Lord of the Links & other related stuff

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Quote of the Day

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~ I figure blogposts are better than good intentions and random scraps of paper scattered about the house. ~

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~ Reviews & Recommendations ~

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Most of us are up to our heads with reading material, but for those of you who love epic fantasy and have already read all the recent stuff or just don't know what to read next – visit Pat's Fantasy Hotlist, where he compiled a retro-list of his favourites.

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SF Signal's readers made a selection of books – the selection is self-evident from the title of the article: "The Top 26 SF Books You've Never Read". Some of the books included in the list are great, others medicore and some are just a blatantly peculiar choice. Check out the list and decide for yourselves.

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I've also stumbled upon some reviews of great books that I'd very much like to read as soon as possible. Zone has published a splendid review of Ian McDonald's Brasyl.

"I think that any information-hungry alien would be overjoyed to receive a gift-wrapped copy of Ian McDonald's Brasyl, as this book is not only incandescent, it is brilliant in a number of different ways and for a number of different reasons. Recently adorned with the 2008 best novel award by the British Science Fiction Association, and short-listed for this year's Hugo, Brasyl is not only a worthy successor to 2004's River Of Gods, I'd say it's actually a better book."

The Book Swede and Sandstorm Reviews posted a review of a much anticipated new release by Richard Morgan - Steel Remains is Morgan's first foray into fantasy, and by the looks of it, a successful one as well.

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Rob reviewed Cory Doctorow's Little Brother for SFFWorld, and if he is to be believed, the book just might be one of the sf highlights of this year.

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The DeckLed Edge did a brief review of Iain M. Bank's entry into the renowned Culture space opera series – Consider Phlebas. I've bought the book just a few days ago and I really look forward to start reading it. Banks is considered one of the leading writers of SF, if not the leading writer.

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Scott Lynch is one of the most popular new fantasy writers to emerge in the last few years and rightfully so (read our review here). Adam from The Wertzone is a little late to the game, but here is his view on Lies of Locke Lamora if you are interested. What is maybe even more relevant at this moment is his detailed profile of Alastair Reynolds – currently one of the biggest names in sf.

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~ News & Interviews ~

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2007 Tiptree Award Winner (via SFScope.com)

The James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award Council has announced the winner of the 2007 Tiptree Award, which is is presented annually to a work or works that explore and expand gender roles in science fiction and fantasy. This year's winner is The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall.

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This Year's Compton Crook Award Finalists (via SFscope.com)

The Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) has announced the finalists for this year's Compton Crook Award. The award is for "the new SF author judged to have written the best SF novel for the previous year." The nominees are: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercombie (published by Pyr), The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald (Tor), The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (DAW), Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin (Ace) and One Jump Ahead by Mark L. Van Name (Baen).

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I haven't yet read any of the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher, but since I'm aware that he has a huge following I'm posting this news: you might be glad to know that the first Dresden Files comic is now available (read more).

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Patrick from Pat's Fantasy Hotlist interviewed Kay Kenyon, an ever-more prominent sf author of The Entire and the Rose series (the second book, A World Too Near is just fresh out of printing and already garners some serious acclaim).

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Another nifty interview can be found at Fantasy Book Critic, where Alan Campbell talks about his latest offering – Iron Angel, book two in Deepgate Codex trilogy and a sequel to his startling debut novel Scar Night, which was released a year ago.

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I've got a few more links up my sleeve but I'll have to hang on to them for now. I'll post them as soon as possible though!

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