Nano 2013... I'm All In!

2013 have been a strange year for me. The biggest issue has been my complete failure in finding a way to manage my time appropriately. Work has become an ever growing presence in my life, time with my family now has to be scheduled – since the teens would only stop by for clothes and money if I didn’t. Hard for me to believe that there was a time that, while I never had tons of free time, I had at least enough to write some, read some, blog some, and still watch movies, have family time, and do whatever else struck my fancy.

(Now that I think of it, I make some sort of apology/excuse for not posting or visiting almost every time I put something up. Maybe I should just have an “I’m Sorry” tab that people can read. That way I can just link to it every time I post.)

Those days are gone. Not just work, but also things like my house, which seems to be aging worse than I am. Of course, with the house, that means I deal with its aging problems by building new things, adding new features, and generally spending more and more of my money and time trying to make it better.

The latest problem has been the rear deck, always a frightening thing to see, but of late has become a danger to us all. The new one will be up to code, and it should much larger. So yay.

But I’ve really slowed way down on my writing. I’ve probably written less in 2013 than I have since 2005 or so, back when I decided to really start dedicating myself to learning the craft. It’s depressing somewhat. But it is what it is.

So, of course, I’ve decided to try NaNoWriMo again. I think I’ve completed the challenge five or six times now. But I can’t say for sure. I don’t participate every year, and I think I did it for the first time around ’06. So we can do the math and figure out that I’ve missed a few years in there.

It makes me nervous because November promises to be a difficult month for me time-wise. But I’m starting to realize that I can’t just ‘fit’ writing into what I’m doing, I have to force it in, or I won’t do it anymore.

Really, it’s a big moment for me, realizing that.

So, I’m going all in I guess. I’ve got my genre picked out – Urban Fantasy – and my premise all set (It’s actually super awesome, maybe the best idea anyone has ever had about anything*). I've not quite got the plot figured out, which is okay, although I’ll feel much more comfortable if I can get my ending set, so I at least know where I’m going, even if I’m a bit confused on how I’m going to get there.

Please, if you're signed up, add me as a buddy.

http://nanowrimo.org/participants/rusty87d

*Okay, I know there are arguments to be made for some other things being as great as my novel idea. In my head, the most profound insights ever from humans go something like this:

1)      The premise of my NaNo project this year

2)      Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity
3)      Darwin’s Origin of Species (even if you disagree with his conclusions… it’s damned amazing)
4)      The Scientific Method
5)      Fred Hoyle’s work on the life cycle of stars
6)      Descartes ideas on the nature of the human soul (despite how ridiculously wrong he almost has to be… still a great idea).
7)      Anything Tyco Brahe did, because… damn.
8)      The discovery of the circulatory system.
9)      The germ theory of disease.

10)   Newton’s discovery of Calculus.

11)   And Gravity

12)   Bruno’s belief in alien worlds.

13)   The many world’s aspect of quantum mechanics

14)   Alfred Wallace’s theory of evolution (because he was crazy!)

15)   Lamarck’s theory of evolution (because I have a bet riding on this one)

16)   The standard model of quantum mechanics (pretty cool, but not AS awesome as #13)

17)   My grandmother’s fried pie

18)   The Copernican Principal

19)   The Atari 2600

20)   The first Halo game

21)   The discovery of modern Fertilizer (btw Fritz Haber won the Nobel Prize for this… but he also invented modern chemical weapons… and personally led the “Gas Troops” for Germany in WWI and killed thousands (his wife committed suicide over this and thought him a monster). Four other future Nobel winners served under him – if memory serves (always dicey), he was later convicted of War Crimes. Seriously, this is where the Mad Scientist stereotype comes from).

22)   The electric guitar

23)   Anything Leonardo Da Vinci did (who should probably be higher, but I don’t feel like messing with the list now… just mentally insert him up there ahead of Tyco Brahe – I mean, I don’t recall Brahe making into any Assassin’s Creed Games – then again, Brahe had a pet Moose that got drunk and died after it fell down the steps at a party. So there – also, lost his nose in a duel over who was better at math, and he died because he refused to pee… so, his actual accomplishment, cataloging stars, well, you try doing it so well when you’re partying with a Moose, losing body parts and obsessively trying to hide your data from competitors).

24)   Oh, Assassin’s Creed games

25)   SETI

26)   Playing Cards (I should totally look this up… who invented those things? Because they are amazing)

27)   Kepler’s three laws (might have come a lot sooner, if Brahe weren’t so weird about sharing data – he viewed Kepler as a rival).

Were I to start over from scratch, I’d wager my list would look much differently. Whatever though, as of this moment in time, these are the greatest things that humanity ever came up with. I’d note that my Grandmother has something on this list, so, yay. She is pretty great.

Another List - This One With Books!

My favorite books of 2012

What a loaded topic. Since I know so many authors that have produced a lot of content I read during the year, I considered not doing this list at all. I decided to just let it be though, and do what I do, and hope I don’t leave anyone out that I wanted to put in. You know, I don’t want to risk hurting anyone’s feelings. So, to alleviate that, I decided to post a list of all the books I’ve read this year first. (Skip below to see what I have to say about this)

Clicking makes it bigger... if that sort of thing is important to you.

First thing I’d point out, now that the year is over and I have a chance to reflect, is that I didn't read that many books last year. Without knowing a great way to verify this, I'd wager this was the least I've read in more than a decade*. Too bad. 

The second thing I'd point out is that I gave a lot of very good ratings to many of the books and stories listed here. I was disappointed in a few, but all in all, I had a good year reading. I still wish I'd read more, but I'm pretty happy with my selections. It was a really strong year for my personal enjoyment.

In fact, I think I gave something along the line of twenty 5 star reviews. That’s a lot of great books. I also get the feeling that if I were to make a new list I might be tempted to change things around a bit. I mean, this was the year that I discovered Brandon Sanderson, I’d put him at the top of any list I have of favorite authors, but when I came down to tallying up my favorite individual stories of the year, he didn't make the cut.

What did?

3) Desert Spear, By Peter V Brett: This is one fantastic novel. I was so thrilled when I got done reading that I spent 45 minutes or so doing some fan art. I was honored when the author saw it on my DeviantArt page and commented.

This is the sequel to The Warded Man from a few years earlier and is about as well done as a fantasy novel can be. I couldn't love it any more than I did. I’m so stoked for the third installment that comes out early in 2013. Brett writes a bit slower than many, so a new release from him is a big deal to me.

2) The Scariest Things You Can’t Imagine, By Briane Pagel: I had promised myself that I wouldn't put anyone I know on a list of things I like this year. I really did. To do that is to start ranking the works of people I know and like and am friends with, not what I want to do. But I did read a lot of small press or indie published books last year and the very least of them was still good. In fact, I can promise that if I expanded this list to a top 10, at least 3 other folks I know would have had their works listed. Actually, it might be more than that. Again, singling one person out gives me a bit of the ickies, but really, when I look back over the year, I’d be lying if I didn't mention this collection of short stories. I read a lot of short stories this year, I critiqued a ton for critters, I read many from magazines as 'research' as I wrote several short stories during 2012, but of them all, this was what blew me away. 

1) Caliban's War, by James S.A. Corey. That's actually a pseudonym for two people, but I won't get into that. This was the most fun I've had reading a novel in a while. It struck the perfect blend of Star Trekish type of space opera, hard-ish scientific vigor, and all out adventure. I find it stunning that this is the second book in a trilogy, I almost quit reading the first installment half-way through because I couldn't get into it. It either got way better after the debut or I learned to appreciate it. 

*Part of me is unsure of this. Several of the books I read were 800 - 1200 page epics. Total wordcount might not be too far off from previous years. But I'd have to start digging into details there, and I don't feel up to that right now.

I'm a Moron... And I Can Prove it! (part 1)

I'VE GOT A LOT TO SAY TODAY, apparently. Sorry about that wordcount. But before I first want to point out that Andrew Leon's ongoing Serial about a little boy whose not quite of this world continues with the release of Part 5: The Police Car. I hope everyone has been getting these as they come out, he tends to make them all free for a day or two when first released. Please go check them out. 

I'VE MADE MENTION in the past of how much of a podcast junkie I am. Well, it’s still true. I’ve made lists, recommendations, all sorts of that sort of thing – doing my best to inform he world of all the great stuff that’s out there.  Unfortunately for me, there is a real Darwinian competition for what reaches my ears. I don’t have time to listen to all the shows I want to so I tend to have a rotating schedule. I’ll find something new and something old will get pushed aside, I’ll usually come back around later to pick it back up, but that means I’ve dropped something else from my listening schedule.

Funny about that, as I used to fancy myself a bit of a musician and listened to music almost exclusively. But way back in the day, when I drove my super-awesome car with my extra-super-awesome stereo (a completely badass 10 disk changer with dedicated amps for the speakers…. I had two 12” subs, four 10” subs (to be honest, I got rid of the 10” subs… they tended to muddy up my bass tones and took up tons of space - I put the 12"s in a bigger box and it sounded much better)– several sets of smaller speakers scattered throughout my interior for the high and mid-range portions of the spectrum. I even recall going on vacation and not being able to pack because my car was full of equipment.

All so I could listen to Pantera at volumes that would make my ribs crack.

But after a while I was spending more and more of my drive time listening to a.m. talk radio - political or sports related mostly. My interest in music started to dwindle and fade. It wasn’t long before I was more interested in finding something interesting that was being discussed.

Fast forward a few years (5 or 6 maybe), late nineties I think. Anyone remember Broadcast.com? I do. I don’t remember the details of what they had to offer, but I recall listening to tons of stuff there: sitting at my giant, wall-sized mainframe of a computer and staring out the window and listening to… well, stuff.

And by the mid two-thousands I was a podcast junkie. I had to wait for the iPod revolution and for the content to fill it with, but once I had podcasts my life was over.

At first I mostly listened to science related things, but as I found more and more niche programming I was able to really start honing in on things that specifically related to writing.

And that concludes this post. The rest is just stuff about some of my favorite writing-centric podcasts. Feel free to ignore.

As of this writing, here are the podcasts I most highly recommend if you’re aspiring to write:

The Roundtable Podcast: MUST LISTEN if you are an aspiring writer and you want to improve your craft. The format of this show is that a writer with a story brings it to the table where the pros listen to their pitch for 5 – 8 minutes, ask some clarifying questions, then start hammering away at the plot until they’ve eked out as much drama as they can for the story. It’s a brilliant show

Actually, that’s on Tuesday. Every Friday, they interview a guest host (a pro author) and discuss writing in a more general since. Still brilliant.

Writing Excuses: MUST LISTEN if you want to understand how stories work. Brandon Sanderson is the real reason this exists, but he shares the hosting duties with several other published writers. They sit around and discuss all sorts of topics that are intended to help the fledgling writer improve. If you ever listen to words, then listen to this. It might be the most listenable of all the podcasts on this list for someone who isn't that interested in the topic. My wife will sit and listen to many episodes with me if we're in the car, she won't do that regularly for any other podcast.

Speculate!: I’d almost give this a MUST LISTEN, but I’ll hold off on that. I’ll give this a STRONG RECOMMEND. Really, I just like writing stuff in all caps. Beyond that, an academic (and Fantasy author) and another author tend to pick a book and over several podcasts really get in depth into the book they’ve chosen. The format isn’t always exactly the same, but generally speaking, they will spend an episode discussing the book’s plot and how well they felt the author did. Another episode is usually an interview with the author, where they discuss the writing process. The final in the series is usually a detailed breakdown of the themes and techniques the author used to tell the story. It’s almost always insightful. I love this.

Dead Robots Society: This is a more free form podcast, where the triumvirate of hosts discuss what they are currently working on and how close they feel they are to achieving their dreams.  The third spot on the panel seems to rotate from time to time for whatever reason, like the drummer from Spinal Tap. I tend to be fascinated as I listen because more often than not, things delve into the self-publishing vs traditional route, as one host has gone the traditional route, with another choosing self-publishing exclusively (making $6300 per month at the last update I heard) with the third (currently) also forgoing traditional publishers, but with much more modest levels of monetary success. Great stuff.

Story Wonk Sunday: This one has a format that took me a bit of getting used to. It’s a pro author and her husband – an aspiring author – as they break down and discuss books and movies and look for the elements that worked well and those that didn’t. Again, the format is a bit odd, and they tend to sound more like a drive-time radio show – something that can be tough to listen to – but they always give wonderful insights into what makes a compelling story. Again, you have to be able to get past the talking over one another and bursts of laughter that seem to come out of nowhere. But if you can deal with that then you’ll be rewarded

Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing: This one gets grandfathered in, the unpredictable release of new episodes (none for a month or more, then two-a-week for three weeks, followed by another drought). Still, I’ve been listening to this podcast more or less since I first discovered it, back in 2007 maybe? Wow. That seems like a looong time ago. Is that right?

Regardless, it was Shaun Ferrell that first figured out that if you wanted to be a published author, it’s probably a good idea to find a published author and ask them how they did it. Well, he probably isn’t the first person to figure it out, but he was the first person I know of that actually did something with the idea… and was kind enough to record the conversations that came out of that.

I love the show, but I get the feeling that the host has a lot of demands on his personal life that keeps him from putting in the hours needed to keep new episodes coming out regularly. The time he had his co-host Sam was the true golden era for this podcast. I miss her snark and wish she’d turn back up.

The host conducts an interview wonderfully and has a charm that makes him hard to not want to listen to more.

There are tons of other podcasts I listen to that feature authors regularly: SF Signal, Sqeecast, The Functional Nerds, Sword and Laser, Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy… but those don’t have a stated goal of helping me improve as an author, and the focus can be different. Still very intriguing though, please check them out.

Also, our very own blogger buddies Vic Caswell and Author Emily White run the Pod People podcast. They aren’t really targeting themselves towards authors, but instead they discuss things more closely associated with the YA fandom. Everyone should give them a listen even if that isn’t your thing.

Phew. That was wordy. Can you believe that was all a preamble to what I really wanted to talk about? Hang in there, part 2 will bring it all together (where my moronic side gets exposed) in a magical way.

Year in Review - Before Christmas!

Yes, most people save their best of lists for the week after Christmas, well, I'll try to have a real one (or two) next week, but for now. Just a few thoughts about the year in review.

Just a thought about the year, for me, it's been a year of trivia. One of the things that makes me born to be a writer, and an amazing conversationalist, is my encyclopedic knowledge of trivia. Not for the sake of anything except for the fact that I love knowing stuff. Not real knowledge of course, you know, like how to fix a car or fix a leaky faucet, but knowledge like knowing rhubarb really means 'barbarian food from near that river in Russia'. 

What else did learn in 2011? Lots of stuff. According to my research (meaning, it appeared on my ‘what your poo is telling you’ desk calendar), the world’s oldest known joke, appearing in some sort of archeological find, goes like this:

“A young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap”

Huh. I hope that isn’t the best the ancient world has to offer. I’m sure if the person writing that down knew it would have been discovered again four thousand years in the future they would have at least tried to make it funnier. I mean, I was pulling off better jokes than that when I was like, five years old. Lame.

But reading about that made me think of another piece of trivia I’d heard, this one was from some scientist guy who said the oldest recipe we've ever recovered was a recipe for Beer!

Oh, and of course, that figures. The oldest written records we have of humans daring to write down their abstract thoughts are recipes for homemade beer and fart jokes.

I was sorta aghast at the thought, then I realized that if some far future archeologist turned up some computer hard drive of a typical person from today, they would probably find it full of porn and cat videos. Then I was more aghast at what a future person would learn about us, I mean, we haven’t just been recycling fart jokes and alcohol recipes for the past 4000 years have we?

Well, when a coworker took a look at the cream cheese cupcakes with chocolate pudding on top that we had yesterday and made a poop joke, I thought the answer has to be yes, because that’s just what we do.

Anyway, I wanted to do a year in review, but found out that I have nothing to review, as I don’t pay that much attention to things as they happen. So here are a few items that I remembered that I think happened this year.

1)      There was some sort of natural disaster made worse by people doing something they probably shouldn’t - People shouldn’t be messing around with the fires of creation. Or, rather, they need to give it its proper respect. A tidal wave striking Japan in the way that it did might be a once a century sort of event, but so what - engineer your NUCLEAR facilities to handle those once a century cataclysms… especially if you expect to use the facility for several decades.

2)      The TV show, The Six-Million Dollar man, yes, it was about a cyborg that battled bionic bigfoots and insane Venusian probes, but in 2011 I looked for it on Netflix and could not find it… I’m not sure who to be angry with, I want to see Steve Austin use his awesome car phone to talk to his boss.

3)      I tried to watch Stargate the TV show, I watched season 1, and a few episodes of season 2. It was hard for me to watch, real hard. I’ll in 2012 to make it through season 2.

4)      I did watch the first 5 seasons of Psych, best show in the universe.

5)      I saw movies at the theater, but I don’t remember any that were so good I might need to force my grandkids to watch them when I’m an old man. Am I forgetting any? I liked the Marvel movies, I liked Cowboys vs Aliens one, all in all, I was a bit underwhelmed.

6) I've realized that outside of writing, reading, and pop science, I have no idea what happened in the world in the past year.

Maybe next year we'll all be jazzed about The Hobbit coming out.

Look! A List

As was mentioned earlier in the week, I’ve been sick. Being sick is a curious thing, as apparently it makes me watch Star Wars. After the worst part past - that would be the part where I was near death, seeing visions from the spirit world and wondering if each thought was going to be my last - yeah, after all that was over and I was just normal sick, like where I mope around and complain to everyone about how crappy life is, and how the universe is actively trying to kill me by disease, I sat down and watched some Star Wars.

I saw A New Hope on Saturday actually, before the worst hit, but whatever, I was feeling bad by then. When I watched it, I realized it was the first time in several years I’d seen it. I picked up the old trilogy on Blu Ray last week out of my morbid curiosity to see what else got tinkered with since the last time I watched it. Honestly, I don’t know. Best I could tell it looked the same. I did notice however, that many of the fx that were update in the 90’s looked very… gaudy maybe, when compared to the rest of the film. It forced me to decide that the updates need some updates. You know, to make the fx look better. I just found that funny.

Well, truth be told, the dog fight sequences don’t bother me at all, those were fine, the planetside updates though, the added creatures and people. Ugh.

Still like the movie though.

I watched Empire Wednesday night. Always my favorite, as it is most everyone’s I thought, until my step son said lots of people say episode III is sorta the popular choice for best SW movie.

WTF?

I did manage to ask him if anyone over the age of 20 has ever placed a vote for that one. He shrugged, as if to say, ‘it isn’t my opinion. I’m just sharing with you what I’ve heard.’ All I can say is he has stupid friends. 

Well, I watched Empire and was pretty impressed. It’s a beautiful movie, and the Hoth sequence it still wow inducing. I mean, if I saw it for the first time today, when those AT-AT Walkers come waddling around and shooting with those laser mandible things, I think I’d just about wet myself with excitement. And it’s 30 years old. Damn.

So, in honor of that moment, I’ve decided to give you, beloved reader, a list of the five most amazing fx shots I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t know crap about level of difficulty, if it’s ripped off from something else, and I don’t care if it hasn’t aged very well. These are things that made me freak out, that made my heart race, or, in one occasion, actually cry upon first viewing.

5. AT-AT Walkers crushing shit in The Empire Strikes Back: I know. I just got done talking about this one. It isn’t higher for me probably because I couldn’t separate that sequence from the movie as a whole at the time. However, I can’t think of anything before this moment in film history where I could watch something so ridiculously implausible was depicted so realistically. Again, might deserve to be higher, but this list is really about me, not about the fx. For me, it’s just number 5. I mean, when I was a kid I didn't really pay much attention to fx, so it didn't move me like it would have had I been older. For awhile there it was a toss up between Empire and Battle From Beyond the Stars for my favorite movie... I didn't quite have the perspective I have now.

If I was building those things, I'd add more guns

4. Crazy tentacle thing from The Abyss: I'm not sure when I became aware of digital fx in movies, but I recall seeing the thing mimic whatshername's face and I went home trying my damnedest to figure out how they did that. I just couldn't figure it out. My best guess at the time was they had real aliens perform the role of movie aliens - at least for that scene. 

Remember, if you ever meet an alien, don't poke it in the eye

3. T-1000 rising from the floor in T2: That movie is 20 years old and I guarantee if a movie were made today attempting to utilize the same shot that it would look cheesy. The T-1000 would come flying out of the floor, the camera would shake a lot, I’d see the inside of someone’s nostrils for a second, and then blood would splatter onto the camera lens… and I wouldn’t know what the crap just happened. I couldn't breathe when I saw this shot for the first time. Really. Couldn't breathe. I'm still stunned when I watch it.

I wish my floor could do that

2. T-Rex destroying jeeps in Jurassic Park: Came out about 2 years after T2 did and man, at that point I truly believed there were no limits to what could be filmed. My imagination at least, was tapped out on the idea that something was truly unfilmable.

Hey! Is he looking at me?

1. Bridge destroyed and Jamie Lee Curtis gets lifted from car in True Lies: Ha! Didn't see that one coming, did you? I, no joke, cried during that scene. At that time, I honestly thought they really destroyed that bridge going to the Keys. Then that rescue where they pulled her out of the sunroof of the car right before it crashed into the water. Daaaaammmn.

Yep. That Really Happened.

If I had to throw in an honorable mention (or two) I'd have to say either the cave troll sequence from The Fellowship of the Ring, um, or maybe the battle with Sauron during the opening of the same movie. I had never scene crowds done before like that. It caught me off guard and blew me away. In a movie full of some very subtle fx, those sequences made me forget everything (upon subsequent viewings) for just a moment, and freak out about how awesome the fx were. It was great movie, and some of the things that wowed me then have aged a bit. But at the time. Damn.

Also, in ID4, I can't watch that movie now, but when it came out, those impossibly large ships breaking through the atmosphere were breathtaking. Real wow moment. Ah, memories.

And there you have it. Definitive. Unarguable. Mathematical. Happy Friday.

The 10 Greatest Science Fiction Books of All Time! (or at least the 10 best on my bookshelf)

Hello all, I know, I know. I promised more posts coming soon over a month ago and haven't quite fulfilled that promise. What can I say? I've been doing other things. However, I thought I would go back to my roots a bit and come up with a list. Lists are everywhere now. The 10 best this, the 10 worst that. The 7 things you should eat, read, buy, hate, etc. I'm drowning in them.

So guess what? When I saw this list I just couldn't take it anymore.

I got the sneaking suspicion that the author just went down their bookshelf and said "ok, I've got an article to write on the 100 greatest books of all time. I'll just start at the top of my shelf, work my way down, and be done in a 15 minutes" and went on to other things. Ha, I can do that. So I did. Now presented to you, wonderful reader, are the 10 greatest science fiction books of all time - which all, quite conveniently, happen to be on my bookshelf.

Honorable Mention: Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon

Guilty perhaps of having one of the worst covers in the world right now.

My edition is only a few years older and is way cooler, my scanner is down so I took a quick pic with my phone for proof.
Ahh, can you see the beauty there? at least you get a sense of the wonder that the book is all about. The newer cover reminds me of The Running Man (the Arnold flick from the 80's). No effort at all on that one. Ugh.

Regardless, the book is awesome more for its influence than anything else, I don't know if Arthur C Clarke or any of his ilk ever would have come if it weren't for this book. I dare anyone to show me a book that is more epic in scope. Can't be done.

Honorable Mention #2: Also, I have to throw in a token nod to Star Trek novelizations. The Next Generation novels to be exact. As a yougster I read quite a bit, Clan of the Cave Bear, Millennium, Riverworld, Foundation, along with many others. But during my teenage years it all stopped, I did other things and didn't feel like I had time to read. I did take notice however, when Star Trek The Next Generation hit the airwaves. I watched and adored all the original shows and was chomping at the bit to get my fix. When I went away to college the first time the show was really just hitting it's peak (I could be mistaken, but Riker ordering the Enterprise to fire on the recently Borgified Picard was the last episode I saw before I was wisked away to college life).

I stayed with the show through it's run and I found my 20+ episodes a year was no longer enough. I picked up a copy of novelization number 26.

Yep, I could have picked up any book, but this one was just published and I needed more Trek in my life. I don't recall much beyond the fact that Picard and a random Romulan were wondering around an abandoned world that was once populated by beings with amazing technology, of which the Romulans were trying to scavenge. As fuzzy as my memory is I'm surprised I got that much out of my head, the point is that I was hooked once again. I read as many TNG books I could handle and found that I got lucky with the one I selected, it was pretty good, many sucked. Hard.

Eventually though, I had to have more non ST related stuff, they glossed over what I thought were some of the more interesting portions of the stories they told. In a galaxy littered with the artifacts of long forgotten empires of glorious power and technology... why did they all disappear (I know, they all evolved to pure energy. I think something else was going on)?

The 80's and 90's were really a golden age for science fiction, especially space based sci-fi. I'm a sucker for first contact stories (you should read some of my fiction) and Big Dumb Objects (BDO's people), so the list I am about to provide you will have both those types of stories well represented. I haven't really connected with fantasy, steampunk, cyberpunk, or many of the other subgenres out there, I've tried, I really have. I just don't get it. So be warned, I'm biased and I don't care.

Number 10: Rendezvous with Rama, by Authur C. Clarke.

Big. Dumb. Object. I told you I loved them. This book is about one of those things just flying through the solar system and humans popping in to take a look. A tiny group of humans exploring a giant spaceship with no one on board. That's it. Awesome. Again, I can see its influence over and over again in the books I've read since. Including at least one other author that made this list.

Number 9: The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

Just in case you thought this whole list would be nothing but aliens and spaceships I decided I would throw this in - just to prove I've got depth. My wife handed this over to me a few years ago and told me to read it. She never does that. Ever. I rolled my eyes and said "sure thing".

A few weeks later she asked about it and I thought I'd better get reading or risk her wrath (we were only dating at the time, but I knew I was going to ask her to marry me, so I thought I would prove my love by reading her crappy book). I started in and was swept away. By the end I was a weepy mess of a man who was holding his kleenex box close and praying for a miracle to save our hero. What a book. It changed my outlook on what a sci-fi story could be. That was a game changer for me.

I never saw the movie that came out based on the novel. I'm sure it was crappy. But the book was great. I wish the cover wasn't so feminine, it's embarrassing if you get caught reading it out in public, definitely should be read on the Kindle.

Oh, and it is science fiction, not fantasy. The time-traveling is biological in nature, they had a doctor and everything, that makes it sci-fi.

Number 8: Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

Bam! Why is this science-fiction? I have no idea. It's a WWII tale about cryptography interspersed with a modern story about... uh, cryptography, and treasure hunting. If feels like sci-fi but I can't figure out why its classified as such. Not much to say about it though, it's great. That 2 page digression about how to eat the perfect bowl of Captain Crunch cereal was pure genius.

When I finished the book I got the feeling that I just read history in the making. A cult like following did spring up around Neal after this. I get the vague feeling I'm not smart enough to appreciate it in all its geeky goodness, but if it can make #8 on my list I can't be too dumb.

Number 7: Hyperion, by Dan Simmons.

Don't have any idea what this one is about. A spiky guy that watches sailing ships on seas of wheat? Did I read it? Yep, I loved it. This book in particular is the stories of several (7 people maybe) that have to meet to try to avert the destruction of the universe or something. Anyhow, most of the novel is their backstories. Great writing here. I tried to read the sequels and couldn't get into them. This is the work of a master though and I encourage everyone to read it. So read it.

Number 6: Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card.

Sigh. I am so sick of this damn book. It's The DaVinci Code of science-fiction. The only thing that makes this different is that it's actually good, real good. If you say you are a fan of the genre and you haven't read this then you are a liar. Because this is required to join the club. Many think its sequel, Speaker for the Dead, is better, but I was never able to agree, as much as I liked Speaker it just didn't mean as much to me.

Anyhow, I hope to never speak of this book again. I am over saturated with it and am tired of seeing on every list out there. I even think this made the list of best cookbooks I saw recently. I know I'm part of the problem (So is the author, there must be 30 sequels, prequels, comics and other branch-off stories that he's produced in the past few years), but this is one of those novels that is worthy of the praise it gets.

Number 5: Doomday Book, by Connie Willis

Another tear jerking time travel book. What's up with me? The only books I've ever gotten the missus to read are this one and number 6. It's a story that should be crossing genres - she'd make a killing if this was ever put in the historical romance market (except for the lack of romance... but still). Oh well. I felt this one way deep in my gut as I read it. Before reading this I had never heard of Connie Willis and must confess I've never read anything else she's written since. I did go buy more of her books, I just never got around to reading them. I'll get to them.

Number 4, The Rookie, by Scott Sigler

Did I like this book? I have 3 copies... and they ain't cheap. The author self published this novel because no one wanted to take it on. What Publisher would turn down a NY Times bestselling author with a rabid fanbase eager to buy anything he puts out? Apparently, every Publisher.

I've blogged about the author before, Scott Sigler is a relentless self-promoter that has parlayed his efforts into mainstream success (most notably for Infected and Contagious, two alien invasion novels that no one seems to have figured out are sci-fi yet). When I was first exposed to him I actually passed on reading any of his work because I figured anyone who had to work that hard to promote himself can't be a very good writer - the work should stand on it's own.

Well, on a bored afternoon I decided to give him a shot. I downloaded the podcast version of this novel and before I knew I had to eat my words and join his legion of followers. That thousands of others have done the same as I have gives him the freedom to pursue some avenues of publishing that "real" publishers might be too nervous to try.

So we have a masterpiece that no one knows about. The self described mash-up of Any Given Sunday, Star Wars, and The Godfather is awesome on too many levels to fully describe. I get the feeling that Scott Sigler shares a lot of my sensibilities when it comes to storytelling. So of course I feel like this is what I would have written if I had the opportunity (or talent, skill, discipline, etc).

There are a few noticeable changes from the podcast version of this novel as it made its transition to the print version. All those F-bombs that made the story a bit too R-rated for a lot of kids were gone and in it's place is something that I feel just as good about given to my children or nephews as I would Ender's Game (damn, I thought I wasn't going to mention that book again).

All in all, this is a masterpiece and my favorite of all his work - given more time this may end up sliding up a bit. But right now number 4 feels about right. I'll come back in a few short years and see how I feel then.

Number 3: Manifold Space & Ring, by Stephen Baxter

How can 2 books fill one slot, 2 unrelated books at that? It's my list and I can do what I want, that's how. Stephen Baxter is the first non Star Trek related author I remember reading once I decided to branch out. I totally lucked into Ring. Baxter had a string of books that came out in the nineties that were each unbelievably fantastic in their right. In some ways these are stand ins for the author himself - Timelike Infinity, Manifold Time, Vacuum Diagrams, Voyage, Titan... this list just goes on and on. I didn't want one author to dominate the list so I crammed him in this slot instead.

His more recent works have disappointed me somewhat. His Weaver quadrilogy was a disaster in my opinion. Whatever spark he showed during that fantastic run in the nineties hasn't really carried over into the the naughties. I have high hopes for him in the coming decade though, ARK holds some promise and I'm ready for another round of greatness from him.

But Ring is a story about the end of the universe and the ragtag band of scientists who are determined to find out why all the stars are going out. Epic scale that approaches Olaf Stapledon. Many of Baxter's early novels were stand alone stories that took place in the same universe. He had carefully crafted a backstory for Ring that you wouldn't have been aware that you were studying if you read his previous novels. It was pure brilliance. My hat's off to you sir. Congratulations.

Manifold Space was part of a trilogy of books that all started with the same premise and same central cast of characters. I enjoyed Manifold Time a great deal, but Space was the true gem here. This trilogy was his look at the Fermi paradox and this book in particular is about what it would mean to live in a crowded universe. A very philosophical trilogy of books. Well deserving of any praises I can give.

Number 2: House of Suns, by Alastair Reynolds

It's so liberating to me to not feel like I have to pull out the classics for this list. Again though, this is a stand in for an entire body of work. Much like the British invasion of bands that rocked American girls in the 1960's, British Sci-fi authors rocked my world in the 90's.

House of Suns is a recent work by my favorite author, Alastair recently penned a million dollar contract with his publisher for 10 books and I feel like he's totally worth it. It's hard for me to pick a dud in his body of work. The guy is rock solid as a writer. He added something to the genre that I didn't realize it was missing, he has an admitted love for the mystery genre that clearly shows in how he constructs a story. His added mystery elements make for compelling novels.

House may well be my favorite - Like many great books, I don't think a blurb can do it justice. It's about.... um, just read it. Trust me.

And by the way, I mentioned other authors following the Rama template earlier, I think Reynolds' Pushing Ice is a descendant of that type story. Even the modern greats go back to the well for great stories.

Number 1: A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge

Damn straight. Is it really the best book of all time? Yes. How can I know that? I read it. And it's my list. You don't like it, go make your own, everyone else has.

Zones of thought as a concept made me scratch my head, but I've gone back to this book time and time again. I've never read a single book more (well, maybe Ring). I can't give you a synopsis because again, I don't think you would get it. It has space ships and aliens.... what more do you need?

There it is folks. A definitive list that you can use to weed out all the rest. A bit of space opera and perhaps a touch time travel heavy. But still, it makes me sad for the reality that I can only read them for the first time only once. There were many that I thought of adding, Ringworld (what really kicked off the BDO sub genre), Startide Rising (Space Opera), amongst others, and if I ever put up another list again, I'd probably change things around some.

Hope you enjoy.