Here’s some seriously cool ones that make me very jealous. How lovely it would be to have that kind of space for book cases … well, I do, but have to climb up a ladder into the loft to get to them.
These belong to Petr Kotrle who is the Czech translator of my books. And in that respect he must be doing a good job since The Skinner won the Salamander there (an Academy Award) and Gridlinked was shortlisted.
Here’s a couple more for jealous appraisal. The first belongs to Mark Chitty and the second belongs to packrat54. Oh and, additionally, you can find Bob Lock’s one here.
Here have two book cases of ‘Afront’s’ collection, thoough there’s more over here on his blog. I have to say I’d be quite happy ensconced in an armchair next to that lot for a month or two.
Now, I’m always interested in other people’s book shelves. If I’m around someone’s house I like to check out what they read and, more importantly, what they keep on their shelves. This interest extends to when I pick up one of the crap lifestyle/celebrity/woman’s magazines (usually in a dentist’s) and flick through it. I’m not looking at the people, or most of their furnishings, I’m looking for books. This is usually a disappointment because, if you pick up one of the celebrity lifestyle magazines like Hello, on the rare occasions you see a room with a book shelf in it, the books arrayed there are usually for appearance sake. Often you’ll see the beautifully-bound collected works of Shakespeare which you know for damned certain have never been opened. Sometimes I wonder if the book spines might be some decorative plastic moulding that came with the set of shelves. A sad reflection on those ‘celebs’ that demonstrates the victory of appearance over substance. Anyway, getting to the point, all this is why I like to see pictures like this one of Pekka Jonsson’s book case in Italy, tagged for me on Facebook. Pay special attention to the bottom righthand corner.
A very nice review here of The Shadow of the Scorpion by John Markley. Obviously this is of the Night Shade version since the Macmillan one isn’t out yet. Here’s a sample:
I really liked this book. It provides plenty of the intense action Asher is known for, and continues to explore the setting of Asher’s future history. On a purely action/adventure level, the book definitely delivers, with Asher’s usual talent for excitement, description, and visceral power brought to the forefront. It also gave me what were probably the two things I most wanted from Asher: more information about the character Ian Cormac, and a closer look at the society of the Polity itself.
Okay, I’m now about halfway through the Peter Lavery edited typescript of Orbus. Though this is a thoroughly necessary part of the process, it is also a chore. Yeah, you guys haven’t read it yet so will hopefully enjoy the process. I, however, have read this in part and total and even backwards more times than I care to count. It’s engraved on the inside of my skull and actually trying to detect errors now requires an effort of will – I must read what’s written in front of me rather than the engraving.
Another problem – something to do with posture – is that after a few hours of this editing I end up with my neck stiff and burning. It was worse when I used to refer to sheets stacked beside me, improved when I affixed them to a piece of card positioned below my screen, but is still a pain.
But I can of course understand how many reading this will wonder, “What the hell has he got to complain about?” Yeah, I don’t have to get up to drive to work, clock in, avoid colleagues with BO or have to put up with a boss with the brains of a worm and personality to match. The dirtiest I get is when refilling printer cartridges and, as yet I am in no danger of losing my job … or my house. Really, I’m just trying to give readers a look at some of what’s involved in putting that book in front of them.
Once I’ve finished this particular batch of editing and return it to Macmillan, I later get it back from the copy editor, and must check through it again. It then comes back a third time for me to check the finished product. Still, doubtless, there will be mistakes for which I can only apologise, and put down to having been pushed beyond my boredom threshold. The glamorous life a writer, eh?
You might like to know that at 89 years old one of the greats of SF has now got a blog. Just read his post about his collaboration with Arthur C Clarke. Good on yer Mr Pohl!
Here’s a little snippet from Wikipedia:
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. (born November 26, 1919) is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine if, winning the Hugo for if three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.
Ah, it’s Mr Singularity himself with tales of pre then post singularity worlds ‘bobbles’ can isolate and freeze in time their contents. It’s dated a bit now what with these two written in 1984 and 1986 and a world war in 1997 but enjoyable none-the-less. There’s also something very believable about the abilities of the future humans and, frankly, all the characters are engaging and you regret knowing no more about them when the story ends.
Note, don’t make the mistake of buying this if you already have either Peace War or Marooned in Realtime because those are the two tales here. I’d also recommend, if you haven’t read them yet A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky.
The mad inventor in his shed has been a staple of SF. I thought he’d all but died out in this plug-and-play age until Trevor Bayliss turned up with his clockwork radio. But it seems they’re still out there. Now I find this…
It’s inspiration is partly from the Space Oddysey 2001, and the technology from a series of books by Neal Asher. The technology is called Jain, and its a biotech hardware plaque that kind of looks a cross between silver vines and roots, and coral. Its tendrils take over any form of technology and subsume it.
You will see this influence later on in the build hopefully.
Uh? wtf?
Okay, Julie Crisp gave me a copy of the Feb/March 2009 issue of DeathRay to cast my eye over. There’s an excellent review of The Gabble in there by Guy Haley (who can claim to have done the SFX review of The Engineer, which I copied and put on top of the synopsis and sample chapters of Gridlinked I sent into Macmillan back in 1999). Here’s a highlight:
WE SEEM TO HAVE BEEN saying “Neal Asher is awesome!” a lot recently. Here it is again: We love you, Neal, you and your futuristic hardmen, weird monsters and chillingly pragmatic AI.
So, after allowing me to dribble over that for a while, Julie turned to page 168 … through to page 175 and I nearly wet myself. There you’ll find a full page redition of the gabbleduck, the story Softly Spoke the Gabbleduck entire, topped off with an inteview with me. That’s a bloody lot of coverage. Thanks DeathRay!
