The nominees for this year’s Nebula Awards have been revealed, and we’ve collected free samples of all the nominees below–the best science fiction books of 2012.
Many of these stories are available to read for free online. These are marked “COMPLETE” among the links. Here’s more about the awards:
The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Founded as the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 by Damon Knight, the organization began with a charter membership of 78 writers; it now has over 1,500 members, among them many of the leading writers of science fiction and fantasy.
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Enchanted Alethea Kontis
This is one that came across my radar on Amazon last winter. Fairy tale retelling! YAY! Of course I wanted to read it.
Then the reviews started coming in and they all said it was really, really good. They said it was awesome. There was a lot of hype for me when I picked up this book.
Look, y’all, I know you said it was awesome, but OMG IT IS EVEN AWESOMER THAN YOU LED ME TO BELIEVE.
Monday’s child is fair of face
Tuesday’s child is full of grace
Wednesday’s child is full of woe
Thursday’s child has far to go
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath day
Is blithe and bonny and good and gay.
Sunday can see how the rhyme is true for her sisters, but “blithe and bonny and good and gay” feels more like a curse than anything. Sunday’s not dark and gloomy like Wednesday, but she’s not ALWAYS happy. There is more she yearns for than her too-full house, built around a doorless tower that has an uncanny resemblance to a shoe.
Then she meets Grumble, a talking (enchanted) frog. She’s not around when her kiss does its thing, so she doesn’t see that the man he turns into is the Prince, a man despised by her family. In order to see Sunday again, to get her to know him as a man and not just a frog, the newly returned Prince Rumbold decides to hold 3 balls, inviting every eligible girl in the land...
*whew* how many fairy tales and nursery rhymes did you pick out in that brief introduction? Because there are even more. Some are major, and some are minor but all are deftly woven together in something much, much more.
For Arilland is a kingdom where faerie blood runs through the veins of many. Where immortality is a dark seductress of the wealthy and two faeries, Joy and Sorrow, have played with other’s lives for far too long. And Sunday is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, Joy and Sorrow are her aunts, and Sorrow is Rumbold’s faerie godmother...
Sunday and Rumbold each have secrets in their past that they need to discover and wrongs that need to be righted before things can work out.
It’s so well done and perfectly paced. There is so much going on without it ever being cluttered or confusing. I want so much more about this family and this world (Thursday is a Pirate Queen-- surely there is more to be told!) And Sunday is so wonderful. She’s the right balance of strength and weakness, of confidence and doubt. She’s so real and believable.
I also LOVED the omnipresent 3rd person narrative. The focus shifted between Sunday and Rumbold without being too much in their heads and it worked so well. We don’t see a lot of 3rd person in YA and when we do it’s usually 3rd person limited, but 3rd person omnipresent is the *perfect* choice for this. We need to see what’s going on in the cottage and in the castle.
You guys, not only did this live up to the hype, it blew the hype away.
I know you said it was awesome, but it was even better than that.
Book Provided by... my local library
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By Alethea Kontis
Illustrated by Bob Kolar
$15.99, ages 4-8, 40 pages
A bumbling troupe of letters jockeys for parts in a Halloween play in this adorable encore to the best-seller Alpha Oops!
As the troupe prepares for their big Halloween show, a drowsy "A" insists that "H" go first on stage for "Halloween," once again mixing up letters A-Z.
"Z," who promoted himself up the alphabet in Alpha Oops!, asserts himself once again. As soon as "H" is done with his act, "Z" shuffles forward with red eyes for "Zombie."
Just below him on the page, "N" quakes in his bed from a "Nightmare," as a spider with googly eyes dangles nearby, and what's that on the opposite page?
Don't look now, "K's" jumped into the ocean in a floatie to be a "Kraken" and "P" the "Pirate" is lashing at him from his ship.
But wait, that's not fair. "P" has commandeered "B's" role as raider of the high seas!
That was my costume, "B" the "Buccaneer" complains in his seafaring hat and peg leg, his mouth agape at the injustice of it all.
But down in the lower corner of the next page, "Z" steps forward and scolds "B." "Buck up!" he yells, acting like he's first in the alphabet, before telling "B" to find another costume.
Poor "B." It's a letter-eat-letter world. Even after "G" sprouts horns for "Goblin," "V" flutters out of a coffin for "Vampire" and "R" gets carried away by a "Raven," "B's" still stumped over what to be.
And what's this coming after "R"? Not "V" is for "Vampire" again? (Oh, I see, "E" was so excited by "V's" vampire act, he just called, "E" for "Encore." )
Backstage "B" isn't the only one with acting challenges.
"X" is feel pretty uninspired, but hey, "S" has an idea. Maybe "X" and "S" could do a duet -- "X" for "X-ray", "S" for "Skeleton"?
0 Comments on 7. Alpha Oops! H is for Halloween as of 1/1/1900
Alpha Oops! H Is For HalloweenWritten by Alethea Kontis
Illustrated by Bob Kolar
Candlewick Press, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3966-2
It's time for the Halloween show, and A isn't ready yet. But hey, Halloween starts with H, so who better to get things started? Even mixed-up, this wacky alphabet puts on quite a production!
With something spooky-themed for each letter of the disordered alphabet, this books really keeps you guessing by throwing in some unexpected Halloween words (I'm sorry - kraken and lycanthrope in the same children's book? I hereby crown you KING OF THE ALPHABET BOOKS!). Illustrations are great, with a style that's reminiscent of old-timey Halloween decorations dosed with cuteness.
Definitely a new household favourite for our little monsters, and I'm so glad we stumbled upon it! It's an easy find right now, being new (and well-stocked thanks to the time of year), so grab a copy for your own little beasts!
S.
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This sounds amazing. I love a good retelling, and it seems to have shades of Ella Enchanted, one of my all-time favorites.