Monday, December 29, 2008

Fast Forward 2: Best Book of 2008!!!

Ryun Patterson, at Bookgasm, publishes his 5 Best Sci-Fi Books of 2008, and Fast Forward 2is the pick for the # 1 book of the year!
"Up until last year, I would never have believed that an anthology of new science fiction could be the best sci-fi book put out in a given year. First of all, is there even a demand for such a beast? It seems that a budding anthologist could make a far more successful book by picking a theme, say 'green aliens with tentacles who are really children in search of their parents but are thought of as evil because of a cultural misunderstanding,' and find awesome tales from the genre’s creaky grandmasters that would guarantee an endcap placement at Borders. (This is by no means a knock against some of the great anthologists out there, like John Joseph Adams, whose Wastelands collection had a big impact on me this year.)

But Anders, who has paid his dues many times over in the science-fiction trenches, doesn’t seem to do the predictable thing, and his risk-taking has paid off. Fast Forward 2 is even more electric than last year’s first: Anders has assembled some of the best and brightest current stars of the genre, and they turned in stories that, as a whole, really do represent the cutting edge of fiction. From a fashion designer who grows living gowns to a raid on the doomsday seed bank to a young man getting Cyrano-with-a-twist dating advice in the India of the future, Fast Forward 2 is the book to read this year. It’s the surest of sure things, and a bargain, to boot."
Deeply honored.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Congratulations Lou!

Lou Anders said...

Thanks John. I'm honored to have made the list at all, but blown away to be at #1. This is really down to my contributors though - two of whom, I was psyched to see, also had novels make the Top Five as well.

Anonymous said...

That's fantastic! Congratulations to you and all the authors.

Lou Anders said...

Especially the authors! And thank you!

ces said...

Good show Lou!

But - best of all - another Infoquake/Multireal novel, due when??? And art by Martiniere again?



m-u-s-t stay away from my whipped sweet potatoes dish . . .

Nick Rose said...

Once again, Congratulations to you! It's really nice to see that hard work does pay off. Happy New Year!

Lou Anders said...

Christine, Nick - thank you both.
Christine - Geosynchron, book three in the Jump 225 trilogy, will be published Feb 2010.

ces said...

A quote from Neil Gaiman's blog, dated 12/29/08:

"You bring yourself to a book, after all; every book is collaborative."

Lou Anders said...

Very nice.

Jetse de Vries said...

Congrats, Lou: very well-deserved!

(Obviously, both for you and all the contributors.)