From the Photo Archive

My cousin Ida-Pearl sent me some old photos of my grandparents, mostly of my grandfather from his years in the Army. At my grandfather’s funeral, we’d talked about scanning and sharing the photos we had so that everyone in the family could have access to them. Receiving her contributions today inspired me to go scan some of the ones I had up in the attic. I’ve uploaded my aunt’s photos along with the ones from my archives that I’ve scanned so far into this Flickr photoset.

Joe Adams' Army photo to his sweetheart (front & back)

There’s lots of nice pictures there, but the one above is far and away my favorite. It’s clear that someone–in this case, my grandmother–loved this photo. And it’s clear why.

Isn’t it magnificent?

Read More

Year’s Best Science Fiction, Vol. 25

Gardner Dozois has posted the contents of his forthcoming Year’s Best Science Fiction volume, the 25th annual, which reprints the best of 2007:

  • FINISTERRA, David Moles
  • LIGHTING OUT, Ken MacLeod
  • THE OCEAN IS A SNOWFLAKE, FOUR BILLION MILES AWAY, John Barnes
  • SAVING TIAMAAT, Gweyneth Jones
  • OF LATE I DREAMT OF VENUS, James Van Pelt
  • VERTHANDI’S RING, Ian McDonald
  • SEA CHANGE, Una McCormack
  • THE SKY IS LARGE AND THE EARTH IS SMALL, Chris Roberson
  • GLORY, Greg Egan
  • AGAINST THE CURRENT, Robert Silverberg
  • ALIEN ARCHEOLOGY, Neal Asher
  • THE MERCHANT AND THE ALCHEMIST’S GATE, Ted Chiang
  • BEYOND THE WALL, Justin Stanchfield
  • KIOSK, Bruce Sterling
  • LAST CONTACT, Stephen Baxter
  • THE SLEDGE-MAKER’S DAUGHTER, Alastair Reynolds
  • SANJEEV AND ROBOTWALLAH, Ian McDonald
  • THE SKYSAILOR’S TALE, Michael Swanwick
  • OF LOVE AND OTHER MONSTERS, Vandana Singh
  • STEVE FEVER, Greg Egan
  • HELLFIRE AT TWILIGHT, Kage Baker
  • THE IMMORTALS OF ATLANTIS, Brian Stableford
  • NOTHING PERSONAL, Pat Cadigan
  • TIDELINE, Elizabeth Bear
  • THE ACCORD, Keith Brooke
  • LAWS OF SURVIVAL, Nancy Kress
  • THE MISTS OF TIME, Tom Purdom
  • CRATERS, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
  • THE PROPHET OF FLORES, Ted Kosmatka
  • STRAY, Benjamin Rosenbaum & David Ackert
  • ROXIE, Robert Reed
  • DARK HEAVEN, Gregory Benford
     

I’ve bolded the titles that appeared first in F&SF.

Read More

Free Fiction: F&SF’s Preliminary Nebula Ballot Nominees

The Preliminary Nebula ballot is out. Members of SFWA will now vote on those stories, and the top five (or more if there are ties) will end up on the final ballot. But you don’t have to be a SFWA member to take advantage of the free fiction now posted on F&SF’s website. All of our stories that made the preliminary ballot are now available online, for a limited time.

Novellas

Novelets

Short Stories

Check the SFWA.org Nebula page as well, for more free fiction from other sources.

Read More

Library Journal on Wastelands

BN.com’s page for Wastelands has a review from Library Journal, which I knew was coming, but hadn’t seen yet:

Jackie Cassada – Library Journal

From Steven King’s take on the end of humanity through science gone wrong ("The End of the Whole Mess") to John Langan’s horrific tale of a small group’s valiant last stand against an unbeatable enemy ("Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers"), the 22 stories in this end-of-days anthology run the gamut from nuclear devastation to environmental debacle to the Second Coming. Also featuring Orson Scott Card, Octavia E. Butler, and Gene Wolfe, and including an original story by Jerry Oltion ("Judgement Passed"), this title belongs in most sf or short fiction collections.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Drat, I was hoping for a star! But can’t complain, a very positive review, one that will hopefully get some library orders so that maybe the Missoula Public Library won’t be the only one to have a copy.

Also, I note that B&N categorizes it as "Alternate Realities – Fiction," a sub-section of Science Fiction/Fantasy. Post-apocalyptic fiction isn’t what I would think of as "alternate reality" fiction, but okay.

Update: Oh, and here it is on the Library Journal page.

Read More

Wastelands on the Wire

Cindy White wrote up a nice piece about Wastelands for SCI FI Wire. Here’s a snippet:

"I wanted the anthology to demonstrate the range of post-apocalyptic fiction–that it’s not all gloomy, that it’s not only about fighting off mutants and marauders and scavenging cans of pork and beans," he said. "On one end of the spectrum, you have Nancy Kress’ ‘Inertia," which is about the aftermath of a disfiguring plague; on the other end, you have Neal Barrett Jr.’s ‘Ginny Sweethips’ Flying Circus’–a rather light and upbeat foray into the wastelands, about a traveling roadshow that makes its living by selling sex, tacos and dangerous drugs. I think there’s a nice variety of styles represented as well. Most of the stories are traditional narratives, but you’ve also got stylistically ambitious stories John Langan’s ‘Episode Seven’ and Stephen King’s ‘The End of the Whole Mess.’ It’s a nice mix."
 

Read the whole story!

Read More