Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

This is a dystopian novel set in the year 2044.  You could also call it a quest novel, a coming of age novel, or near future science fiction.  It melds many different themes into a unique, funny, and exciting story.  The one common theme that seems to unite all of it is geek culture, video games, and the 1980s.

Wade Watts the main character, is a geeky kid who spends most of his time in the virtual world of OASIS.  Virtual reality in this setting is extremely realistic.  Wade Watts even goes to school in the virtual world.  The virtual world he escapes into is infinitely better than his horrific, crowded, dangerous trailer park existence in the real world. The theme of bits versus atoms pervades this book.  In the real world, even virtual money is worth more than most national currencies.

The story is centered around a contest to gain control of the world wide virtual world called OASIS.  To do this, the entrants must solves riddles that were part of the creator of the virtual world's childhood.  The childhood is a kind of super fanboy and geek festival filled with 1980s references; everything from Duran Duran to Star Trek to the video game Joust.  It is very funny.  It reminds me a bit of my own childhood.

The book adds in many tropes: a love interest, an evil corporation, and plenty of action.  It moves very quickly from scene to scene and makes you want to find out what happens next.  The book made me laugh and smile while I was reading it.  It is lot of fun especially if you are nostalgic about the 1980s, liked roleplaying games, video games, comics, and listened to rock music.

Ernest Cline has a website http://www.ernestcline.com/  .  The book Ready Player One is coming out in August of 2011.  I was reading an advanced reading copy sent to me by Library Journal   I think this book will cross reading genres and be appealing to a wide audience.

The Lost Fleet Beyond The Frontier Dreadnaught by Jack Campbell

The Lost Fleet Beyond The Frontier Dreadnaught by Jack Campbell


Jack Campbell continues his space opera series with the seventh book in the series.  John "Black Jack" Geary has successfully defeated the Syndic worlds as an Alliance commander.  Now, he is going to seek out the aliens who supported the Syndics.  This is classic space opera.  Black Jack is the hero out of time, a common theme in science fiction.  He was awoken out of frozen sleep after 100 years to lead the Alliance to victory.  This theme goes all the way back to Buck Rogers.

Jack Campbell writes about more than just battles.  The story is also about a man who refuses to become a supreme leader and is a living hero.  John Geary must also deal with the politics of command, prisoners of war, and resupplying his war weary fleet.  He is sent back to face a new enemy, the aliens because the people at home are afraid of him.

The aliens are wonderfully enigmatic.  They destroy their own ships and installations before they can be captured.  As the fleet enters deeper into alien space, the aliens become more and more dangerous.  It follows the classic formula of space opera; each battle must be more challenging, and each time the hero must be more morally upright and cunning.  It makes for an entertaining story.  Predictably at the end the fleet meets up with an even more powerful alien race.  It is a classic, reliable formula.

When I started reading this book, I could not put it down.  It was gripping.  The hero did not just fight the aliens, he outstrategized them.  The story is much more than blazing guns.  Jack Campbell, the author served in the U.S. Navy surface fleet and it shows in the writing.  The series is also on the bestseller list in Locus Magazine.  I also enjoyed reading several of the other books.

Echo An Alex Benedict Novel by Jack McDevitt

Echo An Alex Benedict Novel by Jack McDevitt




Echo is part of a series of novels featuring Alex Benedict, a recoverer of antiquities in the far future. In this novel, Alex Benedict is following the trail of an inscription written in stone which is part of no known human language. The inscription makes for an excellent gimmick.



The characterization is better than his earlier novels. I especially liked Sunset Tuttle, an explorer seeking alien civilizations for philosophical reasons. He creates an excellent back story for the book.



Alex Benedict's adversaries are more tragic than evil. The novel is more about how mistakes can lead to horrific consequences. The one exception is the sociopathic assassin bent on killing Chase Kolpath and Alex Benedict. However, the assassin is more subtle and devious than a brutish adversary.



This novel successfully combines mystery, exploration, archaeology, and suspense into a superb science fiction novel. It is the fifth in the Alex Benedict series. The third novel in the series, Seeker, won the Nebula Award.

Behemoth by Scott Westerfield Illustrated by Keith Thompson

Behemoth by Scott Westerfield Illustrated by Keith Thompson

Behemoth is a mixture of alternate history and steampunk written for young adults.  It is the second book in the Leviathan trilogy.  The title Leviathan in the first book refers to a giant living airship.  Leviathan won the 2010 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel. I think it is quite readable for adults as well.

The setting in this part of the series is an alternate history Ottoman Empire.  There are ornate clockwork mechanical walkers and intricate steam powered machines.  The year is 1914.  In this world, the English and Russians are Darwinists masters of genetically engineered beasts and the Germans and Ottomans are Clankers makers of complex clockwork machinery.  I like that in this world, the Americans do both.

This makes for wonderfully ornate illustrations by Keith Thompson.  His website has some of the art from Behemoth http://www.keiththompsonart.com/ The illustrations are wonderfully ornate in black in white with touches of Victoriana, Art Deco, and even Middle Eastern motifs.

The reader encounters living airships, articulated steam elephants, a steampunk library, and an alternate Orient Express.  This transports you to a very different world.  The descriptions are inventive and eloquent.  We get to imagine Iron Golems in the Jewish quarters of Istanbul, fallen nobility in grand hotels, and an air of revolutionary change.

There is constant action, intrigue, hair raising escapes, and suspense.  Tension is created between the main characters; a young woman posing as a boy to serve in the English air corps, and an aristocratic German who is trying to pass himself off as a commoner.

The design of the book is superb; it is set in Hoefler text.  The line spacing and layout are very easy on the eyes.  The jacket design and photo illustration are by Sammy Yuen, Jr.

This is highly recommended, especially for people who read steampunk or atlernate history.

Rex Riders by J.P. Carlson

Rex Riders by J.P. Carlson

Rex Riders is a "weird western", a combination of weird tale or science fiction and western story. The story is an adventure story for teenagers, but it can be read by most anybody. It is an attempt to bring back the old fashioned pulp style story with better writing and more historical accuracy. There is plenty of action and a strong sense of old fashioned frontier values in this story.

The descriptions of riding include both horses and dinosaurs. Two of the dinosaurs featured are the tyrannosaurus rex and the triceratops. We move between the setting of the old west in the town of Dos Locos and a dinosaur planet. The setting of the west is described in beautiful detail; ranching, square dancing, country doctors, and small town life.

The story has themes about greed, bravery, loyalty, and taking advantage of peoples weaknesses. The villain D'Alessandro has his ranch destroyed because of his greed and his violent henchman, Cooper comes to a bad end.

J. Califiore is the artist who illustrates the book. He is a comic book artist for both DC and Marvel. Bob Eggleton has a small illustration on the back cover. The illustrations by J. Califiore are very precisely rendered, with lots of action, and clean lines. I like the picture of Zeke Calhoun, the main teenage character riding a t-rex, as well as a picture of a stage coach being rammed by a triceratops.

The one flaw I found was the occassional tendency of the author, J.P. Carlson to tell not show. For example, in one instance, he describes the way a pike is used in logging in the old west. This broke the flow of the story. It might have been better if there was a captioned illustration at this point. On the other hand, there is a lot of very fine detail written into the story like exact descriptions of cowboy instruments, tyrannosaurus rexes eating beef jerky, and a stampede of triceratops.

At the time I read this book on June 8, 2010, there was no website for this book. There also was no availability on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. It was released on May 3, 2010. I picked up an advanced reading copy at Book Expo America. The ISBN for the book is 9780982579633 . It is priced at $19.99 . This is the first book by a new press, Monstrosities, Inc.

Ship Breaker a Novel By Paolo Bacigalupi

Ship Breaker a Novel By Paolo Bacigalupi

Paolo Bacigalupi just won the Nebula award for his novel, The Windup Girl. This is his second novel. He also wrote an excellent collection of short stories, Pump Six and Other Stories. This novel is a young adult novel, but after reading it, I think it will appeal to all ages.

The writing is extremly fast paced and suspenseful. I was glued to the book and finished it in a single sitting. There is a lot of swearing, violence, and some drug references. However, these do not detract from the story. The violence is not sensationalized, it is portrayed as being a necessity to survive, or as a form of hardness.

The setting is fascinating. It is a near future where the age of oil has ended. Empty oil tankers line the coastlines, there are massive hurricanes, and New Orleans is a drowned city. In this setting is Nailer, a teenage scavenger of shipwrecks who makes his living collecting copper wire, tin, and other light metals.

Nailer contrasts well with Nita a rich girl who he rescues from a shipwreck. This brings a life changing adventure. We travel by bullet train and solar clipper ship to escape the bad guys.

I like the technology, it is completely believable. Paolo Bacigalupi even makes reference to a Buckell cannon designed to shoot sails into the upper atmosphere where they will catch strong winds to pull a ship quickly. At the end of the book, he acknowledges Tobias Buckell, another one of my favorite science fiction writers for technical help.

This is a superb, fast paced, adventure novel set in a dystopic near future. Read it, enjoy it, tell others about it.

Alexander Jablokov Brain Thief

Alexander Jablokov Brain Thief

Bernal Hayden Rumi works for an eccentric millionaire. He troubleshoots projects like an attempt to reseed the great plains of the United States with mammoths. One day his employer disappears and he ends up on a chase through wild and strange circumstances. The author is quite original in his approach and his subjects.

This novel is the landscape of fringe science, stolen crogenically frozen heads, black market scientific equipment, planetary exploration robots, and animal experiments gone wrong wind through this story. Alexander Jablokov philosophically challenges scientific experiments on animals and the idea that the singularity when robots become smarter than humans is a good thing.

Bernal gets to experience the worst aspects of human behavior while he seeks his employer; a serial killer, kidnapping, drugs, murder, thievery, and violent irrational philosophy.

The story is an intriguing, fast read without a happy ending. It is a mix of speculative fiction and mystery. The dialogue is crisp, often surprises, and takes unexpected turns. Many of the characters are more than a little deranged. The science is on the edge of the possible. This was a very entertaining read. The writing is quite high quality. There is nothing quite like it.

Linnea Sinclair Rebels and Lovers

Linnea Sinclair Rebels and Lovers


Linnea Sinclair writes science fiction romances. This is a sequel to the novel Hope's Folly. Hope's Folly was nominated for the Reviewers Choice Award by Romantic Times. It is a story of forbidden love and rebellion. Devin Guthrie, the scion of a wealthy family is chasing after his nephew, Trip Guthrie who has run off to join the rebellion.



Devin and Trip must avoid imperial forces and criminals who are attempting to kidnap Trip. There are many classic devices used; the bar fight, the chase, the family betrayal, the evil imperial bureaucracy. It makes for light hearted escapist reading.

While this is happening Devin falls in love with Makkaiden Griggs, a down on her luck starship captain. She needs a bit of saving. The saving adds a bit of spice to the love scenes.

There is just the right amount of technical wizardry to make it science fiction. Trip hacks the computer of a spaceship, there are laser pistols, a few aliens, and even a medical malady caused by exposure to toxic chemicals.

If you want to read some lighthearted science fiction romance, Linnea Sinclair's novels are very entertaining. I especially liked The Down Home Zombie Blues, it had some poetry and musical lyrics in it. Her website is at http://linneasinclair.com/books.html

Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley

Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley

This book is a sequel to the science fiction novel, The Quiet War. The three powers led by Greater Brazil have successfully conquered the Outers colonies on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Supposedly they have stopped the democratic and transhuman changes occurring to the colonists.

However, the aftermath of the conquest leads to some unexpected changes. Some of the outers have fled to the moons of Titan. My favorite character is Macy Minnot one of the outers who is on Titan. There is also a transhuman colony on Titan. This makes for an interesting story.

Also the ideas of democracy and technology from the Outer colonies are starting to seep into the cultures of the Pacific Community and Greater Brazil. This causes revolutionary change. It is a case of a less advanced society taking over a more advanced society.

There is a lot of interesting technology in the story. The author is a botanist and is very interested in technological change. He writes a lot about building ecologies for survival in space as well as using genetically engineered plants to harvest sunlight, minerals, and produce air. He also has some very interesting descriptions of people being genetically engineered as spies, to live in space, or to live extremely long lives.

I enjoyed the politics and technology in the story. There were some problems with the continuity of the story. The author broke the book into six sections which are slightly broken up in time. The last section called Everything Rises Must Converge felt more like an epilogue than a section.

This book would have been better as a trilogy. There were parts of the story which did not seem fleshed out well enough. The change which Sri Hong Owen the gene wizard uses to make her become transhuman as well as create the habitats orbiting the sun are not very clearly described.

I liked reading the book. I thought the continuity could have been done better, and that duology would have been better as a trilogy. It is worth reading for the ideas.

Diving Into The Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Diving Into The Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Boss salvages old spaceships. She searches her part of the galaxy for wrecks. She especially loves finding old historical ships. She makes her living diving into abandoned ships. She hires crews to help her search through these ships. The descriptions of her wreck diving are quite interesting.

Both the strength and the weakness of this novel are in the main character. She is emotionally cold and distant; a very hard woman. Her reactions to some of the deaths of the crew from accidents can be quite cold. This hardness plays into how she interacts with other characters with secrecy, suspicion, and hard business choices. It also is a bit uncomfortable reading at times. It can seem dry.

I liked the use of names in the novel; turtle, squishy, Riya, Karl, Roderick, and others had a very nice ring to them. Also, the names seemed to fit the characters quite well.

Actions have consequences in this novel. All of the characters choices in the beginning of the novel effect how the novel ends. Boss starts out as a wreck driver at the beginning of the novel and ends up an imperial fugitive with a secret at the end of the novel.

This novel is well plotted with an intricate storyline. There is a strong element of suspense in this novel. The author Kristine Kathryn Rusch has won a Hugo award for both editing and writing a novel. This shows in crisp sentences with very clean grammar.

Daily Thoughts 10/4/2009

Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany (1878-1957) The fantasy writer.

Daily Thoughts

I watched a bit of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It was kind of entertaining. It was only for a few minutes.

I also spent some time reading more of Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl. It is quite enjoyable to read, but it is not like most science fiction I have read. It has a lot more cultural variety than most science fiction. There are Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and American characters. There are also some interesting religious images from buddhism as well. There is also quite a bit on biology and ecology in the story. It is hard science fiction from an ecological and biological standpoint. It is not as much about big machines that fly into space. It is also a near future book. This makes it have a unique feeling to it. I read it mainly in the laundromat.

the Caryatids by Bruce Sterling

the Caryatids by Bruce Sterling

This is a novel of extremes. It is set in the near future around 2060. This is a forethought on climate change, pollution, and technology running out of control. The world as presented here is harsh, full of refugees, constant change, and failed states.

The novel intersects between three groups, two of them are transnational; the Acquis is a green collective that has advanced green technology and neural interfaces. The Acquis reminds me of an odd admixture of social enterprise and green capitalism. People like Amory Lovins, Paul Hawken, or groups like the Bioneers.

The second group is based out of California, the Dispensation, it is a conglomerate of Hollywood and high tech rolled into Reality 2.0. It might be what would happen if the people who read the magazines Fast Company, Inc., and Wired took over running things.

The final setting is China which has become a kind of super state that has gone from disaster to disaster. China is the ultimately endpoint of the mega state. It has set off hydrogen bombs in the Himalayas to reroute water from glaciers into China and built a simulated mars dome. It is a bureaucracy with total surveillance and total recycling of resources.

Thrown into this setting are the Caryatids, four clone sisters who are separated by disaster. The clones in this novel represent human archetypes; Radmila the superstar, Sonja the barefoot doctor, Vera the radical environmentalist, and Biserka the criminal and terrorist. Supporting them are their brother Djordje, the industrialist, and John Montgomery Montalban, a kind of supersalesman, an actor rolled into a businessman.

The book rages from shock to shock. It is clearly hard science fiction, drawing from the edges of what might be possible in the near future. The technology being described is very interesting. The writing is fabulous. There are many different viewpoints presented in the book, each sister gets to present their own viewpoint. There is not just one main character. This makes the novel unique.

Bruce Sterling has written many books, the two which I like best are The Difference Engine written with William Gibson and The Hacker Crackdown. This novel is drawing from a new style of near future science fiction, I can see the influence of Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross.

If you want to read something different, read this. This book was officially released February 24, 2009.

Hope's Folly by Linnea Sinclair

Hope's Folly by Linnea Sinclair

I picked up a copy of Hope's Folly on February 6, 2009 at New York Comic Con. They were displaying The Down Home Zombie Blues at the Bantam booth for science fiction and I asked them if they had a new book by Linnea Sinclair. They gave me the Advanced Reading Copy of Hope's Folly. It is due out on February 24, 2009.

It is deeply satisfying to be able to read a good book before anyone else does. There are a few minor elements that probably will be changed, but with an Advanced Reading Copy, it is very close to the finished product most of the time. Linnea Sinclair has written many award winning romance books. She has won the RITA, The Sapphire, and the Prism awards for romance novels. Her website is at http://www.linneasinclair.com/ .

There is a playlist of music in the front of the book which she listens to. She even lists a website for the recordings. http://www.blacktigerrecordings.com/ .

This book is what Star Trek might be like if it included hot sex, and more violent political intrigue. Including this adds spice where most space operas don't have it. This is the major reason I like her stories so much.

The dynamic of older man and younger woman is done very well. The older man is the commanding Admiral Philip Guthrie and the younger woman is his security officer, Rya Bennton.

What also makes this story so good is the political intrigue added to the typical shootouts and space battles. There are saboteurs on board the ship the Hope's Folly and Rya Bennton must find them. Also there is an assassination and a kidnapping attempt against the Admiral Guthrie. This makes for a fast paced story with excitement at every turn.

The setting is the classic rebel ship fighting an empire torn asunder space opera setting. The rebel ship of course is outnumbered and outgunned.

The book is printed by Bantam books. I don't think this book is purely formulaic. If you like science fiction and a little romance you will really like this book.

Daily Thoughts

The Erythraean Sibyl Michelangelo 16th Century

Daily Thoughts

Another book came in for me today, The Last Wish by Andrew Sapkowski. It is a game based on a video game, The Witcher. This is the second book I am reading based on a video game, the other is Halo, The Cole Protocol by Tobias Buckell. Both of these are standalone titles, not parts of longer series. I am not a huge fan of serial game novels.

A lot of people like them, there is Warhammer 40,000, Forgotten Realms, and many other series. In fact, when I go to my local library, I find most of the paperbacks in the science fiction and fantasy section to be fantasy series based on games. Serials can be fun occassionally, but I often think an excessive focus on series saps creativity. I much prefer to read original series or novels.

In science fiction, there are the Star Wars paperbacks and Star Trek paperbacks. I like the new Romulan Empire novels and the Klingon Empire novels which have been coming out recently. They are a little bit different than the stories of the federation which I find rather bland. I even like a few of the authors. Peter David is my favorite of the novelists who wrote for star trek. I like the Timothy Zahn books in the Star Wars series. My favorite Star Wars novel was Splinter of the Minds Eye by Alan Dean Foster. Still, I like original novels better.

I shifted some New York Law annuals downstairs. They are government documents. In order to discard books if you are depository library, you have to prepare a list of the items you are discarding and send it to the government to get permission to discard the items. Sometimes, they don't give permission. We are a partial government depository. I also discarded some law books.

We have had to buy a computer database Westlaw Patron Access Terminal recently to replace our cd-rom databases. Like most libraries with a law collection we have a very large amount of books. This is because law is based on precedent, everything that has come before it.

The Devil's Eye by Jack McDevitt

The Devil's Eye by Jack McDevitt

This book is a suspense novel in a science fiction setting. Alex Benedict, an antiquities dealer is approached by a woman to find out what happened to her. Vicki Greene's recent memories were destroyed. Thus ensues a mystery of tracking down where Vicki Greene was.


Alex ends up on a planet on the very edge of the galaxy Salud Afar. I really like the name of the planet. Salud Afar has just come out of a long period of tyrannical rule by a single family. It is a dangerous place to be.


As the novel progresses, the danger becomes deeper, the mystery unravels to reveal an earth shattering disaster, and the story becomes poignant and deep. The action is very fastpaced and well thought out.


The writing is quite believable because the author focuses on what makes us human and tries to tell a story we can relate to. There are aliens in this novel, but they are not people in rubber suits. The aliens frighten humans to the core even though they are not that hostile. The aliens in turn are equally unsettled by us. They are telepathic "mutes."


I thought the author was a bit conservative with emotional reactions from the central character and could have added a little more depth. I got confused sometimes about the reactions of Chase Kolpath, Alex Benedict's partner. I felt that the reactions of Chase Kolpath were not that convincing for a lady character.


Jack McDevitt won the Nebula award for his novel Cauldron. I have enjoyed several of his previous novels, especially his archaeological science fiction novels which are quite unique.

Shadow Of The Scorpion A Novel of the Polity by Neal Asher

Shadow Of The Scorpion A Novel of the Polity by Neal Asher

This is a science fiction novel. It is about a spy, Ian Cormac, a remorseless man with a capacity for extreme violence and an ability to think on his feet. There is a lot of action and intrigue in this novel.

This story is the beginning of Ian Cormac's career. It starts wtih Ian Cormac's first tour of duty in the military. The setting is at the end of a war between the human Polity and the Prador, a vicious predatory alien carnivorous species who view humans as exotic cattle.

Not all of humanity likes being part of the Polity. Artificial intelligences have taken over creating an age of prosperity for humanity. People are better housed, clothed, and educated. Still, people want their freedom. Not everyone wants to be integrated into a machine society.

There are flashbacks to Ian's childhood. His mother reminds him that he should be an adult before he accepts any cybernetic enhancements. Part of the theme of this novel is the relation between man and machine and what keeps us human.

Ian Cormac finds himself at the wrong place at the right time. He is recruited by the artificial intelligences to investigate rebel activity next to a fallen Prador ship. His job is to prevent the rebels from getting access to alien weapons of mass destruction.

It is a trial by fire for Ian who must outthink the rebels and outfight them despite being untrained in espionage. Cormac demonstrates constant ruthlessness, biting sarcasm, willingness to tinker with deadly weapons, and the ability to mislead with the best.

There is a second thread with flashbacks to Ian's childhood. His mother has excised many of the memories which would have caused him pain or remorse. Many of these memories are about the war with the Prador. A rogue artificial intelligence helps him remember about his fathers death and other painful childhood memories. The removed memories are part of what make him so dangerous.

This novel is very dark. It asks a lot of philosophical questions. What divides humans from machines? How can we maintain our freedom and individuality in an artificial world? Combined with the philosophical questions are all out fast paced action sequences. The artificial intelligences come across as more human than humanity. I had a hard time putting this novel down.

Necropath A Bengal Station Novel by Eric Brown

Necropath A Bengal Station Novel by Eric Brown

This is a science fiction novel. The main character, Jeff Vaughan is a telepath who scans incoming ships for contraband from alien worlds. His job is to watch for the thoughts and feelings that are out of place on the incoming ships.

Jeff Vaughan discovers a strange problem, the station director is hiding something, but the director kills himself before Vaughan can scan him.

Thus begins a story of intrigue involving a strange alien drug which leads to a feeling of unity, and a cult that is connected to alien beings.

The setting is very interesting. Bengal Station is a bustling space port situated on the ocean. It is a mix of Thai and Hindi culture which enlivens the setting. The setting is mainly the bustling streets, except for a visit to an offworld colony.

This is the first time I have ever read this author. I was pleasantly surprised. Even though I read science fiction novels regularly, I had not seen this author before despite him having won two British Science Fiction Awards.

His writing is very gritty and dark, but at the same time fulfilling. There is quite a bit of the darker side of life in this novel, prostitution, begging, police corruption, and dark secrets. Despite, this there is still a sense of hope in this novel.

It looks like the publisher of this novel, Solar Books is also relatively new. I see titles going back to 2007, but nothing before that. This means, I may get a chance to find a whole new set of authors. This book was published in October of 2008. http://www.solarisbooks.com/science-fiction.asp

Science Fiction and Fantasy Graphic Novels Widget

Slideshow

Slideshow

I decided to test out the slideshow feature for Amazon affiliates. These are books in my collection of science fiction art books. A lot of books were no longer in print, or did not have pictures available of the covers. Thus, I could not post, Virgil Finlay's Strange Science, Frank Kelly Freas The Art of Science Fiction, or Wonderworks by Michael Whelan. I just wanted to make a short example of some science fiction art books.

I might also do the same thing with some science fiction or fantasy graphic novels which I enjoyed. I would like some feedback on whether or not you liked the style and format. I think it could be used successfully for a number of different things.

I tried a different format for doing a short graphic novel slideshow. I hope you appreciate it. It is the first time I am doing this.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Art Books Widget