Alastair Reynolds' "Scales" (short story, war, free): On mindlessness of war

Actually, it's mostly quite readable nonsense, provided you're comfortable with phrases like "N-dimensional tangle of interconnected wormhole pathways", "an artificial construct actually embedded in the tangle, floating on a semi-stable node like a dark thrombosis", "reality stack", ...

See also.

1. Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War": Conceptually the same idea - futility of war, since after a while, no one remembers what the war was about. But Haldeman's is a far more interesting story.

Fact sheet.

First published: guardian.co.uk, July 2009, as a podcast.
Download full text from Lightspeed. [via Best Science Fiction Stories]
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Alastair Reynolds.

Kevin Hosey's "IT!" (flash fiction, first contact, free)

A humorous variation of one of the stories from A E van Vogt's Ezwal series: a human spaceship "had recently passed through a dense cloud of meteorite fragments", & seems to have somehow picked up a massive alien monster who's now terrorizing the crew. Only it's not really terrorizing, as the captain will discover to his amusement...

Fact sheet.

First published: 365tomorrows, 3 December 2009.
Download full text from publisher's site.
Rating: B.

Peter Watts' "The Island" (novelette, space opera, free): Life cannot be peaceful

I liked the punchline - about the motives of the alien. But most of it is a dark, though readable, cocktail of familiar tropes.

Caution:  Most Watts' fiction, including this story, liberally use swear words.

Story summary.

Life of an alien, in the shape of an enormous thin membrane fully enclosing its star, is threatened because a human ship going to lay a wormhole close to it. It will persuade the humans to lay it a little away, at safe coordinates it specifies, instead. Humans will learn its motives too late...

Much of the conflict in the story is, however, between the unnamed woman narrator aboard the ship, & the AI running the ship. AI has become mad, somewhat in the sense of HAL, from Arthur Clarke's "2001 A Space Odyssey".

Collected in.

1. Gardner Dozois (Ed)'s "The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Seventh Annual Collection" (2010, anthology).
2. David G Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer (Eds)' "Year's Best SF 15" (2010, anthology).
3. Rich Horton (ed)'s "The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2010 Edition" (anthology).
4. Jonathan Strahan (ed)'s "The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year", Volume 4 (2010, anthology).

Fact sheet.

First published: Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan (eds)' "The New Space Opera 2" (2009).
Download full text from author's site.
Read online at publisher's site.
Listen to audio as par of a longer podcast at StarShipSofa.
Rating: B.
Winner of Hugo award 2010 in novelette category.
Related: Stories of Peter Watts.

Hugo awards 2010: winners announced

Nothing yet on official page, but here is the twitter stream.

Links on category go to all category nominees. Links on author or publisher find matching stories.

1. [ss] Will McIntosh's "Bridesicle" (B); download text/audio; Asimov's, January 2009.
2. [novelette] Peter Watts' "The Island"; download; Jonathan Strahan (ed)'s "The New Space Opera 2".
3. [novella] Charles Stross' "Palimpsest" (B); download (available for the duration of Hugo voting in 2010); Wireless (collection?).
4. [novel] Tie between Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Windup Girl" (download) & China Miéville's "The City & The City".

Related: Past Hugo winners & nominees.

Bruce W Ferguson's "Goliath" (flash fiction, humor, free)

Don't expect humanity to unite, even when faced with an extinction threat...

Fact sheet.

First published: Nature, #460 (9 July 2009).
Download full text from The Science Fact & Science Fiction Concatenation. [link via SF Signal]
Rating: A.

Paul on Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Ghosts"

At Marooned.

A story written apparently long ago as part of "The Martian Chronicles", but published for the first time only last year.

Related: Stories of Ray Bradbury.

Ray Bradbury's "The Disease"

Marooned has a post on this flash fiction piece, written long back as part of "The Martian Chronicles", but published for the first time only in 2009.

It's the story of characters that first appear in "Ylla" (download as part of a larger package).

Related: Stories of Ray Bradbury.

Locus Awards 2010: Winners announced

Announcement at Locus site.

For fiction originally published (in US? not sure) during 2009.

Note there was a major scandal couple of years back of this award's organizers manipulating votes to favor favorites.

Related.

1. My "best of 2009" list (includes others' at bottom).
2. Fiction originally published during 2009.
3. "best of" lists.

Million Writers Award 2010: Winners

Link.

For online short fiction first published during 2009.

Related: "best of" lists; my "best of 2009" list.

(Canadian) Prix/Aurora Awards 2010: Winners announced

Nothing yet on official site, but SF Scope has the list. For works originally published during 2009.

"Short-Form Work in English" winner: Eileen Bell's "Pawns Dreaming of Roses". All nominees.

Related: "best of" lists; my "best of 2009" list.

Nebula Awards 2009: Winners announced

Official announcement & complete list.

1. [novel] Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Windup Girl"; download.
2. [novella] Kage Baker's "The Women of Nell Gwynne’s"; all nominees.
3. [novelette] Eugie Foster's "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast"; download text/audio; all nominees.
4. [ss] Kij Johnson's "Spar"; download text/audio; all nominees.

Asimov's & Analog Readers' Poll winners for fiction originally published during 2009

SF Signal has the list, plus links to older winners at Locus: Asimov's, Analog.

Related: Fiction from Asimov's, Analog/Astounding, 2009, my "best of 2009" list.

"Million Writers Award top ten stories of 2009"

Link.

Related: "best of" lists; fiction first published in 2009; my "best of 2009" list (includes others' lists at bottom).

Mark Bould, Andrew M Butler, Adam Roberts, & Sherryl Vint (eds)' "The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction" (2009): Reading lists

This is not a review post. My interest in this book has been primarily for its apparently excellent reading lists. This post will act as anchor for those lists.

While the book does not have any explicit recommended reading lists, each chapter references a lot of stories in its text; just putting them together in a list seems to yield very interesting reading lists of relevant subjects.

Links on chapter titles below lead to reading list compiled from specific chapter (including fiction download links where appropriate). I've already posted 3 lists, & have notes from some other chapters; will have a few more lists coming in days ahead.

The book is divided into 4 parts:

1. "History" (ch 1 - 18).
2. "Theory" (ch 19 -32).
3. "Issues & Challenges" (ch 33-44).
4. "Subgenres" (ch 45-56).

ToC below lists just chapter names, along with its author (but without reference to part). If there is a link on chapter, it goes to reading list seeded from its text. Links on author yield more works of author.

Refences in the book contain all kinds of stuff - written fiction, movies, ... My lists generally strip everything but written fiction.

Lists are heavy on novels, though there are occasional short fiction entries. This is because of book's bias.

Table of contents.

1. Adam Roberts' "The Copernican Revolution".
2. Arthur B Evans' "Ninteenth-Century SF".
3. John Rieder's "Fiction, 1895-1926".
4. Brooks Landon's "SF Tourism".
5. J P Telotte's "Film, 1895-1950".
6. Farah Mendlesohn's "Fiction, 1926-1949".
7. Marek Wasielewski's "Golden Age Comics".
8. Mark Jancovich & Derek Johnston's "Film & Television, The 1950s".
9. Rob Latham's "Fiction, 1950-1963".
10. Peter Wright's "Film & Television, 1960-1980".
11. Helen Merrick's "Fiction, 1964-1979".
12. Sharalyn Orbaugh's "Manga & Anime".
13. Jim Casey's "Silver Age Comics".
14. Sean Redmond's "Film Since 1980".
15. Lincoln Geraghty's "Television Since 1980".
16. Michael Levy's "Fiction, 1980-1992".
17. Abraham Kawa's "Comics Since the Silver Age".
18. Paul Kincaid's "Fiction Since 1992".
19. Isiah Lavender III's "Critical Race Theory".
20. Lisa Yaszek's "Cultural History".
21. Robin Anne Reid's "Fan Studies".
22. Jane Donawerth's "Feminisms".
23. Mark Bould's "Language & Linguistics".
24. William J Burling's "Marxism".
25. Paul Williams' "Nuclear Criticism".
26. Michelle Reid's "Postcolonialism".
27. Veronica Hollinger's "Posthumanism & Cyborg Theory".
28. Darren Jorgensen's "Postmodernism".
29. Andrew M Butler's "Psychoanalysis "
30. Wendy Gay Pearson's "Queer Theory".
31. Alcena Madeline Davis Rogan's "Utopean Studies".
32. Thomas Foster's "Virtuality".
33. Joan Gordon's "Animal Studies".
34. Piers D Britton's "Design for Screen SF".
35. Tanya Krzywinska & Esther MacCallum-Stewart's "Digital Games".
36. Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr's "Empire".
37. Patrick D Murphy's "Environmentalism".
38. Neil Easterbrook's "Ethics & Alterity".
39. Ken MacLeod's "Music".
40. Roger Luckhurst's "Pseudoscience".
41. Sherryl Vint's "Science Studies".
42. James Kneale's "Space".
43. Matt Hills' "Time, Possible Worlds, & Counterfactuals".
44. Joe Sutliff Sanders' "Young Adult SF".
45. Karen Hellekson's "Alternate History".
46. Aris Mousoutzanis' "Apocalyptic SF".
47. Stacey Abbott's "Arthouse SF Film".
48. Stacey Abbott's "Blockbuster SF Film".
49. Graham J Murphy's "Dystopia".
50. Graham J Murphy's "Eutopia".
51. Gwyneth Jones' "Feminist SF".
52. Andy Sawyer's "Future History".
53. David N Samuelson's "Hard SF".
54. Victoria De Zwaan's "Slipstream".
55. Andy Sawyer's "Space Opera".
56. China Mieville's "Weird Fiction".

Related: "best of" lists.

Hugo Awards 2010 - novellas: Nominees & my rankings

Official announcement at AussieCon4. Covers fiction originally published anywhere in English during 2009.

I've read only one story so far - a very ordinary one.

Nominees (6 stories, best first, unread last)

If I have a separate post on a story, link on story title goes there. For read stories, my rating is in brackets. Links on author, editor, or publisher fetch more fiction from source. Download links are included where I'm aware of an online copy.

1. Charles Stross' "Palimpsest" (B); download (available for the duration of Hugo voting in 2010); Wireless (collection?): There are "ideas" here for at least 2 dozen stories, & I don't mean that as compliment. I found it a confused jumble of ideas rather than a coherent story; finished it only because I was determined to finish at least one story from this list. Also, there are things here designed to shock the reader - for the sake of shocking rather than to further any goal of the story.
   
   There is some sort of society of time travelers that keeps reengineering things to the end of the universe - prolonging life of sun, making solar system go traveling through intergalactic void, reintroducing humans on earth every time they keep getting extinct (which they're very good at doing). Sometimes restarting life on earth at microbe level & let it evolve; I could not figure out how it always evolved to humans as smart species! Plus conflict within this society of time travelers - incumbents vs rebels, with a small thread on how organizations tend to become an end in themselves & lose sight of what they were created for.
2. Nancy Kress' "Act One"; download; Asimov's, March 2009: Not read.
3. John Scalzi's "The God Engines"; as an independent book by Subterranean: Not read.
4. James Morrow's "Shambling Towards Hiroshima; as an independent book by Tachyon: Not read.
5. Ian McDonald's "Vishnu at the Cat Circus"; Cyberabad Days (coll): Not read.
6. Kage Baker's "The Women of Nell Gwynne's"; as an independent book by Subterranean: Not read.

Related.

1. Other fiction categories in this year's Hugo awards: short stories, novelettes, novels.
2. Last year's Hugo awards: short stories, novelettes, novellas, novels.
   
3. Competing awards that recognize "best" fiction originally published in 2009: Nebula (US) - short stories, novelettes, novellas; Aurialis (Australian authors); BSFA (fiction published in UK); Prix/Aurora (Canada); Million Writers (global, online short fiction).
   
   Note the scope of Nebulas is 1.5 years - later half of 2008 & all of 2009. All other awards only care about 2009.
4. Anthologies that collect "best fiction originally published during 2009": Dozois', Hartwell/Cramer's, Horton's, Strahan's.
5. My "best fiction originally published during 2009, 2010" lists (also link others' best of relevant year lists at bottom).
6. "Best of" lists.
7. Fiction originally published in 2009, during 2000-2009.
   

Note: I normally update list posts like this when I read a story, find new links, etc. This post was last updated 1 May 2010.

Hugo Awards 2010 - novelettes: Nominees & my rankings

Official announcement at AussieCon4. Covers fiction originally published anywhere in English during 2009.

I haven't read Watts' story because of inconvenient online format. Among the rest, nothing truly outstanding, but only one dud in my book; first four are generally readable stories.

I'll put Griffith's & Stross' stories at par, arbitrarily ordered below. But see caveats with the former below.

Nominees (6 stories, best first, unread last)

If I have a separate post on a story, link on story title goes there. For read stories, my rating is in brackets. Links on author, editor, or publisher fetch more fiction from source. Download links are included where I'm aware of an online copy.

1. Paul Cornell's "One of Our Bastards is Missing" (B); download; George Mann (ed)'s "The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three": Prussians don't want British princess to marry Swedish prince.
2. Rachel Swirsky's "Eros, Philia, Agape" (B); download; tor.com, March 2009: This android must find its own identity...
3. Nicola Griffith's "It Takes Two" (B); download; Jonathan Strahan (ed)'s "Eclipse Three": Use of mind control drugs to make two woman, complete strangers, fall immediately in mad lesbian love.
   
   Caution: About a third of the story is probably best classified as soft porn.
   
   Caution: Downloaded PDF doesn't allow text copy for reformatting in a more convenient form.
4. Charles Stross' "Overtime" (B); download; tor.com, 23 December 2009; satire: Life in a British givernment office.
5. Eugie Foster's "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" (C); download text/audio; Interzone, #220 (February 2009): I once tried reading it - gave up part way through. Beginning looked like something inspired by Jack Vance's funny "The Moon Moth" - a society where it's impolite to meet someone without wearing a mask. But it's nothing like Vance's classic, & I got quickly bored.
6. Peter Watts' "The Island"; read online (no download); Jonathan Strahan (ed)'s "The New Space Opera 2": Not read.

Related.

1. Other fiction categories in this year's Hugo awards: short stories, [novellas], novels.
2. Last year's Hugo awards: short stories, novelettes, novellas, novels.
   
3. Competing awards that recognize "best" fiction originally published in 2009: Nebula (US) - short stories, novelettes, novellas; Aurialis (Australian authors); BSFA (fiction published in UK); Prix/Aurora (Canada); Million Writers (global, online short fiction).
   
   Note the scope of Nebulas is 1.5 years - later half of 2008 & all of 2009. All other awards only care about 2009.
4. Anthologies that collect "best fiction originally published during 2009": Dozois', Hartwell/Cramer's, Horton's, Strahan's.
5. My "best fiction originally published during 2009, 2010" lists (also link others' best of relevant year lists at bottom).
6. "Best of" lists.
7. Fiction originally published in 2009, during 2000-2009.
   

Note: I normally update list posts like this when I read a story, find new links, etc. This post was last updated 25 April 2010.

Hugo Awards 2010 - short stories: Nominees & my rankings

Official announcement at AussieCon4. Covers fiction originally published anywhere in English during 2009.

Nothing particularly noteworthy in this list, though first 3 are ok reads. I don't really have a preference between Resnick's & McIntosh's - first rewrites a classic, later is original.

Schoen's story defies logic. There is no reason I should have liked it - it's utter nonsense. And yet, somehow, very readable!

Nominees (5 stories, best first)

If I have a separate post on a story, link on story title goes there. For read stories, my rating is in brackets. Links on author, editor, or publisher fetch more fiction from source. Download links are included where I'm aware of an online copy.

1. Mike Resnick's "The Bride of Frankenstein" (B); download; Asimov's, December 2009; fanfic: A funny & more-positive-than-original retelling of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".
2. Will McIntosh's "Bridesicle" (B); download text/audio; Asimov's, January 2009; zombie: A woman is given a choice - die, or entice a rich man enough to make him agree to marry you! How do you expect her to behave?
3. Lawrence M Schoen's "The Moment" (B); download; Jay Lake & Eric T Reynolds (eds)' "Footprints" (anthology?), Hadley Rille Books: Very readable nonsense!
   
   Over eons, long after humanity is gone, all sorts of alien beings have been paying homage to a location on moon that has a human footprint on the surface. Each is trying to discover the significance of the place or imprint! Until we're eventually enlightened by "the tutor" of "proto-godlings": "When one takes a step, it is possible to step back. In fact, it is a common occurrence. That's not what happened here." "This is where they jumped off."
4. N K Jemisin's "Non-Zero Probabilities" (C); download text/audio; Clarkesworld, September 2009; non-genre: A girl in New York city is worried over improbable accidents that happen in the city with regularity, like a train coach derailing or she being hit by debris accidentally sent flying in a park, ...
5. Kij Johnson's "Spar" (C); download text/audio; Clarkesworld, October 2009: A woman is stuck with an alien aboard an alien lifeboat - after their ships collided head on, an event that killed her male partner! Now she's constantly having sex with the alien, & nightmares.

Related.

1. Other fiction categories in this year's Hugo awards: [novelettes], [novellas], novels.
2. Last year's Hugo awards: short stories, novelettes, novellas, novels.
   
3. Competing awards that recognize "best" fiction originally published in 2009: Nebula (US) - short stories, novelettes, novellas; Aurialis (Australian authors); BSFA (fiction published in UK); Prix/Aurora (Canada); Million Writers (global, online short fiction).
   
   Note the scope of Nebulas is 1.5 years - later half of 2008 & all of 2009. All other awards only care about 2009.
4. Anthologies that collect "best fiction originally published during 2009": Dozois', Hartwell/Cramer's, Horton's, Strahan's.
5. My "best fiction originally published during 2009, 2010" lists (also link others' best of relevant year lists at bottom).
6. "Best of" lists.
7. Fiction originally published in 2009, during 2000-2009.
   

Note: I normally update list posts like this when I read a story, find new links, etc. This post was last updated 24 April 2010.

Locus Awards 2010: nominees

Official announcement at Locus site. [via Ellen Datlow]

I personally have a bias against this award, ever since they rigged the ballots a couple of years ago to favor official favorites. But it does receive some coverage in genre media.

Awards are in multiple categories, presumably for works originally published during [2009].

Related.

1. My "best of 2009" list (includes others' lists too at bottom).
2. "best of" lists.

Paul Cornell's "One of our Bastards is Missing" (novelette, detective, free): Prussians don't want British princess to marry Swedish prince

Fast paced action story, but with magic - space-time "folds" used as caves & nooks. While the magic doesn't really come in the way of the story, it made me feel the mechanics of mystery was gamed.

Story summary.

A wedding in London - British princess marrying Swede prince. Amid all the merriment, there is a curious incident: a man vanishes into thin air in front of the whole crowd!

Major Hamilton will unravel the mystery, & major international intrigue...

Collected in.

1. Gardner Dozois (Ed)'s "The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Seventh Annual Collection" (2010).
2. David G Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer (Eds)' "Year's Best SF 15" (2010).
   

Fact sheet.

First published: George Mann's "The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume 3" (2009).
Download full text from publisher's site.
Rating: B.
Nominated for Hugo Award 2010 in novelette category.

Rachel Swirsky's "Eros, Philia, Agape" (novelette, love story, free): This android must find its own identity

Good enough read, but it has been done before. Probably the closest read I can off-hand recollect is the third (I think) story in Adam Link series of Eando Binder: girl falls in love with robot, but robot must break her heart & go out to be alone to figure out his own identity & how he can fit in among the humans.

Background & environment of the story will likely resonate better in some cultures than with others. This is not a story for global audiences.

Story summary.

Adriana is a lonely woman. To fight loneliness, she's purchased a custom-made android, Lucian, as companion. They fall in love. She helps him gain human (& property?) rights.

He figures his true status is that of a slave. Since he's free, he exercises his right to go away to meditate & discover his own identity - with no assurance that he will ever return.

So we have Adriana lonely again, & with a broken heart. Their adopted 4 year old daughter, Rose, & a pet bird provide additional opportunity for sentimental scenes.

Notes.

1. Torque Control has a very long discussion of this story.
2. I'm not clear what the title means.
   
   "Eros" probably has something to do with love.
   
   "Philia" with sex? But there is no overt sex here.
   
   "Agape" - wonderment? Again I don't see how it relates to the story.
   
   Update 18 April 2010: Micah clarifies the title in comments below. Thanks Micah.
   

Collected in.

1. Rich Horton (ed)'s "The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2010 Edition".
2. Jonathan Strahan (ed)'s "The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 4" (2010).
   

Fact sheet.

First published: tor.com, 3 March 2009.
Download full text from publisher's site.
Rating: B.
Nominated for Hugo Award 2010 in novelette category.
Related: Stories of Rachel Swirsky.

Helen Coster's "A Former Investment Banker Analyst Falls Back On Plan B" (flash fiction, non-genre, humor)

An investment banker made jobless by financial markets' upheaval of last couple of years is doing what the title says...

Fact sheet.

First published: McSweeney's, sometime in December 2009.
Download full text from publisher's site. [via Jason Sanford]
Rating: A.

Charles Stross' "Overtime" (novelette, satire, free): Life in a British government office

Probably the most readable story I've seen from Stross so far - at least the jargon doesn't come in the way, is much less than his normal, & appears late in the story.

There is a separate underlying nonsense plot of Santa Claus' visit to office on Christmas eve. Only this Santa Claus is evil! And hero must throw him out before any damage is done.

I've a feeling its appeal is likely to be uneven across locales.

Fact sheet.

First published: tor.com, 23 December 2009.
Download full text from publisher's site.
Rating: B.
Nominated for Hugo Award 2010 in novelette category.
Related: Stories of Charles Stross.

Mike Resnick's "The Bride of Frankenstein" (short story, fanfic, free): Retelling Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" from an alternate perspective

What if Victor Frankenstein created his "creature"

1. only a few decades back (at a time when "Gone With the Wind ... is making so much money in the bookstores" - would that be early- or, may be, mid-twentieth century?),
   
2. after returning from his college,
   
3. after getting married,

& if Victor himself wasn't totally irresponsible, as in the original?

A funny retelling from the perspective of Victor's wife. And the creature here is about to actually get a mate.

Fact sheet.

First published: Asimov's, December 2009.
Download full text from publisher's site.
Rating: B.
Nominated for Hugo Award 2010 in short story category.
Related: Stories of Mike Resnick, Mary Shelley.

Hugo Awards 2010 - novels: Nominees

Official announcement at AussieCon4. Covers fiction originally published anywhere in English during 2009.

I haven't read any entry on the list yet, but at least 3 appear to be longer versions of original short stories; see notes with individual entries below.

Going by Sam Jordison's notes on the list at Guardian Books, I think I'll pick up only Miéville's novel. And may be look up the original short story version of Bacigalupi's book.

Nominees (6 stories, best first, unread last)

If I have a separate post on a story, link on story title goes there. For read stories, my rating (ABC: A = worth the time, C = don't bother) is in brackets. Links on author fetch more fiction from source. Download links are included where I'm aware of an online copy.

1. Cherie Priest's "Boneshaker; Tor; steampunk: Not read.
2. China Miéville's "The City & The City"; Del Rey, & Macmillan UK: Not read.
   
   This one sounds interesting, going by others descriptions, but I have an impression Miéville is into "punks", mostly steampunk - subgenre that has rarely worked for me. So not sure.
3. Robert Charles Wilson's "Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America"; Tor; steampunk: Not read.
   
   It appears to be an expanded version of author's short story "Julian: A Christmas Story" (download).
4. Catherynne M Valente's "Palimpsest"; Bantam Spectra: Not read.
5. Robert J Sawyer's "WWW:Wake"; Ace, Penguin, Gollancz, & Analog (serialized?): Not read.
   
   It's part of a trilogy of novels that appear to expand on Arthur Clarke's oft-cited short story "Dial F for Frankenstein".
6. Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Windup Girl"; download; Night Shade: Not read.
   
   I have an impression it's an expansion of author's earlier short story of the same name, but am not sure.
   
   There are good reviews around of novel version, but with a warning that it includes graphic violence.

Related.

1. Other fiction categories in this year's Hugo awards: [short stories], [novelettes], [novellas].
2. Last year's Hugo awards: short stories, novelettes, novellas, novels.
   
3. Competing awards that recognize "best" fiction originally published in 2009: Nebula (US) - short stories, novelettes, novellas; Aurialis (Australian authors); BSFA (fiction published in UK); Prix/Aurora (Canada); Million Writers (global, online short fiction).
   
   Note the scope of Nebulas is 1.5 years - later half of 2008 & all of 2009. All other awards only care about 2009.
4. Anthologies that collect "best fiction originally published during 2009": Dozois', Hartwell/Cramer's, Horton's, Strahan's.
5. My "best fiction originally published during 2009, 2010" lists (also list others' best of relevant year lists at bottom).
6. "Best of" lists.
7. Fiction originally published in 2009, during 2000-2009.
   

Note: I normally update list posts like this when I read a story, find new links, etc. This post was last updated 10 April 2010.

Hugo awards 2010: Nominees announced

Official announcement at AussieCon4.

Its fiction nominees cover works originally published anywhere in English during 2009.

Two quick observations:

1. Most fiction categories have 6 nominees this year rather than the usual 5. Either norms have changed, or there were too many ties.
2. Several novel nominees are actually novelizations of original short stories. More on this later.
   

Related: Hugo awards fiction.

BSFA Awards 2009: Winners announced

Nothing on the official BSFA site yet, but Twitter has some links.

Short fiction winner is Ian Watson & Roberto Quaglia's novelette "The Beloved Time of Their Lives" (download). Happened to be first on my ranking too.

Nebula Awards 2009 - novellas: Nominees

Official announcement & opening remarks.

I'd written this post sometime back, hoping to actually read some of the stories - so I can fill in their descriptions before posting. But going by my experience reading this year's novelette & short story nominees, I'm not feeling inclined. Posting this anyway for download links, in case someone wants to give them a try.

PS: I'd actually began reading Kress' story quite sometime back. Have read only a few initial pages - something about terrorism.

Nominees (6 stories, best first, unread last).

If I have a separate post on a story, link on story title goes there. For read stories, my rating (ABC: A = worth the time, C = don't bother) is in brackets. Links on author or publisher fetch more fiction from source.

1. Carolyn Ives Gilman's "Arkfall" (A); download or read online; F&SF, September 2008: Adventure in an exotic waterworld.
   
   Added to my "best of the year 2008" list.
   
   Note the official SFWA list wrongly labels it as first published in September 2009; it's 2008.
2. [winner] Kage Baker's "The Women of Nell Gwynne's"; Subterranean Press, June 2009: Not read.
3. Nancy Kress' "Act One"; download; Asimov's, March 2009: Not read.
4. James Morrow's "Shambling Towards Hiroshima"; Tachyon, February 2009: Not read.
5. Jason Sanford's "Sublimation Angels"; download; Interzone, October 2009: Not read.
   
   Interzone? Is any work published by an SFWA member anywhere in the world eligible? I used to think Nebulas were for work published in the US.
6. John Scalzi's "The God Engines"; Subterranean Press, December 2009: Not read.

Related.

1. Other short fiction categories in this year's Nebula awards: short stories, novelettes.
   
2. Last year's Nebula awards: short stories, novelettes, novellas.
3. Competing awards that recognize "best" fiction originally published in 2009: Aurialis (Australian authors), BSFA (fiction published in UK), Million Writers (global, online short fiction).
   
   Note the scope of Nebulas is 1.5 years - later half of 2008 & all of 2009. All other awards only care about 2009.
4. Anthologies that collect "best fiction originally published during 2009": Dozois', Hartwell/Cramer's, Horton's, Strahan's.
5. My "best fiction originally published during 2009, 2010" lists (also list others' best of relevant year lists at bottom).
6. "Best of" lists.
7. Fiction originally published in 2008/2009, during 2000s.
   

Note: I normally update list posts like this when I read a story, find new links, etc. This post was last updated 2 April 2010.

2009 novels by how often they appear in various best-of-year lists

adamosf at Visions of Paradise lists 16 sf novels, ordered on this criteria.

Bad thing is: he doesn't list the lists that were used for input. Good thing is: these appear to be works that have received some publicity.

Related.

1. Fiction originally published during 2009.
2. "Best of 2009" lists (my list, followed by links to those of others).
3. "Best of" lists.

Niall Harrison lists "Some 2009 short fiction" worth looking up

At Strange Horizons.

5 stories, but one of them actually from 2008. Plus he mentions a bonus old story of Egan.

1. Ian Creasey's "Erosion"; Asimov's, October/November 2009: Not read.
2. Vandana Singh's "Infinities"; Vandana Singh's The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet and Other Stories (coll, 2008): Not read.
3. Rachel Swirsky's "Eros, Philia, Agape"; download; tor.com, March 2009: "one of the best, and most moving, stories I read in 2009."
   
   Not read.
4. Daniel Abraham's "The Curandero and the Swede: A Tale from the 1001 American Nights"; F&SF, March 2009: "It consists of nested stories."
   
   Not read.
5. [long novella] Paul Haines' "Wives"; download; Keith Stevenson (ed)'s X6; horror: Apparently about a world where men far outnumber women, & women get routinely treated & traded as sex slaves.
   
   Not read.

Other stories named:

1. Greg Egan's "Reasons to be Cheerful"; 1999: Not read.

Related.

1. Fiction originally published during 2009.
2. "Best of 2009" lists (my list, followed by links to those of others).
3. "Best of" lists.

Note: I normally update list posts like this when I read a story, find new online links, etc. This post was last updated 17 March 2010.

Nebula Awards 2009 - short stories: Nominees & my ranking

Official announcement & opening remarks.

I've read 5 of the 6 nominees. All minor ones, though "Bridesicle" stands out within the group. Two other stories that might be of some interest depending on inclination & mood:

1. Ahmed's has beautiful language that carries it through first half; later half will likely appeal only to readers interested in magical beasts. It's Arabesque descriptions sounded sort of cliched to me, however.
2. Jemisin's. We all have some bad days - like, often during monsoon, rain starts exactly as I'm leaving for office, & seems to change time if I change mine! This is the story of a girl in New York who's permanently having a bad day. Or rather, the fear that it's a bad day.
   

Nominees (6 stories, best first, unread last).

Where I'm aware of an online copy, I include download link too. If I have a separate post on a story, link on story title goes there. For read stories, my rating is in brackets. Links on author or publisher fetch more fiction from source.

1. Will McIntosh's "Bridesicle" (B); download text/audio; Asimov's, January 2009; zombie: A woman is given a choice - die, or entice a rich man enough to make him agree to marry you! How do you expect her to behave?
   
2. Saladin Ahmed's "Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela" (B); download; Mike Allen (ed)'s "Clockwork Phoenix 2" (anthology), Norilana Books, July 2009; fantasy: Narrator, a "physicker" (medical doctor), gets a house call - a woman is very sick, & needs urgent help. Physicker will end up giving help, but for something he never dreamt of.
   
   Beautiful language & very good first half. Second half will probably appeal better to someone with a taste in magical creatures.
3. James Patrick Kelly's "Going Deep" (C); download; Asimov's, June 2009: Mariska, a teenager clone of a woman spacer, isn't happy with the destiny she was born for - to travel hibernating to far away stars as a pioneer.
   
   Readers who prefer jargon-filled stories will probably like it more than I did. It's set on moon. Not unreadable, but I generally found it not very engaging.
4. N K Jemisin's "Non-Zero Probabilities" (C); download text/audio; Clarkesworld, November 2009; non-genre: A girl in New York city is worried over improbable accidents that happen in the city with regularity, like a train coach derailing or she being hit by debris accidentally sent flying in a park, ...
5. [winner] Kij Johnson's "Spar" (C); download text/audio; Clarkesworld, October 2009: A woman is stuck with an alien aboard an alien lifeboat - after their ships collided head on, an event that killed her male partner! Now she's constantly having sex with the alien, & nightmares.
6. Michael A Burstein's "I Remember the Future"; I Remember the Future, Apex Publications, November 2008: Not read.

Related.

1. Other short fiction categories in this year's Nebula awards: novelettes, [novellas].
   
2. Last year's Nebula awards: short stories, novelettes, novellas.
3. Competing awards that recognize "best" fiction originally published in 2009: Aurialis (Australian authors), BSFA (fiction published in UK), Million Writers (global, online short fiction).
   
   Note the scope of Nebulas is 1.5 years - later half of 2008 & all of 2009. All other awards only care about 2009.
4. Anthologies that collect "best fiction originally published during 2009": Dozois', Hartwell/Cramer's, Horton's, Strahan's.
5. My "best fiction originally published during 2009, 2010" lists (also list others' best of relevant year lists at bottom).
6. "Best of" lists.
7. Fiction originally published in 2008/2009, during 2000s.
   

Note: I normally update list posts like this when I read a story, find new links, etc. This post was last updated 13 March 2010.

"Tangent Online 2009 Recommended Reading List"

Link. [via dtruesdale @ F&SF Forum]

Rather long list of short fiction originally published during 2009, split at two levels: first by size (short story, novelette, novella), then by quality (essential, plus three less interesting levels). No download links.

Related.

1. My "best of 2009" list (includes others lists at bottom).
2. "best of" lists.

J Ramanand's "Dropping Off" (short story, free): Since few of us use our head, why not let out the spare capacity?

This could have been hilarious satire, but that's left as an exercise for another author. Author takes the idea literally.

Story summary.

Idea is: since most of us are supposed to waste most of the potential of our brains, why not rent out the spare processing capacity? So a machine plugs into the brain & does an externally programmed job, while the owner of the brain sleeps! The story is of a man employed by a company that does brain rentals, & his later disenchantment with the job.

Two key ideas of the story - brain renting & memory retention by unconscious thinking - have both been used before, but it was still a good read.

Fact sheet.

First published: The Scientific Indian, 1 December 2009.
Download full text from publisher's site.
Rating: B.
Related: Fiction about computers.

Douglas Smith's "Radio Nowhere" (short story, love story, free): Manipulating time to ensure his sweetheart didn't die!

Good read, in spite of minor flaws: It's a bit naive story - with a hopeless administration running a big particle accelerator facility. And there is too much swearing.

Story summary.

Liam - a physicist on a university campus, involved in a particle accelerator just being commissioned. Still grieving over his wife, Jackie, who was run over by a car 15 years ago. And Ziggy, a woman in love with him, one he has been friends since longer than Jackie has been dead.

First run of particle accelerator seems to flicker time - now a past point, now now. So he gets hopes of going back to time where Jackie was running into car, & of saving her. In spite of warnings that he might end up really changing the universe.

Eventually, happy ending for all concerned, though not the one Liam was working towards.

Fact sheet.

First published: Mark Leslie (ed)'s Campus Chillls (anthology, 2009).
Download full text from author's website. Alternate link (probably redirects to same).
Rating: B.
Nominated for Prix/Aurora award 2010 in English "short-form" category.

Prix/Aurora Awards 2010: English "short-form" nominees & winner

Announcement on their English home page (will be overwritten by next announcement - so don't be surprised not to find what I'm linking there if you follow this link a few months down the line). Award is in multiple categories - all categories at the link above.

This is Canadian award - I'm not sure if applicable to fiction originally published in Canada, or fiction published anywhere by Canadian citizens, during 2009.

English "short-form" nominees (5 stories) & winner.

1. [winner] Eileen Bell's "Pawns Dreaming of Roses"; Women of the Apocalypse, Absolute Xpress: Not read.
2. Brad Carson's "Here There Be Monsters"; download; Ages of Wonder, DAW: Not read.
3. Ivan Dorin's "Little Deaths"; Tesseracts Thirteen: Not read.
4. Douglas Smith's "Radio Nowhere" (B); download link1/link2; Campus Chills; love story: Manipulating time to ensure his sweetheart didn't die!
5. Robert J Wiersema's "The World More Full of Weeping"; ChiZine Publications: Not read.

[via File770]

Related.

1. Last year's Prix/Aurora awards.
2. Competing awards that recognize "best" fiction originally published in 2009: Aurialis (Australian authors), BSFA (fiction published in UK), Million Writers (global, online short fiction), Nebula (US) - novelette.
   
   Note the scope of Nebulas is 1.5 years - later half of 2008 & all of 2009. All other awards only care about 2009.
3. Anthologies that collect "best fiction originally published during 2009": Dozois', Hartwell/Cramer's, Horton's, Strahan's.
4. My "best fiction originally published during 2009, 2010" lists (also list others' best of relevant year lists at bottom).
5. "Best of" lists.
6. Fiction originally published in 2009, during 2000s.
   

Note: I normally update list posts like this when I read a story, find new links, etc. This post was last updated 2 March 2010.

Nebula Awards 2009 - novelettes: Nominees & my ranking

Official announcement & my opening remarks.

I gave up 3 of the 6 stories part way through. May be I'm growing impatient with stories that don't engage.

"Tragic" seems to be a common theme: one of the stories is about a major tragedy in author's personal life, another retells a Greek tragedy from an alternate perspective, third is about the tragedy of being old & sick. Even Bacigalupi's generally readable story contains elements of a tragedy, from a Western point of view, of being born in Vietnam.

If you are looking for a story that doesn't leave you in a worse mood than the one you started out with, "Divining Light" is about the only choice. But this is hard sf, & expects about 10+2 level Physics background - so it's not for everyone. On second thoughts, probably Bacigalupi's too won't leave in bad mood either, but it didn't work as well for me.

Nominees (6 stories, best first, unread last).

Where I'm aware of an online copy, I include download link too. If I have a separate post on a story, link on story title goes there. For read stories, my rating (ABC: A = worth the time, C = don't bother) is in brackets. Links on author or publisher fetch more fiction from source.

1. Ted Kosmatka's "Divining Light" (A); download; Asimov's, August 2008; hard sf: Who else, besides humans, is special in god's scheme of things?
   
   Note the interesting bits are in second half. First half is quite ordinary.
   
   Caution: Download link above has recently been behaving erratically - sometimes fetching the file, other times giving 404. Sometimes it seems to work via this alternate longer version that resolves to same link above. File is hosted at author's site; so you might want to complain to him if neither doesn't work.
   
   Update 2 March 2010: Two more download links are now available at Asimov's site: text/podcast.
2. Rachel Swirsky's "A Memory of Wind" (A); download; tor.com, November 2009: An innocent girl is murdered by her own father - as a sacrifice to please a god! A variation of a Greek legend.
3. Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Gambler" (B); download; Lou Anders (Ed)'s "Fast Forward 2", Pyr Books, October 2008: A Vietnamese immigrant to US is working for a near-future newsroom, & is not quite cut out for the job.
4. Michael Bishop's "Vinegar Peace, or the Wrong-Way Used-Adult Orphanage" (C); download text/audio; Asimov's, July 2008: Gave up within a couple of pages. A woman is forcibly taken to the "Vinegar Peace", an "orphanage" for people whose children have died in some sort of war.
   
   I later learned, at StarShipSofa audio download link above, that this story grew out of a major personal tragedy in author's life - loss of a son in a school shootout. Which probably will make me pick it up again sometime later to give a more sympathetic reading; it certainly is not for those seeking entertainment.
5. Richard Bowes' "I Needs Must Part, The Policeman Said" (C); download; F&SF, December 2009: Cannot make out the head or tail of it. Gave up may be a third of the way through.
   
   A 60 year old very sick man is having strange dreams & visits from a cop!
   
   May be later parts of the story will reveal something profound, but I don't have patience. Nothing engaging so far.
6. [winner] Eugie Foster's "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" (C); download; Interzone, #220 (February 2009): I once tried reading it - gave up part way through. Beginning looked like something inspired by Jack Vance's funny "The Moon Moth" - a society where it's impolite to meet someone without wearing a mask. But it's nothing like Vance's classic, & I got quickly bored.

Related.

1. Other short fiction categories in this year's Nebula awards: short stories, [novellas].
   
2. Last year's Nebula awards: short stories, novelettes, novellas.
3. Competing awards that recognize "best" fiction originally published in 2009: Aurialis (Australian authors), BSFA (fiction published in UK), Million Writers (global, online short fiction).
   
   Note the scope of Nebulas is 1.5 years - later half of 2008 & all of 2009. All other awards only care about 2009.
4. Anthologies that collect "best fiction originally published during 2009": Dozois', Hartwell/Cramer's, Horton's, Strahan's.
5. My "best fiction originally published during 2009, 2010" lists (also list others' best of relevant year lists at bottom).
6. "Best of" lists.
7. Fiction originally published in 2008/2009, during 2000s.
   

Note: I normally update list posts like this when I read a story, find new links, etc. This post was last updated 2 March 2010.

Mike Resnick's "Heads and Tails in Paradise" (short story, non-genre, humor, free): When Lucifer Jones was god!

As corrected by author, this is really the first story in the new Lucifer Jones series set in the Pacific rather than "Harboring Pearls". It's a variation of "The Lost Continent of Moo", but still a good read.

Lucifer Jones lands in Easter Island, & promptly sets him up as "Makemake", the local god, to counter the threats of the already established (& apparently-Western) local High Priest!

Collected in.

1. Mike Resnick's "Voyages" (coll).

Fact sheet.

First published: Subterranean Online, Fall 2009.
Download full text from publisher's site.
Related: Stories of Mike Resnick (only Lucifer Jones series).