Free The Mammoth Book of Best New Science Fiction: 23rd Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois

disappointing many of its fans with its series finale. Heroes , once a ratings power house, has been hanging on by its superpowered fingernails for some time now, and may well have been canceled by the time you read these words. New show FlashForward , based on an SF novel by Robert J. Sawyer, and V , a new version of another old show, seem to be hanging on rather precariously as well, struggling in the ratings, although they both did well enough to survive their freshman seasons.
    A ‘reimagining’ of the old show The Prisoner as a mini-series doesn’t seem to have particularly impressed anyone, in spite of a distinguished cast. Nor did Alice , a ‘reimagining’ of Alice in Wonderland by the same people who reimagined The Wizard of Oz as Tin Man , a “darker” and seedier version of the children’s classic, perhaps a preemptive strike on the upcoming Tim Burton movie reimagining of the same material. (I find it interesting that the very first thing that these ‘reimaginings’ do is to change the little girl protagonists to attractive and sexually nubile young women.)
    Not everything was bleak in TV Land, though. Lost returned for its announced final season, and the series opener was excellent, although everyone is wondering if the show can possibly tie up its enormous number of loose ends in the amount of time they have left. X-Files lookalike Fringe seems to be a hit, as is True Blood , based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels of Charlaine Harris. New show Caprica , the “prequel” to Battlestar Galactica , is getting good notices, although its ratings are still a bit low, and a new series has moved into the Stargate neighborhood for its crack at the brass ring, Stargate Universe. Spy semi-spoof with fantastic elements, Chuck , still on the air, has been joined by a similar new show, Human Target. New show The Vampire Diaries seems to be aiming for the same romantic soap opera with vampires territory as True Blood. Doctor Who is coming back with a new doctor in the role, after racking up some of the best ratings in its history. Primeval was canceled, but then renewed after the BBC changed its mind. It looks like Torchwood may be coming back, at least there are rumors to that effect, even though things were wrapped up fairly decisively in a TV movie; there are also rumors of an upcoming American version of Torchwood , which will probably suck. The long-running Smallville has been renewed (its strategy of bringing in most of the members of the Justice League of America as guest stars seems to be working), as have Eureka , Star Wars: The Clone Wars , Supernatural , Ghost Whisperer , Medium , Sanctuary , and Legend of the Seeker .
    Coming up: mini-series versions of George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones from HBO and Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars from AMC.
    The 67th World Science Fiction Convention, Anticipation, was held in Montréal, Québec, Canada, from August 6–August 10, 2009. The 2009 Hugo Awards, presented at Anticipation, were: Best Novel, The Graveyard Book , by Neil Gaiman; Best Novella, “The Erdmann Nexus,” by Nancy Kress; Best Novelette, “Shoggoths in Bloom,” by Elizabeth Bear; Best Short Story, “Exhalation,” by Ted Chiang; Best Related Book, Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A De cade of What ever, 1998–2008 , by John Scalzi; Best Editor, Long Form, David G. Hartwell; Best Editor, Short Form, Ellen Datlow; Best Professional Artist, Donato Giancola; Best Dramatic Presentation (short form), Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog ; Best Dramatic Presentation (long form), WALL-E ; Best Semiprozine, Weird Tales , edited by Ann VanderMeer and Stephen H. Segal; Best Fanzine, Electric Velocipede , edited by John Kilma; Best Fan Writer, Cheryl Morgan; Best Fan Artist, Frank Wu; plus the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer to David Anthony Durham.
    The 2008 Nebula Awards, presented at a banquet on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, California on April 25, 2009, were: Best Novel, Powers , by