Category: Books

I was reading an article at Space.com about the not-often-considered realities that are implied in plans to move into space, and it just makes me want to go find Orbital Decay and read it again. Here’s a bit of the article: You see, when we talk about going into space, we usually think about astronauts—pilots, mission specialists, scientists, and the… Read more →

Writers left to their own devices, as we have already seen, will drive around aimlessly until they are spontaneously afflicted with drunkenness. Read more →

If I convinced you to check out Stephan Zielinski‘s book Bad Magic with my review, or if you came to the book yourself by some other route, you will probably be interested in the interview with him that just popped up at the Agony Column (in both MP3 and That Vile Format). If you haven’t read the book the interview… Read more →

I spent some time this weekend rereading Henry Mayhew’s London Characters And Crooks. Mayhew was a reporter in the 19th century who had something of a specialization in writing about the seedier parts of London life. London Characters And Crooks is a work that covers Mayhew’s time among the criminal and entertaining. Googling Mayew will find you lots of information,… Read more →

Ace news hound Keith Loh brought this to my attention tonight. I bet it is the talk of the blogosphere tomorrow. I am a little saddened, since the world is now a little less ridiculous. Writer Hunter S. Thompson dead at 67 DENVER – Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of fictional journalism in… Read more →

I’m not sure who brought Bad Magic to my notice. I get recommedations from a lot of people I trust, and if something gets recommended highly enough it ends up on my Amazon Wish List (which I use more as a ‘things I will buy’ list than a ‘things I will buy from Amazon’ list or a ‘things I hope… Read more →

I have lots of authors on my ‘must buy immediately in hardcover’ list, and one such author is Lisa Goldstein. I was thinking today that it was about time for her to have a new novel out, since it had been quite a while since The Alchemist’s Door, so I popped over to her web page to see if there… Read more →

Locus has published their list of recommended books for last year. I’m doing pretty well on the novels. Science Fiction Novels The Life of the World to Come, Kage Baker (Tor) (got it, read it) The Algebraist, Iain M. Banks (Orbit)(got it, read it) Exultant, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz; Del Rey) Spondulix, Paul Di Filippo (Cambrian)(planning to get it) Eastern Standard… Read more →

I generally enjoy Cintra Wilson‘s pop culture columns on Salon–enough that I picked up her essay collection, A Massive Swelling–so I am looking forward to seeing how she does as a novelist. Descriptions I have read of her novel, Colors Insulting To Nature, make it sound like a farce about our culture’s obsession with fame, which sounds like it could… Read more →

Two other book pieces caught my eye recently. First was another Guardian piece (I do love their book coverage), this time an extract from the new Haruki Murakami novel Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing direction. You change direction, but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play… Read more →