I read the first two books of The Expanse book series around 2013 and 2014. I meant to read the third book soon... and then I didn't. Instead, I watched the entire TV show The Expanse, which just ended recently. Occasionally while watching the TV series over the years, I would think, "I should read the rest of the books someday." And then I didn't. Until now!
So you're going to quote Martin Luther King, Jr.? Great! Here are a few pointers.
From a Buick 8 is one of Stephen King's more explicit forays into science fiction, albeit with horror elements. Let's call it "folksy absurdism."
In a series of flashbacks told to the 18-year-old son of a recently-deceased Pennsylvania state trooper, we get the story of how a mysterious old Buick was abandoned at a gas station in rural Western Pennsylvania in 1979. But it's no ordinary Buick. In fact, it's not really a Buick at all, but something made to look like one with fake radio controls and everything. How did it get to the gas station? Where did the mysterious driver go?
Sometime in 2015 or 2016 I started a "My Favorite Posts" page here on the blog. And every few months ever since I've thought, "I should update that one of these days." And then I never did. Until the last few weeks, anyway.
So check out my newly updated "My Favorite Posts" page!
The Ministry of the Future is up there with Kim Stanley Robinson's best work. Given how much I love his work, this counts as high praise from me.
If you're familiar with Kim Stanley Robinson (KSR), you'll have some idea of what to expect. A lot of wonky, nerdy details delivered in what his critics would call "info dumps," a lot of cool Big Ideas, a delightful thrashing of the "show don't tell" rule that's sure to give nightmares many creative writing teachers, and oh yeah, some characters and plot and stuff, too. (Indeed, I sometimes wonder if a writer like KSR would get published today given how he cuts against the grain.)
My pandemic journal continues with Part 24. Best wishes for Pandemic Year Three! May the memes help you get through another pandemic year.
While Sandworms of Dune is definitely a McDune book, I can say I enjoyed most of it and found some things to like. And you do get the second and final part of a conclusion to the Dune saga. I like to think of it as one possible way the Dune saga could end rather than the definitive end we would have gotten from Frank Herbert. (If you are going to read this, be sure to read Hunters of Dune first; Hunters and Sandworms are a two-part series finale.)
