Results tagged “carlos ruiz zafon”

Those who know me know I read from many different parts of the bookstore—history, religion, travel, children’s, computer, fiction, sci-fi/fantasy and even occasionally cooking!

Ladies, don’t trust that last one. It doesn’t mean I cook well!

The books that resonate most with me are those that interweave as many of those disciplines into one story. I think that’s why Dune had such a huge impact on me, as Frank Herbert included politics, ecology, philosophy, ethics and science in his masterpiece.

Five or six years ago I read Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Right from the first sentence I was entranced. Zafon is a beautiful writer, the kind of writer that makes me want to stop writing because I’ll never reach his heights. It is set in mid-century Barcelona and incorporates a coming of age tale with romance, intrigue, mystery, a bit of horror and an overall feeling of the fantastical.

It quickly became one of my favorite books and I have forced more than a hundred people to read it.

None have regretted it.

This last week The Angel’s Game, a prequel of sorts to Shadow of the Wind, was published. It is set in the same Barcelona but several decades earlier and like the previous book is a love letter to writing and books with the same sense of mystery and intrigue as Shadow of the Wind. The beautiful writing is back as well.

I only make mention of this release because Shadow of the Wind has had a huge impact on a lot of people and I want to make sure everyone knows the new book has been published!

So if you haven’t read Shadow of the Wind, do so! Then read The Angel’s Game!

Happy reading!

In the last few days, Seattle has been buried under a thick white blanket of snow.

The winter storm hitting the Pacific Northwest has been one of Seattle’s most sustained, leaving it mostly incapacitated. Buses have crashed through protective guard rails, people have stranded their cars and 4x4 trucks. For good reason. I look outside and see more than a foot of snow covering everything. After ten days, temperatures have finally risen over the freezing mark but not enough to make the tiniest of dent in what has been done to the city.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As I sit here, tucked away in my heater-driven warmth and looking out my living room window, it evokes one of my favorite books—The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.

Lyra Belacqua riding the armored polar bear Iorek Byrnison through the snowy wilds.

It got me thinking.

I wrote a few days ago how I have been asked to moderate a panel devoted to writers’ influences at the NY Comic Con. I already have planned what I want to open with and once that is done I’ll just let the authors go crazy wild with their stories and what writers influences them want to be writers. But I also realized each one of us—and I mean every one of us who come to Suvudu—has some definable moment in our lives when we fell in love with science fiction and/or fantasy. It could be a book we read or a comic book we collected or a movie we watched or a gaming experience we had… one moment in a past full of moments created how we spend our time today.

Can you remember what sci-fi/fantasy writers or movies or games placed you on the path to this moment?

Here are the other culprits that have led me to write my own book as well as blogging here on Suvudu…