Set roughly two-hundred years in the future, Arthur C. Clarke’s Earthlight is a science-fiction drama set on The Moon during a political crisis, between the Earth-aligned governments and a federation of solar system colonies. What is particularly interesting about Earthlight is that Clarke published this in 1955, fourteen years before humans walked on The Moon (in fact, two years before Sputnik 1 first reached low Earth orbit). And he gets […]
I am not really much of a comic reader. I like comics, in general, but my standards are very high, especially for graphic novels. Although I had read Phantom, Captain America, and a few other comics before, my first graphic novel was Watchmen. When you start with the best, it’s hard not to feel that everything else is a let down. So it was unsurprising to me that I found […]
The Word for World is Forest is a science-fiction novel by Ursula Le Guin, although the science-fiction elements are very much just window-dressing. This story is very much an analogue for the US’ involvement in the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, the story has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
I like making maps. The first thing I usually do when beginning a project, long before I start writing, is to make a map (or several). It might not be a continent-sized creation. It might just be the floor plans where the main scenes are set. Or an adaptation of an existing map. For instance, on one recent project I adapted the street map for a place but set in […]
In comparison, it’s not much, but recently my novel Coils of the Serpent crossed the 10,000 views mark on Royal Road. The more popular works receive that many in a day, but it is almost two years to the day since I posted the first chapter there. Add in the few thousand views the novel has received on other sites (plus the three views it got on Wattpad before I […]
If you ask any professional writer what’s the best way to improve your own writing, they will nearly always tell you to read. Read as much as you can. Read material outside your usual likes, even outside your comfort zone. Read fiction. Read non-fiction. Read biographies. Read history. Just read. But, what if you can’t read? What if the act of reading interferes with your writing? What do you do? […]
The Three Body Problem is a science-fiction novel written by Liu Cixin. Originally serialised in Science Fiction World in 2006, the novel was subsequently published as a stand-alone Chinese-language version in 2008, with the English-language version (translated by Ken Liu) published by Tor Books in 2014. However, it is a deeply flawed novel, beset with fundamental (even basic) faults. And yet it continues to be nominated (and even win) awards. […]
I did not know Terry Bisson. In fact, I barely recognised his name when I saw John Scalzi’s post about his passing. On a whim, I did a little research. I’m glad I did. I may not have remembered his name, but I loved his work.
It’s been just over two weeks since I finished Ursula Le Guin’s, The Left Hand of Darkness. I wanted to pen my thoughts on the matter. I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum. Although the novel is fifty plus years old, it managed to pass unheeded by me until now. It is a science-fiction tale, although at its essence it’s a story about clashes of cultures, and finding common […]
I’ve had several people ask how to pronounce the names and places in my novel Coils of the Serpent. I’ve created an IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) pronunciation guide for the first ten chapters. Use the link at the bottom of the page if you’re curious on what they sound like. I recommend using a German or Dutch voice.
