Indroduction

 Why a science fiction blog? I have read science fiction since my public school days, in both the excellent library in my elementary school and in the nearby public library. While my interest has waxed and waned over the years my wife and I have established a fairly large collection. My wife still adds lots of current science fiction, I have collected small press books, pulp magazines, and increasingly anthologies, any period, and novels from the 1940’s to 1970’s. Now that I am in my 50’s, and surrounded by books I want to spend some time systematically exploring the genre, although with my magpie mind I will probably flit from some shiny cover with a Powers alien or Lehr cityscape and then to some title that was recommended in some blog I was reading. I had originally intended to do traditional reviews, I am working my way through The Art of Reading from Great Courses and I looked at any criteria for reviewing that has been provided on a number of the blogs I follow, but I will go in a less formal direction. I lack the subject knowledge of both current and past literary theory and the determination and discipline to acquire it, that I would need for a real review site. I considered describing my notes as recommendations but I will be reading for a variety of reasons and I may well write about certain works only because the author or the subject interests me rather than as recommended titles.

 So in keeping with the way my mind works and the types of comments I intend to make I have settled for reflections. These may about one story or book, several works by an author, books I see as having interesting similarities or differences. My comments may include not only the work in question but also personal comments regarding my experience reading science fiction, or anything else I care to include. I will try to warn about spoilers how consistently I don’t know.

 For myself I am hoping this blog will encourage me to read more and read more closely.

For any readers my goal for this blog will be to get someone to read a story or novel not because I recommended it but because they found something I mentioned that caught their interest.