When I was younger, this was always the time of year when panic would set in--summer's almost over! Now that I'm out of school, though, I spend most of my time in some sort of panic...
But here's a list of books I've looked at so far this month through the SFWA Circulating Book Plan! If I find I have something to say about a book, I'll put a paragraph up about it; otherwise, I'll just note its existence. I'm always open to other people's takes on books, too: just drop me a line, and I'll ruthlessly edit your comments before posting them. A more complete rendering of my Policies and Disclaimers can be found by clicking the Policies and Disclaimers link earlier in this sentence, if anyone's interested.
Also, I have a list of the books from 2007 that I felt moved to comment upon, and if you'd like to read some of those comments, here are links to the past 12 months or so:
[Sep 07] [Oct 07] [Nov 07] [Dec 07]
[Jan 08] [Feb 08] [Mar 08] [Apr 08]
[May 08] [Jun 08] [Jul 08] [Aug 08] [Sep 08]
Since these pages follow the Nebula Awards rules for "rolling eligibility," rules I feel certain are explained somewhere on this vast web site, I only keep 12 month's worth of stuff up here. The rest go off to those places where web pages live when you're not looking at them, a place my computer-savvy friends in high school used to call "the bit bucket."
Oh, and the links for each book will take you to that book's page on amazon.com, in case you're wondering. Any books you buy from Amazon after taking one of these links will send a few pennies to the SFWA Emergency Medical Fund, too.
Abraham, Daniel: An Autumn War (Tor, Jul08)
How good have the first three books of Abraham's Long Price Quartet been? So good that I'll be measuring every multi-volume fantasy series I see from now on with this as a yardstick. Endlessly inventive, colorful, epic, and personal all at the same time, and Abraham knows just how much to write and how much to imply. Start with the first book and prepare for a treat.
McMullen, Sean: The Time Engine (Tor, Jul08)
These Moonworld books are just a pure joy to read even when horrible things are happening to the characters. I'm not quite sure how McMullen does that, but it might be a product of his economic writing style. I find so many fantasy epics bloated and unreadable, but these books just tell me what's happening in a highly entertaining fashion: not an extra word or an excess scene. I'll certainly continue to be on the lookout for McMullen's name.
And the rest of the month:
Melko, Paul: Singularity's Ring (Tor, Feb08)
Varley, John: Rolling Thunder (Ace, Mar08)
Nazarian, Vera: The Duke in his Castle (Norilana, Jun08)
Turtledove, Harry: The Valley-Westside War (Tor, Jul08)
Viehl, S.L.: Omega Games (Roc, Aug08)
Czerneda, Julie E.: Riders of the Storm (DAW, Sep08)
Lackey, Mercedes: Foundation (DAW, Oct08)
If you're reading this on a Sunday afternoon between 4 and 6 Pacific Time, let me invite you to listen to my radio program, The Darkling Eclectica. I play music and read stories at KUCI in Irvine, CA; the page there should have instructions telling you how to make the sounds come out of your very own computer if you have the proper equipment.
You can also check out my web comics: Terebinth, updated five times a fortnight; and Daily Grind, running Monday through Friday till I can't stand it anymore as part of the Daily Grind Competition.
Or you can always visit these other fine parts of the SFWA Web Site.
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