Tuesday, April 29, 2008

[title under construction]

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I'm on a really tight schedule lately. I've been trying to juggle several obligations at once, quite unsuccessfully might I add. I guess I’m just not a person for multitasking. But there are some really interesting things going on in the world of fantasy and science fiction I need to tell you about (some of the information might already be stale, but might come in handy, if you missed the news elsewhere).

The Hugo Awards
The nominees for this year’s Hugo awards are old news (you can see the full list of nominees here), but you might have missed the fact that the majority of the nominated works are available for free. With the exemption of the nominees for best novel, all the shorter prose narrative forms (novella, novelette, short story) are available as free download versions or simply published on the net. Here is the link.

The Nebula Awards
The Nebula Award winners were presented/announced on April 26 (link) and they are as follows:
  • Novel: “The Yiddish Policemen's Union” by Michael Chabon
  • Novella: "Fountain of Age" by Nancy Kress
  • Novelette: "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang
  • Short Story: "Always" by Karen Joy Fowler
  • Script: “Pan's Labyrinth” by Guillermo del Toro
Other presentations included:
  • Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J. K. Rowling
  • Damon Knight Grand Master for 2008 is Michael Moorcock

Joe Sherry from the blog Adventures in Reading, did a terrific set of articles, where Joe gives his thought on the nominated works (Short Stories, Novelettes, Novellas). His articles also include links to where you can get (read) them for free!

You might also be interested in reading the tribute speech for Michael Moorcock before he was officially named the 25th Grandmaster of the Science Fiction Writers of America. It was given by John Picacio (an award-winning American artist specializing in science fiction, fantasy and horror illustration) at the Nebula Awards Ceremony.
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Sidewise Awards for Alternate History (via SFSignal)
The nominees for the Sidewise Awards for Alternate History have been announced (see past winners):

Best Short Form: (1) Elizabeth Bear, "Les Innocents/Lumiere" (in New Amsterdam, Subterranean Press); (2) Michael Flynn, "Quaestiones Super Caelo Et Mundo" (in Analog, 7/07); (3) Matthew Johnson, "Public Safety" (in Asimov's, 3/07); (4) Jess Nevins, "An Alternate History of Chinese Science Fiction" (in No Fear of the Future, May 17, 2007); (5) Kristine Kathryn Rusch, "Recovering Apollo 8" (in Asimov's, 2/07); (6) John Scalzi, "Missives from Possible Futures #1: Alternate History Search Results" (in Subterranean Magazine, Winter 2007); (7) Chris Roberson, "Metal Dragon Year" (in Interzone, 12/07);

Best Long Form: (1) Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen's Union (HarperCollins); (2) Robert Conroy, 1945: A Novel (Ballantine Books); (3) Mary Gentle, Ilario (The Lion's Eye and The Stone Golem) (Eos); (4) Jay Lake, Mainspring (Tor Books); (5) Sophia McDougall, Rome Burning (Orion); (6) Jo Walton, Ha'penny (Tor Books)

More free reading… (via A Dribble of Ink and Pat's Fantasy Hotlist)
Tor Publishing is running a celebration campaign for their imminent web site relaunch. Every week they send out a full, free e-book to those who have signed up for their mailing list (sign up for their newsletter and get a free weakly e-book!). Aidan (A Dribble of Ink) posted links to where you can download some great titles that Tor has already shared (Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, Farthing by Jo Walton, Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell, Lord of the Isles by David Drake, Through Wolf’s Eyes by Jane Lindskold, The Disunited States of America by Harry Turtledove, Reiffen’s Choice by S. C. Bulter and The Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder), so go visit A Dribble of Ink and don’t miss this great opportunity for some quality free readin’.

As a special gift to Star Wars fans, Del Rey will be offering Book One in the series, Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal (book 1), as a free downloadable PDF, audio book, and eBook. This promotional offer will run for two weeks, from 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 29, until midnight on Tuesday, May 13. The free download, which can be shared, e-mailed or printed, will be available on Legacy of the Force. (via Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist)

Eye Candy Covers pt. IV
John Picacio (the same John Picacio that gave a tribute speech to Moorcock at the presentation of Grandmaster of Science Fiction award) drew a beatific artwork for the forthcoming Pyr reissue of Robert Silverberg's classic Son of Man.

I think you'll agree that Picacio has done an incredible job picking up on both the messianic and the sexual overtones, and has managed to get that 60s/70s psychedelic feel without feeling at all like he was going retro or pastiche. (via Pyr-o-mania)

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3 Comments:

Joe said...

Thanks for the link and the kind words.

I'll have a similar series of posts for the Hugo Awards (and World Fantasy when those are announced). The novella post should go up either tonight or tomorrow. Probably tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

No problem Joe; I'll be sure to read them.

Harry Markov said...

I am so reading the shorter fiction. That way I can have back up reviews once my posts slow down a bit due to reading problems. Heh! Nice post!

 

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