A reader writes in with a literary query: I was asked to teach a 400-level course on Nanotechnology at my U. In addition to the usual technical content, I would like to include a critical view of how nanotechnology is portrayed in popular culture. So I am looking for suitable works that can be examined.… Continue reading Literary Poll: Nanotechnology in Fiction?
Category: Books
Prospective Hugo Nomination Update
The Hugo Award nomination deadline is fast approaching, so I’ve been doing a bunch of reading to make sure I’ve covered a reasonable range of potential nominees. I’ve been really bad about book-logging recently, but I thought I’d at least post some brief comments on my crash reading here, for those who are just dying… Continue reading Prospective Hugo Nomination Update
Tell Me What to Nominate
It’s Hugo nomination season again, which means that I need to come up with a list of works to suggest for SF’s premier fan-voted award. It also means that there are lots of publications out there putting out lists of recommended works to help potential Hugo voters narrow their ballots. Last year, there was a… Continue reading Tell Me What to Nominate
Buy The Dragon Never Sleeps! Buy it Now!
Amazon conveniently informed me today of a very positive development in SF: Night Shade Books is republishing Glen Cook’s space opera novel The Dragon Never Sleeps, which I reviewed quite some time ago. I’ve re-read it since then, and if anything, my opinion of it improved. It’s “New Space Opera” written years before there was… Continue reading Buy The Dragon Never Sleeps! Buy it Now!
Reader Poll: Scientific Sleuths?
While browsing through Border the other day, I noticed a book called Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance, which is the latest entry in the subgenre of mysteries in which improbable literary figures turn into detectives. In fact, it may represent the end of the genre– I think they may have exhausted the… Continue reading Reader Poll: Scientific Sleuths?
Hugo Nominations
Kate and I got our Hugo nomination ballots in the mail yesterday (as members of the 2007 Worldcon, we get the right to nominate works for the 2008 Hugo Awards). The nomination deadline isn’t until March 1st, but this still seems like a good time to ask: What should I be nominating for the 2008… Continue reading Hugo Nominations
Variational Principles and the Story of Your Life
As I mentioned a few days ago, a colleague asked me if I’d be interested in doing a guest lecture for a class on science fiction. She suggested that a good way to go might be to pick one story to have the class read, and talk about that. Kicking ideas around with Kate, I… Continue reading Variational Principles and the Story of Your Life
Amazon Freaks Out
In my email this morning, I have a note from everybody’s favorite online retailer, informing me that: We’ve noticed that customers who have purchased or rated books by Christopher Moore have also purchased Esther’s Revenge at Susa: From Sennacherib to Ahasuerus by Stephanie Dalley. OK, fine, they see a correlation, and are sending me a… Continue reading Amazon Freaks Out
Dork Nostalgia: Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time
“Do you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?” — Steven Brust, Dzur Way, way back in October, when I was annoying you all with DonorsChoose fundraining posts, I offered to sell post topics for $30. I’ve paid off most of these, but I have three left, one of which was for… Continue reading Dork Nostalgia: Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time
The Golden Compass
Kate and I went to see The Golden Compass last night because, dude, armored bears! Also, we both really enjoyed the book, back when it first came out (though I haven’t re-read it since The Amber Spyglass, to see if it was retroactively ruined by the third volume). From the opening titles in the left-over… Continue reading The Golden Compass