The Arthur C Clarke Award, 2010: Shortlist

My turn to get all excited about a bookish award! The shortlist for this year's Arthur C Clarke Award has been announced, and it looks like this:

Gwyneth Jones - Spirit

China Mieville - The City & the City

Adam Roberts - Yellow Blue Tibia

Kim Stanley Robinson - Galileo's Dream

Marcel Theroux - Far North

Chris Wooding - Retribution Falls

The general feeling seems to be that this is a solid shortlist; I agree. It's not the most adventurous list the Clarke has ever produced - but, on the plus side, there's no obvious candidate for this year's What Were They Thinking prize (see, previously: this, this, or - ack - this).

I've read three already: the Jones, the Mieville and the Theroux. All are strong contenders. I reviewed Spirit last year - a feminist The Count of Monte Cristo in space! - and longer considerations of the other two will follow in the next week or so. Post-apocalyptic loner-in-the-landscape tale Far North I liked a lot, once I got over the comparions with The Road; The City & the City, meanwhile, has a brilliant central conceit and provides much food for thought (and debate), but is let down by being hitched to an unremarkable thriller novel.

Of the rest - which, again, I'll review here once I've read them - I'm most looking forward to Yellow Blue Tibia, which has had generally excellent reviews. Galileo's Dream is a doorstep about intellectual history, although it sounds less of a slog than Anathem was last year; I've read two of Robinson's previous novels (one rather good - review in the works - and one rather annoying), and I live with a die-hard Robinson fan, so that should be interesting, one way or another! The Wooding is apparently a fun romp with more than a passing resemblence to Firefly, which sounds like a perfectly acceptable way to round out a shortlist.

Links to many other reviews of the books have been gathered by Niall (the aforementioned Robinson fan). Three of the previous shortlists were also reviewed here at Eve's Alexandria: 2009 round-up and links (the missing Al Reynolds review is here); 2008 round-up and links. There doesn't look to be a round-up post for 2007, which Vicky and I did together, but the individual reviews are all linked from the left-hand sidebar - scroll down beyond the 'Past Posts' menu.

~~Nic

Comments

[Buried In Print]

I haven't read Jones since The White Queen and I've picked up Mieville (and KS Robinson, for that matter) a dozen times but never taken the plunge. (The others are new to me.) You've definitely piqued my interest!

[RAHUL]

hai,i am Rahul from india; i want read these novels in Telugu Language; i Like scince fiction because,i strongly believe our Nextbirth(Rebirth), is also in other planets(Aliens), & other Galaxies; in that planets Aliens Lifespan is 1,000years,or 10,000years,or 100,000years; in that planets Aliens Live without polution;(they use solar energy,not use petrol,desil Like ours);Aliens are Looking so beautiful compare to us;God creates notonly our Dirty planet,he also created good worlds ,for who people did good things,in their past Life;if God is not here,then all planets, star(sun)s, Asteroids,Galaxies are collapsed(crushed by Accident); plese translate these novels in INDIAN famous Languages( THELUGU,TAMIL,KANNADA,MALAYALAM,OREYA,HENDI)
THANK U!