About five minutes ago I fired up the email software and sent the final manuscripts for Science Fiction: The Very Best of 2005 and Fantasy: The Very Best of 2005, to CHARLES at Locus Press. Assuming that he finds everything acceptable, these two books should be published in the next few months. When I’ve had a chance to clear things with him, I’ll post tables of contents for the new books, along with any other information.

All in all, this has been a pretty interesting time, and I’d like to thank CHARLES for picking up these books, everyone at Locus for their enthusiasm about the two books, and the contributors to both books. There was a journey that a lot of people didn’t have to make with these books, and I’m very grateful that pretty much everyone did.

Described by Publishers Weekly as “an evenhanded, scrupulously documented, objective yet sympathetic portrait of a deliberately elusive personality”, Julie Philips forthcoming biography of James Tiptree, James Tiptree, Jr. : The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, is both one of the books I’ve been most looking forward to this year. It’s only a handful of months away, and it looks terrific. Now, someone was going to send me a galley, but I don’t remember who. Time to pull out the old list of contacts at St Martins and see if anyone has a spare sitting round. This looks good.

Genuine certified Hugo Award nominee Cheryl Morgan has posted the latest issue of Emerald City. You can read about things and win stuff. What’s not to like?

A mixed start to the day, otherwise, with news that Stanislaw Lem has died. So has Pro Hart.

Gary K. Wolfe has been the senior reviewer at Locus for over a decade, and one of the leading critics working in the science fiction field for longer than that. His reviews are intelligent, well-informed, well-argued and provocative. Arguably, he is the only real challenger to John Clute for the title of best critic working in science fiction.

Last year Beccon published the first collection of Gary’s reviews, Soundings: Reviews 1992- 1996, and this week it was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Related Book. To help readers unfamiliar with the book get a feeling for it, Locus: Online has posted the introduction. You can, of course, also buy the book. While I do have something of a conflict of interest – Gary is a friend and I’ve been reviews editor* at Locus since 2002 – I really think this is a terrific book. Buy it, read it, and Vote 1 Wolfe for Hugo!

Note: The reviews in Soundings have the advantage of being edited by CHARLES, so are sure to be superior to later Jonathan-edited reviews. Be sure to buy Soundings for the best in edited reviews.

Last May I was asked to write the introduction for a new Terry Dowling collection, a book to collect Terry’s best horror stories that would be published by US-based publisher Cemetery Dance. I was flattered and didn’t hesitate to say yes. After all, I’ve known Terry for fifteen years, published (or helped to publish) two of his books, and was closely involved with the genesis of his collection, Blackwater Days. The idea that US readers would get to see his work in book form for only the second time appealed to me greatly. So, you can imagine how pleased I was to get an announcement that Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear has been published and is now available for purchase direct from the publisher. I’ve read all of the stories in the book – the award winners, the World Fantasy award nominee, the two new stories, and all the rest – and I don’t hesitate to recommend it. This book is the real deal, and worth hunting down. Oh, should you be interested, I believe this is the final table of contents:
1. The Daemon Street Ghost-Trap
2. Downloading
3. The Bullet That Grows in the Gun
4. The Gully
5. The Bone Ship
6. Beckoning Nightframe
7. Stitch
8. La Profonde
9. The Saltimbanques
10. Clownette
11. The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse
12. The Maze Man
13. One Thing About the Night
14. Jenny Come to Play
15. Cheat Light
16. Scaring the Train
17. They Found The Angry Moon
18. The Quiet Redemption of Andy the House