If you live in the States you’ve probably already bought the September issue of F&SF, with the cool/weird cover. It’s worth the price of admission for Kelly Link’s fantabulous story alone. One thing you might overlook, though, is Robert Kilheffer’s interesting book review column (online in full here). While his argument is not new, it remains interesting. Is SF written by Americans less forward looking than SF written by non-Americans? Hmmm. If Stan Robinson and a few others weren’t writing, I might say yes.

Oh, and yes, you need to subscribe. This is a cottage industry, and GVG & co. have been doing fantastic things with the magazine.

I don’t know when this book will be in galley, or otherwise available, but it’s one of the books I’m most looking forward to in the next four or five months. I love big retrospectives like this one because they give you a weird kind of permission to go back and read old stuff, to revisit stuff you once loved and haven’t had a chance to read for 20 years. And, if Phases of the Moon: Stories from Six Decades is anything to go by, it should be a doozy.

And speaking of that book, I just looked at the SubPress site and they list it as out of print! How can it be out of print already! I’m thrilled for them that the book did well, but I’m really hoping someone will reprint it soon. It’s the kind of book that, it seems to me, should always be in print.

One other thought: someone asked me what impact doing all of the anthologies and such I’m working on these days has had. Oddly, it means I read less. I used to focus on reading novels a lot, and feel guilty about not reading enough short fiction. I know read a lot of short fiction and feel guilty about not reading enough novels. I desperately want to, and to get reviewing again. I’m dropping off publisher’s lists for books (which is understandable), and I’m eager to stop that happening. The only way to do that, reasonably, is to write reviews. With that in mind, I’m going to finish up a little editing for what Tim calls a certain magazine tonight, try to read some more Eidolon stuff in the next day or two, get a proposal out, and then maybe on the weekend do some reading for review. I’ve got a book or two that have dropped between the cracks that could get covered, and some neat ones sitting there.

Margo mentions that her daily blogging habits are to start here, then try out Gwenda’s and Justine’s blogs and radiate out from there using their lists. Eek. Must find something interesting to say. No pressure at all. None. Actually, just occurred. Justine’s in London. Wonder if she’s going to any of the Tests? Hmm.

Everyone’s going to Glasgow. Charles went last week, and so did Gary and Russell. Justine went a few days ago, and I think Gwenda’s off any day. The people I talk to on the weekend aren’t here, and the people who reliably blog away are gone too. I’m trying very hard not to be envious, but pretty much failing. I’m hoping everyone has the best con ever, but I can’t wait for it to be over so I can have just missed it, and can start looking forward to Madison.

Following on from last week’s post, I’m still suffering from the flu, though at least this feels like the aftermath rather than the main event. I’m hoping it’ll be completely gone by the weekend. In the meantime, I’m back at work, and making sure I get plenty of sleep. Hopefully that will see me through.

I didn’t do as much reading as I’d have liked, though I did do some. Finished Thud!, which was terrific. Neil linked to Terry’s Carnegie Medal speech which, I think, carries within it much of the explanation of why he’s so good. Yes, he writes fantasy. Yes, it’s funny. But the stuff he’s writing about is very real indeed. When you list the things he writes about they almost sound trite because they are big and obvious, but that misses the point. The observations he makes are fresh and real, and the subjects really are the kind of thing you can’t touch on too often. Someone somewhere will review the book and, no doubt, erroneously link it to the post 9-11 world and the situation in the Middle East. While the analogy is there to be drawn, I don’t believe it’s a reasonable connection. As Pratchett himself says in his speech (talking about The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents):

“People have already asked me if I had the current international situation in mind when I wrote the book. The answer is no. I wouldn’t insult even rats by turning them into handy metaphors. It’s just unfortunate that the current international situation is pretty much the same old dull, stupid international situation, in a world obsessed by the monsters it has made up, dragons that are hard to kill. We look around and see foreign policies that are little more than the taking of revenge for the revenge that was taken in revenge for the revenge last time. It’s a path that leads only downwards, and still the world flocks along it. It makes you want to spit.”

Much the same could be said of Thud!. Er, not that it makes you want to spit, that is, but the other part about not referencing the current international situation.

Home sick, and killing time. I’m half way through reading Scott’s Blue Noon, and enjoying it immensely. Nothing, however, could prevent me setting it aside momentarily to jump into Terry Pratchett’s Thud!, which showed up mid-morning. Spent some time watching Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby, which was excellent, and discovered that ripping music from cd onto the computer is weirdly addictive. I’ve ripped about 5 gig today, and can’t seem to stop. I should be well and truly ready for the ipod when I actually get it. Back to work tomorrow, but don’t want to go. Maybe a half day. Cough, splutter!