I don’t normally pay much attention to the “books received” posts that so many people do, but this one by John Joseph Adams has just evoked a little “squee” response. Firstly I see that the next book in Greg Keyes’ Kingdoms of Thorne and Bone series is due out soon. These books are good stuff. In addition I see that Orbit is producing a US edition of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Last Wish. That’s a very good book, previously only available in the UK. It was, of course, originally written in Polish, but it has already won a major award in translation in Spain. If you are interested in heroic fantasy (and the subversion thereof), this is a book for you.
Books
Philip K Dick Award
The PKD is one of my favorite awards. Not only does its juries generally produce very good results, it also, thanks to its focus on paperback-only publication, manages to highlight very deserving works that never get a sniff of the major awards.
So yes, I’m delighted that Nova Swing won. As you probably know, M John Harrison is one of my favorite writers. I loved Light, and if I’m slightly less enthusiastic about Nova Swing that is probably only because I still have a strong geek streak that is always yearning for the next sensawunda experience. I’m also delighted that the courage my pal Juliet Ulman had in bringing Mike’s work to a US audience when older, supposedly wiser editors said he’d never sell here is apparently paying off.
However, what really pleases me about last night’s results is the Special Citation (i.e. second place) for Minister Faust. From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain didn’t make my Hugo short list, but it would absolutely be in my top ten of 2007 SF, and possibly even the top 5 if I had time to sit down and think about the selection. Karen Burnham and I have been plugging the book enthusiastically for some time and have generally got a pretty negative reaction from the rest of the critic community, in no small part because some of them can’t get past the cover. But it is a very fine book. Here’s Karen’s review.
Taxonomies of Fantasy
I promised mention of the other new book that has something from me in it. The book in question is Jeff and Ann VanderMeer’s anthology, The New Weird. I’m in it because the VanderMeers include some material from the Night Shade message boards where, back in 2003, M. John Harrison started a debate about what “New Weird” meant. I was a little nervous about this because I’d forgotten what I said and some of that debate was quite acrimonious. However, all I’m quoted on is a couple of paragraphs about labels such as “New Weird” being useful as marketing tools. Much relief there.
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Gaiman Wanted?
Having Neil comment on my post about Odd and the Frost Giants has reminded me that there are copies of it in the dealers’ room here. If anyone in the Bay Area would like me to pick up a copy for them, let me know. I think they are going for $6, which is a bit of a markup bit probably cheaper than getting it posted from the UK.
The Raw Shark Texts
I’m not entirely sure what to say about this one other than that I firmly believe that the world needs books about conceptual sharks. They are a clear and present danger to our well-being, and the lack of government attention to this urgent problem is nothing less than shameful.
Also, of all the Clarke nominees I have read, this one is my favorite. The jury, of course, may disagree, but I do hope that it wins (and that Steven Hall gets to write his Doctor Who episode). A big “hurrah” for Canongate for publishing such an adventurous book.
Ford and Pratt in SF
Last night I attended another one of Terry Bisson’s splendid SF in SF readings. The guests were Tim Pratt and Jeff Ford. Tim read two excellent short stores, both of which are available online: “The River Boy” and “Artifice and Intelligence”. Jeff read a much longer and very surreal story, “The Drowned Life”, taken from the Eclipse One anthology. he didn’t read from his new novel, The Shadow Year, because he had done that at Borderlands on Saturday and didn’t want to repeat himself, but I did buy the book and am looking forward to reading it.
Thanks again to Terry, his guests, and to the good folks at Tachyon Publications and Borderlands Books for putting on such a fine show.
Self Promotion
It isn’t often that I get an opportunity to talk about a book because I’m in it, but there are a couple around at the moment. The book I’m currently reading is The WisCon Chronicles, edited by Timmi Duchamp. It is a collage of material taken from WisCon 30: interviews, panel transcripts and so on. I’m in it because of a panel called (rather pretentiously) “Is Reading Feminist SF a Theory-Building Activity”. (Wiscon, for those of you who do not know, is a feminist science fiction convention.) I have to confess that I was very nervous being put on that panel and didn’t have much a clue what to say beforehand. I also think I performed better at other panels at that con. However, I wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to be on a panel with Karen Joy Fowler, and if we really did need to talk about feminist theory I knew I could rely on my fellow panelist to do the business. As it turns out I seem to have ended up talking a lot about trans issues.
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Bomb to the Beat
I wasn’t expecting to be able to find Stephen Baxter’s The H-Bomb Girl in the US. Amazon says it won’t be available until May 1st. But while I was in Berkeley I dropped into The Other Change of Hobbit and had a copy available. And as I’ve been doing a lot of sitting on BART I finished it very quickly.
The book does riff off the Anti-Americanism that I’ve been seeing way too much of in Britain over the last couple of years, but aside from that it is very nicely done. I was a little too young to understand the Cuba missile crisis properly, but I do remember it, so the book does have a certain resonance with me. But basically if you set a YA novel in Liverpool in 1962, how can you go wrong? Good choice, Clarke judges.
Just Lovely
This little book came out in the UK for World Book Day. It is a small (100 page) paperback and cost only a pound. Small but perfectly formed, as the saying goes. It would also make a great graphic novel. Amazon says there’s a hardcover due out in the US in October at $15. Hopefully that means it is lavishly illustrated. But if you can’t wait that long, get someone in the UK to mail you a copy.
Clarke Short List
As reported on SF Awards Watch, the Clarke Award short list has been announced. There’s already been a fair amount of reaction to it, and John Jarrold in particular seems rather upset. On the other hand, the announcement did make The Guardian. I generally used to get emails about the Clarke, but this year I didn’t, and SFAW apparently doesn’t rate a copy of the press release either, but The Guardian does. Maybe this tells us something, especially given the tenor of the Guardian coverage which seems to suggest that the award is moving away from that awful science fiction stuff and is now rewarding proper fiction instead.
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New Ambergris Novel
Jeff VanderMeer has announced that he has sold a new Ambergris novel. Excellent news. And there’s a short fiction collection coming from my good friends at Tachyon too. (So when are you and Ann coming out to do an SF in SF event, Jeff?)
The Carhullan Army
I finished this one on the plane on the way over. It is clearly very well written (and indeed has won a mainstream literary award). As a feminist SF dystopia, however, I found it somewhat lacking. The book is very good on the medical and dietary issues you are likely to encounter when trying to run a completely self-sufficient commune in the wilds of Cumbria. The technology and political aspects of the book, on the other hand, are rather naive, and if I didn’t know better I’d suspect it of having been written in the 1970s. If I see it getting praised by men I shall be suspicious that they like it because they feel it proves to them what awful people feminists are.
Michael Wood’s India
I finished this book just before flying out (so I could pack it) and I am now filled with ideas for other books to read. India is an amazing country with a rich history that we in the West are largely ignorant about. Wood only manages to scratch the surface. I need more books.
When the Stars Are Right, Aslan Will Rise
Who would have thought it? Not only is the Narnia series a hopelessly obvious Christian allegory, it is also shot through with secret astrological references. At least it is according to Michael Ward. The Independent explains.
Wingeing Poms, Rude Yanks
Oh dear, things must have got really bad if even the Americans are starting to complain about whingeing poms. Of course that’s a bit rich coming from someone whose name is Eric Weiner. He’s an ex-NYT journalist who has written a book comparing levels of happiness in different parts of the world. One place comes off particularly badly:
‘Slough is a treasure trove of unhappiness, buried beneath a copious layer of gloom,’ he said. ‘The colours range from deeper to lighter shades of grey. The people seem grey, too and slightly dishevelled. The word frumpy springs to mind.’
John Betjeman has a lot to answer for (at least according to Slough’s local council).
Then again, how seriously should we take a book from a country that is also producing a self-help manual called Asshole: How I got Rich and Happy by Not Giving a S*** About You. Thankfully I have been to New York and I know that not all of its inhabitants are like that, even if it is a common stereotype. I also think that if Martin Kihn was really as tough and uncompromising as he claims then he would not have been so nervous about writing “shit” on the cover of his book.
Worlds of Fantasy II
Well, The Guardian was right, part 2 of the BBC’s Worlds of Fantasy series was much better than the first. Indeed, I’m almost moved to suggest that they were written by two different people, because the first program claimed that fantasy literature was invented in the 19th Century whereas this one traces it all the way back to Beowulf.
The program looks solely at Tolkien and Peake, which is a very reasonable thing to do, and it makes all of the usual arguments about the differing styles of the two men and their worlds, about the influence of the 20th Century’s great wars on their lives, and about their legacy in fantasy fiction today. I was pleased to see Tom Shippey get a chance to talk about Tolkien. Diana Wynne Jones (who apparently attended Tolkien’s classes at Oxford) gets interviewed in what looks like Wookey Hole. There are good contributions from China (again), from Joe Abercrombie (who looks like he’d make a great con panelist) and Joanne Harris. Toyah Wilcox also makes useful contributions, but my favorite guest slot came from John Sessions who playfully compares the House of Lords to Gormenghast.
All in all I’m now rather sad that I won’t get to see part 3. Hopefully someone out there will watch it and report on it.
Culinary Promise
Thanks to a review in The Independent, I think I have found another cookery book that is worth investing in.
I was vaguely aware that much of what we in the West known as “Indian” food was actually Mughal food (and most “Indian” restaurants in Britain are run by Bangladeshis), but I had no idea that traditional Hindu food should not include onions or garlic.
Another World
I confess to having got distracted in my SF reading. Apologies to Ms. Hall, but the book of Michael Wood’s latest TV series is proving riveting. I suspect that there are serious historians who look down on Wood in the same way that I’m told serious archaeologists look down on Time Team, but I’m a journalist and I recognize that Wood is superb at presenting stories to his audience. He’s also got me wanting to go back to India (and not just for the food).
It is also interesting comparing the book to the TV series. I haven’t seen every episode, but there are differences and I’m now hoping that I can find the DVD at a reasonable price before I head out (there not being time to get it by mail).
Solaris Goes East
Through attending events such as Finncon and Eurocon I have come into contact with a number of Russian SF fans. I know that SF flourishes in Russia. There are, as I understand it, at least 400 SF books published there every year. And yet I am only familiar with the work one contemporary Russian author, and that’s because Ekaterina Sedia lives in the USA and writes in English. There must be a lot of wonderful fiction that I am missing out on. Which is why I am pleased to hear that Comrade Mann and his apparatchiks are to produce The Solaris Book of Soviet Science Fiction. Not that our Russian friends are Soviets these days, but hopefully this will open the doors to a bit more Russian SF.
BBC on Fantasy
I have finally got around to watching the first part of the BBC’s Worlds of Fantasy series (first mentioned here). I have to admit that the first few minutes of the program were one of the most patronizing things I have ever seen on TV, and I can’t blame anyone who turned it off very quickly. However, the rest of the program was more interesting, if very confused.
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