Grasping for the Wind

Book Review: The Game of Stars and Comets by Andre Norton

2009-07-03T10:55:54-05:00

My review of The Game of Stars and Comets, a four novel collection by Andre Norton and published by Baen, can be found at the Sacramento Book Review website.

Video: Trailer for the "The Box"

2009-07-03T10:46:38-05:00

This looks like it just might be quite a good thriller. It certainly has potential, though the casting of James Marsden makes me worry. And Cameron Diaz with a southern accent? Yea, right.

Video: Professor Dantes and the Severin Conundrum by Outland Armour

2009-07-02T15:45:45-05:00

I did not know this till yesterday, but a kid I knew from Boy Scouts named Danny Ashby has become quite an amazing developer of costumes for steampunk cosplay. They call their company Outland Armour. If you have been to Dragon*Con, you have probably seen Danny and his crew, as they have won several awards. I wanted to give Danny a shout-out because he is an old acquaintance, and what he is doing is thematically congruous with this blog.

He and his friends even put a fiction video together showcasing the materials they created.

If you are into cosplay, especially steampunk, I suggest you click the image below and check out the galleries and products on offer.

Free Fiction: Chapters, Extracts, and Stories from PS Publishing

2009-07-02T15:25:23-05:00

PS Publishing just announced that they are now offering free fiction, samples as part of their online catalogue.

Those of you who regularly poke around in our catalogue may already have noticed a little something extra on a few titles.
We decided it was high time we let you try before you buy, and so the PS internet monkeys are gradually adding free fiction samples to the catalogue - a single story from collections and anthologies, and a chapter or extract from longer works.

There's many more to come - we intend to have a sample available for every title we've released this year by the time Christmas rolls round, God willing - but for now you can test the flavour of the following titles for free:

The Babylonian Trilogy by Sebastien Doubinsky

Camp Desolation and an Eschatology of Salt by Uncle River

Everland and Other Stories by Paul Witcover

Harsh Oases by Paul Di Filippo

Mystery Hill by Alex Irvine

The Painting and The City by Robert Freeman Wexler

Postscripts #18: This is the Summer of Love

Random Walk by Lawrence Block

Starfall by Stephen Baxter

The Bridge by Zoran Zivkovic

The Writer, The Book, The Reader by Zoran Zivkovic

The Witnesses Are Gone by Joel Lane

Book Review: The Currents of Space by Isaac Asimov

2009-07-02T15:14:29-05:00

My review of the Isaac Asimov's The Currents of Space just went live over at the Sacramento Book Review website. All I can say is, the classics are classics for a reason.

Free Fiction: Manifold:Time by Stephen Baxter and Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

2009-07-01T19:50:01-05:00

Suvudu has posted two new additions to their free library.

Manifold: Time by Stephen Baxter - Once upon a time I used to work with an employee named Graham at a Barnes & Noble. He had his PhD. He had the driest of wits that tend to accompany such men. Along with Steven Erikson and Robert V.S. Redick, he was one of the smartest people I've met. And he was also exceptionally well read in science fiction literature. He swore by Stephen Baxter and loved the Manifold series, repeatedly saying Baxter was one of the best at interweaving hard science with great storytelling that is pertinent to our world's cultural, economic and scientific problems. I have not yet read Manifold: Time but it's nice to know I can now for free! And so can you!

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning - Here is another book I haven't read yet will soon thanks to the Free Library! Urban fantasy and paranormal romance have been so huge as of the last few years and it sounds like Darkfever sits right between them. When MacKayla Lane's sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death, Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister's killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed--a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae...

Promo: Library Book Sales

2009-07-01T18:46:42-05:00

I normally don't cut and paste promotional material, but I felt this was worth it because it helps come of my favorite charitable organizations.

All across the nation, many Friends of the Library organizations hold book sales that feature cheap books that were either donated or removed from circulation. Typically these sales sell books, CDs, magazines, and DvD's for rock bottom prices. A typical sale will sell most of their items for under 3 dollars.

Being charity organizations, these Friends of the Library organizations often have limited resources to advertise and promote their sales. As such, many people are never made aware of the excellent deals they are missing within their own communities. That's where booksalemanager.com comes in. We are attempting to bridge the gap between organizations looking to more effectively advertise their sale, and people looking to find more places to get good deals on books and media.

Friends of the Library organizations and other non-profit groups can freely advertise their sale on our site. People looking to find sales can use our powerful search tools to find these sales. They can search by state, zip code, sale size, and date ranged. Furthermore, people can create an account and save sales to their calendar to help them better track the sales they want to go to.

Our site is in a late beta stage, so our database of sales is expected to grow dramatically over the next few months. We are also looking to add additional features such as premium sales and better email notifications people can sign up for. All for Free.

I believe book sales are a great way to find bargain books and media while at the same time supporting the local libraries we all know and love. It's a total win-win. - Jessica

Book Review: City of the Dead by Rosemary Jones

2009-06-30T12:00:57-05:00

# Genre: Shared Worlds, Forgotten Realms, Sword and Sorcery
# Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
# Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (June 2, 2009)
# ISBN-10: 078695129X
# ISBN-13: 978-0786951291
# Author Blog: Rosemary Jones

Rosemary Jones first appeared in the Forgotten Realms universe with her dungeon-diving novel (plus a little white dog) The Crypt of the Moaning Diamond. In her newest novel, City of the Dead, Jones sets her sights on Waterdeep, foremost city of the realms, as part of the Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep series from Wizards of the Coast.

The City of the Dead has been the graveyard of the noble and elite of Waterdeep since time immemorial. The Carver family has always been the artisans which crafted the monuments and gardens which populate the City of the Dead. Sophraea is the youngest daughter of the current clan of Carvers, a large family of overprotective males of the slight, pretty, and young girl. But Sophraea is just as strong in will, if not in body, as any of her brother or cousins. When strange stirrings begin to occur at the private, unwarded graveyard gate of the Carver family, it is up to Sophraea to recruit a poorly educated wizard named Gustin to help her discover just why the normally peaceful dead of the City are so ill at ease.

Jones's story of the undead rising from their graves has some subtle twists to it that make it different from the traditional zombie, vampire, or ghost tale. For one, in post-Spellplague Waterdeep, the nightly meanderings of various wraiths and spirits are a common place occurrence, especially in the City of Dead. For the dead to prowl the night is par for the course in Sophraea's world. Jones does and excellent job of having her characters see something mythical as truly ordinary. This only enhances the effect of Sophraea's worry over the dead attempting her family's private gate.

Another significant twist is the fact that although the walking dead are certainly a hindrance, throughout much of the novel, it is not entirely clear if the dead are the good or bad guys. Jones sets up the novel to allow for a multiple possibility of villains, blurring the lines between hero and villain. Although Sophraea and her wizardly companion are the obvious protagonists and heroes of the story, just as they are confused as to whether the walking dead are all bad, so too is the reader. By doing this, Jones keeps several plot threads gong at once, all of which culminate in an epic climax.

The basic motivations of the story may be considered simple by some readers. The walking dead follow a motivation most common to their character (i.e. revenge), and Sophraea and Gustin are of course trying to keep the dead from leaving the graveyard. Too, the instigator of these events will be rather clear from the outset, and Jones could have done more to obscure the root of the Carver family's trouble.

The Carver family is an interesting aspect of the story. Unlike many sword and sorcery tales, City of the Dead does not have a lone or small group of heroes that is completely unconnected to the world around them. Jones' heroine is part of a large family, a family that she loves and admires. She seeks the best for their community, perhaps a bit too individualistically, but always with the goal of doing what is best for her family and her community. Sophraea is not the disobedient or disrespectful daughter often found in such tales, nor is she the orphan child who grows to prominence in rags-to-riches style. Sophraea's is a communal being finding meaning and purpose as part of that, rather than in seeking her own desires only. Sure, the story paints her as independent and capable, but in no way is she ever alone, and the final culmination of the narrative would only have been possible through the assistance of her family. This family-oriented characterization of Sophraea makes City of the Dead unique among its contemporaries, which are so often dependent on "lone wolf" heroes or a small band of companions that are rooted in each other, but not the community at large.

Rosemary Jones is rapidly becoming a writer to seek out. Although the story is simple in its plot construction, there are subtleties of characterization that make the tale unique. Her tale of an ordinary young woman seeking her family's best interests is exciting and out of the ordinary and I highly recommend City of the Dead to both long-time Forgotten Realms fans and newcomers alike.

My friend helps us to visualize the US National Budget

2009-06-30T10:22:00-05:00

I'm taking a one post break from my regularly scheduled programming to give a shout out to my friend Matthias who has recently been getting a lot of attention for his visualizations of the National Debt and Obama's spending plan using 10,000 pennies. It certainly helped me understand some aspects of this massive amounts of spending the government does in terms that I can understand easily and well.

"How much is the $100 million dollars in budget cuts compared to the federal budget as a whole? This video imagines the budget as $100 in pennies to provide the answer."

So much attention in fact that he was invited to Washington by RNC chairman Michael Steele.

Or you can check out this video he made to help visualize the history of the National Debt.

You can find my friend's blog at politicalmath.wordpress.com or see all his videos HERE.

What music reminds you of science fiction or fantasy?

2009-06-29T10:00:43-05:00

My latest post for Tor.com puts a challenge to its readers to think of music (with lyrics) that reminds them of science fiction and or fantasy. Go check it out and put in your two (or twenty) cents.