eldritchhobbit

* If 1) while reading C.S. Lewis you've ever been troubled by the problem of Susan Pevensie, and/or 2) you love Doctor Who, by all means read "The Solution of Susan." In less than half a page, it packs more of a punch than some novels I've read. Thank you, The Hero of Three Faces.

* In other news, my most recent "Looking Back into Genre History" segment is up on the latest episode of StarShipSofa, and in it I discuss the great Ada Lovelace. If you listen, I hope you enjoy!

* My inspiration for this episode is a new book for middle readers that I highly recommend to young and old alike.



In The Case of the Missing Moonstone (Wollstonecraft Detective Agency #1), Jordan Stratford brings together the mother of modern science fiction, Mary Shelley, and the world's first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace, as girls (14 and 11, respectively). In honor of the feminist writings of Mary's late mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, the two create the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency. They use science to solve the mystery of the missing moonstone. There is so much to love here: clever dialogue, evocative description, action, and intelligent young women using their reason.

For young readers, the novel serves as an introduction of sorts to the intellectual history of the Victorian era; for those who are already in the know, the inside jokes and loving homages are a treat. The mystery is a retelling of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, the first great detective novel in English. Percy B. Shelley and Charles Dickens play key roles in the tale, as do mesmerism and Newgate Prison.

The book ends with a discussion of the real history behind Ada, Mary, Wollstonecraft, The Moonstone, and the other ingredients of the story, and Stratford makes it clear when and why he's taken liberties with the past (for example, in narrowing the real gap between the ages of his protagonists so they have the chance to be young heroines together).

This is a perfect storm of inspiration, entertainment, and education. I'm already making plans to put a copy of this book into the hands of the young readers I know.

I had a wonderful time at ConCarolinas. I caught up with some old friends, made some new ones, traded book recommendations, and talked Arthur Conan Doyle, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Suzanne Collins to my heart's content. At Jonah Knight's fantastic concert, I also got to hear a new track ("The First") from his next steampunk album, and it was brilliant. I'm a huge fan of his first steampunk album, The Age of Steam: Strange Machines, and now I'm most excited for the sequel.

And now, links to share:

* On the latest from StarShipSofa -- which marks my sixth-year anniversary working with the podcast -- I begin a three-part "History of the Genre" special about reading Harry Potter in a Native American context. It's here in Episode #340. If you listen, I hope you enjoy!

* Speaking of Harry Potter, Professor Sara Martin Alegre taught the first university course on Harry Potter in Spain, and as a result she and her English Studies students have put together a new English-language book they are sharing for free: Addictive and Wonderful: The Experience of Reading the Harry Potter Series.

* Last year I attended the "Joss in June" academic conference on Joss Whedon studies and thoroughly enjoyed the presentations. I'm happy to say that now the "Joss in June" special double issue of Slayage: The Journal of the Joss Whedon Studies Association is online for general access. Check out these great essays! In particular, don't miss this treat: "Exploring Cabins in the Whedonverse Woods" by my former graduate student, Curtis A. Weyant.

* Read Kurt Vonnegut's 1973 letter to the man burning his books.

* It's that time again. Here are my work-in-progress lists of English-language young adult dystopian novels and secondary sources about them. If you have any recommendations or suggestions for me of works I should include, I'd be most grateful if you'd let me know! Thanks so much.
List 1: English-Language Young Adult Dystopian Novels, 1960-1999 (with links)
List 2: English-Language Young Adult Dystopian Novels, 2000-Present (with links)
List 3: A Select Bibliography of Secondary Sources on YA Dystopian Fiction (with links)

It's September! It's September! Fringe and Chuck return, and The Event premieres. Only three weeks until the joint birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. Only thirty days until my favorite month of the year. Starbucks is serving pumpkin lattes again, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is selling a limited edition pumpkin latte fragrance that is out of this world, and so it smells like the best season of the year, even if the thermometer doesn't quite yet reflect the feeling of fall.

Happy birthday to marthawells and aragornlover! May you enjoy many happy returns of the day.

I have some links to share:

• wellinghall is devising his own list of Best Fantasy Novels in answer to the various lists making their way around the blogosphere. And he seeks your input! Please drop by his LiveJournal and share your picks for the best fantasy reading for adults and children. Pass the word!



• Steampunk wallpaper. What's not to love?



• From Steve Horwitz: "Why Do Futurists Get So Much Wrong?"



• From Steff Metal, some great Lovecraft-inspired songs: "Metal Mixtape: H.P. Lovecraft, Vol. 1" and "5 H.P. Lovecraft Metal Albums." (I also recommend her "Cthulhu Gift Guide.")



• I was shocked to see that yesterday was the thirteenth anniversary of Princess Diana's death. I was in Paris not long after it happened, and I can still remember emerging from that same tunnel, seeing all of the flowers and random notes of remembrance piled along the roadside and on every available scrap of pavement. It was surreal... and it doesn't seem that long ago.



• I'll confess, I recently engaged in some *ahem* retail therapy, but I couldn't help myself: the brilliant Etsy artist Cobweb Corner made this bracelet specifically at my request, quoting Samwise Gamgee's song in Cirith Ungol, one of my favorite verses of all time. The bracelet is marvelous, and I can't stop wearing it. Pardon my geek-girliness, but I had to share the love.

I'll leave you with the "Particle Physics Song" interpreted by the CERN Choir, performing in the CERN Control Centre:

Watch on YouTube

"By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather
And autumn’s best of cheer."
- Helen Hunt Jackson, September

* My unabridged narration of one of this year's Nebula Award nominees, Will McIntosh's chilling short story "Bridesicle," is now available to stream or download on the latest episode of StarShipSofa. The episode also includes great segments from Mur Lafferty and Cheryl Morgan, as well as an interview with legendary author Gene Wolfe. If you listen, I hope you enjoy!

* Just a reminder for those of you in/near North Carolina this Friday: at the invitation of the Friends of the Rudisill Library, I will be giving my presentation "'I Take My Life in My Hand': A Tale of Two Cherokees and the Trail of Tears" at Lenoir-Rhyne University on Friday, March 12. I also will be signing books after my talk. The evening is free and open to the public. More information is here.

* I am so pleased that K.W. Jeter's pioneering steampunk novel Morlock Night will soon be back in print!

* Speaking of steampunk, The Book Smugglers are celebrating "Steampunk Week" this week, beginning with "Steampunk Week: An Introduction and a Primer."

* Parajunkee's View is hosting a giveaway for Rachel Ward's novel Num8ers.

* Karin's Book Nook is celebrating three years with a blogoversary giveaway of the Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare.


"I know I take my life into my hand... We can die, but the great Cherokee Nation will be saved. They will not be annihilated; they can live. Oh, what is a man worth who will not dare to die for his people? Who is there here that would not perish, if this great nation may be saved?" - Elias Boudinot, 1835

Happy Wednesday, everyone! My latest "History of the Genre" segment is up at StarShipSofa: The Audio Science Fiction Magazine, and it's about the first work of modern steampunk: the fantastic television series The Wild Wild West. The episode is available for download or streaming here. If you listen, I hope you enjoy.

With thanks to agentxpndble, here's a lovely visual to accompany my segment. Ah, the sweet smell of steampunk!



In other news...

* From Publishers Weekly: "In Defense of Dystopia."

* From Jeff Vandermeer: "The Next Big Punking," which builds on "Make Way for Plaguepunk, Bronzepunk, and Stonepunk" from Wired.

* Speaking of steampunk, here's a list of steampunk audiobooks.

* Last, AMC's new miniseries of The Prisoner is finally over; there goes six hours of my life I will never have again. I was both hopeful and nervous about it. As it turns out, only the anxiety was justified. What a terrible disappointment in execution, in tone, and especially in message. I'll let io9 take it from here. Although my list would be far longer, I appreciate the symbolism: "Six Things the New Prisoner Changed for the Worse." Patrick McGoohan, how I miss you.


"As my Great-Aunt Maude always used to say: 'Artemus, if you can't win the game, the next best thing is to upset the chessboard!'"
- Artemus Gordon, "The Night of the Bogus Bandits," The Wild Wild West

Happy Father's Day to everyone who is a father (biological, step, or otherwise, to two-footed or four-footed children)! Also, happy birthday to belleferret and valancourtbooks, with best wishes for many happy returns of the day!

I have a few links to share:

* Eldritch Dark has a number of downloadable audio versions of the stories, poems, and non-fiction writings of Weird Tales author Clark Ashton Smith here.

* At Omivoracious, guest blogger China Miéville dicusses literary movements in "Neither a Contract Nor a Promise: Five Movements To Watch Out For."

* The editor of the forthcoming Shine anthology of "optimistic science fiction" discusses reasons some authors turned down the invitation to contribute: "Why I Can’t Write a Near Future, Optimistic SF story: the Excuses."

* From io9: Samuel Delany Answers Your Science Fiction Questions."

* And, last but not least, Star Trek goes steampunk in Steam Punk: The Moving Picture (thanks to jagash):

"One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters."
- George Herbert