A while back I came across a list of movies, books and other entertainment items on the International Space Station. I forwarded that list to Baen Books, as I noticed that a good chunk of the titles involved were from that publisher.

Somewhat jokingly I suggested that, in the spirit of their programs to give free books to members of the military and free books to disabled readers, they ought to give free books to the crew of the ISS.

Gee...maybe I should have suggested they give me a book contract. Because it appears they listened to me!

(I can't complain. They get free books, and I got a free Baen Books apron and a bunch of bookmarks and a sheet of autographed bookplates!)

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Rumors of War (200

The list can now be found here.

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Another Fine Myth; Robert Asprin (part of Myth Adventures, Volume One) (Meisha Merlin; 2006; ISBN 1-59222-111-4; cover by Phil Foglio).

Just about the same time that I learned the sad news that Robert Asprin had passed away, I was finishing up this book. Meisha Merlin had put out two omnibus editions (this one is made up of Another Fine Myth, Myth Conceptions, Myth Directions, Hit or Myth, Myth-ing Persons and Little Myth Marker); shortly afterwards, Meisha Merlin went under. What is it with small publishers and this series? It's a curse, I tell you...

The first volume is the tale of Skeeve, an apprentice magician and Aahz, a demon. Skeeve's teacher summons Aahz to impress Skeeve, but not only ends up dead but has a hand in Aahz losing his powers. Toss in a baby dragon, a demon hunter, a beautiful assassin, various sidekicks, a war unicorn, dimensional travel...and another magician who is trying to take things over. Lots of puns, lots of verbal jokes in names, each chapter is headed by a quote allegedly made by folks ranging from Hamlet to Bruce Lee to Laurel and Hardy and others.

Due to various unfortunate events (failing publishers, books going out of print, troubles with the IRS), this series never gained the widespread reputation that it should have. Sure we have Rowling. We have Pratchett. But the name of Asprin should have been as widely known. The books are a hoot 'n' a holler. They're fun. They're a riot. Seek them out.

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Fragile Things; Neil Gaiman (Harper Perennial; 2007; ISBN 978-0-06-125202-0; cover by Gregg Kulick).

Smoke and Mirrors; Neil Gaiman (Harper Perennial; 2001; ISBN 0-06-093470-0; cover by J.K. Potter).

The review can now be found here.

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Did the universe move for you? For you see, not only was John Scalzi in a coffee shop, but he was in a Starbucks and even (apparently) had some coffee!!!

See thousands of Scalzi fans rending their copies of You're Not Fooling Anybody When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop into so much pulp! See the stock price of $tarbucks climb as those thousands of fans embrace coffee again!

The paradigm, she has shifted.

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Via Bill Fawcett...

Robert Asprin (1946-200

On May 22, 2008, Bob passed away quietly in his home in New Orleans, LA. He had been in good spirits and working on several new projects, and was set to be the Guest of Honor at a major science fiction convention that very weekend. He is survived by his mother, his sister, his daughter and his son, and his cat, Princess, not to mention countless friends and fans and numerous legendary fictional characters. He will be greatly missed.

Asprin should have been the "American Pratchett". He wrote great humorous science fiction and fantasy. His career was impacted by the Internal Revenue Service, which took his income from solo works for a long period. With the Thieves' World series, he helped to start the shared-world anthologies that so many publishers fell in love with. The MythAdventure series and the Phule series were both great examples of humorous genre fiction.

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Grilled cheese. Toasted cheese. Comfort food. Hmmmm...toasted cheese.

A toasted cheese contest!

And...toasted cheese in literature.

'Killick! Killick, there! Bear a hand.'

Killick's voice could be heard coming nearer: 'No peace, no bleeding peace in this barky,' and as the door opened, 'Sir?'

'Toasted cheese for the Doctor, half a dozen mutton-chops for me, and a couple of bottles of the Hermitage. D'ye hear me there? Now, Stephen, give me an A.'

They tuned their strings, that pleasant tentative wailing, and as they tuned he said, 'What do you say to our old Corelli in C major?'

'With all my heart,' said Stephen, poising his bow. He paused, and fixed Jack's eye with his own: they both nodded: he brought the bow down and the cello broke into its deep noble song, followed instantly by the piercing violin, dead true to the note. The music filled the great cabin, the one speaking to the other, both twining into one, the fiddle soaring alone: they were in the very heart of the intricate sound, the close lovely reasoning, and the ship and her burdens faded far, far from their minds.

(Patrick O'Brian, Desolation Island)

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It seems that during periods of stress, some folks turn to comfort foods. Or to cigarettes. Or to drink.

Me, I tend to turn back to music and certain authors. Clifford D. Simak and Spider Robinson, among others, have helped me through previous periods of stress. And this seems to be shaping up to be a spring of stress, and no doubt will also be a summer of stress.

So, it is back to the bar. Back to Callahan's Place and Lady Sally's Place and Mary's Place and The Place. more...

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John's Reading Report (April 200

Over the past month I have finished:

Virtual Light, William Gibson.

Idoru, William Gibson.

In progress:

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter. I'm really savoring this one this time around. It's taking me longer to read, but I am breaking it into more digestible chunks.

Consciousness Explained, Daniel C. Dennett.

On deck:

The Martian General's Daughter, Theodore Judson

Extraordinary Relationships, Roberta Gilbert.

Suite Francaise, Irene Nemerovsky. My wife loaned this one out, so I'll need to wait to start it later.

Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain--and How it Changed the World, Carl Zimmer.

Spook Country, William Gibson.

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Fred's Reading Report (April 200

O.K., it's that time of the month again!

Eighteen books YTD! 187 short works!

Which is to say...there's good news and there's bad news. For short works, if the goal is one short a day, I needed to be at 121 stories by the end of April. So, I've exceeded that goal. For long form, 18 books is better than one book a month for a year, so I'm way ahead of 99.99% of the people I know (many barely manage a book a year, for all love). more...

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