Current Reading
Fiction in many forms: a catch up post
It’s been way too long since I posted. Here’s some of what I’ve been up to:
Top of the list would be hanging out with David J Williams during his LASFS adventure. I was a bit floored by how he was treated. I sort of feel like Dave and I fought through the trenches together.
I’ve been listening to the audible production of Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. It’s satisfying to experience such a large science fictional tapestry explored from such a personal view point. This is a book that anyone (even those normally timid in the face of speculative fiction) that loves novels can appreciate. Of course, I’ll write a review once I finish it. A bit sad that I didn’t finish it in time to participate in #sfbookclub 2
I’ve continued to read through The New Weird. I had to return my library copy, so I bought my own.
Continuing my support of Magic District authors, Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland is now on my shelf. I’ve read just a bit into it, and I’m excited to continue.
I took advantage of Nightshade Book’s generous sale, and picked up copies of Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi and The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks, both beautiful hardcovers, have been added to my “to read” pile.
The economy is putting pressure on everyone. Some authors (with relatively healthy back lists) are responding by posting serialized content to the web, supported by donation. Two that I’ve supported recently: Catherynne M. Valente and Tim Pratt. Tim is writing a novella prequel to the Marla Mason series. I know very little about Catherynne’s project, but I downloaded these recordings, which were a brilliant set of nested stories I’ll write more about later. I also signed up for the Omikuji Project.
I find myself deeply fascinated by the Pragmatic Bookshelf. Pretty much their entire line of books are things that will interest me, but I particularly like their “beta book” concept. It reminds me favorably of the physics e-print archive. I wonder if they’d consider publishing some science fiction.
There’s more. There’s always more, but I’m going to post this now and go actually read some of this stuff.
MJ- -not only was it great to meet you, but it was good to have you as a Fair Witness. : )