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    Best science fiction, fantasy and horror of 2021

    Silvia Moreno-Garcia & Lavie Tidhar

    THE WASHINGTON POST – It’s the season for “best” lists, a time that inspires terror in our hearts: Should we focus on the major hits, such as Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary, and Naomi Novik’s The Last Graduate, or highlight more obscure works? We’ll try a bit of both.

    Silvia: I veer toward horror and fantasy in my reading, so I was surprised when I realised I had read so many science fiction novels this year. Many had an ecological bent, such as Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer. Interestingly enough, I ended the year with a science fiction novel published in 1940s Mexico that seemed to have a great deal in common with VanderMeer’s novel. His Name Was Death, by Rafael Bernal (translated by Kit Schluter in 2021), is the story of a man who flees civilisation in favour of the jungles of Chiapas and learns to communicate with mosquitoes, intent on triggering an apocalypse. Not without its flaws, but interesting as an example of Latin American literature outside of the box of magic realism.

    But my favourite science fiction book of the year was Composite Creatures by Caroline Hardaker, a melancholic tale about a near-future in which a corporation gives a couple a very special creature to raise. The perfect comparative title is Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go.

    Another favourite was How to Get to Apocalypse and Other Disasters, a strong collection by Erica L Satifka, one of the brightest science fiction writers today who should be getting more attention.

    Lavie: Weirdly, I’ve dipped into horror this year – maybe we’re trading places! I love American gothics, and Walter Goodwater’s The Liar of Red Valley has everything – a little town hiding secrets, an exciting story and creepy creatures galore. Then I went straight to Daryl Gregory’s Revelator, a tale about a strange creature in the Smoky Mountains and the equally weird family of women who serve it. I also liked Gregory’s The Album of Dr Moreau, about a boy band made up of animal-human hybrids.

    My top title for science fiction this year has to be Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro. The story of an android servant to a sick girl is surprising and tender, and I never knew where it was going. I came away with a sense that Ishiguro was channelling older science fiction master Clifford Simak, whose robots seem like the spiritual progenitors of Klara in the novel.

    And Claire North’s excellent Notes From The Burning Age put me in mind of another classic, A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M Miller Jr.

    But there’s been plenty more science fiction worth noting this year. Cassandra Khaw’s debut novel, The All-Consuming World, was ambitious. Stark Holborn hit home with science-fiction western Ten Low. Louise Carey’s debut Inscape is a high octane, cyberpunk-flavoured adventure. Elly Bangs’ Unity will also remind you of classic cyberpunk. Aliya Whiteley, whose collection impressed me earlier this year, continues to dazzle with Skyward Inn. The Cabinet by Un-su Kim is surprising and enchanting. The anthology Sinopticon, edited by Xueting Christine Ni, is superb, and worth it for Han Song’s story, Tombs of the Universe, alone.

    Meanwhile Chen Qiufan’s latest project is a big collaboration with computer scientist Kai-Fu Lee called AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future, a melding of fiction and fact about our coming artificial intelligence (AI) overlords.

    Another hybrid worth noting is Bloomsbury’s Philosophy Through Science Fiction, which collects stories by authors such as Aliette de Bodard and Ken Liu and matches them with essays on philosophy. And my coffee table book of the year has to be the gorgeously illustrated Dangerous Visions and New Worlds, edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre. It’s the Easy Riders, Raging Bulls of science fiction, about the science fiction of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

    In fantasy, I liked Sword Stone Table, which collects new Arthurian stories, edited by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington. But my fantasy book of the year has to be Karin Tidbeck’s weird and magical The Memory Theater, which came out earlier this year to little fanfare.

    Silvia: When it comes to fantasy, I’m usually not inclined toward epic narratives, but Suyi Davies Okungbowa’s Son of the Storm, with its intricate African-inspired world-building and lush descriptions, is a delightful addition to this genre. But by far my favourite fantasy book of the year is Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge, translated by Jeremy Tiang. It’s a beautiful mosaic novel, composed of different entries in a quasi-bestiary.

    For horror, aside from Stephen Graham Jones and Grady Hendrix’s latest novels (My Heart is a Chainsaw and The Final Girl Support Group, respectively), there are several smaller press titles worth hunting down: V Castro’s Goddess of Filth (for fans of possession stories), ST Gibson’s A Dowry of Blood (for fans of vampires), Eric LaRocca’s Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (for fans of psychological suspense) and Wendy Wagner’s The Secret Skin (for fans of Gothic tales).

    What about you, reader? What did you love this year?

    Overdue book returned to library after 53 years

    UPI – An Indiana library said a book recently arrived in the mail after being checked out from the location more than 53 years earlier.

    Joe Sipocz, manager of the St Joseph Public Library’s River Park Branch in South Bend, said a package recently arrived in the mail from the San Bruno Public Library in California and it was found to contain a copy of Sir Gibbie, by Scottish author George MacDonald.

    Sipocz said there was no note or other explanation for how the tome ended up at a California library, but inside was a stamp with the River Park Branch’s address and a due date card that said the book had been due back June 21, 1968.

    “There was no withdrawal stamp in the book. It was not in a book sale,” Sipocz told the South Bend Tribune.

    Sipocz hypothesised the book may have been checked out and then at some point moved cross-country with a former library patron before ending up at the wrong library.

    “It was pretty neat, and then after all that was done, I had to go look and see, I thought I had never heard of this book, what is this book? So I looked it up and saw we don’t have any copies anymore, and now we do, or we’re going to have one,” Sipocz told WSBT-TV.

    Sipocz estimated the book would have amassed about USD3,800 in late fees at the 15-cent-per-day rate the library charged until the 1990s, but the fine would have been capped at the USD5 cost of the book.

    He said the library would not attempt to claim any fines for the tome, as the facility is doing away with late fees on January 1.

    Sipocz said the book will likely be given a new barcode and go back into circulation.

    Guardian Centrepoint branch re-opens today with fresh look

    Guardian Brunei re-opens its store at The Centrepoint, Gadong today after undergoing a complete revamp, in line with its new store concept.

    In celebration of the opening, there will be many exclusive in-store promotions including three packs for BND5 for Guardian Handwash, three packs of Guardian Bodywash for BND9, buy-one-free-one Boditalks lotions, as well as BND10 specials for Kose’s face wash and Garden of Eden’s serums.

    Customers can also save 30 per cent off on Japanese and Korean brands such as Kundal, SNP and Mediheal, and receive free gifts of a Kinohimitsu Royal Sweet Potato Sachet and popcorn (while stocks lasts).

    There are also lucky draw prizes to be won when shopping at The Centrepoint branch, with a minimum spending of BND20. Lucky winners stand to win multi-functional all-in-one hotpot, steel BBQ grill and roasting pan, Korean style electric grill pan and Yankee candles. All promotions and lucky draw ends on January 16, 2022.

    Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health Haji Maswadi bin Haji Mohsin officiates the opening of a Guardian outlet. PHOTO: BAHYIAH BAKIR

    New capacity limits for Spanish sport amid COVID surge

    MADRID (AFP) – Spain on Wednesday imposed stricter capacity limits on sporting venues as the highly contagious Omicron variant drives record-high coronavirus cases, affecting top football clubs including Real Madrid and Barcelona.

    Outdoor stadiums, which previously had no spectator limits, can now use up to 75 per cent of their total capacity, Health Minister Carolina Darias told a press conference.

    Indoor venues can use 50 per cent of their capacity instead of 80 per cent and wearing face masks will be compulsory, she added.

    The decision comes after La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona on Wednesday said more of their players tested positive as Spain reported a record-high daily COVID case total of 100,760.

    Real Madrid’s Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Uruguay midfielder Federico Valverde, French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga and Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior are all infected.

    Former Aussie parliament building damaged by protest fire

    SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia’s former parliament building caught fire during a rights protest yesterday, officials said, with the flames causing limited damage.

    The blaze occurred when police broke up a traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremony by activists at the building’s entrance.

    The Canberra building was home to the country’s federal parliament from 1927 to 1988 and now houses the Museum of Australian Democracy.

    The museum said in a statement that it is “closed until further notice while we address fire damage caused by protesters today”.

    There was no immediate news about the extent of the damage, but images showed flames and smoke coming from wooden double-doors at the building’s entrance.

    The vast majority of the edifice remained untouched, and the blaze was said to have been quickly extinguished.

    Pressure on imperial line

    TOKYO (AFP) – Japan’s imperial family is facing extinction due to a shortage of eligible emperors, but some experts said the ideas floated in a government inquiry for boosting the dwindling number of royals are out of touch.

    With women barred from the throne under male-only succession rules, the place of Emperor Naruhito, 61, will one day be filled by his nephew Prince Hisahito instead of his only child Princess Aiko.

    But if 15-year-old Hisahito does not have a son, the royal family, whose history dates back more than 2,600 years, will run out of male heirs to continue the bloodline.

    Polls show the public broadly supports the idea of a woman taking the role of emperor – one that holds no political power under Japan’s post-World War II constitution but carries huge symbolic importance.

    However, pressure to stick to long-held tradition from conservative lawmakers and voters, who revere the royals as the perfect example of a patriarchal Japanese family, makes female succession unlikely any time soon.

    Officials are brainstorming possible solutions to the dilemma, and last week a specially commissioned panel submitted two suggestions to the government.

    Japan’s former princess Mako Komuro and her husband Kei Komuro at the start of a press conference at the Grand Arc Hotel in Tokyo. PHOTOS: AFP

    One is to allow royal women to keep their title and public duties when they wed outside the family. Currently, they must leave the family, as former princess Mako Komuro did in October after marrying her university sweetheart.

    The second is to allow men from 11 former branches of the royal family abolished in post-war reforms to “rejoin” the direct line through adoption.

    The panel’s report recommends that male lineage rules are preserved at least until Prince Hisahito becomes emperor.

    But its ideas are “not at all based on the current family system in Japan or ideas about gender equality”, history professor at Chuo University in Tokyo Makoto Okawa told AFP.

    “I think the public is wondering what’s wrong with Princess Aiko succeeding the throne,” said Okawa, who researches the imperial system.

    Although traditionalists said Japan should not sever the “unbroken imperial line”, their logic is flawed, Okawa argued, because Aiko – who turned 20 this year – is both the emperor’s direct descendent and older than her cousin Hisahito.

    Associate professor of Japanese history at Nagoya University Hideya Kawanishi warned that the panel’s proposals “will not solve the problem fundamentally”.

    Some married women might not want to live a restricted royal life, while the adoption of male family members who grew up as regular citizens would be complicated, he said.

    The issue has been debated for years – after Aiko was born, a government panel concluded in 2005 that imperial succession should be decided in order of age and not gender.

    However, these discussions lost momentum after Hisahito’s birth in 2006, meaning the male bloodline could continue.

    The latest panel report said it was necessary to discuss possible changes to succession rules in the future but, unlike in 2005, did not use the words “female emperor”.

    This means that for the wives of male royals like Hisahito, “there will be pressure to conceive boys to keep the line going”, Kawanishi said. Royal women have long walked a difficult path in Japan.

    Naruhito’s wife Masako, a former high-flying diplomat, struggled for years with a stress-related illness after joining the household, which some have put down to the pressure of producing a male heir.

    Younger royals are also held to exacting standards. Mako and her husband Kei Komuro, both 30, were plagued by tabloid gossip over allegations that Kei’s family had run into financial difficulties, leading the former princess to develop complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

    An empress is not an alien concept in Japan.

    There have been as many as eight empresses throughout history, although their rule has often been temporary. The last, Gosakuramachi, was on the throne about 250 years ago.

    The divine status of the imperial family was renounced after World War II following Japan’s militaristic sweep across Asia in the name of Emperor Hirohito.

    Since 1947, royal succession has been dictated by the Imperial Household Law, and issues surrounding it remain a delicate topic tightly bound with ideas of national identity.

    Nowadays, politicians are “scared of changing the system” while they are in office, Kawanishi said.

    But after Mako’s wedding garnered huge attention, one way the debate could be pushed forward is “if the public becomes more interested in the subject, and pushes for discussions”, he said.

    ‘Flee’ tells young refugee’s journey

    Lindsey Bahr

    AP – Filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen was 15 when he encountered a new face on a local train in his sleepy Danish town. It was the kind of place where immigrants couldn’t help but stand out, but Rasmussen noticed this kid’s style first. He had some and most people there didn’t.

    Rasmussen knew the boy, Amin (a pseudonym), lived with a foster family down the street and had come from Afghanistan, but he didn’t know much else. Riding together to high school daily, they became friends eventually. Amin didn’t talk about his past or his family and Rasmussen didn’t probe – they were just kids after all. It would take some 20 years for Amin to start telling Rasmussen, then a working filmmaker, the real story of his childhood. The result is the animated documentary Flee, and it’s easily one of the best films of the year.

    Amin and his family fled Kabul in the 1980s. They hoped to find asylum in Sweden but for five years faced impossible challenges and setbacks and kept finding themselves in Russia and under constant threat of deportation or exploitation by the police. Eventually, 15-year-old Amin landed alone in Denmark.

    Flee introduces Amin as an adult who is gearing up to tell his story to the world for the first time. He’s an accomplished scholar with a longtime partner who wants to get married and buy a house, but Amin is reticent to put himself first. The visuals look as though we’ve snuck in on a therapist’s session, and the experience of hearing his story come out is not so different either. Amin has become so accustomed to hiding his truth, that he’s actually a fairly unreliable narrator at first, lying to the audience and the director.

    But Rasmussen sees that his friend won’t be able to actually live his life without confronting his past. So, with closed eyes, Amin takes us back to the five years he’s spent a lifetime repressing.

    This image released by Neon shows a scene from the film ‘Flee’. PHOTO: AP

    As in Waltz with Bashir, animation in Flee (literally) illustrates the specifics of Amin’s journey, taking us to places where we wouldn’t have had access, like the underbelly of a ship full of refugees trying to cross the Baltic Sea to Scandinavia. But it also gives us access to private moments, like playing volleyball in Kabul and seeing Jean-Claude Van Damme on television.

    There is a welcome lightness to these moments too, which comes as a relief. Amin’s attempts to get to the West with his mother and brother are harrowing enough to give you an ulcer.

    Rasmussen spent years interviewing Amin before starting work on the film. He also includes some actual newsreel footage, which helps remind the viewer that these events were very real. Flee is such a rich, seamlessly told and emotionally affecting story that it’s easy to get wrapped up in the narrative and forget that fact. But Rasmussen and his team are there to make sure we don’t.

    Energy costs soar in 2021, fuelled by political unrest

    LONDON (AFP) – Energy prices soared in 2021 – with gas, oil, coal, electricity and carbon all shooting higher in large part owing to a resurgence of geopolitical tensions between producers and consumers.

    The “steep rise in prices was probably the most dramatic development on the commodities markets in 2021”, noted Commerzbank analyst Barbara Lambrecht.

    The most spectacular surge was that of Europe’s reference gas price, Dutch TTF, which hit EUR187.78 per megawatt hour in December – 10 times higher compared with the start of the year.

    The spike has been fuelled by geopolitical tensions surrounding Russia, which supplies one third of Europe’s gas.

    Western countries accuse Russia of limiting gas deliveries to put pressure on Europe amid tensions over the Ukraine conflict and to push through the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline set to ship Russian gas to Germany.

    Critics say Nord Stream 2 will increase Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and Ukraine has described it as a “geopolitical weapon”.

    Russian energy giant Gazprom has strongly rejected Western accusations that Moscow is limiting gas deliveries to Europe, already hit by low stocks as economies reopen from pandemic lockdowns.

    Reliance on gas increased as calmer weather has reduced the availability of wind power.

    OPEC OIL IMPACT

    Crude oil prices rocketted also in 2021, gaining more than 50 percent as demand recovered and oil producing nations led by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia modestly boosted supplies.

    It came after OPEC+ drastically slashed output in 2020 as the pandemic began to unfold, and virus-related restrictions caused demand and prices to crash.

    Although crude prices have shot back up, trading above USD75 per barrel heading into the new year, the jump “seems almost moderate by comparison” with gas, noted Lambrecht.

    United States (US) oil benchmark contract, West Texas Intermediate, reached a seven-year peak at USD85 per barrel in October, before easing.

    CHAIN REACTION

    Soaring gas and oil prices have pushed up the cost of coal, one of the most polluting fossil fuels, at a time when countries are under pressure to increasingly switch to cleaner energy sources.

    A tonne of coal for delivery to the ports of Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp struck USD280 at the start of October, nearly three times the price that had lasted for around a decade.

    This helped to push up European carbon prices, which reached above EUR90 per tonne for the first time in December, around three times the level at the start of the year.

    Carbon trading, while seen as a key way to prevent climate change, involves companies buying the right to pollute from others who have a lower carbon footprint.

    Electricity prices have also surged. Electricity for delivery in France next year rose above EUR450 per megawatt hour in December, four times more than in early September.

    The surge in energy prices is fuelling high inflation worries as soaring costs badly affect businesses and consumers globally.

    Best graphic novels of 2021

    Michael Cavna & David Betanourt

    THE WASHINGTON POST – 2021 delivered a wealth of worthy graphical works, from anthology to autobiography, as well as featured illustrations by such star cartoonists as Art Spiegelman (Street Cop) and Jaime Hernandez (Queen of the Ring).

    Here are 10 of the year’s graphic narratives that stayed with us, in their power to create unique immersive worlds and help spark illumination through illustration.

    RUN: BOOK ONE, BY JOHN LEWIS, ANDREW AYDIN, L FURY AND NATE POWELL
    The late civil rights hero died before Run’s release, but Lewis left this riveting follow-up memoir to his March trilogy – this time centring on the movement after Selma – as a legacy of ever-relevant ‘60s lessons in social progress.

    THE SECRET TO SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH BY ALISON BECHDEL
    The Fun Home creator’s first new graphic novel in nearly a decade begins as a memoir of her lifelong passion for physical pursuits, but as she transcends her notions of self-sufficiency, the insights move into the metaphysical. From marathons to mindfulness, it’s an exhilarating six-decade journey.

    FAR SECTOR BY NK JEMISIN AND JAMAL CAMPBELL
    Jemisin offers a new power-ringed rookie as the Green Lantern – a lone space cop who answers the question: How can a superhero protect a world that has banned emotions from everyday life?

    HIMAWARI HOUSE BY HARMONY BECKER
    Becker follows up her work on George Takei’s moving memoir with this emotionally and culturally rich young adult (YA) story that puts the author’s range of talents on full display.
    A trio of Tokyo foreign-exchange students navigates the rapids of teenage life – adventures rendered with a masterful hand and an impressive ear for dialogue.

    WHEN I GROW UP: THE LOST AUTOBIOGRAPHIES OF SIX YIDDISH TEENAGERS BY KEN KRIMSTEIN
    The New Yorker cartoonist and gifted storyteller re-surfaces the long-lost stories of Eastern European youths on the cusp of World World II. It is an epic undertaking, told in tones both evocative and haunting.

    THE WAITING BY KEUM SUK GENDRY-KIM
    The author follows her acclaimed Grass with this semi-autobiographical story of how war can scatter a family, creating a separation that breeds desperation.

    The artist’s stark brushstrokes and narrative masterstrokes make an affecting combination, as hope and heartbreak span generations.

    WAKE: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF WOMEN-LED SLAVE REVOLTS BY REBECCA HALL AND HUGO MARTÍNEZ
    Hall, the scholarly descendant of enslaved ancestors, delves into the forensics and physical records of human bondage, focussing on the forgotten female warriors who spurred uprisings.

    This blend of fact and fiction, of pursuit and lasting pain, is a must-read achievement.

    COVID CHRONICLES: A COMICS ANTHOLOGY BY KENDRA BOILEAU AND RICH JOHNSON
    Scores of cartoonists offer an affecting mosaic of pandemic life, as told in short, eclectic stories – from the lighter touch of Jason Chatfield, who was afflicted with the virus, to meditations by a grieving Shelley Wall.

    MONSTERS BY BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH
    A master artist delivers his magnum opus more than three decades in the making – a pen-and-ink epic about a World War II veteran that’s as visceral as it is visual.

    STRANGE ADVENTURES BY TOM KING, MITCH GERADS AND EVAN SHANER
    The history of less-heralded deep-space character Adam Strange is taken to fresh creative heights, with DC’s Batman and Mister Terrific deftly stitched into the action.

    Emirates upbeat on growth despite COVID global surge

    DUBAI (AFP) – Aviation giant Emirates said yesterday it expects business to grow next year despite the surge in global coronavirus cases fuelled by the Omicron variant.

    The Dubai-based carrier said in November it was already on the path to recovery as six-month losses dropped by more than half from a year earlier.

    “Despite the recent rise of the Omicron variant and the slight slowdown it brought to our network, we are going into 2022 with optimism,” said Emirates CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum.

    “We’ve built up some great momentum this year and expect business growth to pick up speed in 2022,” he said in a company statement. “Aviation has always been resilient, and we will continue to work with our industry partners to build back better for our customers and communities.”

    Emirates President Tim Clark said in November that the carrier expects to return to profitability “in the next 18 months”.

    The carrier posted an April-September loss of USD1.6 billion, compared with losses of USD3.4 billion during the same period in 2020.

    Emirates specialises in long-haul flights, with its fleet composed solely of large A380 and B777 aircraft, dozens of which it grounded amid a lack of passenger traffic.

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    Borneo Bulletin is the leading English daily in the country. It was first published by Brunei Press. Today, Borneo Bulletin has become the foremost source of information on local and foreign affairs, and the region’s business news.

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