Archives
Terra Insegura on recommended book list for Australia’s MS Readathon Novel Challenge
I have no idea if this is a big deal or not and I frankly can't imagine how my book ended up on it, but ego-Googling popped this up today: Terra Insegura is one of 10 books on the "Buff Your Brain" recommended reading list for the "Novel Challenge" fundraising effort of MS Australia. Someone in the organization must have liked it!Terra Insegura is an Aurora Award finalist!
Just heard this morning that Terra Insegura, my sequel to last year's Aurora Award-winning science fiction novel Marseguro, is a finalist for this year's Aurora Award for best science fiction or fantasy novel in English. Sounds like they had a record number of nominations, too, so that makes it even sweeter. The other finalists are Wake, by Robert J. Sawyer, Steel Whispers by Hayden Trenholm, Druids by Barbara Galler-Smith and Josh Langston, and The Amulet of Amon-Ra by Leslie Carmichael. I know every one of these authors. It should be a great evening at KeyCon in Winnipeg in May when the winners are announced. Voting will ...A reminder about Aurora Award nominations
The deadline for nominating works for a Prix Aurora Award is fast approaching. Today is the day when mail-in ballots must be postmarked by, and the deadline for online nominations is February 15. The Aurora Awards, for the best Canadian works of science fiction and fantasy, are nominated and voted on by fans. Any Canadian citizen or permanent resident can nominate up to three works or individuals in a range of categories in both English and French. The five works with the most nominations go on the final ballot and are voted on by members of CanVention, the annual national SF convention. It costs nothing to ...The World in the Satin Bag picks Terra Insegura’s cover as best of 2009
Blogger Shaun M. Duke, who really liked Terra Insegura, has chosen its cover, by Stephan Martiniere, as the winner of his award for best cover of 2009. I agree with him, of course. It really is a terrific cover. Shaun writes: The artwork for Terra Insegura is stunning, as are all of Martiniere's paintings. A big plus is the cover actually matches what is in the book. What more can I say? Just look at it! However, I must take issue with some of Shaun's other comments in his list of awards for 2009, particularly the notion that you should refuse to buy books from someone whose opinions you ...Nominations open for Prix Aurora Awards
Back in August, I had the great good fortune and honour to win the Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English for my novel Marseguro (that's me holding it at left, alongside my editor and publisher, Sheila Gilbert of DAW Books). The Prix Aurora Awards honour the best of Canadian science fiction and fantasy from the previous year. In 2010, the Aurora Awards will be handed out at Key-Con in Winnipeg in May...and nominations have just opened. Any Canadian citizen, whether or not they live in Canada, or any permanent resident of Canada may nominate for the Prix Aurora Awards. The categories have been ...Terra Insegura cover art minus the text
In his New Works gallery on his website, Hugo Award-winning artist Stephan Martiniere has included the cover of my DAW SF novel Terra Insegura, minus the text (title, my name, DAW logo) that clutters up the actual book. It's a stunner! And I literally got a chill looking at it when I realized for the very first time that, down at the very bottom, there are human skulls littering the spaceport pavement...Terra Insegura makes a top-10 books of 2009 list…
...from blogger and reviewer Shaun M. Duke at The World in the Satin Bag. He puts Terra Insegura at No. 6, just ahead of (ahem) Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Here's his entire list, and here's what he had to say about Terra Insegura: 6. Terra Insegura by Edward Willett One of the few science fiction novels I reviewed and loved this year, Willett's sequel to Marseguro is exactly what science fiction needs: action, awesome ideas, and good characterization. No more good vs. bad plots. There's so much grey in Willett's book that it makes you really think about everything, from what occurred in the previous novel to what ...The centre of the universe likes Marseguro & Terra Insegura!
OK, I should probably explain that the centre of the universe is a blog. The blogger, who goes by the handle Cenobyte, writes, in part: There is just enough nerd factor in these books to make them sciencey, and there is just enough of a fabulous story to make them fictioney. In fact, both of them are the perfect blend of those two things... There are themes of racism, colonialism (don't those two go hand-in-hand anyway), civil rights, and, ultimately, survival. Terra Insegura is more than a sequel; it takes everything that happened in Marseguro and ramps it up a notch... Willett's characters are fascinating and real, although at times are frustrating as hell...But what really makes these books for ...A new review of Terra Insegura…
...showed up today on the LiveJournal My Den. After a brief description of the plot, the blogger writes: But once on Earth, several things become apparent. Richard has the tactical skills of a tomato plant, the alternately revered and despised Victor Hansen turns out to have had a lot of skeletons in his closet and arch traitor Chris Keating is annoying. Really annoying, ‘Gilmore Girls’ annoying. This is an okay read with plenty of action, reversals of fortune, cunning plans and Richard brooding. There are hints that there could be a third volume in the series which would be nice. Heh. "Tactical skills of a tomato plant." This is not, alas, an unfair description of poor old Richard. And I'll ...The catch-all post: recent reviews and other bits
You may have noticed that blogging pretty much dried up after WorldCon. Heavy-duty vacationing will do that to you. And now that I'm back home I'm so completely snowed under by things that need doing that blogging generally falls pretty far down the list. Heck, I'm barely managing a Tweet now and then. Still, I've grabbed a few minute this evening to post a few things. First, here's some video of me winning the Aurora Award for Marseguro, courtesy of of Neo-Opsis Science Fiction editor Karl Johanson (who won one himself that evening): A couple of additional stories on the win ...
Edward Willett is a The Shards of Excalibur, Book 1: Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel, coming in October from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
