Category Archives: Reading

Introducing: Futurismic's Friday Free Fiction

Posted on September 23, 2007 by Keren

Excellent sci-fi news and fiction site Futurismic has launched a weekly roundup of free and legal science fiction and fantasy reading on the internet.  Their latest Friday Free Fiction post features Karl Schroeder, Rudy Rucker, Cory Doctorow and other great authors.

Link

Posted in E-books, Reading, Science fiction/fantasy |

Karl Schroeder releases Ventus as free CC download

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Keren

Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing writes:

Award-winning sf writer Karl Schroeder has just released his debut novel, Ventus under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivs license, meaning that you can download it, share it and copy it as much as you like. Karl’s one of my favorite writers in the field, and has been a pal of mine since I was a teenager — he’s always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else (he was the first person to use the word “fractal” in conversation with me). It’s an indication of just how far ahead he is that this seven-year-old book still feels like it’s on the cutting edge, with its object-oriented sapient planet, bizarre copyright wars, and assorted grace-notes. Link

Posted in E-books, Reading, Science fiction/fantasy |

Lewis Shiner's short stories online for free

Posted on July 3, 2007 by Keren

Another author goes Creative Commons. SF author and blogger Cory Doctorow writes:

Lewis Shiner has begun to post all of his short fiction online for free, under a Creative Commons license. Lewis Shiner is one of the great science fiction writers of the last 30 years, author of the World Fantasy Award-winning novel Glimpses (a book I’ve re-read 10 times, which haunts me every time I hear a Beatles, Beach Boys, Doors, or Jimi Hendrix song). Unfortunately, all his novels are out of print (the exception being a new audiobook, which I just ordered). He also edited a seminal anti-war science fiction anthology, When The Music’s Over that I read until it came apart. Shiner was also an early cyberpunk, who had two stories in Bruce Sterling’s ground-breaking anthology Mirrorshades

Shiner posted his fiction along with a manifesto about the collapse of short fiction markets and the importance of short fiction as a way for writers to experiment and for readers to discover new writers. He calls the project the “Fiction Liberation Front.”

Link

Posted in Authors, E-books, Reading, Science fiction/fantasy, Short stories, Websites |

'Tunnels': the next Harry Potter?

Posted on June 13, 2007 by Keren

As the end of the Harry Potter series approaches this July, publishers and booksellers are stepping up the search to find a new big hit to fill the coming hole in their profits.  Tunnels, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, is one of the latest candidates.

Interestingly, Tunnels was originally self-published; then went on to be picked up by one of the stars of the publishing business.

The latest candidate arrives under the aegis of the man who, as an editor at Bloomsbury, was the first to spot Potter’s potential, and who has gone on to publish the popular Cornelia Funke books. Barry Cunningham is now tipping a fantasy tale about a boy archaeologist, who discovers a world of thrilling adventure after digging a hole, as the next enormously big thing.

Cunningham found the first of the books, Tunnels, after its joint authors Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams pooled their resources to self-publish a deluxe edition. The first print run, sold through Gordon’s local bookshop in Norfolk, apparently sold out within hours – a sensational success for a self-published book – and word reached Cunningham.

With the backing of Cunningham – a man considered something of a magician himself in the publishing world – the book has gone on to sell pre-publication rights in 15 languages around the world, securing advances totalling more than £500,000. Cunningham is currently in Hollywood, in discussions to sell the film rights.

Link to the full Guardian article

Posted in Children's books, Reading, Science fiction/fantasy, Young Adult |

NYT: "Read Any Good Books Lately?"

Posted on June 4, 2007 by Mark

From The New York Times:

We asked a handful of writers what books they’ve enjoyed most over the last few months, and why. Their choices — from best sellers to poetry collections to a philosophy of science — are idiosyncratic and instructive.

Writers contributing to the article include Stephen King and Ursula Le Guin. View full story here.

Posted in Authors, Reading |

Happy pixel-stained technopeasant day

Posted on April 23, 2007 by Keren

Today is International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day, celebrated by authors giving away free, professional-quality work online in a reference to author Howard Hendrix’s controversial “webscabs rant”

You can observe it by listening to this special episode of the Time Traveler podcast on the subject of giving away your writing for free, or by downloading and reading Charlie Stross’ novella Missile Gap, released in honor of the occasion (via BoingBoing).

Previously:
April 23: International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day

Edit: More great fiction up! Here and here are two free audiobooks (via BoingBoing) and here‘s a list of other free fiction released for the occasion (via Futurismic).

Edit: Find more fiction released for IPSTP Day on the official blog or on author Jo Walton’s blog posting.

Posted in E-books, Events, Reading, Science fiction/fantasy |

Oprah's new book pick: McCarthy's "The Road"

Posted on March 29, 2007 by Keren

Oprah Winfrey on Wednesday picked Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” as her next book club selection, a nod bound to launch a sales boom for the American writer’s dark tale of a post-apocalyptic father-son journey.

Winfrey called the book “haunting and inspiring” with a lasting affect on the reader. “It is a quick read and a journey well worth taking,” she added.

In the past, Oprah’s book club picks have pulled obscure books onto the best-seller lists, bringing publicity to previously unknown authors. In this case, though, McCarthy is already a fairly widely-read and award-winning author (other works include All the Pretty Horses and Blood Meridian).

Oprah’s previous selections have ranged from Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” to Elie Wiesel’s “Night.” Her most recent selection before Wednesday’s was actor Sidney Poitier’s “The Measure of a Man.”

Not all of her picks have been on target. Her selection of James Frey’s “A Million Little Pieces” got caught in a controversy after the author admitted making up key parts of his best-selling drug and alcohol memoir.

Link to the Yahoo News article

Previously:
Oprah chooses Sidney Poitier memoir
Oprah to announce new book club title

Posted in Articles, Authors, Reading |

Hugo Award nominees announced

Posted on March 29, 2007 by Keren

The nominees for 2007′s Hugo Award (also known as the Science Fiction Achievement Award), one of the top science fiction and fantasy awards of the year, has been announced.  The winners will be elected and announced at this year’s Worldcon in Yokohama, Japan this September.
Here are the nominees in some of the main categories:

Novel
Michael F. Flynn, Eifelheim (Tor)
Naomi Novik, His Majesty’s Dragon (Del Rey; also, Voyager, 1/06, as Temeraire)
Charles Stross, Glasshouse (Ace)
Vernor Vinge, Rainbows End (Tor)
Peter Watts, Blindsight (Tor)

Novella
“The Walls of the Universe” by Paul Melko (Asimov’s, April/May 2006)
“A Billion Eyes” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s, October/November 2006)
“Inclination” by William Shunn (Asimov’s, April/May 2006)
“Lord Weary’s Empire” by Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s, December 2006)
Julian: A Christmas Story by Robert Charles Wilson (PS Publishing)

Novelette
“Yellow Card Man” by Paolo Bacigalupi (Asimov’s, December 2006)
“Dawn, and Sunset, and the Colours of the Earth” by Michael F. Flynn (Asimov’s, December 2006)
“The Djinn’s Wife” by Ian McDonald (Asimov’s, July 2006)
“All the Things You Are” by Mike Resnick (Jim Baen’s Universe, October 2006)
“Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter” by Geoff Ryman (F&SF, October/November 2006)

Short Story
“How to Talk to Girls at Parties” by Neil Gaiman (Fragile Things, William Morrow)
“Kin” by Bruce McAllister (Asimov’s, February 2006)
“Impossible Dreams” by Timothy Pratt (Asimov’s, July 2006)
“Eight Episodes” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s, June 2006)
“The House Beyond Your Sky” by Benjamin Rosenbaum (Strange Horizons, September 2006)

Link (via BoingBoing)

Posted in Awards, Contests, Reading, Science fiction/fantasy |

Deathly Hallows cover art released

Posted on March 28, 2007 by Mark

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows US, UK, and UK adult cover art, from left to right:

Deathly Hallows cover art

Links to larger versions:

The jacket text on the UK covers reads:

Harry has been burdened with a dark, dangerous and seemingly impossible task: that of locating and destroying Voldemort’s remaining Horctuxes. Never has Harry felt so alone, or faced a future so full of shadows. But Harry must somehow find within himself the strength to complete the task he has been given. He must leave the warmth, safety and companionship of The Burrow and follow without fear or hesitation the inexorable path laid out for him…

In this final, seventh instalment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to many questions that have been so eagerly awaited. The spellbinding, richly woven nerrative, which plunges, twists and turns at a breathtaking pace, confirms the author as a mistress of storytelling, whose books will be read, reread and read again.

Posted in Children's books, Publishers, Reading, Upcoming releases, Young Adult |

Top unread books in Britain

Posted on March 15, 2007 by Keren

You know all those books you buy, start, and can’t seem to pick up again?  A British survey reveals a list of the top five fiction and non-fiction books Britons buy but never finish.

Top 5 fiction:

  • Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
  • Ulysses by James Joyce
  • Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
  • Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Top 5 non-fiction:

  • The Blunkett Tapes by David Blunkett
  • My Life by Bill Clinton
  • My Side by David Beckham
  • Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
  • Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Though this list could be taken as a positive indicator of a books popularity (commercially, at least) and cultural standing, apparently some of the people behind these books didn’t take the results so well.  “These people must have the intelligence of plankton not to be able to get through 204 pages of a comic, readable book,” said Andrew Franklin, a publisher involved with the bestselling book Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

Read more in the Guardian article.

Posted in Articles, Reading |