What did you blog about today?

[AE35Unit]

child abusing past

What? First I've heard about that

 

[The Big Peat]

What? First I've heard about that

The Wertzone: It has been revealed that fantasy author David Eddings and his wife were jailed in the 1970s for child abuse

 

[Vince W]

A review of Berserker by Fred Saberhagen.

“Berserker” by Fred Saberhagen – Life’s Fight Against the Unfeeling Machine

 

[Bick]

A review of Berserker by Fred Saberhagen.

“Berserker” by Fred Saberhagen – Life’s Fight Against the Unfeeling Machine

Nice review Vince. I’ll keep a look out for this in the used book stores I frequent.

 

[Vince W]

Nice review Vince. I’ll keep a look out for this in the used book stores I frequent.

Thanks, Bick. I have to start unpacking my books to find something 'new' to read, but at least I have a few issues of Analog to read in the meantime.

 

[AE35Unit]

The Wertzone: It has been revealed that fantasy author David Eddings and his wife were jailed in the 1970s for child abuse

That's quite shocking. You wouldn't think someone who could write such beautiful scenes could do something like that.

 

[Serendipity]

I've noticed among my writerly friends that a lot of them have suffered from the writers' block syndrome. Here's my comment on possibly why - which I hope will reassure many writers.

Writing Science Fiction During & After the Pandemic

 

[The Big Peat]

Little bit of fiction I put up - Trad Fantasy with a bit of tongue in cheek

The Man With The Bronze Sword

 

[Bick]

Added two author profiles to my website: Brian Aldiss and Jack Vance.
14 authors featured now, all told.

 

[Bick]

And...

Updated the home/blog page with a review of A Time of Changes by Silverberg, and added a feature update on Analog readings.

 

[Vince W]

And...

Updated the home/blog page with a review of A Time of Changes by Silverberg, and added a feature update on Analog readings.

I like the review of Sliverberg. I've always struggled a bit with stories that mix science fiction and fantasy, but Silverberg does it very well.

 

[Bick]

I like the review of Sliverberg. I've always struggled a bit with stories that mix science fiction and fantasy, but Silverberg does it very well.

Yes, I agree. At the virtual WorldCon this year, he had some online chats with other authors and one of the things that came up was the difference between SF and fantasy and how he didn't see much ground between them. He referenced his Majipoor books that could be read as either/or, and seemed to hold to George Martin's assertion that the difference is just really the furniture. I think there is some truth to this, but as you intimate, you can perhaps only straddle the fence successfully if the writing is really good. Interestingly, Martin's short story "With Morning Comes Mistfall" is essentially saying, if we only have the rationale (exemplified by hard SF), we lose the magic of the universe and there's value in unexplained mystery too. I think this viewpoint underpins how the likes of Martin and Silverberg approach speculative fiction.

 

[The Big Peat]

There's a variety of Fantasy/Sci-Fi where the difference is mainly the furniture. I think there's some varieties - hard sci-fi in particular - that I think can't be replicated so easily.

And there is a lot of furniture.


Anyway, here's my blog post of the day

If Books Were RPG Characters

 

[thaddeus6th]

More book reviews. Gosh.

I actually wrote this pretty much the same time as the previous one (Everyday Life in the Middle Ages) but spaced them a few days apart.

Review: Malice (book 1 of The Faithful and the Fallen), by John Gwynne

 

[The Big Peat]

More book reviews. Gosh.

I actually wrote this pretty much the same time as the previous one (Everyday Life in the Middle Ages) but spaced them a few days apart.

Review: Malice (book 1 of The Faithful and the Fallen), by John Gwynne

*clicks* Intrigued to see what you put. I DNF'ed this.

Meanwhile, here's a review of my own -

Gate of Ivrel by CJ Cherryh

 

[thaddeus6th]

Honestly, I was not that into it at the start. This wasn't as big a turn around for me as The Lies of Locke Lamora, which went from being a bit frustrating to having one of the best middle and ends of anything I've ever read, but I did enjoy it more, and the ending was very engaging.

Gate of Ivrel sounds quite interesting.

 

[The Big Peat]

Yesterday's post is a deep dive into some of the writing choices Eddings made when writing the Malloreon, particularly in terms of agency and themes

The Malloreon by David Eddings

Honestly, I was not that into it at the start. This wasn't as big a turn around for me as The Lies of Locke Lamora, which went from being a bit frustrating to having one of the best middle and ends of anything I've ever read, but I did enjoy it more, and the ending was very engaging.

Gate of Ivrel sounds quite interesting.

I half considered going back, but I know that if I'm not enjoying the author's voice, I'll nitpick the book to pieces.

I think Gate of Ivrel would be very much you thing from what I've noticed.

 

[Vince W]

Now for something a little different.
Sword & Sorcery – A Genre for the Modern Reader

 

[Juliana]

Little bit of fiction I put up - Trad Fantasy with a bit of tongue in cheek

That was fun!

From me: a last reading round-up for 2020.
Have Book, Will Read #24

 

[Serendipity]

A blog about the state of science in science fiction?