-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Archives
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- March 2003
- February 2003
- December 2002
- March 2002
- February 2002
- January 2002
- December 2001
- December 2000
- December 1999
- January 1999
Categories
Meta
Monthly Archives: May 2015
May Books
Non-fiction: 2 (YTD 19) Doctor Who and the Communist, by Michael Herbert Wisdom from My Internet, by Michael Z. Williamson (not finished) Fiction (non-sf): 9 (YTD 13) Jar City, by Arnaldur Indriðason The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz … Continue reading
Comments Off on May Books
The Painted Man / The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett
Somehow I acquired two free copies of this book with different titles. It’s not bad first-book-of-a-fantasy-series; the world where humans are besieged nightly by deadly demons, and must ward them off with hastily-drawn magical sigils, is well realised, and the … Continue reading
Comments Off on The Painted Man / The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett
Revisiting past Hugos: No Award’s previous victories
Below are the Hugo categories in which “No Award” has won (plus one John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer). How would you have voted?
Comments Off on Revisiting past Hugos: No Award’s previous victories
Links I found interesting for 31-05-2015
Transnistria: West Berlin of the post-Soviet world Slightly misleading headline; good piece.(tags: moldova transdniestria ) Burnout in Brussels: When the fire goes out Andy’s story.(tags: eu work health ) Noel Whelan: We had been blind to prejudice facing gay community … Continue reading
Comments Off on Links I found interesting for 31-05-2015
The Voters of Sasquan, updated
A couple of weeks back I crunched some numbers to look at the question of whether this year's Worldcon voters might be measurably either more liberal or more conservative than last year's, comparing the membership figures for Sasquan with those … Continue reading
Amoras: vol 1, Suske + vol 2, Jérusalem, by Charel Cambré & Marc Legendre
This comics series is described as a spinoff from the classic Flemish strip Suske en Wiske – but it's a bit odd to describe it as a spinoff when the main characters are the same, only a bit older than … Continue reading
Comments Off on Amoras: vol 1, Suske + vol 2, Jérusalem, by Charel Cambré & Marc Legendre
Transit of Earth [sf stories from Playboy]
This is a collection of thirteen sf stories by eleven authors (Clarke and Bradbury are in there twice) published in Playboy between 1958 and 1971. Given the dates and authors, there's not much beyond the usual two-fisted action story here, … Continue reading
Comments Off on Transit of Earth [sf stories from Playboy]
The science fiction of 1967
Over at Mike Glyer's File 770, there has been extensive discussion of this year's Hugo nominations every day for the last seven weeks, varying from erudite to lyrical to argumentative. A couple of days ago several contributors took a neat digression to look at … Continue reading
Comments Off on The science fiction of 1967
The Egyptian, by Mika Waltari
Published in 1945, this was apparently a huge classic in the middle of last century, described as the best known book written in Finnish (Tove Jansson wrote in Swedish), the only Finnish book ever adapted to become a Hollywood movie, … Continue reading
Comments Off on The Egyptian, by Mika Waltari
Links I found interesting for 29-05-2015
Labour moves to support Tories’ lower benefit cap despite ‘children on breadline’ warnings The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which … Continue reading
Comments Off on Links I found interesting for 29-05-2015
Thursday Reading
Current Watership Down, by Richard Adams (a chapter a week) The Complete Robot, by Isaac Asimov The Charterhouse of Parma, by Stendhal Last books finished Amoras v2: Jerusalem, by "Willy Vandersteen" [Marc Legendre] The Egyptian, by Mika Waltari City of … Continue reading
Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
Back in October, a group of us started reading Anna Karenina at the rate of a chapter a day
Comments Off on Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
Links I found interesting for 27-05-2015
The Telescope that Disproved Liberalism, Part II True story.(tags: ireland historyofscience ) A New ‘Wrinkle in Time’ Cut passage more nuanced in critiquing Communism and U.S. Security.(tags: sf ) FIFA officials arrested on US corruption charges Dramatic!(tags: football ) Tumblr … Continue reading
Comments Off on Links I found interesting for 27-05-2015
City of Death, by Douglas Adams and James Goss
We’ve waited a long time for this! Back in the days before video recorders, let alone DVDs, Doctor Who stories lived on after first broadcast only in the novelisations published by Target Books (and later by Virgin). In the fullness … Continue reading
Comments Off on City of Death, by Douglas Adams and James Goss
Links I found interesting for 26-05-2015
Shetland and Orkney and Alistair Carmichael I agree with Jane.(tags: ukpolitics libdems )
Comments Off on Links I found interesting for 26-05-2015
The Battle of the Moy: Or How Ireland Gained Her Independence in 1892-1894
This is one of the small subgenre of Irish Home Rule future histories published towards the end of the 19th century, most of which forecast disaster for both Britain and Ireland as a Consequnce of Irish self-government; There are a … Continue reading
Comments Off on The Battle of the Moy: Or How Ireland Gained Her Independence in 1892-1894
Links I found interesting for 25-05-2015
If Michael Gove listens to Daniel Hannan’s honeyed polemic on Human Rights he really will get into a muddle An excellent fisking!(tags: eu ukpolitics humanrights ) So you’re related to Charlemagne? You and every other living European… Good summary.(tags: genealogy … Continue reading
Comments Off on Links I found interesting for 25-05-2015
My votes in the Hugo Artist categories
Best Fan Artist is the only category which was left un-piddled on by the slatemongers. As usual, it's a mixture of familiar names and new; also as usual, I find the new ones more interesting. And they managed to get … Continue reading
Comments Off on My votes in the Hugo Artist categories
The Evolution Man, by Roy Lewis
I have on the shelf another of Lewis’s novels, The Extraordinary Reign of King Ludd, set in an alternate history where the 1848 revolutions succeeded and the crowns of the British and Mughal Empires were united in marriage. Eighty years … Continue reading
Comments Off on The Evolution Man, by Roy Lewis
Write It Right A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults, by Ambrose Bierce
A style guide for American writers in 1909, some of which must have seemed absurdly pedantic at the time and much of which seems obsolete now (though in a few cases I can regret that the battle has been lost). … Continue reading
Comments Off on Write It Right A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults, by Ambrose Bierce
Wages of Sin, by Andrew M. Greeley
This is the last of seven books by Greeley set in and around Irish Chicago in the late twentieth century; the only other one I had read was the first in the series, Virgin and Martyr, which I thoroughly enjoyed … Continue reading
Comments Off on Wages of Sin, by Andrew M. Greeley
Links I found interesting for 23-05-2015
The Serbian key The EU and NATI still have work to do.(tags: eu serbia )
Comments Off on Links I found interesting for 23-05-2015
The Startup of You, by Reid Hoffmann and Ben Canocha
I do like to read the odd personal development book sometimes, but in general I like them more than this one, which summarises its approach thus: How do you survive and thrive in this fiercely competitive economy? You need a … Continue reading
Comments Off on The Startup of You, by Reid Hoffmann and Ben Canocha
Bételgeuse, Tome 2 : Les survivants, by Leo
Something of a middle book in this five-part series: our heroine Kim continues to lead her expedition of a group comprising different human factions deep into the interior of the planetary jungle of Bételgeuse, to try and find the secret … Continue reading
Comments Off on Bételgeuse, Tome 2 : Les survivants, by Leo
Links I found interesting for 22-05-2015
Thoughts on the Hugo Award Nominees: Fan Artist Close to my own views.(tags: sf ) The Extraordinary Story Of “The Crystal Maze” Hooray!(tags: tv ) The Penfield Mood Organ in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Chris Beckett on a … Continue reading
Comments Off on Links I found interesting for 22-05-2015
Thursday reading
Current Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy (a chapter a day; getting very near the end now) Watership Down, by Richard Adams (a chapter a week) The Egyptian, by Mika Waltari Last books finished The Evolution Man, by Roy Lewis Mating, … Continue reading
Comments Off on Thursday reading
Links I found interesting for 21-05-2015
Marriage referendum: In the name of equality Irish Times leading article urges Yes vote.(tags: sexandgenderandsexuality ireland ) The great migration of Brussels lobbyists I too have migrated!(tags: eu lobbying )
Comments Off on Links I found interesting for 21-05-2015
The Jonah Kit, by Ian Watson
I’m sorry to say that I bounced off this 1977 BSFA Award winner pretty thoroughly. The basic scientific hook, imprinting a dead cosmonaut’s mind onto the brain of a child, is interesting enough, but the general setting of decaying contemporary … Continue reading
Comments Off on The Jonah Kit, by Ian Watson
Getting the Buggers to Behave, by Sue Cowley
A teacher training textbook, which is basically full of sensible advice about managing children of differing levels of ability in the classroom. Useful background information, some of which is directly applicable to other areas of professional life too.
Links I found interesting for 20-05-2015
The Telescope that Disproved Liberalism: Part I First installment of a three-part essay on the Leviathan of Parsonstown.(tags: astronomy ireland historyofscience ) ‘Gay cake’ row: Judge rules against Ashers bakery Hooray!(tags: northernireland sexandgenderandsexuality ) If you didn’t see defeat coming, … Continue reading