I’m currently rebuilding the website as the old one got totally messed up when i was playing around with things (no idea what happened).
So i thought that while it was a total clusterfuck mess of SQL, i would take the opportunity to give it a whole new life and everything.
So if you go clicking on things you might find that very strange things happen. Don’t moan, i know a lot of things are broken, i’m working on it, it takes time.
I’ve got tons of old posts and pages from three websites that i’m working through and will be gradually posting all the stuff i want to keep on here while fixing all the broken things as i go through, one post, one page, at a time.
On top of doing all that, i will, of course, be continuing to add more new content and my latest posts will always appear directly below.
Or, if you prefer, you can also follow me on Twitter and Pinterest where i put a link to all new posts.
Enjoy
The Defeat Of Youth And Other Poems — Aldous Huxley
And so continues my chronological journey through Aldous’ bibliography.
Although a fair few of the poems were as way beyond me as most were in The Burning Wheel, this did seem a little bit more accessible. I have no idea how much of that is me becoming used to the lexicon and style, or if Aldous has began to write a little more accessibly.
Anyway, another book of poetry that some of you may find enjoyable if you’re into early 1900’s poetry.
To be honest i’ll be glad to finally finish reading Aldous’ poetry and get onto things more enjoyable.
Aldous’ Page
#poetry #aldoushuxley
The Jaguar House, in Shadow — Aliette de Bodard
I recently came upon Aliette’s book, The Tea Master and the Detective, which i very much enjoyed and, as i mentioned in that review, i was going to be reading more from Aliette in the future.
So off i went to Aliette’s website to find out more about “The Universe of Xuya”, and so began my hunt to track down each of these stories from years ago and hopefully read them all in chronological order. Before beginning to read, or listen to, these books, it is best to go to that page and have a good read through the background to Xuya and bring yourself up to speed with how everything is in this alternative past/future that Aliette has created.
And so in The Jaguar House, in Shadow we begin our Xuya journey. This story was originally printed in Asimov’s, July 2010 edition, and if you feel inclined i’m sure you can go and buy a second hand copy at your usual second hand places. It’s also in the collection Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight. Or, instead, you could simply listen to the audio book at StarShipSofa.
If you want to skip all the intro stuff just skip through to 23:58, where the story begins. The narration is by Morag Edwards and it is absolutely delightful and gives the story a wonderful other worldly quality. Admittedly, i listened to this in bed in the pitch dark with the speaker just above my head, and i fully recommend everyone in the whole wide world giving this a go.
Even if you’re not into doing the whole Xuya thing, this is delightful audio book that is soooo well worth a listen simply for its own sake.
Next up: Fleeing Tezcatlipoca.
Aliette’s Page
#scifi #aliettedebodard
Bones — Yasmine Galenorn
Back to the old classic of don’t-go-where-the-grown-ups-tell-you-not-to-go-or-something-very-bad-will-happen kind of fairy tale.
I like that Yasmine tells this with one of those delightful grim dark endings to it.
Available in the anthology, Once Upon a Curse.
Yasmine’s page
#fantasy #fairytale #yasminegalenorn
The Queen of Frost and Darkness — Christine Pope
A gender role reversal of the old fairy tale standard of defenceless princess put under evil spell until perfect, heroic prince kisses her and they live happily ever after. This time it’s the brave, adventurous girl rescuing the enspelled boy.
So yeah, it’s about time the girls get to have an adventure and do the rescuing and young readers get to realise that boys are just as fallible to the wiles of evil doers as girls have always been portrayed to be.
I think this one is good for all ages, and certainly a great way to begin further conversations with children about historical views of gender roles when this is compared to fairy tales from the patriarchy such as Sleeping Beauty etc..
Available in the anthology, Once Upon a Curse.
Christine’s page
#fantasy #fairytale #christinepope
Fae Horse — Anthea Sharp
This one is very much on the dark side of folk-lore/fairy-tale telling, beginning in a witch hunt. Maybe not so suitable for very young children.
That said, its very good and will certainly keep you in its grip until the end.
Available on its own (click on picture) but also included in the anthology, Once Upon a Curse, and also in the collection, Tales of Feyland and Faerie.
Anthea’s page
#fantasy #fairytale #antheasharp
Wasteland — Joseph R. Lallo
A fun post-apocalyptic short story. Nothing gorey or nasty, i would even say it’s suitable for children.
Originally only available to Joseph’s Patreon subscribers but now also in the collection Paradoxes and Dragons.
Joseph’s Page
#postapocalypse #scifi #josephrlallo
Electric Jungle — James K. Pratt
A delightful little collection of short stories that i got for free in one of those BookFunnel promotions.
At the time of writing this — March 2020 — James was still giving this away in BookFunnel promotions, so if you want a copy then maybe email James and ask nicely. It’s definitely worth sending an email, just tell him you were reading this and i told you to. LOL
James’ Page
#scifi #jameskpratt
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom — Cory Doctorow
Published a year after Altered Carbon this book takes a lot of the re-sleeving ideas from Richard’s book and instead of placing them into the realm of super warriors, criminals, etc.; Cory puts them into a future Disney Land theme park in an alternative dystopian future.
Having very much enjoyed Altered Carbon, i was left quite disappointed by the sequels, especially Woken Furies, and so it was rather nice to find a story like Cory’s that took some of the best ideas of Altered Carbon and spun them into a new Earth-side future that we can all begin to relate to because we’ve all heard of these real places.
No, this isn’t the blood and gore fest that Altered Carbon was, and neither does it have the amazing future-sex-drugs thing — they’re still smoking crack from crack pipes FFS. 
But it does have the murder mystery and the loss of the intervening memories between back up and re-sleeving that Altered Carbon does, all wrapped around who gets to control various Disney Land attractions.
So yeah, if you’ve read any other Cory Doctorow books and enjoyed them then do give this a go, and also, if you enjoyed Altered Carbon, i’d bet a few pennies that you’ll enjoy this also, albeit a very much tamed down version.
There’s also a follow up novella: Truncat.
Cory’s Page
#scifi #cyberpunk #dystopian #corydoctorow
Pan — Christopher Ruz
Another Peter Pan spin off that’s rather similar to Lost Boy.
Pan was first published in January 2016 as a short story for Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine whereas Lost Boy was published in July 2017, which is curious: was Pan the catalyst for Lost Boy?
But, whatever, glad to have them both as they’re both definite must reads for all fans of Peter Pan and things Neverland, and Pan definitely deserves a place in the “Peter Pan and Neverland” hall of fame.
Christopher’s Page
#jmbarrie #peterpan #fantasy #christopherruz
The Travelling Cat Chronicles — Hiro Arikawa
So yeah, i love cats and i love most things Japanese, so eventually i had to get around to pulling this out of “The Pile” and reading it.
It’s one of those books that one just flies through, and i was always eager to dive back into it whenever i got a few moments spare.
Nana, a street cat, is our wonderful narrator, who gives us a delightful cat’s eye view of Satoru’s world as he drives around Japan visiting each of his childhood friends trying to get one of them to adopt Nana before he dies, but Nana has other ideas and is determined to stay with Satoru until the very end.
It’s through this cat’s eye view, and through each childhood friend we visit, that we get to learn, bit by bit, about Satoru’s life: a life of tragedy, loss and grief, and how these things shaped Satoru. I think i’d put it on the shelf with The Little Paris Bookshop, also a well written book about tragedy, loss and grief with some cats in it.
Yes folks, a definite must read for anyone who likes cats.
Warning: you may get a little soggy eyed at the end — cats can do that to you.
Hiro’s Page
#japan #hiroarikawa
Fiction
. . .me thinks it’s a good time to re-read Asimov.
Fiction
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
