2011 Hugo Award Nominees

I'm aware that most SFF fans don't give a damn, but the 2011 nominees have just been announced.

Best Novel

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)

Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)

The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)

Feed by Mira Grant (Orbit)

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

As several people have already pointed out on various message boards, it is indeed a pretty weak list this year. Here's to hoping that Ian McDonald gets his hands on the award this year!

Follow this link for a full list of categories and nominations.

Game of Thrones: Another Episode 2 Preview

Have you ever seen a dragon?

Tune in tonight! =)

Live chat with Guy Gavriel Kay

This from Bright Weavings:

To celebrate the May 3rd publication day of Under Heaven in paperback in the United States (and the releases in the UK and Canada earlier this spring), GGK will be available for a conversation with readers online via the services of a new interactive system, OneRoom. No software is needed, just go to the site. The conversation runs for an hour from 2PM-3pm EDT. On arrival, readers will be invited to select a log-in name and an icon/avatar for themselves, including choices from the covers of the ten novels. We'll see which book 'wins' this straw poll.

You can pre-register for this live discussion here.

Guy Gavriel Kay's Under Heaven (Canada, USA, Europe) is an awesome read, and I can't recommend this book enough! Now that it's going to be out in paperback just about everywhere, you can read and enjoy it, no matter how tight your budget is.

Coming Home...

Though I'm not sure the Habs can come out on top now that the hated Boston Bruins have tied the series, NOTHING beats playoff hockey.

Go Habs Go! =)

Quote of the Day

One night our unit got ambushed. We were cut down by guerrillas of an NC Deep Incursion squad, and in minutes I learned the true meaning of what was euphemistically described as close-quarters combat. No line-of-sight particle-beam weapons now; no delayed-detonation nano-munitions. What close-quarters combat meant was something which would have been infinitely more recognisable to a soldier of a thousand years earlier: the screaming fury of human beings packed so close together that the only effective way to kill each other was with sharpened metal weapons: bayonets and daggers, or with hands around each other's throats; fingers pressed into each other's eye-sockets. The only way to survive was to disengage all higher brain-functions and regress to an animal state of mind.

So I did. And in doing so, I learned a deeper truth about war. She punished those who flirted with her by making them like herself. Once you opened the door to the animal, there was no shutting it.

- ALASTAIR REYNOLDS, Chasm City (Canada, USA, Europe)

This science fiction novel is awesome thus far!

This week's New York Times Bestsellers (April 19th)

In hardcover:

Deborah Harkness' A Discovery of Witches is down ten spots, finishing the week at number 25. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

Patrick Rothfuss' The Wise Man's Fear is down nine positions, ending the week at number 26. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.

In paperback:

Charlaine Harris' Dead in the Family is down five spots, finishing the week at number 8.

George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones is up two positions, ending the week at number 10.

George R. R. Martin's A Clash of Kings returns at number 30.

random

OFF TO HOLLAND FOR A HOCKEY TOURNAMENT , WISH US LUCK!!!