Paolo Bacigalupi, quoted on SF Signal, discussing his favorite literary dystopian novels:
“Feed by M.T. Anderson. Genius, and devastating. It’s classified YA, but that’s only because it’s too smart and too on target to be sold as an adult novel.”
::melty sigh::
Find out what M.T. Anderson, Ekatarina Sedia, Carrie Ryan, and others have to say about their fave dystopians.
Did you know that there was a Terry Pratchett book award? Uh, neither did I, but the Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now Book Prize exists:
The award, launched in 2010 by Sir Terry Pratchett and Transworld Publishers, is for an unpublished first novel “set on Earth, although it may be an Earth that might have been, or might yet be, one that has gone down a different leg of the famous trousers of time.”
The 2011 Nominees are on Locus Online.
Strange Horizons has a compelling essay on race and the fantastic on tap today.
It’s a tough topic, race, and for those of us who LOVE science fiction and fantasy, but most often don’t see ourselves reflected in the writing, TV shows, or films, it’s a touchy one. I’m really impressed that author and journalist Nisi Shawl has taken this on. I first ran into her work during Tor’s Steampunk Fortnight where I read quite a few diverse steampunk – or cotton-gin punk – stories which took place with non-white characters during the faux Victorian Age. Shawl has consistently and unapologetically taken on some of the thornier aspects of being overlooked in this genre, and announces that she’ll be at WisCon 35 as Guest of Honor, and will be talking about her recently edited anthology, WisCon Chronicles Volume 5: Writing and Racial Identity.
That should be quite something.
Ooh. Excerpt from The new Carrie Vaughn on Tor.com. If you’re not reading this chick, you should. Voices of Dragons was a Cybils nominee, and it was quite good; can’t wait for the sequel.
For my “entertainment reading,” I’m reading through all her Kitty Norville books right now (thanks, Colleen, for the recommendation) and I LOVE how this woman writes. Can’t WAIT to get my hands on STEEL.
Happy Midweek.
Oh, how I <3 Paolo for saying that. It's like a salve for all those other critics who dismiss YA.
I've got this odd (and probably not entirely accurate; oh well) book genre hierarchy in my head–it seems like many readers and critics hold the view that when you're a kid you read kids' books; when you're a tween/teen you read YA until you're mature enough that you can "graduate" and start reading "adult" books–often genre fiction like mysteries or SFF ends up being the transition point–until you reach some sort of literary enlightenment and do nothing but read literary fiction all day. That seems to be the assumption, anyway. SIGH.
One last thought on this post, which is simply this: So many conferences, so little time or money…
Thanks for the Strange Horizens link, Tanita!