Awards:
Colson Whitehead won the National Book Award for The Underground Railroad. Read Bill’s 5-star review here. The graphic novel series March, written by John Lewis, who is also a congressional representative, won for best children’s literature.
John Lewis, author of March, talks in his acceptance speech about being turned away from a library because it was “for whites only.”
Conventions:
The co-chair of WorldCon 75 is stepping down from her position,
November 23rd, 2016. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 6 comments |
I recently had the great pleasure of dining and talking with urban fantasy author Jaye Wells, whose Mage In Black hits shelves today. In fact, in our two-book giveaway, one lucky commenter on this interview will receive a free copy of Mage in Black while a second will receive a copy of Red-Headed Step Child. So, be sure to comment below.
Ms. Wells is one of my favorite new urban fantasy authors. Her books are driven by action and suspense and spiced with humor and remind me of the popular series by Jeaniene Frost and Karen Chance.
March 30th, 2010. Stephen B. Frank | Jaye Wells | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 40 comments |
This long column is my reaction to one panel at this year’s excellent in-person ReaderCon. It contains spoilers for the STEERSWOMAN series and several books that were published forty or fifty years ago.
ReaderCon was a chocolate layer-cake of delight, and I enjoyed myself immensely. As with any conference that has multiple panels, some delighted more than others, and one, “Cross-Genre Surprise,” discussing books that seem to be one genre (eg, fantasy or realist) but are revealed to be something else entirely, (science fiction, horror), was slightly less delightful than most.
Panel members included Ruthanna Emrys,
August 9th, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 4 comments |
Obituaries:
“Again? That trick never works!” The actor who voiced Rocket J Squirrel (Rocky and Bullwinkle), Natasha Badinoff, and many other famous cartoon characters, June Foray, passed away last week . She was 99 years old. She will live on the hearts of all of us who love the adventures of Moose and Squirrel.
Playwright Sam Shepherd also passed away this week.
Awards:
Colson Whitehead’s novel Underground Railroad won the 2017 Arthur C.
August 2nd, 2017. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 8 comments |
Today’s word for Wednesday is the noun doggindales, which means the patches of mist on a hillside. Once again we have the Scots to thank for this lovely evocative word. It appears to have come into use around 1866.
Awards:
The Locus Awards were announced last weekend. Winners include Death’s End by Cixin Liu (Best SF Novel); All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (best fantasy novel) and The Fireman by Joe Hill (best horror novel.
June 28th, 2017. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 4 comments |
Here are our favorite books published in 2016. Hover over the cover to see who recommends each book. Click on the cover to read our review.
Please keep in mind that we did not read every SFF book published this year, so we know we’ve missed some good ones! Please add your comments — we’d love to hear your opinions about our list and to know which were YOUR favorite books of 2016. What did we miss? One commenter chooses a book from our stacks.
ADULT SFF
MIDDLE GRADE / YOUNG ADULT SFF
ANTHOLOGIES / COLLECTIONS
NON-FICTION
AUDIO
December 29th, 2016. FanLit | Best of the Year, Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 25 comments |
I hope all our readers in the Caribbean and on the US southeastern coast, and their families and loved ones, are safe in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
Awards:
Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead, is shortlisted for the National Book Award. (Bill’s five-star review is here.)
Ian MacDonald won the 2016 Gaylactic Spectrum Award for his book Luna; New Moon. The Gaylactic Spectrum Award is given to outstanding works of speculative fiction that explore the lives of LGBTI characters in a positive way.
October 12th, 2016. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Kindred (1979) is Octavia Butler’s earliest stand-alone novel, and though it features time travel, it’s not really science fiction or fantasy. It’s an exploration of American slavery and its painful legacy from the eyes of a contemporary (well, circa 1976) young black woman named Dana. So don’t expect to learn why she keeps being pulled back in time to a pre-Civil War slave plantation in Maryland every time her ancestor, a white slave owner named Rufus Weylin, finds his life in danger.
February 5th, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Octavia Butler | Audio, Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
(Warning: may contain spoilers of the two previous books.)
In the foreword to Half a Crown, Jo Walton says that she is by nature an optimistic person and that’s why she wrote the SMALL CHANGE series (which she refers to as Still Life with Fascists). Half a Crown, the final book in the trilogy, is admittedly more optimistic that the first two. Sadly, in several ways it’s the weakest of the three,
January 27th, 2015. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Jo Walton | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
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It's discouraging that even somewhat successful authors rarely seem to be able to keep publishing for more than about 10-12…
Fly Fishing is the Answer!
I guess I'll have to read these.
I'd IMAGINE so, never having read that other book or seen the film....
So, more in the territory of A River Runs Through It than Siddhartha? ;-)