Francis Towner Laney compilation fanzine

I occasionally venture into the realms of fandom. Not often I admit, well not as often I’d like to but I found a compilation of the writings of Francis Towner Laney on the efanzines website. These seem to be from the 1940s and 50s but fan history isn’t something that I’ve ever indulged in.
Its only […]

Why doesn’t my brain hurt? - mutterings about Cory Doctorow’s latest collection

After reading the last collection, A Place so Foreign…, my brain hurt. Why? Great ideas but (sort of like Charles Stross) I felt like an overrun buffer. I loved his last novel but this collection is certainly Cory at his best. The opening story, Print Crimes, must be read by everybody - yes, everybody. We […]

Asimov short story

I’ve literally just seen this posted at Digg.com - Asimov’s favourite short story. Coincidentally, my friend Steve lent me his cassette tape of Childhood’s End which I’m listening to on the way to work. Having just read Cory Doctorow’s new collection, its strange to listen to tales of Uplift via technology and how little things […]

Clarke Awards for 2006

End of the World Blues - Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Nova Swing - M John Harrison
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart- Lydia Millet
Hav - Jan Morris
Streaking - Brian Stableford
Gradisil - Adam Roberts
 
There are interviews with both Jon Courtenay Grimwood and M John Harrison. Both are taken from my earlier blog but they discuss these books.
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BSFA Awards for 2006

The shortlists for the 2006 British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) awards were announced yesterday, 14th January, as follows:
Best Novel
Darkland - Liz Williams (Tor)
End of the World Blues - Jon Courtenay Grimwood (Gollancz)
Icarus - Roger Levy (Gollancz)
The Last Witchfinder - James Morrow (Weidenfield & Nicholson)
Nova Swing - M. John Harrison (Gollancz) 
 Best Short Fiction
The Djinn’s Wife, Ian […]

Dangerous Worlds - Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

I have a confession: I rarely read Pratchett. I used to but I felt it all went through a bit of a lull until recently in the adult books. My wife gave me Wee Free Men (and the other two but they will be the subject of later posts) and I sat and devoured it […]

Rage against the Skin- The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven reviewed

The Black Tattoo, Sam Enthoven’s debut novel, is a book of fits and starts. But more anon.
Jack and Charlie are knocking around London when they are drawn into a dark battle which may involve the Earth. Crispy duck is an odd dish to have. In a mysterious room above a theatre, they are given a […]

Celestial Arachnids - Philip Reeve’s Larklight

Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines series marked him as an outstanding author who could get his head around outlandish engineering and fantasy, bringing the two together in a wonderful state. Larklight carries on the obsession with floating domestic spaces but this time he has a floating house in space. There’s a real feeling of Victoriana, mainly […]

Of Infinite Attics and Rediscovered Time - Garry Kilworth interviewed

Growing up, when did you first get interested in SF/Fantasy

Since I first started to read. It was only the classic authors at first - Wells, Haggard, Poe, etc - only later did I get into sf, in my 20’s - I just didn’t know it was there before then. But one of my greatest influences […]

The Puppeteer of the Land - Steve Cockayne interviewed

When did you first get interested in SF/Fantasy? Ever since I started to read, I have enjoyed stories that take place in imaginary worlds. Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, Henry the Green Engine, Swallows and Amazons – these were the books that were my earliest influences. I read a lot of SF in my […]