Since we have not mentioned this since February, It’s occurred to me that the first post was probably a little too cavalier in that Dragon Award post. We should spell out what the bleep is going on a little bit better.To start with, Dragon Con is one of the biggest SFF conventions in the United States, if not on the face of the Earth. Held in Atlanta each year, Dragon Con hosts a minimum of 60,000 people each year — and we will probably never know how much they really host, lest they get in trouble with the fire marshal (I’m not even kidding).
And, of course, Dragon Con has created its own award — the Dragon Award, pictured left.
Aren’t they shiny?
Unlike a certain other set of awards that shall never be named, the Dragon Awards give out awards by genre. The Dragon Awards are also unique in that they do not go by calendar year, but from the start of July to the end of June.
I’ve done this list a few times already. Once was done over on the Superversive SF blog, using a list of Superversive books from last year that fit their standards. That was a bit of a problem with several of the books, since not all of them were SFF: Set to Kill was one of the books on the list, but not eligible — since it’s a murder mystery that takes place in Atlanta, at a place called WyvernCon, in the middle of a political war about Tearful or Hydrophobic Puppies versus Puppy Punters from traditional Big Publishing.
Obviously, Set to Kill has no similarities to real events.
The other day, it was mentioned that A Pius Man: A Holy Thriller was coming soon from Silver Empire Press
Andy
ashetoashes
catholicgeekguest
Declan Finn
Karina Fabian
Matthew Bowman
Lori Janeski
Hannah Rose
Ross Windsor
Olivia Bushey
Review: Lou Antonelli’s Another Girl, Another Planet
Yes, we’re going to do an alternate history with Blade Runner as a subplot.
Lou Antonelli has more than enough historical references to make any history nerd happy — which politicians rose to power, or fell sooner rather than later, what happened to some of the others. What would have happened if Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein never went into creative fields, but stayed creative in the “real world,” like MIT professor Asimov. And this shows a solid grasp of US local political history so deep, that I’ve got a master’s degree, and I read history for fun, and I”m certain I missed some references.
All of the historical changes and references are easy and casual. Nothing is forced in this book. Especially when they refer to music and SF authors who had different lives.
And this book is laugh out loud funny. There is, at minimum, a chuckle a page. Up to and including Mormons …..INNNN SSSPPPPAAACCCEEE.
I’m not sure if he wanted to deliberately make a reference to Andy Weir when our hero discusses Martian potatoes, but that helps. As does having a philosophical conversation with androids about theology without being preachy about it. Yay.
The writing is brilliant. Like with some Nero Wolfe novels, Antonelli gives you relevant parts of the plot before you even know what questions are being asked, and what mysteries are coming at you.
Another Girl, Another Planet is both a closed, self contained SF mystery, as well as the best sequel bait ever. It’s a murder mystery, a missing persons, alternate history, and ends on a fun and innovative hook for round two…
There will be a round two, right Lou?
Anyway, just buy Another Girl, Another Planet already, will ya?