*A Collection of
Antiquarian Curios & Relics*
"Shakespeare's
sonnets leave me cold
The drama stage
and the high brow prose
But my world
shakes for me, my bird sings sweetly . . ."
--Colin Moulding, My Bird
Performs
An open letter to George
R.R. Martin--
I understand from a recent
interview that you were offended by some fans of your Song of Ice & Fire
series who were worried that you may not complete it before your death.
In fact, you not only used the F-word to describe said fans, but also flipped
them the bird for good measure.
I really think you should take
this as a compliment, and not as a criticism. Your fans would prefer that
you finish your saga than say someone like the talented Brandon
Sanderson. Mr. Sanderson is not going to have the same vision nor the
feel for the characters that you do. And from my Sanderson comment, you
know I am alluding to Robert Jordan and his Wheel of Time series. Like
you, Mr Jordan was over 60 years old, and he was not exactly the picture of
health when he died. Also, as the pace of your new books has slowed
considerably, I feel that our fears as fans are well founded. So put down
your toy soldiers and please, please finish The Winds of Winter.
--A Concerned Fan
AND STOOD AWHILE
IN THOUGHT
Dear reader, I'm sure you have the same
problem that I do. It's encapsulated by a quote oddly attributed to Frank
Zappa, "So many books, so little time." Like many of you, I
have a pile of books on my 'to read list' that rivals the biblical Tower of
Babel (which reminds me, I've been meaning to read Babel-17 by Samuel
Delaney). My wife is much better at this than I; she just finished the
latest doorstop by Ken Follett, The Edge of Eternity (9780525953098)
36.00, which will hit the bestseller lists on September 16 and then picked up
Diana Gabaldon's latest doorstop, Written in My Own Heart's Blood
(9780385344432) 35.00. So bottom line, she's good for a while. By the
way, Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity is one of the best time travel
books ever written. I am on the final chapter of A Man Called
Destruction (9780670025633) 27.95 by Holly George-Warren, and I have a
tough decision to make: should I read William T. Vollmann's Europe Central (9780143036593)
20.00 or John Williams' Stoner (9781590171998) 14.95? (I have also
been rifling through Tom Powers' Michigan State and National Parks (9781933272436)
15.95, but that doesn't really count. I'm just looking for a nice
destination for a weekend vacation.) I dunno. Both of those books
sound so deathly serious, I'm just going to have to go with something more
practical like Andrew Shaffer's How to Survive a Sharknado
(9780553418132) 14.99. It never hurts to be prepared . . .
Odds & Sods
Speaking of
vacationing in Michigan, two new guides from Thunder Bay Press, Discovering
Michigan County by County Lower Peninsula (9781933272467) 24.95 and Discovering
Michigan County by County Upper Peninsula (9781933272474) 19.95 by Barbara
VanderMolen will be in high demand. Check your stock . . .
One of
Michigan's foremost photographers, Ken Scott, has a new offering, The Ice
Caves of Leelanau (9780974206851) 25.00. It should be here by the end of
July. The first printing sold very quickly and there will be a limited
supply. Backorder accordingly.
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