Reading Week #6: ‘Thieftaker’ by D. B. Jackson

It was Mike’s turn to pick our reading material, and he suggested D. B. Jackson’s ‘Thieftaker’.  I’d seen a few blurbs about it on the web, and the general premise seemed intriguing.  I found it to be a fast-paced read, with interesting situation and some compelling characters.

Urban Historical Hardboiled Fantasy in Boston

I picked Thieftaker for reviewing because it kept showing up on my radar and I figured that I was meant to read it.  I am not sure I would have normally been drawn to the title, but I think I came across four different reviews in the same week  just through my normal internet surfing and book browsing. Kudos to the Tor marketing team. It didn’t feel like marketing, but that kind of exposure could not have been a coincidence. I usually prefer my fantasy to be more epic and less urban, but all of the reviews I saw were good and the more I learned the more interested I became.

Rosencrantz and Ensign Ricky Are Dead

Last year David and I were lucky enough to hear one of my favorite authors read an excerpt from a forthcoming  untitled book. He told us that we were not allowed to tell anyone about the project and I got that geek thrill of being one of the few instead of the many. What we heard is the prologue to John Scalzi’s bestselling book, Redshirts. The prologue is an away mission encounter on a “typical science fiction show” from the point of view of the red-shirted security officer, who is killed at the end of the prologue. [Warning: I don’t think anyone finding this post will mind any spoilers so I don’t intend to warn you ahead of time. Based on current readership either you have already read the book or you probably never are going to.]

Reading Week #5: ‘Redshirts’ by John Scalzi

Hello.  Thank you all for attending on such short notice.  I’m sure you’re all extremely busy preparing for the maiden voyage, but a matter has arisen that directly affects the Security Division, especially Ensigns such as yourselves.  We are establishing a new set of guidelines, and you are one of the groups that will be most impacted by the changes.  While it is highly unusual for a Rear Admiral to address a group of Ensigns, the nature of the situation we may be facing makes it imperative that you understand the gravity of the changes we are instituting.

Reading Week #5 Prologue: The ‘Redshirts’ Away Mission

So We Went on an Away Mission, Looking for Missing Redshirts – –

            – – Luckily, and perhaps a bit amazingly, no one was killed!

Reading Week #4: ‘Edge of Dark Water’ by Joe R. Lansdale

Joe R. Lansdale is one of my top five authors – a favorite from way back. I’ve been reading his books since the late 80s, when I came across a couple of his books in a used book store, and was hooked. So, when it was time to pick the next book for our reading week, I knew that I wanted to review one of his books. Luckily, he had a new release, “Edge of Dark Water“.

Heading South

During the month of May I gave up television and I quickly found my usual screen hours filled up by reading. I went to my usual comfort zone and re-read some great fantasy (Tad Williams, Brent Weeks, etc). I immersed myself in make-believe worlds and while I am not sure this is any less escapism than television would have been it was still quite enjoyable. For our next book review David suggested we leave the science fiction genre and read a novel by Joe Lansdale called Edge of Dark Water. He told me it was “sort of a mystery” and that sounded fine to me.

Spoon River and Me

It is no secret that my favorite restaurant in the Twin Cities (the world?) is Hell’s Kitchen, but there is another restaurant in Minneapolis that I also like to rave about when anyone will listen called Spoonriver. I was introduced to Spoonriver on a recommendation from my neighbor. They have a diverse menu that is centered around healthy and local food. I manage to get there about once every other month and I always have every intention of ordering one of their amazing sounding burgers (The Spoon Burger is made with lamb and Moroccan spices), but without fail I end up ordering the vegetarian special because the description is irresistible. I am a confirmed carnivore, but Brenda Langton has created a menu that converts this hamburger helper, meat and potatoes guy into a healthy, local-food only, vegetarian whenever I walk in the door of her restaurant.

Reading Week #3: ‘The Lifecycle of Software Objects’ by Ted Chiang

If you had to pick the SF writer with the highest award-to-story ratio (barring one-hit wonders), most people wouldn’t ever manage to pick correctly.  While I’m not totally sure, I’d be willing to bet a decent sum of money that the honor would go to Ted Chiang.  Never heard of him, or read anything by him?  Well, you should!

Day of the Living Ted

Perhaps the best short story writer in contemporary Science Fiction is an unassuming, soft-spoken man named Ted Chiang. He easily holds the highest ratio of works written to awards received and prior to the Minicon this spring here in the Twin Cities I had never heard of him. I know, I’m lame like that. I like to think I have clever tastes when it comes to books, but the truth is I am horribly mainstream. The good news for me is that I got to discover a great new author and I also got to meet him and hear his thoughts on the science fiction genre and folk biology.