May 2012
Alepouvian Contact shooting and filming.
3.5 out of 5
A feverish Ayub meets the warrior Demid and helps a town with a raid by Gerai Khan.
3.5 out of 5
Spud wants revenge for a framed stretch but a commissioner’s daughter is in the middle.
3.5 out of 5
“THE fiction writer should read most anything but fiction. He should be able to find entertainment in every form of sport, whether he is able to take an active part in it or not. He should enjoy a variety of games and other activities that keep his mind young and supple.
Please remember that I am speaking only of writers of highly imaginative fiction; concerning the others I know nothing. But the fiction writer to whom I refer should be what my two sons call monkey-minded—that is, have the tendency to caper erratically through the forest of human knowledge, swinging form tree to tree, tasting the fruits of many.”
3.5 out of 5
http://thejohncarterfiles.com/2012/05/edgar-rice-burroughs-in-1930-on-the-purpose-of-entertainment-fiction/
Stephenson, Bear and Teppo do Howard, Lamb and Mundy. In alternate history style. Which is really rather interesting. Especially growing out of a shared world project and community as it has done. e.g. http://mongoliad.com/
Genghis Khan is dead, his sons are busy remorselessly conquering Europe with the odd stop for entertainment. Lots of slaughter, etc.
Rome and others are desperate to come up with something to slow the Mongols down a little to give them time to organise some sort of resistance. The current head Khan has invited representatives to a gladiatorial circus of sorts and therein lies an opportunity. If the current head Khan buys the farm, they all have to go home to pick a new one, derailing the war effort. So assassination high mortality rate mission time it is for the warrior knights of the Shield Brothers and the young woman guiding them.
You can tell they have worked hard on this to do their inspirations justice and it will be interesting to see where it goes.
3.5 out of 5
Hawksbill Station - Robert Silverberg
The authorities have come up with an unconventional but effective way of controlling dissidents. Send them back a billion or so years into the past. A bit hard to escape from there, really.
When a new prisoner is sent back, the current top dog, an aging main with a recent serious injury has to try and hang onto his life, and work out what is up with the new guy.
3 out of 5
Hawksbill Station - Robert Silverberg
The authorities have come up with an unconventional but effective way of controlling dissidents. Send them back a billion or so years into the past. A bit hard to escape from there, really.
When a new prisoner is sent back, the current top dog, an aging main with a recent serious injury has to try and hang onto his life, and work out what is up with the new guy.
3 out of 5
Hawksbill Station - Robert Silverberg
The authorities have come up with an unconventional but effective way of controlling dissidents. Send them back a billion or so years into the past. A bit hard to escape from there, really.
When a new prisoner is sent back, the current top dog, an aging main with a recent serious injury has to try and hang onto his life, and work out what is up with the new guy.
3 out of 5
Hawksbill Station - Robert Silverberg
The authorities have come up with an unconventional but effective way of controlling dissidents. Send them back a billion or so years into the past. A bit hard to escape from there, really.
When a new prisoner is sent back, the current top dog, an aging main with a recent serious injury has to try and hang onto his life, and work out what is up with the new guy.
3 out of 5
“Your newest novel, “Alpha,” was just released. Having read an advance copy of the book, it feels like the first of a planned series.
There is a three-book arc that this is the first part of. I’m undecided as to how final the ending of the third one will be. There may be more with these characters or characters related to them beyond that, but right now, “Alpha,” “Bravo” and — right now we’re calling the third one “Charlie”, though that may change — are a three book cycle, and ideally fairly self-contained as a result. Hopefully they’ll be easily accessible as well. There’s not a whole lot of continuity. I think the first book of a series you can come in and everything should be there. Jad as a character is pretty fully formed when you meet him, and clearly he has a body of experience and skill to justify the story in “Alpha.” But he’s got a journey to make. I’m working on the second one right now and the third one will test him even more than the second one does.”
4 out of 5
A gun moll club disguise setup for sibling revenge.
4.5 out of 5
