Review of the Dervish House by Ian McDonald
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Dervish House’s big plus is its setting, a near future Instanbul, during a heatwave. Its author, Ian McDonald, took me somewhere different from most science fiction novels, he took me away from the west. McDonald writes such a convincing description of Istanbul […]
Review of The Last Albatross by Ian Irvine
The Last Albatross by Ian Irvine My rating: 2 of 5 stars The Last Albatross is set in a near future Australia where the technology, environment and economy is failing. It is a story of extreme environmentalists versus, in the beginning at least, an apathetic materialistic woman and her partner. The heroine of the story […]
NaNoWriMo – the finish
Hi all, I started the final nine days of National Novel Writing Month needing only to write 10508 words to reach my 50,000 target. That should have been easy as I was averaging over 1800 words a day. Did I make it? Day twenty-two: I had the house to myself for the next four days. […]
NaNoWriMo Week 3
Hi all, It’s the end of week three of National Novel Writing Month and I am feeling tired and of need of a break from writing. In the last two days in particular I have felt like just lying on the bed and dozing. Anyway, I forced myself to write past distractions until the writing […]
NaNoWriMo Week 2
Hi all, It’s been a busy week of writing and frustrations about writing and technology. I have wondered if technology would intervene in my attempt to get to 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Although I have had no computer mal-functions so far, trying to solve problems with my email (Bravenet) have taken […]
My NaNoWriMo week.
Hi all, I have just finished the first week of National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. This is how I faired: Day one: I started a brand new novel. The ideas for the novel had only been pulled together over the […]
Review of Stephen King’s science fiction epic, Under the Dome
Under the Dome by Stephen King My rating: 4 of 5 stars I finally finished Under the Dome’s 880 pages. What an epic, so much death and destruction, so many arseholes – King certainly enjoys writing about corrupt fools and the fools that follow them. The novel starts with an invisible force field suddenly enclosing […]
Review of Turing Evolved by David Kitson
Turing Evolved by David Kitson My rating: 4 of 5 stars A really good read. Full of fresh ideas about artificial intelligence. The central theme is about attempts to create an artificial entity that has free will and makes its own decisions to the benefit of humanity. The plot revolves around a man who is […]
Review Year’s Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy Vol 4
Year’s Best Australian Science Fiction And Fantasy 4 by Bill Congreve My rating: 3 of 5 stars I had read all three of the previous volumes of The Year’s Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy. Like the previous volumes, volume 4 is an uneven collection with some good stories and some just so so. Unlike […]
Review of Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow My rating: 3 of 5 stars Cory Doctorow was a very enthusiastic panelist at Aussiecon4 last year. He tended to appear on panels about the future of writing and publishing, a subject that interested me, so I found myself attending many of the panel discussions he appeared on. As a […]