Shelf stackers

Posted on July 31, 2011 by iansales

I didn’t think I’d bought that many books since my last book haul post back in early June, but when I came to take photos of my recent purchases… Well, there you go. It appears I have bought rather a lot. No wonder my postie just cards me and runs away. Some aeroplane books to [...]

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The future we used to have, part 4

Posted on July 27, 2011 by iansales

Time for something nice to look at, so here are some photos and artwork of what the year 2000 might have looked like from earlier decades… land water air space

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Arabia Felix

Posted on July 24, 2011 by iansales

À propos a recent discussion on Twitter regarding Matthew Cook’s story ‘Insha’Allah’ in the current issue of Interzone, below is an old and racist description of the phrase and its uses, taken from English-Arabic conversational Dictionary, first printed in 1909, my edition a 1969 edition, from Hirschfeld Brothers Ltd of Great Portland Street, London: A [...]

Filed under: language | 4 Comments »

Jupiter Rising

Posted on July 24, 2011 by iansales

Issue 33: Euanthe of Jupiter has now been published. If you have a Kindle, you can buy it right this very second from here. If you’d prefer hard copy, then buy it from here. And the reason you should buy a copy? Because it contains my death metal science fiction story, ‘Words Beyond the Veil’. [...]

Filed under: mithras, my fiction, science fiction | 2 Comments »

Books from my collection: Park and Robson

Posted on July 22, 2011 by iansales

Back in the 1990s I was in a BSFA Orbiter with Justina Robson, so when her first novel was published I bought it. I’d already seen some of its chapters, so I knew it was good. I continued to buy Justina’s novels because I know she’s an excellent writer and she rarely disappoints. Paul Park [...]

Filed under: book porn, justina robson, paul park, science fiction | 1 Comment »

Is a lack of realism good for science fiction?

Posted on July 20, 2011 by iansales

At the back of mainstream novels, you will sometimes find a list of “sources”, i.e., the books the author used as research for the novel. This has never been common practice in science fiction, though you’ld think the genre requires so much more research than mainstream fiction. It’s not just the science, but also that [...]

Filed under: science fiction, writing | 15 Comments »

Meme! Women sff writers of the 1980s

Posted on July 16, 2011 by iansales

Following on the from the previous meme, women sff writers of the 1970s, here’s a list from James Nicoll of women writers whose careers began in the 1980s. Again, italicise those you’ve heard of, bold those you’ve read at least one work by, and underline those whose work you own an example of. Marcia J. [...]

Filed under: meme, women in sf | 1 Comment »

Boxing, bugs, bounty hunters and bismillah: God’s War

Posted on July 15, 2011 by iansales

When Kameron Hurley’s God’s War was published earlier this year, I took note of it, as I generally do of sf novels which feature Arabs or Arab-inspired backgrounds. I checked out the book’s website, and even read the first chapter, which was posted online. But I didn’t see anything there that made me want to [...]

Filed under: 2011 first look, book review, kameron hurley, science fiction, women in sf | 15 Comments »

Books from my collection: Brooke & Brown

Posted on July 15, 2011 by iansales

I’ve known both Keith Brooke and Eric Brown for a number of years – I may well have met them at the first convention I ever attended back in 1989. It’s been a long time, anyway. And throughout those many, many years I’ve also enjoyed their novels and short stories. My collection of both authors’ [...]

Filed under: book porn, eric brown, keith brooke | Leave a Comment »

Battered books? Criminal!

Posted on July 13, 2011 by iansales

On Monday, David Barnett wrote a paean to tatty paperbacks on the Guardian website here. He even included a photograph of one of his most treasured books, a battered copy of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. It is, quite frankly, falling apart. I’m surprised it’s still readable. I, on the other [...]

Filed under: books | 12 Comments »

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