Perdido Street Station, by China Miéville

Weird, shocking, horrific, vivid and wondrous. Fucked up and fabulous.

Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Slowly and gracefully works its way towards a highly satisfying Jane Austen-like ending.

Fuzzy Nation, by John Scalzi

I blitzed through this one in a day. Fun & funny, entertaining summer read with a moral bite.

Up Against It, by M.J. Locke

Well-plotted hard science political space thriller, set in the asteroid belt.

7th Sigma, by Steven Gould

Looking for a good book for boys (not that girls won’t like this too)? You might want to try this one if the sparkly vampire scene has got your reluctant reader a little down. Martial arts, the New Old West, and strange bug-like machines.

The Song and The Sorceress, by Kim Vandervort

First in a series, with not-your-average fantasy heroine princess. Went in directions I wasn’t expecting, which is always good.

The Broken Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin

I LOVED the first book in this series (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms) and after reading this second installment, am eagerly looking forward to the third (The Kingdom of Gods). These books are re-instilling that sense of wonder I’ve been missing in various reads.

I Am Not A Serial Killer, by Dan Wells

While I admire the author’s amazing ability to characterize a very different type of main character, this book disturbed me in ways that make me unsure if I’ll read the rest of the series. I’m pretty sure the author MEANT these books to be disturbing, so well done on that front. :-)

I picked up one passenger in Seattle, and two in Vancouver, WA, where we all overnighted at The Snout Cave, home of VP XII alumnus Curtis & his wife DeeAnn. On the way down, we stopped in Crater Lake, where I got these fabulous shots. Yes, it really is that pretty, and was probably the best place we could have stopped for lunch.

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The trip went well, although I did figure I’d been driving too long when we pulled up to a construction delay and my eyes went funky, the road appearing to still scroll by me with the car at a full stop. We arrived safely in Reno, where I got upgraded to this completely over-the-top suite. All excesses in taste are forgivable in my book in the presence of a jetted tub.

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Speaking of over-the-top, while there is an explanation for why these lemons might be wearing condoms…

… I’m not sure anyone can explain this ceiling to me. I think it jumped the shark.

I had a great time hooking up with old and new Viable Paradise pals, and am still forever grateful the XIs (Julia, Eric, Chris, Kim, Heather) made me an honorary member of their posse at Anticipation in ’09. I hadn’t seen XIIs Jeff or Pete since VP itself three years ago (more math, Jeff), and it was nice meeting all the new alumni, and even the yet to be (Donnie). I had one of those weird moments at the VP party walking up to Kate Baker and saying “yes, we’ve met on Google Plus”, which was a first for me. Congrats on your Hugo, Kate. And it was fun to make new friends like Warren.

Notable readings include John Scalzi’s from The Work Which Shall Not Be Named On Pain Of Punishment That Swoops Out Of Nowhere To Clock One In The Skull. Mary Robinette Kowal read from an intriguing upcoming work about a black woman using magic to “pass” for white in the vaudeville era. Steven Gould read from his new sequel to Jumper. Connie Willis read from her WIP UFO abduction novel which sounds like a hoot. M.J. Locke’s reading made everyone (including M.J.) cry.

The Hugo awards gave great show. Chris Garcia takes the cake for best acceptance EVAR. I don’t think it’s possible to be happier, and “Oh my fuck!” is my quote of the year. The Best Novel nominees probably think Robert Silverberg is an evil, evil man, but he does it with so much style, how can you stay mad? :-)

A highlight for me was Mary Robinette Kowal’s giving an effective reading talk. Probably the most useful talk of the Con for me. Notable panels included one on novellas, with Dozois, Silverberg, Reed and Strahan as panelists, which made me ponder whether I’m a natural novella writer, as opposed to a novelist. Which kinda sucks, given that novellas are the hardest to sell, but puts a whole new spin on my word count issues. The short story panel was also interesting, and I did learn quite a bit from one panel on travel before the invention of the car. I flitted between too many panels to list here.

My fangirl moment came when I met David Brin, and sheepishly presented him with two tattered and well-worn paperbacks to sign instead of the pristine hardcovers everyone else showed up with. But he apparently likes my smile.

My most unexpected WorldCon moment came from Seanan McGuire, with whom I wound up trading cat pictures and who recommended Maine Coon cat breeder PineCoon in my area who also happens to be in Tricky Pixie. So now when I need to find a companion for my beloved aging Coon Diesel I know where to go.

I think my favourite panelist was Connie Willis. Here she is with her Hugo award for Best Novel. When I found myself in a panel that turned out to be less interesting than advertised, I’d see if Connie was speaking elsewhere and find that room, because she’s just that entertaining.

But it all ended too soon. Our route back took us by Mount Shasta…

… Eugene, OR, where we dined with VP XII alum Kevin and his wife Stephanie, and Powell’s Books in Portland where my brain short-circuited and I had trouble keeping myself from sweeping full shelf-loads of books into my basket…

… and these fittingly à propos chocolate zombie bunnies.

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PS: credit all in-focus shots to Canon and all out-of-focus shots to Apple. And yes, Jeff, my iPhone 3G really takes the gimpy cake. No arguments from me.

Winner of the Hugo for Best Related Book. Funny, at times profane, at times moving. I may not always agree with Mr. Scalzi, but I AM entertained.

The Knife of Dreams, by Robert Jordan

A re-read to get caught back up

The Gathering Storm, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

I was very curious to see how Mr. Sanderson would do picking up this series after the death of Mr. Jordan. I’m very impressed. I’ll admit to feeling frustrated with the pace of some of the latter novels, but The Gathering Storm moved along well, and I found myself relating better to the characters than I have in a long time. I look forward to finally reading the end. I was so impressed I went out and bought one of Mr. Sanderson’s other novels.

Seminal SF classic.

The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga

The Gargoyle, by Andrew Davidson

World War Z, by Max Brooks

I’m usually the last person to go in for zombie entertainment of any kind, which is why I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I could not put it down.

The Android’s Dream, by John Scalzi

It’s hard not to like any book that dares to start with a fart. Although my Canadian paperback edition suffered from an overabundance of typos, for some reason. A great read regardless.

A moving, visceral exploration of one man’s journey of recovery after suffering shell-shock during the Great War.

The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski

Sends up plenty of fairy tale tropes with wit and flair, but ultimately left both its timelines less resolved than I prefer.

A Walk Through A Window, by kc dyer

Darby Christopher, unhappy about being shunted off to her grandparents’ in PEI for the summer, gets an unexpected lesson about being open to new places and other people’s troubles, all while learning a bit about her ancestors’ journey to Canada.

Zoë‘s Tale, by John Scalzi (Hugo voter packet)

A retelling of the events of The Last Colony from teenage Zoë Boutin-Perry’s point of view. If this book doesn’t bring a few more girls into the SF fold, I don’t know what will. Made me laugh. Made me cry. Can’t ask for much more.

VP itself also rocked. I met lots of great people, staff, students and instructors alike. As a Canadian, I found it fun to have a roommate who is a distant cousin to Boom-Boom Geoffrion. I was also the butt of a lot of good-natured Canadian jokes.

I learned a lot, both about writing and about myself.

I learned John Scalzi is a very hard act to follow, when we both played Stephano in The Tempest during Beer With Billy. But I acquitted myself better than I thought I would, so maybe that idea I had about taking some improv courses to better my readings isn’t so far-fetched. I don’t think there is any video of me to come back and haunt me later :-)

I learned I’m capable of writing over 4000 words in one day; my previous record was somewhere near 3000 words, but my usual average is near 1000. They might not have been 4000 quality words but they did form a complete story.

Now I have a ton of work to do. Revisions to contemplate. I’ll let them simmer in the back of my brain for a bit while I try to find a market for the story we did as homework.

The Ghost Brigades, by John Scalzi

The Last Colony, by John Scalzi

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross

[Update 5:30 PM] Ooops, how could I forget? Also:

Ysabel, by Guy Gavriel Kay

Hammered, by Elizabeth Bear

Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson

The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow

RIP, Dr. Pausch

Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi

Jumper, by Steven Gould

Starfish, by Peter Watts

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

I haven’t followed up on the comments, but I do find the whole debate interesting from both my perspective as a reader, and writer of both YA fantasy and now (debatably) more adult fantasy. I’ve been told anecdotally by more than one author that the YA market is much more likely to bring in better returns.

I ate up SF/F books as a teen. I think it was the sense of wonder, newness and adventure that I loved about the stories I read. For some reason, I have a harder time finding that same sense of adventure, maybe even playfulness in the much of the adult SF/F fiction I read. Maybe I’m not reading the right books. I got really depressed last year, because half the books I read (SF/F or otherwise) just didn’t set off that spark within me. Maybe I’m just getting jaded. But I don’t think so. I’ve gone back to read some of those books I loved when I was younger and they’ve still got “it”. Whatever it is. YA fiction often explores themes as dark and dramatic as adult fiction. And yet, I find it much more hopeful overall than many of the adult works I’ve read recently.