Books
drorzel | December 7, 2007Over in LiveJournal land, Sherwood Smith links approvingly to an essay by Tom Simon in response to what are apparently some "logical positivist" evles in Christopher Paolini's books. I haven't read the books in question, but it really doesn't matter, as Simon very quickly spins this off into a larger essay about the nature of the world, in the mode of C.S. Lewis:
In my life, I have never witnessed an instance where the laws that govern the world sufficed to explain an event. That is, I have never seen anything that was not, strictly speaking, the after-effect of a miracle. Many events have…
drorzel | December 6, 2007John Scalzi is talking a big game:
I was just taking one of those Internet tests to see how much of a geek I am, when I suddenly thought, what the fuck am I doing? I'm a published science fiction writer. Do not pass "go," do not collect $200, you know? Just go straight to the geek win.
That's right, I win at geek. Tell me I'm wrong.
All I have to say is, "Enjoy it while you can, Heinlein boy."
I'm writing a book based on talking to my dog about quantum physics. Scalzi holds the title for the moment by virtue of actually being published, while my book is still pending.
But he's just keeping…
drorzel | December 4, 2007Physics World has an interview with Alastair Reynolds, who was trained as an astrophysicist but is now a full-time SF author:
How does your physics training help with your writing?
Less than people imagine. I think the most important attribute for a science-fiction writer is to be fascinated by science -- in all its manifestations. It's not necessary to be able to understand all the details, but just to be inspired and stimulated. Most of the ideas that have fed into my writing have come from reading popular articles on subjects far away from my own very limited specialization, such as…
drorzel | December 2, 2007I don't really want to turn this blog completely over to bitching about the poor representation of science in "Year's Best" lists of books, but it's that time of year when every media outlet puts out their lists of favorite books, so it's hard not to talk about it. Today's list is from the Washington Post's Holiday Guide, where they helpfully break their non-fiction list down into categories. By my count, there were 94 non-fiction books listed, divided among 11 categories:
Arts: 7
Biographies: 17
Culture and Society: 9
Current Events: 8
Foreign Affairs: 9
History: 23
Literature: 2
Memoirs: 9…
drorzel | November 29, 2007In comments to my earlier cranky post about the New York Times, Carl Zimmer pointed out that they hadn't released their "Ten Best Books" list, so there was still an outside chance of a science book turning up. They posted the list today, and there's nothing on it that wasn't also on the Notable Books list, so no dice.
Another common response to my complaint was along the lines of "Do they ever list science books?" I was looking for a way to kill a little time at one point yesterday, so I went back through the last few lists and counted science books. The tallies for 2003-2006 (using a fairly…
drorzel | November 27, 2007Scott Eric Kaufman draws my attention to the fact that the New York Times has posted its Notable Books for 2007 list. The list is divided into "Fiction & Poetry" and "Non-Fiction," and Scott correctly notes that the "Fiction & Poetry" books all have terrible blurbs, but I'd like to point out a much larger problem with the list, relating to the "Non-Fiction" category:
There is not a single science book on the list of "Notable Books" for the year.
There are books on history, books on politics, personal memoirs, collections of critical essays, but nothing about science. There are…
drorzel | November 17, 2007An email from Amazon arrived yesterday announcing their Best Books of 2007 lists. This is an earlier-than usual opening of the "Year's Best" season, in which every publication in the universe produces a list of the N best Whatever of the past year, but with the Christmas shopping season now starting before Halloween, I suppose this is only to be expected.
Amazon helpfully provides both a list of bestsellers, and an Editor's Picks list of the Best Books of 2007:
A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (…
drorzel | November 10, 2007Matthew Fisher buys a blog topic:
I thought I'd throw in a request for another post on Steven Erikson. Specifically how his Malazan books either conform to, or subvert standard epic fantasy tropes. I've been a fan of his for quite awhile, and I'd like to think his stuff is different from Goodkind/Jordan/Eddings stuff (but that might just be elitism).
I held off on this one for a little while because Erikson was at World Fantasy Con last weekend, and I figured there was a chance that he might say something relevant in the panel on "Taboos in Fantasy," which Kate just wrote up. He did say…
drorzel | November 7, 2007I really, really did not like Glasshouse, Charlie Stross's Hugo-nominated novel from last year. I enjoy his "Laundry" books, though (The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue), and at Worldcon I had a conversation with Robert Sneddon, who recommended the forthcoming Halting State as closer in tone to those, so I picked it up a few weeks ago.
Halting State carries back-cover blurbs from three people: 1) Vernor Vinge, 2) John Carmack, lead developer of Doom and Quake, and 3) Bruce Schneier, the noted security expert. That pretty much tells you what you're going to get right there: a highly…
drorzel | November 5, 2007I realized that last week's scavenger hunt posts neglected half of my favorite genre fiction, so here's a post to make up for that:
What items should appear on a Science Fiction Novel Scavenger Hunt?
Some suggestions to get things started:
One Big Dumb Object
One improbably brilliant genius scientist who is able to both invent a new Theory of Everything and use it to build a time machine/ star drive/ whatever in his basement lab
One book offering a "scientific" explanation for some "paranormal" phenomenon
One alien planet consisting of a single ecosystem
One reference to special relativity…
drorzel | November 4, 2007Here's a picture of the haul from the World Fantasy Convention:
(We got two of the bright blue bags with the odd aspect ratio, but I only put one in the picture.)
The small pile on the left is a collection of samplers and free magazine issues (if I read them all, I'll have a really good idea of whether I should subscribe to F&SF). The pile in the middle is stuff from the bag of free books that you get for attending WFC. The pile on the right is stuff we bought in the Dealer's Room.
We may need to reinforce the office floor one of these days...
Contents of the piles, for those who care.…
drorzel | November 2, 2007The World Fantasy Convention is being held just up the road in Saratoga Springs, and Kate and I are commuting to it for the next few days. That means light blogging, which means it's Dorky Poll time.
Here's a literary Dorky Poll (a more conventionally Dorky version will follow shortly), suggested by Kate:
What items should appear on a Fantasy Novel Scavenger Hunt?
This came up at the Australian party last night, where it was noted that they had packed the room by offering free books. Somebody else said that you could probably clear the room by telling people there were free books on the roof…
drorzel | October 28, 2007Back in August, somebody from Night Shade Books contacted me and asked if I would like a review copy of the forthcoming book by Nathalie Mallet, The Princes of the Golden Cage. I almost never turn down free books, so I said yes (actually, both Kate and I were contacted, and she replied first, so we just got the one copy sent to her). I then proceeded to spend two months not gettingaround to reading it, despite carrying it to Japan and back.
The book is a quasi-Arabian fantasy novel, set in the "Golden Cage," the palace where the adult sons of the Sultan of Telfar are kept in luxurious…
drorzel | October 11, 2007In the "Social Networks Brighten My Morning" file, I am inordinately amused to be getting status updates from a Nobel laureate on Facebook.
Speaking of Nobel laureates, the latest chunk of dynamite money was awarded this morning to novelist Doris Lessing:
"that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny"
I have absolutely no idea what that means, not having read any of her books. I associate her with the class of mainstream writers who independently reinvent science fiction, and then insist that they're not…
drorzel | October 10, 2007Attention-grabbing anecdote about science-related issue.
Short biographical sketch of quirky researcher working on scientific problem.
Short explanation of the scientific problem's history and significance.
Anecdote about quirky researcher's work on scientific problem.
Short explanation connecting back to initial attention-grabbing anecdote.
Pithy summary of What It All Means.
(Repeat steps 2-4 as needed to fill out word count.)
I got a review copy of The Best American Science Writing 2007 from Seed a little while ago, but I haven't had much time to read lately. I spent six hours on a bus…
drorzel | October 6, 2007It's as good an explanation as any for this:
I'm not sure what this particular bit of Engrish is advertising, but I like the poster. It was hanging on a wall in Kamakura when we visited there in the pouring rain.
The original image, and 140 other pictures from Kamakura, can be found in this Flickr photoset.
drorzel | September 20, 2007On September 19, 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were driving through rural New Hampshire, and had an odd experience that has become probably the most famous alien abduction story in the history of UFO folklore.
As it happens, they drove right past the town where SF author and Making Light blogger Jim Macdonald lives. Now, armed with a digital camera and a scientific mindset, Jim has set out to produce the definitive explanation of the Hill story, following published accounts step by step through the New Hampshire countryside.
It's a terrific piece of work, even in an incomplete state (he's still…
drorzel | September 17, 2007James Oliver Rigney, better known to the world by his Robert Jordan pseudonym, has passed away after a long illness. I didn't know him personally-- I met him very briefly once, at a signing-- but the Wheel of Time books were ridiculously important in my life. I met a great many friends through Robert Jordan fandom on Usenet, which helped keep me sane during graduate school. And Kate was among the people I met there, so I really owe him more than I can easily express.
Making Light has more, including links to a number of other tributes. Whatever you may think of the books (and this is neither…
drorzel | September 15, 2007In a comment to my Worldcon wrap-up, "fvngvs" asks a question following up on the science in SF panel:
So Chad, now that you've had some time to think about it, can you think of a list of books/stories with a really good treatment of science concepts?
It's a good question, and deserves a full post in response. It also probably deserves better than to be posted on a Saturday morning, when nobody's reading, but oh, well.
Anyway, the question stems from a question posed during the panel, asking for books or stories that do a particularly good job presenting some science concept or another. I…
drorzel | September 14, 2007Discussing Isaac Asimov's non-fiction a bit yesterday reminded me of my absolute favorite panel at Worldcon, Saturday's "Mundane or Transcendent?" with Cory Doctorow, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Charlie Stross, and Robert Silverberg as moderator. They're all really smart people, and they're all good at turning phrases on the fly, so it was terrifically entertaining.
Some of the best stuff on the panel involved Cory Doctorow talking about Isaac Asimov's fiction, and putting it in a very different light. He argued that Foundation is really a story about the New Deal, and that the Laws of Robotics…