Picked this up from Locus, but it was all over the internet.
Below are the winners of the 2015 Nebula Awards. Congratulations to all the winners (an an extra congratulations to Sarah Pinsker and Nnedi Okorafor - I LOVED those stories)
Novel: Uprooted, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
Novella: Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com Publishing)
Novelette: "Our Lady of the Open Road", by Sarah Pinsker (Asimov's June 2015)
Short Story: "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers", by Alyssa Wong (Nightmare Oct 2015)
Andre Norton Award: Updraft, by Fran Wilde (Tor)
Ray Bradbury Award: Mad Max: Fury Road
SFWA Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master: C.J. Cherryh
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Friday, May 06, 2016
Hugo Award Updates: Naomi Kritzer, Lady Business
Since the original announcement of the Hugo Award finalists, both Black Gate and Thomas A. Mays declared their intention to decline their nomination / position on the final ballot.
MidAmeriConII has announced the new Hugo Award finalists taking those previously vacant spots.
Congratulations to both Naomi Kritzer and Lady Business.
The list of the finalists has been updated to reflect theses changes.
MidAmeriConII has announced the new Hugo Award finalists taking those previously vacant spots.
Thomas A. Mays has withdrawn his short story "The Commuter". It will be replaced on the ballot by the story "Cat Pictures Please" by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2015).
John O'Neill has withdrawn the fanzine Black Gate. It will be replaced on the ballot by Lady Business, edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan.
Congratulations to both Naomi Kritzer and Lady Business.
The list of the finalists has been updated to reflect theses changes.
Wednesday, May 04, 2016
2016 Locus Award Finalists
Locus announced the finalists for their annual Locus Award yesterday.
This is likely worth a longer discussion, but this year's Locus Awards are pretty close to what the Hugo Awards should have looked like in the absence of the Rabid Puppy participants voting a slate in apparent lockstep.
Granted, Locus splits Science Fiction and Fantasy, and from the best of my memory, if a book hits First Novel it will not also be in one of the two other categories (which allows Locus to spread the recognition around).
I've read nearly half of the fiction nominees, and they're almost all really darn good. I also seem to be in the minority on the the ones I didn't appreciate quite so much.
Now, there are things we can argue with because it isn't an awards list or a list of books at all if there isn't something to argue with. For example, the YA category features five books written by men even though a huuuuuuge number of YA novels are written by women. Further, Navah Wolfe points out that the nominees in this category are, across the board, writers best known for adult science fiction and fantasy.
In terms of the Locus Awards, I think this is a bug rather than a feature. Locus (and it's readers who voted / nominated), as a whole, is far more plugged into the adult SFF scene. Their nominees for Young Adult Book very strongly reflects this.
This isn't to say that these finalists are bad, because they very much are not, but they are also not reflective of the YA field.
If you want a good overview of what some of the best science fiction and fantasy is today, and what is happening and current in the genre, you can do far worse than reading the finalists for the 2016 Locus Awards.
SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
The Water Knife, Paolo Bacigalupi (Borzoi; Orbit UK)
Ancillary Mercy, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Seveneves, Neal Stephenson (Morrow)
A Borrowed Man, Gene Wolfe (Tor)
FANTASY NOVEL
Karen Memory, Elizabeth Bear (Tor)
The House of Shattered Wings, Aliette de Bodard (Roc; Gollancz)
Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand (PS; Open Road)
The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Uprooted, Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
YOUNG ADULT BOOK
Half a War, Joe Abercrombie (Del Rey; Harper Voyager UK)
Half the World, Joe Abercrombie (Del Rey)
Harrison Squared, Daryl Gregory (Tor)
Shadowshaper, Daniel José Older (Levine)
The Shepherd’s Crown, Terry Pratchett (Harper; Doubleday UK)
FIRST NOVEL
Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho (Ace; Macmillan UK)
The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu (Saga)
Signal to Noise, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Solaris)
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Natasha Pulley (Bloomsbury US; Bloomsbury UK)
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com)
NOVELLA
Penric’s Demon, Lois McMaster Bujold (self-published)
‘‘The Citadel of Weeping Pearls’’, Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s 10-11/15)
‘‘The Four Thousand, the Eight Hundred’’, Greg Egan (Asimov’s 12/15)
Binti, Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
Slow Bullets, Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)
NOVELETTE
‘‘The Heart’s Filthy Lesson’’, Elizabeth Bear (Old Venus)
‘‘And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead’’, Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed 2/15)
‘‘Black Dog’’, Neil Gaiman (Trigger Warning)
‘‘Folding Beijing’’, Hao Jingfang (Uncanny 1-2/15)
‘‘Another Word for World’’, Ann Leckie (Future Visions)
SHORT STORY
‘‘Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight’’, Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld 1/15)
‘‘Madeleine’’, Amal El-Mohtar (Lightspeed 6/15)
‘‘Cat Pictures Please’’, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld 1/15)
‘‘The Dowager of Bees’’, China Miéville (Three Moments of an Explosion)
‘‘Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers’’, Alyssa Wong (Nightmare 10/15)
ANTHOLOGY
The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-second Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Old Venus, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Bantam)
Hanzai Japan: Fantastical, Futuristic Stories of Crime From and About Japan, Nick Mamatas & Masumi Washington, eds. (Haikasoru)
Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany, Nisi Shawl & Bill Campbell, eds. (Rosarium)
Meeting Infinity, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
COLLECTION
The Best of Gregory Benford, Gregory Benford (Subterranean)
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances, Neil Gaiman (Morrow)
The Best of Nancy Kress, Nancy Kress (Subterranean)
Dancing Through the Fire, Tanith Lee (Fantastic Books)
Three Moments of an Explosion, China Miéville (Macmillan UK; Del Rey 2016)
MAGAZINE
Asimov’s
Clarkesworld
F&SF
File 770
Tor.com
PUBLISHER
Baen
Gollancz
Orbit
Tor
Subterranean
EDITOR
John Joseph Adams
Ellen Datlow
Gardner Dozois
David G. Hartwell
Jonathan Strahan
ARTIST
Galen Dara
Julie Dillon
Bob Eggleton
John Picacio
Michael Whelan
NON-FICTION
The Culture Series of Iain M. Banks, Simone Caroti (McFarland)
Lois McMaster Bujold, Edward James (University of Illinois Press)
Letters to Tiptree, Alisa Krasnostein & Alexandra Pierce, eds. (Twelfth Planet)
Frederik Pohl, Michael R. Page (University of Illinois Press)
Ray Bradbury, David Seed (University of Illinois Press)
ART BOOK
Julie Dillon’s Imagined Realms, Book 2: Earth and Sky, Julie Dillon (self-published)
Women of Wonder: Celebrating Women Creators of Fantastic Art, Cathy Fenner, ed. (Underwood)
Spectrum 22: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, John Fleskes, ed. (Flesk)
Edward Gorey: His Book Cover Art & Design, Steven Heller, ed. (Pomegranate)
The Fantasy Illustration Library, Volume One: Lands & Legends, Malcolm R. Phifer & Michael C. Phifer (Michael Publishing)
This is likely worth a longer discussion, but this year's Locus Awards are pretty close to what the Hugo Awards should have looked like in the absence of the Rabid Puppy participants voting a slate in apparent lockstep.
Granted, Locus splits Science Fiction and Fantasy, and from the best of my memory, if a book hits First Novel it will not also be in one of the two other categories (which allows Locus to spread the recognition around).
I've read nearly half of the fiction nominees, and they're almost all really darn good. I also seem to be in the minority on the the ones I didn't appreciate quite so much.
Now, there are things we can argue with because it isn't an awards list or a list of books at all if there isn't something to argue with. For example, the YA category features five books written by men even though a huuuuuuge number of YA novels are written by women. Further, Navah Wolfe points out that the nominees in this category are, across the board, writers best known for adult science fiction and fantasy.
In terms of the Locus Awards, I think this is a bug rather than a feature. Locus (and it's readers who voted / nominated), as a whole, is far more plugged into the adult SFF scene. Their nominees for Young Adult Book very strongly reflects this.
This isn't to say that these finalists are bad, because they very much are not, but they are also not reflective of the YA field.
If you want a good overview of what some of the best science fiction and fantasy is today, and what is happening and current in the genre, you can do far worse than reading the finalists for the 2016 Locus Awards.
SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
The Water Knife, Paolo Bacigalupi (Borzoi; Orbit UK)
Ancillary Mercy, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Seveneves, Neal Stephenson (Morrow)
A Borrowed Man, Gene Wolfe (Tor)
FANTASY NOVEL
Karen Memory, Elizabeth Bear (Tor)
The House of Shattered Wings, Aliette de Bodard (Roc; Gollancz)
Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand (PS; Open Road)
The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Uprooted, Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
YOUNG ADULT BOOK
Half a War, Joe Abercrombie (Del Rey; Harper Voyager UK)
Half the World, Joe Abercrombie (Del Rey)
Harrison Squared, Daryl Gregory (Tor)
Shadowshaper, Daniel José Older (Levine)
The Shepherd’s Crown, Terry Pratchett (Harper; Doubleday UK)
FIRST NOVEL
Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho (Ace; Macmillan UK)
The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu (Saga)
Signal to Noise, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Solaris)
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Natasha Pulley (Bloomsbury US; Bloomsbury UK)
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com)
NOVELLA
Penric’s Demon, Lois McMaster Bujold (self-published)
‘‘The Citadel of Weeping Pearls’’, Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s 10-11/15)
‘‘The Four Thousand, the Eight Hundred’’, Greg Egan (Asimov’s 12/15)
Binti, Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
Slow Bullets, Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)
NOVELETTE
‘‘The Heart’s Filthy Lesson’’, Elizabeth Bear (Old Venus)
‘‘And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead’’, Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed 2/15)
‘‘Black Dog’’, Neil Gaiman (Trigger Warning)
‘‘Folding Beijing’’, Hao Jingfang (Uncanny 1-2/15)
‘‘Another Word for World’’, Ann Leckie (Future Visions)
SHORT STORY
‘‘Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight’’, Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld 1/15)
‘‘Madeleine’’, Amal El-Mohtar (Lightspeed 6/15)
‘‘Cat Pictures Please’’, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld 1/15)
‘‘The Dowager of Bees’’, China Miéville (Three Moments of an Explosion)
‘‘Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers’’, Alyssa Wong (Nightmare 10/15)
ANTHOLOGY
The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-second Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Old Venus, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Bantam)
Hanzai Japan: Fantastical, Futuristic Stories of Crime From and About Japan, Nick Mamatas & Masumi Washington, eds. (Haikasoru)
Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany, Nisi Shawl & Bill Campbell, eds. (Rosarium)
Meeting Infinity, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
COLLECTION
The Best of Gregory Benford, Gregory Benford (Subterranean)
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances, Neil Gaiman (Morrow)
The Best of Nancy Kress, Nancy Kress (Subterranean)
Dancing Through the Fire, Tanith Lee (Fantastic Books)
Three Moments of an Explosion, China Miéville (Macmillan UK; Del Rey 2016)
MAGAZINE
Asimov’s
Clarkesworld
F&SF
File 770
Tor.com
PUBLISHER
Baen
Gollancz
Orbit
Tor
Subterranean
EDITOR
John Joseph Adams
Ellen Datlow
Gardner Dozois
David G. Hartwell
Jonathan Strahan
ARTIST
Galen Dara
Julie Dillon
Bob Eggleton
John Picacio
Michael Whelan
NON-FICTION
The Culture Series of Iain M. Banks, Simone Caroti (McFarland)
Lois McMaster Bujold, Edward James (University of Illinois Press)
Letters to Tiptree, Alisa Krasnostein & Alexandra Pierce, eds. (Twelfth Planet)
Frederik Pohl, Michael R. Page (University of Illinois Press)
Ray Bradbury, David Seed (University of Illinois Press)
ART BOOK
Julie Dillon’s Imagined Realms, Book 2: Earth and Sky, Julie Dillon (self-published)
Women of Wonder: Celebrating Women Creators of Fantastic Art, Cathy Fenner, ed. (Underwood)
Spectrum 22: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, John Fleskes, ed. (Flesk)
Edward Gorey: His Book Cover Art & Design, Steven Heller, ed. (Pomegranate)
The Fantasy Illustration Library, Volume One: Lands & Legends, Malcolm R. Phifer & Michael C. Phifer (Michael Publishing)
Monday, May 02, 2016
Books Read: April 2016
Now that another month has come, let's take a look at the books I read last month.
1. Runtime, by SB Divya
2. The Tempering of Men, by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
3. Central Sation, by Lavie Tidhar
4. The Crimson Campaign, by Brian McClellan
5. Nemesis Games, by James S.A. Corey
Best Book of the Month: Because I take so long in between reading each volume, I forget just how good The Expanse is - both as a series and as individual volumes. Despite separating the crew of the Rocinate, Nemesis Games holds together and feels both broad and tight. And wonderful.
Disappointment of the Month: Despite reading the praise for years, I've not read Lavie Tidhar's work before. I had reasonably high expectations and despite the praise this particular book is receiving, I bounced off of Central Station. I expect this is a case of wrong book / wrong reader. Or right book, / wrong reader. Whichever is most appropriate for the situation.
Discovery of the Month: None. Having only read five books this month, it is difficult to discover much.
Worth Noting: In terms of reading, this was a very down month. Due to a temporary change in my work schedule, I didn't have my usual lunchtime reading hour. To add to that, we were doing some work to the family room, so I lost some time in the evenings after we put the kid to bed where I might be able to do some additional reading. I hope / expect that I'll get more done in May. Five books just seems extra disappointing.
Gender Breakdown: With such a small volume of books read, it is difficult to analyze much of what happened except to say that 2 out of the 5 books were written by women. This brings my total to 28 / 56, or an even 50%. Since the only real goal that I have is to keep the number near a 50/50 split, I am so far on track to accomplish that.
Previous Reads
January
February
March
1. Runtime, by SB Divya
2. The Tempering of Men, by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
3. Central Sation, by Lavie Tidhar
4. The Crimson Campaign, by Brian McClellan
5. Nemesis Games, by James S.A. Corey
Best Book of the Month: Because I take so long in between reading each volume, I forget just how good The Expanse is - both as a series and as individual volumes. Despite separating the crew of the Rocinate, Nemesis Games holds together and feels both broad and tight. And wonderful.
Disappointment of the Month: Despite reading the praise for years, I've not read Lavie Tidhar's work before. I had reasonably high expectations and despite the praise this particular book is receiving, I bounced off of Central Station. I expect this is a case of wrong book / wrong reader. Or right book, / wrong reader. Whichever is most appropriate for the situation.
Discovery of the Month: None. Having only read five books this month, it is difficult to discover much.
Worth Noting: In terms of reading, this was a very down month. Due to a temporary change in my work schedule, I didn't have my usual lunchtime reading hour. To add to that, we were doing some work to the family room, so I lost some time in the evenings after we put the kid to bed where I might be able to do some additional reading. I hope / expect that I'll get more done in May. Five books just seems extra disappointing.
Gender Breakdown: With such a small volume of books read, it is difficult to analyze much of what happened except to say that 2 out of the 5 books were written by women. This brings my total to 28 / 56, or an even 50%. Since the only real goal that I have is to keep the number near a 50/50 split, I am so far on track to accomplish that.
Previous Reads
January
February
March
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