Update: Catching up – Books, Blogs and other stuff part 2

Now I’m moving to all the posts that are scarcely piling up in my RSS reader (NetNewsWire or FeedDemon depending if I’m on the mac or the PC). So what follows is probably in the order in which it appears in the list. Though I’m skipping all the art related blogs I like (though if you are interested visit 638ways.co.uk).

Kicking off with the Hugo Awards 2008 shortlist. I’m going to to stick to the Best Novel Category as I’ve not been keeping track on what shorter fiction has been around. I guess the other nominees would be a good place to start. Anyway the nominations for Best Novel are:

• The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)
• Brasyl by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
• Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer (Tor; Analog Oct. 2006-Jan/Feb. 2007)
• The Last Colony by John Scalzi (Tor)
• Halting State by Charles Stross (Ace)

John Scalzi only came to my attention recently when The Ghost Brigades arrived in the post. Then Tor released Old Man’s War as an e-book as part of their current promotion and now the third book in the sequence is a nominee. So I might be cracking open The Ghost Bridges sooner than I thought. I’ve never read any Robert J. Sawyer and I can’t remember hearing about Rollback which seems to concern receiving alien messages. Halting State has been getting dust for far too long and the other two I may or may not pick up in paperback as I’ve read some fabulous reviews of both. Chadon has the slight edge as he’s a crossover writer appealing to be both literary and genre fans.

Via SF Signal (thanks) I’m sticking with award winners. This time the British Science Fiction Assocication Awards where Gollancz’s Brasyl by Ian McDonald just won Best Novel.

Swinging back to Charles Stross as SF Signal has a review of Glasshouse and says, ‘I’d have to say that Glasshouse is one of the best books I’ve read this year’. Sounds like they enjoyed it. And they’ve also dipped into Halting State saying, ‘The first thing you’ll notice when reading Halting State is that the entire book is written in the second person. This can be rather odd, as Stross changes characters every chapter and ‘you’ change gender frequently.’ Which is one of the reasons I’ve been putting off reading it,

Via UK SF Book News we’re back to awards as Nova Swing by M. John Harrison won the Philip K. Dick Award.

I’m skipping on OF Blog of the Fallen for a minute as there is a mass debate (no rude jokes please) on the nature of reviewing and it’s not something I can skim read.

Dovegreyreader reminds me often that there is more than genre fictions out there and she’s made a wonderful small post about short-stories thanks to a pile of books from small press publisher Salt.

Skimming past Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist Post entitled, I’m the EasyJet or Southwest Airlines of SFF book reviewing!;-) , I’m moving on to the review of The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia. I’d like to read more books that make places characters. Phil Rickman does it in his Merrily Waktins series and Neil Gaiman has certainly done it, as has China Meiville. So it’s good to see Moscow getting explored. The final verdict off Pat, ‘Do yourself a favor and read this one!’ So I will.

If I was braver I’d probably read Neuropath by Scott Baker, but I’m not. Especially after reading this bit in Pat’s review, ‘Tom is caught in a terrifying downward spiral as Neil kidnaps and mutilates people with a connection to him. He manipulates their brains, leaving them altered in ways that will shock some people’. But if you’re brave enough check out the rest of the review.

Tia over at Fantasy Debut is Looking for that Sense of Wonder and after reading her post I tend to agree. Though Mark Chadbourn (yep him again) does quite often make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

John Self over at The Asylum reminds me that I really should delve into the depths of the classic and previously published and he as a few words on reissued classics when he looks at The Assistant by Robert Walser.

Tia reminded me and Robert reviewed, Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry (though its UK release isn’t until the 14 June 2008) so I’m hoping I don’t forget about by then.

Next on the list is Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review who, as it happens, has just celebrated one year in blogging and may he have many many more – as long as he doesn’t get crushed to death by a falling stack of review copies first.

Graeme’s also happened to review Happy Hour of the Damned saying, ‘It’s an irreverent and fun read that has got me waiting impatiently for the sequel ‘Road Trip of the Living Dead’’. As an aside I’m also reading Cell, which is a Stephen King take on zombies or so it seems from the first few gruesome but intriguing pages. Speaking of zombie he also managed to see Diary of the Dead which has disappeared from my local cinemas faster than £50 note on a pavement.

Hallelujah, I know now what The Name of the Wind is actually about. The whole thing is making a bit more sent thanks to Graeme’s enlightening synopsis.

The bouncy Book Swede, Chris, has reviewed Procession of the Dead by D.B. Shan. He seems to come to the conclusion that it’s good but not great due to a couple of flaws in both characterisation and exposition. Still sounds worth reading.

Kimbofo at Reading Matters has a review of The Ghost by Robert Harris. Robert Harris is one of those writers that you feel you ought to read but seems a little bit too big to actually do it. It seems that The Ghost is a good one to read and has erased any doubts that Robert Harris is a writer for her.

My film of the year last year had to be the magical Stardust based on the illustrated story, now novel, by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. So it’s good to see that Katie’s Reading enjoyed the original novel and recommends reading both the book and seeing the film in any order you like.

Daren at The Genre Files has a couple of recommended reads. Being connected Darren managed to get hold of a copy of Richard Morgan’s The Steel Remains, something us mere mortals have to wait until August to read. But by the sounds of it Morgan’s first fantasy novel after some very successful sci-fi novels will be well worth the wait. It’s a very thorough review and worth reading. The interesting point for me was. ‘The Steel Remains is one of the darkest, most intense epic fantasy novels I’ve read to-date. I also think it’s a fantasy novel that doesn’t so much transcend as extend the genre, into the sort of thematic territory that the majority of fantasy writers wouldn’t even consider going anywhere near.’ He also has good words for the debut Black Ships by Jo Graham. Which is reassuring after reading Robert’s review. It was also released under the Librarything Early Reviewer programme. Not that I can get into the Librarything thing but it seems to be working as Black Ships also has a review by an Librarything early reviewer Fyrefly.

booklit reminds me that there is still an Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction.

In my last post I mentioned that covers are slowly going more painterly and Grimspace by Anne Aguirre falls into that category and according to Grasping for the Wind it also falls into ‘pure entertainment’.

I think that just about covers it. In part 3 I’ll be catching up with other stuff. And maybe wade into the review thing that’s in the air.