If You Liked… A Game of Thrones

So you liked A Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire and you want more of the same. Certain online retail giants can give you some ideas for other books. But there are a lot of facets to the story and the world that George R. R. Martin has built. Different facets appeal to different people, and that means there’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to recommendations. For this edition of “If You Liked…”, I’m going to concentrate on character preferences.

If your favourite character is…

• Tyrion Lannister. Clever, quick-tongued, shameless rogue who never lets his disability slow him down? Try the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold (science fiction) or Queen’s Man by K.D. Sarge (science fiction).

Weekly Roundup

Congratulations, we made it to another Friday!

book news

A couple of new books I’m looking forward to:

First, there’s a new Temeraire novel out! Crucible of Gold, the seventh book in Naomi Novik’s series about the Napoleonic Wars with dragons, came out in Canada and the US this week. How did I not hear about this earlier? I’ve read five of the six books so far and am super excited to see how the series continues.

Second, on a completely different note, poet Jenna Butler recently released a new book of poetry, Wells, about her grandmother’s descent into senility.

general geekery and science

The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence continues, and SETI wants your brainpower.

What sank the Titanic? An iceberg, yes. But why was the iceberg even there? High tides, say scientists.

smart people

Author China Miéville talks intelligently about the recent controversy over Hergé and racism and Tintin in the Congo (via).

for writers (and interested third parties)

Justine Musk writes about the art of being fearless.

Melissa Crytzer Fry warns of the dangers of writing outdoors for inspiration.

 

That’s it for this week. Come back on Monday to talk some more about books!