Jeff VanderMeer's Blog, page 96

Oxford American: Ten Great Very Short Books Picked by Kevin Brockmeier

I don't think the website includes Brockmeier's article yet, but I just got the latest Oxford American, courtesy of the editors, and it includes a fascinating list of books under 100 pages, in alpha order by author, that Brockmeier really likes. I'm on it, but that's not why it's fascinating–it's fascinating to me because Aira shows up yet again in my life, three times in less than a week, and because Monterroso is in our book of weird, and because so many of the others I hadn't heard of but ...

Periodic Table of SF Women–Meme!

I got this from Matt Cheney, who got it from Cheryl Morgan, who got it from Mary Robinette Kowal, based on the Periodic Table of SF Women:

Bold the women by whom you own books (I'm assuming this includes books or magazines edited by people who are not fiction writers).
Italicize those by whom you've read something (short stories count)
*Star those you don't recognize [note: I've encountered so many names in my life, I always feel like I recognize most. The ones I've starred are ones that, if...

Weirdies, Weirding On…

Work on the book of weird, covering a century and clocking in at 750,000 words, continues apace. We've recently acquired stories from writers like Shirley Jackson, Merce Rodoreda, Jamaica Kincaid, Leonora Carrington, Angela Carter, Octavia Butler, Michael Ajvaz, Murakami, Joanna Russ, Bruno Schulz…well, the list goes on and on.

Some writers don't fit, or their short fiction turns out not to be of the same quality as their novels. Some classics continue to hold up and others don't. Some...

The Periodic Table of Women in SF–Awesome!

Diana Comet and Sandra McDonald put together this totally awesome short video of a periodic table of women in SF–and I'm not just saying that because my wife Ann is on it. It's got lovely pacing, it embeds a lot of information, and made me smile more than a few times.

There's also a PDF version, but there should really be a poster version, too!

Back from Vancouver Island…Book Haul!

(Two books, one new, one old, that I am eager to read.)

Well, our vacation for our eighth anniversary was amazing–Victoria, Salt Spring Island, Tofino. Stunning landscapes, insane drives (um, out to Port Renfrew in fog and heavy rain is like some kind of Mad Max adventure), and lots of relaxing. We didn't take many photos, because…well, we couldn't be bothered.

But we did take along and buy a lot of books…because, yeah, we need more books…A sampling below. Butler and a couple of others to...

Hugo House Conference This Weekend

Ann and I will be part of the Hugo House's future of publishing conference this weekend, in Seattle. I'm giving the "future" part of the keynote speech Friday, and then Ann and I are conducting a workshop and also a roundtable discussion Saturday and Sunday. Ann's Weird Tales will have a table in the book room, and you'll also be able to buy The Kosher Guide to Imaginary Animals there. The main book vendor will have Booklife and Finch.

Hope to see you there!

Nature, the Oil Spill, and Interdependence

Deadlines have meant that I've been unable to post about the mass deaths occurring out in the Gulf of Mexico right now due to the oil spill from a BP deep sea rig. These deaths are largely invisible to us on shore, but every day they continue. And why? Largely because we seem unable to imagine that which we cannot see–therefore, the risk is deemed acceptable. We cannot see fertilizer run-off into the Gulf so that must not be harmful. We cannot see how we surround ourselves with human-made...

Weird. Pause.

(Full photo here.)

There's a pause now, and you stand there looking out through the mist to the other side. There's the silence that in a movie would come before the sudden appearance of an army through the murk. You're holding your breath. Arcane processes are in motion. Most of the battles have been won, but it's the last handful of campaigns that may mean the most. In the hush, all you can do is wait. Messages will come out floating out of the grey sky, some of them fortunate and some...

Karin Lowachee, Beyond Victoriana, and The Gaslight Dogs

Beyond Victoriana, which I've been meaning to plug, has a great interview with Karin Lowachee, author of The Gaslight Dogs. I think she says some very wise and useful things in the interview, some of which echo my own experience growing up overseas (although I wasn't born overseas). It's a very different thing to be exposed to other cultures from within those cultures, and coming back to the U.S. felt very odd at first.

More importantly, I'm also about one-third of the way through her novel...

The Dream of Perpetual Motion

NYTBR just published my review of Palmer's first novel, The Dream of Perpetual Motion. A really good first novel. Basically, even though I had some quibbles that got cut for space considerations–the middle is too static–my feeling is that Palmer could write just about anything he likes. He's got the full-on chops and the flexibility and depth. Very exciting.

I also have to say I really appreciated the NYTBR editor's edit on this review. My original got a little too caught up in Palmer's own...