Arthur C. Clarke award contenders

[Kim DeVaughn]

The "New Scientist" lists these as the 6 contenders for the Arthur C. Clarke
award, to be announced on Aug 24, 16. I've not read any of them, and in fact,
I can't say I recognize any of the authors.

Anyone here recommend any of them ...?

_Europe at Midnight_ Dave Hutchinson Solaris
_The Book of Phoenix_ Nnedi Okorafor Daw Books/Penguin
_Children of Time_ Adrian Tchaikovsky Tor
_Way Down Dark_ James P. Smythe Hodder & Stoughton
_The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet_ Becky Chambers Hodder & Stoughton
_Arcadia_ Iain Pears Faber

Here's the URL to the "New Scientist" article, with their short synopses:

"https://www.newscientist.com/article/2098599-six-science-fiction-novels-you-should-be-reading/"

/kim

--
=============================================================
"The more laws, the less justice." --Marcus Tullius Cicero

[David Duffy]

Kim DeVaughn <kimm...@gmail.com> wrote:

> _Arcadia_ Iain Pears Faber

I have yet to read it, but Pears wrote "An Instance of the Fingerpost",
which you may have heard of (if you haven't, I recommend it, though
the solution to the mystery may annoy). His second-last novel,
_Stone's Fall_, was OK but not SFnal.

Cheers, David Duffy.

[Joe Bernstein]

On Thursday, July 28, 2016 at 2:55:55 PM UTC-7, Kim Devonix wrote:

> The "New Scientist" lists these as the 6 contenders for the Arthur C. Clarke
> award, to be announced on Aug 24, 16. I've not read any of them, and in fact,
> I can't say I recognize any of the authors.

I'd heard of three, but only read one.

> Anyone here recommend any of them ...?
>
> _Europe at Midnight_ Dave Hutchinson Solaris
> _The Book of Phoenix_ Nnedi Okorafor Daw Books/Penguin

I recently read everything I could, up to that point, and refrained
from putting together a Fiction of post mainly because I had hopes of
getting access via inter-library loan to a fair number of early
stories, by, well, now. (I have to pay for ILL; this is part of the
whole story of my not getting expected jobs recently.)

She's consistently a spec-fic writer (with few, mostly early,
exceptions), and usually uses a setting and/or characters strongly
linked to the northern parts of sub-Saharan Africa. (Her parents
are Nigerian immigrants to the US, and much of her fiction evokes
Nigeria specifically, but <Who Fears Death>, 2010, her most famous
book, seems set largely as far east as the Sudan. A recent novella,
<Binti>, instead features a character from southern Africa.)

Gosh, I was thinking <The Book of Phoenix> was something else, but
yes, I have read it, and yes, it's good. Harsh, though; lots of
characters, and large numbers of non-characters, die.

> _Children of Time_ Adrian Tchaikovsky Tor

I'm positive I've heard of him, but remember nothing about him.

> _Way Down Dark_ James P. Smythe Hodder & Stoughton
> _The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet_ Becky Chambers Hodder & Stoughton
> _Arcadia_ Iain Pears Faber

You've *probably* seen a copy of his novel <An Instance of the
Fingerpost>, 1997, somewhere or other. I know nothing of this book
(and have bounced off <Fingerpost>).

Joe Bernstein

--
Joe Bernstein, writer and tax preparer <j...@sfbooks.com>

[William Hyde]

I strongly recommend you try again. I've just read it for a second time after a lapse of years and liked it even more. Though in part I admit that as I had read Aubrey's "Brief Lives" in the interim, I knew who Wood was, which added to the book, though it's not at all necessary to know who any of these people are.

His later "The Dream of Scipio" was also excellent, if darker.

William Hyde

[Brian M. Scott]

On Thu, 28 Jul 2016 15:55:47 -0600, Kim DeVaughn
<kimm...@gmail.com> wrote
in<news:85bn1hp...@gmail.com> in rec.arts.sf.written:

> The "New Scientist" lists these as the 6 contenders for
> the Arthur C. Clarke award, to be announced on Aug 24,
> 16. I've not read any of them, and in fact, I can't say
> I recognize any of the authors.

> Anyone here recommend any of them ...?

> _Europe at Midnight_ Dave Hutchinson Solaris

I’ve seen considered getting this one and its predecessor
at Amazon; they’re on my ‘I’ll think about it’ list.

> _The Book of Phoenix_ Nnedi Okorafor Daw Books/Penguin

She’s supposed to be very good, but so far none of her
books has tempted me.

> _Children of Time_ Adrian Tchaikovsky Tor

I read the the first several volumes of his big fantasy
series; he’s remarkably good at making insects and
insect-like creatures sympathetic characters. I’ve not
seen this book, however.

> _Way Down Dark_ James P. Smythe Hodder & Stoughton

Don’t know Smythe at all.

> _The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet_ Becky Chambers Hodder & Stoughton

This one is outstanding.

> _Arcadia_ Iain Pears Faber

Don’t know Pears at all.

> Here's the URL to the "New Scientist" article, with their short synopses:

> "https://www.newscientist.com/article/2098599-six-science-fiction-novels-you-should-be-reading/"

Having read the synopses, I’m pretty sure that the Chambers
would be an easy pick for me even if I’d read the others.
At some point I may well read the Hutchinson and perhaps
the Tchaikovsky, but not the others.

Brian
--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

On Thu, 28 Jul 2016 15:55:47 -0600, Kim DeVaughn <kimm...@gmail.com>

wrote:

>The "New Scientist" lists these as the 6 contenders for the Arthur C. Clarke
>award, to be announced on Aug 24, 16. I've not read any of them, and in fact,
>I can't say I recognize any of the authors.

Me neither, both counts. This is a worry. I clearly need to read around
more.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
Tomorrow (noun) - A mystical land where 99 per cent of all human
productivity, motivation and achievement is stored.
-- http://thedoghousediaries.com/3474