https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/interview-michael-cisco-on-weird-fiction-cheerful-nihilism-and-sex-in-literature/Quite good interview. I still have 3 of his books waiting to be read.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 10 September 2020 20:12 (four years ago) link
Same! One day.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Friday, 11 September 2020 02:41 (four years ago) link
Charles Saunders, pioneer of African fantasy and black sword and sorceryhttps://www.facebook.com/milton.davis.52/posts/10214005770897028
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 12 September 2020 20:42 (four years ago) link
David Gullen - Third Instar
I bought this at the same time as the paperback of The Girl From A Thousand Fathoms and I was way more eager for that but this is so short and I seen a good review of it on The Bedlam Files, so I just started here.
It's about a city on the edge of (the/a) world and people like to fly around the sky by means of kites. There's some fantasy creatures but it's mostly about a city love story and a man repeatedly restarting his life.
I found it a little hard to visualize everything that happens with the cauldron, just how fast and rough the journey is that allows the main character to do everything he does in it.
It's quite good. Occasionally I felt like I needed more description of the gods, some of the settings and clothes but I'm looking forward to The Girl From A Thousand Fathoms.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 14 September 2020 18:22 (four years ago) link
as aldo nova once asked, can you live this fantasy life?
We're excited to launch the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic - the first research centre in the world to focus solely on #fantasy! 🌍The centre will bring together the biggest group of academics working in this fieldMore 👉 https://t.co/NgNCv4JYFR @UofGFantasy pic.twitter.com/FGzh06ppCZ— University of Glasgow (@UofGlasgow) September 14, 2020
― mookieproof, Monday, 14 September 2020 18:41 (four years ago) link
Nice. I seen some of their blog a while ago.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 14 September 2020 19:02 (four years ago) link
Lesbian adventure fantasy (possibly similar to Ellen Kushner?), could be good.https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cantina/silk-and-steel
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 14 September 2020 19:13 (four years ago) link
Am reading (and enjoying) A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, a murder mystery very much in the Ancillary Justice mould - diplomatic, procedural, largely dialogue driven, set in a self-satisfied and borderline xenophobic empire with elaborate systems of language, manners, social mores.
Gave up on reading Velocity Weapon by Megan O'Keefe after 5 of about 800 chapters. Too long, too slow - three pages of airlock repair killed it for me.
― neith moon (ledge), Tuesday, 15 September 2020 08:22 (four years ago) link
Martine said that CJ Cherryh was a huge influence on it, some people said Foreigner in particular.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 15 September 2020 18:25 (four years ago) link
Yeah still haven't managed to find any cherryh ebooks, or not ones i want to read anyway. am strangely reluctant to get even second hand hard copies from an author i haven't read before.
― neith moon (ledge), Tuesday, 15 September 2020 18:36 (four years ago) link
i'm also unable in the uk to purchase an ebook (not kindle) of robert crowley's last novel, though they exist. wtf take my money! i will have to get a hard copy of that.
― neith moon (ledge), Tuesday, 15 September 2020 18:39 (four years ago) link
I've been reading the third Dying Earth book by Jack Vance and I'm getting a feeling that Vance (or at least this series) is all about the diversions and not the main quest. Tipping off waiter boys' hats, sneakily cutting off beards, Cugel generally trying to take advantage of or escape a situation.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 15 September 2020 19:50 (four years ago) link
Yeah, Vance is all about texture, not plot, for me.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Wednesday, 16 September 2020 02:37 (four years ago) link
Totally
― ABBA O RLY? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 16 September 2020 03:09 (four years ago) link
The plot is there because it has to be in order for Vance to dance
― and i can almost smell your PG Tips (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 16 September 2020 23:13 (four years ago) link
Stop the presses:One hundred years ago today, on 16 September 1920, the most remarkable novel of the twentieth-century was published by Methuen of London: A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
I've read the novel and a few other things (incl. Christmas play) by this strangely strange, somewhat fun author---did not know about the film, the opera, the heavy metal stage musical all based on novel---links to and/or about those in this blog post:
http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-centenary-of-voyage-to-arcturus.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Wormwoodiana+%28Wormwoodiana%29
― dow, Thursday, 17 September 2020 00:14 (four years ago) link
Spoiler alert---...a tale whose apocalyptic intensity – and whose refusal of any balm or loving-kindness as its protagonist scours an alien world in search of a savage Transcendence – marks it as a work written in the aftermath of World War One; the last word spoken in the book, the true name of the deformed Virgil figure who goads the protagonist to the stars, is Pain (see Horror in SF). The story may be called sf, or Scientific Romance, because there is little point in describing a tale involving a Spaceship and a Fantastic Voyage to another planet of well-described Archipelagos filled with ever-changing beings (see Evolution; Life on Other Worlds) as fantasy. However, it is superficially modelled on the fantasy novels of George MacDonald. Several books I didn't know about!http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/lindsay_david
― dow, Thursday, 17 September 2020 00:21 (four years ago) link
Welp, there goes that space romance cooking in my head 😂. pic.twitter.com/3NJsVKmWDB— Mims the Word (@mims_words) September 17, 2020
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 18 September 2020 18:10 (four years ago) link
"could", have they not tested it? we've had people sleeping in space for years, all it takes is a strip of postage stamps.
― neith moon (ledge), Friday, 18 September 2020 18:20 (four years ago) link
I'm reading Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir and it's fucking bananas and I love it
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 22 September 2020 15:06 (three years ago) link
I'm looking forward to that series and Alix E Harrow, they seem to both be storming successes right now.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 22 September 2020 19:23 (three years ago) link
I know these are pieces of writing advice (arguably a bit off-topic) but both impressed me and I've been meaning to read both writers for a while. Davidson is New Weird and Christian writes varieties of sf and horror.
https://overland.org.au/previous-issues/issue-216/feature-rjurik-davidson/http://www.autumnchristian.net/why-i-ruined-my-writing-career/
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 23 September 2020 22:34 (three years ago) link
Usman T Malik's debut collectionhttps://www.usmanmalik.org/product/midnight-doorways-fables-from-pakistan/
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 23 September 2020 23:32 (three years ago) link
First Zambian winner of the Arthur C Clarke prize:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/23/namwali-serpell-wins-arthur-c-clarke-award-the-old-drift?fbclid=IwAR3kBq7W96b4TKWtjcyfEIUnZga2ryav9KeNpBWZhzhuxT9JjbaRwxMgYpU
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 24 September 2020 07:29 (three years ago) link
I've seen appealing reviews of that for quite a while, is it good?
RIP Ron Cobb---good overview/taste of his freewheeling thang here, starting with cover art for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction: http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/
Also in here, with good stuff via other heads and hands:http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2018/04/27/the-artists-of-future-life/
― dow, Friday, 25 September 2020 16:48 (three years ago) link
I suddenly remembered in my sleep last night that Durnik was granted magical powers, and how disappointed I felt when this was the case. I thought it was elegant that a lowly blacksmith was part of the party and felt betrayed that David Eddings felt the need to imbue him, too, with the power of magic. Weird dream
― flamboyant goon tie included, Friday, 25 September 2020 17:19 (three years ago) link
Pointing its dreamfinger right at why I've fairly rarely gotten into/given fantasy a chance, compared to sf.
― dow, Friday, 25 September 2020 18:29 (three years ago) link
Really liking this drowned world setting in Cherryh's second Morgaine book.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 25 September 2020 19:58 (three years ago) link
Interesting that Douglas Lain, Ben Burgis and Laurie Penny are all science fiction writers.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 26 September 2020 15:33 (three years ago) link
Thomas Ligotti is releasing his first work (a book of poems) since 2014, which will have a companion album by Current 93. There was a general expectation that he wouldn't write anything again for health reasons but there has been signs that he might be able to write a bunch more.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 26 September 2020 17:30 (three years ago) link
Excited about the C93 portion!I love Ligotti deeply but mainly for Grimscribe/Noctuary
― and i can almost smell your PG Tips (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 26 September 2020 19:04 (three years ago) link
Nicoll doesn't care for the first cover (which I've never seen before) but I think it's awesome.https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/the-flame-thats-in-her-eyesI have the first omnibus of this series.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 26 September 2020 19:55 (three years ago) link
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/06/24/liu-cixins-war-of-the-worldshttp://file770.com/the-legislative-body-problem-gop-senators-criticize-netflix-plan-to-adapt-liu-cixin-hugo-winner/I was wondering how long before something like this came up and it happened last year and I didn't hear anything about it. Liu being supportive of the what China are doing with the Uighurs. I don't know what people can reasonably expect so maybe that's why there wasn't a bigger deal about it. Lots of people say there's huge pressure for big authors to agree with the government.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 27 September 2020 00:37 (three years ago) link
From the comments
Even supposedly progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just announced the celebration of brutal war criminal Yitzhak Rabin, guilty of ordering the breaking of bones of children, of ethnic cleansing and of organising death marches for civilians.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 27 September 2020 00:45 (three years ago) link
Not this one, though she's since withdrawn from participation in the commemoration btw.
― dow, Sunday, 27 September 2020 00:56 (three years ago) link
http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/hessenstein_countess_gabrielle
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 1 October 2020 18:52 (three years ago) link
Wow! Have you read that??
― dow, Thursday, 1 October 2020 19:43 (three years ago) link
No, I just stumbled on her name and wanted to know more.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 1 October 2020 20:09 (three years ago) link
For the #WyrdWednesday crowd - Amazon Prime has a documentary about Colin Wilson! It's got some cheapo effects, and the man does ramble on a bit, but *what a life!* and it's worth for his book sheds alone (including the Prime Shed). pic.twitter.com/hxNhupIPCq— Remco van Straten (@RemcoStraten) October 3, 2020
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 4 October 2020 20:20 (three years ago) link
Watched it last night, I have almost no reservations, I liked the new agey ambience and I could have watched Wilson talk for another hour. He comes across really nice, talks about his life, creativity, other writers and films stars, there are some claims he makes that could sound like wild boastful lying but I believed him because he just doesn't seem overly impressed about any of it. From the way he explained it I thought he was very easily convinced about poltergeists and such things but this was clearly made by occultists. I haven't read any of his books and I'm not sure I've ever heard of Spider World series but it sounds like a major work for him.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 5 October 2020 17:38 (three years ago) link
never heard of him; judging someone by their wikipedia page may be harsh & unfair but it positively discourages me from taking any interest in his life or his works.
― neith moon (ledge), Monday, 5 October 2020 20:21 (three years ago) link
He's a pretty interesting character! Not least because his trajectory - respectable literary beginning (The Outsider) giving way to lurid pulp - is the exact opposite of contemporaries like Aldiss, Ballard etc.
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 5 October 2020 21:03 (three years ago) link
One of many interesting bits: Rasputin's daughter written to him to say that he had written the best Rasputin book ever.
His fans don't necessarily lean towards occultists and I really don't mind anymore. Tanith Lee and a lot of associated writers are into supernatural stuff and I can live with that.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 5 October 2020 21:05 (three years ago) link
Another amusing moment is him talking about deciding to become a tramp and seeming a bit surprised it wasn't always comfortable.
I've heard that even later in life he liked to sleep out in parks occasionally. I can't verify this.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 6 October 2020 17:14 (three years ago) link
http://monsterbrains.blogspot.com/2020/05/tim-white-1952-2020.html
I've seen this second cover so many times but only just now noticed the monster's genitals. I wonder if the editors missed it too?
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 6 October 2020 18:18 (three years ago) link
Oh, good people, do I have a treat for you: the confused covers of 'Sheba Blake Publishing': (thread) pic.twitter.com/KynWe42YvP— Caustic Cover Critic (@Unwise_Trousers) October 7, 2020
..or their travel and historical works. pic.twitter.com/aFIaneNyWF— Caustic Cover Critic (@Unwise_Trousers) October 7, 2020
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 7 October 2020 09:51 (three years ago) link
Weird, that's me.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Wednesday, 7 October 2020 10:44 (three years ago) link
quite enjoyed 'gideon the ninth'
very occasionally a little too over-the-top, but captivating, well-written and legit funny
― mookieproof, Friday, 23 October 2020 22:11 (three years ago) link
Really want to read it.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 24 October 2020 00:15 (three years ago) link
http://www.elfindog.sakura.ne.jp/wgrobertson.htmArtist who did a bunch of stuff for Algernon Blackwood. Really nice stuff.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 28 October 2020 00:01 (three years ago) link