Helen Lowe's Blog, page 236

A Sunday Quote from Neil Gaiman

“Nobody gets to be you, except you. Nobody has your point of view, except you. Nobody gets to bring to the worlds the things that you get to bring to the world – uniquely get to bring to the world – except you.

So saying there are enough writers out there, enough directors out there, enough people with a point of view – well, yeah, there are – but none of them are you, none of this them is going to make the art that you’re going to make, none of them will change people and change the world in...

“Great Exploding Supernovae, Batman!”

It’s been quite some time since I’ve done an astronomy post, or more correctly, an “images of awesome stars post” because I’m going to give you a link to get the full—and fascinating—astronomical explanation.

But in brief, this panorama is of the Cygnus Loop, a remnant supernova located in the Cygnus constellation. And apparently the original astronomical image is also one of the largest ever made, at (a mind-blowing) 600 million pizels in size.

The image was taken by the WIYN 0.9-meter telesco...

Book Review: “Aralorn—Masques & Wolfsbane” by Patricia Briggs

Review: Aralorn: Masques & Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs (Orbit, 2012; 595 pp.)

Reviewed by: Andrew Robins

I am a fan of Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson Urban Fantasy series, so when the opportunity came up to take a look at some of her earlier work in the Epic Fantasy genre I was keen.

Aralorn is a two volume compendium, consisting of the first novel Patricia Briggs ever published, Masques, and a till now unpublished follow up novel (written later), Wolfsbane.

In the preface to each book within t...

My Terribly Important Thoughts on “The Hobbit” Film

First off, as I intimated yesterday, I’ve seen it: that’s one for our team!

And secondly, I saw it in plain old-fashioned 2-D/24fps, none of this ultra fast—I mean, 3-D/45fps malarkey! (And from what I’ve read around t’interwebs, I made exactly the right choice. But hey, call me Luddite et al if you will; I’m good with that.)

Third and most importantly, I really enjoyed it. Cetainly the film was an older age group, and more The Lord of the Rings (LoTR) compatible interpretation of the story,...

I’ve Seen “The Hobbit”—Yes, I Have!

Yup, I’ve finally done it—last night I went and saw “The Hobbit”, a compleat ‘There and Back Again’ expereince—and I really enjoyed it. I shall try for a more complete sharing of my “terribly important thoughts” tomorrow, but just wanted to say: yes, seen it, enjoyed it. (In regular 2D, not any of this 3D 48 fps malarkey )

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In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the epic Wheel of Time Giveaway that’s currently on the go.

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Or if poetry’s more your thing:

– my feature of Sarah Broom’s “All my...

Tuesday Poem: “O lucky man” by Riemke Ensing

O lucky man

Eight or nine small poems before breakfast, you record.

Oh lucky man! Here it’s a wonder

there’s any writing at all with the light slowly failing

and such clouds inexorably dark across the moon.

Rilke had one of his characters admit to maybe ten good lines

at the end of a long life. It has to be better than that

but everyday the horizon is closing in –

‘life’ and ‘art’ — the two unequal parts of the equation

never finding the balance to make that perfect symmetry.

This morning though, three...

“Epic” Giveaway for “A Memory of Light” Begins Today!

I am very pleased to confirm that my NZ publisher, Hachette, has given me the opportunity to giveaway not 1, but 3 copies of A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson—to Australian and New Zealand readers.

A Memory of Light is the 14th novel in Robert Jordan’s epic The Wheel of Time (WoT) series that began in 1990 with publication of The Eye of the World. The subsequent instalments in the series continued to be published over the next 22 years, generating a committed fan base, and s...

Guest Post: “Becoming Olivia Black” — Ripley Patton Talks Character in “Ghost Hand”

Introduction:

Ripley Patton is a friend and fellow speculative fiction author. We first met when Ripley was living in Christchurch and setting up SpecFicNZ. She was also busy writing her first novel, Ghost Hand, and although she and her family have since moved back to the United States, we have continued to correspond and I have watched with interest as Ripley has moved Ghost Hand from work-in-progress through to publication. She has done this by way of the Kickstarter process and although the...

“Epic” Giveaway, Plus Also Coming Up…

Announcing A Giveaway:
Memories of Light by Brandon Sanderson, the Final—yes Final!—Book In Robert Jordan’s Epic “Wheel of Time” series!

Memories of Light will be out on January 8 and I am very excited that my NZ publisher, Hachette, are giving me the opportunity to do a giveaway for the new book ahead of that date.

Full details will be on the blog Monday 17, but I just wanted to give all my readers who are Wheel of Time fans a headsup to look out for that.

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Also Coming Up…
A Guest Post: Ripley P...

My Favourite Epic Fantasy Series, Part 2

Yesterday, because it seems to be the season for book lists and I didn’t want to be the only person not playing I decided to start making a few lists of my own—beginning with my favourite epic fantasy series.

Just to reiterate the list parameters from yesterday:

the list is in alphabetical order by author, so there is no preference implied by the order in which they appear
I will post on standalone books as a separate topic.
I am not including children’s books: these are either adult or YA/Cross...