Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Luther - Mark Waid and Jeremy Rock

http://markwaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/LUTHER001021LTRD_ipad2-300x111.jpg

A challenged kid collects souvenirs from zombie corpses after the fall, so to speak. A dangerous hobby.


3.5 out of 5

http://markwaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Luther-Final.pdf

Monday, March 19, 2012

Cat Nap - Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Husband's pet abuse scam pans out.


3.5 out of 5

http://kriswrites.com/2012/03/12/free-fiction-monday-cat-nap/

Friday, March 16, 2012

Warp drive could be a doomsday weapon - Jude Dineley

Not the sort of sensationalist headline you see every day!

"SYDNEY: The search for the Holy Grail of intergalactic travel has encountered a slight hitch, say Australian scientists.

Recent research predicts that upon reaching its destination, the theoretical Alcubierre warp drive – a speculative idea proposed by Mexican theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre in 1994 by which a spacecraft could be accelerated to speeds greater than the speed of light - would unleash a high energy cocktail of particles and radiation, blasting anyone in its path “into oblivion”."


3.5 out of 5

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/5395/warp-speed-visitors-make-unwelcome-guests

Thursday, March 15, 2012

A Suitable Present For A Sorcerous Puppet - Garth Nix

Maladroit music mishaps, evil entity. Naked God preferred.


4 out of 5

http://podcastle.org/2012/03/06/podcastle-199-a-suitable-present-for-a-sorcerous-puppet/

Friday, March 09, 2012

The Monster Men - Edgar Rice Burroughs

Burroughs has produced a version of his own of the Frankenstein cum Doctor Moreau story - this time in Indonesia.

So yes, pursuit by headhunters does feature!

Or, what's a girl to do when she realises the big hunk of beefcake she really would rather get hitched to rather than the dodgy bloke who works with mad scientist dad may be a creation?


3 out of 5

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/96

The Colors of Space - Marion Zimmer Bradley

Kid gets into space where the alien Lhari dominate space travel - thanks to knowing the warp drive trick. He finds out that there is a color and genetic trick to surviving warp travel and sets about giving the monkeyboys and girls a shot at their own interstellar future.


2.5 out of 5

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20796

Gulliver of Mars - Edwin Lester Linden Arnold

Wishing you were on Mars by magic carpet? Ok. Then the continuing well-mannered adventures and misadventures continue on a not too outlandish planet at all, including language.


2.5 out of 5

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/604

Stone Age - Alastair Mayer

Space tomb raider archaeology deal.


3.5 out of 5

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/86123

Lazy Literature Interview With - Mike Resnick

"Your project of “Mike’s Writer Children” is absolutely fabulous and exciting. How did you come up with that idea?

I had just sold reprints of the first three Lucifer Jones books (he’s my favorite character) to Arc Manor, a relatively new press that I hadn’t worked with before, and Shahid Mahmud, the publisher, asked me if I had any idea for a new line of books, something no one else was doing. I remembered that Maureen McHugh invented the term “Mike’s Writer Children” to describe the 20 or 25 beginners I’ve kind of “adopted” and helped along the way – collaborating with them, buying stories from them when I’ve edited anthologies, introducing them to editors and agents at conventions – and it occurred to me that I couldn’t be the only writer who did this. So I suggested what has become the Stellar Guild line, a series of team-ups where an established star writes a novella, and then a protégé of the star’s own choosing writes a novelette set in the same universe, and they share cover credit."


4 out of 5

http://www.lazyliterature.de/interview-with-mike-resnick-2012-english/

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Publisher Answers with - Benjamin LeRoy

Though I’m not sure where it will all shake out, the pricing of ebooks allows readers to take low risk chances on authors they might not know, and I think that’s a good thing for building an audience. I’m a fan of anything that gets people reading.

I just launched an ebook imprint for F+W called Prologue Books. It’s given me a chance to put back in print (digitally) books that have long been out of print. Making those books available to a wide audience would have been cost prohibitive if they were print, but ebooks make it possible. What I think is cool about that, is there is the possibility for today’s readers to “discover” authors that might otherwise have been lost to history. From a personal geek standpoint, I’m fascinated to trace the genealogy of genres, to understand how writers working fifty years ago influenced current authors. Ebooks make it possible.


3.5 out of 5

http://thewordnerds.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/publisher-answers-with-benjamin-leroy/

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Locus Roundtable on Greg Egan - Karen Burnham

"Welcome to another single-author focused edition of the Locus Roundtable. This time Greg Egan is in the spotlight, as I egregiously abuse my position by wrangling some very kind individuals into talking about my personal current obsession. Participating in this discussion are Gardner Dozois, whose early championing of Egan’s short fiction helped to make him one of the more influential sf authors of the 1990s; Kathleen Ann Goonan, author of the Nanotech Quartet of stories as well as In War Times and This Shared Dream; Russell Letson, long-time reviewer for Locus; and Paul Graham Raven, owner of Futurismic and short story author."


4 out of 5

http://www.locusmag.com/Roundtable/2012/03/roundtable-on-greg-egan/

Monday, March 05, 2012

Pioneer One

A spacecraft lands badly near Calgary. A joint US-Canadian operations checks it out and things are decidedly odd. The occupant speaks Russian and appears to have spent a long, long time in space. Hard to do as a young man. It seems he just may be from Mars.

I was rather impressed by this.


4 out of 5

http://vodo.net/pioneerone

Friday, February 24, 2012

Dear Harvest 1-3 - Chris F. Holm

"Sorry – it’s nothing personal.

I wish I could tell you I have no idea how many times I’ve uttered that phrase. That I have no idea how many bodies I’ve left crumpled and inanimate in my wake. I wish I could tell you that, but I can’t.

The truth is, there’ve been thousands. Some, like Gardner, are so damn surprised, they never even see it coming. Some spend their lives in fear of the moment, and catch my scent a mile away; they beg, they plead, they scream. In the end, it doesn’t matter—I always get what I came for. And I remember each and every one of them. Every face. Every name."


3.5 out of 5

http://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2012/02/dead-harvest-new-excerpt

Asteroid Monte - Craig DeLancy

Herbivores are dangerously relentless.


3.5 out of 5

http://traffic.libsyn.com/escapepod/EP333_AsteroidMonte.mp3

Gorilla My Dreams - David Brin

Uplift Benford Ickie Hijinks.


3.5 out of 5

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/1932093041/1932093041___1.htm

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Word Balloon 108: The Rucka Debrief The Crime Bible Code - Greg Rucka

"In this edition of Word Balloon, host John Siuntres discusses 52 Aftermath, The Crime Bible with it's writer Greg Rucka . The miniseries continues the personal journey of the new Question, former Gotham City Detective Rene Montoya, but also focuses on the book , complete with text pages and illustrations from the crime bible itself. In an earlier article at Newsarama, we discovered a notebook The Question is using to assemble clues to locate the Crime Bible. Greg talks about the creation of these clues, and further locations to more viral info that enhances the story behind the book. "With all the events in comics it's easy to have missed this mini series, but Rucka and company are delivering a very fun DaVinci Code puzzle in the story, and these various artifacts and clues," says Siuntres. They also talk about Checkmate the DCU spy series , The future of his Queen and Country at Oni Press, and his latest novel, Patriot Acts, featuring Atticus Kodiak. Finally, Greg discusses his future, including the decision to end his exclusive contract with DC, but why he'll continue writing comics for the company."


4.5 out of 5


http://media.libsyn.com/media/wordballoon/WBruckadebrief0108.mp3

The Journal of John Murdock 2 - Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin

"With Overwatch in his ear, John Murdock reflects upon the events and circumstances that made him a wanted man."

and the fact that Vicki can dig up the dirt on him when she wants to.


3.5 out of 5

http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/seasonfive/swc5_jmjournalpt2.mp3

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Red Letter Day - Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Future gun warning, no basketball.


3.5 out of 5

http://kriswrites.com/2012/02/20/free-fiction-monday-red-letter-day/

Forefather Figure - Charles Sheffield

Consciousness transfer.


3.5 out of 5

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/9781618240606/9781618240606___4.htm

The Deimos Plague - Charles Sheffield

The Deimos Plague - Charles Sheffield
Beggar-priest pig ride not lousy, luckily.


3.5 out of 5

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/9781618240606/9781618240606___3.htm

The Man Who Stole the Moon - Charles Sheffield

Agreement, with Lungfish crime.


3.5 out of 5

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/9781618240606/9781618240606___2.htm

The Bee's Kiss - Charles Sheffield

Voyeur Sigil penetration testing.


4 out of 5

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/9781618240637/9781618240637___3.htm

The Feynman Saltation - Charles Sheffield

Cancer brain paleo art.


3.5 out of 5

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/9781618240637/9781618240637___2.htm

Why UFOs Are Actually Made of Bread and Other Little Known Facts - Walter Jon Williams

"Many people will see your name and have an image of a man who’s been comfortably self employed as an author for decades. Few know the real ups and downs of a career. I’m often amazed at what you manage to survive; it’s a real testament to your commitment and artistic versatility. Could you pick an event or two (or more even) from your career that challenged you and share them?



Walter designs the cover layouts for his backlist - now all available on Kindle. All the covers that follow were done by him.


I’m the only writer I know who has actually been blackmailed by an editor, who told me that he wouldn’t pay me for my novel unless I did another, very different project for him.

The whole story (and much else) can be found in an old blog post of mine.

I’ve also been told — by a major publisher, no less — that they would publish my book, but not pay me the agreed advance. Before the dust settled on that one, lawyers were involved"


3.5 out of 5

http://www.blackgate.com/2012/02/15/walter-jon-williams-explains-why-ufos-are-actually-made-of-bread-and-other-little-known-facts/

The Axiom of Choice - David W. Goldman

Trip back.


2.5 out of 5

http://www.newhavenreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/NHR-9-Goldman.pdf

The Paper Menagerie - Ken Liu

Lively folds a bit.


3 out of 5

http://a1018.g.akamai.net/f/1018/19022/1d/randomhouse1.download.akamai.com/19022/pdf/Paper_Menagerie.pdf

Shipbirth - Aliette de Bodard

Bloodwar gender change Mind cripple.


3.5 out of 5

http://aliettedebodard.com/bibliography/online-fiction/shipbirth/

The Migratory Pattern Of Dancers - Katherine Sparrow

With bikes.


3 out of 5

http://giganotosaurus.org/2011/07/01/the-migratory-pattern-of-dancers/

Author Spotlight - Gregory Benford

"Do you have anything upcoming that you’d like to let our readers know about?

I’ve started revisiting some of my novels and getting them back from their original publishers. In 2011, I reissued in a new edition my longest novel, about cryonics as I’ve known it, Chiller. It’s updated and available in trade paperback and e-editions.

Next year, Larry Niven and I will publish the first of two volumes of a long novel, The Bowl of Heaven. It’s about what I call a Big Smart Object—a starship the size of a solar system, with all the physics worked out. But who would build such a thing . . "


3 out of 5

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-gregory-benford/

The Journal of John Murdock 1 - Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin

"With Overwatch in his ear, John Murdock reflects upon the events and circumstances that made him a wanted man."


3.5 out of 5

http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/seasonfive/swc5_jmjournalpt1.mp3

Vampirella - 8

Vampirella - 8

Triple problem car chase.


3.5 out of 5

http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?aid=45535

For Those About to Rock 2 - Mercedes Lackey and Dennis Lee

Vickie gets to talk to Djinni and Herb the Earth Elemental some more.


4 out of 5

http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/seasonfive/swc5_abouttorockpt1.mp3

For Those About to Rock 1 - Mercedes Lackey and Dennis Lee

Vickie gets to be Overwatch for a Djinni solo mission. Insults ensue.


4 out of 5

http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/seasonfive/swc5_abouttorockpt1.mp3

Running On Empty - Mercedes Lackey and Veronica Giguere

Mercurye is stuck in Metis, where the inhabitants still hide, scared. So Nikola Tesla tells him.


3.5 out of 5

http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/seasonfive/swc5_runningonempty.mp3

Night and Gold - Mercedes Lackey

The Seraphym actually intervenes to save a town, all flaming sword style.


4 out of 5

http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/seasonfive/swc5_nightandgold.mp3

Aces and Eights - Mercedes Lackey and Veronica Giguere

Handsome Devil is called out to battle on a day when his luck is terminally bad.


4 out of 5

http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/seasonfive/swc5_aceseights.mp3

Nebula Awards Interview - Aliette de Bodard

"On that same post, you also comment on the utilitarian approach to telling stories. While you explain your point well there, I was wondering if you had any suggestions of speculative fiction authors that might be outside this narrative approach?

Oh, definitely! A lot of SF is actually not within this mold, but it’s advice that’s very commonly given, and very commonly embraced as well. I can think of several writers that fit the bill: Ian McDonald and Alastair Reynolds both create wonderful futuristic settings that make you feel you could live in them, rather than as if they’d been solely built for plot purposes. Kari Sperring’s Living With Ghosts is very much a paean to a city that you come to know intimately, with characters that all feel like they have their own lives outside of the story. And Maureen McHugh frequently does this–her China Mountain Zhang is a wonderful example of a setting that oozes with cool tidbits, from the kite races to the zen trance used to create architecture."


4 out of 5

http://www.sfwa.org/2012/02/nebula-awards-interview-aliette-de-bodard/

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A History of the 20th Century with illustrations: Atonement - Ian Sales

Future Doctor Frankenstein, the monster.


3.5 out of 5

http://futurefire.net/2012.22/fiction/atonement.html

Monday, February 20, 2012

Once There Were Wolves - Kameron Hurley

Wolf Lady spared, unfortunately.


2 out of 5

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34262

Sunday, February 19, 2012

My Oracles At the End of the World - Kameron Hurley

Barrel of witches, King for a while.


3 out of 5

http://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/the-numbers-quartet/benjamin-rosenbaum/angry-child

Among the Silvering Herd - Alyx Dellamonica

Fleet Sloot.


3 out of 5

http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/02/among-the-silvering-herd

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Monkey - Ruth Nestvold

Crew part one.


3 out of 5

http://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/space-travel/ruth-nestvold/thirteen-ways-of-looking-at-a-monkey

Cloudburst - Robert Reed

Monopoly storm.


3 out of 5

http://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/aliens/robert-reed/cloudburst