Shadows of the Apt

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), […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Or maybe 2014, as that's the year under the microscope. The shortlist has been out a while, the ceremony is Wednesday 6^th 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 […]