Therefore this blog now lives at: http://mostlygeeknz.wordpress.com/

Please update your links.

This quote from the article sums up a number of feelings I have on the matter quite well.

Over the same period, the fashion of literary fiction writers borrowing ideas from SF has continued. Putting aside concerns that novels such as Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go lag more than two decades behind in their treatment of cloning and genetics, for the Booker judges to consider SF ideas when recycled by literary authors, but to ignore the source of those ideas, only highlights the narrowness of the award’s perspective.

Well worth a read if you have a few minutes, not to mention that it has a very good list of forward thinking speculative fiction books that people should read.

Is speculative fiction poised to break into the literary canon? – The Guardian, Wednesday February 2nd 2011

Check out the list if you’re in need of something new to read.

Kraken is his upcoming book (out in the UK in May) and there’s an extract at the publisher’s website. It’s just a short one but it’s a great set up. It’s a return to the real real world – actual London (like in King Rat) rather than made up eastern Europe (like in The City & The City) so that will be interesting. Most people, including myself if I’m honest, would prefer a return to Bas-Lag, the world of Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council, but a man’s gotta write what he’s gotta write – the worst possible thing would be a new Bas-Lag novel just for the hope of selling more copies!

I waited to buy The City & The City until I saw it on sale and I suspect I’ll wait for this in paperback too, unless it gets really seriously good reviews. Luckily Mieville is one of those guys who everyone has an opinion on so at least there will eb lots of reviews.

Sorry for last week’s lack of links and apologies in advance for the lack of links next week!

• Mark Charan Newton thinks sci-fi books are dying. I tend to agree.
• Why fandom owes even more to H.P. Lovecraft than we realised.
• A man has ‘beaten’ WoW. Sort of (via Boing Boing)
• Dollhouse battles were about sex. So says Whedon – Fox will never tell.
• Real life vampire killing kits!
• Using Microsoft’s Surface to play D&D – more footage.

• Charles Stross writes on the issues to do with spaceships.
• Lev Grossman chooses his top 5 fantasy books of all time! (via i09.com)
• Something Awful dissects the art of Traveller.
• Paizo are having another of their RPG Superstar design competitions.

I think the internet is playing Dragon Age too…