January 2011 – Page 2

Reviews Short Fiction

Lois Tilton reviews Short Fiction, early January

January 7, 2011June 4, 2018 admin 3 Comments Lois Tilton

Some first-of-the-month ezines, one from last year, and a new print anthology upcoming in February.

The best stories this time are both from Clarkesworld.

Publications Reviewed

Clarkesworld, 52 January 2011
Apex Magazine, January 2011
Three-lobed Burning Eye, October 2010
GigaNotoSaurus, January 2011
Welcome to the Greenhouse, edited by Gordon Van Gelder

Clarkesworld, January 2011

Starting out the year on a strong chord with this dyad of stories.

...Read More Read more

Roundtable

It All Started When: Charles Tan

January 7, 2011 admin 0 Comments

Charles Tan maintains the blog Bibliophile Stalker. He has contributed to and edited projects that bring Philippine SF to the wider world, such as the Philippine Speculative Fiction Sampler. He is also a frequent contributor to SF/F sites such as SFSignal.

While I was always a fan of mythology and the fantastic, it wasn’t until grade seven that me and my best friend decided that we wanted to read fantasy ...Read More

Roundtable

It’s Language–and SCIENCE!

January 6, 2011June 5, 2018 admin 3 Comments Science

Is there anything about Google’s new Ngram Viewer that isn’t addictively cool? You can debate the merits of the Google Books project vis a vis their “Don’t Be Evil” slogan, but this byproduct of the project appeals to the lit/sci wonk in all of us (or at least, in all of me). Presented for your amusement:

Fantasy vs. Science Fiction

Cyberpunk vs. Steampunk

Reader vs. Critic

Scientist vs. Engineer

Actually, ...Read More

Milestones

Gaiman and Palmer Marry

January 6, 2011 admin

Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer were married January 3, 2011 in Berkeley, California in the parlor of friends and fellow authors Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman. Musician Jason Webley, who was ordained on the Internet, officiated the “almost on the spur of the moment” ceremony.

Guests were friends who had gathered for dinner, but were instead treated to the spontaneous wedding. Palmer wore the dress she wore as a human ...Read More

Obituaries

Neil Barron (1934-2010)

January 6, 2011 admin

Locus recently learned of the death of editor and critic Neil Barron. He died September 5, 2010 in Las Vegas NV at age 76.

Barron is best known for editing Anatomy of Wonder, an essential critical/bibliographical/reference work on SF, first published in 1976 and expanded in four later editions, most recently in 2004. He also edited a number of other critical works on the genre. He founded and edited ...Read More

Milestones

Orson Scott Card Suffers Mild Stroke

January 5, 2011 admin

Author Orson Scott Card had a small stroke on New Year’s Day, 2011. According to Card’s official website, he is “now back home, retraining his brain so that the fingers of his left hand strike the keys he’s aiming for. He will not be responding to most e-mails because his typing time must be devoted to finishing his fiction.” Card’s site says that he will “have a full recovery.” His ...Read More

Roundtable

It All Started When: Joe Haldeman

January 5, 2011 admin 4 Comments

Joe Haldeman is the multiple-award winning author of such classics as The Forever War and Forever Peace. His most recent books are Marsbound and Starbound. He and his wife Gay have been involved in fandom since the 1970’s.

I got into the genre by way of Lester del Rey. My father brought me home del Rey’s novel (as Philip St. John) Rocket Jockey, from the bookstore in the Washington airport. ...Read More

Awards

2009 Carl Brandon Awards Winners

January 3, 2011 admin

The Carl Brandon Society has announced that Half World by Hiromi Goto and Liar by Justine Larbalestier are the 2009 Carl Brandon Awards winners. Half World won the Carl Brandon Parallax Award, given to works of speculative fiction created by a self-identified person of color, and Liar was awarded the Carl Brandon Kindred Award, given to any work of speculative fiction dealing with issues of race and ethnicity. Each award ...Read More

Roundtable

Roundtable: SF Aesthetics

January 3, 2011 admin 11 Comments Discussions

This is the first discussion of the resurrected Locus Roundtable group. I tossed out the following prompt to the participants. Click here to see the entire discussion.

Damien G. Walter posted the following on io9.com:

In science fiction [the] argument sometimes arises as a belief that SF does not need to function as art. It does not need to be beautiful, as other kinds of fiction might. Its characters do ...Read More

Commentary Cory Doctorow Features

Cory Doctorow:Net Neutrality for Writers: It’s All About the Leverage

January 2, 2011August 27, 2018 admin 24 Comments Commentary, Cory Doctorow

Imagine this: you pick up the phone and call Vito’s, the excellent pizza joint down the road where your family’s gotten its favorite pepperoni and mushroom every Friday night for years. The phone rings once, twice, then:

‘‘AT&T: The number you have called is not engaged, but the recipient has not paid for premium service. Please hold for 30 seconds, or press ‘one’ to be connected to Domino’s immediately.’’

This ...Read More

Awards Conventions

Hugo Nomination Period Open

January 2, 2011 admin

Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention, announced that the 2011 Hugo Award nomination period is now open.

Nomination ballots will be accepted from January 1, 2011, to March 26, 2011, 23:59 PDT for the Hugo Awards and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Members of Renovation who join by January 31, 2011, and all members of Aussiecon 4, the prior year’s Worldcon, are invited to submit ...Read More

Roundtable

It All Started When: Charles Stross

January 1, 2011 admin 9 Comments

Charles Stross is the award-winning author of acclaimed SF series such as Accelerando, the Merchant Princes, the Laundry novels, as well as stand-alone works such as Glasshouse.

My first typewriter died of metal fatigue when I was 16.

I’m not making this up: it was an ultra-compact manual journalist’s typewriter from the 1950s, an Imperial Aristocrat, that my sister had acquired for typing classes at school. I got hold ...Read More

Milestones Roundtable

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2011 admin 0 Comments

Already it looks like 2011 is going to be a big year for Locus. The magazine is publishing Issue #600 this month, and it now has digital editions — e-mails will be going out to our early subscribers later today. In addition, this is the first Official Post of the ‘New and Improved’ Roundtable blog.

What can you expect to see here in the coming days? Well, January is a ...Read More