October News and Reading Recommendations

October News (a late capture from my website):

The most exciting news for October is clearly the new cover art for THE SILVER SHIP AND THE SEA:



The art is by Stephan Martiniere, the same artist that Tor used for Building Harlequin's Moon. I'm pleased that it captures the desolate feel of Fremont, the planet I created for the book. Note that the hardcover can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com now.
The other news is that I'm getting much more serious about a few things: global warming, and understanding Web 2.0. That will eventually translate to re-doing this page to be more interactive and blog-like. My model is probably Tobias S. Buckell's page. Except I can't imagine looking as cool as Toby. Anyway, I'm also playing with a livejournal and a global warming blog (links to all above). Both are time-sinks, so we'll see how long at least the live journal stays up, but it's a rather nifty way to stay in touch with people.

Last bit of news - I traveled to Alaska in September, and fell in love with the state. It is breathtaking. I must have taken hundreds of pictures in just two days. A wild and beautiful and largely unspoiled place. Nice to be surrounded by so little concrete.

October Reading Recommendations:
Naomi Novick: Her Majesty's Dragon

Easily the best dragon book I've read in years. Naomi has a wonderful voice, and the story is exactly familiar enough to comfortable in and different enough to delight. I loved this book. An easy fun, read. And not easy to put down.

Vernor Vinge: Rainbow's End

Talk about a futurist's dream of a book! Vernor packed credible, fascinating near-future world building into every single page of this book. As icing on the cake, he added good characters and an interesting story. Note - this is a book you savor, and think about. It wasn't a page-turner for me; it was a sheer joy. Even if you don't regularly read science fiction, if you want to understand a very plausible future this book will help you. I've met Vernor a number of times, and he is one of the brightest intellectual lights on this planet. It shows in this book.