03-23-12: Rudy Rucker, Jay Lake and K. W. Jeter Read at SF in SF on February 11, 2012
Click image for audio link.
"...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'
Click image for audio link.
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.
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Mary Robinette Kowal Reads "Evil Robot Monkey" at SF in SF on April 20, 2013 : "...not that there's anything remotely Regency about evil robot monkeys..."
05-06-13: Commentary : Glennon Doyle Melton Suggests 'Carry On, Warrior' : Fighting for Life in the Too Much Information Age
05-04-13: Commentary : Reasons Not to Leave the House, Reality Check : The Truth Hurts Edition: 'Down the Up Escalator' by Barbara Garson, 'The Wolf and the Watchman' by Scott C. Johnson,'The Book of Woe' by Gary Greenberg, 'Confessions of a Sociopath' by M. E. Thomas
05-01-13: Commentary : Mario Guslandi Reviews An Emporium of Automata by DP Watt : "...from the bizarre to the grotesque, from the baroque to the uncanny..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : : Rick Klaw Reads at SF in SF on April 20, 2013 : "...those are the kind of people that don't get work anymore..."
04-29-13: Commentary : Ben Katchor Catalogues 'Hand Drying in America' : Subversive Cities of the Heart
04-27-13: Commentary : Mark Morris Introduces 'Toady' : A New World of Horror
Agony Column Podcast News Report : : Thomas Frank from The Easy Chair and Harper's Magazine: TV's DC Fantasies : "... basically, everyone is corrupt ..."
04-22-13: Commentary : Danielle Trussoni Maps 'Angelopolis' : The Afterlife of Angels
04-17-13: Commentary : How Not to Leave the House : Reach for the Recycling
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Matt Richtel, Sophie Littlefield and Terry Bisson at SF in SF on February 9, 2013 : "You cannot do this all day long." Sophie Littlefield
04-16-13: Commentary : Stephen Kessler 'Scratch Pegasus' : Lens of Language
04-08-13: Commentary : Ruth Ozeki Clocks 'A Tale for the Time Being' : Reading is the Future
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2013 Interview with Ruth Ozeki : "...through the act of writing, she would somehow conjure the reader into being..."
