the nominees for the Aurealis speculative fiction awards in my blog. One reason
is a lot of other bloggers list the nominees, the other is that I have rarely
read any of the nominees. But this year is different, for once I have read two
of the novels nominated for best science fiction novel.
BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL NOMINEES:
Machine
Man by Max Barry (Scribe Publications)
Children
of Scarabaeus by Sara Creasy (HarperVoyager)
The
Waterboys by Peter Docker (Fremantle Press)
Black
Glass by Meg Mundell (Scribe Publications)
The
Courier’s New Bicycle by Kim Westwood (HarperVoyager)
novels I have read just happen to be Machine Man and The Courier’s New Bicycle. They
are two very different novels. Machine Man is a satire about a
mechanical engineer who slowly replaces his body parts with mechanical arms
devices. While The Courier’s New Bicycle is a thriller where a courier tries
to find out who is behind the attacks on her drug bosses business.
many humorous novels because they usually aren’t. But Machine Man had me
laughing out loud in places. The Courier’s New Bicycle had a very
compelling vision of a future Melbourne slowly crumbling under the weight of a
tea party style government in a world where nearly everyone is sterile. If the
novel’s ending had wowed me it would receive my vote out of the two.
FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY
Flowers in the Shadow of the Garden by Joanne Anderton (Hope,
Kayelle Press)
Desert Madonna by Robert Hood (Anywhere
but Earth, Couer de Lion)
SIBO by Penelope Love (Anywhere
but Earth, Couer de Lion)
Dead Low by Cat Sparks (Midnight Echo)
Rains of la Strange by Robert N
Stephenson (Anywhere but Earth, Couer de Lion)
fail to notice the collection Anywhere but Earth. I think I might
order a copy. But what is strange is the Anywhere but Earth collection then
failed to receive a nomination for best collection or anthology
FOR BEST COLLECTION
Bad
Power by Deborah Biancotti (Twelfth Planet Press)
Last
Days of Kali Yuga by Paul Haines
(Brimstone Press)
Bluegrass
Symphony by Lisa Hannett (Ticonderoga Publications)
Nightsiders
by Sue Isle (Twelfth Planet Press)
Love
and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts (Twelfth Plan
Aurealis awards are also for horror and fantasy I must assume that the judges
thought the horror and fantasy collections were better than the science fiction
collections. Either that or the other stories in Anywhere but Earth were
not near the standard of the three stories nominated. I am now reconsidering
ordering a copy.
interesting fact was there were no stories from Andromeda Inflight Spaceways
Magazine or Aurealis appearing in the lists for fantasy, science fiction or
horror. I had a look and Aurealis is still coming out, but now as ebook only. I
downloaded the latest issue. I am not a great fan of Andromeda Inflight
Spaceways Magazine as I prefer harder edged science fiction.
shortlisted, but two received honourable mentions:
The
Broken Ones by Stephen M. Irwin (Hachette)
The
Business of Death by Trent Jamieson (Hachette)
of Death is the third book in a trilogy. I very much enjoyed Death
Most Definite, the first book in that series.
0 Responses
Don't know any of these as I don't really read sci-fi anymore, other than that book you recommended last year, Red Queen..
I used to subscribe to Andromeda Inflight Spaceways and submitted a story, which they rejected. Wasn't a big fan of the work in it either, though they have a new editor now, so I submitted a new story during the week. Not holding my breath.
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Anthony,
Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine is/was run by a collective, so the editor/s change every issue. That's why you get strange issues where most of the stories have a pregnant character in them. Too many sword and sorcery stories in it for my liking. I prefer Asimov and Analog which are straight science fiction and have longer stories.
It has been a while since I have read any short stories, I have a few collections to read and about 80 unread magazines. I really prefer novel length at the moment.
Red Queen won an Aurealis award.
Good luck with your submission.
I'm so out of touch now with the sci fi/fantasy side of things. I hope that once I put end to my running autobiography I can return to A Saxon Story and Shades, my historical fiction and fantasy novels. They deserve a second look I think.
Have you seen any of the HBO series, Game of Thrones? I can't remember if you've mentioned it previously in your Blogs. It was everywhere in JB on the weekend. Was tempted to buy as HBO do good stuff generally, and it is all fantasy based. The question I guess is, will it all be magic and wizadry or will it actually be political and adventure (which is more like what I enjoy)…
Everyone has a publication inside them, or so the stating goes. But few people get that publication out.
Delivery Services
Hi Chris,
I have not watched Game of Thrones, although it has got good reviews.
Speaking of cable television programs, I have been watching the excellent The Walking Dead on FX. I really want to claim it as apocalyptic science fiction. My next blog post will probably be about it.
"But what is strange is the Anywhere but Earth collection then failed to receive a nomination for best collection or anthology"
I've wondered the same things, Graham!
cheers
Keith