Signaling that we are finally, officially, living in the future, last night’s 85^th Annual Academy Awards was simply broadcast as “The Oscars,” forever shucking those cumbersome extra words and numbers. Hosted by nerdy/raunchy Family Guy and Ted creator Seth MacFarlane, this glitzy Hollywood version of the Super Bowl was full of surprises, a bit of controversy, and a few truly special moments. And other than a totally unexpected eleventh hour appearance from First Lady Michelle Obama, the main thing you couldn't see coming was the way in which geeky SF/F really permeated the whole event. In fact...is it possible that the entire Oscars ceremony was really one big science fiction movie?

Here are the geeky highlights from last night’s Oscars.

[Read more]

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have announced the finalists for the 2012 Nebula Awards, the Ray Bradbury Award, and the Andre Norton Award.

Tor.com is eye-wideningly honored to be represented so heavily in the Novelette department by Brit Mandelo for “The Finite Canvas,” Meghan McCarron for “Swift, Brutal Retaliation,” and Rachel Swirsky for “Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia.” All three novelettes can be read for free in the above links. Tor Books is thrilled to have two nominees in the Novel division, Tina Connolly’s Ironskin and Mary Robinette Kowal’s Glamour in Glass.

Congratulations to all of the honorees!

[The 2012 Nebula Award Finalists]

Welcome back to the Short Fiction Spotlight, a weekly column on Tor.com co-curated by myself and the marvellous Brit Mandelo, and dedicated to doing exactly what it says in the header: shining a light on some of the best and most relevant fiction of the aforementioned form.

You are, of course, cordially invited to read along with us. Indeed, we’d adore it if you did, so where possible we’ll be providing links to select stories—and advice on how to get hold of those that aren’t available for free. I’ll try to give you advance warning about what we’re reading next, as well.

This week, I’ll be picking up where I left off last time I pointed the Spotlight, with two more of the British Science Fiction Association’s nominees for Best Short Story—including “Three Moments of an Explosion” by China Mieville, warden of the weird. But we begin, after these messages, with “Adrift on the Sea of Rains” by Ian Sales....

[Read more]

Locus Magazine has just released their annual Recommended Reading List, looking back at science fiction and fantasy published in the previous year. We’re happy to report it features several authors of Tor.com original stories as well as books published by Tor Books! The list was compiled by an array of SF industry professionals and Locus editors.

Congrats to Tor.com and Tor authors! Check out the list of recommendations below.

[List of included Tor authors]

Much as we like to tell ourselves otherwise, size absolutely matters.

What? I’m a shorty; I get to say these things!

But I mean the size of stories, of course. There are no two ways about it, I’m afraid: whether because of price or presence, viability or visibility, short fiction is the person at the party we politely ignore, or outright rudely overlook.

I’m as guilty of this telling offence as anyone. In the second installment of my ongoing British Genre Fiction Focus column, I talked up the British Science Fiction Association’s Best Novel nominees—amongst many and various other subjects—yet neglected to mention the six short stories up for one of the BSFA’s other awards. I am appropriately penitent, as we shall see, but this sort of treatment is simply all too typical of the short shrift short fiction is given.

[Read more]

There are other worlds than those we know. However widely read we may be, there are other authors. Other novels. Entire other issues, even.

To wit, the British Genre Fiction Focus exists to fill a hole we noticed in Tor.com’s continuing coverage of all things weird and wonderful. On a weekly basis, I’ll be bringing you news and new releases from the thriving industry dedicated to speculative fiction that exists in the United Kingdom.

For a more detailed overview of the column’s form and function, please read this introduction.

In the news this week: there are genre-oriented awards ahoy, and an American author comes to London, meanwhile there was the announcement of a major—and I mean major—new novel. Whether or not we should consider it genre fiction is up in the air as yet... but come on, it’s inspired by Dante’s Inferno!

As ever, we’ll also be taking the temperature of a number newly launched covers.  And do stay for a small but perfectly formed selection of sweet new releases, including steampunk from pioneer James P. Blaylock, a belated return to Fairyland, mystery and time travel in The Man From Primrose Island and, while we’re at it, something of a YA extravaganza.

[Read more]

The shortlist for this year’s BSFA Awards has been announced.

The BSFA Awards are sponsored by the British Science Fiction Association and drawn up from the most popular titles selected by members of the BSFA. Those members join attendees of Eastercon to cast votes on the winners. This year Eastercon 64 will be known as EightSquaredCon, and will take place in Bradford, England, UK from the 29th of March to the 1st of April.

Here are the 2012 nominees.

[BSFA Award Nominees]

The nominations for the 2013 Academy Awards have just been announced, and in spite of all the major SFF films of the past year, genre fans might be a little disappointed with the list. While it’s not totally surprising that very few of the major science fiction and fantasy releases of 2012 got the nod, this was very much the year of The Avengers, The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus (for better or worse), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and so many smaller films, and looking at the full list of nominations, there’s almost no sense of what a huge, milestone year this was for SFF and comics in Hollywood. Beyond the Visual Effects category, barely any of these films rated a mention, in the eyes of the Academy.

[What was recognized, and what was overlooked...]

Best 20th Century Science Fiction Novels

1. Dune, Frank Herbert (1965)
2. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card (1985)
3. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov (1953)
4. Hyperion, Dan Simmons (1989)
5. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)

[Fantasy and 21st century...]

It's the end of 2012, and we've been so proud to publish some excellent fiction  this year! We couldn't be more pleased to have championed such a diverse group of voices which continue to keep us on the cutting edge of short form science fiction and fantasy.

Many of these stories are eligible for the Hugo and Nebula Awards, which annually honor outstanding works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

[Here's a look back on 2012's fiction on Tor.com]

Other than robot unicorns, mugs of space coffee, and pictures of Benedict Cumberbatch, the sight most prevalent in our little rocket here at Tor.com are heaps of heaps of books! We get books any way we can here, and though we’re primarily a science fiction and fantasy website, we read across a myriad of genres.

Between our reviews, rereads, and regular columns such as Something Else Like..., Fiction Affliction, and Genre in the Mainstream, we’re talking about books, reading books and reviewing books around the clock! So with 2012 coming to a close, we invited our regular contributors to choose their three favorite books out of everything they’ve read in the last year, and we’re sharing their responses and recommendations below.

Please enjoy this eclectic overview of some of our favorite books, and be sure to let us know about your own favorites in the comments!

[Reviewers’ Choice 2012]

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has announced that Gene Wolfe will be the recipient of the 2012 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.

SFWA President John Scalzi, on choosing Wolfe, “You’d have to search far and wide to find a contemporary fantasy writer who has not been directly influenced by Gene Wolfe.”

Wolfe himself on the honor, “You’d better watch your step, folks; you’re raising me to a height I would never have imagined. If you keep this up I’ll start thinking I’m a good writer.”

You can read their extended statements, along with praise from Neil Gaiman, Connie Willis, at the above link.

From Locus Online: 

Locus Online is hosting, during the month of November 2012, a poll for the best novels and short fiction of the 20th and 21st centuries, the first such poll Locus has conducted since those hosted by the Magazine in 1975, 1987, and 1998 (with an online supplemental poll in 1999). The scope for this poll is the 20th century, 1901 to 2000, and the first decade of the 21st century, 2001 to 2010.

There are five categories in each century: SF novel, fantasy novel, novella, novelette, and short story. For 20th century categories, you may vote for up to 10 items in each category; for 21st century categories, you have the usual 5 items in each. Results will be scored based on rank, so that a 1st place vote is worth twice as much as a 5th or 10th place vote, but not 5 times or 10 times as much. 

The ballot is only live through November 30th. Check it out here.

Congratulations to Victo Ngai for winning a gold medal at the Society of Illustrators for her image on the Tor.com story, “Jacks and Queens at the Green Mill.” To say Victo is a rising star is an understatement—a young illustrator whose work has been ulitized by any number of publications and advertising firms, including The New York Times, The New Yorker.

“Jacks and Queens at the Green Mill” was not an easy assignment—a fantasy story in which the magical element could not be visualized. Victo made a compelling dreamscape from it. One that catches a reader's attention in an instant and begs them to come closer and linger.

The Society of Illustrators Annual Awards are one the premiere showcases for outstanding work created worldwide throughout the year. Thousands of entries are received and juried by a team of illustrators and art directors. It is truly an honor to be selected for the annual, and a great honor to be one of the few chosen for a medal. 

Congratulations to the winners and nominees of the 2012 World Fantasy Awards! The World Fantasy Awards have been given annually since 1975, to fantasy authors the world over, and are announced every year, appropriately, at the World Fantasy Awards Convention, which is being held in Toronto, Canada this year.

Below the cut you’ll find a list of the categories with nominees, with winners in bold. We’ll be updating the list as winners are announced, so don’t forget to refresh the page periodically.

Check out the complete list after the cut!

[Full ballot below the fold...]

As reported by Julia Rios of the Outer Alliance, the winner and shortlist for the 2012 Gaylactic Spectrum Award for Best Novel were announced over this past weekend at Gaylaxicon in Minneapolis, MN. This year’s judges were Carl Cipra, Rob Gates, Nancy Berman and Warren Rochelle; they judged a set of eligible novels published in 2011 based on open nominations to determine their winner and recommended reading. (The 2012 Best Short Fiction Award will be presented at the 2013 Gaylaxicon.)

[Winners and shortlist below the cut]

The 2012 British Fantasy Awards were announced this evening at Fanatsy Con in Brighton. This year’s BFAward Judges were James Barclay, Hal Duncan, Maura McHugh, Esther Sherman, and Damien G. Walter. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!
 

[And the winners are...]

The Hugo Awards started in 1953, however, the Best Professional Artist category wasn’t created until 1955. Since then, seventeen pro artists have been recognized with the award in that category (eighteen if you count Leo and Diane Dillon as individuals—debatable because they considered themselves inseparable—even though each was/is a powerhouse individual artist). It’s a helluva list.

Two Sundays ago, I became a part of it, prompting me to put together this visual history of the winners of the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist. After assembling this set of images, the first thought I have is “get back to work....go get better.” And the next—“this still feels like a dream.”

[A visual history of the Best Professional Artist Hugo winners]

For those who missed out on watching last weekend's Hugo Awards ceremony thanks to Ustream's overzealousness, the streaming service will be re-broadcasting the ceremony in full this Sunday, September 9th at 7 PM.

From a Chicon press release: Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), is pleased to announce that the 2012 Hugo Awards Ceremony will be re-broadcast in its entirety and ad-free via Ustream on Sunday, September 9, starting at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT) at www.ustream.tv/channel/hugo-awards.

[Why the broadcast was cut]

The winners for the 2012 Hugo Awards have been announced. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

The Hugo Awards have been given since 1953, and every year since 1955, by the annual World Science Fiction Convention (the “Worldcon”). The first Worldcon occurred in New York City in 1939, and Worldcons have been held annually since then except during World War II. This year’s Worldcon is Chicon 7 and was held in Chicago from August 30 through September 3.

The Guests of Honor for this year’s awards were Mike Resnick, Story Musgrave, Rowena Morrill, Jane Frank, Peggy Rae Sapienza, Sy Ligergot, Peter Sagal, and toastmaster John Scalzi.

Hugo Award finalists are selected by members of the previous Worldcon and of the upcoming one; winners are selected by members of the upcoming one. For more information about voting in the Hugo Awards, please click here.

Tor Books and Tor.com are especially proud to announce the Hugo awards to Jo Walton’s Among Others for Best Novel and to Charlie Jane Anders’ “Six Months, Three Days” for Best Novelette.

[Winners and nominees below]