2009 Hugo Nominees
Mar
19
2009

The Hugo nominations are in! How exciting! The full list of nominees was originally found at AnticipationSF. Some of these are available as free downloads so you may want to head over and check that out.

Special thanks to A Dribble of Ink for the heads up since that’s where I first saw this list.

Best Novel

  • Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK)
  • The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury)
  • Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor)
  • Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit)
  • Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi (Tor)

Best Novella

  • “The Erdmann Nexus” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)
  • “The Political Prisoner” by Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF Aug 2008)
  • “The Tear” by Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires)
  • “True Names” by Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow (Fast Forward 2)
  • “Truth” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)

Best Novelette

  • “Alastair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders” by Mike Resnick (Asimov’s Jan 2008)
  • “The Gambler” by Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2)
  • “Pride and Prometheus” by John Kessel (F&SF Jan 2008)
  • “The Ray-Gun: A Love Story” by James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s Feb 2008) — Read Online
  • “Shoggoths in Bloom” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s Mar 2008) — Read Online

Best Short Story

  • “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” by Kij Johnson (Asimov’s Jul 2008)
  • “Article of Faith” by Mike Resnick (Baen’s Universe Oct 2008)
  • “Evil Robot Monkey” by Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
  • “Exhalation” by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
  • “From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled” by Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s Feb 2008)

Best Related Book

  • Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn (Wesleyan University Press)
  • Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art by Cathy & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books)
  • The Vorkosigan Companion: The Universe of Lois McMaster Bujold by Lillian Stewart Carl & John Helfers, eds. (Baen)
  • What It Is We Do When We Read Science Fiction by Paul Kincaid (Beccon Publications)
  • Your Hate Mail Will be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008 by John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)

Best Graphic Story

  • The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle Written by Jim Butcher, art by Ardian Syaf (Del Rey/Dabel Brothers Publishing)
  • Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones Written by Kaja & Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
  • Fables: War and Pieces Written by Bill Willingham, pencilled by Mark Buckingham, art by Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy, color by Lee Loughridge, letters by Todd Klein (DC/Vertigo Comics)
  • Schlock Mercenary: The Body Politic Story and art by Howard Tayler (The Tayler Corporation)
  • Serenity: Better Days Written by Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews, art by Will Conrad, color by Michelle Madsen, cover by Jo Chen (Dark Horse Comics)
  • Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores Written/created by Brian K. Vaughan, pencilled/created by Pia Guerra, inked by Jose Marzan, Jr. (DC/Vertigo Comics)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

  • The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer, story; Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, screenplay; based on characters created by Bob Kane; Christopher Nolan, director (Warner Brothers)
  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army Guillermo del Toro & Mike Mignola, story; Guillermo del Toro, screenplay; based on the comic by Mike Mignola; Guillermo del Toro, director (Dark Horse, Universal)
  • Iron Man Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, screenplay; based on characters created by Stan Lee & Don Heck & Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby; Jon Favreau, director (Paramount, Marvel Studios)
  • METAtropolis by John Scalzi, ed. Written by: Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell and Karl Schroeder (Audible Inc)
  • WALL-E Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

  • “The Constant” (Lost) Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof, writers; Jack Bender, director (Bad Robot, ABC studios)
  • Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen , writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)
  • “Revelations” (Battlestar Galactica) Bradley Thompson & David Weddle, writers; Michael Rymer, director (NBC Universal)
  • “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead” (Doctor Who) Steven Moffat, writer; Euros Lyn, director (BBC Wales)
  • “Turn Left” (Doctor Who) Russell T. Davies, writer; Graeme Harper, director (BBC Wales)

Best Editor, Short Form

  • Ellen Datlow
  • Stanley Schmidt
  • Jonathan Strahan
  • Gordon Van Gelder
  • Sheila Williams


Best Editor, Long Form

  • Lou Anders
  • Ginjer Buchanan
  • David G. Hartwell
  • Beth Meacham
  • Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Best Professional Artist

  • Daniel Dos Santos
  • Bob Eggleton
  • Donato Giancola
  • John Picacio
  • Shaun Tan

Best Semiprozine

  • Clarkesworld Magazine edited by Neil Clarke, Nick Mamatas & Sean Wallace
  • Interzone edited by Andy Cox
  • Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi
  • The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, Kris Dikeman, David G. Hartwell, & Kevin J. Maroney
  • Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal


Best Fanzine

  • Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
  • Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
  • Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian III
  • The Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia
  • Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima
  • File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Best Fan Writer

  • Chris Garcia
  • John Hertz
  • Dave Langford
  • Cheryl Morgan
  • Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist

  • Alan F. Beck
  • Brad W. Foster
  • Sue Mason
  • Taral Wayne
  • Frank Wu

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

  • Aliette de Bodard
  • David Anthony Durham
  • Felix Gilman
  • Tony Pi
  • Gord Sellar

Congratulations to all the nominees! I am especially thrilled to see that one of my favorite books from last year, The Graveyard Book, made the final cut. It’s fantastic to see Elizabeth Bear (twice even!) and Nancy Kress recognized for their great work as well.

2009 Book List
Mar
19
2009

This is really just for my own benefit since I want to keep a list of books read in 2009 (I’m obsessive that way). I’ll update this as I read more.

Last updated: May 17

  1. Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold (space opera)
  2. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey (fantasy)
  3. Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke (science fiction)
  4. Inside Straight edited by George R. R. Martin (science fiction)
  5. The Charmed Sphere by Catherine Asaro (fantasy)
  6. Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison (urban fantasy)
  7. Watchmen by Alan Moore (graphic novel – science fiction)
  8. A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham (fantasy)
  9. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (urban fantasy)
  10. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (dystopian science fiction)
  11. Hope’s Folly by Linnea Sinclair* (science fiction romance)
  12. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs (urban fantasy)
  13. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs (urban fantasy)
  14. The Oracle Lips by Storm Constantine (SF & F short stories)
  15. The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove and Richard Dreyfuss (alternative history)
  16. Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre* (urban fantasy)
  17. Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman (dark fantasy)
  18. Corambis by Sarah Monette* (dark fantasy)
  19. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (YA, urban fantasy)
  20. The Last Hawk by Catherine Asaro (romantic science fiction)
  21. Starfinder by John Marco* (YA fantasy)
  22. Kings and Assassins by Lane Robins* (dark fantasy)
  23. Sins & Shadows by Lyn Benedict (urban fantasy)
  24. Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor (YA fantasy)
  25. Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey* (urban fantasy)
  26. The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (science fiction)
  27. The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee (science fiction)
  28. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie (epic fantasy)
  29. Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs (urban fantasy)
  30. Archangel by Sharon Shinn (fantasy)
  31. The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente (fantasy)
  32. Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie* (fantasy)
  33. Dreamdark: Silksinger by Laini Taylor* (fantasy)
  34. Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire* (urban fantasy)
  35. The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber*(romantic historical fantasy)

Books by authors I hadn’t read before: 15
* designates 2009 releases

So far, so good. I haven’t read a single book I didn’t enjoy and I can’t say the same for around this time last year.

Update
Mar
17
2009

Well, I was starting to get caught up on reviews… Then I got sick the beginning of last week and haven’t really felt up to concentrating well enough to write a coherent book review (although I got lots of reading done last weekend). So I’m not sure when I’ll get the rest of those reviews written, but I’m hoping I’ll feel up to writing one or two this coming weekend. Sadly, this means I missed the Blogger Book Club last week, but I did read the book beforehand and will write about it sometime after I’m feeling better.

Here are the books that will be reviewed once I’ve recovered:

  • A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham
  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (This is the Blogger Book Club book I missed last week.)
  • Hope’s Folly by Linnea Sinclair (I still much preferred the darker Gabriel’s Ghost and Shades of Dark but I also enjoyed this one far more than An Accidental Goddess.)
  • Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs (Liked this one even better than the first book and absolutely love Mercy as a character. I’m definitely getting the next book soon and maybe some other books by Patricia Briggs. Any suggestions other than this series and the Alpha and Omega one?)

Now I am reading an alternative history mystery, The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove and Richard Dreyfuss. I haven’t picked up The Oracle Lips in a while but want to read some more stories from it soon (it’s too dense for me right now – been trying to read light, easy to read books for the time being).

On the Failure of Focus Groups
Mar
17
2009

Please. This isn’t even worth mocking.

That is all.

Blue Diablo Virtual Tour and Blowout
Mar
14
2009


One of my most anticipated new releases of 2009 is the first book in Ann Aguirre’s new Corine Solomon series, Blue Diablo. To celebrate its April 7 release, Ann Aguirre will be doing a virtual blog tour, which I’m very happy to say includes a guest post here on April 2 to give away a copy of the book to one lucky winner.

Also, don’t miss the Blue Diablo Blowout run by the author herself – the grand prize is a $100 Barnes and Noble gift certificate, first runner up gets a $50 Amazon gift card, second runner up gets a $25 Lush gift card, and the third runner up gets a signed copy of Blue Diablo! If you’re talented enough to make a book trailer, you could win a $250 Visa gift card.

Want to know more about this new urban fantasy from the author of Grimspace (review) and Wanderlust (review)? Below is the official blurb, and you can also read an excerpt.

Right now, I’m a redhead. I’ve been blonde and brunette as the situation requires, though an unscheduled color change usually means relocating in the middle of the night. So far, I’m doing well here. Nobody knows what I’m running from. And I’d like to keep it that way…

Eighteen months ago, Corine Solomon crossed the border to Mexico City, fleeing her past, her lover, and her “gift”. Corine, a handler, can touch something and know its history—and sometimes, its future. Using her ability, she can find the missing—and that’s why people never stop trying to find her. People like her ex, Chance…

Chance, whose uncanny luck has led him to her doorstep, needs her help. Someone dear to them both has gone missing in Laredo, Texas, and the only hope of finding her is through Corine’s gift. But their search may prove dangerous as the trail leads them into a strange dark world of demons and sorcerers, ghosts and witchcraft, zombies—and black magic…

There will be several opportunities to win a copy during the blog tour. The schedule is as follows:

Guest blog & ARC giveaway at Novel Thoughts — February 25
Guest blog & ARC giveaway at Romance Bookwyrm — March 4
Guest blog & ARC giveaway at The Book Smugglers — March 11
Guest blog at Jennifer’s Random Musings — March 25
Guest blog at Magical Musings — March 26
Guest blog at SciFi Chick — March 27
Guest blog at Angieville — March 30
Interview at Lurve a la Mode — March 31
Guest blog at Babbling about Books — April 1
Guest blog at Fantasy Cafe — April 2
Guest blog at Stacy’s Place on Earth — April 3
Interview at Confessions of a Romance Addict — April 6
Guest blog at The Book Smugglers — April 7
Guest blog at Writer Unboxed — April 7
Interview at Cynthia Eden’s blog — April 8
Guest blog at The Thrillionth Page — April 9
Guest blog at Reading Adventures — April 10
Guest blog at Urban Fantasy Land — April 13
Guest blog at The Book Binge — April 14
Guest blog at Ramblings on Romance — April 15
Guest blog at Fantasy Debut — April 16
Guest blog at The Discriminating Fangirl — April 17
Guest blog at Cubie’s Confections — April 20

Guest Review of Ender in Exile
Mar
10
2009

Ender in Exile
by Orson Scott Card
377pp (Hardcover)
My Rating: 6.5/10
Amazon Rating: 3.5/5
LibraryThing Rating: 3.82/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.86/5

Though I am usually a rational sort of person (in a fluffy, out of touch with reality sort of way) I am also sometimes a bit of a sucker. One of the ways I’m sometimes a sucker is my habit of being loyal to authors and stories that have been good to me in the past even when they don’t necessarily deserve it any more. Thus I have a shelf full of post-1990 Robert Asprin, and thus I read something like Ender in Exile. Orson Scott Card is responsible for both my favorite standalone book (The Abyss) and two of the best sci-fi novels of the last quarter-century (Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead). More recently though, he is also responsible for the later, weaker books in the Alvin Maker series and the almost unreadable Shadow Puppets. Ender in Exile falls somewhere in between, good enough to read even if you are not the pathological completist that I am but not so great that the Ender universe would suffer if it were skipped.

Ender in Exile is a midquel that takes place between chapters 14 and 15 of the original Ender’s Game. Having played his game to its conclusion, Ender Wiggin now finds that he must deal with the consequences of his actions–both intentional and otherwise. The political and military powers that no longer need him view him only as a potential threat and rival, so Ender accepts a position as governor of an exocolony where time and distance will insulate him from Earth, and vice versa. Despite using the governorship as an excuse to leave the system Ender’s true interest is in trying to understand the Formicans, the race he previously called the Buggers and has spent his entire life being trained to fight.

But Ender’s drive to succeed means that even a job taken as an excuse has to be done right. So instead of taking the easy path and allowing the incompetent Admiral commanding his colony ship to usurp his role as governor, Ender engages in a different sort of war to protect his position and the colonists under his care. In doing so he meets the Toscanos, a pair of colonists fleeing their lives on Earth who are determined to insert themselves into the political process on Ender’s new home. But even if Ender can navigate all of the problems of being a stellar governor, they are still only distractions from his larger goal of getting through the aftermath of his war with the Formicans.


If that plot summary seems a bit confused, it is with good reason: Ender in Exile is a book that seems very confused about itself. The first half of the novel is the story of Ender’s trip on the colony ship and his fight with Admiral Morgan for control of the new colony. The next third is about Ender’s life on the colony, and a final segment briefly and off-handedly describes one of the most significant events in Ender’s multiple millennium-long personal narrative. If this seems somewhat unbalanced, that’s only because it is.

So, what is so important that it forces Card to deal with a critical topic in roughly fifty pages? The story of the Toscanos, a caricature of a mother and daughter who are into social climbing and internecine feuding. They almost feel like they were included as comic relief from Ender’s interminable brooding and introspection, but they never reach the point of actually being entertaining. Instead the pair just comes off as a convenient plot device that allows Ender to explore his feelings of guilt and anger about being used in Ender’s Game. Even worse, they are also exploited as a convenient device for Card to hammer on his favorite topic, the importance of the parent-child relationship. Though, based on how often Card’s characters tell us how important it is to have as many kids as possible, presumably bad parent-child relationships fall into the “we’ll make it up in volume” category.

Ender in Exile also continues Card’s repudiation of the original Ender’s Game that he started with the Shadow series. In Ender’s Shadow Card goes out of his way to make sure that his original premise–a special individual can be a great person, while children have all the potential of adults and should be given the same respect–is subverted by the idea that the really important child was not normal in any sense of the term and was only capable due to genetic engineering. Exile continues this pattern by letting us in on the secret that the other exceptional Wiggin children, Peter and Valentine, were only great because they were being subtly manipulated by their parents. Even Ender himself is infantilized to a degree that seems incompatible with his character in Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, or Xenocide. Card seems to be trying to add depth to the children, now teens, but instead only ends up damaging the work he created more than twenty years ago.

Despite all of these flaws, Exile is still a good book. Card retains his ability as a storyteller, and his voice kept me wanting to read on a page-by-page level even when the larger story seemed to wander–or, occasionally, was completely rudderless. Relationships have always been Card’s strong point, and the interaction between characters remains a reason to read. The only exception to this is when he tries to force his everybody-have-kids message into the picture, at which point things begin to get stilted. But I have come to accept this as part of the price of reading a Card story, much like reading Spider Robinson means accepting his evangelism of hippie culture. The story would usually be better off without it, but it is more rewarding to work around the problem than to get hung up on it.

Ender in Exile is not a strong addition to the Ender universe, but it does fill in some gaps in the timeline and Card’s ability to weave an engrossing tale makes it a rewarding, if occasionally annoying, read. 6.5/10