The great Le Guin re-read
I’ve decided to re-read all the Earthsea books by Ursula K Le Guin. Well, I say re-read, but I’ve not read them all for the first time yet. I can’t remember how old I was when I read the first one, A Wizard of Earthsea, but I do remember that it blew my tiny mind. At a guess, I’d say I was probably 10 or 11 years old. After that I consumed the next two – The Tombs of Atuan and The Farthest Shore. I didn’t know there was any more to Earthsea than that. At the time, there wasn’t. But there is now, as the pic at the top left there shows.
The books in the pic are in order and include all the Earthsea novels and short stories, but I’ve only ever read those first three. Those beloved, well-thumbed Penguin editions. According to Wikipedia, the books were published thus:
A Wizard of Earthsea is a fantasy novel by the American author Ursula K. Le Guin, first published by the small press Parnassus in 1968. Set in the fictional archipelago of Earthsea, the story relates the education of a young mage named Ged under the tutelage of his aunt (a village witch), as an apprentice to a wizard, at a school of wizardry, and finally through a quest of self-discovery. The tale of Ged’s growth and development continues in four subsequent novels, which are set a few years later and towards the end of his long life.
Le Guin’s so-called Earthsea cycle came to include the novels The Tombs of Atuan (1971), The Farthest Shore (1972), Tehanu (1990), and The Other Wind (2001). The author has also written seven short stories set in Earthsea, two of which preceded the novels.
So that’s what I have there, waiting to be read. I’m very excited to be starting on this journey again. I rarely re-read anything, as there’s so much out there and I want to read new things. But old favourite books are like old favourite places, magical to revisit. Especially books read when you’re young. They’re like the best summer holiday you ever had and whenever you go to that part of the world again it means so much more, layered with nostalgia. Of course, sometimes it’s a problem. Sometimes the book turns out to be awful and just happened to be perfect for your young mind at that time (*cough*Magician*cough*). Or the great holiday location turns out to be a tiny, dirty beach right by an industrial waste site and it’s only so strong in your memory because you got to touch the boob of Lucy from Leicester, who you never saw again, but it painted what was actually an awful two weeks in shades of rose and honey.
However, in this case, it’s not a problem. Le Guin is a master of her craft and these books are so good. I’m about halfway through A Wizard of Earthsea again and the prose, the language, the ideas, the descriptions, they’re all as fantastic as I remember. Whether the other books will hold up and whether the ones I’ve never yet read will be as good or worse or better I’ll find out as I go along.
One thing that’s for sure, I can’t wait to introduce my son to these books. That’s partly why I’m reading again now, to get an idea of how old he might need to be. I’ve got loads of time, he’s only 4 months old now. But one day, I’ll hand him A Wizard of Earthsea and know without a doubt that I’m handing him a piece of magic. Altering magic, that shapes minds and ideals. There are so many other things I can’t wait to show him and my favourite books and movies are high on the list. I really can’t wait. My son, I have such sights to show you. (Although I might save that one until he’s in his teens at least.)
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Midnight Echo 10 in print
Check it out – got my name on the cover and everything. This is Midnight Echo issue 10, which came out in e-copy at the end of December, but is now available in sweet, sweet print as well. All big and glossy and weighty in the hand. It’s got loads of great fiction based around guest editor Craig Bezant’s brief of ghost stories, including my twist on the ghost yarn, Exposure Compensation. It also has the winners of the AHWA Short Story and Flash competition, so that means my winning story, It’s Always the Children Who Suffer, is also in there among those. Plus feature articles, graphic novel stories, interviews and all that jazz.
And a brilliant Vincent Chong cover. What’s not to love? Get yours in ebook or print, or both, from the Midnight Echo site right here.
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Bloody Waters by Jason Franks – review
Here’s my latest review posted at Thirteen O’Clock:
Bloody Waters by Jason Franks
Possible Press, 2012
ISBN: 978-0980813531
Bloody Waters is the debut novel from Jason Franks, maybe better known for his comics work. I reviewed The Sixsmiths here a while ago. This first novel was nominated for an Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel last year and I can see why. Here’s the blurb:
When guitar virtuoso Clarice Marnier finds herself blacklisted she makes a deal with the devil for a second chance. Soon Clarice and her band, Bloody Waters, are on their way to stardom… but cracking the Top 10 is one thing; gunfights with the Vatican Mafia and magical duels quite another. Clarice is going to have to confront the Devil himself – the only question is whether she’ll be alive or dead when it happens.
I had no expectations going into this book, other than knowing it had an award nomination. I was really surprised. It’s a unique read. The writing style is tight and powerful, the book clips along at a solid pace. We start with young Clarice putting aside Barbie dolls for a guitar and we follow her progress through high school and into her first band and beyond, where nothing else matters but the music. Absolutely nothing. The chapters are short and the description spare but complete.
Clarice herself is an interesting main character. She’s very well-realised by Franks as a balls out, takes no shit hero of rock’n’roll. If I have any complaints about this book it would be that sometimes Clarice is a bit too cold and calculating. I would have liked to see a few more moments of humanity in her, but it’s no surprise they weren’t there. She is a force of heavy metal nature and no one gets away with messing with her. Except, perhaps, the Devil himself…
Read the rest of my review at Thirteen O’Clock.
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Conflux Writer’s Day, featuring all sorts of writers including me
I’m going to be one of many presenters at this awesome day for writers organised by the Conflux convention committee. Looks like it’s going to be well worth your time if you’re a writer and able to get to Canberra on the day. The best part? It’s the same day as the Aurealis Awards presentation gala night, so you can come to the writer’s day for professional development and general inspiration, and then glam up for the awards night.
The Writer’s Day presentations are from 9am-5pm on Saturday April 5 2014. Registrations are open now at http://conflux.org.au/conflux-writers-day-2/registration/. It will take place at University House, Australian National University, Canberra.
The theme of the day is ‘The Writers Journey’, which will be covered by four sub-themes – ‘Writing Skills’, ‘Writing Processes’, ‘Submission and Publication’ and ‘Building a Career’.
Four plenary speakers will be addressing these themes. These speakers are:
Joanne Anderton
Kaaron Warren
Ian McHugh
Keri Arthur
Clicking on those names will take you to the Conflux page describing their talk.
There will also be a bunch of concurrent presentations bringing great thoughts and ideas to writers at all stages of their career. That’s where I come in. I’ll be talking about “Building an online presence: social media for authors”. Here’s the abstract, describing what I’ll be talking about:
A presentation on how authors can best build an online presence to promote themselves and their work, utilising the most powerful social media tools, with a central website hub to streamline their activity. Too often, an emphasis on social media distracts from writing time, or an author is overwhelmed by all the things they think they *should* be doing online, instead of writing. This presentation will break down the basics, identify the most powerful online tools and how to use them effectively with very little effort or time required on the part of the author. We will also debunk the myth of the “author platform”.
We will look at personal websites, integrated social media feeds and what an author really *needs* to do. There will be a decent amount of time at the end of the presentation for Q&A.
You can go here for a full breakdown of the day’s presentations. The concurrent presentations are factored in around the plenary speakers, so you can go to all four keynote speeches and then take your pick of all the other stuff. There are some great people with loads of knowledge presenting at this thing, so if you’re able, I highly recommend you try to get along. If you do, come and say hi. Hope to see you there.
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All The Wealth In The World at Lakeside Circus
I’m very happy to say that my first short story for 2014 has been published. It’s in an online magazine, so free to read for everyone. Can’t complain about that, eh? It’s in the first issue of a new zine called Lakeside Circus, which looks like it might become a very worthwhile spot to keep an eye on. Here’s how they describe themselves:
Lakeside Circus is a short-form speculative fiction magazine, published quarterly by Dagan Books, LLC. Beginning with Year One, Issue One (Nov 29, 2013), we will produce the magazine for sale in multiple ebook formats, and then release most of the content online over the course of three months (free to read). Readers can subscribe, purchase the individual ebooks, or wait for the free content to appear on our site.
And my story has indeed just appeared on the site. Here’s how it opens:
ALL THE WEALTH IN THE WORLD
by Alan Baxter
The Time-Maker’s expression is serious. I can’t stop looking at her translucent skin. She must be a thousand years old. Her eyes are almost lost in folds, but dark brown irises glisten, bright and sharp, in the tiny gap. “Nothing without a cost,” she says again, voice heavily accented. Eastern European, maybe Russian.
“I know,” I say.
“Do you really? Not just money.”
“Whatever time you give me has to come from somewhere else. I get it.”
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RealmShift for only 99c – it’s a Bookblast!
Those wonderful people over at Gryphonwood Press have set up a very special little promotion for RealmShift, called a bookblast. The bottom line is that you can get RealmShift for just 99c on Kindle, Kobo and Nook. Also, if you buy the Kindle version for 99c, you can get the audiobook version through Amazon for only $1.99. This is some kind of madness, surely? Well, maybe, but it’s only lasting for a day or so, so you’ve got til the end of Wednesday, US time, to get your copy.
Here’s the skinny:
Today through Wednesday only, get RealmShift, book one of
Book 1 of The Balance for 99cRealmShift, book 1 of The Balance series by Alan Baxter, is only 99 cents on Kindle, Kobo, and Nook! What’s more, if you buy the Kindle version for 99 cents, you can also buy the Audiobook for $1.99 through Amazon! Don’t miss this great intro to Alan’s dark urban fantasy series.
You know you want to – go get some! And please share this around any of your networks if you think people will be interested.
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10 Question SFF reading meme
I saw this over at S F Signal, and thought it asked some interesting questions about sci-fi/fantasy/horror reading. So I’ve snurched it for my blog here. Feel free to copy the questions and add your answers in the comments, or snag it for your own blog, Facebook, blood-scrawling on the wall of your cold, wet dungeon or wherever else you like to write things down.
The last sf/f/h book I read and liked was:
On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. This is the book that Pirates of the Caribbean was based on. It’s been on my To Read list for ages and I finally got around to it. It’s a brilliant book, the story far better than the movie. (Although, I do love those movies.)
The last sf/f/h book I read and wasn’t crazy about was:
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. It’s not a bad book, but it’s far from a great book. It’s just kinda okay and I suppose I expect more than that from King. The previous King book I read, Joyland, was excellent.
The sf/f/h book I am reading now is:
North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud. This is a short story collection. I’ve never heard of Ballingrud before or read his stuff, but I saw this book being touted a lot in my social media. I always take the advice of those good people, so I bought it. I’ve only read the first two stories so far and it’s really quite excellent.
The sf/f/h book(s) I most want to read next is/are:
The Cormorant by Chuck Wendig and The Book of the Crowman by Joseph D’Lacey. The first is the third Miriam Black book and I was a huge fan of the first two, Blackbirds and Mockingbird. The second is Volume 2 of The Black Dawn. I read the first one, Black Feathers, a while back and it was very good. In fact, I reviewed these books for Thirteen O’Clock. Blackbirds here, Mockingbird here, and Black Feathers here.
An underrated sf/f/h book is:
I’m not sure about this, as I don’t really know what’s underrated among other people. If I had to pick something that certainly deserves more attention I would suggest Joanne Anderton’s Veiled Worlds trilogy. The third one of those is out soon. (Jo is a friend, yes, but her books are fucking amazing, so shut up.) Another book I read last year that blew me away and I haven’t seen much about it elsewhere is Max Barry’s amazing novel, Lexicon. And the last thing to spring to mind is a novella from Spectral Press that I read last year, called Whitstable by Stephen Volk. It’s an amazing blend of fact and fiction.
An overrated sf/f/h book is:
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. And not just because Card is a hoofwanking bunglecunt of the highest order. (I saw that insult on Twitter this morning and just had to find a place to use it.) But seriously, I hated this book before I really knew anything about Card’s despicable views. I read it because it’s always on top 100 sci-fi book lists so I thought I should try it. And it was very dull, and the central conceit was really obvious from early on and it’s just stupid. On that front, another highly overrated SF book is John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War. Now Scalzi isn’t a nasty piece of human sputum like Card. Scalzi is actually a stand-up guy, a really nice fella if my social media interaction is anything to go by and he does fantastic things for the SFF community. But this book did not work for me at all, I couldn’t finish it. I reviewed it briefly on Goodreads here if you’re interested in more of my opinion on it.
The last sf/f/h book that was recommended to me was:
I honestly can’t remember… I talk about books with people so much that it’s impossible to keep track. I know Lexicon was recommended to me not that long ago. Sorry, my brain isn’t up to this question.
A sf/f/h book I recommended to someone else was:
Recently I’ve been happily recommending these wherever I can:
Lexicon by Max Barry
Whitstable by Stephen Volk
The Dog-Faced Gods trilogy by Sarah Pinborough
Midnight & Moonshine by Angela Slatter and Lisa L Hannett
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker
Cabal by Clive Barker
Seriously, if you’ve been stuck for a good read lately, go and buy all of those now and you’ll be reinvigorated. Amazing stories, brilliantly written.
A sf/f/h book I have re-read is:
The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker. I lovelovelove this book and recently reread it again. It is a truly outstanding achievement, but I’m a total Clive Barker fanboy, so maybe I’m biased. But seriously, if you haven’t read it, do. In fact, I’m going to add it to the list answering the previous question, because I’m always recommending this and Cabal by Barker whenever I get the chance. I’m adding Cabal too. I’d better stop there though – honestly, I could sit here and recommend books all day.
A sf/f/h book I want to re-read is:
The Earthsea series by Ursula K Le Guin. I’ve read and loved the original trilogy a few times, but never read the others. I recently bought all the various volumes and have them sitting on my side table ready for a big reread. (Well, reread of the first three, then read of the rest.) I’m really looking forward to it.
So there you go. I thought those questions might lead to an interesting discussion of good reading. Mmmmbooks, how I love them…
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Ghost of the Black back in print
After a few requests from various places, I’ve made my sci-fi noir novella, Ghost of the Black: A ‘Verse Full of Scum, available in print again. It was originally self-published in serial form on this very website (and is still available to read here), then I made it available as an ebook and paperback through my little micro-press, Blade Red Press. It’s still available there as an ebook, even though Blade Red is on indefinite hiatus.
However, thanks to the wonders of CreateSpace, it’s now available in paperback again. You can find it in on Amazon here. It can also be ordered via Ingram’s and will propagate out to all the other online bookstores over time.
It’s a bit over 100 pages of magical, science fiction, crime noir fun, so if you’re keen, grab yourself a copy. Or it would make a fine gift for a friend. Here’s the blurb:
Ghost is possibly the best bounty hunter in the universe and he always gets the job done. At least, that’s the reputation that he rides on. When the DAP employ him to track down and capture a rogue Magicker who’s running across the galaxy killing anyone who gets in his way, Ghost realises that this is a job that could cost him his reputation. It’s also a job that could cost him his sanity. A sci-fi noir novella from the author of RealmShift and MageSign.
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Obligatory eligibility post for award season
It’s award season in the SFF world and I’ve seen several people post things on Twitter and Facebook and the like that basically say, “Yes, I want a reminder of what you’ve had published in 2013 so I can make informed votes, but no, I don’t want to be spammed upside the head with it constantly.” Which is really fair enough. I’ve been enjoying several of these posts and remembering books and stories I enjoyed last year. So, I’ll just leave this post here for people to do with as they please.
In short fiction, I’ve had the following publications in 2013 (if there’s a link, you can read it online):
“Not the Worst of Sins” – Beneath Ceaseless Skies #133 (October 31st, 2013)
“Roll the Bones” – Crowded Magazine issue #2 (August 2013)
“The Beat Of A Pale Wing” – A Killer Among Demons anthology (Dark Prints Press, June 2013)
“The Fathomed Wreck To See” – Midnight Echo Magazine, issue 9 (May 2013)
“On A Crooked Leg Lightly” – Dreaming Of Djinn anthology (Ticonderoga Publications, May 2013)
“Quantum Echoes” – Next anthology (CFSG Publishing, April 2013)
“A Time For Redemption” – Urban Occult anthology (Anachron Press, March 2013)
“It’s Always the Children Who Suffer” – Midnight Echo Magazine, issue 10, Winner of the 2013 AHWA Short Story Competition (due end of December, 2013)
“Exposure Compensation” – Midnight Echo Magazine, issue 10 (due end of December, 2013)
Also published in 2013 was “Dark Rite”, the short horror novel I co-wrote with David Wood. That’s some good, pulpy, Hammer-esque horror fun if you’re into that sort of thing, and barely more than a novella, so a quick, easy read.
All the anthologies, magazines, novels and so on I’ve talked about above, and all the others I’m involved with, can be tracked down via this page: https://alanbaxter.com.au/books/.
So if you enjoyed any of the above last year and you fancy voting for it anywhere, I would be most grateful. And remember to check in with the blogs of your favourite writers for a reminder of their eligible stuff. The more people who vote in popular awards, the better the awards reflect the will of the reading public. Have at it.
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In defence of “sportsball”, check your hypocrisy
Start the new year with a rant? Yes I fucking will. This is something that’s been bothering me for quite a while so I thought I’d finally write about it as it flared up again over the Xmas period. I’ve noticed a distinct tendency among my geeky friends and acquaintances on social media to gleefully denounce any sporting event with the kind of disdain usually reserved for the truly stupid. And I find this disturbing on many levels.
Let it first be said that I’m a geek and a sports fan and a sportsman. There are many of us out there. I don’t like all sports, of course. I think cricket, for example, is very boring. Anything that takes several days to get a result needs a serious overhaul in my opinion. And yeah, I know, that’s what the 20-20 and stuff is all about. I just don’t get cricket, that’s all. Or golf. As someone very famous once said, playing golf is a sure way to spoil a nice walk. But I don’t mind that other people love those sports. I love lots of other sports. Also, I’m a personal trainer and make a career as a martial arts instructor so in some ways I suppose that drops me firmly in the “jock” category. Because after all, don’t we all like to categorise people so we can compare ourselves and feel superior? But I’m a geek and a nerd too. I’m a spec fic author; I grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons and computer games (and still do); I love Doctor Who and Star Wars and Star Trek and Legend and Labyrinth and all that stuff. I go to SF conventions as much as a fan as I do as a writer. I also grew up playing rugby and training in the martial arts. I’m certainly more of a geek than a jock in my mind, but my career is writing and teaching martial arts, so they’re pretty equal in reality, I suppose. And I’m cool with that.
Then I see my social media feeds going mad with disdain whenever the rugby world cup is on, or a tennis grand slam. All my geeky compatriots saying things like, “Oh, there must be a sportsball event on. What a fucking waste of time” or “Gah, my feed is full of tennis, what a bunch of losers”. And it makes me sad. The whole coining of the phrase “sportsball” is a disdainful reduction of all sports into one homogenous and irrelevant nonentity, and then the fans are ridiculed as being neanderthal and dumb.
Sure, sport does often attract the kind of idiot, drunk, offensive loudmouth that so often seems synonymous with the game. But you see a lot of them because they make great news footage, and their idiot antics make good news stories. But it also attracts far more people like me – people who are pretty normal and just enjoy sport. We don’t make the news, of course, because the news is about spectacle and we’re not it. Sport attracts families, it offers fantastic bonding opportunities for parents and their kids – I can’t wait to take my kid to their first rugby game! The loudmouth idiot who makes the news because he’s good fodder for footage is in the huge minority to the thousands of happy, engaged fans who enjoy a day of their favourite sport and then head home again happy and fulfilled. Or aching with the loss along with their team, but that’s ever the risk of support.
But you know why it really bothers me when the SF crowd start mocking and decrying sports fans? Whyt hey lump everything together into “sportsball”? It’s because they should fucking know better. How many times have you been upset when someone laughs at your love of sci-fi? How often have you heard that all SF fans are fat and lazy with body odour and social disabilities? How often have you ground your teeth when someone says, “Star Wars, Star Trek, it’s all the same.”
And yet you’ll say the same things about sports and sports fans.
How often have you cried out in defence of your SF love, “You don’t have to like it, but don’t give me shit for the things I’m into!”
So why give sports fans shit for the things they’re into? Why judge them all by the idiot few?
Sure, there are not nearly as many global or national events to fill up your news feeds in the geek world as there are in the sports world, and I wish there were (although the recent Doctor Who 50th anniversary rivaled the Olympics for social media saturation!) Sure, there are way more sports fans in the world than SF fans. But the crossover is massive. The principles are the same. There are millions of people enjoying the thing they love and the last thing they need is some snooty fucking heckler belittling them for their passion and lumping them in with the tiny minority of the worst of their kind.
I’ve used the term sportsball before. I’ve made a joke about a sudden and massive influx of posts about a sporting event I didn’t know was happening. I’ve joked about sports I don’t like. But I’ve never mocked the people for liking it. And I won’t be using the term sportsball again, because it seems to me it’s being used as a pejorative. It’s an attack and a mockery and I want no part of that. I will never understand people who love standing in the rain watching a person in strange trousers whack a tiny ball through an artificial park. But if that scores your penalty then bully for you and enjoy. I don’t get it, but I’m glad you love it. You’d expect spec fic fans to have a great empathy for that attitude.
Sport keeps people healthy, it’s fantastic social bonding, it teaches kids about team playing or, in the case of martial arts and other solo pursuits, it teaches dedication and constantly challenging yourself to improve. It brings families together and makes communities into parties when a local girl or boy has risen to the top of their field. It makes you feel good. Everyone should engage in some kind of physical pursuit for both their physical and mental health – the plethora of studies outlining the benefits of exercise for everything from diabetes to depression and more is irrefutable. And I know it can be hard to find the thing that truly engages you, and it’s hard when you first start to exercise to get past the effort and certainty you’re going to puke. But there’s something out there for everyone – you just have to look until you find an activity you love that also happens to be a type of exercise. Rock climbing, cycling, footy, martial arts, swimming, fucking Dance Dance Revolution – I guarantee there’s something you’ll get a rush out of and it will become a passion. Or don’t bother, it’s up to you entirely. And if you do find an activity you love, you don’t have to watch the footy finals too, but don’t heap shit on people who do. Whatever you do or don’t choose to engage in, you’d expect other people to respect your choices. Show them the same courtesy.
Of course there are a lot of inherent problems with sport – sexism, misogyny, drunkenness, elitism, violence, massively overpaid professionals with the morals of a stray cat on heat, etc. But you see that in lots of other fields too. Yes, I’d like to see an equal amount of government funding go to the arts as that which goes to sport. Yes, I’d like to see women’s teams paid the same as men’s teams. But I won’t write off such a huge and integral part of the human condition and society based on the behaviour of the idiot few.
So the next time you’re about to ridicule someone for their passion, stop and think about how it feels when someone ridicules you for yours. It’s the same thing. Check your hypocrisy.
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