Empire Games, Charles Stross (Tor 978-0765337566, $25.99, 336pp, hc) January 2017.
Charles Stross has a habit of writing disturbing worlds. Sometimes, as with his Laundry Files, the horror comes side-by-side with humor; other times, as in his early science fiction, the implacable face of a hostile universe doesn’t wear much of a mask at all.
Empire Games is the start of a new trilogy, set in the world of
* Cherryh, C. J. : Convergence (DAW 978-0756409111, $26, 336pp, hardcover, April 2017) • Nominal Publication Date: Tue 4 Apr 2017 • Ebook ISBN [link to Amazon Kindle edition]: 9780698164277 • Foreigner #18
SF novel, 18th volume in Cherryh’s long-running Foreigner series about humans and the alien atevi, following Deceiver (2010), Betrayer (2011), Intruder (2012), Protector (2013), Peacemaker (2014), Tracker (2015), and Visitor (2016). • Penguin Random House’s site has
Naomi Alderman’s The Power (Viking) is one of the six titles on the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize shortlist.
The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction celebrates “excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women throughout the world.” The winner will be announced June 7, 2017 and will receive £30,000 and a bronze “Bessie” trophy. For more, including the complete shortlist, see their official website. ...Read More
Read moreThe African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) has announced the shortlist for the 2017 Nommo Awards. All titles “are speculative fiction, were published in calendar years 2015 or 2016, and are thought to be by Africans as defined by the ASFS and Nommo Awards Guidelines.”
Best Novel
SF scholar Mike Levy, 66, died April 3, 2017 of cancer after a brief period in hospice care.
Levy was a noted expert on children’s, YA, and SF/F literature. He was an editor for Extrapolation starting in 2006 and reviewed extensively, including for Publishers Weekly, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and other publications. He was an active member of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts ...Read More
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Finalists for the Hugo Awards and for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer have been announced by Worldcon 75, the 75th World Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Helsinki, Finland, August 9-13, 2017. They counted 2,464 valid nominating ballots (2,458 electronic and six paper) from the members of MidAmeriCon II, Worldcon 75, and ConJose.
Best Novel (2,078 nominating ballots)
Niall Harrison has stepped down as editor-in-chief of Strange Horizons. Jane Crowley and Kate Dollarhyde will take over, with Harrison assuming the role of consulting editor. Read Harrison’s farewell editorial here. ...Read More
Read moreThe shortlist for the 2017 International Dylan Thomas Prize has been announced. Titles of genre interest include:
The High Places, Fiona McFarlane (FSG)
The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry (Serpent’s Tail/Custom House)
The annual Dylan Thomas prize, in partnership with Swansea University, awards £30,000 to “to the best published or produced literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under” and published in 2016. ...Read More
Read moreTitle Debut / #wks on any list NYT 04.09 WP 04.02 LAT 04.02 USAT 03.26 PW 04.02 Amz (04.02) UK: Amz UK (04.02) Canada: Amz.ca (04.02) Items on list -x- number of lists surveyed 30×4 10×2 15×2 150 15×3 100 100 100 Hardcovers Barnhill, The Girl Who ...Read More Read more
The 2017 Writers of the Future Golden Pen Award went to Jake Marley for his story “Acquisition”. The Illustrators of the Future Golden Brush Award went to Michael Michera for his illustration of C.L. Kagmi’s story “The Drake Equation”.
They were honored, along with the other 2016 quarterly contest winners, at a ceremony held April 2, 2017 in Los Angeles CA at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. All winners received trophies, ...Read More
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Alex Bledsoe, Gather Her Round (Tor Mar 2017)
The latest novel in the Tufa series continues to reveal largely unexplored corners of American fantasy, with the fae Tufa living alongside people in remote areas of the Appalachians. When Tufa woman Kera Rogers is found dead and half devoured, followed soon by the death of her secret lover, the other Tufa have to unravel the mystery and stop a monstrous force
by Gary Westfahl
One personal revelation garnered from watching the new, live-action version of Ghost in the Shell is that it is possible to admire a film without really liking it. Director Rupert Sanders and screenwriters Jamie Moss, William Wheeler, and Ehren Kruger have unquestionably crafted an intelligently-written, fast-paced, and visually stunning adventure, and as the events unfolded, I kept thinking that I should be enjoying the experience. Instead, I
The April issue features an interview with Kinuko Y. Craft and spotlights of artists Paul Lewin, Jeffrey Alan Love, and Rovina Cai, an obituary and appreciations for Susan Casper, a column by Kameron Hurley, a report on SF in Portugal, and reviews of short fiction and books by John Kessel, Brian Staveley, Robert Charles Wilson, Alex Wells, and many others.
