Grasping for the Wind - Latest Comments

Re: Essay: 11 Novels of Science Fiction for Epic Fantasy Buffs

aakansha — Wed, 19 May 2010 08:07:03 -0000

i like reading all kinds of books but science fiction is one of my favourite category. That’s why i became member of matris so that i can read as many books i want to read

Re: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Alex J. Cavanaugh — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:40:00 -0000

And he will be voiced by Bill Nighy instead of Eddie Izzard for this one.

Re: Geek Media Round-Up: May 18, 2010

Robin — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:25:37 -0000

Yes, I think you are probably the only one who appreciate the quantum leap finale. I loved the show and watched it faithfully back then. I remember the ending and thinking they were somehow leaving it open to a sequel, then it faded from memory. I'll have to revisit the series.

Re: Video: Legend of Drizzt Live Action Movie Trailer

Disapointed — Tue, 18 May 2010 10:10:22 -0000

The first part where he was walking through the blizzard with guen was cool but it just went downhill from there.

Re: Essay: 11 Novels of Science Fiction for Epic Fantasy Buffs

Time4u Book Review — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:05:07 -0000

Very nicely reviewed, some of those covers look fantastic!

Re: Press Release: The Daily Cabal 3rd Anniversary Contest

Dogs — Tue, 18 May 2010 01:49:02 -0000

Its great I think.
The person who submits the winning idea will be respectfully Tuckerized (inserted into the story) in multiple Daily Cabal posts according to any personal details that person is willing to divulge, whether those details are true or fanciful, clear or ambiguous.
Thanks .

Re: Free Fiction: Robin Hobb, L. Ron Hubbard, Jeri Smith-Ready

Rabid Fox — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:32:24 -0000

Neat. Thanks for the links, though it's unlikely I'll ever bring myself to read an L. Ron Hubbard novel. I read one of his Scientology books and there was just too much crazy in it for me to take him seriously in any context.

Re: CONTEST: Help me interview Yasmine Galenorn, win a copy of NIGHT MYST

Donna — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:48:16 -0000

Question for Yasmin:
With instant communication/gratification prominent and expected from so many people today, how do you divide your time between writing, real life and all the online distractions like Twitter, Facebook etc.?

Thanks for the giveaway John!

Re: Part 3: A Manifesto of Imaginative Literature by Justin Allen

Horses For Sale — Mon, 17 May 2010 04:24:36 -0000

Thanks Justin Allen. I like it because literature is most favorite subject.

Re: Make Your Own Superhero

fantasticman — Sun, 16 May 2010 07:36:17 -0000

wow

Re: Please Congratulate My Fellow Bloggers

Tia Nevitt — Sat, 15 May 2010 21:35:30 -0000

Wow -- thank you, John!

Re: Please Congratulate My Fellow Bloggers

John Ottinger III — Sat, 15 May 2010 13:12:06 -0000

welcome

Re: Please Congratulate My Fellow Bloggers

John Ottinger III — Sat, 15 May 2010 13:11:58 -0000

no more than their due.

Re: Please Congratulate My Fellow Bloggers

Aidan Moher — Sat, 15 May 2010 13:10:09 -0000

Thanks, John!

Re: Please Congratulate My Fellow Bloggers

AlexJ — Sat, 15 May 2010 12:45:34 -0000

Nice thing to do!

Re: Book Review: The Folding Knife by K. J. Parker

edifanob — Fri, 14 May 2010 03:23:42 -0000

I ordered The Knife in advance and your great review describes in detail why I will love this book. It fits perfectly to my rediscovered love for historical thrillers and novels.
It is not always necessary to have battles, magic, dragons and dwarves in a fantasy book.

I like K. J. Parker since I read The Colours in the Steel. In the meantime I own copies of the Fencer trilogy and the Scavenger trilogy.

Re: Book Review: The Folding Knife by K. J. Parker

SQT — Thu, 13 May 2010 12:17:12 -0000

Thanks for the review. I've been looking at this one and now I know I need to go get it.

Re: Book Review: Not Less Than Gods by Kage Baker

edifanob — Tue, 11 May 2010 17:05:20 -0000

Cid,
the book is available at
http://www.bookdepository.c...
or
http://www.amazon.com/Not-L...

Not Less Than Gods has been my first Kage Baker novel. I think it is not the best one to get in contact with the company series. I agree that it is partially like a travel log.
On the other hand I really like her style.
Recently I read THE EMPRESS OF MARS which is set in the Company universe. It was a great read.

Re: Book Review: Not Less Than Gods by Kage Baker

Cid — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:53:44 -0000

I haven't been able to find this book anywhere. It looked interesting, and I still might see if I can't find it somewhere, though I'll have to read a few chapters first.

Thanks!

Re: The Future of Genre Fiction (an interview by Marc Marion) Part 1

Richard Robinson — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:15:39 -0000

Great article, I'm eager to read the next part. One or two remarks: I think genre fiction specifically SF, has always been very available in the United States and UK. As a kid in the 1950s I read the Winston SF series of books for young readers (today it would be labeled YA, but a lot of the books were not age-targeted), and there were a ton of SF paperbacks in the bookstores from that time onward. I bought all the Leiber, Clarke, Heinlein, Asimov, Van Vogt and so on that I could read. The SF Book Club made SF readily available too, as did the digests: Astounding/Analog, Galaxy, F&SF and so on.

The term "hard science fiction" used to be pretty much synonymous with SF, meaning most all SF was science-based at lease in a general overall way. Space opera was part-in-parcel with SF. But the genre began to change as author's focused more and more on character and tech and less on the Big Picture of societies and civilizations, empires in space and alien races and interstellar war and politics. It's not a critical or professional truth, sine I'm neither of those things, but for me the line was crossed about the time Gibson wrote Neuromancer.

Then too, the film and television Star Wars and Star Trek inserted a different expectation for many younger readers. They wanted to read about their favorite characters in the known setting, book after book after book... Many of those readers seemed to be closed to the more traditional "classic" SF, partly because it didn't any longer offer as much detail and partly because it was all capsulated into a short time frame, quick and easy. Why bother with something like Clarke's The City And The Stars when you can turn on the telly instead? Why bother with Cordwainer Smith when it has no cool Phasers that can be set to "stun"? You get the idea.

Certainly there are many practitioners of SF writing wonderful hard SF in the traditional way today: Charles Sheffield, John Scalzi are just two of many. But SF HAS changed, at least from my own long-term viewpoint.

Re: GIVEAWAY: Three Copies of Dexter: Investigating Cutting Edge Television edited by Douglas Howard

Cid — Sat, 08 May 2010 13:14:14 -0000

omg I LOVE Dexter!

Re: Picture Book Report

pragmatic mom — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:37:20 -0000

Thanks for this post! I love children's lit so I'm excited to check out!

Pragmatic Mom
Type A Parenting for the Modern World
http://pragamaticmom.com
I blog on children's lit, education and parenting

Re: GUEST POST: When in Rome, Write Paranormals by Monica Burns

Bonnie J Hoffmaster — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:07:49 -0000

Oh! Sweet - I love this whole idea - I'm going to pre-order right now, I really have no idea why I haven't yet LOL
Sorry about work!! Take care -

Re: GUEST POST: When in Rome, Write Paranormals by Monica Burns

Monica Burns — Thu, 06 May 2010 18:58:58 -0000

Hi Bonnie Sorry for the delay in responding. Work was hell today. I'm excited about folks reading this series. I'm actually doing edits for Assassin's Heart, which is coming out September 7th.

Re: GUEST POST: When in Rome, Write Paranormals by Monica Burns

Bonnie H — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:10:27 -0000

Awesome! Fascinating stuff, Monica - I LOVE history and research, and to be able to combine it in a world with paranormal elements is like perfect!! I really can't WAIT for this series!!!! *hugs*