The 2012 Clarke shortlist has already engendered a lot of discussion (see Niall's here, and his roundup of other reactions). But what of the nominated books themselves? Here's a look at the critical reception that each has received:
Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
Reviewed by Finn Dempster at Strange Horizons
Reviewed by Steven Brandt at SF Site
Reviewed by Elizabeth Bear at Tor.com
Reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe at Locus
Reviewed by Ian Berriman at SFX
Reviewed by Andrew Liptak at worlds in a grain of sand
Reviewed by Chris Hsian at io9
The End Specialist/The Postmortal by Drew Magary
Reviewed by Michael Jones at seattlepi.com
Reviewed by Justin at Staffer's Book Review
Reviewed by Kevin McFarland at The A.V. Club
Reviewed by Mark Fraunfelder at BoingBoing
Embassytown by China Miéville
Reviewed by Ursula K. Le Guin in The Guardian
Reviewed by James Purdon in The Guardian
Reviewed by Carlo Rotella in The New York Times
Reviewed by Carolyn Kellogg in The Los Angeles Times
Reviewed by James Lovegrove at Financial Times
Reviewed by Roger Perkins in The Telegraph
Reviewed by Sam Thompson in The London Review of Books
Reviewed by Jeff VanderMeer at Barnes and Noble Review
Reviewed by Gary K. Wolfe at Locus
Reviewed by Rich Horton at SF Site
Reviewed by John Clute at Strange Horizons
Reviewed by Niall Alexander at The Zone
Reviewed by Jared Shurin at Pornokitsch
Reviewed by Dan Hartland at @Number 71
Reviewed by Matt Hilliard at Yet There Are Statues
Reviewed by Colin Harvey
Reviewed by Larry Nolen at The OF Blog
Reviewed by Abigail Nussbaum at Asking the Wrong Questions
Reviewed by Adam Whitehead at The Wertzone
The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers
Reviewed by Katy Guest in The Independent
Reviewed by Lesley McDowell in The Scottish Review of Books
Reviewed by Niall Harrison at Strange Horizons
Reviewed by Aishwarya Subramanian at Practically Marzipan
Reviewed by Anne C. Perry at Pornokitsch
Reviewed at Solar Bridge
Rule 34 by Charles Stross
Reviewed by Damien G. Walter in The Guardian
Reviewed by Alexandra Pierce at Strange Horizons
Discussed by Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber
Reviewed by Niall Alexander at The Speculative Scotsman
The Waters Rising by Sheri S. Tepper
Reviewed by David Allkins at Concatenation
Reviewed by Barb Caffrey at Shiny Book Review
Reviewed at The Hathor Legacy
Reviewed at the Little Red Reviewer
I imagine that being shortlisted for the Clarke will bring extra attention, and more reviews, from within SF fandom for each of these books. And, of course, closer to the announcement of the winner, Strange Horizons will publish its own, mega-review of the entire shortlist.