I’ve been pondering science fiction a lot, this past couple weeks, and year’s best anthologies particularly. I’ve been asking myself questions like ‘what makes a good year’s best’, ‘what should go into one’, ‘how long should it be’, ‘as year’s bests have gotten longer, has the overall quality of the books increased, decreased or stayed the same’. As I’ve been pondering, I’ve been searching through all kinds of bibliographic listings, just to see what’s there. I was surprised to see Orson Welles had written an introduction for a year’s best, and even more surprised that he’d edited an SF anthology. What I didn’t expect to stumble across, though, was information on Bleiler and Dikty’s Years Best Science Fiction Novels series. Between 1952 and 1955 these two veteran anthologists compiled what I now suspect was the first ever ‘year’s best novellas’ anthology series. I was really surprised. I’d thought the Terry Carr series was the first ‘best novellas’ series, but live and learn. Bleiler and Dikty edited five volumes of Years Best Science Fiction Novels. I’m headed to Oakland again later this year, and I expect I’ll be burying myself in CHARLES’s basement for a day or so, pouring over what they did and how they did it. Always, always something more to learn.

I’ve not seen a formal announcement anywhere yet, but my Locus colleague Rich Horton is to edit two new year’s best anthologies, Fantasy: The Best of the Year, and Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, which are due out later this year, and I couldn’t be happier for him. When Karen Haber decided to step down as co-editor of the books I was editing for iBooks, Rich was the one person I considered asking to be co-editor, so I think the decision to give him his own gig is a terrific one. I’ve been following his virtual best of lists for the last few years and, while I don’t always agree with his choices, I can always understand and respect them. I think he’s going to do a great job, and will add a valuable new perspective to the field.

Well, this has been a mixed kind of week. Saw the doctor on Monday, who told me that I was way too overweight, had hypertension, and needed to do something about it fast. in response, I’ve started trying to exercise every day, and to make other changes in my lifestyle. It’s of course way too early to say that this means anything, but I’m definitely intending to make this stick and make the necessary changes.

As if recognising my awareness of having high blood pressure for the first time, life then began to present a number of circumstances that led to increased blood pressure. All was well at the day job, but one or two bumpy things happened with the non-day job work. For the most part, they’re all smoothed out and okay, but it was fun. The one thing I’ve learned, again, is always trust your instincts and always head for the higher ground. This is both smart and the right thing do to.

With all of that in mind, I also thought I’d bring you all up to date on the anthology situation. While I can’t announce anything today, things look good for the future of the year’s best SF and year’s best fantasy anthology series. I’ve reached a verbal agreement with the publishers, and, while the details are being sorted out, we’re preparing a for-real announcement to come out soon-ish. In terms of the iBooks volumes, there’s still nothing definitive to say. Obviously they won’t be coming out from iBooks, but there’s some very slight chance other options might work out. I’ll let you all know, should there be any news.

Have you ever been to Ambergris? Described, and believe me I quote, as “Funny, bawdy, profane, tragic, and sometimes heartbreaking” Jeff Vandermeer’s City of Saints and Madmen is a mosaic novel, a shattered mirror of story, myth and mystery the kind of which you rarely stumble across. In all honesty it’s the kind of book that shouldn’t work. It should be terrible. It’s not. It’s actually strange and rich and wonderful. It’s just been published by Bantam in a cool new edition, which you should definitely check out. And, if that dip into the heady whirlpool of Amergris enchants and beguiles, get ready for Shriek: An Afterword which follows in August.

Conjure, the 45th National Australian Science Fiction Convention, has released the nominees for the 2006 Australian National Science Fiction Achievement ‘Ditmar’ Awards. Voting is open until 11 April 2006. The deadline for postal ballots is 4 April 2006.

BEST NOVEL
• Magic or Madness, Justine Larbalestier, Razorbill (March 17, 2005)
• Drowned Wednesday, Garth Nix, Harpercollins Pub Ltd (May 31, 2005)
• Midnighters 2: Touching Darkness, Scott Westerfeld, Eos (March 1, 2005)
• Peeps, Scott Westerfeld, Razorbill (August 25, 2005)
• Uglies, Scott Westerfeld, Simon Pulse (February 8, 2005)
• Geodesica: Ascent, Sean Williams & Shane Dix, Ace (January 25, 2005)
• No Award

BEST NOVELLA OR NOVELETTE
• Passing of the Minotaurs, Rjurik Davidson, Scifi.com April 2005
• The Red Priest’s Homecoming, Dirk Flinhart, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #17
• Countless Screaming Argonauts, Chris Lawson, Realms of Fantasy
• The Memory of Breathing, Lynn Triffitt (Battersby), Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #17
• The Grinding House, Kaaron Warren, The Grinding House, CSFG Publishing
• No Award

BEST SHORT STORY
• Summa Seltzer Missive, Deborah Biancotti, Ticonderoga Online #6
• Leviathan, Simon Brown, Eidolon SF: Online
• Once Giants Roamed the Earth, Rosaleen Love, Daikaju!, Agog Press
• Matricide, Lucy Sussex, SciFiction
• Fresh Young Widow, Kaaron Warren, The Grinding House, CSFG Publishing
• No Award

BEST COLLECTED WORK
• Shadowed Realms, Angela Challis & Shane Jiraiya Cummings, www.shadowedrealms.com.au
• Years Best Australian SF & Fantasy, Bill Congreve & Michelle Marquardt, MirrorDanse
• Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales, Robert Hood & Robin Penn, Agog! Press
• A Tour Guide in Utopia, Lucy Sussex, MirrorDanse Books
• The Grinding House, Kaaron Warren, ed. Donna Maree Hanson, , CSFG Publishing
• No Award

BEST ARTWORK
• The Blood Debt-cover, Greg Bridges, The Blood Debt, Sean Williams (HarperCollins Australia)
• The Grinding House – cover, Robin Evans, The Grinding House, Kaaron Warren, ed. Donna Maree Hanson, CSFG
• Australian Speculative Fiction: A Genre Overview – cover, Nick Stathopoulos, Australian Speculative Fiction – A Genre Overview; Donna Hanson
• Fell #3, Ben Templesmith, Image Comics, Warren Ellis, Ben Templesmith
• No Award

BEST FAN WRITER
• Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Writer/reviewer, Horror Scope
• Bruce Gillespie, Writer/reviewer, Steam Engine Time and Science Fiction Commentary , *brg*, Earl Kemp’s ezines
• Stephanie Gunn, Writer/reviewer, Horror Scope
• Martin Livings, Skeletor_Hordak, LiveJournal web comic
• Bill Wright, Interstellar Ramjet Scoop, Published by Bill Wright
• No Award

BEST FAN ARTIST
• Dick Jenssen , Artwork in American fan Earl Kemp’s ezines eI20 (June 2005) and eI23 (Dec 2005), Published via efanzines.com
• Dick Jenssen, Ditmar Graphics (cover illustrations), IRS (5 issues, 2005) published by Bill Wright
• Elaine Kemp, ConSensual a Trois interior artwork, ConSensual a Trois, April 2005
• Shane Parker, Conflux Poster Art, Conflux
• No Award

BEST FAN PRODUCTION
• Edwina Harvey, The Australian Science Fiction Bullsheet, Website and Newsletter
• Alisa Krasnostein, ASIF!: Australian Specfic In Focus, http://asif.dreamhosters.com/doku.php
• Tony Plank, Inkspillers website, www.inkspillers.com
• Conflux Committee, Conflux 2, Conflux 2 convention
• Continuum Committee, Continuum 3, Continuum 3 convention
• No Award

BEST FANZINE
• Horrorscope, Shane Jiraiya Cummings et. al., ozhorrorscope.blogspot.com
• Ticonderoga Online, Russell B Farr, website
• ASif! Australian Spec Fic in Focus, Alisa Krasnostein, asif.dreamhosters.com
• Interstellar Ramjet Scoop, Bill Wright (ed), Interstellar Ramjet Scoop
• No Award

THE WILLIAM ATHELING JR. AWARD
• Ferocious Minds: Polymathy and the New Enlightenment, Damien Broderick, Wildside Press
• Australian Speculative Fiction: a genre overview, Donna Maree Hanson
• Aus Speculative Fiction
• Divided Kingdom: King Kong vs Godzilla, Robert Hood, King Kong is Back: Benbella Books
• Body Parts, Chris Lawson, Borderlands
• PK Dick: The Exhilaration and the Terror, Rosaleen Love, Borderlands
• The 2005 Snapshot Australian Speculative Fiction writers, editors, publishers, Ben Peek, http://www.tabula-rasa.info/Snapshot/
• No Award

BEST NEW TALENT
• Lyn Battersby/Triffit
• Rjurik Davidson
• Justine Larbalestier
• Karen Miller
• No Award

BEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
• Damien Broderick and Wilson de Silva and Kylie Ahern, COSMOS Magazine, COSMOS magazine
• Robert Dobson, Robert Hoge, Kate Eltham, Heather Gammage, Clarion South 2005, Clarion South Workshop
• Donna Maree Hanson, Australian Speculative Fiction: a genre overview, Australian Spec. Fiction Project
• Michael Rymer, Screenwriting and directing, Battlestar Galactica, Season 2.0, Sci-Fi Channel
• Jonathan Strahan, for co-editing Best Short Novels: 2005 (SFBC), Science Fiction: Best of 2004 (ibooks), and Fantasy: Best of 2004 (ibooks)
• No Award

BEST FAN ACHIEVEMENT
• Donna Maree Hanson, Australian Speculative Fiction: A Genre Overview
• Alisa Krasonstein, ASif! Australian Spec Fic in Focus webzine
• No Award