All posts by Carl V. Anderson

Today is the Day!!!

I cannot believe it! It is finally here! Rumors of this show began to trickle out last year and back in mid-October tickets went on sale and I quickly snatched up my weekend pass.

This is a huge, huge deal! Science Fiction and Fantasy illustration, particularly in the realm of book covers, is the kind of art I have the biggest connection to, one that dates back to my earliest recollections of seeing book covers by artists like John Berkey, Frank Frazetta and a host of other amazing artists. This show will feature some of the long-time greats as well as newer faces in the industry. It is going to be amazing, and it is right here in Kansas City. I’m a bit beside myself with glee!

Some of the many I am looking forward to seeing this weekend are:

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Selections from “Tapping the Dream Tree”, Part I


(Photo credit: Ben Gwilliam)

After my recent enjoyable experience of reading Charles de Lint’s novel, Spirits in the Wires, with Kailana, we both felt that more de Lint needed to occur during this year’s Once Upon a Time Challenge. So here we are, along with fellow reader Susan, savoring a trip through de Lint’s short story collection, Tapping the Dream Tree. We will be reading three stories each week and will be answering one question having to do with each story. The idea is to talk about the stories without, hopefully, spoiling too much of what is written. Be warned that there may be some spoilers all the same. Kailana asked the questions for this week’s selections.

Charles de Lint is an author whose works feature, among other things, artists and other creative folk. And to honor the spirit of that I will be including images I find online, and crediting their creators, that in my mind fit thematically with each of the stories. I thought it would be a wonderful way to introduce you to other creative people and to honor, in some small way, the magic that Charles de Lint weaves within his stories.

Continue reading Selections from “Tapping the Dream Tree”, Part I →

World Without End ~Joe Haldeman

World Without End ~Joe Haldeman

–published February 1979
–Bantam Books
–148 pages
–6/10

Day one of vacation down and one book read! Yee-haw! (Now where in the world did that come from?)*

As I combed through the basement stacks looking for inspiration on what books I might choose to take along on our annual anniversary vacation (I always take far too many), my eyes lit upon this novel based on the original Star Trek television series. Haldeman is an author I have read and enjoyed before, and as a bonus he is one of the authors I had picked to read for the Grand Master Reading Challenge. It was a good choice.

In Haldeman’s second Star Trek novel he demonstrates a deft touch in capturing the essence of these characters while crafting an adventure more complex than what Roddenberry and company could manage in a one hour television show. The novel stumbles at times, mostly due to the attempt to combine intricacy in plot and brevity in novel length, but overall it is an entertaining volume in the lore of Captain Kirk and the starship Enterprise.

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Mistborn Group Read: The Conclusion

Pardon me ladies and gentlemen. It is indeed Monday. No need to adjust your calendars. After last week’s edge-of-your-seat developments in Mistborn: The Final Empire, the majority of us lost all sense of self-control and rushed ahead to read the ending section of the novel. The discussions for Part Four bordered on the spoiler-ish with so many (myself included) aching to talk about the remainder of the novel.

And so we’ve moved the discussion up by a few days.

For any interested, I will be leaving for the first part of my vacation today, a visit to the in-laws, and will have limited access to the internet. I will join in the conversations as much as I possibly can and wish everyone else a wonderful time mulling over this final section of this very good novel. If you haven’t read it, add it to your list. It will be worth the time.

Major spoilers ensue, so for those who may have an inkling to read the book I will say my goodbyes now. Have a wonderful week everyone.

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Mistborn Group Read Part 4

Oh, my gosh!!! What a week of reading! What a book! This is our 4th group discussion and our last really long passage of reading. Only one more week after this and one short (but dare I say ‘exciting’) section to read. Lynn graciously agreed to handle question duties for this week and no doubt her questions, combined with all that happened in this section of the book, will generate loads of discussion topics.

For those of you who have not read the book and were perhaps skimming through our posts please let me dissuade you from doing so this week. It isn’t that I don’t appreciate your comments, it is that now that I’ve read this first book I desperately want you to read it and the spoilers that are going to come out in this week’s Q&A will truly ruin the experience for you. And reading Sanderson is an experience.

And as for you fellow participants, what are you waiting for? Let’s get the ball rolling!

Continue reading Mistborn Group Read Part 4 →