I’ve read Deucalion and The View from Ararat recently, both by Brian Caswell. I’ve read the first before, but not the second. I do love Caswell, but I’m actually reading these with a purpose – to review them for ASif! Which I have done.

I’ve also read and reviewed the stories currently up at New Ceres. New Ceres is a fascinating idea: it’s a world created by a couple of people, and other people are able to write stories about the place. A lot of time and effort has gone in to this already – the planetary system is completely worked out, the basic history is there… it’s very impressive. And the most interesting thing, I think, is that the culture is resolutely eighteenth-century. This, of course, allows for interesting things like coffee houses, highwaymen, and High Culture. Anyway, people can write both fiction and pseudo non-fiction: this first issue includes a travel piece, originally written for The Martian Eye, and a column on decorum and politness. The point of all of this, though, is that I am very much looking forward to reading more articles about the world… who knows, maybe I will even write something sometime. The idea that I could write non-fiction about a fictional place actually stirs my creativity a bit, which nothing has in a while.