Black Thunder

Having a basement really makes one hate rain. Last night the thunderstorm had to be one of the most powerful I have ever felt. My house/town was clearly at the eye of the storm since the thunder and lighting were simultaneous. At one point, one of the thundercracks nearly scared the shit right out of me, and I normally love thunder. I have never heard anything so loud and powerful in my life, my house was shaking as the thunder grew louder, rather than dissipating. I looked out my window and could tell immediately that power went out in the entire town. The thundercrack was powerful enough to set off car alarms going in every direction. All in all, it was quite eerie.

In good, or more normal news, I posted my review of Richard Morgan’s Black Man a day ago, after having received an advance copy from UK publisher Victor Golllancz. Readers in the US will see the book published very soon from Del Rey as Thirteen. I suggest picking it up, under either title.

In moment of serendipity, the collaborative interview with Richard Morgan, quarterbacked by Pat (http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com) and supported by Adam (http://thewertzone.blogspot.com), William (http://speculativereviews.blogspot.com), and myself went up at Pat’s blog today. Go read the my review, the interveiw then get the book. Black Man may be the one of the most talked-about SF novels of the year, and for good reason.

7 in a row for the Yankees; it is embarrassing.

Water, Water, Everywhere

So NJ's acting governer Dick Cody cliamed this was the worst storm to hit the State since 1882. I can believe it, I had a nice little lake in my basement which destroyed a nice new rug which wasn't even a year old. I'll likely need to replace some of the sheet rock walls.

As shitty as it is, I am thankful that I wasn't in one of the areas completely underwater that was evacuated. The worst of it was in the towns surrounding me and where I once lived. There was a State of Emergency and over 50 State roads were closed in NJ today.

Of course, this was all dwarfed by the tragedy at Virginia Tech today. Goddamned. Just when you think the world is fucked up, something like this happens to let you know you ain't seen nothing yet. My heart goes out to all those affected by the tragedy.

On a side note from all the mind-boggling reality, I posted my review of John Meaney's latest offering, Bone Song.

Bright Books and Crazy Day

My latest book review, Bright of the Sky by Kay Kenyon, went up at SFFWorld.com today. I enjoyed the book very much and have found yet another series I will be following. Such is the life of the FSF reader.

As many new books as I have on my “to read” pile, there are some books I have been wanting to re-read. Dune is one of them. I read the book twice, once in my college Science Fiction Literature course and again before the SciFi Channel Mini Series first aired. I loved it both times and I always wanted to follow through with the other books in the series; only those written by FRANK Herbert.

The other(s) is Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen. I read Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates about five years ago, right after returning from a business trip to Canada. At the time, Canada was the closest place I could get the books so I bought them and devoured them. When I found out Tor would be publishing them here in the States, I figured I could catch up again. Then time kept passing and six years later, Tor is almost caught up with the UK/Canadian releases.

On a side note, one of my biggest pet peeves in the SFFWorld forums (or any of the message boards I frequent) is when people constantly spell his name wrong, either Stephen or Erickson. Not only is it annoying because there is another author by the name of Steve Erickson, but know who you are talking about. Sorry, mini-rant over.

Some, OK, quite a few of the online FSF folks have been slagging Battlestar Galactica this past season/half season for the dip in quality of the show. I don't know that I can agree. I found myself being as drawn into the show each week, as much as just about any other time I was enjoying the series. Sure, maybe not as much as when the season kicked off and Adama returned to New Caprica, but I've been ejoying it nonetheless. I liked the season ender, and the build up to the last 15 minutes or so was really well-done. While not quite a cliff-hanger, I really can't wait to see what happens next.

As for the show that follows BSG, I'm really enjoying The Dresden Files. It is one of the few genre shows I can get Mrs. Blog 'o Stuff to watch, and enjoy watching it, with me. The first episode or two were a bit slow, but I keep coming back each week. Or at least TiVo does for me.

April Fool’s Day came and went with not so much as a whimper, though I thought it very clever how the Adult Swim folks “showed” the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, this Sunday The Sopranos begins its last half season. It will take quite a bit for the show to end on the high note with which it began.

There was a little craziness in my neck of the woods today, to say the least. I lived in a moderately sized city for over a year (New Brunswick) and I didn’t hear much insanity like this. Granted, I might have been a little insulated from the shadier parts of the city since I lived on the campus of Rutgers.

I think I've done enough stream of consciousness blogging for today.