Polish-born Stanislaw Lem, one of SF’s most influential writers, has died today at the age of 84. Lem’s most well-known work is Solaris, but his many works, translated into more than 40 languages, established his fame. An obituary may be found here.
Category Archives: Books
The Batman Handbook
Would you like to be a superhero, but you’re not from another planet, and you’ve never been befriended by a wizard or received a power ring from an alien? You haven’t inherited a gene that gives you amazing powers, and you know that exposure to radiation will most likely give you cancer? Perhaps The Batman Handbook can help you.
Whiteout
General Information
Title: Whiteout
Vicki Delany
Original Publication Date: 2002, previously published in electronic format, 2001.
ISBN: 1-55316-561-6
Buy from: Amazon.com or
Amazon.ca
Trailblazing SF Author Dead at 58
Octavia E. Butler died Saturday, February 25 after being injured in a fall. Her most recent novel, Fledgling, was published in 2005.
Textbook review – “Linear Algebra Done Right”
With a title like this, you know that it’s either fantastic, or so pompous that it’s about to get thrashed. Read on to find out which it is.
Olympos
Olympos is no more the sequel to Ilium than Return of the King is a sequel to The Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers; rather, these books by Dan Simmons tell parts of one story. I highly recommend these to fans of SF who also enjoy classical mythology.
Continue reading →
Suzy McKee Charnas talks about Holdfast Chronicles and gender writing
Suzy McKee Charnas (1, 2, 3) has
had an interesting
exchange with one of her readers regarding writing
stories about worlds with gender issues more
exaggerated as our own. Give it a look.
Antarctica
“Say again X; I did not copy your last message, over.”
“I said I am being hijacked. Over!”
–Robinson 10.
Oh the weather outside is frightful
But your smile is so delightful
And since we’ve no place to go
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
–Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne
Novel Review: King Kong
A brand new novelization of King Kong exists to support Peter Jackson’s epic remake, which will be hitting theatres soon. The original novelization has lapsed into public domain, however, and should be easy to find in the coming months. Delos W. Lovelace adapted it from Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper’s screenplay, and it hit the stores in 1932, before the finished film appeared. The book can hardly be called great literature, but it nicely captures the spirit of the original film.
Novel review: Virtual Light
William Gibson kicked off his Bridge Trilogy with this 1993 book, set in the future year of… 2005!