Tor Books has just announced that they will be publishing Warrior of the Altaii by Robert Jordan in fall 2019. Warrior of the Altaii is the book that started Jordan’s career, but it has never been published. Expect something more along the lines of his Conan pastiches than The Wheel of Time. And don’t expect too much.
I know that Space Cadet is a good book on an intellectual level. But it doesn’t evoke the same kind of visceral gut reaction that Have Space Suit—Will Travel did. There certainly isn’t anything remotely as gripping as the two space suit walks in HSS-WT. It is a more detached book. But, much like HSS-WT, it is richly interwoven with the sort of firm moral instruction that I appreciate as a man, and like to think that I would have benefited from as a boy. Space Cadet both has and hasn’t both aged remarkably well. Heinlein is prescient scientifically, and morally centered on Truth—so much so that it is easy to take for granted until you remember Space Cadet was published in 1948.
This is my favorite of all Top Ten Tuesday posts. To the point that you can find favorite new-to-me authors posts going back past when I actually started participating in Top Ten Tuesdays. Some blog prompts are so great you have to go back in time to maximize their potential. (Check out my prior posts for 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014.) I must admit that it was kind of a tough year for me, reading-wise, but I still managed to find some great authors. Even if I did have to count both members of a writing couple to get to ten.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.
A picture of my Kindle because I read most of the books below in electronic fashion
This book did not arrive in “good” condition
Nightfall and Other Stories is a collection of 20 pieces of short fiction by Isaac Asimov, including, of course, the novelette “Nightfall,” one of his most famous works. “Nightfall” was Asimov’s 32nd work but in many ways his first breakout work. The collection is curated by Asimov himself and includes an intro to each story by the author. The stories are arranged in order of publication, starting with “Nightfall” and stretching from 1941 to 1967.
Believe it or not, I had never read any Asimov before picking up this collection. It seemed appropriate, though, to finally do so after reading a history of Astounding that name drops Asimov in the subtitle. Nevala-Lee speaks very highly of “Nightfall” in that book, so I decided that was a good place to start.
A dear friend of mine recently had major surgery and is looking at a long recovery. Which sucks, but CAN YOU IMAGINE THE TIME TO READ?!? And watch movies and stuff, I guess. She is fishing for recs, and lacking options simply will not do. Besides, I have a history of being there for long convalescences and reading recs is kind of what I do (and watching recs too, I guess). Not all of these may be to my friend’s tastes, but then neither was country music once upon a time, and it only took a decade for her to come around. Without further ado, some recommendations for someone with a lot of time on their hands…
Attention fellow bloggers! Nominations are open for the Planetary Awards, the only speculative fiction award voted on solely by bloggers just like you!
Happy New Year — it’s time to nominate your favorite science fiction and fantasy writing for the 2018 Planetary Awards.
We’re again doing only two categories:
If you’re a blogger, podcaster, or youtuber, the nomination process is easy:
The nomination deadline is February 14th, 11:59PM US Pacific time.
Good luck to all of 2018’s authors. Don’t forget to spread the word to other reviewers!
Astounding is, broadly speaking, a biography of four seminal figures in science fiction history: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and L. Ron Hubbard (although Hubbard’s influence is mostly outside of science fiction), and one seminal science fiction magazine, Astounding.[1] But it is really a biography of John W. Campbell, who was the highly influential editor of Astounding Science Fiction (now known as Analog Science Fiction and Fact) from 1937 to 1971 and who shaped the careers of the other three men (and played a role in Hubbard’s later pursuits).
