2007 books

44) Louis de Bernières, Red Dog, 2001
After a visit to Australia for a literary festival de Bernières learned about the stories of Red Dog, a free-spirited kelpie who was owned by everyone and no one in some of the remote towns of north-west Australia in the early 1970s. There's even a bronze statue of Red Dog outside the town of Dampier, so after some research de Bernières spent a few weeks travelling and adding flesh to some of the anecdotal folk stories about him. He's having fun adding to Red Dog's legend; there's too much fiction going on to make it truly biographical but what the hell, the dog had character.

Quoted

This afternoon in Waterstones I picked up the new Gollancz paperback edition of Roger Levy's Icarus, and on the back cover I read the quote: "There are few authors who explore the pitfalls and danger zones of human psychology as deeply or with such intensity as Levy".

Then I thought to myself, "Er, didn't I write that?" I most certainly did, in this Strange Horizons review.

My first pull-quote, then. Shame you can't see the small grin on my face.

Life imitates SF

Your Starter for Ten: which late British author once said of Margaret Thatcher "I am looking at a science-fiction illustration of some time ago showing the beautiful girl who has become President of the Solar Federation in the year 2220”?

History repeats itself, poorly: science fiction authors get the Presidential summons, this time for Bush's 'War on Terror'. Last time it was Reagan and 'Star Wars'; they obviously knew better than to invite Arthur C. Clarke this time around, who no doubt would have enjoyed once again telling them where to shove it.

Another monster bush, but this one's a real-life triffid...