Merged 2014 Hugo awards.

[catsmate]

Thanks for the information. I was immediately intrigued by Kameron Hurley and will be reading more of her work.
It looks fantastic!

I see Kratman pops up there.

I'm on the third book, Endymion.

The fourth book is a mind-blower! He has not one but two universe threatening climaxes which both work beautifully, and each is very different from the other. It also wraps the whole thing up to complete satisfaction. One of the great works of sf.

Gosh, we truly live in an age of wonders!

Good stuff, I found Simmons via Song of Kali which I read years ago and led me to the Hyperion series.

ETA: while I'm on Simmons I also recommend Drood and The Terror.

 

[asydhouse]

<snip>
I'll certainly attend if it's in Dublin though, I suspect I'll be dragged along....

We went to the Eurocon in Dublin… when was that? Somewhere around the turn of the century. Anyway, we enjoyed the trip, it's a nice city, and we had a look at the Book of Kells while we were there… also had a ride on a space-ship thingy in a hydraulic machine… nothing to do with the con, but it was down the road from our hotel and we passed it on the way to the con each day, so one day we took the ride… it was quite good.

Anyway, we had a nice meeting with Joe Haldeman and his wife at that con. They're both lovely people, and Haldeman is one of my all-time favourite authors, so it was a real treat.

Maybe we'll see each other if the world con goes there!

Simmons: I've got The Terror, and I've seen Drood and was in two minds, but since you recommend them from knowledge, I'll definitely get around to both of them… after I've read all the Cory Doctorow books I brought back from world con this week!

I've fallen really behind on my reading since I got made redundant from my job at Waterstone's bookshop 5 years ago now. I used to read on the bus on the way to work and back, and at lucy, and get through a book a week at least. Now I'm too busy trying to engineer some form of income to have the presence of mind to get stuck into reading…

I did spend three years doing a MA in Fine Art and swanning about imagining artworks at first, though… but my hopes of becoming a professional artist have been dashed since graduation… complete cold turkey, and no way of breaking into galleries. I guess my stuff is too beautiful for the flipping Fine Art World these days.

 

[catsmate]

Ah college. I left with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and you can guess hownuseful that's been to me.
And Waterstones, I miss the one in Dublin, it was favourite haunt of mine; good stock, good staff and an excellent cafe.

 

[jimbob]

Unfortunately, after getting advice to read Dan Simmons I picked up Illium and Olympus... I couldn't be bothered to suspend disbelief.

 

[asydhouse]

Ah college. I left with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and you can guess hownuseful that's been to me.
And Waterstones, I miss the one in Dublin, it was favourite haunt of mine; good stock, good staff and an excellent cafe.

They closed it?! I think we went in there: it was in a giant really old house type of building with loads of little rooms and staircases going everywhere, as I recall, a really interesting bookshop for wandering and exploring in…. what a shame they shut it down!

Unfortunately, after getting advice to read Dan Simmons I picked up Illium and Olympus... I couldn't be bothered to suspend disbelief.

Ouch! I haven't read those, but I was always suspicious of them… anyone else read those two, and can compare them to the Hyperion quartet?

 

[asydhouse]

<snip>
I used to read on the bus on the way to work and back, and at lucy, and get through a book a week at least.
<snip>

Doh! That should've read "lunch".

 

[catsmate]

They closed it?! I think we went in there: it was in a giant really old house type of building with loads of little rooms and staircases going everywhere, as I recall, a really interesting bookshop for wandering and exploring in…. what a shame they shut it down!

Yeah February 2011. It was a great spot, and actually profitable under the new manager, despite the staff costs and rent. A Tower branch now has part of the site, it stood empty for three years (with Waterstones still paying the lease).
The own Hodges Figgis across the street still.

 

[MG1962]

Ah college. I left with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and you can guess hownuseful that's been to me.
And Waterstones, I miss the one in Dublin, it was favourite haunt of mine; good stock, good staff and an excellent cafe.

I hear Big Bang Theory might be hiring

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I see Kratman pops up there.

Good stuff, I found Simmons via Song of Kali which I read years ago and led me to the Hyperion series.

ETA: while I'm on Simmons I also recommend Drood and The Terror.

Drood was excellent but it's not to everyone's taste. It's more interesting if you've also read Dickens' "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" because Simmons does so many things with Dickens' actual novel elements. It's almost fan fiction.

I'm almost done with Endymion and already have The Rise of Endymion from the library.

 

[catsmate]

I hear Big Bang Theory might be hiring

I think I'll stick with IT.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Unfortunately, after getting advice to read Dan Simmons I picked up Illium and Olympus... I couldn't be bothered to suspend disbelief.

His books are quite different from each other. You wouldn't know Drood and Hyperion were written by the same author from the books themselves. I couldn't get into "The Abominable". But it's hard to put the Hyperion series down.

 

[jimbob]

Ouch! I haven't read those, but I was always suspicious of them… anyone else read those two, and can compare them to the Hyperion quartet?

Homer came from the near future and was a professor of literature. The Greek gods are post humans (who live on Olympus Mons) and have decided to build a wormhole to Bronze age Turkey.

Only Zeus knew the plot of the Iliad.

There seemed little reason for any of this, and the Olympian deities living on Mons Olympus seemed laboured and pointless.

 

[catsmate]

His books are quite different from each other. You wouldn't know Drood and Hyperion were written by the same author from the books themselves. I couldn't get into "The Abominable". But it's hard to put the Hyperion series down.

Absolutely. Even those of his books lumped together as "horror", like Drood, Song of Kali and The Terror are quite different.
Interestingly diverse and varied author.

 

[asydhouse]

Homer came from the near future and was a professor of literature. The Greek gods are post humans (who live on Olympus Mons) and have decided to build a wormhole to Bronze age Turkey.

Only Zeus knew the plot of the Iliad.

There seemed little reason for any of this, and the Olympian deities living on Mons Olympus seemed laboured and pointless.

Thanx for the warning! I shan't bother with them then. Wading through huge books when there's no spark is not a good life situation!

Mind, I do love a fat book you can live in for a bit! Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy was a treat! I was unemployed at the time, so I was able to read the whole thing in a month or so with no real distractions… I was living on Mars

 

[jimbob]

Thanx for the warning! I shan't bother with them then. Wading through huge books when there's no spark is not a good life situation!

Mind, I do love a fat book you can live in for a bit! Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy was a treat! I was unemployed at the time, so I was able to read the whole thing in a month or so with no real distractions… I was living on Mars

Upthread, Godless Dave was talking about not having read much early 1990s SF.

Red Mars is a good one, and not just because Robinson makes the terraforming so plausible.

Iain M Banks is the big British author of that time IMO.

Vernor Vinge "Across Realtime" is probably worth it for the whole introduction of the singularly... I think that was the first use of the phrase in fiction.

 

[catsmate]

Some relevant news, apparently the plan for the 2015 sad puppies is to nominate Tom "the ammonia king" Kratman for a Hugo... . Expect "No Award" to be even more popular.

 

[catsmate]

Some relevant news, apparently the plan for the 2015 sad puppies is to nominate Tom "the ammonia king" Kratman for a Hugo... . Expect "No Award" to be even more popular.

Yep Kratman's "Big Boys Don't Cry" mad been nominated.
Laugh or cry, laugh or cry.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

While I consider myself a fan of science fiction, I realised how out of touch I was the other week when I attended an SF Con, and didn't recognise any of the authors who were signing books. (The only name I recognised was Ian Watson, when he came over to look at my pizza.)

I don't recognise any of the winners above either, apart from the film and the TV show.

Sob. I was just about to post the same thing. Though I did meet George Rail Road Martin at TriCon in 1964.

 

[catsmate]

Following the disqualification of Wright's “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” the puppies are howling (e.g. here) and claiming some sort of conspiracy.
Also Jon Eno was dropped due to not being eligible but no-one seems to be shouting about that.

 

[zooterkin]

The story is showing in my Facebook feed.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/13/1376743/-Freeping-the-Hugo-Awards#