The good folk over at Starship Sofa have podcast Ted Chiang’s stunning novelette, “The Alchemist and the Merchant’s Gate“, which also appears in The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 2. Props to JJA for pointing this out.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering – yes, I’ve already picked several stories for The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 3.

Been noodling with a new site over at www.thestarryrift.com.  Still some stuff to go online – wallpaper to download, some short interviews, a competition or two – but it’s coming along and will be done by next week when the book goes on sale.

…I am filled with stress and irritation.  Gah!  Got some good news. Got some bad news. Got bullsh*t at work.  Gah!

Went to the post box on Tuesday to find a package from Shaun Tan containing the original drawing for one of the stories for Kelly Link’s new collection, Pretty Monsters, the one for “The Specialist’s Hat”, which I really love. Got home today and Sharyn had sent me the galley for the book, which looks terrific!  Sometimes life is really quite good.

I just finished Graham Joyce’s third young adult novel, Three Ways to Snog an Alien and I loved it. I like TWOC, his first YA, and really liked Do the Creepy Thing(*), which I think has the best title. Three Ways… is just about the most English book Joyce has written. ‘Our Doogie’ lives in Conventry with his mum and dad, and is spending his time at school doing his best to just kick back, play dumb, and have fun. But, there’s this girl, Angelica, who is pretty and interesting and a bit weird looking too. He’s interested in her, but could she be an alien? Getting dating tips from datingtips.com isn’t helping either.

The strength of this book is Doogie’s character. He’s actually smart and perceptive and funny. The book is laugh out loud funny. I don’t know if it’s science fiction – it could be – but mostly what it is is terrific and engaging and one Joyce’s best books. It’s out in July and you should definitely check it out.

Update:

* The title has been changed in the US to The Exchange.  This is a good title, I just really like the original.