I’ve been collecting free e-books, in the SciFi/Fantasy genre, over the past few months, but haven’t read any yet. Most of them are through Tor’s “one free e-book a month” emailing list, but I wanted to share them all the same. As I get more, I’ll put them in the same folder on DivShare, so they’ll show up in the list of files associated with any of the books’ download pages, but here’s what it’s starting with:
You might remember me telling you I was working on a collaboration with a guy named Roy Wallen, awhile back. It was going well, but not really in the direction I had in mind, so I began writing my own book to encapsulate exactly what I’m wanting. Whether or not my work with Roy will continue, I don’t know, since I haven’t heard from him yet, but we’ll see.
Tentatively titled “Whispers Into Shadow”, it’s a SciFi/Fantasy book based in modern times. Here’s what’s defined as the concept:
A girl begins to discover she has magical powers, and becomes friends with two others (a boy, and a closet elf). Evil begins to grow from a whisper to a shadow, as the three friends start to understand the part they have to play in the upcoming struggle.
I’ve already “completed” (aka written for the first time) the Introduction and the first 3 Chapters, and I’m posting them over on Goodreads as I go (you’ll have to signup for an account if you don’t have one), at least up to a certain point.
This will obviously be a long process, and this is only the first version of what I’m sure will be rewritten and reworked many times, but I’d like some feedback nonetheless…
posted on December 12th, 2007 at 10:56 pm by Kyle - Comments
If you’re a geek/nerd/social-recluse-with-a-penchant-for-technology, chances are you either have a huge bookshelf, or you are known on a first name basis at the library, especially in the SciFi/Fantasy areas. I myself have recently started building a “library” of books for myself. I started with all the greats I’ve read over the years (Frank Herbert, Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven, etc.), and then have been slowly plodding through more currently respected authors (Terry Goodkind, Robin Hobb, Raymond Feist, etc). And all of this has got me thinking…
The Goal
What am I talking about? I’ll make it simple: I want to start a foundation, raise funds, and eventually construct a brick-and-mortar library that stores only Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, to be located somewhere in Silicon Valley. This is obviously something like 10 years down the road for it to come to fruition, but you have to get started somewhere.
Why?
It’s simple: I love these kinds of books, and almost everyone I’ve met in the geek/nerd category does too. And what is Silicon Valley, if not a bunch of geeks and nerds (maybe they call themselves ‘engineers’ or ’scientists’, but it’s the same thing)? I want to make all the books that we (that’s ‘geeks/nerds’ collectively) have read and love easily available to the upcoming generations of children who don’t read as much.
If the “Millennials” read less than “Generation X”, then whatever they’re labeling the current 10-yr olds as read even less. My generation was wrapped up in TV, video games, and the computer… but with a large helping of the, say it with me now, real world. Many of today’s children are growing up glued to their MMORPGs on either XBOX or the PC, and don’t even realize that the games they spend their lives on (World of Warcraft is a perfect example) started out as a way to visually interact with some books that people read.
How?
This is a big one. I’m not really sure yet, but I’m basing my plans for this off of a South Park episode:
Steal Underpants
???
Profit!
But instead, it looks like:
Start a foundation
Somehow get alot of donations and interest
???
Library!
I’m hoping to appeal to all the inner readers of Silicon Valley that I’m sure are out there. I’d like to get interest, and money, from anyone who wants to donate, but the big proponents would be Presidents/CEOs, rich people [aka. Venture Capitalist’s), entire corporate sponsorships, etc.
When?
As I mentioned, this is super-long term. I’m going to start figuring out the paperwork early this year (January/February) and go from there… but I’m assuming that short of some magic happening, 10 years is a good estimate. In this estimate I’m including what I hope will be a custom constructed building whose appearance will match the high flying ideals of this.
Ok…?
I just wanted to put my thoughts out there to the general public. If you’re interested in helping, feel free to contact me. I’m also thinking about names for this foundation, and the eventual library, so “[post] ‘em if you got ‘em”.
posted on December 4th, 2007 at 4:14 am by Kyle - Comments
This is definitely filed under “Coolest News This Week”: it is apparently now theoretically possible to create ‘wormholes’ (ala Star Trek or Stargate) on Earth, and use them as point-to-point relays.
Oh Yeah!
Not Exactly…
If you read into the article, you may get highly disappointed. Let me save you from the trouble: we’re not talking about the ability for people to “teleport” or anything. It was made clear that the most practical application would be in the medical world, moving or inserting very small objects into certain places, or for computers’ calculation processes.
Yeah, But
Who cares, right? The fact that you could do something like this would, itself, be awesome, regardless of whether people could go through it or not. Let’s pretend that, as the article mentions, computer components could be “sent” through such a wormhole…
Instant Delivery
If every household had a small portal, or wormhole device, it would have endless uses. The most obvious? The destruction of traditional mail services! No longer would you have to wait 5-7 days for a letter to come from your grandma! No longer would you have to wait for “somewhere around the 15th of the month” for that electricity bill to show up! It would be instantaneous. Maybe even package delivery too, so you could get your shipment of steroids from Mexico faster…
Other Applications
Here’s some other applications I see coming from this:
Really creepy things like spy on people, easier than it is now
“Losing” something now becomes a reality if you don’t exactly know where your wormhole goes
What if you set up two wormholes in series? Throw a ball through it… would it fall? Or go infinitely throughout the loop?
Not The Space-Time Kind, But The EMF Kind
A Long Ways Away
Anything like this is a long ways away, much like quantum computing or that invisibility cloak, but it’s cool to think about anyways. But it’d be even better if it had uses like human transportation, or interstellar space travel…
posted on November 15th, 2007 at 2:47 pm by Kyle - Comments
Property of whoever that site took it from. Larger version over there.
Now, look at the life-form from the first ‘Alien’ movie:
From IMDB.
Similar?
I don’t know about you, but these two seem very very similar to me. I know, one has “legs” and the other doesn’t, but I’m talking about the overall appearance. The overall structure. The Russian-found “fish” looks a little bit like one of those horseshoe-crabs, but I think it’s pretty obvious the writers of Alien had prescience and knew what this thing would look like.
Eat My Face, Please
What would have happened if the Russian workers hadn’t killed it? Would it have jumped on one of their faces? Probably, since they mentioned that story about throwing it food, and it trying to attack them. Would it have embedded itself in your stomach, waiting for the right time to explode out of your chest in a fit of unmitigated fury? Probably, since they look similar.
And, most importantly, would it eventually also live inside of something like a cow, resulting in an alien-human-cow crossbreed that creates an immensely strong and intelligent creature that wants to destroy/eat every human it comes in contact with? Definitely.
I bet it would even fight a different alien race for ownership/supremacy over the puny humans.
posted on November 12th, 2007 at 7:28 am by Kyle - Comments
Let me see if I understand this. A guy, named Itzhak Bars, thinks there are 2 “dimensions” of time, which would result in having to add another dimension of space to accommodate some weird equations only a few people in the world are aware of (that’s assuming that your general college physics class sticks to the whole 3-dimensional + gravity thing).
Wow. You’re a genius. Thanks for the observation Dr. Talksalot.
Didn’t Einstein say this years ago?
I’m not sure, but that name sounds Russian. I hear that in Russia they don’t have very good public access to books, outside of school, in a public library sense. Or at least they didn’t, maybe they do now. Anyways, that would explain a lot. Come, follow me backwards through time…
Books
Hasn’t humanity learned yet? The things we typically dream and create, on a science fiction/fantasy level, are more or less based on a present or future reality. I don’t know why, but that’s what happens. Asimov imagined little robots in human veins, Orwell created the modern day security system, Wells typified a robot extistence in the future, and others envisioned traveling to the moon and beyond. Any of those sound familiar? Let’s take a look at space-time throughout literature, and why this scientist guy is a little slow.
“Lord of the Rings” [approx. 1938]
Have you heard of these books? They’re not very popular, and semi-unknown, but they’re written by a guy named J.R.R. Tolkien a very long time ago. Before computers were even imagined. There are some characters in these books, called “elves”, and one of their main characteristics are their long life, which in fact is an immortal life. If you read these books closely, and maybe some of the associated ones that are even more unknown (like “The Rillanon” for example), you find that the elves do not believe in space-time as we know it… but rather that time is more akin to a circle. Additionally, the wizard “Gandalf” is very obviously seen playing with space-time when he magically reappears from being dead/falling-through-a-never-ending-hole-with-a-giant-demon-monster.
“WoW” is a blatant theft from Tolkien. Wow.
“Ender’s Game” [1985]
By Orson Scott Card, this is another book that is slightly underground. Few have heard of it, even fewer have read it. The main gist of the story is that there’s aliens attacking humanity, and we fight back via some pre-teens who have a higher IQ than anyone in the world. Towards the end of the book, the main character (”Ender”) communicates with the enemy of future-past through his dreams… and in doing so is not only communicating across thousands of light-years, but also time.
“Dune” [1965] (and the rest of the series)
Frank Herbert. A man with a vision that no-one reads. What a shame. Long story short (and without getting into many complicated details like unpronounceable character names), across many many books one of the main characters from the first turns himself into a god via some sand-based lifeforms. He then marries his sister. Odd things continue down this line until he becomes immortal. Eventually he dies. And then is reborn / goes into the past to change things. That’s really the best I can do in a few sentences.
Edit: Apparently I need to re-read Dune, “go back in time” doesn’t apply here. But he does live a really really long time. And the books are still awesome.
Whowhatnow?
I really don’t think I can make this any clearer without listing every popular and groundbreaking scifi/fantasy novel ever written: those of use of at least average intelligence have considered the possibility of space-time being non-linear… Hell, even Star Trek touched on it at least once a season. The scifi/fantasy community will be happy to know that you finally are able to prove what many of us have already believed in, but your ideas and concepts are by no means original. Even the Bible, “written” at some point 2000 years ago, has a space-time issue.
Nerds: “You depend on us … don’t fuck with us.”
I’m not trying to be harsh or mean, but instead I’m realistic. But when you discover how to travel through time or how to visualize/interact with the 4th dimension (quantum physics, anyone?), I will be truly excited.
And I bet many other nerds, geeks, dorks, and non-norms will be too.
posted on October 13th, 2007 at 10:36 am by Kyle - Comments
Looking to find an aspiring author who’d be interested in collaborating on a project in the SciFi/Fantasy genre. I’m not a writer, but I’ve got alot of cool ideas I hope to do something with…
I’d prefer a word processor…
Let me know if you’re interested.
posted on October 10th, 2007 at 6:50 pm by Kyle - Comments
