The finalists for the Locus Awards (the best science fiction books and stories of the year, chosen by the general public) have been announced over at their site. Best science fiction novel entries are:

• Matter, Iain M. Banks
• City at the End of Time, Greg Bear
• Marsbound, Joe Haldeman
• Anathem, Neal Stephenson
• Saturn’s Children, Charles Stross

The full list is available at the Locus site.

I’m mildly amused to see that Cory Doctorow’s novella, “The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away,” takes its title from Jonathan Coulton’s wonderful song The Future Soon.

(via BoingBoing)