A Fall of Moondust

A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If I had read this even twenty years ago instead of in 2011, I'd have easily given it a top rating. Clarke's stories are always interesting and the style is impeccable even though A Fall of Moondust suffers slightly from the constant march of technological innovation.

It is only when one realizes that this novel was written in 1961 that Clarke's genius becomes evident. In chapter 7, Clarke envisions not only the development of programs to check spelling and grammar, but asserts that, "Many were the hilarious disasters that had overtaken those who had left it all to electronics." In chapter 9, Clarke's vision of the future includes a marked decline in use of eyeglasses, a prophecy now in progress thanks to LASIK eye surgery. Later, in chapter 17, Clarke raises carbon dioxide poisoning as one of the dangers facing the crew and passengers of the Selene, almost a decade before the crew of Apollo 13 were faced with this same threat.

Though the behavior of the characters is solidly "from the early sixties", the science is plausible, the plot is well-conceived and executed with skill, and the setting? Well, how can one of the greatest science fiction authors possibly go wrong using our own hostile moon for the setting? As dated as A Fall of Moondust might be, it has withstood the test of time and is an engaging and enjoyable read even though a half century has passed since Clarke committed it to paper and mailed it to a publisher. Not many novels -- science fiction or not -- are able to pass that test.

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Premonitions

We haven't settled on a title for the anthology we are developing here at the Herscher Project, but Premonitions will certainly do for a working title. The anthology will feature stories and poems of mankind's future: dark dystopia... environmental bankruptcy... impending apocalypse... doom, gloom, and disaster... with a few scattered candles of flickering hope.

We've selected some "classics" from the Herscher Project's vault, sprinkled in some new material, and have opened the doors and given a shout out to our members for more new material. To reach our target for the anthology's length, though, we will be inviting some carefully-chosen non-tHP-members to join us!

A few selections that have been decided on are:

"Remnant" by Chris Heisserer,
"A Morning with Toireasa Cass" by Miriam Plachta,
"The Sacred World" by Louise Hughes,
"LifeCycle" by Jess Hyslop,
"Cloud of Witnesses" by Peter Blair,
"I Walk..." by Matthew Summers,
"Prometheus Rebound" by Steve Doyle,
"Fields of Blood" by Deb Smith,
"Domicile 4.5" by Matthew Williams,
"Up From Below" by Jamie A Hughes,
"In The Light" by Neil Foster,
"Aftermath" by Jim Bowers,
"Wave Goodbye" by Chris A Jackson, and
"One Day We Shall Be Gone" by Saana Tykkä

For authors interested in joining in on this adventure, a January 1, 2012 deadline for submissions has been set. Questions may be addressed to herscherproject[at]gmail[dot]com.

How To Make Jambalaya

(Source: How To Make Jambalaya)

Jessica Bell's "String Bridge" book trailer

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4538875.Jessica_Bell

The Uncanny Valley of Faerie

I am still tantrumming.

I recently finished a couple of Tam Lin-inspired books sent to me by a friend, one of which was very good, technically speaking, the other probably self-published or put before a very apathetic editor. Both, however, drove me up the wall due to mixing 1) Scottish balladry 2) English scenery and 3) North American wildlife.

The first two an are insulting combination to the British reader, yet tolerable since the ballad did indeed make it down to England, with Janet tamed and renamed Margaret and the fairies' teeth drawn to make it more palettable to the Sassenach. The third kept throwing me out of the story like a kid from a car crash. Which set me wondering - at what point does fantastic ecology become jarring?

My thought was that an 'uncanny valley' exists for fantasy settings as much as in more acute/visual media. A completely alien ecology that still has human(oid)s wandering around is easy to swallow, likewise a clearly well-researched, fact-based alternate history setting...yet somewhere nearer the latter there's a deep well of wrongness, where bears and hummingbirds roam mediaeval Scotengireland and the desert folk are mysteriously white...where's the line? What would make you go "gah, no wizard could do that," and set the book aside, unsettled? Are there other corners of setting, character or culture that are subject to this effect?

Thoughts, anyone?

Bottle

Writing and the Internet

Patricia C Wrede's observations regarding Internet pros and cons are words of wisdom worth reading, contemplating, and putting into practice. She touches on some advantageous aspects of the Internet as well as a few treacherous pitfalls.

News from Chris A Jackson

On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 10:56 AM, Chris A Jackson wrote:

Hey all,

Well, the computer is recovered from the crash, and I'm up and running!

Jundag, Book 3 of The Cornerstones Trilogy, is up on Amazon, so you can finally fulfill your fix and get the final book in the series. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Jundag-Cornerstones-Trilogy-Chris-Jackson/dp/1439229597

Also, Scimitar's Heir, book 3 in the series of Scimitar Seas novels is in the final edit stages, way ahead of schedule. We will be back in the states for Gen Con in August, for the release of the "Hero Comes Home" anthology, edited by Gabriel Harbowy, my DMP editor, and Ed Greenwood, creator of The Forgotten Realms! We will, of course, also be doing Dragon Con again, where Scimitar's Heir will be released.

Also, Scimitar Sun is a finalist for the ForeWord Book of the Year award this year. WOOT! Wish me luck!

Big year! Here it comes!

Thank you all!

Chris

Fibonacci numbers

Blogs (and other such nonsense)

The world has transformed into a morass of blogs, tweets, and social networking.

I'm not certain that this phenomenon is a bad thing, but I do harbor some concern that it indicates a growing cultural inability to sustain coherent thought for more than a couple hundred words at a time... Is this the onset of LADD (Literary Attention Deficit Disorder)?

So, risking the possibility I may fall victim to LADD, I sit down to compose a blog post in the tried and true hunt-and-peck style. I pause to ponder, and come to the conclusion that whatever I write certainly will be lost among these billions upon billions of words that don't really exist, but appear as if by magic through the technology of the Internet. Perhaps I should be grateful of that, for I also realize I have little talent at stringing together these short streams of wit. Each time I've made an earnest effort at writing a few words of merit to post in a blog, the attempt seems to end as either a failure or a dismal failure.

Ah well, c'est la vie...