The 2012 Clarke Award short list is out

Remember a couple of weeks ago I tried to predict the Clarke Award shortlist? Yeah, It’s not looking good:

The six shortlisted books are:

Greg Bear, Hull Zero Three (Gollancz)
Drew Magary, The End Specialist (Harper Voyager)
China Miéville, Embassytown (Macmillan)
Jane Rogers, The Testament of Jessie Lamb (Sandstone Press)
Charles Stross, Rule 34 (Orbit)
Sheri S.Tepper, The Waters Rising (Gollancz)

That’s two out of six, with only one book out of the shortlist read (Rule 34) and one more on the to be read list (Embassytown). Not a very inspiring list, what with Bear and Tepper on there, both being Big Name American science fiction authors whose best work is decades in the past at this point. Coming after the nomination of a Tim Powers book last year that was a decade old, it seems “respectable but aging American novelists” is the Clarke’s version of Connie Wilis…