At the Eleventh Hour: The Arthur C Clarke Award shortlist 2018

Better late than never! I have been overwhelmed with books to read this year, and it was seriously looking as though I'd not get the Clarke's shortlist in. The mid-range prognosis was helped by the fact that I've already read the nominees for the BFS Holdstock award (the one Tiger & Wolf picked up last year, ahem hem), […]

Clarke Award Shortlist 2017 Part 3 : Sufficiently Advanced Mathematics

Occupy Me – Tricia Sullivan Ninefox Gambit – Yoon Ha Lee Sufficiently advanced mathematics being, of course, indistinguishable from magic, and that’s the thread I’m using to link these two books – very different in their settings and trappings but united by a core where reality is subject to manipulation in ways that frankly twist the mind. Tricia […]

Clarke Award Shortlist 2017 Part 2 : The Evil That Men Do

Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead After Atlas – Emma Newman (1) So what about books that have a rather less optimistic take on the world? As it turns out, the shortlist has those too, and these are definitely the bleakest. I hadn’t come across Whitehead until the shortlist was announced, but a little research shows that’s entirely […]

Clarke Award Shortlist 2017 Part 1 : Faith in the Future

This year I'm breaking the review up into three parts, because the shortlist, in my idiosyncratic perspective, seems to form some loose pairs, so first I give you: A Closed and Common Orbit – Becky Chambers Central Station – Lavie Tidhar Because I didn’t get the chance to do a Clarkeslist post last year, for what I hope are […]

Arthur's 'Alf Dozen 2015 edition

Or maybe 2014, as that's the year under the microscope. The shortlist has been out a while, the ceremony is Wednesday 6th May, so there's just time for me to vent my minuscule opinions on the subject before the rather better informed panel of judges proves me wrong. So… in name order: The Girl with all the […]