The Hugos 2010

The Hugos Award ceremony was hosted on Sunday, September 5th 2010. They have come and they have gone like always, but this year the results presented a bit of a surprise. I am talking about the ultra-rare novel tie, which caused the OMG's of the night [mine included]. I haven't read either of the winners, so I can't comment on whether the tie is justified or not. What I do know is that The Hugos added so much more on my reading list. 

Here are the winners:

BEST NOVEL
[Tie for first place]
The City & The City by China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan UK)
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade)

BEST NOVELLA
"Palimpsest" by Charles Stross (Wireless; Ace; Orbit)

BEST NOVELETTE
"The Island" by Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2; Eos)

BEST SHORT STORY
"Bridesicle" by Will McIntosh (Asimov's 1/09)

BEST RELATED WORK
This is Me, Jack Vance! (Or, More Properly, This is "I") by Jack Vance (Subterranean)

BEST GRAPHIC STORY
Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm Written by Kaja and Phil Foglio; Art by Phil Foglio; Colours by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION - LONG FORM
Moon Screenplay by Nathan Parker; Story by Duncan Jones; Directed by Duncan Jones (Liberty Films)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION - SHORT FORM
Doctor Who: "The Waters of Mars" Written by Russell T Davies & Phil Ford; Directed by Graeme Harper (BBC Wales)

BEST EDITOR, LONG FORM
Patrick Nielsen Hayden

BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM
Ellen Datlow

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST
Shaun Tan

BEST SEMIPROZINE
Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace, & Cheryl Morgan

BEST FAN WRITER
Frederik Pohl

BEST FANZINE
StarShipSofa edited by Tony C. Smith

BEST FAN ARTIST
Brad W. Foster

THE JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER
Seanan McGuire

[Hugo Awards] 2010 Nominees

I have automatically added all nominees on my TBR. How weird is that?

Best Novel
(699 Ballots)

• Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor)
• The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan UK)
• Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles Wilson (Tor)
• Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra)
• Wake, Robert J. Sawyer (Ace; Penguin; Gollancz; Analog)
• The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade)

Best Novella
(375 Ballots)

• “Act One”, Nancy Kress (Asimov’s 3/09)
• The God Engines, John Scalzi (Subterranean)
• “Palimpsest”, Charles Stross (Wireless)
• Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon)
• “Vishnu at the Cat Circus”, Ian McDonald (Cyberabad Days)
• The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker (Subterranean)

Best Novelette
(402 Ballots)

• “Eros, Philia, Agape”, Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 3/09)
• The Island”, Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2)
• “It Takes Two”, Nicola Griffith (Eclipse Three)
• “One of Our Bastards is Missing”, Paul Cornell (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three)
• “Overtime”, Charles Stross (Tor.com 12/09)
• “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast”, Eugie Foster (Interzone 2/09)

Best Short Story
(432 Ballots)

• “The Bride of Frankenstein”, Mike Resnick (Asimov’s 12/09)
• “Bridesicle”, Will McIntosh (Asimov’s 1/09)
• “The Moment”, Lawrence M. Schoen (Footprints)
• “Non-Zero Probabilities”, N.K. Jemisin (Clarkesworld 9/09)
• “Spar”, Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld 10/09)

Best Related Book
(259 Ballots)

• Canary Fever: Reviews, John Clute (Beccon)
• Hope-In-The-Mist: The Extraordinary Career and Mysterious Life of Hope Mirrlees, Michael Swanwick (Temporary Culture)
• The Inter-Galactic Playground: A Critical Study of Children’s and Teens’ Science Fiction, Farah Mendlesohn (McFarland)
• On Joanna Russ, Farah Mendlesohn (ed.) (Wesleyan)
• The Secret Feminist Cabal: A Cultural History of SF Feminisms, Helen Merrick (Aqueduct)
• This is Me, Jack Vance! (Or, More Properly, This is “I”), Jack Vance (Subterranean)

Best Graphic Story
(221 Ballots)

• Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Written by Neil Gaiman; Pencilled by Andy Kubert; Inked by Scott Williams (DC Comics)
• Captain Britain And MI13. Volume 3: Vampire State Written by Paul Cornell; Pencilled by Leonard Kirk with Mike Collins, Adrian Alphona and Ardian Syaf (Marvel Comics)
• Fables Vol 12: The Dark Ages Written by Bill Willingham; Pencilled by Mark Buckingham; Art by Peter Gross & Andrew Pepoy, Michael Allred, David Hahn; Colour by Lee Loughridge & Laura Allred; Letters by Todd Klein (Vertigo Comics)
• Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm Written by Kaja and Phil Foglio; Art by Phil Foglio; Colours by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
• Schlock Mercenary: The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse Written and Illustrated by Howard Tayler

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
(541 Ballots)

• Avatar Screenplay and Directed by James Cameron (Twentieth Century Fox)
• District 9 Screenplay by Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell; Directed by Neill Blomkamp (TriStar Pictures)
• Moon Screenplay by Nathan Parker; Story by Duncan Jones; Directed by Duncan Jones (Liberty Films)
• Star Trek Screenplay by Robert Orci & Alex Kurtzman; Directed by J.J. Abrams (Paramount)
• Up Screenplay by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter; Story by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, & Thomas McCarthy; Directed by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
(282 Ballots)

• Doctor Who: “The Next Doctor” Written by Russell T Davies; Directed by Andy Goddard (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who: “Planet of the Dead” Written by Russell T Davies & Gareth Roberts; Directed by James Strong (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who: “The Waters of Mars” Written by Russell T Davies & Phil Ford; Directed by Graeme Harper (BBC Wales)
• Dollhouse: “Epitaph 1″ Story by Joss Whedon; Written by Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon; Directed by David Solomon (Mutant Enemy)
• FlashForward: “No More Good Days” Written by Brannon Braga & David S. Goyer; Directed by David S. Goyer; based on the novel by Robert J. Sawyer (ABC)

Best Editor, Long Form
(289 Ballots)

• Lou Anders
• Ginjer Buchanan
• Liz Gorinsky
• Patrick Nielsen Hayden
• Juliet Ulman

Best Editor, Short Form
(419 Ballots)

• Ellen Datlow
• Stanley Schmidt
• Jonathan Strahan
• Gordon Van Gelder
• Sheila Williams

Best Professional Artist
(327 Ballots)

• Bob Eggleton
• Stephan Martiniere
• John Picacio
• Daniel Dos Santos
• Shaun Tan

Best Semiprozine
(377 Ballots)

• Ansible edited by David Langford
• Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace, & Cheryl Morgan
• Interzone edited by Andy Cox
• Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi
• Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal

Best Fan Writer
(319 Ballots)

• Claire Brialey
• Christopher J Garcia
• James Nicoll
• Lloyd Penney
• Frederik Pohl

Best Fanzine
(298 Ballots)

• Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
• Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
• CHALLENGER edited by Guy H. Lillian III
• Drink Tank edited by Christopher J Garcia, with guest editor James Bacon
• File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
• StarShipSofa edited by Tony C. Smith

Best Fan Artist
(199 Ballots)

• Brad W. Foster
• Dave Howell
• Sue Mason
• Steve Stiles
• Taral Wayne

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
(356 Ballots)

• Saladin Ahmed
• Gail Carriger
• Felix Gilman *
• Seanan McGuire
• Lezli Robyn *

*(Second year of eligibility)

A total of 864 nomination ballots were cast.

[News] 2009 Bram Stoker Awards: Preliminary Ballot

I love horror. I support horror, but I need to read more horror. Seriously. And everything from this list seems a tasty morsel... Anyway, congratulations to everybody, who made it. Apparently, you rock. Oh and be sure to win Kaaron Warren.

Superior Achievement in a Novel:

- "Quarantined" by Joe McKinney (Lachesis Publishing)
- "As Fate Would Have It" by Michael Louis Calvillo (Bad Moon Books)
- "Patient Zero" by Jonathan Maberry (St. Martin's Griffin)
- "Cursed" by Jeremy Shipp (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
- "Sacrifice" by John Everson (Leisure)
- "Audrey's Door" by Sarah Langan (Harper)
- "Eternal Vigilance II: Death of Illusions" by Gabrielle Faust (Immanion Press)
- "Twisted Ladder" by Rhodi Hawk (Tor/Forge)
- "Voracious" by Alice Henderson (Jove)
- "The Bone Factory" by Nate Kenyon (Leisure)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel:

- "Damnable" by Hank Schwaeble (Jove)
- "The Black Act" by Louise Bohmer (Library of Horror)
- "Slaughter" by Marcus Griffin (Alexandrian Archives Publishing)
- "Breathers" by S. G. Browne (Broadway Books)
- "The Little Sleep" by Paul Tremblay (Henry Holt)
- "Solomon's Grave" by Daniel G. Keohane (Dragon Moon Press)
- "Dismember" by Daniel Pyle (Wild Child)
- "Slights" by Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot)
- "The Dead Path" by Stephen M. Irwin (Hachette Australia)
- "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" by Carrie Ryan (Delacorte Press/Random House)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction:

- "Mama Fish" by Rio Youers (Shroud Publishing)
- "Hunger of Empty Vessels" by Scott Edelman (Bad Moon Books)
- "Diana and the Goong-Si" by Lisa Morton (Midnight Walk)
- "Doc Good's Traveling Show" by Gene O’Neill (Bad Moon Books)
- "The Gray Zone" by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
- "The Lucid Dreaming" by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)
- "Dreaming Robot Monster" by Mort Castle (Mighty Unclean)
- "Little Graveyard on the Prairie" by Steven E. Wedel (Bad Moon Books)
- "Rot" by Michelle Lee (Skullvines Press)
- "Black Butterflies" by Kurt Newton (Sideshow Press)

Superior Achievement in a Short Fiction:

- "In the Porches of My Ears" by Norman Prentiss (PS Publishing)
- "Blanket of White" by Amy Grech (Blanket of White)
- "Keeping Watch" by Nate Kenyon (Monstrous: 20 Tales of Giant Creature Terror)
- "One More Day" by Brian Freeman (Shivers V)
- "The Crossing of Aldo Ray" by Weston Ochse (The Dead that Walk)
- "Where Sunlight Sleeps" by Brian Freeman (Horror Drive-in)
- "The Night Nurse" by Harry Shannon (Horror Drive-in)
- "Plague Dogs" by Joe McKinney (Potters Field 3)
- "The Outlaws of Hill County" by John Palisano (Harvest Hill)
- "Nub Hut" by Kurt Dinan (Chizine)

Superior Achievement in a Anthology:

- "Midnight Walk" edited by Lisa Morton (Dark House)
- "Poe" edited by Ellen Datlow (Solaris)
- "Harlan County Horrors" edited by Mari Adkins (Apex Publications)
- "He is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson" edited by Christopher Conlon (Gauntlet Press)
- "Lovecraft Unbound" edited by Ellen Datlow (Dark Horse Books)
- "Dark Delicacies 3: Haunted" edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb (Running Press)
- "Butcher Shop Quartet 2" edited by Frank J. Hutton (Cutting Block Press)
- "Grants Pass" edited by Amanda Pillar and Jennifer Brozek (Morrigan Books)
- "Mighty Unclean" edited by Bill Breedlove (Dark Arts Books)
- "British Invasion" by Chris Golden, Tim Lebbon and James Moore (Cemetery Dance Publications)

Superior Achievement in a Collection:

- "A Taste of Tenderloin" by Gene O'Neill (Apex Book Company)
- "Shades of Blood and Shadow" by Angeline Hawkes (Dark Regions Press)
- "Martyrs and Monsters" by Robert Dunbar (DarkHart Press)
- "In the Closet, Under the Bed" by Lee Thomas (Dark Scribe Press)
- "A Little Help from My Friends" by Michael McCarty (Sam's Dot)
- "Got to Kill Them All and Other Stories" by Dennis Etchison (Cemetery Dance)
- "Dark Entities" by David Dunwoody (Dark Regions)
- "Shards" by Shane Jiraiya Cummings (Brimstone Press)
- "Unhappy Endings" by Brian Keene (Delirium Books)
- "You Might Sleep..." by Nick Mamatas (Prime)

Superior Achievement in a Nonfiction:

- "Writers Workshop of Horror" by Michael Knost (Woodland Press)
- "Stephen King: The Non-Fiction" by Rocky Wood and Justin Brook (Cemetery Dance)
- "Cinema Knife Fight" by L. L. Soares and Michael Arruda (Fearzone)
- "Esoteria-Land" by Michael McCarty (BearManor Media)
- "Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues" edited by Loren Rhoads (Simon & Schuster)
- "The Stephen King Illustrated Companion" by Bev Vincent (Fall River Press)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection:

- "Chimeric Machines" by Lucy A. Snyder (Creative Guy Publishing)
- "Mortician's Tea" by G. O. Clark (Sam's Dot)
- "Double Visions" by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions)
- "Voices from the Dark" by Gary William Crawford (Dark Regions)
- "Barfodder" by Rain Graves (Cemetery Dance)
- "Starkweather Dreams" by Christopher Conlon (Creative Guy Publishing)
- "Toward Absolute Zero" by Karen L. Newman (Sam's Dot)
- "North Left of Earth" by Bruce Boston (Sam's Dot)
- "Grave Bits" by Todd Hanks (Skullvines Press)

Lucky Me or "Dear Lady Luck,"

You give some, you lose some and sometimes even you win some. This is life. Part time excruciating, part time a game of chance and full time rocket powered carousel. I was able to bestow a bookcase to a very lucky person, but I didn’t get short listed in any category for the BBAW, which didn’t surprise me as much. I still thank the person, who nominated me and gave me a couple of hours of daydreaming. I appreciate those hours dearly. Reminded of the BBAW I realized that perhaps I am not going to participate, because my semester overlaps with my last two weeks of my summer job and I plan on having blogger friends over, but I may get to post something. No promises.

Nevertheless life managed to surprise me and almost make up for the runny roof that ruined a good number of our furniture. First, there is my involvement with Bellezza’s Japanese Reading Challenge. I almost never read anything so far, but I managed to win one of her fantastic giveaway sets. Just look at these darlings:

This includes a Moleskine Album, two Japanese pencils and three collectable erasers shaped as my most favorite thing after books, food.

Materialistic urges sated, it was time to mend my depleted self-esteem. This happened thanks to Mark David over at “Absorbed in Words”, who was gracious enough to present me the Kreativ Blogger Award.

List seven of your favorite things . . . and then choose seven people who deserve this. Whether it’s their writing style, their background layout, or blog content, decide whatever factor or factors that make the nominees’ blog creative and stand out.

Without further ado, here are the seven things I adore.

* That would be mythology, legends and folklore. It got me where I am today and how I view the world.
* I don’t drink that much, but when I do I am sure to order Cuba Libre. I’ll die without.
* Being the essential sloth, I can’t describe to you how much I love to doze off, tucked in and sprawled in a weird position.
* Impractical reading position. I can’t read sitting on a chair or lying on a bed. I have to be twisted or bent or with parts of my boding hanging. Probably the reason, why I haven’t been able to read as fast.
* Smell of printed pages. Old, new. It doesn’t matter. As long as I get to smell these pages I’m in heaven.
* Vegetation. Forests, gardens, fields… I can simply grow roots right on the spot.
* Singing, when nobody is in the same room or when my sister is in the room. I like changing my voice and over exaggerate, but I still sound like a dying animal.

Anyway, as far as my nominations for seven talented people, who deserve this… I can’t and I won’t name any, because as long I am following their blogs, then to me they are equally talented, creative and well versed. And yes, this is a way to cheat the system and not get to do the tedious linking task. That aaaand the fact that Mark David names people I wanted to name too and made picking new ones a hard, hard task.

PS: I managed to forget that the one and only Velvet host of the Zombie Week Reading Challenge has promised to send me a copy of "Generation Dead" by Daniel Waters. If you have been reading my comments on reviews for this novel, then you know I was ready to beg on my hands and knees to get it. THANK YOU, VELVET! *done shouting*

Nebula Award

It's that time of the year again and awards come sweeping through the fantasy and sci-fi scenes like wild storms. Here are the the new Nebula winners:


Best novel: “Powers” by Ursula K. Le Guin

Best Novella: “The Spacetime Pool” by Catherine Asaro

Best Novelette: “Pride and Prometheus” by John Kessel

Best Short Story: “Trophy Wives” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Best Script: “WALL-E” by Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon

Oh no, I am tagged...

These things happen too often these days. Kimberley at "Darque Reviews" has decided to play tag and I proved to be the hapless victim in her little game in the shadows. I have no choice, but to play.

So these are the Blog set of rules:
1. Be civilized enough to mention the person, who tagged you.
2. Write down six things that make you happy.
3. Post the rules.
4. Tag six others and let them know you did it.
5. Then tell the person when your entry is complete.

Now as far as I am concerned this will definitely eat my time a lot in the long run, e-mailing seven people. Can you believe it? Anyways on with the six things.

Six things that make me happy:

1. The color green. I am obsessed with it and if Blogger had one good enough, I would have named my blog Forest Library Reviews and stuck with ivy green scenery.
2. Music. It's probably the sole art form that can keep me sane through the working week.
3. I hope nobody takes this as a lame attempt to get sympathy votes, but I do get very happy, when I know I have made my little sister laugh or smile or just feel okay.
4. The essential dose of culture really: art, literature, a great movie, dancing. I don't necessarily participate, but interaction with any art form makes me smile.
5. The people I have had the great fortune to be surrounded with. The number isn't spectacular, but those that I have are all I need.
6. Chocolate... Ah, well gluttony or no, I have to admit it's the best culinary invention in the world.

Six bloggers that I’m choosing to tag:
1. Meredith at Meredith Wood
2. Leisa at Fandoria
3. Chandra Rooney at Good Karma Reviews
4. Marcia at Marcia Collette
5. Kristopher at Kristopher Reisz
6. Mihai at Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews

Premio Dardos

I usually get these things done late, but what the hey, it counts that I get around to doing them. First stop is the very first award “Temple Library reviews” gets [as far as I know of] and hopefully not the last. The kind and generous behind this act of coolness is none other than Mihai, my neighbor by countries, who runs the famous to all “Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews”. So with that covered I send in my eternal gratitude, since I like posting about these events in the blogosphere.

So on to the award itself. The award "Dardos" appreciates the merits - culturally, literary and individually- of every blogger who expresses him/herself on his/her blog. Yes, that is definitely me in there, so it was logical I got this sooner or later. Now let’s move to the conditions to keep this award on your site and then give some.

1. be tickled pink ;) [I actually went with green, but it’s a check in the box]
2. copy and paste the award picture to your blog [Done that]
3. write down the regulations [In the Middle of It]
4. link the blog who bestowed you the Award [Okay, done with that one too!]
5. and finally nominate 15 blogs for the Award [Blah, here comes the hard part]

I think my head exploded, but here my nominees for best Blog Action…, oops wrong awards. Note that these numbers do not mean anything, god knows how hard it is to pick up the first top 15 blogs you love. I am leaving Mihai out of the mix, because it would be rather stupid to make him post the whole thing again.

1. Fantasy Book Critic
2. Fantasy and Sci-fi Lovin’ Blog
3. Urban Fantasy Land
4. The Bookswede
5. Initial Draft
6. Dolce Bellezza
7. Marcia Collette
8. Karen Mahoney
9. In Spring it is The Dawn
10. Darque Reviews
11. Confessions of a Book Whore
12. Meredith Wood
13. Fandoria
14. The Eyeball Afterlife
15. Stainless Steel Droppings