It's widely acknowledged that Alan Moore's Watchmen is responsible for introducing a gritty realism to comic books, in part through a more realistic depiction of violence and its consequences, but most importantly in terms of characterisation: Watchmen's characters are elevated from two to three dimensions through Moore's gift to them of an inner, emotional world. Unfortunately, it's the more lurid of these innovations that has been Watchmen's most enduring legacy, driven by the market's appetite for graphic violence and the failure of many writers to appreciate that gratuitous depictions of violence do not in themselves equate with realism.

Which is not a criticism of Watchmen, of course, but rather of the market for comic books in general.

Science fiction authors have long been outcasts from the literary world, in some cases critics using the worst examples of the genre as ammunition against it. Unfortunately though, at times even science fiction authors themselves can turn on their own kind: "Science fiction is rockets, chemicals and talking squids in outer space,” mocked Margaret Atwood (The Guardian, 28 January 2009), one of her many attempts to convince people that she is not a science fiction author, even though one of her most famous novels, A Handmaid's Tale, is exactly that.

James Norcliffe’s new novel The Loblolly Boy is a magical, curious and thought provoking story for children about a young boy’s wish to flee the harsh reality of life in a home for abandoned children and the price that he pays to achieve that wish. Both contemporary and suitably timeless, the story is in part a re-imagining of the stories of Peter Pan and Pinocchio for the twenty first century. While the tale is presented from the perspective of the novel’s child characters, Norcliffe’s delightful prose, humour and adult insights ensure that he has written that rare children’s book, as much a joy for adults to read as for children.

Neil Gaiman has just picked up his fourth Hugo Award, the 2009 award for Best Novel for his outstanding young adult fantasy The Graveyard Book. While the novel does get a young adult classification, recognition like this proves once again (as if proof were needed) how well Gaiman's fiction transcends such narrow classifications as age. The Awards Ceremony took place on 9 August at the the 67th Worldcon in Montreal, Québec. A complete list of this year's Hugo Award Winners can be found on the Hugo Awards website.

There’s a better than average chance that you’re asking yourself two questions right now: who the hell is Chris Beckett and what is the Edge Hill Short Story Prize? Until we received the press release announcing Chris’ win, I must confess I’d not heard of the author or the competition. So now you’re probably asking a third question: why announce this win at all?

All good questions and worthy of an answer!

As a fan of the The Summoner, Book One in Gail Z. Martin's fantasy series The Chronicles of the Necromancer, I was keen to get underway with the second instalment, and when all is said and done I wasn't to be disappointed. Although not as action-packed as its predecessor, The Blood King is rich in detail and provides plenty of opportunity for the characters to develop.

And the ending is absolutely brilliant!

Congratulations to the four winners of our Stonewiser: The Call of the Stone competition: Neville, Jake, Linda and Tamara. Each of you will soon receive your signed copy of Dora Machado's gripping sequel to Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone, her award winning debut novel.

Thanks to everyone who entered the competition - you all answered the question correctly (Kael is the name of Sariah's "partner by the blanket"), but in the end there could be only four winners and our random selection process has had its way. Better luck next time.

Thanks especially to Mermaid Press and Dora Machado for their generosity in providing us with the signed novels.

The 68th World Science Fiction Convention (Aussiecon 4) will be held in Melbourne, Australia from 2 to 6 September 2010. The acclaimed US science fiction writer, Kim Stanley Robinson, most famous for his Mars novels, will be the Guest of Honour. Kim Stanley Robinson won a Nebula Award for Red Mars in 1993 and Hugo Awards for Green Mars in 1994 and Blue Mars in 1997.

If there's a god watching over the universe in which James Murdoch wrote Gray Apocalypse, his debut novel of men in black and alien conspiracy, I suspect that god looks a lot like author Matthew Reilly (Ice Station, Area 7, Temple). I have to say it's only a suspicion as I've only ever managed to get through a couple of paragraphs of Reilly’s popular potboilers. Reilly is an amiable author with no illusions about the literary merit of his fiction and a confidence born of hard won success to care less about such trivial considerations as literary merit. But in the end it's a matter of taste and conspiracy theories, alien or otherwise, simply ain’t mine.

SFFMedia congratulates Dora Machado on the nomination of her debut novel, Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone, for a Benjamin Franklin Award. Dora is one of three finalists in the Franklin's Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book (Fiction) category. The novel is also a finalist in ForeWord's Book of the Year Award, in the SFF category. Winners of the Benjamin Franklin Award will be announced on 28 May, and we wish Dora all the best.