Alastair Reynolds's Blog, page 2

Chris Moore

 I was sorry to hear of the passing of Chris Moore, the brilliant SF artist whose work lit up so many wonderful book covers, from the middle seventies through to the present.

I'd undoubtedly seen Chris's work on paperback covers as I grew up, but I didn't really connect the art and the artist until I got this book as a Christmas present at the end of 1979:

It's a gorgeously illustrated tour of SF's major themes, loosely justifying the title, but which showcases an enormous and varied amount of art...

Every Bloody Emperor (2004-2005)

 

The Moon-tilt illusion

 I think we are all familiar with the illusion of the moon looking much larger than its true angular size when it is near the horizon, but there's a less familiar moon-related illusion that I only really noticed for myself when I was out running a few years ago. It turns out to be well-documented, and well-understood, but no less weird, because even when you "know" the explanation, your brain still won't readily accept it - or at least, mine won't.

Anyway, today was an ideal day to observe the mo...

RED January done

 I completed my last two runs for RED January. I had theatre rehearsals on Thursday night, and since the venue is about half way around my normal 5K route, I decided to split the run into two halves.

I then finished off with a shorter run this afternoon, just as the light was fading. I managed to spot a lovely pair of male and female bullfinches along the canal, which absolutely made my day.

In total in January I ran 163.9 km, or just over 101 miles. I'm feeling fine so will continue with the runn...

Day 29 of RED January

 As we near the end of the challenge, I'm not feeling so anxious about pulling a muscle or something, so I was happy to push for a 10K on this day's run. 

This was pretty brisk by my standards. I've never cracked a sub-60 10K but this was by far the closest I've got, so I don't feel that it's impossible. My 10K route is much nicer than my 5K one, with only a couple of road crossings and some nice long straight intervals over 2 - 2.5K. It's also mostly on the flat.

I spent the first bit of the run ...

Days 27 and 28 of RED January

 The one thing about running in the valleys is that you're never far from a hill. My Monday run took me up 90 m with around 1.5 km of continuous climbing, but it felt more! The descent is nice, though.

Back onto the nearly-level yesterday. There are some elevation changes around this route but they're mostly short steep bits rather than continuous grinds.

Thanks again for your support so far. Just three more runs to go, then I'll have completed my RED January challenge in aid of Mind over Mountain...

Days 25 and 26 of RED January

 It's not often that the worlds of SF and running combine, but they did on Saturday. Our dear friends John and Yvonne Meaney were in the area for a half-marathon Yvonne was doing in the morning. I was Run Director for my local parkrun, so once I'd finished the results processing, we were able to meet the Meaneys for a pleasant few hours of catching-up. Like me, John got his start in Interzone, with a bunch of stylish stories in the early nineties that paved the way for his first novel, TO HOLD I...

Days 23 and 24 of RED January

 I completed a 5K yesterday:

Just before my wife and I drove down to Cardiff to see Hamilton at the Millennium Centre. We'd seen it a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it so much we decided to try and get two more tickets before the end of the run. It was well worth it. The majority of the main players were different this time, which meant it was almost like seeing a completely new show. They all handed their roles wonderfully and brought out different nuances in their characters. Seeing it twice, ...

Day 22 of RED January, plus signing.

 A nice run round town and the park today, with some hill work for variety. Back on Ladytron for musical accompaniment. Whatever twinge was in my knee yesterday was not present at all today so I had no qualms about running.

It's not all fun and games, though, because there is work to be done. This week, besides writing, I've been signing a batch of signature sheets for the Subterranean Press edition of ABSOLUTION GAP. Sub Press has been hugely supportive of my work over the years and I'm delighte...

Day 21 of RED January

 Here's my 21st consecutive run of 2025. I didn't push today. I felt a twinge in my left knee before I set out, and while this faded after a few minutes, I felt it best to stick to a recovery run rather than risk damage. I also followed one of my alternate routes which involves a lot of pavement work (sidewalks) so care must be taken.

Today's musical accompaniment was the brutal, fabulous "Beaster" EP by the band Sugar, which I bought on CD from a record shop near Grand Central Station during a v...