If you’ve emailed me recently and I’ve not replied, I’m not being rude (or at least more rude than usual) nor am I hiding my head in embarassment at being caught out by Prof. Roberts for putting an apostrophe in Finnegans Wake (oh the shame! But at least the smackdown was discreet – I’ve always said Adam Roberts was a class act).

Back to the point… I’ve suffered serious – possibly fatal - computer collapse and am currently almost entirely offline.

 I can read email at work but not reply.

Normal service may be some days or even a couple of weeks from resuming. Apologies in the interim.

Well, if nothing else it’s nice to see that I’ve made it to the top of someone’s list about something. Scott Edelman is upset by my review of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet at The Fix. Thanks to Niall at Torque Control for bringing this to my attention… I think.

Let’s see, where to start… First, to help out Mr Kaufmann in the comments, I didn’t call LCRW “pretentious” in my review in The Fix, nor, to the best of my recall, did I use the word “pretentious” anywhere in the review – as he’d see if he bothered to read the review or, for that matter, bothered to read properly the quotation pulled from my review by Mr Edelman. Read more »

Friday Flash Fiction: Leaving The World

Sept sat cross-legged in the centre of an ordinary living room and pulled The World from his head one wire at a time. Blood ran down the pale skin on his back, staining the blue shorts that were the only clothes he wore, and spread across the wheat coloured carpet in a growing pool. The furniture, stylish, modern, tasteful, had been pushed into the corners. The screens were off. Pictures and paintings were turned to the wall. A small scattering of provisions and necessary tools surrounded Sept, everything else had been cast aside. He had prepared for this. He was ready.

He ignored the blood around him but every few minutes he had to stop to push back the flow of thick crimson that threatened to blind him. He didn’t need his eyes, he could finish this without them, but the stinging pain was distracting. Read more »

Now listen carefully children. The new BSFA mailing arrived this morning and it contains much that is good.

The latest issue of Matrix is blessed by my own profound insights on Death Proof/Planet Terror (the Rodriguez and Tarantino’s Grindhouse double bill), 30 Days of Night, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, Black Sheep and The Invasion.

While  Vector sees me continue the proud tradition of reviewers of the work of Adam Roberts by calling him very clever and then not really liking his novel with my review of Land of the Headless. Sorry Mr Roberts…

Oh and some other people wrote some tedious stuff that no one will ever read – I mean honestly who cares what Juliet E McKenna, Edward James, Chris Roberson, Jo Walton and Guy Gavriel Kay have to say about history/alternate history in science fiction? Or that Matrix has interviews with George Mann, the guy behind new SF publisher Solaris, and Lou Anders, the guy who has been tearing up the US scene with his Pyr imprint.

Of course no one cares…. BECAUSE I DIDN’T WRITE THOSE BITS!

When oh when will the BSFA see sense and simply publish magazines that have nothing in them but my interesting articles (and rapped wrists for anyone who dares say that’s what they do already).

If you are not a member of the BSFA, you’re missing out. Go here: www.bsfa.co.uk and join. NOW!

Honestly, if the first episode of Iron Man Adventure on this Marvel website doesn’t tickle your geek nipples, you are officially dead to me…

I finished reading Michael Chabon’s Gentlemen of the Road yesterday. It’s a wonderful book – a straightforward action-adventure story in the very old style but lifted way into the stratosphere by Chabon’s mastery of language.

Simply it’s the story of two petty conmen and adventurers, Zelikman a pale, blonde Frank armed with an incongruously long thin sword (it’s referred to early on as “bodkin” but it sounds like a modern épée) and Amram, an aging, muscular African wielding a rune-laden Viking axe, who become caught up in courtly machinations in the triple-crowned court of Khazaria – north of the Black Sea. Read more »

So, ladies and gentlemen, there’s only a week left to get your votes in for the shortlist for this year’s BSFA Awards… the closing date is Saturday, January 19 (midnight, GMT) you can see the current list of nominated works by clicking here – if you’re a BSFA member and haven’t already submitted your favourite works of 2007, then get a move on.

The top five most nominated items in each area will make the final shortlist and the winner will be announced at Eastercon.

You can nominate as many works as you like.

My novel nominations for this year are going to be:

Ascent, Jed Mercurio, Jonathon Cape 2007

Brasyl, Ian McDonald, Gollancz 2007

Halting State, Charles Stross, Ace Books, 2007

Sixty Days and Counting, Kim Stanley Robinson, HarperCollins 2007

Spook Country, William Gibson, Viking, 2007

The Execution Channel, Ken MacLeodOrbit 2007

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon, Fourth Estate, 2007

 

My short story nominations:

“Ack-Ack Macaque” – Gareth Lyn Powell (Interzone 212)

“Bossanova” – Steve Aylett (Postscripts Summer)

“Grey Matter” – Shaun C Green (Nostalgia for Infinity)

“Hormiga Canyon” – Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling (Asimov’s, August)

“Roxie” – Robert Reed (Asimov’s, July)

“Tears for Godzilla” – Daniel Kaysen (Interzone 209)

“The Alchemist and the Merchant’s Gate” – Ted Chiang (F&SF, September)

“The Flag Game” – Marianne de Pierres (Hub 34)

“The Garden of Earthly Delights” – Jay Caselberg (Electric Velocipede 12)

“The Good Detective” – M John Harrison (Interzone 209)

“The Sledgemakers Daughter” – Alistair Reynolds (Interzone 209)

“Toys” – Dev Agarwal (Aeon 12)

 

Artwork

I haven’t made up my mind yet, but the covers of Interzone 208 & 211 will be there and the cover of Postscripts 12.

 

1958 Novel

 

 

To celebrate 50 years of the BSFA, this year’s awards have an extra category – the best novel of 1958.

There’s some pretty strong contenders, Blish’s A Case of Conscience and Aldiss’s Non-Stop will be a hard pair to beat – I’d like to see John Christopher’s The Caves of Night (which I think is under-rated) and Eric Frank Russell’s Wasp (which I loved when I was a kid when I first read it, and I like even better when I went back to it recently) make the shortlist.

 

 

 

There was a Green Woodpecker in our back garden this morning, a beautiful big green bird with a big red flash on his head. I’ve been thinking about birds all day. Did you know that the native British parakeet population now stretches as far north as Leeds? Anyway, on with the story. Read more »

You can read my review of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet issue 21 online at The Fix now.

Yes, it is another ludicrously long review. Once I get started…

So, that Christmas and New Year thing can really catch up with you, can’t it?

Woosh and a fortnight’s gone.

Anyway just to prove that this Blog isn’t dead, I noticed that the first two images from the Incredible Hulk movie are up (see Empire here)  and I was looking at the second pic, of Banner in the big seat thing, and I thought I know that images. And good bless Google and the random obsessions of fans everywhere, three clicks later I was watching clip 19 on this page.

Cool.

More posts soon.