Soapboxing

[...] Neil Gaiman’s Ocean at the End of the Lane and Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice. When I started writing this, I predicted a Gaiman win, but in the process of writing, I [...]

[...] I had never heard of Madame Nhu before I came across this book, and that’s too bad, because she’s a fascinating [...]

[...] ), demonizing (v), empath (n). In regards to empath, it’s possible I watch too much science fiction. Foreign loan words: vato (n), shvitz (n and v), ese (n). Warms my heart to see [...]

[...] New World is a trip, and I recommend a pass at it if you’re into the history of science fiction or the social satire, or where those two things connect, but I’ve gotta say it’s not [...]

[...] ;and the fantasists. It’s a strong novel with a broad appeal to very different kinds of science fiction readers. Plus it’s fun and cool. I adored A Stranger in Olondria, which set off [...]

[...] , which I think makes them the first of the old guard reviewing platforms to grapple with indie publishing this closely. And good on that. The Guardian and Legend’s new prize is open from today [...]

[...] (briefly) returned, fortune nevertheless shone on the Chuongs, as Thi Le Xuan’s husband Dinh Nhu built up his older brother’s (Diem Ngo’s) political career. Through complicated [...]

[...] have won the Nebula, though there is some recent precedent with 2010′s Windup Girl. Nebula voters are professional writers, and I think there’s a preference for writers who have paid [...]

I was on the back porch smoking when it occurred to me to check the date of my account deletion. It has to have been a year, I thought, because it was [...]

[...] bless his polymath soul. Fire With Fire is the third novel I’ve read of the 2013 Nebula nominees. It’s probably telling that I haven’t been able to work up anything about the [...]

When I was in my first (and, come to think, only) year in the dorms, I had a friend down the hall who was Swiss. By which I mean she had Swiss parents [...]

[...] , which ended in several displays of public self-immoliation (always a sympathy-grabber.) The fake coup was supposed to be controllable, as it would be started and orchestrated by Diem operatives who [...]

[...] the political application of his Middle Earth, as far as he was able — I googled “Tolkien propaganda”. I got a lot of stuff in German and some other blather. Not looking too closely, I [...]