Views from Medina Road

Not quite a news story for posting on the website, but interesting nonetheless, is the long list of 'finalists' in the SF category for the Quills Awards... those are the awards, sponsored by the parent corporate owner of Publishers Weekly, which will draw on industry nominators and reader voters to determine winners in a wide range of literary genres, culminating in a *TV broadcast* awards ceremony in October on NBC... I happened to check the site today and found this list of SF/F/H finalists. It's a pretty peculiar list, until you realize what the guidelines were that determined it: quoted from this PW article, "To make the long list of nominees, a book must have been published in its original format in North America between August 1, 2004, and July 31, 2005, and marketed in the United States. It must also meet one of the following criteria: a starred review in Publishers Weekly, Barnes & Noble's Discover Great New Writers Program selection, one of the ABA's Book Sense Picks, a Borders Books & Music Original Voices title or has made it onto the bestsellers list of Publishers Weekly, Book Sense, Barnes & Noble or Borders." Thus, Dan Simmons' Olympos, just released today [though I haven't been to the bookstore to see a copy, yet] is on the list.