Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 55

Boskone Schedule

This weekend I will be at Boskone 57, which I imagine is the longest-lasting Boston SF convention. And guess what! Unlike some conventions— I’m looking at you, Worldcon—I’m actually on the schedule! So if you want to see me at any point, here’s where to look. Memorable Minor Characters Format: Panel
14 Feb 2020, Friday 15:00 – 15:50, Burroughs (Westin) Genre literature is full of striking minor characters — from Jaqen H’ghar (A Song of Ice and Fire) to Wedge Antilles (Star Wars) to Agrajag (...

Getting Serious About the Toolbox

There are still places available at Taos Toolbox, master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy, taught this year by Nancy Kress and Walter Jon Williams, with George RR Martin and indiepub guru EM Tippetts. Taos Toolbox has a proven record of helping writers develop into full-fledged professionals. If you’re serious about writing for a living, you’ll want to get serious about Toolbox. Also, the Terran Award, sponsored by George RR Martin, is still available to any writer hailing...

Miss Shelley Presents

I’ve had an interest in Mary Shelley and her circle for something like ever, an interest that resulted in my novella “Wall, Stone, Craft.” (Which I recommend to you all.) But I also recommend to you this intriguing Kickstarter project, a graphic novel series calledMaryShelley Presents. Each of the four volumes will feature Mary Shelley and her monster introducing a horror story by a Victorian woman writer, a writer celebrated in her time but (mostly) forgotten now. The adaptations will be by...

Feeding

Some notes on what I’ve been viewing. The Feed, on Amazon, is about a phone-free future in which practically everyone has social media implanted in their heads. Not only are they online all the time, but the Feed records their lives continually on “mundles” (which I’m guessing is a portmanteau of “memory bundles”) so that you can review the high points of your life whenever you want. It’s like Facebook, except you can’t turn it off! Absolutely nothing can go wrong with this, right? There are...

Reviews Too Late: Witcher

This is probably the most gratuitous review ever, because if you gave a damn about Witcher you’ve already seen it and formed your own opinion. Probably a lot of you never got past the first episode, which had by far the worst writing of any episode of the series, and made no attempt to clarify the series’ three separate timelines. So if you hated that first episode, you had every right to do so. (And why three separate timelines, you ask? Because another show had three separate timelines and...

Your Ears, Forever Feasting

Much though I hope you’ll all go out and buy audio books ofQuillifer the Knight, I feel I should remind you that 2019 was a big year for me, audio book-wise. I can personally recommend the audio versions ofMetropolitan andCity on Fire, both read by the terrific Emily Woo Zeller. She’s absolutely great at bringing Aiah to life. Likewise, I can strongly recommend Kevin Kenerly’s reading ofImplied Spaces.He got the sly humor that permeated the narrative. Due to some technical issues I was unable...

P/r/e/o/r/d/e/r Now!

The audio book ofQuillifer the Knight is no longer available for pre-order, because it’s just plain available! It’s narrated by the wonderful Ralph Lister, who narrated the first book in the series. Give yourself a treat, and have a listen. (Also, I note that they’ve got my names in the wrong order. Ignore that. You know who I am.)

Preorder Now!

The audio book ofQuillifer the Knight is available on pre-order from Audible, which is to say Amazon. It’s narrated by the wonderful Ralph Lister, who narrated the first book in the series. Give yourself a treat, and have a listen. (Also, I note that they’ve got my names in the wrong order. Ignore that. You know who I am.)

Reviews Too Late: 1917

I’ve been wanting to see 1917 and various other recent movies, but life has been too hectic to see any entertainment that’s running on a theater’s schedule and not my own. But today was the first day in ages I haven’t been dashing from Pillar A to Post Z, so I decided to celebrate by spending a couple quiet hours in the cinema, entranced by someone else’s problems. Since the movie’s been out for weeks I’ve had ample time to read the reviews, and I knew that it was based on First World War...

Another Fine and Splendid Review

Gary K. Wolfe has reviewedQuillifer the Knight. Nice analysis here, if I say so myself.