Well. China for the trifecta of awards that I’m reviewing the nominees of. Since he’s the only candidate nominated for the BFSA, Nebula AND Hugo award, he’s really the only guy with a shot. I personally hope he pulls it off because the man is a machine. I suppose, on a cellular level, we’re all machines, but that kind of ruins the metaphor, so please stop talking about it.

This weekend, China Mieville was named the winner of the British Science Fiction Association Award for The City and The City. As you may have read, I loved that book. It’s a truly remarkable achievement, one I wouldn’t have even tried to write. And I don’t think I’ve ever thought that about a book. This one was truly too hard to try to write and yet he did it. Well earned.

Wait a minute, you might say. Didn’t you promise to read all the nominees?

Yes. Yes, I did. And I’ve only read two of them. But Yellow Blue Tibia is apparently still waiting to be shipped and Ark … well, I’ll read Ark when Stephen Baxter gets his head around new technology. He’s on notice for comments unbecoming a writer of anything that begins with the word “science” OR “speculative.” Update: Apparently I had the wrong guy! Apologize to Mr. Baxter.

I’ll read the bone book when it arrives, even though it didn’t win. How’s THAT for magnanimous?