Vernor Vinge on Big Brother
The Guardian has an article (yesterday) about Vernor Vinge's new novel Rainbows End and Vinge's worries about the potential for omnipresent computing and surveilance. [via SF Signal]
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June 30, 2006
Readings at the Science Fiction Museum
This isn't the most useful report, since it tell us only that Maureen McHugh read at Seattle's SF Museum this week and that other, unspecified writers will also be reading there on the next four Tuesdays.
However, the readings series is associated with Clarion West, so I bet the readers will be people like Ian R. MacLeod, Nalo Hopkinson, Ellen Datlow and Vernor Vinge. Call it a hunch...
June 29, 2006
Jim Baen, 1943-2006
Jim Baen -- publisher and editor-in-chief of Baen Books, former editor of Ace Books, and one of the most influential SF editors of our time -- has died at the age of 62.
David Drake has written an obituary and appreciation for the Baen website; he doesn't go into details, but Baen had a stroke two weeks ago and never regained consciousness.
He will be greatly missed; all of us at the SFBC will keep his family and friends in our thoughts.
June 28, 2006
Random Other Things
Sci Fi Wire takes a look at Paul Park's A Princess of Roumania.
The UK SFF bookstore chain Forbidden Planet not only has its own blog, it's just started a podcast, too.
Random Interviews
A short audio interview with Cory Doctorow is available from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Meme Therapy talks to Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction assistant editor (and well-known Slush God) John Joseph Adams.
John (Old Man's War) Scalzi interviews David Louis (Infoquake) Edelman.
June 27, 2006
The Bloodthirsty J.K. Rowling
Sci Fi Wire has a story today quoting J.K. Rowling as saying two "main characters" will die in the untitled "Harry Potter 7." She also mentioned that a character that she had previously planned to kill off will now survive to the end.
June 26, 2006
New Books in SFC July
Oops! I should have posted this last week, since this one went into the mail on June 21st. These books should all be up on the site now, so I'll try to link them all, but it probably won't hit most mailboxes for another few days.
Selections:
- The Year’s Best Science Fiction, 23rd Annual Collection, the yearly doorstop edited by Gardner Dozois. (Includes such excellent stories as Alastair Reynold's "Beyond the Aquila Rift," Daryl Gregory's "Second Person, Present Tense" and the nearly-novel-length "Burn" by James Patrick Kelly.)
- When Darkness Falls, the finale of the Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory
Alternates:
- Mythago Wood: the latest book in the "50th Anniversary Collection" is this classic British fantasy from Robert Holdstock
- Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal by Aaron Allston, first in a new nine-book series
- The Taken Trilogy by Alan Dean Foster, a 3-in-1 of Lost and Found, The Light-Years Beneath My Feet and The Candle of Distant Earth
- Glasshouse, the great new novel by Hugo nominee Charles Stross
- My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time, a sexy time-travel novel by Liz Jensen
- Honored Enemy by Raymond E. Feist & William R. Forstchen, first in a new "Riftwar" trilogy
- Flyte: Septimus Heap Book Two, second in an epic fantasy series for young adults by Angie Sage
- Spirit Walker: Chronicles of Ancient Darkness Book Two, the sequel to Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
- Danse Macabre, the new "Anita Blake" novel by Laurell K. Hamilton
Other Odd Places:
- The Normans, a beautifully illustrated history of the men who conquered England, by Christopher Gravett
- The Science of Sherlock Holmes by E.J. Wagner, which is pretty much what you think it would be
Not quite as much as last time, but still a bunch of good stuff.
This Week on Strange Horizons
They seem to get their stuff posted on Monday mornings even earlier than I do: they already have up an interview with Selina Rosen, a story by William Davis, and a review of Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora. (with three more reviews to go up as the week goes on).
June 25, 2006
Links That Aren't Book Reviews
Ben Bova writes about the jobs he's been fired from in the Naples News. [via SF Signal]
Brenda Cooper (co-author, with Larry Niven, of the excellent SF novel Building Harlequin's Moon) is profiled in the Washington Post. [also via SF Signal]
John Scalzi (author of the Hugo-nominated Old Man's War) explains why there isn't a great video-game critic yet.
There's a new issue of Emerald City online, including an interview with Tim (subliminal message: buy Three Days to Never!) Powers and a whole pile of reviews (including Three Days to Never and the deeply swell The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes).
Locus Online lists a whole bunch of new books they just saw, including Tanya Huff's Smoke and Ashes and the book I was reading today, Queen of Mars by Al Sarrantonio.
June 24, 2006
Weekend Reviews
SF Signal on Chris Roberson's Paragaea.
Fantasy Book Spot on Elizabeth Bear's Hammered.
A major review of His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik in the Washington Post Book World. [via Locus Online] (And note that His Majesty's Dragon is available, with its two sequels to date, in the spiffy SFBC omnibus Temeraire: In the Service of the King.)
The SF (that's San Francisco) Chronicle reviews novels by Marta Acosta, Kit Reed, and Vernor Vinge (Rainbows End). [also via Locus Online]
University of Delaware Running SF Exhibit
This probably isn't convenient to all that many of you -- I know it's just far enough away that I probably won't go -- but it's great to see SF getting serious, respectful treatment from a major university.
The Morris Library of the University of Delaware is hosting an exhibition called "From Verne to Vonnegut: A Century of Science Fiction," from August 22 to December 15. The UD library haas over 25,000 items in its SF collection; it's one of the big repositories of our history. If you're nearby, think about dropping in.
June 23, 2006
End-of-Week Roundup
Wild River Review interviews superstar editor Ellen Datlow.
Carnegie Mellon University has a Robot Hall of Fame, and they just inducted five new honorees, including Gort, Maria, and AIBO.
New stuff at SFFWorld: a review of Paragaea by Chris Roberson, a review of The Engineer Reconditioned by Neal Asher, and an interview with Jacqueline Carey (author of Kushiel's Scion).
The long-in-development movie of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons' landmark comics series Watchmen has a new director, reports Sci Fi Wire. Does anyone really think this movie will ever be made? And, even more: does anyone think a movie version of Watchmen (a very long, intricate story that is in large part about the fact that it is a comic book) could be anything other than a hideous mess?
David Walton has created a massive index of writing advice, for those of you who hope to be published one day. [via SF Signal]
Project Gutenberg currently has a bunch of books by classic SF author H. Beam Piper up online absolutely free, including Little Fuzzy. [also via SF Signal]
Time Traveler Show Podcasts SF Stories & Interviews
There's a new podcast in town: The Time Traveler Show. The first show is available now, featuring an interview with new author Matthew Wayne Selznick and a reading of Robert Sheckley's classic story "Warm."
Cory Doctorow Loves Farthing, Reads "I, Row-Boat"
If you read Boing Boing, you probably know this already, but...
SF writer Cory Doctorow posted a glowing review of Jo Walton's magnificent novel Farthing recently.
And he's also begun podcasting a new story, "I, Row-Boat," free to anyone who wants to listen to it. (And some commentators have pointed out that there was a satricial Onion story with a similar premise a few years back -- proving, yet again, that there are no new ideas.)
Locus Also Also Interviews Jay Lake
OK, this is now officially embarassing. In my defense, I do have to say that Locus usually only has two interviews per issue, so I thought they were done. But I was wrong.
Locus has also interviewed the phenomenon that is Jay Lake (whose first novel, Rocket Science, I just got for my birthday). Excerpts of this interview are, as you might expect, available online.
Locus Also Interviews Christopher Priest
Yes, I should have combined this and the last post into one entry, but it's early, and I'm not that organized yet.
Locus magazine's other interview in the June 2006 issue, is with author Christopher Priest (the author of one of my favorite novels, Inverted World, and whose books The Prestige and The Separation are among the many, many things on my stacks to read as soon as I can). Excerpts of this interview are also available online.
Locus Interviews Betsy Wollheim
Betsy Wollheim, president and owner of DAW Books (and the daughter of its founder Don Wollheim) has been interviewed by Locus magazine. The full interview is in the current issue, and there are excerpts available online.
June 22, 2006
I Dreamed I Read About Joe Hill Last Night
Says I, "But, Joe, you're ten years dead."
"I'm on Sci Fi Wire," says he.
Andre Norton Award Has a Logo
SFWA has just released the logo for the Andre Norton Award (which is given to the best SF or Fantasy novel for Young Adults, and is administered and presented in tandem with the Nebulas), which they hope publishers will put on the covers of winning novels.
The first Norton award was given earlier this year to Holly Black's Valiant.
June 21, 2006
Laird Barron Interviewed at Sci Fi Wire
OK, so I don't have a cute headline this time -- but Laird Barron really has just been interviewed by John Joseph Adams on Sci Fi Wire.
One Artist, One Writer: Balanced Interviews
John Picacio, last year's World Fantasy Award-winner for Best Artist, is the subject of a piece at
My San Antonio.
And SF writer Jeffrey A. Carver (probably best known for his '80s-'90s "Starrigger" series) is interviewed about writing at Meme Therapy.
June 20, 2006
Several Reviews of Jo Walton's Farthing
Robert Sawyer Says: Go To Space, Young Man!
Science Fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer has a long Op-Ed piece in the Ottawa Citizen about the importance of space colonization. (Not that we need to sell this crowd on that.)
Adam Stemple Is Not Trolling
Sci Fi Wire talks to musician and author Adam Stemple about Troll Bridge, a young adult novel he wrote with his mother, Jane Yolen.
New On Strange Horizons This Week
The webzine Strange Horizons has a article by Matthew Cheney on "Great Ideas," a new story by Eliot Fintushel, and reviews of various things.
SF Reviews on Stross's Glasshouse
There's a glowing review of Charles Stross's new novel Glasshouse up at SF Reviews; I enjoyed it quite a bit myself but possibly not as much as that reviewer did (since The Atrocity Archives is still my favorite Stross book).
Karl T. Pflock (1943-2006)
SFWA reports that former member and UFO skeptic Karl Pflock died of Lou Gehrig's disease on June 5th. Their web site has a full obiturary.
June 19, 2006
George Martin Deals a New Set of Cards
Sci Fi Wire reports that George R.R. Martin will edit a new Wild Cards anthology for Tor in 2007. No specific writers are named, but apparently there will be a mix of old-timers and new hands.
(Edit: Added the link that was the point of the post in the first place. Sorry, folks, it's just another Monday...)
June 18, 2006
Stoker Award Winners
It's not up anywhere relatively official that I can see (such as AwardWeb, the HWA website, or Locus Online), but Nick Mamatas just came back from the Stoker Awards Banquet (held in the unlikely but very appropriate venue of Newark, New Jersey, just a few miles from where I type this), and said that these are the winners. And who am I to doubt him?
- NOVEL (tie)
CREEPERS by David Morrell (CDS)
DREAD IN THE BEAST by Charlee Jacob (Necro Publications) - FIRST NOVEL
SCARECROW GODS by Weston Ochse (Delirium Books) - LONG FICTION
"Best New Horror" by Joe Hill (Postscripts #3) - SHORT STORY
"We Now Pause for Station Identification" by Gary Braunbeck (Endeavor Press) - ANTHOLOGY
DARK DELICACIES: ORIGINAL TALES OF TERROR AND THE MACABRE edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb (Carroll & Graf) - FICTION COLLECTION
TWENTIETH CENTURY GHOSTS by Joe Hill (PS Publishing) - NONFICTION
HORROR: ANOTHER 100 BEST BOOKS edited by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman (Carroll & Graf) - POETRY (tie)
FREAKCIDENTS by Michael A. Arnzen (Shocklines Press)
SINEATER by Charlee Jacob (Cyberpulp)
Congratulations, as usual, to all of the winners.
Trekkies in the Woods
It's a slow news day: there was an article about Star Trek fan-films on the front page of the New York Times.
Locus Award Winners
These were announced last night in Seattle, as part of the Science Fiction Museum's 2006 Hall of Fame Awards Weekend. (And I saw them at Emerald City, since I'm not in Seattle right now.)
- Best Science Fiction Novel: Accelerando, Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit)
- Best Fantasy Novel: Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman (Morrow; Review)
- Best First Novel: Hammered/Scardown/Worldwired, Elizabeth Bear (Bantam Spectra)
- Best Young Adult Book: Pay the Piper, Jane Yolen & Adam Stemple (Starscape)
- Best Novella: “Magic for Beginners”, Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners, F&SF 9/05)
- Best Novelette: “I, Robot”, Cory Doctorow (The Infinite Matrix, 2/15/05)
- Best Short Story: “Sunbird”, Neil Gaiman (Noisy Outlaws etc.)
- Best Magazine: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- Best Publisher: Tor
- Best Anthology: The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighteenth Annual Collection, Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, eds. (St. Martin’s)
- Best Collection: Magic for Beginners, Kelly Link (Small Beer Press)
- Best Editor: Ellen Datlow
- Best Artist: Michael Whelan
- Best Non-Fiction: Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers’ Workshop, Kate Wilhelm (Small Beer Press)
- Best Art Book: Cathy & Arnie Fenner, eds. Spectrum 12: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Underwood)
Peter Beagle Fast Forwards
There's a video interview with Peter Beagle from Fast Forward, a cable TV interview show.
June 16, 2006
John Joseph Adams Reviews A Pile of Books
Adams (possibly better known as The Slush God and assistant editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & SF) has a regular book-review column in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show online magazine.
A new one just went up, and in it JJA looks at a Scott Westerfeld YA trilogy and the complete works of Richard K. Morgan (to date) on aubiobooks.
And, elsewhere on this here intarweb, JJA defends himself and F&SF from insinuations of sexism.
Conan Set to Return to Big Screen
Sci Fi Wire reports on the plans for a new movie version of Conan the Barbarian, this time promised to be "more faithful to the Howard story."
Of course, the $64,000 question is: which Howard story? There's nothing about which (if any) of Howard's original Conan tales are being adapted into this movie. (Not that anyone asked me, but "Red Nails" would make a great movie, and probably wouldn't be all that expensive to produce, either.)
Your Clothes Are So Smart!
Nanotech clothing may be already on the way, reports the Times-Leader.
June 15, 2006
Jim Baen Reported To Have Had a Stroke
Jim Baen, founder and Editor-in-Chief of Baen Books, was reported by author Steven Barnes to have had a stroke. According to Barnes, Baen had been in a coma for about twelve hours in the middle of this morning.
Barnes broke the news of Octavia Butler's death a few months ago, and I've seen confirmation of this by a Baen author elsewhere, so this, unfortunately, seems to be true.
All of us at the SFBC hope that Jim's condition is not as bad as it sounds, and we wish him a speedy and full recovery.
New Webzine Run By Authors
Helix SF is a new web-based quarterly speculative fiction magazine, started by a group of writers (William Sanders and Lawrence Watt-Evans most prominent among them) and funded entirely by donations.
According to Sanders, Helix exists to publish the stories that are "too 'dark', too unconventional — or, most disturbingly of all, too likely to offend somebody."
According to Watt-Evans, Helix came into being because the print magazines are slowly dying and the web (like it or not) is the wave of the future.
The first issue is up right now, including new stories by Richard Bowes, Adam-Troy Castro, Janis Ian and Bud Webster; book and movie reviews; and an article on alternative history by Stephen H. Silver, among other things. It looks very interesting; Watt-Evans successfully published a novel (The Spriggan Mirror) last year using this kind of "tip jar" funding, so all that remains to be seen is iff the same kind of audience will want to pay to keep short fiction coming.
Scholz on Tiptree
Carter Scholz reviews the new major James Tiptree, Jr. biography at Bookforum.
Resnick Plays Favorites at Sci Fi
Mike Resnick is interviewed at Sci Fi Wire today, and the lede is about which of Resnick's eight books this year is his favorite. That's a busy guy...
June 14, 2006
Clive Barker Interviewed
There's a new interview of Clive Barker up on his own website. That's one way to ensure you only get questions you want to answer...
Sci Fi Also Rattles Sabers With Barnes
John Barnes is also interviewed over at Sci Fi Wire, about his new novel The Armies of Memory.
Rangergirl Rides Into Town at Sci Fi
Tim Pratt is interviewed about his debut novel The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl at Sci Fi Wire.
Today I Am A Man
Really eagle-eyed viewers will have noted that my by-line (below) now reads "Andrew Wheeler" rather than "Andy Wheeler." It's still me, and I'm not intending to get more formal, but I did want to use my full name rather than a nickname.
In related news, let me point out that I am the Science Fiction Andrew Wheeler, but not the Comics Andrew Wheeler (or any of the many other famous and semi-famous Andrew Wheelers running around the 'Net). Please adjust your exectations accordingly.
Sunburst Award Nominations
The Sunburst Award, a juried prize presented annually to a Canadian writer for a speculative fiction novel or book-length collection of speculative short fiction, has just announced the finalists for the 2006 award:
- Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow
- Gravity Wells: Speculative Fiction Stories by James Alan Gardner
- The Wave Theory of Angels by Alison MacLeod
- In the Palace of Repose by Holly Phillips
- Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
The winner will be announced sometime in the fall (the website didn't mention a date anywhere I could find).
June 13, 2006
News and Links
CNN, of all people, have a story about Robert E. Howard and his home town.
Peter S. Beagle is interviewed (warning: this is an audio file) by Fast Forward.
June 12, 2006
Robert Sawyer Interview
Meme Therapy questions Robert Sawyer about SF, Canada, and how scanning a brain is like gay marriage.
Tim Hildebrandt, 1939-2006
I've just learned, via Keith R.A. DeCandido's blog, that noted SF/Fantasy artist Tim Hildebrandt has died from complications of diabetes at the age of 67.
With his twin brother Greg, Tim Hildebrandt was one of the great iconic SFF artists of the '70s, painting one of the famous Star Wars posters as well as many, many Tolkien covers, calendar paintings and other pieces. (I can still picture my first paperback Hobbit in my mind's eye, and it had a Hildebrandt cover.) They also wrote and illustrated the fantasy novel Urshurak (with Jerry Nichols), and made piles of fantasy art, separately and together, in the decades since.
He will certainly be missed. Our condolences to his friends and family.
Naomi Novik Chat: feral dragons
Raven Herr asks: Is the implication that the the manner in which England (and other countrie) treated their newly hatched dragons the reason they went "feral?" If this is the case (and a dragon is born with the ability to speak as well as more than reasonable thinking skills (even if it is learning)- what exactly IS a feral dragon?
Western society in the books defines a feral dragon as any dragon out of harness that does not have a human handler, and any such dragon is viewed as inherently dangerous and uncontrolled, an object of fear to be kept penned up for human safety. But the accuracy of this view is of course highly suspect, and it does not address the distinctions among feral dragons. This is a central issue in the books, which I will be exploring further.
More specifically, the hatching of dragons in China is managed by other dragons rather than by people -- which of course means that there is no particular need to restrain a newly hatched dragon, as humans attempt to do in the Western practice of harnessing, which fights against the hatchling's natural instinct to go flying off in search of the vast quantities of food that a baby dragon requires.
As a note, more questions and comments are welcome and can be posted either to the original chat thread or to any of my replies.