Cititor SF

Ieri la Seattle s-au decernat premiile Locus. Iata si lista castigatorilor :

• Roman Science Fiction: Anathem, Neal Stephenson (Atlantic UK, Morrow)

• Roman Fantasy : Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt) Read more…

British Science Fiction Association Awards au fost anuntate. Castigatorii sunt :

Best Novel: The Night Sessions, Ken MacLeod, Orbit (7 Aug 2008)

A bishop is dead. As Detective Inspector Adam Ferguson picks through the rubble of the tiny church, he discovers that it was deliberately bombed. That it’s a terrorist act is soon beyond doubt. It’s been a long time since anyone saw anything like this. Terrorism is history …After the Middle East wars and the rising sea levels – after Armageddon and the Flood – came the Great Rejection. The first Enlightenment separated church from state. The Second Enlightenment has separated religion from politics. In this enlightened age there’s no persecution, but the millions who still believe and worship are a marginal and mistrusted minority. Now someone is killing them. At first, suspicion falls on atheists more militant than the secular authorities. But when the target list expands to include the godless, it becomes evident that something very old has risen from the ashes. Old and very, very dangerous…

• Best Short Fiction: “Exhalation”, Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
• Best Non-Fiction: Rhetorics of Fantasy, Farah Mendlesohn
• Best Artwork: Cover of Subterfuge (ed. Ian Whates), Andy Bigwood

Lista cu restul nominalizarilor o gasiti aici.

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Intre timp am descoperit ca s-a decernat si premiul Philip K Dick . Se pare ca juriul nu s-a putut hotara si a ales doi castigatori. Si romanele, respectiv autorii laureati, sunt:

Terminal Mind, David Walton (Meadowhawk Books)

Years in the future, the U.S. is a splintered country. The city-state of Philadelphia is ripe for revolution. Mark McGovern, the son of a rich politician, lives in a world of expensive parties and frivolous biological mods, a sharp contrast to the poor underworld of his best friend, Darin Kinsley. When the two accidentally release a sophisticated virus called a ‘slicer’ into the net, Mark must try to stem the tide of casualties before the charged political situation explodes. But the slicer is more than a virus. To destroy it, Mark must first sort truth from lies, not only for himself, but for the mind of the child who holds his fate.

Emissaries for the Dead, Adam-Troy Castro (Eos)

Two murders have occurred on One One One, an artificial ecosystem created by the universe’s dominant AIs to house several engineered species, including a violent, sentient race of sloth-like creatures. Under order from the Diplomatic Corps, Counselor Andrea Cort has come to this cylinder world where an indentured human community hangs suspended high above a poisoned, acid atmosphere. Her assignment is to choose a suitable homicide suspect from among those who have sold their futures to escape existences even worse than this one. And no matter where the trail leads her she must do nothing to implicate the hosts, who hold the power to obliterate humankind in an instant.

But Andrea Cort is not about to hold back in her hunt for a killer. For she has nothing to lose and harbors no love for her masters or fellow indentures. And she herself has felt the terrible exhilaration of taking life . . .

Povestirea lui Ted Chiang castigatoare a premiilor Hugo si Nebula in 2001 a fost, dupa cum s-a precizat,si ii multumim domnului Michael Haulica pentru completare, la postul cu recenzia volumului sau de texte,  publicata in numarul 5 din februarie 2008 al revistei Sci-fi Magazin. Imi pare rau ca nu am popularizat mai mult numerele din Sci-fi, insa cred ca la momentul in care as mai fi putut schimba ceva, “cartile” erau deja facute.

Stiam ca m-am oprit cu lectura la un numar insa nu stiam exact la care. Ei, dupa ce am recunoscut si mi-am adus aminte de primele doua povestiri din numaru lde fata, urmatoarele nelasandu-mi aceeasi impresie mi-am dat seama ca aici m-am oprit din lecturat.  Inca de pe coperta  observa ca intr-adevar capul de afis este tinut de povestirea lui Ted Chiang, “Iadul e acolo unde nu exista Dumnezeu“, lucru scos in evidenta si de editor, urmat indeaproape de “Fiul Euremei” de R.A. Lafferty premiata cu Hugo in 1973.

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Stories of Your Life and Others

Ted Chiang este probabil unul dintre cei mai ‘rasfatati’ autori (ma refer la genurile ce se dezbat pe aici), si in acelasi timp unul dintre cei mai putin prolifici. De la debutul sau din 1990 si pina in prezent a publicat 11 texte in forma scurta si inca nici un roman. Cu toate acestea cred ca reusit sa aiba cea mai mare densitate de premii si nominalizari, raportat la numarul de cuvinte publicate. Drept consecinta asteptarile mele au fost foarte mari.

Volumul “Stories of Your Life and Others” aduna 8 dintre textele sale, publicate intre momentul debutului si 2002, volum care face obiectul acestui post. De atunci, Chiang a mai produs doua texte: “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” (2007) si “Exhalation” (2008). Dar sa revenim la colectia de fata…

Povestirile

Tower of Babylon – “cum ar fi daca oamenii ar fi construit un turn inalt pina la Rai – si care ar fi reusit sa strapunga fundatia Raiului pina in partea cealalta?”. Daca primii crestini s-ar fi apucat sa scrie SF, probabil cam asa ar fi aratat o nuveleta SF conceputa in acele vremuri. Punctul de pornire este cunoscuta poveste biblica, cu diferenta majora ca de data aceasta, in lumea imaginata de Chiang, divinitatea nu a avut nimic impotriva iar oamenii au reusit in incercarea lor. Se pare ca SF-ul are o lunga traditie in a produce erezii, cum de altfel ne tot dascalea un “om de bine” pe Bookblog. Acest text se bazeaza foarte mult pe imagini si idei surprinzatoare. Ideea de baza, aceea a succesului constructiei turnului ataca tabuuri vechi, bine inradacinate in neuronii nostri crestini. Avem parte si de un mic conflic intern al celui ce pare a fi personajul principal, conflict intre spiritul liber, curiozitate, ambitie si infatuare pe un plan, si cainta, umilinta in fata divinitatii pe celalalt. Mi-a placut foarte mult, mai putin finalul cu “poanta”.

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