Out of Synch

By Cheryl Morgan

The most significant British book appearing for the first time in the US around now is Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds. I’m a little surprised that American editions of Reynolds’ books still lag behind UK publication, but then so do Ken MacLeod’s. I guess the publishers have good reasons.

This column is generally about books that I have previously reviewed. Jonathan Strahan’s Best Short Novels 2006 doesn’t quite qualify, because it is brand new, but I have already reviewed many of the stories it contains. While anthologies of short stories are often very hit and miss because of the vast size of the field and variation in quality/taste, best novellas are much easier to pin down. Strahan has included a bunch of Hugo nominees in Ian McDonald’s "The Little Goddess", Kelly Link’s "Magic for Beginners" and Connie Willis’ "Inside Job". He has also picked two of my favorites from the consistently excellent PS Publishing output: Fishin’ with Grandma Matchie, by Steve Erikson, and The Cosmology of the Wider World by Jeffrey Ford. US readers should pick up the book for the latter two alone.

Talking of Hugo nominees, UK publishers are conveniently getting some of the novel nominees out in paperback just in time for people to vote. Orbit have a mass market edition of Charlie Stross’s Accelerando, and HarperCollins have a trade paperback version of George R.R. Martin’s A Feast for Crows. They are both excellent books.