Tales from Ursula
Did you know Ursula Le Guin worked on an Earthsea screenplay with Peeping Tom and Black Narcissus‘ Michael Powell? I didn’t. There’s more in her Vice Magazine interview. (via Kaiju Shakedown)
Too Many Books?
Is it really true? “You can never have too many books”? Try out Book View Cafe and find out.
Smooth, Smoother, Smoothest
I get sucked in very easily by books that are smooth on the surface. If a book has glossy enough writing and a well-paced storyline, then I’m almost always a sucker for it. But when a book also has something intriguing going on underneath the surface, then I […]
Expectations Shattered
Let’s say you’re reading a book about a boy who grows up to be a wizard. That’s a very familiar story… so do you want exactly what you’re expecting? Or are you prepared for something new and interesting? Ursula K. Le Guin’s famous Earthsea series started with a […]
Explaining Vampires
I don’t care that much for vampire stories. It’s a reflexive dislike that’s hard to define — basically, I’m not part of the target audience of the whole vampire fascination. Another pet peeve of mine is the amnesiac protagonist. What an absolutely lame excuse to explain everything to […]
The Bandwagon
Ursula K. Le Guin is one of the most respected names in fantasy and science fiction. She doesn’t need to boost her career by cheap gimmicks or by following current trends. So I was a bit shocked to read about how Le Guin’s editor had suggested she write […]
The Cultural Gutter 