Lots of good stories today. Be sure to check out the Hugo Awards and let us know what you thought. In the coming weeks, if you find something interesting you think everyone should read, drop me a line via the contact form and let me know, or just post it below. Let’s get started:
1) The Hugo Award Winners: Congratulations to all the winners and nominees. 2010 was a good year for speculative fiction. I need to read Connie Willis‘ book, like now.
2) Tor and NASA Publishing Collaboration: This could prove to be an interesting relationship. The best Science Fiction usually has some actual science involved. It’ll be nice to see what comes out of this.
3) Publish America vs. J.K. Rowling: Who will win? My money is on the one with enough money to purchase a medium-sized nation.
4) Weird Tales Changes Hands: The Vandermeer era of Weird Tales has come to an end.
5) The Hunger Games’ New Snazzy Cover: The Hunger Games is getting a lot of attention due to the movie, including some new covers.
6) Terry Brooks Chats with Suvudu: Terry Brooks stops by Suvudu on release day.
7) Portal Fam Film Looks Incredible: So what does this have to do with Fantasy? Nothing. I just adore Portal, and figured everyone here was cool enough to recognize this as completely awesome.
Not a big fan of the Connie Willis book, myself. Couldn’t find the motivation to finish it actually, after about 200 pages. It was the only time I voted “No Award” on my ballot – 1. The Dervish House, 2. Feed, 3. Cryoburn, 4. The 100k Kingdoms, 5. No Award. Go figure.
I gave my dad my copy of Blackout/All Clear. He wasn’t that crazy about it either. He said he thought the plot was cool, but it was repetitive and longer than it needed to be.
I’m so sorry to read that Ann VanderMeer won’t be editing Weird Tales any longer. I’ve really enjoyed the magazine under her stewardship.
And as to the Hugo Awards — I was a bit dismayed at Ted Chiang’s win. I thought it was one of his weakest stories ever. I know some people think that even a weak Chiang is better than a strong story from anyone else, but I disagree strongly as to this one.
Terry, I agree 100%. I had him as my nr. 3 vote this year.