The 2018 World Fantasy Awards Ballot, containing a whole bunch of books I haven’t read yet, has just been announced. The ballot is compiled by the voting attendees of the World Fantasy Convention, all of whom clearly read a lot more than I do. Where do they find the time? Don’t they have blog posts to write, like normal people? At least I have my membership for the convention, so I’ll be there to watch all the excitement unfold. It’s still a…
The World Fantasy Convention is my favorite convention by a pretty fair margin, and the highlight of the con every year is the presentation of the World Fantasy Awards. They were first given out at the very first World Fantasy Convention in Providence, Rhode Island in 1975, and they’ve been awarded every year since. The list of recipients is like a Who’s Who of the major authors in the genre, and the award has come to be the most significant…
The 2015 World Fantasy Awards Ballot, compiled by the voting attendees of the World Fantasy Convention, has just been released. If you’re looking for a short list of the best fantasy published last year as you prepare for a length stay on a desert island, your wait is over (and remember: leave room for sunscreen). For both of the last two years the coveted Life Achievement Award has been given to two recipients (Ellen Datlow and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro in…
The 2014 World Fantasy Awards Ballot, listing a bunch of books I haven’t read yet, has just been released. The ballot is compiled by the voting attendees of the World Fantasy Convention, all of whom clearly read a lot more than I do. Seriously, where do you people find the time? Don’t you have blog posts to write, like normal people? Once again, the coveted Life Achievement Award is being given to two recipients: Ellen Datlow and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro….
The 2013 World Fantasy Awards Ballot, compiled by the voting attendees of the World Fantasy Convention, has just been released. The coveted Life Achievement Award is being given to two recipients for the first time (I think). Susan Cooper (author of The Dark is Rising sequence) and Tanith Lee (author of The Silver Metal Lover, The Secret Books of Paradys, and dozens of others) are both masters of the genre. They will receive the award on November 3 in Brighton,…
Well, here it is Thursday, so I must be Goth Chick. Except I’m not. Apologies to all those who tuned in today for their regular dose of 80’s sci-fi movie nostalgia and penetrating interviews with the luminaries of modern horror. Goth Chick is unavailable for her regular Thursday slot this week. Monday is Halloween, the most important night of the year, and she apparently has more important things to do than be here with us today. Things that likely involve the sacrifice…
World’s Best Science Fiction First Series (Ace Books, 1970). Cover by Jack Gaughan If you want to understand science fiction, it’s not a bad idea to start by reading Year’s Best volumes. And if you’re going to do that, it’s not a bad idea to start with the World’s Best Science Fiction, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr, an annual series that began in 1965 and lasted for an amazing 26 volumes. The last of which, The 1990…
Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from Ukraine and the Diaspora Here is a wild effort to crowdfund a fantastic fiction loaded with meaning. This post consolidates a few press releases with the hope that readers will follow along. In the early months of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, writers internationally looked for a way to help raise awareness and funds for humanitarian efforts. Through network and word of mouth, and several transfers of leadership and scope, a more comprehensive project developed….
Witch King by Martha Wells (Tor.com, May 30, 2023). Cover art by Cynthia Sheppard I think people tend to talk about worldbuilding as if it’s one static process that is the same every time you do it. But I think it actually varies a lot based on the preferences of the writer and their method of work. It’s different for each writer, and for me at least it’s different for every book. In the Ile-Rien books, I wanted to show…
All the Seas of the World (Berkley, May 17, 2022) What does it mean to be an exile? How does that meaning bend across lines of nationality, of gender, of religion? How many different ways can being exiled shape, define, ruin, or even save a life? This is just one set of questions raised by All the Seas of the World, the newest novel from master fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay. The novel, Kay’s fifteenth, comes from Berkley and will…