News, Reviews, Resources, and Perspectives of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror

Friday 7 December 2007

»   Awards News: Aurealis Shortlist

Finalists for the 2007 Aurealis Awards, for Australian SF, fantasy, horror, young adult, and children's works, includes titles by Marianne De Pierres, Sean Williams, Cat Sparks, Jennifer Fallon, Lian Hearn, Garth Nix, Terry Dowling, Scott Westerfeld, Kate Forsyth, and many others. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in Brisbane on Saturday 26 January 2008.

Thursday 29 November 2007

»   Awards News: Endeavour Award

Robin Hobb has won this year's Endeavour Award for her novel Forest Mage (Tor). The award is presented annually to a distinguished SF or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest author or authors. The award was presented last week at Orycon in Portland, Oregon.

»   Death: Colin Kapp

Locus has learned that British SF writer Colin Kapp, born 1928, died this past August 3, 2007. He published stories beginning in 1958 in New Worlds, Analog, Galaxy, and other magazines, with first novel Transfinite Man appearing in 1964. Later works included stories collected as The Unorthodox Engineers (1979), and four Cageworld novels published by DAW in the 1980s.
» Wikipedia

Tuesday 20 November 2007

»   Deaths: Sidney Coleman, Peter Haining

Physicist Sidney Coleman, a professor at Harvard University who was a co-founder of Advent:Publishers in the 1950s and who wrote several review columns for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in the 1970s, died Sunday, November 18, 2007, at the age of 70.
» Chicago Tribune obituary
» Wikipedia

Anthologist Peter Haining, born 1940, died yesterday, November 19, 2007, at the age of 67. He edited numerous fantasy and horror anthologies beginning in 1966, and won a special British Fantasy Award, the Karl Edward Wagner Award, in 2001.
» Wikipedia

Wednesday 14 November 2007

»   Death: Ira Levin

Bestselling author Ira Levin, born 1929, died Monday, November 12, 2007, at the age of 78. His 1967 fantasy novel Rosemary's Baby was filmed by Roman Polanski; later works included SF novels This Perfect Day (1970), The Stepford Wives (1972), and The Boys from Brazil (1976). The latter two, and his hit play "Deathtrap", were also filmed. This Perfect Day received a Prometheus Hall of Fame Award in 1992, and Levin received a Bram Stoker Life Achievement Award in 1997.
» Obituaries: Associated Press; Los Angeles Times; Guardian
» Wikipedia

Tuesday 6 November 2007

»   News: Best of 2007

» Amazon.com's Best of 2007: Books includes SF and Fantasy titles by Dan Simmons, Ian McDonald, Emma Bull, Michael Cisco, Brian Francis Slattery, Susan Palwick, Patrick Rothfuss, Richard K. Morgan, Aimee Bender, and Ellen Datlow.
» Junot Diaz is on the Literature & Fiction list; Austin Grossman is on the Debut Fiction list; J.K. Rowling and Brian Selznick are on the Middle Readers list; Shaun Tan, Melissa Marr, and Juliet Marillier are on the Teens list.

» Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year include SF titles by Ellen Datlow, David Anthony Durham, Mary Gentle, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Kay Kenyon, Patrick Rothfuss, and Connie Willis; fiction titles by Junot Diaz and Joe Hill; children's titles by Lloyd Alexander, Margo Lanagan, J.K. Rowling, and Brian Selznick; and 'children's comics' by Shaun Tan

Sunday 4 November 2007

»   Awards News: World Fantasy Awards Winners

Winners of this year's World Fantasy Awards, announced this afternoon at the World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs, New York, are Gene Wolfe's novel Soldier of Sidon, Jeffrey Ford's novella "Botch Town", M. Rickert's short fiction "Journey Into the Kingdom" and collection Map of Dreams, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling's anthology Salon Fantastique, artist Shaun Tan, with special awards to Ellen Asher and Gary K. Wolfe, and lifetime achievement awards to Betty Ballantine and Diana Wynne Jones.

Thursday 1 November 2007

»   Awards News: International Horror Guild Awards

Winners of this year's International Horror Guild Awards, announced this evening at the World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs, New York, are Conrad Williams' novel The Unblemished, stories by Norman Partridge, Paul Finch, and Stephen Gallagher, collections by Terry Dowling and Glen Hirshberg, William Sheehan & Bill Schafer's anthology Lords of the Razor, periodical Subterranean, and other works by Lewis Trondheim, S.T. Joshi, Aeron Alfrey, and John Picacio, plus a Living Legend Award to Ramsey Campbell presented by Jo Fletcher.
» SF Awards Watch list of winners
» Complete list of winners and nominees

Monday 22 October 2007

»   Awards News: Prix Aurora Awards

Winners of this year's Prix Aurora Awards, for Canadian science fiction and fantasy in English and in French, include David Duncan's Children of Chaos, Robert J. Sawyer's "Biding Time", Neo-Opsis magazine, and French works by Elisabeth Vonarburg and Mario Tessier.
» Prix AURORA Awards Home Page has the complete list of nominees and winners
» Robert J. Sawyer's blog lists winners with links to photos and a report

Sunday 14 October 2007

»   Awards News: WSFA Small Press Award

The first WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction, presented by the Washington Science Fiction Society, has been given to "El Regalo" by Peter S. Beagle. The award was announced this weekend at Capclave in Rockville, Maryland.
» The SF Awards Watch post includes the other short-listed stories.

»   Awards News: Other Awards Presented at Worldcon

Winners of this year's Seiun Awards, announced at Nippon 2007 in Yokohama, Japan, last month, include Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines and Adam-Troy Castro & Jerry Oltion's "The Astronaut from Wyoming" in the translated novel and short fiction categories.
» SF Awards Watch has the complete list of winners and finalists.

The Sense of Gender Awards, founded in 2001 by the Japanese Association for Gender Fantasy and Science, also announced at Nippon 2007, included Eileen Gunn's Stable Strategies and Others in the translated work category.
» SF Awards Watch has the complete list of winners.

Friday 12 October 2007

»   Awards News: Gaylactic Spectrum Award

The winner of this year's Gaylactic Spectrum Award, honoring works of science fiction, fantasy and horror that include positive explorations of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered characters, themes, or issues, is Hal Duncan's Vellum. The award was announced last weekend at Gaylaxicon in Atlanta, Georgia.
» Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Foundation

Thursday 11 October 2007

»   Awards News: Nobel Prize

Doris Lessing, whose works include the five-volume "Canopus in Argos" science fiction series (beginning with Shikasta, 1979), is winner of this year's Nobel Prize for Literature.
» New York Times; CNN; Doris Lessing; Wikipedia

Tuesday 2 October 2007

»   Awards News: Jamie Bishop Memorial Award

The new Jamie Bishop Memorial Award, presented by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts for an essay not in English, has been given to Carlos Abraham for "Las utopías literarias argentinas en el período 1850-1950", available in PDF on the IAFA website
» Further information and submission details on the IAFA Awards page

Saturday 29 September 2007

»   Awards News

This year's Sunburst Award winner, for an SF novel or book-length collection by a Canadian writer, is Fabrizio's Return by Mark Frutkin, published last year by Alfred A. Knopf Canada.
• The award consists of $1000 in cash and a medallion incorporating a 'Sunburst' logo.
» 2007 Sunburst Award winner and shortlist

Thursday 27 September 2007

»   Robert Jordan Update

John Clute's obituary in The Independent

Sunday 23 September 2007

»   Awards News: British Fantasy Awards and others

» Winners of the British Fantasy Awards, announced today Fantasycon 2007 in Nottingham, include Tim Lebbon's novel Dusk, Neil Gaiman's collection Fragile Things, artist Vincent Chong, the Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award to Joe Hill, and the Karl Edward Wagner Award to Ellen Datlow.

» Winners of the 2007 Quill Awards include Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror category, Cormac McCarthy's The Road for General Fiction, and Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret in the Children's Chapter/Middle Grade category. Voting for Book of the Year is open to public until October 10 at www.quillsvote.com.

Wednesday 19 September 2007

»   Robert Jordan Updates

» Los Angeles Times obituary
» New York Times obituary
» SFWA obituary

Monday 17 September 2007

»   Robert Jordan Updates

» Tor Books news release
» News/tributes at CNN, Yahoo News, Boing Boing, Slashdot, Media Bistro, Amazon's Blog (Jeff VanderMeer)
» Tributes by Neil Gaiman, Jo Walton, Scott Lynch, Elizabeth Bear

Sunday 16 September 2007

»   Death: Robert Jordan

Fantasy writer Robert Jordan, born 1948, died today, September 16, 2007, at the age of 58. Jordan was the pen-name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr. He was author of the bestselling Wheel of Time series that began in 1990 with The Eye of the World and continued 11 volumes through Knife of Dreams in 2005, plus prequel volume New Spring (2004). A twelfth volume, A Memory of Light, remains uncomplete. Before that series Jordan wrote the Michael Fallon historical romance trilogy and seven Conan novels, from Conan the Invincible (1982) through Conan the Victorious (1984).
» Wikipedia
» Making Light
» Tor's Robert Jordan/Wheel of Time page
» March 2006 letter from the author revealing his health condition

Sunday 9 September 2007

»   Awards News: Aurora Finalists

Finalists for this year's Aurora Awards for Canadian SF and fantasy, include works by Peter Watts, Karl Schroeder, Robert J. Sawyer, Dave Duncan, Karin Lowachee, and others. Winners will be announced at VCon 32 in British Columbia, October 19-21, 2007.

Friday 7 September 2007

»   Death: Madeleine L'Engle

Fantasy writer Madeleine L'Engle, born 1918, died yesterday, September 6, 2007, at the age of 88. Her most famous book was Newbery Medal winner A Wrinkle in Time (1962), a fantasy about two children battling evil while searching for their missing father; it had four sequels, including American Book Award winner A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978) and An Acceptable Time (1989). L'Engle wrote over 60 books in all, including science fiction and nonfiction. She received a National Humanities Medal in 2004.
» New York Times obituary
» CNN
» Official site; Wikipedia

Saturday 1 September 2007

•   Awards News: Hugo Awards Winners

Hugo Awards winners, announced today at the World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, Japan, include Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End, Julie Phillips' James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, editors Patrick Nielsen Hayden and Gordon Van Gelder, and Locus Magazine.
» The official Hugo Awards website includes a photo of the award trophy, the voting breakdown [pdf], and the nomination counts [pdf].
» Science Fiction Awards Watch has this analysis of the results, category by category.

•   Awards News: Other Awards at Worldcon

Science Fiction Awards Watch has complete results of the following other awards presented at Worldcon in Yokohama:
» Chesley Awards, presented by the Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists, to Stephan Martiniere, Daniel Dos Santos, John Jude Palencar, Irene Gallo, and others.
» Prometheus Awards, presented by the Libertarian Futurist Society, to Charles Stross for Glasshouse, Sinclair Lewis for It Can't Happen Here, and Vernor Vinge for "True Names", with a special award for the film V for Vendetta.

Thursday 30 August 2007

»   Death: Joe L. Hensley

SF and mystery writer Joe L. Hensley, born 1926, died August 27, 2007, at the age of 81. He began publishing SF in 1953 with stories in Planet Stories and Beyond Fantasy Fiction, and later wrote suspense novels and occasional SF, collaborating with Harlan Ellison and Alexei Panshin. His last novel, Snowbird's Blood, is due for release in 2008.
» SFWA obituary has details of funeral services on Friday, August 31st.
» Private Eye Writers of America post.

Sunday 19 August 2007

•   Awards News Update: World Fantasy Awards

In a one-time change of procedure, this year's World Fantasy Convention has officially announced the winners of the Life Achievement Awards, to be presented at this year's convention in Saratoga Springs, New York — the winners are Diana Wynne Jones, who will be unable to attend for health reasons, and Betty Ballantine, who will attend.

Sunday 12 August 2007

•   Awards News: World Fantasy Awards Nominations

Finalists for this year's World Fantasy Awards include Stephen King, Ellen Kushner, Scott Lynch, Catherynne M. Valente, and Gene Wolfe for best novel, plus Jeffrey Ford, M. Rickert, Joe R. Lansdale, Ellen Asher, Gary K. Wolfe, and others in categories for novella, short fiction, anthology, collection, artist, and special awards professional and non-professional.

Tuesday 7 August 2007

»   Awards News

Finalists for the year's British Fantasy Awards include Best Novel nominees Chaz Brenchley, Mike Carey, Mark Chadbourn, M. John Harrison, Tim Lebbon, Scott Lynch, Sarah Pinborough, Mark Samuels, and Conrad Williams... plus Ian McDonald, Neil Gaiman, Ellen Datlow, John Picacio, Julie Phillips, and others in categories for novella, short fiction, anthology, collection, artist, small press, and non-fiction. • Winners will be announced at Fantasycon, 21-23 September 2007 in Nottingham, UK.

Monday 6 August 2007

»   Awards News: Mythopoeic Awards Winners

Mythopoeic Awards winners, announced last weekend at Mythcon in Berkeley, California, are Patricia A. McKillip's Solstice Wood, Catherine Fisher's Corbenic, Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond's The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, and G. Roland Murphy's Gemstone of Paradise: The Holy Grail in Wolfram’s Parzival.

»   Awards News: Sidewise Awards Winners

Winners of this year's Sidewise Awards for works of alternate history, presented last weekend at TuckerCon/NASFiC in Collinsville, Illinois, are Charles Stross' The Family Trade, The Hidden Family, and The Clan Corporate in the long form category, and Gardner Dozois' "Counterfactual" in the short form. (SFWA News)

Wednesday 1 August 2007

»   Awards News

Nominations for this year's Chesley Awards, presented by the Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists, include Stephan Martiniere, John Jude Palencar, Kinuko Y. Craft, John Howe, and Alan Lee in the artistic achievement category, plus nominees in categories for hardcover illustration, paperback illustration, magazine illustration, 3-D, art direction, and others.
» The complete list of nominations is available on the ASFA site as a Word doc; Lou Anders has posted the list here in his blog.

Thursday 19 July 2007

»   Awards News Update: Heinlein Winner

Yoji Kondo/Eric Kotani has announced that Anne McCaffrey is also winner of Heinlein Award this year, along with Elizabeth Moon. McCaffrey was unable to attend the Heinlein Centennial event earlier this month; her medal and certificate will be presented to her in August at the Writers of the Future event in Pasadena, California.

»   Health News: Gardner Dozois

Eileen Gunn writes,

As you may know, Gardner Dozois was operated on for a planned quintuple bypass operation on July 6. A week later, as he was ready to go home, he had a serious setback that required a second operation to implant a defibrilator. He is still in the hospital, but is expected to go home later this week, perhaps around July 20. I talked to him just now, and he said to let you all know that he was doing okay.

Sunday 15 July 2007

»   Awards News: Heinlein and Smith Winners

• Daniel F. Galouye was named winner of this year's Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award, honoring writers whose originality embodies the spirit of Cordwainer Smith's fiction, at last weekend's ReaderCon.
  » Sci Fi News
• Elizabeth Moon was named recipient of this year's Robert A. Heinlein Award, honoring works of hard science fiction or technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space, during last weekend's Heinlein Centennial.
  » SFWA News
  • Locus Magazine's August 2007 issue will celebrate the centennial of Robert A. Heinlein's birth, with essays by Joe Haldeman, John Varley, Connie Willis, Spider Robinson, Larry Niven, and many others.

Monday 9 July 2007

»   Awards News: Campbell and Sturgeon Winners

Ben Bova's Titan is winner of this year's John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel published in 2006; Robert Charles Wilson's "The Cartesian Theater" is winner of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short fiction of the year. The awards were this weekend at the Campbell Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
» James Morrow's The Last Witchfinder placed second in the Campbell competition; Jo Walton's Farthing and Peter Watts' Blindsight tied for third.
» Robert Reed's "A Billion Eves" was second in the Sturgeon competition, Michael Swanwick's "Lord Weary's Empire" third.
» SFScope: Awards report by Ian Randal Strock
» Campbell Finalists; Sturgeon Finalists

»   Awards News: Rhysling Winners

Winners of this year's Rhysling Awards for best SF/Fantasy/Horror poetry of 2006, announced last weekend at ReaderCon, are "The Graven Idol's Godheart" by Rich Ristow in the short poem category and "The Journey to Kailash" by Mike Allen in the long poem category, with runners-up by Joe Haldeman, Lawrence Schimel, Catherynne M. Valente, and Samantha Henderson

Saturday 7 July 2007

»   Update: Fred Saberhagen

» Albuquerque Tribune: Remembrance: Albuquerque author Fred Saberhagen was science fiction pioneer by Ollie Reed Jr.
» Houston Chronicle: Associated Press obit

Monday 2 July 2007

»   Death: Fred Saberhagen

SF and fantasy writer Fred Saberhagen, born 1930, died June 29, 2007, at the age of 77. He began publishing in 1961 with short stories in Galaxy and If magazines, and published collection Berserker in 1967, first in a series about interstellar killing machines programmed to destroy all life. Saberhagen's 60+ books also included the Empire of the East sequence, beginning with The Broken Lands (1968), the Dracula sequence, beginning with The Dracula Tape (1975), and two books co-written with Roger Zelazny, Coils (1981) and The Black Throne (1990). His last book was Ardneh's Sword (Tor, 2006).
• The family will announce a date for a Memorial Celebration later this year.  Donations would be appreciated to Doctors without Borders, Catholic Relief, SFWA Emergency Medical Fund, and John 23rd Catholic Church in Albuquerque.
» Wikipedia entry
» Official site: Berserker.com

Saturday 30 June 2007

»   Death: Sterling E. Lanier

Locus has received a report of the death of writer and editor Sterling E. Lanier, born 1927, on June 28, 2007, in Sarasota, Florida, at the age of 79. Lanier began publishing in 1961, and was best known for stories about Brigadier Ffellowes and the novel Hiero's Journey (1973). As editor he worked for Chilton Books in the early 1960s, where he persuaded the firm to publish Frank Herbert's Dune (1965). Lanier's last novel was Menace Under Marswood (1983). He was also a sculptor whose works included visions of characters from The Lord of the Rings that were admired by J.R.R. Tolkien himself. (Thomas B. Allen)

Saturday 23 June 2007

»   Death: Roger Elwood

Reports indicate the death of SF anthologist Roger P. Elwood, born 1943, on February 2nd, 2007. He had been living in Norfolk City, Virginia. Elwood edited and sold dozens of anthologies of original short fiction in the 1970s, many to publishers not noted for SF, and by most accounts thus oversaturated the market for such books once he moved on to other pursuits, including editing various SF book lines (including Laser Books) and Christian publishing. Notable anthologies included Ten Tomorrows and Future City (both 1973), four-volume Continuum series (1974-5), and Dystopian Visions, Epoch (with Robert Silverberg), and In the Wake of Man (all 1975).

Saturday 16 June 2007

•   Awards News: Locus Awards Winners

Vernor Vinge, Charles Stross, Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Ellen Kushner, Terry Pratchett, Julie Phillips, John Picacio and others win Locus Awards.

»   Awards News: International Horror Guild nominees

This year's International Horror Guild nominees for achievements in horror and dark fantasy novels by Keith Donohue, Will Elliott, Brian Evenson, Stephen King, and Conrad Williams, and nominees in categories for long fiction, mid-length fiction, short fiction, collection, anthology, periodical, illustrative narrative, nonfiction, and art. Also announced is Ramsey Campbell as this year's Living Legend.
• Winners will be announced November 1, 2007, at this year's World Fantasy Award in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Sunday 10 June 2007

»   Awards News: Lambda Literary Awards Winners

Winners of this year's Lambda Literary Awards, announced May 31st in New York City, include Neal Drinnan's Izzy and Eve (described by Locus Online here) in the SF/Fantasy/Horror category.

Saturday 9 June 2007

»   Awards News: Mythopoeic Finalists

Finalists for this year's Mythopoeic Awards for fantasy fiction and nonfiction include books by Peter S. Beagle, Susanna Clarke, Keith Donohue, Patricia A. McKillip, Susan Palwick, and Tim Powers in the Adult Literature category, plus nominees in categories for Children's Literature, Inklings Studies, and General Myth and Fantasy Studies.
» The complete list of nominees has been posted by Susan Palwick.
» Winners will be announced at Mythcon 38 at the Clark Kerr Conference Center in Berkeley CA, 3-6 August 2007.
» Locus Index to SF Awards: Past Mythopoeic Winners by Year

»   Awards News: Ditmar Awards Winners

Winners of this year's Ditmar Awards for Australian SF, announced today at Convergence 2 in Melbourne, include novel The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliot, novella/novelette "The Devil in Mr Pussy" by Paul Haines, short story "The Fear of White" by Rjurik Davidson, collected work The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy Vol.2 edited by Bill Congreve & Michelle Marquardt, plus Andrew MacRae (artwork), Danny Oz (fan writer), Jon Swabey (fan artist), ASif website (fan production), HorrorScope (fanzine), Bill Congreve (professional achievement), Alisa Krasnostein (fan achievement and new talent).
• Also presented: The William Atheling Jr Award to Justine Larbalestier for Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century, the A. Bertram Chandler Award to Bruce Gillespie, and the Peter MacNamara Memorial Award to Shaun Tan.
» Complete 2007 Ditmar Awards nominations list

Tuesday 5 June 2007

»   Awards News

Finalists for this year's Sunburst Award, for best novel or collection by a Canadian writer, are books by Mark Frutkin, Carrie Mac, Martine Leavitt, Peter Watts, and Robert J. Wiersema. The winner will be announced this Fall.
» Official site: The Sunburst Award

Monday 4 June 2007

»   Awards News

Finalists for this year's Quill Awards in the SF/fantasy/horror category are books by Jo Walton, Patrick Rothfuss, David Marusek, Ian McDonald, and Ken MacLeod; other categories incluce books by Cormac McCarthy (general fiction), Brian Selznick (children's chapter/middle grade), and Ellen Klages (young adult/teen).
» Complete list at PW's The Beat
» Official site: The Quill Awards

Friday 1 June 2007

»   Awards News

Finalists for this year's John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel of 2006 include Nick Dichario, M. John Harrison, James Morrow, Charles Stross, and Vernor Vinge.
» Winners will be announced at the annual Campbell Conference and Awards Ceremony in Kansas City, Missouri, July 6-8, 2007, as part of the Heinlein Centennial.

Saturday 26 May 2007

»   Awards News

Thursday 24 May 2007

»   Awards News

Finalists for this year's Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best SF short fiction include Paolo Bacigalupi, Jeffrey Ford, Ian McDonald, M. Rickert, Michael Swanwick, Robert Charles Wilson, and others.
» Winners will be announced at the annual Campbell Conference and Awards Ceremony in Kansas City, Missouri, July 6-8, 2007, as part of the Heinlein Centennial.

»   Publishing News: Book Clubs Cut

German media conglomerate Bertelsmann has announced plans to lay off 280 of its Bookspan employees, about 15% of their staff, and close a number of its specialty book clubs. Bookspan includes the Doubleday Book Club, the Book-of-the-Month Club, and the Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC). Though reports indicate SFBC is not being closed, SFScope reports that editor Ellen Asher is taking early retirement. Jonathan Strahan, editor of several original anthologies published by the SFBC, speculates on the future of the club.
» Publishers Weekly report

Monday 21 May 2007

»   News Notes

• The Clarion Foundation has announced it is providing $9,000 in scholarship funding to students in the 2007 Workshop.  This year's contribution is being made in honor of Jamie Bishop, a gifted artist, an exceptional teacher, and a bright spirit whose life was cut short during the shooting at Virginia Tech.
» SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, has issued a statement supporting the Authors Guild against Simon and Schuster's recent decision to hold publication rights to their books for the life of the copyright, making books available via print-on-demand after they've exhausted their shelf life. Further discussion at Making Light.
» Baen Books will begin delivering books in installments via email through a deal with DailyLit; more at Publishers Weekly.
» Winners of this year's Analog and Asimov's Readers' Awards, announced during last week's Nebula Awards Weekend, include Barry B. Longyear, John G. Hemry, Paul Melko, Paolo Bacigalupi, and Tim Pratt; complete list of winners at SF Signal.
• The New York Science Fiction Society, the Lunarians, Inc., has bestowed its annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Award on Dr. Gregory Benford.  The announcement was made at Lunacon, the Society's annual convention.

Friday 18 May 2007

»   Death: Lloyd Alexander

Fantasy writer Lloyd Alexander, born 1924, died yesterday at the age of 83. He was best known for the "Chronicles of Prydain" beginning with The Book of Three (1964) and including Newbery Medal winner The High King (1968). Other works included American Book Award winner Westmark (1981), first of a trilogy, and National Book Award winner The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian (1970). He was awarded a Life Achievement World Fantasy Award in 2003.
» SFWA obituary
» Washington Post obituary

Saturday 12 May 2007

•   Awards News: Nebula Awards Winners

Jack McDevitt, James Patrick Kelly, Peter S. Beagle, and Elizabeth Hand win Nebula Awards, as do the screenwriters of Howl's Moving Castle
• Justine Larbalestier wins SFWA's second Andre Norton Award
• James Gunn receives SFWA's Grand Master Award
• Update: Photo of winners provided by Keith Stokes

Sunday 6 May 2007

»   Awards News: Ursa Major, SRFA, Sidewise, Quills

» The Science Fiction Research Association has announced that Algis Budrys is recipient of this year's Pilgrim Award, which honors lifetime contributions to SF and fantasy scholarship, and Michael Levy is recipient of this year's Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service. Formal presentations will be made at this year's SFRA Conference in Kansas City in July.

» Winners of this year's Ursa Major Awards for anthropomorphic/"funny animal" literature and art in 2006 include motion picture Over the Hedge, Kyell Gold's novel Pendant of Fortune, and selections in eight other categories.

» Finalists for this year's Sidewise Awards for works of alternate history include novels and short fiction by Gardner Dozois, Brian Stableford, Paul Park, Charles Stross, Jo Walton, and others. Winners will be announced in August.

» AP: The Quill Awards will continue a third year, with a revised voting process.

Wednesday 2 May 2007

»   Awards News: Clarke Award Winner

Tuesday 24 April 2007

»   Publishing News: Meisha Merlin to close

Meisha Merlin Publishing has announced on its website that "due to major distribution problems Meisha Merlin Publishing, Inc. will be closing their doors in May 2007..." The company was founded in 1996 by Stephen Pagel, Kevin Murphy, and Brian Murphy, and has published roughly 80 titles by Robert Asprin, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Jim Grimsley, Jody Lynn Nye, and many others.

Friday 20 April 2007

•   Awards News: Locus Awards Finalists

Voting in this year's Locus Poll has closed; winners will be announced at the Science Fiction Awards Weekend in Seattle, June 15-16. Here are the top five ranking items in each category.

Thursday 19 April 2007

»   News Update: More on Jamie Bishop

» Time Magazine profiles the victims, including Jamie Bishop
» NPR has this brief audio reminiscence
• The Jamie Bishop and Jocelyne Couture-Nowak Scholarships will be awarded annually to German and French majors at Virginia Tech. Donations may be made payable to the Virginia Tech Foundation for the Jocelyne Couture-Nowak Scholarship (for French majors) or the Jamie Bishop Scholarship (for German Majors):

Virginia Tech Foundation
University Development
902 Prices Fork Road
Blacksburg, VA 24061

•   Awards News: Sidewise, Eisner Finalists

» Finalists for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History include works by Paul Park, Charles Stross, Gardner Dozois, Brian Stableford, and others. Winners will be announced at Tuckercon/NASFiC in St. Louis, August 2-5.
» Nominations for the 2007 Eisner Awards for comics include genre works by Stan Lee, Frank Beddor, Phil and Kaja Foglio, Gene Luen Yang, Neil Gaiman, and many others; this year's judges include Jeff VanderMeer

Tuesday 17 April 2007

»   News Update: Virginia Tech Shooting

•   Anniversary

Monday 16 April 2007

»   News: Virginia Tech Shooting Victim

Jamie Bishop, son of SF author Michael Bishop, was among the victims of today's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
» Posts by Paul Di Filippo, Jason Erik Lundberg
» Update Tuesday morning: Los Angeles Times has this article about German professor Christopher James Bishop (requires free registration)
» Bishop's website, memory39, with a portfolio of artwork

•   Awards News: Pulitzer Prizes

Sunday 15 April 2007

•   Awards News: Rhysling, Compton Crook Awards Finalists

» Nominees for this year's Rhysling Awards, presented by The Science Fiction Poetry Association for best sf/fantasy/horror poetry of 2006, include poems by Ursula K. Le Guin, Gregory Benford, Bruce Boston, Robert Frazier, Joe Haldeman, Lawrence Schimel, and many others. Winners will be announced Saturday, July 7, at Readercon in Burlington, MA.  

• Finalists for this year's Compton Crook Award for best first novel of the year, to be presented at Balticon 41, are Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora (Bantam), Jana G. Oliver's Sojourn (Dragon Moon), Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon (Del Rey), and Joshua Palmatier's The Skewed Throne (DAW).

Wednesday 11 April 2007

»   Death: Kurt Vonnegut

American writer Kurt Vonnegut, born 1922, died today at the age of 84. His novels include SF classics Player Piano (1952), The Sirens of Titan (1959), Cat's Cradle (1963), God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965), and Slaughterhouse Five (1969), along with later works Galapagos (1985) and Timequake (1997).
» New York Times

Sunday 8 April 2007

•   Awards News: British SF Awards Winners

Winners of year's British Science Fiction Association Awards, announced last night at Contemplation/ Eastercon, are novel End of the World Blues by Jon Courtenay Grimwood, short fiction "The Djinn's Wife" by Ian McDonald, and artwork Angelbot (cover of Time Pieces, ed. by Ian Whates) by Fangorn.
• Previous BSFA Awards winners

Saturday 7 April 2007

•   Awards News: Philip K. Dick Award Winner

The winner of this year's Philip K. Dick Award, for best original paperback published in the US in 2006, is Chris Moriarity's Spin Control (Bantam Spectra), with a special citation given to Elizabeth Bear for Carnival (Bantam Spectra). • Results were announced Friday evening at Norwescon in SeaTac, Washington.
• Philip K. Dick Award official site
• Previous Philip K. Dick Award winners

Wednesday 4 April 2007

•   Awards News: Ditmar Nominations

Justine Larbalestier, Jonathan Strahan, Shaun Tan, Will Elliot, Ben Peek, and many others are among this year's Ditmar Awards nominations for Australian SF. Winners will be announced 2 June 2007 at Convergence 2, the 46th National SF Convention.

Monday 2 April 2007

•   Awards News: James Tiptree, Jr. Award Winners

This year's James Tiptree, Jr. Award for gender-exploring science fiction goes jointly to Shelley Jackson for Half Life and Catherynne M. Valente for The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden, with a special recognition to Julie Phillips for her biography James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon. Awards will be presented May 27, 2007, at WisCon in Madison, Wisconson.

•   Awards News: Hugo Awards Nominations Correction

Nippon 2007, the 65th World Science Fiction Convention to be held in Yokohama, Japan, has announced a correction to this year's Hugo Awards nominations, adding Pan's Labyrinth to the Dramatic Presentation, Long Form category, and removing Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
» Hugo Correction FAQ
• Locus Online's Hugo listing and indexes will be updated shortly.

•   Awards News: Bram Stoker Awards Winners

Thursday 29 March 2007

•   Awards News: SF Hall of Fame Inductees

This year's inductees into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame are Gene Wolfe, Ridley Scott, Ed Emshwiller, and Gene Roddenberry. • Induction ceremonies will be held on June 16th, 2007, at Seattle's Science Fiction Museum, which will also host the announcement and presentation of this year's Locus Awards.
• Tickets for the Locus Awards Presentation are available now for purchase.
» Previous SF Hall of Fame inductees.

•   Awards News: Hugo and Campbell Awards Nominations

2007 Hugo Awards Nominations include Michael Flynn, Naomi Novik, Charles Stross, Vernor Vinge, and Peter Watts for best novel, plus nominees for novella, novelette, short story, related book, dramatic presentation, and other categories, including best editor short form and long form • Campbell nominees are Scott Lynch, Sarah Monette, Naomi Novik, Brandon Sanderson, and Lawrence M. Schoen
• Locus Online's listing includes statistics on past nominations and wins by each nominee.

Thursday 22 March 2007

»   Awards News: Prometheus Finalists

Finalists for this year's Prometheus Awards for best Libertarian SF of 2006 are Orson Scott Card's Empire, John Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades, Charles Stross' Glasshouse, Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End, and F. Paul Wilson's Harbingers; finalists for classic fiction are works by Anthony Burgess, Rudyard Kipling, Sinclair Lewis, George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Vernor Vinge.
• Winners will be announced later this year.
» Past Prometheus Awards Winners by Year

Saturday 17 March 2007

»   Awards News: ICFA Awards

Awards announced tonight at this year's International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Ft. Lauderdale include:
• The Crawford Award, to the writer of the best first fantasy book of the past year, to M. Rickert for her collection Map of Dreams (Golden Gryphon);
• The Guest Scholar Award, to Jane Donawerth;
• The Dell Magazines Award, for undergraduate excellence in SF and fantasy writing, to Natty Bokenkamp of Stanford University;
• The Lord Ruthven Awards, for works about vampires, to Barbara Hambly's novel Renfield: Slave of Dracula (Berkley) and Bruce McClelland's Slayers and Their Vampires: A Cultural History of Killing the Dead (University of Michigan);
• The Graduate Student Paper Award, to Richard Landon;
• The International Scholarship Award to Argentine scholar Carlos Abraham.

»   Awards News: Lambda Literary Award Finalists

This year's Lambda Literary Awards finalists for Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender books include, in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror category, works by Elizabeth Bear, Douglas Clegg, R.W. Day, Neal Drinnan, and Chris Moriarty. Winners will be announced May 31 in New York City.

Thursday 8 March 2007

»   Awards News: Julie Phillips wins NBCC Award

»   Death: David I. Masson

SF author David I. Masson, born 1915, died February 25, 2007, in Leeds, UK, at the age of 91. Masson was known for a handful of stories published in New Worlds magazine in the 1960s, including "Traveller's Rest" and "A Two-Timer", which were collected in The Caltraps of Time (1968).
» Independent obituary by John Clute

Monday 5 March 2007

»   Death: Leigh Eddings

SF author Leigh Eddings, wife of David Eddings and co-author of many of his books, most recently The Younger Gods (Voyager, Warner) died last Wednesday, February 28, 2007, after a series of strokes.
» Wikipedia
» SFWA News: David Eddings' office burns

Friday 2 March 2007

»   Awards News: Spectrum Art Competition Winners

Winners of this year's Spectrum Art Competition, announced last weekend in Kansas City MO, include James Jean, Jon Foster, and Syd Mead.

»   Awards News Update: Nebula Final Ballot

Locus Online's listing of this year's Nebula Awards Final Ballot includes statistics and links for past winners and nominations.

Tuesday 27 February 2007

»   Awards News: Nebula Finalists

SFWA has announced this year's Final Nebula Awards ballot, with novel finalists Ellen Kushner, Jack McDevitt, Jeffrey Ford, Jo Walton, Richard Bowes, and Wil McCarthy, plus nominees in categories for best novella, novelette, short story, script, and for the Andre Norton Award for YA SF/Fantasy.

Monday 26 February 2007

»   Death: Patrice Duvic

French writer, editor, and filmmaker Patrice Duvic, born 1946, died Sunday, February 25, at the age of 61. He published interviews with American SF writers French magazine Galaxie in the early '70s; wrote novels Naissez, nous ferons le reste ("Get Born, We'll Take Care of the Rest") and Poisson-pilote ("Pilotfish"), both in 1979, and short story "The Eyes on Butterflies' Wings" in Omni March '79; co-wrote/directed film Vampirisme in 1967 and co-wrote film Terminus in 1987 and wrote the film's novelization. He was best-known as an editor in France, publishing "Best of" collections (by Disch, Spinrad, van Vogt, and others), anthologies, and books by William Gibson, Greg Bear, James Morrow, and Thomas Harris.
» IMDb; Wikipedia [translation]
• (thanks to Jean-Daniel Brèque)

Monday 19 February 2007

»   Awards News: WSFA Small Press Award

The Washington Science Fiction Association has announced a new Small Press Award, an annual award for short fiction published by a small press. See website for details; deadline for submission is May 1st.

Saturday 17 February 2007

»   Awards News: Bram Stoker Awards finalists

The final ballot for this year's Bram Stoker Awards, presented by the Horror Writers Association, includes novels by Tom Piccirilli, Stephen King, Jonathan Maberry, Jeff Strand, and Gary A. Braunbeck, plus nomineees in categories for first novel, long fiction, short fiction, anthology, collection, nonfiction, and poetry.
» The complete list has so far been posted only by bloggers, including Chris Lawson and Kim Paffenroth
» Winners will be announced at the World Horror Convention in Toronto, on Saturday, March 31, 2007.

Wednesday 14 February 2007

»   Magazine News: Weird Tales Announces New Editor

Weird Tales has announced Ann VanderMeer as the magazine's new fiction editor. Press release

Thursday 8 February 2007

»   Death: Lee Hoffman

SF and Western writer Lee Hoffman, born 1932, died February 6, 2007. Hoffman published SF fanzines Quandry and Science-Fiction Five-Yearly beginning in the early '50s, and four SF novels from 1967 to 1972, including The Caves of Karst (1969), but was best known for numerous Western novels, including Spur Award-winner The Valdez Horses (1967), made into a film starring Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland.
» Wikipedia entry
» Efanzines' Curt Phillips Fan Photographs include several of Lee Hoffman
» Making Light's post has additional links, including links to fanzine archives

Tuesday 6 February 2007

»   Death: Charles L. Fontenay

SF writer and journalist Charles L. Fontenay, born 1917, died January 27, 2007, at the age of 89. He published three dozen stories (mostly if If, Infinity, and Amazing) in the 1950s, three novels from 1958 to 1964 including The Day the Oceans Overflowed, and numerous children's books after his retirement in 1978, one of which won a Golden Duck Award in 1998.
» SFWA has this obituary, which points to Fontenay's self-written obituary.

Saturday 27 January 2007

»   Awards News: Aurealis Awards Winners

Thursday 25 January 2007

»   Awards News: World Horror Grand Master; Crawford Finalists

• The 2007 World Horror Convention has named Joe R. Lansdale this year's Grand Master.

• Finalists for this year's Crawford Award, for the best first book by a new fantasy writer, are Daniel Abraham's A Shadow in Summer, Alan De Niro's Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead, Keith Donohue's The Stolen Child, Theodora Goss's In The Forest of Forgetting, Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora, Naomi Novik's Temeraire, and M. Rickert's Map of Dreams. The award has been given annually by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts since 1985 and was originally funded by a gift from Andre Norton. Nominators for this year's award included Kelly Link, Graham Sleight, Niall Harrison, Jonathan Strahan, Farah Mendlesohn, and Gary K. Wolfe. The award will be presented at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, March 14-18 in Fort Lauderdale.
• Previous Crawford Award winners

Tuesday 23 January 2007

»   Awards News: Oscar Nominations

Nominees for the 79th Annual Academy Awards include Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth for adapted and original screenplay respectively, with nominations for both films in other categories as well, plus nominations for Cars, The Illusionist, Monster House, The Prestige, and Superman Returns in various categories.
• Nomination list by film

»   Awards News: Romantic Times Nominees

Nominees for this year's Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine Reviewers Choice Awards include books by Ellen Kushner, John Scalzi, Karl Schroeder, Naomi Novik, and many others; complete nominee lists not online, but see posts by Ellen Kushner, Jo Walton, and John Scalzi for details and comments.

Monday 22 January 2007

»   Magazine News:

• Edward J. McFadden has resigned as editor of Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, "based on the fact that DNA Publications, Inc. has not maintained a reasonable publishing schedule for Fantastic Stories in some time..."

• Wildside Press reorganizes Weird Tales, with current co-editors Darrell Schweitzer, George Scithers, and John Betancourt taking other positions, and a new dedicated fiction editor to be selected.

• Space and Time, founded and edited by Gordon Linzner in 1966, is selling the magazine to publisher Hildy Silverman -- press release.

Sunday 21 January 2007

»   Awards News: Arthur C. Clarke Shortlist; NBCC Finalists

» The 2007 Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist, for best SF novel with its first British publication in 2006, consists of Jon Courtenay Grimwood's End of the World Blues, M. John Harrison's Nova Swing, Lydia Millet's Oh Pure and Radiant Heart, Jan Morris' Hav, Adam Roberts' Gradisil, and Brian Stableford's Streaking. The winner will be announced 2 May 2007 at the Sci-Fi-London film festival.
• Arthur C. Clarke Award

» Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Julie Phillips' James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon are among nominees for this year's National Book Critics Circle awards.
» Critical Mass blog announcement

Sunday 14 January 2007

»   Awards News: BSFA Awards Shortlists

British Science Fiction Association Awards finalists for best works of 2006 include novels by Liz Williams, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Roger Levy, James Morrow, and M. John Harrison, nominees for short fiction and artwork, and a list of nonfiction recommended reading. Winners will be announced April 15th at Contemplation, the 2007 Eastercon.

Saturday 13 January 2007

»   Awards News: Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

Ellen Klages' The Green Glass Sea (Viking) is winner of this year's Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, given to a children's or young adult book published in English by a U.S. publisher and set in the Americas. The award includes a $5000 cash prize.

Thursday 11 January 2007

»   Death: Robert Anton Wilson

Writer and visionary Robert Anton Wilson, born 1932, died this morning, January 11, 2007, at the age of 74. He was best known for the Illuminatus novels written wih Robert Shea, beginning with The Eye in the Pyramid (1975), and continuing with several solo works including Masks of the Illuminati (1977). Among later works were the Schrödinger's Cat trilogy (1979-1981), and he co-edited anthology Semiotext(e) SF (1989) with Rudy Rucker and Peter Lamborn Wilson.
» Wikipedia
» Boing Boing
» www.rawilson.com; blog RAW Data

Tuesday 9 January 2007

»   Awards News: Preliminary Nebula Awards Ballot

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has released the 2006 Nebula Awards Preliminary Ballot.

Sunday 7 January 2007

•   Awards News: Philip K. Dick Award Finalists

2006 News Archive