"it is my great regret to inform you that Atlas Shrugged: Part I is neither good nor good-bad, but bad-bad-bad-bad. I dreamed, not of sesame chicken, but of my own swift and merciful death, and that of the director, not necessarily in that order."

Many translated versions of the maps from The Hobbit.

Parsing the Russian translation of the map in The Hobbit.

The Transnistrian Infundibulator (nothing to do with the fact taht I am currently in Moldova).

Roundup of DWJ tributes.

Farah Mendlesohn's tribute to DWJ.

(;,;)

Charles Butler took Diana Wynne Jones for a balloon ride in 2005.

What on Earth is one of the major post-war writers in any genre doing writing a Doctor Who tie-in? And, from the other side, why on Earth is a brand as closely managed as Doctor Who putting itself in the hands of someone as ferociously revisionist as Moorcock? Funnily enough, the book itself provides one answer to both those questions: this is whe…

Ursula Le guin on swearing.

The history of science fiction, depicted as a whale. Really.

Dune reimagined as a children's book

Hooray!

Martin Freeman as Bilbo, and the dwarves including James Nesbitt, give a press conference.

Because Anne asked.

"In the 15-year-old book, Yeskov re-wrote Tolkien’s masterpiece from the point of view of Mordor"

I was rather impressed by the work of both Hamilton and Brackett when I sampled them recently in the Hartwell / Cramer _Space Opera Renaissance_ anthology. Now we have a chance to read the best of Hamilton for free, I shall gladly take it.

"Five cups of tea are drunk on approximately two occasions over the course of The Day of the Triffids... Coffee appears sooner, but no more frequently... This book is chockful of alcohol in a very 50s way."

This is a slightly peculiar exchange but one feels that both interlocutors are doing their best to be decent human beings.

"Since Dhalgren’s publishing history still elicits minimal interest, let me try to straighten some of it out. Fred, you came to see us in our three-room second-floor Paddington Street flat in London, twice, once when we weren’t in and our upstairs neighbor was baby-sitting for not-quite-year-old Iva; then you came back, a second time, when Ma…

"I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'" "Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."

"Dear Hugo nominators: please do not nominate Connie Willis's Blackout/All Clear as a single work."

Brit Mandelo reviews the Tiptree-winning manga

Why Peadar liked it when he was 15 and still likes it now.

I have a feeling that I did some of this research myself a while back, but it's a good list.

Westeros v Europe (for George R.R. Martin fans)

Calling out shoddy research - when you are its subject.

Tansy Rayner Roberts gives an excellent overview and ideas on where to get started on the Vorkosigan saga (but doesn't cover Bujold's fantasy books).

"Martin Freeman as Bilbo (possibly the most inspired piece of casting of the last few years, if only because it's made me realize just how much Bilbo and Arthur Dent have in common)"