Um, I read books

Here's some that I've tackled lately and not-so-lately...

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton. In the world of dragons, it is a tradition for family members to eat the dead body of their parents when they've passed. Unfortunately for Bon Agornin's children, Illustrious Daverak, a greedy son-in-law, eats more than he was allowed. This is most upsetting, and eventually the dragon will be taken to court for compensation. Then there's a lot--and I do mean a lot--of drama concerning blushing dragons and the acquiring of gold, gold, gold. Politics get in the way, as is to be expected, and there's even some romance amongst the great creatures of lore. Though the book is somewhat based off Anthony Trollope's Victorian novels, there isn't much else out there like it. Fun, original, and interesting non-human characters make this a must-read. Alas, the book is out of print at the moment, I believe.

Scar Night by Alan Campbell. Deepgate, a magical city that hangs over a great abyss, is nothing at all like the kid-friendly Sanctaphrax in The Edge Chronicles series by Paul Stewart. So the book deals with a slew of characters: boy-angel Gill, the crazed Carnival, the poisoner Devon, Presbyter Sypes, Mr. Nettle, the assassin Rachel, and many others. The plot boils down to a race to stop Devon from creating angelwine, a potent drink that grants longevity. Well, Mr. Nettle really only wants to kill Carnival ever since his little daughter was bled dry as a sacrifice. The city is beautifully created, and the characters, while not too deep, all have their personalities which make them interesting. Actually, no. Gill is kind of boring, very passive, very emo sitting alone in his tower room hanging out with a bunch of snails. The book is fast-paced, with some epic scenes, but I was very disappointed to discover it was not a standalone. Spoiler alert, spoiler alert...the ending is a doozy of a cliffhanger. Kind of annoying.

The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One) by Joe Abercrombie. Ah, epic fantasy. You bloated bastard. Unlike its uncles and great-grandfathers (George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, and Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series), Abercrombie's book moves blindingly fast. This is thanks to characters such as Logen Ninefingers, a brute of a savage, and Glokta, a once favored swordsman crippled into a twisted thorn. Both end up employed for the Union, and some adventures happen and people are tortured and a couple of magic spells are cast. You know the drill by now. Also, total cliffhanger ending a la Scar Night, but not as upsetting. It's grisly sword-and-sorcery, with all the staples that come with the genre, but Abercrombie does have a craft for creating engaging dialog and sympathetic characters, and it is for every single one of them that I'll be picking up the second book in the series when it is released. I do, however, hope some of the amateurish writing improves. I can only take so many "Arrrgh!" he grunted moments.

Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult. Small New England town mysteries, teenage witches, a focus on rape, court room drama, and characters that make you want to dive into the pages and help them out...just because. Jack St. Bride has just been released from prison after pleading guilty to a charge of rape. He quickly takes shelter in the quiet town of Salem Falls, hoping to start anew. But within a matter of weeks, he stumbles upon a campfire in the woods where naked teenage girls are dancing for the moon, and finds himself in a whole new mess of trouble. It's a moving read, both in pace and its emotional grip, and I've found Picoult's writing to be the sort of thing that one can ease into without any trouble. Sure, some of her happenings feel a bit too convenient, and the twist at the end sort of came out of nowhere, but otherwise Salem Falls is an engaging piece that questions society on a dozen different levels, focusing on reputation and fear, and allowing the reader to judge for themselves what qualities actually make a monster.

The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia. I was lucky enough to read this before it was released, and I've been wanting to talk about it for awhile, but...sometimes it takes time to let these things sink in. Structurally, the book is different from what I normally read. The focus, one might say, is on the woman Galina, who witnessed her recently pregnant sister turn into a jackdaw and fly away. She sets out to find Masha and the reason why this has happened. Along the way, Yakov, a quiet police detective trying to figure his shit out, joins her in the pursuit for answers. What they discover is a world beneath Moscow, a hidden place, where people hide and creatures of Russian folklore flourish. Sort of like how I enjoyed the historic legends and tales more than the true plot in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, I found the characters Galina meets underground, along with their pasts, far more intriguing than anything else in The Secret History of Moscow. Go, Father Frost! Still, the culmination of Galina's search is downright heartbreaking, making this the book that has stuck with me the hardest so far in 2007.

Er, I'm sure there's other books I've read and haven't commented on. I'll have to scan my shelves later and see which ones I'm forgetting.

Bakery, a good topic

So, as you know, I'm writing this novel thing and there's quite a few bakeries in my magical city. Why? Well, I like a nice fresh loaf of bread or honey scone just as much as the next fellow. Anyways, I needed to look something up about bakeries and thought to see what Wikipedia had to say on the subject.

Not much. But this comment, which has not been edited out yet, has just about made my night:

THIS ARTICLE ON SUCH A GOOD TOPIC SUCKS ASS. Advisor please fix/add.

Oh, Wikipedia. You silly thing.

Here's the link to the article. I hope that line never gets removed.

Boring metrics

Hey, Paul! Did you write a lot over the weekend? Huh? Huh? Didya?

Nope.

Friday: 606 words

Saturday: 0 words (I blame all the beer at PhilCon)

Sunday: 548 words

Today: 524 words

Yeah, I'm basically just hitting quota and stopping at the moment. Too busy with a thousand other things to worry about. Thanksgiving break looks like it'll be relaxing, offering plenty more time to type, type, type.

Okay, time to see if tonight's episode of Heroes is any good...

Beer me strength, people

Here's what I managed for NaWriMo today: 1,354 words

Also, my review for Electric Velocipede #13 is now up over at the Fix. Go on and check it out!

Lastly, tonight is the last new episode of "The Office," and while I support the strike I think it'll be a bit sad knowing there's less to look forward to in the upcoming weeks. Well, least I'll get some reading done then.

WOTF semi-finalist

Evidently, I'm a semi-finalist for the 4th Quarter. Though the bane that is my last name strikes again! So...someone smarter than me, please tell me what this means.

Ur doing it wrong

NaWriMo wordage for the day: 590 words

Just past the quota, but I did end up writing 1,700 words for a review of Electric Velocipede today. So take that and put it on a flag!

And lastly, here's my entry to John Scalzi's LOLCreashun Contest:

Sporty Spec has arrived

NaWriMo wordage for the day: 586 words



I forgot to mention that I received my contributor's copy for Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic edited by Karen A. Romanko over the weekend. It's a nicely put-together book, and I'm not just saying that because I'm in it or that my story "The Sport of Kings" is first in the lineup. Though it helps! I kid, I kid.

Featuring work by 42 authors, there's bound to be something for everyone. Though I'm not afraid to admit that me and poetry get along like snails and salt. Or am I thinking of slugs? Eh, let's move on. So far, I've enjoyed "Perpetual Check" by E.C. Myers, a planes-traveling chess story with some emotional depth, and "Hang Twenty" by Jude-Marie Green, a lighthearted tale about a surferboy, his wolf, and their time amongst the waves. I hope to get to read some more of the stories later on, but I'm very much liking what I've seen so far.

Bookworm alert

Damage done on NaWriMo today: 1,005 words

I finally finished reading The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie yesterday. I'll be saving my thoughts on the book for a real review, but it was slow reading. 432 pages of dialog, description, and action had nothing to do with it. I've just found myself not reading as much before bed...or any other time during the day. Spring and summer weather is my favorite reading weather, but the colder it gets the more I just want to cozy up with a blanket, some hot chocolate, and watch a flick.

At the moment I'm enjoying Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult. I've found her pacing and characters to be right up my alley, making the book go fairly fast. Then I'm off to tackle two Hugo-winning books one after the other: Dune by Frank Herbert and Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.

After that I'm unsure of what I want to read next, which is...odd. There's probably a good 50 or more books in my apartment that I haven't gotten to yet. But where to begin? Oi, the trouble with being a bookworm...

Third marker passed

Well, here's my NaWriMo metrics for the last three days.

Friday: 913 words

Saturday: 562 words

Today: 553 words

I'm not as devoted to writing on the weekend as I used to be. That time is spent more on comics, reading, gaming, and just relaxing a bit. So the above totals are no surprise, but they are all past my 500 word quota which is all that matters.

In the beginning, I suspected that if I did 500 words a day for all of November that would net me a solid 15,000 words and put me right over the third marker of 45,000 words. Well, good news, folks. Since hitting those daily goals and exceeding them a smidge here and there, I've now crossed the 45K marker. Only two more to go though I suspect the novel to end around 70K. That's fine as there's a lot that I need to go back and fill in on the second work through.

The Waterways Novel

45,129 / 80,000 words. 56% done!

But woo...getting closer.

Gah, too much

Well, I can't avoid making a to-do-list. Clearly, it is the only sensible way I can actually think about--and see--what I have to get done. So, here it is, in all its glory:

• Review The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
• Review Issue 13 of Electric Velocipede for The Fix
• Read and crit a short story
• Rewrite "Firefoot"
• Rewrite "Pigment"
• Get today's quota of 500 words done
• Finish secret comic thing, deadline being before December 1st
• More 200 Sad Comics? Meh, we'll see
  
• Start the end of this week's MyLifeComics as well as beginning of the following week's because...
• Philcon 2007 this weekend, which I need to get mentally prepared for
• Grocery shopping
• Car needs an oil change
• I'm sure there's more, but I need to get to work on some of these thingies so...
  

Like start X-mas shopping

Here's what I did for NaWriMo today: 1,765 words

I was going to make a to-do-list, but now I don't want to. Weird? Just know, I have things to do.

Hit my quota

NaWriMo wordage for the day: 514

Not a whole bunch, but I met my quota, which is really what matters at this point. Besides, I'm working on other stuff at the moment. Mostly secret comic stuff. That's how the rooster crows...

Evidently there's no Pushing Daisies on tonight. Gah! Stupid country music awards show!

The sound of crickets

Damage done for NaWriMo today: 1,539 words

Do I have anything else to say?

::crickets chirping::

Guess not.

Curse you to the moon

Well, here's the damage for today's NaWriMo: 2,367 words

I also did a search of my Word document. Evidently, I like to curse a lot in this novel. And this isn't fake cursing, such as: frak, frell, or Jupiter's rings. I use the bad words. The ones that might make grandmommies blush. Ah. Oh well. It happens. There's worse things in the novel, anyways.

Gawd, this month is going to be full of super boring posts like this one. I apologize in advance.

Some metrics

Yesterday for NaWriMo: 1,046 words

Today for NaWriMo: 533 words

Aiming for 500 words a day has been very effective so far. Except for today, I find myself crossing that line rather quickly and then not wanting to stop. So, yeah, that's good and all. I'd write more today, but I've got other plans. Also, I'm not in the right headspace to kill off a certain character...which is coming up real soon. Yeah, that'll be a good time. Luckily, in my world, not all dead things stay dead for long.

In other news, Karen A. Romanko announces the good news that Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic has been published! W00t! It's available at the moment at LuLu.com, but will eventually be seen on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the other usual suspects. This one has my piece "The Sport of Kings" in it. That should be enough incentive for all you readers out there to pick this anthology up! I kid, I kid. Or do I?

Words, words, words

Just a quick post to mark down today's damage for NaWriMo: 1,053 words.

That is all for now. Back to Beetlejuice.

Yup, I wrote today

So, I guess I wrote today.

For NaWriMo: 2,273 words

And then I did some more work on the latest short. Strangely, I don't feel exhausted though I suspect I should.

"She Brings the Light"

New words: 272
Total words: 536
Pages: Page and a half
Deadline: None
Reason for stopping: Just cause I can, people!
Stimulants: A mug of hot chocolate
Songs played loudly: "Fill My Little World" by The Feeling
Exercise: Nada
Mail: Nada
Darling du jour: The smoke made the city only half-visible, maybe not even that, with building outlines so faint it became difficult to tell if some of them still stood.
Other writing-related work: Nothing though I'm still working through The Blade Itself, which, at some point, will turn into a review
Random thought: I am not happy that it is getting darker earlier. That is all. Paul out.

Doing NaNoWriMo sort of

Well, I'm not aiming for 50,000 words or starting a new novel. But November is a great month to get motivated about writing considering the droves of folks gearing up to write, write, write. So, currently the novel-I'm-not-talking-about is around 32,000 words. It's been sitting in the corner lately, waiting for me to do something with it (clean thoughts, people!).

Between comics and reviews and the writing of other short stories, I do not believe I can devote everything to the beast. My daily goal will be 500 words, which, if completed, will net me a solid 15,000 words by the end of the month. And that will put me over my third marker where I get to talk about the novel a bit. I think this is both doable and enough to keep me sane.

So, yeah. I've already started a new short tonight and will eventually be re-writing "Firefoot" from the ground up. I know there's a story in it, and thanks to some great crits I know what needs to go and what can stay and party. November shall no longer be NaNoWriMo to me. It'll just be WriMo.

"She Brings the Light"

New words: 264
Total words: 264
Pages: Not even a page yet
Deadline: None
Reason for stopping: Switching projects
Stimulants: Vanilla chai tea mmm
Songs played loudly: "Big Casino" by Jimmy Eat World
Exercise: Avoiding trick-or-treaters should count for something
Mail: A form rejection from Noctem Aeternus Magazine
Darling du jour: Mothers sending soldier-sons smut, and everyone seemed to understand the world.
Other writing-related work: Reviewing the novel outline, blah blah blah
Random thought: Pushing Daisies is a great television show! I might even call it the c-word one day!

Heroes, what the eff

Oh, Heroes. You're turning into that kid in high school that surprised us all by graduating on time with strong marks only to drop out of college by the second semester. You started so strong--and I'm talking about Season One here--and then somewhere along the line you decided you'd rather focus on 7th Heaven cheerleader drama and whiny angst-laden characters that makes me want to brown-bag vodka at every meal. And way to strip Hiro of everything that made him watchable. I actually keep hoping for the best during the feudal Japan scenes, but it's becoming ever so bland...even with tonight's twist. See? I don't care, Heroes! You lost me. Not in the truest sense; I'm still going to watch every Monday, but you could kill everyone but Peter off and I'd be somewhat okay with that decision. That's never a good thing so, yeah, in that sense I'm gone.

The show's biggest fault is that they introduced too many characters and plots without fulfilling previous ones. And this has bogged the pace down considerably. The Wonder Twins have been running since the season started: boring. The Mimic Girl has done some mimicking while mainly being uninteresting: boring. Kristen Bell showed up looking all sassy and stuff to kill an Irish lad: okay, that wasn't boring, but she is one of the new "heroes" so she gets a mention. Oh, and Claire's creepy boyfriend. If I was interested in teen dramatics, I'd watch reruns of Gilmore Girls. It's just all such a letdown from the comic-themed, comic-paced awesomeness that was Season One, with a GREAT villain and a simple message of saving a cheerleader. Here, I don't even know what the focus is on. Parkman's father? The cure? The remaining paintings? Alcohol on school premises? SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME!

And if I see one more Bee Movie crapisode I'm going to drown myself in a vat of honey. Bee that, NBC. Bee that.

A new short at first draft

Finished up a short story this weekend. I actually started it nearly a year ago and got stuck in the middle. Inspiration finally came, and now the little dark urban fantasy thingy is at first draft. Around 4,200 words. I'm looking for first reader reactions because I don't know if it even works. Anyone up to read it? I'll gladly return the favor.

If so, e-mail me at pdabbamondi[at]gmail[dot]com.

A review beyond play

Check out my review for The City Beyond Play by Philip José Farmer and Danny Adams over at the Fix.

Good interview with Kristen Britain

Some weeks I feel like I post like a madman here. Others, erm...notsomuch.

Just been busy with reading, drawing, sleeping, some writing, and thinking. But I am surfacing to point-and-click you in the direction of this nicely done interview with Kristen Britain. The third book in her Green Rider series, The High King's Tomb, finally comes out next month, and I for one am looking forward to it.

Maybe more later. Keyword being maybe...

Page proofs pwned

This morning I read over the proofs of my short story "The Sport of Kings" for Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic edited by Karen A. Romanko.

I generally like this step a lot, mostly because by the time it gets to me I've been away from the work for long enough to not remember every little detail. To me, it's like reading somebody else's work. Weird, I know. Anyways, I'm happy to announce that I still like the piece. It's also one that might surprise some people; yes, I write about other things than supernatural horrors and robots.

Oh, wait. There's robotic horses in this.

Ah, whatever. Robots never get old (and if they do, it's time for an upgrade, I say).

I believe the book is going to the printer today. Neat-o.

Trunked like an elephant

Tonight I trunked 29 stories.

Trunking, for the unaware, is the process of putting a story hidden away for an indefinite amount of time--the idea of it being forever, of course. There is always a moment though that happens years down the line where one might consider pulling the dusty metaphoric trunk out, popping it open, and seeing if anything good inside is salvageable.

Anyways, most of these pieces have just been sitting around. They haven't gone out to a market in some time, represent my struggles with writing, and just aren't anything I'm overly concerned with getting out there. I am fairly content with my done stories at the moment, and I'm sure newer, hopefully better works will be materializing at some point.

So, yeah. Trunking.

Unless any of you can think of a perfect place to send a dialogue-only story involving two old men discussing the pros and cons of vampires over afternoon tea? I still kinda like that one.

Progress finally

The Waterways Novel

30,214 / 80,000 words. 38% done!

So, I've crossed my second stop sign where I'm allowing myself to talk a bit about the novel-in-progress. For those playing at home, the rest stops are at these marks: 15K, 30K, 45K, 60K, 75K, and then whenever the irascible thing is dead and done.

That said, I am at the point where I think everything I've written is crap. My characters are whiny and meandering passive souls that make me wonder what I'm trying to do here. Bits of the city are interesting--to me, of course--while others don't feel quite natural. Useless secondary characters pop up like poles; I suspect some killing of them later on. A post today on Neil Gaiman's blog made me feel a tad better about the whole thing, and here is where I pause to quote a master:

You don't live there always when you write. Mostly it's a long hard walk. Sometimes it's a trudge through fog and you're scared you've lost your way and can't remember why you set out in the first place.

But sometimes you fly, and that pays for everything.

Right. So it's foggy here at the moment, and only about 500 words back did I realize something that I want to implement but will have to wait for the rewrite. So I made a note. I find myself making a lot of notes, both in the manuscript and on miscellaneous scraps of paper. My Word file is littered with [name] and [action scene] and [dirty stuff]. Keeping these things together and organized is like juggling sunburned babies. But really, having turned my editor off in me, I find myself at least moving forward. That's pretty important when it comes to such a big project. You can't edit what you don't finish.

I don't work on this every day though. Seeing that NaNoWriMo is coming up soon, I'll probably be even more turned off to work on it daily. I tried that before, and while I got words out it wasn't good. I struggle with being somewhat of a perfectionist, and when I write I'd like the first draft to be more solid than not. I'm not opposed to re-writing this sucker once it's finished, but I'd like for a lot of it to be minimal touchups. You know, the cosmetics.

Oh, and now I need to figure out how to get a certain dead fellow out of the water and upland so he can cause some trouble. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Well, that's it for now, really. See you at 45K, people. Remember: you can't edit what you don't finish.

The Fix is live!

Well, I think this is something I forgot to mention before, but I'm no longer reviewing for Tangent Online. I have, however, devotedly followed Eugie Foster over to The Fix, which used to be a print magazine from the publisher of Interzone that focused on reviewing short fiction. It is now online, looking all shiny and easy to navigate, and there's plenty more covered on the site such as poetry, podcasts, and a column from James Van Pelt. You can check out my first review of Analog's December 2007 issue if you'd like.

Here's some thingies

Finished reading Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves. This is now the fifth Hugo-winning novel I've read and, well, I liked it so-so. The book is divided into three sections, and each reads like a standalone novelette. This probably because each was published as a single story before being compiled into a novel.

Regardless, the plot deals with a race of aliens living in a parallel universe, or para-Universe as Asimov calls it, that plan to turn Earth's sun into a supernova, reaping energy from it once it's been destroyed. Section one is about scientists and their slow discovery of the para-Universe and the endless source of energy dubbed the Electron Pump. Kind of boring, and only made interesting because Asmiov choose to start things off further ahead than necessary.

The second section shows us the alien race; a fascinating culture, built on triads and the obsession for melting, we follow a trio of three immature aliens. One is a Rational, one is a Parental, and one, Tritt, is an Emotional. She's different than other "mids" in that she wants to learn, a desire only found in Rationals. This is where The Gods Themselves shine, here with the aliens, where Asimov fully explores a civilization where gender roles are tossed to the wayside (much like Le Guin does in The Left Hand of Darkness). Amazing stuff, and the surprise revelation at the end of what the triad really is--or rather who--caught me by complete surprise. I can see myself going back and re-reading this section alone: it's that good.

The final section has us on the Moon, where a purely functional society of Lunarites live. A somewhat cynical physicist named Denison has come to the moon to put into effect a theory he has that will both stop the sun from exploding while helping humanity even greater. He meets Selene, a woman born on the Moon, a native so-to-speak, and together they work toward a common goal. Some of this section was pretty interesting; mainly common stuff, like how a human from Earth would adjust to living on the Moon much differently than someone born there. The ending, while complete and fulfilling, felt a bit out of left field. As with anything that deals with para-worlds or time-traveling, some of it had me scratching my head, but otherwise it was a decent read. The aliens make it worth it for me.

--

I watched Saw III the other night. Eh. More "games" were played, this time with no hope for redemption. People talk about films like Hostel being goreporn, but no one dares say a word against this franchise. Sure, the first one was pretty original when it came out, but now I have to wonder what's happened to the magic. Is the purpose just to torture folks? I see there's a fourth one coming out. Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! Jigsaw is dead. Gee, I wonder if it'll be a Jigsaw wannabe and that there will be more bloody games to play and that no one will really learn anything throughout the experience but limbs will be lost and guns will be shot and the average consumer will feel cheap, dirty, and dumb. I will not watch Saw IV. Ever.

--

Two rejections this weekend. One called my story "charming," which is a new one for me.

--

And yes, I picked up The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. It's quite fun, and makes me want to break out my SNES and ol' Link to the Past cartridge. The graphics are solid, but it's the gameplay that's damn addicting. Hack and slash and cuttin' grass! Bring on the rupees, baby. The sailing though is going to get tiresome, I predict.

I CAN HAZ ZELDA

Woo! Phantom Hourglass! IT'S MIIIIINE.

A multiple choice question

1. I am currently not blogging a whole bunch because I am doing a lot of...

A. Reading
B. Writing
C. Drawing
D. Sleeping
E. All of the above

Things I've finished lately

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. This was good. Very, very good. A heavy read, and I'm still absorbing a lot of it. I think I enjoyed the myths of Winter and the Ekumen far more than the actually relationship between Genly and Estraven. The whole gender-changing race was quite interesting, and I can see how it would've impacted the field so effectively nearly thirty years ago. I'm glad I finally read this--though it's not the first work in the Ekumen series I've tried--and now I can say I've read four Hugo-winning novels.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I picked this up for the PS2 a few months back, but never got around to finishing it up. The combat system is fun, but lacking in variety of attacks and enemies. The game was more frustrating than not, but after dropping to my death five times in a row I'd figure out the solution. Still, the end level/boss was complete crap and totally disappointing. I know this is the first in the series, which gives me hope that the later entries got better, but this one wasn't too great.

A new short story. Tis called "More's the Pity," and it clocks in at a chomping 2,500 words. I still need to give it a second read through, but otherwise I'm pretty pleased with it. Yet again I find myself writing about a neurotic journalist in the near-future that goes to parties where it is clear he doesn't fit in. Write what you know, they say, write what you know...

22 Most Awful Moments in SF

The 22 Most Awful Moments in Science Fiction brought to you by, not surprisingly, Something Awful.

Pushing Daisies tonight

Pushing Daisies is a show I've been very interested in seeing. It is looking to be a dark comedy/drama about a man with the ability to both bring back the dead to life and then kill them again--all with just a single touch. The show comes from Bryan Fuller, who created Dead Like Me, one of my top favorite TV shows...hmm, ever. The irony I'm sure will run wild once the show gets its legs, and I'm definitely drawn to the whole Gambit-Rogue love story between Ned and the (un)dead girl from his childhood. It's on tonight, people, so check your local listings and give the show a chance, I say.

Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress 22 - Review

I have four titles from Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress series gracing my bookshelf: XIII, XVI, XVIII, and now XXII. Not the greatest collection to refer back to, but hey, I just started nabbing them a few months back. I'm positive the used bookstore down the road from me has more, and I'll be hunting for others in the near future as it is seemingly harder and harder to satisfactorily fill the genre stepchild that is sword and sorcery. For now, the latest edition of the fantasy anthology that started back in the 1980s as an answer to a lack of strong female protagonists in the S&S subgenre has turned out to be quite enjoyable despite some quibbles.

The anthology opens with "Edra's Arrow" by Esther M. Friesner, a somewhat stereotypical sword and sorcery tale set in a magical land now void of animal life. Edra, a huntress, which her sister Jir believes to be the reason the gods are upset and cursed their people, has taken on the task to discover where all the forest's game has gone. Along her journey she is visited by the spirit of a dead shaman who gives her a gift and a choice. While I thought the choice was both obvious and rather trite, Edra's actions and the ultimate outcome surprised me. A sound story, replete with beautiful imagery and a lead woman that seems to be everything MZB looked for in a protagonist.

"A Nose for Trouble" by Patricia B. Cirone had a lot of different ideas in it, but the story's plot and its reveals were far too neat and tidy for my taste and did not justify the mystery's length. It opens with Marina returning late from her mam's to Madame Fertaglio's to half-witness a murder. Now she's worried sick that the sniffers are going to discover her and place the blame on her, but that's far from the truth. Soon, both the living and the dead will come to her for help. Cirone's world-building is pretty strong, offering a locale somewhat different from what one might expect in a sword and sorcery tale of magic, mystery, and manifestations. I just didn't find the solution to the Peacemaker's murder satisfying, and it's quite clear that Marina is beyond passive. This could've been so much more.

Anshazhe, hired assassins, are attacking the unbeknownst siblings Lin Mei and Biao Mei in Kendar in "Night Watches" by Catherine Soto. Luckily, both of them are skilled enough to defend themselves. Lin Mei has been having bad dreams as of late, is concerned about the kittens her brother and her saved from a caravan, and grows more and more suspicious of everyone within the city's walls. I really enjoyed this intricate story. It has several moments of tense, well-written action, and I found myself examining every character Lin Mei came across just as scrutinizing as she was; the problem of the deadly killers is only one of two that the sister and brother duo have to deal with, the latter being the far more intriguing difficulty. And I'm still thinking about those portentous cats—what's up with them, anyways? From Soto's bio I see that there's other stories centered on Lin Mei and Biao Mei, which is like music to my ears.

"Vanishing Village" by Margaret L. Carter let me down. The story is that of Liriel and Bertrice, a duo of mage companions that stumble upon the vanishing village of Meadowmill in search of the Duke's son who'd gone missing some time back. They get in, but can't get out—not until they deal with the powerful mage in complete control of everything happening within the village's boundaries. This includes the weather, the repair of necessities, and the creation of food. The two are impressed and nervous, but confident in their skills. Upon meeting the mage keeping everyone locked in they…talk it out. In a world where mages "cast an invisibility spell" I was expecting a bit more of a showdown at the end. Even though the magic system didn't work for me—I like deeper, intricate spells over simple ones—I still wanted a battle of magic come the end. Some might like this sort of thing, but the story just didn't resolve effectively enough for me to be glad to have read it.

"Pearl of Fire" by Deborah J. Ross is one of my top favorites in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress XXII. Rayzel's Great-grandfather passes along a family heirloom—the Pearl—to her before he dies, mistaking her for Devron, its rightful owner. The magical necklace sort of, kind of works like the One Ring in that epic fantasy book…hmm…what was it called again? Lord of the Rings? Yeah, that's it. As long as Rayzel wears the Pearl around her neck, she cannot be harmed. A sword cannot cut her, a fire cannot burn her—she's unstoppable. And just like anyone might expect this gift quickly becomes a curse, but not just for Rayzel. I enjoyed the story well enough, but couldn't fight this lingering feeling that it's been done many times before.

As an author's first published story, "The Ironwood Box" by Kimberly L. Maughan is astounding. It concerns three sisters, two of whom are magically gifted. That third is Pansy, or rather Persal ne-Marit, who has been having terrible dreams lately about the ironwood box that she is to look over but not open. Feeling useless, she flees—a dangerous decision given the circumstances. Head Queen Iril is after all three of them, wanting what they have internally, wanting it for pure and selfish reasons. A battle ensues, and with it the truth of Pansy's purpose is revealed. Hopefully, there'll be more from Maughan in the future.

One of the anthology's longest entry, "Bearing Shadows" by Dave Smeds is the saddening tale of Aerise, a woman exiled from all that she knows after it is discovered that her baby has been ill-conceived. She seeks sanctuary with the Cursed Folk, and there she meets the father of her child along with a fate that will test time itself. Smeds' use of language and dirty, almost surreal visuals of the Cursed Folk are beautifully done. There's a rather poignant moment at the end of Aerise's journey where she reacquaints herself with someone from her past. It had potential to not work, to even ruin everything Smeds had been building up to, but it did better than work—it made everything worth it, even the hard times and the pain Aerise went through with her pregnancy. This would be my favorite story in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress XXII.

"Black Ghost, Red Ghost" by Jonathan Moeller is, simply put, a fun story. Caina, an Emperor's Ghost, is on a secret mission to discover if Druzen, the Governor, is guilty of supporting a slaving gang operating in the province. If so, it then is her task to kill him, and to kill him like a ghost might—undetected, swift, and cold. While sneaking around undercover in Druzen's ballroom, Caina meets a magus named Ryther, who, seemingly, has the same intentions of her. Or is there more to his story?

This is a story full of mystery and magic, its action scenes heavy and brimming with tension, its world both interesting and unexpected. Caina is a strong heroine, capable of both containing herself and solving the numerous problems that pop up to block her path. I enjoyed the twist at the end the best, how she reacted to it, and the problem's solution—the actually ending itself could've been more abrupt, but I still found myself having a good time, all while thinking of Moeller's work as a holy mixture of an episode of Firefly, an adventure akin to something Mercedes Lackey might storm up, and an explosion of fantastical espionage.

"The Decisive Princess" by Catherine Mintz is a short, very descriptive piece of alternate history. To say much more of the story would ruin its effect, and I'd just recommend anyone reading the anthology to not skip this one lightly; it's a strong story, deeply built with a scenario that forces a princess to make a hard decision. Mintz writes very well, and I enjoyed the subtleness of "The Decisive Princess," especially the way it is still popping up in my head days after I've read it. Now that's the mark of an excellent story.

"Child of the Father" by Alanna Morland is a hard story to talk about for many reasons: it's complicated, faster than a fireball, and just mentioning some of the characters and who they are can ruin the truly deviously set twist at the tale's end. I will say this much: the piece is well-written, with engaging dialogue and believable heroines, and the danger they face is both creepy and captivating.

First, there is death. "Child of Ice, Child of Flame" by Marian Allen opens on a grim scene: Casilda stands triumphantly over the town's slain champion, waiting to receive her prize for defeating such a warrior. Will it be jewels? Land? Or power? The prize she's given is certainly unexpected and has its own stout tale to tell. Allen manages to pack a lot into this short story, balancing both the history of the townspeople's culture and the plight of Casilda's choices rather well. It never feels like too much is happening when, clearly, a lot actually is going down.

"Skin and Bones" by Heather Rose Jones focuses on Ashóli, a Kaltaoven witch otherwise known as a skinchanger. The Marchalt of Wilentelu has chosen her to find the nearest village of skin-singers and bargain with them for his sake. She does, but soon finds herself bargaining for those she cares most about. I found myself a bit confused at exactly what skinchangers were in Jones' world, and suspect that previous Skins stories might clear that up. Ashóli is another strong example of the type of female protagonist that exemplifies a refreshingly ample amount of humility and heart. What the story lacks in terms of action it more than makes up in characterization. An excellent read, and now I must find others in the same universe to devour.

I find the inclusion of "Crosswort Puzzle" by Michael Spence and Elisabeth Waters to be a bit bothersome here. For one, it's half-written by the anthology's editor, raising (half) a red flag on its merit immediately. Second, from what I've gathered the Sword and Sorceress series has always prided itself on publishing both old and new authors, always eager to find fresh new voices in its slushpiles and make them heard loud and clear. So, er, yeah…I don't know. This, at first glance, just feels wrong.

With that said, let's move on to what it's actually about. Laurel and her colleagues are trying to solve the crosswort problem. See, crosswort treats melancholia, but it can also have the opposite effect and turn folks suicidal. Turns out the Royal Guard just ordered a huge shipment of the herb, whether they know its bad effects or not. So the question is: what can be done now? The story works well enough as a problem/solution archetype, and I liked a lot of the world-building. Magic is done subtly, and there's a lot of mystery in the beginning which is cleared up in no time at all. It definitely felt different than what I was expecting, and now after reading all the stories this one most certainly stands out like a wizard's tower in a grassy field. I'm not sure what that actually means in the long run, but it seemed worth mentioning.

And one last thing, which really has nothing to do with the story, but I have trouble reading the name Melisande as any other character other than that demon-laboring sorceress in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Everyone else just pales in comparison to her.

"Fairy Debt" by T. Borregaard does indeed have a fairy being in debt to a human king. Unfortunately for our fairy protagonist, her mother (who originally owed the debt) died and left the task to her. And the second unfortunate problem would be that she does not have working means, which as anyone knows means she does not have working magic. Her Aunt Twill offers her the only viable solution: working the debt back the tough way, with honest-to-fairy servitude. Borregaard's writing reminding me a lot of Terry Pratchett, in that it's both serious and silly; of course, it leans more to the silliness at times, but that's not a problem in a world where fairies go swimming in a rather dramatic river. This is an amusing story, and probably would've been a better choice to end the anthology on.

"Tontine" by Robert E. Vardeman is the type of dark sword and sorcery work that I absolutely love. Captain Jonna el-MMarran has returned to the tavern that, thirty years prior, her friends and her had given their essences (so to speak) to a bottle of wine. This is a magical pact, a tontine, one where the last surviving member of the group has to drink the bottle's entire contents. By doing so, they are not only drinking to their dead friend's memories, but vividly reliving them. The death of her three friends are dolefully experienced, and there's still a sense of accordance as Jonna finishes off the bottle and exits into the night. Dark, abnormal, and ruthless—overall, a story I'd highly recommend.

It's been a recurring crux that each entry in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress series ends on a short piece of humorous fiction. Thus, "The Menagerie" by Sarah Dozier, a tale of two kingdoms at war and the assassin being asked by both sides to help out. It's a quick history lesson, peppered with some sneaky tricks and magical creatures. The problem lies in that humor is more often than not subjective. I didn't necessarily find anything funny about the story, but I still liked it regardless.

I do hope the series continues on as there were some definitive standouts in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress XXII. The anthology covers a lot of topics and ideas, and bounces from one female lead to another with little transition. Still, each story stands on its own merits, making this easy to read and even easier to enjoy. Start with "Bearing Shadows" though; I promise you it's that good.

The latest to-do-list

Things to do that probably should be done more soonish than later:

• Review Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress 22
• Review The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
  
• Review Analog, December 2007 for The Fix
  
• Draw Friday's comic for MyLifeComics

Things to do that probably have no rush on them. No, scratch that. They have no rush on them:

• Cross the 30K mark on the novel
• Review Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
• Review Killswitch by Joel Shepherd (but I should probably read the second book first before tackling this third one, eh?)
• Rewrite "Pigment"
• Rewrite "Nineteen and a Half Cats"
  

Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time?

I stole this one from Rob, who I'm pretty sure stole it from somebody else. What can I say? We're all a bunch of greedy, bloggin' blackguards.

Anyways, it's easy to play along. Just copy the list and BOLD the movies you have seen. Don't be surprised to see that I haven't seen some of the more, er, popular SF films. I'll preface this with the fact that I've asked for Blade Runner on DVD for Christmas--so don't yell at me and call me names!

1. Metropolis (1927)
2. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
3. Brazil (1985)
4. Wings of Desire (1987)
5. Blade Runner (1982)
6. Children of Men (2006)
7. The Matrix (1999)
8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
9. Minority Report (2002)
10. Delicatessen (1991)
11. Sleeper (1973)
12. The Trial (1962)
13. Alphaville (1965)
14. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
15. Serenity (2005)
16. Pleasantville (1998)
17. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
18. Battle Royale (2000)
19. RoboCop (1987)
20. Akira (1988)
21. The City of Lost Children (1995)
22. Planet of the Apes (1968)
23. V for Vendetta (2005)
24. Metropolis (2001)
25. Gattaca (1997)
26. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
27. On The Beach (1959)
28. Mad Max (1979)
29. Total Recall (1990)
30. Dark City (1998)
31. War Of the Worlds (1953)
32. District 13 (2004)
33. They Live (1988)
34. THX 1138 (1971)
35. Escape from New York (1981)
36. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
37. Silent Running (1972)
38. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
39. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
40. A Boy and His Dog (1975)
41. Soylent Green (1973)
42. I Robot (2004)
43. Logan's Run (1976)
44. Strange Days (1995)
45. Idiocracy (2006)
46. Death Race 2000 (1975)
47. Rollerball (1975)
48. Starship Troopers (1997)
49. One Point O (2004)
50. Equilibrium (2002)

My latest obsession

And yes, Feist's "1234" is that catchy little tune in those iPod commercials, but I still love it regardless. Plus, I'm a big fan of things done in one shot. Others that come to mind are the long war scenes in Children of Men, Semisonic's video for "Closing Time," and just about anything done by Daft Punk. Well, here's the video and man does she look like she's having fun in it:

First draft, finally

The Streets of the City

3,663 / 4,000 words. 92% done!

New words: 599

And we've landed on the planet Ferstdraaft. I'm still going to need to read through it one more time to make sure it all gels (and probably make a specific scene a tad more traumatizing), but otherwise it feels pretty solid to me. Still, this had been a tough piece for me, much more straining than anything else I've written and I don't know yet if that is a good or bad thing. Should writing be easy or hard? Does writing something easily inherently make it good? Does working hard and long ultimately produce a gem of a tale?

I can't come up with any compact answer. Whatcha think about it?

Short story sale, hot

"She's a Hearth" sold to the April 2008 issue of Kaleidotrope. Neat! This slight tale of high school drama and fire swallowing has been making the rounds for about a year now. Glad it has a home. Makes up for that magazine death a little whiles back.

Monday night TV on NBC

I watched two hours and twenty minutes of television last night.

First up, Chuck. This is a somewhat thoughtful gov drama littered with comedy that is surprisingly a step beyond slapstick. Chuck and his videogaming buddy are quite funny together--that scene with them trying to "fight" off the ninja was laugh-out-loud worthy--and some of the other characters are interesting. I don't really understand the whole computer-in-his-brain thing, but that's okay. I can stretch it. The secret agent is kind of boring at the moment, but Jayne from Firefly makes me happy. So long as this comes on at 8 o'clock before you-know-what I'll continue to watch it.

Then the show that really matters to me: Heroes. The season two premiere actually mirrored the season one premiere. It's not about action and answering a lot of questions right away. It's about building its characters and storylines, and one has to remember that this is now Volume Two. A new volume means a new start. With that said, I liked a lot of things about it very much: Hiro in ancient Japan (though his storyline does not actually happen "Four Months Later," which confuses moi to no end); the new brother and sister team on the run from Meh-hee-co, complete with brain explosions; and I take back any bad things I said about Nathan because the ex-Congressman with a beard is beyond a curmudgeon now and that, my friends, is super great.

Some bad things that I know I won't like at all are Claire and more high school drama. So not needed, so blah. Also, her knowledgeable littler stalker boy that flies? Way to get creative with new powers, Tim Kring. Also, Molly Walker and her vagueness. Just find the bad guy that killed Hiro's pops! And Bitsy just called me to say that she thinks Peter is the villain since he had the symbol on his chest. I, personally, missed seeing that, but it's definitely a possibility. And if DL is dead-dead, I'll be kinda bummed.

Lastly, I have Journeyman a chance. It started out kind of formulaic and then just sort of meandered down a path of typical events and reactions. I'm so tired of seeing people being saved by an incoming truck. That whole dive across a street thing is far too silly to be believed. Anyways, this didn't hold my attention for very long and I shut it off after twenty minutes. If I want interesting time-traveling adventures, I'll just watch Heroes.

And that's all I'll say for now.

The Hobbit, 70 years ago

Seventy years ago, The Hobbit was published.

I've loved this story since I first read it back in my freshman year of high school. The adventure, the setting, the colorful and beyond dynamic characters--even now, after devouring Lord of the Rings many a times, I still find The Hobbit to be both Tolkien's great and most accessible creation. The sense of wonder that encompasses the book is, well, magical, and there's something about the chapter Riddles in the Dark that compels me to re-read it every now and then. Who ever knew that the plain ring young Bilbo stole from the cave freak Gollum would come to be such a pivotal item in the future? One wonders if Tolkien even suspected it then.

Currently, I have two copies of the book--one is a mass market paperback, but the other is by far one of my favorite things and I'm really not materialistic at all. A few Christmases ago my sister D got me this, a collector's edition:



I also have a graphic novel adaption of the story, as well as that bad-ish yet somewhat comforting animated movie. Yeah, I like The Hobbit. Well, love could actually be used it. It inspired me greatly, continues to do so, and is always a joy to go back and experience. Roads go ever ever on...

Apex Digest raffle

Hey! You! Do you like stuff? Hey, me too! You should check out the raffle being sponsored by Apex Digest!

Some progess, other stuff

The Streets of the City

3,064 / 4,000 words. 77% done!

New words: 819

All's been quiet here in Wistful Writings land, but that does not mean all is quiet elsewhere. Got some work done on the above story over the past week. Not much, but some. I also seemed to have finished a piece of creepy flash fiction called "The Unfilled" the other night. And that novel that I'm not talking about? Well, it's still moving forward, even if it's slower than a dying turtle on the run.

Will probably have a review of Jo Walton's Tooth and Claw up soon. I'm also reading the latest entry in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress series. Some excellent tales so far.

But I really don't see myself getting much done for the next two weeks. The day job has come in swiftly and kicked my ill-prepared butt. So, enjoy the silence.

My first magazine death

Some news.

"The Weatherbugs of Mr. Grady" will not be published in the first issue of Grimoire...because there will be no first issue of Grimoire. I learned of this the hard way, via a tip on Ralan's Webstravaganza. A shame, really, as I was very much looking forward to seeing this eclectic tale in print. Reading over the contract that I signed back in April I see that I was supposed to be paid within 60 days of scribbling my John Hancock down. It's been 149 days since then today without any moolah. The contract also says that if my story is not published in 18 months, all rights revert back to me.

Do I really have to wait that long to start sending it back out considering Grimoire's editor hasn't even contacted me yet to inform his authors that he'll no longer be publishing the zine?

Yeah, I'm a bit annoyed. Not terribly, as it was bound to happen and it is sort of a milestone to kill a magazine, so to speak. Also, it's not like I was exactly pulling in the big bucks, but still. Come on. Have some audacity here. Luckily, being a writer prepares oneself for rejections of all kinds. This, the surprise one following a sale, is a new one. I'm going to savor it for no more than a few more minutes. Onwards and upwards...

Selling Out - Review

Selling Out by Justina Robson

A quick summary stolen from back cover: Book two of the Quantum Gravity series sees Lila Black drawn into the intoxicatingly dangerous demon realm. Capricious, in love with beauty, demons are best left to themselves. This is not easy when they can't resist tampering with humans.

How I'd sum it up to another reader: Simply, Lila goes to Hell. Her Latest mission has her going to Demonia to discover out how Zal, the elfin rockstar, became part demon. The task will prove to be harder than described, even deadlier than she first expected, and not without its surprises. Meanwhile, Zal is being an honest elf, and he goes out in search of Lila only to find himself in an entirely different realm.

The cover sez and shows: The New Bionic Woman II striking a pose. I think it's for a magazine ad. For Swiss Army knife arms. All the rad these days with the kiddos.

Number of dragons, wizards, and reluctant farmer boys: Nope. But plenty of demons, elves, and other fun fantasy creatures to hold you over for the ride.

Hardest name to pronounce in my head: Sarasilien. Other than that, nothing too troubling.

Best part: Spoiler alert for Keeping It Real! Spoiler alert for Keeping It Real! Tath, the dead elf living inside Lila's chest and encompassing her conscious, is simply good stuff. He pops up always at the right moment to lay the snark out on Lila or tell her something she doesn't know. His knowledge of demons is limited, but his history of Alfheim in tier one, making him both a clever way around exposition and a fun secret that both Lila and the reader have to constantly worry about being discovered.

Worst part: The ending. It fell kind of flat on its face. And by that I mean that it just didn't do anything. The whole tension of whether or not Zal and Lila are going to get to meet up or not by the end of the book is resolved so nonchalantly that it made me wonder why I read all that in the first place. To be fair, there's a fun plot involving Lila and some demoniacally creepy critters complicating everything along the way, but that storyline ended well and good. Same with the whole mystery of Zal's background and how he became part demon, part elf. But, surprisingly, I wanted the budding romance that started to blossom in Keeping It Real. Sadly, it wasn't here. Snartleblast.

Random thoughts and theories: Justina Robson's books here, Keeping It Real and Selling Out, have their moments. They can be silly, preposterously plotted SF adventures with people hopping to and fro, but they can also be quite serious. Almost touching. Like the reunion Lila finally gets with her family after they'd long thought she was dead. The language is heavy, then light; airy, then bloated. I think I much preferred Keeping It Real to Selling Out. Everything was more fresh then, and it was a fun experience traversing through the realm of Alfheim with Lila who was trying to win a Game and save herself at the same time. Meh. We'll see where the third book goes, if anywhere. I'd like to know more about the ghost busters and the Others, personally.

If said book were a ride at a Disney theme park: It'd be a bunch of them actually. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin from Tomorrowland mixed with the Rock n' Roller Coaster from MGM Studios. Oh, and all this is done while on a dangerously high amount of acid. After that, everyone in the theme park will begin to appear to look like elves and demons and then blam! You're in Selling Out.

If in school its grade would be: B

Come on, write us a haiku:
O those low demons
Hurting human bots like our
Lila, still so lost

Overall, y'all: Selling Out is an admirable sequel to Keeping It Real, taking Lila Black and Zal and throwing them into another set of mysterious and deadly situations. Readers hungry for an adventure stuffed with futuristic technology, mystical magic, and engaging not run-of-the-mill characters need look no further--Selling Out delivers. It's not quite as rewarding as Robson's first book, and in the end it might suffer from the middle child syndrome, but for now it's an excellent read that'll challenge imaginations and hook its talons deep.

Books I might or might not compare to: Crossover by Joel Shepherd and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow

Some linkage: Justina Robson's homepage, and the band The No Shows, which is the band Zal sings for inside the canon world of the book, have a website

Progress

The Streets of the City

2,245 / 4,000 words. 56% done!

New words: 592

Woo. The counter meter says I'm halfway done, but now I'm thinking this might end a little bit sooner than 4K. We'll see. The ending is still swirling about in the ocean that is my thought process, but it's looking to be an abrupt one. Hopefully it's one that works. Also, there's a gun in this story. I'm not really a big fan of guns in my short stories, but this one is quite pivotal to the plot. But guess what? The darned thing is never fired once. Might as well be a water gun, eh?

And now I'll take a break from this story to enjoy the weekend with the family.

The (not) read Hugo Award novels

So it seems that I've only read six seven novels that have come to win the illustrious Hugo Award. And that, my friends, is a shame. Or more, for that matter, bothersome, is the fact that I have a couple of these books on my shelf, just waiting to be cracked open. So this'll be an ongoing process as I do have other things to read, but hey, it's a fine goal and something to work towards. I think I'll start with Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, which I bought many months back but have been too busy to give it a flip.

2007 Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
2006 Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
2005 Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
2004 Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
2003 Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer
2002 American Gods by Neil Gaiman (READ)
2001 Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (READ)
2000 A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
1999 To Say Nothing of the Dog: Or How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump At Last by Connie Willis
1998 Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman
1997 Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
1996 The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson
1995 Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold
1994 Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
1993 Doomsday Book by Connie Willis and A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
1992 Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
1991 The Vor Game: The Continuing Adventures of Miles Vorkosigan by Lois McMaster Bujold
1990 Hyperion by Dan Simmons
1989 Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh
1988 The Uplift War by David Brin
1987 Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
1986 Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
1985 Neuromancer by William Gibson
1984 Startide Rising by David Brin
1983 Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
1982 Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh
1981 The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge
1980 The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur Charles Clarke
1979 Dreamsnake by Vonda N. Mcintyre
1978 Gateway by Frederik Pohl
1977 Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
1976 The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
1975 The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula Le Guin
1974 Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur Charles Clarke
1973 The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (READ)
1972 To Your Scattered Bodies by Philip Jose Farmer
1971 Ringworld by Larry Niven
1970 The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin (READ)
1969 Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
1968 Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
1967 The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
1966 Dune by Frank Herbert (READ) and This Immortal by Roger Zelazny
1965 The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber
1964 Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
1963 The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
1962 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (READ)
1961 A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller
1960 Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (READ)
1959 A Case of Conscience by James Blish
1958 The Big Time by Fritz Leiber
1957 No award was given.
1956 Double Star by Robert A Heinlein
1955 They'd Rather Be Right by Frank Riley
1954 No award was given.
1953 The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester

Some small progress

The Streets of the City

1,653 / 4,000 words. 41% done!

Not much done tonight. About 400 words, but I think they're 400 of the right words. Which is really important because I'd like to believe that my writing is only getting better, and that I'm stronger on the first go than I was, say, two years ago. Makes for less editing later on, and also helps me stay focused when I can see clearly where I'm going. It was mostly talking heads in this scene, but they said important things while also revealing a couple of personality ticks that'll come to bite them in the ass in the end. Literally? Does he mean it literally? Bah.

I'll leave you all in suspense for now.

New story troubles

The Streets of the City

1,205 / 4,000 words. 30% done!

Started a new story today. It's an idea that's been swelling in my head for the last few days, and it's turning out to be the hardest thing I've ever tried to write so far. Why? Hard science. Normally, if I toss something technical into my shorts I just leave it to the wayside, letting both the in-story characters and reader accept it as is. Makes it easier than figuring out the ramifications of such advancements. Well, I keep doing that, and while it works when it needs to, I'm trying something different here. Research, research, research...I'm up to my elbows in it, but it's all good. Let's just hope I survive this outing...

Heroes personality test

Your Score: Zach

You scored 41 Idealism, 58 Nonconformity, 45 Nerdiness

You gotta embrace your inner freak. 'Cause the only thing you'll regret is denying who you really are.
Congratulations, you're Zach! You're nerdy, strange, slightly snarky, and proud of it! You're also a nice guy and really trustworthy friend. Any cheerleader (or, well, anyone) should consider his or herself extremely fortunate to be friends with a person like you.

Your best quality: You're an all-around great friend
Your worst quality: You don't get along well with annoying little brothers

Link: The Heroes Personality Test written by freedomdegrees on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Elantris - Review

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

A quick summary stolen from the back cover: Elantris was beautiful, once. It was called the city of the gods: a place of power, radiance, and magic. Visitors say that the very stones glowed with an inner light, and that the city contained wondrous arcane marvels. At night, Elantris shone like a great silvery fire, visible even from a great distance.

Yet, as magnificent as Elantris had been, its inhabitants had been more so. Their hair a brilliant white, their skin an almost metallic silver, the Elantrians seemed to shine like the city itself. Legend claimed they were immortal, or at least nearly so. Their bodies healed quickly, and they were blessed with great strength, insight, and speed. They could perform magics with a bare wave of the hand; men visited Elantris from all across Opelon to receive Elantrian healing, food, or wisdom. They were divinities.

And anyone could become one.

The Shaod, it was called. The Transformation. It struck randomly--usually at night, during the mysterious hours when life slowed to rest. The Shaod could take beggar, craftsman, nobleman, or warrior. When it came, the fortunate person's life ended and began anew; he would discard his old, mundane existence and move to Elantris. Elantris, where he could live in bliss, rule in wisdom, and be worshiped for eternity.

Eternity ended ten years ago.

How I'd sum it up to another reader: Whew! Good thing I'm here because that scene setting/history lesson on the back flap certainly tells us nothing about the book or its characters. So here's the skinny--Prince Raoden wakes up in the morning to discover he's been cursed by the Shaod, which forces the king to exile him to Arelon's neighboring walled-in city of Elantris while telling citizens he died of natural causes. His almost-to-be wife, Sarene, a princess from Teod, arrives too late to marry her fiancé. And then shortly after her appearance, the gyorn Hrathen pops up with a mission of genocide. Now, Raoden must survive inside Elantris, where survival is second-to-none to pain and torment. Princess Sarene must keep things together outside the city so that Teod and Arelon can unite as neighbors. And, well, Hrathen has to find the right people to help him with his deadly task.

The cover sez and shows: Two figures getting some fresh air outside while gigantic fireflies play tag with one another. Actually, those two figures would probably be Hrathen and Sarene, respectively, with the fireflies actually being Seons--sort of the magical animal companion except they are by no means animals. Towering buildings can be seen behind them though it's hard to make out where one structure ends and a new one begins. That crack down the middle keeps looking like a strike of lightning flying down! Merciful Domi!

Number of dragons, wizards, and reluctant farmer boys: Alas, no dragons or wizardly wizards per say. There is some spells and magical runes. Prince Raoden befriends a man inside Elantris who used to be a farmer. Guess that counts for something...

Hardest name to pronounce in my head: Hmm, where to start? Duke Roial? King Iadon? Fjordell? Lord Eondel? Hrathen? Eh, pick one. They all gave me headaches.

Best part: I really enjoyed how Sanderson took Hrathen, presented the gyorn to us as a devoted man bent on a mission of dire consequences, and that at the end have him twist so hard he became a completely different character to me. It was nice to see the villain, so to speak, handled aptly for a change. Also, the Seons--very neat even though we really only get to know Sarene's Ashe, but the idea of them and the way they handle themselves is fun. Definitely made for easier communication with Sarene's father who lived across the ocean.

Worst part: Prince Raoden. Period. He's too cheery, too optimistic, even in death. He thinks things like "I'm going to make these people happy!" and then does. Simple as that, no real struggle, no internal battle, no external crisis to thwart his ways. He's very much a fantasy, a nobleman doing noble things because noble things are the noble way of living a noble life. Yeah, he begins to get on your nerves after awhile. There's a few moments when he's not being himself that work better, but for the most part you have to follow this do-gooder around because he's pivotal to the plot.

Random thoughts and theories: It's definitely a stand-alone adventure, and for those that think Sanderson's novel Mistborn is a sequel--it isn't. But there's potential here for one. A richly imagined world with many offerings in the forms of further struggles or past battles. I, for one, would love to see how newly healed Elantrians make it in the living world once again.

If said book could smell like any scent: It'd be a mixture of a wondrous feast prepared by the top chefs of the world and that of rotted flesh. Yeah, how's that for you?

If in school its grade would be: B+

Come on, write us a haiku:
Locked in deep, us now
Hair gone, skin pale, Seons mad
Only pain remains

Overall, y'all: It was a fairly enjoyable read. My sister claimed she hated Elantris from the get-go, but I thought both the beginning and ending were rather gripping. The middle is where I worry folks will grow bored. All that happens is a bunch of wishful thinking on Raoden's part and some internal musing on Sarene's. It definitely drags then, but Sarene and Hrathen are very interesting characters, and even though I wanted to know more about the magic system that keeps Sanderson's world upright I found it both believable and original in form. Still, an adventure that is both fulfilling and diverting. Not ideal, but good. The themes are a bit wishy-washy, as are Sanderson's beliefs that people with a purpose in their doings will be most happy with themselves no matter what else surrounds them.

Books I might or might not compare to: Perdido Street Station by China Miéville, The Awakeners: Northshore & Southshore by Sheri S. Tepper, Mélusine by Sarah Monette

Some linkage: Brandon Sanderson's homepage and weblog, an interestingly deeper review of Elantris from the now extinct Emerald City

Book keeping

Ordered some books from Clarkesworld before Neil closed shop. And today, a day of yucky rain and humidity, they arrived. Here's what I picked up for real cheap:

• Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
• Windhaven by George R.R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle
• The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
• Isaac Asimov's Mars, edited by Gardner Dozois
• Isaac Asimov's Halloween, edited by Gardner Dozois and Sheila Williams
• Asimov's Choice: Extraterrestrials & Eclipse, edited by George Scithers
  

Yeah, so I'm in this golden phase where I'm immersing myself in Asimov and all things Asimov-related. I've been really enjoying his short stories--well, the ones that I've been able to find--and these anthologies have a ton of authors that I really admire: Ian McDonald, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Ian R. MacLeod, and Esther M. Friesner. All books are in good condition, the Martin/Tuttle and Walton novels looking brand new. And so my to-be-read pile grows ever larger yet again...

"Sonorous" review

Michele Lee reviews Apex #9, and says this of my short story:

The Parting Shot for Apex Digest #9 is Sonorous by Paul Abbamondi. I have to say it's the first time I've been satisfied with a published piece that I've read in second person. I instantly thought of Gabriel's horn, only scifi, reproduced like a clone of an artifact. The story didn't entirely lean that way, but I enjoyed the lovely imagery that surfaces in the tale.

I'm very pleased that this little piece of flash fiction is hitting the mark. To date, it's the only work I've written in second person tense, and it'll probably be the last. Doubt I could do it again. And much like Seinfeld, best to go out while on top...

WOTF reject

89 days to receiving an Honorable Mention for "Old Spoons" for the 3rd Quarter of the Writers of the Future contest. Funny that I got this today as I just went to the postal office this morning to mail out this quarter's submission. Two subs to them so far, both HMs. Hopefully they'll like the latest story. Onwards, I say...

Another review of "67442"

Phil Soletsky reviews the first real issue of Murky Depths over at Tangent Online. Of my story he says:

"67442" by Paul Abbamondi is likely the shortest story in the issue. An android has its old personality thoroughly and graphically stripped away—the hair, the skin, the muscles, the memories—and a new one installed in preparation for its reentry into society. Excellent as a descriptive scene, but only makes a hesitant attempt to deliver a tiny plot in the last couple of paragraphs.

I received my contributor copies the other day, and yes, they're gorgeous. Strangely, they even smell good. The layout of each page is unique and well-down except for one section where it's hard to read the text due to a dark watermark in the background. Still, a neat looking magazine that is really more of a graphic novel than anything. More thoughts on the fiction once I finish reading them...

Madeleine L'Engle - Death

Madeleine L'Engle, author most commonly known for her 1963 Newbery Award winner A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels, has died. Very sad news, and even though I haven't read the first in the series since high school, I do remember Meg Murry and Charles Wallace rather fondly. Looks like this is one I'll be picking up and holding on to for as long as possible--simply for memory's sake, and definitely out of respect.

House Stark, duh

This is no surprise at all...

Your Score: House Stark

36% Dominant, 27% Extroverted, 54% Trustworthy

Responsible. Respectable. Dour. That’s not shit coming out of your ass--it’s honor. You are clearly of House Stark.

You are a submissive personality, meaning that you are more than willing to relinquish control to someone more qualified; you will unflinchingly accept any responsibility that is thrust upon you, including servitude. Unfortunately for you, your unending patience and accommodating nature often make people look to you for a leader. In essence, you are the perfect leader: someone who has no desire to lead, yet is substantially well-qualified to do it.

You are also introverted, which means that people sometimes have difficulty understanding your thought process. Your dependable nature makes you predictable, but you’ve probably got all sorts of emotional dysfunctions when it comes to more intimate relationships. There are very few people whom you trust unwaveringly, and you’re not the type to confide in other people. So cold, so aloof--so Stark.

Finally, you are trustworthy--the very definition of the word. All secrets are safe with you. All of your vows are unbreakable. True to your name, you world is a stark place; there is black, and there is white. Your rigidity tends to undercut your overall value as a friend and ally. Honesty such as yours is hard to come by, which is easy to understand when you consider how easily manipulated you are by less decent individuals. Essentially, you’re the nice guy, and you’ll always finish last.

Representative characters include: Eddard Stark, Jon Snow, and Sansa Stark

Similar Houses: Frey, Lannister and Tully

Opposite House: Baratheon

When playing the game of thrones, you play it with one sword in your hand and another up your ass.

Link: The Song of Ice and Fire House Test written by Geeky_Stripper on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Well, can't say...

...that I don't try.

Just sent out my 300th submission!

"67442" reviewed

Jason Sizemore reviews Issue #1 of Murky Depths, saying this of my story:

A trio of stories from Lavie Tidhar, Paul Abbamondi, and Douglas Warrick (oddly enough, all three are past Apex Digest contributors) earn nods of appreciation from me, as well. The Abbamondi story titled "67442" won't strike you as anything mind-blowingly original, but it's a micro-story that does its job, and does it well--presents a situation and resolves it with an entertaining twist.

Also, it seems that some mailman/mailwoman decided they'd rather steal my contributor copies than drop them off in front of my door. Some days I feel like the postal system exists to thwart my writerly ways. But not to worry...Terry Martin, managing editor and publisher, is super kind and sending me another two issues in the mail. Should have them by next weekend...and after constantly reading how well put together this zine is I am way past excited.

And I did very little laboring on Labor Day. That is all.