science fiction author
My first non SF review… although this is technically a speculative fiction book… very little was known about the protagonist of the story except that she really existed. O’Dell created a story of her life, her survival, and her ”rescue” by the Spanish Missionaries in the 1600s. This is a fairly classic young adult book. I remember seeing it in my Jr High classroom, but I never read it… too hooked on space opera and…
Although I have read Dune at least 6 times, I have only read the sequels all the way through once, and only read the first three books one additional time. In any event, it has been a long time and while I remember the big picture, a lot of the details were lost to the sands of time. (See what I did there?) Children of Dune starts 9 years after the events of Dune Messiah.…
I have decided to reread all 6 of the Dune books as my next reading adventure. I have read the first 3 several times, and the last 3 only once, but with my more advanced understanding of writing and craft, I am hoping to learn from this epic which inspired so much of my own world building over the years. This book is set 12 years after the events of Dune. It continues with political…
the Martian — Andy Weir I read this book (about the first quarter of it) when it was still serialized on his website, and then about 8 or 9 years ago I read it. I remembered the basics of the plot. I saw the movie. I decided to reread it based on the recommendation of one of my writing group members. Honestly, I don’t remember why she suggested it but I think it was to…
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…
