I take a certain delight in reading the books that define, change, or readjust not only an entire genre but a generation, as well. Generally, we call them “classics” and there’s something almost archeological about losing myself in the books that had that impact. For a moment, there’s that sense that I am communing, or […]
2015 Hugo Nominee | Totaled by Kary English
2015-04-06 · by ·
The Hugo nominees were announced last Saturday, and Totaled by Kary English was among the nominees for Best Short Story. I try to read and review as many of the nominees as possible, and since a quick Google search led me to English’s short story on Wattpad, Totaled became my first post-nominee announcement read (I’ve already […]
Ink Readers of Doi Saket by Thomas Heuvelt: A Modern Myth?
2014-09-26 · by ·
The Ink Readers of Doi Saket by Thomas Olde Heuvelt is something different is something different. And, for some reason, it’s a Hugo nominee, too. Near the end of the Mae Ping River in Thailand, a town plays a special role in an annual ritual that runs river long. Villagers will put their wishes in […]
The Water that Falls on You from Nowhere by John Chu is not Scifi
2014-09-25 · by ·
The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere by John Chu is not scifi. Clever, maybe, but Hugo worthy? There’s something clever about this story. Water that falls on you from nowhere…when you are fibbing. The conceit is the narrator is an in the closet gay, at least to his parents, and without the ability […]
Science Fiction as the Best Social Fiction of Our Time: The Chaplain’s War by Brad Torgersen
2014-08-20 · by ·
Author Doris Lessing once noted that “That function of a writer is to raise questions not find answers.” A Nobel Prize winner, Lessing famously responded to a critic of her Canopus in Argos series–a work of science fiction, in contrast to what critics considered her more serious literature–by saying: “What they didn’t realize was that […]
Utah Writers Are Taking the Hugo Awards by Storm
2014-04-23 · by ·
Utah authors are taking the Hugo Awards by storm. Indeed, if I wasn’t from around here and hadn’t been following some of these guys for a while, I might wonder what it is in the water that has Utah taking over fantasy/science fiction’s best well-known (and as it appears, most controversial) award. Here’s who has […]
Review | After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress
2013-08-22 · by ·
It’s easy to see why Nancy Kress’s After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall has done well with science fiction’s premier awards. Winning the Nebula and the Locus for best novella and garnering a nomination for the Hugo, the story is equally intriguing and gripping. It’s too bad her story flops for failure to […]
