John C. Wright's Journal

Announcement from Dave ‘Banned from Worldcon for Thoughtcrime‘ Truesdale:

Tangent Online is looking for 5 new reviewers to fill slots made available by current reviewers going back to school to finish graduate degrees, or to begin or resume teaching duties.

Knowledge of the SF/F field a must. Review or other writing experience (non-fiction or fiction) highly preferred but will work with the right person. Send examples if possible.

Tangent is a fanzine and does not pay. We do what we do for love of genre and have done so for 23 years (6 time Hugo nominee since 1993).

Applicants must be detail oriented and able to follow simple instructions as to formatting of reviews. Reviewers choose from a monthly list of magazines what they would like to review until the list is cleared. Review as much or as little as you wish.

Applicants send queries to Dave Truesdale, Editor, Tangent Online at: tangent.dt1@gmail.com

http://puppyofthemonth.blogspot.com/p/about.html

Yes, it is a real thing:

The Puppy of the Month Book Club is a collection of science-fiction and fantasy fans who favor the open minded diversity of works approved by the Sad Puppy and Rabid puppy collectives.  Puppy related works are on the table as well, provided they meet the same standards of high-quality, swashbuckling fun, and healthy disregard for the political requirements imposed by the entryists and tastemakers (i.e. the CHORFs.)

During the first week of each month, Contributors will post an analysis, or review, or random thoughts on the Book of the Month.  The book will be selected by the 15th of the previous month, providing ample time to read the work and prepare a brief blog post.  The remainder of each month will be spent discussing that work both through new posts, providing links and discussion to other analyses of that work, and whatever else strikes the fancy of the Contributors – provided that each blog post relates back to the Book of the Month.

Participation in the Puppy of the Month Book Club is not limited solely to Contributors.  Contributors are merely those willing to commit to reading and posting on each book.  Anyone who wants to read the Book of the Month, or has read it, are welcome to join in the conversation as well.

So what makes a book a viable candidate for Puppy Of the Month?  Easy:

• Any novel nominated by the Sad Puppies for a Hugo nomination
• Any novel nominated by the Rabid Puppies for a Hugo nomination
• Any work listed in Appendix N of Gary Gygax’s D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide
• Any work published by Castalia House
• Any work selected by a Contributor that isn’t shouted down by the rest of the contributors as an inappropriate selection

my comment: Right now, they are discussing NETHEREAL by Brian Niemeier, as their first book. Warlock Space Pirates in Hell. Don’t miss it.

A regular reader asked me to pass along this announcement and invitation:

I am seriously considering starting an online book discussion group specifically to talk about Aristotle’s Rhetoric. I chose the subject because Vox Day seems to consider it of great importance, and because I tried reading it on my own and was not very successful. I figured having a number of people to talk it out with would make the book more tractable.

My current plan is to host this subject as a series of Disqus forums, getting through a certain number of pages per week (roughly, varying with chapter divisions). First off, I have never managed a project like this before, so if anyone has suggestions, I am all ears. (This includes suggestions for other venues. I am not firmly committed to Disqus; it’s just the first idea I had.) Second, I invite any regular commenters here to join in. If our host does not mind, I will post links to the discussions as they open up.

If you are interested, I must warn you, I first broached this idea on Vox Day’s blog and I plan on inviting his readers as well. They are . . . not quite as polite over there as is the custom here. While I do intend to do the necessary duties of moderating, I’m not especially interested in making everyone play nice. It is likely to be rough and tumble and you (and I) will almost certainly be offended from time to time.

That said, the invitation is open and I am open for advice.

https://disqus.com/home/channel/thedreadilkreads/discussion/channel-thedreadilkreads/preparatory_matters/