The Tolkien Awards were announced on Saturday, April 13.
The Writers Guild announced their awards as well, and there are some genre-related winners here.
Here’s a fun article on an amateur, non-profit Doctor Who film being filmed in Wales (because where else?) (Thanks to File770.)
Molly Templeton asks the question; “Can a Book Really Be for Everyone?” and proceeds to answer it. I’m not sure I completely agree, but it’s a great essay.
I’m not disappointed in this article,
April 17th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
Tordotcom Books has reissued Martha Wells’s 1995 fantasy novel City of Bones, updated and expanded. In an interview, Wells explained that she took a few opportunities to make the writing better but didn’t change the book substantially for this edition.
I knew who Martha Wells was, but until the MURDERBOT series I hadn’t read anything by her. This is the second fantasy novel of hers I have read. City of Bones is a pleasing read,
April 15th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Martha Wells | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Oliver K. Langmead shares six books with Nerds of a Feather, including a collaboration between China Mieville and… Keanu Reeves, an adaptation of Reeves’s comic. Interesting.
Haruki Murakami has a new book coming out in November, The City and its Uncertain Walls.
Angry Robot has opened its submission window and is utilizing an AI sorting program. They have providing an FAQ page and are trying to get ahead of any concerns writers might have. (Thanks to File770.)
Reactor announced that Tor will be publishing a new “Gatsby” themed novella from Nghi Vo.
April 10th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |
The Hugo finalist list is out. Any surprises? I’m pleased to see that fans of Chinese SFF didn’t let last year’s mess discourage them.
Not too surprisingly, several people declined nominations and a few of them gave statements. Here’s Camestos Felapton’s. Natasha Bardon, nominated for Best Editor, Long Form, declined. Bardon edited Babel, an award-winning book that was deemed ineligible for the Hugos last year for no discernible reason. Martha Wells declined a nomination for Best Novella for System Collapse.
April 3rd, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
A single-topic column today.
Fifteen years after Johannes Cabal the Necromancer came out, to acclaim, I finally read it, along with Johannes Cabal the Detective, the second book in Jonathan L. Howard’s series. While I’m not quite sure how I missed them the first time around, I thoroughly enjoyed these first two and the astringent wit with which they are written. I was completely entertained by Johannes Cabal, scientist, necromancer, intelligent and cold-blooded anti-hero who is just human enough to make really big,
March 27th, 2024. Marion Deeds | Jonathan L. Howard | SFF Reviews, World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
Reposting to include Marion’s new review.
System Collapse by Martha Wells
The first thing to know about Martha Wells’ System Collapse is that if you can’t dredge up memories of its (chronological) predecessor, Network Effect, you’re going to want to refresh yourself either by a reread (fun enough) or skimming a few reviews, as System Collapse picks up directly afterward and really feels like it could have just been part of Network Effect (you know,
March 26th, 2024. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Martha Wells | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
March 17 is best known in the modern USA as St. Patrick’s Day. It is also the feast day of St. Getrude of Nivelles, an aristocratic woman who became a nun and an abbess, and might be the patron saint of cats. This older article is interesting, even though there is no formal documentation of a Patron Saint of Cats.
Short story writer and award winner John Wiswell shares six books with Nerds of a Feather.
Best five? Best six? Stubby the Robot says, “Hah!” to such paltry lists and gives us 13 selkie stories on Reactor.
March 20th, 2024. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, World Wide Wednesday | 7 comments |
Reposting to include Bill’s new review.
The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older
On Jupiter, known as Giant, Mossa, an Investigator, and Pleiti, scholar and instructor, are on a new case, involving the disappearance of a student. As Mossa explores, she finds not one, but seventeen university students, faculty and staff have gone missing. What the two sleuths will uncover in 2024’s The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, by Malka Older, will destabilize Pleiti’s already-shaky faith in the university system,
March 14th, 2024. Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5, 5 | Malka Older | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Tom Doherty will be awarded the 2024 Robert Heinlein Award.
Reactor shares more casting news in the Murderbot adaptation. All the “good” characters appear to be cast.
File 770 recapped the Oscars in case you missed them.
Point Nemo is the most remote spot on the planet, it seems.
According to Beth Ann Malow, “springing forward” is not good for us—and yet we keep doing it. https:
This year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off has identified its 10 finalists.
March 13th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
2023’s Witch King, by Martha Wells, is the first book in a new fantasy series, THE RISING WORLD. In the opening pages we meet Kaiisteron, who goes by Kai, the Witch King of the title. Kai awakens in a strange place, unable to move. He can mentally contact his friend Ziedi, but their magical connection should let him know exactly where she is, and he can’t find her. He can’t find his own body, either.
From there,
March 11th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Martha Wells | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I had it on my list to reread (which means I looked over at the bookcase one night, saw it…
Marion, I'm saving James (and Orbital) for after my semester ends so I can devote my undivided attention to them.…
Susan, glad you enjoyed. Samuel Jackson should absolutely play him in the movie!
Troy, 100% agreed. Sadly the BBC adaptation is also confused about this. They seem to think Orciny is some kind…
Hey Marion! The weather is the *same* in Ul Qoma and Beszel in the novel. They even have a recurring…