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grumblepuppy commented on the blog post The Mysterious Galaxy
Another interesting CM Kornbluth novel is _The Syndic_. I think it is out of print, so consult your local Amazon. Very political compare/contrast between fascism and corpratism. The author’s thumb is on the scale, and it is dated (there’s a very cold-war mindset in it), but it is interesting, and a modern reader might find some jarring resonance with some stuff on both sides of the novel.
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grumblepuppy commented on the blog post The Mysterious Galaxy
If you like Florida fiction, check out Harry Crews. It is some of the most brutal, disturbing stuff I’ve ever read, but it is very engaging. He was a professor at some Fla. school, if I remember correctly. (Read these a long time ago, and don’t have them anymore.) Crews takes a very intimate, almost loving, approach to the worst in people, puts it in motion, and manages to turn it into a morality tale, while writing a horrorshow of strangeness at the same time.
Kinda like Florida, come to think.
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grumblepuppy commented on the blog post The Mysterious Galaxy
Damn, editing a post completely destroys paragraphs, and doesn’t accept HTML replacements. Sorry for my mess there – I’ll remember to pre-edit better.
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grumblepuppy commented on the blog post The Mysterious Galaxy
As a huge scifi nerd, I have to chime in.
Vernor Vinge is excellent. _A Deepness in the Sky_, _A Fire upon the Deep_, and the Bobble Wars trilogy are brilliant. There’s a distinct right wing-anarchist element to a lot of it, to be sure. I’m not afraid of engaging with sincere people who hold other beliefs, and neither should you be.
If the reader enjoys the hard stuff, Greg Egan is great. Some, ok, all, of his earlier novels lack most of the things people look for in things called ‘novels’, like narrative voice, actors, and recognizable plotting. Several of his books don’t even have recognizable protagonists – one is about what amounts to software interacting over long periods of time (more complex than that, but…). But it pays off in ideas. You can get a feel for him at his website. Not for everyone. His later novels are much more human-scale, and he gets better at the yeoman’s work of writing.
Charlie Stross is wonderful. He does both sci-fi and fantasy. _Accellerondo_ is scattered, as first novels frequently are, but brilliant. The rest are all solid, well done works. The Family Trade fantasy novels are engaging, quality explorations of politics.
I’ll stop there, because that’s a normal person’s reading list for a year.
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grumblepuppy commented on the blog post Statement of Events: Bradley Manning’s Primary Visitor Detained at Quantico
Does anyone know if it would be counterproductive to go for a visit? Quantico is a bit of a hike for me – about 6 hours – but I am willing to go. I don’t want to do this if it cuts against other efforts, and it would be best if many of us do so.
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grumblepuppy commented on the blog post Heart Spark Dollar Sign
Zombie Dick Cheney will just order out for fresh hearts as needed.
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grumblepuppy commented on the blog post One Tip Can Get You on the Terrorist Watch List
This is the next generation of ordering hundreds of magazine subscriptions and pizzas style harassment.
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grumblepuppy commented on the blog post Pop-Up Punditry (Now With Butthurtiness)
I think what that means is that our man Colby sees this particular pile of puke – the story about Obama’s trip – not as something true or false, but as something to be “supported” or “not supported”. Further he wants you to know that he wasn’t a “supporter” – he was just attempting to siphon some traffic from it.
Also, he appears to have gotten his journamalism degree from a Crackerjack box, wears his ego on his forehead, has the same thick skin (and research skillz) sported by Sarah Palin, and is dumb enough to think that showing up here is some sort of “bring it! eleventy” manhood substitute.
Oops.
