Vorpal Blade; John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor (Baen Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1-4165-2129-7, cover by Kurt Miller).

The review can now be found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"The lunatic, on the other hand, doesn't concern himself at all with logic; he works by short circuits. For him, everything proves everything else. The lunatic is all idée fixe, and whatever he comes across confirms his lunacy. You can tell him by the liberties he takes with common sense, by his flashes of inspiration, and by the fact that sooner or later he brings up the Templars."

"Invariably?"

"There are lunatics who don't bring up the Templars, but those who do are the most insidious. At first they seem normal, but all of a sudden..."

(Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...collection of Philip K. Dick books? (What did you think I was going to ask?) Total Dick-Head, home of all Things PKD, takes a look at a few collections, including his own.

I can't claim to have anything this...um...lengthy. Now if you were to ask "How long is your Heinlein?" or "How long is your Clarke?" or "How long is your Anderson?", etc., I might have these folks beat.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Terry Pratchett has announced that he has early-onset Alzheimer's.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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An article implies that Robert A. Heinlein's influence is declining. The evidence? That the literati don't take him seriously anymore. Is being compared to Heinlein a help or hindrance to a new science fiction writer? One such writer speaks up (and to be honest, the main reason I picked up John Scalzi's books was because of the comparison to Heinlein!)

Looks like it is time to trot out this 1980 essay by Spider Robinson again! more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 04:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A virtual map of locations mentioned in the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Roll for SAN...

Oh boy! New Call of Cthulhu mugs! Tell me, have you seen the Yellow Sign?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 01:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Balefires; David Drake (Night Shade Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1-59780-071-6, cover by Richard Pellegrino).

The review can now be viewed here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 01:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Virgil Finlay's Strange Science; Virgil Finlay (Underwood-Miller, 1992, ISBN 0-88733-154-8, cover by Virgil Finlay).

The review can now be found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Combined review can now be found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:01 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Expedition: Being An Account in Words and Artwork of the 2358 A.D. Voyage to Darwin IV; Wayne Barlowe (Workman Publishing, 1990, ISBN 0-89480-629-7, cover by Wayne Barlowe).

The review is now found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OK, we're just a day or two late on this. Check out Fred's reading report here.

Meanwhile, here's what I've read since my last report:

The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick. This alternate-history novel was an interesting read, especially so soon after I read Philip Roth's The Plot Against America.

The current issues of Architectural Digest, Dwell, National Geographic, and two months' worth of Analog magazine.

In progress:

Consciousness Explained, Daniel C. Dennett.

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Christopher Hitchens.

Still on deck:

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter.

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

About five months' worth of Analog magazine.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:05 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Frank Kelly Freas: As He Sees It; Frank Kelly Freas and Laura Brodian Freas (Paper Tiger, 2000, ISBN 1-85585-848-7, cover by Frank Kelly Freas).

The review can now be found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fantastic Science–Fiction Art: 1926–1954; Lester Del Rey (Ballantine Books, ISBN 345-24731-0-595, cover by Frank R. Paul).

The review can now be found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well, I'm not John, but here we are. November is finished, December has just begun. What has the year-to-date brought me? 238 short works completed. I'm hoping for 365, to continue my "short a day" project, so that means I've got 127 to go. That will be more than one short a day..

78 longer works completed. I've got several others that I'm reading. I tend towards as many as 25 books simultaneously. So I'll finish a few more before the year ends.

Back to you, John!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 03:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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My friend Pete Young's pictures in various categories at Flickr. Various subjects, including SF author's with pending Big Works A'Coming.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 01:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Omnibus review can now be found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The John Grimes tales of A. Bertram Chandler.

Omnibus review can now be found here.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Just like to point out that Baen Books is offering a whole pile of fine works of science fiction, fantasy and more in their Free Library. Just in case you think Amazon has invented the world of electronic books. (And while you're at it, surf past the media hype and also look at Project Gutenberg, Memoware, Manybooks and other folks who have been on the frontier far longer than the Amazon effort. Heck, I recall downloading Project Gutenberg works for my Apple Newton!)

(There's no reason, by the way, to spend several hundred dollars on a poorly designed, hard to hold comfortably, overpriced, DRM-crippled reader. Some smart shopping in second-hand outlets can get you a perfectly capable laptop, eBook reader or PDA for far less.) more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 11:27 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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(Reposted from 2005 and updated for 2007.)

I was rummaging through a list that I maintain of books that are yet to be published. I was amazed at the number of titles that we may never see. Whatever happened to... more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here's what I've read since my last report:

Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert.

The Plot Against America, Philip Roth. This is the first one of Roth's books that I've read. I don't usually seek out bestsellers or "literary" authors, but my prior alt-history reading habits led Amazon to recommend it for me. I liked it enough that I now intend to check out some of Roth's other books. If you're a fan, are there any that you would recommend?

The current issues of Architectural Digest, Dwell, and National Geographic.

In progress:

Consciousness Explained, Daniel C. Dennett. Dennett is a wonderful author, and I've recently discovered that he is on the advisory board of The Center For Naturalism.

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Christopher Hitchens.

Still on deck:

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter.

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

About seven months' worth of Analog magazine.

Posted by: JohnL at 07:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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