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Asking the Wrong Questions —
The inimitable Adam Roberts hits on the perfect approach to reviewing Anathem : it is surely beside the point to object to the tell-don't-show styless, or to the myriad annoylogisms, which are amongst the showiest elements in S.’s worldbling. My problem with the tekst can be boiled down to one focus: its monstrous and inflated infodumping. Of course I appreciate that for some ridders, and perhaps for many ridders, this 'problem' will be the whole point of the book. The entirety of the tekst is one gigantic Infodump, and that’s that.
In Link Waters
Torque Control —
... Well, here I am at Montreal airport, waiting for my flight home. Time for some overdue links:
Adam Roberts reviews Anathem. If you only click on one link, click on this one. But is the dialogue really that bad…?
Dan Hartland on Salman Rushdie, Catherynne Valente, and oral storytelling
Martin Lewis on two novels by Algis Budrys
Paul Kincaid reviews The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak and The Quiet War by Paul McAuley. And muses on the ...
The 2009 Arthur C Clarke Award Shortlist
Torque Control —
... for Strange Horizons
Reviewed by Rich Horton for SF Site
Reviewed by Paul Kincaid for SF Site
Reviewed by Lisa Tuttle for The Times
Reviewed by Eric Brown for The Guardian
Reviewed by Jonathan Wright for SFX
Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Atlantic)
Reviewed by Martin Lewis for Strange Horizons
Reviewed by Gary K Wolfe for Locus
Reviewed by Adam Roberts at Punkadiddle
Reviewed by Michael Dirda for the Washington Post
Reviewed by ...
BSFA Award Shortlist Discussion
Pyr-o-mania —
... featuring Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Alastair Reynolds and myself hosted by the BSFA themselves. The three of us have been asked to consider the great question “What do the BSFA Awards mean to you?” in The Antelope (22 Eaton Terrace, London, SW1W 8EZ) from 6pm onward. All welcome: there's no entry fee or tickets and BSFA non-members are just as welcome as members. Regarding the titles on the BSFA shortlist, I have previously expatiated online, here, here, here and here. Nearest Tube: Sloane Square. ...
Mr H & Mr H discuss The City & The City
Torque Control —
... … In other words, when borderland conventions are absent, there is an inherent and threatening instability to regions of crosshatch.”) And the book clearly plays with other conventions of fantasy, too, such as the specialized vocabulary — Breach, unseeing, topolgangers, all the rest — which I think is one of the ways in which The City & The City attempts to shape our thinking, as readers: it takes the familiar geeky joy of getting to grips with worldbling and attempts to make it do some work. On the other hand, Mieville has also said ...
2009 Hugo Best Novel Nominee Spotlight: Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
Tor.com —
... ) is one of those polarizing books. Some people hate it. I love it enthusiastically. That doesn’t mean I love it uncritically. I can read the negative reviews and see what they see. Adam Roberts’s review in particular is hilarious because it’s true that it’s very long and has a lot of made up words. The thing is that is doesn’t matter. ...
