Showing posts with label science fiction/fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction/fantasy. Show all posts

Friday, April 04, 2008

Nano-Plasm by Stephen Clarke-Willson--a very good read

Speaking of Stephen Clarke-Willson, I finished his new book tonight. As much as I love it and live it, I suck as an actual reviewer of art. That said, I give Nano-plasm two thumbs up...it's a rollicking tale of nano-technology gone seriously awry, and the colliding interests of business, insurance companies, and the public welfare. With a touch of mad science and scientists, and a dose of lust, ambition, and madness. Nano-tech, the framework for the book, is explained in some detail, but mostly just enough to completely creep you out.

Did I mention the novel is set on an island? Islands often seem to harbor mad scientists and mad science in other works of fiction like Conan Doyle's The Lost World, and The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. Thinking of those books and the movies made from them, and their island locales, I have to conclude this book is made for the movies. The scenes at the facility on the island would be CGI sensations...

Support independent publishing: buy this book on Lulu.

I have no idea whether what he writes about nano-machines is real or pure confection. I suppose I could look it up, but come on. . .it's a novel; a work of fiction. And in a work of fiction, all things are permitted--at least in my world.

I have been baffled by the people who demanded refunds from the publishers for the book by James Frey (remember the bogus autobiography Oprah annointed, which was exposed as fake?) or Margaret Seltzer's recent fake memoir Love and Consequences: A Memoir for Hope and Survival. How that last book even got published is beyond me--I remember Keelin Curran and I read excerpts in the New York Times before the scandal broke, and we both thought it sounded totally bogus. But what do you expect? Isn't a memoir just a work of fiction told with a patina of truth? So, I have now completely digressed.

Stephen Clarke-Willson's book is such a page turner that you don't really care about the verisimilitude of the nano machines. It's a good story! Read it free here, or buy it from Lulu.com. Your President wants you to spend more money!
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Sunday, March 23, 2008

A novel by Stephen Clarke-Willson: Nano-plasm—a large nano-tech project goes astray



Stephen Clarke-Willson has written a novel titled Nano-Plasm" in which "a major nano-technology product roll-out goes horribly wrong." He has published a trade-paperback edition, which you can (and should!) buy at Lulu.com. They sell the paperback for $13.08. You can download it for $6.25. Or, you can read it free on the Nano-plasm blog, one chapter at a time. There is even a 'bot that will email you the new chapters when you've caught up. They're up to Chapter 18 right now. He's got it covered—put it on your electronic reading device or smart phone for half-price, read it on line free and get the rest emailed to you. If you're a greybeard, or just like books, you can actually just buy it!

I used to work with Dr. Clarke-Willson, and I remember when he started this novel on a business trip. He wrote the first chapter in the air, in transit, on a Palm Pilot. I read the first chapters years ago...he released a chunk of the novel early on, and then went back and finished it.

"But it was going to take more than a forensic expert to figure out how Smythe’s brain and eyes and a portion of his spinal column had been removed from his head intact, and placed two feet away on the floor."

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