So the Philip K. Dick Award finalists have been announced (for best science fiction paperback original):

Air, Geoff Ryman (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Apocalypse Array, Lyda Morehouse (Roc)
Banner of Souls, Liz Williams (Bantam Spectra)
City of Pearl, Karen Traviss (Eos)
The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad, Minister Faust (Del Rey)
Life, Gwyneth Jones (Aqueduct Press)
Stable Strategies and Others, Eileen Gunn (Tachyon Publications)

Yeah, so, The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust is on the list. This, the same book that I rated a D- in my Science Fiction Weekly review last year. This is starting to bug me. Not only did I see a ton of positive reviews of this book, but now it’s up for a major award. Yet I do not waver in my conviction; I truly dislike that book, and I’ll defend my opinion of it. Still. Plus, it’s not even science fiction–it’s fantasy, and so shouldn’t even be eligible for this award. But the judges have some leeway apparently as to what they consider “science fiction”; apparently their definition differs greatly from mine (as does their definition of “quality”).

Which is not to dis any of the other titles. The only other one I read was Air by Geoff Ryman, which is brilliant, so I hope that wins. The others might all be equally deserving (though I note that Apocalypse Array also appears to be fantasy…it’s got angels in it).

Read More

Yeah yeah, so the MTA is raising the cost of a subway ride again, but good news! F&SF has raised our pay rates a smidgen. We now pay 6-9 cents per word (up from 5-8 cents per word). Huzzah!

Read More

So I was reading the new issue of Entertainment Weekly the other day. In it, I was reading their article about some forthcoming things, movies, books, etc. In July, it seems, there’s a new movie about clones coming out called The Island, directed by Michael Bay, he of the kinetic action thriller (plot & characterization optional) extravaganza. Mr. Bay is quoted as saying “It’s weird to say it’s a movie about clones. I don’t even like the word clones. It makes it sound really geeky. But the movie’s not geeky in any way.”

Is it just me, or does hearing the director of a SF movie say he thinks the word “clones” makes his clone movie sound “geeky”…well, let’s just say it doesn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence. Not that I had any hope of a Michael Bay movie being good, but, well… can expectations be lowered past rock-bottom?

But anyway, since we’re all geeks here, I’m sure we all know there’s good geeky and there’s bad geeky. And based on Mr. Bay’s quote, one thing’s for sure: his clone movie will be geeky, and in the worst possible way.

Read More

We’re acquiring stories like mad, mad I tell you! On Thursday, we did the acquisitions for this month. We bought new stuff from: Geoff Ryman, Dale Bailey, Bruce McAllister (2 stories), Harry Turtledove (political satire), Gardner Dozois, Matthew Hughes (a Guth Bandar yarn), and Albert Cowdrey. And to top things off, another new slush survivor: Matthew Corradi.

Read More

Just a quick note to say that I’m planning to attend Lunacon (March 18-20) and Readercon (July 8-10) this year. Adjust your worshipping schedule accordingly.

Read More

I picked up a copy of the excellent NEFSA Press Corwainer Smith collection, The Rediscovery of Man. Much to my shame, I’d previously only read what are Smith’s two most well-known stories, “Scanners Live in Vain” and “A Game of Rat and Dragon.” I’m never sure how I’ll react to a collection like this one, but I’m quite enjoying it thus far; I’m only a quarter of the way through with it, but I’ve already found several stories that I thought to be the equal of the two aforementioned celebrated tales. I especially liked “The Lady Who Sailed The Soul” and “Think Blue, Count Two.” If you want to learn more about Smith, check out his official website, maintained by his daughter, at http://www.cordwainer-smith.com/index.htm. You can even order a Cordwainer Smith t-shirt!

But speaking of “Scanners Live in Vain,” what’s the deal with that word, “Scanners,” anyway? There are at least three prominent examples I can think of it being used in SF: “Scanners Live in Vain,” Phil Dick’s A Scanner Darkly, and David Cronenburg’s film, Scanners. None of these stories are related in any way, yet they all use this same term. Isn’t that odd?

Read More

On Monday, I went to a reading in the city, part of the New York Review of Science Fiction reading series, held every month at The South Street Seaport Museum’s Melville Gallery. I attended the reading to see my friend and colleague John Langan, but much to my delight the other reader on the ticket turned out to be none other than Samuel R. Delany, so that was a nice surprise.

John read a section from one of his novels-in-progress (he’s working on two simultaneously…I really want to read the first one but he’s put off finishing it to work on this new one, grumble grumble). Chip Delany, meanwhile, gave a rousing performance of his classic from Dangerous Visions, “Aye, and Gomorrah…”

Afterward, a few of us went out for dinner. Chip couldn’t make it, but Gordon, David Barr Kirtley, Amy Goldschlager, Jim Freund, John Langan, and I all went to a little Irish pub around the corner. Topics of discussion included Jeff VanderMeer’s non-fiction collection, the merits of Michael Chabon, and the possibility of digitizing Jim Freund’s incredible audio history of SF…which is all stored on old analog reels in his basement.

Read More

I woke up this morning to the news radio informing me of the tidal wave in Asia that killed more than 20,000 people. Needless to say, a great tragedy.

We in the SF community can at least be thankful that Sir Arthur C. Clarke was unharmed (he lives in Sri Lanka). Both Josepha Sherman and Allen Steele reported on SFF.net that they’d received word that Clarke was okay. I know a lot of people have expressed concern for him on various message boards, so please do pass along the news.

Read More

So, this month we acquired new stories from Matthew Hughes (a new Henghis Hapthorn adventure), two new pieces by Robert Reed, a hard SF story from Mary Rosenblum, a literary tale of quantum mechanics from Eugene Mirabelli, and another new story from last month’s slush survivor Mike Shultz, who seems to be striking while the iron is hot.

Nothing else new to report. Happy holidays, everyone!

Read More

On the Nightshade Message Board, Jonathan Strahan posted his favorites of the year, which prompted me to do the same. I reproduce my comments here for further discussion. I’ve expanded my list a bit to include a few more categories.

Note that I’ve chosen not to include F&SF stories in my list in the interest of fair play, but feel free to include them in your own lists, which I hope to see posted in response to this one.

Favorite Novel
Market Forces, Richard K. Morgan (Gollancz)

Favorite Collection
Trujillo, Lucius Shepard (PS Publishing)

Favorite Anthology
The Faery Reel, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling eds. (Viking)

Favorite Fantasy Short Story
“The Annals of Eelin-Ok” by Jeff Ford (The Faery Reel)

Favorite Science Fiction Short Story
“Shadow Twin” by Gardner Dozois, George R. R. Martin, & Daniel Abraham (SciFiction)

Favorite Horror Short Story
“Hands Up! Who Wants to Die” by Lucius Shepard (Night Terrors 11)

Favorite SF/F/H Publication
SciFiction, Ellen Datlow, ed.

Read More