On reflection (also known as thinking about these things on the bus on my way to work) I’ve decided that the recently announced Clarke Award shortlist is an excellent example Science Fiction’s diversity – both in who writes SF (gender, cultural) and the type of stories that are told.  As Nina Allan notes:

If there’s a unifying theme to this year’s shortlist, it’s that the six shortlisted works are all genre SF – no Ozeki, Atwood, Crumey, Theroux or Eggers this time around. But these are far from conventional choices, and they’re all quite different from each other, too. We have a techno-thriller, a far-future space opera, a near-future psychodrama, a work of philosophical eco-SF, an almost-New-Weird war story, and a many-worlds quantum love story.

As for the nominees, I’m stoked to see The Machine and The Adjacent on the ballot (the links take you to my reviews of both novels).  I’m also very happy to see Ancillary Justice – a book that’s likely to feature on a few more ballots before the year is out.  My conversation with Kirstyn about the novel in the latest episode of Writer and The Critic has given me a deeper appreciation of the book.

I’m especially looking forward to reading God’s War by Kameron Hurley.  In spite or maybe because of all the hype, it slipped by me back in 2011.  Another book that registered on my radar but which I never got around to reading was Nexus by Ramez Naam. The only book I’m a little suspicious of is The Disestablishment of Paradise by Phillip Mann simply because people whose taste I respect don’t seem to like it much.

By the end of next month I’ll have a clearer picture of the six books chosen by the Clarke judges.  Personally I’d love to have seen books by Ozeki and Crumey on the ballot but as it stands I can vouch for the high quality of 3 out of the 6 books.  And that’s not a bad beginning at all.