Anno Dracula

   

  So the rundown is as follows:

      The book is a really good adventure story with tons of extra material packed in, to the point of maybe being overstuffed. While initially starting cynical and dark, the pace picks up quickly and the book is too much fun to be overshadowed by its faults. While occasionally too clever for itself, it is still very clever, and that is something that should be commended. You will enjoy this. You should definitely try reading it. The author's a true lover of pop-culture, and it helps that he's a brilliant writer who has a good understanding of tension and narrative. In a year of books that I have really enjoyed reading, this stands out as one of the top three of its class (and yes, it's one of my top three of the year despite it coming out close to twenty years ago. Quiet, you.). More, as always, below.

         

Pandemonium

          

      So the rundown is as follows: This is one of my favorite books. While it drags at the beginning, and some of the segments seem like they don't go anywhere, Daryl Gregory created a masterpiece of fiction, dealing with family, identity, and creating works. Buy this book, and if you haven't ever read it, seriously consider it, because chances are its much-deserved shelf space in the public consciousness is being taken up by something a lot less fun. 

Strange Tales on the Road to Virginia: Nekocon 2012 (Part 4: And Then We Came To The End)

When we last left our hero, he had collapsed in a slightly paranoid manner on the floor...

        I lurched back into consciousness to the movements of people packing. After a brief conversation with Agnes cleared up the misunderstanding from the previous night and let me know that it was time to pack up (also that it was Sunday), I packed everything into the red Time Magazine shoulder-bag I take out on the road and headed for breakfast again at the coffee bar. A quick check of the time told me that I should be heading to the LARP room to meet up with my group for the big endgame, so I headed over at a lesiurely pace while eating my muffin and drinking my cappucinawhateveritwas.

OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!

ATTENTION PEOPLE OF MY VARIOUS SOCIAL FEEDS!

Do you have some insane cultural theory you're just dying to tell people? Is there some book you want more people to know about or that you really want to rip a new one? Have you been to a convention and want to talk about it? Do you want to discuss, review, or otherwise advance some form of discourse about media these days? 

If so, have I got an anno

uncement for all of you. Effective immediately, Geek Rage/Strange Library is now open for submissions from the general public. Yes, that's right, I'm going into the editing business, and while I can't pay, I can at least feature your submissions in a forum that has been called "very definitely a blog". If you have something you want to say, or something you don't think many people have thought of but you, or hell, even want to tell people how much something sucks, then please email your ideas (of any length longer than four or five sentences) to caiuscaligula@strangelibrary.com

There is no deadline for this, and this is not going to be a one-time thing. Once again, this is an at-your-lesiure sort of thing, but if you have a piece you might wanna toss this way, I'll be happy to take it. I also promise that I will only be editing for grammar and spelling mistakes and will in no way change the piece. Also, you will own the work. I'm just hosting it.

So once again, if you have anything to say, email it to caiuscaligula@strangelibrary.com

Strange Tales on the Road to Virginia: NekoCon 2012 (part 3)

           Saturday began with the sound of a klaxon jolting my semi-lucid dreams away. As it turned out, Agnes had also set an alarm, and I'd woken up to that. As I stared up at the ceiling, I felt around for my phone so my own alarm wouldn't go off. And then something hit me about that. I was looking at the ceiling. A quick stock of my surroundings also told me that my throat hurt. A sudden spike of adrenaline ran up my spine. Oh hell.

          See, I don't ever sleep on my back. I sleep sort of on my stomach, half on my side. There is a very good reason for this-- when I sleep on my back, I start to talk in my sleep-- loudly, I might add, and when I'm not doing that, I snore loudly. This hurts my throat, annoys everyone around me, and usually means I wind up with a headcold because everything drains through the updrafts and downdrafts coming from my massive sinus cavity¹ and wake up feeling like crap. Since everyone was still asleep, there was no time for a mass apology to the room, so I dredged myself out of the sleeping bag, got dressed, and headed to the shower with all the grace of a drunken ox.