The Windup Girl

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.

Named one of the best novels of the year by Time, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Locus and the American Library Association. Winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards, the Compton Crook Award and the Campbell Memorial Award.

Post-apocolyptic, dystopian, future Earth, cyberpunk and probably more, this science fiction read is astoundingly good. OK, great. Really great. Paolo is a rich writer who tells this story set in a future Thailand through the viewpoint of several characters: Anderson Lake, a calorie man trying to unlock Thailand's secret new food sources and trying to discover their seed bank for his corporation; Hock Seng a relocated Chinese man who escaped genocide and dreams of reclaiming his lost standing in the world; Jaidee, a revolutionary who fights for the good of Thailand; Kanya, his second-in-command with motives of her own; and Emiko, the windup girl created as a bioengineered toy.

The nuance and reality of this story are stunning. It's like reading a tapestry. Like life, it's beautiful, twisted and brutal. Yes, it's that good. It deserves all the acclaim it gets. I'm really glad I bumped into this book.

I won't say anything more about it, because if you haven't read it yet, I'd hate to spoil it for you. Paolo is my new science fiction author hero. I hope he keeps writing and is prolific.

I eagerly await Paolo's next book. You can learn more about him and his work at: http://windupstories.com/

Have you read The Windup Girl? What'd you think? If you haven't, have you read Paolo's Ship Breaker? I have that on my list of books to buy.

The next Wistful Read, to be discussed in September, Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. It, too, has gotten a lot of good buzz. Steampunk. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Check out Jon Mac's release: Mythik Imagination, three pulptastic short stories. Love the retro sci-fi art on the cover. Available from Smashwords and Amazon. Jon blogs at Mythik Imagination and has a great feature on Wednesdays, which I love, Weird Wednesdays where he finds bizarre and wonderful things to fuel the imagination. Looking forward to reading Jon's stories. I find the titles very appealing.

Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar

Every time Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar came on scene, I cringed. Their character portrayals are so creepy and well done, that I've read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman several times to study how he made me feel how I felt about his two villains.

Any of the rest of you read Neverwhere?

It is easy to empathize with the main character, Richard, and get lost in Neil's nightmarish world. I enjoyed this story. A lot. Very imaginative and different.

Neverwhere uses the plot devise of falling into a fantasy world from our world. Other famous examples are Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, Wizard of Oz, Phantom Tollbooth, the Thomas Covenant series and many, many more. I think the idea of doorways to other worlds is intrinsically appealing. Fantasy is escape. Being able to walk into a different reality, well, there's nothing more escapish than that.

Neverwhere's underground world is dark and garish. Yet it is also wonderful and teaches us things about the actual world and our natures.

Neil is a great story teller. He catches my interest very easily and holds onto it. I've been reading Fragile Things, which is a collection of his short stories, and have been enjoying it, too. His most well-known novel is probably, American Gods. You can learn more about Neil and his vast body of work here: http://www.neilgaiman.com/

What lessons did you take from Neverwhere and Gaiman's fantasy underworld? If you haven't read Neverwhere, what is your favorite fantasy world reachable from our ordinary world?

Block Neverwhere and What's Pluto

Happy Monday everyone!

I had a terrible case of writers block end of last week. Just horrible. Granted, it was restricted to one story, but it drove me crazy. It inspired an article on the blasted ailment on my website: WRITERS DESK

I also updated my bio, calendar and news. Everything but Discovery, which I will update later this week. I also have a new poll and discussion up on the home page of my site.



What is Pluto?
What super power would you like to have? Replies limited to 250 characters. Hit the yellow 'discussion' on the left hand side at the bottom.

The next book in the Wistful Reads bookclub will be Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. He is always a treat and this book falls into the urban fantasy subgenre. Intrigued by lands like Narnia and Alice in Wonderland? This story may just be your thing. We'll talk about it more in March.

As I mentioned earlier, I had a tough go with a lack of inspiration on a short story rewrite end of last week. I loved the new 1st five pages, but could not figure out where to go from there. I struggled with all my devices and tricks for days with no luck. After writing that article, my muse found me again later that evening - just when I was about to put the piece down and get back to the novel or another rewrite.

After sitting and being still, I knew that story needed revamping. And I suppose the struggle was worth it as I am quite pleased with where it is going now. A friend's feedback has me quite focused and on track with it. I'm glad I invented multiple routes when stuck. When I am done with the rewrite, it will sit and be still once again since it is such a major overhaul of the story.

Have another rewrite slated after this one plus continuing on with revisions on novel#2. Also came up with 5 new short story ideas while trying to come up with something for the stuck piece. Did more submissions last week. Will keep at it. Onward and onward and all that.

What are your tricks when the muse leaves you high and dry on a piece?

Replay and the Time Loop

Replay by Ken Grimwood uses the science fiction plot device of the time loop - an instance of time played over and over. Usually only one or a few characters are aware of time replaying itself. Replay uses an adult lifetime as the time span relived over and over. Each subsequent life is shorter, so it becomes apparent the gift of time is not forever for the protagonist.

The question of the novel is: what would you do if you could go back and do it all over again retaining the knowledge you have now.

As the main character explores various options, he finds different degrees of happiness and torment. Some he won't chance again. He finds another person reliving lifetimes like he is and they try to find out why it is happening, but they don't figure it out. It just is. Parallelling life itself. We ask: what is it's purpose / meaning. We never really find out.

And if you could live your life over again knowing what you know, would you? Are there forks in the road where you might now decide to go the other way? In some ways, we humans try reliving certain aspects of our lives or to turn back time. We get stuck until we decide to move on or find what we need. Sometimes we get stuck for a very long time. So, is the effort futile?

Anyone else read Replay? I found it a great read and enjoyed making the discoveries of each lifetime along with the main character. What nuggets did you take away from it?

Probably the best known example of the time loop plot is the movie Groundhog Day. Bill Murray's character relives the same day over and over and he is the only one with memory of it. Another I can think of off-hand is an episode of SG-1, Window of Opportunity, where O'Neil and Teal'c relive the same day over and over.

Would it get tedious? Or would you enjoy reliving a chunk of time again and again with impunity? And I wonder, if we are the sum of our experiences and choices, how would changing them change who we are? Certainly, if we change our choices it effects the people in our lives, too.

Anyone attempt to write a piece using the time loop plot? I would find it very challenging. Hmmm, that means I will think on it and attempt it in the near future.

Return of the Vortex

This week, after spending hours upgrading the Guild's blog and this one, the vortex ate my internet connection. My desktop is still refusing to connect to the internet by refusing to assign itself an IP address. Husband is on the problem and it will eventually be resolved, but I miss the beast's speed on the internet and, of course, this tiny beast has some limitations like no printer, can't access my outlook e-mail address book, graphics, etc ... are on the PC. Everything on the PC is working except for no internet. Siiiigh. Doing a lot of online on the netbook is a pain in my backside. But something is better than nothing.

Such is life. How's your personal vortex? What's it done to you lately?

My kitties love when I buy
new shoes. They luv the
boxes.

Yesterday I had to take Makayla to the vet. She's been having troubles with her back legs for some time. My cats are going to turn 14 in December, so slowing down is expected. But recently her back was feeling different, so I took her in to be checked and for some x-rays. Turns out to be a soft tissue injury and she's on a round of steroids. It's cherry flavored. So, she's really digging it. Not.

Don't let this innocent face
fool you.

I have to commend the vet's office for asking about Nini without flinching. My little Tazmanian Devil tore them all up in the spring when she went to have her stitches removed. She sent the vet to me 3x with bloody arms and 2 vet assistants. She also took on 2 dogs and another cat. Evicting a large dog from his cage, Nini landed in his water dish. So I went home with an unhappy, dripping cat. The vet said she did not need to see Nini again any time soon. lol

So, they were happy to see Makayla is mellower.

Wistful Reads is a go. Click on the 'Bookclub' tab at the top if you're interested in joining in. We're reading Replay by Ken Grimwood. We'll be discussing the first six chapters [up to page 85] in a couple of weeks.