Posted on November 28, 2012 Posted by John Scalzi 19 Comments
And lists Redshirts as one of the best science fiction books of 2012, along with several other very excellent books by Madeline Ashby, Nick Harkaway and World Fantasy Award winner Lavie Tidhar among others. Nifty!
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John Scalzi, proprietor – JS
Athena Scalzi, contributor – AMS
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Oh, yeah, Nick Harkaway! The Gone-Away World was brilliant! I’ll have to check out his latest.
Congratulations, John! It was one of my favorite reads of the year.
Praise from someone who thinks that Asimov and Heinlein are “dry pabulum” should perhaps be filed in the “Even a broken clock” category…
I’m half-and-half about that, Mark. While classic Asimov is really tough going for anyone, I tend to believe that Heinlein was the first SF writer who wrote both quality narrative and dialogue.
I only have one minor beef with the article, and it is with the criticism that “contemporary SF is still, predominantly, in dialogue with its own backlist.” When has SF not been talking back to itself? Perhaps before Shelley finished writing Frankenstein….
To be precise, that’s Adam Roberts, writing for The Guardian.
Congratulations! It is always nice to know that one’s work is appreciated and valued — even across the pond!
Congratulations! It’s a fun read.
Yay to you, but also yay to Madeline. (And I get to feel smug that I saw vN in it’s embryonic state.) Yay to all the authors!
It’s because you’re awesome! Duh!
:)
Yay! I haven’t read most of that other stuff, but I am glad to see Ashby’s vN get some recognition.
Nice to see Scalzi getting some praise for his work, but if I never again hear about this whole “science fiction is just a bunch of tired old crap” thing that has been going around lately, I’ll consider myself a lucky man.
I’ll shut up now and get back to reading some dry pabulum.
Congratulations! I certainly enjoyed it.
Redshirts is also included in Books Inc.’s “More books we love” list, in their December newsletter/calendar of events (San Franciso bay area). My husband, my niece, and I all read it and enjoyed it greatly on a camping trip this summer – congratulations!
WTG! I really enjoyed REDSHIRTS, and recommended it at Darkovercon this weekend! :)
Have also enjoyed Redshirts and am glad to see it getting so much attention :).
I just finished reading Redshirts last night. I was reticent to start it, not being a huge OMW and related books fan (I never liked RAH either, so, you know, you’re in good company…), but I’m glad I did. It’s a damn good book.
Currently listening to it via Audible. Most enjoyable. Laughed out loud at the key scene where (not wanting to spoil it) a character responds to a major event with a “This is ridiculous”. Have never read any of your stuff before, but shall be treating myself to a copy of “Agent to the Stars” after this. I tip my cap in your general direction.
Good for you, John. Have any of your books been turned into movies? I haven’t read a novel in years (just too busy and tired), but love sci-fi movies.
The Guardian article is good, but the LARB article it linked to (by Paul Kinkaid) is just a downer. Dude needs to stop reading SF/F anthologies and pick up some good novels.
Here’s the link, if anyone else feels like a heaping dose of pessimism:
http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?id=904&fulltext=1