elysdir | Reading

Hostile, the deep-space alien horror rpg from Zozer Games.

Bundle of Holding: Hostile (from 2022)

2011: The VAT is improved by altering it from the hard to remember 17.5% to the more memorable 20%, the government continues efforts to replace the Incapacity Benefit with an alternate program in which applicants have cinderblocks dropped on them from a height and there is absolutely no news involving PM Cameron and a pig.

Poll #33534 Clarke Award Finalists 2011

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 20

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Which 2011 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

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Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
8 (40.0%)

Declare by Tim Powers
13 (65.0%)

Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers
0 (0.0%)

Lightborn by Tricia Sullivan
1 (5.0%)

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
2 (10.0%)

The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
7 (35.0%)

Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2011 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Declare by Tim Powers
Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers
Lightborn by Tricia Sullivan
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald

james_davis_nicoll

A diverting assortment of spooky stories selected by an editor about whom I could discover almost nothing.

Stories of Suspense by Mary E. MacEwen

james_davis_nicoll

Poll #33520 Books Received, August 15 — August 22

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 42

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Which of these look interesting?

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The Last Woman on Earth by Bex Benjamin (September 2025)
12 (28.6%)

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole (January 2024)
13 (31.0%)

Guilt by Keigo Higashino (April 2026)
8 (19.0%)

Green and Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons (March 2026)
15 (35.7%)

The River She Became by Emily Varga (June 2026)
12 (28.6%)

Some other option (see comments)
1 (2.4%)

Cats!
32 (76.2%)

james_davis_nicoll

Five books new to me: three fantasy, one mystery, and one science fiction. Two are series, and the other three may be stand-alone.

Books Received, August 15 — August 22

james_davis_nicoll

Sibling obsession and alienation shape whole cultures.

Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta

james_davis_nicoll

There is no cookie cutter when it comes to celestial bodies...

No Two Worlds Are the Same: Planetary Diversity in SF

james_davis_nicoll

The total import value in June of fresh orange juice from the U.S. into Canada was $5.78 million, compared to nearly $12 million in June 2024.

james_davis_nicoll

Dr. Jordan's weird kid Richard is the key to unlocking first contact... and much more.

Project Farcry by Pauline Ashwell

psocoptera

Superman, 2025 film. I liked this a lot!

Spoilers: ( Read more... )

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The complete four-year run of TinyZine, the tabletop roleplaying magazine from Gallant Knight Games that supports the streamlined minimalist TinyD6 rules system.

Bundle of Holding: TinyZine

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What dire motivation drove beautiful, rich Tsuki to marry a pitiful wretch like Ryudo?

Steel of the Celestial Shadows, volume 1 by Daruma Matsuura (Translated by Caleb D. Cook)

james_davis_nicoll

Sometimes organ donation is voluntary. Sometimes, people (or aliens) just take what they want.

Five SF Works About Repurposing Organs and Other Body Parts

james_davis_nicoll

A two-volume look at a prominent 20th century SF author.

Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century by William H. Patterson

james_davis_nicoll

An assortment of tabletop roleplaying games from Gallant Knight Games that use the streamlined, minimalist TinyD6 rules.

Bundle of Holding: Tiny Dungeon MEGA (from 2023)

james_davis_nicoll

2010: Cadbury falls into shadow, electoral loss sends the Labour Party off on a delightful journey of reinvention, and millions of travelers spontaneously learn how to spell Eyjafjallajökull.

Poll #33506 Clarke Award Finalists 2010

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 32

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Which 2010 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

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The City & The City by China Miéville
32 (100.0%)

Far North by Marcel Theroux
0 (0.0%)

Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
6 (18.8%)

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
2 (6.2%)

Spirit or The Princess of Bois Dormant by Gwyneth Jones
0 (0.0%)

Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts
2 (6.2%)

Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2010 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
The City & The City by China Miéville
Far North by Marcel Theroux
Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
Spirit or The Princess of Bois Dormant by Gwyneth Jones
Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts

psocoptera

The ceremony moved along nicely but the pronunciation problems were *not cool*. Did not seem like they had practiced or received adequate guidance. At one point I swear one of them misread "Hans" as "Harris" - an easy visual misread but exactly the kind of thing that should have been caught in rehearsal.

We have some preliminary stats - no nominating stats or runner-up runoffs, just the runoffs for first place. See them here. There's also an Administrators' Report (here) with some info about nomination votes they moved between categories and qualifications/disqualifications.

I'm not sure what to make of total numbers. They said something during the ceremony like 1900 final ballots - compared with 3436 in 2024, a huge drop-off (I said something last night about it being 3800 in 2024 but that was the number before disqualified votes), but then if you look by categories, 2189 votes for novels in 2024, or 2558 votes for novella (the category with the most votes) vs... I guess we don't know exactly, but if "over 80% of voters voted in the Best Novel category" (in 2025) that's probably something like 1600 votes? I guess that's still a pretty significant drop, but not quite as huge as I was thinking at first. Is this the Chinese cohort dropping out? 1338 nominating votes in 2025 vs 1720 in 2024, so a bunch of that drop is already there in nominations, whatever it is.

Category-wise, I'm surprised to see Tainted Cup leading the pack from the start, and Tusks of Extinction as well. Interesting. Interesting to see which categories had strong leads from the start and which had changes through the rounds - the flow diagrams are really nice for that. Check out Moniquill Blackgoose's dominance for the Astounding - nice.

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Cut for size
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The 2025 Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards Winners are as follows

Best Novel: The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett

Best Novella: The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler

Best Novelette:"The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea”, Naomi Kritzer

Best Short Story: “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is”, Nghi Vo

Best Series: Between Earth and Sky, Rebecca Roanhorse

Best Graphic Story or Comic: Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way, written by Ryan North, art by Chris Fenoglio

Best Related Work: Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right, Jordan S. Carroll

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Dune: Part Two, screenplay by Denis Villeneuve & Jon Spaihts, directed by Denis Villeneuve

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Star Trek: Lower Decks: “The New Next Generation”, created and written by Mike McMahan, based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry, directed by Megan Lloyd

Best Game or Interactive Work: Caves of Qud, co-creators Brian Bucklew & Jason Grinblat; contributors Nick DeCapua, Corey Frang, Craig Hamilton, Autumn McDonell, Bastia Rosen, Caelyn Sandel, Samuel Wilson (Freehold Games); sound design A Shell in the Pit

Best Editor, Short Form:Neil Clarke

Best Editor, Long Form: Diana M. Pho

Best Professional Artist: Alyssa Winans

Best Semiprozine: Uncanny, publishers and editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas; managing editor Monte Lin; poetry editor Betsy Aoki, podcast producers Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky

Best Fanzine: Black Nerd Problems, editors William Evans & Omar Holmon

Best Fancast: Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, presented by Emily Tesh & Rebecca Fraimow

Best Fan Writer: Abigail Nussbaum

Best Fan Artist: Sara Felix

Best Poem: “A War of Words”, Marie Brennan

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book: Sheine Lende, Darcie Little Badger

Astounding Award for Best New Writer: Moniquill Blackgoose