Zug Zug.
Back in the country finally, after a great weekend in Scotland, and a wonderfully sunny and relaxing week in Italy. Finished a fair bit of reading and novel work, not to mention the first installment of Peter F. Hamilton’s latest space opera, The Dreaming Void. Next one is winging its way to me via Amazon along with the Ravenor 40K omnibus (doesn’t get much cooler than a wheelchair-bound Inquisitor – think Rebus meets Ironside) and the latest in the Horus Heresy series.
Went to see District 9 on Friday, and my-oh-my was it an amazing film – in all honesty, the best sci-fi film I’ve seen in my lifetime thus far, and this is after a recent deluge of lesser-known gems, George Lucas’ THX 1138 included. Its a brilliant mix of South African drama and the aliens from Ai – mysterious enough to be constantly interesting, but not afraid to utilise “hidden technology.” Not to mention the protagonist is the most unlikeable, annoying little eejit I’ve seen thus far as the male lead in a sci-fi epic, but it really does ram home the documentary-esque feel and world that District 9 so wonderfully envelops you with.
Now working on two novels, which is a mental undertaking, but after my fortnight at Money Marketing (internships are fantastic if you’re with a publication that takes itself very seriously – MM is a great example) I’ll be powering through the new one, then finishing off the previously mentioned sci-fi attempt. Finding an agent should be an interesting adventure, and one I’ll document thoroughly.
Now all I’ve got to do is wait out the month until I can meet Kevin Smith (twice) and see him at the Indigo2, and I’ll be able to stop grinning like an idiot every time I remember how much I’m looking forward to the man who motivated me to run around school with a good friend, a dictaphone, and no lunch eaten whatsoever, playing the part of Silent Bob.
I adore “The Dreaming Void” such a great book, I do prefer the Pandora pair though. His books are so brilliantly written, just when you think he can’t write anymore on a given topic he knocks out another 400 pages. I must go back and re-read The Night’s Dawn trilogy again……off to the bookcase…..I hate you Christos.
Haha, sorry Dan! I got sucked into Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained ages back, amazing universe, Commonwealth, but I haven’t delved into the Night’s Dawn stuff yet. Is it similar to the Commonwealth at all – rejuvenation, wormhole science, etc?
Ah man I wish I could sum it up in a comments post…..hmmmm how do I do this?
Okay, Two opposing forces, adamists and edenists, lots of arguing, massive sentient space cities, economy issues, the confederation, Oh and past souls come back to possess the living, namely Al Capone as one of them :)
A lot of different ideas to the commonwealth books, very interesting moments in the story……Such a great writer.
Sounds frigging awesome to me. He really is an astonishing writer, though I think he deserves a genre separate from “space opera,” as he’s clearly writing more interesting content :P.
20 pages into The Temporal Void as of this morning, and it’s great, though the book itself is huge! The first one on paperback was quite teeny, and this one’s twice the size but for some reason the same amount of pages, with size 14 font. Makes me feel stupid, hehe.