News & Notes

J. J. Adams | July 28th 2010 at 1:00 pm

• The Barnes & Noble Book Club reviews OCCULTATION by Laird Barron, calling him "Horror's New Messiah" – I have never come across a contemporary writer who even comes near to [H. P. Lovecraft's] dark, bowel-loosening storytelling brilliance—until now. And his name is Laird Barron. … Laird Barron is horror’s new messiah. If you want to experience this guy’s singularly brilliant writing, don’t wait until his debut novel is released—read this collection now. And after you’ve devoured these nine dark gems, make sure you check under the bed before you go to sleep.
• Publishers Weekly & Booklist Review THE BEST OF KIM STANLEY ROBINSON at Night Shade Books – PW: "Robinson is equally at home in the furthest reaches of the cosmos and among scotch-swilling NASA scientists stuck in traffic, and every story pivots around a different fascinating idea that will hit readers right in that “sense of wonder” SF sweet spot." | Booklist: "[a] valuable introduction to the versatile author’s short fiction …Robinson’s gifts speak for themselves."
• Booklist names THE WINDUP GIRL by Paolo Bacigalupi to The Reading List: Best Adult Genre Fiction, 2010 – Bacigalupi constructs a sobering and nuanced vision of a future Bangkok teetering on the edge of disaster. In this inhospitable environment, a disparate group of characters calculates how to survive. The novel’s gritty tone, provocative story line, and sympathetic characters evoke a world that is frighteningly real. Read-alikes: Bruce Sterling’s Distraction, Ian McDonald’s Brasyl, and Charles Stross’ Accelerando.
• Booklist reviews STARFISHERS by Glen Cook – [The protagonists] are as delightful a pair of secret agents as one could hope for, engaged in a fascinating, layered adventure rife with riotously interesting space-opera elements and spectacular battles.
• Booklist reviews THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY OF THE YEAR, VOL. 4 edited by Jonathan Strahan – As for previous volumes of this annual, Strahan picks a stellar array of stories, the best of an apparently very good year. With authors including Nicola Griffith, Damien Broderick, Peter S. Beagle, Diana Wynne Jones, and Robert Charles Wilson, it’s impossible for a reader to go wrong, and there’s something here for every taste, as well. … There are intelligent dinosaurs, steampunk gyrocopter air-chases, magic, alternate universes, technology that’s almost magic, and everything else one could ask of a collection of the fantastic. And if they’re not enough, a list of stories that “would appear in this volume if space permitted” concludes.
• Booklist reviews THE GREEN LEOPARD PLAGUE AND OTHER STORIES by Walter Jon Williams – Charles Stross has a point in the introduction: it’s pretty nifty to read these stories for the first time. That first reading will stick with you, too. … Williams contributes an entertaining, occasionally enlightening note on each story and throughout conceives marvelous characters in worlds with enough depth to catch one’s imagination.
• Booklist reviews SELECTED STORIES by Fritz Leiber – Some two decades after his death, Leiber remains a towering influence on speculative fiction, with contemporary writers often emulating many of his stylistic idiosyncrasies. This set of 17 stories dating from 1941–83 offers the opportunity to assess how well his work bears up to repeated readings, and indeed, Leiber’s command of detail often gives his stories a timeless quality. … Indispensable for Leiber fans and anyone curious about why the late master’s legacy endures.
• Booklist reviews THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR, VOL 2. edited by Ellen Datlow – With her keen eye for craftsmanship, prolific anthologist Datlow always delivers first-class entertainment, whether her genre-at-hand is sf, fantasy, or, in this case, horror. Apart from the prerequisite chills and occasional nods to commonplace genre motifs, the outstanding feature of her second annual horror best-of is an abundance of fresh, original plot scenarios. … As usual, Datlow provides a thorough summation of the year’s genre highlights and publishing trends and insightful introductory notes about each story’s author.
• Booklist gives a starred review to ZENDEGI by Greg Egan – [Zendegi] might look, at first glance, like a plot we’ve already seen hashed out ad nauseam, but have faith in Egan’s ability to create stunning, complex futures, with grand themes given a human dimension: he delivers something extraordinary, with no easy answers. Despite its tragedies, the story is remarkably hopeful and certainly one of the best of its kind.
• Booklist reviews WINGS OF FIRE edited by Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. Jablon – 26 dragon tales that are high in quality and diverse in writing style and characterization…. a treasure trove for dragon lovers.
• Booklist reviews SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL edited by Tim Pratt – The anthology is distinguished for both variety and quality.

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