Up too late, and playing with WordPress templates. There will be some fluidity over the come week as I try to freshen this up a bit.  Content remains the same. Oh, and the Hornbook liked The Starry Rift. Nice people.

Over at Strange Horizons Farah Mendlesohn reviews Cory Doctorow’s absolutely terrific Little Brother. I read it last month, and I loved it. It’s smart, it’s savy, it’s a fantastic read, and it’s the best thing Cory has turned his hand to yet.  Every now and then a writer produces something and you know this is the moment – the moment when they go from being good to being something very special indeed.  The book goes on sale on 29 April. Knowing Cory, I’m sure you’ll be able to download and read it from his website around then. Do it. Check it out and then run out and buy a dead-tree copy.  It’s a book you’re going to want to read and re-read.

The good folk over at SF Signal have posted their latest Mind Meld feature, and it’s all about space opera.  They ask Kage Baker, Paul McAuley, Tobias Buckell, Gwyneth Jones, Mary Rosenblum, and I what we thought it would take to keep space opera relavant.  Check it out.

There was a little discussion around here when a package of Ditmar eligible works were made available to eligible voters.  It was all sorted out, which is cool. I’d like to point out how common this is becoming, and what a cool and intelligent thing it is  ( happy readers grow more readers who ultimately buy books), I’d like to point Hugo voters towards John Scalzi’s Hugo Novel Package which features four of the five nominated novels (!).  If you’re an eligible voter, go get it now!  I’d also recommend you go out and pick up the fifth novel, Michael Chabon’s Yiddish Policemen’s Union, which I loved. Scalzi has done a cool and smart thing here, and deserves our applause.

Just heard that Terry Dowling’s “Toother” from Eclipse One has won the 2007 Australian Shadows Award.  Many congratulations to Terry.