Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 243

Reviews Too Late: Banlieue 13

"Banlieue" literally translates as "suburb," but colloquially means "the hood"--- the French have saved their inner cities, but at the cost of moving the Projects out into the country. In this French film produced by Luc Besson, Banlieu 13 has been walled off from the rest of France, and given over to the gangs.Well, it's no sillier than Escape from New York.And, like Escape from New York, the

Worldcon Schedule

My schedule for Anticipation, the Montreal Worldcon:When: Thu 14:00Location: P-513BTitle: Twitter, Facebook, My Space: Social Media and WritingSession ID: 766All Participants: James Strauss, Jenny Rae Rappaport, Mary RobinetteKowal, Walter Jon Williams, John PicacioModerator: Mary Robinette KowalDescription: What's all the buzz about the new social media? Writingshort-short-short stories on

Superheroes With Chemistry

Hey, kids! It's the Comic Book Periodic Table of the Elements!

West of Java

Some really gorgeous pictures of Krakatoa during its current eruption. With an explosive force 13,000 times the power of the atomic bomb that annihilated Hiroshima, the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa killed more than 36,000 people and radically altered global weather and temperatures for years afterwards. The eruption was so violent and catastrophic that no active volcano in modern times has come

Soul Storage

Is your life weighing you down? Lighten up! If your soul is keeping you from finding the happiness you deserve, there is an easy, painless and safe solution. Remove it, store it, and walk away a happier person. The Soul Storage Company's patented De-Souling™ technique actually allows its clients to have their souls removed, whether permanently or just for a little "mental vacation." After a

Strange States

Oxford University physicists have created a brand new form of matter.Scientists claim to have created a form of aluminum that's nearly transparent to extreme ultraviolet radiation and which is a new state of matter. It's an idea straight out of science fiction, featured in the movie "Star Trek IV." . . . To create the new, even more exotic stuff, a short pulse from a laser "knocked out" a core

Revisiting the Classics: Fahrenheit 451

I recently re-read Fahrenheit 451 for the first time since I was 14. I found the book full of surprises, in part because I retained more vivid memories of the Truffaut film, which I've seen multiple times, than of the novel, which I'd read only once, and long ago. The first thing that surprised me was the novel's tone, which is that of barely-controlled hysteria. Montag is the last person in

15 Books

Ish tagged me with the 15 Books meme, in which--- quickly, and without giving it a lot of thought--- you write down the top 15 books that will always stay with you. I'd like to start another meme, in which you actually think about this stuff before hurling a list before the public. Here's the list I actually thought about.1. Tales of Mystery and Imagination, by Poe.2. Complete Works of

Movable Memoir

Scribner is about to release a revised, bowdlerized edition of Hemingway's A Movable Feast. A Hemingway grandson has substantially revised the book, apparently to make his grandmother (aka Hemingway Wife #2) a more sympathetic character. He's dropped the last chapter, which he claims was written by Mary (Hemingway Wife #4), stuck ten other chapters in an appendix, and replaced them by writings

My Fame Advances

The Review Fairy has been good to me this week.First, This Is Not a Game got a nice review in the Seattle Times. Fast-paced and with an immensely satisfying resolution, "This Is Not a Game" uses the latest true-to-life phenomenon of "Alternate Reality Games" to make its gripping story's grasp tighter, more relentless, and one you'll miss when it at last lets you go.Then, Implied Spaces got a nice