Your Favourite Authors' - Favourite Books!

Who better to recommend your new book than your favourite authors??

The Guardian had a brilliant Sci-Fi special features on the weekend to promote the British Library's science fiction exhibit. There was a great section which including a number of well know science fiction authors explaining what their favourite novel or who their favourite author of the genre is. It is well worth a read and for all those who missed it - a summary below!

Brian Aldiss
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon (1937)

Margaret Atwood
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

Stephen Baxter
Hothouse by Brian Aldiss (1961)

Lauren Beukes
Watchmen by Alan Moore (1986-7)

John Clute
City by Clifford D Simak (1952)

Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Light by M John Harrison (2002)

Andrew Crumey
The Brick Moon by Edward Everett Hale (1870)

William Gibson
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (1957)

Ursula K Le Guin
Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941)

Russell Hoban
HP Lovecraft (1890 – 1937)

Liz Jensen
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1951)

Hari Kunzru
Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (1972)

Kelly Link
Diana Wynne Jones (1934 – 2011)

Ken Macleod
A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M Miller Jr (1960)

China Mieville
The Island of Doctor Moreau by HG Wells (1896)

Michael Moorcock
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (1956)

Patrick Ness
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson (2003)

Audrey Niffenegger
Time and Again: An Illustrated Novel by Jack Finney (1970)

Christopher Priest
The Voices of Time by JG Ballard (1960)

Alastair Reynolds
The City and the Stars by Arthur C Clarke (1956)

Adam Roberts
Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)

Kim Stanley Robinson
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (1968)

Tricia Sullivan
Octavia E Butler (1947-2006)

Scarlett Thomas
Neuromancer by William Golding (1984)

The British Library Goes Out of This World: Science Fiction Exhibition

The British Library science fiction exhibition has been open since 20th May and ends 25th Sept.

The exhibition explores the history of science fiction and examines how sci-fi has influenced scientific discovery and captured our imaginations.

The exhibition is divided into Alien Worlds; Future Worlds; Parallel Worlds; Virtual Worlds; the End of the World and the Perfect World.

A number of events have been arranged as highlights to the exhibit. Talks from well known authors including Iain M Banks, Michael Moorcock and Stephen Baxter. For a full list of events check the official page. .

The exhibition is free so well worth checking out whereas the events have a small admission fee and tickets are already selling out!

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

Arthur C Clarke Award - 25th Anniversary

Check out the short list for the Arthur C Clarke Award which is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year. If you fancy a decent sci-fi novel you can't go wrong with a novel nominated for this prestigious award:

The six shortlisted books are:

• Zoo City – Lauren Beukes (Angry Robot)
• The Dervish House – Ian McDonald (Gollancz)
• Monsters of Men – Patrick Ness (Walker Books)
• Generosity – Richard Powers (Atlantic Books)
• Declare – Tim Powers (Corvus)
• Lightborn – Tricia Sullivan (Orbit)

Commenting on this years shortlist, Award Director Tom Hunter said:

“The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Arthur C. Clarke Award was always going to be a landmark year, and we couldn’t have asked for a more fascinating and exciting shortlist to get the celebrations started.

“Fifty-four eligible books is one of the highest submission years we’ve ever had, and when you look at all of the reviews, debate and online commentary that’s surrounded many of these titles you can see just how hard the judges’ deliberations were this year.

“For me this list is a great indication of just how deep, rich and complex the literature of science fiction can be. I think this list is a definite keeper, as they say, and my hope is that twenty-five years from now people will still be coming back to it as a representation of everything that’s best about the diversity and strength of our genre.”

As mentioned in my last blog, the winner will be announced on Wednesday 27th April 2011 at the Sci-Fi Film Festival.

Angels and Airways Sci-Fi Music Video

This video is pretty awesome. The group commissioned, sci-fi director William Eubank to create this film called love. I like it. Doesn't sound very much like Angels and Airways? Sounds a bit Mr. Scruff to me!

Short Story: Standard Loneliness by Charles Yu

I have decided to post a link every so often to a Science Fiction Short Story I like that can be read free online. Feel free to follow through and enjoy.

Charles Yu is more widenly known for his novel How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

Standard Loneliness Package

This story reminded me a bit of those very emo pencil cartoons where you just wait for someone to slowing rub out the warm hearts from their chests. Its got a little bit of Tom Holt's depressing hopelessness and none of the humour which makes it even more sad. But a good read!

I found this story by http://bestsciencefictionstories.com/ if you want to look up your own reads.

Book Review: The Wind Up Girl - Bacigalupi

When you haven't blogged in a while you need to come back with a bang?

So what do I want to come back with? Probably the next big science fiction writer.



It is such a great feeling when you finish a book and realize it was not just a great read but a phenomenal read. The Wind Up Girl is crafted perfectly and complements its authors ingenious ideas with superb writing.

This was my most eagerly anticipated read of 2010. The novel is one of the most critically acclaimed of the year (extraordinarily for a debut novel). It won two of the genres biggest awards, the Hugo and Nebula award. It also won the John W Campbell and the Locus first novel.

The Wind Up girl is set in a future Thailand struggling for survival; survival from the flood waters that skim it’s protective walls, survival against the incurable gene plagues ravaging the world and survival from the genetics that hack down food crops and destroy the vital calories needed to keep the population. There is a battle in the city between the money hungry traders who are eager to ignore environmental legislations and the environmental white shirts who struggle with the balance between the contraband gene tampering and the government, tampering themselves, to survive. Then there are the Thai rulers, struggling to maintain their culture and spirit in a new world that butchers it.

It was a breath of fresh air to read a future sci-fi set in Thailand. The future Thailand is a steam-punk dystopia energized by its factions - each struggling for dominance. It’s clear that the energy of the city is bubbling to a violent climax. Notoriously compared to William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer the plot has the darkness and violence of a noir - with multiple corrupt characters and plot twists.

It’s also an environmental Sci-Fi. What makes it a good one is that the plights of The Wind Up Girls Thailand have roots in today’s society. Bacigalupi creates a haunting world because its believable. He mixes this with the fanciful, from evaporating Cheshire cats to terrifying armoured megathons.

Defying the majority of environmental sci-fis, Bacigalupi leaves his story open ended and without defining the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. You are left with a feeling of resolution but no clear idea who was right; who won and who lost. Follow this lack of decisiveness; there are no outright heroes or villains in the novel. For example, Jaidee the head of the white shirts (the environmental military entrusted with keeping the genetic terrors at bay) should be a hero but in the first scenes he is seen accepting bribes from traders. He then destroys their shipments, ignoring the illicit money he has just received to protect them. He terrorizes and threatens all who stand in the white shirts path, considering it a lesser wrong for protecting his country. He reminded me of Jack Bauer, but instead of protecting his country against terrorists, he protects it from the biological threats. There is also Kanya; his deputy who is really a double agent. She struggles between choosing between which of her masters is really providing justice and helping the nation. Is there really an answer when both are shedding blood?

The Wind Up girl is a key character and a metaphor of the books message. She is a new person; a Japanese creation. She is created with human modification. She has immunity from disease, strength and quicker reflexes. However, because she is designed to serve and delight others she is also built with flaws such as no pores to give her perfectly smooth skin. This causes her to overheat if she moves too fast. She is also designed to move in wind up, stutter stop motions: a deliberate feature to ensure she can be spotted from a real person. She has also been built with innate psychological qualities - like a labrador she craves a master and to serve. The Thai’s regard her as an abomination – unnatural and dangerous. She is constantly treated as inferior, when she herself points out; really she is superiorly designed in every way. The doctor Gi Bu Sen (a master at gene hacking) comments the world could be much better off if we all gave in and became new people ourselves.

The novel is a tremendous read that is never predicable and leaves you turning each page eager for more. The characters are engaging and you long to know what will happen next. Is there a sequel? Only time will tell! All I know is, after reading this book you know that Paolo Bacigalupi is the next big thing in Sci-Fi.

Book Review: I Robot – Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov is probably my favourite Sci-Fi writer. To me, he is the unequivocal classical sci-fi writer.

I Robot is similar to Asimov’s other books in the sense that it is made up of a collection of short stories centered around robots. These series of stories were actually originally published in a series of pulp magazines. The common thread throughout the stories is Dr. Susan Calvin, a robopsychologist employed by Earths largest robot manufacturers US Robot Inc. The stories of Dr. Calvin’s retrospection on her career, narrated to an eager journalist.

Gone are the tales of robot killers and cold hearted armies of metal over throwing the human race. Each story explores the moralistic, practical and ethnical arguments for developing artificial life. The novel is seminal in the fact that many future writers included Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics which are pinnacle to the plot:
1) A robot may not injure a human being or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm;
2) A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

These laws are created in Asimovs’ story to ensure humans place as the master because ultimately, future robots are far more intelligent and physically durable than humans will ever be. They are also more moralistic than humans (for the afore mentioned rules). Asimov uses his stories to explore this relationship and even debate if Robots should be the rulers, being more capable.

Asimov has a great sense of comedy and the stories are equally comical, as some are dark. Each story generally centers around a problem or fault with a robot which must be solved which by the end leaves you trying to figure out the solution first.
The character of Dr. Susan Calvin is outshone by the robots she encounters. Dr. Calvin is not likable - this is particularly relevant when she drives a robot into madness just to spite him and you begin to empathize with her view that robots are nicer than humans. The first story of Robbie (a little girls Nanny Robot) is particularly endearing to robots.

I’ve never been that much of a ‘robot story’ reader but I really enjoyed this book. The great thing about Asimov is that he creates books that really speculate the future. I Robot (which is nothing like the film!) could be renamed A Comprehensive Investigation into the Possible Affects to the Development of AI. You get the impression that Asimov spent a great deal of time looking into every side affect from the advances this kind of technology would create when in reality, he probably didn’t spend very long on each story. In the height of his career Asimov was churning out stories and ended his career with nearly five hundred books to his name and several hundred articles to his name.

Book Review: Inversions - Iain M Banks

I’ve never read Iain Banks or Iain M Banks before (the difference of name coincides with whether Banks is writing fantasy or science fiction). I probably should have chosen my first book from The Culture Series more carefully but I wanted to read a Culture novel before buying Surface Details (his latest) and my Mum had this one lying around (free book). My mum didn’t think to warn me that I would be extremely confused and not understand the context of the story without pre reading the other books. But that is very typical of my mother!

Inversions is by Iain M Banks and therefore a sci-fi. This surprised me, as it appears to be fantasy, particularly at the beginning of the novel. The novel is set on a world reminiscent of our feudal times. Rest assured the novel is speculative fiction but if you’re expecting advanced technology, spaceships and intergalactic mercenaries you will be disappointed.

The important thing to know with this book is if haven’t read The Culture Series before you are going to be left with loose ends and mystery. Like the narrator Uelph, you will not be able to understand certain events. The clues are there but without the background knowledge it’s hopeless to figure out unless you read some of the other novels. Fortunately, you can read the other novels after, which isn’t too bad because regardless of still being in the dark, I still quite enjoyed the novel.

Whereas, the other Culture novels take the bird’s eye view on society. Inversions is the point of view. It’s the micro as opposed to the macro. The main focus appears to be how one person (or indeed two people) can influence the culture of a country.

The novel is told by Uelph. He tells two stories that appear to have no connection. The connection, in reality, is the culture. Although he can’t explain it, Uelph believes something extraordinary influenced and connects the two stories – the culture.

The first story is of Doctor Vosill, Uelph’s mentor and the doctor to King Quience of Hapside.

The second story is set in another country where DeWar is the bodyguard of The Protector, General UrLeyn who is the target of assassination.

Both characters are mysteriously from other realms. Each is trusted in positions to the most influencial people. Both appear to be highly trusted and given the opportunity to influence the future of the nations. They are also hugely successful in their chosen pursuits; the Doctor is the best in her profession and DeWar demonstrates impeccable abilities to protect the General from harm.

The truth about the pair is revealed through a ‘fairy tale’ DeWar tells his General’s younger son. In this sense the novel is a moralistic tale above all else. The two members on the Culture must decide:

“ Was it better to leave them alone or was it better to try and make life better for them? Even if you decided it was the right thing to do to make life better for them, which way did you do this? Did you say, Come and join us and be like us? Did you say, Give up all your own ways of doing things, the gods that you worship, the beliefs you hold most dear, the traditions that make you who you are? Or do you say, We have decided you should stay roughly as you are and we will treat you like children and give you toys that might make your life better? ”

—Inversions, chapter 6


This book is a funny one because the plot appears relatively simple. It could of fallen flat on its face if Banks wasn’t a good writer and the characters weren’t interesting and likeable. The intrique carries you through though. And put together with the context of the culture series and the value behind it, it makes a good but not great read.

Charles Yu's Top Ten Time Travel Books

Charles Yu has published his top 10 time travel books on The Guardian

Encompassing poetry, quantum physics and sexual fantasy, the author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe selects his favourite reading about 'the fundamental weirdness of moving around in time

Example of a basic Top Ten Time Travel Books


I've read one! Is that bad...? At least it's top of the list!