The Memory of Linkness

• Lists of novels and short fiction by women that have been shortlisted by awards other than the Hugo (or made the Locus Recommended Reading list). In an entirely unrelated story, voting for the Locus Poll, in which anyone can vote, closes tomorrow. (And apparently there’s some YA you should be considering, too.)
• Eastercon reports: one, two, three. And Paul Raven has put up his recording of the reviews panel.
• Everyone’s seen Jonathan Lethem’s essay, “The Squandered Promise of Science Fiction“, right? You may not have seen this exchange of emails between Lethem and Ray Davis, originally published in NYRSF.
• Paul Di Filippo remembers SF Eye. Gabe Chouinard points to the new Scalpel Magazine, launching in May.
• The nature of consolation and comfort in reading and writing: Christopher Barzak and Matt Cheney.
• Abigail Nussbaum on the Hugo novellette shortlist and on the Life on Mars finale. Other Life on Mars reactions: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. See also this interview with Matthew Graham, which includes information about the sequel series Ashes to Ashes.
• Pete Young on Sunshine. And two reviews in the Guardian.
• What would a history of seventies sf look like?
• Programmes for Alt.Fiction 2007 (28th April, Derby) and Sci-Fi London (2nd to 6th May).
• Recommend some action-adventure science fiction page-turners.
• And finally: the funniest review of His Majesty’s Dragon you will see for a while. (Key quotes: “I actually suspending reading Schismatrix to read this, if you can believe it”; “Honestly, this isn’t really a fantasy book. It’s an alternative history novel”; “I can see why the voters nominated it for a Hugo after all.”)