Books are dangerous

It is 2039 and Georgia & Shaun Mason are up and coming bloggers. Solid betas they are on the look out for the story that will enable them to break away and start their own site, their own identity. And they are about to get their big break, because presidential hopeful Senator Ryman is about to start campaigning for the Republican nomination. And the Masons are going to be part of his media circus.

Oh, and did I mention the zombies?

Today, May 25th, is the anniversary of the Glorious Revolution. Which fans of Discworld, and Sam Vimes in particular will want to honour.

All the little angels rise up, rise up.
All the little angels rise up high!
How do they rise up, rise up, rise up?
How do they rise up, rise up high?
They rise heads up, heads up, heads up, they rise heads up, heads up high!

The British Library is hosting a Science Fiction exhibition called Out of this World. And even if you don't get a chance to visit there is plenty of interest to browse on their website, start by checking out their blog.

The forces of the Union are about to meet those of the North in battle. Over the next three days war will be waged, and men will die. Or become heroes. Or something in between. This is the story of those bloody days, the story of the men, and occasional women, on both sides who fight.

Every night Conor O’Malley has the nightmare. Every night. But tonight something is different. Tonight there is a new monster. A new nightmare. And Conor isn’t sure if this is a dream or not. But either way, this is the monster he was fearing. This monster, the yew tree, tells him that it will tell him three stories. And then Conor will tell the monster a story. A true story. And if he doesn’t, then the monster will eat him alive.

Today's Guardian Review is a science fiction special The stars of modern SF pick the best science fiction

The second book in the Kingkiller Chronicle takes off when book one ended, it is the second day of Kvothe’s tale. Today we learn more about his time in the university, as well as his gap year, for lack of a better word. He heads off to travel and expand his mind.

I’m only a month or so late with starting into this year’s Once Upon a Time challenge, but I have to say that I picked a great book to start off with. The Name of the Wind begins in an inn, with an almost traditionally epic fantasy feel to it. Kote the innkeeper is a stranger to the area, and the inn, The Waystone, isn’t doing great business. But one night the smith’s apprentice bursts in the door, covered in blood, and with a strange spider-like creature that he claims killed his horse. Kote recognises this, but then again, he has seen more of the world than the farmers, tied to the land. But Kote is much more than he at first appears. He knows there must be more of these creatures, and when he goes, alone, to look for, and deal with them he comes across Chronicler. This scribe has been lured to this backwater searching for a rumour. And the rumour is Kote, or, Kvothe, as the stories know him.