Reading: CHALLENGER'S HOPE by David Feintuch
Music: Velvet Underground
TV/Movie: Utopia: Live at the Royal Oak
Link o' the Day: Rhode Island Treasures

And welcome to Thursday eve!

Not a bad night. I got a couple of more chapters line edited for the Hollywood book, another article laid out for the SFWA Bulletin, and did a little bit of work on my own projects. In addition I've done a little housecleaning in preparation for Pretty Maggie's arrival tomorrow. Still have a few things to do, so tonight's entry won't be overly long. I still have a lot on my plate, and will likely take a few hours each day to keep on top of freelance and writing. Fortunately I'm an early riser and can do much of this whilst Maggie still sleeps.

I started the second Seafort Saga book today, CHALLENGER'S HOPE. It's not bad. Like MIDSHIPMAN'S HOPE, I find the political backdrop of the book to be a reactionary conservative nightmare for a good middle-of-the-road liberal such as myself. Granted, the hero, Nicholas Seafort, isn't as bad as his society, but he's a bit too stiff for me. A lot of military SF seems to feature these sort of harsh, soulless societal setups.

And like it's predecessor, CHALLENGER'S HOPE is told in a very episodic style. It seems as if David Feintuch sketches out an overall plot and wrote a couple of chapters, waited a few weeks, then wrote a couple of more chapters. Don't get me wrong, it's not a jumpy book--it's pretty obvious that it was edited all over again and "episodes" were tied together to give it a sense of cohesiveness, but at the same time it's pretty obvious where the mini-adventures begin and end as the travel across space progresses.

I don't know much about Feintuch himself. I met him briefly at MilPhil but didn't stay to chat--not knowing anything about his books which he seemed very eager to promote. (I _did_ remember the books tho and eventually got around to reading some.) It seems like he sold his Seafort Saga in one big lump without having many other fiction credits prior. His books could be dubbed a success and he, himself, seems quite popular. The stories are well-written overall and the main characters have some interesting dimensions even if some of the background characters he uses are flat.

I guess it goes to show ya.

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Today's link is to the exhibit I hope to get to this weekend, Rhode Island Treasures. Quite a few interesting items in this exhibit and it serves as a preview for the upcoming Heritage Harbor Museum in Providence.

Cheers!