rolling fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction &c. thread

"A Chord Made of Nylon and Gold"
Of course this should be "A Cord Made of Nylon and Gold"

Wow love the cover

Keep looking to see if there is a Busby Berkeley Carmen Miranda floating in there somewhere.

Busby Berkeley Baiana

Very appealing, and several books I didn't know about http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/In-the-Margin/A-Tribute-to-Frederik-Pohl/ba-p/11275

hmm yeah for some reason Age of Pussyfoot has escaped my attentions

I found another Lafferty: "Narrow Valley", in Masterpieces of Fantasy and Wonder, compiled by D. G.G. Hartwell, with some assistance from Kathryn Cramer. Haven't encountered any Masterpieces yet, but doesn't seem as erratic as other H-K compilations (yet). This one is def more open air than xpost "Encased In Rind", and the topographical capers around weightier matters (incl. munchies for turf, Injuns vs. Homesteaders, but in 1966) seem like they might've influenced/encouraged young Rudy Rucker. It's sandwiched between a good shadowy no-nonsense buffalo ballet presented by L. Frank Baum (also way out West, not Oz) and Tiptree's "Beyond the Dead Reef", which is eco-gothic in the Tropics (and private parts)--somewhat Conradian structurally, also unmistakably late-period Tiptree. More well-behaved than, say, xpost "The Man Who Wouldn't Do Horrible Things To Rats", but nasty where, when and how it counts.

D.G. doesn't deserve that extra G.(yet).

things I did not expect to see today: a new jeter, sequel to infernal devices no less

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0765374021/

Ha I do not begrudge jeter and blaylock accepting the godfathers of steampunk mantle at this point. Though with blaylock I would rather have him do more of his SoCal mag realism.

well if it helps him sell some books and justifies reissues of older stuff like adder or glass hammer more power to em, guy seemed near forgotten

tho if he's reduced to working the steamcon circuit for book signings that could be a fate worse than death

This is still good Jeter:
BTW, this is a decent interview/reading podcast that's featured several of the names mentioned in the thread: http://trashotron.com/agony/index.html

― Vini Reilly Invasion (Elvis Telecom), Wednesday, May 9, 2012 1:05 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Thanks Elvis. Yeah, so far, seems like a good place to start might be here, leading to readings/interviews of Rucker, K.W. Jeter, Jay Lake--haven't checked Lake yet, but Jeter's version of The Red Shoes is true steampunk. Mind the blood on the gears, Guv'nor
http://trashotron.com/agony/news/2012/03-19-12-podcast.htm#podcast032112

― dow, Thursday, May 10, 2012 12:21 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I never did read more of this, but still might:
Jeter's Bounty Hunter Trilogy is Star Wars as hell, def not Star Trek. The central character is hired by one of Darth Vader's colleagues, Prince Xinth or something like that, to turn members of the Bounty Hunters Guild against each other. But then he realizes he's being more of an evil tool than a cunning contractor. But it's all bad, cause the Prince is looking fwd like a kid to Christmas: to when the very qualities which have brought the B H so far so far will soon fuck him up. Read a few pages of volume I, very promising tough toy opening, covering a lot of stinky desert ground. I gather these vols got mixed reviews, esp the following, but I kinda like the cover (also posted in 2012)

The cover referred to (I identify with the guy in the hood)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TAWO1jZg5XY/TZSCgkujMoI/AAAAAAAAAA8/NGwLbRtImCE/s1600/untitled.bmp

I'm sorry kw I love you but I can't read that I can't

Yeah not goin there. His Death Arms is waiting on my shelf tho.

I prob won't either, but do check his version of "The Red Shoes." (I just came across Borges' 1943 "The Secret Miracle" in an old textbook: timelines bend, as I thought they would, but in a way I didn't see coming---the narrative momentum was at first creepy, to funny, sad, then all of that at once and much more, in a---not really triumphant, from the character's POV, but still the most emotionally satisfying ending I've gotten to in quite a while)(pretty short too)

I think I just found new Ted Chiang story on the Subterranean Press website. Sorry if everyone knows about this one already:

The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling

New Scott Lynch (third in Gentlemen Bastards sequence) coming out tomorrow. He's reading/signing nearby. Should I go?

new ted chiang!!!! thank you for the link!!!!

May have recommended it elsewhere, but Jeter's In The Land Of The Dead is worth making an effort to track down. Grim occult noir set during the era of the Dust Bowl migration into California. Wouldn't be out of place next to a Jim Thompson book.

new ted chiang!!!! thank you for the link!!!!

― ornamental cabbage (James Morrison), Tuesday

Cosign!

Amen!
This just in: black holes' mating ritual? Must investigate further: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/icfr-gwh101713.php

thx to the Chiang link, I signed up for Subterranean's newsletter/zine. Anybody read Joe Hill? The King connection isn't an automatic turn-off: I remember liking some of Tabitha King's fiction better than Stephen's, so hopefully Joe got a heaping helping of her genes (and Dad's okay sometimes) Plot description's kinda icky thoughhttp://subterraneanpress.com/store/product_detail/nos4a2

Reading Robert Sheckley collection The Masque of Mañana, which has enough of a non-intersection with The Store of the Worlds to make it worth getting both. Plus the latter doesn't have any of the tales of the AAA Ace Interplanetary Decontamination Service.

Another story seems to have been the source of the cryptic name of a famous NYC after hours club, although I couldn't find confirmation of this, just someone else who came to the same conclusion as I did.

tales of the AAA Ace Interplanetary Decontamination Service
Of which "Ghost V" is particularly awesome.

Neither book has the mighty "Zirn Left Unguarded, the Jenjik Palace in Flames, Jon Westerly Dead" but you can read it in The Space Opera Renaissance if need be.

Or track down the audio of The Sluglords podcast, if that is still out there on the intranetz.

now reading:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_31aMv_j-6c4/TCdE3lKkmaI/AAAAAAAAAG0/j3PoSv-riRM/s1600/the+companions.jpg

I'll bite: how is it...?

I have a couple of unread Teppers that are supposed to be classics - 'Beauty' and 'Grass' - and which look cool, but I remember reading one book by her, 'Gibbon's Decline & Fall', which was so spectacularly bad that I have never quite steeled my self to tackle them yet

i like it so far! entertaining.

Not half as entertaining as this I'll bet:
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Orgasm-Robbery-Sheri-Tepper/dp/B000GE3OOY/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

re-reading Jon Armstrong

why is no one else as infatuated with this guy as I am

Make your case---what can he do that's fabulous?

uh well let's see - on a formal, stylistic level he is just a solid storyteller. Nothing especially flashy or unusual in the way he writes his first-person narratives but they are expertly paced and sturdily constructed. There are no head-turning po-mo textual experiments or unreliable narrators (well, maybe a little) but he is clearly well-versed in the conventions of the sci-fi noir and bildungsroman traditions and he draws on these to great effect in both books. What is really striking about him, to me, is his skill at extending current pop cultural trends to logical extremes in a way that is both funny and alarming. there's a mixture of fascination, horror, and satire in the way he incorporates fashion, celebrity culture, consumerism, pop music, drugs, etc. that make it clear that (as with all SF) he is writing about *right now* while also distorting and inflating current trends into bizarre and laughable shapes. "Saleswarriors" that battle to the death over customers while shouting slogans at each other. Pop music that is played at such ferocious speeds and volume levels that you need protective gear to endure it. Celebrity clans that live in shopping mall fortresses. And the one that always makes me laugh - competitive ironing! He's not without precedents, but he does have a unique vision that goes way beyond the standard cyberpunk playbook of ecological meltdowns, genetic engineering etc., ideas so many modern writers seem stuck in.

I feel like I thumb through so many modern sci-fi books that are like "in a post-apocalyptic future shadowy corporation-states are battling for supremacy, [hapless protagonist] is searching for [object/mysterious person of importance] but may have gotten more than s/he bargained for" and Armstrong seems to go so far beyond that garden variety stuff.

Hate it when that happens. You've convinced me, Shakey.

the competitive ironing thing is a good example of why I love him so much - on the one hand it's a throwaway joke that's based on a ridiculous premise (lol why would anyone want to watch another person iron a shirt), but the way it's presented (in passing, as an offhand reference) it's clearly a parody of current competitive reality TV shows, AND it makes perfect sense for the characters - intensely serious but vapid fashionistas - to be into it.

and now every time I iron a shirt I think "yeah look at that motherfucking crease, where's my gold medal" lol

Ironing is not so easy when you're stressed! Some producer will prob lift this.

here's a brief but good interview with him

the bit about Ye Olde Costume Shoppe names is funny

Just looked at ebook samples of Yarn and Gray. Seems promising, maybe Gray more so.

First paragraph of that interview is hilarious.

Too bad Momus isn't around here anymore, Shakey, sounds like his kind of thing.

love who blurbs this book i bought today:

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1455947_10152625944152137_806646740_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1390484_10152625944207137_2098966612_n.jpg

What a horrible cover layout

half price sale at the store around the corner. i always load up.

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1461057_10152625943797137_1892346604_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1455886_10152625943932137_675088451_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/1003552_10152625944102137_162515278_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1001286_10152625944342137_142668236_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1393674_10152625943692137_731063013_n.jpg

Skot's earlier post reminds me that I was thinking of starting a Books With The Most Diverse List of Blurbers thread the other day.

Is Alas, Babylon any good? I remember always seeing that on the list of other books I might like in the back pages of whatever paperback I had bought in fact I recently I bought some old Robert a Sheckley paperbacks and Alas, Babylon was still there just like I remembered it.

i dunno, i just got it today. james m. on here will tell you all about it. i'm 100% certain that he has read it without actually knowing.

Loved Slam when it came out. Not really scifi. Love that Sibyl Sue Blue cover! Never heard of that one. Unfamiliar w that pohl book too, but he's pretty reliable.