Bryan Thomas Schmidt's Blog, page 61

Family History Interview: A Treasure Trove

When I was taking history at California State University, Fullerton, the professor gave me a challenging assignment. It was an assignment I approached with trepidation: how interesting could this be? The assignment was to interview a family member on tape about family history. I'd been hearing the family stories for years, I thought. Did I really want to subject myself to them again? What would this assignment accomplish?

I finally decided to do it with my Grandma Ethel Melson (Mom's m...

Review: Kilimanjaro by Mike Resnick

Okay, yes, I know what I said. I am not neglecting Antiphon. I started it today. But my review of Kirinyaga sparked another enjoyable discussion with the author who then proceeded to provide me with manuscripts of all the other Africa books and stories I had yet to review, and this one was short and kept calling to me. I just had to read it.

An enjoyable entry in Resnick's Africa series, this book is billed as a follow up to his award winning Kirinyaga, and indeed, the utopia built by fell...

Review: Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick

Yes, yet another Resnick review from me. Before I get to the actual review, let me answer the inevitable resounding "Whys?" echoing from my many readers (2, 3? I've lost count, time for another census). I started reading Resnick for two reasons: 1) because after hearing he was a huge Africa fan who used his African experiences in his stories, I looked him up, noted our mutual interest in Africa and crosscultural writing, and I got an email a few days later with a buttload (yes, that is an...

Review: Ivory by Mike Resnick

What I love about Mike Resnick, among other things, is his non-pretentious prose style. He doesn't write like he has a dictionary out to look up the fanciest words for saying everything in an attempt to impress you. Instead, he just finds the right words to tell the story. So you don't need to read his books with a dictionary next to you either, and his books work for readers of all ages.

This book, one of several inspired by his love of and travels through Africa, is the story of Duncan Ro...

A Few Thoughts On Tea Parties and Freedom Of Speech

I know I'm behind again. Tomorrow I'll review another book, but for now, here's something I hope makes you think:

Although the Tea Parties of today have taken an approach I don't support, I find it hard to disagree with their sentiments. Anger at the direction this country is taken has become endemic on both sides, and why wouldn't? We have a president who promised change yet has basically run the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the same way they were run by the previous administration. A presid...

Review: Mike Resnick's Inferno

I finally finished the three book series comprised of Paradise, Purgatory and Inferno -- Chronicles Of Distant Worlds. Each of the three was a great read, but they just got better as I went along. Purgatory was better than Paradise and Inferno was better than Purgatory.

Inspired by the author's travels in Africa and his love of the continent and her cultures, each of the books chronicles the Earthen Republic's interference in alien worlds and the tragic consequences which result. Inferno is...

Ignoring Our Stench

Okay, I have neglected my blogging duties and I'm so sorry. I have been so distracted with life, I just totally forgot to sit down and write here. My fiction hasn't fared any better though.

Last night, our poodle Amélie drank my Milo. Milo is a chocolate drink you mix with water. It's made by Nestlé but I discovered it in Ghana, and it reminds me of my great experiences there when I drink it. I have been feeling "homesick" or nostalgic about Ghana lately, so I decided to mix some up last ...

One of Those Lives - Ruminations on Lamentations (not Ken Scholes' book, the other one)

Did you ever have "one of those days?" Well, I'm having on of those months. Being laid off with no warning and no explanation on May 24 has just thrown me through a loop. The economy is horrible. The severance is about to run out. I had no anticipation and no sense of calling to move or leave but now must seek wisdom and answers. And it's hard. It's real hard. I apply and apply and, except for two, the replies are "job already filled" or "excellent and impressive resume, but you're n...

Review: Starman's Quest by Robert Silverberg

When you pick up a book written in 1958, especially by a 19-year-old writer, you expect it to be out of date and perhaps even a little weak. But I loved this book. It's short and tight, but masterful as Robert Silverberg always is.

I may be biased. Silverberg, without a doubt, is my favorite speculative fiction author (Orson Scott Card is second). But this story resonated with me and it holds up even sixty years after it was written.

The story of 18-year-old Alan Donnell, a spacer who ser...

On The Blame Game, the Global Warming Myth, and Why Both Distract Us From Enacting Needed Change

I love this article. A Golbal Warming supporter saying a University's investigation refutes the accusations of scientists' tampering with evidence. Well, gee, most universities have liberal leanings, that has been proven, and on top of it, they stand to make tons of research dollars off Global Warming research, so is it any surprise they find a scientist innocent?

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bad...

It's just more of the same posturing back and...