Locus Roundtable: Ian McDonald's Developing Economies Stories

Yours Truly, Cat Rambo, Fabio Fernandes, Paul Graham Raven, Rachel Swirsky, and Karen Burnham discussing the works of Ian McDonald. Check out the Locus Roundtable: Ian McDonald’s Developing Economies Stories.

Fabio Fernandes: "The first Ian McDonald story I read was the novelette “Toward Kilimanjaro”, in the now deceased Brazilian edition of Isaac Asimov’s Magazine, in the early 1990s. I loved the way he revamped a Ballardian classic trope (one is quickly reminded of The Crystal World).  Soon after that, I got a copy of Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone, and then I was hooked – I found in him a late cyberpunk author who managed to write in the same key of Ballard, Zelazny, and Gibson, keeping his own voice at the same time. Every now and then I pick up this story and read it again, and it never seems to lose its flavor."

2010 Locus Awards Finalists

The 2010 Locus Awards Finalists have been announced, and we are thrilled and honored to see that Pyr has made the ballot three times. Ian McDonald's "Vishnu at the Cat Circus" is on the shortlist for Best Novella, whereas the book it comes from, Cyberabad Days, is up for Best Collection. Meanwhile, Pyr itself breaks into the top five for Best Publisher.


Huge congratulations to all the nominees. Winners will be presented during the Science Fiction Awards Weekend in Seattle WA, June 25-27, 2010.

Obviously, Very Chuffed About This.

So, what a great weekend! Hugo nomination, Hugo nomination for Ian McDonald, PKD Special Citation for Ian McDonald, BSFA Award for Stephan Martiniere. Attention next weekend, you have a lot to live up to. Here's the official press release, as sent out earlier today and posted to the Pyr site:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
April 5, 2010

Contact: Jill Maxick, 800-853-7545
jmaxick@prometheusbooks.com

Pyr Announces Four Award Nominations, Citations and Wins 
Author Ian McDonald, Editor Lou Anders, and Artist Stephan Martiniere Recognized

Amherst, NY -- Pyr, a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Prometheus Books, is proud to announce two Hugo Award nominations and to congratulate Pyr author Ian McDonald on accolades for his books Cyberabad Days and Desolation Road.

The 2010 Hugo Award ballot was announced yesterday, Easter Sunday, at Odyssey 2010, this year’s Eastercon. We are thrilled to celebrate our two nominees:

· Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders, nominated for the fourth consecutive year in the “Best Editor - Long Form” category.
· Ian McDonald's “Vishnu at the Cat Circus” from Cyberabad Days, nominated in the “Best Novella” category.

The Hugos are international, fan-voted awards. All members of the World Science Fiction Society are eligible to vote. The Hugo Awards Ceremony will be held at this year’s World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), ‘Aussiecon 4’ in Melbourne, Australia on September 5, 2010.

McDonald’s original novella “Vishnu at the Cat Circus”--which closes out the Cyberabad Days collection and serves as a sequel to River of Gods--will be included in the Twenty-Seventh Annual Edition of Gardner Dozois' The Year's Best Science Fiction.

Lou Anders says, “I’m enormously honored to be nominated in the ‘Best Editor - Long Form’ category for the fourth year in a row. I'm equally, if not more gratified, to see Ian McDonald in the ‘Best Novella’ category. Ian is one of science fiction's premiere authors and he is at the top of his game.”

Anders’ fourth consecutive Hugo Award nomination coincides with Pyr’s fifth anniversary celebration.

“We're extremely pleased and grateful for the tremendous reception Pyr has received,” says Prometheus Books President Jonathan Kurtz. “The taste, vision, and stewardship of Editorial Director Lou Anders has been instrumental in shaping the brand since March 2005.”

In related news, Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days was given a 2010Philip K. Dick Award Special citation. The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States.

Additionally, cover artist Stephan Martiniere has won the British Science Fiction Association Award for “Best Artwork” for the cover of Desolation Road by Ian McDonald.

Pyr has published six books by Ian McDonald: River of Gods; Brasyl;Desolation Road; Cyberabad Days; Ares Express and The Dervish House(forthcoming in July 2010).

Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days wins 2010 Philip K. Dick Award Special Citation

Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days has won the Special Citation from the 2010 Philip K. Dick Awards, presented Friday night at Norwescon 22 in SeaTac, Washington. Huge congratulations to Ian, and to PKD Award winner C. L. Anderson, whose Bitter Angels won the award. From the official press release:

2010 Philip K. Dick Award Winner Announced

 

It was announced on Friday, April 2, at Norwescon 33, in SeaTac, Washington, that the winner for the distinguished original science fiction paperback published for the first time during 2009 in the U.S.A. is:

            BITTER ANGELS by C. L. Anderson (Ballantine Books Spectra)

Special citation was given to:

            CYBERABAD DAYS by Ian McDonald (Pyr)

 

The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States.  The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust and the award ceremony is sponsored by the NorthWest Science Fiction Society.  The 2009 award was given to EMISSARIES OF THE DEAD by Adam-Troy Castro (Eos) in a tie with TERMINAL MIND by David Walton (Meadowhawk Press).  The 2009 judges were Daniel Abraham (chair), Eileen Gunn, Karen Hellekson, Elaine Isaak, and Marc Laidlaw.

This year’s judges are William Barton, Andy Duncan, Bruce McAllister, Melinda M. Snodgrass, and David Walton.

For more information, contact the award administration:

                                                            David G. Hartwell (914) 769-5545.

                                                            Gordon Van Gelder (201) 876-2551

For more information about the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, http://www.psfs.org/:

                                                                        Contact Gary Feldbaum (215) 665-5752

For more information about the Philip K. Dick Trust: www.philipkdick.com

For more information about Norwescon:  http://www.norwescon.org/:

                                                                        Contact NorthWest SF Society: (425) 686-9737

Locus 2009 Recommended Reading List

Locus magazine have released their Recommended Reading List (also published in their February issue).

James Enge's Blood of Ambrose appears in the category of First Novels.

Ian McDonald is on for Cyberabad Days for Collections, and from that collection, "Vishnu at the Cat Circus" is on for Novellas.

The UK edition of Paul McAuley's Gardens of the Sun also made the list (ours comes out in March).

Congratulations to all three authors!

Cyberabad Days Nominated for 2009 Philip K. Dick Award

The judges of the 2009 Philip K, Dick Award have announced the list of nominees, and I am really excited to learn that Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days made the list! Here's the press release!

For Immediate Release:

 2009 Philip K. Dick Award Nominees Announced

The judges of the 2009 Philip K. Dick Award and the Philadelphia SF Society, along with the Philip K. Dick Trust, are pleased to announce seven nominated works that comprise the final ballot for the award:

BITTER ANGELS by C. L. Anderson (Ballantine Books/Spectra)
THE PRISONER by Carlos J. Cortes (Ballantine Books/Spectra)
THE REPOSSESSION MAMBO by Eric Garcia (Harper)
THE DEVIL’S ALPHABET by Daryl Gregory (Del Rey)
CYBERABAD DAYS by Ian McDonald (Pyr)
CENTURIES AGO AND VERY FAST by Rebecca Ore (Aqueduct Press)
PROPHETS by S. Andrew Swann (DAW Books)


First prize and any special citations will be announced on Friday, April 2, 2010 at Norwescon 33 at the Doubletree Seattle Airport Hotel, SeaTac, Washington.

The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States.  The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust and the award ceremony is sponsored by the NorthWest Science Fiction Society.  Last year’s winners were EMISSARIES FROM THE DEAD by Adam-Troy Castro (Eos Books) and TERMINAL MIND by David Walton (Meadowhawk Press).  The 2009 judges are Daniel Abraham (chair), Eileen Gunn, Karen Hellekson, Elaine Isaak, and Marc Laidlaw.

For more information, contact the award administration:
David G. Hartwell (914) 769-5545.

Gordon Van Gelder (201) 876-2551

For more information about the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, http://www.psfs.org/: 

Contact Gary Feldbaum (215) 665-5752

For more information about the Philip K. Dick Trust: www.philipkdick.com

For more information about Norwescon:  http://www.norwescon.org/
Contact NorthWest SF Society: (425) 686-9737

###END###   

Bookgasm: 5 Best Sci-Fi Books of 2009

Ryun Patterson of Bookgasm has posted his 5 Best Sci-Fi Books of 2009, and, as in past years, we're very pleased with the number of Pyr books in (and in this case around) the list. Paul McAuley's The Quiet Warcomes in at Number 5. Note also the honorable mention for Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days, that all three "anticipated" 2010 titles are from Pyr (Geosynchron, Desolation Road,& Ghosts of Manhattan), and the "hypothetical 'Books of the Decade'" that would include Brasyland River of Gods. Nice!

Pyr's McDonald, Edelman & Roberson: Too Much to Keep Track of

You go out of town for a week, and look what happens:

Ian McDonald's Brasylhas made the short list for the Nebula Awards!! Meanwhile over on Boing Boing, fellow-nominee Cory Doctorow (Little Brother) reviews Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days:

"Ian McDonald is one of science fiction's finest working writers, and his latest short story collection Cyberabad Days, is the kind of book that showcases exactly what science fiction is for. ...Cyberabad Days has it all: spirituality, technology, humanity, love, sex, war, environmentalism, politics, media -- all blended together to form a manifesto of sorts, a statement about how technology shapes and is shaped by all the wet, gooey human factors. Every story is simultaneously a cracking yarn, a thoughtful piece of technosocial criticism, and a bag of eyeball kicks that'll fire your imagination. The field is very lucky to have Ian McDonald working in it."

And Nick Gevers interviews McDonald on SciFi Wire:

"The title Cyberabad Days is a deliberate echo of the Arabian Nights. The stories are fairy tales of New Delhi. River was an Indian—novel, fat, many-voiced, wide-screen; Cyberabad Days is tales. Mumbai movies tell stories in ways that challenge our Western aesthetics and values. They're not afraid of sentiment, they're not afraid of big acting, or putting in song and dance, because Bollywood cinema's not supposed to be a mimetic art form. It's not about realism—that most pernicious of Western values—it's a show."

On io9, Charlie Jane Anders interviews Infoquakeand MultiRealauthor David Louis Edelman:

"I began with a vision of a futuristic world, and worked backwards to figure out how everything came together. Most of the backstory came about when I was writing the early chapters of Infoquake and just started randomly filling things in. When I'd get stuck writing the story proper, I'd just spend some time writing background articles. This kind of thing has always been attractive to me. I was the kid who bought AD&D modules just because I liked to read them, even though I didn't have anyone to play AD&D with. I'm the guy who always liked The Silmarillion better than The Lord of the Rings."

On the Adventures in SciFi Publishing podcast episode 75, host Shaun Farrel interviews End of the Centuryauthor Chris Roberson! Here's the direct download link. (And, as a reminder, here is part one and part two of my massive Tor.com piece on Roberson's entire career. Part two wasn't up when I left town.)

These guys are making it hard for me to get caught up!