Eater-of-Bone

Eater-of-Bone
by Robert Reed

This is a terrific collection of four novellas from Lincoln's own Hugo-award-winning science fiction author. Three of the four stories are reprints, including "A Billion Eves", the story for which Reed won the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novella. The fourth story is an original one which provides the title for this hardback volume – "Eater-of-Bone". This story is tied in to Reed's long-running "Great Ship" universe of interconnected tales, involving far-future humans who have become nearly immortal, and their experiences as they travel the universe. The story "Eater-of-Bone" is one of the best, and strangest, in that sequence of stories, and I highly recommend it. In addition, all four stories in this collection are among Reed's best work in the past 5 or 6 years. For an author who primarily writes and publishes short fiction (not novels), this is a marvelous introduction to Reed's body of work – you can also sample more of his short stories in the two collections The Dragons of Springplace and The Cuckoo's Boys. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Marrow or The Well of Stars, Reed's two novels set in his Greatship universe.]

[ Nebraska Author Robert Reed booklist here on BookGuide ] | [ official Eater-of-Bone page on the official Robert Reed web site – where you'll find links to many of his stories free online! ]

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Hugo Award nominees announced

The nominees for this year's Hugo Awards, for the best science fiction published in the previous year, were announced last week. The Hugos are nominated by and voted upon by fans -- those with memberships to the annual World Science Fiction Convention. Here are links into our catalog for the Best Novel nominees.

• Anathem by Neal Stephenson
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
• Saturn's Children by Charles Stross
• Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi

As an additional side note -- Lincoln SF author Robert Reed was nominated in the Best Novella category for "Truth", which appeared in the Oct/Nov 2008 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, also available in the libraries' collection.

2007 Hugo Awards announced

The Hugo Awards for science fiction works published in 2006 were announced this weekend at Nippon 2007, the 65th annual World Science Fiction Convention. The winners, as voted upon (and previously nominated) by readers and registered members of the Worldcon, were:

• Best Novel: Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge [Tor, 2006]
• Best Novella: “A Billion Eves” by Robert Reed [Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2006]
• Best Novelette: “The Djinn’s Wife” by Ian McDonald [Asimov’s July 2006]
• Best Short Story: “Impossible Dreams” by Tim Pratt [Asimov’s July 2006]
• Best Related Non-Fiction Book: James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B Sheldon by Julie Phillips [St. Martin’s Press, 2006]
• Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro. Directed by Guillermo del Toro [Picturehouse]
• Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Who - “Girl in the Fireplace” (2006) Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Euros Lyn [BBC Wales/BBC1]
• Best Editor, Long Form: Patrick Nielsen Hayden
• Best Editor, Short Form: Gordon Van Gelder
• Best Professional Artist: Donato Giancola
• Best Semiprozine: Locus ed. by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong and Liza Groen Trombi
• Best Fanzine: Science-Fiction Five-Yearly ed. by Lee Hoffman, Geri Sullivan, and Randy Byers
• Best Fan Writer: Dave Langford
• Best Fan Artist: Frank Wu

The winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, sponsored by Dell Magazines and administered on their behalf by the World Science Fiction Society, is:

• Naomi Novik (author of His Majesty's Dragon, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War.)
  

You can read more, and find out about the history of the Hugo Awards at the newly established official Hugo Awards website.

Just a note -- This was Lincoln, NE science fiction author Robert Reed's 6th Hugo nomination in 21 years, but his first win. You can find out more about him on the BookGuide Robert Reed booklist page, or on his official web site.