I blame VanderMeer*
Nov. 15th, 2009 10:54 amLast night I went to the SF in SF reading, where Jeff VanderMeer and S.G. Browne read from their new novels. Browne started off, reading from Breathers: A Zombie's Lament, a dark comedy told in first person from the point of view of a man who woke up from an accident to find himself shuffling down the road as a zombie. The Thanksgiving scene is priceless, but don't read it while eating.
Jeff VanderMeer read from Finch, his noir final novel in his Ambergris series. I haven't read the first four, but I really enjoyed the characters. Finch is a detective, as one would expect from noir, but his world has been occupied by aliens who employ technology based on mushrooms. OK, that's a little simplistic. The section he read sounded very interesting, and I enjoyed the details about the planet and the alien technology.
The panel discussion afterwards was entertaining, as usual, with Terry Bisson at his witty best. "Are dilettantes a bad thing?" "Are hamsters a bad thing?" Maybe you just had to be there, and through the magic of podcasts you can be, as the evening's readings and discussion will be available as podcasts, with a link on the SF in SF site soon.
*This is the shoutout Jeff VanderMeer asked for as he read the description of his novel from the back of the book.
Jeff VanderMeer read from Finch, his noir final novel in his Ambergris series. I haven't read the first four, but I really enjoyed the characters. Finch is a detective, as one would expect from noir, but his world has been occupied by aliens who employ technology based on mushrooms. OK, that's a little simplistic. The section he read sounded very interesting, and I enjoyed the details about the planet and the alien technology.
The panel discussion afterwards was entertaining, as usual, with Terry Bisson at his witty best. "Are dilettantes a bad thing?" "Are hamsters a bad thing?" Maybe you just had to be there, and through the magic of podcasts you can be, as the evening's readings and discussion will be available as podcasts, with a link on the SF in SF site soon.
*This is the shoutout Jeff VanderMeer asked for as he read the description of his novel from the back of the book.