03-23-12: Rudy Rucker, Jay Lake and K. W. Jeter Read at SF in SF on February 11, 2012
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"...a group of heavy hitters..."
—Terry Bisson
Terry Bisson was not kidding when he introduced the readers at February's SF in SF as, "a group of heavy hitters." On hand were three readers, all them hugely important both inside and outside genre fiction; Rudy Rucker, Jay Lake and K. W. Jeter.
As one of the original cyberpunks, Rudy Rucker is an icon who needs not be introduced. But he is such an original voice that readers can never go wrong with his work. In this round, he reads from 'Nested Scrolls', his autobiography. What's so fascinating is that his unique voice could easily lead one to believe that this work of non-fiction is a work of cyberpunk itself from back in the day; it's certainly set in the future as regards the inception of the cyberpunk genre.
Jay Lake is one of the most prolific and inspired writers in every genre you can find. He has a masterful ability to write fantasy, science fiction, magic realism, you name it and he can do it. In this reading, he offers a nice chunk from yet another form he is apparently ready to master, space opera, from a series called 'Sunspin.' You'll note that as with every form he works in, it's not just his imagination and his command of genre tropes, it's his language. Lake is one of our great writers.
And finally, K. W. Jeter, the man who coined the term "steampunk," and whose work 'Infernal Devices' helped define it. That was more than a generation ago, and we're just now catching up to him. It's so fascinating to see how the future gets mixed up with the past, how they run rings round one another. Jeter reads a short story from a collection based on fairy tales, based on "The Red Shoes." He told us that as he expected the bulk of the collection would be light-hearted, he decided to provide something less so.
03-20-12 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read, Episode 36: Kim Harrison, 'A Perfect Blood'
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Here's the thirty-sixth episode of my new series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. The podcasts/radio broadcasts will be of books worth your valuable reading time. I'll try to keep the reports under four minutes, for a radio-friendly format. If you want to run them on your show or podcast, let me know.
My hope is that in under four minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.
The thirty-sixth episode is a look at Kim Harrison and her new novel, 'A Perfect Blood.'
"I plan an hour to two hours every day, talking with the readers."
— Kim Harrison
For someone who deals in witches and demons and vampires and werewolves and all manner threatening, frightful supernatural creatures in her latest novel 'A Perfect Blood,' Kim Harrison has the sunniest, most effervescent disposition you could ever imagine. She's got a huge smile, a great presence and she is a joy to talk to. We really pushed the limits at KQED, with an interview that clocks in at just a bit over an hour.
I thnk we can say her "real" name is Dawn Cook, but on tour for the novels she writes under the name Kim Harrison, she is Kim Harrison, and Kim clearly likes to have fun. This is reflected in her writing, because, yes, she does bring in all the critters we expect from urban fantasy, puts them in the big city, and then, rather than dwell on the awfulness, she lets them all just get along.
Well, sort of. Except for the murders.
I talked to Kim about developing for each novel and for the series as a whole, which she long ago thought would take a mere three volumes to write. We're at book ten now, and she's looking at twelve, or perhaps a baker's dozen of thirteen. I suppose given the whole supernatural aspect of the books, that would be expected.
08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]
07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."
04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It
