June 27th, 2025
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A schoolgirl abandons the UK's post-Brexit educational system for the comparative safety and comfort of a magical school designed to turn out magical soldiers in the war on eldritch horrors.

Vanya and the Wild Hunt (Vanya, volume 1) by Sangu Mandanna
June 26th, 2025
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People adopt very different strategies when it comes to making up for mistakes.

Five SFF Stories About Making Amends
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What could possibly go wrong with a little harmless Satanism between friends?

Golem100 by Alfred Bester
June 25th, 2025
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His Majesty the Worm, a megadungeon-crawling fantasy roleplaying game from Josh McCrowell at Rise Up Comus.

Bundle of Holding: His Majesty the Worm
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Each would-be pet owner gets three simple rules for taking care of the exotic animals Count D supplies. How hard could it possibly be to follow three simple rules?

Pet Shop of Horrors, volume 1 by Matsuri Akino
June 24th, 2025
niqaeli: a pedestrian path lined by trees and shrouded in mist (the path less travelled)
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Silverside Station attracts the rich, the famous, and the bizarre, as well as two Allowed Burglars bent on flamboyant larceny.

House of Shards (Drake Maijstral, volume 2) by Walter Jon Williams
June 23rd, 2025
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Bestiaries and DM sourcebooks from Andrew Cawood at Cawood Publishing for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition (2014) and compatible tabletop roleplaying games.

Bundle of Holding: Cawood Monsters
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Encouraging the next generation of space pirates and superheroes...

Five Stories Featuring Highly Supportive Parents
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posted by [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll at 10:09am on 23/06/2025 under
2002: Cherie Blair wows Britain with a notably successful real estate deal, Terry Pratchett's Night Watch wins the Best Scottish Socialist novel Prometheus Award, and an earthquake shakes England after Margaret Thatcher makes a public appearance.

Poll #33279 2002 Clarke Award Finalists
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 34


Which 2002 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Bold As Love by Gwyneth Jones
11 (32.4%)

Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton
7 (20.6%)

Mappa Mundi by Justina Robson
7 (20.6%)

Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
10 (29.4%)

Passage by Connie Willis
23 (67.6%)

The Secret of Life by Paul J. McAuley
5 (14.7%)



Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2002 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Bold As Love by Gwyneth Jones
Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton
Mappa Mundi by Justina Robson
Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Passage by Connie Willis
The Secret of Life by Paul J. McAuley
June 22nd, 2025
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posted by [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll at 11:35pm on 22/06/2025
But I ended it by reuniting one fellow with his wallet and someone else with their car keys.
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The Delikon invested millennia trying to civilize humans, a gift for which humans intend to show appropriate gratitude.

The Delikon by H M Hoover
June 21st, 2025
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posted by [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll at 09:25pm on 21/06/2025 under
(quoting from an emailed newsletter because if there was a press release, I missed it)

Voting is now open for this year's Aurora Awards. CSFFA members have until 11:59pm EDT on July 19th, 2024, to submit their ballot.

Only current members of CSFFA can vote in the Aurora Awards.
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posted by [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll at 06:31pm on 21/06/2025
Could some kind person update the awards section of my Wikipedia article?

Also, could some kind person add my latest Aurora nomination to my ISFDB article? Unless it is OK for me to do so.
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TIL

posted by [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll at 06:16pm on 21/06/2025
Funk & Wagnalls published at least one SF anthology, and my library has a copy.
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posted by [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll at 08:55am on 21/06/2025


Five works new to me: 2 fantasy, 1 non-fiction, 2 science fiction, of which 1 belongs to a series, and the other 4 are stand-alone.

Books Received, June 14 to June 20

Poll #33275 Books Received, June 14 to June 20
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 48


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

99 Ways to Die: And How to Avoid Them by A. M. Alker, M. D. & Ashely Alker (January 2026)
25 (52.1%)

The Folded Sky by Elizabeth Bear (June 2025)
25 (52.1%)

From These Dark Abodes by Lyndsie Manusos (May 2024)
9 (18.8%)

The Prestige by Christopher Priest (July 2025)
9 (18.8%)

Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsai (April 2026)
14 (29.2%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
32 (66.7%)

June 20th, 2025
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posted by [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll at 12:01pm on 20/06/2025


This is a painting by Édouard Frédéric Wilhelm Richter, who I had never heard of. As well, it's an example of "orientalist" painting, which I had also never heard of. Seems to be depictions of the east (starting at the middle east), as imagined by a painter whose online bio does not mention having ever visited the east.

Some interesting detail work in the expanded version.
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All that stands between Alessa Li and freedom from Hellebore Technical Institute for the Ambitiously Gifted is a single carnage-filled rite of passage, or as the unspeakable teachers call it, dinner.

The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw
June 19th, 2025
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A timid immortal cyborg searches for valuable plants in a Tudor England torn between Anglicans and Catholics. What could possibly go wrong?

In The Garden of Iden (Company, volume 1) by Kage Baker
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posted by [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll at 08:58am on 19/06/2025
Rather than use a group of interchangeable mooks, the hostiles had two brutes (one who was accurate, one with multiple attacks), a mage with a couple of decent multi-target attacks, and a mage adept at protective spells. It worked pretty well, esp the part where the healer kept the other NPCS upright. It would have worked even better had she not been prioritizing their boss, who is currently enthralled by an artifact of doom and not much good in a fight.

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