Well, it’s about time for another one of these. I only have so many finished stories, but so be it. “Artemis” is actually one of my oldest stories in circulation. It has a load of rejections, some rather optimistic and others the standard form, and I’m hoping it gets picked up eventually. I’ve considered turning it into a novel one day, but we’ll see. Anyway, enjoy:Any Story Wordles from you guys?
Here are a few giveaways happening around these blogging parts: S. Krishna has a copy of The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick. The Tome Traveller has a copy of Dan Simmon’s Drood. Morbid Romantic has a copy of Vigilante Witch Hunter by Gary Turcotte. Jenn’s Bookshelf is giving away a whole load of ARCs. Drey’s Library has a copy of Dan Simmon’s Drood (well, three of them).
I know, it’s a surprise that I’ve managed to write another book review. But so be it. Here is my review of Busted Flush edited by George R. R. Martin. Enjoy!
What could be a better way to start the month than with some interesting links? A lot of things, but unfortunately I can’t send any of you to Disneyland or buy you all a brand new sports car. So you’re stuck with links. Enjoy: Here’s a list of 11 literary references people make without realizing it. It’s an interesting list (I don’t agree that all of them are unknown to people, but maybe that’s because I get almost all of them instantly). Clarion South needs your help. Donate, or something. Stock Bank has a short list of some very interesting speculative fiction books written by African Americans. Heretical Ideas talks about the sluggish progress of transportation technology today in comparison to the past. It’s interesting to think about where we’ve come from in that field and the fact that we’re not going much of anywhere now. Larry at OF Blog of the Fallen talks about worldbuilding and escapism in fantasy literature and recent “trends” calling for more “realism” in the genre. Futurismic has an article about a recent study from Reading University that suggests the extinction of some words in the English language we’re all familiar with. Weird and interesting. Maybe we need a conservation campaign for the English language! Mike Brotherton asks what you think about the Loch Ness monster, Big Foot, and other cryptozoological things. Tia of Fantasy Debut has a great article about readership and reader retention. Colleen Anderson has an interesting letter talking about the ghettoization of speculative fiction. Some great points are made. SF Signal asks what the worst book you ever read was. I voted one of the ones I reviewed a while back and could get into. What about you? And there you have it. Enjoy!
Nothing like Story Wordle for a piece of short science fiction about crazy government people working to reverse-engineer chickens into dinosaurs, eh? That’s what this one is about (and apparently got an honorable mention in WOTF–go figure). I’m going to link to it because it isn’t working as a linked image for this one. So here it is. Anywho! Any Story Wordles from my readers?
(Stolen from Big Dumb Object) This video is fascinating. It’s a collection of writers, directors, and Honda engineers discussing what the future of transportation will be like, but in a spiffy sort of way, rather than in a manner that might bore people (like all those old animal documentaries with the monotone narrator). Check it out: What do you think the future of transportation will be in 80 years?
