Books: March 2006 Archives
The BSFA awards page now has links to all the nominated shorts, mainly thanks to Interzone putting their shorts up as previously posted, but it's cool that they're all in one place now.
Just got 4 of them to read.
The BSFA Award Shortlisted Stories that appeared in Interzone are now available for download in PDF. Cool, Nice one Mr. Cox!
After months "on hiatus" paizo have announced that Amazing Stories is no more. Sad for a magazine first published in 1926.
I really, really didn’t like this book.
I read this because I did my PhD at CERN (on the OPAL experiment) and everyone kept saying, "ooh you must read it, CERN is in it." That's my excuse. And once I start a book I hate to not finish it.
The short chapters, drip feeding the plot and withholding information sent me crazy. Then there were often plot recaps at the start of each chapter, how short do you think my memory is?! Then there were huge chunks of exposition, just thrown in with no effort.
Also, having worked at CERN, its depication had me roaring with laughter. The director has a space plane?! (For the record CERN is actually like a big trading estate and a large chunk of the work is done by the vast coalition of Universities that work there). And don’t get me started on antimatter.
The twists and turns annoyed me too. Very often there was no way to work it out, and when there was a way it was obvious. The last few chapters were so over the top and heavy handed I was not the slightest bit surprised at each twist.
But to be honest I think the plot may have survived in better hands, but the writing was so dreadful, the plot trying so hard to be shocking….
I hated it. And I don't want to read another of his books, life's too short.
The Forbidden Planet site has a section called What The Author Says, where the author talks a little bit about one of their blogs. Justina Robson is the latest to do this for Living Next Door to the God of Love. Joe Gordon has put the full "author's cut" text of Justina's piece on the
Forbidden Planet International Blog.
Other authors who have commented on their books include Jeff VanderMeer, Charles Stross, Adam Roberts and James Lovegrove.
From The SF Site:, their readers picked the best SF&F books of 2005. They are...
- (10 tie) Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow
- (10 tie) Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold
- (9 tie) Olympos by Dan Simmons
- (9 tie) Mélusine by Sarah Monette
- (9 tie) River of Gods by Ian McDonald
- (8) Looking for Jake by China Miéville
- (7) Thud! by Terry Pratchett
- (6) The Warrior-Prophet by R. Scott Bakker
- (5) Magic For Beginners by Kelly Link
- (4) Accelerando by Charles Stross
- (2) Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
- (2) A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
- (1) Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
My bsfa award ballot form arrived in the post this morning.
I think I won't vote for a novel, as I've only read one of them, so it doesn't seem fair.
I've read all but 4 of the shorts and 3 of them I can read online. However it's going to take something special to beat Magic For Begginners.
For the art ballot I'll try and find them all online, then pick the one I think looks the best!
Via Notes From Coode Street (which I just looked at in a browser for the first time in ages and is looking lovely), The Arthur C Clarke Shortlist 2006 - an infinity plus feature by Adam Roberts. Which is Adam Roberts' now annual discussion of the shortlist, and I found it very entertaining. He thinks Air should win.
William Gibson has posted another fiction snippet on his blog.
On Sci Fi Wire John Joseph Adams talks to Ian McDonald about River of Gods.
"Who couldn't be fascinated by a country with 9 million gods, 200 languages, bullock carts and nukes, with the world's biggest film industry and a billion mad cricket fans?"
There's currently 20 pages of things tagged science fiction on All Consuming (and they're mainly books). Just in case you need any ideas for what to read next!
As of just now when I checked, there are only 3 Science Fiction books in Amazon.co.uk Hot 25 Science Fiction & Fantasy. Those books are Serenity, Star Wars Outbound Flight and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton. Surely that isn't a god omen for SF in the UK?
The US list fares a little better with 10 SF books in the top 25.
Bookslut | Science Fiction, Bake Sales, and the Feminist Cabal
"Most of the stories included within would (and have) stood on their own, without requiring the thematic support that the award lends..."
MetaFilter joins the wide ranging discussion of Dave Itzikoff's New York Times Science fiction column (which accuses current SF of being too geeky).
Well if nothing else his column has got people talking!
Personally I couldn't care less if he thinks that current SF is too geeky. So what?
The SF Site Best Read of the Year (2005) in Science Fiction and Fantasy is online. Here's the quick list...
- The House of Storms by Ian R. MacLeod
- Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
- Accelerando by Charles Stross
- Magic For Beginners by Kelly Link
- The Silences of Home by Caitlin Sweet
- 9-Tail Fox by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
- Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
- The Hounds of Avalon by Mark Chadbourn
- The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach, translated by Doryl Jensen
- The Ultimates 2 by Mark Millar, illustrated by Bryan Hitch
- Vellum: The Book of All Hours by Hal Duncan
- The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco, translated by Geoffrey Brock
- Woken Furies by Richard Morgan
- Life by Gwyneth Jones
SF Site Readers' Choice Top 10 coming next issue.
Jon Courtenay Grimwood had a few book reviews come online in the last few days firstly (via Emerald City) in the Guardian Unlimited Darkland by Liz Williams, Titan by Ben Bova and The Voyage of the Sable Keech by NealAsher. Also in SFX a review of Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer. (Also SFX was running a ginat banner ad for Neal Asher's books!).
