Blog Post
Sci-fi/Fantasy Award Nominees
by lucroe
The Nebula Awards, voted on by notable Scifi/Fantasy writers, are to be awarded in May and the nominees for best adult novel are:
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed: Fantasy writing doesn't get much better than this. World building that takes place in a medieval city that reminds one of an Arabian fairy tale for adults or a Ray Harryhausen adventure. One reviewer described it as, "...swashbuckling mythos mania."
Ironskin by Tina Connolly: Fey scarred Jane finds employment as a governess for a fey child following a war between fey and humans in this alt-Victorian, Jane Eyre-inspired fantasy. Great pick for older teens too!
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin: Some may know Jemisin from her Inheritance trilogy, nominated for multiple awards, this book is the first of the Dreamblood series, rich in character and substance (Jungian psychology, Egyptian history)
The Drowning Girl, by Caitlín R. Kiernan: Taking a real world subject like schizophrenia and creating a fantasy element around it can be difficult to say the least, but Kiernan accomplishes both with the character, Imp, who has 'hauntings', missing timelines, & odd coincidences
Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal: Sequel to Shades of Milk and Honey set in an alternate Regency-era with some romance, lots of magic, & a bit of espionage to boot. You can place holds on the 3rd book in this series Without a Summer due out in April. Jane Austen fans take note of this inspired novel!
2312, Kim Stanley Robinson: My pick for winner. This is a brilliant, thought-provoking novel. It has real world building since Earth is eeking by from severe climate changes, terra-forming Mars, Mercury, & Venus has happened. The main character, Swan, is pulled into a plot involving personal artificial intelligences (qubes) and the destruction of the worlds. Award-winning author, Robinson, continues to amaze with some realistic possibilities for our distant future. Read the transcript or listen to the podcast with him from Wired here.
Blog Post
The Reading List 2013 (ALA RUSA)
by muffy
Established in 2007 by the CODES section of Reference and User Services Association (RUSA, a division of the American Library Association), The Reading List seeks to highlight outstanding genre fiction that merit special attention by general adult readers and the librarians who work with them.
The 2013 List in 8 categories. What sets this list apart from all the other awards is the short listed honor titles, and the thoughtful readalikes.
Adrenaline
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
It’s her fifth wedding anniversary: where’s Amy? Assumptions are dangerous in this chilling psychological thriller. The dark and twisty plot, unbearable levels of tension, and merciless pacing will rivet readers.
Fantasy
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley
When Myfanwy wakes up with no memory, surrounded by corpses, she must immediately impersonate herself in order to unravel the conspiracy at the heart of a secret supernatural intelligence agency. This offbeat debut combines the fast pacing and suspense of a thriller with the gritty, detailed world-building of urban fantasy.
Historical Fiction
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Ambitious royal advisor Thomas Cromwell is at the pinnacle of his power and uses it to subtly engineer the downfall of his enemies, including the Queen, Anne Boleyn, and her inner circle. This intricately plotted character study presents a fresh perspective on the ever popular Tudor Court.
Horror
The Ritual by Adam Nevill
In the remote forests of Sweden, the friendship between four men disintegrates when they wander off the hiking trail and find themselves stalked by an unseen and increasingly violent menace. “Blair Witch” meets black metal in this dark and suspenseful horror novel.
Mystery
The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
The discovery of a mass grave of child prostitutes spurs “copper star” Timothy Wilde to hunt a killer through the seamy underbelly of 1840s New York City. Colorful period slang enlivens this carefully researched story about the dawn of modern policing.
Romance
Firelight by Kristen Callihan
Bartered as a bride to the masked nobleman Benjamin Archer, Miranda Ellis – a woman with a supernatural secret – becomes his only defender when he is accused of a series of murders. This is a dark and smoldering Victorian paranormal where love redeems two complex and damaged characters.
Science Fiction
Caliban’s War by James S. A. Corey
One wants control; one wants vindication; one wants his daughter back; and one wants revenge (and maybe a new suit). The shifting points of view of these four distinctive characters, an electrifying pace, and the threat of an evolving alien protomolecule propel readers through this grand space adventure.
Women’s Fiction
The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway
Galilee Garner’s carefully managed routine of teaching, rose breeding, and kidney dialysis is disrupted when her teenage niece moves in. Readers will root for the growth of this prickly character as she discovers the importance of cultivating human connections.
Blog Post
Locus Magazine Announces Winners of Poll for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels
by esti
At the end of November, Locus Magazine polled its readers to determine the best science fiction and fantasy novels of the 20th century as well as the best of the 21st century so far. As of this week, the results are in. Unsurprisingly, old favorites like Tolkien, Asimov, and Ursula K. Le Guin took top slots, sharing the spotlight with George R.R. Martin's wildly popular Game of Thrones novels as well as up-and-coming writers like Paolo Bacigalupi.
Check out the top books in our catalog, and visit Locus for the full results. Science fiction and fantasy are more popular than ever right now, and you can also find the film or television adaptations of many of these books in our collections!
Best Science Fiction of the 20th Century:
1. Frank Herbert, Dune (1965)
2. Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game (1985)
3. Isaac Asimov, The Foundation Trilogy (1953)
4. Dan Simmons, Hyperion (1989)
5. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
Best Fantasy of the 20th Century:
1. J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (1955)
2. George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones (1996)
3. J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit (1937)
4. Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)
5. Roger Zelazny, Nine Princes in Amber (1970)
Best Science Fiction of the 21st Century:
1. John Scalzi, Old Man's War (2005)
2. Neal Stephenson, Anathem (2008)
3. Paolo Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl (2009)
4. Robert Charles Wilson, Spin (2005)
5. Peter Watts, Blindsight (2006)
Best Fantasy of the 21st Century:
1. Neil Gaiman, American Gods (2001)
2. Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)
3. Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind (2007)
4. China Mieville, The Scar (2002)
5. George R. R. Martin, A Feast For Crows (2005)
For lesser-known reads that made the lists (but don't have holds queues yet!), check out Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, Tim Powers' The Anubis Gates, or Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic.
Blog Post
On This Day in History--January 2nd: Isaac Asimov was born in 1920
by nicole
One of the world’s best-known science-fiction writers and a professor of biochemistry at Boston University, Isaac Asimov was born on January 2nd, 1920 near Smolensk, Russia. Through his dedication to writing and to science he helped to elevate science fiction from pulp magazines to a more intellectual and respected genre.
One of the most prolific writers of all time, he wrote or edited more than 500 books, on subjects as varied as chemistry, biology, the Bible, Shakespeare, modern history, as well as books for preschoolers and college students. He received dozens of awards in his lifetime including six Hugo awards, 3 Nebula awards, and a posthumous induction into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. He even had an asteroid and a crater on Mars named in his honor. Asimov was also a member and Vice President of Mensa, though he found little enjoyment in it, feeling his fellow members were too arrogant about their high IQs. Asimov died in New York, New York on April 6th, 1992.
His more popular works include the Foundation trilogy, Pebble in the Sky, The Stars, Like Dust, and I, Robot, which was adapted into a film of the same name in 2004. Follow the links and you'll find them in AADL's collection!
Related Posts:
Locus Magazine Announces Winners of Poll for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels
Blog Post
A New Literary Landmark
by Grace22
On Thursday, November 29th, the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City will celebrate author and longtime Cathedral librarian Madeleine L'Engle with the dedication of the Diocesan House library as a Literary Landmark. L'Engle's books for readers of all ages were profoundly influenced by her Episcopal faith, belief in science, and strong appreciation for the inner lives of children. This year marks the 50th publishing anniversary of her Newbery Medal-winning book A Wrinkle in Time.
November 29th would have been L’Engle’s 94th birthday. During the dedication, Leonard S. Marcus, children’s literature historian and author of Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait of Madeleine L’Engle in Many Voices, will speak about L’Engle and her connection to the Cathedral.
Blog Post
The Star Wars Craft Book
by manz
This Saturday, October 6 is Star Wars Reads Day! It's a national event and AADL is participating. To gear up for it, why not make some Star Wars crafts? If you're ready to rock your empire, The Star Wars Craft Book as you covered.
The book has projects for the home including magnets, a Jabba the Hutt body pillow, and an Ewok flower vase. There are also science and nature crafts, playtime crafts like a Yoda doll and a General Grievous finger puppet, and of course there are holiday crafts like a Hanukkah Droidel and a Star Wars snow globe. With full color illustrations and instructions, it's time to grab the glue gun and get crafting.
Blog Post
AADL Talks to Local Author Fritz Freiheit
by sherlonya
Fritz Freiheit has been writing science fiction for years. For most of those years, he was working toward an end goal of getting his book published in the traditional manner. He was shopping for agents and dreaming of seeing his book in bookstores. Then Borders closed, and he began to think of things differently. Here, Fritz talks about his decision to self-publish, and introduces us to Dispensing Justice, his alternate-world, coming of age, novel.
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Blog Post
Ray Bradbury, master of Science Fiction and Fantasy, has died
by sernabad
Ray Bradbury, brilliant, prescient, prolific writer of science fiction and fantasy, died yesterday in Los Angeles.
Bradbury is credited with bringing science fiction into mainstream fiction by dispensing with a lot of the technical lingo and focusing on speculation and metaphors to dig into science and technology versus civilization.
Mr. Bradbury won dozens of awards for his enormous body of work. He captured his first prize, the 1947 O. Henry Award, for a short story called Homecoming, which was discovered by Truman Capote, who was an editor at Mademoiselle Magazine. One of his most well-known books, The Martian Chronicles further advanced his career in 1950.
Bradbury followed that success with Fahrenheit 451 in 1953. He took his notion about literature and society -- "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." -- and turned it into a classic that has been read by generations of high school students. In 1966, it became a chilling movie, starring Julie Christie and Oskar Werner.
Bradbury's passion for books and reading and libraries was in stark contract to his skepticism for formal education. He elaborated on this contrarian idea in an essay he wrote that can be found in the May 1971 issue of Wilson Library Bulletin (45, 9, 842-851). The title speaks for itself -- How Instead of Being Educated in College, I Was Graduated from Libraries.
Paying tribute to his grandfather, Danny Karapetian said, "...to read him was to know him. He was the biggest kid I know."
Bradbury was 91.
Blog Post
Leo Dillon, one half of the award-winning Dillon & Dillon illustrators' team, has died
by sernabad
Leo Dillon who with Diane, his wife of 55 years, won multiple awards for their collaborative illustrations, has died.
The Dillons met at the prestigious Parsons School of Design in NY and became instant, fierce competitors. Ms. Dillon said their marriage was a 'survival mechanism to keep us from killing each other.' They attributed the success of their artistic sharing to the presence of It who helped wed their two styles.
The couple won multiple awards, including two back-to-back Caldecotts. When they won the 1976 Caldecott for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Folktale, Mr. Dillon, of Trinidadian descent, became the first African American to win that award. The very next year, the Dillons won the Caldecott again, this time for Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions.
Their ouuvre of children's literature illustrations accompanied an equally significant reputation as illustrators of science fiction covers. Five years before their first Caldecott, they captured the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artists.
Blog Post
Geek Pride Day
by articia
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"Towel Day", "Glorious 25th of May", or "Star Wars Day", whatever you prefer to call it, May 25th is Geek Pride Day and what better way to celebrate it than by visiting your local library? You don't have to be a Sci-Fi geek, or a math geek to celebrate Geek Pride Day, just celebrate whatever you "geek". "Whatever you geek, the public library supports you." Geek The Library reminds us that "No matter who you are, there are things you are passionate about—things you geek. The Geek the Library project is a community public awareness campaign aimed at spreading the word about the vital and growing role of your public library, and to raise awareness about the critical funding issues many U.S. public libraries face." Think of all the resources your library has to offer, be they entertainment like Star Wars or Douglas Adams books or movies, Homework Help or Test Prep, Foreign Language Materials or Foreign Language Learning from our Services and Research pages that you have access to through our website, our super nifty new Orion Starblast 4.5 Astro Reflector Dobsonian Telescope, or one of our neat Science To Go Kits from our Unusual Stuff to Borrow collection.