And they're close to an Irish pub, too.

"You do realize," said Zanna, "that you're stroking a milk carton."
"You're just jealous."

China Miéville, Un Lun Dun

I spent part of the weekend on Vancouver Island helping my niece and her boyfriend move, but I also managed to find some free time to do some shopping in Victoria. If you're visiting British Columbia's capital, I strongly recommend Munro's Books on Government Street to anyone whose interests lie in the literary world.

During a previous visit, I had wandered into Munro's without any particular expectations, since very few non-genre bookstores have anything unique to offer to the science fiction and fantasy shopper*. However, to my surprise and pleasure, I found a paperback copy of Terry Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, which I'd never even heard of, let alone seen on a store shelf.

As a result, I went in this time with more of a sense of optimism, and was rewarded by a trade paperback copy of China Miéville's Un Lun Dun for a mere $11.00, which is not all that much more than I would have expected to pay for a regular paperback. Even more surprising, the price was actually $11.00, rather than $10.99 or some similar insult to my mathematical intelligence.

Now if they can only overcome their identity problem - do they really need to have their name in that many places on their storefront?

- Sid

* In fact, there are some genre stores that don't have a lot to offer, either. White Dwarf, Vancouver's science fiction and fantasy specialty store, has done nothing to impress me, between their hard-to-browse shelving and the fact that they never have called me about the book that I ordered three years ago. Their dog is a pleasant sort, though.

The Demon Child

"She was to be the demon child forever."
Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire.

I'm primarily a science fiction and fantasy fan, but there's always some overlap with the horror genre, and so I'm familiar with Stephen King, H. P. Lovecraft, Anne Rice, et al. When staying in New Orleans a couple of years ago, I visited the grave of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen, wandered through the empty, evocative lanes of the St. Louis Cemetery with its crumbling crypts and memorials to the dead, and in London I followed the path of Jack the Ripper, walking on Whitechapel cobblestones unchanged since his reign of terror in 1888.

However, I recognize my status as a dilettante. In preparation for Hallowe'en, here's someone who's serious about all of this - I'd like to present my niece, Jody: vampire AND zombie.

- Sid

Goddamn it!

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have.

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I missed Towel Day...but, credit where credit is due, thanks to my niece Jody for sending me a Facebook message about it.

- Sid