The Wheel Turns...R.I.P. Robert Jordan

James Oliver Rigney, also known as Robert Jordan passed away yesterday. I’m just one of many blogs, fans, and news sites reporting this, but it is still worth mentioning here. His Wheel of Time is easily one of the most popular (if not the largest) multi-volume sagas in the genre and helped to make fantasy (and I’m sure by extension, Science Fiction) a more commercially viable genre in the nineties on through to today. For all the finger pointing at Jordan for his shortcomings as a storyteller, he was one of the great “gatekeepers” of the genre, and hopefully will be for many years. The Eye of the World, and to a lesser extent his Conan novels, are some of the first fantasy books people read, or fiction people read in general.

I can only relate my own experience with his writing, and how it helped to bring me back in a greater way to reading fantasy and science fiction. I’d always enjoyed reading; after all I was an English major in college. As I might have said, I cut my reading chops at a very young age on those Choose Your Own Adventure books as well as The Three Investigators, then I moved onto Stephen King somewhere just before middle school. That brought me a bunch of horror, basically whatever my parents had on the shelves. Then, I found Dungeons & Dragons as a game, and DragonLance as a story. Soon, though, college called and my “free-time” reading became something of the past.

As college wound down, my free reading time returned. One of the first books I recall buying was The Eye of the World; I saw something about this Wheel of Time series on one of those news shows the SciFi Channel once aired, Sci Fi Buzz hosted by Mike Jerrick. He and Jordan were discussing the Wheel of Time. The concept interested me; I liked the idea of resonating myths coming to life; a fantasy world that has echoes of our own. I recalled Jordan’s name when I visited Barnes & Noble some time later. I figured, what the heck, the book looks interesting. I was hooked, and I have to admit to still recalling some of the scenes from the first book pretty clearly even a decade later. When I joined the Science Fiction Book Club shortly thereafter, I wound up ordering the next two books and read though them fairly quickly. I didn’t want to have to wait to mail in my order the SFBC and then wait for them to deliver the next books, which would have been The Shadow Rising and The Fires of Heaven, so I bought one in paperback and the other as a discounted hardback.

I remember reading some of the scenes in Lord of Chaos long into the night and in general, those first five or six books of the Wheel of Time were some of the most fun and compelling reading experiences I had, at least up until that point. Despite how a couple of the later books in the series left me unsatisfied, The Wheel of Time will always have a special spot on my bookshelf. I’ve been wondering for a while now if the first books would hold up as well if I were to re-read them. I was considering going through them again once the final book was to be published. Perhaps, as David Gemmell’s widow did, Jordan’s widow can finish off the last volume. She was, after all, his editor.

Before The Eye of the World was published, Jordan published other novels, but he also lived a damned interesting life. He studied physics at the Citadel, he was a nuclear engineer, and fought in the Vietnam War where he received awards for his bravery in the war and settled into a house built in the late 18th Century. Not a shabby set of life experiences, if you ask me.

Robert Jordan, through his Wheel of Time, was an ambassador to the genre, welcoming new readers. Jordan has been compared to Tolkien, and say what you will, Jordan’s importance to the genre cannot be understated. George R. R. Martin has already posted a very nice remembrance of Jordan and a thanks, as have many others. The Wheel of Time helped to make fantasy a much larger genre, and brought in a large audience. As of yesterday, the genre has lost another giant and is a shade smaller.

For that, and the many hours of reading pleasure he brought to his fans, James Oliver Rigney will be missed. Death is never easy, even when you are given a set time to live. My condolences go out to his family, friends and many readers, including those who came together in life through his books.

Over at SFFWorld, we’ve got a thread recalling his work where our members are posting their thoughts and remembrances.

http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/rip-jim-rigney-robert-jordan-1948-2007.html
http://grrm.livejournal.com/21250.html
http://www.tor-forge.com/NewsArticle.aspx?articleId=574
http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/?p=90
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/009381.html#009381
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jordan
http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2007/09/very-sad-news.html

Career Matchmaker

This is interesting, except I suck at my number 1 match. Oh well.

Instructions:
1. Go here: http://www.careercruising.com/default.asp
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
4. Post the top results.

1. Cartoonist / Comic Illustrator
2. Desktop Publisher
3. Fashion Designer
4. Costume Designer
5. Set Designer
6. Cook
7. Writer
8. Critic
9. Graphic Designer
10. Artist
11. Communications Specialist
12. Market Research Analyst
13. Translator
14. Computer Animator
15. Website Designer
16. Print Journalist
17. Medical Illustrator
18. Industrial Designer
19. Interior Designer
20. Animator
21. Baker
22. Special Effects Technician
23. Sign Maker
24. Plumber
25. Glazier

In some form or another, I've had rresponsiblities similar to 2, 7, 11, 12, 15, and I love to cook. But a freaking plumber? I'm not bad at dealing with plumbing issues in my house and nothing against the plumbing profession, but that doesn't fit with the rest. And a glass cutter? Wow.

Fire and Blood

Knacked from the Hornswoggler & Aidan. I can live with that, though I thought I would be a Stark.

Your Score: House Targaryen

63% Dominant, 63% Extroverted, 63% Trustworthy

Ancient. Noble. Passionate to the point of insanity. Transcending lesser beings, you are of House Targaryen.

You are a dominant personality—in fact, you are the most dominant of all eight house types. You will not suffer yourself to be ignored. You will not suffer yourself to be ruled. The phrase "I will not suffer myself to _____!" was practically made for you. You are willful, arrogant, and exceedingly dangerous to screw with. With a temper like yours, anyone stupid enough to saunter into your line of fire won’t soon forget their mistake.

You are also extroverted, which means that everyone in the world knows exactly what your intentions are. Unlike your cohorts (who hide behind smiles and courtesies and court politics), you think of it as your birthright to come riding in on an enormous dragon, breathing fire and fucking your siblings. Hey, what you lack in subtlty, you make up in style!

Finally, you are trustworthy. Your absurd amounts of power and borderline psychosis are not used unjustly. Unlike many, your general aims are just and true. You we bred for rule, and the fact that you cannot rest until you are doing so is not your fault. If you make up your mind, it becomes reality. Never one for empty threats or vainglorious lies, you can only speak the truth. And the truth is "fire and blood."

Representative characters include: Daenerys Stormborn, Rhaegar Targaryen, and Viserys Targaryen

Similar Houses: Baratheon, Lannister,and Tully

Opposite House: Frey

When playing the game of thrones, you play it to the death.

Link: The Song of Ice and Fire House Test written by Geeky_Stripper on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

A Feast of Books Continues

The latest review I’ve posted is today’s: Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman, the first book in her new Magister Trilogy. Ms. Friedman is no stranger to fantasy and science fiction readers, but this book seems to have flown under the radar since it published in February. Shame really, because Friedman is an excellent writer.

I suppose her writing will always hold a special spot on my shelf because her Coldfire Trilogy was what I read on the beach in Hawaii, and the plane to and from the Island State when Mrs. Blog ‘o Stuff tied the knot over seven years ago.

The only books I haven’t read by her are The Wildling and This Madness Season. I remember liking This Alien Shore quite a bit when I read it.

That’s the long of it. The short of it is that I really enjoyed Feast of Souls, check out my review.

Over the weekend, I watched Pan’s Labyrinth, which was sitting on my TiVO for a few weeks. It was dark, both in the fantastical elements and real elements. The costumes/creatures were great, the acting worked for me, and I just really enjoyed the movie.

I don't see much talk about The 4400, which happens to be a pretty entertaining show. Part X-Men, part, Heroes, part conspiracy. The only surprisng thing is that it is on USA and not SciFi.

Rutgers is 2-0 and the Yankees have a healthy lead in the wild card. Sports are looking good from my vantage point.

Ascension

Another Monday* and another new review up at SFFWorld by yours truly. This time it’s Mistborn: Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. I liked this one very much and can see why Tor is getting behind him in a big way. So far, he’s cranked out three books in three years, so he delivers regularly. More importantly he delivers quality in spades.

We also posted the David Anthony Durham interview I conducted alongside with Pat, Larry, and Ken. Pat posted a while ago, but SFFWorld put it up tonight. I read Durham’s Acacia Book I: War with the Mein earlier in the year and was really impressed with the book.

RU started off the season very nicely, beating the point spread. It was a bit “different,” shall I say, to see a completely packed stadium, as well as participating in crowd chants numerous times throughout the game. Granted, there were some games when I attended that had big crowds, but the atmosphere was odd: it felt like what a college football game should feel like. As one friend I ran into at the tailgate said, its kind of weird to see so many people at a Rutgers game wearing Rutgers attire.

If Rutgers want to maintain and/or move up, we need to see more of the same, in terms of offense. I was never a big proponent of teams running up the score; however, it seems to be an unfortunate means to an end of getting the top rankings.

*I know, sometimes I put up my new reviews on Tuesday.

Elves, Pandas, and Knights

I just posted my review of Gary Wassner’s latest GemQuest novel, The Revenge of the Elves. I continue to enjoy Gary’s writing and hope his audience increases with this book.

Although this is probably old news by now to the folks who read this blog as well as those on my side bar, but La Gringa is back to regular blogging. This is a good thing, especially with all daily genre updates she’s been doing.

Thursday Knight is Rutgers Football Kickoff and I’ll be in attendance. I haven’t been to too many games since I graduated, so this should be fun. With the team starting out in the Top 20 (#16) and Ray Rice as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate, it looks to be a great year. I don't recall expectations ever being so high for Rutgers; it is a weird place to be for this team, though one they will hopefully be in over the next big handful of years. Just a few years ago I had trouble finding Rutgers merchandise in stores and malls. Now it is everywhere. Regardless of how well the team ever did, there was never any excuse for not being able to find RU merchandise. Especially in the malls closest to the school. Enough of that bitching for now, the forthcoming season looks like it will be a ball.

SFFWorld Stuff & a Meme

A slew of new material has been posted to SFFWorld in the past few days. Hobbit posted reviews of Cowboy Angels by Paul McAuley and Steven Paul Davies’s The Prisoner Handbook. Art posted his (as always) thoughtful review of Queen of Candescence by Karl Schroeder. We also just posted the second half of Aidan Moher’s Changing of the Guard article.

I’ve got two reviews ready to go up to the Web site, after one last read through for later this week.

I saw Stardust last week and really enjoyed it. Althought the comparison was made by many reviewers/critics, I don’t think comparing it to The Princess Bride was fair, regardless of how fun, delightful, and entertaining Stardust was. It was easily my favorite movie so far this year, at least what I’ve seen in theaters. Was it perfect? No, but very few movies are perfect. If it was cut by maybe 10 minutes it would have been perfectly paced. That said, I would have like to see more of the ghostly brothers bickering, something I recall being more prevalent in the novel.

Found these over at Wistful Writings

What are you reading right now?
Dawn of Night by Paul S. Kemp, Hurricane Moon by Alexis Latner, and the latest issue of Realms of Fantasy. Kemp is entertaining, I just cracked open Gardner’s debut and the stories I’ve read in RoF so far are good.

Do you have any idea what you'll read when you're done with that?
I usually have a pretty good idea. Since Dawn of Night is a middle book in a trilogy, I’ll logically enough move onto Midnight’s Mask straight after DoN. The books are enjoyable so I’m not complaining. Once I finish Latner, I’ll probably grab a handful of books and ask Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff to pick from the bunch.

What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
Realms of Fantasy and a bunch of catalogues.

What's the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
You flip the coin: Heads it’s Wuthering Heights; tails it’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

What's the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
One book? That’s tough, since I recommend based off the personality to whom I’m recommending. Lately though, it’s been A Game of Thrones.

Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they?
I can’t say they do. Since I moved three years ago the only time I went to the library was for elections.

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all?
As the saying goes, Mileage May Vary; however no one book stick out like a sore thumb more than any other.

Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you're on the computer? While you're driving?
Yes, no, TV, yes, occasionally and no.

When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Not really, although everybody in school knew I was a big Stephen King fan.

What's the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down? Half the night?
Maybe The Name of the Wind.

Dog Days of Summer

I haven’t felt inclined to post lately, obviously. Summer has been busy with work, work around the house and seeing friends on the weekends. For the first time in a few years, I went to Great Adventure earlier in the week. Mrs. Blog o’ Stuff and I met some family members there and had a pretty good time, despite the oppressive heat. Of course Kingda Ka was not running, but El Toro, the ginormous wooden coaster was. What an incredible ride.

All of this has left me with very little reading time over the past couple of weeks. The books I’ve been reading; however, have been good. Particularly Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn: The Final Empire, the most recent book review I posted. I saw the buzz for Elantris (which will coincidentally be the SFFWorld Book Club Fantasy book for September) two years ago and actually won a hardcover of The Final Empire in one of Pat’s contests. When an ARC of the second book, The Well of Ascension, I cracked open The Final Empire. I was thoroughly impressed and the sequel is living up to the first book.

I’m also in the middle of Gary Wassner’s forthcoming GemQuest novel, The Revenge of the Elves. I’m about halfway through and enjoying this one very much, too. I’m hoping readers will discover Gary’s books soon, they deserve a wider audience.

I caught The Simpsons Movie last weekend with a couple of friends. It was entertaining and made me laugh more often than not, even if some of the jokes were far too telegraphed. Of course the funniest part of the whole film was the Spider-Pig sequence.

Rags, Harry and Jackhammers

I just posted my review of Tobias Buckell's Ragamuffin, a very entertaining space opera. Earlier today, Mrs. Blog o' Stuff and I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I was entertained for the most part, but thought the pacing was a little uneven. The film was a bit choppy during the beginning where too many events from the book were condensed (or seemingly ignored). The final wizard battle, while great to watch, came together without enough build up. I understand things will be cut from the book, but I don't see any reason why this film couldn't have been three hours in order to cover more of the plot elements from the book.

It has been a loud couple of days here at home, I had some minor construction done in my basement. I tell ya, nothing compares to the sound and feel of a jackhammer blasting away at your basement floor at 10:30 in the morining. The rain back in April really screwed me over and since then, water has become too good of a "friend" to my basement. So, over a five-to-six hour period yesterday, about 4.5 tons of concrete was removed from my basement so a drain system and sump pump could be installed. I will no sleep much better during rainy nights.

JTH-The Dark River

A couple of days ago, I posted my review of The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks. I liked it almost as much as The Traveler, the first book in the sequence, and on the whole, the novel did a great job of continuing the story, further developing the plot/world, and gearing me up for the final volume.

I finally finished Memories of Ice over the weekend. I really enjoyed it, but the book was like running a marathon. I felt tired and exhausted, but found it rewarding. I will be jumping back into House of Chains, but need a break from Malazan so I don’t over exhaust myself.

Breakaway and Movie Talk

As my little sidebar indicates, I posted a new review today - Joel Shepherd's Breakaway. Good, action-packed Science Fiction here.

I saw 1408 last weekend and thought it pretty good. I went in with middle-of-the road expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised. I grew up watching John Cusack movies, and I have liked almost everything I've seen with him. This was no exception. I, as anybody who reads this blog knows, like most of Stephen King's work, though I never read the original story which inspired the movie.

One or two spots spooked me, more out of surprise than anything. When did a telephone ringing become such frightening thing in movies, by the way? The movie got a little hokey towards the end, but I enjoyed it. What I particularly liked about the film was some of the ambiguity - the ending seemed as if it was open to viewer interpretation, as did Samuel, "Evil Fucking Room" Jackson's role. I say this mainly because Mrs. Blog O' Stuff and I had different reactions to both, or rather, different interpretations.

So, a good movie, but not one I would judge as a Must Have on DVD.

I am fighting very hard against my urge to see the Transformers movie. I grew up watching the cartoon and had a bunch of the toys, and like most boys my age, loved the movie, which was Orson Welles's last role. I also dislike nearly everything* I've seen from Michael Bay, almost walking out of Armageddon, so I won't be expecting much. Well, The Rock wasn't so bad. Then again, Transformers does seem like a movie that should be seen in theaters and Speilberg has his name attached to it, so that gives me a faint glimmer of hope.

As it is, I will be seeing the next Potter film, part of me wants to see Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but the film I'm most looking forward to seeing is Stardust. Despite it's crappy title, the trailers of Shoot 'Em Up have me intrigued - to see it when it hits cable.

Enough ranting for now, but I haven't been doing enough ranting here lately.

Do You Trust Me?

My review of Gradisil by Adam Roberts is now up at SFFWorld.

This is the latest critique on reviewers:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/06/widen_your_literary_universe_w.html

Red Seas

I posted my review of what thus far is my favorite book published this year: Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. Scott did everything right in this book, much in the same way The Lies of Locke Lamora had all the right elements. The main difference is that Scott’s writing and plotting are even tighter with one book under his belt. I was lucky enough to get an early look at the Gollancz-UK version of the book, but chances are I’ll wind up picking up the US edition as well since I’m something of a completist.

Zombies - Is it the End of the World?

Waking today presented no problem. Unfortunately, the remainder of the day wouldn’t be so easy. The following days would not begin so harmlessly, I’m sure. My wife had already left for work by the time I was fully conscious, I vaguely recall her peck on the cheek before she descended the stairs. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

By the time I got in my car and made the turn onto the highway, I knew the day would be a problem. Cars were at a dead halt on the road, many of them crashed into each other. Since it was late spring, I was driving with my windows down, which allowed the stench of death to waft into my car. Once you smell death, you know it when you smell it again. There was nothing I could do to get on the road, even the shoulder was jammed. My only hope was to turnaround and try driving the back roads.

As I was doing that, I needed to make a phone call. I dialed my wife’s speed-number on my cell phone and waited what seemed an eternity for her to answer. “You aren’t going to believe this,” she said before I could say anything.

“I might, I’ve just seen the highway at a complete dead stop.”

“Well, I know why. There is a Zombie Uprising.”

“Shit, I just knew life was going too well. They say one happens every hundred years or so, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, at least that’s what my Dad says. His Dad supposedly lived through the last uprising,” she responded. I remembered hearing the tales from her father on a couple of occasions, mostly after a random Zombie or two shambled in from the woods. Random Zombie sightings, while not exactly common, weren’t entirely rare, either.

“Try and get home, keep you cell phone turned on,” I said, hearing some strange grunting in the background. “I’m going home to get some helpers.”

She knew what I meant, the old baseball bat, the axe, sledgehammer and pickaxe. They worked well enough on the lone zombies that shambled around on occasion. “I’ll do what I can, but the Zombies are starting to flood everything. I’m only halfway to work. I love you.” She said.

“I love you, too.” We both ended the call. I felt so goddamned helpless knowing she might be stuck in a death trap with her brains enticing the Zombies.

Zombies have been a semi-regular occurrence for a few hundred years and for some reason, they rise in droves once a century. Not too dissimilar to the loud buzzing cicadas, except the Zombies flock in greater number, eat brains, and smell a lot worse. In all the Zombie movies, comics and cartoons one thing that can never be conveyed is their utter stench. After all, a Zombie is a corpse that eats people, so the smell is bound to be offensive.

The Zombie Uprising that followed the Revolutionary War nearly destroyed the world. Only through the assistance of the various Native American tribes were the early Americans able to fend of the Uprising. I would hate for it to be the end of the world, but these Zombies might just be smarter.

Getting back onto my street wasn’t the refuge I hoped; Zombies were marching down my street. Marching is a strong word, but they did seem to share an unheard tune as they walked in cadence. I shouldn’t have been too surprised; I lived on the same street as a large elementary school, so there were plenty of potential new Zombies ready for the making should the Uprisers make their way to the school. I drove my car head into a bunch of them and turned into my driveway.

If the fiction couldn’t capture the smell of Zombies, they certainly captured the speed, or lack thereof. I was able to grab my makeshift weapons, drop a few in the trunk and throw one on the passenger seat. It was then I noticed my neighbors had been Zombified. I really liked Janet and Kyle, but they were no longer themselves. I hacked at them and was about to turn back out of the driveway. Much as I hate to admit this, I would expect them to do the same if our situations were reversed.

For whatever reason, the Zombies I didn’t run over continued to trundle down my street, almost as if I wasn’t there. I wasn’t complaining, which brings me to this point. I don’t know who will be reading this, but I have to blog this like it is the end of the world. The Zombies are rising; grab anything you can– a shovel, a pickaxe, or a baseball bat and swing for the fences.

Wish me luck as I try to fend of the Undead and get to my wife so we can live through this Zombie Uprising. Let’s hope I can post back here tomorrow with some good news.

-Rob

zombies

Newest "New" Fantasy Author on the Block: D.A. Durham

My latest review, David Anthony Durham’s Acacia Book I: War with the Mein, is now up at SFFWorld.com. Like last year, this seems to be a strong year for opening novels for multi-volume sequences. Last year Scott Lynch, David Louis Edelman, and Sean Williams* all launched impressive sequences. This year has already seen Patrick Rotfhuss and now David Anthony Durham’s sequence launch. Both authors have been making the rounds with interviews on SF Web sites and blogs.

Patrick Rothfuss interviewed by me and Pat (of the Fantasy Hot List)
A Dribble of Ink interview with Patrick Rothfuss (Part 2)
A Dribble of Ink interview with David Anthony Durham
Fantasy Book Critic interview with David Anthony Durham
Fantasy Book Critic interview with Patrick Rothfuss
FantasyBookSpot.com interviews Patrick Rothfuss
FantasyBookSpot.com / Jay Tomio interviews David Anthony Durham
WOTMANIA’s OFBlog interview with Patrick Rothfuss

*Technically Sean Williams saga launched a couple of years ago, but 2006 was when it was published in the States.

Also, I know Joe Abercrombie was highly-touted last year, so I'm looking forward to reading The Blade Itself when Pyr publishes it later this year.

I've been hearing a lot of grumbling at night lately, and it has been getting louder over the past couple of days. I could swear I'm hearing the word brains, but I can't imagine why.

David's Darkness

I posted my review of Peter David's Darkness of the Light, the first book in his Hidden Earth saga. I've been a fan of Peter's for a while, so I was looking forward to reading this book. Set in a far-future earth, the book has a feel not too dissimilar to Jack Vance's Dying Earth. If not in style, than in setting and some of the humor.

Only one week remains in SFFWorld's contest to win an advance copy of the book.

On the Malzan front, I'm still making my way through Deadhouse Gates and still enjoying it. I don't want to rush through these books, since the series is both unfished and the US versions haven't caught up with the UK. But goddamn does Erikson make it tough to close the book.

Nine days remain until the Uprising. I am mentally preparing.

Bring on the Zombies!

48%

Mingle² - Free Online Dating


I'm joining the end of the world:

SFBC WTF?!?

It has been reported in various Web spots (Jonathan Strahan, SF Scope, Andrew Wheeler [see May 22 & 23 entries], Publishers Weekly, Locus [see May 24th news entry]) that the US Science Fiction Book Club is undergoing major changes.

One of which is the early retirement of Ellen Asher, who recently became the editor with the longest tenure of any genre editor. (Bittersweet congratulations, I suppose.)

Editor Andrew Wheeler has stated he will still have a job, but rumors are flowing. Jonathan Strahan's above-linked post encapsulates why this is troublesome to both the genre and publishing in general.

Certainly, losing highly respected and knowledgeable editors like Asher and Wheeler has got to be a bad thing for the industry, and any contraction of the SFBC, which has a history of providing access to economical editions of new science fiction and fantasy direct to readers that stretches back to 1953, would be enormously disappointing. (Strahan)

The only caveat I will add to the excerpted quote is this: The SFBC has been offering economical (and convenient to obtain) editions of classics of the genre(s) for as long as I can remember in addition to the new stuff.

I've been a member on and off for about ten years and thought they offered some wonderful things to members and would be annoyed if things with the club would change for the worse. Most recently, I’ve received some of their books to review for SFFWorld.com. Their omnibus volumes alone are what kept me coming back – at the time I bought it, there was no easier way to get The Compleat Dying Earth by Jack Vance. Quite frankly, the cover art by Brom was great, too and the SFBC version was around a couple of years before Tor did their Orb omnibus. I also discovered Sean Russel’s work through the nice River into Darkness duology-omnibus. Thanks to the SFBC, I was able to read all of the (then 5) books of Orson Scott Card’s Alvin Maker series.

In addition to those omnibus editions, they started creating original books too. One of which was the fantastic Black Seas of Infinity collection of Lovecraft stories compiled by Andrew Wheeler. Their recent original anthologies, like the World Fantasy Award winning The Fair Folk and the Best Short Novels series edited by the aforementioned Jonathan Strahan were also fantastic books, ones initially ONLY available through the club. Sure, online retailers such as amazon.com, half.com and countless others no offer readers the ability to find books they want. But that takes a little bit of work, which can be fun but ultimately more time consuming and frustrating than anything else.

However, the SFBC, especially under the guidance of Ellen Asher and Andrew Wheeler (while I was a member) had the wonderful convenience offering new and classic books and wonderful prices – the 5 for $.01 promotion to join pays for itself in spades.

It isn’t clear what exactly will be happening to the SFBC in the coming days, weeks and year(s). One thing; however, is abundantly clear: the club as it has been known and loved is an important institution to the genre and where MANY fans and professionals had their first major exposure to the genre. Just read the comments at Jonathan Strahan’s blog post here.

I joined at one point and got my (then future) brother-in-law to join so I could get some books as part of the “refer-a-friend” deal and he could enjoy the benefits of membership. A couple of years passed and my membership lapsed. It wasn’t long before I joined again through my brother-in-law so I could sort of repay him. My brother-in-law and I are ten years apart so I thought this was really cool way for us to connect.

Speaking as a person who was laid of by a publisher as part of “corporate restructuring” I can sympathize with the plain fact that it sucks – because all that passion and dedication to the job seem to be forgotten. Regardless of what happens, I wish both Ellen and Andrew the best in whatever the foreseeable future brings them.

It should also be pointed out that the SFBC Blog Andrew Wheeler has been managing has become THE place for virtuall ALL the daily goings-on in the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy: book happenings, movie happenings, news, reviews, interviews. Basically if it was happening in or tangentially related to SF, it was there. The fact that it hasn't been updated since Tuesday May 22nd is not a hopeful sign.

Win a copy of Peter David's "Darkness of the Light "

SFFWorld is pleased to offer one lucky winner the chance to take a look at Peter David's forthcoming novel, Darkness of the Light

Peter David, writer of stuff, including the Sir Apropos of Nothing series, the Knight Life series of books, numerous Star Trek novels, as well as virtually every major comic book character from Spider-Man to Wolverine to The Incredible Hulk to Superman to Aquaman will soon see the release his latest epic, Darkness of the Light.

Darkness of the Light is the opening novel of The Hidden Earth trilogy. From the Publisher's Web site:

The Damned World is home to twelve races, each of which has fought the others for survival for generations. What none of them knows is that they are all creatures of Earth, a world of legend. On Earth eleven of the twelve races were creatures of human myth or folklore.

All live in awe of the all-powerful Overseer, whose authority none dare challenge. A new spirit has arisen among those sick of war and tired of living in fear. Some believe that it is possible for the races to become allies instead of adversaries. With this new spirit has come a time of possibility, of change.

Jepp, a human woman and Karsen, a Bottom Feeder, have broken with tradition and cast their lots together. They seek the Orb of Light, with which they believe they can gain the power and release the Damned World from its chains of violence and ignorance. But they’re not alone, for everyone who knows about the Orb would kill to get it. If someone gets the Orb, things will change. These are, as the proverb warns, interesting times.

Click Here ( http://www.sffworld.com/news/335.html) to enter!

I just finished reading the book today and really enjoyed it very much.

Good luck to all entrants!

The Jury is in

Tomorrow I will be serving my third stint of jury duty. This will be the third New Jersey County I've been called to serve. It should be interesting, I hope. I'll be bringing Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson to help me through the day, finally diving back into his Malazan epic.

Colonies and Vampires, oh my!

As my sidebar indicates, I posted my review of John Scalzi's The Last Colony. I've read all four of the books Scalzi has published through Tor and I've enjoyed each one of them. His SF has a great balance of tension, humor, sf-nal trappings and just damned entertaining storytelling. You could do much worse than pick up any of his books.

The same can be said of E.E. Knight's Vampire Earth sequence. I just finished the most recent, Valentine's Exile, yesterday and enjoyed it just as much as the other books in the series. He threw a nice little curveball at the end giving a not-quite-cliffhanger feel to the story. This was Knight's first hardcover release and I think it is pretty well deserved. I'm a big fan of the apocalyptic setting and these books have that feel in spades. I interviewed him a couple of years ago and reviewed the first, second, third, and fourth books in the series.

Last and certainly not least, this Friday I will be seeing one of my favorite bands for the fourth time: Godsmack.

Slow blogging, what can I say. I recently passed the one-year mark at the "new job," I guess it isn't so new anymore. In the year I've been there, a decent amount of change has occurred, much of it working in my favor. The work has been more challenging than past jobs, but I am realizing just how much I can accomplish.

I posted my review of Justina Robson’s Keeping it Real yesterday. A very fun book that managed to throw many fantasy AND science fiction clichés together in an original manner. Hobbit reviewed it about a year ago and my review is based on the recently published Pyr version of the book. A lot of the books I’ve been reading lately are review books for SFFWorld, so I should be posting a spate of reviews over the next few weeks.

It seems like the rains are finally over, thankfully. I was able to cut down the jungle of grass in my yard and will soon be getting the pool ready for the warm weather. And with the warmer weather comes one of the beer highlights of the year for me – Sam Adams Summer Ale.

The Devils got ousted rather unceremoniously. I don’t know what happened, they’ve had Ottawa’s number in the playoffs in the past, but not this year. They looked great against Tampa Bay but like last year, fell apart in the 2nd round. Until next year I guess in the new arena. My biggest complaint about the team the past few years has been actually going to and from the game in the Meadowlands.

The worst news, and something I was dreading as a Yankee fan, has come to pass. Roger Clemens is a Yankee, again. I never cared for him all that much, and after coming out of retirement following the most over-hyped retirement tour to play for the Astros a couple of years ago, I liked him even less. Now, with the Yankees pitching rotation in shambles he gets to come in like the returning hero and look like the savior. It has always been about him and not the team, this only proves it more.

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.

Rothfuss Interview

Tonight, I posted the e-mail interview Pat and I conducted with Patrick Rothfuss. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out; I wasn't surprised that Mr. Rothfuss's responses were very much in the same tone as his protagonist Kvothe.

In sports news, I'm happy to see the Rutgers Women's basketball make it to their second Final Four under coach Stringer. Baseball season is less than a week away, though this will be the first season in many years I will not have a fantasy team to manage. Lastly, the NHL season is becoming very exciting - the Devils and Penguins are neck and neck for the Atlantic division lead. I've a feeling this is how the Atlantic division will play out for the next few years, or at least as long as a goalie named Brodeur is between the pipes in NJ and a kid named Crosby is wearing black and yellow.

Lucky Day

Yes it is snowing here in New Jersey. But today is something of a lucky day. On my way home from work, driving on the barely plowed roads (thanks NJDOT, although the roads were much worse during the February storm), I was listening to the only terrestrial radio station that plays the music I really like, 89.5 WSOU. I've been listening to the station for almost 20 years know, since my middle school and high school years when I really began to enjoy Heavy Metal. As is typical with the station, they announced they would be giving concert tickets to a caller within the hour. I kept the radio tuned to the station, hoping the giveaway would occur before the signal crapped out, which often happens as I get closer to home. When they played the latest song by Shadows Fall, I realized the contest would be next. After a couple of unsuccessful attemps (they often give tickets to caller #89) I won! So, in April I'll be seeing Shadows Fall and Lacuna Coil at the Roseland in NYC, probably my favorite small-scale concert hall in the area. However, it has been about 10 years since I saw a concert there.

I also had tickets ordered for Godsmack today, they'll be at the Hammerstein in May.

When I checked my e-mail, I was told I'd be receiving a copy of Scott Lynch's forthcoming Red Seas Under Red Skies - W00T!

And to top off the day, Mrs. Blog o' Stuff baked a batch of home-made Chocolate Chip cookies.

After an insane week at work, Friday turned out to be a nice little surprise of a day.

Writin' & Ramblin'

I finished up Tim Powers' pirate novel, On Stranger Tides a couple of days ago. I liked it quite a bit, even if the ending wasn't as strong as the first 2/3rds of the novel. It was a cool mix of pirates, magic and history. I think I need to read more of Tim Powers' books.

I also posted my latest review today, One Million A.D. edited by Gardner Dozois and published/offered by the Science Fiction Book Club. The book is a couple of years old. In fact one of the stories, Charlie Stross's Missle Gap was (or will be) offered in a limited edition by Subterranean Press.

In beer news, I recently had Samuel Adams' White Ale. I don't recall enjoying it, or rather I was somewhat noncommittal in my taste. However, in the past I had it in bottles, this time I had it on draught and it was suprisingly delicious.

I've been plugging away daily at the new story I'm writing, or rather the story I started many months ago and picked up last week.

Lastly, baseball season is just 'round the corner and Alex Rodriguez just cannot keep his mouth shut.

Heart-Shaped Review

I'm taking a break from my pirate story for now and returning to a story that's been gestating in my head for some time. This one is a first-person narrative and for whatever reason, I am feeling more comfortable writing in this voice. Time will tell, I suppose, but this (as of yet unnamed) character speaks to me every day, begging for his story to be told.


Oh yeah, I posted my review of Joe Hill's debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box. I liked this one very much, Hill threw a lot of elements together that really appealed to me. I loved 2oth Century Ghosts and this one almost as much.

The Ship Has Yet to Sail

The Pirate Vette won't be joining the good crew of Fast Ships, Black Sails edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer. Considering it was my very first ficiton submission, I can't say I'm too surprised. This is even more true when I saw that stories by Elizabeth Bear and Kage Baker had already been accepted, in addition to my near-deadline submission.

Oh well, I'll keep plugging away.

Sunshine and Wind

Mrs. Blog O' Stuff and I watched Little Miss Sunshine over the weekend and I hadn't even realized it was nominated for best picture. It was a quirky, fun and entertaining movie. It reminded me of, just a bit at least, Napolean Dynamite. Both films captured people who, externally, seemed very strange and off beat. When you get into their stories, they seem almost normal. I liked it a lot, being a fan of Steve Carrell didn't hurt either. But no matter what Greg Kinnear will always be the Talk Soup guy to me. Just like Mark Wahlberg, Oscar-nominated actor, will always be Marky Mark of the Funky Bunch to me.

In book-related happenings, I posted my review of Patrick Rothfuss's debut novel, The Name of the Wind. This was an incredibly impressive novel coming from a debut novelist. Rotfhuss set the bar pretty for 2007 with this book. However, Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box, which I just finished (review forthcoming) does come pretty close. They are definitely two different books, but the heart of what makes them both so great is not soo dissimilar. They both take what could be cliched stories and makes them fresh, original and damned entertaining.

Another book meme

A bit late, but I'm always up for a book meme.

The instructions:

Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, underline the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.
1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. +The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. +The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. +The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. +Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. +Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. +Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. *Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. +The Stand (Stephen King)
19. +Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. +The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. +The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) [one of my two worst reading experiences in college]
28. +The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. +Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. +1984 (Orwell)
35. +The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. *The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. +Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. +Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. +The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. +War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. +Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. +The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. *The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. +Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

A Fair Review and Talisman

I posted my review of the World Fantasy Award winning anthology, The Fair Folk edited by Marvin Kaye and published by the Science Fiction Book Club. I think ACE is publishing a trade paperback version of this soon, if they already haven't. I liked it, and felt 4 out of the 6 stories were standouts with the other two still good and interesting stories.

I was browsing the world's greatest time waster/killer, as I'm won't to do, because I wanted to find something on the Stephen King/Peter Straub collaboration, The Talisman. This was a favorite book of mine when I was younger and still remains so to this day. I think a character's name was eluding me for some reason. Anyway, I stumbled across this. On the Friday nights when I wasn't playing poker in high school and early college, my friends and I would get together and play Talisman. The game would often last into the wee hours of the night. My one friend, let's just call him L.O.C., (if he happens to be reading this he knows who he is), had all the expansion sets to the game. I don't even recall how he got the game, but damn was it fun.

Through that entry, I found out a new edition is coming out later this year. I must own this. I remember a limited edition of the game coming out a few years ago for $75. I just wasn't able to get it at the time. Also, when traveling was part of one of my previous jobs, I would search out the bookstores and gaming stores where I was staying in hopes of finding the game. Oh I found it a couple of times, but at prices upwards of $100 to $200. I hadn't realized how popular and cultish a game it was. Let's hope the edition coming out at the end of the year is a bit more affordable.

Lun Dun Tower

I posted my newest review to SFFWorld yesterday, China Miéville's Un Lun Dun. I won't be the first to say this about the book, but Un Lun Dun has the chance to be his biggest book yet, and that is saying a lot. Of his published work, this definitely has the broadest appeal. I liked it very much, as I've liked most of his stuff. This reminded me most of King Rat, which I thought was about his strongest novel, just a notch under The Scar.

I also really liked issue one of Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born. No I didn't go to a midnight release, but I picked it up yesterday. I thought Jae Lee's art was great and Marvel really did pack quite a bit into the first issue. The Spotlight issue from the week before was pretty much a waste, but for now, I'm happy with the first issue. I will be re-reading it again.

Not much else right now, except that yes winter does exist. After what felt like a non-existent winter in December and part of January, Winter has reared its icy head in ful effect.

SF Book Meme

Nicked from the Hornswaggler, once again.

DISCLAIMER: My responses are prone to change at the drop of a hat, especially the five favorites towards the end.

• Science fiction, fantasy, or horror?
  I’ve got to say Fantasy, pretty easily. Though I “graduated” into reading adult fiction for pleasure through the likes of Stephen King and Robert R. McCammon
  
• Hardback, trade paperback, or mass market paperback?
  Mocks nicks.
  
• Heinlein or Asimov?
  Heinlein, just by virtue of the fact I’ve read more by him.
  
• Amazon or brick-and-mortar?
  Most of my books arrive via amazon wishlist around my Birthday and Christmas
  
• Barnes & Noble or Borders?
  At one time I would say BN, since the Borders stores near me always seemed a mess. Now, either.
  
• Hitchhiker or Discworld?
  Hitchhiker, by a slim margin.
  
• Bookmark or dogear?
  Bookmark, usually a notecard
  
• Magazine: Asimov's Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction?
  FS&F
  
• Alphabetize by author, by title, or random?
  Most of my books are in boxes, so I would say random, though I do keep the books by the same author together . If I had enough bookshelves, it would be alpha by author.
  
• Keep, throw away, or sell?
  Keep aside from the occasional trade in at the used book shop.
  
• Year's Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Year's Best SF Series (edited by David G. Hartwell)?
  Probably Dozois
  
• Keep dustjacket or toss it?
  Keep, of course.
  
• Read with dustjacket or remove it?
  More often than not, with dustjacket.
  
• Short story or novel?
  Novels, though over the past couple of years I have been reading and enjoying short stories more than I have in the past.
  
• Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
  Potter, the Snicket books were getting a bit repetitive when I stopped. I do plan on finishing them off now that THE END is published.
  
• Stop reading when tired or chapter breaks?
  Stop reading when: a) my lunch hour is over, b) the chapter breaks, c) the timer on the elliptical machine finishes counting down.
  
• "It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"
  "Once upon a time, it was a dark and stormy night" I go for the high-concept!
  
• Buy or borrow?
  Buy. Or review copies
  
• Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation, or browse?
  Word of mouth/recommendation.
  
• Lewis or Tolkien?
  Tolkien
  
• Hard SF or space opera?
  Space opera.
  
• Collection (single author) or anthology (multiple authors)?
  Collections and themed anthologies.
  
• Hugo or Nebula?
  PotAto, PotAHto
  
• Golden Age SF or New Wave SF?
  New Wave, probably
  
• Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
  Not really one of the options, but logical endings that are consistent with the story.
  
• Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading
  Lunchtime, a bit before bed and at the gym while I’m on the precor machine
  
• Standalone or series?
  Either or.
  
• Urban fantasy or high fantasy?
  High, though just by a margin.
  
• New or used?
  Mostly new, though I do find some cool stuff at the used shops.
  
• Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
  The Watch by Dennis Danvers is a pretty good book. I see next to no talk about it, especially in the SFFWorld Forums. As for favorite, I don’t know, but it was a very interesting book from a few years ago nonetheless.
  
• Top 4 favorite genre books read last year? (in no order)
  With over 70 books read last year five is tough. Two or three really stood out, with about 10 others just under those top 2 or three
  The Crooked Letter by Sean Williams
  The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
  20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
  Paragaea by Chris Roberson
  
• Top 5 favorite genre books of all time? (in no order, this changes everyday for me)
  1984 by George Orwell
  The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub
  Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover
  A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
  Dune by Frank Herbert
  
• 5 favorite genre series? (in no order)
  George R. R. Martin’s "A Song of Ice and Fire"
  Tad Williams’s "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn"
  Matthew Woodring Stover’s "The Acts of Caine"
  Stephen R. Donaldson’s "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever"
  Stephen King’s "Dark Tower"
  
• Top 5 favorite genre short stories? (in no order)
  "The Way of Cross and Dragon" by George R.R. Martin
  "Jeffty is Five" by Harlan Ellison
  "The Boogeyman" by Stephen King
  "The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant" by Jeffrey Ford
  "The Star" by Arthur C. Clark

Fast Forward: Joss to the Office

Joss Whedon is directing an episode of The Office? How freaking cool is that? The show with the best comedic dialogue being directed (at least one episode) by a guy known for films/television with great dialogue? It sounds like a great match, at least in theory. I know some purists might think it blasphemy that those Americans are at it again with their remakes of British shows, but damn if itsn't funny. I've been a Carrell fan since the Even Stephen skits on The Daily Show, so I suppose I was predisposed to like the show.

I posted my review of Lou Anders first anthology as Pyr publishing director , Fast Forward 1. From beginning to end, a very solid collection.

Space Pirates, Wizards, and Honey

Over the past year or two through the good graces of Pyr, I’ve been introduced to Mike Resnick’s fiction. This is a good thing, because I've come to really enjoy his work. I’d known his name but never came across any of his stories or books. Well, the three books I’ve read by him have me wanting to read more. The latest Resnick book I read was Starship: Pirate, and I posted my review today.

I caught the Dresden Files in between the Football games yesterday, but found it difficult to stay with Dresden, at least the first showing, during the Pats/Colts classic. What an incredible game. Not only was it an incredible game, but the Patriots are out of it and Peyton finally gets to the big game. As for Dresden, the first episode did its job of keeping me interested enough to tune in for the next episode.

I was very happy to find Samuel Adams Honey Porter back on the shelves of liquor stores. It was one of my favorite brews from the Boston Beer company and I was sad to see it disappear from shelves years ago. I think it is a bit sweeter than I remember, but still very tasty. I’ve found that I enjoy the Sam Adams specialty beers much more than the Boston Lager or Boston Ale. In the summer, nothing, absolutely no beer is better than their Summer Ale.

First a Preacher, Now Comes Winter

First HBO announces they will be doing a Preacher Television show. Today the annoucement is made that HBO just picked up the rights for George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

As both of these properties are in only the early stages, speculation is bound to run rampant. I can't think of a better venue for either of these two over-reaching storylines to be shown.

Orphans, Gunslinger and Brew

I published a new review to SFFWorld yesterday, John C. Wright’s Orphans of Chaos, which I thought was OK, if a bit frustrating. It felt a bit slow at times, though Wright did put forth some interesting ideas in what was a neat postulation of gods and hard science.

The Gunslinger draws even closer. With less than a month away I’m really excited about seeing Roland's younger days brought to illustrated life. Jae Lee’s art looks great and I have a lot of faith that Peter David can help to deliver a comic King fans will enjoy.

In the matter of a week here in NJ we went from 70 degrees to 29 degrees and it is supposed to be in the 60s this Saturday. I’ve been hearing winds outside my house like I can never remember hearing in my life, this with an extra layer on the house. Mrs. O’ Stuff and I had the house vinyl-sided last year, so I can only imagine what it would sound like without the added layer & insulation. But our environment is OK, there’s no global warming.

I’ve got two really good beers in the fridge right now. Well, the remnants of two six-packs of beer. Stoudt’s Big Dog Oatmeal Stout and Anchor Porter. Wow, great stuff there. I've had some of Stoudt's beers in the past, and I think even this one. Not sure about Anchor, though I will be having this one again.

Mrs. O’ Stuff likes to surprise me sometimes with the beer and these were both winners. I have to say, I'm a pretty lucky guy.

One Hundred Eleventy Five

Today is Tolkien’s birthday and as the title of my post indicates, the man would have been 115 today. Friends of Hobbiton everywhere – rejoice! Not much else today, but I suppose the results below mean Batman will be kicking my ass quite often, but never killing me.

Nicked from Andrew Wheeler:

Your results:
You are The Joker

The Joker 74% Magneto 63% Apocalypse 63% Venom 58% Lex Luthor 56% Mr. Freeze 55% Dr. Doom 51% Riddler 50% Juggernaut 49% Kingpin 49% Dark Phoenix 47% Catwoman 40% Mystique 33% Green Goblin 33% Two-Face 33% Poison Ivy 24%

The Clown Prince of Crime. You are a brilliant mastermind but are criminally insane. You love to joke around while accomplishing the task at hand.

Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz

Silly Rob Forgot 2 Books

As is most often the case when I do these things, I neglected a couple of books in my recap of my 2006 reading/book addiction summary. The most egregious error was my omission of Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts. I read it at the tail end of the year and for reasons I can’t explain, I missed in my wrap-up yesterday. That was the long of it, the short of it was that I was tremendously impressed with the collection, with only 1 story below the excellent rating for me. I’m looking forward to his debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box.

I also forgot another debut novel I really enjoyed from ’06, but that is due more to me reading it at the end of 2005. The novel in question is Tobias Buckell’s Crystal Rain –another sf/fantasy hybrid with a pirate feel. Buckell has been writing short stories for a while now, and I liked the debut quite a bit. In fact, I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel, Ragamuffin, due out in June.

Out with Old and Blue for '06, in with Red and New for '07

A New Year, a new review, and a anew blog template to kick off 2007. I’m not sure if I like this new backend set up for blogger, but I do like the color layouts and options for templates a bit more. Conversely, I enjoyed Martin Sketchley’s The Liberty Gun, the finale to his high-octane SF adventure Structure series. I posted the review today.

Santa was pretty good to me this year, I got plenty of NY Yankee stuff to fill my Yankee room, a healthy dose of books to add to the physical “to-read” pile, a nice handful of CDs and plenty of goodies from Mrs. O’ Stuff.

As for the Scarlet Knights, a most decisive victory in the inaugural Texas Bowl.

Anyway, 2006 came to a close with much fanfare throughout the world and much relaxation in the O’ Stuff household. It was a nice relaxing evening with Mrs. O’ Stuff as we both realized, by flipping between the various annoying New Years’ specials, just how out of touch I am with today’s “popular” music. Mr. O’ Stuff and I finished off the pre-Christmas week by catching Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert – it was a blast. Part laser-show, part 80s hard rock/metal, it was truly a great experience.

On the whole, I read 71 books this year, most of which were pretty good with a few stinkers peppered in the mix. So, since most FSF pundits and bloggers worth their salt are doing it, I will present the books I enjoyed the most in 2006, regardless of the book’s year of release. Unlike other bloggers (and every other noodnick who posted a best of 2006 list, yes I’m looking at you amazon with your best of 2006 list posted in October/November!) thus far, I’ve waited until 2006.

Without further ado…

Nailing down my favorite book for 2006 is tough, and would probably vary from day to day as a number of books impressed me, moved me, and made me want not want to finish the book in question.

Without a doubt, the biggest debut of the year was probably Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora – and with good reason. It was easily the most fun I had reading any book this year, and probably the most fun I’ve had reading a debut novel. Though not an absolutely perfect novel, it came pretty close to delivering exactly what I want – fun, adventure, humor, and magic.

Another debut that really impressed me was David Louis Edelman’s Infoquake published by Pyr. What Lynch did for my fantasy reading taste-buds, Edleman did for my Science Fiction reading taste-buds. A believable protagonist in an all-too plausible extrapolated future with a Big Idea and backed by a future history was a lot of fun to read. Check out my review from earlier in the year.

Though not a debut, Sean Williams's The Crooked Letter made its US debut after receiving much acclaim in the author’s native Australia. This was another beautiful Pyr book; Williams blended elements from all the speculative fiction branches to create a stew of the fantastic and horrific. The second book, The Blood Debt, published in October and while different in some respects, it was a fantastic continuation of the over-reaching saga.

I would also be remiss if I neglected Chris Roberson’s genre-bending pulp novel, Paragaea. Part SF, part fantasy, part physics, and part pirate novel, Roberson pulled off a nice trick in this one. I’d love to read more about these people and the strange and familiar world.

I’ve been reading more anthologies and short story collections in recent years, and I was lucky enough to get a copy of Mike Resnick’s New Dreams for Old. I’ve heard and read of Resnick’s reputation, with all the awards he’s both won and for which he’d been nominated. This book showed me why.

In terms of older books I discovered this year, the top might have been Jim Butcher’s Storm Front, the first in his Dresden Files sequence. I’ve already read the second book this year, Fool Moon, and I don’t plan on stopping there. Like Lynch, Butcher throws in equal parts humor, magic and adventure in this mix of mystery and magic.

Scott Westerfeld’s Peeps initially published last year, was a very solid YA tale. To say Westerfeld has fun with traditional Vampire myth and legend is an understatement, luckily all of that fun translated to the page. The same can be said for Charlie Huston’s Already Dead, a mix of the Vampire myth and the detective novel. Westerfeld’s is aimed at the YA set, while Huston’s is definitely an adult tale, but both are equally enjoyable.

I also caught up with John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War sequence, enjoying both quite a bit. It is no surprise Mr. Scalzi won the Campbell award.

I also really enjoyed Caitlin Sweet’s debut novel from a couple years back, the lyrical and at times tragic, A Telling of Stars. This was published in Canada in 2004.

Of course it wasn’t all good stuff. Three books stood out as major disappointments, or rather books I really didn’t enjoy. James Luceno’s Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader was bad novel that could have been so much more. Scott Smith’s The Ruins was aptly named; the characters were terribly drawn, the plot was razor thin and the overall story was poorly executed. Lastly, C.J. Cherryh’s Downbelow Station came highly recommended but left me rather bored.

2007 looks promising, too with a lot of the authors I enjoyed in 2006 publishing more in the coming year.

This blog still sputters on in 2007 though hopefully I can get back to posting as much as I did before this past summer.

Winter Warmth

Hear the pin dropping? Yeah, I know the blog has been quiet lately. Life gets in the way plans sometimes.

I have to admit, the 50-degree weather here in New Jersey makes it difficult to feel like Christmas outside. However, it is and has officially been Christmastime for a while now, if for no other reason than the presence of Harpoon Winter Warmer on the shelves of fine liquor stores. Beer flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg says Christmas to me much in the same way as decorating the tree with my wife and the traditional Christmas Eve pierogis. With this being the second Christmas in the new house, we found a great tree farm where we will be buying our trees for the next thirty years.

I posted my review of John Scalzi’s newest novel, The Android’s Dream today. I liked this one quite a bit, though there were a couple of slow spots in the early part of the novel. The venerable Hobbit posted his review of Peter Watts’s buzz-generating novel Blindsight, which I just discovered is being offered for free by Watts under a Creative Commons license.

Other books I’ve finished recently include the second Dresden File, Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher, which was very entertaining. I don't know if I'll catch up as much as I'd like before the ScFi Channel series starts, though. I also finished China Miévelle’s newst novel, a magical YA fantasy called Un Lun Dun (review to come as the book’s publication draws closer), and the conclusion to Martin Sketchley’s Structure series, The Liberty Gun (review forthcoming). I also finished up the Fables OGN 1001 Nights of Snowfall; a great addition to the already classic-in-the making series from the pen of Bill Willingham under DC’s Vertigo imprint, Fables.