Victor Milan blog

Prometheus Award-winning writer Victor Milan has a new blog.

F. Paul Wilson interview

Brief interview over at Sci-Fi.com with F. Paul Wilson, discussing his novel Harbingers and a forthcoming YA series about a teenage Repairman Jack. Harry Potter sure opened up some new markets, and we're all better off as a result, if that means we get more FPW stories.

Poul Anderson

Nice story over at Yahoo (a reprint from 2001, the year Anderson died) about sf writer and multiple Prometheus Award winner Poul Anderson. One very typical quote from Anderson in this story:
"If I preach at all, it's probably in the direction of individual liberty, which is a theme that looms large in my work."
I did not know that Anderson didn't allow phone calls until after 6:30pm. One time in 1995, I actually called him up, having been given his number by another writer who knew him personally. Anderson that year had won both Prometheus Awards, and I was looking for some comment from him for the newsletter and award ceremony. I can't remember the gist of the conversation, or what time I called, but he of course had no clue who I was at the time, though he was quite cordial. I regret never having met him in person.

The Guardener's Tale

I'm hoping to review Bruce Boston's new novel, The Guardeners Tale for the Summer issue of Prometheus. One blurb opens like this "Brave New World. Fahrenheit 451. THX 1138. A Scanner Darkly. Bruce Boston's new novel, The Guardener's Tale, assumes its rightful place in this noble lineage of anti-authoritarian fables." Boston in an interview a few years ago said, " I am not a libertarian or an anarchist, but I do see government as it has existed as a necessary evil." He also views himself as somewhat left of center, but anti-authoritarian views come in many packages, and cares little for left or right. Read more about Boston at his website.

Regular activity to resume shortly

Now that I've completed the Spring issue of Prometheus, after a couple of delays caused by what my optician called a "corneal ulcer" in my right eye that made any bright light unbearable and migrane inducing, I have a little time for my irregular blogging. I'm getting ready to read through all the finalists for this year's Prometheus Awards. I read F. Paul Wilson's Harbingers when it appeared as the limited edition from Gauntlet Press, and am awaiting his latest Repairman Jack novel due out from that publisher next month. While I'm an FPW fan and like the RJ story and books, I don't see any libertarianism in Harbingers. I enjoyed Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End but not nearly as much as his two previous sf novels. Certain ideas and trends raised by Vinge are sobering, and I see his "You Gotta Believe Me" meme cropping up in another book, Justina Robson's excellent Mappa Mundi (not one of the finalists, but the US edition appeared in 2006, while the original UK edition was ahead of Vinge, in 2001). So maybe it's not Vinge's meme after all...

I have not yet read the other three books, but Charles Stross' Glasshouse is next on the list. I like Stross' work, and have read all his other novels published to date save the latest Clan Corporate novel. I haven't read anything from Orson Scott Card in many years, and nothing by John Scalzi, so those books will be interesting.

Sometimes I'm right there on the edge of new sf, but sometimes I'm way behind the times, staring over the fence at non-sf books. Currently I'm trying to finish Mark Shorer's biography, Sinclair Lewis: An American Life. I started the book last November, but set it aside to read a dozen sf books and review most of them. I'm also in the middle of The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce, Varlam Shamlov's Kolyma Tales (one of the many frightening results of Stalin's gulags), Nora May French's Poems, and Brian Doherty's Radicals for Capitalism (which, for some reason, I feel as if I've already read, since I followed almost the same path 20 years ago when reading as much as I could about the history of libertarianism). I am compiling a list of fiction and non-fiction written under totalitarianism, especially the Soviet Union, possibly towards a long essay on the subject. Lest they are forgotten, writers are imprisoned and exiled for their work even now, in such countries as Vietnam, China, Cuba, Turkey and elsewhere.

Best book I've read so far this year: Adam Roberts' Gradisil. I have to inquire about the current Prometheus Award rules, since the UK edition appeared in 2006, but if the 2007 US edition is eligible, I'd say at this point that Roberts' novel is a shoo-in for the 2008 Prometheus Award. No freakin' contest.

Glorifying Terrorism

Today I received a review copy of this British sf anthology, with stories from such writers as Ken Macleod, Charles Stross, Ian Watson, Adam Roberts, and many more. Unfortunately, due to deadlines, I won't be able to run the review in Prometheus until the summer issue of that newsletter, but with the spring issue nearing completion, there just isn't enough space and time to get it into this issue. Looks very interesting through, and sure to cause controversy.

Smith's Forge of the Elders

L. Neil Smith has a long essay about the travails his novel Forge of the Elders went through in order to get published in full. Ther book is still in print, and can be ordered through online retailers or your local bookstore, and Smith hints at free goodies ahead when the current stock sells out. And if you haven't check out his work in progress at Big Head Press, I highly recommend the time and effort.

Blogging light - Prometheus heavy

This month is crunch time for getting out the next issue of the print newsletter of the LFS - Prometheus. I've been busy reading several long novels and trying to wrie reviews, and I'm happy to say I have several contributions from other individuals already. If you are interested in submitting material for this libertarian sf newsletter, please contact me - editor@lfs.org. Blogging for the next three weeks probably will be very light while I wrap up the issue. Tentative (link free)table of contents includes the following:

Contents:
* Prometheus Award Finalists - a listing of the finalists for the
2007 Prometheus Awards for best novel and classic work of fiction.

In Memoriam
Jesse Walker on Robert Anton Wilson (reprinted from Reason Online)
Brad Linaweaver on Chuck Hammill (possible)

Book reviews
Spider Robinson & Robert A. Heinlein, Variable Star
Elizabeth Moon, Command Decision
John Varley, Red Lightning
Charles Stross, Glasshouse
Orson Scott Card, Empire
Sherri Tepper, Six Moon Dance
Carol Emshwiller, The Mount
Ken MacLeod, Giant Lizards from Another Star
Jack Vance, The Jack Vance Treasury
Jack Vance, Emphyrio
Justina Robson, Mappa Mundi
Mike Resnick, Starship: Pirate
Adam Roberts, Gradisil
T.H. White, The Book of Merlyn

Film reviews
Sophie Scholl (possible)
F.Paul Wilson's Others (possible)

Other
Brief essay on Clark Ashton Smith's individualism

Roswell, Texas

Whoa! The Lamviin land in Texas.

Liberation kid lit

I kept looking for this article from the front page of reason Magazine for many months, but to no avail. I knew I should have tried Google instead. The essay originally appeared in the print edition a little over a year ago, and covers two writers who have written interesting books dealing with liberty, aimed at a younger audience. Lois Lowry and Margaret Peterson Haddix have written two distinct series of books that mainstream readers might not have seen. Young Adult literature is all the rage these days. After the reign of Harry Potter comes to an end this summer, other writers will try to step in and fill the void. In the meantime, here are some great books already in place, waiting to be read.

NIN concept album?

I am not very familiar with NIN beyond a couple of songs from more than a decade ago, but I found an interesting link to a site linking to some viral marketing for a possible future album, including a "resistance" site.

What happened to the Prometheus Awards?

James Nicoll asks this almost rhetorical question in a forum, with a bevy of replies, some from people familiar with the Prometheus Awards, some from individuals hostile to libertarian ideas. Nicoll, no friend of libertarians, closes with this question:

I understand why SF is increasingly not an American genre but Libertarian SF seems ideally suited to the US. Why, then, is the Prometheus Award going to people who aren't libertarians (left or right) and not American?

The debate makes interesting reading. There are many points I could try to rebut, such as the statement that the Prometheus Award is marginal (why, then, do winners of this award seek to state "Winner of the Prometheus Award" on their novels, or other writers when writing about winners often mention how many Prometheus Awards that writer has won? Among other points, of course.)

John C. Wright interviewed

Over at Sci Fi Weekly, Nick Gevers has a long interview with John C. Wright, author of (among others) The Golden Age trilogy, two Everness books (so far), and the recently completed Orphans of Chaos trilogy.

Political history of SF

Someone reprinted Eric S. Raymond's essay in their LiveJournal, spurring a lengthy debate. I reprinted this essay in Prometheus a few issues ago, and while I don't agree with all the points, it's a very interesting essay.

Free speech in America sighs another death-rattle

How long before this much maligned and restricted right dies completely? The most recent example is grim: convicted and arrested for a joke about Scientology? Give me a freakin' break.

Libertarian writer?

Here's an interview with novelist Scott Nicholson, who apparently describes himself as a libertarian writer. However, in the response to this question, he demurrs, stating:

"Well, libertarianism just plain won’t work in the human world. It would only work if we each lived alone, in a vacuum, where our actions didn’t affect other people. But we live in communities that are bubbles inside larger communities. And I also diverge from the traditional party line: for example, while I favor the legalization of most drugs, I don’t favor unlimited access to guns. The government’s role could be much smaller in our lives, but it also can do good things. Libertarians are mostly out on the extreme fringes of both major U.S. political parties, and if you really press them on their beliefs, a mass of contradictions emerges. So I don’t articulate that so much in my fiction."

And, in the other corner, we have Claire Wolfe, who does seeks some solitude in her life, stating something quite the opposite in a blog entry:

"So many things can bind us to a place. Family. Work. Inertia. Fear. History. Money is a big factor, considering leaving the country. But the ties can be so intricate, so multi-layered, so difficult to convey to anyone who isn't walking that mile in one's own moccasins. Being part of a community like this one -- where people help each other so freely and with such enthusiasm -- is a little miracle (especially for people like me who grew up rootless and unattached to the places we lived and the people who lived there). So I speculate often about getting out of this going-to-hell country. Then I think I'd have to be mad to leave a place like this, a place that embodies the essence of real, old-fashioned community, a place that is what America was at its best and ought to be again."

Judge for yourself. Libertarianism: an atomistic impossibility, or the true spirit of a voluntary community?

When fictioneers bite politicians

The vision of real politicians squirming from seeing themselves potryed in a bad light warms my heart. The fact that this is happening in Great Britain and that it's Labor politicos makes me raise an eyebrow or two in surprise. Then you read further and you see the real cause -

"I didn't mind a little betrayal of socialist ideals," says Beaton, "but the war was it."

Still a healthy dose of disrepect of public figures is always a good thing.

Note: I am far from pro-war, but I wonder if the motives had been non-socialist whether this would have reached the airwaves.

Transhumanism

Interesting interview with a leading transhumanist, Nick Bostrom. According to conservative historian Francis Fukuyama, transhumanism is "the greatest threat to the future of humanity" so you know it has to be interesting and probably a good idea. It's definitely a hot topic in modern sf, viz the novels and short stories of Charles Stross, Vernor Vinge, Chris Moriarty, and countless others.

Libertarian pseudo-novels?

A not easily identifiable person writes a LiveJournal essay on what he/she calls two libertarian pseudo-novels - Henry Hazlitt's Time Will Run Back and J. Neil Schulman's The Rainbow Cadenza. I think the writer is spot on in terms of the Hazlitt book, which is one of the dullest works of 'fiction' that I've ever read, but I can't remmber Schulman's book being as much a 'p o r n' novel as alluded to in the review. Sure, there's sex in the book (some of it not very pleasant), and it's been almost two decades since I read the book, but I thought it was a decent work of fiction then. I'll have to re-read the novel to refresh my memory, but I came away thinking more about the musical sections than the erotica or sex scenes.

Wolfe recommends

Claire Wolfe recommends a book that I think I will need to hunt down - The Secret of Santa Vittoria.

Novel dealing with war on terror

This seems like a very interesting book.

The time is a very near future, whose features are only slightly stepped up from today's. The war is still on, and even more misdirected; domestic anti-terror measures have increased to the point where roadblocks and searches are universal and national identification cards are mandated. (In a nicely absurdist sequence, armed agents so thoroughly ransack a Canadian of Middle Eastern descent on his way into a Mariners game that they deposit a whiff of ammunition on his clothing. When he leaves the stadium in the middle of a disappointing afternoon, he is searched again and the residue prompts the evacuation of 30,000 spectators. One dies of a heart attack.)

One character is "August Vanags, the Latvian-born author of a bestselling Holocaust memoir, is a vociferous libertarian whose charm and wit suggest a concealed degeneracy," and the other personalities in the book range all over the spectrum.

Tapping the global subconscious

A few years I wrote a short story along comic lines, that I called "Bubba Builds a Spaceship." I passed it around at a writers' group I where I attended two sessions and then left. I sent it to a writer friend, who recommended a total re-write along very different lines, with more drama. Instead, I turned it into a short screenplay, and changed the title to "Mars, the Redneck Planet." I put it away and did nothing. Tonight my wife saw a trailer on TV for this movie, and said, "Anders, they made a movie out of your story!" I watched the trailer again, and it's eerily similar, although this is a drama with a few funny lines, and my story was intended as humorous and totally unrealistic from the beginning.

MacLeod collection

I just placed an order for this book by Ken MacLeod, which collects some of his shorter work, both fiction and non-fiction. NESFA Press runs a nice business, but the cover looks a little low-budget this time.

Prometheus redux

The newsletter is back from the printer, and I'm busy attaching labels and stamps to mail it out over the next couple of days. I've already started collecting articles and writing reviews for the next issue, due out some time in April.

If you want to review a book or movie for Prometheus, please send me an email at editor@lfs.org - yes, in the internet age there are still a few print publications around.

WhatSpace

I read last week that there are 140 million member of MySpace. I've only visited the site to listen to a pre-release version of a Robin Guthrie song. I believe David Louis Edelman's piece is a major reason I see no use in joining the site. That, and I'd probably end up with zero friends and go jump off a bridge. Ha.

The Horror!

To hide my shame at not knowing how to link to YouTude directly, a nod to the fellow ERB fans over at Rebels of Mars.

This has to be The. Worst. Movie. Adaptation. Of. A. Book. Ever.

The fact that this was filmed in 1976, one year before Star Wars, speaks volumes for the horrible state of social effects at the time, but even the actors look woefully miscast.

Amazon AStore

I'm messing around with building an Amazon AStore. I found that I've never been able to keep up with linking to Amazon when I mention books, so instead I found I can create a single site with several categories. While still under construction, I have added titles for all past Prometheus Award winners, as well as the 2007 preliminary list of best novel nominees. Since a group of judges whittle down this list to five or six, and I know more novels are currently under consideration*, here's a chance to see the list of early nominated books. I'm embarrassed to say I have read only two of the books of the current nine. I'm going to re-work this site over the next few days before the main categories are set in stone, and also I plan to add remarks to as many selections as possible.

*Full disclosure - I am not a member of the judges committee, although I do vote on the final selection.

Tamara Wilhite Amazon short

Author Tamara Wilhite, whose fiction has appeared in Prometheus in both past issues and the forthcoming January 2007 issue, has a short available from Amazon.com in their Amazon Shorts program. Her story, Natural Talent, is available for download, and her collection of tales called Humanity's Edge also is available.

Prometheus in flight

The January 2007 issue of Prometheus has been shipped to the printer, and should be in the mail to subscribers and members of the Libertarian Futurist Society some time next week. Contents include a review of the Heinlein audio plays from the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company, fiction by Tamara Wilhite, a review of John Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades, a review of Jack Williamson's The Humanoids, a review in poetic form of Sinclair Lewis's novel, It Can't Happen Here, a review of Brad Linaweaver's political broadside, Post-Nationalism, and photos from the FreFan party at the 2006 WorldCon in Los Angeles.

If you're interested in writing anything for Prometheus, please contact me at editor@lfs.org - the next issue is planned for April 2007, and I expect this one to be full of book reviews. Your contributions are most welcome.

The big tease

L. Neil Smith talks about sequels to books that his fans dearly hopes he gets around to writing. I counted at least 15 planned books, which is an ambitious outline of ideas.

RIP Robert Anton Wilson

Sad but not unexpected, given his recent health issues. Robert Anton Wilson, author of numerous books and articles, including Illuminatus! (which was co-written by Robert Shea) died earlier today.

Spectator and Jim Baen

Via Locus Online an article in The American Spectator about Jim Baen, who died last year. Baen published Baen Books, and was noted for hard science and military science fiction novels (though it also published fantasy and non-military sf). The writer of this article, whether consciously or not, remembers the conservative military sf aspects of Baen Books, despite some libertarian and also non-political works published. Aside from other points raised about sf and politics, I take issue with the conservative, revisionist interpretation of Western values of the writer. Apparently instead of individual rights, America and Western Europe rest on "traditional Western values like honor, patriotism, chivalry, duty and military valor." These could be applied to any other non-Western culture, such as China, Islamic nations, Russia, and Latin American nations. Baen, more libertarian than conservative, is being hijacked by conservatives as some sort of knee-jerk supporter of the military nation (with a conservative commander in chief, of course).

Happy New Year

Here's hoping that 2007 is a great year for everyone, with lots of good reading ahead.

I wrote another 1000 words for Prometheus last Thursday, including my poetic impressions on reading Sinclair Lewis' novel, It Can't happen Here, once again. Inspired by John Keats' poem on re-reading Shakespeare's King Lear, my poem follows the rhyming scheme, mimics the title and opening line, but then bears little resemblence (nor, I fear, does it even approach anything as well-written as anything by Keats). It took me 10 minutes to complete the first draft of the 14 line sonnet. Once I started words flowed surprising fast. I had jotted down a few notes while reading the book, and used some of these, but bypassed others, and the ending was not what I expected.

I have a mere 850 words left before the issue is done, all the words within one book review, and then the rewriting and proofing commences. All the artwork for the issue has been placed, and so far it looks good. There are several reviews where I could have written a lot more, but I planned specific word constraints for each article, and lacked space for one more book review that I planned to write. The one I'm currently work on is a little tough, so I'm re-reading the book to solidify my impressions.

I've been reading a lot from and about Clark Ashton Smith lately. Some new biographical stuff certainly jumped out of nowhere, especially his last few years and how he died. He's enjoying a sort of ressurgence of attention lately, with new books of stories appearing quite often, and 2007 should see the first volume of a 'complete' edition of his works. It's not realy complete, I learn, since it only covers fantasy stories, and leaves out his many science fiction tales, as well as almost all his poetry. Ah well, maybe next time. Smith is my second favorite writer, so I'm floating around a few thoughts for a brief article as to why. I've also learned through reading his letters that his political ideas could be classified as having libertarian leanings, though he tended to eschew politics.

I'd rather be watching Heroes right now, but my network connection this evening is spotty, and one second of video vs. three seconds to load the next one is something I only could take for ten minutes. I spotted several inconsistencies and questions with the show, but despite those issues, I think it's the best thing on TV in ages. For now.

Pre-ordered F. Paul Wilson's new novel today, the first day one could do so. Bloodline isn't my favorite title, and after the last Repairman Jack book left me grumbling and depressed about certain events, I am not sure of the direction in the next book. Also learned today that FPW had open heart surgery in December '06. Here's wishing him a speedy recovery. I met him in early November, and probably came across like a total fan-boy, despite only being 20 year his junior.

And so, a rambling entry comes to an end with one more thought. After wrapping up my review of the ATRC audioplays by Robert A. Heinlein, I dug out all my Heinlein books from various shelves in my disorganized study. I think I own less than half his published books, though I've read almost all of his books (friends, libraries). I'm going to try to squeeze in some time to read a few of his short stories. I know that the next issue of Prometheus will require quite a few book reviews, and I have a stack of candidates sitting next to me, but it's been a while since I read anything by RAH, so no time like the present.

Heroes

Television. I hardly watch any more. First, I never have time. Then, there's the glaring lack of quality, except on premium channels like HBO, which doesn't need to stay within the FCC's lines. And yet, there's always the rage about 'reality' shows, laugh-track 'comedy,' and the corpse-fetish shows like CSI, or the current hot drama where the audience is as lost as the cast members. No doubt my tastes are too narrow.

A few people I know recommended Heroes, but due to timing I've oly been able to catch the last fifteen minutes of two episodes. I was able to watch 80% of the mid-season finale, and instantly got hooked. I could pay $1.99 for the recap from iTunes, or wait for reruns, but lickly NBC has posted all 11 episodes to date for a limited time. I've watched the first four, and while I don't know how many more I can watch before the freebies are gone, I'm impressed beyond words at this show. I don't know how long the magic can last, for in my opinion TV shows rarely sustain greatness beyond a couple of seasons, before writers get desparate for attention, and the worm eats itself.

I recently read an essay on lewrockwell.com expounding an 'Austrian' theory of culture, with which I have many, many disagreements. I am mulling over a reply and my own theory. The gist of this essay is the author's embrace of TV as good culture, especially long-lasting shows and collaborative efforts (Gilligan's Island, X-Files, and The Simpsons are the author's favorites). I don't know about the writers of Heroes, of the long-term plan of the show, but were only to last one season, say 22 episodes, that might be a better thing than drag on for five years. There are well-written shows on TV now and in the past where cast members solve things week after week, but a few hours after the show is over you've forgotten everything. Heroes instead layers question after question, with multiple story-arcs, and leaves me wondering after each one what will happen. In some sense I already know, as I read every word at the Wikipedia site, which is rife with spoilers. Perhaps I should have waited until after I saw the shows, but I didn't think I would have that chance until several months from now with re-runs. Heroes is like a well-written novel, and indeed every show is entitled "Chapter X" (with a number instead of X), much like a novel. Perhaps it's the geek in my, but the thread with Hiro Nakamura is my favorite. I almost wish the show was a long book, as so far this is the most novel like TV show I've ever seen.

Another day, another 1800 words written. I'm actually shocked and surprised how little use I've made of my copious notes that I prepared while listening to the three Heinlein audio plays I'm reviewing for Prometheus. Perhaps I'd use more if I didn't have certain space constraints, but then quite a bit of the notes are just there to remind me of what I heard. I did manage to re-locate today the web page that has all episodes of Dimension X available as mp3 files. I researched the show a couple of years ago while planning this review, as well as the follow-up, X Minus One. The download time from their FTP server is horrible, but I hope it's worth the effort. Only 500 more words to go before this review essay is done, and then three page remain left to fill. Luckily, two of those pages have other stuff already in place, so it's more like two pages and a dash. Come January I'll be buried in books trying to make some headway through the dozen plus review copies received in 2006. And that doesn't begin to count the books that I want to read. I've gone to find a more forgiving habit...

It's that time again

As editor of Prometheus, the quarterly newsletter of the Libertarian Futurist Society, I try to stick to a reasonable production schedule. This means that the issues should appear each January, April, July, and October. In order to get the issues out to reader by the middle of those months, I have to get them to the printer sometime in the first week (currently the 5th of each month). I'm now able to play a little with the printer deadline, thanks to reducing my trips there from three to one by emailing the issue as PDF instead of hand delivering the CD and then returning to proof the printed copy and later to pick up the final product. However, this year I've slipped a little almost every month, in large part due to the addition of child number two. The day job is draining enough, but by the time the kids are in bed and the house somewhat restored, the night is late. Unfortunately, I currently don't have as many submissions per issue as I'd like, so I find myself in the position of trying to find the time to read books to review, or conceive of articles to write, and then actually hammer out words that make sense on the keyboard. And believe me, little tends to make sense close to midnight after a long day.

After a couple of efforts at jacking up the page length of the issue to 20, time and lack of original material has brought me back to reality and 12 pages; the year 2007 may see Prometheus fall even further, to eight pages. It's now December 26. My deadline for the January issue looms closer and closer, and only six pages of content are set at the moment. One of those pages I wrote today, but that still means I have six pages to write in one week, then rewrite the pages into somewhat coherent prose, proof and re-read all the pages again. Errors always creep in, sometimes small typos, and sometimes huge gaffes. You'd think, why not space it out over months, instead of fretting at the last minute. The answer is that I have been doing just that, as I needed two months to read the material that makes up my contribution for this issue. I worked under the assumption that I have to create 50-80% of the issue, although I would prefer 0-5%. In order to write one brief review, I've read a long work of fiction, a critical biography, and some other source material. In order to review three audioplays (actually seven, on three CDs), I've spent several hours listening to the works, looked for artwork to accompany the pieces, and jotted notes throughout the process. In order to review another book, I've read several interviews, the book itself and a related novella, and the author's autobiography. Not everything that I read makes it into my reviews, but in the end I find the process necessary. Those digressions often end up quite rewarding as well, but send me down raods quite unrelated to the actually production of the newsletter.

I do find myself wondering if it's all really worth it, though. I've now completed two years in my second stint as editor. I have less time in the past for this sort of stuff, but at least it forces me to write something. I often feel that I might not write anything without a literal gun to my head. Witness this rarely updated blog, where 90% of the time I post only brief, newsy snippets and links. usually, after each is issue is mailed out, there is only silence. I assume most of the issues find their addressees, though one or two come back return to sender. I can only hope for the possibility down the road of more contributors, as I know there are people out there with interesting things to say. But perhaps in the age of blogs and the internet, an old-school print newsletter is just heading down the same road as the dodo.

Grim futures

Reason Magazine writer David Weigel rips into a trio of right-wing fictional dystopias. There appears to be little of interest to libertarians, but it's interesting to see how all the talk on right-wing radio and blogosphere about culture wars is leaking into fiction. I'm glad a libertarian writer like Weigel has made a pre-emptive strike on these books, as I am sure that somewhere, somehow, some critics will lump these books and writers into the "libertarian sf" camp.

Piper Gutenberged

Via the RSS feed from SFSignal, news that H. Beam Piper's awarding winning novel, Lone Star Planet is available online at the Gutenberg Project. Nice effort, though I question the people at Gutenberg's statement that this work is not copyrighted in the US. Piper died 40 years, so he doesn't need the income, and his book is online for free, but I was under the impression Piper's copyright still was held by someone. Perhaps my information is outdated.

The Mount

One of the several books that I'm currently reading is a curious novel by Carol Emshwiller, called The Mount. The version that I have was published in 2002 by Small Beer Press. It received a Nebula nomination for best novel in 2003, and won the Philip K. Dick Award that year. Emswhiller's style flirts with postmodern/slipstream methods, meaning for me it takes a while to adapt to the novel and writer. The Mount deals with a future Earth enslaved by small creatures called Hoots who enslave and ride people as beast of burden. I'm only a few pages into the book, which I picked up by chance at World Fantasy Con in November, yet already I wonder if this was a Prometheus Award nominee in 2003. So far it certainly fits the typical nominee profile (as much as there is one), but I shall have to see where the book leads. Emshwiller's been writing for decades, but is one of the many names so far that I've just missed, as there are now so many books published each year in sf.

The expanding Firefly 'verse

From Wired magazine, word that soon you will be able to inhabit the vrtual world of the Serenity crew. No word on the timeline or whether you can play a reaver, but part of me wonders, "enough already." I guess I'm not a browncoat, as I tru;y enjoyed both the TV episodes and the movie, but beyond that am unwilling to commit myself to that world. Then again, I'm not a serious games, played Warcraft when it first came out as a solo game and against one other person on a local network, and prefer the virtual world between the pages of a good book. MMORPGs may be the future of gaming, just as social sites like MySpace may be the future of the web. In that case, I'm a dead-end branch on the vast electronic tree of the future.

L. Neil Smith interview

Colorado Freedom Report has a new interview with Prometheus Award-winning author, L. Neil Smith, dated December 7.

I've been busy the past few weeks reading books from a different time. Or is that different times. I finished re-reading Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel It Can't Happen Here, and am working my way through the 1961 biography written by Mark Schorer, which is far from kind. I'm in the middle of writing my brief introduction to my strangest review format yet, in sonnet form, of Lewis' novel.

I also finished last night a book that's long been on my list to read, Jack Williamson's The Humanoids, first published in short story form in 1947 as "With Folded Hands." (I am delighted to discover that my unread copy of Pulphouse Publishing's Author's Choice Monthly Issue 5 - Jack Williamson (1990) contains this story.) Somewhere in my library I also have the sequel, The Humanoid Touch, which is now on my must-read list. The former novel has been nominated twice for the Libertarian Futurist Society's Hall of Fame award, yet I don't believe it's ever been a finalist. That's a shame, as for at least the first 4/5th of the novel I was riveted by the action and plot, and the novel far exceeded my expectations. The conclusion surprised me, and left me wondering about the author's intentions. I have a somewhat ambiguous view of Williamson's fiction. On the one hand, he was a giant in the field of sf. He died a couple of weeks ago at age 98, and continued to teach and write virtually to the end. Yet I have read very few of his books. I tried a few years ago to read his then new novel, The Silicon Dagger, but I don't think I finished it. His story in the recent Baen collection Visions of Liberty, "Devil's Star," was in my opinion the worst of the lot. I wasn't sure if the style was deliberately pulp, or if Williamson eschewed style for straight two-fisted prose. On the other hand, his politics seem influenced by libertarian ideas, as he stated in this interview from 1999. I wanted to see how those ideas influenced his fiction. Yet my experience with the two works I mentioned prevented me from reading more of Williamson's work, until his name came up again during a conversation I had in early November at the World Fantasy Con in Austin, Texas. Sadly, not two days after I started reading The Humanoids I read the news that Williamson died. I've nominated this book again for the LFS Hall of Fame, and intend to write a review in the January issue of Prometheus.

Although unrelated to the purpose of this blog, I'm currently reading The Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith. Smith is probably my second favorite writer after Jack Vance, and a superb poet as well. The book is at times fascinting, mundane, sad, and illuminating. I wish I could afford the earlier Arkham House editions of his works, but instead I have to wait for newer and cheaper editions.

A current writer who deserves greater acclaim is John C. Wright, whose first published novel, The Golden Age could have, should have won the Prometheus Award for best novel in 2003. His latest novel appeared in bookstores last week. His regularly updated Livejournal blog contains many intersting discussions and thoughts. Wright recently converted from atheism to Christianity, which influences quite a few of his posts. As a non-militant atheist I have yet to read anything that will convert me to any theism, but he's a damn good fiction writer.

The Weapon Shops audioplay

I learned yesterday via email that the audioplay production of A.E. van Vogt's story, "The Weapons Shops," has been completed. Apparently it already premiered this Summer at Dragon*Con (scroll down half-way for a group photo) this year in Atlanta, and also played at a frefan party at the WorldCon in Los Angeles. Adapted by Brad Linaweaver and featuring Richard Hatch of Battlestar Gallactica fame (the original series), the CD is not yet available on the home site of the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company. The short story itself, however, can be found in Baen Books' onmibus collection Freedom! which combined all the stories previously gathered under Give Me Liberty and Visions of Liberty. These two collections won a Special Award in 2005 from the Libertarian Futurist Society. "The Weapon Shops" is a classic of libertarian sf, and along with Vernor Vinge's "The Ungoverned" and Eric Frank Russell's "And Then There Were None" stand as the best pieces in that book. I already bought the three Heinlein audioplays from ARTC, and so far have enjoyed "The Man Who Travelled in Elephants" via my iPod. This CD transferred quite nicely, with each track titled and clear. The other two CDs must not have been loaded into the database that iTunes checks, as all the tracks say "untitled." I suppose I will need to update these manually. Listening to the story adds a different dimension to appreciating them as works of fiction, and at ca. 30 minutes does not demand too much of your time. I saw ARTC perform live back in 1995, and you can almost visualize them from the audio alone.

Simple syndication? Really?

A couple of people have mentioned the lack of RSS on this blog. Today I attempt to remedy this deficiency. I moved to Blogger Beta, enabled site feed options, and added the link for readers to subscribe to this blog. If you try this out, please let me know if it works, or if nothing happens. I confess to having tried out RSS months ago, but it didn't seem to be simple at that time, or perhaps I lacked the patience to follow all the necessary steps.

World Fantasy Con

Back from four days at World Fantasy Con in Austin, Texas. No email or internet activity for the duration of my stay. Bought a few too many books, lusted for several others just too pricey for me at the moment, and generally tried to relax. I'm not a gregarious person, and knew very people, so I spent most of my time in the dealers' room. Drove around Austin for a while as well, and much has changed since I moved away five years ago. I sat in on a few panels, but found only one worthwhile. I've attended a handful of WorldCons, one DragonCon, half a dozen local Austin cons -- ArmadilloCon -- but this was my worst sf con experience in 18 years. Maybe it's typical for WFC. I don't know. The panel track was anemic and poorly organized. On one panel an individual said a total of ten words and wondered out loud why the hell he was there to begin with, and often the moderators struggled for direction. Only panel I enjoyed included Tim Powers and a well-spoken David Drake.

Anyway, I achieved my main goal for attending, and that was to meet F. Paul Wilson in person and get my FPW hardcover books autographed. I hauled a huge bag full of 20+ hardcovers to the one, big signing on Friday night, and he signed them all. I guess next time I'll bring all my anthologies and paperbacks, otherwise I would have needed a cart to haul them around. I also got my more recent Tim Powers acquisitions signed, including three versions of the same book. There were other writers there whose books I could have gotten signed, but there was a limit to how much I could carry. The dealers room seems small, though full of modern and rare works. It's staggering to see the prices on some of the older books, even from a couple of decades ago. I saw none of these sell while there, so I wonder how the dealers make money. I did see a lot of current books being bought, but at least one table kept marking down stuff more and more each day.

Now, if only those Clark Ashton Smith books from Arkham House weren't so damned expensive...

Hungary 50 years ago

With the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian uprising against Soviet rule, a review essay in the New York Times on three books detailing events in 1956. Of interest is the reation and inaction of the American government at the time, and the bungled CIA analysis. It's amazing that spy agencies currently get $45 billion a year, and have learned nothing.

Sinclair Lewis

I'm currently re-reading a classic work of fiction, Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel, It Can't Happen Here. Now possibly out of print (although the NAL edition from 2055 seems available at Amazon), the book deals with the rise of fascism in America in the 1930s, propelled by a populist senator who runs for president. The senator's supporters include the fictional Bishop Prang, who holds forth from his own radio station preaching a raging form of national socialism no different from that found in Germany and Italy at the time. Yet along for the ride is the whole spectrum of the American public and every vocation in the land. Only a few stand against this tide of boorish, brutish, collectivist ideology.

My own copy I bought in 1986 at a used bookstore in Bergen, Norway, for the princely sum of 60 kroner. As I had no money at the time, those $10 meant a lot to me. Sadly, I remember little of the book, for as I read it now I am struck with the lucid prose and Cassandra-like warnings in the book. Lewis, from what I have read, seems both critical of capitalism and socialism (as they were seen back then), and became the first American to win the Nobel Prize in literature (1930).

Why do libertarians love science fiction?

An old post from Tyler Cowen about this strange link. The comments make for interesting reading. Join the debate..

Prometheus at the printer

It never fails. The newsletter is 99% done, and then I have to spend two weeks taking full care of a six-month old and four-year old as my spouse is off defending a client in a law-suit. I don't think I ever appreciated the amount of work that single parents shoulder every day, especially when it comes to very small kids. Far from having any time to complete the newsletter, I ended up every day mentally and physically exhausted. But now, the issue has been delivered to the printer, and in a few days should be in the mail to members and subscribers.

I've already listed the contents in a previous entry, and I've started work on the January 2007 issue as well. I ordered three CDs from the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company, all Heinlein adaptations, to review as a package deal. I know there'll be at least one more order soon, as I believe they're adapting A.E. van Vogt's "The Weapon Shops of Isher." I'm also laying the groundwork for my strangest review yet, a 14-line sonnet on Sinclair Lewis's novel, It Can't Happen Here. I read the book once in 1986 (I believe the book is the first British edition from 1936, or it may be an imprint from that edition). The reason for this format, and the title of the sonnet, derive from my literary hero, John Keats, and a poem he wrote on re-reading King Lear. It's vanity, I know, but I've had this idea in my mind for several years, and I finally dug up my copy of the book and started to read it and jot down notes. I haven't written poetry in many years, so who knows how it turns out.

Other items scheduled for review include Justina Robson's Mappa Mundi, and a few other books from my review copies shelf. I'm currently reading Brad Linaweaver's political broadside, so again there will be some non-fiction reviews in the newsletter.

If you're reading this and have any reviews of article you'd like to see in print, please send me an email at editor@lfs.org.

Pamuk Wins Nobel in Literature

Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish writer who does not shy away from confronting the Turkish government, won the 2006 Nobel Prize in literature. Much has been made recently of non-Western writers daring to critique their own culture, such as Naguib Mafouz, Salman Rushdie, Parviz Parvizian, Elif Shafak, and many, many more. The pen is as feared as the sword, even relatively calm works are excoriated without being read, subjected to the "the tics and manias of obscurantism."

The Probability Broach for free

The graphic novel, that is. In case you didn't shell out cash for the excellent print version, as of Oct 4, Big Head Press is serializing L. Neil Smith's novel (drawn by Scott Bieser) online for free.

Robert Anton Wilson Needs Our Help

Douglas Rushkoff posts distressing news about the great Robert Anton Wilson, author of many brilliant books including the Illuminatus! trilogy. I corresponded briefly with Wilson ten years ago and was impressed with his kindness, wit, and intelligence.

Prometheus covers

My vision of Prometheus as a newsletter features cool cover art with cutting edge articles and reviews within. I don't always get artwork for the cover, and as you can see from these three samples sometimes the newsletter leads off with the article on the front page.


When L. Neil Smith's novel, The Probability Broach was published as a graphic novel in early 2005, I immediately asked Neil and artist Scott Bieser for permission to reprint some of the art in the issue. They agreed, and so I took advantage or their generosity. The last page of the newsletter contains a small frame of the delectable DJ Thorens, and I wrote a review of the graphic novel version. I've now actually bought more graphic novels since 2004 than between 1990 and 2004, but I can still count them on two hands. My personal opinion is that the graaphic novel version of TPB should have been a best novel nominee, but instead the book won as a Special Award. It probably would not have won as a novel, since it already won back in 1982.


The issue with the gunslinger and was inspired by the two articles for each WorldCon site. This issue almost never appeared in print. In 2004 there was a transition in editorship for the newsletter, and this issue was sent to members in two emails. this was around the time I thought about volunteering to help edit the issue, and so I created a sample newsletter to sort of see if I actually could put together an issue again. I had already moved from OS 9 on the Mac to OS X, and my PageMaker software no longer ran native. So, I upgraded to InDesign 2, and threw together an issue and learned a few things about the software. I never released this issue to anyone, and almost lost all the electronic bits in a hardware crash. When I recovered the drive and after I already had put out a couple of issues, I redisovered this 2004 print version, and decided to release it as a special issue.


And here is a plain, almost vanilla cover. A few of the most recent issues have gone 16-20 pages, and with page real estate in these issues at a premium I decided to skip creating a distinctive cover. The current issue again features artwork on the cover, but I'll hold off on posting this until after the issue is published, some time in mid-October. The issues shown on this page are all available for $3 (just send me an email for details), or you can join LFS and receive each forthcoming issue per year of your membership. A few years ago I had several complete sets of all the back issues of Prometheus, but now there are quite a few that I lack, especially for issues prior to 2004. If anyone knows how to scan pages into PDF, please let me know and I can start the process to put all the back issues online at some point.

By the way, I'm always looking for articles and reviews for the newsletter. Please contact me for details.

As a preview, here's what's in store for members and subscribers in the Fall 2006 issue:
Inside Prometheus:
Prometheus Award winners’ remarks from David Lloyd, Patrick Nielsen Hayden (editor), and Ken MacLeod
WorldCon Report by Fred Curtis Moulton with photos of the event
A brief review of the movie version of V for Vendetta
Fiction reviews:
F. Paul Wilson's The Keep: The Graphic Novel
Gary Bennett's The Star Sailors, a 1982 novel recently available again
Keith Brooke's Genetopia
David Louis Edelman's Infoquake
A trio of Naomi Novik books reviewed
Ian MacDonald The River of Gods
Chris Roberson's Paragaea
David Lloyd’s Kickback

Comic buying inexperience

I first heard about F. Paul Wilson's graphic novel version of his 1981 novel, The Keep, in 2005. I even wrote down the schedule, with volume 1 out in October 05, and volume 5 due in April 06. It took me through September to collect all five volumes, going to seven stores in two cities, and finding the comic books in one three of the stores (and thes are all comic book stores). Instead, I probably should have waited and bought the trade paperback. I think I spent a buck more on the five volumes, and a lot more time... But it's good. I'm featuring the book as the lead item in the Fall issue of Prometheus.

The Philadelphia Orchestra goes online

A great way for orchestras to make more money, and many city orchestras are indeed pinched for funds, is selling their performances. An online music store certainly is vastly better than begging for public funds, and the prices appear quite reasonable.

Via Boing Boing

Article 301

Turkish fiction writer Elif Shafak avoided prison today. she was brought to trial under Article 301, an ominously sounding law on speech and the written word in Turkey. Acquitted for the crime of insulting Turkish national identity, she's one of several writers accused and tried for this crime. Apparently bringing up the fact that almost one million Armenians were murdered in the early 20th century is bad form. Several dozen writers of non-fiction and fiction are awaiting trial for voicing various opinions on Turkish history and policy, rendering free speech in that country a fragile risk. Insulting Turkishness is a vague term, usually limited to people to criticize those in power, and often used to stifle opinion. When The Bastard of Istanbul is published next year (not Shafak's novel), I'm tempted to buy it just to grab onto that ability to speak one's mind.

Centipede Press

Yowza! I'd better start saving now for the 2007 Michael Shea colleciotn, if these prices are any indication of the publisher's offerings. Reminds me of Charnel House's extra special editions. Collectors and die-hard fans only, I guess.

Michael Shea

I'm a huge Michael Shea fan. The man is a master with words, charaters, and turns of phrase, all in the weird/horror/fantasy genre. Today I saw by chance two new short stories coming in out later this year while idly searching Shocklines.com. I jumped to Shea's web site, and almost sprayed my tea on my monitor. Shea states that in 2007 a 400 page collection of all his stort stories and novellas will be published. I have almost all of Shea's published works, except for three very hard to find short stories. I hope the tables of contents soon will be available, to check off if all the stories are indeed there.

Shea is not for everyone, but this award-winning author should have had another collection years ago. To date there's only been the Arkham House collection, Polyphemus, but now I'm excited about 2007. Now, maybe other publishers will take note and publish some of his finished novels...

Updates

It's been a while since I updated my blog roll, but I'm adding a section on resources, otherwise known as "places that will take your money and give you stuff." I like stuff.

I'm starting small, and probably will add links to places I've patronized, or that I know have good reputations. (I got ripped off my first time on eBay ad have never been back since. Lesson learned: know from whom you are buying.) Shocklines is a great source for horror, fantasy, and the occasional sf. I recently placed an order there in hopes of getting an sf book (more of which later if I get that book), and found it amusing that the site had to stress this was science fiction. Forbidden Planet gets a mention because Joe Gordon there does some great stuff, and they have cool things.

I probably need to make other link updates, and that photo is twenty years old... but in due time.

Rushkoff graphic novel

Joe Gordon at Forbidden Planet pointed out to me a new series of comic novels by noted tech writer Doug Rushkoff, called Testament. According to the author himself, "It’ll follow a band of cyber-alchemist revolutionaries, in a future just a day after tomorrow - when the draft is reinstated, and the mind virus known as the dollar requires military enforcement."

I've recently discovered a somewhat decent comic book store in San Antonio (nowhere near as comprehensive as Austin Books in, duh, Austin), so I plan to see if they have any copies on hand.

Often imitated

Forgive me while I sneer yet again at a company that wants to be all things to everyone, as Microsoft imitates yet another technology. Now they want to replicate YouTube. Previously they ripped of the Mac OS, the spreadsheet, Playstation, iTunes, iPod, smart phones. The list goes on. When do we ever see innovation from this behemoth?

Getcha F. Paul Wilson films right here

The cover photo's a little creepy, but now you can pre-order Others: The Tales of F. Paul Wilson from Shocklines. This DVD contains three short stories where the author granted permission to three young filmmakers - "Foet", "Traps," and "Lipidleggin." The first two are horror tales, and the last a libertarian sf story that originally appeared in Asimovs in 1978, and then reprinted in Survival of Freedom an anthology edited by Jerry Pournelle in 1981. None of the shorts run longer than 20 minutes, but you can bet I'm ordering this little item. Expected ship date is October, 2006, and the cost is a mere $13.99.

Free Jazz Downloads

I'm trying to minimize surfing while working on the Fall issue of Prometheus, but while wasting time elsewhere trying to add cover art to some iTunes albums, I stumbled upon a site that lets you sample tracks via free downloads, for jazz fans only, I guess. All available by permission from artist or record company, and all in the mp3 format. No apparent DRM. Probably friendly across many digital jukeboxes. There are currently 421 available downloads. I'm hoping this will lead to me discovering cool new jazz, as my tastes tend to be stuck in the 1950s and 1960s in that genre...

Prometheus Fall issue

The next issue of the print newsletter of the Libertarian Futurist Society is slowly coming together. So far this is what's planned:
Prometheus Award Winners’ remarks. Reviews of fiction by Naomi Novik, Keith Brooke, David Louis Edelman, Ian MacDonald, Gary Bennett, Chris Roberson. Movie review of V for Vendetta. Scheduled publication date is early to mid-October.

I've just finished putting together a wickedly cool cover for the newsletter, which I won't yet reveal. My only concern with this issue is that it looks like I'm writing five or six reviews to fill content. Not that I mind, but I'm hoping for submissions from others so I can step back a little.

Speaking of which, if you like libertarian sf, and like to review stuff, please consider Prometheus.

Ooh, I'm a cult member

I'm not longer sure... Do I belong to the cult of Apple, or a libertarian sf cult. I'm astonished at the intellectual strength required to label different ideas as cult like. Gosh, some weird people actually like an OS and and hardware design, instead of living with clunky and imitative software, viruses, blues screens of death, and grey boxes. You are a cult! Some people like liberty and dream of space. Cultist! With friends like this, who needs enemies.

David Lloyd

Forbidden Planet interviews David Lloyd, who along with Alan Moore recently won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award for V for Vendetta. Lloyd has a new book out, Kickback, a crime noir thriller which looks quite interesting. Lloyd also has a generous perspective on the changes made to the V for Vendetta movie. I haven't yet sorted out all my feelings about the movie. Parts of it were quite good, but there were several shortfalls and it fizzled out long before the end. It certainly lacked the power of the book, and had nowhere near the impact of the original Matrix movie. I recently read the original screenplay that the Wachowskis wrote, and I can't really understand why they didn't film it that way, and why they made certain changes. Then again, I read the original screenplay for The Matrix Reloaded and I have no idea what they were smoking when they put that together. Even the strange mis-shapen outcome of the final movie was much better than that screenplay.

Update 9/10/06: I picked up a copy of Kickback yesterday. I'm hoping to review it in Prometheus, but unless I get creative I'm already out of space.

Conger reviews Linaweaver

Wally Conger reviews Brad Linaweaver's new non-fiction book about America's foreign policy, and finds the plumb line of anarchism askew. I know Linaweaver and point #3 does not surprise me at all. As for the content of the book I have not yet read it, so I can't comment.

Terry Pratchett - Libertarian

A brief article from Advocates for Self-Government about writer and Prometheus Award winner Terry Pratchett. Debates have raged elsewhere regarding the supposed libertarian content of Pratchett's books, especially from non-libertarians disparaging any connection. The Discworld scene is a varied lot, and certainly no libertarian utopia, but enough quotes in several books do bolster a pro-liberty leaning and somewhat cynical attitude toward those in power. A select few are reprinted in the article. Another great book not mentioned is Feet of Clay.

The truth

This link probably is meaningless to those who speak no Norwegian, but the blogger here, a young Norwegian lass, prints a letter she found at school that started her down the road to Terry Pratchett worship. In the letter is a brief snippet that mentions "two prestigious awards," namely "Prometheus Award and Carnegie Medal," which links back to a Norwegian Wikipedia entry.

I always knew the Prometheus Award had high status, but this seems, well, stratospheric.

Another shout out

Nice mention of the 2006 Prometheus Award winners by The Forbidden Planet, a UK site dealing with comics, grphic novels and cult merchandise. I'm in the middle of putting together the Fall issue with lots of items of the Prometheus Award event, and am alsways cheered by nice mentions like this. Beats the sarcarsm I've seen over at Emerald City in the past.

L. Neil Smith on his Star Wars books

Smith prints a response to an inquiry about his three Lando Calrissian books.

Prometheus Award mention

Nice mention over at Liberty & Power group blog by Amy Sturgis on this year's Prometheus Awards winners.

25 years ago

Today I came into possession of the full list of Prometheus Award nominees for the 1982 award, held that year at Chicon. Master of ceremonies that year was the late Robert Shea, who wrote a brilliant con report in the pages of Prometheus shortly thereafter, called "Hasta la vista, Chicon." I bring up this tidbit as the LFS web page for the Prometheus Awards (of which I compiled the bulk of information), lists only the winner, L. Neil Smith's The Probability Broach. At the time that was all that I had to go by, and despite several efforts I never found any documentation of the other books nominated that year. Until the LFS site is updated, here's the complete list. Book followed by * were finalists, and ** denotes the winner. What a tough year to pick a winner! I gaze at the libertarian luminaries on this list in wonder - Erika Holzer, Kay Nolte Smith, L. Neil Smith, J. Neil Schulman, F. Paul Wilson, and more.

- Gary Bennett, The Star Sailors
- Lee Corey, Star Driver
- Samuel Delaney, Tales of Neveryon*
- Thomas Disch, On the Wings of Song
- Erika Holzer, Double Crossing
- Stephen King, Firestarter
- Ursula K. Le Guin, Malafrena
- Barry Longyear, Circus World
- Byron Preiss & Michael Reaves, Dragonworld
- Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker
- J. Neil Schulman, Alongside Night*
- Kay Nolte Smith, The Watcher*
- L. Neil Smith, The Probability Broach**
- Norman Spinrad, A World Between
- Norman Spinrad, Song From the Stars*
- Joan Sloanczewski, Still Forms on Foxfield
- Douglas Terman, Free Flight
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jailbird
- F. Paul Wilson, An Enemy of the State*

Linaweaver wakes up

Well, he apparently did say so his own words (see the post at Wally Conger's blog re the WorldCon), a non-fiction take from sf writer Brad Linaweaver, Post-Nationalism: George W. Bush as President of the World by Brad Linaweaver. Available as a paperback from Victor Koman's KoPubCo. I'm delighted to see Linaweaver's on the side against war mongering neo-cons and neo-libertarians.

New Ken MacLeod book

A brief novel (contradiction?) released in the UK only at this point, The Highway Men, published by Sandstone Press. MacLeod describes it thusly, "typical MacLeod stuff: climate change, imperialist war, libertarian grouch, Highland romance and insurrectionary violence."

Denver 2008?

I'm strongly considering an August vacation and drive through the south west to Denvention 3 - the 66th Worldcon.

Whoa

Paging the trademark office. Eerie.

Richard Mgrdechian Interviewed

Prometheus Award nominated author Richard Mgrdechian answers nine questions.

I just received a copy of his latest book -- non-fiction this time -- and enjoyed his novel 3000 Years. Much of the interview deals with his non-fiction book, which also is reviewed at the same web site.

2006 Prometheus Award winners announced

Hot off the virtual presses, the announcement from LFS regarding this year's winners. The presentation was held today at the LA Con IV Worldcon. Trying to see if anyone in the blogosphere made mention of the event...

Interview

All you ever wanted to know about yours truly, plus a little more. Sunni Maravillosa interviewed me for her July Salon. Not sure that I merit an interview, but I found the process fascinating and the interview gracious and considerate.

Books read/reading

Currently I'm burning through a stack ofPYR books at the moment, hoping to review at least four in the Fall issue of Prometheus. They're a relative recent publisher on the sf scene, and luckily they send me a few review copies each year. I've already reviewed at least four books by them, and have yet to be disappointed in their offerings, even though the fare is far from uneven.

Recently read books include
David Louis Edelman, Infoquake. An sf novel about business and politics, with a fari number of mentions of libertarians and radical libertarians, though less so of said ideas.
Keith Brooke, Genetopia. Parallels slavery stories set in unknown environment (possibly far future) where genetic manipulation acts as divider akin to skin color.
Chris Roberson, Paragaea. Adventure tale in tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jack Vance (among others). At times quite fun, yet despite its length I never really bought into the characters as much as in ERB's books.

Currently reading
Ian McDonald's River of Gods Ye Gods. This is near future sf at its best. Complex and difficult to follow due to large cast of characters, but certainly the very essence of why I read sf.

Now, how do I squeeze in my other current books - Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End and Tim Powers' Three Days to Never?

"five-day sci-fi and fantasy geek-out"

That's how Wired.com describe this year's WorldCon or LA Con IV in a brief write-up of the current event. LFS will announce the 2006 Prometheus Awards on the 26th, or Saturday. I was there 10 years ago at LA Con III. I won't make it this year, and even had I planned on attending I would have arrived in somewhat reduced form, as I've been smacked around this week by a cold and stomach virus at the same time. Throw in lack of sleep as the kiddo keeps us off guard, and the end result would have been grumpiness all around. At some point writing will take place and postings follow.

I use my blog almost as a memory device. When I forget to post something it's nearly impossible to go back later and trawl through the web for the same story. Last item that caught my attention was news that new stories are planned in the Babylon 5 universe. Far better that Star Dreck, this show peaked in seasons 2-4, especially the latter half of 3 and first half of 4. I had started a mini B5 marathon a few months ago, but had to set it aside after the early episodes of season 4. I've probably seen most episodes three or four times, and enjoy most aspects of the show immensely. Still, I could not help laughing when I watched the Finnish web movie Star Wrek: In the Pirkinning. They nailed some of the main characters' worst traits quite well.

2006 Prometheus Finalist Mini-Reviews

I'm way behind the curve, but while the baby in the house works his way through a schedule change, blogging and web-surfing remains light. Here, on the other hand, is the indefatigable Sunni Maravillosa with some mini-reviews of the 2006 Prometheus Award finalists from her July Salon. I find myself in accord with her on the Mosely, Stross, and Goodkind novels. As for the Wolfe/Zelman book, this is perhaps 1/3 or 1/4 of a novel, not a complete work in my opinion. That said, I reserve my opinion until the story concludes. As far as The Black Arrow, I found that I really did not care for this book. The characters failed to move me, the story perplexed me (to put it lightly), and the tone concerned me. I also enjoyed MacLeod's novel slightly more, and while I agree the resolution lacked the impact of the rest of the novel, the other 99% of the story retained my interest over the span of several well-spent hours.

Robert Anton Wilson bibliography

I stumbled upon this post from June 18 about an auction to benefit Robert Anton Wilson, who's recovering from some health issues. The post also includes a detailed and lengthy bibliography of RAW's works.

You got a friend in me

A very interesting article from the NY Times on the Postal Service and the internet. It seems like only a few years ago commentators derided the USPS as "snail mail." Yet while the shipment of letters and cards through the stamp monopoly have declined, packages actually increased. This is mainly due to ecommerce sites like amazon.com and eBay. Alas, it would be great if private companies were able to compete and ship packages in the same manner, instead of having to focus on "express" mail services a la FedEx, UPS, and a host of smaller companies. Instead of the internet killing off this ugly state monopoly, it's actually proved to be a major influx of money. Yet the lines remain long and service remains unfriendly.

Cuba comments split libs

A brief posting of comments from actor Andy Garcia on Castro over at Reason seems to have split quite a few libertarians. Editor Nick Gillespie's posting mentions a few anti-communist movies that I may need to check out on DVD.

State and religion

More often than not that combination is deadly. BBC reports of a 16-year old girl executed in Iran for "crimes against chastity." She was hanged, lifted in the air by a crane, for having been raped by a man three times her age. The rapist received a few lashes, the girl received death, her true age masked by court documents. She had the courage to spit in the face of the judge and legal system when she realized her case was hopeless. Atefah Sahaaleh is a martyr for liberty.

Pippi!

A neat book review of Pippi Longstocking over at Sunni's Salon. I, too, remember Pippi and Astrid Lindgren from my childhood, and now that I'm introducing her stories to my daughter as well, I find that adults as well as children can appreciate her character.

New Victor Milan novel

Fans of Victor Milan will be happy to learn he has a new novel, due out shortly. Solomon's Jar, a shred adventure tale in a series called Rogue Angel, under a group pseudonym. Milan promises "serious butt-kick adventure" with the female sword wielding protagonist, Annja Creed.

Yet another federal database

This time it's your college records.

Let just cut right to the chase and barcode everyone right now.

The Jack Vance Treasury

I broke down and ordered a new Jack Vance collection today. Well, there are no new stories, but its possible they've gone through the Vance Integral Edition process and emerged somewhat different from the stories in my Underwood-Miller collections. The book does contain a preface by Vance, which by itself might be worth the $38, though I am sure Vance will be terse as usual. Years ago I collected all the editions of the Underwood-Miller books, over forty hardcovers, many limited and signed. Many of these I bought well below retail cost, other at collectors prices. They are, perhaps, my most treasured tangible possessions. In all I own 54 U-M books (combined and under separate imprints). That makes me a qualified Vance fanatic, I suppose. When the Vance Integral Edition was announced, I signed up as a volunteer and as a customer, but I backed out of both due to time constraints, and also a strange loyalty to the U-M books. I can't say I was happy when the VIE combined some books within the same cover. And, yes, the steep price deterred me from completing the purchase. That act qualifies my fanaticism. There are handful of Vance books I don't have in hard cover, and at this point I doubt that will change, unless some other publisher comes out with dust cover editions of those five or so books. But, if you're a stranger to the fiction of Vance, this collection from Subterranean Press will open your world to perhaps the greatest craftsman of science fiction and fantasy of the 20th century. Jack Vance truly is nonpareil.

Vinge interview

Via Rick Kleffel, a podcast of a recent NPR interview with Vernor Vinge. I'm resisting these recent interviews until I finish Rainbows End.

Summer issue of Prometheus

The Summer 2006 issue went out in the mail late last week to all members/subscribers/etc. This 20-page issue includes reviews of fiction by Russell Madden, Elizabeth Moon, Harry Turtledove, Vernor Vinge, Tamara Wilhite, and John C. Wright; a condensed version of Sunni Maravillosa's interview with Scott Bieser and Vin Suprynowicz; Tamara Wilhite on SETI; review of the movie Æon Flux; anthology Future Washington reviewed; Jim Sullivan on library censorship; plus a last minute essay on private space travel and a guest editorial on RFIDs.

If you're not a member of LFS, more information can be found at www.lfs.org. Subscriptions also are available, and if you'd like a sample issue please email me at editor AT lfs DOT org with an address and I'll send out a free copy.

I'm now taking a brief break before starting work on the Fall issue, which I expect will feature news about the Prometheus Awards ceremony from LA CON IV, held at the end of August. I attended LA CON III back in 1996, my first WorldCon. I remember the long drive from LAX to Anaheim, the vast dealers' auditorium where I secured some hard to find Jack Vance books, and very long nights. I attended two more WorldCons (1997 and 1998), before beginning my long and personal sabbatical away from sf fandom that lasted until the end of 2004. I'm not sure when I'll attend my next WorldCon. With two small kids in the house I am loathe to go through the stress of travel only to spend time away from them, so I'm sure a few more years will pass before WorldCon #4.

I'm getting ready to shell out $36 for three audio CDs from the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company, with hopes of writing up the experience in the next issue of Prometheus as well. The three CDs include all the adapted Robert A. Heinlein stories. And then, I have a stack of books that need some attention...

OS Wars

I don't really want to start an OS war, but in reading through Claire Wolfe'sreply to an essay by Brad over on wendymacelroy.com on Linux vs. Windows, I'm tempted to offer up Mac OS X as an alternative. I guess if you have an Intel machine your only choice is Win or Lin, though OS X now runs on Intel. The second fall-back argument is that Macs are too expensive, and while somewhat true, you do get quite a few items standard on the Mac that are add-ons in the Win/Lin world. Of course, the most powerful argument is that OS X is proprietary, while Linux is free and open-source. True again, but OS X includes Unix and exists in a healthy 3rd party developer environment so you don't need to rely on Apple software. And it's a gorgeous OS, far smoother to master than either Win/Lin environment. But that's just my opinion as a Mac user since 1984.

We

The LA Times reviews a new translation of Hall of Fame winning novel, Yevgeny Zamyatin's We.

Atlas Shrugged movie moves forward

Personally, I like the idea of Angelina Jolie as Dagny Taggart, in as close to reality as we've ever seen for an Atlas Shrugged movie moment.

The Column of Phocas

Sean Gabb, UK libertarian and editor of Free Life, has written a novel of "murder and intrigue, set in mediaeval Rome." The first three chapters are available for download.

Songs of Protest

I believe Time Magazine also ran a story about protest music a few months ago. Here the Nation muses on protest and music.

Blurbed

Via reason's Hit and Run, a brief story on deciphering blurbs for keys on how to avoid books. My blurbs appeared on three or four books (I remember two by L. Neil Smith and one by Vernor Vinge--though in the latter they cited the publication in which my review appeared, and not my name). In each case I think the publisher pulled my words from a review, and I wrote those words not with a blurb in mind. Culling the essence of a book down to a few sentences is tough work, and sometimes I wonder about their effectiveness. I buy books for the author or story, not from what others say. But do I read the blurbs? Usually, yes, after I've already bought the book.

Name that writer

Lack of familiarity with any of the writers mentioned makes me wonder which one is the "wrier of Libertarian SF" among this list mentioned at Emerald City. Clue me in, please.