Sunsets, Stars, West, Wind
Korzybski coined the well-known slogan, “The map is not the territory,” to sum up this idea.
An essay on the most famous SF author you’ve never read or heard of. Golden Age of SF era. Think Heinlein and Campbell.
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon
Read in late August 2014
Synopsis from MacMillan’s site:
Stormdancer is the first in the epic new fantasy series The Lotus War, introducing an unforgettable heroine and a stunningly original dystopian steampunk world with a flavor of feudal Japan.
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. When hunters of Shima’s imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a legendary griffin, they fear their lives are over. Any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, the girl Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire. Continue reading “Book Review: Stormdancer by Kristoff (4 Stars)”
Worldcon! blog post by Ann Leckie
I did have one or two people tell me they were WoT fans but had put AJ in first place, and I would like to say how much that means to me. Because like I said, I know fans of WoT really, really love it.
–Ann Leckie
Yes, this is exactly how I voted. Number one vote to Ancillary Justice and number two to WoT.
Ann, you’re very welcome and congratulations!
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon
My weekend got away from me and I didn’t make my final post of how I voted for the remainder of the 2014 Hugo Award categories I hadn’t previously discussed. I did carve out two hours on Sunday afternoon to watch the live streaming of the Hugo Awards ceremony (which streaming went off with hardly a hitch, especially as compared to the Retro Hugo Awards ceremony from last Thursday night).
Technical difficulties again plagued the Ustream live video of a Hugo Awards ceremony. Beautiful video, but no audio. Those of us in the audience were left with Tweet breadcrumbs from @LonCon3 on the hashtag #RetroHugos:
The winner of the 1939 #HugoAward for Best Fan Writer is Ray Bradbury. #RetroHugos #worldcon #Loncon3
— Loncon 3 (@loncon3) August 14, 2014
46 minutes into the ‘broadcast’ and still no sound . . .
Continue reading “Watching (but not Hearing) the Retro Hugo Awards Ceremony”
Tomorrow the winners will be announced for the 1939 Retro Hugo Awards.
The 1939 Retro Hugo Awards can be watched online via ustream. The stream will be located at http://www.ustream.tv/hugo-awards. The Retro Hugo Awards Ceremony starts at 8PM BST (or 2PM Central) on Thursday 14 August.
Retro Hugo Awards Ceremony, LonCon3
I’ve covered the main ‘big’ categories in previous posts. Today, I’ll summarize the remaining ones that are less, ‘sexy’, for lack of a better term. Continue reading “Hugo Awards Voting Adventure: Remainder of Retro Hugos”
After books, movies are my next ‘go to’ source for hours of uninterrupted entertainment. If I’m not happy with the book I’m currently reading, I will take an afternoon or evening off from reading to enjoy a good movie. New or old … it doesn’t matter. If the story is good, and the acting convincing, and the directing sublime … all else is irrelevant. Special effects may be indistinguishable from reality today, but if you don’t have a great story, you’re just a flash in a pan that fizzled, smoked and went boom.
Continue reading “Hugo Awards Voting Adventure: Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) aka Movies”
For the first time on this adventure, I read every single nomination. Granted, the time invested in reading short stories is, well, short. But I’ll take credit where I can get it. Continue reading “Hugo Awards Voting Adventure: Best Short Stories 2014 and 1939”
I’d dropped the blog ball over the weekend. I’ve got less than a week before the Hugo Awards Ceremony announces the winners and about three days before the 1939 Retro Hugo Award winners are revealed. No use crying over spilled milk, though, so on to the novelette category: Continue reading “Hugo Awards Voting Adventure: Best Novelette 2014 and 1939”
Last week I posted about my adventures in reading the books nominated for the Best Novel award (2014 and 1939). I had hoped to write my second and subsequent posts on the other categories on a daily or every other day pattern so that I could wrap up before the Hugo Award ceremonies on the 14th and 17th of this month. A distraction arrived over the weekend and then work returned on Monday and Tuesday. Here I am halfway to the next weekend and just now getting around to this post. Continue reading “Hugo Awards Voting Adventure: Best Novellas 2014 and 1939”