paperhaus December 6th, 2008
In 1994, or possibly 1993, I went to the Ackermansion for the collector column of the magazine Fizz. It was my friend Jeanette’s idea — she knew all about Forrest Ackerman. I was just enthusiastic about meeting an enthusiast. And I was excited to see all his stuff.
Forrest Ackerman has died; he was 92. My hastily-written remembrance of that visit is at Jacket Copy with the photos that I took that day. I scanned this photo from the proof sheet - we never printed it. It had a few magazines, but there wasn’t enough of his awesome stuff — no creepy masks or bawdy space babes or visible vintage posters. It does have Mr. Ackerman, though, and I like that he’s not hamming for the camera. He probably thought I was taking pictures of something else – I ran around trying to snap everything - but it was really him who was the center of it all.
paperhaus October 2nd, 2008
I read a lot of books for reviewing, or blogging, or — well, formerly, grad school. But I’m done with grad school. So I read this book … just because.
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. It’s been ages since I’ve read pure science fiction, and in some ways the old sweater — or today, tank top? — felt soft and comfortable and delicious. I think his characterization is great, and the bantery dialog charming. I liked the world he created, and the not-so-strong humans colonizing space against bigger, more powerful and often hostile aliens may not have been utopic, but it was believable (as were the occasions when humans were bigger and more powerful and STILL hostile).
But other things didn’t work for me. A lot of exposition-in-dialog, characters explaining the world to each-other. Sure, a lot of the world is new to the protagonist — but too often it felt like the author explaining the world to the reader. There were a few plot points that made my eyes bulge — 100,000 people die, and 3 close friends are among the handful of survivors?
As much as I liked the protagonist, I’m not sure if I’d read the next book in the series. The part that intrigued me — 70-something man becomes a young warrior — was less interesting when I realized most of the other characters in the book had gone through the same process.
Scalzi is a man-about the internet, and I hate to say anything negative about his book. But maybe I say it to ask you — have you read it? Am I misjudging?