The final Locus Recommended Reading List for 2004 is now available online at Locus: Online. Working on the annual list is a major job that I get to work on each year, and it’s a real highlight. Books are set aside throughout the year, stories are noted and so on, and then things go crazy sometime in September. Draft lists get prepared, essays are requested, correspondence with editors, writers, critics and so on begins. Throughout September, October, November and into December lists are updated, revised and such, and then Charles gets on a plane. During the week around New Year’s he flies out to Australia and we sit in air-conditioned luxury at his hotel and begin sorting through lists, recommendations etc. and work towards the final, final lists. This year I think it took two or three recommendations minimum from Locus reviewers, critics etc to get on the list, and in some short fiction categories it took three and even four recommendations to make it.

And, for any potential flaws the list may have, I’m pretty proud of it. It’s a very honest list. I know there’s no trickery or flim-flammery. I’ll be very interested to see what everyone thinks of it. You can see it here. I should also mention that the annual Locus Poll and Survey is online too. Please, please fill it out. Especially the question about the best fantasy short stories of all time.

Chris Rowe reports that Science Fiction: Best of 2004 and Fantasy: Best of 2004 are on sale at the Lexington, Kentucky branch of Borders. I’m yet to see the books myself, and it is a bit far to travel to pick up copies, but I’m happy to hear that they’re out there. Maybe my copies are on their way…

I am not indefatigable…which is rather disappointing really.

…is a curious thing. I’m often struck by the different approaches by publishers to promote the same book. A good example are the approaches taken by the UK (left, below), Australian (middle, below) and US (right, below) publishers of Garth Nix’s new novel, Drowned Wednesday. I think the US cover is wonderful, eery and suggestive. The UK cover is consistent with a strong branding approach the publisher has taken. I am unable to explain the Australian cover, which seems to involve computer art.

It is interesting, though, that the book title is most prominent in the UK, where presumably the branding identifies the author to interested readers, and that the series title doesn’t appear on the cover. In the US the Author’s name is most prominent, with the title next, followed by the series title. And, in Australia, the series title is most prominent, followed by author name and series title. From this I’d guess, and it is a guess, that Nix sells best in the US.

For what it’s worth, I’d give the tick to the US edition and can’t wait to read it, or the new collection.

So maybe you’re wondering. You come along to this blog every now and then, and you actually read the sidebar to keep track of what I may or may not be reading, and are wondering what’s happened when books just fall off the list or sit there for weeks on end. Does it mean the book’s rubbish or just that I’ve been slack in updating things? It really depends, but in the case of the latest book on the list, I thought I should clarify.

When Charles was here a couple weeks ago he was saying very complimentary things about Liz William’s novel Banner of Souls, so I became very interested in reading the novel. Unfortunately, it isn’t on sale in Australia. I even called my local specialist SF bookshop who clarified just how ‘specialist’ they are by letting me know they’d never heard of Liz Williams, this despite the fact that I’d actually bought a copy of Nine Layers of Sky from them last year. Pfeh. The obvious solution was to get in touch with the indefatigable Justin at Slow Glass in Melbourne, who has arranged for a copy to wing it’s way here in a while.

I am, however, not a patient person. This is a failing (one, admittedly, of many). So, I emailed my friend Jeremy and let him know that I’d heard he was publishing this book by Liz called Snake Agent which sounded pretty cool, and could I check it out? Being an all-round swell kind of guy, Jeremy arranged to get a copy of the novel into my hand’s ASAP. It then sat in my office at home for a few days over Christmas and during Charles’ visit, but I picked it up about a week ago. The publisher’s website describes it thus:

“You were supposed to go to Heaven, but ended up in one of the many Chinese hells instead. Who you gonna call? Nobody, you’re dead. Luckily, in future Singapore, Detective Chen is on the case. Specializing in supernatural crimes, Chen finds himself in hell teaming up with a demon cop to solve the mystery, return a lost soul to its rightful reward, and restore harmony between Heaven and Earth.”

Which does a good enough job, I guess, though it doesn’t let you know that it’s a delight to read, fast and fun and engaging and well worth any trouble to read and absorb. At least, so far. I’m half way through, and need to pay attention to work-ish things so I’m not reading as much as I’d like. But I will, and then I’ll post here in detail about the book, but I already suspect you should get it when you can. I’m not sure when it’s being published – I’ve heard several different dates – but make sure you check it out.