The Hugo Award nominees for this year have been released. The category I care most about is Best Novel, where we have: The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate) Brasyl by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr) Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer (Tor; Analog Oct. 2006-Jan/Feb. 2007) The Last Colony by John Scalzi (Tor)… Continue reading Hugo Nominees 2008
Category: Books
Literary Divination
Over at Making Light, Abi has proposed a parlour game using books as Tarot cards. As always for Making Light, the resulting comment thread is full of dizzyingly erudite responses, and clever literary in-jokes. But it strikes me that there’s a fundamental flaw in the game– Abi’s examples all involve selected works, chosen to be… Continue reading Literary Divination
Arthur C. Clarke, RIP
As approximately six billion other blogs have noted, Arthur C. Clarke is dead. His obit in the Times runs to three pages, which is a good indicator of just how long and distinguished his life was. My initial reaction is similar to Matt McIrvin’s: it feels like the passing of an age. Bradbury and Pohl… Continue reading Arthur C. Clarke, RIP
Plot Synopsis Project, and the Problem with LiveJournal
Joshua Palmatier, whose first two books I enjoyed, and probably ought to booklog, has organized the “Plot Synopsis Project,” in which a bunch of published SF authors post copies of the plot synopses they sent with their successful novel pitches, and talk about the writing process. Most of them have lists of the participants posted,… Continue reading Plot Synopsis Project, and the Problem with LiveJournal
Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow
Little Brother is Cory Doctorow’s bid for a place on this year’s list of banned books. It’s a book that not only encourages kids to hack computers, commit vandalism, and thwart law enforcement, it gives them detailed instructions on the best ways to do those things. It even comes with two afterwords and a bibliography… Continue reading Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow
“Story of Your Life” Guest Lecture
The Science Fiction class for which I agreed to guest lecture is an 8am class, which is earlier than I like to be up and about. Knowing this, I went to bed early on Thursday night. Of course, being a bookaholic of long standing, I needed something to read to put me to sleep. Genius… Continue reading “Story of Your Life” Guest Lecture
Notes Toward a Discussion of “Story of Your Life”
Yesterday’s cheery hypothetical came about because I’ve agreed to do a guest lecture in a Science Fiction class in the English department. I’m going to be talking about Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life,” whose connection to the hypothetical should be obvious to people who have read it, but is a spoiler for those who… Continue reading Notes Toward a Discussion of “Story of Your Life”
Hypothetical Scenario: Love and Death
Say you were offered the chance to be introduced to the great love of your life, your absolute perfect soul mate. The two of you will be perfect together– compatible personalities, the same taste in movies and books, sex so good you’ll temporarily lose the power of speech– but you’ll only be together for five… Continue reading Hypothetical Scenario: Love and Death
You Are What You Appear to Have Read
Scott McLemee writes about the shelving of books, spinning off Matt Selman’s list of rules for shelving books RULE #1: THE PRIME DIRECTIVE — It is unacceptable to display any book in a public space of your home if you have not read it. Therefore, to be placed on Matt Selman’s living room bookshelves, a… Continue reading You Are What You Appear to Have Read
The Infamous 123 Meme
That “post three sentences from page 123 of the book closest to you” Internet “meme” has come around again, with Bora calling me out in hopes of getting a short preview of Bunnies Made of Cheese (or whatever the book ends up being called). Unfortunately for him, I blog from a desk heaped with books,… Continue reading The Infamous 123 Meme