The locals call Aberystwyth, the almost capital of Wales, simply Aber. It makes sense, its a mouthfull of constanants. Its an odd almost capital. Twelve thousands residents, seven thousands students. Some tourists and caravan parks. More than a few hippies and a sprinkling of writers, if you can seperate the two. I like it. IContinue reading “Aber Reads”
Category Archives: Journalism
On the Eyeball Floor
Sometimes you can like a story without really knowing why. Maybe its something to do with the transient nature of life and love I like about this, or maybe its just the excellent weirdness of the premise. On the Eyeball Floor by Tina Connolly
Kicking the Video Game Habit
The other day my self discipline failed, and after weeks of craving I bought a video game. Addictions are never broken; they are only tamed. Eventually they will escape the leash and savage a passing pedestrian. For weeks I’ve been browsing the game shops, debating the for and against of giving in to temptation. ThisContinue reading “Kicking the Video Game Habit”
Take a break somewhere fantastic
As the final days of Hay fly by, and the first grey clouds of British high summer loom on the horizon, the mind turns to distant lands and far away places. But this holiday season forget the tawdry tourist traps and third world tours and take a trip instead into some of the fantasy worldsContinue reading “Take a break somewhere fantastic”
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 2008
P.E.Cunningham’s “Monkey See” in the June, 2008, Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a lighthearted heroic fantasy tale, complete with wizards, magic, and of course, a talking sword. Read more at The Fix
Roll up for Alt.Fiction
The third annual festival of alternative fiction takes place this Saturday 26th April at the Derby Assembly Rooms, attracting goths, hippies, folkies, cyber-nerds, neo-pagans, sci-fi geeks, trekkers, real ale fans and people from dozens of other assorted sub-cultures – as well as plenty of ordinary folk – all united by their love of a goodContinue reading “Roll up for Alt.Fiction”
Don’t Abandon Hardbacks
Major publishers could be about to discard the hardback just as it becomes more valuable than ever When Claire Armistead reported the demise of the hardback last week, I wondered why publishers were tossing away one of their greatest assets just when they need it the most. It’s not every morning I awake with joyContinue reading “Don’t Abandon Hardbacks”
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 2008
The May 2008 issue of the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction kicks off with a hint of horror provided by Albert E. Cowdrey’s “Thrilling Wonder Stories.” Knowledgeable science fiction readers might recognise the title as a reference to a real (and recently relaunched) pulp magazine, and the story is set in the era ofContinue reading “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 2008”
The Politics of SF
I don’t remember when I first saw the words “Nebula Award Winner” emblazoned on a science fiction paperback. It might well have been alongside “Hugo Award Winner” on the cover of The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C Clarke, which won both of speculative fiction’s premier awards in 1979 and 1980. I can’t have knownContinue reading “The Politics of SF”
Arthur C Clarke, 1917 – 2008
One of Britain’s greatest writers and thinkers, his influence will live far into the future he predicted. As a writer, Arthur C Clarke stood alongside Robert A Heinlein and Issac Asimov as one of the fathers of the science fiction genre. Although best known for 2001: A Space Odyssey, famously adpated for film by StanleyContinue reading “Arthur C Clarke, 1917 – 2008”
F&SF Review
My review of the April issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction just went up over at The Fix. This was one of the most difficult review I’ve written so far, some of the stories were excellent but very complex and took a few readings to really get a handle on. I wasContinue reading “F&SF Review”
Why can’t the BBC grow up about fantasy?
Grit your teeth. Now pull your lips back into the widest grin you can manage, tense your entire body and, starting in your chest and moving through your throat up into your nasal cavity, generate a high-pitched “squeeeeeeeeeee” while waving you hands frantically on either side of your face, Broadway-style. There, you’ve just had aContinue reading “Why can’t the BBC grow up about fantasy?”
Damien Walter 