Friday, June 29, 2012

2012 Campbell Award Nominees

Location: Campbell Conference Awards Banquet at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.

Comments: In a field in which two books tied for first place, another was given the nod as the third place finisher, and a number were listed as finalists, I'm not entirely sure what designating Lavie Tidhar's novel Osama as an "honorable mention" was supposed to mean. Did the judges intend to recognize Osama as an implied fourth place finisher in the balloting? Did they mean to say that Osama isn't really a science fiction novel but they wanted to recognize Tidhar's accomplishment anyway? As with so many things about the Campbell Awards, the answer to these questions seems likely to remain a mystery.

Best Novel

Winner:
(tie) The Highest Frontier by Joan Slonczewski
(tie) The Islanders by Christopher Priest

Third Place:
Embassytown China MiƩville

Finalists:
Dancing with Bears by Michael Swanwick
Home Fires by Gene Wolfe
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
Seed by Rob Ziegler
Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh
This Shared Dream by Kathleen Ann Goonan

Honorable Mention:
Osama by Lavie Tidhar

Go to previous year's nominees: 2011
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2013

Book Award Reviews     Home

Monday, June 25, 2012

Musical Monday: Magic (MTG): The Rap by Remy Munasifi


I will now make an admission that may damage my gamer geek credibility: I have never played Magic: The Gathering. I have, however, played other collectible card games - my favorites are the Babylon 5 CCG and Steve Jackson Games' game of conspiracy and world domination Illuminati: The New World Order (usually abbreviated INWO). CCGs are addictive, and can be expensive. They are also insanely fun for people with obsessive personalities like me.

Remy's rap, like all of his other songs, is brutal and accurate. This is probably because Remy has experience playing a game that some have called "cardboard crack". One can almost learn how to play Magic by watching the video, and one certainly gets a good feel for how a game plays out. Plus, Remy makes it funny to listen to. So for anyone who ever spent hours crafting a new deck for their favotire CCG, this week's Musical Monday selection is Magic (MTG): The Rap.

Previous Musical Monday: I Will Sing a Lullaby by Paul & Storm
Subsequent Musical Monday: We Are Star Dust by Symphony of Science

Remy Munasifi     Musical Monday     Home

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Notice: Sporadic Posting Ahead

Starting today, June 24, 2012, I will be at Camp Olmsted in the Goshen Scout Reservation near Lexington Virginia until June 30, 2012. For anyone unfamiliar with Goshen (which I am guessing means most of the people who read this blog), it is in the mountains of Virginia in the middle of nowhere. This means I will have limited, if any, access to the internet. Consequently, posting for the next week will be sporadic at best.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Book Blogger Hop June 22nd - June 28th: The Sevens Are a Secret Society at the University of Virginia

Book Blogger Hop

Jen at Crazy for Books has restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them. A complete explanation of the history and the rules of the Hop can be found here.

This week Jen asks: Do you immediately write a review upon finishing a book or do you wait and write multiple reviews at once?

I try to write my reviews as soon as I can after finishing a book, so that I have the material fresh in my mind when I write. I usually have a backlog though, because I read faster than I can write. Right now, I'm several books behind.

Go to subsequent Book Blogger Hop: Eight Is the Second Magic Number in Nuclear Physics

Book Blogger Hop     Home

Friday, June 22, 2012

Follow Friday - The U.S.S. Enterprise is CVN-65


It's Friday again, and this means it's time for Follow Friday. There has been a slight change to the format, as now there are two Follow Friday hosts blogs and two Follow Friday Features Bloggers each week. To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
  1. Follow both of the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and any one else you want to follow on the list.
  2. Follow the two Featured Bloggers of the week - Books and Blossoms and Head Stuck in a Book.
  3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing.
  4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
  5. Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".
  6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.
  7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
  8. If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!
And now for the Follow Friday Question: If you could “unread” a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it again for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?

I've read plenty of bad books: Pureheart (read review), Dragons in the Valley (read review) and everything else by Donita K. Paul, Seven Wings and the Bleeding Twin Flowers (read review), and so on and so forth. But as bad as they were, I wouldn't pick any of them to "unread". Instead, I'll pick the sequels to Rendezvous with Rama: Rama II, Garden of Rama, and Rama Revealed. Why? Because the first book by Arthur C. Clarke is a classic of science fiction, while the sequels (written two decades later in collaboration with another author) are awful enough that they tarnish the first one.

Go to previous Follow Friday: My First Computer Was a Commodore 64

Follow Friday     Home

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Review - The Wizard in the Tree by Lloyd Alexander


Short review: Mallory finds a wizard hidden in a tree. They have adventures.

Haiku
In an old oak tree
A sleeping wizard awakes
Magic is fading

Full review: Lloyd Alexander wrote consistently good children's fiction, usually with an element of fantasy. While The Wizard in the Tree is not up to the level of the Chronicles of Prydain, it still holds up as a well-written tale of a hapless wizard losing his powers and the young girl who discovered him.

The story begins when Mallory, a young village girl, discovers Arabicus, a wizard who has been trapped in an oak tree since he broke the rules concerning harming living things. She frees him, and discovers that he was trapped while on his way out of our world into a place where all magical creatures retreated long ago. Soon enough, they discover that Arabicus' magic is fading away and he will die if he doesn't leave.

Unfortunately, Mallory and Arabicus run afoul of the greedy village squire, who is trying to industrialize the town and make himself rich. Mallory and Arabicus lurch from silly adventure to silly adventure. The tone is much more light-hearted than the Chronicles of Prydain - the villains don't, for example, burn people alive as they do in The Book of Three (read review) and much more like most young adult adventure fantasy. The problems are those a villager would encounter, and the villains are venal rather than vile. The book is fun, but it is not anything more than that.

Lloyd Alexander     Book Reviews A-Z     Home

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Review - The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander


Stories included:
The Foundling
The Stone
The True Enchanter
The Rascal Crow
The Sword
The Smith, the Weaver, and the Harper
The Truthful Harp
Coll and His White Pig


Full review: The Foundling is a collection of short stories set in the same fictional world as the Chronicles of Prydain, and featuring several of the same characters (or, in some cases, their ancestors). The stories in this book are not strictly necessary, but offer back story and character development for several of the secondary characters. Stories featuring Dallben, Coll, Fflewddur Fflam, Doli, and Kaw as well as Eilonwy's mother appear. A dark story concerning the sword Dwrnwyn, and a fairy tale-like story involving Arawn's theft of human knowledge are also featured.

For the most part, the stories are all quite brief, filling in the gaps of the Chronicles of Prydain with a story structure like folk tales. In The Foundling Alexander borrows from some Irish myth to tell the tale of how Dallben obtained his great knowledge, and also, in a very Celtic turn of events, the price that is exacted from him in return. The Stone is a little morality tale in which a farmer earns a favor from Doli and demands in payment a stone that will prevent him from aging. As is typical in tales like these, the enchanted boon turns out to be a decidedly mixed blessing.

One of the few stories that doesn't feature any of the characters from the Chronicles, The True Enchanter instead features Angharad, Eilonwy's mother. A headstrong young woman, Angharad is informed by her mother that she must marry an enchanter, and despite her reluctance begins to entertain suitors. In succession, Gildas, Grimgower, and Geraint try to win her hand - the first by conjuring darkness and snow, the second by summoning monsters, and the last by telling stories of nature and beauty. In the end, Angharad gets her way and true magic and love wins out. The Rascal Crow features Medwyn, a character who played a minor role in the Chronicles, but focuses on Kadwyr, an arrogant crow who refuses to heed Medwyn's warnings about Arwan's designs upon he and the other animals of the forest, spurning the offers of assistance proffered by Medwyn's other charges. Because this is a morality tale, this comes back to haunt Kadwyr, but because this is a humorous tale, he doesn't learn the lesson one would expect.

The darkest tale in the collection, The Sword provides background concerning the king that constructed the Spiral Castle and owned the magical blade Dyrnwyn and how his body came to be where Taran found it in The Book of Three. It is a story of hubris and injustice followed by madness and death. The Smith, the Weaver, and the Harper is another dark tale that details how Arawn deceived men and stole the tools that held the secrets of their crafts by playing upon their greed. The tale ends on a note of hope as the power of men to find beauty and resist the power of the Dark Lord is demonstrated.

The final two stories in the collection connect directly to the Chronicles. In the first, The Truthful Harp, we learn how Fflewddur Fflam gave up his kingdom, took up a life as a wandering bard, and obtained his magical harp. As happens so often in Alexander's tales, Fflewddur dreams of being heralded for famous deeds and doesn't realize which of his actions truly have value until he learns wisdom. The last story in the collection is Coll and His White Pig, which tells the tale of how Coll rescued Hen Wen from the clutches of Arawn. Although Coll is declared to be a stout warrior in the story, it is not the strength of his arm that wins him his pig back, but rather his kindness and generosity, plus a little bit of luck, which results in his obtaining help from some unlikely new friends.

While this collection is not as good as the series it supports, all of the tales are well-told, and each adds a little bit to the overall picture of Prydain. As a person who loved the five book series, the only thing I didn't like about this book is that there weren't more stories to read.

Previous book in the series: The High King

Lloyd Alexander     Book Reviews A-Z     Home

Monday, June 18, 2012

Musical Monday: I Will Sing a Lullaby by Paul & Storm


Caution: This week's Musical Monday installment may cause members of the Michigan House of Representatives to clutch their pearls in horror, get the vapors, faint, or possibly even have a heart attack or an aneurism. Be warned.

On June 20th, 2012, while criticizing a bill that was yet another effort to evade the legal requirements of Roe v. Wade, Michigan state representative Lisa Brown said " "I'm flattered you're all so concerned about my vagina. But no means no." This simple statement of truth caused the all-male Republican leadership of the state house to spin themselves into a pearl-clutching tizzy of outrage over the fact that a mere woman had the temerity to tell the truth about their blatantly unconstitutional and anti-woman legislation.

So Republican leadership barred her from speaking stating that Brown (and another legislator who had tried to introduce a bill that would bar vasectomies except where necessary to protect the life of the patient) "will not be recognized to speak on the House floor today after being gaveled down for their comments and actions yesterday that failed to maintain the decorum of the House of Representatives."

This, predictably, sparked criticism of the Michigan House leadership,for their ban on the use of the word "vagina" in discussing legislation aimed at regulating, well, vaginas. In response, the Republican lawmakers decided to double down on their silliness by proffering mealy mouthed weasel-worded excuses explaining that they didn't ban her for using the word "vagina", but rather for the way she used the word vagina. To quote Ari Adler, press secretary for Michigan House Speaker James Bolger, "It was the context in which it was used and the way it was used, that was the problem." So apparently using the word "vagina" in the context of legislation involving vaginas is the problem? Or maybe Brown's "breach of decorum" was in pointing out that as a woman, she does indeed possess a vagina?

Of course, Adler's excuse is simply nonsense, and the attempted obfuscation is simply pathetic. Republican lawmaker Rick Johnson dug the hole deeper when he attempted to explain by saying, "That comment would be very inappropriate. You have young children? Is that something you want them to hear from your state rep?" In response, I have to say that I don't find the comment to be inappropriate given the legislation being discussed at the time, I have children (my youngest is currently twelve, which I think does count as "young children"), and I think that a state representative using the correct anatomical term in a discussion about legislation relating to medical practices is exactly what I would want them to hear.

So, in honor of the leadership of the Michigan House of Representatives who apparently get the vapors and faint when they hear the word "vagina", I am featuring Paul & Storm's ode to female lady parts I Will Sing a Lullaby.

Subsequent Musical Monday: Magic (MTG): The Rap by Remy Munasifi

Paul & Storm     Musical Monday     Home

Sunday, June 17, 2012

2012 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Seattle, Washington.

Comments: In 2012, for reasons unknown, the Best Magazine and Best Book Publisher or Imprint categories dropped off of the roster of the Locus Awards. As with all of the previous times that categories have vanished without warning, I have no idea why this change was made, or what it signifies. Given that these two categories were reinstated in 2013, their disappearance is even more mysterious.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   Embassytown by China MiĆ©ville

Other Nominees:
2.   11/22/63 by Stephen King
3.   Rule 34 by Charles Stross
4.   The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge
5.   Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
6.   Dancing with Bears by Michael Swanwick
7.   Grail by Elizabeth Bear
8.   Deadline by Mira Grant
9.   Home Fires by Gene Wolfe
10. Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson
11. Earthbound by Joe Haldeman
12. Firebird by Jack McDevitt
13. The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan
14. The Islanders by Christopher Priest
15. Heart of Iron by Ekaterina Sedia
16. Daybreak Zero by John Barnes
17. This Shared Dream by Kathleen Ann Goonan
18. 7th Sigma by Steven Gould
19. All the Lives He Led by Frederik Pohl
20. Wake Up and Dream by Ian R. MacLeod
21. The Courier's New Bicycle by Kim Westwood
22. Zone One by Colson Whitehead

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

Other Nominees:
2.   Among Others by Jo Walton
3.   Snuff by Terry Pratchett
4.   The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
5.   Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
6.   The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin
7.   The Magician King by Lev Grossman
8.   The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
9.   The Folded World by Catherynne M. Valente
10. The Cold Commands by Richard K. Morgan
11. Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory
12. The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein
13. Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston
14. Heartless by Gail Carriger
15. Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles by Kim Newman
16. The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham
17. The Alchemists of Kush by Minister Faust
18. Briarpatch by Tim Pratt
19. Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
20. The Fallen Blade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
21. The Hammer by K.J. Parker
22. Mistification by Kaaron Warren

Best Young Adult Book
Winner:
1.   The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

Other Nominees:
2.   Planesrunner by Ian McDonald
3.   Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
4.   Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
5.   Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
6.   The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman
7.   Abarat: Absolute Midnight by Clive Barker
8.   Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
9.   Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede
10. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
11. Red Glove by Holly Black
12. Mastiff by Tamora Pierce
13. The Highest Frontier by Joan Slonczewski
14. Huntress by Malinda Lo
15. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
16. The Boy at the End of the World by Greg van Eekhout
17. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
18. Scrivener's Moon by Philip Reeve
19. Eona by Alison Goodman

Best First Novel
Winner:
1.    The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Other Nominees:
2.   Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine
3.   Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh
4.   God's War by Kameron Hurley
5.   Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
6.   Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht
7.   The Tiger's Wife by TĆ©a Obreht
8.   The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
9.   Seed by Rob Ziegler
10. The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones
11. Debris by Jo Anderton
12. Low Town by Daniel Polansky
13. Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente

Other Nominees:
2.   The Man Who Bridged the Mist by Kij Johnson
3.   Kiss Me Twice by Mary Robinette Kowal
4.   The Ants of Flanders by Robert Reed
5.   The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs by James P. Blaylock
6.   The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine by Peter Straub
7.   The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu
8.   The Ice Owl by Carolyn Ives Gilman
9.   Gravity Dreams by Stephen Baxter
10. The Men from Porlock by Laird Barron
11. Near Zennor by Elizabeth Hand (reviewed in Errantry: Strange Stories)
12. The Adakian Eagle by Bradley Denton
13. Rampion by Alexandra Duncan
14. Blue and Gold by K.J. Parker
15. A Brood of Foxes by Kristin Livdahl

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   White Lines on a Green Field by Catherynne M. Valente

Other Nominees:
2.   The Summer People by Kelly Link
3.   What We Found by Geoff Ryman
4.   Underbridge by Peter S. Beagle
5.   The Copenhagen Interpretation by Paul Cornell
6.   The Choice by Paul J. McAuley
7.   Fields of Gold by Rachel Swirsky
8.   The Dala Horse by Michael Swanwick
9.   The Book of Phoenix Excerpted from The Great Book by Nnedi Okorafor
10. The Maltese Unicorn by CaitlĆ­n R. Kiernan
11. A Long Walk Home by Jay Lake
12. Purple by Robert Reed
13. Clean by John Kessel
14. The Little Green God of Agony by Stephen King
15. Six Months, Three Days by Charlie Jane Anders
16. The Old Man and the Martian Sea by Alastair Reynolds
17. Late Bloomer by Suzy McKee Charnas
18. A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong by K.J. Parker
19. The Last Ride of the Glory Girls by Libba Bray
20. My Husband Steinn by Eleanor Arnason
21. Laika's Ghost by Karl Schroeder (reviewed in Clarkesworld: Issue 100 (January 2015))
22. Blackwood's Baby by Laird Barron
23. The Cold Step Beyond by Ian R. MacLeod
24. The Projected Girl by Lavie Tidhar
25. The Vicar of Mars by Gwyneth Jones
26. The Ki-Anna by Gwyneth Jones
27. Ghostweight by Yoon Ha Lee
28. Mysteries of the Old Quarter by Paul Park
29. Steam Girl by Dylan Horrocks

Best Short Story
Winner:
1.   The Case of Death and Honey by Neil Gaiman

Other Nominees:
2.   The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
3.   The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu
4.   The Bread We Eat in Dreams by Catherynne M. Valente
5.   The Way It Works Out and All by Peter S. Beagle
6.   And Weep Like Alexander by Neil Gaiman
7.   Tidal Forces by CaitlĆ­n R. Kiernan
8.   The Brave Little Toaster by Cory Doctorow
9.   The Invasion of Venus by Stephen Baxter
10. Valley of the Girls by Kelly Link
11. After the Apocalypse by Maureen F. McHugh
13. Attlee and the Long Walk by Kage Baker
14. For I Have Lain Me Down on the Stone of Loneliness and I’ll Not Be Back Again by Michael Swanwick
15. Goodnight Moons by Ellen Klages
16. Pug by Theodora Goss
17. Ascension Day by Alastair Reynolds
18. Daddy Long Legs of the Evening by Jeffrey Ford
19. Younger Women by Karen Joy Fowler
20. Mulberry Boys by Margo Lanagan
21. Smoke City by Christopher Barzak
22. The Corpse Painter's Masterpiece by M. Rickert
23. The Server and the Dragon by Hannu Rajaniemi
24. Slow as a Bullet by Andy Duncan
25. The Sandal-Bride by Genevieve Valentine
26. Woman Leaves Room by Robert Reed
27. Movement by Nancy Fulda
28. The Patrician by Tansy Rayner Roberts
29. And Go Like This by John Crowley
30. Tying Knots by Ken Liu

Best Collection
Winner:
1.   The Bible Repairman and Other Stories by Tim Powers

Other Nominees:
2.   After the Apocalypse: Stories by Maureen F. McHugh
3.   Sleight of Hand by Peter S. Beagle
4.   The Collected Stories of Carol Emshwiller, Volume 1 by Carol Emshwiller
5.   Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlin R. Kiernan (Volume One) by CaitlĆ­n R. Kiernan
6.   Paradise Tales by Geoff Ryman
7.   The Collected Short Works of Poul Anderson, Volume 4: Admiralty by Poul Anderson
8.   Kurt Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1963-1973 by Kurt Vonnegut
9.   Gothic High-Tech by Bruce Sterling
10. When the Great Days Come by Gardner Dozois
11. The Inheritance and Other Stories by Robin Hobb (aka Megan Lindholm)
12. Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan
13. Unpossible and Other Stories by Daryl Gregory
14. Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts
15. Somewhere Beneath Those Waves by Sarah Monette
16. The Monkey's Wedding and Other Stories by Joan Aiken
17. TVA Baby and Other Stories by Terry Bisson
18. The Universe of Things by Gwyneth Jones
19. Matilda Told Such Dreadful Lies: The Essential Lucy Sussex by Lucy Sussex

Best Anthology
Winner:
1.   The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Eighth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois

Other Nominees:
2.   Welcome to Bordertown edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner
3.   Engineering Infinity edited by Jonathan Strahan
4.   Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
5.   Eclipse Four edited by Jonathan Strahan
6.   The Weird edited by Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer
7.   The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities edited by Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer
8.   The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Five edited by Jonathan Strahan
9.   Life on Mars: Tales of the New Frontier edited by Jonathan Strahan
10. Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow
11. Year's Best SF 16 edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
12. Teeth: Vampire Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
13. The Book of Cthulhu edited by Ross E. Lockhart
14. Ghosts by Gaslight edited by Jack Dann and Nick Gevers
15. Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2 edited by William Schafer
16. The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three edited by Ellen Datlow
17. Blood and Other Cravings edited by Ellen Datlow
18. The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2011 Edition edited by Rich Horton
19. Happily Ever After edited by John Klima
20. A Book of Horrors edited by Stephen Jones
21. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: 22 edited by Stephen Jones
22. The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2011 Edition edited by Paula Guran

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:
1.   Evaporating Genres: Essays on Fantastic Literature by Gary K. Wolfe

Other Nominees:
2.   Becoming Ray Bradbury by Jonathan R. Eller
3.   Musings and Meditations by Robert Silverberg
4.   In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood
5.   Sightings: Reviews 2002-2006 by Gary K. Wolfe
6.   Pardon This Intrusion: Fantastika in the World Storm by John Clute
7.   Nested Scrolls: The Autobiography of Rudolf von Bitter Rucker by Rudy Rucker
8.   Denying Science by John Grant

Best Art Book
Winner:
1.   Spectrum 18: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner

Other Nominees:
2.   Masters of Science Fiction and Fantasy Art edited by Karen Haber
3.   Out of This World: Science Fiction But Not As You Know It edited by Mike Ashley
4.   A Tolkien Tapestry: Pictures to Accompany The Lord of the Rings by Cor Blok
5.   Jeffrey Jones: A Life in Art by Jeffrey Jones
6.   Hardware: The Definitive SF Works of Chris Foss by Chris Foss
7.   Fantasy+ 3: Best Hand-painted Illustrations edited by Vincent Zhao
8.   ExposĆ© 9: Finest Digital Art in the Known Universe edited by Daniel Wade

Best Editor
Winner:
1.   Ellen Datlow

Other Nominees:
2.   Jonathan Strahan
3.   Gardner Dozois
4.   Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer
5.   Gordon van Gelder
6.   David G. Hartwell
7.   John Joseph Adams
8.   Sheila Williams
9.   Catherynne M. Valente
10. Terri Windling
11. Lou Anders
12. Stanley Schmidt
13. Liz Gorinsky
14. Gavin Grant and Kelly Link
15. Betsy Wollheim
16. William Schafer
17. Neil Clarke
18. Patrick Nielsen Hayden
19. Martin H. Greenberg
20. Shawna McCarthy
21. Ginjer Buchanan
22. Alisa Krasnostein
23. Jeremy Lassen
24. Sharyn November
25. Stephen Jones
26. Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Shaun Tan

Other Nominees:
2.   Michael Whelan
3.   John Picacio
4.   Charles Vess
5.   Bob Eggleton
6.   Donato Giancola
7.   Stephan Martiniere
8.   Kinuko Y. Craft
9.   John Jude Palencar
10. Frank Frazetta
11. Thomas Canty
12. Vincent Di Fate
13. Jim Burns
14. Phil Foglio
15. Dave McKean
16. Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
17. Daniel Dos Santos
18. Tom Kidd
19. Yoshitaka Amano
20. J.K. Potter
21. Vincent Chong
22. (tie) Boris Vallejo
      (tie) Brom
24. Julie Bell
25. Todd Lockwood

Go to previous year's nominees: 2011
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2013

Book Award Reviews     Home

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Awards - Very British Science Fiction

The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a relatively recently created annual award that is given to the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom in the previous year. Established by a grant provided by Arthur C. Clarke, the award was first given in 1987 to Margaret Atwood for The Handmaid's Tale, her dystopian tale of misogynistic theocracy. Atwood, somewhat predictably, was shocked to discover that she had written a science fiction novel, and has spent the last several years dismissively pooh-poohing the entire genre, which has alienated a large cadre of her potential readers (go to list of Arthur C. Clarke Award Winners).

The winning book is chosen by a panel of judges drawn from from the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation, and SF Crowsnest. The winner is given a prize consisting of a number of pounds sterling equal to the current number of the calendar year (i.e. in 1987, for winning the award she was horrified to receive, Atwood was given 1,987 pounds sterling). You can find the official website for the award here.

1987 Arthur C. Clarke Winner: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Book Award Reviews     Home

Friday, June 15, 2012

Book Blogger Hop June 15th - June 21st: The Six Are Superhumans in Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

Book Blogger Hop

Jen at Crazy for Books has restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them. A complete explanation of the history and the rules of the Hop can be found here.

This week Jen asks: Do you belong to a book club, either online or in real life?

No. Yeah, I know, it's a pretty boring answer, but it is the only truthful one I can give.

Go to previous Book Blogger Hop: Leeloo Was the Fifth Element

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Follow Friday - My First Computer Was a Commodore 64


It's Friday again, and this means it's time for Follow Friday. There has been a slight change to the format, as now there are two Follow Friday hosts blogs and two Follow Friday Features Bloggers each week. To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
  1. Follow both of the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and any one else you want to follow on the list.
  2. Follow the two Featured Bloggers of the week - Candace's Book Blog and Patch of Sky.
  3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing.
  4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
  5. Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".
  6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.
  7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
  8. If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!
And now for the Follow Friday Question: Happy Father’s Day! Who is your favorite dad character in a book and why?

Maybe it is because I've been posting reviews for the Chronicles of Prydain series (read reviews), but I'm going to go with the elderly enchanter Dallben and the warrior-turned-farmer Coll as my favorite "dad characters", even though technically neither of them are a dad. In the books, Taran is an orphan brought up at Caer Dallben under the enchanter's care with Coll's assistance, so they more or less fill in the role of "adult guardians" for the hero. They are kind, patient, and loving towards a headstrong and foolish boy, doing their best to guide him with the wisdom that comes from age and experience, but smart enough to know when to step back and let him make his own mistakes.

Go to subsequent Follow Friday: The U.S.S. Enterprise is CVN-65

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Review - The High King by Lloyd Alexander


Short review: Arawn reaches his hand out to take Prydain in his grasp. Taran and his friends must struggle and sacrifice to stop him.

Haiku
The white pig banner
Rallies the free to Taran
Kill the cauldron born

Full review: This is the last book of the main story of the Chronicles of Prydain, and a worthy climax to the series. The bulk of this book describes the war between Arawn and the rest of Prydain, led by High King Math, Prince Gwydion, and the rest of the Sons of Don. Taran and his companions gather together the people he had befriended on his many journeys in the previous books and join Math and Gwydion's side, fighting under Taran's banner of a white pig.

Much of the war goes badly for the heroes: they are betrayed by those they depended upon, sacrifices must be made, good people fall. For a book aimed at a younger audience, the book is definitely dark, and the war quite brutal; many characters who have been in the series for numerous books must give up things that are precious and valuable to them, and many others die. Finally, through a twist that was quite a surprise to me when I read the book the first time (albeit when I was much younger), Arawn is defeated.

But that's not the end. And in many ways, the elements of the book that follow Arawn's defeat are the most important part of the book - the choices and sacrifices Taran and his friends must make in victory are the most critical, and without them, the book (and in many ways, the entire series) would have been a throwaway piece of fluff. In the end, Alexander shows that although victory has its rewards, it definitely has a price that must be paid, both to achieve it and after it has been attained.

Previous book in the series: Taran Wanderer
Subsequent book in the series: The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain

Lloyd Alexander     Book Reviews A-Z     Home

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Review - Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander


Short review: Taran searches for his heritage and along the way inadvertently finds the man he is meant to be.

Haiku
To find his parents
Taran quests across the world
And then finds himself

Full review: Of the five books that make up the Chronicles of Prydain, this one is the most oddly structured. It is also my favorite. Following the events in The Castle of Llyr, Taran decides he must find out about his true parentage and sets out accompanied by Gurgi. First he seeks out the witches of the Marshes of Morva, but since they will only trade for information (and being poor, Taran has nothing to trade), he settles for being told of the magical Mirror of Llunet faraway in the mountains, which he is told will show his true heritage. He shelters with a farmer, settles a dispute for King Smoit, rescues Doli and the fair folk from the power of the evil wizard Morda, runs afoul of the mercenary Dorath, lives with Craddoc, a farmer he believes is his father, and studies the trade crafts of smithing, weaving, and pottery with master craftsmen from the Free Commots. Taran finds the Mirror, a pool of still water in the cave, but it is destroyed by Dorath after Taran views only a glimpse, which reveals only his own reflection.

Taran in this book is a direct contrast to the Taran of The Book of Three. While Taran in The Book of Three wanted to become someone else: A hero, a warrior, someone famous and rich; the Taran in this book is looking for who he really is. Where Taran in The Book of Three jumps without thinking and fails at almost everything he tries, Taran here is wise enough to accept instruction, and consequently, ends up succeeding at almost every task he takes up. Without realizing it, Taran has grown up and become the hero he wanted to be. In Taran Wanderer, Alexander has created an almost perfect coming of age story, showing how a child becomes an adult, and how finding oneself is the most important element of that journey.

Previous book in the series: The Castle of Llyr
Subsequent book in the series: The High King

Lloyd Alexander     Book Reviews A-Z     Home

Monday, June 11, 2012

Musical Monday: I Am Glad, 'Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home by Eduard Khil (with an assist from the crew of the Enterprise)


Ray Bradbury died this week, so the natural thing to do for Musical Monday would be to post Rachel Bloom's Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury as the featured song this week. However, I already posted that song on October 18th, 2010, and I don't like to repeat myself.

Instead, I'll feature a song from another man who passed away this week: Eduard Khil, who is probably more familiar to people now as "Mr. Trolololo", singing I Am Glad, 'Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home, which most of you will probably recognize better as the "Trolololo Song". Just to add some more science fiction flavor, in the attached video Mr. Khil gets an assist in his performance from Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Doctor McCoy, and the rest of the bridge crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The song itself is apparently the result of a dispute between the song's composer Arkady Ostrovsky and the Lev Oshanin, lyricist he normally worked with. Purportedly Oshanin claimed that a composer wasn't as important as a lyricist, and to get back at him, Ostrovsky decided that the song would be just fine with no lyrics. The intended lyrics supposedly told the tale of a cowboy returning to his home, and from what little there is available of them, were pretty bad, so the song is probably better without them. And if the song had had lyrics, then it would have been just another forgettable piece of Soviet era pop music.

The performance is gloriously awful, mostly due to the 1970s Soviet sensibilities. With a bad haircut typical of the disco era and a double breasted jacket, Khil wanders out onto a really awful looking set doing some fairly obvious lip-synching. To make the song "cheerful", Khil wears a slightly deranged but oddly beatific expression on his face while going through some stiff choreography. Despite the lack of lyrics, Khil seems to be trying to tell something of a story and infuse some emotion into the performance, which is both unnerving and strangely enjoyable. It is a testament to his talent that despite being hampered by a song with no lyrics and the very worst support that Soviet era television could offer, his performance is actually somewhat enjoyable to listen to. Sadly, Khil died on June 4th (which also happens to be my mother's birthday), but he left us something that will probably endure forever. Or at least until the attention of YouTube is captured by the next thing.

Previous Musical Monday: Skullcrusher Mountain by Jonathan Coulton
Subsequent Musical Monday: I Will Sing a Lullaby by Paul & Storm

Eduard Khil     Musical Monday     Home

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Book Blogger Hop June 8th - June 14th: Leeloo Was the Fifth Element

Book Blogger Hop

Jen at Crazy for Books has restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them. A complete explanation of the history and the rules of the Hop can be found here.

This week Jen asks: If you were to write a book, what type of book would you write?

This question is almost a gimme for me: A science fiction novel. Whether it would be hard science fiction or a space opera is open for debate, but it would almost certainly be a science fiction novel.


Book Blogger Hop     Home

Friday, June 8, 2012

Follow Friday - The Offspring of a Donkey and a Horse Has Sixty-Three Chromosomes


It's Friday again, and this means it's time for Follow Friday. There has been a slight change to the format, as now there are two Follow Friday hosts blogs and two Follow Friday Features Bloggers each week. To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
  1. Follow both of the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and any one else you want to follow on the list.
  2. This week is a little different. The activity is to FEATURE your own blogger on your blog. See below to see who I am featuring!
  3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing.
  4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
  5. Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".
  6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.
  7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
  8. If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!
And now for the Follow Friday Question: There is an ACTIVITY instead of the usual question. The activity is to FEATURE your own blogger on your blog. Tell us about your buddy, or even your favorite blog and feature them. You can tell them you are doing it, or you can just surprise them. Either one - it is YOUR turn to feature someone.

So, who am I featuring today? Julia Rachel Barrett of Julia Barrett's World.


Why? Because she is one of the nicest people in the blogging world, leaving great comments and pointing people to great blogs all the time. Plus, her own blog is always fun and interesting to read. She is also a pretty damn good writer, with a number of published books under her belt. Most importantly to me, she seems to share my tastes in science fiction and fantasy. Which is, I suppose, a little narcissistic of me to care about, but there you have it. Go read her blog. Follow her on Twitter. What are you waiting for? Go! Now!

Go to previous Follow Friday: Sixty-Two Scared Sigmund Freud
Go to subsequent Follow Friday: My First Computer Was a Commodore 64

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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Review - The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander


Short review: Eilonwy must learn to be a lady so everyone goes on a sea voyage to Mona where they run afoul of a giant dwarf and his enormous cat.

Haiku
Mystic heritage
Aachren kidnaps Eilonwy
Oversized housecat

Full review: This is the third book in the Chronicles of Prydain, and in my opinion, the weakest of the five books. However, the weakest of these five books is still a great book. In the book, Dallben decides that Eilonwy (who has been living at Caer Dallben since the end of The Book of Three) should go to the island of Mona and learn to become a lady. Taran and Gurgi escort her through the journey, and meet Prince Rhun, who captains the ship they take to the island. Once there, Taran finds that both Fflewddur and Gwydion are there too, and Gwydion tells Taran that Eilonwy may be in danger.

Of course, Eilonwy is kidnapped, and the intrepid companions with Prince Rhun and several soldiers set out to find her. Taran, Fflewddur, and Gurgi find an abandoned house, a mysterious blank book, and are trapped by a giant housecat. They escape but are later trapped by a giant dwarf named Glew, and have to escape again. Finally they track Eilonwy to Caer Colur, an abandoned tower by the sea where Aachren has ensorcelled Eilonwy. Secrets are revealed concerning the blank book and Eilonwy's bauble and Aachren's power over Eilonwy is broken.

After the far-reaching adventure of The Book of Three and the intensity of The Black Cauldron, the plot of The Castle of Llyr seems like something of a let down. While the pursuit and recovery of Eilonwy turns out to be a significant affair, the side quests involving the cat Llyan and the dwarf Glew are silly enough to detract from the rest of the story, which gives this tale a light-hearted quality that seems out of place in between The Black Cauldron and Taran Wanderer. On the other hand, if all five books were dark and brooding, then the story would probably be dragged down under its own weight, so the tone of the book is probably necessary.

Previous book in the series: The Black Cauldron
Subsequent book in the series: Taran Wanderer

Lloyd Alexander     Book Reviews A-Z     Home

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Review - The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander


Short review: Arawn has a cauldron that can bring the dead back to life to serve as his soldiers. Taran and his friends have to find a way to take it away from him, even as their own allies betray their cause.

Haiku
Deathless cauldron born
To destroy the black cauldron
One hero must die

Full review: In the second book of the Chronicles of Prydain, Taran sets out for adventure once more, slightly more prepared than he was in The Book of Three. He is once more accompanied by Gurgi, Fflewddur and Eilonwy, and the whole group is led by Gwydion. Some new characters are introduced: the chief bard Aadon, the cunning King Morgant, the jovial ham-handed King Smoit,  and the egotistical prince Ellidyr.

Gwydion has learned that since the Horned King was killed Arawn has been using the magical device known as the Black Cauldron to produce more and more of the deathless cauldron-born warriors. The plot of the novel revolved around the heroes' attempts to recover and destroy the object, preventing Arawn from increasing his army. It turns out that the cauldron has been stolen from Arawn already, but eventually Taran locates it, and bargains with its new owners to obtain it. After various betrayals and deaths, the cauldron is destroyed, but at a significant cost.

For a book aimed at young adults, the book is quite somber. Several notable characters die, characters one thought would be allies turn out not to be, Taran is forced to give up something very valuable, and the Cauldron itself can only be destroyed if someone willingly gets in it while still alive, which will kill them (which draws directly upon the original Welsh legend the cauldron is based upon). Unlike the crappy Disney hack-job movie in which Gurgi came back to life after destroying the cauldron, in the book, the death is irrevocable. While The Book of Three was more of a romp, this book seems to up the ante, showing that defeating Arawn will be neither easy nor painless.

Previous book in the series: The Book of Three
Subsequent book in the series: The Castle of Llyr

Lloyd Alexander      Book Reviews A-Z     Home

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Review - The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander


Short review: An assistant pig-keeper dreams of becoming a hero. He gets his chance and believes he has failed.

Haiku
Assistant keeper
For an oracular pig
Not really a hero

Full review: This book kicks off Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain series. The hero is Taran, an assistant pig-keeper who dreams of adventure despite the admonitions of his wiser guardians Dallben and Coll. When Hen Wen, the oracular pig Taran takes care of, escapes, Taran goes off to find her and prevent her being captured by the Horned King, servant of the evil Arawn. On the way, Taran meets the prince Gwydion, the beast Gurgi, gets captured by the evil sorceress Aachren, escapes with the help of the princess Eilonwy and the bard Fflewddur Fflam, finds a magical sword he can't use named Dyrnwyn, wanders into a valley reserved for animals, stumbles into the hidden home of the fair folk, and finally tries (and fails) to use Dyrnwyn and misses the climactic battle of the book.

In short, Taran is about as inept at being a hero as one would expect a farm boy to be. Despite this (or rather, because of this), Taran is an endearing and engaging character and you root for him the whole book. Along the way, Taran (and presumably the reader) learns that being a hero means more than simply being able to swing a sword effectively, and maybe there are qualities that an assistant pig-keeper might display that are, in fact, the hallmarks of a true hero. Although the Chronicles are written for young readers, they are among my favorite books, and are my favorite fantasy series.

Subsequent book in the series: The Black Cauldron

Lloyd Alexander     Book Reviews A-Z     Home

Monday, June 4, 2012

Musical Monday - Skullcrusher Mountain by Jonathan Coulton


There are some love stories that can only be told by certain people. The twisted and beautiful love story in Skullcrusher Mountain could only be told by Jonathan Coulton. An evil super-villainous madman kidnaps the object of his desire and whisks her away to his secret lair and attempts to woo her by making a half-monkey half-pony monster, plying her with wine, and pointing out that the mountain is covered with hungry wolves. The evil genius dreams of taking his love away on a trip under the ocean while his henchmen set the atmosphere on fire. Overall, a fairly standard tale of boy meets girl, boy kidnaps girl, boy makes horrible mutated monster for girl, and boy's army of demented followers ends life on Earth. Pretty boring really. But in Coulton's hands this classic tale of romance really comes to life.

Undead life. Wait, no, that's another song.

Previous Musical Monday: Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac

Jonathan Coulton      Musical Monday     Home

Friday, June 1, 2012

Book Blogger Hop June 1st - June 7th: There Were Four Classical Elements Until Aristotle Came Along

Book Blogger Hop

Jen at Crazy for Books has restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them. A complete explanation of the history and the rules of the Hop can be found here.

This week Jen asks: BEA Edition – What upcoming releases are you most looking forward to?

I have no idea. Maybe this makes me a lousy book blogger, but I really have no idea what books are schedule to be published in the future. Even when I am a fan of an active ongoing series, such as Naomi Novik's Tremeraire books, I don't actually pay enough attention to know when a new book is coming out. This isn't really unique to books for me though, despite the massive advertising campaigns that movie studios and television networks engage in I usually only have the vaguest idea which movies and programs are due to be released in the near future. Prehaps it is because I have such a huge backlog of books to read and things to watch already. perhaps it is just that I am not very attentive about such things. But the end result is the same: I don't have a clue what releases are upcoming, which pretty much precludes me from looking forward to any particular ones.

Go to subsequent Book Blogger Hop: Leeloo Was the Fifth Element

Book Blogger Hop     Home

Follow Friday - Sixty-Two Scared Sigmund Freud


It's Friday again, and this means it's time for Follow Friday. There has been a slight change to the format, as now there are two Follow Friday hosts blogs and two Follow Friday Features Bloggers each week. To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
  1. Follow both of the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and any one else you want to follow on the list.
  2. Follow the two Featured Bloggers of the week - Books of Love and Sinnful Books.
  3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing.
  4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
  5. Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".
  6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.
  7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
  8. If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!
And now for the Follow Friday Question: You are a matchmaker - your goal, hook up two characters from two of your favorite books. Who would it be? How do you think it would go?

I always hate "match-up" questions because I am so very lousy at answering them. For this question I'm going to put together Robert A. Heinlein's Lazarus Long from books like Methuselah's Children and Time Enough for Love and Poul Anderson's character Dominic Flandry from Ensign Flandry and Agent of Terra. This isn't really a romantic pairing, although I expect that in the unlikely event that Flandry suggested some sort of tryst that Long would accept. The real goal is to get two interstellar swashbucklers together and see what kind of mischief they can get up to. I figure that they would mostly get along, although Long would probably chide Flandry for his cynicism and willingness to fight for a government he knows is corrupt, while Flandry would chastise Long for his adherence to unattainable ideals, his hypocritical willingness to participate in efforts to control the politics of multiple universes, and maybe for the occasionally incestuous nature of his promiscuity. Despite their differences, I'm guessing they would become a formidable duo gallivanting about the galaxy and foiling villains and setting things right. Or at least they would find all the bars and drink a lot.

Go to previous Follow Friday: Boudica Rebelled Against Roman Rule in 61 A.D.

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