Tag Archives: books
Highly Suspicious Blogs
I’m sorry I haven’t been posting this month. As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve had some career-related issues. I have a huge backlog of short story and novel reviews I’d like to write, so hopefully I can hit the keyboard again soon. I’ve also been failing in another of my duties as Planetary […]
Vote for the best stories of 2018
Originally posted on Planetary Awards:
Vote for the best stories of 2018 If you’re a blogger, podcaster, or youtuber, then you’re eligible to vote in the 2018 Planetary Awards. The nominated science fiction and fantasy stories are: Short Stories / Novellas The Flowers of Vashnoi by Lois Bujold Kakerlacs by Alexandru Constantin Mortu and Kyrus in…
Extra Reading from 2018
It’s time to nominate your favorite 2018 stories for the Planetary Awards, where book bloggers choose the best books and short stories of the year. I’ve realized that I read very few 2018 books during 2018, so now I’m scrambling to read some more. (This seems to be an annual event for me.) Here are […]
Five Star System
Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be writing at least four posts discussing the results from the first round of my magazine quest. They will reference the ratings from one to five that I gave individual stories. So that you’ll have some perspective, I decided to describe what the different star ratings mean […]
Early Christmas Present
Merry Christmas Eve, everybody! I was trying to decide what to get all of you for Christmas, but it turns out the only thing you have in common is that you like to read a sci-fi book blog written by a grouchy old man. (My wife informs me that I’m not that old, but they […]
Magazine: Outposts of Beyond, July 2017
Outposts of Beyond, July 2017 (note that the linked item at Amazon has an incorrect cover image) You may have noticed that my last few magazine reviews did not have intro stories. I’m trying to wrap up round one of my magazine quest (which, I’ve just realized, began in late 2015) by the end of the […]
21st-Century SFF Publishers
If you’ve been following this blog, you know that I’ve been struggling to find good science-fiction stories in magazines. Although I haven’t blogged about longer fiction lately, I also have trouble finding good sci-fi and fantasy novels. I normally don’t pay any attention to a book’s publisher. I usually decide what to read based on […]
Planetary Award Winners – 2016
The winners of the 2016 Planetary Awards have been announced. The winning short story was “Athan and the Priestess” from the collection Thune’s Vision by Schuyler Hernstrom. I’ve purchased a copy, and I’ll review it once I’ve read the entire book. I’ve only read the winning story so far, but I enjoyed it. I found it very Conan-esque, […]
Vote for the best stories of 2016
Originally posted on Planetary Awards:
We’re expanding the voting pool for the awards this year, so read this entire post to find out if YOU are eligible to vote. But first, here are the 2016 stories nominated by book bloggers across the internet: Short Stories / Novellas “Athan and the Priestess” by Schuyler Hernstrom, found in…
Submit Your 2016 Nominations
Originally posted on Planetary Awards:
Happy New Year — it’s time to nominate your favorite science fiction and fantasy writing for the 2016 Planetary Awards. We’re doing only two categories this year: Shorter story (under 40,000 words/160 paperback pages) Longer story (novels) If you’re a book blogger, book podcaster, or booktuber, the nomination process is…
Last Week
I was on vacation in Maine last week. I logged in here, posted a pre-written article, and responded to a few comments, but otherwise stayed away from email and blogs. I’ll write up a full travelogue of my trip this weekend or next week, including a few photos. The alien rover has already broadcast one […]
Books Made of Paper
In the future… My granddaughter hops onto my lap, and once again I say a silent prayer of thanks for the medical technology which let me live long enough to know her. I pick up a paperback book from the table beside my chair. “Would you like to see something from back when Grandpa was […]
Planetary Awards and Dragon Awards
The winners have been announced in the 2015 Planetary Awards. The winner for best short story was “Something in the Water” by C. S. Boyack. I wrote a little about the story when I nominated it, and I also reviewed the collection which contains the story. I ‘ve read the winner for best novel, Torchship, […]
Announcement, Announcement, Announcement!
Originally posted on Entertaining Stories:
I’m bringing a new feature to this blog. I don’t often pander for social media shares and re-blogs, but tomorrow is the day. Not this post, tomorrow’s post. Do what you will with this one, it’s just the announcement. The best way to explain it is by telling you how…
Nebula Awards vs Planetary Awards
Over the weekend, the Nebula Awards nominees for 2015 were announced. You’ll notice that there is no overlap between those books and the nominees for the 2015 Planetary Awards. I’ve been brainstorming possible reasons: 1) Either the authors who vote in the Nebula Awards or the bloggers who vote in the Planetary Awards have crawled […]
Nine novels down, five to go
I read nine novels in my search for planetary awards nominees, so I thought I’d give you a rundown of them before I resume my magazine quest. I’ll also lay out my plans for reading other bloggers’ nominees. Traditionally-published, from best to worst: #1) Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia was my nominee. […]
Vote for the best stories of 2015
Originally posted on Planetary Awards:
If you’re a book blogger, podcaster, or booktuber, then it’s time to vote for the best stories of 2015. You are allowed one vote per category, chosen from the nominated works listed below: Short Story / Novella: Something in the Water by C.S. Boyack, in The Experimental Notebook of C. S.…
Planetary Defense Command 