The god Luck is deaf in one ear, they say, the ear we pray to; he can’t hear our prayers. What he hears, what he listens to, nobody knows. Denios the poet said he hears the wheels of the stars’ great chariots turning on the roads of heaven. Ursula K. Le Guin, Powers
Author: Joe Vasicek
Joe Vasicek is the author of more than twenty science fiction books, including the Star Wanderers and Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus. He claims Utah as his home.
Do all books deserve to be read?
From TV Tropes: Half an hour after the show is over, a random viewer is staring into their refrigerator, vaguely bemused by the fact that their six-pack of beer has somehow become a two-pack of beer. Rather than work out how this might have happened, it occurs to them to wonder how in the hell… Continue reading Do all books deserve to be read?
Why books written by mothers are better than books written by childless women
I never know which posts of mine China Mike Glyer is going to pick up for his pixel scroll, or whatever he calls the daily bucket of chum that he feeds the folks over at File 770 (the ones who aren’t Chinese bots, anyway). I’ve written at much greater length about my 2022 reading resolution… Continue reading Why books written by mothers are better than books written by childless women
An interesting personal discovery
I just made a very interesting personal discovery, gleaned from the data on my reading of the Hugo and Nebula winning books. Of the 110 novels that have won either award, I have now read all but 16 of them, which is enough data to get some reprentative results. One of the best predictors that… Continue reading An interesting personal discovery
“It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
So I DNFed Timescape by Gregory Benford today. I didn’t like any of the characters, and the retro-future view of the 90s as a dystopian post-climate catastrophe wasteland was predictably bad. But this quote from the afterword got me to thinking: Habitual readers of science fiction will feel right at home with some features of… Continue reading “It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
Someday I hope my fans make me an anthem like this one
Well… not exactly like this one, but it’s pretty good! If you haven’t heard of Matt Walsh yet, you can check out his daily show on the Daily Wire here. Sweet baby gang for life!
Reading Resolution Update: April
My 2022 reading resolution: Read or DNF every novel that has won a Hugo or a Nebula award, and acquire all the good ones. In 2007, when I was a sophomore in college, I went up to Salt Lake City with some friends and was browsing the awesome (and fairly run down, even at the… Continue reading Reading Resolution Update: April
Spring Shorts Story #2: Prison of Dreams
It’s been a little crazy over here, which is probably why I’ve found it so difficult to write lately. It’s not a function of time so much as brainspace, and I really need to find ways to refill the creative well. But I did manage to finish another story this week, and I think it… Continue reading Spring Shorts Story #2: Prison of Dreams
Now available for pre-order: Beyond World’s End (Collected Short Stories #4)
Thinking about getting back on Twitter
So now that the world’s richest African-American—who has done more to save the world from the evil sun monster than everyone at COP 25 put together—has now bought Twitter and promised to bring back free speech to the platform, I am seriously considering whether I ought to make a new Twitter account and become active… Continue reading Thinking about getting back on Twitter