Happy 2024!
1 Jan, 2024
Welcome to 2024! I am sure you’re all as curious as I am to see whether total climate collapse can save us from the rising tide of fascism before or after we’re annihilated by World War Three. Until then, thanks go out to my legions of supporters without whom this site would not exist.
Last year I managed to review one more book than in 20221. I am not sure how. I clicked past 2500 reviews. There I do know how: by posting a little under one review per day for almost a decade. I finished the Ace Specials reviews, following them up with Judith Merril’s The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy reviews (almost completed). My Brunner reread is well in hand, and I expect to continue it for another year.
Young People Read Old SFF was nominated for another Aurora, losing once again.
I don’t have any grand projects for 2024 in mind, aside from reviewing all of my Phyllis Eisenstein books (minus the ones already reviewed). 2024 might be a year where my new projects are numerous but small. Or maybe I will hit post and think of a new all-consuming obsession. For example, I might while typing suddenly realize that I could follow Judith Merril’s venerable Best S‑F series with Donna Scott’s 21st century Best of British Science Fiction.
Many of you may wonder about the review categories down the right-hand side of the site. Have what I hope is a complete listing, as well as brief explanations.
While updating the list, I rediscovered two whose existence I’d totally forgot despite having only created them in the last year, one of them less than two months ago. Maybe you readers are not the only people who benefit from this list.
Each category header is a link.
You can buy a review for a book for $100. Various guidelines pertain, which can be found at the other end of the link.
Special Categories
An annex of my site where I post old reviews preceding James Nicoll Reviews (and apparently any knowledge of spell check or basic sentence construction).
Active Projects (some more active than others)
Because My Tears Are Delicious To You
My weekly foray into the books I loved as a teenager, which is to say, books I first encountered between March 18, 1974 and March 18, 1981.
An episodic sampling of the science fiction of the 1980s.
Reviews of books that happen to coincide with me hitting an important benchmark.
An exploration of science fiction roleplaying games using the Basic Roleplaying Game engine.
Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award Winners
Reviews of representative works by recipients of the Cordwainer Smith Award, given to science fiction or fantasy authors whose body of work is deserving of renewed interest.
Reviews of cosmic horror works.
A weekly review of works by Anglophone authors of colour, focusing on a different author each week of the year. Replaced Doing What the WFC Cannot Do.
Everything Is Worse With Libertarians
Even-handed reviews of books featuring one of humanity’s most ludicrous political philosophies.
Reviews of the final books written by writers who have suffered author existence failure.
Reviews of books featuring pandemics.
Reviews of works that won the Otherwise Award. I don’t think I can rename the category without breaking a lot of urls.
Reviews of books I received for Jolabokaflod.
Judith Merril’s The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy
Judith Merril was, to the best of my knowledge, the only woman in the 20th century to single-handedly helm a Best SF Annual anthology series. In this series, I review 12 of the 13 volumes, omitting The Best of the Best as it is entirely reprints from the first 12 volumes.
KW Science Fiction and Fantasy
Reviews of works by local authors.
Military Speculative Fiction That Doesn’t Suck
Reviews of Military SF works that were not unspeakably terrible.
This is where everything that does not fit into one of the other categories gets put.
Reviews of works long out of print that have been recently republished. Ironically, back in 2014 this was going to be my main focus.
Reviews of works about those commie rat-bastards taking over the US.
Reviews of roleplaying games, at least the ones not covered under the Tears reviews.
Reviews of Space Operas that were not unspeakably terrible.
Reviews of works I was asked to review that do not fall into one of the other categories.
Reviews of works published in the 1990s.
Reviews of translated works.
Completed Projects
Reviews of every Andre Norton novel listed in an obscure Ace Books ad in the 1970s.
Reviews of a dozen assorted Lois McMaster Bujold novels. You might expect every Bujold to be listed under this. You’d be wrong, although I reserve the right to change my mind.
Reviews of a dozen assorted Adrian Tchaikovsky novels. Again, anyone expecting me to list every Tchaikovsky reviewed on my site in this specific category has unwarranted faith in my organizational skills.
Reviews of a dozen assorted Carrie Vaughn novels. See previous disclaimer re: whether all of the Vaughns I have reviewed are listed under this tag.
A now completed project in which I reviewed one Lee work a week. You may well wonder how I crammed 61 weekly reviews into 52 weeks.
A Year of Waterloo Region Speculative Fiction
Reviews of works written by authors in some way connected to or adjacent to Waterloo Region in Ontario.
Reviews of some of the books in James Corey’s Expanse space opera.
Reviews of all 21 volumes in Damon Knight’s often remarkable Orbit original SF anthology series.
A weekly review of works by Anglophone authors of colour, focusing on a different author each week of the year. Replaced because I hated the name.
Reviews of works set in Leigh Brackett’s Planetary Romance setting.
Review-shaped pieces that are not actually reviews. Generally intended as amusing, if only to me.
The 2017 Prometheus Award Finalists
Reviews of some of the works nominated for the 2017 Prometheus Award.
The Great Heinlein Juveniles (Plus The Other Two) Reread
Reviews of Heinlein’s Scribner juvenile SF novels, plus a couple of ancillary works.
Terry Carr’s Third Ace Science Fiction Specials
Reviews of the twelve debut novels that comprise the Third Series of Ace Specials, established and edited by Terry Carr until his death and completed by Damon Knight.
Reviews of a dozen assorted Dianna Wynne Jones novels.
Reviews of Pamela Sargent’s iconic Women of Wonder Anthologies, plus an interview with the editor.
1: I also managed to continue avoiding catching Covid 19 through a combination of offensively antisocial behavior, diligent counter-measures, and dumb luck. Since I routinely encounter whole theatres full of unmasked people, dumb luck is probably the key factor.
While we’re on the subject of non-review related achievements, I spent a quarter hour sheltering in place from a knife-wielding terrorist in the same room as said knife-wielding terrorist. Happily, by the time I encountered him, he was no longer feisty, having had a classroom of chairs thrown at him by students before he fled. I also successful fended off a different person’s attempt to strangle me. It was tremendously empowering to discover my pathetic forearm block was in fact more than sufficient for need. Still, 2023 didn’t make a strong case for ever leaving my home.