-Elizabeth Bear at Ideomancer (which, BTW, has an awesome new look):

In Servant of the Underworld, Aliette de Bodard has created a rather good debut novel, replete with magic, blood, and complex worldbuilding. There was a great deal to enjoy in this book, not all of it the immediately obvious.

-Josh Vogt at Examiner:

(…)for those who enjoy mythology, subtle horror, and even “detective” stories, Servant of the Underworld blends these elements into a unique story. Fortunately, it’s labeled the first book in the Obsidian and Blood series, so hopefully we’ll be seeing Bodard’s next release soon. Looks like book 2 is called Harbinger of the Storm. Sounds…peaceful.

-And Hereward L.M. Proops at Booksquawk (who didn’t like it so much, alas, but you can’t win every time):

(…)those looking for something truly different could do much worse than check out this novel. Whilst not perfect, Aliette de Bodard’s debut shows a great deal of potential which could be better realised in the inevitable sequels.

-The book also gets mentioned over at SF Signal as part of the “What Book Have You Recently Read That’s Good Enough To Recommend To a Friend?” discussion.

-Still at SF Signal, my short story “Golden Lilies” is identified as one of several “Nebula-worthy” short stories by Eugie Foster

-Finally, BestSF reviews “The Wind-Blown Man”, in the February 2010 issue of Asimov’s

Aliette de Bodard looks to China to create an alien society, alien cultures and technology – a world in which China is on a par, or better, with Western Christian society. For my money, I’d rather see Earth cultures used as inspiration to create truly alien societies, as that is true SF – but failing this, I’d much rather see the creative efforts as put in by de Bodard.

So, with Harbinger of the Storm safely off to my crit group, I’m slowly getting back into short story mode. And, wow, I missed that.

It’s not that I don’t like writing novels, but novel mode is a little bit like apnea. See, I can’t multitask. I’ve tried. I can’t properly write a novel and a short story. I can research a novel and write shorts. I can revise a novel and write shorts. But drafting is exclusive.

So, when I start a novel draft, I take a deep breath, and plunge in–and I try not to come back up again too many times, because it’s really hard to get back into the swing of things once I’ve stopped for a long while. When I’m writing a novel, I have to keep going–keep writing stuff, even if it’s only a little every day. I waste time surf on the internet and I keep sending emails, of course, but it’s a lot like survival mode: I’m doing it it to unwind and for a change of setting, and not for anything constructive. I do end up most evenings feeling a little pummeled–and always guilty for not writing enough words for the day.

There’s the guilt, and the fatigue–but most of all it’s the isolation. Sure, I can talk with writer friends, but there’s not as much motivation (I hate sharing ongoing drafts for crits, and given the temptation to shut like a clam and write, little ol’introvert me will almost always prefer the non-social, lazy approach). I’d blog, but then I’d feel guilty taking away words from the novel (just as I feel guilty blogging while in drafting a short story). I feel a lot like the proverbial lonely writer at his typewriter.

By contrast, short stories are a lot like breaststroke. Likewise, I plunge in and don’t stop until I have a first draft–but it’s much shorter to actually have a draft (anything from two days to a month). When I’m done, I hand the draft in, and I can have crits back in a few days to a ew weeks. I’m free to take up crits from friends, to ask for news, to follow stuff on forums and form coherent answers (instead of the “arg, too tired” of novel-writing). And I can submit the short story in a matter of weeks (ok, in real life it’s more like a month, two months. But you get the idea). And then it’s rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat… Much shorter downtimes (well, much shorter everything, really).

And now I’m back into social mode :=) Yay.

What about you? How do you handle short stories and novels? Do you have different processes? Can you do both at once?

-Review on Fantasy Literature.

(…) Servant of the Underworld is a highly original debut novel. Thanks to a solid mystery plot and Aliette de Bodard’s extensive research into pre-Conquest Meso-America, this novel should strike a chord with more than just fantasy readers.

–Review at the Honeyed Knot, courtesy of edroxy

While I greatly enjoyed the richness of the setting, the perfect balance between fantasy, mystery and historical fiction, the solid suspenseful plot, for me, it’s Acatl and the many ways through which I could relate to him that really got me. It’s a new aspect of Aliette de Bodard’s fiction I was pleased to discover as in short stories, it’s often difficult to demonstrate the extent of one’s talent at characterization.

Highly recommended whether you enjoy mystery novels, fantasy, historical fiction, Aztec culture and solid characterization. Surely one of those describes you. I’m eagerly waiting for the next installment and hope this gets translated in French and many other languages.

-My very first French review, at Blackwatch’s blog. (very loose translation, done in about 3 minutes. It’s the spirit of it, but I don’t claim it’s 100% accurate…)

(…) This kind of plot can seem over-familiar, especially if you’re a dedicated reader of fantasy. But the strength of Servant of the Underworld resides in the character of Acatl, implicated in events against his wishes. In spite of his authority as high priest, many gates remain closed to him. The obstacles keep growing in number, and the author doesn’t leave us time to breathe, spinning a frantically-paced story.

Personally, I’d recommend this book to any lovers of fantasy or thrillers who want to read something a little different.

(the funny thing is that the first one and the last two disagree quite spectacularly on whether Acatl is an interesting character to follow around. Fascinating).

In non-review links, I’ve put up a specific Obsidian and Blood webpage, which includes a list of characters, and a blurb for Harbinger of the Storm (subject to rewriting and publisher’s approval, of course, so it’s very indicative at this stage). But in case you were wondering what the next book looks like…

And I also have Servant of the Underworld bookmarks, courtesy of the awesome Janice Hardy, which I should be handing out at Eastercon.

I dithered over whether to post, or not, but what the heck…

Should you wish to read some of my shorts and nominate them for the Hugos (before March 13th): here are some stories I’m particularly proud of.

Short stories
-(SF) “After the Fire”, Apex Magazine, November 2009. Available in handy podcast format as well at StarshipSofa. AKA the one Lavie Tidhar commissioned out of me for his World SF special issue. Post-apocalypse, Chinese style.

In her dreams, Jiaotan saw Father: hands outstretched, the flesh of the fingers fraying away to reveal the yellowed, tapered shape of bones, the deep-set eyes bulging in their sockets, pleading, begging her to take him away.

-(dark fantasy) “Golden Lilies”, Fantasy Magazine, August 2009. Came in the Top Five of the reader’s poll for 2009. Available in handy podcast format as well. A story of Chinese ghosts, bound feet and unsatiated desires. This one was a lot of fun to write–fair warning though, it’s pretty explicit and somewhat gruesome (the violence is somewhat peculiar, and no one dies, but it’s kind of squicky all the same).

It was the smell which woke me up, insinuating itself between the planks of my coffin: cooked meat mingling with the sweet odour of aromatic rice, and the tangy hint of fruit and spices — a powerful summoning if there ever was one.

-(epic-ish/philosophical fantasy) “In the Age of Iron and Ashes”, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 31st December 2009. Also available in handy podcast format. In a besieged city, a man confronts a runaway slave–and faces what he’s made of his life. I confess this one is by far my favorite of the three. I am not very sanguine about its chances, though, as it’s even bleaker than the other two (and believe me, that takes something), and it’s been published in a fairly obscure venue. But one can hope :=)

They ran the girl down, in the grey light of dawn: a ring of copper-mailed horsemen, racing after her until her exhaustion finally felled her.

Novelette
(SF)“On Horizon’s Shores”, IGMS, issue 14, September 2009. Erm. My only true SF story of the year (the other one is an alternate history). A story of extreme transformations, love and learning to let go.

Alex and Thi Loan transferred at Sapalawa Spaceport, from their small shuttle to a military Naga craft — the only ones still allowed to crawl between the stars with the fuel shortage.

You can find a longer list of what I published in 2009 here at my website. If you feel like reading anything in the short fiction department, feel free to email me and I’ll provide you with a e-copy (PS: the offer applies whether you’re a voting member or not; I’d be delighted to share what I published).

Yesterday, we had a bunch of friends come over to try out boardgames (a gift of theirs for our engagement). We tested the following:
–Inka: quick and dirty game with sliding and rotating tiles on a fairly small board. From 2 to 4, but it gets messy fast at 4 players, making it near-impossible to plan a strategy beforehand. But very fun, and also fairly convivial (simple, rules fast to explain, and loads of laugh).
–Arkham Horror: hum, ok, imagine a tabletop RPG recast as a board game, and it’ll give you an idea of what this looks like. Players team up to close portals that unleah monsters on Arkham. There’s character stats, equipment, a lot of dice throws, and some neat exploration bits. The cons are the space it takes (we had a big table and it was already overflowing), the time it takes to explain the rules (1h30, and we took the simplest version of lots of things like monster displacement and dispelling). On the pro side, it’s nice to have a game the whole table can play as a team (as one of my friends puts it, it’s the game itself that’s attempting to kill you), it’s complex enough not to get repetitive and to profitably occupy a whole afternoon. And I reckon it gets easier once you know a bit of the rules.
–Battlestar Galactica: there’s a BSG boardgame :=) Partly destined for series fans, with plenty of pictures and design taken from the TV show. The goal is simple: survive and get to earth if you’re a human; survive and scuttle the humans if you’re a Cylon, either through internal sabotage or through spaceship battles. Obviously, the other players don’t know if you’re a human or a Cylon to start with: but the bonus is that halfway through the game, you have a revelation phase which can end up shifting your loyalties drastically…
Fun, in a backstabbing kind of way. We’re still trying to work out if the humans can win; right now, the only games I’ve seen or heard of ended with Cylon victories (it’s like the series, there are so many ways to screw up…)
–Chang Cheng: not tested yet. A game about the Great Wall of China and Mongol invasions. Sounds right up my alley :=)

So, with the deadline for the Hugos approaching, I thought I’d do some recommending. Herein is the stuff I’m really rooting to get onto the ballot. (fair warning: I know a lot of the people involved here, but I’m only recommending the stuff I loved, and sharing it in the hope that you’ll find some gems of your own in there).

Best short story:
–“As Women Fight” by Sara Genge (Asimov’s December 2009): a nice and thoughtful take on gender changes, taking place on a planet where the gender in a couple is determined by who wins the annual fight. With neat reflections on friendships, abuse and the dividing line between man and woman. It’s been collected in two Year’s Bests, has made the Locus Recommended List, and I’ve already seen some support for it in the Hugo competition. Definitely worth a read.

–“The Chrysanthemum Bride” by Angela Slatter in Fantasy Magazine, a dark story set in Ancient China, about a poor but vain daughter of peasants taken to be the bride of the emperor. Truly horrific, and will linger in your mind long after you’ve finished it.

Best novelette:
–“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” (Interzone 220, reprinted online in Apex): ok, the title has me checking it every time I type it out, but this is one that’s made of awesome. Set in a world where people don new identities every morning with the help of masks, this one follows a typical individual as he stumbles onto the foundations of the society. It’s strange and rich with beautiful language, and a kickass ending.

Best novel:
–By the Mountain Bound by Elizabeth Bear: a story that takes its inspiration in Norse myths, it follows the einherjar and the valkyries, the Children of the Light who try to uphold the order of a new world even though their Father (Odin) has died in Ragnarok. When a strange woman washes ashore, claiming to be the Lady, one of the gods the Children have been waiting for. She means to fight the prophecied war against their enemies–but is she really who she claims to be?
This one is a prequel to All the Windwracked Stars, which I also loved. Unlike its sequel, it’s definitely more epic fantasy in tone–but it takes its cues from the Norse epics, which are far more sombre and violent than most moden fantasies. I loved the ending–and loved that Elizabeth Bear had the guts and the skills to pull this off.
–Canticle by Ken Scholes: sequel to Lamentation, this one continues to follow Scholes’ characters as they inch every closer to the secret of the destruction of the city of Windvir. Gypsy leader Rudolfo faces assasination attempts, and the birth of his own sickly son; young Neb seeks a secret in the desolate Wastes, one that could change the face of the Named Lands; and Winters, the ruler of the Marsh People, has to deal with heresies among her own people. Scholes melds religion and science brilliantly in this post-apocalyptic fantasy–this is even better than Lamentation (which had already blown me away).
–The Shifter by Janice Hardy: I really wish there were a YA category on the ballot, but in the absence of that we’ll make do with Best Novel :=) The Shifter (aka The Pain Merchants in the UK) is the story of Nya, an orphan in a world where pain can be shunted off into a special metal. But Nya is special: she can shift pain into other people. When her sister disappears, Nya has to use her abilities to find her–without letting herself be found out and used as a weapon…
It’s got an awesome core concept, and a unique and fun voice for Nya that makes the whole book very endearing. Also, it doesn’t shy away from darker moral choices, definitely making it stick in the mind.

Best Semiprozine:
–Interzone: regularly on the semiprozine ballot without my plug, I suspect, but still… I do love the magazine. It’s really willing to take risks and publish very different kinds of stories, and the fiction offerings are neatly complemented by DVD and book reviews. Been a subscriber for 4 years; and I fully intend to renew this one. For an example of cool fiction, see the Foster story above.

–Beneath Ceaseless Skies: another one of the few I enjoy reading regularly: there’s a tremendous variety of style and subject matter, and a mix of new and established authors that combines to a very pleasant result. For an example of cool fiction, see the rich and complex “Thieves of Silence” by Holly Phillips, or Rodello Santos’s atmospheric “To Slay with a Thousand Kisses”, a neat take on cursed spirits.

Best Fanzine:
–StarshipSofa: yup, podcasts are eligible for the Hugo. Check out my previous post for more info.

Campbell Award:
–Rochita Loenen-Ruiz (First Year of Eligibility): Rochita has published fiction in Apex, Fantasy Magazine and Weird Tales. She has this beautiful, fluid writing style that allows her to move smoothly from a humorous, whimsical story like “Teaching a Pink Elephant to Ski” to more sombre subject matters like the plague-wracked world of “59 Beads”. My only regret is that she writes so little, because I sure as heck want to see more of her fiction out there getting recognition.

–Juliette Wade (Second Year of Eligibility): Juliette is a member of my crit group, Written in Blood, who has sold stories to Analog. She draws on her experience as a linguist to craft strange and utterly believable alien races in stories like “Cold Words” or “Let the Word Take Me”. She also has an awesome blog, “Talk to You Universe”, where she discusses worldbuilding, linguistics and strange customs, a must for spec-fic writers.

–Chris Kastensmidt (Second Year of Eligibility): Chris got a little unlucky for Campbell purposes, as he sold a single eligible story before a drought, a humorous retelling of Little Red Hood co-published with Jim C. Hines. His story “The Fortuitous Meeting of Gerard van Oost and Oludara”, an awesome tale of adventure, treasure hunting and magic set in colonial Brazil, is due out in the next issue of Realms of Fantasy. In the meantime, you can read his more humorous (but slightly dated) stuff here and here, and check out his awesome website for the Gerard van Oost and Oludar series here.

–Sean Markey (Second Year of Eligibility): Sean writes quirky stories with beautiful language. Check out “The Spider in You,” in Strange Horizons, a very odd and dark story about people who worship large poisonous spiders as gods, or “Waiting for the Green Woman”, a story of a very peculiar father-daughter relationship: what do you do when your daughter is a tree in the desert?

–Shweta Narayan (First Year of Eligibility): I really enjoy her stories–including “The Mechanical Aviary of Emperor Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar”, in the Shimmer Jungle Clockwork issue, a clever set of nested stories set within a Hindu/Mughal milieu, and “Nira and I” in Strange Horizons, a beautiful story about mists, spirits and caste divisions.

In the series of “stuff that’s eligible for the Hugos”, there is this one: podcasts are eligible for the Hugos, same as any magazine. That makes Tony C. Smith’s StarshipSofa’s Aural Delights eligible in the category “Best Fanzine”.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, I urge you to do so: it’s a fantastic labour of love podcasting some awesome fiction, and some very smart commentary. (And, hum, yes, among the fiction they featured was my own “After the Fire”, which got one of the best narrations ever courtesy of Kate Baker).

The point of this is mostly to spread the word about podcast eligibility to a maximum of places, not so much campaigning–at least not yet… Feel free to repost, link, retweet, etc.

More details here about podcast eligibility.

SFWA has posted the final ballot for the Nebula Awards. Lots of familiar names on the ballot, but a huge shoutout to Eugie Foster and Jason Sanford for upholding the Interzone flag–and to sometimes contribs Will McIntosh and Rachel Swisky for making the cut, too. I’m so glad that not only are Interzone stories eligible this year, but also that we have two of them on the ballot (strictly speaking, Eugie’s story would have been eligible by virtue of publication in Apex, but still).

The only one of those four I haven’t had a chance to read is Bridesicle, but the other three stories are definitely well worth a read (“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” in particular is fabulous).

Short Story

• “Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela,” Saladin Ahmed (Clockwork Phoenix 2, Norilana Press, Jul09)
• “I Remember the Future,” Michael A. Burstein (I Remember the Future, Apex Publications, Nov08)
• “Non-Zero Probabilities,” N. K. Jemisin (Clarkesworld, Nov09)
• “Spar,” Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Oct09)
• “Going Deep,” James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Jun09)
• “Bridesicle,” Will McIntosh (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Jan09)

Novelette

• “The Gambler,” Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2, Pyr Books, Oct08)
• “Vinegar Peace, or the Wrong-Way Used-Adult Orphanage,” Michael Bishop (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Jul08)
• “I Needs Must Part, The Policeman Said,” Richard Bowes (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Dec09)
• “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast,” Eugie Foster (Interzone, Feb09)
• “Divining Light,” Ted Kosmatka (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Aug08)
• “A Memory of Wind,” Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com, Nov09)

Novella

• The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker (Subterranean Press, Jun09)
• “Arkfall,” Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sep09)
• “Act One,” Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Mar09)
• Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon, Feb09)
• “Sublimation Angels,” Jason Sanford (Interzone, Oct09)
• The God Engines, John Scalzi ( Subterranean Press, Dec09)

Novel

• The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Nightshade, Sep09)
• The Love We Share Without Knowing, Christopher Barzak (Bantam, Nov08)
• Flesh and Fire, Laura Anne Gilman (Pocket, Oct09)
• The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey, May09)
• Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor, Sep09)
• Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland Press, Oct09)

Bradbury Award

• Star Trek, JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Paramount, May09)
• District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Tri-Star, Aug09)
• Avatar, James Cameron (Fox, Dec 09)
• Moon, Duncan Jones and Nathan Parker (Sony, Jun09)
• Up, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar, May09)
• Coraline, Henry Selick (Laika/Focus Feb09)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

• Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon, Jul09)
• Ice, Sarah Beth Durst (Simon and Schuster, Oct09)
• Ash, Malinda Lo (Little, Brown and Company, Sep09)
• Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev (Feiwel and Friends, Jul09)
• Zoe’s Tale, John Scalzi (Tor Aug08)
• When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009)
• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, Jun09)
• Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon, Oct09)

For more information, visit www.nebulaawards.com or www.sfwa.org

…as Granny Weatherwax would say.

Been very, very busy, both with administrative stuff, as well as trying to hammer Harbinger of the Storm into a presentable draft before I ship it off to my crit group, and so the blog’s taken the brunt of the neglecting.

Normal business will resume after the editing flurry has finished, (before the end of the week).

… that I’ll be in London’s Forbidden Planet tomorrow at 6pm, signing copies of Servant of the Underworld. John Meaney/Thomas Blackthorne will also be there, signing copies of his latest Angry Robot offering, Edge.

Details here (including how you can win a replica Aztec Sun Stone, and a Tuckerisation in the next Thomas Blackthorne novel).

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to pack :=)