CV Rick

Featured Post - Ninja Writer's Story Club - Lyda Morehouse

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Of all the stories I've read by Lyda, her first published story is both my favorite and her shortest.

Irish Blood

A dying soldier is visited by someone darker than death. 

Some French pasture is the last place I should be doing my dying. It irks me especially to be dying for a foreign king...ah, still, it seems unavoidable. The shrapnel from the mortar bomb sliced clean through something major in my chest. Blood is everywhere. I can feel its warm, stickiness on the hard ground beneath me. I wouldn't be so worried, except the pain disappeared an hour or more ago. Now, all that's left is a sort of gut-wrenching, floating feeling. Off in the distance, beyond the artillery fire, I can hear some birds singing. Between their twittering and that warm breeze bringing the smell of sweetgrass, a guy could get to feeling peaceful.

Read it.

Featured Post - Ninja Writer's Story Club - A Classic

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The Story Club is back and this week I'm going back to a classic, one of my favorite stories of all time. 

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov.

This is a story that everyone ought to read at one time or another.  In the comments let me know if the story worked for you or if not, why.  If you couldn't get through it, let me know where you stopped. 

The story:

Aton 77, director of Saro University, thrust out a belligerent lower lip and glared at the young newspaperman in a hot fury.

Theremon 762 took that fury in his stride. In his earlier days, when his now widely syndicated column was only a mad idea in a cub reporter's mind, he had specialized in 'impossible' interviews. It had cost him bruises, black eyes, and broken bones; but it had given him an ample supply of coolness and self-confidence. So he lowered the outthrust hand that had been so pointedly ignored and calmly waited for the aged director to get over the worst. Astronomers were queer ducks, anyway, and if Aton's actions of the last two months meant anything; this same Aton was the queer-duckiest of the lot.

The Link

 - rick, reading

Featured Post - Ninja Writer's Story Club - Week 7

Who's Afraid of Wolf 359 by Ken Macleod

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Okay, this is a much shorter story than the last couple.  Not only is it shorter, but the file is pdf, it's complete, and it's readable and printable. This is a fast paced story and the premise is interested.  But rather than spoil it, here's the opening:

When you’re as old as I am, you’ll find your memory’s not what it was. It’s not that you lose memories. That hasn’t happened to me or anyone else since the Paleocosmic Era, the Old Space Age, when people lived in caves on the Moon. My trouble is that I’ve gained memories, and I don’t know which of them are real. I was very casual about memory storage back then, I seem to recall. This could happen to you too, if you’re not careful. So be warned. Do as I say, not as I did.
      
Some of the tales about me contradict each other, or couldn’t possibly have happened, because that’s how I told them in the first place. Others I blame on the writers and tellers. They make things up. I’ve never done that. If I’ve told stories that couldn’t be true, it’s because that’s how I remember them.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Featured Post - This will stay on top of the page for a week - scroll down for newer content.

Okay, this is a much shorter story than the last couple.  Not only is it shorter, but the file is pdf, it's complete, and it's readable and printable. This is a fast paced story and the premise is interested.  But rather than spoil it, here's the opening:

When you’re as old as I am, you’ll find your memory’s not what it was. It’s not that you lose memories. That hasn’t happened to me or anyone else since the Paleocosmic Era, the Old Space Age, when people lived in caves on the Moon. My trouble is that I’ve gained memories, and I don’t know which of them are real. I was very casual about memory storage back then, I seem to recall. This could happen to you too, if you’re not careful. So be warned. Do as I say, not as I did.
      
Some of the tales about me contradict each other, or couldn’t possibly have happened, because that’s how I told them in the first place. Others I blame on the writers and tellers. They make things up. I’ve never done that. If I’ve told stories that couldn’t be true, it’s because that’s how I remember them.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Featured Post - Ninja Writer's Story Club - Week 6

Dark Integers by Greg Egan

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I tried to hold it open for a while to let Daniel Abraham get us a good copy of his story, which started out really well but had a formatting reader problem.  Oh well.  On to the next story. 

This story is also up against The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chaing, which is a tough story to compete with.  Let's see how it is together.  I'll read it this week as well. 

"Good morning, Bruno. How is the weather there in Sparseland?”

The screen icon for my interlocutor was a three-holed torus tiled with triangles, endlessly turning itself inside out. The polished tones of the male synthetic voice I heard conveyed no specific origin, but gave a sense nonetheless that the speaker’s first language was something other than English.

I glanced out the window of my home office, taking in a patch of blue sky and the verdant gardens of a shady West Ryde cul-de-sac. Sam used “good morning” regardless of the hour, but it really was just after ten a.m., and the tranquil Sydney suburb was awash in sunshine and birdsong.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Dark Integers by Greg Egan

  Featured Post - This will stay on top of the page for a week - scroll down for newer content.

I tried to hold it open for a while to let Daniel Abraham get us a good copy of his story, which started out really well but had a formatting reader problem.  Oh well.  On to the next story. 

This story is also up against The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chaing, which is a tough story to compete with.  Let's see how it is together.  I'll read it this week as well. 

"Good morning, Bruno. How is the weather there in Sparseland?”

The screen icon for my interlocutor was a three-holed torus tiled with triangles, endlessly turning itself inside out. The polished tones of the male synthetic voice I heard conveyed no specific origin, but gave a sense nonetheless that the speaker’s first language was something other than English.

I glanced out the window of my home office, taking in a patch of blue sky and the verdant gardens of a shady West Ryde cul-de-sac. Sam used “good morning” regardless of the hour, but it really was just after ten a.m., and the tranquil Sydney suburb was awash in sunshine and birdsong.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Dark Integers by Greg Egan

  Featured Post - This will stay on top of the page for a week - scroll down for newer content.

I tried to hold it open for a while to let Daniel Abraham get us a good copy of his story, which started out really well but had a formatting reader problem.  Oh well.  On to the next story. 

This story is also up against The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chaing, which is a tough story to compete with.  Let's see how it is together.  I'll read it this week as well. 

"Good morning, Bruno. How is the weather there in Sparseland?”

The screen icon for my interlocutor was a three-holed torus tiled with triangles, endlessly turning itself inside out. The polished tones of the male synthetic voice I heard conveyed no specific origin, but gave a sense nonetheless that the speaker’s first language was something other than English.

I glanced out the window of my home office, taking in a patch of blue sky and the verdant gardens of a shady West Ryde cul-de-sac. Sam used “good morning” regardless of the hour, but it really was just after ten a.m., and the tranquil Sydney suburb was awash in sunshine and birdsong.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

  Featured Post - This will stay on top of the page for a week - scroll down for newer content.

I tried to hold it open for a while to let Daniel Abraham get us a good copy of his story, which started out really well but had a formatting reader problem.  Oh well.  On to the next story. 

This story is also up against The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chaing, which is a tough story to compete with.  Let's see how it is together.  I'll read it this week as well. 

"Good morning, Bruno. How is the weather there in Sparseland?”

The screen icon for my interlocutor was a three-holed torus tiled with triangles, endlessly turning itself inside out. The polished tones of the male synthetic voice I heard conveyed no specific origin, but gave a sense nonetheless that the speaker’s first language was something other than English.

I glanced out the window of my home office, taking in a patch of blue sky and the verdant gardens of a shady West Ryde cul-de-sac. Sam used “good morning” regardless of the hour, but it really was just after ten a.m., and the tranquil Sydney suburb was awash in sunshine and birdsong.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Featured Post - Ninja Writer's Story Club - Week 5

The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics by Daniel Abraham

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Last week's story by Stephen Baxter was not well received.  I'd say it suffered from unsympathetic main characters and while it had a novel plot device, the execution was hampered by point of view.
 

This week we have a tale by one of Lyda's colleagues at SF Novelists, Daniel Abraham.  This story is up against The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chaing, which is a tough story to compete with.  Let's see how it is.  The online reader for this story is a bit tricky, but once you figure it out, you'll find it's more like reading a book than a normal site page.

For as many years as anyone in the city could remember, Olaf Neddelsohn had been the cambist of the Magdalen Gate postal authority. Every morning, he could be seen making the trek from his rooms in the boarding house on State Street, down past the street vendors with their apples and cheese, and into the bowels of the underground railway only to emerge at the station across the wide boulevard from Magdalen Gate.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics by Daniel Abraham

Featured Post - This will stay on top of the page for a week - scroll down for newer content.

Last week's story by Stephen Baxter was not well received.  I'd say it suffered from unsympathetic main characters and while it had a novel plot device, the execution was hampered by point of view.
 

This week we have a tale by one of Lyda's colleagues at SF Novelists, Daniel Abraham.  This story is up against The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chaing, which is a tough story to compete with.  Let's see how it is.  The online reader for this story is a bit tricky, but once you figure it out, you'll find it's more like reading a book than a normal site page.

For as many years as anyone in the city could remember, Olaf Neddelsohn had been the cambist of the Magdalen Gate postal authority. Every morning, he could be seen making the trek from his rooms in the boarding house on State Street, down past the street vendors with their apples and cheese, and into the bowels of the underground railway only to emerge at the station across the wide boulevard from Magdalen Gate.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics by Daniel Abraham

Featured Post - This will stay on top of the page for a week - scroll down for newer content.

Last week's story by Stephen Baxter was not well received.  I'd say it suffered from unsympathetic main characters and while it had a novel plot device, the execution was hampered by point of view.
 

This week we have a tale by one of Lyda's colleagues at SF Novelists, Daniel Abraham.  This story is up against The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chaing, which is a tough story to compete with.  Let's see how it is.  The online reader for this story is a bit tricky, but once you figure it out, you'll find it's more like reading a book than a normal site page.

For as many years as anyone in the city could remember, Olaf Neddelsohn had been the cambist of the Magdalen Gate postal authority. Every morning, he could be seen making the trek from his rooms in the boarding house on State Street, down past the street vendors with their apples and cheese, and into the bowels of the underground railway only to emerge at the station across the wide boulevard from Magdalen Gate.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Featured Post - This will stay on top of the page for a week - scroll down for newer content.

Last week's story by Stephen Baxter was not well received.  I'd say it suffered from unsympathetic main characters and while it had a novel plot device, the execution was hampered by point of view.
 

This week we have a tale by one of Lyda's colleagues at SF Novelists, Daniel Abraham.  This story is up against The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chaing, which is a tough story to compete with.  Let's see how it is.  The online reader for this story is a bit tricky, but once you figure it out, you'll find it's more like reading a book than a normal site page.

For as many years as anyone in the city could remember, Olaf Neddelsohn had been the cambist of the Magdalen Gate postal authority. Every morning, he could be seen making the trek from his rooms in the boarding house on State Street, down past the street vendors with their apples and cheese, and into the bowels of the underground railway only to emerge at the station across the wide boulevard from Magdalen Gate.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Featured Post - Ninja Writer's Story Club - Week 4

Last Contact by Stephen Baxter

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Now we're rolling.  Tideline by Elizabeth Bear was very well received.  I just want to reiterate that if you can't get interested in the story and decide not to read it, that's completely acceptable.  Just log a comment telling the rest of us where you gave it up and why.  That's just as valuable as finishing the story and saying you didn't like it. 

This week: Stephen Baxter.  This is up against two stories we've already read in the story club: "Tideline"  and "A Small Room in Koboldtown" for the Hugo short story.  I've decided to stick with the short story category for this week.  This one is creepy and dark (although that's a definition in question).

March 15th
Caitlin walked into the garden through the little gate from the drive. Maureen was working on the lawn.

Just at that moment Maureen’s phone pinged. She took off her gardening gloves, dug the phone out of the deep pocket of her old quilted coat and looked at the screen. “Another contact,” she called to her daughter.

Caitlin looked cold in her thin jacket; she wrapped her arms around her body. “Another super-civilization discovered, off in space. We live in strange times, Mum.”

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Last Contact by Stephen Baxter

Featured Post - This will stay on top of the page for a week - scroll down for newer content.

Now we're rolling.  Tideline by Elizabeth Bear was very well received.  I just want to reiterate that if you can't get interested in the story and decide not to read it, that's completely acceptable.  Just log a comment telling the rest of us where you gave it up and why.  That's just as valuable as finishing the story and saying you didn't like it. 

This week: Stephen Baxter.  This is up against two stories we've already read in the story club: "Tideline"  and "A Small Room in Koboldtown" for the Hugo short story.  I've decided to stick with the short story category for this week.  This one is creepy and dark (although that's a definition in question).

March 15th
Caitlin walked into the garden through the little gate from the drive. Maureen was working on the lawn.

Just at that moment Maureen’s phone pinged. She took off her gardening gloves, dug the phone out of the deep pocket of her old quilted coat and looked at the screen. “Another contact,” she called to her daughter.

Caitlin looked cold in her thin jacket; she wrapped her arms around her body. “Another super-civilization discovered, off in space. We live in strange times, Mum.”

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Featured Post - This will stay on top of the page for a week - scroll down for newer content.

Now we're rolling.  Tideline by Elizabeth Bear was very well received.  I just want to reiterate that if you can't get interested in the story and decide not to read it, that's completely acceptable.  Just log a comment telling the rest of us where you gave it up and why.  That's just as valuable as finishing the story and saying you didn't like it. 

This week: Stephen Baxter.  This is up against two stories we've already read in the story club: "Tideline"  and "A Small Room in Koboldtown" for the Hugo short story.  I've decided to stick with the short story category for this week.  This one is creepy and dark (although that's a definition in question).

March 15th
Caitlin walked into the garden through the little gate from the drive. Maureen was working on the lawn.

Just at that moment Maureen’s phone pinged. She took off her gardening gloves, dug the phone out of the deep pocket of her old quilted coat and looked at the screen. “Another contact,” she called to her daughter.

Caitlin looked cold in her thin jacket; she wrapped her arms around her body. “Another super-civilization discovered, off in space. We live in strange times, Mum.”

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Featured Post - Ninja Writer's Story Club - Week 3

Tideline by Elizabeth Bear

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Last Week you people didn't participate at all .  .  . at least read the story and say Yay or Nay,  . . . Okay?

This week we're going to go to one of the best, innovative authors writing today: Elizabeth Bear.  Her story, Tideline, is nominated for the Hugo Award alongside last week's story by Michael Swanwick.

Chalcedony wasn’t built for crying. She didn’t have it in her, not unless her tears were cold tapered-glass droplets annealed by the inferno heat that had crippled her.

Such tears as that might slide down her skin over melted sensors to plink unfeeling on the sand. And if they had, she would have scooped them up, with all the other battered pretties, and added them to the wealth of trash jewels that swung from the nets reinforcing her battered carapace.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Edited to add:  That it's a perfectly valid response to stop reading it.  If you try to read it and it just isn't interesting or you can't get past the first couple pages - then by all means, stop and let us know.  That's the sign of a story that doesn't resonate or has problems.

Featured Post - This will stay on top of the page for a week - scroll down for newer content.

Last Week you people didn't participate at all .  .  . at least read the story and say Yay or Nay,  . . . Okay?

This week we're going to go to one of the best, innovative authors writing today: Elizabeth Bear.  Her story, Tideline, is nominated for the Hugo Award alongside last week's story by Michael Swanwick.

Chalcedony wasn’t built for crying. She didn’t have it in her, not unless her tears were cold tapered-glass droplets annealed by the inferno heat that had crippled her.

Such tears as that might slide down her skin over melted sensors to plink unfeeling on the sand. And if they had, she would have scooped them up, with all the other battered pretties, and added them to the wealth of trash jewels that swung from the nets reinforcing her battered carapace.

read the rest . . .

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Edited to add:  That it's a perfectly valid response to stop reading it.  If you try to read it and it just isn't interesting or you can't get past the first couple pages - then by all means, stop and let us know.  That's the sign of a story that doesn't resonate or has problems.

Featured Post - Ninja Writer's Story Club - Week 2

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Edited to add:  What? Is no one going to read this story with me other than Lyda??

I loved the conversation that ensued after last week's story, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate, so much that I've decided to make a Story Club out of it.  This week's story is much shorter and completely different, but it's also nominated for a Hugo Award. 

The story and the link is:

"A Small Room in Koboldtown" by Michael Swanwick was originally published in  Asimov's April/May 2007.  It's also collected in The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Tachyon Publications. 

Well, what do you think?

CAUTION - as usual with the Story Club, the comments are going to contain spoilers.

Group Reading Experiment

I'm going to keep this post on top for a week while I try a reading experiment.  Scroll down to the next post if you've already read this.