2010 Nebula Awards Announced

The Nebula Awards are given each year by the Science Fiction Writers of America for outstanding works of science fiction, fantasy, or related fiction genre. Announced this weekend,the 2010 winners:


SHORT STORY

WINNER: “Ponies,” Kij Johnson (Tor.com 1/17/10)
WINNER: “How Interesting: A Tiny Man,” Harlan Ellison® (Realms of Fantasy 2/10)
“Arvies,” Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed 8/10)
“I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno,” Vylar Kaftan (Lightspeed 6/10)
“The Green Book,” Amal El-Mohtar (Apex 11/1/10)
“Ghosts of New York,” Jennifer Pelland (Dark Faith)
“Conditional Love,” Felicity Shoulders (Asimov’s 1/10)


NOVELETTE

WINNER: “That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made,” Eric James Stone (Analog 9/10)
“Map of Seventeen,” Christopher Barzak (The Beastly Bride)
“The Jaguar House, in Shadow,” Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s 7/10)
“Plus or Minus,” James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s 12/10)
“Pishaach,” Shweta Narayan (The Beastly Bride)
“The Fortuitous Meeting of Gerard van Oost and Oludara,” Christopher Kastensmidt (Realms of Fantasy 4/10)
“Stone Wall Truth,” Caroline M. Yoachim (Asimov’s 2/10)


NOVELLA

WINNER: “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window,” Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer 2010)
The Alchemist, Paolo Bacigalupi (Audible; Subterranean)
“Iron Shoes,” J. Kathleen Cheney (Alembical 2)
The Lifecycle of Software Objects, Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
“The Sultan of the Clouds,” Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s 9/10)
“Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance,” Paul Park (F&SF 1-2/10)


NOVEL

WINNER: Blackout / All Clear, Connie Willis (Spectra)
The Native Star, M.K. Hobson (Spectra)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit UK; Orbit US)
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
Echo, Jack McDevitt (Ace)
Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)


BRADBURY AWARD BEST DRAMATIC PRODUCTION

WINNER: Inception, Christopher Nolan (director), Christopher Nolan (screenplay) (Warner)
Despicable Me, Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud (directors), Ken Daurio & Cinco Paul (screenplay), Sergio Pablos (story) (Illumination Entertainment)
Doctor Who: “Vincent and the Doctor,” Richard Curtis (writer), Jonny Campbell (director)
How to Train Your Dragon, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders (directors), William Davies, Dean DeBlois, & Chris Sanders (screenplay) (DreamWorks Animation)
Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Edgar Wright (director), Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright (screenplay) (Universal)
Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich (director), Michael Arndt (screenplay), John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, & Lee Unkrich (story) (Pixar/Disney)



ANDRE NORTON AWARD

WINNER: I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett (Gollancz; Harper)
Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown)
White Cat, Holly Black (McElderry)
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press; Scholastic UK)
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, Barry Deutsch (Amulet)
The Boy from Ilysies, Pearl North (Tor Teen)
A Conspiracy of Kings, Megan Whalen Turner (Greenwillow)
Behemoth, Scott Westerfield (Simon Pulse; Simon & Schuster UK)



THE SOLSTICE AWARD (for impact on the field)

WINNER: Alice Sheldon/James Tiptree, JR.
WINNER: Michael Whelan SERVICE TO SFWA
WINNER: John E. Johnston III

First Look at Spielberg's Terra Nova

Book Review: The House of Night Series – The Awakened

I want to keep this review quite short as it’s the eighth in the series and I have never reviewed the other books.

The House of Night Series is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me… Particularly because eight books later, I feel I have grown out of the age bracket for the reader. This is my first criticism of the book and the series. Whereas, most series develop their characters and plot to mature with the reader, this series has failed to keep up with its audience. Cringing as I dive back into the books, it takes me a couple of chapters to re-adjust to the teenage slang (like, oh my gawwwd) and random conversation about pure drivel that makes me question the heroes intelligence. PC Cast teamed with her daughter Kristen Cast for this teen fantasy series with the aim to produce books from a real teenage perceptive. I thought this was great in the first few novels where Zoey (the main character) who is a normal high school teenager is swept into the House of Night. Eight books on, she is an adjusted fledging and high priestess… Should she not have grown up a bit? She is supposed to be one most powerful fledging in the world. In my opinion there is nothing admirable or powerful about a heroine who refuses to swear and still uses the term ‘Bullpoopie’.

There are some great pop culture references throughout the series that set the book as a good urban fantasy; creating clever one liner’s and good comic moments that readers can really appreciate. I did enjoy the glee mention in this series and Jacks scene singing along to ‘Defying Gravity’ but these moments are equaled by moments that trivialize the plot and make you feel the characters are not taking their situation seriously.

What made me continue reading the House of Night series was the plot. In theory, it has a lot of components to an epic fantasy. There are vampires, gods, ancient mythological creatures and ancient magic. The ongoing conflict between Zoey and Neferet (the villain of the story) is essentially a battle between good and evil. I like the plot but it dismally lost its punch in this novel. And unfortunately, I can’t see it getting it back. It is incredible hard to feel a sense of danger and doom when the characters themselves seem to be underrating the whole situation. The inane childish commentary continues as does the pathetic teenage rivalry between characters (surely differences are set aside when people start dying?)

This being said, I think my main problem with this book was the deaths… or lack of. The sixth and seventh book focused on the dramatic death of Heath (Zoey’s first love) the trauma of which caused her soul to shatter. Heath’s death was sudden and shocking and suddenly the plot got serious. In the Eighth novel however, PC Cast has deemed to bring Heath back to life. It seems that Cast enjoys bring all significant deaths back to life in some shape of form (Stevie Ray, Zoey, Heath…) which makes me, as the reader no longer care if any character dies because I feel they will turn up again – Yawn. It ruins any sense of threat from Nerefet. Or evil. To me, Cast has proven she will never be brutal. She will only truly kill off the secondary characters who we have little emotional connection to. This series will finish as PG as it started and I fear everyone will live happily ever after. Nice…But, definitely not exciting.

This is quite a negative review for me. I am disappointed with the House of Night series because I feel it had potential. It has a strong and interesting plot which most vampire teen fantasy’s lack. Also, unlike Twilight, it has strong sense of matriarchal empowerment which is refreshing. It is also tackles a lot of social issues. It’s the only teen fantasy I have read lead characters who are gay and brings up racial issues. Not that it is a pinnacle point of topic in the book, but you can tell Cast has deliberately set up a theme of equality that is done effectively and positively.
All in all, if you are young this is a good book. If you are looking for light hearted fantasy this is what you are going to get. It isn’t going to bridge the gap to adults though and as much as I wish it would, it’s not going to get dark and poignant.

BUY AWAKENED: A HOUSE OF NIGHT NOVEL

Big Congrats to Lauren Beukes - 2011 Winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award

The awards were announced while I was back home basking in the lovely sunshine! I was upset to miss the sci-fi festival on my doorstep. Lauren's novel, Zoo City took the award in what judge and author Jon Courtenay Grimwood described as the "clear winner".

"Zoo City filters brutal social honesty through a stunning imagination to produce a world recognisably ours and obviously different," he said. "The plotting is tight, the characterisation strong and the writing superb."

Published by Angry Robot (the small but impressive UK publishing house), Zoo City is set in South Africa in the Zoo City slum where urban magic prowls. While Zinzi December searches for missing pop starlet Songweza, he uncovers secrets that the local crime lord and dark magician wants to stay hidden.

New Green Lantern Trailer

Looks like the extra time they are putting into special effects are really paying off!