Time Magazine on the Singularity

An interesting article I wanted to share with you on the Singularity, which will apparently happen by the year 2045.

The author has clearly read some Richard Morgan and Peter F. Hamilton.

Do you think we will hit a/the singularity in our lifetimes? I do. I hope so. Would spice things up a bit.

It's News To Me #3

I have a ton of reviews to catch up on and I will be working hard on those this weekend...as long as everything goes as planned. That and applying/interviewing for internships. I look forward to only one of those.

Why You Should (or Shouldn't) Read 'A Game of Thrones' Before Watching the TV Show: This is a great article and I just have to add, I recommending reading it before, but at least a year before so you forget most of the details and you're only reminded of things. I fully realize my option is no longer in play.

Goodreads: Basic Premise - "Killer Unicorn" books should have Killer Unicorns on the cover. Here's the facetious review and here's the author's commentary. Me likey. :)
Pat Rothfuss Interview by Suvudu: Pat lets us know a little about the extremely long wait time between The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear. Interesting that the first draft he submitted back in the day had things like, . I think we'll all be glad for the wait in the end. :)

2010 Comic Con Patrick Rothfuss Interview from Suvudu on Vimeo.

James S. A. Corey Interview by Orbit: I have to admit, when I first heard about Daniel Abraham collaborating with Ty Franck for Leviathan Wakes, I thought Daniel Abraham was doing all the work with Ty Franck jumping on the boat. Not so, it's definitely a joint effort. Ty Franck had the entire world laid out and let's be honest, Daniel Abraham is an amazing writer. Parts II and III are on Youtube.



And that's the news...at least to me.

Review - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

In one minute, Charles Yu is going to murder himself.

Again.

When I first heard of this book and even after the first couple pages, I thought, don't we already have The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Not so, not so.

I'm really glad my first impressions were wrong because How to Live Safely Blah Blah Blah is a book that's much different and entirely it's own awesome experience. Hilarious at times, nerdy at others, fun, entertaining, with some clever ideas, How to Live Safely [US] [UK] is a book of introspection, introducing the more serious theme of making something of yourself rather than waiting for that day to come.

The protagonist is Charles Yu himself as he deals with the very real theories of time travel. Charles has a dysfunctional family, as many of us do, and much of the narrative focuses and their relationship, which I'm guessing isn't too far off from the truth.

Maybe it was the time travel aspect alone, but I this book really reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut, especially Slaughterhouse Five. Humor mixed with heavy emotions...and then there's time travel mixed in.

Why Should You Read How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe?

How to Live Safely is different from anything else you'll read this year and I"m sure you won't regret it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Independent Literary Awards - WINNERS!

January was a quick month, I barely finished the shortlist for the Independent Literary Awards - Speculative Fiction in time (I finished How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe on January 31 in fact).

Here's the Shortlist:

Monsters of Men [US] [UK] - Patrick Ness
How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe [US] [UK] - Charles Yu
Dante's Journey [US] [UK] - JC Marino (my review)
The Passage [US] [UK] - Justin Cronin
Kraken [US] [UK] - China Mieville


And the Winner is...


And the Runner-Up is...

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

Congrats to China Miéville!

I've spoken to China, who btw is an awesome guy, and he's happy to be interviewed by the panelists (i.e. me, Jared from Pornokitch, and Jamie from Mithril Wisdom). Look for that to come probably early March.