From: Alastair Reynolds

John,

I enjoyed your editorial [The SF Site Reader's Guide to Science Fiction Series, last issue]

Art: Jim Burns

and the mention of Greg Bear's Eon-related works. Some of Bear's early short fiction (at least "The Wind from a Burning Woman") is either explicitly set in the Eon universe, or was a dry-run for some of the ideas. You also note that Queen of Angels and Slant are linked. I don't think I've ever seen anyone note that, in fact, the novella Heads and the novel Moving Mars are also set in the Slant timeline, a century or so later. That was my reading of them, anyway -- but maybe I was just picking up inadvertent red herrings!

Al,
Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the article.
That's the first suggestion I've heard that Heads and Moving Mars are linked to the Angels/Slant timeline, but I wouldn't doubt it for a minute. Now I'll have to dig up my copies and find out for myself...
Thanks for the heads-up.

From: Chris Greenway

I've written before and I'd like to reiterate that I LOVE this site and it's one of my most frequently visited favourites (even though I couldn't find a review of Joel Rosenberg's The Fire Duke. Grrrrr!) and I just wanted to make a suggestion. Would there be any way of collecting all the reviews in one spot, alphabetically by author or title? It's just that I often have a specific book in mind that I want to look at because I'm considering purchasing it, and I have difficulty going into about 6 screens before I find what I want or -- more distressing -- NOT finding it. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

The question wasn't that. It's this: How does one become a reviewer? I read mostly fantasy and I often disagree violently with other reviews and think to myself if I'd been able to find this review I would have saved myself a few bucks (being an Aussie and with the lamentable state of our currency I am paying through the nose for books at present) or if I'd found this earlier I would have known how great this author was. Case in point: I picked up and put down [George R.R. Martin's] Game Of Thrones a heap of times before I finally bought it and read one of the best things I've ever read. Besides I'm a budding fantasy author and reviewing other people's stuff will help me become a lot more objective about my own modest scribblings.

Chris,
First of all, we do sort our old reviews, by author, reviewer, and by publisher. Start here for a breakdown of our older reviews, or if you're just looking for a review you know you've seen recently, have a look at our recent feature reviews. We've published literally hundreds of reviews in the past two years though, so often the fastest way to find what you're looking for is with our search feature.

And second, we're always in the market for talented reviewers. The SF Site receives over a hundred books and publications a month, from over 30 publishers around the world. Our goal is to cover as much as we can, but at the moment we're quite overwhelmed. If you're serious about being a contributor, drop us a note to get our review guidelines, and then shoot us two sample reviews. We'll look forward to hearing from you.

Lost Carcosa

From: Beth Johnson

Your site mentioned 4 Carcosa books with short stories by Manly Wade Wellman, etc. that were done in the 70s [Carcosa Reading List, September]. Are they available again? Please let me know as soon as possible. I am interested in anything by Wellman, Seabury Quinn, and their contemporaries.

Beth,
Thanks for your interest. But to the best of our knowledge, none of the Carcosa books have ever been reprinted (sigh). We found our copies at conventions, and in speciality SF shops. Good luck -- they're worth the search.

A New Fiction Market

From: Lois Wingerson
Editor-in-Chief
HMS Beagle

I am the editor of HMS Beagle, an online webzine for the biological research community (http://hmsbeagle.com). Beagle is an innovative and unique site, with over 250,000 members, growing daily. Most of our members are biologists who work in laboratories. Our parent site is BioMedNet (http://biomednet.com). Membership to the previously mentioned sites are free of charge. I encourage you to visit them to learn more about us.

As you will see, HMS Beagle is very rich. It includes art, cartoons, games, and book reviews as well as nonfiction articles about biology, but as yet no fiction. We are currently planning to add a new Science Fiction section, which will feature one new fiction story each month relating to biology or medicine. The stories need not be set in the distant future or in imaginary locations, if the author wishes to write about current topics. Many current biological topics, such as new discoveries in the field of genetics, computers and biology, or earth science and evolution, are most certainly acceptable. We only ask that submissions be no longer than 1,500 words. We will pay $350 for stories that include links to relevant websites, or $300 for those without endlinks.

We were hoping that you would ask your members if they would like to submit pieces of fiction for possible publication on our site. Please let me know.

Lois,
Gladly. We enjoyed looking over your website, and are quite intrigued by your plan to branch out into fiction. We're sure our readers will be excited to hear about the opening of a new market.

Next issue

Art: Darell K. Sweet

In the mid-October issue of the SF Site we'll have reviews of several exciting recent releases, including:

Bag of Bones by Stephen King
The Runelords by David Farland
The Merro Tree by Katie Waitman
The Chronicles of Scar by Ron Sarti

Plus, our usual columns and detailed New Arrivals features. Be sure to join us on October 15. We'll be here.