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The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde
While many arguments can be made for dead tree books, I can't argue that my Kobo has me reading more. The ease of finding books and never having to wait for a hold to come is wonderful. Then, as an added bonus, out of print books are easily found as authors discover that they can release epubs.
Norman Spinrad is one such author, who is using Smashwords. He has been a huge influence on Warren Ellis and has a prescient touch for a science fiction writer active in the 60s and 70s. I finished his short story collection, The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde. It's rare to find a book where every story is a winner. My favourite was the lead one, "Carcinoma Angels". Others were serious, or funny, or speculative, but all enjoyable.
I discovered beforehand that he had written an episode of classic Star Trek and this coloured my perception of his stories. Many of them feel like they were written for TV or as spec scripts for Star Trek. As such, there are often strong male leads, a couple of exotic females and thoughtful action. But gender roles do make the stories dated and mildly chauvinistic. Spinrad isn't afraid to give characters strong personalities though, which makes his work all the more interesting. Too often authors dwell in the passive voice and universes are populated by middle of the road characters instead of unique individuals.
Norman Spinrad is one such author, who is using Smashwords. He has been a huge influence on Warren Ellis and has a prescient touch for a science fiction writer active in the 60s and 70s. I finished his short story collection, The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde. It's rare to find a book where every story is a winner. My favourite was the lead one, "Carcinoma Angels". Others were serious, or funny, or speculative, but all enjoyable.
I discovered beforehand that he had written an episode of classic Star Trek and this coloured my perception of his stories. Many of them feel like they were written for TV or as spec scripts for Star Trek. As such, there are often strong male leads, a couple of exotic females and thoughtful action. But gender roles do make the stories dated and mildly chauvinistic. Spinrad isn't afraid to give characters strong personalities though, which makes his work all the more interesting. Too often authors dwell in the passive voice and universes are populated by middle of the road characters instead of unique individuals.