Forty Thousand in Gehenna by C J Cherryh
Oct. 7th, 2025 08:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
james_davis_nicoll
Union technocrats had a plan for Gehenna, a plan that failed to take into account local conditions.
Forty Thousand in Gehenna by C J Cherryh
james_davis_nicollUnion technocrats had a plan for Gehenna, a plan that failed to take into account local conditions.
Forty Thousand in Gehenna by C J Cherryh
Clarke Award Finalists 2017
Oct. 6th, 2025 12:12 pmjames_davis_nicoll2017: The Royal College of Nursing’s alarming description of conditions in the NHS inspires the government to do worse, the Tories succeed in freezing British lifespans after a century of progress, and the UK begins that political equivalent of autoerotic asphyxiation known as Brexit.
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2017 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
After Atlas by Emma Newman
Central Station by Lavie Tidhar
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Occupy Me by Tricia Sullivan
Poll #33694 Clarke Award Finalists 2017
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 51
Which 2017 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
View Answers
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
6 (11.8%)
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
34 (66.7%)
After Atlas by Emma Newman
9 (17.6%)
Central Station by Lavie Tidhar
9 (17.6%)
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
41 (80.4%)
Occupy Me by Tricia Sullivan
4 (7.8%)
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2017 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
After Atlas by Emma Newman
Central Station by Lavie Tidhar
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Occupy Me by Tricia Sullivan
Destinies, February-March 1980 (Destinies, # 6) edited by Jim Baen
Oct. 5th, 2025 08:59 amjames_davis_nicoll
Pacifist Dorsai, space forts, duelling reviews, a rant about that mean Mr. Einstein and more in this issue of Destinies.
Destinies, February-March 1980 (Destinies, # 6) edited by Jim Baen
Books Received, September 27 — October 3
Oct. 4th, 2025 09:04 amjames_davis_nicoll
Twelve books new to me. Four fantasies, one horror, one non-fiction, and six (!) science fiction works, of which at least four are series instalments.
Books Received, September 27 — October 3
Poll #33688 Books Received, September 27 — October 3
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 58
Which of these look interesting?
View Answers
Children of Fallen Gods by Carissa Broadbent (December 2025)
4 (6.9%)
Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis (January 2026)
9 (15.5%)
The Language of Liars by S. L. Huang (April 2026)
22 (37.9%)
We Burned So Bright by T. J. Klune (April 2026)
21 (36.2%)
We Could Be Anyone by Anna-Marie McLemore (May 2026)
8 (13.8%)
These Godly Lies by Rachelle Raeta (July 2026)
4 (6.9%)
The New Prometheans: Faith, Science, and the Supernatural
16 (27.6%)
Every Exquisite Thing by Laura Steven (July 2026)
5 (8.6%)
The Infinite State by Richard Swan (August 2026)
7 (12.1%)
Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky (June 2026)
25 (43.1%)
Moss’d in Space by Rebecca Thorne (July 2026)
20 (34.5%)
Platform Decay by Martha Wells (May 2026)
43 (74.1%)
Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)
Cats!
40 (69.0%)
An Unlikely Coven (Green Witch Cycle, volume 1) By AM Kvita
Oct. 3rd, 2025 09:10 amjames_davis_nicoll
Forgotten again by her family, Joan Greenwood discovers that this time her witch-kin had a legitimate excuse: a potentially existential threat to Greenwood power and privilege.
An Unlikely Coven (Green Witch Cycle, volume 1) by AM Kvita
Probe (Search, # 1) by Leslie Stevens & Russ Mayberry
Oct. 2nd, 2025 08:36 amjames_davis_nicoll
A field agent armed with privacy-violating technology searches for Nazi loot--stolen diamonds--on behalf of a South African diamond cartel.
Probe (Search, # 1) by Leslie Stevens & Russ Mayberry
Last night's dream
Oct. 2nd, 2025 08:28 amjames_davis_nicollI dreamed I discovered a weapon in Half Life 2 that would generate and hurl at considerable speed empty shipping containers.
Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey„ volume 1 by Akiko Higashimura
Oct. 1st, 2025 09:55 amjames_davis_nicoll
Akiko's plan to become Japan's foremost manga artist is manifestly reasonable, so why will reality not cooperate?
Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey„ volume 1 by Akiko Higashimura
New archive just dropped
Sep. 30th, 2025 03:07 pmbeatrice_otterBack in the day, there were a lot of different fanfic archives. And then AO3 came along, and everyone moved there. And there's a lot to be said for having a central multifandom archive! I love AO3! But there's also something to be said for communities having their own space.
The OTW has always said they their code is open source and they want people to use it to make their own archives, but it is ... not very user-friendly, shall we say. But now there are several people who have gotten their own instance of the OTW-A code up and running for their own archives.
And now there is another! There is now a femslash-focused archive called Sunset! It was just created and is still very tiny, but if you are into femslash, either writing it or reading it, you might find it interesting. It is run by Agnes the Alien.
The OTW has always said they their code is open source and they want people to use it to make their own archives, but it is ... not very user-friendly, shall we say. But now there are several people who have gotten their own instance of the OTW-A code up and running for their own archives.
And now there is another! There is now a femslash-focused archive called Sunset! It was just created and is still very tiny, but if you are into femslash, either writing it or reading it, you might find it interesting. It is run by Agnes the Alien.
Sunset is a website established in 2025 dedicated to hosting femslash (F/F) fanworks. It holds pro-freedom of fiction, queer and trans inclusive, anti-racist and generally compassionate ideals. We're here to have fun and love women. Sunset is run by one person, Agnes the Alien, who dreamed this up in zher bedroom. Please be nice to zher!
...
THIS IS AN 18+ ARCHIVE.
I'd also like to shout out Squidgeworld, Superlove, Ad Astra, and Comic Fanfiction Authors Archive.
September 2025 in Review
Sep. 30th, 2025 12:22 pmjames_davis_nicoll
21 works reviewed. 11 by women (52%), 9 by men (43%), 1 by non-binary authors (5%), 0 by authors whose gender is unknown (0%), and 8 by POC (38%).
The chart is breaking formatting. Need to fix or remove it. I do like charts, though.
September 2025 in Review
Elegy for Angels and Dogs /The Graveyard Heart by Williams and Zelazny
Sep. 30th, 2025 08:45 amjames_davis_nicoll
Two stories about beautiful people partying their way through time.
Elegy for Angels and Dogs /The Graveyard Heart (Tor SF Double, volume 24) By Walter Jon Williams & Roger Zelazny
Clarke Award Finalists 2016
Sep. 29th, 2025 12:15 pmjames_davis_nicoll2016: The Chilcot Inquiry illustrates the meticulous process by which the UK went to war in Iraq, Lord Lucan is declared dead, and the UK’s narrow vote to leave the EU is at worst the second stupidest collective decision made by a Western democracy in 2016.
Pretend I caught that the poll autofilled the wrong question and that it reads "which 2016 Clarke Award finalists did you read?"
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2016 Clarke Award finalists did you read??
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Arcadia by Iain Pears
Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson
The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Way Down Dark by James Smythe
Pretend I caught that the poll autofilled the wrong question and that it reads "which 2016 Clarke Award finalists did you read?"
Poll #33672 Clarke Award Finalists 2016
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 52
Which of these look interesting?
View Answers
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
22 (42.3%)
Arcadia by Iain Pears
2 (3.8%)
Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson
7 (13.5%)
The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
12 (23.1%)
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
44 (84.6%)
Way Down Dark by James Smythe
0 (0.0%)
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2016 Clarke Award finalists did you read??
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Arcadia by Iain Pears
Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson
The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Way Down Dark by James Smythe
I don't know what to make of this
Sep. 28th, 2025 08:37 pmjames_davis_nicoll
The Cherryh titles I dropped into ngram fell into 3 patterns:
Ones whose titles don't play nicely with ngrams. I dropped those.
Ones where the mentions per year decline fairly steadily year to year.
Cyteen. What's up with Cyteen? Did Jo Walton mention it on tor dot com around 2009?
Tiger by the Tail and Other Science Fiction Stories by Alan E. Nourse
Sep. 28th, 2025 08:59 amjames_davis_nicoll
Nine science fiction stories by the author of The Universe Between.
Tiger by the Tail and Other Science Fiction Stories by Alan E. Nourse