Category Archives: book news

book news, Challenges

Worlds Without End Grand Master Reading Challenge

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Hot on the heels of the announcement that author Connie Willis was just named the winner of the 2011 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award I wanted to mention the other science fiction reading challenge that I am participating in this year in the hopes that you will consider joining in.

Worlds Without End has long been a very nice SF/F/H related site with really good content and great genre resources. They recently announced their year long reading challenge:

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book news

Foundation and Empire Group Read

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(Cover image by the incomparable Michael Whelan)

Though we are right in the middle of our two week group read of Isaac Asimov’s novel, Foundation, it is my hope/assumption that you will not want to stop now when there is still so much to discover. With that in mind I wanted to announce that I plan to host two more Asimov group reads to round out the original trilogy: Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation.

Asimov’s tale of the collapse of the Galactic Empire and rise of the Foundation continues with Foundation and Empire. There are parts of this book that I remember with great affection from my first reading and I am truly excited to be able to experience it with all of you.

This group read is open to everyone, whether you were able to join in with us for the Foundation group read or not. I know there are a few of you in the process of catching up to us and I hope more will consider taking part.

I thought it best to give a little warning so that you will have time to track down a copy of the book.

The details are not wildly different from other group reads.

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book news, Home

Patrick Rothfuss Sez…

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Okay, maaaaybe I took a little poetic license in reiterating what he said. But it is all for a good cause.

I was commenting on the blog of “A No. 1 Patrick Rothfuss Fan” Logan K. Stewart’s site last night and mentioned that I was kicking myself (you should see the bruises. I think I pulled a groin muscle) for the fact that I forget about Mr. Rothfuss’ most excellent blog for long stretches and by so doing am highly likely missing out on geek-affirming goodness.

And so I was.

You know all those Book Pron posts that we love to read and to write? Those image-laden affairs that cause us to drool all over our cardigans? Well Patrick Rothfuss has made all of us his b*tches! His last month of blogging has page after page after page of the sickest book pron (and geek pron) ever assembled.

Before you go all “good for him, the lucky stiff”, know this: all this book pron is for you and for me. (But mostly for me, ;)).

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book news

2011: A Year in Review

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“What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.

Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”

— Anne Lamott


One of the highlights of the act of blogging is engaging in year end discussions on favorite books, films, television shows and games consumed over the course of the year. And here at Stainless Steel Droppings I aim to please by giving you a clear and *cough* concise review of the stories that have engaged my imagination throughout the year. In the interest of bringing you the very best, I have spent much of the last few weeks sequestered with my crack research team revisiting 2011.

The results have now been delivered and I am excited to share with you, in no particular order, my favorites in 2011. If title is underlined it is an indication of the presence of a review that you may access by clicking on said title.

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Art/Photography, book news, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy Covers of 2011

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(Picture of one of my favorite illustrators, Frank Frazetta. Photo Credit)

For much of my blogging life I have tried to maintain a commitment to not only discuss books but also to showcase artists past and present whose work I admire. While I have gotten away from that to some degree over the years (need to fix that!) one of my annual pleasures is sharing the book cover illustrations that I found most exciting from science fiction and fantasy books published in 2011. This is in no way meant to be an exhaustive list and I understand that we all have different tastes. I am well aware of the fact that I am not a definitive authority on what is “best”, I simply know what I like and venture to explain why I like it. Book covers draw me to books, it is as simple as that. Even when it comes to reading authors whose work I have previously enjoyed, I will go out of my way to find a cover that attracts my eye if more than one cover is available. This is especially true with science fiction classics.

Here then are the book covers that I’ve liked best from what was published in the United States this year. Rather than grouping them in any special order, I chose to display them in order of publication, from the beginning of 2011 through the end. Special thanks go out to Locus Magazine online for their annual posting of the covers and artists of genre-related material, to SF Signal for their Cover Art Smackdowns, and also to Fantasy Book Critic for their monthly spotlight posts, which provided a clear, concise format for me to review this year’s releases.

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