Neil Gaiman has just won this year’s Hugo award for best novel, for The Graveyard Book – and I can’t be the only one who isn’t surprised by the news. I knew Gaiman was more than just a great writer when I read the comic mini-series Death: The High Cost of Living in 1993. I’dContinue reading “The myth-making genius of Neil Gaiman”
Author Archives: Damien Walter
Not World Con 1
The programme for Not World Con 1 is starting to take shape thanks to contributions from around the world! The programme is very much still open, so please add your suggestions! Check back regularly for programme updates. GoH / Reading List Boneshop by Tim Pratt Richard Morgan’s Thirteen Anything by Neil Gaiman Talks & Panel DiscussionsContinue reading “Not World Con 1”
A WorldCon of our own
The World Science Fiction convention is well underway in Montreal by now. Up until a few weeks ago I was sure I would be attending, but when it came down to it I just could not justify it for this year. I’m doubly sad as many Clarion friends are there and I would love toContinue reading “A WorldCon of our own”
Gandalf vs. Dumbledore
Are you sitting comfortably? Then let us begin. Once upon a time, there was a kindly old wizard whose only concerns were pipe weed, hobbits and a gold ring that caused all kinds of trouble. Gandalf (for so the wizard was named) lived happy in the knowledge that he was the greatest wizard of themContinue reading “Gandalf vs. Dumbledore”
The Booker longlist is ignorant and bigoted
The long list for the Booker prize has been announced today, and has dashed my hopes that following the victory of Interzone’s Chris Beckett in the National Short Award, The Booker would foil its many critics (myself included) and include some of the great works of speculative fiction published this year. In previous years IContinue reading “The Booker longlist is ignorant and bigoted”
Sofanauts #13
I seem to have spent most of this weekend recording Sofanauts #13 with Jeff Vandermeer, Amy H Sturgis and host Tony C. Smith…so you lot better go listen to it now! (Or just skip through to about six minutes form the end where the out takes begin)
Why do we write this SF stuff?
Today I bought a table. Its the final piece of furniture for my new home. Which is the first real home I have had since I was eighteen. Thats my own damn fault, for taking thirteen years to realise that a home is made, not found. The table is important, because it is where IContinue reading “Why do we write this SF stuff?”
Confessions of a fantasy junkie
My name is Damien, and I am a fantasy fan. It started as a child, when my mum read me The Lord of the Rings. Three times. Eventually tiring of JRR Tolkien, I scoured the shelves for alternatives. I found Ursula Le Guin but her great books were too few for my habit. So IContinue reading “Confessions of a fantasy junkie”
Hello Hubmarine #5
I will be reading at Hello Hubmarine in Derby on the evening of Saturday 27th June (i.e. tommorrow!) I might have a new story. I might read an old story. I might let the audience decide.
WorldCon vs. World Fantasy
If you could go to only one, which would be and why? Answer below. I am caught in indecision. I can afford to do either WorldCon (Montreal) of World Fantasy (San Francisco) this year. I had almost settled on World Fantasy because of the higher concentration of writers and editors in my favored milieu ofContinue reading “WorldCon vs. World Fantasy”
Gemmell Award Winner
Andrezj Sapkowski has won the innugural David Gemmell award for Fantasy fiction (Fantasy with a big F, as the organisers say). There is a lot to like about the Gemmell’s. I loved David Gemmell’s novels as a teenager and was sad when he passed away. I can really enjoy a rollicking good heroic fantasy, markContinue reading “Gemmell Award Winner”
We need more beautiful magazines
Mary Robinette Kowal made a wonderful point on tonight’s Sofanauts. In a discussion on the iPhone as e-reader Mary argued that e-books and online ‘zines would not kill printed publications. But the publications that survive will be the ones who understand the value of the physical object they are producing. I could not agree more.
Damien Walter 