(1) George R.R. Martin in “The First Emmys” on Not A Blog.
Andy Samberg’s joke about my attending the first Emmy Awards ceremony made me curious about Emmy history. This year was the 67th Emmy Awards, and I turned 67 last Sunday, but until Andy appeared beside me I hadn’t actually connected the two. Pretty amazing.
For a few hours I entertained the amusing thought that they were perhaps giving out those first Emmys even as I was being born. Alas, that was not actually the case. Emmy and I may both be 67, but I actually came into the world a few months before her. The first Emmy ceremony took place on January 25, 1949, to honor work telecast during 1948.
Interestingly, those first awards were strictly a local matter: a Los Angeles award, for shows broadcast in the LA media market. Not at all national. The first winner — for “Most Popular Television Program” — was a show called PANTOMIME QUIZ. A drama called THE NECKLACE won for “Best Film Made for Television,” and Shirley Dinsdale won as “Most Outstanding Television Personality.” She was a ventriloquist with a dummy named ‘Judy Splinters.’
(2) Brad R. Torgersen, in “A matter of canon” at Mad Genius Club, has a good handle on the importance of canon to fans’ relationships with successful franchises. He questions why Star Trek and Star Wars have sometimes gone astray.
See, respecting the canon isn’t just a matter of preserving timelines or sequences of events; though this is a huge part of it. Respecting the canon also means respecting what it is that fuels the enthusiasm of the people who watch your TV show, go to see your movies, or pick up and read your books.
I remember in the mid-1990s when it was revealed that neither Paramount Pictures, nor Viacom (the parent of Paramount) considered any of the many Pocketbooks Star Trek novels to be canonical, in terms of the movies and TV shows. That was a rather serious blow to me, as a fan. I’d read several dozen of those very same Pocketbooks novels, and considered some of them to be among the finest works of science fiction I’d ever encountered — they were that good. Written by top-notch SF/F authors who were doing terrific storytelling within the Star Trek framework. Then, ruh-roh, the corporate powers behind the franchise revealed that the Pocketbooks novels didn’t count. I was rather upset by this, as a fan. Both because of the time and money I’d invested, and because of the fact some of those Pocketbooks Star Trek novels were every bit as good as, if not better than, the movies and TV episodes of the time. Who were Paramount and Viacom to tell me, the fan, what was legit, or not?
(3) Greg Hullender’s new post on Rocket Stack Rank analyzes which magazines have placed the most stories in the finals of the Hugo and Nebula Awards over the past fifteen years.
(4) Margaret Atwood discusses the enduring controversy over The Handmaid’s Tale in the Guardian.
Some books haunt the reader. Others haunt the writer. The Handmaid’s Tale has done both.
The Handmaid’s Tale has not been out of print since it was first published, back in 1985. It has sold millions of copies worldwide and has appeared in a bewildering number of translations and editions. It has become a sort of tag for those writing about shifts towards policies aimed at controlling women, and especially women’s bodies and reproductive functions: “Like something out of The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Here comes The Handmaid’s Tale” have become familiar phrases. It has been expelled from high schools, and has inspired odd website blogs discussing its descriptions of the repression of women as if they were recipes. People – not only women – have sent me photographs of their bodies with phrases from The Handmaid’s Tale tattooed on them, “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum” and “Are there any questions?” being the most frequent. The book has had several dramatic incarnations, a film (with screenplay by Harold Pinter and direction by Volker Schlöndorff) and an opera (by Poul Ruders) among them. Revellers dress up as Handmaids on Hallowe’en and also for protest marches – these two uses of its costumes mirroring its doubleness. Is it entertainment or dire political prophecy? Can it be both? I did not anticipate any of this when I was writing the book.
(5) NPR reported about the devoted fans who crossed the country to Dodge City for the Gunsmoke reunion – even though all the leading characters are no longer with us.
WILSON: The show was nominated for a dozen Emmys and received critical acclaim for its unprecedented realism. It’s set in Dodge City, the hub of frontier cattle drives, with a reputation as a lawless town. Many of the main characters are no longer alive. Dennis Weaver, who played Chester Goode, passed away in 2006. Amanda Blake, who played the beloved Ms. Kitty, died in 1989 and James Arness, whose towering frame and distinctive voice made the character Marshal Matt Dillon shine, passed away four years ago….
Curiously, two actors now famous in the science fiction genre played characters with rhyming names in bit parts on Gunsmoke (not in the same episodes).
WILSON: Bruce Boxleitner played the character Toby Hogue in 1975.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BRUCE BOXLEITNER: It was totally character-driven, but it was about a character. It wasn’t about the last sunset or the last cattle drive.
And Harrison Ford played “Hobey” in a 1973 episode.
(6) Kim Stanley Robinson answered questions about his new novel Aurora from readers at io9 earlier this week.
Among them was a question about some of the unexpected impact that encountering alien life out amongst the stars could have on a space colony—and how Robinson thought the meeting might play out:
[Robinson:] “I do think it might be possible than an alien life form could co-exist with Terran life and the two just kind of pass each other by. But mainly life tries to live by converting other things to energy, so other things can look like food to it. And Terran immune systems are very powerful. Allergic shock kills many people, and it seemed to me possible that an alien would have that effect on our immune systems, either correctly or incorrectly, in terms of diagnosing a threat.
“If that happened, some people would panic. It would become not just a medical question but a political question. Who do we trust, what do we trust? What’s safest? People aren’t rational in that situation, or, some are and some aren’t, and they can fight.
“I think the scenario in the book is quite plausible. But I admit what you say, in other situations, the alien-Terran interaction need not be so bad.”
(7) NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was scheduled to examine the moon’s surface during the eclipse today.
Sunday’s eclipse is special as it follows three other total lunar eclipses in the past 18 months (usually you don’t get that many in a row) and the moon will be at its closest point in its orbit to Earth, making it slightly bigger in the sky than usual — an event popularly known as a “Supermoon.”
The LRO has been observing Earth’s satellite since 2009, and wasn’t designed to operate during eclipses. The solar-powered spacecraft would switch off almost everything until sunlight returned again. But as controllers became experienced with the drops in power during LRO’s time in shadow, they got comfortable enough to turn on one instrument: the Diviner.
More formally known as the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment, the instrument looks at day-night changes in temperature on the moon. And it turns out that during an eclipse, the plunge in temperature is sudden — almost like leaving a hot tub for an icy pool, according to NASA. Click here to watch a NASA animation of what it looks like, from the surface of the moon, during a lunar eclipse.
“Ideally we want to measure the full range of temperature variation during the eclipse,” Noah Petro, the deputy project scientist for LRO, told Discovery News. Petro is based at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
(8) Old Neckbiter is back on the big screen October 25 when Fathom Events delivers a Dracula Double Feature with a twist – the double bill is the 1931 English and Spanish language versions of Dracula. However, the Spanish version was filmed sequentially on the same sets, with a different cast, rather than dubbed, and is claimed by some to be the superior work. Also part of the event is a specially produced introduction from Turner Classic Movies that will give insight into both of these 1931 vampire-horror films.
Here is the trailer for the event.
(9) James Davis Nicoll would hate for you to miss his photo of the dinosaur joke on the Kitchener Library sign, which has now been shared on Facebook over 1100 times.
(10) Star Trek Continues Episode 5 “Divided We Stand” premiered this weekend at Salt Lake Comic Con. It’s now available online.
Kirk and McCoy are trapped in time while an alien infestation threatens the Enterprise.
(11) The Palm Restaurant opened in New York in 1926, near the headquarters of the King Features Syndicate, and the place attracted a lot of cartoonists who drew their own creations on the walls in exchange for their meals. Now the property has changed hands and the art is gone.
New York Eater has “before and after” photos in “Shock/Horror: The Murals Have Been Scrubbed From the Walls of The Palm”.
Jeremiah Moss at Vanishing New York said it for everyone.
What the fuck is wrong with people? This was the original Palm restaurant, 90 years old, gorgeous, storied, beloved, its walls covered in caricatures hand-drawn by some of America’s most celebrated cartoonists. This was a one-of-a-kind treasure, never to be reproduced. You can’t buy this kind of uniqueness, it has to grow organically and mature over time–over a century of time. But we’re living in a fucked up city where fucked up people do fucked up things like destroy art, culture, and history–all in one fell swoop if they can manage it–just to replace it with something banal and miserable from the monoculture of the day.
(12) Jessica Lachenal is not impressed with one dictionary’s effort to update itself: “Some of These New Oxford Dictionary terms Make Me Feel Pretty Out of Touch” at The Mary Sue.
For starters: social justice warrior? Really? I mean, okay, sure, your definition is pretty ironic: (informal, derogatory) a person who expresses or promotes socially progressive views. “How dare they,” I can hear you saying. That’s fine. And I guess we can all agree that anyone who uses that term unironically is… well, you know.
Which brings me to the next term: fatberg. Fatberg?! Really? According to you, it’s a “a very large mass of solid waste in a sewerage system, consisting especially of congealed fat and personal hygiene products that have been flushed down toilets.” I get the wordplay–iceberg, fatberg–but… was there really a need for this? Do people run into fatbergs on a daily basis, so much so that they need a portmanteau to cover it? What are kids even doing these days? Oh, pro tip: don’t image search that.
What’s that, Collins? Yeah. Yeah, you have a good point. Awesomesauce is pretty old. Kids have been saying that for years now. Same goes for its buddy weak sauce.
[Thanks to Will R., Andrew Porter, JJ, Gerry Williams, Michael J. Walsh, Greg Hullender, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Anthony.]
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1. YOUR CITIES LIE IN RUINS
Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve
Due to childhood trauma I have never voluntarily read an Atwood book, so abstain.
2. SPREADING PLAGUE
World War Z, Max Brooks
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
WWZ enh.
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
Black Man AKA Th1rte3n, Richard Morgan
Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge
I want to vote for Vinge, but I haven’t read (nor heard of, tbh) the other book. Sadtimes.
21. THEY VANISHED LONG AGO
Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds
Eifelheim, Michael F. Flynn
22. BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
The Girl with All the Gifts, M. R. Carey
2312, Kim Stanley Robinson
Sad that it’s this KSR, which I haven’t read yet.
> “I didn’t see it as a romance novel, but I couldn’t keep from rereading it: Learning the World, Ken MacLeod”
(The name for that bracket pair was in part a little joke about the actual full title of at least the 2005 edition of Learning the World. “Learning the World: A Scientific Romance”.)
1. YOUR CITIES LIE IN RUINS
Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve
2. SPREADING PLAGUE
World War Z, Max Brooks
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
3. OTHERS AMONG US
Fledgling, Octavia E. Butler
The Fresco, Sheri S. Tepper
4. WORMHOLE WEAPONRY
Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks
Implied Spaces, Walter Jon Williams
abstain.
5. I’VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS JOB
God’s War, Kameron Hurley
Kiln People, David Brin
abstain
6. FOREIGNERS
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon
Explorer, C. J. Cherryh
7. THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND
Probability Moon, Nancy Kress
Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey
pass
8. SECOND CLASS CITIZENS
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Ragamuffin, Tobias Buckell
pass
9. PRIVACY, FREEDOM, AND CONTROL
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata
10. A SINGLE SYLLABLE IS ALL I NEED
Feed, Mira Grant
Light, M. John Harrison
But not the sequels.
11. THE STUDY OF DANGEROUS CREATURES
The Lost Steersman, Rosemary Kirstein
Bones of the Earth, Michael Swanwick
abstain
12. SECRET WEAPONS
Fortune’s Pawn, Rachel Bach
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
abstain
13. TRADERS VS. ACTORS
Balance of Trade, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
14. ROMANCE NOVELS
Gabriel’s Ghost, Linnea Sinclair
Learning the World, Ken MacLeod
abstain
15. I’LL SEE YOUR THREE MAIN CHARACTERS AND RAISE YOU SIX
River of Gods, Ian McDonald
Spook Country, William Gibson
abstain
16. JAX OR CHO
Grimspace, Ann Aguirre
Embassytown, China Miéville
17. SEND IN THE CLONES
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
The Quiet War, Paul McAuley
18. THE CURE FOR EVERYTHING
The Skinner, Neal Asher
The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon
abstain
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
Black Man AKA Th1rte3n, Richard Morgan
Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge
abstain
20. LOVE ACROSS THE AGES
Love Minus Eighty, Will McIntosh
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
abstain
21. THEY VANISHED LONG AGO
Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds
Eifelheim, Michael F. Flynn
22. BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
The Girl with All the Gifts, M. R. Carey
2312, Kim Stanley Robinson
23. INTERCONNECTIONS
Air, Geoff Ryman
The Lifecycle of Software Objects, Ted Chiang
abstain
24. COPS AND ROBBERS
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi
Lock In, John Scalzi
abstain
25. AN UNUSUAL UPBRINGING
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
Alien Taste, Wen Spencer
abstain
26. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Crescent City Rhapsody, Kathleen Ann Goonan
Accelerando, Charles Stross
27. STRANGE TERRITORY
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer
Natural History, Justina Robson
abstain
28. THE TIPPING POINT
Zendegi, Greg Egan
Farthing, Jo Walton
29. SOCIETY EVOLVES
Blindsight, Peter Watts
Carnival, Elizabeth Bear
30. LIFE ON MARS
The Empress of Mars, Kage Baker
The Martian, Andy Weir
31. ISOLATED PLANET
The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
abstain
32. BROKEN SHIPS
Passage, Connie Willis
Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi
abstain
Not participating in this round of brackets, but I do want to note that the title for Bracket #1 gave me a Sousxie & The Banshees earworm.
Entry into SF: I think it was when Mom gave me copes of L’Engle’s Time Trilogy when I was seven or so. I started with A Swiftly Tilting Planet because it had a unicorn on the cover. After several abortive efforts to get through Chapter 1 (all talk, no unicorn), Mom suggested perhaps I should try A Wrinkle In Time as it was written more to my age level. This comment filled my tanks with sufficient “Oh yeah?!” rocket fuel that I at last finished Chapter 1, encountered the unicorn in Chapter 2, and read straight on through to the end. Much of it surely went over my head, but I finished it, by golly.
@Lydy Nickerson: I am currently contemplating the ways in which our conversation went well, and Nick’s went poorly. … In my more cynical moments, the phrases “engagement in good faith” and “lack thereof” flit across my mind. Then I rewatch some Steven Universe until my faith in humanity (and humanoids) replenishes.
> “Should I be reading Reeve, and would Mortal Engines be a good starting point?”
Mortal Engines is a great starting point for Reeve. As to whether you should be reading it …
It is a wildly inventive YA novel. The start of a completed four-book series, but it stands alone relatively well. (There is also another series currently being written set much earlier in the same world, with three out of four planned books completed, but Mortal Engines is probably the better starting point.) Set on earth, far-future, and is technically post-apocalyptic social commentary dystopia, but reads far more like an old-school dashing adventure novel in style and approach. The main female character is notably not required to be either pretty or nice. If any of that appeals to you, read it. 🙂
@David Goldfarb
Zendegi is very atypical Egan. It isn’t like recent or early Egan at all, very different in feel. It is a very human novel and I liked it very much. Well worth reading even and I would extend that to those people who usually bounce off Egan’s work.
> “Should I be reading Reeve, and would Mortal Engines be a good starting point?”
Also, the best opening line for a novel since 1984.
@NickPheas
Opening lines – there would be a lot of competition for that. Steel Beach by John Varley had an opening line that must be in contention.
Even more comics:
* Modesty Blaise
* Thrud the Barbarian
* Spirou & Fantasio
* Arak – Son of Thunder
There is so much out there it is crazy. To organize a comics brackets is not that much different from organizing a books bracket. Of all genres.
@Vasha
The Drowned Celestial – I am shamefully ignorant of CL Moore’s main work, although I already had in mind to read something by her for the Retro-hugos. There’s a “Best of” that has both Shambleau and one of her 1940s works, so I’ll pick that up.
If TDC is a limited homage, then it could well come over badly by comparison – I’ll let you know. Having read it without the benefit of comparison, I simply found the tone pleasingly pulp. Of course, there’s a fine line between pulp and silly.
4. WORMHOLE WEAPONRY
Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks
Urgh, really liked Implied Spaces. But Banks!
9. PRIVACY, FREEDOM, AND CONTROL
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata
Abstaining on this one but will say that I’ve now got both of these on my To Buy list, or Wish List as Amazon call it…
10. A SINGLE SYLLABLE IS ALL I NEED
Light, M. John Harrison
Going to have to re-read this and see if I can work out what it was about this time.
12. SECRET WEAPONS
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
14. ROMANCE NOVELS
Learning the World, Ken MacLeod
Need to read more MacLeod.
15. I’LL SEE YOUR THREE MAIN CHARACTERS AND RAISE YOU SIX
Spook Country, William Gibson
Fine book that reminded me lots of my days reading cold war spy fiction while being scifi enough for me now.
18. THE CURE FOR EVERYTHING
The Skinner, Neal Asher
Sums up Asher in many ways, he does love his lethal ecosystems.
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
Black Man AKA Th1rte3n, Richard Morgan
Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge
Umm, err. Let me get back to you on that. Hugely different books, but loved them both for their individual strengths. I think I’ll go with the Morgan but expect Vinge will win and I can live with that.
21. THEY VANISHED LONG AGO
Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds
Not my favorite of his but loved the way he uses time dilation effects in the narrative structure and the baroque gothic decaying setting.
26. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Accelerando, Charles Stross
Entry into Sci Fi, there were a number of things but mainly Douglas Hill’s YA books: Last Legionary, Huntsman and Colsec series. John Christopher’s Tripods. On the fantasy side CS Lewis, I read Magician’s Nephew very early, and Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.
One other thing I do remember was a daily comic strip in the Scottish Daily Record which my parents got at the time. The strip was called Lance McLean and was by Sydney Jordan who was better known for a similar daily strip for the Express called Jeff Hawke. The Jeff Hawke strips were apparently also translated and published in a number of other European countries.
At roughly the halfway mark, quite a number of these are very close contests. I’d say about a quarter are tied or nearly so, a quarter are close enough to flip easily, a quarter are further apart but could still potentially change, are a quarter have developed a very clear leader.
Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese is definitely available in English, as is Schuiten and Peeter’s Cities of the Fantastic (what a stupid title). I’m not saying this so much for voting reasons as to get more eyeballs on them. Oh, and Valérian and Laureline, Christin and Mézières.
But have you read any accidentally?
@Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little :Thanks for a most excellent earworm, which I hadn’t had since sometime in the eighties (and I don’t think I’d ever seen the video.)
@Kyra, NickPheas: SOLD!!
Putting that first line here because I just want to see it again: “It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.”
Ahhhh, right so.
Most of the international comics mentioned are or have been available in english. How widely distributed they have been is another thing. A lot of them are known for readers of Heavy Metal magazine.
@andyl Agreed on Zendegi. I love Egan all the way around, but it was nice to get one you didn’t have to submit for college credit at the end.
1. YOUR CITIES LIE IN RUINS
Xpass.
2. SPREADING PLAGUE
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
3. OTHERS AMONG US
Pass
4. WORMHOLE WEAPONRY
Pass
5. I’VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS JOB
Kiln People, David Brin
6. FOREIGNERS
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon
7. THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND
Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey
8. SECOND CLASS CITIZENS
Pass
9. PRIVACY, FREEDOM, AND CONTROL
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata
10. A SINGLE SYLLABLE IS ALL I NEED
Pass
11. THE STUDY OF DANGEROUS CREATURES
Bones of the Earth, Michael Swanwick
12. SECRET WEAPONS
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
13. TRADERS VS. ACTORS
Pass
14. ROMANCE NOVELS
Pass
15. I’LL SEE YOUR THREE MAIN CHARACTERS AND RAISE YOU SIX
River of Gods, Ian McDonald
16. JAX OR CHO
Embassytown, China Miéville
17. SEND IN THE CLONES
Pass
18. THE CURE FOR EVERYTHING
The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge
20. LOVE ACROSS THE AGES
Pass
21. THEY VANISHED LONG AGO
Pass
22. BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
Pass
23. INTERCONNECTIONS
Pass
24. COPS AND ROBBERS
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi
25. AN UNUSUAL UPBRINGING
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
26. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Accelerando, Charles Stross
27. STRANGE TERRITORY
Pass
28. THE TIPPING POINT
Farthing, Jo Walton
29. SOCIETY EVOLVES
Blindsight, Peter Watts
30. LIFE ON MARS
Pass
31. ISOLATED PLANET
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
32. BROKEN SHIPS
Passage, Connie Willis
Corto Maltese was turned into several movies for TV 10 years ago or so. Never saw them, but a friend who is a fan of the comic did and said they were ok.
Kyra on September 28, 2015 at 3:10 pm said:
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART ONE:
MY GOD IT’S FULL OF BOOKS
Oh, my. I seem to have read some of these. Surely some mistake?
4. WORMHOLE WEAPONRY
Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks
Because Banks.
6. FOREIGNERS
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon
Because it’s not Cherryh’s interminable series.
10. A SINGLE SYLLABLE IS ALL I NEED
Light, M. John Harrison
14. ROMANCE NOVELS
Learning the World, Ken MacLeod
15. I’LL SEE YOUR THREE MAIN CHARACTERS AND RAISE YOU SIX
Spook Country, William Gibson
16. JAX OR CHO
Embassytown, China Miéville
My favourite Miéville is still The City & the City, but this one is pretty nearly as good.
17. SEND IN THE CLONES
The Quiet War, Paul McAuley
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge
21. THEY VANISHED LONG AGO
Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds
26. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Accelerando, Charles Stross
Music of the Dyson Spheres.
29. SOCIETY EVOLVES
Blindsight, Peter Watts
Too many half pairs and no pairs. Which leaves:
24. The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi
Scalzi is decent but Rajaniemi is rapidly earning a place on my must read list.
26. Crescent City Rhapsody, Kathleen Ann Goonan
Back and forth on this one. Loved both this and Accelerando, but: Marie Laveau and voudon, Ellington and Jazz… Got to go with Crescent City.
1. YOUR CITIES LIE IN RUINS
Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
2. SPREADING PLAGUE
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
3. OTHERS AMONG US
Fledgling, Octavia E. Butler
The Fresco, Sheri S. Tepper
Nooooooooo!
4. WORMHOLE WEAPONRY
Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks
5. I’VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS JOB
Kiln People, David Brin
7. THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND
Probability Moon, Nancy Kress
8. SECOND CLASS CITIZENS
Ragamuffin, Tobias Buckell
9. PRIVACY, FREEDOM, AND CONTROL
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata
10. A SINGLE SYLLABLE IS ALL I NEED
Light, M. John Harrison
11. THE STUDY OF DANGEROUS CREATURES
Bones of the Earth, Michael Swanwick
12. SECRET WEAPONS
Fortune’s Pawn, Rachel Bach
13. TRADERS VS. ACTORS
Balance of Trade, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
15. I’LL SEE YOUR THREE MAIN CHARACTERS AND RAISE YOU SIX
Spook Country, William Gibson
16. JAX OR CHO
Embassytown, China Miéville
17. SEND IN THE CLONES
The Quiet War, Paul McAuley
18. THE CURE FOR EVERYTHING
The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge
22. BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
2312, Kim Stanley Robinson
24. COPS AND ROBBERS
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi
25. AN UNUSUAL UPBRINGING
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
26. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Accelerando, Charles Stross
29. SOCIETY EVOLVES
Carnival, Elizabeth Bear
30. LIFE ON MARS
The Martian, Andy Weir
@Soon Lee, your comment about free-online books being more available to nominators is accurate for me, at least. I’m reading lots-and-lots of short fiction, but the free stuff is simply more accessible to me.
Ooh, early book talk!
I suffered from mild dyslexia as a kid so reading books that weren’t littered with pictures was daunting to me. I did read a couple of Mushroom Planet books and remember liking them, but I never considered them genre reads. Just like other books I had(The Shark in Charlie’s Window, and Here Comes Charlie(but different Charlie), with a sciencey edge they were just books.
The book that really first grabbed me was Weirdstone of Brisengamen. It took me forever to read that in grade three but thanks to it’s spark by grade five I was in the top reading group at school(just in time for our librarian to ruin Narnia for me by pointing out the religious metaphor).
Between 3-5 I had read the Narnia books and lots of others, including The Tripid trilogy but my first “hooked me to SF” read was Plague Ship. I must have liked that so much my mum go me Sorceress of the Witch World(and it just goes to show either how open minded she was or desparate to get me to read, since it was the cover with the heroine, arms stretched above her head, thin low cut dress, and very prominant boobage).
My first all night read was The Dark is Rising in grade six but after that everything else is just a blur as I tore through our High school library.
I’m rather looking forward to the comics brackets. I’ve read *none* of them. My folks thought comics were “bad for you”. And then I never really had a spur to read any when I left home; I hung out with SF geeks and gamer geeks who didn’t happen to be comic geeks.
On further reflection I should say, I’ve read *almost* none of them. I did devour Elfquest, and I’ve read at least some Sandman. But those are “graphic novels” so my brain apparently puts them in a different category than comics. And I read Girl Genius and Schlock Mercenary and Stand Still Stay Silent, but those are comic strips (webcomic strips, anyway) so they’re somehow different than comic books. What can I say; brains are funny.
Anyway, I’m hoping that the comics brackets will point me to some cool stuff I’ve never heard of.
Hey, I know Old Venus is the anthology that’s relevant for Hugo nominations, but what did people think of Old Mars? Worth getting? I loved Red Planet, “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” and at least the idea of Burroughs John Carter books.
The ebook looks overpriced to me – seriously, $15 almost two years from publication? – so it’s got a bar to clear. But I’m interested.
First sf/f: I don’t know. I read a bunch of stuff. I know I was eight when I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I don’t know what age I was when I read a bunch of E. Nesbit. There was a weird middle-grade book called The Moonball that I loved a lot. I hated Wrinkle in Time, because I didn’t want there to be Christianity in my fiction.
But the first sf/f book I read that told me that this was a genre, one I wanted to read a whole lot more of, was Starman Jones by Heinlein. There was this one moment, when he’s describing the Astrogator’s Guild, and my thirteen year old brain did this *sproing* thing, where the Astrogator’s Guild and the labor disputes in the news (it was 1975) and the medieval history I knew a little about all collided in the most delightful, memorable way, and suddenly I wanted more of that. So then I read Stranger in a Strange Land. Life changed forever, and I’m a better person for it. Not that these were great books, but they were good enough, and they were there at the right time.
I feel more at home in the comics bracket than in any other bracket as yet. It is the first one I feel well read in. I guess I have read somewhere around 80% of what has been mentioned yet (at least partly).
All this because of one man, Horst Schröder, and his crusade in sweden to publish all the best comics from around the world. Also, because for a while I bought almost all comics that were published in sweden. And those I didn’t were bought by my brother. 😀
1. YOUR CITIES LIE IN RUINS
2. SPREADING PLAGUE
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
3. OTHERS AMONG US
4. WORMHOLE WEAPONRY
Implied Spaces, Walter Jon Williams
5. I’VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS
6. FOREIGNERS
7. THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND
8. SECOND CLASS CITIZENS
9. PRIVACY, FREEDOM, AND CONTROL
10. A SINGLE SYLLABLE IS ALL I NEED
11. THE STUDY OF DANGEROUS CREATURES
12. SECRET WEAPONS
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
I pushed to get Fortune’s Pawn in the bracket and this is what happens to it!?
13. TRADERS VS. ACTORS
14. ROMANCE NOVELS
15. I’LL SEE YOUR THREE MAIN CHARACTERS AND RAISE YOU SIX
16. JAX OR CHO
17. SEND IN THE CLONES
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
18. THE CURE FOR EVERYTHING
Probably the only E. Moon novel I haven’t read.
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
20. LOVE ACROSS THE AGES
21. THEY VANISHED LONG AGO
22. BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
23. INTERCONNECTIONS
24. COPS AND Spencer
Lock In, John Scalzi
25. AN UNUSUAL UPBRINGING
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
Alien Taste, Wen Spencer
Oh brackets, why must you do this to me? But I have to go with Anathem in the end.
26. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Accelerando, Charles Stross
27. STRANGE TERRITORY
28. THE TIPPING POINT
29. SOCIETY EVOLVES
30. LIFE ON MARS
31. ISOLATED PLANET
32. BROKEN SHIPS
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART ONE:
MY GOD IT’S FULL OF BOOKS
11. THE STUDY OF DANGEROUS CREATURES
The Lost Steersman, Rosemary Kirstein
12. SECRET WEAPONS
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
13. TRADERS VS. ACTORS
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
16. JAX OR CHO
Embassytown, China Miéville
17. SEND IN THE CLONES
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
20. LOVE ACROSS THE AGES
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
24. COPS AND ROBBERS
Lock In, John Scalzi
25. AN UNUSUAL UPBRINGING
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
27. STRANGE TERRITORY
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer
30. LIFE ON MARS
The Martian, Andy Weir
That’s actually more than I though I would know.
Speaking of which: I know more or less when I started reading science fiction, though I can’t identify the first book I read. (There was one I remember from fairly early on about an eccentric professor with a small spaceship, and orichalcum.) But I have no idea when I started reading fantasy. Fantasy, for me, is simply part of childhood. I knew of it from the cradle.
On suggestions for the comics/graphic novels brackets and great first lines, has anyone suggested Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake)’s The Hunter?
“When a fresh faced guy in a Chevy offered him a lift, Parker told him to go to hell.”
(My favorite-favorite first line(s): “I first heard Personville called Poisonville by a red-haired mucker named Hickey Dewey in the Big Ship in Butte. He also called his shirt a shoit.”)
Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little on September 29, 2015 at 1:52 am said:
Me too!
My entry into SF was a little hazy, because my first memory — period — is the moon landing, which happened to coincide with my third birthday. And I seem to recall that I had a vague understanding that this was real, unlike the stories I had seen about it, and I suspect those stories were “watching Star Trek with my parents.” I get the impression that Star Trek was one of few SF entertainments my mom liked, although she does like fantasy and gothics.
So, probably Star Trek, but maybe it’s cooler to imagine it being the actual moon landing.
My first SF book was Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. But my first FAVORITE SF book was A Wrinkle in Time.
Andrew M:
“an eccentric professor with a small spaceship, and orichalcum.”
You’ve started bells ringing from my early reading with this; maybe a title will come along in time (i.e. somewhere after 3916 AD)
Jim Henley:
The Kindle edition of Old Mars is currently on amazon.com at $5.38. I looked it up on Amazon UK, saw £3.47, grabbed it – and then decided I’d better cross-check before posting in case it was a UK-only deal.
And then I found that “Customers who bought this item also bought” – The Unorthodox Engineers by Colin Kapp. Which brings me back nicely to last night’s posts about New Writings in SF. Everything is connected.
Let’s get ready to mumble…
2. World War Z, Max Brooks
4. Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks
6. Explorer, C. J. Cherryh
7. Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey
8. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
10. Light, M. John Harrison
12. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
18. The Skinner, Neal Asher
19. Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge
29. Blindsight, Peter Watts
31. Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
Ouch, that last one was a tough choice.
How come that I have read a lot of these but they never end up paired: So:
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART ONE:
MY GOD IT’S FULL OF BOOKS
1. YOUR CITIES LIE IN RUINS
Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve
Abstain
2. SPREADING PLAGUE
World War Z, Max Brooks
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
I liked DI but haven’t read the other one. Abstain
3. OTHERS AMONG US
Fledgling, Octavia E. Butler
The Fresco, Sheri S. Tepper
abstain
4. WORMHOLE WEAPONRY
Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks
Implied Spaces, Walter Jon Williams
Look to Windward
5. I’VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS JOB
God’s War, Kameron Hurley
Kiln People, David Brin
abstain
6. FOREIGNERS
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon
Explorer, C. J. Cherryh
abstain. I should read the Chabon though.
7. THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND
Probability Moon, Nancy Kress
Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey
Abstain
8. SECOND CLASS CITIZENS
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Ragamuffin, Tobias Buckell
Abstain
9. PRIVACY, FREEDOM, AND CONTROL
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata
abstain
10. A SINGLE SYLLABLE IS ALL I NEED
Feed, Mira Grant
Light, M. John Harrison
I can’t vote for Feed on the grounds that I hated Light, right? Abstain
11. THE STUDY OF DANGEROUS CREATURES
The Lost Steersman, Rosemary Kirstein
Bones of the Earth, Michael Swanwick
abstain
12. SECRET WEAPONS
Fortune’s Pawn, Rachel Bach
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
Ancillary Justice.
13. TRADERS VS. ACTORS
Balance of Trade, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
I can’t vote for Balance of Trade on the grounds that I hated Station Eleven, right? Abstain
14. ROMANCE NOVELS
Gabriel’s Ghost, Linnea Sinclair
Learning the World, Ken MacLeod
abstain
15. I’LL SEE YOUR THREE MAIN CHARACTERS AND RAISE YOU SIX
River of Gods, Ian McDonald
Spook Country, William Gibson
Abstain
16. JAX OR CHO
Grimspace, Ann Aguirre
Embassytown, China Miéville
abstain
17. SEND IN THE CLONES
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
The Quiet War, Paul McAuley
Abstain
18. THE CURE FOR EVERYTHING
The Skinner, Neal Asher
The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon
Abstain
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
Black Man AKA Th1rte3n, Richard Morgan
Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge
Black Man
20. LOVE ACROSS THE AGES
Love Minus Eighty, Will McIntosh
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
abstain
21. THEY VANISHED LONG AGO
Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds
Eifelheim, Michael F. Flynn
abstain
22. BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
The Girl with All the Gifts, M. R. Carey
2312, Kim Stanley Robinson
Abstain – The girl is very close to the top of my Mount File770, but not there yet.
23. INTERCONNECTIONS
Air, Geoff Ryman
The Lifecycle of Software Objects, Ted Chiang
Air Great book.
24. COPS AND ROBBERS
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi
Lock In, John Scalzi
Abstain
25. AN UNUSUAL UPBRINGING
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
Alien Taste, Wen Spencer
abstain
26. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Crescent City Rhapsody, Kathleen Ann Goonan
Accelerando, Charles Stross
Abstain
27. STRANGE TERRITORY
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer
Natural History, Justina Robson
Abstain
28. THE TIPPING POINT
Zendegi, Greg Egan
Farthing, Jo Walton
Farthing
29. SOCIETY EVOLVES
Blindsight, Peter Watts
Carnival, Elizabeth Bear
abstain although I am pretty certian it would be blindsight
30. LIFE ON MARS
The Empress of Mars, Kage Baker
The Martian, Andy Weir
abstain
31. ISOLATED PLANET
The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
abstain
32. BROKEN SHIPS
Passage, Connie Willis
Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi
Corto Maltese is the name of the protagonist, first appearing in Una Ballata Del Mare Salato. Both the stories and especially the art evolve dramatically over the years, and the latest books are more a series of illustrations and quotes than a story, which is why I think Corte Sconta is the best.
Making tv out of them is Wrong. So is continuining the character, as they are alas going to do.
Ah, fond memories. 🙂
I know: I just wanted to vent my frustration. Frankly, the differences between the European and Latin American comics and the English language ones is so vast that I never really was able to read graphic novels before Saga. I recognize the greatness of the stories, but the art looks so crude that I just can’t suspend my irritation. The last time I tried was with V for Vendetta. I’d seen the movie and liked many things about it. I had to abandon the book after very few pages. There are probably lots of really great comics out there with great stories and great art, but I haven’t found them yet. It doesn’t help that I am not too keen on the whole superheroes thing.
Ah yes, my entry into SF.
I am a second generation reader: some of the classics of the genre have been transmitted to me as stories my mother or father told me. Killdozer, Solaris, and The Day of the Triffids for example – I never read them but I know them. My first SF book was a children’s book by an Italian children’s author, Gianni Rodari, called The Cake In the Sky. It was surreal but it was also proper SF. I loved it.
Then I read a lot of classics packaged for kids – probably cut, I don’t know. One of them was Edumnd Hamilton’s Battle for the Stars, one was a Murray Leinster, but I don’t know the title, and one was a Robert Silverberg and had a cat and a family on Mars. Then I graduated to proper adult books, I think with the Foundation Omnibus.
@Peter J
That’s odd. I just checked Old Mars on Amazon and the Kindle edition is still listed at the hideously expensive price. I buy most of my ebooks from Barnes & Noble, so possibly Amazon doesn’t put me in the queue for the good prices.
@Kurt:
My underwear drawer and my television remote are doing just fine, thank you very much.
In my own opinion (which is, as previously mentioned, full of arrogance and not in the least humble) your own run on Avengers beats Englehart’s all hollow, and it doesn’t make the cut either, though it comes pretty close.
@Cassy B: IMG,AO “graphic novel” is what people call comics when they’re embarrassed to say they’re reading comics. I really don’t see a distinction.
If you’re looking for good comics to read, you could do quite a bit worse than to shop for anything with the name “Kurt Busiek” on the cover.
I too am seeing – just re-confirmed – the $14.99 price point on Amazon.com (US) for Old Mars. And I buy Kindle books almost weekly these days.
I will brook no bad words about Steve Englehart’s run on Avengers!
God Stalk marks the spot
I can see the low price for Old Mars on Amazon UK and US. So something weird is happening.
1. YOUR CITIES LIE IN RUINS
Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve
–pass
2. SPREADING PLAGUE
World War Z, Max Brooks
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
3. OTHERS AMONG US
Fledgling, Octavia E. Butler
The Fresco, Sheri S. Tepper
4. WORMHOLE WEAPONRY
Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks
Implied Spaces, Walter Jon Williams
–pass
5. I’VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS JOB
God’s War, Kameron Hurley
Kiln People, David Brin
6. FOREIGNERS
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon
Explorer, C. J. Cherryh
–pass
7. THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND
Probability Moon, Nancy Kress
Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey
–pass
8. SECOND CLASS CITIZENS
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Ragamuffin, Tobias Buckell
9. PRIVACY, FREEDOM, AND CONTROL
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata
10. A SINGLE SYLLABLE IS ALL I NEED
Feed, Mira Grant
Light, M. John Harrison
–pass
11. THE STUDY OF DANGEROUS CREATURES
The Lost Steersman, Rosemary Kirstein
Bones of the Earth, Michael Swanwick
–pass
12. SECRET WEAPONS
Fortune’s Pawn, Rachel Bach
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
13. TRADERS VS. ACTORS
Balance of Trade, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
–pass
14. ROMANCE NOVELS
Gabriel’s Ghost, Linnea Sinclair
Learning the World, Ken MacLeod
–pass
15. I’LL SEE YOUR THREE MAIN CHARACTERS AND RAISE YOU SIX
River of Gods, Ian McDonald
Spook Country, William Gibson
–pass
16. JAX OR CHO
Grimspace, Ann Aguirre
Embassytown, China Miéville
-pass
17. SEND IN THE CLONES
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
The Quiet War, Paul McAuley
–pass
18. THE CURE FOR EVERYTHING
The Skinner, Neal Asher
The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
Black Man AKA Th1rte3n, Richard Morgan
Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge
–pass
20. LOVE ACROSS THE AGES
Love Minus Eighty, Will McIntosh
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
–pass
21. THEY VANISHED LONG AGO
Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds
Eifelheim, Michael F. Flynn
–pass
22. BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
The Girl with All the Gifts, M. R. Carey
2312, Kim Stanley Robinson
–pass
23. INTERCONNECTIONS
Air, Geoff Ryman
The Lifecycle of Software Objects, Ted Chiang
–pass
24. COPS AND ROBBERS
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi
Lock In, John Scalzi
25. AN UNUSUAL UPBRINGING
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
Alien Taste, Wen Spencer
–pass
26. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Crescent City Rhapsody, Kathleen Ann Goonan
Accelerando, Charles Stross
27. STRANGE TERRITORY
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer
Natural History, Justina Robson
–pass
28. THE TIPPING POINT
Zendegi, Greg Egan
Farthing, Jo Walton
29. SOCIETY EVOLVES
Blindsight, Peter Watts
Carnival, Elizabeth Bear
30. LIFE ON MARS
The Empress of Mars, Kage Baker
The Martian, Andy Weir
–pass
31. ISOLATED PLANET
The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
32. BROKEN SHIPS
Passage, Connie Willis
Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi
–pass
When I was a small child I devoured the set of “My Book House” books my grandparents had, that was published in 1925 LINK (as I see by looking at various websites. There were later editions, but this had to be the 1925 one. Which is now, apparently, worth several hundred dollars). It included quite a few fairy tales, and not just Western ones, but not fantasy per se. There’s a picture of me and my clone reading it (or at least looking at the pictures) when we were maybe 4 or 5. And then there was the other children’s anthology series I devoured as a child, the “Best In Children’s Books” series LINK from which I still remember the particular telling of the story of Robin Hood with great fondness. But fantasy and SF per se? The first I really remember for sure are the Mushroom Planet books, though Nesbit and Eager were almost certainly read to me first. And Danny Dunn was a HUGE favorite of mine when I was seven or eight; I still remember the Homework Machine and the Anti-Gravity Paint.
I made a diorama of Heinlein’s Red Planet when I was 8. It used up all the of red plasticine in the four(?)-sticks-of-different-colors package.
1. YOUR CITIES LIE IN RUINS
Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve
Abstain
2. SPREADING PLAGUE
World War Z, Max Brooks
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
Bujold
3. OTHERS AMONG US
Fledgling, Octavia E. Butler
The Fresco, Sheri S. Tepper
Darn it, The Fresco is on my to-read stack. Abstain.
4. WORMHOLE WEAPONRY
Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks
Implied Spaces, Walter Jon Williams
Abstain, though I’m very fond of other Williams I haven’t read either of these.
5. I’VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS JOB
God’s War, Kameron Hurley
Kiln People, David Brin
Abstain
6. FOREIGNERS
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon
Explorer, C. J. Cherryh
Abstain
7. THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND
Probability Moon, Nancy Kress
Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey
Abstain, though I’ve liked other Kress I’ve not read this one.
8. SECOND CLASS CITIZENS
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Ragamuffin, Tobias Buckell
Buckell
9. PRIVACY, FREEDOM, AND CONTROL
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata
Abstain
10. A SINGLE SYLLABLE IS ALL I NEED
Feed, Mira Grant
Light, M. John Harrison
Abstain
11. THE STUDY OF DANGEROUS CREATURES
The Lost Steersman, Rosemary Kirstein
Bones of the Earth, Michael Swanwick
Abstain. Again. Damnit.
12. SECRET WEAPONS
Fortune’s Pawn, Rachel Bach
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
Abstain. Arrgh.
13. TRADERS VS. ACTORS
Balance of Trade, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
Lee&Miller
14. ROMANCE NOVELS
Gabriel’s Ghost, Linnea Sinclair
Learning the World, Ken MacLeod
Abstain
15. I’LL SEE YOUR THREE MAIN CHARACTERS AND RAISE YOU SIX
River of Gods, Ian McDonald
Spook Country, William Gibson
Abstain
16. JAX OR CHO
Grimspace, Ann Aguirre
Embassytown, China Miéville
Abstain. This is getting old. Or I am.
17. SEND IN THE CLONES
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
The Quiet War, Paul McAuley
Abstain
18. THE CURE FOR EVERYTHING
The Skinner, Neal Asher
The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon
If The Skinner is the book I’m thinking of, then Moon.
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
Black Man AKA Th1rte3n, Richard Morgan
Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge
Abstain. (And I didn’t much like the Vinge)
20. LOVE ACROSS THE AGES
Love Minus Eighty, Will McIntosh
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
Abstain
21. THEY VANISHED LONG AGO
Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds
Eifelheim, Michael F. Flynn
Abstain
22. BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
The Girl with All the Gifts, M. R. Carey
2312, Kim Stanley Robinson
Carey
23. INTERCONNECTIONS
Air, Geoff Ryman
The Lifecycle of Software Objects, Ted Chiang
Abstain, and I’ve never heard of the Chiang. Gotta look for it.
24. COPS AND ROBBERS
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi
Lock In, John Scalzi
Abstain
25. AN UNUSUAL UPBRINGING
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
Alien Taste, Wen Spencer
Abstain. I like the Spencer a lot, but people keep raving about Anathem….
26. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Crescent City Rhapsody, Kathleen Ann Goonan
Accelerando, Charles Stross
Abstain
27. STRANGE TERRITORY
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer
Natural History, Justina Robson
abstain
28. THE TIPPING POINT
Zendegi, Greg Egan
Farthing, Jo Walton
Abstain. Grrrr.
29. SOCIETY EVOLVES
Blindsight, Peter Watts
Carnival, Elizabeth Bear
Watts
30. LIFE ON MARS
The Empress of Mars, Kage Baker
The Martian, Andy Weir
Arrrrrrgghhh. In spite of a bit of first-book clumsiness, gotta go with the Weir.
31. ISOLATED PLANET
The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
Abstain
32. BROKEN SHIPS
Passage, Connie Willis
Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi
Abstain.
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART ONE:
MY GOD IT’S FULL OF BOOKS
19. THE COMPUTER AND THE GUN
Black Man AKA Th1rte3n, Richard Morgan
I was disappointed in the Vinge. If A Fire Upon the Deep or A Deepness in the Sky were eligible and up against Morgan, it’d be a much different outcome.
29. SOCIETY EVOLVE
Blindsight, Peter Watts
I enjoyed Carnival but it doesn’t stand up to Blindsight, a novel that could stand multiple re-reads.
32. BROKEN SHIPS
Passage, Connie Willis
That was a tough one. Sometimes Willis gets a little too tear-jerk-happy for me, but wow was that a great read – plot, subject matter (NDE more than the sinking of the Titanic, which I was still knee-jerking about after the movie). The Ship-breaker was fun and I’ll read more in that world, but it was a bit fluffier than Passage.
@David Goldfarb, @Cassy B: IMG,AO “graphic novel” is what people call comics when they’re embarrassed to say they’re reading comics. I really don’t see a distinction.
A fair point. But the copies of Elfquest and of Sandman that I read were bound paperbacks, different in look and feel from a comic book. So somewhere, my backbrain says “not the same thing”. (Yes, I know that’s wrong.)