News from Yokohama
News flash:
"Ken MacLeod regrets to announce that he was unable to attend the World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama to receive an award for the novel he did not publish in 2006.
"Instead, this year's Prometheus Award by the Libertarian Futurist Society for the best Ken MacLeod Scottish Socialist Libertarian SF novel goes to 'Glasshouse' by Charles Stross."
(Normal service will be resumed next year, when my money's on Ken's "The Execution Channel".)
Comments
Congratulations on winning. I rate Glasshouse as the best, most interesting and well written story I've read by you.
Ken has still won this award by 3 times more than you though :) http://www.lfs.org/awards.htm
Been reading your blog for a while thought I'd say 'hi!'
Posted by: Paul J | August 31, 2007 10:09 AM
And well deserved too.
Just finished Glasshouse, and enjoyed it immensely.
I don't know if this has been discussed before, but I noticed the similarity between the basic physical kind of society (I.e. habs linked by wormholes, orbiting brown dwarfs - and a passing mention of wormhole routers.) and that in the latter stages of Accelerando. Is it supposed to be a little later in the same post singularity universe (or are they all like that :) )
Anyway. Congrats on the award.
Posted by: Mark Green | August 31, 2007 11:08 AM
Well deserved, and one of the best libertarian socialist novels (and a good study in sociology). Congrats from me, too!
Posted by: Till Westermayer | August 31, 2007 12:29 PM
I find myself thinking, "But James Bond and George Smiley are in the same universe too."
Posted by: Dave Bell | August 31, 2007 12:42 PM
Congratulations, Charlie. A well-deserved award for an excellent book.
Posted by: Bruce Cohen (SpeakerToManagers) | August 31, 2007 2:44 PM
Well, I loved it, so obviously it deserves awards.
Posted by: Randy Bradakis | August 31, 2007 3:16 PM
Congrats Charlie! :-)
Posted by: Zoid | August 31, 2007 4:15 PM
Way to go Charlie! Like #6, I loved it so clearly it deserved the award.
Posted by: James Reynolds | August 31, 2007 8:31 PM
Congratulations
Nice way to bookmark the month of August...A Sidewise and a Prometheus.
Good luck tomorrow.
Posted by: Steven H Silver | August 31, 2007 9:12 PM
Congratulations
Nice way to bookend the month of August...A Sidewise and a Prometheus.
Good luck tomorrow.
Posted by: Steven H Silver | August 31, 2007 9:13 PM
A long and energetic line of dancing conga rats for Charlie! Woohoo!
Posted by: Zora | August 31, 2007 9:16 PM
Congratulation! Dunno if I'd call it "libertarian", but that's OK; it's not as if I know what that word means these days.
I nominated it for a Tiptree, FWIW. (And yes, I did notice the Tiptree reference you snuck in.)
Posted by: Matt Austern | August 31, 2007 9:20 PM
Good. I agree that the Execution Channel deserves something, in due course. But Glasshouse does now.
Posted by: Adrian Midgley | August 31, 2007 9:54 PM
ATTA boy Charlie! Congrats!
J^2
Posted by: J. J. Franzen | August 31, 2007 10:18 PM
Congratulations!
Posted by: Soon Lee | August 31, 2007 10:44 PM
Well done mate!
Posted by: Mr Teufel | September 1, 2007 3:07 AM
W00t! Grats Charlie! :) I loved Glasshouse.
Posted by: Cormac | September 1, 2007 3:40 AM
As I've said before, there's more to libertarianism than the economic policies they're best known for. The basis of it is a love of individualism and personal freedom, something you see in both Charlie's and Ken's works. And even China Miéville -- I'd go so far as to say "Perdido Street Station" or "The Scar" were libertarian.
Socialism and libertarianism spring from the same root.
Posted by: Andrew G | September 1, 2007 4:02 AM
Congratulations--Glasshouse was absolutely well-done, and what I liked best was how the theme of individualism against the 20th Century (dystopic) cookie-cutter, points-system world was worked into a really good story, told with good pacing and fine attention to the characters--their motives and inner workings.
The award is well-deserved.
Posted by: Jen Paviglianiti | September 1, 2007 4:32 AM
Congratulations! A well-deserved recognition. I caught many references to 'The Prisoner' in the book, intended or not.
Posted by: Anders Monsen | September 1, 2007 4:48 AM
*laughs* Congratulations, Ken^H^H^HCharlie!
Posted by: CE Murphy | September 1, 2007 12:14 PM
Congratulations!
As we all know, to parallel the nonspeech by Ken MacLeod, "after dabbling in radical politics," Adolf Hitler emigrated to the United States in 1919 and became a science fiction illustrator, editor and author. He wrote the science-fantasy novel Lord of the Swastika in less than a month in 1953, shortly before dying of cerebral hemorrhage (possibly caused by tertiary syphilis); Lord of the Swastika subsequently wins the Hugo Award."
[Norman Spinrad, The Iron Dream; as summarized in wikipedia]
Posted by: Jonathan Vos Post | September 1, 2007 6:52 PM
I've just finished reading Glasshouse and really enjoyed it. Congratulations on the award. Be seeing you!
Posted by: Matt Jones | September 2, 2007 2:31 AM
Congratulations on the award!
Caught your reading tonight (I was the guy in the front row, red t-shirt). Can't wait to read it when it finally comes out. Sadly my incorrigible shyness kept me from telling you in person that you are without a doubt one of my favorite writers.
I don't know how you keep up the pace you do. It's either superhuman (in which case, keep it up) or it's gonna put you in an early grave (in which case, for God's sake man take a holiday!)
Posted by: Matt Shultz | September 2, 2007 1:56 PM
Glasshouse was an incredible piece of work. Congratulations on the much-deserved award! (And please don't stop writing.) (Ever.)
Posted by: Deb Geisler | September 3, 2007 3:35 AM
Congratulations but dont you think you should let someone else win for a change ;)
Posted by: Brian Teeman | September 3, 2007 5:43 PM
I'm a bit late Charlie - but congrats. Glasshouse deserved another award and I'm only sorry I couldn't be there/vote.
Well done again
Posted by: Serraphin | September 4, 2007 9:33 AM
Is there an award for best socialist SF novel?
Posted by: Dave Berry | September 4, 2007 11:01 AM
Dave, I believe that right now that's the Prometheus Award ;)
Posted by: Nix | September 4, 2007 3:44 PM
congratulations!
Posted by: myrta | September 5, 2007 7:26 AM
Well done, mate - by curious coincidence last week we decided that Glasshouse was going to be the book we discussed for the Edinburgh SF Book Group at the end of this month. Now we can add that we are discussing the 'award-winning' Glasshouse! Groovy!
Posted by: Joe | September 5, 2007 2:39 PM
Great!
I presume the "Linebarger Cats" had names like Captain Wow and Melanie and The Lady May?
Just finished "Atrocity Archive, BTW ... ummm ....
Is "Jennifer Morgue" available in pbk in the UK (yet?)
Posted by: G. Tingey | September 5, 2007 2:50 PM
Yes it's available.
Posted by: gmilton | September 5, 2007 3:06 PM
Congratulations on Prometheus award received for Glasshouse, and sympathy for the one that got away. "'T ain't no bad thing to lose to such a fine author as Ver—" ... oh hell yes, it is.
Re buried references as mentioned above: Just wanted to thank you for the tub-thumping rendition of "First We Take Manhattan" to open the Church service. If Leonard Cohen
doesn't work for you in that scene, you can always substitute R.E.M. (more hellish driving tempo than tub-thumping), or Joe Cocker: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-rSe4cBNhSk.
Have a safe trip home!
Posted by: Christopher Hawley | September 5, 2007 5:36 PM
Well I just finished Rainbows end & I wasn't that impressed - the ideas were great but it didn't seem to have much in the way of narrative drive. I certainly didn't read it in 2 sittings like I did Glasshouse. Next year Charlie.
Posted by: gmilton | September 6, 2007 10:39 AM
Chris @34: the other hymn mentioned in the Church service? It's the Horst Wessel Lied (in English, just to confuse people, of course).
Posted by: Charlie Stross | September 6, 2007 1:01 PM
Charlie @36:
Same service? Oh, wait, the peroration. Darn, I missed that bit. Deutsch kann ich ziemlich gut lesen, aber ich kenne die Wörte des H-W Lied nicht (although the jingoistic style should have been a clue). Vielen Dank!And yes, I'm reading it again — and enjoying it every bit as much as on previous readings.
Posted by: Christopher Hawley | September 6, 2007 8:36 PM
Many congratulations...I was delighted that so many of those commented mentioned GLASSHOUSE, which I'm currently almost at the end of (don't tell me the ending!) It's, wow, stunning. One of the cleverest visions of the present I've ever read, seen through the eyes of a far future human. Are we really that weird?
Phil
Posted by: Philip Palmer | September 11, 2007 11:21 AM
Congrats, Glasshouse is a great example of modern sf thought experiments. It's always good to see that once in a while the good guy gets what he has earned.
Jeff
Posted by: Jeff | October 11, 2007 3:16 PM