…is set in Leningrad during the war, chronicling the slow decline of a city under siege. Valente uses the narration to question several of the fairytale tropes, from the submissive and erased women to the role of villains (I loved Baba Yaga’s role in the denouement). And the writing is utterly lovely without being too purple, a thing of beauty from beginning to end. Very much recommended. –The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi: many things in there…

…s blog, but I did want to point this out: if you’re one of the French presidential candidates, aka the ones who have been repeatedly bashing on immigration and foreigners and generally centering the debate on pretty hateful xenophobic stuff, you shouldn’t be surprised that some madman with a gun decides to start shooting minorities they don’t approve of. < /sarcasm > (on a not-sarcastic note, my heart goes out to the families of the dead, whether…

…more faith. Michael M Jones, the editor, never gave up on it; and he has found an agreement with Cecilia Tan of Circlet Press to publish it. The catch: we have to raise enough money to pay everyone involved: the costs for Circlet, Michael, the contributors and the cover artist (and I hope I’m not forgetting anyone at this stage). Michael is aiming for pro rates; and the prizes include anthologies from Circlet Press as well as more classical bits (…

…ood and probably a few other anthologies. Feel free to drop by and chat! -Sunday 1pm: Youth and Youthfulness in SF Science fiction, in its dominant form, is an American invention, and stereotypically has the outward-looking optimism of a young country in its DNA. How can contemporary sf reflect the best of that tradition without over-simplifying its worlds? What is the role of writing YA and writing diversity in keeping sf new? -Monday 11am: What…

…s, I’d darn well better get something worth it in return, not a guy who’s fundamentally incapable of commitment (and I’m not necessarily saying sexual commitment here, the Doctor being as incapable of long-lasting friendships as he is of sex). At least the series has female characters (unlike, say, Sherlock), but I have a rising suspicion that it doesn’t really know what to do with them other than turn them into idiots pining after the Doctor. Thi…

…usly lack imagination for that sort of thing (I mean, the only things that come to mind is something with a decent main female character who’s not a Strong Female Who Still Needs to Be Rescued by Men cliché; and a female POC Doctor Who…). But judging by all the interest when I bitch about Sherlock, I’m pretty reasonably sure that some of you have got strong ideas on this 🙂 Therefore, I’m throwing the question(s) out for collective brainstorming: W…

…in different categories). To single out just two of them, though: it will come as no surprise that Ken Liu’s short fiction is nominated both for Best Short Story and Best Novella (and I will be very miffed if he doesn’t take at least one of those trophies); and many congrats also go to Nancy Fulda, whose short story “Movement” is a Villa Diodati success story (not often that stuff we critique ends up on the ballot for the Hugos and the Nebulas!)….

…y large and small details, of a mosaic of beliefs and cultural mores which comes from the environment we’ve been raised in, the society we’ve moving in, the subcultures we’re members of, the people we frequent… Yeah, we’re all the same deep down, but, broadly speaking, life in Hồ Chí Minh City follows very different rhythms from life in Paris; and the social structure and attitudes can also be very different [2]. Similarly, of course French politi…

…fensive, but I had the privilege of being able to stick to my rather large comfort circle(s). I remain confident those are issues we’re working on as a genre, and that things can only get better (I’m quite sure cons used to be much less gender-equal than they are now, for instance–this is an area where we’ve definitely made progress). And the whole discussion has given me ideas for future panels at Bradford! -Charles A. Tan on the fallacy of World…

…So… bags packed. Chocolate taken with me. Eastercon app downloaded. Leftover food (xá xíu) handed over to the H for his bánh mì tomorrow. My plane leaves at 8:00, which gets me up at 5:15am. Arg. I’ll be off for some sleep then… A reminder that my schedule can be found here; and the author herself can be found in the bar or in the dealers’ room. I will be rooming with the awesome Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, and hope to see many of you there!…