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Fun with Epistolary Novels and Short Fiction at Chicon 8
I was fortunate to be selected for a panel at Chicon 8 on epistolary novels in speculative fiction. We (author and moderator Meg Elison, author Caroline Stevermer, publisher and editor Sarah T. Guan of Erewhon Books, Professor Leigha McReynolds, and myself) had a wonderful and spirited discussion of many facets of epistolary writing and some […]
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Comfort Reads and Guilty Pleasures
Reading is an interesting human activity. It does not appear to be something that our brains have evolved for naturally, unlike various activities that involve seeing, muscle coordination, etc. It is not a skill that an infant can observe in a parent and pick up substantially, like speech. Rather, it is a skill that humans […]
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Cosmic Powers: The Saga Anthology of Far-Away Galaxies
The Short: I read “Cosmic Powers: The Saga Anthology of Far-Away Galaxies” (John Joseph Adams editor, 2017, Saga) recently. I checked it out of the library as it was the best way for me to read a Becky Chambers story for my recent Chicon 8 panel on epistolary speculative fiction. I was a sucker for […]
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Titus Groan and Chicon 8
I was fortunate to be selected as a panel participant (and moderator!) at Chicon 8 on the first volume of Mervyn Peake‘s Gormenghast series, “Titus Groan“. We had a great time, the audience enjoyed it, and we all learned interesting things. It was great to revisit what is now recognized as a genre classic and […]
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The Best of Connie Willis
The Short Story: I recently read “The Best of Connie Willis: Award Winning Stories” (2013, Del Rey/Ballantine/Gollancz). It has 10 stories plus several major speeches, a wonderful introduction, and story afterwords that are worth the price of purchase on their own. I love Connie Willis, but I was very happy there were at least 4 […]
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Not The Retro Hugos at Chicon 8
Summary: I was lucky enough to be chosen as a program participant for five Chicon 8 panels. “1946: A Vintage Season For SFF” and “The Likely Hugo Nominees from 1946” were both part of the 1946 Project programming for Chicon 8. I read a lot of 1946 speculative fiction for these panels. Following is a […]
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Dave’s Short Fiction Rating Scheme
Summary: I have a personal rating scheme for short fiction, where I assign a numerical value from 1 to 5. This is in addition to any review or comment text I may note for short fiction. This was developed for my own personal use and convenience, and is both irrational in some ways yet hopefully […]
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The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction
Summary: This is a 1980 general anthology of science fiction from 1946 to 1976, edited by Robert Silverberg and Martin H. Greenberg. My overall, average rating for the stories was 3.93/5, which falls well into “great” on my scale. I’m glad I read it. It aspires to have the same stature and general mission as […]
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Not A Book Review – My thoughts on “Hugo Award Hindsight” stories
Bottom Line: I recently did a post on “Hugo Award Hindsight“, stories that I concluded should have won Hugo Awards but did not between 1953 and 2000. This started with consideration of Jo Walton’s 2018 “An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953–2000”, which started as posts and […]
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Some of Dave Hook’s Thoughts on Racism and Speculative Fiction
A few months ago, I reread “The Future Is Female!: 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, From Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin“, edited by Lisa Yaszek (2018, The Library of America). It’s a great anthology, which I strongly recommend. I checked it out of the library to research which version of “The […]
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A Deep Look by Dave Hook 