Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 167

Wanna Hand Out Some Awards?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it’s Award Season, and not just in Hollywood. Eligible folks are now nominating for the Hugo and Nebula Awards.
Feel free to nominate your favorite books and stories right here. I won’t hand out any awards, but maybe I’ll go on to read them and nominate them.
You need not mention myworks. Here we take it for granted that you think I’m swell.
What was your favorite SF&F for 2012? Let us know.

Reviews Too Late: The New World

So I’m just a little late in viewing Terrence Malick’s New World, which came out in 2005. It was far down in my Netflix queue somewhere, but either Netflix’s computer glitched or every other damn disk wasn’t in the warehouse that day, so here the movie came. It sat around for months, and then I realized I might as well view it and get it over with.
It should be admitted that am not a member of the Cult of Malick. I saw his movies, and I thought they were okay, but I didn’t quite understand why...

Making For a Much Shorter Trilogy

Have a happy weekend, out there.

Seriously?

I’ve just read a literary novel. And I suppose you know, simply from reading that sentence, that what follows will be a litany of complaint. My apologies for being so predictable.
(Honestly, there are literary novels that I like, even adore. This just doesn’t happen to be one of them.)
Exhibit A for the prosecution is the “it was only a dream” ending. I mean, honestly, what was the author thinking? . . . Can’t they just carve THOU SHALT NOT USE THE ‘IT WAS ONLY A DREAM’ ENDING above the lintel...

You Are Herein Invited . . .

. . . to give me a damn literary award. Fuck yeah!
It’s the season for nominations for both the Hugo and Nebula awards. And I’ve been reading on other folks’ blogs where they’ve been listing their eligible works, just in case, y’know, their readers were confused or something.
Well the heck with that! What I’m going to assume is that you wantto give me an award, because that’s what all right-thinking readers do. I’m just going to make it easy for you.
Fortunately it’s easier this year than most,...

For Your (nearly free) Enjoyment

As a sort of belated holiday gift, I’ve made my Nebula-winning story “Daddy’s World” available free at Smashwords.
It’s $0.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I wanted to give it away free, but they insisted I had to charge something.
Either way, it’s a bargain. Enjoy!

Filth-Spattered Wretch That You Are

You are such an accursed, ungrateful wretch that you will not give a child into training for the maintenance of the gifts of God. You have everything, all of it free of charge; yet you show not a particle of gratitude. Instead you let God’s kingdom and the salvation of people’s souls go to ruin; you even help to destroy them. Ought not God to be angry over this? Ought not famine to come? Ought not pestilence, flu, and syphilis find us out? Ought not blind, fierce, and savage tyrants come to p...

Reviews Too Late: Freeing the Slaves

Carrie Vaughn suggested on her blog that someone could do a combined review of Lincoln and Django Unchained.
Happy to oblige, Carrie.
In brief,Lincolnis a glossy, reverent, beautifully acted dramatization of Lincoln’s attempts to pass the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Django Unchained, on the other hand,is a Tarantino film.
I think that sums it up pretty well, don’t you?
But yah, okay, you want more. Fine. Here ya go.
Lincolnis another of Spielberg’s beautifully-constructed historical f...

For Your Hand-Helds

The Fall and Winter issues of Subterranean Magazine, including my story “The Boolean Gate,” are now available for free download in Epub and Mobi formats.
You may now enjoy my Twain/Tesla saga on the electronic reader of your choice.
Carry on.

Cheap Louis

This blog gets a lot of spam, but WordPress is exceptionally good about catching it, and so—- luckily— you don’t have to read it. But Ido, because I’m reasonably conscientious about this blog, and I want to make certain that none of you get shut out unfairly.
Most of the spam is simply that, spam, but there’s one persistent spammer who— to all appearances— actually seems to be reading my posts and trying to respond in a way that will persuade me to give him access. (I assume he actually has a...