As a science fiction fan I’m always eager to find out the winners of the Nebula Awards and see if I had read any of them already. The list of nominees is always a good place to look for a book recommendation.
This year I’ve read the Novella winner, The Women of Nell Gwynne’s by Kage Baker, and one of the nominated novels, The Love We Share Without Knowing, by Christopher Barzak. I enjoyed both of these and would recommend The Love We Share to anyone, not just science fiction fans. (I will be posting short reviews on these two books.)
The list of this year’s winners and nominees is:
Novel
Winner: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Also nominated:
- The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak
- Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman
- The City & The City by China Miéville
- Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
- Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
Regression by Kathy Bell
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: June 2009
Rating: 3½ of 5 stars
A strong female lead, real science mixed in with speculation and a mysterious voice in the form of a journal from the future kept my interest in Regression, book one of a time-travel, alternate reality trilogy by new author Kathy Bell.
The story opens in November, 2011. Adya, a 40 year old wife and mother is in a car accident. She wakes up in the hospital suffering from a head injury to find that the year is 1985 and she is 14 years old. Her memories of 2011 are so vivid she can’t believe she has imagined the future. Has her consciousness traveled back in time, or is this all a dream?
Adya soon realizes that things are not the same in this 1985 timeline. Some of the differences are subtle and some are striking. Computer technology and transportation have advanced significantly. Is she in an alternate reality or had someone altered the timeline and for what purpose? She is determined to find answers but it will not be easy to disguise the experiences of a 40 year old mind in a 14 year old body.
Every few chapters we read the diary entries of Nicholas Weaver, written from the future. In his cryptic messages we learn that there will be some type of global disaster which will be devastating to the human race and that he is responsible for Adya being sent back in time.
This is a great story with an original concept and a twist in the time-travel genre. It’s not a typical time machine story and avoids the paradoxes and traps that time travel stories often fall into. The use of hard science such as DNA and genetics added realism to the story while the journal entries gave it a touch of mystery.
It’s refreshing to read science fiction with a strong female lead character. At times Adya can be a bit too strong and preachy causing some parts of the book to drag a little while she makes her point, but this is part of the person she is. Overall I found her character to be well developed, possibly at the expense of the other characters, a few of which I would have liked to get to know a little better. The dialog got a little choppy at times and didn’t always flow well but don’t let the author’s style stop you from giving this book a chance.
The ending resolved a few of the plot lines but left many questions unanswered for part two of the trilogy. The next book, Evolussion, will be published later this year and I am looking forward to reading it.
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For more information and to Read a PDF excerpt visit the author, Kathy Bell, at Northern Sanctum.
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Source: Review Copy
The Mystery Writers of America announced the winners of the 2010 Edgar Awards April 30th.
The winner of the best novel is The Last Child by John Hart. I love a good mystery so I moved this one to the top of my to-be-read-soon pile.
Other nominees for best novel were:
- The Missing by Tim Gautreaux (Random House – Alfred A. Knopf)
- The Odds by Kathleen George (Minotaur Books)
- The Last Child by John Hart (Minotaur Books)
- Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston (Random House – Ballantine Books)
- Nemesis by Jo Nesbø, translated by Don Bartlett (HarperCollins)
- A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)
Full list of categories, nominees and winners here.
Been busy in my garden for the past week. Warm weather has come early this year and there is a lot to do. Not much free time for reading or writing.
These are some tulips from my garden.
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Ghost Story
Published: September 2009
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
As the second novel from an author with such a hit debut as The Time Traveler’s Wife, I think everyone was expecting something unusual and phenomenal. What we got were ghosts, a bit of romance and a pretty good story. Quite different from her first novel and for the most part very enjoyable.
American twins Julia and Valentina Poole are to inherit the estate of their Aunt Elspeth when they turn twenty-one but they must live in her flat in London for a year and their parents must never visit. The twins agree to move to London unaware that their aunt’s spirit was still in the apartment and getting stronger every day.
I liked that this story was quite different from Time Traveler’s Wife. The author has a beautiful writing style; the words flow and the reader stays engaged. There was an interesting mix of supporting characters: Elspeth’s former boyfriend, Robert, who lives in the flat downstairs, Martin, who suffers from OCD and lives in the flat upstairs and Highgate Cemetery, the Victorian burial grounds that their new home overlooks.
The twins were probably the least interesting characters in the book. I never really did get to like them. While the other characters become more complex and developed the twins appeared more superficial and shallow. Elspeth, the ghost, begins to show her true colors as the story progresses and she becomes stronger and stronger and Robert, the former boyfriend, is a delightful and, at the same time sympathetic, character. I found Martin the most interesting of them all and would have liked to know more about him.
While I was not a fan of the ending at the time I was reading it, I like that fact that it was a bit of a twist, not what I was expecting and now that I think back on it, it seems somehow right. Definitely worth reading if you are a fan of ghost stories or modern gothics.
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Source: Public Library
If I had to choose one genre that is my favorite it would be science fiction. Probably a third of the books I have read could be considered some form of sci-fi. I consider myself a casual fan not an obsessive one. I just can’t keep up with all the new stuff, so that may explain why I’ve only read one of books nominated for Best Novel and one for Best Novella.
I took a quick look at some of the reviews for the others and they seem interesting, especially The Windup Girl; not sure how I missed that one. Now I have a few more books to add to my wish list and hopefully someone else will discover them too.
2010 Hugo Award Nominees
Best Novel
- Boneshaker, Cherie Priest
- The City & The City, China Miéville
- Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles Wilson
- Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente
- Wake, Robert J. Sawyer
- The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi
Best Novella
- Act One, Nancy Kress
- The God Engines, John Scalzi
- Palimpsest, Charles Stross
- Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow
- Vishnu at the Cat Circus, Ian McDonald
- The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker
Full list of nominations are on the Hugo Awards Web Page.
Celebrate National Library Week by supporting your local library.
National Library Week will be observed April 11-17, 2010 with the theme, “Communities thrive @ your library®.”
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries – school, public, academic and special – participate.
Under My Apple Tree 