KAMN Show #13: Holy Fire
Welcome to Show #13! Summer, Joe and David are joined by the one and only Jack Mangan in a lively discussion about the 1996 Bruce Sterling novel, Holy Fire. The Ninjas share their varied thoughts and impressions about the story, and argue a bit on whether there really was a story somewhere underneath the bombardment of concepts and ideas. Aaron from the Weekly Anime Review has a review of The Irresponsible... [Read More...]
KAMN Show #11: Dune
Welcome to Show #11! This week, we discuss Dune, the 1965 Frank Herbert novel that continues to have an impact on the way people think about science fiction. The Ninjas also cover the theatrical movie (several different versions of it), and the more recent SciFi Channel miniseries treatment of the book. Listen to their varied opinions on the creative interpretations. Also, courtesy of Jesse Willis,... [Read More...]
New York Times Science Fiction Book Reviewer
I’m incredibly pleased to discover that the New York Times has finally deigned to form a science fiction book review column. This is long overdue: Science fiction, as we all know, is just as valid a literary form as any other. The first review (link) is of David Marusek’s Counting Heads. You may recall that I reviewed that worthy book myself on the Dragon Page (link). This is good news,... [Read More...]
KAMN Show #9: Sundiver
Welcome to Show #9! This week, we discuss Sundiver, the first novel in David Brin’s award-winning Uplift series. The first book of the first trilogy, the one that started it all. Dave, Summer and Joe have varying opinions of the story, which always makes for a lively chat. We didn’t go into some of Brin’s other works, most notably some essays he wrote for Salon Magazine… one... [Read More...]
KAMN Survey: Info Dumps
A side discussion popped up between Jack, Mur, and myself about the use of infodumps in novels (especially the epic-length dumps of Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and the Baroque Cycle). This is probably a discussion for everyone to participate in. So, first, Jack said: Mur, I’m curious to hear if you have a rebuttal to our rebuttal. Mur responded: Jack, my rebuttal is simple- the... [Read More...]
KAMN Show #7: Snow Crash
Welcome to Show #7! This week, we discuss Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. Summer has the flu (or something like it), so Joe, Dave and special guest Jack Mangan (Duel of the Fates) talk about the novel that breathed new life into the cyberpunk genre, or perhaps set the bar too high for others but Neal to follow. This week’s Old School Anime Reviews for Your Ears, by Aaron from Weekly Anime... [Read More...]
KAMN Show #5: The Lathe of Heaven
Welcome to Show #5! This week, we head back to the classic bookshelves to discuss Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Lathe of Heaven. Summer, Joe and Dave talk about this cautionary dystopian fable about the power of dreams and the possible repercussions of wanting to play God for everyone else. We also have another presentation of Old School Anime Reviews for Your Ears, by Aaron from Weekly Anime Review.... [Read More...]
Show #3: Lord of Light
We’re back! We can be delayed, but never kept away too long! Today, we talk about Roger Zelazny’s Hugo Award-winning novel, Lord of Light, first published in 1967. There are many levels to this book, and we try to hit most of them. Again joining Joe and myself for this discussion is David Moldawer, writer, videographer, Dragon Page book reviewer, and Zelazny enthusiast. There’s... [Read More...]
Show #2: Stranger In A Strange Land
As mentioned in the pre-show thread, Joe has been having problems with the science fiction classics, and the latest masterpiece he wasn’t impressed with is Robert Heinlein’s Stranger In A Strange Land. So, of course, I reread the book to refresh my memory, and remembered why I hadn’t previously reread the book in the nearly 20 years since I read it the first time. But as you’ll... [Read More...]
Discussion: Favorite Book Series
Okay, this isn’t an official pre-show discussion, but I want to know what your all-time favorite multibook series are. Feel free to comment here, but I want everyone to list 5-7 of your all-time favorite series over on the KAMN forums. And give me a yes or a no on this one: I’m also thinking it’d save space to exclude the potential obvious favorites: The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles... [Read More...]
Show #1: Hyperion
As was discussed earlier, I have had problems over the years trying to understand why there was so much hype about Dan Simmons’ Hyperion being such an outstanding novel, so I figured that’d be a good topic for a first show. Joining Joe and myself for the discussion are Jack Mangan, author of Spherical Tomi and fight promoter for “Duel of the Fates”, and Sean Hoffman, network... [Read More...]
Show #1: Pre-show discussion
This is an open comment discussion about the topic for our next show: “Hyperion: Astounding or Confounding?” Yes, there’s backstory on this one, which I’ll go into in the show. But we’re now open for discussion: what did you think of Dan Simmons’ Hyperion? Not the entire saga, just the first book, on its own. Read More →
Great Book – Great Price
The fourth book in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Feast for Crows, is coming out this November. (Finally!) If you like epic fantasy, and you haven’t read this series, you can remedy this character flaw by getting the first book at a reduced price. A Game of Thrones is now available for only $3.99! If you’re unfamiliar with this series, imagine Lord of the... [Read More...]
