First of all, a reminder to all you scifi fans out there. July’s book of the month club discussion (week of July 12th) fast approaches. Fortunately, there’s still plenty of time to prep for the discussion. Just head down to your local bookstore and pick up Alastair Reynolds’ House of Suns, a novel The Times (UK) describes as “A thrilling, mind- boggling adventure”, and Andromeda Spaceways calls “A sweeping, audacious slice of galactic-scale intrigue and subterfuge”. And, while you’re there, do yourself a favor and also pick up August’s book of the month club selection…
The Devil’s Alphabet, by Daryl Gregory
From Publisher’s Weekly: “As a teen, Paxton Martin left the town of Switchcreek, Tenn., to escape a scandal and the retrovirus that afflicted many of the town’s inhabitants. Many died hideously, and most survivors turned into strange creatures: towering argos, parthenogenic betas, enormously obese charlies. A decade later, Pax returns home to attend the funeral of a close friend who has committed suicide. Hoping to avoid his estranged father, Pax plans to leave immediately after the funeral, but he soon finds himself caught up in both the complexities of his old life and the deep quantum weirdness that Switchcreek has become. A wide variety of believable characters, a well-developed sense of place and some fascinating scientific speculation will earn this understated novel an appreciative audience among fans of literary SF.”
Discussion the week of August 16th with author Daryl Gregory.
I first read Daryl Gregory about a month ago when editor Lou Anders sent me an advance advance copy of the Masked anthology of superhero fiction (http://www.amazon.com/Masked-Lou-Anders/dp/1439168822/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277176314&sr=8-1). I proof read my contribution, “Downfall”, after which I ended up reading the rest of the entries in the collection, among them Gregory’s terrific “Message from the Bubblegum Factory”. It ranked among my very favorites (“Oodles of fun!” was my note on his short story), and I look forward to seeing what he does in the long form.
Well, dropped my car off for repairs yesterday. It’s pretty badly dinged. The shop has its work cut out for it…
Hope they remember to vacuum the interior.
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