Marginalia

The introduction to Gary K. Wolfe's Hugo-nominated collection of reviews, Soundings. Why review?

Furthermore, I'd long admired the stylistic freedom of reviewers both in and out of the field, ranging from Pauline Kael and Edmund Wilson to Budrys and Clute. Not only were such writers simply enjoyable to read, but they demonstrated a fierce engagement with their subjects in a manner that frankly is hard to bring off in the constrained formalities of academic writing. And a constantly churning field such as SF seemed to invite such engagement.

Guardian review of Geoff Ryman's latest, The King's Last Song, not entirely complimentary:

Mundane science fiction is an intriguing idea. Whether there'll be any takers for mundane historical fiction is a different matter.

A four-part discussion about Black Swan Green.

This can't go well.

"Goths are like masons," I have been told. "They're everywhere."

An essay about 'The Heat Death of the Universe.'

And finally: 'Spot in Space'

See Spot
gazing out the porthole
of his space capsule, looking
down at Dick and Jane
who are waving good-bye
to him,