Five

Since we last spoke, I have made two significant acquisitions.

Firstly, an xBox 360. In my first year of console ownership I have enjoyed the perfection of Half-Life 2 and the flawless Portal games; the simply pleasure of shooting of Nazi ballbags in Sniper Elite V2; the best and worst of Rockstar Games by following the unputdownable Red Dead Redemption with the unplayable GTA IV; the tedious but therapeutic grind of Borderlands; and, most recently, the gloriously cinematic latest installment of the Tomb Raider series. Secondly, BKP, my son. He is less interactive than the xBox but a hell of a lot cooler.

1) How To Be A Professional Author And Decent Human On The Internet – Boo to Ben Aaronovitch. Er, yeah, Wednesday’s post is already the most popular of the last twelve months.
2) ‘Nine Lives’ by Ursula K. LeGuin – For the sake of high school students everywhere, I should really write a longer piece on this story. (Up three places from last year.)
3) Back To The Mud: The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz, 2011) – One of my rare reviews for the blog: I liked it. (Up four places from last year.)
4) ‘A Worm In The Well’ by Gregory Benford – Boo to Gregory Benford and his stupid ideas about economics, politics and space opera.
5) Epic Fantasy Vs Sword And Sorcery – Exactly what it says on the tin with signal boost from Liz Bourke.
6) Woman On The Edge Of Time – One of my rare reviews for the blog: I didn’t like it.
7) Where Is The New New Wave? – Meta-commentary using one of my review elsewhere as a jumping off point to discus the exhaustion of science fiction.
8) What I Want, Exactly – Talking awards. Again.
9) ‘The Star’ by Arthur C. Clarke – Perennially popular discussion of a story I didn’t like. (Down seven places from last year.)
10) Everything That Is Wrong With Commercial Fantasy In A Single Quote – Boo to George RR Martin and his stupid ideas about literature. (Down eight places from last year.)