Jan. 23rd, 2008

baratron: (goggles)
So, the short story, Slow Life by Michael Swanwick - as found in The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 16 - has some egregious scientific mistakes. I don't know whether it's the author, or the editor, or the typesetter to blame - but one of these people has a fecking awful understanding of some basic concepts, to the extent the story made me angry. Get this: (by the way, I don't know how to do superscripts in livejournal, so superscripted stuff is typed as ^)
Still tugging at the ropes in the sequence uploaded by the engineers in Toronto, she scrolled up the chart of hydrocarbons dissolved in the lake.
Solute Solute mole fraction
Ethyne 4.0 x 10^-4
Propyne 4.4 x 10^-5
1,3-Butadiyne 7.7 x 10^-7
Carbon Dioxide 0.1 x 10^-5
Methanenitrile 5.7 x 10^-6

There are two things definitely wrong with that section of book, and a third possibly wrong.ExpandRead more... )
baratron: (lego)
In an attempt to increase the number of actual books I read each year (rather than simply reading websites, newspapers, magazines and cereal packets as I am wont to do), I thought I should start making a list of books I've read. This would have been straightforward if not for needing to stop to rant. Hmm.

1. "The Devil You Know" - Poppy Z. Brite
The last of Poppy Z. Brite's horror short story collections and the first of her restaurant short story collections, at the same time. I was always a fan of her horror stuff before she decided she didn't want to write that sort of thing anymore, but the cute gay boys in a restaurant theme is even better. I mean, you have cute gay boys and delicious food - what could be better?

2. The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 16 - ed. Gardner Dozois
This is not new at all, but it's one of the two books I couldn't get at the time due to lack of money or something like that. The Mammoth Books of Best New SF only exist in the shops for a handful of months after they're released, meaning that if you miss one, you're looking at second-hand booksellers to pick them up. And as they tend to be pretty good, they're hard to get hold of.

I've decided that I should make a list of the short stories in each volume that I particularly liked, so that I can identify the authors I like most and look for more of their work.ExpandFrom Book 16... )

I should also mention Slow Life by Michael Swanwick, which I would have enjoyed if not for the wretched bloody science! I don't know whether it's the author, or the editor, or the typesetter to blame - but one of these people has a fecking awful understanding of some basic scientific concepts (chemical, physical and mathematical), to the extent the story made me angry. After some debate about whether my rant about it should be part of this post, I posted it separately. But I would very much like the opinions of people who have read the story or have read other stories by him. I would especially like to compare the version of the story as published in The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 16 with the original from Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 2002.

3. The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 14 - ed. Gardner Dozois
ExpandFavourite short stories from 14. )

I realise that I want to make a list of the stories in the other volumes that I liked, but I barely remember some of them. I know I've read 12 & 13 a lot of times, but I could swear I hadn't read 15 at all if not for one very memorable story. This is probably due to my mental state at the time rather than the stories themselves, though. Hrm.
baratron: (boooooks)
This one'll have 12, 13 & 15. I've posted 14 & 16 already, and haven't looked at 17 & 18 yet. I suppose I'm going to have to repeat this exercise with The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series too, oh no! *hand --> staple --> forehead*.

The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 12 - ed. Gardner Dozois
This was the first Mammoth Book of Best New SF that I bought. I got it to read on the plane on the way to alt.polycon 6 :) Took that book and my Game Boy Color on the flight, iirc. I think we owned one laptop between us at the time, and we certainly didn't take it to Canada. ExpandFavourite stories in 12. )

Meh, it's stupid o'clock and am too tired to continue with this now. Will do 13 & 15 some other time.

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