Chris A. Jackson's Blog, page 8
December 13, 2012
Cheese Runners Trilogy Now Available In Ebook Format
Do you like science fiction? Do you like humor? Do you like cheese? Of course, you do! So check out the cheesiest trilogy ever.
Conquest by the technologically superior Farfnians may have reduced Earth to a third-world planet, but humans have a secret weapon…cheese! The Farfnians are addicted, and there’s nothing like a little contraband to boost the economy.
Follow the adventures of Captain Harry Fische and the crew of the string-ship Limburger as they roar through the universe—from their...
November 28, 2012
Will Best-Selling Authors Go It Alone With Implementation of 1978 Copyright Law?
A 1978 copyright law presents an interesting new factor affecting the future of publishing, in particular, the publishing of backlists. The article “Publishers brace for authors to reclaim book rights in2013“, describes the situation. Apparently, authors can reclaim works assigned to publishers more than 35 years ago. That deadline is approaching for works published in 1978. The unknown is how many authors might take advantage of the law, and how publishers might fight it.
I recently read...
November 26, 2012
Watch Where You Click: Scam Alert
Well, this is disturbing. I was setting up some searches today and noticed that a picture of me at a con with my table of books had been posted on one of those sites where you upload photos to share. The first curious thing was that it was an old photo – I think it was taken at Necronomicon, a terrific con in the Tampa Bay area, but one that I haven’t been able to attend for the past few years. Also, there were only six titles on the table; I’m currently up to 13 (including anthologies)....
November 20, 2012
Blood of the City, Another Pathfinder Winner!
Pathfinder Tales: Blood of the City by Robin D. Laws
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Laws has come up with another winner with this new Pathfinder Tales novel. Without giving too much away, the main character goes through such a drastic evolution that it hits the reader like a thunderbolt. Character is king in this awesome story of a different kind of Druid (RPG Druid, mind you), one that is attuned not to nature, but to the living, breathing heartbeat and song of a city. His descriptions of the li...
A Comic for Us Science Geeks (and Everyone Else)
Detail of Circuit Diagram at http://xkcd.com/730/
How do scarab beetles, holy water, and Batman relate to electricity? Check it out in the comic entitled Circuit Diagram at xkcd.com, a “Webcomic of Romance, Sarcasm, Math, and Language” created by Randall Munroe. I found the online comic after reading a story, “Why Not Say It Simply? How About Very Simply?” on the NPR website. At first glance, the comic Circuit Diagram looks like a circuit diagram—you’ll recognize the basic structure even i...
November 13, 2012
Master of Devils, a King-Fu Rollercoaster
Master of Devils by Dave Gross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Master of Devils, by Dave Gross, long time successful game designer and author of Pathfinder Tales novels, has come up with another winner. This tale follows his two old favorite characters, Count Varian Jeggare and his devoted, if somewhat acerbic and downright inflammatory (especially when he’s on fire) bodyguard, Radovan in a romp through the Pathfinder world of Golarion’s far-eastern flavored realm of Tian Xia.
The action and intrigu...
October 16, 2012
The Worldwound Gambit is a Nice Twist!
Pathfinder Tales: The Worldwound Gambit by Robin D. Laws
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In this Pathfinder Tales novel, Robin D. Laws has accomplished an interesting twist on RPG-based fiction. Not only is it in present tense, something that takes a little getting used to, but works nicely once you acclimate, but the protagonists are not “good guys” much less, conventional heroes. In fact, they end up butting heads with the typical heroic types.
Without giving too much away, the primary character i...
September 29, 2012
Dead Iron left me a little…dead
Dead Iron by Devon Monk
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This gritty steampunk western struck me a little across the grain. Though enjoyable, and richly imagined, with reasonably good characterization, a solid plot and a thoroughly engaging setting, I found a lot of the descriptive prose to be repetitive. The same sequences of shadow, gears, cogs, tubes, wires and jeweled lenses serve to describe too many things, people, and places. The villains seem to lose something when they are described the sam...
September 24, 2012
Old Man’s War; Old Time SF As It Should Be Done!
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh, my God what a read…
Now I know what the chatter has been about in recent years, and why Old Man’s War has received so many accolades. I will preface my praise by admitting that I am an old time Heinlein fan, and I’ve got to say that Scalzi does Heinlein better than it has ever been done… ever.
I generally take a few days to a couple of weeks to read a book, depending on how engaging it is. Old Man’s War is 350 or so pages, and I read it...
September 21, 2012
Dog On It; a PI tale with a Tail!
Dog on It by Spencer Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Every once in a while I like to step outside my genre (SF/Fantasy) for a little walk on the less than bizarre side of fiction. I generally try to keep it light; crime fiction, comedy, mystery, maybe a good spy novel. My father picked up Dog On It, by Spencer Quinn, a dog’s-eye-view look at a private investigator mystery, read it, said it was “okay”, and gave it to me. My wife read it, and couldn’t stop chuckling. I decided I needed a laugh,...
