You can see the current cast here, but I have to say I think Tilda Swinton is an inspired choice for the white witch.
Link via the invaluable The Beat.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Monday, August 30, 2004
Kiln People and Guilty Pleasures
Two new books out in my series for Modan, just in time for the coming holidays, and for Icon, of course.
So it's time for an infomercial:
The first is David Brin's Kiln People. It's a somewhat whimsical pseudo hard SF detective novel about a world where people can clone themselves onto disposable "golems", which expire after 24 hours, and whose memories can be uploaded. Great speculation about a world where human life can be quite expendable, if it's the life of a golem. It's a novel I really like, and I was quite dissapointed when it lost to Robert Sawyer's Hominids at last year's Hugo awards (although, really, Mieville's The Scar should have won).
The second, which just came out, is Laurell K. Hamilton's Guilty Pleasures. It's the first book in Hamilton's best selling Anita Blake series, and I hope we see some of that sales success with the book here in Israel. It's a heady mix of vampires, action, sex, violence, and alternate history. It has a terrific lead character, and is pure, but not brainless, fun.
So it's time for an infomercial:
The first is David Brin's Kiln People. It's a somewhat whimsical pseudo hard SF detective novel about a world where people can clone themselves onto disposable "golems", which expire after 24 hours, and whose memories can be uploaded. Great speculation about a world where human life can be quite expendable, if it's the life of a golem. It's a novel I really like, and I was quite dissapointed when it lost to Robert Sawyer's Hominids at last year's Hugo awards (although, really, Mieville's The Scar should have won).
The second, which just came out, is Laurell K. Hamilton's Guilty Pleasures. It's the first book in Hamilton's best selling Anita Blake series, and I hope we see some of that sales success with the book here in Israel. It's a heady mix of vampires, action, sex, violence, and alternate history. It has a terrific lead character, and is pure, but not brainless, fun.
The new forum
Got me a new forum system. Feel free to register and post. Try to stick to the sub-forum topics. It's mostly an experiment at this stage. I did it because my new host uses Fantastico, which enabled me to install the BB script in about 3 minutes. But I do hope a nice little posting community can form. Hopefully with a mixture of Israeli and international
Formatting C:
It's never fun to have to do it. But while I've lost many links, and my latest rss feeds (fortunately, I recently sent an opml file of all my feeds to a friend, so I could get back on track quickly), and a bunch of software that's it's been a bitch to install.
But it's nice to start over. And I got a new, much bigger, hard drive. So I suddenly have oodles of room. And even the whole hosting fiasco resulted in my getting what looks like a better host. Not every cloud in life has a silver lining, no matter what they tell you when you're small. But some do, and if they don't, get some silver spray and paint the damn lining silver.
But it's nice to start over. And I got a new, much bigger, hard drive. So I suddenly have oodles of room. And even the whole hosting fiasco resulted in my getting what looks like a better host. Not every cloud in life has a silver lining, no matter what they tell you when you're small. But some do, and if they don't, get some silver spray and paint the damn lining silver.
It's good to have a blog again...
Well, the downtime was fiercer than I expected. And I ended up switching hosts. I'm now with QualityHostOnline, which I hope will live up to their name. Whew.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Planet of the Apes as a TZ episode
This is freaking awesome. Planet of the Apes fan-edited as a Twilight Zone episode. With Rod Sterling commentary at the beginning and the end. Really, really well done.
You can also download it as a torrent.
Link via Boing Boing.
You can also download it as a torrent.
Link via Boing Boing.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Virtual mobile girlfriend
Hey, it's like a tamagotchi, only degrading to women, sexist, and will cost the user lots, and lots of money, as the virtual girlfriend is nicer to you if you buy (actually buy, with actual money) virtual flowers and gifts. Yuck.
Link via Boing Boing.
Link via Boing Boing.
If you can see this post...
You probably don't live in Israel. Seems that Israeli ISP's, or at least, Internet Zahav, my ISP, take a little longer to update name server changes. So when I update blogger, I'm updating the new site, but I can, at this time, only view the old site. I should have known this would happen, as something similar happened the last time I moved. It's a bit silly, but such is life.
Any Israeli who sees this message, please comment. I may not be able to see it (if your ISP updates faster than mine), but blogger will let me know. Thanks.
Any Israeli who sees this message, please comment. I may not be able to see it (if your ISP updates faster than mine), but blogger will let me know. Thanks.
Monday, August 23, 2004
My NFL fantasy team
Well, the draft was done, and when I looked at my team, this is what I found:
QB: Byron Leftwich and Rex Grossman. Two very young starting QBs with great potential. Byron is my starter, and I have great hopes for him. He can run, he can throw, he's the total package. Just needs a little maturity.
RB: LaDainian Tomlinson, Kevin Jones, and Tyron Wheatly. LT is a superstud player, and may be the best player in the his position today. Kevin Jones is a super-promising rookie. Wheatly is the nominal starter in Oakland, and if he wins the position outright, may actually be put in my lineup at some point. Otherwise, he's injury insurance.
WR: Steve Smith, Peter Warrick, Reggie Wayne, Justin Gage, and Darnerien McCants. Smith is easily the star of the position for me, and is very solid. Everybody else is a gamble of some sort. This is probably my weakest position. But if Gage and/or McCants pan out, it could be quite solid.
TE: Boo Williams. He had a great finish to the season last year, and if he keeps it up, he'll be one of the few tight ends who actually contribute to fantasy teams.
Kicker: Ryan Longwell. Stabilty, thy name is Ryan. Accurate, strong kicker, on a team that always produces a decent amount of offense. I'm good here.
Defense: Baltimore Ravens. Elite, scary ass defense. With the best defensive player in the universe, Ray Lewis.
All in all, I think I did well.
QB: Byron Leftwich and Rex Grossman. Two very young starting QBs with great potential. Byron is my starter, and I have great hopes for him. He can run, he can throw, he's the total package. Just needs a little maturity.
RB: LaDainian Tomlinson, Kevin Jones, and Tyron Wheatly. LT is a superstud player, and may be the best player in the his position today. Kevin Jones is a super-promising rookie. Wheatly is the nominal starter in Oakland, and if he wins the position outright, may actually be put in my lineup at some point. Otherwise, he's injury insurance.
WR: Steve Smith, Peter Warrick, Reggie Wayne, Justin Gage, and Darnerien McCants. Smith is easily the star of the position for me, and is very solid. Everybody else is a gamble of some sort. This is probably my weakest position. But if Gage and/or McCants pan out, it could be quite solid.
TE: Boo Williams. He had a great finish to the season last year, and if he keeps it up, he'll be one of the few tight ends who actually contribute to fantasy teams.
Kicker: Ryan Longwell. Stabilty, thy name is Ryan. Accurate, strong kicker, on a team that always produces a decent amount of offense. I'm good here.
Defense: Baltimore Ravens. Elite, scary ass defense. With the best defensive player in the universe, Ray Lewis.
All in all, I think I did well.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Possible uptime problems
I've made a change in my hosting setup which may cause some downtime on the site. I haven't actually left ucvhost, just got a different hosting package, which will give me more for less money. I've been with them for a couple of years, and the NT junior package I originally signed up for improved greatly, but when I renewed it, I got the same old, same old. So I waited untill the old package was about to expire again, and got the NT startup, which gives me all the space I need (which isn't much) for less money, plus ASP, which wasn't included in the package way back when.
This requiered a name server change, and the update should take place sometime in the next 72 hours. The changeover may lead to temporary downtime.
This requiered a name server change, and the update should take place sometime in the next 72 hours. The changeover may lead to temporary downtime.
Friday, August 20, 2004
40 hours to Fantasy NFL draft
Continuing on the sports theme, only 40 hours remain until my fantasy league holds its annual draft. As the reigning champ (and champ in 2 of the 3 years of the league's existence), I'm more than a little stressed. I'm usually a great drafter (as I prepare like mad), but a poor trader (as I tend to have the unfortunate tendency of falling in love with my team), so a good draft is essential for a good fantasy season. I'm drafting second, so I have a pretty good chance of getting the player I want to build around.
I'll probably be spending most of the weekend completing my draft prep. Lots of last minute research to do (though I've been spending some time researching for the last few weeks.)
I'll post the results of the draft (not the whole thing, just my team) when it's completed. Wish me luck.
I'll probably be spending most of the weekend completing my draft prep. Lots of last minute research to do (though I've been spending some time researching for the last few weeks.)
I'll post the results of the draft (not the whole thing, just my team) when it's completed. Wish me luck.
Mavs trading for Dampier?
Erick Dampier is a big, strong, center. He's had career highs in rebounds and blocks last year. He looks like just the thing the Dallas Mavericks need to get over their playoffs woes.
Eduardo Najera is an undersized forward who isn't very fast, isn't very athletic, and isn't a very good shot.
A proposed multi-player trade which is, essentially, Dampier for Najera is the dumbest thing Dallas can do right now.
Why? Because Dampier is a career underachiever. He only seems to play well in contract years. Najera, on the other hand, is a career overachiever. He's the kind of guy who does more with less. And he actually plays defense. He actually CARES about defense, a mindset which is unbelievably rare in Big D. After letting go of Steve Nash, the heart and soul of the Dallas offense, the smartest player on the team, and the key to almost everything they do, trading Najera for a guy even my beloved (but congenitally stupid) Knicks decided not to sign, in order to re-sign Vin freakin' Baker, is a stupid, stupid move. Dampier has never won in the NBA. Nash and Najera are winners, and almost more importantly, they're fighters.
I've loved Dallas ever since Mark Cuban took over. He's a wonderful owner, with brains, money, and a great attitude (he's also a pretty good, if infrequent, blogger). But Cuban needs to shift gears, and get some more brains and toughness in his team. He's had the talent to win for a few years now, and he'll have the talent to win after this trade. He just won't have a motor to drive his shiny, shiny car.
Eduardo Najera is an undersized forward who isn't very fast, isn't very athletic, and isn't a very good shot.
A proposed multi-player trade which is, essentially, Dampier for Najera is the dumbest thing Dallas can do right now.
Why? Because Dampier is a career underachiever. He only seems to play well in contract years. Najera, on the other hand, is a career overachiever. He's the kind of guy who does more with less. And he actually plays defense. He actually CARES about defense, a mindset which is unbelievably rare in Big D. After letting go of Steve Nash, the heart and soul of the Dallas offense, the smartest player on the team, and the key to almost everything they do, trading Najera for a guy even my beloved (but congenitally stupid) Knicks decided not to sign, in order to re-sign Vin freakin' Baker, is a stupid, stupid move. Dampier has never won in the NBA. Nash and Najera are winners, and almost more importantly, they're fighters.
I've loved Dallas ever since Mark Cuban took over. He's a wonderful owner, with brains, money, and a great attitude (he's also a pretty good, if infrequent, blogger). But Cuban needs to shift gears, and get some more brains and toughness in his team. He's had the talent to win for a few years now, and he'll have the talent to win after this trade. He just won't have a motor to drive his shiny, shiny car.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Lions of Al-Rassan Hebrew edition launch
This is short notice, I know. I should have posted this two days ago. But if you're in Tel Aviv this evening, around 8PM, why not drop by at the Kidmat Eden bookstore, on Dizengoff 91. Kidmat and Opus Press are doing a launch party for the Hebrew edition of Lions of Al-Rassan.
I'm very happy to see this book come out. When I was at Opus, I started publishing Kay's work with the Fionavar Tapestry and Tigana. Since I've left, Opus have published The Sarantine Mosaic, and now Lions of Al Rassan. This is a wonderful novel, translated by Yael Achmon, who's one of my favorite translators and best friends, and translation-edited by the incomparable Hamutal Levin. When you start something somewhere, and then leave, it's great to see others pick up where you left off, and do it so admirably.
I'm very happy to see this book come out. When I was at Opus, I started publishing Kay's work with the Fionavar Tapestry and Tigana. Since I've left, Opus have published The Sarantine Mosaic, and now Lions of Al Rassan. This is a wonderful novel, translated by Yael Achmon, who's one of my favorite translators and best friends, and translation-edited by the incomparable Hamutal Levin. When you start something somewhere, and then leave, it's great to see others pick up where you left off, and do it so admirably.
King James
I love LeBron James' game. I think he's a great kid, and a great talent. I also think that apart from about 3 great minutes in the Greece game, he's been terrible in the olympics and in the prep games.
I also like DC comics. The company and its imprints make many comics I like.
I'm not so crazy about DC making a comicbook about James, as part of a promotion for his new Powerade drink. I think anyone who believes this will get new readers for other comics is probably smoking something rather potent. But I guess what really bothers me about this is that, right now, 'bron is mostly a marketing star. Shouldn't an athlete, you know, actually accomplish something before he has his own drink, shoe, comicbook?
I also like DC comics. The company and its imprints make many comics I like.
I'm not so crazy about DC making a comicbook about James, as part of a promotion for his new Powerade drink. I think anyone who believes this will get new readers for other comics is probably smoking something rather potent. But I guess what really bothers me about this is that, right now, 'bron is mostly a marketing star. Shouldn't an athlete, you know, actually accomplish something before he has his own drink, shoe, comicbook?
Monday, August 16, 2004
Dick
Michel Basilieres wrote an article about how much he doesn't like Philip K. Dick. Mumpsimus' Matthew Cheney takes the article apart in a manner which is both entertaining and provides more food for thought regarding Dick than Basilieres' original article did. Read them both.
I do have one quibble with the original article which Cheney does not address. Basilieres writes:
I do have one quibble with the original article which Cheney does not address. Basilieres writes:
Of course, literary critics in France know little if anything of American science fiction, so Dick was never mentioned in any of the reviews. Instead, Carrère tells us, his novel was compared to Kafka.I don't know if Basilieres is interpreting Carrère when he says this, but Dick is both popular and respected in France, and has been since before Hollywood started making movies based on his work. Tim Powers has said that on the cover of his (excellent) Philip K. Dick winning novel The Anubis Gates, Dick's name got bigger billing than his own, and the result was terrific sales, far outstripping those of any of Powers' other novels.
Solar powered
Back in the day, Heinlein predicted that space exploration will be speaheaded by commercial companies. He hadn't planned on the cold war's effects, though, and in the sixties, seventies, and eighties, space was a state run affair.
Now, however, it seems that RAH's predictions weren't as far off as they seemed. Earlier in the year, SpaceShipOne became the first manned privately owned craft to reach space. And in a few months, the privately owned Cosmos 1 will become the first solar sail space ship to leave the earth. We do, indeed, live in interesting times.
Link via Cheryl's Musings.
Now, however, it seems that RAH's predictions weren't as far off as they seemed. Earlier in the year, SpaceShipOne became the first manned privately owned craft to reach space. And in a few months, the privately owned Cosmos 1 will become the first solar sail space ship to leave the earth. We do, indeed, live in interesting times.
Link via Cheryl's Musings.
Sunday, August 15, 2004
What if?
I've never been a big fan of the "What If?" concept, Marvel's comics covering paths not taken. But the small lineup of new What Ifs announced at WizardCon is something I can certainly get behind.
The one I'm absolutely gonna buy is "What if Jessica Jones had joined the Avengers?" by Bendis and Gaydos. This sounds like a book no fan of Bendis' Alias can live without.
"What if Karen Page had lived?" by Bendis, Smith, and Maleev is intriguing. Smith is the writer who killed Page off in his crappy Daredevil arc, and act Bendis characterized as "drive by writing", as Smith killed a central and then got off the book, without dealing with the repercussions for the remaining characters.
"Wha' huh?" will be a humor collection of What Ifs from Bendis, Millar, Ennis, Wade, Kirkman, and others. Ennis, Bendis and Kirkman are all quite good at bringing the funny, so this should be fun.
"What if Magneto had formed the X-Men with Professor X?" by Claremont is a book I wouldn't have much interest in, but Cully Hamner is doing the art, so it'll certainly be visually impressive.
"What if General Ross had become the Hulk?" is a Hulk What If? by Peter David, and that's enough to grab my interest. Andrea Divito on art is an added bonus.
"What if Aunt May had died instead of Uncle Ben?" is a case of a topic I'm completely uninterested in... but it's written by Ed Brubaker and Cameron Stewart is doing the art. Bru is one of my top five favorite writers of the last few years, and Stewart is terrific, so this may also get my money.
"What If Victor Von Doom had become the Thing?" is the one I'm probably least interested in. Karl Kesel has a great rep, but I don't remember ever reading anything he did, and the premise just doesn't do anything for me.
Bendis talks about his books and the whole concept here.
The one I'm absolutely gonna buy is "What if Jessica Jones had joined the Avengers?" by Bendis and Gaydos. This sounds like a book no fan of Bendis' Alias can live without.
"What if Karen Page had lived?" by Bendis, Smith, and Maleev is intriguing. Smith is the writer who killed Page off in his crappy Daredevil arc, and act Bendis characterized as "drive by writing", as Smith killed a central and then got off the book, without dealing with the repercussions for the remaining characters.
"Wha' huh?" will be a humor collection of What Ifs from Bendis, Millar, Ennis, Wade, Kirkman, and others. Ennis, Bendis and Kirkman are all quite good at bringing the funny, so this should be fun.
"What if Magneto had formed the X-Men with Professor X?" by Claremont is a book I wouldn't have much interest in, but Cully Hamner is doing the art, so it'll certainly be visually impressive.
"What if General Ross had become the Hulk?" is a Hulk What If? by Peter David, and that's enough to grab my interest. Andrea Divito on art is an added bonus.
"What if Aunt May had died instead of Uncle Ben?" is a case of a topic I'm completely uninterested in... but it's written by Ed Brubaker and Cameron Stewart is doing the art. Bru is one of my top five favorite writers of the last few years, and Stewart is terrific, so this may also get my money.
"What If Victor Von Doom had become the Thing?" is the one I'm probably least interested in. Karl Kesel has a great rep, but I don't remember ever reading anything he did, and the premise just doesn't do anything for me.
Bendis talks about his books and the whole concept here.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
John Perry Barlow interview
John Perry Barlow is the founder of EFF, which I have long deemed an extremely important organization, and an organization which is much more aware of the nature of the future we're living in than the goverment bodies and corporations it often takes on. In this interview for Reason Online, he talks about politics, the law, copyright, and other topics. I don't agree with him on everything (his negation of intellectual property is certainly something I have a problem with, though my own views on the matter aren't as rigid as they used to be), but it's a fascinating read nonetheless.
Link via Boing Boing.
Link via Boing Boing.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Biological basis for Autism
Anyone who's ever known a person who is on the Autism spectrum knows that people who suffer from Autism think differently. Now, for the first time, brain researchers have found a biological difference in the brain activities of people with High-Functioning Autism and those of people who are not on the Autism spectrum. It's a hugely important first step to curing the surrently incurable.
Link via Cheryl's Musings.
Link via Cheryl's Musings.
I've always loved Eric Idle...
And here he is, proving to be the most relevant of the surviving Pythons, with a little song called The FCC Song. You can find the lyrics here.
Link via the General.
Link via the General.
Sunday, August 08, 2004
More good comics news for Israelis
A couple of years ago, I decided to start reading comics again. I told myself that I'll somehow make up for the money spent and the time spent reading books that aren't on my ever-large read-for-work pile by making it pay down the road. Frankly, even I barely believed it. I've pitched comics series to both the publishers I worked for as editor, but neither bit.
And now, for the second time in the last few months, I can announce the fruits of my quest to become a comics maven, as the good folks at Comikaza announce the upcoming hebrew publication of the first issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, translated by yours truly.
I'm very happy to be involved in this endeavor. As readers of the Hebrew segments of the site already know, I'm a big fan of Bendis' work, and I feel that Ultimate Spider-Man has been the best Spidey series in the last few years, as well as the best series set in Marvel's Ultimate Universe. And it's nice to see that crazy plans can come to fruition.
And now, for the second time in the last few months, I can announce the fruits of my quest to become a comics maven, as the good folks at Comikaza announce the upcoming hebrew publication of the first issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, translated by yours truly.
I'm very happy to be involved in this endeavor. As readers of the Hebrew segments of the site already know, I'm a big fan of Bendis' work, and I feel that Ultimate Spider-Man has been the best Spidey series in the last few years, as well as the best series set in Marvel's Ultimate Universe. And it's nice to see that crazy plans can come to fruition.
World Fantasy Award nominees announced
Haven't had a chance to read most of them, but the first thing that struck me was this: Apparently, you CAN have a genre awards ballot without a single thing by Neil Gaiman. Not that nominations for Gaiman really bother me, as I'm a pretty big Gaiman fan, but it was getting a bit much.
In any case, the nominees in selected categories are:
NOVEL
The Etched City, K. J. Bishop (Prime Books)
Fudoki, Kij Johnson (Tor)
The Light Ages, Ian R. MacLeod (Ace)
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton (Tor)
Veniss Underground, Jeff VanderMeer (Prime Books)
The Etched City is one of the books I've been reading for a while. Fascinating, strange book. Veniss Underground and The Light Ages are books I very much want to read.
NOVELLA
"A Crowd of Bone", Greer Gilman (Trampoline: An Anthology Small Beer Press)
"Dancing Men", Glen Hirshberg (The Dark Tor)
"The Empire of Ice Cream", Jeffrey Ford (Sci Fiction 02.26.03)
"Exorcising Angels", Simon Clark & Tim Lebbon (Exorcising Angels Earthling Publications)
"The Hortlak", Kelly Link (The Dark Tor)
I'll be reading "The Empire of Ice Cream" soon, as I'm reading all the Hugo nominated short fiction (I hope to post an opinion before the announcement.) But more importantly, there's a new Kelly Link story I need to read. Maybe I should get The Dark. Kelly Link is good. Kelly Link is very good. Kelly Link is, in some strange way, the new Howard Waldrop, in that her stories are uniquely her own, uniquely original, and absolutely brilliant.
SHORT FICTION
"Ancestor Money", Maureen F. McHugh (Sci Fiction 10.01.03)
Circle of Cats, Charles de Lint (Viking)
"Don Ysidro", Bruce Holland Rogers (Polyphony 3 Wheatland)
"Gus Dreams of Biting the Mailman", Alex Irvine (Trampoline Small Beer Press)
"O One", Chris Roberson (Live Without a Net Roc)
Ok, how the hell did I miss the publication of Circle of Cats? A "picture book" for children by Charles de Lint and Charles Vess, set in the world of de Lint's Newford. Also, interesting to see a story with words and pictures nominated for this award. As some of you will recall, they changed the rules of the award to disallow comics after Gaiman's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" won in 1991. Interestingly, Charles Vess was the artist then as well. Without reading any of these, I'm rooting for the cats. Also, I want this book.
ANTHOLOGY
The Dark: New Ghost Stories, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Tor)
Gathering the Bones, Jack Dann, Ramsey Campbell & Dennis Etchison, eds. (Voyager Australia; Voyager UK; Tor US)
Strange Tales, Rosalie Parker, ed. (Tartarus Press)
The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, Jeff VanderMeer & Mark Roberts, eds. (Night Shade Books)
Trampoline: An Anthology, Kelly Link, ed. (Small Beer Press)
An anthology with a Kelly Link story, and anthology edited by Link, and a fictional guide to fictional illnesses. A bunch of goodness here, it seems. Note that most of these are small press books. Small Beer and Nightshade are doing great work these days.
COLLECTION
Bibliomancy, Elizabeth Hand (PS Publishing)
Ghosts of Yesterday, Jack Cady (Night Shade Books)
GRRM: A RRetrospective, George R. R. Martin (Subterranean Press)
More Tomorrow & Other Stories, Michael Marshall Smith (Earthling Publications)
The Two Sams, Glen Hirshberg (Carroll & Graf)
It's GRRM's world, and the rest of the nominees are living in it. Of course, the RRetrospective is large enough for several people to live in... Also, most of the nominees here too are small press books, which says something about the quality of small presses these days (PS publishing and Subterranian are also outstanding), something about the unwillingess of big publishers to publish collections and anthologies, and probably something about the snobbery of the World Fantasy Awards.
A complete list of the nominees can be found at Locus, of course.
In any case, the nominees in selected categories are:
NOVEL
The Etched City, K. J. Bishop (Prime Books)
Fudoki, Kij Johnson (Tor)
The Light Ages, Ian R. MacLeod (Ace)
Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton (Tor)
Veniss Underground, Jeff VanderMeer (Prime Books)
The Etched City is one of the books I've been reading for a while. Fascinating, strange book. Veniss Underground and The Light Ages are books I very much want to read.
NOVELLA
"A Crowd of Bone", Greer Gilman (Trampoline: An Anthology Small Beer Press)
"Dancing Men", Glen Hirshberg (The Dark Tor)
"The Empire of Ice Cream", Jeffrey Ford (Sci Fiction 02.26.03)
"Exorcising Angels", Simon Clark & Tim Lebbon (Exorcising Angels Earthling Publications)
"The Hortlak", Kelly Link (The Dark Tor)
I'll be reading "The Empire of Ice Cream" soon, as I'm reading all the Hugo nominated short fiction (I hope to post an opinion before the announcement.) But more importantly, there's a new Kelly Link story I need to read. Maybe I should get The Dark. Kelly Link is good. Kelly Link is very good. Kelly Link is, in some strange way, the new Howard Waldrop, in that her stories are uniquely her own, uniquely original, and absolutely brilliant.
SHORT FICTION
"Ancestor Money", Maureen F. McHugh (Sci Fiction 10.01.03)
Circle of Cats, Charles de Lint (Viking)
"Don Ysidro", Bruce Holland Rogers (Polyphony 3 Wheatland)
"Gus Dreams of Biting the Mailman", Alex Irvine (Trampoline Small Beer Press)
"O One", Chris Roberson (Live Without a Net Roc)
Ok, how the hell did I miss the publication of Circle of Cats? A "picture book" for children by Charles de Lint and Charles Vess, set in the world of de Lint's Newford. Also, interesting to see a story with words and pictures nominated for this award. As some of you will recall, they changed the rules of the award to disallow comics after Gaiman's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" won in 1991. Interestingly, Charles Vess was the artist then as well. Without reading any of these, I'm rooting for the cats. Also, I want this book.
ANTHOLOGY
The Dark: New Ghost Stories, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Tor)
Gathering the Bones, Jack Dann, Ramsey Campbell & Dennis Etchison, eds. (Voyager Australia; Voyager UK; Tor US)
Strange Tales, Rosalie Parker, ed. (Tartarus Press)
The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, Jeff VanderMeer & Mark Roberts, eds. (Night Shade Books)
Trampoline: An Anthology, Kelly Link, ed. (Small Beer Press)
An anthology with a Kelly Link story, and anthology edited by Link, and a fictional guide to fictional illnesses. A bunch of goodness here, it seems. Note that most of these are small press books. Small Beer and Nightshade are doing great work these days.
COLLECTION
Bibliomancy, Elizabeth Hand (PS Publishing)
Ghosts of Yesterday, Jack Cady (Night Shade Books)
GRRM: A RRetrospective, George R. R. Martin (Subterranean Press)
More Tomorrow & Other Stories, Michael Marshall Smith (Earthling Publications)
The Two Sams, Glen Hirshberg (Carroll & Graf)
It's GRRM's world, and the rest of the nominees are living in it. Of course, the RRetrospective is large enough for several people to live in... Also, most of the nominees here too are small press books, which says something about the quality of small presses these days (PS publishing and Subterranian are also outstanding), something about the unwillingess of big publishers to publish collections and anthologies, and probably something about the snobbery of the World Fantasy Awards.
A complete list of the nominees can be found at Locus, of course.
Saturday, August 07, 2004
Another calendar
Remember how much I wanted the Endless Calendar? Well, I want this one more. A calendar with retellings of the legend of Gawain and the Green Knight, with short-short stories by the likes of Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, Graham Joyce, and Chaz Brenchley (who isn't as famous as those other guys, but is a heck of a writer, and a great guy). And art by a bunch of people I'm sure I'd know if I knew any british artists.
I've always loved the legend. It's probably my favorite bit of Arthuriana, and it's a wonderful vehicle for reinterpretations. In fact, I don't just want this. At some point between now and January, I'm getting this.
Link via Neil Gaiman.
I've always loved the legend. It's probably my favorite bit of Arthuriana, and it's a wonderful vehicle for reinterpretations. In fact, I don't just want this. At some point between now and January, I'm getting this.
Link via Neil Gaiman.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
About the new blogroll
If you look to the right, under the archive links, you'll find my new blogroll. Yup, I finally got myself one.
The blogs I chose are those in which I usually read every post, even if it's not about something I'm normally interested in.
Making Light is Teresa Nielsen Hayden's blog. I put it in the SF and writing category because those are topics on which TNH, an editor at Tor and a published writer, is an expert. But she also covers other topics, usually brilliantly. She has a magnificent community of comment posters, as well, so always be sure to check those out.
Cheryl Morgan's Emerald City is your source for news about sf books, writing, critique, and cons. Be sure to read her monthly online magazine of the same name as well. Excellent reviews, though I often disagree with her.
Neil Gaiman's Journal is Neil Gaiman's blog.
Kathryn Cramer is David Hartwell's wife and collaborator on Year's Best SF and Fantasy anthologies. She's also a writer and editor. This blog could have easily gone in the politics, as she writes a great deal about that as well.
Charlie's Diary is Charlie Stross' diary, which deals with SF, Tech, and politics.
Nick Mamatas is a writer and critic who's Livejournal is highly entertaining, and occasionally deals very interestingly in genre related stuff.
The Write Hemisphere links to new articles, reviews and short stories online. Very informative.
The Mumpsimus is one of the best literary blogs around. Deals mostly with genre. Very worth reading.
Engadget is gadget porn. News, pics, commentary and links regarding new tech.
Boing Boing is a collaborative blog covering many, many topics. It's one of the best and most active blogs on the net.
die puny humans is Warren Ellis' so-called "research blog." It's really Ellis posting about whatever he thinks of.
Movies in Fifteen Minutes features Cleolinda Jones' wonderful film parodies. So funny, she got a book contract.
Electrolite is Tor senior editor (and husband of Teresa Nielsen Hayden) Patrick Nielsen Hayden's blog, dealing with politics, sf, and many other things. There's a great overlap in the commenting community with TNH's blog, so be sure to read the comments here as well.
ADDTooFlat is a general comics blog, with mostly commentary, and some reviews.
Cognitive Dissonance is Johanna Draper Carlson's blog, featuring comics reviews, commentary, and the weekly Chick Check, counting the female creators on books by Marvel and DC.
Howling Curmudgeons is a collaborative comics blog with news, links, discussions and reviews.
Peter David's blog deals with Peter David, his work, life, and politics.
Peiratikos is yet another collaborative comics blog, featuring thoughtful commentary and reviews.
Eschaton is the very best source for American political news with a liberal bias.
Daily Kos is a collaborative liberal/progressive/democratic political blog, which covers the coming elections very heavily. Do we have anything like this in Israel? I'd love to know.
Respectful of Otters is a personal political blog, with highly intelligent commentary.
Jesus' General is a satirical political blog. It's the blog of a fictional, insane, rabidly right-wing guy, and the letter he writes (and actually sends) to political figures.
Talking Points Memo is one of the best political commentary sites, with a moderately liberal bias.
Sisyphus Shrugged is a personal political blog, with insightful, often biting commentary. Yes, it has a liberal bias.
Hullabaloo is... well, every thing I said about Sisyphus Shrugged applies here too.
Political Animal is a blog/column/commentary thingie from former blogger turned online columnist (the difference? He get's paid) Kevin Drum.
Body and Soul: See Hullabaloo and Sisyphus Shrugged.
Roni Gelbfish's blog is easilly my favorite Israeli blog, featuring commentary, quick book reviews, and Gelbfish's poetry.
kinnblog.com is the news blog of the vasr Kinneret/Zmora-Bitan/Dvir consortium. Literary news from Israel and beyond.
Distractions is Dotan Dimet's blog, which deals with genre, tech, and other topics.
So that's my blogroll. Other blogs will surely be added to it as time goes on.
The blogs I chose are those in which I usually read every post, even if it's not about something I'm normally interested in.
Making Light is Teresa Nielsen Hayden's blog. I put it in the SF and writing category because those are topics on which TNH, an editor at Tor and a published writer, is an expert. But she also covers other topics, usually brilliantly. She has a magnificent community of comment posters, as well, so always be sure to check those out.
Cheryl Morgan's Emerald City is your source for news about sf books, writing, critique, and cons. Be sure to read her monthly online magazine of the same name as well. Excellent reviews, though I often disagree with her.
Neil Gaiman's Journal is Neil Gaiman's blog.
Kathryn Cramer is David Hartwell's wife and collaborator on Year's Best SF and Fantasy anthologies. She's also a writer and editor. This blog could have easily gone in the politics, as she writes a great deal about that as well.
Charlie's Diary is Charlie Stross' diary, which deals with SF, Tech, and politics.
Nick Mamatas is a writer and critic who's Livejournal is highly entertaining, and occasionally deals very interestingly in genre related stuff.
The Write Hemisphere links to new articles, reviews and short stories online. Very informative.
The Mumpsimus is one of the best literary blogs around. Deals mostly with genre. Very worth reading.
Engadget is gadget porn. News, pics, commentary and links regarding new tech.
Boing Boing is a collaborative blog covering many, many topics. It's one of the best and most active blogs on the net.
die puny humans is Warren Ellis' so-called "research blog." It's really Ellis posting about whatever he thinks of.
Movies in Fifteen Minutes features Cleolinda Jones' wonderful film parodies. So funny, she got a book contract.
Electrolite is Tor senior editor (and husband of Teresa Nielsen Hayden) Patrick Nielsen Hayden's blog, dealing with politics, sf, and many other things. There's a great overlap in the commenting community with TNH's blog, so be sure to read the comments here as well.
ADDTooFlat is a general comics blog, with mostly commentary, and some reviews.
Cognitive Dissonance is Johanna Draper Carlson's blog, featuring comics reviews, commentary, and the weekly Chick Check, counting the female creators on books by Marvel and DC.
Howling Curmudgeons is a collaborative comics blog with news, links, discussions and reviews.
Peter David's blog deals with Peter David, his work, life, and politics.
Peiratikos is yet another collaborative comics blog, featuring thoughtful commentary and reviews.
Eschaton is the very best source for American political news with a liberal bias.
Daily Kos is a collaborative liberal/progressive/democratic political blog, which covers the coming elections very heavily. Do we have anything like this in Israel? I'd love to know.
Respectful of Otters is a personal political blog, with highly intelligent commentary.
Jesus' General is a satirical political blog. It's the blog of a fictional, insane, rabidly right-wing guy, and the letter he writes (and actually sends) to political figures.
Talking Points Memo is one of the best political commentary sites, with a moderately liberal bias.
Sisyphus Shrugged is a personal political blog, with insightful, often biting commentary. Yes, it has a liberal bias.
Hullabaloo is... well, every thing I said about Sisyphus Shrugged applies here too.
Political Animal is a blog/column/commentary thingie from former blogger turned online columnist (the difference? He get's paid) Kevin Drum.
Body and Soul: See Hullabaloo and Sisyphus Shrugged.
Roni Gelbfish's blog is easilly my favorite Israeli blog, featuring commentary, quick book reviews, and Gelbfish's poetry.
kinnblog.com is the news blog of the vasr Kinneret/Zmora-Bitan/Dvir consortium. Literary news from Israel and beyond.
Distractions is Dotan Dimet's blog, which deals with genre, tech, and other topics.
So that's my blogroll. Other blogs will surely be added to it as time goes on.
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Review: Transformation by Carol Berg
There's no better time to review a book than right after one finishes translating it. The book is etched in one's brain, and unless the book is odious, one tends to be positive towards it, and more prone to pointing out its merits than its flaws.
That's how I came up with a mostly positive review of the Wheel of Time series, for instance. Unless the translation experience is truly horrific (in which case, I won't write a review, as I don't publish negative reviews of books published by my colleagues in the Israeli SF market, regardless of whether or not I translated them), this rule has been quite firm.
But even without the rose tinted glasses of the post-translation afterglow, I'm pretty sure I would have really liked TRANSFORMATION, which is that rare beast: a highly original high fantasy novel.
The plot combines a coming of age story with a very interesting take on the Campbellian hero's journey, in which the hero is far from being a young innocent who discovers his own glory, but a former hero turned slave who must rediscover himself for another's glory.
The books strongest point by far is its characters, an ensemble cast of nobles, slaves, and magicians, highlighted by one of the finest characters I've encountered in this genre, the book's co-protagonist, Prince Aleksander Zha Denischkar. Aleksander is the protagonist of the coming of age part of the tale, an arrogant, cruel, vainglorious young man who is, much like an ogre or an onion, not bereft of layers. But those layers are only peeled at great duress, and Aleksander's tranformation is the main motor that drives the story.
The co-protagonist and narrator, longtime slave Seyonne, isn't as interesting. He's a do-gooder who was basically forced to become a complex person through 16 years of bondage. I'll admit I have a slight bias against Seyonne for two reasons: He whines a great deal, especially during the first half of the novel, which is quite understadable under the circumstances, but it's just something I hate translating. And he obsesses about clothing to an unreasonable degree. I understand that Berg wanted to convey a sense of the world her characters inhabit, and clothing is a part of that, but I just can't imagine a slave who hates his masters noting, or even caring about, every item of clothing they wear. But Seyonne grew on me, and by the end of the book, I was quite fond of him. Good thing, too, as he is the main character in the books' two sequels. Yup, there are sequels, which eventually form a trilogy, but TRANSFORMATION stands very well on its own two feet. I tells a complete story.
The plot has many twists and turns, and won't benefit very much from a summation. I say that it is a story of the demons withing people, both metaphorical and very real ones. It's also a story about love, and betrayel, and politics, and culture. And it is, maybe more than anything, a story about change.
It's highly recommended to fans of high fantasy, epic fantasy, and books with strong characterization of all genres.
That's how I came up with a mostly positive review of the Wheel of Time series, for instance. Unless the translation experience is truly horrific (in which case, I won't write a review, as I don't publish negative reviews of books published by my colleagues in the Israeli SF market, regardless of whether or not I translated them), this rule has been quite firm.
But even without the rose tinted glasses of the post-translation afterglow, I'm pretty sure I would have really liked TRANSFORMATION, which is that rare beast: a highly original high fantasy novel.
The plot combines a coming of age story with a very interesting take on the Campbellian hero's journey, in which the hero is far from being a young innocent who discovers his own glory, but a former hero turned slave who must rediscover himself for another's glory.
The books strongest point by far is its characters, an ensemble cast of nobles, slaves, and magicians, highlighted by one of the finest characters I've encountered in this genre, the book's co-protagonist, Prince Aleksander Zha Denischkar. Aleksander is the protagonist of the coming of age part of the tale, an arrogant, cruel, vainglorious young man who is, much like an ogre or an onion, not bereft of layers. But those layers are only peeled at great duress, and Aleksander's tranformation is the main motor that drives the story.
The co-protagonist and narrator, longtime slave Seyonne, isn't as interesting. He's a do-gooder who was basically forced to become a complex person through 16 years of bondage. I'll admit I have a slight bias against Seyonne for two reasons: He whines a great deal, especially during the first half of the novel, which is quite understadable under the circumstances, but it's just something I hate translating. And he obsesses about clothing to an unreasonable degree. I understand that Berg wanted to convey a sense of the world her characters inhabit, and clothing is a part of that, but I just can't imagine a slave who hates his masters noting, or even caring about, every item of clothing they wear. But Seyonne grew on me, and by the end of the book, I was quite fond of him. Good thing, too, as he is the main character in the books' two sequels. Yup, there are sequels, which eventually form a trilogy, but TRANSFORMATION stands very well on its own two feet. I tells a complete story.
The plot has many twists and turns, and won't benefit very much from a summation. I say that it is a story of the demons withing people, both metaphorical and very real ones. It's also a story about love, and betrayel, and politics, and culture. And it is, maybe more than anything, a story about change.
It's highly recommended to fans of high fantasy, epic fantasy, and books with strong characterization of all genres.
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Some new series on US tv
I really wanted to like The 4400. It has a killer premise - 4400 people who vanished during the last 50 odd years are returned from the heavens by a big ass ball of energy, and at least some of them seem to have powers of some kind. With such a premise, you can do most anything. X-Files type detective work, Comics-Superhero inspired stories. And the creators seem to want to do just that. And it's been a good while since a genre show came along with this kind of potential. Even the late, lamented Wonderfalls and Firefly, which were both a million times better than this, didn't have such wonderful potential for a variety of great stories.
The cast is able, the show looks good, and the basic idea is terrific. But the writing, the writing... The dialogue is stunted, the (many, many sub-)plots are predictable and, for the most part, annoying. A third of the way through the third episode, I said the seven deadly words (I Just Don't Care About These People) and stopped watching.
However, outside the confines of genre television (and away from network television), there is good news to be found. I found two shows I really, really like.
Entourage is an HBO show, which is pretty much an automatic guarantee of quality these days. It's a comedy about
I checked out Rescue Me for one reason - Dennis Leary. I've been a fan of his work since a friend got me to listen to No Cure For Cancer, and I was sorry I never got to watch his cancelled cop show The Job. The premise here was really dangerous territory -
Mentioning Dean Winters reminds me that there only a couple of episodes of The Jury are left in the can, and no news since filming stopped a month ago, things don't look good for one of the best shows on TV, now relegated to the TV hell known as Friday.
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