Science Fiction

Aunt Dimity & the Lost Prince by Nancy Atherton Synopsis: It’s a cold, dreary February in the sleepy village of Finch and Lori Shepherd has two stir-crazy seven-year-old boys on her hands. So when her good friend Bree Pym suggests […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

The past Saturday at The Independence Theatre in North Sydney the winners of 2012 Aurealis Awards have been announced.BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION (TOLD PRIMARILY THROUGH WORDS) “Brotherband: The Hunters” by John Flanagan (Random House Australia)BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION (TOLD PRIMARILY THROUGH PICTURES)“Little Elephants” by Graeme Base (Viking Penguin)BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY“The Wisdom of the Ants” by Thoraiya Dyer (Clarkesworld Magazine, December 2012)BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL (Joint winners)“Dead, Actually” by Kaz Delaney (Allen & Unwin)“Sea Hearts” by Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)BEST ILLUSTRATED BOOK / GRAPHIC NOVEL“Blue” by Pat Grant (Top Shelf Comix)BEST COLLECTION“That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote” by K. J. Bishop (self-published)BEST ANTHOLOGY“The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Six” edited by Jonathan Strahan (Night Shade Books)BEST HORROR SHORT STORY“Sky” by Kaaron Warren (Through Splintered Walls, Twelfth Planet Press)BEST HORROR NOVEL“Perfections” by Kirstyn McDermott (Xoum)BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY“Bajazzle” by Margo Lanagan (Cracklescape, Twelfth Planet Press)BEST FANTASY NOVEL“Sea Hearts” by Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY“Significant Dust” by Margo Lanagan (Cracklescape, Twelfth Planet Press)BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL“The Rook” by Daniel O’Malley (Harper Collins)PETER MCNAMARA CONVENORS’ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCEKate ElthamKRIS HEMBURY ENCOURAGEMENT AWARDLaura GoodinCongratulations to all the winners!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKDddrYNw8Q&feature=youtu.be#t=4m40s He was at his alma mater on Sunday to speak at the school's commencement. USA Today has some of the highlights - "You might even get canceled; don't take it personally. Just get back out there. Because you know what? If you make it through season two, they might even give you a spin-off."

The titular question pretty much says it all: what books, whether they are novels; poetry collections; short fiction collections; anthologies; realist fictions; speculative fictions; weird fictions; non-Anglophone works in languages that I can read (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and with help some German and Serbian), that have been released in 2013 that I should consider reading/reviewing that I have not yet read? Below is a list of the 2013 releases that I have read, followed by those owned that I haven't yet finished reading: Already Read: 1. Leah Stewart, The History of Us 2. Tomas Dobozy, Siege 13 (collection) 3. George Saunders, Tenth of December (collection; already reviewed) 4. Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, A Memory of Light (already reviewed) 5. Jim Harrison, The River Swimmer 6. Thomas Maltman, Little Wolves 7. Ayun Halliday and Paul Hoppe, Peanut (graphic novel) 8. João Barreiros (ed.), Lisboa no Ano 2000 (Portuguese; anthology; already reviewed) 9. Yoko Ogawa, Revenge (collection) 10. Adam Mansbach, Rage is Back 11. Jamaica Kincaid, See Now Then (already reviewed) 12. Lauren Elkin and Scott Esposito, The End of Oulipo? (non-fiction) 13. Angélica Gorodischer, Trafalgar (English translation; already reviewed) 14. Karen Russell, Vampires in the Lemon Grove (collection; already reviewed) 15. Karen Lord, The Best of All Possible Worlds (made a brief commentary already) 16. Carlene Bauer, Frances and Bernard 17. John Thavis, The Vatican Diaries (non-fiction; already reviewed) 18. Ismail Kadare, The Fall of the Stone City (English translation) 19. Jennifer Cody Epstein, The Gods of Heavenly Punishment 20. Pierre Grimbert, The Secret of Ji: Six Heirs 21. John Joseph Adams and Douglas Cohen (eds.), Oz Reimagined (anthology) 22. Xu Lei, Search for the Buried Bomber (English translation) 23. Jim Gavin, Middle Men (collection) 24. Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being (already reviewed) 25. William H. Gass, Middle C 26. Nalo Hopkinson, Sister Mine 27. Nihad Sirees, The Silence and the Roar 28. Kate Atkinson, Life After Life 29. Mary Beth Keane, Fever 30. Jean-Marie Blas de Robles, Where Tigers are at Home (US edition of English translation) 31. James Salter, All That Is 32. Alliah, Metanfetaedro (Portuguese; collection) 33. Ron Currie Jr., Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles 34. Jonathan Dee, A Thousand Pardons 35. Justin Landon and Jared Shurin (eds.), Speculative Fiction 2012 (non-fiction anthology; contains two articles by myself) 36. M. John Harrison, Empty Space (US edition) 37. May Swenson, Collected Poems (Library of America edition) 38. Ildefonso Falcones, La reina descalza (Spanish) 39. James Kelman, Mo Said She Was Quirky Own But Not Yet Finished Reading: 40. Mike Allen (ed.), Clockwork Phoenix 4 (anthology; I contributed to the Kickstarter funding of it) 41. Denise Kiernan, The Girls of Atomic City (non-fiction) 42. Chimamanda Adichie, Americanah 43. W.S. Merwin, The Collected Poems of W.S. Merwin (two-volume Library of America edition) 44. Brooks D. Simpson (ed.), The Civil War: The Third Year Told By Those Who Lived It (non-fiction anthology published by the Library of America) 45. Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni While this might seem like an exhaustive list of 2013 releases to date, I'm certain there are several promising and/or outstanding works that have slipped my attention. So feel free to suggest recent releases that might be of interest to me and/or this blog's readership.

Release Date: 21/05/13Publisher: OrbitSYNOPSIS:The service of Britannia is not for the faint of heart - or conscience ...After defeating a clockwork army bent upon regicide, the sorceress Emma Bannon and genius detective Archibald Clare have come to respect each other's skills, despite the fact that magic and logic are usually opposing forces. So when the Queen asks Emma to track down a missing doctor who holds the key to a deadly new weapon, Archibald's deductive talent may be just what she needs to find the man, before his destructive discovery sets the entire capital city ablaze ...The game is afoot. And the Red Plague rises.REVIEW:The latest book by Lili and one that continues to build upon the success of the first of her Bannon and Clare series bringing the delights of Victoriana Steampunk head on with Urban Fantasy as magicks vie against the brains of Victrix’ investigators. Its well thought out, the characters are a sheer delight to be around and when backed with delightful dialogue, some fiendish twists alongside bringing some added light with characters of the time period all round makes this a book that is a sheer delight.Throw into the mix an author who loves to spin a cracking yarn that when populated with emotional conflict throughout all round gives the reader something very special to enjoy. Great stuff.

*Manhattan, always ahead of the curve. *If left unmolested, of course New Yorkers are gonna turn their homes into illegal squat hotels. It’s New York. Anybody who’s been there comes to realize that the NYC real-estate scene is an economic world all its own. *Any city with a tourist industry is gonna realize that AirBnB is disrupting its informal taxes on tourist migrants. That’s not a simple matter to endure. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57585377-93/ny-official-airbnb-stay-illegal-host-fined-$2400/ “New York officials have determined that a man who rented out part of his apartment on Airbnb should pay $2,400 for violating the city’s illegal hotel law, despite Airbnb stepping in on the host’s behalf. “The city initially asked host Nigel Warren to pay $7,000 total in fees for violating a law that makes it illegal for property owners to rent out homes temporarily — essentially mimicking hotel stays — and for unrelated issues with building and zoning codes, according to the decision and order issued by the board. (See PDF below; it cites Abe Carrey, who owns Warren’s condominium, and Warren’s first name is misspelled.) “The city argued that the apartment “may only be used as private residences and may not be rented for transient, hotel, or motel purposes.” Related stories (((those are good))) Airbnb tweaks Android app to drive more reservations San Francisco hotels pricey? Van on Airbnb is only $92 a night Airbnb starts verifying user profiles “As Airbnb continues to shake things up for the hotel industry, it’s increasingly running into issues with the law, particularly in areas where the law is not clear cut. It’s not just in New York — officials in the company’s hometown of San Francisco are concerned about property owners potentially using its service to get around local tenant protections and land use codes. “The New York case is centered around a 2011 law that makes it illegal for New York residents to rent out a property for less than 29 days. It was originally aimed at landlords who bought up residential properties and turned them into hotels. Airbnb has been lobbying legislators to change the law so it clearly protects hosts, like Warren, who are not trying to turn their homes into hotels….”

In the 146th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome author Delilah S. Dawson. About Delilah S. Dawson: Delilah S. Dawson is a native of Roswell, Georgia and the author of the paranormal romance Blud series for Pocket, including WICKED AS THEY COME and WICKED AS SHE WANTS and two e-novellas, THE MYSTERIOUS MADAM MORPHO and THE PECULIAR PETS OF MISS PLEASANCE. Her short story THE THREE LIVES OF LYDIA will be in Gallery’s Carniepunk anthology in July 2013. Her first YA, a creepy paranormal called SERVANTS OF THE STORM will be available in 2014 from Simon Pulse. RT Book Reviews has called her “a wonderfully fresh new voice!” and “on the fast track to the top of the genre!” and awarded WICKED AS SHE WANTS the May Seal of Excellence. This week’s Picks: John: Madmen Delilah: Immersive Play: Sleep No More Patrick: eBags Slim Lunch Box Links: Delilah S. Dawson (website) Delilah on Twitter John on Twitter Patrick on Twitter This podcast contains original music by John Anealio. © 2013 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

"Vickie and Djinni swap stories about their respective run-ins with magic, fire, and loss as they wait for Blacksnake to begin a deadly trade with the Rebs." 4 out of 5 http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/seasonsix/swc6_14_smokeandmirrorspt1.mp3

Doctor Charles E. Gannon is a Distinguished Professor of English at St. Bonaventure University. A Fulbright Senior Specialist in American Literature and Culture 2004-2009, his most recent non-fiction book won the 2006 ALA Award for Outstanding Book and was discussed on NPR’s Morning Edition when he was interviewed. He’s also appeared on Discovery Channel and is a member of SIGMA, a Science Fiction think tank of which clients include the Air Force, the Pentagon, and NATO. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Gannon worked eight years as a scriptwriter and producer in New York City. His latest novel is Fire With Fire, others are Extremis with Steve White and 1635: The Papal Stakes with Eric Flint, all from Baen Books. A happily married father of five, he lives north of Annapolis and can be found on twitter as @cegannon1, on Facebook and via his website at CharleseGannon.com. SFFWRTCHT: First things first, where’d your interest in speculative fiction come from? Charles E. Gannon: Where? Dunno. When? The cradle, I think. When I was three, I loved dinosaurs. So I wanted to be a paleontologist and write about it. When I was seven, it was zoology, and I wanted to write about it. At about nine, it was astronomy, then being an astronaut. But then I learned that space travel was still dangerous, so it was back to astronomy. And of course, write about it. You spent long, preparatory years doing immense amounts of number crunching, often living a dull existence, all so you’d get to do something uberkewl for a few days. That was not satisfying to me. But writing about it? I got to virtually live  all those lives, whenever I wanted. And dive into the topix. Now that was kewl! SFFWRTCHT: Who are some of your favorite authors and books that inspire you? CEG: A longer list than we have time for. In SF/F, I’d have to say that Heinlein’s Starship Troopers was a revelation, and for anyone out there who has only seen the movie, you will not understand what I mean. Because, if you go back and count, combat occupies much, much less than 50% of the book’s page count. There is also a lushness of prose (occasionally a lushness tending toward purple) in the writing of Robert E. Howard.  Gordon R. Dickson’s The Tactics of Mistake may be the finest military science fiction I’ve read. And there’s a lot of good mil sf out there, as we all know. Jerry Pournelle’s Janissaries had a really clever concept and an absolutely enthralling story line. And here’s a name you don’t hear much anymore: Chad Oliver. He was an anthropologist by training and career in academia (in TX, I think). Wrote some incredible fiction, particularly a short novel entitled Blood’s A Rover. A few short fiction mentions are warranted: HB Fyfe’s “Protected Species”; Poul Anderson’s eerily proleptic “Kings Who Die” and Mack Reynolds’ “The Hunted Ones”. Every single one of these is absolutely worth hunting down to read. All had a big influence on me. SFFWRTCHT: Did your interest in dinosaurs ever result in a book? CEG: Not exactly. But they’ve influenced a scene in Fire With Fire. SFFWRTCHT: When did you decide to become a storyteller and how did you get your start? CEG: I knew I wanted to be a writer before I had any idea what that meant. All the challenges. But I could tell it wasn’t going to be easy, because there weren’t any job listings for “novelists” and because my Dad looked like he’d swallowed a mastodon tusk sideways any time I mentioned that ambition. Mom was the support. However–and note the irony–it was from my Dad that I got the taste for SF, particularly hard sf. He wasn’t a scientist, but he was “a mind forever voyaging” and that left an indelible imprint on me. SFFWRTCHT: How’d you learn craft? Trial and error? Formal study? Workshops? CEG: I took courses whenever I could in Junior High and High School. Then it was half my major in unde

A secure magic Overwatch has group buyin on a big Verdigris con. 4 out of 5 http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/seasonsix/swc6_13_inoneear.mp3