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,
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Apple TV has cast David Dastmalchian in the Murderbot adaptation. He’ll play Gurathin.
On his blog, Peter Clines writes about the temptation to complicate things for the sake of complication, and the risks involved.
Nerds of a Feather takes a close look at Dune, Part Two. They review The City of Marble and Blood by Howard Andrews Jones.
The Saint of Bright Doors won the 2024 Crawford Award, which is awarded to a writer whose first fantasy novel debuted the previous year.
I picked this site because they included Comeuppance Served Cold on one of their “favorite” lists, but the whole place looks pretty fun.
Uncanny Magazine, Issue 57, is available on March 5.
The Crime Writers Association announces its 2024 winners.
Victoria Strauss discusses productive ways to change your mindset when thinking about agent/writing scams. (Thanks to File 770.)
The U.K. Guardian has an obituary for Canadian actor Kenneth Mitchell,
The saga of the Hugos continues, and now there is documentation of obvious manipulation by the committee. Chris M. Barkley and Jason Sanford published this article which details most of the problems with the ballot process. They lay most of the blame on Dave McCarty, who has said publicly that he believes he did the right thing. Diane Lacey published a statement of apology when the article came out. Kat Jones released this statement. Glasgow WorldCon has released Kat Jones from all her assignments.
NBC interviewed Paul Weimer about the fracas.
Marvel’s Squirrel Girl will finally get her due when the comics release special covers of Marvel heroines. It won’t be until March, but still.
Last week the PBS Newshour did a segment on “romantasy,” the stories that feature magic or a fantastical setting but also have a romance story that is nearly as important. Now the U.K. Guardian has an article about it. I think two things; 1) this is not a new phenomenon, but the mainstream as “discovered” it, and 2) regardless of how I feel about it, “romantasy” as a term is sticking around.
The Japanese lunar lander made the most precise lunar landing in history. The craft was experiencing a problem with its solar panels, but the earth crew may be able to correct that.
We seemed so far out of the blast radius of any 2023 Hugo fallout (did I just mix metaphors there?) that I was shocked when the latest one(s) blew up. It might be two scandals, it might be more, it might be none. It’s hard to tell. When the 2023 Hugo nominating data was released last weekend, hours before the mandated deadline, people discovered that the nominating patterns in several categories were,
Effective January 23, Tor.com the website will become Reactor. After Tor.com announced this, there was confusion (even confusion about whether it was tor.com or Tordotcom Publishing. I don’t see how that could have happened, she said sarcastically). Future Reactor addressed those questions.
StokerCon has added Justine Ireland and Nisi Shawl to the Guest of Honor slate in 2024. Thanks to File770.
Atlas Obscura follows the history of forgotten women astronomers at University of Chicago’s Lake Geneva- based observatory.
To my personal dismay, the Peregrine One lunar lander did not make moonfall because of fuel problems. Space.com has more technical information. (Personal because among the many things meant for the moon is a digitized library that includes a short story I wrote.)
Nerds of a Feather reviews That We Maye with Free Heartes Accomplishe Those Thynges, by Thomas M. Waldroon, as part of their Novella Project.
Tor.com previews Paolo Bacigalupi’s new fantasy novel (that’s right, fantasy), Navola due out in July,
Let’s start the New Year off right! Here is a chocolate review by Elizabeth Bear.
Tor.com reviews the Doctor Who Christmas episode, introducing Ruby Sunday, the new companion.
Stubby the Rocket shares seasonal holiday favorites that aren’t holiday themed in this article.
Nerds of a Feather review Marie Vibbert’s new fantasy, The Gods Awoke.
From earlier last month, they also had an interview with Malka Older.
Champagne toasts? Football games? Fireworks? How about getting scared silly by creatures in sealskins,
Wishing you and yours a delightful week filled with joy, laughter, warmth and love. I’ll be back on January 3 with a regular roundup column.
Enjoy Voces 8 and “In Dulci Jubilo” in the meantime.
File 770 reports that Galaxy Magazine will be relaunched by Starship Sloane Publishing.
The year has flown and we are already to the “Best of…” season. Here’s the Guardian’s take on the best fiction in the speculative genres for 2023. (Sorry about the pledge break in the middle—I don’t think it’s a paywall.)
Investing Magazine… (Yes, I do know how weird that is!)… has an article about famous, and expensive, movie cars. A couple of these go for under $100,000! A virtual steal!
Lis Carey review Chaos on Catnet, (looks like Audio only) over at I.
Neil Gaiman was interview by the New York Times. Here’s part of the article. It may be behind a paywall. (Thank you to File 770.)
Flory Jagoda wrote “Ocho Kandelikas” in 1983, in Ladino, a Spanish language used traditionally by the Sephardic Jewish community.
Tor.com has a detailed recap of the Doctor Who specials which I will probably not see since they’re on Disney and I don’t subscribe.
With the IndieInk Awards, independent presses are trying to start formal recognition of indie works.
Mark Shepherd, best known as “Crowley” on Supernatural, reports he survived a “widowmaker” event that involved six heart attacks. The actor, who also appeared on Doctor Who and in a recurring role on Warehouse 13, is 56 years old.
Caution; Wide Load. A section of the Antarctic ice shelf, roughly the size of the island of Oahu, broke off and is now headed for the open ocean,
Another single topic column. This one Marion’s Own Idiosyncratic, Book-themed Gift Guide for the 2023 year-end holidays. These aren’t new releases or 2023 books—these contain some new books, some old favorites, and a few in between.
For the historian, feminist reader on your gift list:
Library of America: The Joanna Russ Compilation. This collection of three of Russ’s novels, including her best known, The Female Man, as well as the Alyx stories and three other award-winning and finalist stories, restores this intellectual, feminist writer to her place in history,
This week’s column will be single-topic, and I’m including a giveaway. One commenter will get a hardcover edition of Richard Kadrey’s The Pale House Devil.
In October, 2023, the Library of America released a compilation of the works of Joanna Russ. Russ, a contemporary of Ursula LeGuin, Suzy McKee Charnas, Samuel Delaney, Marta Randall, Kate Wilhelm, Damon Knight and other New Wave writers, was a vocal feminist who brought literary values to her work—even her sword and sorcery stories (a genre she loved).
"Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Kage Harper" Freudian slip there. ;)
[…] (Fantasy Literature): In 1957, Hammer Studios in England came out with the first of their full-color horror creations, […]
I'm going to have to find these and read them.
R ,if you live in the USA, you win a Fan Lit T-shirt (please specify 1st and 2nd preferred sizes)…
Great review. Thanks!