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John Bayldon's Best Reads of 2014

December 17, 2014

bayldon My name is John Bayldon, and I have lived in Evanston for 10 years. I am part of a start-up company developing a 3D printer for carbon fiber reinforced materials. I sail and hang out with my kids (at the library….. not the sailing bit….)

1) Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (2013)

I always love Kate Atkinson’s clean style, and the intuiting things she does with her books. This one was fascinating from the very start; I just wanted to know what she changed in each life to move the story forward.

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2014 Hugo Awards

August 18, 2014

American author Ann Leckie is the recipient of this year’s Hugo Award, science fiction’s highest honor, for her debut novel Ancillary Justice. Ms. Leckie’s book, “narrated by the artificial consciousness of a starship”, has won other major sci-fi awards, including the Nebula and Arthur C Clarke awards and the British Science Fiction Association award. NPR’s Genevieve Valentine wrote: “Ancillary Justice is an absorbing thousand-year history, a poignant personal journey, and a welcome addition to the genre.” The Hugo award is named after Hugo Gernsback who founded the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories and coined the word science fiction. Other winners of this year’s award include Equoid by Charles Stross and The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere by John Chu. You can read more about this prestigious award and see the full list of winners here.

Laura

To Boycott, Or Not To Boycott?

November 8, 2013

Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, is considered one of the classics of science fiction. It has appeared near the top of any comprehensive list of the best of sci-fi and fantasy since it was originally published, in 1985. It is the winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, the highest honors in the genre. And yet, the long-delayed release of the film version of Ender’s Game has been accompanied by controversy and threats of boycott.

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Banned Books: Sci-Fi and Fantasy

September 26, 2013

Given that science fiction and fantasy books exist to challenge our preconceived notions of reality, it’s no wonder that they are frequently the targets of book-banning efforts. Many books in these genres revolve around different views of politics, religion, sex, or sexuality (or all of the above!). While fans of science fiction and fantasy are often attracted by the mind-bending and challenging nature of books within this genre, others find them disturbing and controversial. If you are in the mood to celebrate Banned Books Week by disturbing your mind a little, check out this list of Banned Science Fiction & Fantasy Books from Worlds Without End.

– Lorena N.

2013 Hugo Award Winners

September 3, 2013

The winners of this year’s Hugo Awards for science fiction were announced Sunday, September 1st in San Antonio, Texas. The winner for the Best Novel went to Red Shirts: A Novel with Three Codas, by John Scalzi. Other awards went to: The Emperor’s Soul, by Brandon Sanderson, The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi (from Edge of Infinity), by Pat Cadigan, and Mono no Aware (from The Future is Japanese), by Ken Liu. The Hugos, named after the founder of the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, have been awarded since 1955 and are voted on by the public. You can read more about the ceremony here.

Laura

There’s More Than Crime in Scandinavia

December 15, 2011

If you’re a connoisseur of fine Scandinavian crime fiction, 2011 has given you plenty more to enjoy. Back in March, for instance, genre forefather Henning Mankell wrapped up his wildly-popular Kurt Wallander series with The Troubled Man, and a mere two months later rising star Jo Nesbo’s The Snowman finally hit U.S. shores. Now with Hollywood’s take on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo hitting theaters in just a few short days, crime fiction lovers are likely giddy with their good fortune. But what if you’re not a fan? What if you’ve yet to acquire that particular taste for dark Nordic mysteries? Well worry not, gentle reader, for there’s more than one dish cooking in Scandinavia’s literary kitchen. Truth be told, the Scandinavian lit scene is a veritable smorgasbord of top-notch sci-fi, satire, historical and literary fiction, horror, and more. So don’t delay in sampling Scandinavia’s full fiction menu. The following list will get you started, but there is still plenty more to discover.

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Anne McCaffrey, SF Author, Dead at 85

November 25, 2011

Anne McCaffrey has passed away of a stroke at the age of 85 in Ireland. The author was the first woman science fiction writer to make the NYTimes bestseller list in the 1970’s. EPL has many of her books.

Shira S.

An NU Alumni Sampler

June 23, 2011

All dressed up in its purple best, Northwestern University celebrated last week as it sent a new graduating class out into the world, and odds are good this won’t be the last you hear of them. Over the years, you see, NU has become a veritable assembly line of notable alums – a fact comedian Stephen Colbert duly noted during his much-anticipated commencement address. “Northwestern’s alumni list is truly impressive,” said the 1987 NU grad. “This university has graduated bestselling authors, Olympians, presidential candidates, Grammy winners, Peabody winners, Emmy winners – and that’s just me.” All kidding aside, though, he’s right. From Saul Bellow and Cloris Leachman to Steve Albini and Dan Chaon, Wildcat grads are clearly an accomplished bunch. So to honor their achievements both past and future, we present the following eclectic list of books, movies, and music from some of Northwestern’s talented very own. Enjoy, and stay tuned. The list is growing.

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An Interview with Paul McComas

April 28, 2011

Author Paul McComas will read at EPL on May 5th at 7 p.m.

Paul McComas has creative energy to burn. An award-winning filmmaker, dynamic performance artist, and a mean punk bassist to boot, McComas is perhaps best known for his two acclaimed novels – Unplugged (2002) and Planet of the Dates (2008) – as well as for editing the short-fiction anthologies First Person Imperfect (2003) and Further Persons Imperfect (2007). Now the Evanston author has added to his impressive artistic resume with his ambitious new genre collection Unforgettable: Harrowing Futures, Horrors, & (Dark) Humor. Comprised of McComas’ fifty best speculative-fiction, horror, and dark-comic works, Unforgettable is an entertaining and enlightening thrill ride described by Logan’s Run author William F. Nolan as “a literary tour de force… that will leave you breathless.” On Thursday, May 5th, you can hear Mr. McComas read from Unforgettable when he visits EPL’s 1st Floor Community Meeting Room at 7 p.m. along with fellow author Tim W. Brown. In anticipation of his visit, we recently spoke with him via email about the genesis of Unforgettable, the joys of dystopian worlds, No-Budget Theatre, his band The Daves, collaborating with Nolan on the forthcoming Logan’s Journey, and much, much more.

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An Interview with Tim W. Brown

April 26, 2011

Tim W. Brown is not an author to limit himself to a single genre. In Second Acts – Brown’s latest novel following Deconstruction Acres (1997), Left of the Loop (2001), and Walking Man (2008) – the long-time Chicagoan and current New Yorker effortlessly blends sci-fi and western elements into the comic historical tale of Dan Connor, a 21st-century slacker who time travels to 1830s America in search of his adulterous wife. Winner of the 2010 London Book Festival Award for General Fiction, Second Acts is a sly, satirical page-turner in the vein of Mark Twain that is guaranteed to leave readers laughing and thinking. On Thursday, May 5th, you can hear Mr. Brown read from Second Acts when he visits EPL’s 1st Floor Community Meeting Room at 7 p.m. along with local author Paul McComas. In anticipation of his visit, we recently spoke with him via email about his extensive research for Second Acts, Potawatomi berdaches, second chances in American life, and what he’s working on next.

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