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Spider Star
The human colony on the planet Argo has long explored and exploited the technology left behind by an extinct alien race. But then an archaeology team accidentally activates a terrible weapon...
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Praise for Star Dragon
"Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction."
-- David Brin"Star Dragon is terrific fare, offering readers a fusion of hard science and grand adventure."
-- Locus Magazine"Star Dragon is steeped in cosmology, the physics of interstellar travel, exobiology, artificial intelligence, bioscience. Brotherton, author of many scientific articles in refereed journals, has written a dramatic, provocative, utterly convincing hard science sf novel that includes an ironic twist that fans will love."
-- Booklist starred review"Readers hungry for the thought-provoking extrapolation and rigorous technical detail of old-fashioned hard SF are sure to enjoy astronomer Brotherton's first novel."
-- Publishers Weekly"Mike Brotherton, himself a trained astrophysicist, combines the technical acuity and ingenuity of Robert Forward with the ironic, postmodern stance and style of M. John Harrison. In this, his debut novel, those twin talents unite to produce a work that is involving on any number of levels. It's just about all you could ask for in a hardcore SF adventure."
-- Paul di Fillippo, SCI-FI.COM
Amazon Kindle International
October 12th, 2009
Woo hoo! Amazon will soon offer a kindle that operates internationally! Release date is Oct. 19 and the price is $279 and here’s its amazon page.
Of course, I already have a kindle, which I adore, and spent most of the last year outside the United States lamenting how the kindle wasn’t easy to use while traveling internationally (e.g. here). Well, better late than never. If I have another year like this past one, I’ll buy another.
Or something else. There is a boom in ebook readers going on and the kindle will have a lot of challengers.
Anyone have any recommendations for ebook readers other than variations of the kindle?
And in semi-related news, still no electronic version of Spider Star, I’m sorry to say, but I am happy to report that there will be an audio version for the Library of Congress’ Talking Books for the Blind program. I think that’s cool. I also deposited my advance for the Japanese paperback version, and really hope they send me an edition.
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October 12th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
the US version of kindle is being sold at MercadoLivre (eBay like brazilian service) from R$1500 (U$857) to R$2590 (U$1523). Yay!
October 12th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Have to go for Sony - I’ve had a PRS505 for a year now, there’s software out there (Calibre) that will convert almost anything into Sony’s propitiatory format, but the reader handles rtf, html, pdf, txt as well as epub and lrf…. the version I have is just a reader, no touch screen, no annotation, no wireless - USB for up/downloading - but it’s done the trick for me
cheers
mike
October 12th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Something about the Kindle, and e-readers in general, makes me sad and apprehensive. I have to admit I don’t have a Kindle, but I have fiddled around with a friend’s. They’re kinda neat, but I hope to god they don’t ever replace actual paper and ink books.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Yeah, Rogerio. I was never mercenary enough to fund my Brazil travel by selling a few laptops, games systems, ipods, or kindles on my trips. But sometimes I think I should have! The import taxes are crazy!
October 12th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I have a Sony 505, and it’s excellent. I do, however, use software to strip the DRM from the Mobipocket and Microsoft Lit books I buy, so I can port them to other machines in the future and also so I can read them on the Sony at all.
There are other machines out there like the BeBook and so forth I haven’t seen, but do apparently work with a much wider range of file formats automatically, but the Sony does consistently get highly rated for usability and style.
If it wasn’t for the fact there’s no method I’m aware of for jailbreaking Kindle ebooks - and that geographic restrictions means a huge number of Amazon ebooks are unavailable to me - and, er, they’re going to cost up to 40% more if you’re not in the States - I’d have definitely got a Kindle. I … think.
October 14th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I found this quite interesting article about the pros and cons of e-readers (the experiment was made with a bigger version of the Kindle) for textbooks.
Its a very interesting article and it really shows that while for a romance, current e-book readers can be satisfying, for study books they miss a lot.
http://www.physorg.com/news174670605.html
December 13th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Amazed… That’s what I am. First by the speed of the delivery. I placed my order friday, monday the package was delivered. As I am french and used to the slightly longer delivery times of my home country, I couldn’t help but be delighted to have my Kindle in my hands monday evening !
As for the device itself, I was slightly surprised by its weight ! It looks almost unsubstantial in the pictures but it has a pleasant weight, and still stays light enough to be held in one hand without problem. It looks more fragile than it feels. That’s a good point.
As for reading, well, the book lover that I am was delighted. It’s a page. Like a book page. Enough already with the pointless debate - as in “I love the feel of the book, I love to turn the pages, and so on and so forth…”. I love to read. Period. I read books, I read newspapers on the internet, I read magazines. I don’t care for the paper, I just READ ! So even if I love my books, and don’t plan of emptying my bookshelves anytime soon, the idea of going on vacation with 10 or 20 books stashed in my Kindle just makes me extatic ! I will go on reading books, and add the Kindle to my reading habits. And reading on the Kindle screen really is pleasant and natural, not to mention that my 47 year old eyes love the possibility of adjusting the text size !
So now, all I have to do is wait for the silicon skin I ordered to protect my Kindle, and read ! I have the feeling I am entering the future of books… Once man wrote on stone tablets. Wax. Parchment. Skins. For a few centuries we have used paper. This is just a normal evolution in a digital age. And what matters is reading, when all is said and done.