Not that Johnson's story is Inspirational, it's about moving between past, present, future, commuting.
― dow, Friday, 3 March 2017 18:28 (seven years ago) link
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/twenty-questions-ursula-le-guin/
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 8 March 2017 23:55 (seven years ago) link
Ha, good! I disagree re Ferrante, but from what I've read of Knausgaard, suspect she isn't missing that much. Wish there were more questions re science fiction, but good to know about the pickles (lodged in my mind now, so they did find a home after all).
― dow, Saturday, 11 March 2017 02:29 (seven years ago) link
http://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/8/86/STRWTRSTRN2005.jpg
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 11 March 2017 04:57 (seven years ago) link
Just finished the audiobook, which I enjoyed, of the book recommended here: I Am Reading A Novel That Seems To Be Something That Elvis Telecom Would Like
― Got Your Money Changes Everything (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 12 March 2017 20:52 (seven years ago) link
Maybe I should say "mentioned" rather than "recommended." Not sf per se, but the protagonist is an sf writer and many real sf writers are mentioned or appear as characters, along with various figures mentioned on Eden Ahbez, Jack Parsons, and other LA kooks...
― Got Your Money Changes Everything (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 12 March 2017 21:06 (seven years ago) link
i started reading vernor vinge's a fire upon the deep. dig it so far. love those incomprehensible first chapters/prologues where you have no idea what's going on. which would be in about 50% or more of the SF i read. surreal and mock-poetic. i love the ones that start like that ("Colors...drifting...nexus floating...") and then half the book is mundanity about some scientist trying to have space sex with his secretary. it's tradition, i guess.
― scott seward, Sunday, 12 March 2017 22:04 (seven years ago) link
Both of the Deep Vinge books are great. He seems kind of hit and miss tho. (Also a Singularity believer iirc). Him and Bear and KSR make for a v odd San Diego sf triumvirate.
― Οὖτις, Sunday, 12 March 2017 22:32 (seven years ago) link
Have yet to read a thing by him, not even that "Fast Times" story that is always anthologized.
― Got Your Money Changes Everything (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 12 March 2017 22:55 (seven years ago) link
x-post to currently reading thread:
Powers of Darkness: Valdimar Asmundsson -- in 1900 the Icelandic translator of Stoker's Dracula got bored partway through and completely changed the story, cutting out almost all the non-Transylvanian bits and adding ape-men, naked ladies, human sacrifice, Dracula fomenting some sort of European political revolution, etc. And nobbody noticed until a few years ago, and now they've translated that version back into English.
― I hear from this arsehole again, he's going in the river (James Morrison), Tuesday, 21 March 2017 01:15 (seven years ago) link
I've heard that some of the story is based on Stoker's earlier drafts. Is that true?
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 21 March 2017 01:18 (seven years ago) link
There seems to be uncertainty over whether it was that or coincidence
― I hear from this arsehole again, he's going in the river (James Morrison), Tuesday, 21 March 2017 06:45 (seven years ago) link
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51lu3jcnGFL._AA300_.jpg
― scott seward, Saturday, 25 March 2017 23:36 (seven years ago) link
Speaking of Subterranean writers, I like this essay by Roz Kaveney on Caitlin Kiernan's short stories in the latest Strange Horizons:
Recently read The Dry Salvages and enjoyed the latest one, Agents of Dreamland, so interested to get around to reading more.
― And Run Into It And Blecch It (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 1 April 2017 19:07 (seven years ago) link
Inspired by thread, I just this morning finished reading my first kiernan, The Red Tree. Pretty impressed.
― chip n dale recuse rangers (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 1 April 2017 23:04 (seven years ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/29/norse-myths-by-neil-gaiman-review
Le Guin writes a fairly negative review of Gaiman but I enjoyed her description of the dialogue in modern animation and comics.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 22:31 (seven years ago) link
Fucking hell--just discovered that a Ted Chiang novella I paid a normal price for several years ago is now selling for hundreds of dollars. Almost makes up for the hundreds of books I've sold to second-hand shops for 50c/given away free.
― I hear from this arsehole again, he's going in the river (James Morrison), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 05:02 (seven years ago) link
Just seen someone use the word "Slansplaining"
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 5 April 2017 23:07 (seven years ago) link
Lol
― TS Hugo Largo vs. Al Factotum (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 23:47 (seven years ago) link
Watched a youtube video titled "Eurocon 2016 - Sala Auditori - Verne Versus Wells (ENG)" with Adam Roberts and Aliette De Bodard. It's quite fun. Quite curious about the SF history book Roberts has written, he clearly knows a lot.
There's a whole load of Eurocon panels on youtube and they have writers from a wide range of countries, mostly in English.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 12 April 2017 22:26 (seven years ago) link
Speaking English that is, but their books aren't always in English.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 12 April 2017 22:28 (seven years ago) link
Roberts is currently working his way through the entire output of Wells over at http://wellsattheworldsend.blogspot.com/
― I hear from this arsehole again, he's going in the river (James Morrison), Thursday, 13 April 2017 00:26 (seven years ago) link
Woah, that's pretty in depth, as are his other blogs on other writers. Surely he intends to turn all these into books?
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 13 April 2017 10:10 (seven years ago) link
He's done a few Ted talks too.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 13 April 2017 10:29 (seven years ago) link
Interesting. Btw wondering if anyone has read David Lodge's book about Wells.
― TS Hugo Largo vs. Al Factotum (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 13 April 2017 10:54 (seven years ago) link
Weird fiction author Mark Samuels is homeless now. There might be some sort of charity account set up eventually. A paperback version of Written In Darkness is coming soon, it's his fifth collection.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 13 April 2017 19:06 (seven years ago) link
Subterranean editions of new Blaylock and prev. unpub.(as orig. intended, that is) Silverberg---both novellas, both expensive, duh:
http://subterraneanpress.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/r/i/rivers_edge_by_james_p_blaylock.jpg
We're pleased to announce River's Edge by James P. Blaylock, which, at over 40,000 words, is the longest Langdon St. Ives novella yet!
About the Book:
The body of a girl washes up on a mud bank along the edge of the River Medway amid a litter of poisoned fish and sea birds, casting an accusing shadow upon the deadly secrets of the Majestic Paper Mill and its wealthy owners. Simple answers to the mystery begin to suggest insidious secrets, and very quickly Langdon St. Ives and his wife Alice are drawn into a web of conspiracies involving murder, a suspicious suicide, and ritual sacrifice at a lonely and ancient cluster of standing stones. Abruptly St. Ives's life is complicated beyond the edge of human reason, and he finds himself battling to save Alice's life and the ruination of his friends, each step forward leading him further into the entanglement, a dark labyrinth from which there is no apparent exit.
Limited:1000 signed numbered hardcover copies: $40******************************************************************************************(no cover art provided for Silverbob)
Announcing The Emperor and the Maula by Robert Silverberg We're thrilled to announce a new novella by Robert Silverberg. Read on for what makes this particular project unique.
Robert Silverberg's The Emperor and the Maula was written in 1992 for an aborted publishing project and has been printed only once, in a radically abbreviated version. This deluxe new edition restores more than 15,000 words of missing text, allowing us to see, for the first time, the author's original intent. The result is both a genuine publishing event and an unexpected gift for Silverberg's legion of readers.
The Emperor and the Maula is Silverberg's Scheherazade tale, the story of a woman telling a story in order to extend--and ultimately preserve--her life. The Scheherazade of this striking story is Laylah Walis, denizen of a far-future Earth which has been invaded and conquered by a star-faring race known as the Ansaarans. Laylah is a "maula," a barbarian forbidden, under pain of death, to set foot on the sacred home worlds of the imperial conquerors. Knowing the risks, Laylah travels to Haraar, home of the galactic emperor himself. Once there, she delays her execution by telling the emperor a story-and telling it well.
That story, the tale within a tale that dominates this book, is, in fact, Laylah's own story. It is also the story of the beleaguered planet Earth, of people struggling, often futilely, to oppose their alien masters and restore their lost independence. Colorful, seamlessly written, and always powerfully imagined, The Emperor and the Maula shows us Grandmaster Silverberg at his representative best. This is science fiction as it should be written, but all too seldom is. No one does it better than Robert Silverberg. No one ever has.
Limited: 250 signed numbered copies, bound in leather: $45Trade: Fully clothbound hardcover edition: $25
― dow, Monday, 17 April 2017 19:26 (seven years ago) link
huh, dunno that one, but I p much ignore his post-Majipoor output
― Οὖτις, Monday, 17 April 2017 19:29 (seven years ago) link
i wish blaylock would write some more modern SoCal novels, i love homunculus as much as the next guy but the californian magic realism is what made him my favorite writer. I shouldn't carp, though-- at least he's writing. And he can move copies in this genre.
<3 U JPB
― iris marduk (Jon not Jon), Monday, 17 April 2017 20:01 (seven years ago) link
Wait are we discussing the cut-off date for Silverbob again? Is it time for a new thread?
― stet, where is thy Zing? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 17 April 2017 20:11 (seven years ago) link
nah
― dow, Monday, 17 April 2017 20:18 (seven years ago) link
If This Goes On —
― stet, where is thy Zing? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 17 April 2017 20:22 (seven years ago) link
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/titlecovers.cgi?1878722
Bought this book. Why did it have to have the most boring cover of the lot? (second last)
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:08 (seven years ago) link
Interested to know what it's like. I've read some of her stories set in an alternate future of Vietnamese star-trabellers, and they were very good.
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Thursday, 20 April 2017 01:59 (seven years ago) link
I liked House of Shattered Wings and, going on the half I've read so far, the sequel (House of Binding Thorns) is better still
― Iain Mew (if), Thursday, 20 April 2017 02:15 (seven years ago) link
Got a really bad habit of buying 50 books for every book I've actually read, but I'm trying to just buy what will become too expensive or disappear soon. Here's some recent ones.
Aliette De Bodard - House Of Shattered WingsAlan Garner - Weirdstone trilogyNK Jemisin - The Fifth SeasonZen Cho - Sorceror To The CrownRamsey Campbell - Far Away And Never (his sword & sorcery stuff)Brendan Connell - Metanatural Adventures Of Dr BlackAlistair Rennie - BleakWarriorMurder BalladsAngela Slatter - SourdoughJessica Amanda Salmonson - Disfavored HeroSarah Orne Jewett - Lady Ferry And Other Uncanny PeopleTanith Lee - Wars Of VisDF Lewis - WeirdmongerGeorge Berguno - The Tainted EarthMarcel Bealu - Experience Of The NightAlfred Kubin - The Other Side (already had this but the new translation is supposed to be better)A Midwinter EntertainmentMario Mercier - Jeanne's JournalColin Insole - Elegies & RequiemsDavid H Keller - Keller MementoRichard Gavin - Sylvan DreadKarin Tidbeck - JagannathDarrell Schweitzer - Awaiting Strange GodsDaniel Mills - Lord Came At TwilightBest New Horror 26Rebecca Lloyd - Ragman And Other Family Curses
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 21 April 2017 00:31 (seven years ago) link
If you ever get round to it, let us know how the new Kubin is. I have the old Penguin Modern Classics version.
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Friday, 21 April 2017 02:37 (seven years ago) link
And had no idea Sarah Orne Jewett had written ghost stories! I love her stuff--will have to seek these out ASAP.
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Friday, 21 April 2017 02:38 (seven years ago) link
OK, found out what was in that Jewett collection and have made my own ebook of it (leaving out the 2 stories which are extracts from Country of the Pointed Firs). if anyone is interested, it's at http://www104.zippyshare.com/v/RG1HCa7Y/file.html
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Friday, 21 April 2017 03:04 (seven years ago) link
Ha, I've cut back a little on my own bad book buying habit and only own one of those that RAG just bought
― Stupefyin' Pwns (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 21 April 2017 03:07 (seven years ago) link
Actually, fuck Zippyshare, try https://www.dropbox.com/s/kw8hvccsbd9aypc/Sarah%20Orne%20Jewett%20%20-%20Supernatural%20Stories.epub?dl=0
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Friday, 21 April 2017 03:13 (seven years ago) link
Really hated that Kubin book. Just seems to wallow in misery and cruelty in this very distanced, dry tone. You could make a case for it as prophetic of WWI I guess. Reminded me of that Robert Mitchum quote - "movies that shit on mankind".
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 21 April 2017 09:30 (seven years ago) link
Great photo of Robert Blochhttp://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=Ny:True,Ro:0,N:4294963828-4294955414&dsNavOnly=Ntk:All%7cRobert+Bloch%7c3%7c,Ny:True,Ro:0&dsRecordDetails=R:IM64463&dsDimensionSearch=D:Robert+Bloch,Dxm:All,Dxp:3&dsCompoundDimensionSearch=D:Robert+Bloch,Dxm:All,Dxp:3
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 25 April 2017 22:08 (seven years ago) link
Intriguing take on VanderMeer's new Borne, ditto on Southern Reach Trilogy, incl. how they differ:http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/24/jeff-vandermeer-amends-the-apocalypse
― dow, Wednesday, 26 April 2017 03:16 (seven years ago) link
half price sale at the musty dusty around the corner. bought:
alastair reynolds - the prefect, chasm city
pamela sargent - the shore of women
james white - the watch below
john c. wright - count to a trillion
charles stross - singularity sky
greg bear - quantico
diann thornley - ganwold's child
jacob transue - twilight of the basilisks
charles sheffield - aftermath
robert charles wilson - spin, axis
jack mcdevitt - chindi, omega, odyssey, seeker, deepsix, the devil's eye, polaris, cauldron
stephen baxter - moonseed
― scott seward, Thursday, 4 May 2017 15:26 (seven years ago) link
i guess i'm hoping i'm a jack mcdevitt fan. they just had so many and they all looked kinda fun.
you don't have to worry about order with alastair reynolds books do you? they are all in the same future, right?
one of the reasons i still haven't read the banks culture books is because i feel like i should own them all before i read them. but maybe i really don't.
also have another big bag at home that i got on Thursday from the musty dusty.
― scott seward, Thursday, 4 May 2017 15:31 (seven years ago) link
also got 4-disc blade runner, children of men, and cabin boy for $1.75 each. strangely, i've been thinking lately about how i wanted to see children of men AND cabin boy again.
― scott seward, Thursday, 4 May 2017 15:33 (seven years ago) link
― scott seward, Thursday, 4 May 2017 16:26
I'm kind of fascinated by Wright. Haven't read his work but I like his influences and some of the approach he seems to be going for and some of his work is supposed to be good. But he's one of the maddest people in fantasy, he has some really bigoty opinions, he has the most pompous online persona I've ever seen, he's one of the main figures of the puppy movement (the speculative fiction version of gamergate) and his main editor/publisher is one of the main alt-right guys. Last time I read his blog he was complaining about witches casting spells on Trump.
George RR Martin arguing with him.http://grrm.livejournal.com/485124.html
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 4 May 2017 17:25 (seven years ago) link
I'm not reading anything by this guyhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/John_C_Wright.jpg/160px-John_C_Wright.jpg
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 4 May 2017 17:27 (seven years ago) link
One of his fellow puppies seems to believe left wing people are literally possessed by demons.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 4 May 2017 17:37 (seven years ago) link