Monthly Archives: March 2016

Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for March 2016

It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”. So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some February … Continue reading

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More on J.G. Ballard, High-Rise, Brutalism and Architectural Horror

Last week, I posted about J.G. Ballard’s 1975 novel High-Rise, Ben Wheatley’s recent film adaptation of said novel and about Brutalist architecture in general and its connection to science fiction. I also included several links to articles discussing the book … Continue reading

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Hugo Season 2016: The Return of the Puppies

The deadline for the 2016 Hugo nominations and 1941 Retro Hugo nominations approaches fast, so we’re seeing the annual increase in pre-Hugo nomination chatter. BTW, if you were a member of Sasquan, MidAmeriCon II or Worldcon 75 before January 31, … Continue reading

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Remembering Guido Westerwelle

Yesterday, Guido Westerwelle, former head of the liberal party FDP and German foreign minister in the second Merkel cabinet from 2009 to 2013, died aged only 54. Westerwelle was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2014, but was until recently believed to … Continue reading

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J.G. Ballard, High-Rise and Brutalist architecture as instant dystopias

In the past few weeks, there has been a flurry of articles and posts about J.G. Ballard’s 1975 novel High-Rise, inspired by Ben Wheatley’s film adaptation, starring Tom Hiddleston, which opens in the UK this week, following a sort of … Continue reading

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Photos: Springtime Crocuses

After a mild start to the winter with overeager trees blooming in December, the first two and a half months of 2016 got off to a cold start. Hence, there aren’t a whole lot of signs of the coming spring … Continue reading

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Rest in Peace, Sir Ken Adam

On Friday, one of my personal heroes, Sir Ken Adam, died aged 95. Even if you’ve never heard the name Ken Adam, you’ll probably recognise his work when you see it, for Ken Adam determined our ideas of what a … Continue reading

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