The latest BSFA mailing dropped onto my doormat today.

As well as the usual review magazine, Vector, which (unusually, since I’m normally slow at catching up with the latest thing) contains reviews of three books I’ve already read – Hannu Rajaniemi’s The Quantum Thief which I reviewed for Interzone, Ken MacLeod’s The Restoration Game and Ian McDonald’s The Dervish House – the envelope also spilled forth the A4 magazine of those short stories on the ballot for the BSFA Awards for 2010 and an A5 booklet published as a memorial to Robert Holdstock.

Apart from the book reviews this edition of Vector is a special Stephen Baxter issue.

Much of my reading for March is now more or less scheduled. As well as the short stories mentioned above, I have one more of the five novels shortlisted in the BSFA Award novel category in my to be read pile. I’ve just finished Paolo Bagicalupi’s The Windup Girl – review to come. For my thoughts on Ken MacLeod’s The Restoration Game and Ian McDonald’s The Dervish House see previous posts. Tricia Sullivan’s Lightborn awaits. Only Lauren Beukes’s Zoo City will escape my attention.

In addition Interzone has sent me Dominic Green’s Smallworld to review by the end of March. Busy, busy.

Pan, 1982. 286 p

On VanderZande’s World, also known as Kamelios, strange storms called fiersig can disturb moods and change personality. In addition, a peculiar valley is intermittently altered by winds which seem to project objects and locations through time. If engulfed by these time winds, people disappear. Worse, if caught up in the edge of a time eddy, only a part of you may be swept away. Human search parties scour the valley for artefacts revealed by the winds. The strange atmosphere of the planet has imbued their members with odd superstitions. A phantom human figure, which may or may not be a figment of the imagination, haunts the valley.

The first two sections of the book deal with the environment of this strange rift and the human society which has evolved there but in part three, after the inevitable happens, we are suddenly wrenched away to a totally different part of the planet in order for the author to indulge in philosophising through the medium of viewpoint character Leo Faulcon and to set up what is, to me, an unsatisfying ending.

The prose is occasionally Ballardian in tone but I found it too distanced. As a consequence I didn’t feel involved enough with the characters.

There is a “span” count of 2 (though one instance of “spun”) plus two cases of flaunting the rules.

Where Time Winds Blow rather confirms my previously held opinion of Holdstock’s work. I’m afraid there is something about his style which does not engage me.

English SF and fantasy writer Rob Holdstock died on Sunday.

His early work was SF. Eye Among The Blind and Earthwind are on my bookshelves along with the short story collection In The Valley Of The Statues and the anthologies he co-edited, Stars Of Albion, Other Edens, Other Edens II and Other Edens III.

He moved into fantasy and the novel Mythago Wood garnered much acclaim – not to mention the BSFA award for 1984 – but I found it not to my taste. He published other works set in the same location of Ryhope Wood, including Lavondyss which I have had for years and not yet read, as well as other fantasy books.

I’ll need, now, to seek out his other SF novels Necromancer and especially Where Time Winds Blow which Ian Sales praises highly.

Robert Holdstock 2/8/48-29/11/09. So it goes.