Richard's SF Ramblings Speculative Fiction Speculations: William .

I have loved William Gibson from the get go (Necromancer, 1984). I didn't even blink with his movement from cyberpunk to the present day dystopia stories. For those of you who also show him, his newest, Zero History, is his third installment centered around marketing and all that it entails and more. The 1st volume in the Bigend Trilogy, Pattern Recognition, I have mentioned before and will undoubtedly mention again (easily on my top reads ever list).

Whew! What a read. Book two, Spook Country, will enjoy as well. Gibson's view of our current, recent past and our soon to be world, is plenty to affect me dumb, numb and confounded. His vocabulary constantly pleases and challenges me. His knowledge of the forge industry and fashionista are a joy to learn. All the while spinning and spinning and spinning an exorbitant and compelling of story viral marketing and what the manufacture and business will do to be players in their world. Gibson's personal fashion choice, in a word, durable. My form of guy. The protagonists are constantly telling the report from a place of thought you need to be watching from. The reader gets to look quite clever while reading William Gibson. I hardly finished the latest two installments of David Drake's RNC (Leary/Mundy) Series. Books 7, Into the Stormy Red Sky and hold 8, What Distant Deeps. Book 8 may be my absolute favorite of the serial and I'm thinking it's some time the two got them selves figured out. One can scarcely guess what sort of progeny they could think and loose on the universe. Space Opera could get more than it already is. Frightening! William C. Dietz' second volume in his Empire Duology arrived at the library.Bones of Empire is exactly what I expected of it. Fast furious space opera with a predictable outcome. But, what fun! I left the material man behind for a little while and was glad to do so. I sorry to not be listening to music available at the library, but I just can't leave Ryan Adam's early form with his alt-country band Whiskytown alone. The lyrics from the title cut of the CD Faithless Street haunts me on a steady basis. "If angels are messengers from God, please send one land to me. If angels are messengers from God, I wrote a letter he should read. Been surviving on faithless street all by myself." If you haven't noticed I am over fond of Ryan Adams music, lyrics and phrasing. Come to consider of it his phrasing is right up thither with Elvis Costello. If you can think this material is merely my opinion. If phrasing interests you, Elvis Costello is the World Champion. Proof of the Costello pudding is to mind to his singing on Painted From Memory, with Burt Bacharach stroking the ivories. All the songs are the "light" pop tunes Bacharach penned. What come out of Elvis's mouth are deep, brooding, emotional, content laden songs. I had no idea Burt's music was that meaningful. Sometimes it's all in the phrasing. Just remember, this is an opinion, your thoughts on the subject are often more meaningful. Just an aside, but, Imperial Bedroom by Costello is my favorite. The whole CD feels like listening to the confessions of a bad boy all but unaware of the upcoming change. Regards, Richard