Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Marion Deeds


WWWednesday: July 22, 2016

On this date in 1933 American pilot Wiley Post completed the first solo world-wide flight. Post flew 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes.

Solar System:

Pluto continues to surprise us. According to IO9, early data shows a world that is geologically active, implying an internal heat source. This is not what we were expecting! NASA provides a nice photo and article about the region they are calling Pluto’s Heart, but which many people think resembles a famous Disney cartoon character. (Hint; it’s not the mouse.)

Pluto’s largest moon,


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Killing Pretty: Stark gives mainstream life a try, and fails brilliantly

Killing Pretty by Richard Kadrey

Killing Pretty is the seventh book in Richard Kadrey’s SANDMAN SLIM series. Barnes and Noble included this book on their list of series books you could start if you hadn’t read the earlier books, and I think this is true. The book is not a reboot by any means, but James Stark, who was known as Sandman Slim when he fought in the arena in Hell, does some ruminating about what his life in L.A. has been like the past few years,


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The Getaway God: A return to classic Sandman Slim

The Getaway God by Richard Kadrey

People are bailing out of LA in droves. It’s Christmas. The city is flooding. An apocalypse is happening, and Sandman Slim’s girlfriend, Candy, is reverting to her predatory Jade nature. The Angra Om Ya, who were the original gods of this reality before they lost it to a confidence-trickster god, are returning, and they aren’t happy. The Golden Vigil, a government-angelic partnership, has begun rounding up supernatural beings and putting them in concentration camps. For James Stark, the half-nephilim arena-fighter and former CEO of Hell,


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WWWednesday: July 15, 2015

On Tuesday, July 14, 2015, the NASA craft New Horizons did a close fly-by of Pluto, the system’s most controversial maybe-planet. In honor of New Horizons the pictures today will be aspects of Pluto. (A famous and beloved cartoon character will not be included, sorry.) Pluto, or Hades in the Greek pantheon, was the god of the underworld, the dead and treasure, which led to the word “Plutocrat.” Pluto also has a bad reputation for his treatment of women, after he abducted the Proserpina, the daughter of Demeter. No means no, dude. Still, the myth of Proserpina and Pluto has fed the imaginations of hundred of storytellers and artists,


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The Chart of Tomorrows: Willrich expands his fantasy world

The Chart of Tomorrows by Chris Willrich

The Chart of Tomorrows is the third book in Chris Willrich’s GAUNT AND BONE series. Book One, The Scroll of Years, began with Persimmon Gaunt, a rebellious poet, and Imago Bone, her thief husband, leaving a place that looked a little bit like the cities of classical European antiquity, and having adventures in a land like China. In the second book, Willrich expanded his mythology further,


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Beginnings: Five stories from the “Honorverse”

Beginnings by David Weber

Beginnings is the sixth book in the WORLDS OF HONOR series, edited by David Weber. WORLDS OF HONOR collects stories about Honor Harrington and other Honorverse character, often written by other writers. As Beginnings implies, these five stories mostly take place before Honor’s service in the Royal Manticoran Navy. One takes place late in Honor’s career, and explores changes to the navy of Grayson, a world with a rigid, patriarchal political system.


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WWWednesday: July 8, 2015

On this date in 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama left for his voyage from Lisbon, Portugal to Calicut, India. He is the first European who made it from Europe to India by sea. On July 8, 1776, a 2,000 pound bell forged of copper and tin was rung in Philadelphia to call people out to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence. The bell was later named the Liberty Bell.

Awards:

Science Fiction Poetry Association has announced the Rhysling award winners for 2015. The award recognizes excellence in science fiction poetry. 


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WWWednesday: July 1, 2015

Thanks to Kate for a great year of World Wide Wednesday. I hope I can meet the high standards she set for this column! As a going-away present for her, here are some location shots from the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies. These two links are overtly commercial, but they show the gorgeous Hawaiian locations, including those accordion-fold bluffs that provide the background for so many scenes.

Awards:

The Locus Awards were announced on Saturday, in Seattle, Washington. Connie Willis acted as MC for the awards event.


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Field of Dishonor: The Mary Sue goes Terminator

Field of Dishonor by David Weber

David Weber’s Field of Dishonor is the fourth book in the HONOR HARRINGTON series. I have read On Basilisk Station, the first book, but not the intervening ones (though Kat has.) This review may contain spoilers for the previous books.

I liked this book more than On Basilisk Station because there was slightly less lecturing, but the entertainment value is frequently squashed flat by Honor’s perfection and the ease with which things unfold for her.


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Marion chats with Peter Clines

The Fold, a science fiction thriller by Peter Clines, came out on June 2. I thought it was a perfect summer vacation read. Clines is known for the superhero-zombie series that began with Ex-Heroes, (reviewed by Pat, one of our guests) and for the horror novel 14 (reviewed by Kat). During a busy “launch” of The Fold, Clines took some time to answer a few questions for me.

I’ve got a copy of The Fold to send to one randomly chosen commenter with a U.S.


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Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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