Sunburst Prize Winners 2012

 The winners of the 2012 Sunburst prize for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic have been announced.

For adult fiction: Paradise Tales by Geoff Ryman
For young adult fiction: All Good Children by Catherine Austen

Here's what the judges had to say about each of the books:

"Paradise Tales is a terrific collection of stories covering a dizzying range of imaginative possibilities and narrators. A superb stylist, the author fully adjusts the tone and rhetoric of each story to its narrator and its context. This masterful and eclectic collection includes looks at a truly post-human future in which intelligent animals carry the seeds of a new humanity but may not want to produce it, as well as stories featuring various suggestive biotech possibilities, to the pioneering filmmakers of Mars, and to tender ghost stories, such as the fantasy dreams of the first lover of Pol Pot’s daughter. The author puts wit and consummate style at the service of profoundly human philosophical extrapolations."

All Good Children: "In a physically and morally crumbling United States, 15-year-old Max Connors finds his family, friends, and himself under threat by a semi-covert Homeland Security plan to vaccinate all school children to be “good” – or, as Max calls it: zombification. Max, who’s smart, artistic, and a troublemaker, is horrified to learn that their parents and teachers are complicit and uses desperate measures to escape with his little sister and best friend. The author includes knowing nods to 1984, Brave New World, Stepford Wives, Alien and other pop-cultural touchstones in this tension-filled, fast-paced, and surprisingly tender dystopian thriller that’s narrated by its teen protagonist with wit and vigour."

If I Had ALL the Time in the World, Teen Edition part 1

There are so many books I'd love to read, both old and new.  Since I won't actually get to read them all, I figure I could showcase some.  Maybe other people will read them and tell me what I'm missing. :)

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

They say that the cure for Love will make me happy and safe forever. And I've always believed them. Until now. Now everything has changed. Now, I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells and corridors, but metal forests, dilapidated cities, and wilderness. It has been sealed for centuries, and only one man has ever escaped. Finn has always been a prisoner here. Although he has no memory of his childhood, he is sure he came from Outside. His link to the Outside, his chance to break free, is Claudia, the warden''s daughter, herself determined to escape an arranged marriage. They are up against impossible odds, but one thing looms above all: Incarceron itself is alive . . .

The Bridge by Jane Higgins

The City is divided. The bridges gated. In Southside, the hostiles live in squalor and desperation, waiting for a chance to overrun the residents of Cityside.

Nik is still in high school but is destined for a great career with the Internal Security and Intelligence Services, the brains behind the war. But when ISIS comes recruiting, everyone is shocked when he isn''t chosen. There must be an explanation, but no one will talk about it. Then the school is bombed and the hostiles take the bridges. Buildings are burning, kids are dead, and the hostiles have kidnapped Sol. Now ISIS is hunting for Nik.

But Nik is on the run, with Sol''s sister Fyffe and ISIS hot on their trail. They cross the bridge in search of Sol, and Nik finds answers to questions he had never dared to ask.

The Bridge is a gritty adventure set in a future world where fear of outsiders pervades everything. A heart-stopping novel about friendship, identity, and courage from an exciting new voice in young-adult fiction.

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner

In a dystopian near-future, neuro-headsets have replaced computer keyboards. Just slip on a headset, and it''s the Internet at the speed of thought. For teen hacker Sam Wilson, a headset is a must. But as he masters the new technology, he has a terrifying realization. If anything on his computer is vulnerable to an attack, what happens when his mind is linked to the system? Could consciousness itself be hacked?

Brian Falkner, author of The Tomorrow Code and The Project, delivers an action-packed and thought-provoking sci-fi thriller in which logging on to a computer could mean the difference between life and death.

Triumph Over Tragedy

Like science fiction and fantasy short stories?  Want to help victims of Hurricane Sandy?  Indigogo's Triumph Over Tragedy campaign lets you do both.

For $7 you get an anthology with 40+ stories from old and new authors alike, though you can type in whatever contribution you choose to give if you want to donate more than that.  The money goes to the American Red Cross Society to help those in need.

From the site:

You will get (when completed) the anthology in whatever eBook format you wish. .mobi, .epub, .pdf. All DRM free (no digital rights management). Authors contributing to this effort to date:

• Robert Silverberg (Hugo & Nebula Award winner)
• Marion Zimmer Bradley (Locus Award winner) (donated by the MZB Literary Trust)
• Timothy Zahn (NYT Bestseller & Hugo Award winner)
• Michael Stackpole (NYT Bestseller)
• Elizabeth Bear
• Michael J. Sullivan
• Mark Lawrence
• Bradley P. Beaulieu
• Philip Athans
• Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Tobias Buckell
• Stephen D. Sullivan
• Rick Novy
• Jean Rabe
• Maxwell Alexander Drake
• SM Blooding
• Erik Scott de Bie
• Alex Bledsoe
• Elisabeth Waters
• R.T. Kaelin
• Ari Marmell
• Matt Bone
• Sarah Hans
• Rob Rogers
• Jaym Gates
• C.S. Marks
• C.J. Henderson
• Marian Allen
• Bryan Young
• Donald Bingle
• Janine Spendlove
• T.L. Gray
• Miya Kressin
• Matthew Wayne Selznick
• Steven Saus
• Addie King
• Rob Knipe
• Vicki Johnson-Steger
• Tracy Chowdhury
• Doris Stever


If you can't donate, please spread the word.  :)

Barely Political: Kreepy Kids

Ever wonder where horror movie production companies get the creepy kids they use?  Well, Barely Political has the answer, the Kreepy Kids Kasting.

Audiobook Review: War of the World by H. G. Wells

Read by: Christopher Hurt

This review requires a preface.  I listened to this on vacation in the Dominican Republic, where it was very hot and sunny.  I also wasn't sleeping well.  As a result of listening, rather than reading, I often closed my eyes to avoid the glare of the sun on the beach and, would subsequently, fall asleep.  So I got through this book rather sporadically, having to rewind and listen to things twice because I wasn't paying attention the first time and making a general mess of the experience.  Please keep that in mind as you read this review.

Pros: lively narrative (audiobook version), pseudo-science, lots of detail

Cons: disjointed reading made it hard to remember the numerous details Wells peppered the novel with, pseudo-science

A professor & writer of philosophy details what he witnessed during the Martian attack of London and its environs.

As with other books of the period, The War of the Worlds is presented as the narrator's account of true events.  The book tries to make the science plausible, explaining what the Martians must have been thinking, why they attacked and how they got their ships to Earth.  The story pauses at times to explain what the Martians look like, how their machines work and how quickly the red weed they brought with them grows.  While Wells tries to get his science right he ultimately fails since there was so much he didn't understand about space travel, etc.

The ending of the book, which always seemed so strange given the obvious advanced knowledge of the Martians makes sense here, given their evolution and difficulty in examining the Earth at close range (based on the science of the time).  In other words, if, like me, you've only seen the film (and I mean the 1953 version), then you don't know the real story.  In fact, much that happens in the film is not in the book and vice versa, particularly the love story (in the book the protagonist spends most of his time trying to rejoin his wife, whom he fears has died in his absence).  Similarly, the book has only minor religious overtones, much less than the film.

The book includes a lot of details about the Martians, their looks, actions, etc. but there are few details about their feeding, which is presented as a horror and then ignored.  I'd have liked to know more about that, as it played a large role in their invasion.

I highly recommend the audiobook.  I've found from reading other Wells novels (Invisible Man, Island of Dr. Moreau) that his narrative style is rather dry and hard to read at times.  But listening to the book, well, that was an experience.  The narrator really made this come alive (my fatigue notwithstanding).

Sunburst Award Society Announces the Winners of it's First Copper Cylinder Awards

From the press release:

Toronto, Ontario (December 2nd, 2012) The Sunburst Award Society is pleased to announce the debut of its newest literary awards. The Copper Cylinder Award is an annual member’s choice award selected by members of the Sunburst Award Society for books published during the previous year.

The Copper Cylinder Award derives its name from the first Canadian scientific romance, “A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder,” by James De Mille (1833-1880). The winners receive a unique, handcrafted, copper cylinder trophy.

The first winner of the 2012 Copper Cylinder Adult Award is Among Others by Jo Walton, (TOR)

The first winner of the 2012 Copper Cylinder Young Adult Award is Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston (Penguin Canada).

The Sunburst Award Society also confers annually the juried Sunburst Awards for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. Both awards celebrate the best in Canadian fantastic literature published during the previous calendar year.

For additional information about the Copper Cylinder Awards, Sunburst Award Society membership and the voting process please visit the website at http://coppercylinderaward.ca

For additional information about the Sunburst Awards, the nominees and jurors, eligibility and the selection process, please visit the website at http://sunburstaward.org. 

Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels Coming in January, 2013

As always, this list is made up primarily by using the Indigo Books website and so reflects Canadian release dates.  If there's a mistake or a book missing, mention it in the comments and I'll make the change.

Hardcover:

Doctor Who: The Wheel of Ice – Stephen Baxter

The Six-Gun Tarot – R. S. Belcher

Impulse – Steven Gould

Ever After – Kim Harrison

The Dog in the Dark – Barb & J. C. Hendee

A Memory of Light – Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

Kalimpura – Jay Lake

Imager's Battalion – L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

The Kassa Gambit – M. C. Planck

Tiger by the Tail – John Ringo & Ryan Sear

Doctor Who: A History of the Universe in 100 Objects – Steve Tribe

Battle – Michelle West

Star Wars: Scoundrels – Timothy Zahn

Trade Paperback:

The Eldritch Conspiracy – Cat Adams

Magic Bites – Ilona Andrews (special edition reprint)

We Modern People: Science Fiction and the Making of Russian Modernity – Anindita Banerjee

Elves: Rise of the TaiGethen – James Barclay

Range of Ghosts – Elizabeth Bear

Shaman of Stonewylde – Kit Berry

Doktor Glass – Thomas Brennan

Shifter's Wolf – Patricia Briggs

Pathfinder Tales: Called to Darkness – Richard Lee Byers

The Red Knight – Miles Cameron

Wide Open – Deborah Coates

Supernatural Short Stories – Charles Dickens

Daughter of Regals & Other Tales – Stephen Donaldson

Hadon of Ancient Opar – Philip Jose Farmer (reprint)

What I Didn't See – Karen Joy Fowler

Seven Kings – John Fultz

Future Games – Paula Guran, Ed.

Home Improvement: Undead Edition – Charlaine Harris & Toni Kelner, Ed.

Riddley Walker – Russell Hoban (reprint)

Battle of Kings – M. K. Hume

Glamour in Glass – Mary Robinette Kowal

A Hero's Throne – Ross Lawhead

Bio-punk: Stories From the Far Side of Research – Toby Litt

Fire Logic – Laurie Marks

Ice Forged – Gail Martin

Warhammer 40K: The Greater Good – Sandy Mitchell

The Warlord of the Air – Michael Moorcock (reprint)

The Iron Breed – Andre Norton (reprint)

Turtle Recall: The Discworld Companion... So Far – Terry Pratchett

The Educated Ape and Other Wonders of the Worlds – Robert Rankin

Blue Remembered Earth – Alastair Reynolds

Warhammer 40K: Gotrek & Felix: Road of Skulls – Josh Reynolds

The Unconquered Countries: Four Novellas – Geoff Ryman

The Bandit King – Lilith Saintcrow

The Hedgewitch Queen – Lilith Saintcrow

Scourge of the Betrayer – Jeff Salyards

Redshirts – John Scalzi

Valentine Pontefex – Robert Silverberg

The Explorer – James Smythe

Warhammer 40K: Ravenwing – Gav Thorpe

The Blight of Muirwood – Jeff Wheeler

The Scourge of Muirwood – Jeff Wheeler

The Wretched of Muirwood – Jeff Wheeler

Sunset of the Gods – Steve White

Chung Kuo – David Wingrove

Mass Market Paperback:

Throne of the Crescent Moon – Saladin Ahmed

The Daemon Prism – Carol Berg

Fair Game – Patricia Briggs

Shadows in Flight – Orson Scott Card

Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier – Myke Cole

She Returns From War – Lee Collins

Magic and Loss – Nancy Collins

Songs of the Earth – Elspeth Cooper

Star Wars: Apocalypse – Troy Denning

Orb Sceptre Throne – Ian Esslemont

Star Trek: Allegiance in Exile – David George III

Sixth Column – Robert Heinlein (reprint)

Between Their Worlds – Barb & J. C. Hendee

City of Dragons – Robin Hobb

Under the Gun – Hannah Jayne

The Games – Ted Kosmatka

Warhammer 40K: The Horus Heresy: Angel Exterminatus – Graham McNeill

The Host – Stephenie Meyer (reprint)

Warhammer 40K: The Last Ditch – Sandy Mitchell

Dangerous Gifts – Gaie SeboldMan-Kzin Wars XIII - Larry Niven

Song of Ireland – Juliene Osborne-McKnight

Shattered Circle – Linda Robertson

Touch of the Demon – Diana Rowland

Between – Kerry Schafer

A Conspiracy of Alchemists – Liesel Schwarz

The Shape of Desire – Sharon Shinn

Skirmish – Michelle West

Carina Press eBooks:

Nobody's Angel – Stacy Gail

The Impetuous Amazon – Sandy James

Asher's Dilemma – Coleen Kwan

Trick of Time – J. L. Merrow

Claws Bared – Sheryl Nantus

Caught in Amber – Cathy Pegau

Threads of Desire – Eleri Stone