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Steampunk Brothel Spies And Million-Year Quests, In June Books
Robert Charles Wilson Talks About Movies And Limits To The Singularity
22nd Century Darwinians Challenge the Church in "Julian Comstock"

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ticktockman
06/27/09

In reply to Steampunk Brothel Spies And Million-Year Quests, In June Books
I like the reviews here, too. If I want to know what Tor is putting out then I can look at the Tor website, or at the sci-fi section at the borders down the street. There's no good independent bookstore in town here for sci-fi, so all I see on the big book chain shelves are novels by Bujold--who I like, don't get me wrong--and Mcaffery and stack upon stack of awful licensed books. I'm more interested in reading about books I might not find on my own and in new editions of works by older writers that I might not see sitting on the shelf of a book store (Jack Vance, here I come).
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ticktockman
06/27/09

@ticktockman: It seems my newborn son disagrees. He vomited all over me just as I finished writing that last post.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/27/09

@ticktockman: Your kid won't be a hipster then. WTF are you feeding him?
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secretmission
06/26/09

In reply to Steampunk Brothel Spies And Million-Year Quests, In June Books
David Hartwell's Year's Best SF 14 is even better than Dozois' anthologies...
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Franknbeans
06/27/09

@secretmission: Nope, wrong. All the best stories of the year are repeated in both anthologies, but Hartwell's unique picks are uniformly sub-par. Plus Dozois has more bang for your buck, more stories equals more enjoyment
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/27/09

@Franknbeans: Exactly. Dozois picks better quality and a wider variety. Always has.
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AileenPaterculus
06/26/09

In reply to Steampunk Brothel Spies And Million-Year Quests, In June Books
I actually enjoy the way you guys do reviews because book specific sites and forums have always held tons of references for the less "arty" stuff. This site turns me on to stuff I wouldn't normally find that would fall through the cracks, and maybe I am just in tune with your style of hipster sci-fi lit, but your choices seem spot on to me.
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Grey_Area
06/26/09

@AileenPaterculus: "Hipster"? Ouch! well, as long as we are turning you on to stuff you like, cool.
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AlessandroGiraffe
06/26/09

In reply to Steampunk Brothel Spies And Million-Year Quests, In June Books
The Strain sounds an awful lot like Scott Westerfeld's Peeps, with vampirism portrayed as a parisitic disease that threatens civilization.
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Grey_Area
06/26/09

@AlessandroGiraffe: The vampirisim as disease thing is hardly new and has been done better.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/26/09

In reply to Steampunk Brothel Spies And Million-Year Quests, In June Books
The Dozois Year's Best anthologies are always, always a delight. Sooo worth picking up and reading. All excellent, across all genres; stuff you already like and a good way to discover authors/genres you wouldn't have given a thought to.

If you can only afford one of these books, get that one.
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EbeneezerSquid
06/26/09

In reply to Steampunk Brothel Spies And Million-Year Quests, In June Books
You know, I've been lurking here on i09 for quite some time, and these book posts have always seemed odd to me.

It seems that the authors I tend to read never end up here.

No John Ringo, Harry Turteldove, Anne (or Todd) McCaffery, Louis McMaster Bujold.

Thinking about it, most of the Writers that I've started reading over the past few years I got started on by the Baen Free Library (free e-books, usually the first in a series).

Have any Baen Books been mentioned on these "New Books" posts?
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Charlie Jane Anders
06/26/09

@EbeneezerSquid: We make a point of being as inclusive as possible, especially in our monthly roundup of new books. At the same time, it's probably fair to say that none of those authors has put out a book recently that any of us contributing to the site has felt like reading or reviewing, for whatever reason. We only have a limited amount of time to devote to new books, and we pick the ones we're personally most excited about to write about. I love older Anne McCaffrey, especially The Ship Who Sang, but haven't read anything she and Todd have written in the past decade or so. As for Bujold, we've mentioned her work a lot.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/26/09

@Charlie Jane Anders: io9 does tend to go a little arty-er and more "literary". ESquid has a good point.

Maybe you just need more reviewers with wider taste/preferences? Reviewing books that are Ripping Yarns, but not going to be up for awards?

(Perhaps someone who was already adult and going to cons in the 80's and has been a fan since Star Trek was brand new?)
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Klebert L. Hall
06/27/09

@Charlie Jane Anders:

I could swear you reviewed something from Baen last fall, but I can't remember what.

-Kle.
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brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there(
06/27/09

@Klebert L. Hall: The Baen Free Library definitely got a shout out during the last year as did some of the books on its e-shelves. I do recall the one with the Fast Elves on the cover.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/27/09

@brentbent: I think that was a post making fun of their cover art.

Which is indefensible -- I kinda feel sorry for the authors sometimes.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
06/26/09

In reply to Steampunk Brothel Spies And Million-Year Quests, In June Books
Jeez, I got my copy of House of Suns like two months ago, and it barely took a week to arrive. Mmmmm....

Can't wait for The Women of Nell Gwynne's to arrive, though.
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D1Foley
05/30/09

In reply to 22nd Century Darwinians Challenge the Church in "Julian Comstock"
"For Julian's issues are our issues. The church tries to control our pop culture and politics; and disempowered, semi-literate people are sent by our governments to fight wars over resources they'll never be able to access."

I agree about the church, but the second part, wow! Semi-literate! Just because they joined the military doesn't mean they are less intelligent, people join the military for reasons other than national pride or blind acceptance of government.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
05/30/09

@D1Foley: Intelligence has nothing to do with literacy; last I checked, there were plenty of brilliant people who can't read (including the entire population of the Earth until recently).
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sphericaltime
05/30/09

In reply to 22nd Century Darwinians Challenge the Church in "Julian Comstock"
First, it's a good book. I liked it and recommend it.

Second, this review echoes my own.

Third, @jimb213, I suspect that the covers are designed by the same person, or perhaps this one was influenced by Liberation.
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Annalee Newitz
05/30/09

@sphericaltime: Thanks for posting your review - I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the stuff about Julian's sexuality stuck out in an odd way.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
05/29/09

In reply to 22nd Century Darwinians Challenge the Church in "Julian Comstock"
This sounds familiar -- did he publish the early chapters online or as a separate story or something? B/c I've definitely read the Julian and Adam meet as boys with trusty Sam part.

Maybe my library will get this, but in this economy, I don't have much hope that they'll buy anything that isn't tipped to be an NYT bestseller.
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sphericaltime
05/30/09

@Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.: Yeah, it was a short story before it was expanded.

Also, some libraries have websites where you can suggest books to buy. I couldn't hurt to try, could it?
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
05/30/09

@sphericaltime: I live in California. We're lucky our library has enough money to stay open and keep the lights on. There are a lot of books they'd love to buy, but there isn't any money.

But thanks for letting me know where I'd seen this before. Probably in an anthology.
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jabrwok
05/29/09

In reply to 22nd Century Darwinians Challenge the Church in "Julian Comstock"
I read "peak oil" and my suspension of disbelief went out the window.
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Annalee Newitz
05/29/09

@jabrwok: Because oil is infinite in your universe?
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Grey_Area
05/29/09

In reply to 22nd Century Darwinians Challenge the Church in "Julian Comstock"
Oooh, I want this one. Wilson has a great story in the allohistory anthology Other Earths where ther is no American Civil War and slavery is abolished but at a terrible cost. Very smart writing that takes an unflinching eye to what a society will ignore.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
05/29/09

@Grey_Area: I got that last weekend at the con. We know where it's going before the characters do, of course, but that adds to the suspense and the effect of the story.
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