It is the “soccer novel” with a “realistic” Romeo and Juliet story woven through.

Pratchett on the Romeo and Juliet story:

a bit weird. Why didn’t anyone apply a bit of rudimentary first aid?

You have to watch the video  interview, the text interview [...]]]> Here is some great news about Terry Pratchett’s next (as yet unpublished novel), UNSEEN ACADEMICALS.

It is the “soccer novel” with a “realistic” Romeo and Juliet story woven through.

Pratchett on the Romeo and Juliet story:

a bit weird. Why didn’t anyone apply a bit of rudimentary first aid?

You have to watch the video  interview, the text interview is not about UNSEEN ACADEMICALS.

Terry Pratchett from HarperCollins Publishers .

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From Lois McMaster Bujold, on her own mailing list:

The two least wince-worthy candidates so far are Inheritance and Cold Breath with Web of Ice trailing.

And on the cutting room floor:

We can’t call it _NewEgypt_, its file name for lo these many months, because people will [...]]]> Now this is what I call actual news!

From Lois McMaster Bujold, on her own mailing list:

The two least wince-worthy candidates so far are Inheritance and Cold Breath with Web of Ice trailing.

And on the cutting room floor:

We can’t call it _NewEgypt_, its file name for lo these many months,
because people will think it’s something about the contemporary Middle
East.   And we can’t call it _Miles Vorkosigan and the Cryochamber of
Secrets_, sorely tho’ I am tempted.

Suggestions already rejected include:

• Voicing the Dead
• Voices of the Dead
• Pyramid Schemes (already used by Baen)
• Lost Souls
• Frozen Dreams
• Web of Ice
• Lady Murasaki’s Web
• Miles in Denial
• Miles on Ice

… The Big Chill probably doesn’t work either, sigh.

Some of the key concepts include, but are not limited to, Inheritance,
proxies, the dead versus the living, cryocombs, corpsicles, frozen and
waiting,
defrosting, “burn the dead,” rebellion against the dead overlords,
corporate greed, cryogenics and politics and economics, generation gap
and generation… war is too strong a term… generation competition.
The book’s mode is mystery-thriller-character/social study.

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The Fine Books Company in Rochester, Michigan, is offering first editions of all the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novels for a cool $116,530.

via Science Fiction and Fantasy First Editions on AbeBooks.

Related posts:Self-published novelist sells 50-100 books a day as floorwalker [...]]]> Challenge: are the missing books (that didn’t win Hugos and Nebulas) worth more than $116K?

The Fine Books Company in Rochester, Michigan, is offering first editions of all the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novels for a cool $116,530.

via Science Fiction and Fantasy First Editions on AbeBooks.

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I grew up reading a lot of science fiction that was written in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and for a variety of reasons (among them, a key editor named John A. Campbell) a very popular “meme” in that era was a rather triumphalist view of man as the most adaptable and [...]]]> Homo sapiens, the adaptable animal?

I grew up reading a lot of science fiction that was written in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and for a variety of reasons (among them, a key editor named John A. Campbell) a very popular “meme” in that era was a rather triumphalist view of man as the most adaptable and successful of all animals (on this planet and any others!) To be sure, this was grossly exaggerated, and I don’t think the writers of that era fully appreciated the relatively short time window in which homo sap has flourished relative to, e.g., the croocodile (250mya).

This concept of taking pride in adaptability seems to have disappeared into the cultural trashbin during the 60s and 70s, which is odd since the adaptive pressures on society in the late 60s were among the most intense in recorded histories. It’s also odd that the concept has not become more common again as we appreciate more and more that the human appropriation of net primary productivity is somewhere between 30 and 50% (Imhoff, Haberl). We are nothing if not successful at adapting the environment to our needs! Instead, our dominant reaction to climate change seems to be “change is bad.”

Not that there isn’t a lot of bad news, but it’s odd that there isn’t a more balanced perception that it is, in fact, kind of good news that the Arctic Sea is becoming navigable. Generally, navigable seas are viewed as a good thing …

My question for the group: is adaptability back? Should we be urging people once more to take pride in human adaptability?

via LinkedIn: View Discussion: °AdaptAbility – The Climate Adaptation Network.

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Adams, Douglas — there is a single-volume omnibus [...]]]> I am beginning a project of organizing my library and deciding what books to keep and what books I want to add.  I am working my way through things methodically, beginning with the science fiction section and authors beginning with “A”.  Here are my thoughts so far …

Adams, Douglas — there is a single-volume omnibus (is that redundant?) with his collected works.  that would be a nice readers’ copy to own.  Adams certainly had a huge influence on the history of SF … but not one of my personal favorites.  Does it need to be in my collection? I can always get it from the library.

Anderson, Poul — I have a volume of collected stories.  What I would like to have: a first of Tau Zero and (maybe) a complete run of the Flandry and van Rijn series.

Anthony, Piers — I’ll deal with his fantasy in a separate section.  In the meantime, there is an argument to be made for Macroscope.

Asimov, Isaac — the first unqualified “must” in this section.  I want the best possible editions of all the Foundation books.  The Robot books are a lower priority.  The End of Eternity might be higher than the Robot books.

Who else am I missing?   more tk …

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