Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist 2012

The 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist was announced earlier this week.  There is some definite overlap with the Philip K. Dick Award sharing the Magary (under the American title of The Postmortal), and with the Nebula nominees which also includes Embassytown.  I've read half of these already, and need to get going on the rest, as the winner will be announced on May 2nd.

• Hull Zero Three - Greg Bear (Gollancz)
• The End Specialist - Drew Magary (My review - 3/5 stars)
• Embassytown - China Miéville (Macmillan)
• The Testament of Jessie Lamb - Jane Rogers (My review - 3/5 stars)
• Rule 34 - Charles Stross (My review - left unfinished)
• The Waters Rising - Sheri S. Tepper (My review - 3/5 stars)

Clearly I didn't rate any of those I've read so far as higher than 3 stars.  You can link to my reviews to find out why.  Three stars can be for so many different reasons!  I think The Waters Rising and The Testament of Jesse Lamb were rated that way because of inherent flaws, while I actually liked The End Specialist/ The Postmortal quite a bit more.  I'll read the rest and get back to you!

It isn't bad to have high standards.  Some of my favorite science fiction books have won this award - The Handmaid's Tale in 1987, The Sparrow in 1988, and Zoo City was a surprise win last year.  (Interesting, all my favorites are female authors!) 

Books mentioned in this post - shortlist:


Books mentioned in this post - past winners: