(1) Why is Stieg Larsson’s fourth Millennium novel a news item for the scroll? Well, it is a book a lot of us will read, but that’s not the reason. Sweden’s Ahrvid Engholm supplies the connection in his coverage “From the Biggest Book Release of 2015: ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’” on Europa SF.
There were big news and no news at the Stockholm press conference (August 26th) for the fourth Millennium novel, “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” by David Lagercrantz. Big news because of all the speculations and hysteria around this book, in the international bestseller (80+ million copies world-wide) series created and written by Stieg Larsson….
Stieg Larsson was one of Sweden’s top science-fiction fans throughout the 1970’s, as fanzine publisher (titles like Fijagh, SFären, Långfredagsnatt) board member and later chairman of the Scandinavian SF Association (where Yours Truly met him every week for several years), for which he and Eva Gabrielsson also edited the memberzine. He then turned to nonfannish journalism, covering neonazi and racist movements, and became quite well-known, writing books and appearing on TV talking about that field. When he died in a heart attack 2004, the first volumne in the Millennium saga was just about to be published. He never lived to see his huge success.
(2) The SFEditors (Ellen Datlow, Gardner Dozois, Paula Guran, Rich Horton, and Jonathan Strahan) are practically machine-gunning out short fiction recommendations.
The best core SF novella of 2015 is @AquilaRift’s Slow Bullets (Tachyon) about a failing starship far from home. Powerful and moving. – JS
— SFEditorsPicks (@SFEditorsPicks) September 13, 2015
(3) io9 lists “11 Science Fiction Books That Are Regularly Taught in College Classes”.
“But where is Fahrenheit 451?” demands John King Tarpinian.
(4) Lock your doors!
This actually happened. https://t.co/aV2HNGLt3F
— John Scalzi (@scalzi) September 13, 2015
(5) Lee Hutchinson’s review of The Martian on Ars Technica focuses on whether it got the science right.
Fortunately, The Martian, is a good blind date. Screenwriter Drew Goddard has translated Andy Weir’s novel into a script that keeps almost all of the science and humor intact, and director Ridley Scott allows the vast emptiness of Mars to speak for itself, while keeping the gimmicks to a minimum.
And, of course, Matt Damon does wonders for the role of Mark Watney—the best botanist on the planet. The planet of Mars.
(6) Tom Knighton reviews Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves and concludes:
Absolutely amazing book. I now find myself eagerly awaiting the next book. I only wish Stephenson had a tip jar on his website. I’d easily kick him whatever his percentage should be, because he easily deserves it.
(7) The oft-interviewed Samuel R. Delany answers questions, this time in The Nation:
CD: What other writers were doing this kind of work in ways that resonated with you?
SD: The first white writer who wrote a black character I personally found believable—and I read lots and lots, both inside and outside science fiction—was Thomas M. Disch, in his 1968 New Wave novel Camp Concentration, first serialized in the British science-fiction magazine New Worlds, whose first installment appeared in its first tabloid-style issue. The presentation of Mordecai is one reason I think it’s such an important book in science fiction’s history. Yes, that book passed my own Turing test in a way that, for me, Faulkner’s black characters did not—as, indeed, many of his white characters failed to do for me as well, though I always found his language exacting, when it wasn’t exhausting. Tom told me later that he’d modeled Mordecai on a black classmate of his in the Midwest. But, boy, did I recognize him from my memories of myself and my black friends on the Harlem streets.
(8) Forry Ackerman wrote a fan letter to Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1931 — and got an answer. Read both on Letters of Note.
(9) Just found out somebody was selling these in 2009. (“See The World Through The Eyes of MST3K”.)
And somebody else 3-D printed a version that glows in the dark.
(10) Here’s a random connection. Batman creator Bob Kane is buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.
Cartoonist. Born in New York City, he was a comic book artist and writer, credited as the creator of the DC Comic’s superhero “Batman” character. He was a trainee animator when he entered the comic book field in 1936. Merging with DC Comics action series in 1938, editors were in a scramble for more heroes such as Superman. It was then when Kane who had influences from film actor action characters, conceived “Batman” as a superhero. Writer Bill Finger joined artist Kane and the “Batman” character debuted in DC’s Detective Comics series in May 1939, and was a breakout hit… (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)
Who is Kane’s nearest neighbor? Stan Laurel.
Burial: Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California,
USA Plot: Court of Liberty, Lot #1310 (behind Stan Laurel).
(11) Jonathan Kay reports how he was sheared at Fan Expo Canada.
On Sunday, I took two of my daughters to the 2015 instalment of Fan Expo Canada, billed as “the largest Comics, Sci-fi, Horror, Anime, and Gaming event in Canada.” More than 100,000 fans show up annually for the four-day exhibition, which now sprawls over both buildings of the massive Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Under one roof, I was able to meet a life-size My Little Pony, compete in a Catan tournament, playtest emerging console video games, commission custom panels from famous cartoonists, pose with life-size Futurama characters, buy a fully functional 3D-chess set, and generally revel in all the various subcultures that the rest of society stigmatizes as dorky and juvenile. My girls and I have been to Fan Expo Canada three years in a row, and we always have a good time….
In fact, the best way to describe Fan Expo’s celebrity protocol is as a sort of Chicago Mercantile Exchange for human beings. Instead of live cattle, lean hogs, skimmed milk powder, cash-settled butter, and softwood pulp, this big board (displayed above) lists prices for Billy Dee Williams, Gillian Anderson, Danny Trejo, Neve Campbell, Norman Reedus, Skeet Ulrich, Zach Galligan, and fifty other stars and quasi-stars. The precision of the numbers suggests a fine-tuned demand-driven adjustment process that any commodities trader would recognize. Williams (Lando Calrissian from Star Wars, but you knew that) was listed at $57. Anderson (X-Files): $91. Danny Trejo (Machete): $74. Neve Campbell (Scream): $97. Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead): $130. Skeet Ulrich (Jericho): $68. Zach Galligan (Gremlins): $63. Just my luck: Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley, Harry Potter’s red-haired sidekick) was listed at $142—highest on the board. I wanted to bail out. But having made the mistake of getting dragged this far, turning back wasn’t going to be a good-dad move.
And it got worse. Fan Expo also sells “Team Ups”: Photo-ops that allow big spenders to pose with multiple cast members from the same show or movie. In the case of Potter fans, $260 gets you the “Weasley family”—featuring not only Grint, but the two actors who play his fictional twin brothers Fred (James Phelps) and George (Oliver Phelps). The twins alone could be had for a mere $102, but my daughters convinced me that the family plan offered “the best value.” A second print: another $10. Digital copy: That was extra, too. With frames and tax, I was in for well over $300….
“Fleeced,” “Rip-off,” “Sucker”—I’ve used some strong language here. But in fact, Fan Expo and the Weasleys were scrupulously honest. They promised me a photo for a printed price. And that’s exactly what they delivered. And it’s a great shot: Everyone’s beaming. We look like fast friends. Perfect for generating social media likes and green-envy emoticons.
(12) You probably haven’t read enough tortured reasoning about the Hugos and Sasquan lately and will be thrilled that a lawyer has been studying the possibilities of suing about the asterisks.
Hugo "Asterisk Awards": Legal Analysis Complete #SadPuppies
Read: http://t.co/nJvbF9peyW
— Pointed Commentary (@RoyCalbeck) September 13, 2015
More here.
Asterisking the Hugo Nominations is therefore perfectly legal, UNLESS the presentation was unofficial… which WorldCon can deny at the drop of a formal filing. All three lawyers were convinced that the second WorldCon obtained legal representation, they’d be advised to throw their Hugo Committee Chair (and all of his emails to me) under the biggest bus they could find. While this would essentially invalidate the 2015 Hugos entirely, it was pointed out that the organization’s alternatives would be far more disastrous.
Why?
Because WorldCon had complete control of the venue and process, but did nothing to prevent (or even denounce) any illegal use of its trademarks therein. Failure to defend a trademark against known infringement endangers the trademark.
That’s entirely aside from the issue of fraud, which comes in under the heading of deliberate misrepresentation. WorldCon’s Hugo Chair isn’t saying that they are invalidating the Asterisks after the fact… instead, he’s saying the Asterisks were never legitimate to begin with. Yet at the actual event, they were publicly represented as THE official Nominee awards. Rather than treated as jokes, they were lionized by those on stage as representative of SF/F fandom as a whole.
The denial itself is an act of fraud, affecting all 2015 Hugo Voters, but in terms of public record the World Science Fiction Society has given every appearance of endorsing the Asterisk Awards as official. Were I to file action, they’d only need to respond with verification of their existing public position. That would invalidate any claim of damages I could make. Only if they formally back up their Hugo Chair do they risk anything.
As none of the lawyers I spoke to believe they’ll be that stupid, none want to accept the case at this point.
‘Tis clear as is the summer sun.
(13) Gardner Dozois’ Year’s Best was published July 7. An anonymous contributor sent me this report on how the 2015 Hugo nominees fared.
But yesterday, I did compare the ballots to Gardner Dozois’s Year’s Best Table of Contents and Honorable mention list and came across something I find interesting…
Of all the nominees, both on the final ballot and those who dropped off the ballot, none of the stories made the table of contents and only two authors made the Honorable Mention list.
Given the positive comments about Annie Bellet and Kary English, it would be natural to think they might have made Gardner’s Honorable Mention list, but they didn’t.
The only Hugo nominated story to make Gardner’s honorable mention list was Michael Flynn’s “The Journeyman: In the Stone House,” which many of non-puppies complained was not a complete story since it is a part of a larger work.
The only other Hugo nominated author to make the list, amazingly enough for a non-Hugo related story, was John C. Wright, for “Idle Thoughts.”
(14) John Scalzi would do it this way – “My Almost Certainly Ill-Advised Proposed Award Voting Process”.
- How the vote works: There are three voting rounds: Nomination, long list, and finalist.
Nomination: Everyone votes for one and only one work (or person, if it’s that sort of category) in the category. The top ten or twelve vote-getters are sent to the long list stage (ties, etc are fine but the goal would be to get number of long list nominees as close to the ideal long list number as possible).
Long List: Everyone votes for up to three works on the long list, none of which can be the single work they originally nominated. That’s right! You have to choose something else in this stage, and hope enough other people like the work you originally nominated to include it among their own selections!
But what if people choose not to make selections in the stage in the hope that their lack of selection of other work will bump up the chances of their preferred work? Well, I would consider making a rule that says failure to participate in this round counts as a point against your original choice’s score in this round — which is to say if you don’t vote in this round, a point is deducted for your original choice’s score in this round (presuming it made the long list at all). You’re better off voting if you want your original selection to make it to the final round.
In this round, the top five or six vote-getters graduate to the final round. Hope your original choice made it!
Finalist: This vote is done “Australian Rules” style, where each voter ranks the works from first to last choice. “No Award” is an option in this round, so if you hated everything in the long list round, this is where you may register your disapproval. The winner is the one which collects the majority of votes, in either the first or subsequent balloting rounds.
(15) The Sci-Fi Air Show is an incredible bit of imaginative work.
What if instead of using sets, models and special effects, the producers of science fiction films and television shows constructed full sized flying spaceships? That is the premise of the Sci-Fi Air Show.
In a similar story arc to the Batmobile and the Aries 1B miniature from 2001: A Space Odyssey, these ships would have likely been sold off, traded, hidden away in basements and eventually rescued, restored and put on public display.
The images you see here on the site are photographs of practical miniature spaceships digitally blended with actual air show backgrounds. It is a fantasy air show that only exists on line, but appeals to many of us who, at one time, believed that these ships of fantasy really could fly.
(16) If somebody wanted to run real museum like that, they could begin by gathering up this abandoned wooden space shuttle.
While exploring an abandoned corner of the Zhukovsky airfield (Ramenskoye Airport) in Moscow two years ago, aviation photographer Aleksander Markin stumbled onto a forgotten relic of Russia’s Buran Space Program. This decaying wooden spacecraft was used as a wind tunnel model in the 1980s for the VKK Space Orbiter, the largest and most expensive Soviet space exploration program conceived as a response to the United States’ Space Shuttle. Despite its scientific purposes the wooden ship has the appearance of a fantastic children’s playground feature.
According to Urban Ghosts, this 1:3 scale replica was just one of 85 wind tunnel models used to test various aerodynamic properties of the orbiter. The testing would eventually reveal that NASA’s prototype for the Enterprise was ideal for spaceflight and the VKK Space Orbiter would take a similar design as a result.
(17) Huffington Post helped an astronaut take down a tabloid story in “The UFOs Didn’t Come In Peace! Astronaut Sets Record Straight on ET Nuclear War”.
Few people are surprised by the eye-popping headlines in The Mirror. But when the infamous British tabloid quoted astronaut Edgar Mitchell as saying that “UFOs came in peace” to “save America from nuclear war,” it shocked everybody — including Mitchell.
“I don’t know where The Mirror got the story,” Mitchell, 84, said in an email to The Huffington Post, accusing the paper of fabricating his quotes and denying that an interview for this story ever took place.
The sixth man to walk on the moon has been outspoken over the years in his belief that extraterrestrials have visited the Earth and the moon — and that the government is withholding vital information about UFOs. Still, Mitchell insists the Aug. 11 Mirror story has no basis in the truth and disavows the information in it.
[Thanks to Andrew Porter, Will R., Ed, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Brian Z.]
Discover more from File 770
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
I have not read a lot of these this time and only both books of one match up. So here is my one vote.
11 Child of Fire Harry Connolly
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
4. SUCCEED OR DIE
Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire
Retribution Falls, Chris Wooding
I picked it up by accident, I think. Never heard of Seanan McGuire before. Fell in love so hard, even though it is clear she is still learning how to write. And learn she does. Love the whole Toby Daye series, about to start from the beginning, again, to read Red Rose Chain.
6. ACHIEVING YOUR POTENTIAL
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin
Haven, Joel Shepherd
8. THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
Caine Black Knife, Matthew Woodring Stover
10. LET’S TALK ABOUT TRADING ECONOMICS
The Cloud Roads, Martha Wells
A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham
Startlingly good, Daniel Abraham.
So much I need to read. So very much.
I’ve never played but I see a couple of authors /books I really love, so…
10. LET’S TALK ABOUT TRADING ECONOMICS
The Cloud Roads, Martha Wells
(Martha is the best at worldbuilding and creating interesting characters)
11. MURDER MOST MAGICAL
Rivers of London (AKA Midnight Riot), Ben Aaronovitch
(fun series and the audiobook reader is fabulous)
15. ANGELS AND DEMONS
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor
(Good worldbuilding, interesting characters. The short story Night of Cake and Puppets is full of quirky fun. Much better than the three books, IMO. The reader is fabulous.
16. THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN
The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
Buwaya: Re the soccer stadium massacre – that whole thing is taken from the Nika riots – such a well known event that its got its own Wiki with a list of works inspired by it.
You’ve missed the point.
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
Um…I’ve read one book in the entire list. (Shades of Milk and Honey — delightful, but perhaps I felt it suffered from adhering too closely to a patchwork of Austen tropes and stock characters). We have now entered the era when all my free text-related brain space was taken up by my own writing. (I’ve gotten better more recently.)
I don’t get why a book would “completely horrify” someone.
A lot of the comments on books here (and elsewhere to be fair) seem to indicate extremes of emotional response that just don’t seem to follow from whatever could be picked up from text. Just seems disproportionate.
Personality differences I guess.
Way back in the mists of time, we had Niven & Pournelle as GOHs at a VikingCon I helped run, because they destroyed Bellingham in Footfall. We considered it a great honor to have our town destroyed in a major SF work, after all, and most of the committee read the book before the convention.
I didn’t particularly like it. I never read any other Niven or Pournelle. I did enjoy Larry Niven personally. I don’t know if I met Jerry Pournelle, but I heard a lot of rumors that he wasn’t as nice to meet in person, especially if you were a young woman.
I’m aware of the Nika riots. It’s more that I am not sure of the applicability of the lessons of the politics of Justinian and Theodora to the politics of the future. To paraphrase Mr Nichol, I don’t think the U.S. has lost anything by avoiding, thus far, a history of patrician boots on plebeian necks.
You may dream of a yearly war on some convenient Helots; I don’t. Personality differences, moral differences, you name it.
1. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY
The Steel Remains, Richard K. Morgan
2. WILL MAGIC GET YOU WHAT YOU WANT?
The Magicians, Lev Grossman
3. NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS
Finch, Jeff VanderMeer
4. SUCCEED OR DIE
Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire
5. WAR IS COMING
The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
6. ACHIEVING YOUR POTENTIAL
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin
7. IT’S A ROUGH LIFE
Zoo City, Lauren Beukes
8. THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
9. I’M BAAAAACK
Sandman Slim, Richard Kadry
10. LET’S TALK ABOUT TRADING ECONOMICS
The Cloud Roads, Martha Wells
11. MURDER MOST MAGICAL
Rivers of London (AKA Midnight Riot), Ben Aaronovitch
12. GET STEAMPUNK
Abstain
13. INHERITING THE FAMILY BUSINESS
The Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff
14. ENOUGH ABOUT MEDIEVAL EUROPE ALREADY
Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay
15. ANGELS AND DEMONS
Abstain
16. THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN
The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
1. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY
The Steel Remains, Richard K. Morgan
The Painted Man (AKA The Warded Man), Peter V. Brett
I got nothing, abstain
2. WILL MAGIC GET YOU WHAT YOU WANT?
The Magicians, Lev Grossman
The Brides of Rollrock Island (AKA Sea Hearts), Margo Lanagan
Ditto abstain
3. NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS
Liar, Justine Larbalestier
Finch, Jeff VanderMeer
Ditto. this is getting sad. Abstain
4. SUCCEED OR DIE
Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire
Retribution Falls, Chris Wooding
Only have one, though I really liked it
So a not-a-vote for McGuire
5. WAR IS COMING
The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
Empire in Black and Gold, Adrian Tchaikovsky
Both in the pile, but under the 2015 stuff
Abstain
6. ACHIEVING YOUR POTENTIAL
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin
Haven, Joel Shepherd
YAY! I got one!
7. IT’S A ROUGH LIFE
Zoo City, Lauren Beukes
Plain Kate, Erin Bow
Nope. abstain
8. THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
Caine Black Knife, Matthew Woodring Stover
I’ve only read the one, but I really, really, really like it.
Can I haz?
9. I’M BAAAAACK
The Midnight Mayor, Kate Griffin
Sandman Slim, Richard Kadry
Nothing. Abstain
10. LET’S TALK ABOUT TRADING ECONOMICS
The Cloud Roads, Martha Wells
A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham
Okay, I hate you.
11. MURDER MOST MAGICAL
Rivers of London (AKA Midnight Riot), Ben Aaronovitch
Child of Fire, Harry Connolly
In the pile. Abstain
12. GET STEAMPUNK
The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia
Blood of Ambrose, James Enge
Both sound lovely. tbr. Abstain
13. INHERITING THE FAMILY BUSINESS
The Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff
Shadowbridge, Gregory Frost
YAY Love some Huff.
14. ENOUGH ABOUT MEDIEVAL EUROPE ALREADY
Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay
Redemption in Indigo, Karen Lord
Nope. Abstain.
15. ANGELS AND DEMONS
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor
Miserere, Teresa Frohock
Nope, Abstain
16. THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN
Mechanique, Genevieve Valentine
The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
And I still hate you, srsly.
@Laertes: “small horror press”
I used to have one of those, but it was too finicky. I traded it in for a terror juicer, which is just as good if you pick the terror while it’s nicely chilled.
@Laura Resnick: Pournelle and personalities
I’ve met him a couple of times, and he reminded me of my grandfather on both occasions. That is to say, he was crotchety and had some good stories to tell. I found Larry Niven to be much quieter and more personable.
S.M. Stirling’s “The General” used a lot of Byzantine history to be the bones of the plot, but I think he regretfully killed the rulers holding back the society, not the helots.
I enjoy Pournelle’s writings, most of it, (Legacy of Heorot struck me as … weird) but he doesn’t try to hide the message in his fiction. So, tell me again why puppiedom thinks he’s great and Scalzi is dirt?
The politics of the age of Justinian and Theodora are a constant in history.
The conservative view is that human nature is fixed, and whatever was shall be to the end of man. This is a typical approach in SF to future events and future societies and politics.
Even Iain Banks did this.
2. The Magicians
4. Rosemary and Rue
6. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
7. Zoo City (for anyone who found daemons a little too twee.. )
8. Shades of Milk and Honey
9. The Midnight Mayor
14. Under Heaven (which I love, love, love, though I do recommend Redemption In Indigo as lighthearted read. But Under Heaven is sweeping and vast and has women characters finding different ways to dieze control of their own destinies in a society that does not want them to do that.)
16. The Night Circus (There is a Failbetter web game based on this novel, in the same format as Fallen London, which is worth checking out if you like either Tale…)
Gaaah. That’ll teach me to go from memory; I accidentally said “Laura Resnick” when I meant “RedWombat” a couple of messages up… and caught it just too late to edit it.
Mea culpa.
@Taral Wayne: “To make it even stranger, they had bought an old church to live in.”
Was one of them named Alice, and if so, did she operate a dining establishment of any kind? 🙂
Brackett Time:
4. Seanan McGuire, although I’d prefer to see her first InCryptid novel here instead. (R&R is part of, I think, the only series of hers that I haven’t read – and what I have read, I’ve enjoyed without exception.)
6. N.K. Jemisin.
9. Tough call, but going with Sandman Slim.
13. Tanya Huff.
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
1. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY
The Painted Man (AKA The Warded Man), Peter V. Brett
4. SUCCEED OR DIE
Retribution Falls, Chris Wooding
7. IT’S A ROUGH LIFE
Zoo City, Lauren Beukes
9. I’M BAAAAACK
The Midnight Mayor, Kate Griffin
12. GET STEAMPUNK
Blood of Ambrose, James Enge
If someone needs an SF or fantasy historical arc for, maybe, mil SF, or evil humans invade nice but hapless aliens – I always thought the “Spanish civil wars” in Peru, between the various factions of conquistadors, was ripe for use. Leave out the Athahualpa business and there is a whole other level, and “the rest of the story”, besides many fascinating characters.
Prescott’s treatment is excellent.
And the second half of Bernal Diaz’ memoir also, where the hard work of actual conquering was done. Grunts eye view of taking over a new world.
So many of these sit on the To Be Read pile (s). Nevertheless…..
2. The Magicians, Lev Grossman
6. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin
14. Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay
(I don’t think I voted against any dragons this time)
This is embarrassing. I haven’t read a lot of these books.
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
1. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY
The Steel Remains, Richard K. Morgan
3. NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS
Since I didn’t read either book, I’m voting for Demon’s Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan.
4. SUCCEED OR DIE
Since I didn’t read either book, I’m voting for Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.
5. WAR IS COMING
Abstain because I disliked both books and cannot come up with an alternate to fit the category. Bah humbug!
7. IT’S A ROUGH LIFE
Since I didn’t read either book, I’m voting for Doppelgangster by Laura Resnick.
8. THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
Caine Black Knife, Matthew Woodring Stover
10. LET’S TALK ABOUT TRADING ECONOMICS
The Cloud Roads, Martha Wells
11. MURDER MOST MAGICAL
Rivers of London (AKA Midnight Riot), Ben Aaronovitch
Child of Fire, Harry Connolly
Ugh. Tie. I’ve been staring at this for 5 minutes trying to decide and I can’t. I really like them both.
14. ENOUGH ABOUT MEDIEVAL EUROPE ALREADY
Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
Voting where I can…
1. The Painted Man (AKA The Warded Man), Pheter V. Brett
5. Empire in Black and Gold, Adrian Tchaikovsky
6. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin
10. A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham
I promise I won’t keep repeating this every single time people argue with Buwaya, but: you’re trying to reason with a person who has repeatedly admitted that he is trolling, i.e. he regards conversation as a game in which he says things in order to irritate people and waste their time (which he regards as “whimsy”), not so much because he means those things or cares about the subject. If you’re worried that some ridiculous thing he says will be taken as gospel by others if you don’t adequately refute it… I don’t think you need to worry.
@Microtherion, thanks so much for linking to that Chaos Manor parody. That’s exactly how that column always sounded to me… and yet there was something so cheerful and chummy and cozy about it, I couldn’t stop reading just to catch a little vicarious comfort from a guy who apparently had everything (but wasn’t sure how to use it).
TechGrrl1972: Pournelle owns lotsa guns (even Niven thinks he’s nuts for having SO MANY) and Scalzi doesn’t have any. Thus puppidum decides.
I took a quick look at the ol’ bookshelves here at Stately Lurkertype Mansion out of curiosity. Pournelle’s name only appears when with Niven’s. Niven gets a lot of shelf space all by his lonesome. The shelves are community property between myself and the Mr.
At many a con, I’ve had nice chats with Larry. At none have I had nice chats with Jerry, even when I was young, thin, cute, and naive. YMMV. But the fact that Cally and I suffered the exact same experience — possibly at the same con, certainly in that era — seems telling. To be semi-fair, I think that was when he was still drinking — but Niven drank just as much back in the day and did not creep me out.
Yer Wombatship: True. Yet when one looks at the many many MANY anthologies Baen puts out, and the preferences of the Barflies, is still a puzzlement as to why they aren’t publishing it, even on the cheap. Maybe they have a “minimum wage” below which they won’t offer?
Add that to JP’s recent problems with his brain meats plus the demonstrated character of the “publisher”, and it’s not surprising people worry that an elderly man with medical issues might be being taken advantage of. Is the consent fully informed?
And is the resulting volume going to be as high quality as expected, given that at least a few authors aren’t willing to have their name linked with Toxic Teddy and thus the submission pool will be smaller? For all we know, there’s excellent writers out there who’d love to be associated with Pournelle, but really hate slate voting, or thought the Hugo packet material sucked, or are allergic to Chapters 5, or have decided they’ll pass on lying-down-with-dogs in favor of keeping more career options open.
———————
Also, I HATED “The Night Circus” and thought “Mechanique” would be more of the same, so imagine my surprise when I read a free copy when the TBR stack was smaller and loved it. There’s my vote.
Hmmmmph. Apparently I’ve slept through part of a decade. And bounced off one of a pair in three different matchups.
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
1. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY
The Painted Man (AKA The Warded Man), Peter V. Brett
2. WILL MAGIC GET YOU WHAT YOU WANT?
I’d like to substitute Black Juice, by Margo Lanagan, because I still dream about it. Also, it’s a spite vote against The Magician.
4. SUCCEED OR DIE
Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire
11. MURDER MOST MAGICAL
Rivers of London (AKA Midnight Riot), Ben Aaronovitch
That’s just painful. I love Twenty Palaces, but I loved Rivers of London just a tiny bit more.
13. INHERITING THE FAMILY BUSINESS
The Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff
I have read depressingly few books this round, but I’ll pop in to cast my votes for Sanderson’s ‘Way of Kings’ and Jemisin’s ‘Kingdoms’
I suppose my best plan for responding to all the gratuitous comments about Pournelle I’ve been forced to read today is, when I get up the morning, to write a great big post about his latest projects. Be on the lookout for it.
A lot of abstentions from me in this heat, but at least I can say “that’s already on my TBR list!” for most of them.
2. WILL MAGIC GET YOU WHAT YOU WANT?
The Magicians, Lev Grossman
5. WAR IS COMING
The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
10. LET’S TALK ABOUT TRADING ECONOMICS
The Cloud Roads, Martha Wells
A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham
Even though I haven’t read the Wells, I want to register a -1 against Abraham. I did not like it at all.
@Rail:
ROFLMAO! Well played. I LOL’d and was very glad no one was around to hear.
@Kyra: Are you just posting my TBR shelves as brackets, these days? 😉
Mike, interesting info is like gristle to our mills. Or something. 🙂
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
There are no pairings where I have read both, so I’m cheering from the sidelines. Carry on.
This is after my webcomic que reached the triple digits, so I’ve sadly not read nearly as many of these as I’d like.
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
4. SUCCEED OR DIE
Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire
5. WAR IS COMING
The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
6. ACHIEVING YOUR POTENTIAL
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin
8. THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
9. I’M BAAAAACK
The Midnight Mayor, Kate Griffin
11. MURDER MOST MAGICAL
Rivers of London (AKA Midnight Riot), Ben Aaronovitch
13. INHERITING THE FAMILY BUSINESS
The Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff
15. ANGELS AND DEMONS
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor
Honestly, I’ve felt isolated from a lot of fantasy novel recommendations in the last decade, and have been coasting on short-story podcasts. So this is one reason I’ve joined this site. The reccs are really useful.
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
1. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY
The Steel Remains, Richard K. Morgan
Everything else I have not read both books in the match-up, and in some cases not read either book in the match-up.
Ha! Dark and snark humor, I can relate to that. Cool thing to donate his body.
I’m sorry, though, if my comment brought back sad memories. It’s been more than 15 years since I lost both my parents. Part of life. Part of becoming an old fart.
Most of their generation in our family is gone. My generation is up next. I’ve occasionally found it a strange psychological position to be in.
Wheee, actually read two books in one bracket. It would be churlish not to vote now..
1. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY
The Steel Remains, Richard K. Morgan
Read half of this on a long haul flight to Melbourne and finished it on the way home. Need to read the rest of the series.
Painted Man I found interesting but wasn’t able to form any connection to the characters.
I’ve done a bit better in this heat than the last, but even so…
1. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY
I really like Morgan, but his fantasy didn’t work for me. I thought The Painted Man was interesting, but the sequel was wall-chuckingly bad. I’m taking an Apathy Abstention.
2. WILL MAGIC GET YOU WHAT YOU WANT?
The Magicians, Lev Grossman
4. SUCCEED OR DIE
Retribution Falls, Chris Wooding
Ouch ouch ouch. McGuire writes great stuff, but Retribution Falls was a real unexpected pleasure for me a few years ago. In expectation of a McGuire shutout, I’ll cast a protest vote for Wooding.
5. WAR IS COMING
Haven’t read the Sanderson, didn’t like the Tchaikovsky, abstain
6. ACHIEVING YOUR POTENTIAL
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin
Damn this was a good book.
8. THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
Sometimes you just want great characters and beautiful writing.
11. MURDER MOST MAGICAL
Rivers of London (AKA Midnight Riot), Ben Aaronovitch
*Stares suspiciously at the dice*
Aaronovitch, obviously, but knocking Connolloy out under protest.
@buwaya – “Re the soccer stadium massacre – that whole thing is taken from the Nika riots”
Sure, we know. But Drake’s version was told differently. His version has the detachment of Slammers feeling that there really isn’t any other choice. He doesn’t condemn them, but neither does he write it with Pournelle’s ‘whoo-hoo, let’s kill some liberals!!!’ tone.
Drake is a lot more at home to nuance than Pournelle (or any of the Puppies).
I assume Flint’s version was in the Belisarius Goes To India books? Don’t remember the scene, but man, those sure fell off a cliff once Drake stopped doing the writing and Flint was working from his outline.
@JJ “You’ve missed the point.”
Hmm. Maybe I did, too?
@buwaya “I don’t get why a book would “completely horrify” someone.”
Wait, don’t tell me- You’ve never read The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, have you?
@buwaya – Conquistadors
I feel like Drake already did that? Or am I mixing it up with the one where he was writing about space-English pirates raiding space-Spanish colonial territories?
@Mike:
Can it skip the whole “maybe he’s incompetent because Brain Stuff Bad and he’s really a nice guy at heart” vibe that we’ve been rocking? It’s a bit… grating, if I’m blunt. I mean, it’s not like any of us would actually know about his mental state. Maybe the guy is just being a normal grade human asshat…
HEAT THREE – THE DANCERS AT THE END OF THE DECADE
Perhaps surprisingly, I actually have opinions about quite a few of these. And here was me thinking I was out of touch.
1. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY
Abstain.
2. WILL MAGIC GET YOU WHAT YOU WANT?
Abstain.
3. NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS
Finch, Jeff VanderMeer
4. SUCCEED OR DIE
Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire
5. WAR IS COMING
Empire in Black and Gold, Adrian Tchaikovsky
6. ACHIEVING YOUR POTENTIAL
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin
7. IT’S A ROUGH LIFE
Abstain.
8. THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
9. I’M BAAAAACK
The Midnight Mayor, Kate Griffin
10. LET’S TALK ABOUT TRADING ECONOMICS
Let’s not. Abstain.
11. MURDER MOST MAGICAL
Rivers of London (AKA Midnight Riot), Ben Aaronovitch
12. GET STEAMPUNK
The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia
13. INHERITING THE FAMILY BUSINESS
The Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff
14. ENOUGH ABOUT MEDIEVAL EUROPE ALREADY
Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay
15. ANGELS AND DEMONS
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor
16. THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN
Abstain
As far as Jerry Pournelle goes: I liked The Mote in God’s Eye a lot, I liked Inferno fairly well, everything else he’s ever been involved with has… just failed to engage my interest. I suppose I’ve heard of him most often in connection with the computing column (which, well, is just another thing about computers, of the thousands that I’ve read) and with the future history of which Mote is part (and which never grabbed my interest anyway).
So… um… that’s me and Jerry Pournelle, then. If it’s any consolation, I’m sure he isn’t interested in me, either.
1. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY
The Steel Remains, Richard K. Morgan
4. SUCCEED OR DIE
Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire
8. THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
Caine Black Knife, Matthew Woodring Stover
9. I’M BAAAAACK
The Midnight Mayor, Kate Griffin
10. LET’S TALK ABOUT TRADING ECONOMICS
A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham
15. ANGELS AND DEMONS
Both on my TBR pile, but not yet read, alas.
16. THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN
Mechanique, Genevieve Valentine
> “Are you just posting my TBR shelves as brackets, these days?”
Yes.
Nice place you got, by the way.
> “Ok, folks, which of these do I have to read right now?”
When I’ve got a moment, I’ll post some quickie reviews of a few my personal favorites.
1. The Steel Remains, Richard K. Morgan
Didn’t find the sequel as compelling.
I suppose I should go back again too to The Painted Man – got it recently on a Kindle offer but lost interest after six or so chapters.
2. The Magicians, Lev Grossman
I’ve cooled a bit on this but it wowed me at the time.
4.Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire
5. Empire in Black and Gold, Adrian Tchaikovsky
though Sanderson’s was good too.
6.The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin
because I loved it, even though I haven’t read the other one
(9. – I liked Sandman Slim but not enough to vote for it without having read The Midnight Mayor)
10. Dratted dice!
The Cloud Roads, Martha Wells
A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham
A tie. I love both these books.
11. Okay, your dice hate me!.
Rivers of London (AKA Midnight Riot), Ben Aaronovitch
Child of Fire, Harry Connolly
Tie again.
13. The Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff
14. Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay
Kyra, When I’ve got a moment, I’ll post some quickie reviews of a few my personal favorites.
I appreciate that, and I really appreciate the pocket reviews that others have posted.
I appreciate Pournelle for printing Paul Edwin Zimmer’s “Logan” in one of the TWBW books, even though it was completely out of character for a “future of war” anthology. “Logan” is a long narrative poem about a 19th-century Native American leader. Very impressive in print, even better when Hilde and I were treated to PEZ’s own dramatic reading of the poem, back before his sudden and unexpected death in 1997.
(Fans of grimdark fantasy might also appreciate Zimmer’s Dark Borders series, starting with THE LOST PRINCE.)