Driving on the Moon

by

I had a very odd dream this morning.  My dad was driving a two-seater lunar rover.  He was telling me about the top speeds ever achieved by the rovers (80 mph).  We were passing a few dozen suited people who were working on the surface.  We were in a plastic covering and it was leaking … Read more

Best of “Austin”

by

The Best of Austin is out again, and Lee lists a few of the beer categories. It’s the analog of the Houston Press’ Best of Houston – they’re both alt/entertainment weeklies owned by the same company (see comment #1). It quite humored me that three of the bests on the list are Houston imports: Little … Read more

Weekend of Beer and Games

by

Here’s the lineup of beers for the coming fantabulous weekend in Wimberley to be spent playing games, sampling beers, cooking food, and perhaps walking down the road once or twice. Click the image to get a closeup of St. Peter’s Cream Stout1, St. Peter’s Old Style Porter1, Unibroue 161, Malheur 101, Bayhawk California Pale Ale1, … Read more

Frazer Ltd.

by

So, my not having a job, then waiting for a job, then that job vaporizing into atoms, then me finally getting a job is a long story. I’ll tell you the ending: I have a new job! I’m one of a few IT guys at Frazer Ltd. They are an ambulance manufacturer. They used to … Read more

Select a Candidate

by

A few days ago I was listening to a podcast while biking through Memorial Park all the way to the West Loop and in an extended PBS interview with Mike Gravel I was struck by how much I liked him (and of course how he had no chance in hell of being taken seriously, much … Read more

Three Long Tales

by

Seems I’ve gotten myself into several long series of books all by the same author. It started one day when I was just looking for something interesting and the book cover and back cover description made me pick up Orson Scott Card‘s Seventh Son.

It’s the first of The Tales of Alvin Maker series, which I’m several books into. It’s set in an alternate history of early America and centers around the life of a boy/man who will make a difference in the outcome of that continent.

Then I became aware of the Homecoming Saga, so picked up the first book in that series: The Memory of Earth. This series is about humans escaping the savage past of Earth, with some guiding assistance, now having to guide themselves when that experiment is breaking down. Interesting in that some of the characters and main plot points are borrowed from the Book of Mormon. Not so much that it’s worn on its sleeve.

And now I’ve added the first book from his best known series, and one that’s won some awards. The Ender’s Game series I haven’t yet started, only just now getting the first book. It was not written and released in chronological order, and apparently fans are torn over in which order they should be read.

4 down, 16 to go…

  1. Seventh Son
  2. Red Prophet
  3. Prentice Alvin
  4. Alvin Journeyman
  5. Heartfire
  6. The Crystal City
  7. Master Alvin (forthcoming)
  1. The Memory of Earth
  2. The Call of Earth
  3. The Ships of Earth
  4. Earthfall
  5. Earthborn
  1. Ender’s Game
  2. Speaker for the Dead
  3. Xenocide
  4. Children of the Mind
  5. Ender’s Shadow
  6. Shadow of the Hegemon
  7. Shadow Puppets
  8. Shadow of the Giant

[Edit: I’m crossing them off as I go, italicizing as I procure. -Aug 08]

Read more