A Year of Reading

Also as a consequences of barely writing anything this year, I've read far more books than usual - a total of 86.

I've read almost entirely science fiction books for as long as I can remember, but last year I started reading Jeeves and Wooster, which is one of my favoutite TV series, and read 9 of the books this year. I also continued my ongoing quest to read the 'classics' of the genre, with the usual varied results. I also read 8 books by Matthew Hughes, completing almost everything available, along with my last 2 Eric Browns and final 4 Alastair Reynolds to bring me up to date.

My favourite books of the year? In reverse order of reading:

The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Killing is My Business by Adam Christopher
Austral by Paul McAuley
The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

A Year of Reviewing

Partly as a result of my lack of writing this year, I've had much more time to read and to write reviews. I just checked my reviews page on SF Crowsnest and was surprised to discover I've written 27 book reviews this year. That means I probably have more total word count on reviews than on fiction!

A Year of Writing

2017 was not a great year for writing. In fact, my total word count was the lowest since records began; or to be precise, since 2004 when I started writing again after a 12 year break. I wrote 3 flash fiction story, and one story that just crept up into novelette range. I also sold one long novelette and saw 3 stories published this year, in Spanish, Polish and my multi-author collaboration Something On Your Mind? in English.

Maybe I'll make a comeback next year.

Misfit Story Scheduled

My collaborative story Quivira, co-written with Jonathan C. Gillespie, which has been accepted by The Society of Misfit Stories now appears on their updated schedule and is due to appear in August 2018. I'm rather looking forward to it.

Book Review: Artemis by Andy Weir

Unlike half of the world’s population, I haven’t read Andy Weir’s debut novel The Martian, but in common with the other half of the population I did watch the film and rather enjoyed it. Andy Weir returns to the world of populist hard SF with Artemis which takes us this time to the Moon, location of the eponymous lunar city.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: The Adjacent by Christopher Priest

I hardly know where to begin in describing Christopher Priest’s The Adjacent. It’s a multi-stranded novel that alternates the tale of Tibor Tarent, a free-lance photographer in near-future Britain, with a selection of tales from earlier time periods and other places that feel like they are almost related somehow, without making the connection obvious.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.