Shaun Duke

Top 100 SF/F/H Books You Must Read Meme

Shaun Duke / June 24, 2008

I discovered this list here and immediately thought this would be a great meme. Here is how it works: Bold all the titles you have read, italicize the titles you hope to read or have seen the movie for (since many of these have been turned into movies) and try to make a distinction between the two, and just mark ones you’ve never heard of somehow (preferably with a parenthesis of some sort). People tagged:John of Grasping For the WindSQTGraeme And here is the list: 100 Books Thou Shalt Read Before You DieBy the Inquest Staff 1. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien2. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny3. The Ender Quartet by Orson Scott Card (read the first book)4. Neuromancer by William Gibson 5. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson (6 Books total)6. Foundation by Isaac Asimov (6 Books total) (read the first two books)7. Dune by Frank Herbert8. Elric by Michael Moorcock9. The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick10. 1984 by George Orwell11. Hyperion by Dan Simmons (four books)12. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester13. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (never heard of it)14. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley15. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick (aka Bladerunner)16. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (probably will never read)17. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers (I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know if I’ll read it)18. Lightning by Dean Koontz (probably will never read)19. The Uplift Trilogy by David Brin20. Ringworld by Larry Niven21. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (seen the movie)22. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber (complete series) (never heard of it, though I have heard of Leiber)23. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs24. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (and I’ve seen the movie)25. The Stand by Stephen King (tried reading it, got bored; tried watching the movie, got bored)26. Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory27. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (seen the movie)28. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein29. Watership Down by Richard Adams (seen the movie too)30. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury31. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien32. Helliconia by Brain Aldiss (three books)33. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (five books) (never heard of it)34. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathon Swift35. Mindkiller by Spider Robinson (novella in book Deathkiller) (never heard of it)36. Blood Music by Greg Bear 37. The Green Mile by Stephen King (probably won’t read, not a fan of King’s work, saw most of the movie though)38. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (saw the movie, probably will never read though)39. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein (saw the movie)40. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (seven books) (read the first two books)41. The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson42. Watchers by Dean Koontz (probably won’t read)43. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester44. Emphyrio by Jack Vance45. The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum46. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (seen two of the movies)47. Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock48. Animal Farm by George Orwell (seen the movie)49. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (seen the movie)50. Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (complete series) (not sure I want to read it)51. It by Stephen King (seen the movie)52. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess53. Timescape by Gregory Benford (never heard of it)54. Pern by Anne McCaffery (complete series) (not sure I’ll read this)55. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut56. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett57. Fionavar by Guy Gavriel Kay (three books) (never heard of it)58. Earthsea “trilogy” by Ursula K. LeGuin59. 2001 by Arthur C. Clarke (four books) (seen the movie)60. Xenogenesis by Octavia Butler (three books)61. A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge62. Conan by Robert E. Howard63. Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson64. Midnight at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker (never heard of it)65. A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony66. The Gap by Stephen R. Donaldson (five books) (I’ve not clue what this is)67. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain68. Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison69. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury70. Dark Elf series by R. A. Salvatore (not all that interested, especially if this is Forgotten Realms stuff)71. West of Eden by Harry Harrison72. A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle (never heard of it, but I know who the author is)73. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (saw the movie too)74. Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg (never heard of it)75. Dragonlance by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (never read any of this stuff, probably won’t)76. Lensman by E.E. “Doc” Smith (six books)77. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury78. The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle79. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein80. Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis81. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells (seen at least three movies based on this)82. Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem (never heard of it)83. Lyonesse by Jack Vance (three books)84. Catspaw by Joan Vinge85. Crystal Express by Bruce Stirling86. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle87. To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Phillip Jose Farmer88. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (never read, didn’t like the style, but saw the movie)89. Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh90. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes91. The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke92. “The Four Lords of the Diamond” by Jack Chalker (never heard of it)93. Swords by Fred Saberhagen94. Way Station by Clifford Simak95. The Kraken Wakes by John Wydham96. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson97. The High Crusade by Paul Anderson98. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (seen at least three movies based on this)99. Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons (never heard of it)100. The Postman by David Brin (saw the movie)

World in the Satin Bag

RIP: George Carlin

Shaun Duke / June 23, 2008

I thought it was a joke at first when I saw it, but apparently it’s true. George Carlin has passed away from a heart attack. Totally crap. This guy was a genius comedian. He will be sorely missed indeed. (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

Sometimes Nature is Stranger Than Fiction

Shaun Duke / June 23, 2008

(Stealing this from Mike Brotherton) Apparently scientists are giving added attention to a frog from Cameroon and realizing just how crazy nature really is. The frog not only grows sideburns, but also has the ability to project its bones through its hands like claws. Apparently the frogs have bones inside the tip of their phalanges, and these bones are sharp, covered by another bony nodule, and suspended inside the skin of the frog’s toe with a suspendatory sheath, and padded on the bottom of the toe with lots of tissue. The bone is connected to an extensor muscle. When the frog is stressed or caught (they don’t know what triggers it yet), the extensor muscle contracts, and the sharp bone BREAKS away from the nodule covering it, and then tears open the tissue of the frog’s toe to come out. The bony claw remains anchored via strong collagen fibers, and might be able to retract once the extensor muscle relaxes. This is the only species found so far with claws that do not have a keratinous sheath covering them. Thankfully this frog isn’t strong to kill people, but still, that’s kind of freaky. Click the link to learn more about this bizarre frog that is being called by some “the Wolverine frog”. If there is any animal out there that deserves to be named after such a famous superhero, it’s this frog. (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

Locus Awards 2008 Announced

Shaun Duke / June 22, 2008

The winners are: SF Novel: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins) Fantasy Novel: Making Money by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK; HarperCollins) Young Adult Book: Un Lun Dun by China Miéville (Ballantine Del Rey; Macmillan UK) First Novel: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (Morrow; Gollancz) Novella: “After the Siege” by Cory Doctorow (The Infinite Matrix Jan 2007) Novelette”The Witch’s Headstone” by Neil Gaiman (Wizards) Short Story: “A Small Room in Koboldtown” by Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s Apr/May 2007) Collection: The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories by Connie Willis (Subterranean) Anthology: The New Space Opera by Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan (Editors) (Eos) Non-fiction: Breakfast in the Ruins by Barry N. Malzberg (Baen) Art Book: The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Lothian 2006; Scholastic) Editor: Ellen Datlow Magazine: F&SF Publisher: Tor Artist: Charles Vess Congrats to all the winners indeed! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

Tall Writing Order

Shaun Duke / June 22, 2008

Today is going to be intense and it’s entirely possible that I will explode. Here’s what’s going down: At 10 PM I have to be showered, fed, and mentally prepared to write. Shortly after that point I need to be online. Why? I’ve arranged to do a 2 hour word war with a friend from my website YoungWritersOnline.net. Note: A word war, if you don’t know (and I have talked about it before) is basically a “battle” between any number of people to write the most in a given period of time. Generally they aren’t 2 hours long (15 minutes is normal). You set up a time with whomever you want to write with, with a time limit, and then for that period, you just write, nothing else, period. At the end, you come back and every says how many words they wrote and the person with the most wins (though technically anyone who wrote wins). Prior to this there will be a brainstorming session. It’s quite likely that we will either get tired of something and switch, or finish a couple stories all at once. So, we’re going to brainstorm for probably an hour beforehand. After all this, I’ll likely be dead. If I don’t reappear soon, expect my brain has exploded. It’s going to be intense and insane. Yeah. (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

My Trip: Part Three (The Last Bits and Tearful Goodbyes)

Shaun Duke / June 22, 2008

My apologies for the lateness of this post. I have pictures left to put up and the last chunk of the story to tell. School just killed me and I forgot to get this up. So here it is. Last time I talked about the first two castles I’ve ever seen up close (Conisborough and Peveril) and the Blue John Caverns. That was quite an experience indeed. Now I’m going to talk about some of the other fun things I got to do. Below you’ll see a long distance shot of Chatsworth House, which is probably the biggest non-corporate building I’ve ever been in. Attached to said house are the Chatsworth Gardens, a place of…well, we’ll get to that later.Chatsworth is like an orgy of amazing architecture, sculpture, paintings, and interior design. It’s an amazing place, as you can see:Probably the most memorable part of Chatsworth House is this:No, that is not a door inside of a door. It’s a painting. The put a door there, and painted another door with a violin on it inside of the frame, and when you see it in real life, it looks real. I was amazed by it and still am. Brilliantly done.Once you go through the house, you go out into the gardens, which have been built up over the years into this collage of…well, I don’t know what you call it. It’s amazing all the things they have in there. There’s a hedge maze, foundations, waterfalls, streams, and even this really cool waterfall staircase. And apparently pheasant just wander around there, but we’ll get to that later. Here are some images of the gardens:Here is the maze in the middle of the gardens. This was so cool. I’ve never been in a hedge maze before. There’s a cute story that goes along with it and it’s mushy, so deal with it. Lindsey and I were walking through and she would intentionally take us down the wrong way so we could playfully kiss in the corners (with the funny moment beforehand of us going, “Oh no, another dead end” *insert kiss*). Yes it was cute. Yes it was amazing. And yes Lindsey is a good kisser. Okay, vomit-ish moment over.Another really bizarre thing is this tree. It’s made of metal and they spray water through it or over it or something and it just sprinkles everywhere. It’s really amazing. Lindsey dragged me in a circle around it, which was fun. By the way, you can spend hours in these gardens. We didn’t see everything, but we got to see most of it. The place is enormous!And of course, probably one of the more famous bits of the gardens: the waterfall staircase. The stairs go all the way to the top and you’re allowed to walk on them. We didn’t walk on them on purpose, because it was far too cold for that sort of thing, but we did walk all the way down from the top, which was fun.The last castle (and the last significant place we went to) was Skipton Castle, which is one of the best preserved castles in England. I have to admit that it wasn’t as impressive as the other two, but maybe it was because it was so well preserved and seemed more like a living space than a defensive place. Granted, it is beautiful and certainly a fantastic place. I greatly enjoyed going there and expect if I go to England again (actually, when I go there again, because I intend to see more that amazing country) I will see many more castles and interesting sights. Thankfully, England isn’t a very large country, which makes seeing the sights a little easier than trying to see everything in the U.S. Anyway, here be the picturesThis is the old church at Skipton. It’s mostly in ruin, but look at it! It’s so old and amazing.The tree below is a Yew tree that was supposedly planted there by Lady Anne almost 400 years ago. That would make this a very old tree indeed.In the picture below you can see a clear view of Lindsey reading a information thing (whatever you call those). Isn’t she cute?Here is a random picture up a chimney:And what group of castle pictures would complete without a picture of a medieval toilet?And, of course, another picture of Lindsey reading in a castle and otherwise being beautiful, cute, and lovable:If you look at this picture you’ll notice there are two walls. Why? Well because the original wall, which is all beaten up, was blown down at some point (I think) during a three year siege on Skipton. They rebuilt the wall later, which is very obvious I think.The strange thing is, this stairway leads into the “dungeon”, but I didn’t take any pictures of the dungeon. I don’t know why, but I didn’t. It’s okay, though, the dungeon was just one room with nothing in it and it apparently gave Lindsey and her mum the willies. I didn’t feel too comfortable either.I absolutely love this picture. There were these arrow slits in the walls, and some of them were shaped as cross. We were there at just the right time to have the sun coming in, so it looks like the cross is glowing!Inside the church that was pictured earlier:After Skipton Castle we wandered around in town. Lindsey and I went to a couple bookstores and generally had a lot of fun together before eating lunch. Afterwards, we met up with her mum again and went to the canal. There were sound houseboats there that were for sale, which I didn’t get a picture of, and a cute duck who I named Terrance. I’ve never seen a duck with a blue bill, which is why I took the picture.Also, since i said I would talk about the pheasant, here is a picture of the one we saw. His name is Ted. I don’t know why, that’s just what I called him, if memory serves me