A stunning speculative fiction debut -- and a refreshing change from spaceships and swords -- is Karen Lord's novel Redemption in Indigo.

A lot of news in the book world recently, not the least of which is the appearance of journalist Anthony Shadid's memoir, House of Stone. Welcome to Random Book News, Volume V or so.

The 2011 Nebula Award nominees are out, New Scientist mag launches Arc science fiction magazine, and Locus is now available digitally with no DRM

Isaac Asimov's Foundation books, including the sequels and prequels, bookend the author's career and illustrate how he grew as an author and changed with the times.

Having finished Connie Willis' Nebula-winning time travel opus, Blackout and All Clear, it seems to me that All Clear corrects Blackout's foibles, and makes them both worth reading.

Theodore Sturgeon award, John Campbell award, obits, a Bob Mould autobio, Alison Bechdel a professor -- all sorts of random news on books.