Stanisław Lem (September 12, 1921 - March 27, 2006)

Stanislaw Lem (Wikipedia).

I can only say that one of the Biggests has departed us. The world will miss him.

When I returned from my ERASMUS year in the UK, I helped to organize the first Science-Fiction congress of my University in Spain, and after much debate, I convinced the others so they were made honoring Stanislaw Lem , and the short-tale award was the 'Stanislaw Lem' Short Tale Award I Edition. The next year we followed suit, and Philip K. Dick, one of his favourite American writers, was the next, and then so on...

I have read his SF books many times over, but one of my favorite ones are Fiasko, and The Invincible. He was such an intelligent writer, thought provocking, filled with fine irony and a savoir-faire, he managed the black and the white of Humanity, and really Knew Better.

salue, magister! desideraueris et reminisceris

What to read next... Help?

While I keep working on the novels (not a lot of progress to report on the wordcount front, but I have advanced in both the Battle of Memphis and the development for The Goth, and I keep raising my knowledge of all the cultures involved), I am faced with some strange elections to make about which next novel to read.

I am reading lots of non-fiction books, of course, about Roma, Goths, History, Archaeology, Linguistics, etc... Documentation, documentation, documentation!

However my mind needs some relax and fun, as well as good example to learn from. So, I'll talk only about the novels I am currently reading or about to read.

I am now reading and (close to the end) Baudolino, by Humberto Eco. Very funny, indeed!

I have also started to read El triunfo de los bárbaros (Triumph of the Barbarians), written by a Spanish writer, Luis de la Luna Valero, which I don't think has been translated or published in anglosaxon lands. It starts in 414 and goes up to 430s, which is basically what happened next to my novel... :-) It looks promising, I'll let you know.

Now, what do read when this is finished? I will finish Baudolino, but I have these books I want to tackle, but which ones first?

• Graves, Robert, Count Belisarius, 1938 in a 2002 Spanish edition
• Merezhkovski, Dmitri, Death of the Gods, 1896 in a Spanish edition of 1998
• Vidal, Gore, Julian, 1963 in a 2005 Spanish re-edition of 1983

Now, Graves's is interesting and I will read it, but two books of Julian may be too much, even when I am sure they will be very different... Nevertheless, if any of you can let me know about any of these three books, specially about Julian's ones, I'll be very grateful.

Thanks and kallisti!

April Fool's Challenge

It's coming, gang:

http://www.aprilfoolsnovels.com/

The goal: you set how many words you'll be able to write in April, then, you write them!

It's not exactly Nanowrimo, but it has a good feeling... Therefore, I'm already in... :-)

I'm thinking about a reasonable initial goal: 30,000 words. They will serve me well, I can work into the final part of The Libyan (probably not all of it, but a good chunk) and a good start for The Goth, enough to get a good start into the story (which, I hope, will be already on its way in two weeks, anyway).

Additionally, I can also count words written in articles, and technical fora, words written at work, et... but not in blogs... This means I will surely reach 30,000 words pretty well, and I'll be able to celebrate that goal and raise it for more... *grin*

Now, do you have what it takes to be a (April) Fool?

I dare you, who reads me. ;-)

I'll see you on the AF fora!

Kallisti!

Fall of the Roman Empire

While I'm getting through a strong cold, or flu, or whatever, I keep trying to learn more and more, and to plan my writing...

(To make myself more clear: I am already writing, but I have second thoughts about some of it, and I'm following a parallel line of thought to see where it takes me)

I am reading, and enjoying, Peter Heather's The Fall of the Roman Empire. It reads easily, has tons of info, so far, and it's being an inspiring source of ideas as well... The Spanish edition, by Crítica, is excellent, and 700+ pages by €28.03 are really a good buy...

Just to let you know what I'm into...

now time for bed!

Kallisti!