All Clear and will reserve judgment. In the film category, Inception was disappointing (film review).
Related link:
Locus Online's report on all the Nebula Award winners and nominees
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Reading Resolution
This year I’ve resolved to read more books in the actual year they are published rather than play catch up all the time. So far this has worked out quite well for 2011 books:
Among Others by Jo Walton (Tor Books)
Home Fires by Gene Wolfe (Tor Books)
Heroes by Joe Abercrombie (Orbit)
The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume 5 by Jonathan Strahan (Night Shade Books)
Each book has been rewarding and enjoyable. If I ever get around to reviewing them they would each get a thumbs up. Each for different reasons. That last one is a bit of a cheat, I suppose, since it is an anthology of stories that were first published in 2010.
Next up in 2011 books is Embassytown by China Miéville (Del Rey).
Friday, May 13, 2011
Links to thinks
Neil Gaiman writes about Gene Wolfe
"... Gene Wolfe remains a hero to me. He's just turned 80, looks after his wife Rosemary, and is still writing deep, complex, brilliant fiction that slips between genres. ... He's the finest living male American writer of SF and fantasy – possibly the finest living American writer. Most people haven't heard of him. And that doesn't bother Gene in the slightest." Read the article.
SF Signal Mind Meld: Which challenging SF/F stories are worth the effort to read?
Some wonderful recommendations, including works by Gene Wolfe, Joanna Russ, Samuel R. Delany, Neal Stephenson, Cordwainer Smith. As Cat Rambo writes in the comments, add Italo Calvino, Stanislaw Lem, John Crowley, Justina Robson, and Peter Watts. Who would you add? Read the article.
Ursula K. LeGuin reviews Embassytown by China Miéville
"If Miéville has been known to set up a novel on a marvelous metaphor and then not know quite where to take it, he's outgrown that, and his dependence on violence is much diminished. In Embassytown, his metaphor ... works on every level, providing compulsive narrative, splendid intellectual rigor and risk, moral sophistication, fine verbal fireworks and sideshows, and even the old-fashioned satisfaction of watching a protagonist become more of a person than she gave promise of being." Read the article.
Rob Latham on J.G. Ballard
"I believe that, with the possible exception of Philip K. Dick, postwar SF has produced no finer writer, and certainly none more attuned to the perplexities and pitfalls of the modern technoscientific world." Read the article. (Edited: link updated.)
"... Gene Wolfe remains a hero to me. He's just turned 80, looks after his wife Rosemary, and is still writing deep, complex, brilliant fiction that slips between genres. ... He's the finest living male American writer of SF and fantasy – possibly the finest living American writer. Most people haven't heard of him. And that doesn't bother Gene in the slightest." Read the article.
SF Signal Mind Meld: Which challenging SF/F stories are worth the effort to read?
Some wonderful recommendations, including works by Gene Wolfe, Joanna Russ, Samuel R. Delany, Neal Stephenson, Cordwainer Smith. As Cat Rambo writes in the comments, add Italo Calvino, Stanislaw Lem, John Crowley, Justina Robson, and Peter Watts. Who would you add? Read the article.
Ursula K. LeGuin reviews Embassytown by China Miéville
"If Miéville has been known to set up a novel on a marvelous metaphor and then not know quite where to take it, he's outgrown that, and his dependence on violence is much diminished. In Embassytown, his metaphor ... works on every level, providing compulsive narrative, splendid intellectual rigor and risk, moral sophistication, fine verbal fireworks and sideshows, and even the old-fashioned satisfaction of watching a protagonist become more of a person than she gave promise of being." Read the article.
Rob Latham on J.G. Ballard
"I believe that, with the possible exception of Philip K. Dick, postwar SF has produced no finer writer, and certainly none more attuned to the perplexities and pitfalls of the modern technoscientific world." Read the article. (Edited: link updated.)
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Joanna Russ (1937-2011)
Graham Sleight, in his excellent essay on Russ’s short fiction that appears in On Joanna Russ (Wesleyan University Press, 2009) edited by Farah Mendlesohn, concludes:
For sheer inventiveness, formal range, and emotional force, I can think of only a few bodies of short SF to rival it: perhaps those of Theodore Sturgeon, James Tiptree, Jr., and Gene Wolfe.Russ’s essays and criticism were similarly extraordinary. Most recently published is The Country You Have Never Seen: Essays and Reviews (Liverpool University Press, 2007).
Related links:
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: Russ, Joanna
The New York Times: Joanna Russ obituary
Timmi Duchamp: Remembering Joanna
Kathryn Cramer: Goodbye, Joanna
Rose Fox: RIP Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ: When It Changed
Teresa Nielsen Hayden: Remembering Joanna
Brit Mandelo: Queering SFF: The Female Man
Brit Mandelo: How to Suppress Women’s Writing by Joanna Russ
Annalee Newitz: How to Remember and Discover Joanna Russ
Jeff VanderMeer: Joanna Russ and The Weird
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Arthur C. Clarke Award and Ditmar Awards
The winner of the 2010 Arthur C. Clarke Award (British, juried award) was announced today: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes (Angry Robot).
The winners of this year’s Ditmar Awards (Australian, fan-voted) were presented two days ago at Swancon in Perth: Best Novel: Power and Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts (Voyager).
Zoo City is available in the United States, Power and Majesty is not. The Clarke Award has just the one category: best novel. The Ditmars have a lengthy list of categories, much like the Hugos. One award caught my eye: Best Fan Publication: Galactic Suburbia podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Alex Pierce. I've been enjoying this podcast for the past several months. Each of the three hosts picked up multiple Ditmar Awards this year.
Related links:
Beukes Wins Arthur C. Clarke Award
Ditmar Awards
The winners of this year’s Ditmar Awards (Australian, fan-voted) were presented two days ago at Swancon in Perth: Best Novel: Power and Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts (Voyager).
Zoo City is available in the United States, Power and Majesty is not. The Clarke Award has just the one category: best novel. The Ditmars have a lengthy list of categories, much like the Hugos. One award caught my eye: Best Fan Publication: Galactic Suburbia podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Alex Pierce. I've been enjoying this podcast for the past several months. Each of the three hosts picked up multiple Ditmar Awards this year.
Related links:
Beukes Wins Arthur C. Clarke Award
Ditmar Awards
Monday, April 25, 2011
Reactions to 2011 Hugo Award Nominees
I’ve read three of the novels on the 2011 Hugo Awards shortlist that was announced yesterday, including The Dervish House by Ian McDonald, which is my top choice so far. I have yet to read the Connie Willis and the Lois McMaster Bujold. When I have finished them I’ll give my rankings in a post on this blog.
In the novella category, I’ve read all five of the nominees and I think this is a solid category. Four of these stories are very strong. "The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon" is an easy choice for me. The story is beautifully written. Its dovetailing stories are nostalgic and wonderfully poignant. My ballot ranking:
1. "The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon" by Elizabeth Hand (Stories)
2. “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
3. "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window" by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean)
4. "Troika" by Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines)
5. "The Sultan of the Clouds" by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov's)
The main omission on the novella list is "Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance" by Paul Park (F&SF), which would have given “McCauley's Bellerophon" competition for the top spot on my ballot. "Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance" is a challenging story, and popular-vote awards don't usually reward stories that take a little effort on the part of the reader. Gratifyingly, "Ghosts" is on the Nebula Award shortlist.
I haven’t read enough of other nominees to comment just yet. If the creek don’t rise, I will comment on each of the fiction categories, and perhaps some others, too.
Related links:
2011 Hugo Award Nominees
2011 Hugo Nominations: Novella
In the novella category, I’ve read all five of the nominees and I think this is a solid category. Four of these stories are very strong. "The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon" is an easy choice for me. The story is beautifully written. Its dovetailing stories are nostalgic and wonderfully poignant. My ballot ranking:
1. "The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon" by Elizabeth Hand (Stories)
2. “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
3. "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window" by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean)
4. "Troika" by Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines)
5. "The Sultan of the Clouds" by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov's)
The main omission on the novella list is "Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance" by Paul Park (F&SF), which would have given “McCauley's Bellerophon" competition for the top spot on my ballot. "Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance" is a challenging story, and popular-vote awards don't usually reward stories that take a little effort on the part of the reader. Gratifyingly, "Ghosts" is on the Nebula Award shortlist.
I haven’t read enough of other nominees to comment just yet. If the creek don’t rise, I will comment on each of the fiction categories, and perhaps some others, too.
Related links:
2011 Hugo Award Nominees
2011 Hugo Nominations: Novella
Sunday, April 24, 2011
2011 Hugo Award Nominees
Nominees for the Hugo Awards were announced today by Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Reno, Nevada, August 17-21, 2011. 1006 valid nominating ballots were counted. The Hugo Awards ceremony will take place August 20, 2011.
Best Novel
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)
Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
Feed by Mira Grant (Orbit)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Best Novella
“The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window” by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Magazine, Summer 2010)
“The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
“The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon” by Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All New Tales, William Morrow)
“The Sultan of the Clouds” by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s, September 2010)
“Troika” by Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines, Science Fiction Book Club)
Best Novelette
“Eight Miles” by Sean McMullen (Analog, September 2010)
“The Emperor of Mars” by Allen M. Steele (Asimov’s, June 2010)
“The Jaguar House, in Shadow” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s, July 2010)
“Plus or Minus” by James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s, December 2010)
“That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made” by Eric James Stone (Analog, September 2010)
Best Short Story
“Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed, June 2010)
“For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010)
“Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Tor.com, November 17, 2010)
“The Things” by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, January 2010)
Best Related Work
Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001 by Gary K. Wolfe (Beccon)
The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing by Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg (McFarland)
Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea (Mad Norwegian)
Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 1: (1907–1948): Learning Curve by William H. Patterson, Jr. (Tor)
Writing Excuses, Season 4 by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells
Best Novel
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)
Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
Feed by Mira Grant (Orbit)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Best Novella
“The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window” by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Magazine, Summer 2010)
“The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
“The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon” by Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All New Tales, William Morrow)
“The Sultan of the Clouds” by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s, September 2010)
“Troika” by Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines, Science Fiction Book Club)
Best Novelette
“Eight Miles” by Sean McMullen (Analog, September 2010)
“The Emperor of Mars” by Allen M. Steele (Asimov’s, June 2010)
“The Jaguar House, in Shadow” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s, July 2010)
“Plus or Minus” by James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s, December 2010)
“That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made” by Eric James Stone (Analog, September 2010)
Best Short Story
“Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed, June 2010)
“For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010)
“Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Tor.com, November 17, 2010)
“The Things” by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, January 2010)
Best Related Work
Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001 by Gary K. Wolfe (Beccon)
The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing by Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg (McFarland)
Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea (Mad Norwegian)
Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 1: (1907–1948): Learning Curve by William H. Patterson, Jr. (Tor)
Writing Excuses, Season 4 by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells
I'll save commentary on the nominees for next time. There are many more categories for Hugo Awards and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. For a complete list follow here for the report at Locus Online.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Philip K. Dick and BSFA Awards announced
The British Science Fiction Awards for work from 2010 were announced today at Eastercon in Birmingham, UK:
Novel: The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz)
Short Fiction: “The Shipmaker” by Aliette de Bodard
(Interzone 231, TTA Press)
Art: Zoo City cover art by Joey Hi-Fi (Angry Robot)
Non Fiction: “Blogging the Hugos: Decline” by Paul Kincaid (Big Other)
The Philip K. Dick Award was announced last night at Norwescon, Seattle, WA. The winner was The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder (Pyr).
Congratulations to all.
Novel: The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz)
Short Fiction: “The Shipmaker” by Aliette de Bodard
(Interzone 231, TTA Press)
Art: Zoo City cover art by Joey Hi-Fi (Angry Robot)
Non Fiction: “Blogging the Hugos: Decline” by Paul Kincaid (Big Other)
The Philip K. Dick Award was announced last night at Norwescon, Seattle, WA. The winner was The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder (Pyr).
Congratulations to all.
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