Announcing the 2010 World Fantasy Award Winners!
via Tor
The World Fantasy Awards have been given annually since 1975, to fantasy authors the world over, and are announced every year, appropriately, at the World Fantasy Awards Convention, which is being held in Columbus, Ohio this year.
NOVEL
- WINNER: The City & The City by China Miéville (Macmillan UK / Del Rey)
- Blood of Ambrose by James Enge (Pyr)
- The Red Tree by Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
- Finch by Jeff VanderMeer (Underland Press)
- In Great Waters by Kit Whitfield (Jonathan Cape UK/Del Rey)
See the Rest here
Felix Gilman, Author of The Half-Made World, on Promoting His Novel
by Jeff VanderMeer at Omnivoracious
Felix Gilman’s new novel The Half-Made World came out late last month, and its a powerful reimagining of the West with amoral characters and a hard-edged Steampunk feel that puts the “punk” back into the subgenre with a vengeance. It also features a strong and compelling female main character in the person of Lyvset Alverhuysen, tons of mad invention, and an ingenious plot. The evocations of landscape, the conflict between the servants of the Gun and the servants of the Line, both of which involve either the supernatural or super-advance science, the interactions between the characters are all masterfully written.
Mike Perschon recently posted an interesting review of The Half-Made World on Tor.com, in which he said in part, “When I began my study of steampunk by reading Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day, I wondered if its theme of the loss of frontier, of unexplored and untamed spaces, was also a theme evoked by the steampunk aesthetic. It’s clearly a major theme in The Half-Made World, which Gilman explores with a page-turning narrative, engagingly complex characters, and deftly descriptive prose.”
Read More here
Marketing is magic in M.K. Hobson’s Native Star
By Kelly Faircloth at io9
Foggy London’s the spiritual home of steampunk, but M.K. Hobson has set Native Star against Gilded Age America’s rise to power—and added magic. We talk to Hobson about American steampunk, mixing history and fantasy, and mass media-inspired magic.
At the novel’s opening, local herbalist and witch Emily Edwards is struggling valiantly to support herself and her father with her homey brand of spell-casting, despite the introduction of shiny new “patent magicks” from back East. She’s also dealing with New York City know-it-all Dreadnought Stanton, who has come to enlighten the local yokels (meaning Emily) regarding modern magical methods. Unfortunately, her problems multiply when she winds up with a mysterious stone embedded in her palm, necessitating a wild trip across the country with the annoying Mr. Stanton. Chaos and romance both ensue.
Read More here
The Riyria Revalations, a Fantasy Series Worth Reading
via Goddess of the Corn
This evening I had the pleasure of finishing Michael J. Sullivan’s latest installment of the fantasy series Riyria Revelations, Wintertide.
In short, I am amazed.
One of the things that make the Riyria Revelations different is that they were conceived as a single tale, told in six installments. Each book could stand alone, but they are oh-so-much better when the reader builds on the story that came before. Another outstanding quality is that these books are completely appropriate for any audience because there is no swearing or sex! How tedious it is to pick up a promising book only to find it’s just a chain of smut and profanity glued together with a pitiful plot. If you want an excellent read, this is it. If you’re looking for a romp in the sheets, look elsewhere.
Read More here
“Literary Fiction” for SFF Lovers
by Liviu Suciu at Fantasy Book Critic
Once in a while disputes appear online about genre vs literary, the Man Booker prize and genre and similar topics. These days and for almost 20 years now, I have been reading mostly sff , but I like quite a few “literary novels” where I use the quotes since I strongly believe that “literary fiction” is a genre with its subgenres and conventions (suburbia, boarding school, academia, family drama, social drama…) and it intersects with other genres in many places .
I also think that the Booker prize is fine the way it is focusing on this genre as the AC Clarke prize is fine the way it is focusing on sf, however loosely defined. So outside of various current “literary” novels I’ve reviewed here, I would like to present some more I loved a lot and which I think can appeal to people who tend to read mostly sff.
Read More here
Interview: Mark Oetjens, Author of The Staff of Rahgorra
By April Pohren at Seattle Pi
Please tell us a bit about your book: The Staff of Rahgorra – characters, plot, etc.
The Staff of Rahgorra is a science fiction action-adventure. Thrull, a crime lord, wants to rule the galaxy. He knows the key to his plan is to find the mythical weapon known as the Staff of Rahgorra. Cam and his apprentice Kayo, agents of the Galactic Security Bureau, are determined to find the Staff first and avoid the war that Thrull threatens. Along the way Cam seeks the help of some interesting and questionable characters.
If you could meet, in person, any of your characters, who would it be and why?
Definitely Koren Osric. Koren is one of Thrull’s admirals. His look came about from a random scribble on a piece of paper. I’d like to meet him just to see that scribble actually fleshed out, to see how he moves and how his face looks and how he eats.
Read More here
Have we already caught up to science fiction? Is the future now?
by Chad Catacchio at The Next Web
Trying to look into the future is a grand old time, one that countless science fiction writers and visionaries have done more than a century. From Julies Verne predicting space rockets to Gene Roddenberry’s flip mobile phones to William Gibson defining cyberspace before it existed, science fiction writers have been leading the way towards technology’s future.
Sitting around today on a lazy Sunday flipping through apps on my iPad, however, I started to wonder if perhaps the present has not only caught up with – but perhaps even surpassed – what science fiction promised us.Think of it for a second – other than perhaps devices that read/plug directly into our brains and flying cars, what are we really lacking that science fiction promised? We can make and receive a phone call from nearly anywhere on the planet, including now from Everest basecamp. We have cameras that take digital pictures that can be shared worldwide nearly instantanously, as well as live-streaming video, and Twitter, which reports earthquakes faster than the USGS.
Read More here
What do you think of the World Fantasy Awards Winners? Do any of the books sound good to you? Do you think our technology has surpassed some sci fi?
