C. Alex Smith's Blog

  Awards Watch Hi! Welcome to Speculative Fiction Picks. This newsletter follows all things speculative fiction, but it centers around the annual  Hugo Awards . First presented in 1953 and presented annually since 1955, The Hugo Awards are science fiction’s most prestigious award. The Hugo Awards are given to media in 15 categories voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention (" Worldcon " ). Anyone with a ticket to Worldcon can vote on the winners. I have a LIST of 115 Science Fiction or Fantasy novels and 20 Horror Novels from 2024  that are eligible. I’ll be watching these books over the next few months to try to predict the winner. Feel free to weigh in on my Facebook page or Threads site with your opinions and reviews. New Novels We/re starting out this year with an Amazon Editor's Choice in Eiren Caffall's All the Water in the World .  In the tradition of Station Eleven, a literary thriller set partly on the roof of New York’s Museum of Natura...

An Arctic Climate Fiction Boiling Over with Tension For decades the sea ate the land, causing the collapse of human society. In the absence of governance, humans turned to new mind-numbing drugs, human experimentation, and bloodshed.  Lots of bloodshed.  What survives from those days is a disease nicknamed “the breaks,” a universal hatred for the survivors of The Hive Project, and Qaanaaq–home to a melting pot of a million refugees. Qaanaaq is a new city built on oil rig scaffolding over the deep waters of the Arctic north of Iceland and east of Greenland. It sits over a geothermal vent which warms the city. Glaciers provide fresh water and human waste is cycled into methane that lights its lamps. Currently, it's struggling against an epidemic of the breaks, a disease that fills the victim’s heads with the memories of its previous casualties until the sick lose themselves in hallucinations and madness. A survivor of the Hive Project has just arrived in Qaanaaq. Unaware of th...

Canailles Commit a Wicked Caper Leigh Bardugo’s characters are as layered and complex as her worldbuilding. This set of books takes place in Ketterdam, a city of canals, immigrants, mob bosses, gambling, human trafficking, and thieves—the Las Vegas of the Grishaverse. Just like Las Vegas, it’s populated by characters with deep history (baggage). Kaz “Dirty Hands” Brekker has a reputation for getting the job done, no matter how illegal. He does this by scouting out the best talent in the city. Inej was chosen because she was raised in a Suli circus to be their knife throwing and acrobatic act. Now she works as Kaz’s body guard and spy. Jesper is a sharp-shooter with a gambling problem and a secret. Nina can crush a man’s heart by looking at him, but she can also heal and alter your appearance. Wylan has skill with explosives. And Matthais was a member of the drüskelle (or witch killers) until he fell in love with Nina. But is his love strong enough to make him betray his beloved nation ...

Better than the First Book!                                                                                       The earth under England has dissolved and England is a free floating “raft” of an island. England’s elite blow up the mooring to the mainland and British citizens become isolated from the rest of the world’s climate catastrophe. Too busy with their own issues of famine, disease, and dividing precious resources and power, those closest to the shore are easily deceived by those advantaged enough to live near the center.  But every lie has a price. Dr. Savanah Selbourne’s price for signing off on the lies the Centre tells the Periphery is to keep here son, Ethan, born to her partner, Grace. But six years of misleading the people of the Periphery has its...

  I know I'm going to get slammed for this review, but I got to be honest. This one really didn't capture my imagination. I liked the idea of an America littered with our outdated religious beliefs, but I found this book bloodthirsty and rambling. Sorry, Neil.  In the end, it felt a little pointless. Maybe that's what Gaiman's saying about religion in the first place. 3 out of 5 stars 

Major Lessons Learned  House of the Author's Analysis  HotD Episode 6 Theory about Larys with Spoilers : https://youtu.be/T4WdhncBNrA To participate: Watch an episode and enjoy it. Then watch it again and take notes. Here are some handy forms to help you keep track of your findings. Episode Questionnaire         S1E6 Script If you notice something I missed, please leave me a comment below. I will keep track of all our findings and publish them on this  Playlist .

Prof. Savannah Selbourne is a tough character to love. She’s frequently sarcastic. She kisses ass, and climbs the ladder at work. She thinks of her interns as numbers, and hides from them instead of teaching them. She has no idea why they have such a difficult time approaching her. But she is also loyal. Loyal to an eccentric cast of friends. Loyal to her wife, who is sinking into a deep depression. And loyal to a government that treats her like a second-class citizen and denies her the one thing her wife needs—permission to have a baby. At last, Savannah’s day has come. She is getting a promotion and a raise that will put a bigger apartment within her reach. Finally she has a shot at achieving her wife’s dream of having a baby. But the journalistic responsibilities that come with her new job lead her to the mystery of the Poison Maker. The closer she gets to the truth about this mysterious figure, the father she gets from her goals, and her loyalty to her nation is about to crack unde...

  Major Lessons Learned by House of the Author's Analysis of  HotD Episode 2 Targaryen Blood Line Opening:  https://youtu.be/Fk1yOETppKg Body Language Exercise Psychoanalytic Lit Crit Worksheet To participate: Watch an episode and enjoy it. Then watch it again and take notes. Here are some handy forms to help you keep track of your findings. Episode 2         S1E2 Script If you notice something I missed, please leave me a comment below. I will keep track of all our findings and publish them on this  Playlist .

Major Lessons Learned by House of the Author's Analysis of  HotD Episode 1 To participate: Watch an episode and enjoy it. Then watch it again and take notes. Here are some handy forms to help you keep track of your findings. Episode 1            S1E1 Script If you notice something I missed, please leave me a comment below. I will keep track of all our findings and publish them on this  Playlist .

  Good News. Bad News. Good news . Our first contact with alien life is a microbe that can solve all our energy woes.  Bad news . It’s also a deadly disease. Good news . A nearby star system likely holds the key to unlocking the microbes energy potential without succumbing to the disease. Bad news . Disgraced astro-biologist Ryland Grace is the sole survivor of his crew and he can’t remember his own name, let alone why he was sent to this solar system. Good news . Dr. Grace gets help from a world famous engineer. Bad news . The engineer doesn’t speak English and is trapped on another ship. Good news : The two astronauts become unlikely friends. Bad news . The two have to overcome a vast chasm of cultural differences and communication problems in order to team up and save both their peoples.

  HBO premieres the prequel to Game of Thrones  8/21/22 at 9 pm EDT and 6 pm MST I CAN'T WAIT! The original Game of Thrones turned out to be one of the most popular shows HBO ever produced. So much so that they assigned their best writers to the show and hired excellent acting talent. The House of the Dragon prequel will likely get the same red carpet treatment. That means writers have an opportunity to learn from these top-of-their-game professionals. Watch an episode and enjoy it. Then watch it again and take notes. Here are some handy forms to help you keep track of your findings. Episode 1            S1E1 Script Episode 2           S1E2 Script Episode 3           S1E3 Script Episode 4               S1E4 Script Episode 5               S1E5 Script Episode 6           S1E6 Script I will keep tra...

  How far   would you go to stay alive?  To protect your loved ones? Irma has already decided. There is nothing she won’t do to keep her family alive in this harsh, hot world. She's already murdered another family to take their home--an easily defensible island control tower with a ready supply of fish.  When a hurricane churns the waters at the base of the tower, driving away the fish, and rips off the roof, Irma decides to abandon their water-logged home. She moves her tribe to the mainland. Unfortunately, the mainland is so hot they must seek shelter from the sun each morning to survive. It is also already inhabited by tribes of people guarding scarce resources who don’t welcome Irma’s people. Irma is more than willing to engage and fight for her tribe, but Lucy is aghast at Irma’s depravity. Lucy believes there are moral limits one should not cross. Limits Irma has crossed without hesitation. But when Lucy’s own children are endangered, she must decide wher...