science fiction author
I first read this book in high school (approximately 1985). It was not my first attempt at reading it, but the first two times I tried I couldn’t get past the torpid first 100 pages with all the language, history, customs, new words, great houses… I just didn’t understand it. The third time I tried, I forced myself through it, and then at about page 100-150, I just couldn’t put it down and read it…
This book was recommended to me on Twitter (by Elizabeth Bear who did a month of LGBTQIA+ book recommendations for Pride Month). I have attempted to read Le Guin before but have always struggled with the relatively dense prose, but I decided to give this book a try. I won’t lie, I had to force my way through it. I know a lot of recommendations out there say to not read books you aren’t enjoying…
Well, i finally finished the series. I enjoyed it all the way through but this last book went places I didn’t fully understand. So much so that I actually read a spoiler laden interview with the authors where they talked about the ending. I won’t give spoilers but basically the ending is mystical and incomprehensible on purpose. They hinted at it though out the whole book, with the ring builders and their enemies gaining a…
I did not get in to the “personal Odyssey” workshop. Which was sad but not unexpected. I then spent about 5 days revising my “Stars End” story for the last workshop I will be applying to, Viable Paradise. That application went out at the end of May and I should hear this month. I had stopped submitting my stories to markets in about March of this spring. I just didn’t have the time or energy…
After a long hiatus… I started reading again. My real life has consumed me since about February and I haven’t done any pleasure reading since January. I checked this book out from the library in January, read about the first 3-4 chapters… and then nothing. Then 4 weeks ago I checked it out again, got another 3-4 chapters in, and then it was due so I had to renew it, and finally finished it today.…
In the rush of the spring semester, I forgot to note that I recently (end of March) submitted my application to the odyssey workshop. I had a story out making rounds on the submission landscape but it was rejected a few times so I decided to polish it up a little and pull it off submission to use as my piece for the workshop. I also needed to get two letters of recommendation, which wasn’t…
This was my third FoF and it didn’t disappoint… again. I attended panels starting Friday afternoon well into the evening and the spend 12 hours both Saturday an Sunday (at least) frantically scribbling notes, listening, and learning. Probably my 3 favorite panels were the two that talked about the short fiction markets (Neil Clarke was in both, as was Scot Noel and David Steffen) and the one about how you need to consider the infrastructure…
I have been working on my application to Clarion West for the last 5-6 weeks. I had 4-5 stories I was considering for revision and inclusion in the application, and in the end I chose one that is shows a personal relationship between a man and an alien aboard a starship. The second one was conceived during a run in the rain in late December and it is a story written from the perspective of…
The crew is back, and there is a new enemy that is actually the same as always: humanity. But this time the enemy is coming from beyond the ring gates. They have closed themselves off for 30+ years, and now are coming back to rule all of the 1300 systems. I was a bit shocked to find that this book took place 30 years in the future from the last one. A lot of the…
This is the 6th book in the series and the first book of The Expanse series that I am not giving a 5 star rating too. Only 4 this time. This one felt different. It felt like the characters weren’t in control of their own destinies as much and there was a bit of a dues ex machina ending that was definitely hinted at in both this and the previous book, but still, it felt…
