A good fantasy series is hard to find; a great one an outright rarity. Rare, perhaps, but certainly not impossible to find. George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series is one. Joe Abercrombie's The First Law is another. And now, with the publication of the second book in his Acacia trilogy, author…
November 6, 2009: Spin Week Concludes! David Anthony Durham’s New Book!
Five days. Five stories. Ish. After breaking the first four episodes of season one Monday through Thursday, we spent a far more leisurely Friday discussing the general premise for the fifth, a.k.a.'s Brad's episode. Unlike everyone else in the room, Brad prefers a less structured, more free-flowing approach to scriptwriting so, in his case, no…
March 19, 2009: A Taste of the Other Side. With Cheese! And the Hugo Nominations.
I know a guy who spent a month living with an indigenous tribe in South America. Over the course of four weeks, he ate what they ate, drank what they drank, did as they did and, generally, lived as they lived. When I asked him the obvious question - Why? - he informed me that…
November 12, 2008: David Anthony Durham Answers Your Questions + Spinning Stargate: Universe Day Two
I'd heard a lot of good things about Acacia and its author, so when it came time to select a fantasy book for this month's BOTMC, I decided to go with David Anthony Durham's first foray into the genre. Well, I'm pleased to report that not only was Acacia as good as "they" said, but its author was as…
November 5, 2008: Your Emails in My Spam Folder
Some of you are experiencing some trouble trying to reach me at my yahoo address. The fault could either lie with you (the more likely scenario) or with my overly zealous spam filter. In case it’s the latter, could you please pick out your email message from the ensuing list of missives I rescued from…
November 4, 2008: The Results Are In!
In the words of The Wire’s State Senator Clay Davis: “Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.” The results are in. No, I’m not talking about the Presidential election. I’m referring to our whirlwind tour of L.A. According to our agent, response to the horror pitch ranged from “I didn’t get it.” to the ubiquitous “It’s not quite for us but…
November 3, 2008: David Anthony Durham’s Acacia
King Leodan rules the Akaran empire, enjoying the support of his people and his seafaring allies. But appearances can be deceiving for, in truth, Leodan’s seemingly benevolent reign belies secrets that plague the once noble monarch. Bound to an agreement made by his predecessors, he must pay a yearly tribute of thousands of child slaves…
October 17, 2008: Birthday Dinner Rundown, Links, and Reminders
Well, as predicted, my birthday dinner at Fuel was pretty incredible. Apparently, Chef Belcham and his crew were working on the special event meal preparation all day and, in the end, all of their hard work paid off. Well, at least it did for Fondy and I who enjoyed a fantastic nine-course dinner.…
October 11, 2008: Fuuuudge! Upcoming Guests! My Thoughts on Your Thoughts.
In the immortal words of A Christmas Story’s little Ralphie: “Ooooh, fuuuudge!” A wrench has been thrown into our planned trip to Asia for the second year in a row. Last year, we were going to hit Hong Kong and Tokyo but had to cancel because things were looking busy on the pet shop…
September 9, 2008: John Twelve Hawks Makes Contact, David Anthony Durham Accepts Our Invitation, Brian Lumley Is In, CERN Destroys the Planet (Eventually), and the FX Stage Tour Part II.
Not long after posting yesterday’s blog entry announcing next month’s Book of the Month Club selections, I was contacted by writer John Twelve Hawks via a third party. I have to admit that, given the mystery, speculation, and wild internet rumors surrounding the author (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Twelve_Hawks), I was surprised to hear from him. And even more…
September 8, 2008: Author Stephen Dobyns Discusses The Church of Dead Girls, Next Month’s BOTMC Selections, and Take a Tour of the FX Stage I
Today, we are joined by author Stephen Dobyns who has kindly taken the time to answer some of your reader questions about his novel The Church of Dead Girls. To those of you who didn’t take part in last month’s book of the month club discussion - I strongly urge you to pick up the…