Out of the Woodwork 124.
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RIP - in memoriam - some great writers have passed away since our last newsletter:

SFWA reports that Roger Elwood died, probably of cancer, on February 2, 2007. Elwood's first anthology was Alien Worlds (Paperback Library 52-320, 1964). SFWA obituary

Locus has received a report of the death of writer and editor Sterling E. Lanier, born 1927, on June 28, 2007, in Sarasota, Florida, at the age of 79. Lanier began publishing in 1961, and was best known for stories about Brigadier Ffellowes and the novel Hiero's Journey (1973). As editor he worked for Chilton Books in the early 1960s, where he persuaded the firm to publish Frank Herbert's Dune (1965). Lanier's last novel was Menace Under Marswood (1983). He was also a sculptor whose works included visions of characters from The Lord of the Rings that were admired by J.R.R. Tolkien himself. (Thomas B. Allen) SFWA obituary

Also passed away is Fred Saberhagen - Locus reports SF and fantasy writer Fred Saberhagen, born 1930, died June 29, 2007, at the age of 77. He began publishing in 1961 with short stories in Galaxy and If magazines, and published collection Berserker in 1967, first in a series about interstellar killing machines programmed to destroy all life. Saberhagen's 60+ books also included the Empire of the East sequence, beginning with The Broken Lands (1968), the Dracula sequence, beginning with The Dracula Tape (1975), and two books co-written with Roger Zelazny, Coils (1981) and The Black Throne (1990). His last book was Ardneh's Sword (Tor, 2006). SFWA obituary

Ansible reports that Douglas Hill (1935-2007), Canadian-born sf author, reviewer and editor long resident in the UK, died on 21 June after being run over by a bus in Palmers Green, London; he was 72.

Locus reports that

Ben Bova's Titan is winner of this year's John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel published in 2006; Robert Charles Wilson's "The Cartesian Theater" is winner of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short fiction of the year. The awards were this weekend at the Campbell Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
James Morrow's The Last Witchfinder placed second in the Campbell competition; Jo Walton's Farthing and Peter Watts' Blindsight tied for third.
Robert Reed's "A Billion Eves" was second in the Sturgeon competition, Michael Swanwick's "Lord Weary's Empire" third

Mixed reviews for the new "Rings" musical. Critics were left largely unimpressed at the opening night of the Lord of the Rings musical on the London stage.
The Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer branded the £12.5m production "a thumping great flop", while The Sun's Bill Hagerty labelled it "tune-free". But the show gained some supporters, with Times critic Sam Marlowe calling the musical "a wonder". "Prepare for enchantment," she added. (Full BBC news story)

One for the collective consciousness, can you help:

Book set in scotland, city girl goes to visit relatives, dislikes countryside, has cousin elspeth who takes her walking up mountains, hears voice in cave, goes us to investigate few times, is ghost of grandfather trying to tell her some sort of family secret, faints near end and parents come back to explain as what ghost says is correct, cover was quite red in tone, quite scary, left quite an impression, read in early 80s but was probably older and was in hardback. Any help much appreciated.

many thanks,
Helen (any ideas - email us - Simon)

Dept of Smug Self Satisfaction (cont)

1) Hi!
The other books arrived today! Thank you so very much! I'm from Ohio and had these books (my uncle was allways giving me old paperbacks) waaaaay back in the early 70\'s when I was a kid. so I'm a very happy camper! :-). But I mananged to not see this one when I ordered last week. Take care and enjoy the weekend! Doug

2) Hello
Book received early post today 7th July. I am very pleased with it and with your excellent fast service.
Many thanks
Kind regards
Ken pearce

3) hi!
the book arrived!
It's great!
THANKS!!
Doug

see our current feedback!

Recent reading:

Guy Gavriel Kay. Ysabel. Set in Provence this contemporary fantasy revolves around a teenage called Ned whose father is photographing soem of the historic sites for a new book. Ned is drawn into a centuries old mystery in this evocative fantasy novel.

Harlan Coben. The Woods. Twenty years ago four teenagers went into the woods and two were found dead, the other two were never heard of again. Paul Copeland's sister was one of those who went missing. Paul is the County Prosecutor in Essex, New Jersey working on a rape case when the cops call, they have found a body, a body that Paul Copeland recognises! Wonderful story, absolutely thrilling.

Cormac McCarthy. The Road. A man and his son are on the road in a post holcocaust USA, simply told tale but full of wondrously shocking and harrowing moments. Really takes your breath away.

Michael Connelly. The Overlook. The title made me think it might be to do with an old hotel in the mountains but it wasn't. This is a Harry Boschmystery, Harry is a complex character and when he is called to a murder scene things start to go awry with stolen radioactive materials and a race against time. Grand mystery set in LA.

Locus Awards Winners

Winners of this year's Locus Awards, voted by readers of Locus Magazine in the annual Locus Poll, were were announced on the 16th June at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Seattle.

Best Science Fiction Novel

Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge (Tor)

Best Fantasy Novel

The Privilege of the Sword, Ellen Kushner (Bantam Spectra)

Best First Novel

Temeraire: His Majesty's Dragon/Throne of Jade/Black Powder, Naomi Novik (Del Rey; Voyager); as Temeraire: In the Service of the King (SFBC)

Best Young Adult Book

Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK; HarperTempest)

Best Novella

"Missile Gap", Charles Stross (One Million A.D.)

Best Novelette

"When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth", Cory Doctorow (Baen's Universe 8/06)

Best Short Story

"How to Talk to Girls at Parties", Neil Gaiman (Fragile Things)

Best Magazine

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Best Publisher

Tor

Best Anthology

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin's)

Best Collection

Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman (Morrow; Headline Review)

Best Editor

Ellen Datlow

Best Artist

John Picacio

Best Non-Fiction

James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, Julie Phillips (St. Martin's)

Best Art Book

Cathy & Arnie Fenner, eds. Spectrum 13: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Underwood)

Harry Potter book sold for £9,000

A rare first edition of a Harry Potter book has sold for £9,000. The copy of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone was sold at Bonhams' Books, Maps, Manuscripts and Photographs Sale in London (Full BBC story)

Harry Potter print run Nearly 1.6m copies of the final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, have been pre-ordered online ahead of its release on 21 July.
According to online retailer Amazon, JK Rowling's seventh Potter book has become its most pre-ordered product. Full BBC story

Philip Pullman has cemented his place as one of the stars of children's literature, triumphing in a poll to choose book lovers' favourite winner from the Carnegie medal's 70-year history.
Pullman's Northern Lights (Carnegie winner 1995) beat off competition from Carnegie winners including Mary Norton's The Borrowers (1937), Philippa Pearce's Tom's Midnight Garden (1957) and David Almond's Skellig (1998). Full Guardian story.

The 10 CILIP Carnegie Medal Winners in contention

Skellig David Almond (1998)
Junk Melvin Burgess (1996)
Storm Kevin Crossley-Holland (1985)
A Gathering Light Jennifer Donnelly (2003)
The Owl Service Alan Garner (1967)
The Family From One End Street Eve Garnett (1937)
The Borrowers Mary Norton (1952)
Tom's Midnight Garden Philippa Pearce (1958)
Northern Lights Philip Pullman (1995)

Pop star Kylie Minogue is to have "a major lead role" in this year's Christmas special of Doctor Who. The star will join David Tennant for Voyage of the Damned, an hour-long show following on from the current series, which ended in the UK on Saturday. Jokes about Dr Who pulling a christmas cracker are probably too risque! BBC story

Crime Writers Association Dagger Awards for 2007 (CWA)

Duncan Lawrie Dagger
For the best crime novel of the year, carrying a prize of £20,000 sponsored by Duncan Lawrie Private Bank.

Peter Temple - The Broken Shore (Quercus)
“This is a well written crime novel with excellent characterisation mingled with a subtle exploration of contemporary Australian landscape and mores. This is a first class read with a sympathetic engrossing police protagonist.”

Duncan Lawrie International Dagger
For the best crime novel translated into English, with £5000 going to the author and £1000 to the translator.

Fred Vargas - Wash this Blood Clean from my Hand (Harvill Secker), translated by Siân Reynolds
“A stylish return to the shortlist for last year’s inventive winner with another unconventional police procedural.”

The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger
The dagger and £2000 prize money are awarded for the best adventure/thriller novel in the vein of James Bond. Sponsored by by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.

Gillian Flynn - Sharp Objects (Orion)
“A very good debut, atmospheric and creepy, with a complex and convincingly drawn female protagonist. The claustrophobia of small-town America in the south is portrayed exceptionally well in this dark psychological thriller.”

The CWA New Blood Dagger
Awarded in memory of CWA founder John Creasey, this dagger for first books by previously unpublished writers is sponsored by BBC Audiobooks and carries a prize of £1000.

Gillian Flynn - Sharp Objects (Orion)
“This was a novel characterized by its vivid and poetic writing. A superb sense of character with an imaginative treatment of the reasons for and the problems of self-harm.”

Any UK publisher could enter books for the above awards provided that the book is relevant to the appropriate award and was published between June 1 2006 and May 31 2007.

The CWA Dagger in the Library
This Dagger, sponsored by Random House and worth £1500, is awarded to "the author of crime fiction whose work is currently giving the greatest enjoyment to readers"; authors are nominated by UK libraries and Readers' Groups and judged by a panel of librarians.

Stuart MacBride
“His books tell of life in all its grim reality, but this only adds to the appeal of this truly impressive new author...the grimmest of subjects, but leavened (thankfully) with dashes of humour. He’s bad news for the Aberdeen tourist industry, but great news for crime readers.”

C.J. Sansom was very highly commended in this category.

The Debut Dagger
The Debut Dagger, sponsored by Orion, is open to anyone who has not yet had a novel published commercially. The winner receives a £500 cash prize.

Alan Bradley – from British Columbia in Canada – is this year's winner with The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie.
“Flavia is barely eleven, but her passion for poisons would make Lucrezia Borgia cringe”

David Jackson, from the Wirral on Merseyside was Highly Commended with Pariah: “Where do you turn when your very presence is the kiss of death to those around you? Detective Cal Doyle is about to discover just how low he is prepared to sink.”

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