The Gift of Fire / On the Head of a Pin: two short novels from Crosstown to Oblivion

     Walter Mosley's latest work, "The Gift of Fire / On the Head of a Pin: two short novels from Crosstown to Oblivion" is another foray into the world of science fiction.The two novels require the mind to try and comprehend two tales of the past, present, and future.They are as much alike as they are different.One novel delves into the gift of internal fire and how a former god must decide who is worthy of carrying the flame.This flame is the flame that makes one decide to get off the sidelines and do something.The other novel is the meshing of an alien being who looks prehistoric but actually is years more advanced than modern man.Somewhere along the way the more man went forward, the more he went backward. ~L. Jones

Update on Tailgate with Author Scott Sigler

Scott Sigler, has announced the time and location that he will be in the Birmingham area on his upcoming tour for The Rookie.

He will be here Monday, September 7, at Dreamland BBQ in Birmingham from 5:30 - 8:00 PM. He will have a reading from The Rookie and a discussion of it. He will also have copies for purchase if you would like one. He will also be signing copies of his books and though he did not say it, I am sure he would also sign copies of any of his other novels that you might like signed.

If you are unfamiliar with Scott's work, he writes techno/sci-fi horror and his books are quite gripping. He is also a pioneer in podcasting his audio books and most of them can be downloaded from iTunes and Podiobooks.com. For more information check out http://www.scottsigler.com/node/949

Scott is also an avid football fan and his novel The Rookie reflects that and I imagine that we will also watch the kickoff on Monday Night Football at Dreamland.

Hope to see you there,

Brooks

ImagiCon 2009

On March 27-29, 2009, Birmingham will host ImagiCon, a full-scale sci-fi convention at the BJCC.

Here is a brief description taken from ImagiCon's website. For more info and a detailed events schedule go to imagicon.org/gatekeeper.

--kb

ImagiCon is a weekend-long LIVE celebration of Science Fiction and Fantasy media. Featuring a broad range of activities and presentations related to the genres' entertainment mediums such as books, comics, television, film, music and gaming, ImagiCon offerings will include electronic and RPG gaming, a vendor hall, and a professional artists' exhibition and sale. ImagiCon will also present live music, demonstrations and performances, costume contests and a masquerade ball, panels with celebrities and authors, workshops with artists and costume designers, screenings of genre films and fan club gatherings of Sci-Fi and Fantasy-related entertainment from across the region.

LOCATION:
Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC)
2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd.
Birmingham, AL 35203

DATE:
March 27 – 29, 2009

SPONSOR and CIVIC PARTNERS:
Books-A-Million, Best Buy/Geek Squad, Kingdom Comics, LifeSouth, Mix 102.5, Birmingham Area Cultural Arts Alliance

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The worms have taken over the Earth. It wasn't a loud invasion. There
was just a subtle shift. People started behaving...nicely...toward each
other. The news reports were bland. Wars stopped. A few humans figured
out what was going on and ran before they could be caught. Before an
insertion was performed. Hid out in deserted areas and scavenged for
food. Melanie is one of the hidden. She and her brother Jamie hide for
years before running into another human, Jared. Then Melanie sees her cousin on TV
while they're raiding a house for food. Thinking her cousin might still
be human, Melanie goes to the city to find her. That's when she's
caught and an insertion is performed. Melanie is relegated to the back
while Wanderer takes over her body. Melanie can only sit in Wanderer's
mind and talk to her, which is more than most humans can do after an
insertion. Melanie sends Wanderer memories of her life, her brother,
and Jared. And, eventually, Wanderer realizes that it's not only
Melanie in love with Jared, Melanie's body remembers that love. Between
the voice in her head and the body she's wearing, Wanderer has fallen
in love with Jared, too. Melanie and Wanderer begin to work together to
escape the Seeker who stalks them by finding the hiding place Melanie
is sure Jared and Jamie have retreated to. Will they escape the Seeker,
or lead her straight to the hideout? Will Jared know Melanie, or will
he see only the parasite that took over her body? Will true love win in
the end?

The Host is an amazing sci-fi story of love and
humanity. It is very different from Meyer's other published titles, but
it pulls the reader in just like her popular vampire series (Twilight, etc.). I was leery at first, but in the end I really enjoyed The Host and hope for more from this author.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

In a futuristic world where, at the age of sixteen, everybody undergoes an operation to become “pretty” there by wiping out all physical differences lives Tally Youngblood.

Tally is lonely, all of her friends have been through the operation, and moved on to the freedom to play and party in New Pretty Town. Then she meets Shay, who is not sure she wants to become “pretty”. Her unconventional ideas begin to upset Tally’s world and when Shay runs away on the eve of her operation, Tally is given a hopeless choice: either she follows Shay’s cryptic directions or she will never be allowed to become pretty.

This fast moving teen book,the first in the series, takes the reader on hover-board rides and bungee jumps, through tricky ethical situations and gives a disturbing view of the nature of our own society.

Just click on the link to request this book from the JCLC catalog

The City of Ember By Jeanne DuPrau

The people of the City of Ember live in darkness. Darkness, illuminated by flood lamps that come on for 12 hours each day but more and more the lights have gone out leaving them in darkness wondering if the lights will ever come back on. There are rumors that the food in the storehouses is running out and light bulbs are becoming scarce. Lina Mayfleet’s only ambition is to become a messenger, but when she is assigned to the pipe works she feels like the world has ended. Doon Harrow only wants to work on the generator that runs the city. After being assigned the job as a messenger he and Lina switch places and renew their friendship. Doon soon learns the city, created for them by the Builders, is really dying and they have lost the technology to repair even the simplest things. Lina finds an old document her baby sister has chewed with “Instructions for Egress”. She and Doon pool their resources and begin puzzling out what it means for them and the rest of the people in Ember.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

When I heard that James Patterson had written a book for teens, I was skeptical. Could an adult author write successfully for this very picky age group? The answer is . . . YES! Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is the first book in his trilogy for teens. The main character, Maximum Ride, and her "family" are all genetic experiments. Scientists added avian DNA to their developing fetuses while they were still in their mother's wombs. After they were born, the resulting winged children were taken into scientific custody and treated like lab animals: numbered instead of named, kept in small animal cages, experimented on to discover their unique traits, and never, ever treated like human beings. Maximum and five others (Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel) escaped with the help of a sympathetic scientist and formed a family. Now, after months of freedom, the scientists are trying to track them down and bring them back.

Maximum Ride is a great action/adventure series for teens (and adults!) who enjoy Alex Rider, Harry Potter and other exciting reads.