Books I'm Looking forward to in 2009

There's never enough time to read everything that catches my eye during any season of the publishing year. I know I won't be able to crack all of what's listed below, but it's always nice to dream...

The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston -- I've been a fan of Huston since "Caught Stealing." I prefer his straight crime novels to his vampire detective series, so this new one, about a crime scene clean-up technician, is especially appealing. It's getting a big push from his publisher.

Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak -- Not sure if it'll reveal much I don't already know, but this seems to be a low-key, non-exploitative bio of Mr. King.

The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry -- "An unlikely detective, armed only with an umbrella and a singular handbook, must untangle a string of crimes committed in and through people's dreams." Could be an enjoyable bit of literary gamesmanship. Could be an annoyingly pretentious wank-a-thon.

End of the Century by Chris Roberson -- The search for the Holy Grail, set in three eras. I'm always impressed by Roberson's creative energy, and it's been a while since I read "Here, There & Everywhere."

Poe edited by Ellen Datlow -- Nineteen tales inspired by Edgar Allan.

The Caryatids by Bruce Sterling -- I'm sure Sterling's take on clones will be an interesting one.

Escape from Hell by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle -- The long-awaited sequel to "Inferno." I haven't read much Niven/Pournelle since college, so there's a nostalgia factor here.

Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald -- A collection of stories set in the same milieu as the award-winning "River of Gods."

Under the Dome -- Stephen King's next major work, said to rival "The Stand" and "IT" in page count.

Donald Westlake/Richard Stark RIP

Damn. Mystery writer Donald Westlake is dead at age 75.

Westlake surely ranks within my dozen favorite writers, regardless of genre. Under his own name, he's the creator of the Dortmunder series of comic caper novels, starting with "The Hot Rock."As Richard Stark, he's the genius who chronicles the adventures of Parker, the ultimate professional criminal. He adapted Jim Thompson's "The Grifters" for the screen and wrote the original screenplay for "The Stepfather."

I've been reading Westlake since I was about 15, and although some of his books are better than others, I don't think I've been genuinely disappointed by any of them. He made it all look easy -- plotting, character, scene-setting, humor, irony. He had the kind of career that's deeply enviable and most likely will never be matched.

If you've never read Westlake, I particularly recommend "The Ax," a newly relevant look at middle-aged and middle-management malaise. "Slayground" is one of the best Stark books, but it's currently hard to find, so you might as well just start with "The Hunter," filmed as "Point Blank" with Lee Marvin (good) and "Payback" with Mel Gibson (not so). Among the Dortmunders, I'm fond of "Jimmy the Kid" and "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" If you want a real change of pace, try "Kahawa," about diamonds, coffe and Idi Amin, and "Smoke," a clever riff on "The Invisible Man."

Sarah Weinman has posted a list of worthwhile Westlake-related links. The Onion AV Club interview and the chat with John Banville are especially good.

I'm thankful for everything Westlake gave us, but I still wish there were more.

Back to Stoppard Blogging

Been a while since I've added any Stoppard links. Here are a few from England and around the U.S.

Stoppard and Andre Previn are gearing up for a revival of "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" at the National.

Stoppard recently visited Yale to speak to a class by Paula Vogel. He was in town to see a revival of "Rough Crossing" at the Yale Repertory Theatre, reviewed here, here, here and here.

Really sad to hear that Shakespeare Santa Cruz has been pushed to the financial brink. Glad to know that Stoppard is lending his support.

Two recent productions of "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern": one in Surrey, UK, the other in Melbourne, Australia.

John Cullum and Tony Roberts are slated to star in the New York premiere of "Heroes." (Not the superhero television series.)

And Stoppard is still opposed to the publication of Nabokov's final novel, "The Original of Laura."

List of Science Fiction Review Sites

John Ottinger of Grasping for the Wind is collecting links to science fiction and fantasy reviewers. Here's what he's compiled so far:

The Accidental Bard
A Dribble Of Ink
Adventures in Reading
The Agony Column
The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.
Barbara Martin
Bibliophile Stalker
Bibliosnark
BillWardWriter.com
Blood of the Muse
Bookgeeks
Bookslut
Bookspotcentral
The Book Swede
Bookrastination
Breeni Books
Cheap Ironies
Cheryl's Musings
Critical Mass
Dark Wolf Fantasy Reviews
Darque Reviews
Dave Brendon's Fantasy and Sci-Fi Weblog
The Deckled Edge
Dragons, Heroes and Wizards
Dusk Before the Dawn
Enter the Octopus
Eve's Alexandria
Fantasy Book Critic
Fantasy Cafe
Fantasy Debut
Fantasy Book Reviews and News
Fantasy and Sci-fi Lovin' Blog
The Fix
The Foghorn Review
From a Sci-Fi Standpoint
The Galaxy Express
Galleycat
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Grasping for the Wind
The Green Man Review
Highlander's Book Reviews
io9
Jumpdrives and Cantrips
Literary Escapism
Michele Lee's Book Love
Monster Librarian
Mostly Harmless Books
My Favourite Books
Neth Space
NextRead
OF Blog of the Fallen
The Old Bat's Belfry
Outside of a Dog
Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Piaw's Blog
Post-Weird Thoughts
Publisher's Weekly
Reading the Leaves
Realms of Speculative Fiction
Rob's Blog o' Stuff
ScifiChick
SF Diplomat
SciFiGuy
Sci-Fi Songs [Musical Reviews]
Severian's Fantastic Worlds
SF Gospel
SF Reviews.net
SF Revu
SF Signal
SF Site
SFF World's Book Reviews
Silver Reviews
Speculative Fiction Junkie
Speculative Horizons
Sporadic Book Reviews
Stella Matutina
The Sword Review
Tangent Online
Temple Library Reviews
Tor.com [also a publisher]
The Road Not Taken
Un:Bound
Urban Fantasy Land
Vast and Cool and Unsympathetic
Variety SF
Walker of Worlds
Wands and Worlds
The Wertzone
WJ Fantasy Reviews
The World in a Satin Bag
WriteBlack

Foreign Language (other than English)

Cititor SF [Romanian, but with English Translation]

Elbakin.net [French]

The Latest from King, Hill and Baker

SFGate has posted my review of new books from Stephen King, Joe Hill and Kage Baker. King's latest is a collection of 13 short stories, most of which are pretty good. It's not my favorite gathering of his short work, but there's enough of a mix to make it worthwhile for most fans. Stand-out stories include "The Gingerbread Girl" and "Ayana."

Joe Hill (who happens to be King's son, just in case you hadn't heard) created an on-going comics series for IDW. It's called "Locke and Key," and the first six issues are collected in hardcover as "Welcome to Lovecraft." (Minor quibble: I don't think H.P.'s surname works as a New England place name. Just sayin'.)

As crazy as I was for Baker's Company books, I'm really conflicted about her fantasy novels. I know they're well-written, but they just don't grab me. It seemed to take me forever to read "The House of the Stag," but don't let that stop you from giving it a try.

Holiday Books 2008

The San Francisco Chronicle publishes its annual Holiday Books section tomorrow, and it once again includes my list of recommended science fiction and fantasy titles.

It's not really a Best of the Year list, as I'm not able to read enough of the year's selections to make any kinds of definitive judgments. But I try to choose an interesting mix of authors working in a variety of modes. So, in addition to books by heavy-hitters like Neil Gaiman, Stephen King and Neal Stephenson, I give props to lesser-known authors like Jo Walton, Daryl Gregory and Jeff and Anne VanderMeer.

George C. Chesbro and the Last of Mongo

I was sad to hear that George C. Chesbro, author of the Mongo mysteries, has passed away, as noted at Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, The Rap Sheet and the author's official site. With his dwarf protagonist, Chesbro brought something unique to crime fiction, a willingness to mix elements of the paranormal with the traditional gumshoe mystery, well before "The X Files" and its many imitators.

I started reading Chesbro with "The Beasts of Valhalla." (C'mon, look at that cover! How can you not want to pick it up?) It's an astounding mash-up of Wagner, "The Lord of the Rings" and a mad-scientist science fiction plot. I highly recommend it and its two immediate follow-ups, "Two Songs This Archangel Sings" and "The Cold Smell of Sacred Stone."

A few years ago Clayton Moore wrote an excellent column about Chesbro for Bookslut. It's worth reading now as an eloquent remembrance.

Remembering Michael Crichton

I think I read one of Michael Crichton's pseudonymous thrillers before I got around to his better-known work under his own name. It was the paperback original "Binary" (or as I pronounced it in my 13-year-old brain "bin-arry"), about a plot to release nerve gas at the Republican National Convention. (I guess that would be bad.) Anyway, it impressed the hell out of the teenaged me.

Throughout high school, I picked up "The Andromeda Strain," "Eaters of the Dead" and "The Great Train Robbery." I saw "Coma" and "Westworld" at the movies. "Sphere" was among my first assignments as a professional reviewer, and I was amused to see that the paperback edition prominently featured cherry-picked adjectives from my less-than-glowing critique.

Like a lot of folks, I was startled to learn on Wednesday that Crichton had died of cancer at age 66. He'll be missed by a lot of readers. I'm glad I was given the opportunity to write an appreciation of him for the Sunday Chronicle.

"Octavian Nothing -- The Kingdom on the Waves"

M.T. Anderson has published the concluding volume of "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation." I review it this weekend in the San Francisco Chronicle's kids' books pages. Highly recommended.

Nelson DeMille: When Will I Learn?

I don't really know why I thought it was a good idea to read Nelson DeMille's new novel, "The Gate House." It's a sequel to "The Gold Coast," the very funny and well-observed Gatsby-Meets-The Godfather thriller from 20 years ago. I had managed to resist picking up his previous best-seller, still bearing a grudge from "Night Fall," which used 9/11 as a shoddy deus ex machina.

Maybe I was looking for a palate cleanser after "Anathem."

Anyway, I picked up "The Gate House" and was suckered in by DeMille's smart-ass dialogue and the return of some well-liked characters. Then it all started to fall apart. The characters began acting like idiots, the chief antagonist disappeared for half the book and nothing much happened. Perversely, I continued reading.

Finally, after more than 600 pages, everything was resolved by a stupid shootout and the arrival of a letter that could have been read at nearly any point in the narrative and thereby stopped everything in its tracks.

So, if you ever see me reading another new Nelson DeMille "thriller," please slap it out of my hands.

New Review: Walton, Gaiman and Carroll

This week's Sunday Chronicle features my science fiction/fantasy column. Books covered include "Half a Crown" by Jo Walton, "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman and "The Ghost in Love" by Jonathan Carroll.

Although all are good and well worth your time and attention, I think my favorite of the three is "Half a Crown." Walton brings her alternate history trilogy to a rousing conclusion. It's a genuinely impressive feat, one that should be acknowledged by a wider, more mainstream audience.

Stoppard Does Chekhov, Plus More "Rock 'n' Roll"

In London, Kenneth Branagh stars in the Donmar West End production of Anton Chekhov's "Ivanov," newly adapted by Stoppard. The production has been well received, for Branagh's performance and Stoppard's adaptation. Critics are reportedly unanimous in their praise.

The reviews for the San Francisco production of "Rock 'n' Roll" keep streaming in:
San Francisco Bay Times
Sacramento Bee
The Bay Guardian
The Daily Californian

Meanwhile, in a Times Online video interview, Stoppard claims that his approach to theater is "very, very lowbrow." You betcha.

Stephenson Is to Stoppard As...

It took me close to two months, but I finally dragged myself through Neal Stephenson's 900-page philosophical science fiction epic, "Anathem." Oy. I'm a big fan of the author of "Cryptonomicon" and "The Baroque Cycle," but this tale of cloistered scholars making their way into the outside to deal with extraterrestrial visitors was a struggle all the way through. I nearly gave up a couple times, but I persevered, mainly because I knew that The Chronicle should cover the book and that no one else was going to step forward to do so.

It got a little easier once I found a hook for the review. After seeing "Rock 'n' Roll" last week, it struck me that Stephenson is to science fiction as Tom Stoppard is to contemporary drama. Sound far-fetched? Well, read my review from today's Chronicle and see if you agree.

"Rock 'n' Roll" Opens at ACT

On Wednesday, Stoppard's "Rock 'n' Roll" opened at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater, the play's first post-Broadway outing. I saw it on Wednesday, taking last-minute advantage of ACT's "Pay What You Wish" program.

It's a solid production of a play that doesn't rank among my favorites. The sets, lighting and sound design are especially impressive. I found the male lead, Manoel Felciano as Jan, to be problematic. Perhaps he was merely tired after Opening Night, but his energy level seemed off and he didn't connect with his counterparts as he should have. Jack Willis was more in the groove as Max, the aging Marxist professor, and his scenes with Rene Augesen as his dying wife/regretful daughter were beautifully handled.

In the Friday San Francisco Chronicle, Robert Hurwitt gave the production an enthusiastic review. On his blog, Chronicle movie critic Mick LaSalle takes special note of Augesen's performance.

Pat Craig at the Contra Costa Times had good things to say about this "Rock 'n' Roll," as did Lee Hartgrave at BeyondChron. Chad Jones at The Examiner was equally positive in his appraisal.

If you have tickets, be sure to take a moment to read the timeline printed in the program. The historical context is greatly helpful.

Various and Sundry

I was on vacation last week and managed to post a few items to my other blog. I wrote about good advice from Nick Mamatas, the new series of Richard Stark comics from IDW, Books editor Oscar Villalon's departure from the San Francisco Chronicle and three new first novels.

Breaking Radio Silence

I haven't been in the mood to blog for quite a while. But that doesn't mean that I haven't been writing.

In July, I contributed to the Barnes & Noble Review for the first time, with a spotlight review of "Saturn's Children" by Charles Stross.

I'm a big fan of Stross, so I wanted to like this novel more than I did. Maybe I'm just not as fond of late-period Heinlein as I should be...

For The Chronicle, I reviewed three trade paperback originals in my last column: Victor Gischler's "Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse," "Dogs" by Nancy Kress and "Superpowers by David J. Schwartz. The Gischler is the standout among those three, but each has its merits.

And last week, the Sunday Chronicle published my stand-alone review of Arthur C. Clarke and Frederick Pohl's "The Last Theorem."

It's unclear exactly how much Clarke contributed to the book, but it's worth checking out.

Now I'm reading a trio of first novels for my August column, including "The Gone-Away World" by Nick Harkaway. And Neal Stephenson's 900-page "Anathem" taunts me from the bedroom shelf. I'm not making swift progress through it.

Miscellaneous Stoppard Productions, Appearances and Interviews

I've been remiss in keeping tracking track of various Stoppard productions since "Rock 'n' Roll" closed on Broadway. Here are links to a handful around the country and globe:

In Boston, The Publick Theatre is presenting "Travesties." The Boston Globe has a review. And so does the Boston Herald.

"Hapgood" is being revived in Britain, but it's still seen as a transitional piece.

"Rock 'n' Roll" has opened in Sydney.

The Queensland Theatre Company performed "Heroes," but you probably missed it.

Stoppard granted a rare interview to the Oxford student newspaper, on the occasion of receiving the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence.

Stoppard will take part in the HighTide theater and film festival in Halesworth, May 1-5.

At Harvard, "Angels in America" author Tony Kushner criticized "The Coast of Utopia" but praised "The Wire."

I Am NOT Dwight Shrute

Somebody at my workplace knows I'm a fan of "The Office." This tempting office supply/dessert was on my desk after I momentarily stepped away this afternoon.

Blogging Malaise

It had been a long time between posts here. I'm not sure what happened. I was enveloped by some kind of malaise and had trouble pulling myself out of it.

I did contribute a few items to my other blog, though. In case you missed them, I wrote about "The Big Lebowski" and its real-life inspirations, new books by Toby Barlow, John Meaney and Mark Evanier, and the passing last week of Arthur C. Clarke.

I'm particularly happy with the Clarke tribute. The Chronicle gave me a decent amount of space in the paper and, thanks to StumbleUpon, my blog post pointing to the online version was one of my most popular entries ever.

The next couple of weeks promise to be super-busy and stressful. I don't know whether I can regain a regular blogging rhythm. I'll do what I can, I guess.

ACT Nabs "Rock 'n' Roll" for Fall '08

No surprise, really. Back in January, Carey Perloff strongly hinted she would soon produce Stoppard's latest play at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre. Today it was announced that it will be the season opener for '08-'09. Excellent!

One of the great advantages of living in the San Francisco Bay Area is the opportunity to see some really first-rate theater. I'm especially excited by Berkeley Rep's next season, which will feature Martin McDonagh's "The Lieutenant of Inishmore," August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" and "Yellowjackets," a world premiere by Itamar Moses about Berkeley High School in the Nineties.

The redoubtable Shotgun Players also have an interesting season ahead of them. I'm looking forward to their version of "Beowulf.

I'm unsure whether a trip to Ashland, Oregon, is in the cards this year. Nothing in the 2008 season besides "Fences" really grabs my attention. (And they're staging "The Music Man in '09? What's up with that? I don't need to travel six hours and pay $60 a ticket to hear "'Til There Was You.")

Now I just have to find the spare cash to see all these plays...