We started August 2006 in Northern Ireland as usual (heaven knows if it will be possible this year), and I attended MeCon 9 in Belfast where the guests included Ian McDonald, Hal Duncan, Ken MacLeod, Leah Moore, and John Reppion. I thought I had pictures from it, but in fact they seem to be from the following year, and I'm not in anyone else's that I can find. I remember having a lot of fun.
We also had a family excursion to the Legananny Dolmen and the Finnis Souterrain:
A mid-holiday work trip to London was unexpectedly extended by a day when I arrived at Heathrow to get a morning flight back to Belfast, and found myself in the immediate aftermath of the
2006 airport plot. I got the train to Liverpool and the overnight ferry, arriving not quite 24 hours after originally planned.
We published a
report on Moldova mid-month (must have been just before I got back, in fact), and I ended the month in Budapest speaking at a conference in the rather splendid parliament building there.
I profited from the holiday to read a lot.
Non-fiction 9 (YTD 43)Lost Railways of Co. Down and Co. Armagh, by Stephen JohnsonInside the Tardis: The Worlds of Doctor Who, by James Chapman
Doctor Who, by Kim NewmanSalonica: City of Ghosts - Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430-1950, by Mark MazowerThe Independent Irish Party 1850-9, by J.H. WhyteSixteenth Century Ireland, by Colm LennonH.P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life, by Michel HouellebecqA Rulebook for Arguments, by Anthony Weston
Critical Reasoning: An Introduction, by Anne ThomsonNon-genre 4 (YTD 16)Tropic of Capricorn, by Henry MillerThe Warden, by Anthony TrollopeThe Warden's Niece, by Gillian AveryThe Brightfount Diaries, by Brian AldissSF 7 (YTD 49)The Healer's War, by Elizabeth Anne ScarboroughThe Wreck of The River of Stars, by Michael FlynnStations of the Tide, by Michael SwanwickOctober the First is Too Late, by Fred HoyleSouthern Fire, by Juliet McKennaYear's Best SF 11, ed. David Hartwell and Kathryn CramerWinter Moon, by Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee and C.E. MurphyDoctor Who 3 (YTD 10)Short Trips: Companions, ed. Jacqueline Rayner
Short Trips: A Universe of Terrors, ed. John BinnsThe Empire of Glass, by Andy LaneComics 2 (YTD 4)Ghost World, by Daniel ClowesPreacher: Gone to Texas, by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon6,400 pages (YTD 36,200)
6/25 by women (YTD 20/122)
None by PoC (YTD 5/122)
Best of these, and the one which still sticks with me, is
The Wreck of The River of Stars, by Michael Flynn;
you can get it here. I also gave
The Healer's War, by Elizabeth Anne Scarborough, an enthusiastic write-up, but can't remember as much about it.
You can get it here. I found
Tropic of Capricorn, by Henry Miller, thoroughly unpleasant, but
you can get it here.
