xwidget_68_The Limits of Enchantment The fictional worlds that Graham Joyce creates invariably lay in a territory that is a nexus of paths and borders, a place where the divides touch. His overall theme seems to be the nature of the supernatural -- that which is beyond nature -- in the context of the natural. The core question: If humans perceive something to be natural -- to belong within the ordinary -- then is this something of nature or beyond it? We filter the universe through a "scientific" rational perspective, but is our perspective any more "true" than a perspective that includes "magic"? Joyce's fantasy is very real; his reality is frequently fantastic. His fictional characters are highly believable, especially when facing the incredible, and they live in environments that, even if they don't exist, mold them. The darkness in his stories once came primarily from explorations of his characters' relationships and their own "darkest hearts. In the course pf the story, the dark became manifest and there were consequences of that manifestation. With just-previous novel, The Facts of Life and now The Limits of Enchantment, the connection becomes subtler. There are those who, despite living in "our" rational world, are still in touch with a world beyond our reason. In both books there is an older women whose wisdom comes from a larger cosmology and a younger woman forced to deal with the world's denial of that cosmology. The darkness in these two books lies in the friction between the two worlds and secrets that must be kept safe to survive. The heart of darkness is humanity's ability to be inhumane, but the light of salvation lies in humanity's ability to cherish its own. As for The Limits of Enchantment -- It is 1966 and the world teeters on yet another point of transition and even the small Midlands village where seventy-seven-year-old Mammy Cullen and her adopted daughter, Fern, live reflects it. Astronauts circle the Earth, but the cottage in which the women live lacks indoor plumbing. There is still a lord in a manor to deal with, but free-living hippies have moved in nearby. Old-fashioned midwives, like Mammy, can no longer legally ply their trade, but many people still rely on her skills. Abortion is illegal, but the women can rely on Mammy's hedgerow herbal medicine to help them. "Though she never let anyone go without a lecture, she never said no to a desperate girl" -- but each must also divulge the name of the father. Mammy and Fern live in an in-between world surrounded by secrets that can both protect and destroy. "Mammy was the apostle of the Don't Tell, preaching the gospel of the Say Nothing." Mammy's "resistance to letting it all spill" applies to her own "history" as well. What little Fern knows, she's had to piece together over the years. Fern, who narrates the tale, is also on an edge and in-between. She's 21, or near to it, but still a child for whom Mammy interprets the universe. She treasures a small transistor radio and the pop tunes of Radio Caroline, but has been taught (and sings) a wealth of folk songs. She's sexually naive, despite an intimate knowledge of the earthier side of Mother Nature and awakening sexually while all too aware of the dangers of involved. Mammy has taught her a great deal, but always keeps back the deepest of the mysteries in which she tells Fern she will someday partake -- mysteries and magic in which Fern only half-believes. When a local girl, pregnant with an illegitimate child, dies after obtaining Mammy's herbal help, it appears the old woman is responsible. Even Mammy fears her own guilt and feels doom is upon her. A woman who protects herself by knowing so many secrets can also fall victim to those who would prefer no one knew them. On a visit to town, an unknown assailant pushes her into a fall. The duel troubles bring Fern into contact with two more of "the few" -- Judith, a young schoolteacher near Fern's age, and William, an old man who Fern knows as a beekeeper. As mammy's health worsens, William warns Fern not to let Mammy be taken to hospital, but Fern finds herself with little choice but to allow it. Until then "Mammy had stood like a door of oak and iron between me and the outside world," says Fern -- and the world that begins pushing in on Fern is an ominous one. Fern has been left unprepared to do battle against it, but she is just as unprepared to further enter into a pact with the powers she only half believes in. A raft of characters just as convincing as the major players reveal and revel throughout the tale, hindering, helping, menacing, and aiding Fern. We become so entranced that, by the story's end we can't but help wanting to know the rest of her life. (She'd be about 60 now and we are sure she has a life worth telling.) There's a great deal more to The Limits of Enchantment than the surface story and its obvious "between two worlds" motif. On one level, this is a story of fecundity and fornication with everyone going "at it" except the "thee and me" of Mammy and Fern (and, despite overtones of the 1960s sexual revolution, always have been). On another it is a tale of the downfall of castes and classes. For those who can't remember the sixties (which were actually the seventies), a different story may be interpreted that others may not see at all. ("If you can remember anything about the sixties, you weren't really there." -- Paul Kantner) Meanings shift depending on what the reader brings to the story. There's hilarity and wry observations of humanity, but Joyce never plays judge. At the outset, he has Fern tell us, "If I could tell you this is a single setting, then you might believe all of it, even the strangest part... If I could unwind this story in a single spool, or peel it like an apple...in one unbroken coil...then you might bite in without objection...." That's exactly how he tells the tale and it is easy to believe no matter how strange it grows. Every time a new Graham Joyce novel comes out, it turns out to be even better than the one before. This is a frightening thing as "the one before" was itself wonderful. Has the man exchanged his soul for this magic? If he has, I suspect he's sold it to the Goddess (whoever or whatever She may be) because along with the acquisition of pure literary skills, Joyce has also become one of the strongest "female" voices in fiction today. This is all the more extraordinary because Joyce gives manly blokes their due, too, (most specifically in Smoking Poppy), and, as anyone who has quaffed a drink or twelve with the author will testify, he's a right manly bloke himself. (from Cemetery Dance #53) 

1. Remove all migration files in <appname>/migrations 2. Remove all data in django_migrations table where app = <appname> 3.  python manage.py makemigrations <appname> 4.  python manage.py migrate --fake <appname> 5. If you have a field to alter, then alter the field <field> on <appname> and then again python manage.py makemigrations <appname> 6. python manage.py migrate <appname> Child's play.   0003이 실제로 적용된 가장 최근의 마이그레이션이라 가정할 때에는? --fake를 이용하여 현재 상태는 0003이다 라고 장고가 인식하게끔 해주어야 한다. python manage.py migrate --fake <appname> 0003 그 후 평소 하던대로 진행.   django 1.7 migrate gets error "table already exists" I am trying to apply a migration but am getting the error: django.db.utils.OperationalError: (1050, "Table 'customers_customer' already exists") I get this by issuing the following command: ... https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25924858/django-1-7-migrate-gets-error-table-already-exists How to redo a migration on django 1.8 after using --fake Something went wrong on my migrations, I added a new datetimefield to a model then I used makemigrations and migrate. python manage.py makemigrations python manage.py migrate But after this the m... https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30626886/how-to-redo-a-migration-on-django-1-8-after-using-fake

This book has been out since October 2004. (Hint: If you want to be noticed by us humble dark reviewers, October is possibly the worst month of the year in which to publish anything.) If I hadn't received a copy (which I probably would not have if the author had not been a friend of mine), I would never have known it existed. Nor have I seen any evidence of it being out there. I hope I'm just being oblivious, because it does deserve attention. Veteran author Kilpatrick tackled a next-to-impossible task and accomplished it with acumen and a sense of humor. On the other hand, just having the audacity to write the "first complete guide to the goth movement" means that, no matter what she wrote or how she researched it, she's probably been condemned by at least some people who consider themselves goth. (The fact that goth godfather Mick Mercer and photographer Fred H. Berger, of Propaganda Magazine were both involved might deflect some subcultural sniping, but I doubt it.) Books like this are, of course, written for those outside a subculture not those within it. Kilpatrick offers respect and understands that "within shades of black, there's an awful lot of variation," something insiders and outsiders both tend not to comprehend. Although I've not asked the author, I also can guess, knowing publishing, that whatever this project started out to be may not be reflected in the ultimate product. Whatever the circumstances, it is a credible, readable reference sure to displease a great many people. Brava. (from Cemetery Dance #53) xwidget_66_The goth Bible  

Michael Marshall's (AKA Michael Marshall Smith) "Straw Men" trilogy falls into the thriller category, but the books are so dark and disturbing they might also be considered as contemporary horror. There's also a weird, if not supernatural, vast-conspiracy-against-all-humanity theory that spooks them up somewhat. The third of three (following The Straw Men and Upright Man), Blood of Angels features ex-CIA operative Ward Hopkins, his now-girlfriend FBI agent Nina Baynam and, eventually, ex-Los Angeles police detective John Zandt. They are fighting the murderous Straw Men, an ancient brotherhood that feels humanity went haywire with civilization and sees killing as many members of it as possible as its duty. One of its most effective operatives is Paul, a twin who Ward never knew existed until his parents were murdered back in book one. At the end of book two, Paul was safely ensconced in prison, but springing a federal prisoner is nothing for the Straw Men. On the east coast, a deceptively mild-mannered Florida tourist photographer is set on a shady mission by the man he thinks of as the Forward Thinking Boy (Paul, of course). Across the country, So-Cal rich kid drug-dealer Lee John Hudek is drawn into bigger and more deadly things than supplying pills for his pointless peers. Ward and Nina's rural respite in the Pacific Norwest comes to an end when Nina is pulled back into FBI work to investigate a possible female serial killer in Virginia. The three story lines are braided into a quick-burning fuse of a standalone novel that's nearly impossible to stop reading. Marshall's fluid writing is several notches higher than that of the average thriller and there's more than sheer entertainment here, too. The novel is, to some extent, a meditation on the meaning of death and, more obviously, cannot help but consider a world where organizations of killers who delight in death and destruction are not fiction. The first of this trilogy was praised by Stephen King as a "masterpiece"; this one may be even better. (CFQ Vol. 37, Issue #8) xwidget_64_Blood of Angels • • • Note: The first two books of the series are The Straw Men (2002) and The Upright Man (2004) (known as The Lonely Dead in the UK). As Michael Marshal Smith, the author's works include the collection More Tomorrow and Other Stories (2003), and novels One of Us (1998), Spares (1996), and Only Forward (1995).   

[Great modern horror is not always labeled as "horror". You'll probably find this one shelved under SF. Of course, it is also a dark mystery/thriller, and horrific...] xwidget_65_Spares Anyone reviewing Michael Marshall Smith's cross-genre novel Spares is apt to fall back on a variety of comparisons. And they are all accurate -- Spares does evoke hard-boiled detective writers like Jim Thompson and Raymond Chandler; Philip K. Dick and his cyberpunk descendants; the filmic atmospheres of A Clockwork Orange, Chinatown, and Blade Runner; even the humor of Douglas Adams. But to do so does a disservice to Smith, who deserves credit for his own unique imagination, skill, and this wonderfully diverse novel. Spares is told in a poignant first-person by Jack Randall, an ex-cop, ex-soldier, ex-husband, ex-father, ex-member of the human race, and ex-addict -- except there is no such thing as an ex-addict. At the outset of the novel he's come back to his former home -- New Richmond, Virginia: a 200-story flying megamall that has been "grounded" for 83 years due to technological failure compounded by bureaucratic ineptitude. Jack's brought seven "spares" with him that he rescued from a "farm" that, shattered and drug-addled, he found himself in charge of. Spares are clones who exist only to provide spare parts -- skin, eyes, organs, limbs, faces -- for their legally "human" counterparts. Jack has treated the spares as humans -- teaching them to communicate, to actualize their emotions, and allowing them to think for themselves -- and is attempting to save them from the system that exploits their bodies and ignores their minds, feelings, and souls. In New Richmond Jack becomes embroiled in a deadly mystery involving denizens of both the underworld and overworld, his ex-partner, a former enemy, and The Gap -- the surrealistic ex-war zone born from a virtual world that had "grown too heavy and sloughed off the wires and coalesced into something solid." Smith's future noir world of urban decay is one in which computers create their own programming and are sometimes more human than the humans. protagonist,The society is a plausibly corrupt extension of our current era with The Gap an obvious Vietnam allegory. And, of course, it is all the more chilling because we can so easily believe it. Smith falters in his culture only in one respect: his emphasis on class stratification is devoid of any racial overtones whatsoever -- as is the case in most SF. But, like the best SF -- and hard-boiled detective fiction -- Smith provides compelling philosophical and sociological underpinnings along with his energetic action. For all the other comparisons, Spares reminds me most of John Shirley's early cyperpunk novel City Come A Walkin', and Jack Randall is reminiscent of the flawed heroes in Shirley's work. Like Shirley, Smith writes of dark things in dark worlds where the horror -- disturbingly familiar no matter what the trappings -- is often found within our own souls. Spares could easily become a classic cherished by readers, argued over, dissected and discussed for years. And because it has been optioned by Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG it has a chance of becoming more than a cult classic. Whatever Spares becomes -- it is required reading now. -- Paula Guran

Debut novelist Cherie Priest sets out to update the Southern gothic and although it's a not entirely successful effort, it's definitely an enthusiastic one. Multiracial, cool, gorgeous Eden Moore is a heroine so full of spunk that she verges on the obnoxious at times but, like the novel itself, she possesses a certain undeniable charm. Unlike her literary predecessors, who couldn't manage much more than screams and faints, Eden handles everything with aplomb. From a seeing the dead to a determined, if ineffective, stalker-cousin with murderous intent to revelations of rotting incestuous family roots to an over-the-top supernatural finale set in the middle of a swamp -- Eden can handle it. Priest is most effective as a writer when describing Eden's youthful ghostly encounters with eerie panache, but with sequels in the offing she may stick with Buffyesque supernatural butt-kicking rather than more nuanced chills. She has obvious potential no matter what path she takes. (CFQ Vol. 37, Issue #8) xwidget_63_Four and Twenty Blackbirds  

files is a symbolic link to /media/files/tb-prod/files. When you access files or anything inside it, you'll really access the path under /media. Symbolic links are made and updated using the ln command. This link could have been made with: ln -s /media/files/tb-prod/files files -s means to make a symbolic link. To update a link, either delete the link and create it as above, or use the -f option to ln as well. If you are linking to a folder, you should include the -n option: ln -sfn /a/new/path files This will replace the link with a new one pointing at /a/new/path. The -n option is necessary when linking to a different target folder to avoid creating a sub-folder inside that symbolic link and instead replace the symbolic link completely. e.g. contact@me:/mnt/webdav$ ls a1  a2  a3  a4  a5  a6 contact@me:/mnt/webdav$ ln -sfn /mnt/a2/XYZ a2 contact@me:/mnt/webdav$ ls a1  a2  a3  a4  a5  a6 contact@me:/mnt/webdav$ https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/151999/how-to-change-where-a-symlink-points

현재 시스템에 연결된 디스크 목록을 확인 contact@me:~$ sudo fdisk -l 추가로 연결한 하드가 있다면 아래처럼 뜸 (파티션을 나누지 않은 상태) Disk /dev/sdd: 9.1 TiB, 10000831348736 bytes, 19532873728 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes 외장하드를 연결했다면 아래처럼 뜸  The backup GPT table is corrupt, but the primary appears OK, so that will be used. Disk /dev/sdd: 3.7 TiB, 4000787029504 bytes, 7814037167 sectors Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes Disklabel type: gpt Disk identifier: 9DB1508D-F261-47ED-BEB0-5AF9974A311C Device Start End Sectors Size Type /dev/sdd1 34 262177 262144 128M Microsoft reserved /dev/sdd2 264192 7814035455 7813771264 3.7T Microsoft basic data Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary. 4TB와 같이 용량이 크면 GPT 방식으로 파티션을 나누게 되는데 그러한 경우 아래 명령어 입력 contact@me:~$ sudo parted -l 파티션 나누는 자세한 방법은 생략 마운트 전에 해당영역을 포맷 contact@me:~$ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1 mke2fs 1.44.1 (24-Mar-2018) /dev/sda1 contains a ntfs file system Proceed anyway? (y,N) y Creating filesystem with 1220804352 4k blocks and 152600576 inodes Filesystem UUID: 9DB1508D-F261-47ED-BEB0-5AF9974A311C Superblock backups stored on blocks: 32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208, 4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872, 71663616, 78675968, 102400000, 214990848, 512000000, 550731776, 644972544 Allocating group tables: done Writing inode tables: done Creating journal (262144 blocks): done Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done contact@me:~$ 포맷하면 UUID가 바뀜 * ntfs 포맷 contact@me:~$ sudo mkntfs -f /dev/sdc1 다음 명령으로 연결된 하드디스크의 UUID 검색 contact@me:~$ ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid 합계 0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 11월 4 15:38 9DB1508D-F261-47ED-BEB0-5AF9974A311C -> ../../sda1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 11월 4 15:38 9DB1508D-F261-47ED-BEB0-5AF9974A311C -> ../../sda2 마운트 시도했지만 아래와같이 나온다면 contact@me:~$ sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdd2 /mpoint/x1 Mount is denied because the NTFS volume is already exclusively opened. The volume may be already mounted, or another software may use it which could be identified for example by the help of the 'fuser' command. 연결후 이미 자동으로 마운트되어있던 상태였기에 기존 마운트 해제 contact@me:~$ sudo eject /dev/sdd2 다시 시도하면 정상적으로 된다. contact@me:~$ sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdd2 /mpoint/x1 /dev/sdd2 : 아까 sudo fdisk -l 명령어 쳤을 때 나온, Device Boot /mpoint/x1 : 하나 생성한 디렉터리 경로 * fdisk로 확인했을때 아래처럼 나왔다면 /dev/sda4  1161216 976771071 975609856 465.2G Linux filesystem ext4 포맷방식은 아래 명령으로 마운트 contact@me:~$ sudo mount -t ext4 /dev/sda4 /경로/hdd 또는 fstab에 설정 후 재부팅없이 마운트 fstab 백업 후 수정 contact@me:~$ sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.bak contact@me:~$ sudo vi /etc/fstab UUID번호 / 마운트 위치 / 파일 시스템 종류 / 옵션 / 덤프 / 패스 - file system : 위에서 확인한 UUID - mount point : 자동으로 하드디스크를 마운트할 위치 - type : 파일 시스템의 종류. 보통은 ext4 / fat 포맷이면 vfat / ntfs 포맷이면 ntfs - options : 특이 사항이 없다면 defaults - dump : 특이 사항이 없다면 0 - pass : 특이 사항이 없다면 0  contact@me:~$ sudo nano /etc/fstab UUID=9DB1508D-F261-47ED-BEB0-5AF9974A311C / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 # /boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during installation UUID=01X5-3AB1 /boot/efi vfat umask=0077 0 1 /swapfile none swap sw 0 0 UUID=9DB1508D-F261-47ED-BEB0-5AF9974A311C /folder/A ext4 defaults 0 0 UUID=9DB1508D-F261-47ED-BEB0-5AF9974A311C /folder/B ntfs defaults 0 0 contact@me:~$ sudo mount -a *ntfs 포맷이라면 다음 명령으로 설치 contact@me:~$ sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g 디스크 파일 시스템 명령 df -h를 사용하여 마운트에 성공했는지 확인 권한설정이 필요하면 다음명령 사용 contact@me:~$ sudo chmod 777 /folder/A 우분투(Ubuntu) 하드디스크 자동으로 마운트 하는 방법 :: BlankSpace (tistory.com) * unmount 와 eject 의 차이점 nautilus - What is the difference between "Unmount", "Eject", "Safely Remove Drive" and the eject icon? - Ask Ubuntu * 추가 하드디스크 마운트 방법 [Ubuntu] 추가 하드디스크 마운트 방법 (tistory.com) * 기타 자료 Mr. P Blog: [ Ubuntu ] 우분투 외장하드 마운트 (perdupper.blogspot.com) https://bluexmas.tistory.com/727 https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=hymne&logNo=220977353373&proxyReferer=https:%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F https://topis.me/109 https://blog.dalso.org/uncategorized/813 [Linux] 리눅스 파티션 및 마운트 [참고 및 출처 사이트] 더보기 이론, 그림 - https://itguava.tistory.com/100 실습, 그림 - https://m.blog.naver.com/haejoon90/220749495797 1. 리눅스 파티션 기본 정보 [파티셔닝] 하나의 물리 저장장치를 시스템 내부에서 여러 디스크 공간으로 나누는 작업 Primary Partition(주 영역 파티션) 물리적 파티션 최대 4개까지의 공간으로 나눌 수 있다.(Extended Partit https://kindongsy.tistory.com/35

1. 삼바설치 sudo apt-get -y update sudo apt-get -y install samba 2. 기존에 사용하고 있는 리눅스 계정을 Samba에 추가하기 위해 아래 명령어를 입력 sudo smbpasswd -a <계정명> 계정은 리눅스에 존재하는 계정이면 Samba에 계속 추가할 수 있음 3. 원본을 보존하기 위해 Samba 설정 파일을 백업 sudo cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf_temp 4. Samba 설정 파일을 수정 sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf 5. 공유할 디렉토리를 설정하기 위해서 설정 파일의 가장 하단에 아래와 같은 형태로 입력 [multimedia] comment = multimedia directory path = /data/Multimedia valid users = id1,id2 writeable = yes read only = no create mode = 0777 directory mode = 0777 6. 파일 수정이 완료되면 저장하고 Samba 데몬을 재시작 sudo service smbd restart 위의 명령어로 삼바 데몬을 재 구동을 시켜주면 좀전에 설정한 내역들이 적용됨. * 파이썬으로 삼바접속 1. pysmb 라이브러리 설치 (https://pypi.org/project/pysmb/) 2. 예제코드 from smb.SMBConnection import SMBConnection server_ip = "10.110.10.10" # Take your server IP - I have put a fake IP :) server_name = 'myserver' # The servername for the IP above share_name = "GRUPOS" # This is the principal folder of your network that you want's to connect network_username = 'myuser' # This is your network username network_password = '***' # This is your network password machine_name = 'myuser@mac-mc70006405' # Your machine name conn = SMBConnection(network_username, network_password, machine_name, server_name, use_ntlm_v2 = True) assert conn.connect(server_ip, 139) files = conn.listPath(share_name, "/TECNOLOGIA_INFORMACAO/Dashboard Diretoria/") for item in files: print(item.filename) https://psychoria.tistory.com/678 리눅스 환경(Ubuntu)에서 개발을 편리하게! Samba 구축하기 - 코드도사 (codedosa.com) How to get a file from a network windows directory and move to my Python Django project directory? - Stack Overflow

Q : pip install fails with "connection error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:598)"   A : pip install gensim config --global http.sslVerify false Just install any package with the "config --global http.sslVerify false" statement You can ignore SSL errors by setting pypi.org and files.pythonhosted.org as well as the older pypi.python.org as trusted hosts. $ pip install --trusted-host pypi.org --trusted-host pypi.python.org --trusted-host files.pythonhosted.org <package_name> Note: Sometime during April 2018, the Python Package Index was migrated from pypi.python.org to pypi.org. This means "trusted-host" commands using the old domain no longer work, but you can add both. Permanent Fix Since the release of pip 10.0, you should be able to fix this permanently just by upgrading pip itself: $ pip install --trusted-host pypi.org --trusted-host pypi.python.org --trusted-host files.pythonhosted.org pip setuptools Or by just reinstalling it to get the latest version: $ curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py (… and then running get-pip.py with the relevant Python interpreter). pip install <otherpackage> should just work after this. If not, then you will need to do more, as explained below. You may want to add the trusted hosts and proxy to your config file. pip.ini (Windows) or pip.conf (unix) [global] trusted-host = pypi.python.org pypi.org files.pythonhosted.org Alternate Solutions (Less secure) Most of the answers could pose a security issue. Two of the workarounds that help in installing most of the python packages with ease would be: Using easy_install: if you are really lazy and don't want to waste much time, use easy_install <package_name>. Note that some packages won't be found or will give small errors. Using Wheel: download the Wheel of the python package and use the pip command pip install wheel_package_name.whl to install the package. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25981703/pip-install-fails-with-connection-error-ssl-certificate-verify-failed-certi/26062583 

xwidget_62_Silver Screen Anjuli O'Connell has a perfect memory, but no confidence in herself -- knowing, afterall, is not understanding. Roy Croft is undoubtedly brilliant and knows everything -- "how the pieces fit together, and how they don't." They both work for OptiNet, a vast multinational that owns the worldwide communications network and the artificial intelligence, 901. Eccentric Roy, despite his involvement with extremist political groups fighting for AI liberation, is too valuable a programmer not to employ; Anjuli is a top expert in AI psychology. Roy turns up dead and OptiNet is quick to call it suicide. Just before he died, Roy filed against OptiNet with the Court of Human Rights in an effort to prove that 901 is a being in its own right. This is puzzling in itself as he was aware a move like that would doubtless lead to 901's "death" rather than its liberation. He also left a series of cryptic messages for Anjuli that may be luring her into an insanely dangerous game for his own warped purposes or leading her to an important truth. The storyline runs through mystery/thriller territory as Anjuli seeks answers and, finally, a mysterious Source must be found and recovering it requires a solo mission into a super-fortified pseudo-abbey in experimental biomech armor. But that is far from all. Robson's debut novel may be imperfect, but it's astonishingly full of imaginative imagery and stylish writing. First published in the U.K. in 1999 it is belatedly arriving in the U.S. only after two subsequent and even more-accomplished novels. Provocative and unique, Robson is stellar talent of the first magnitude. (CFQ Vol. 37, Issue #8)  

xwidget_61_20th Century Ghosts   This may be your first encounter with a writer named Joe Hill, but it most certainly will not be the last. This remarkable, not-to-be-missed debut collection may well herald the beginnings of a notable career. Christopher Golden, in his introduction, refers to Hill's stories as "subtle", but they are more noteworthy for their perfectly eloquent lucidity than understatement. Often laced with nostalgia reminiscent of Bradbury and graced with the irresistible imaginative tug of Stephen King at top form, Hill's stories are more skewed and surreal than either writer's and usually fall further into weird. "The Cape" even lulls you with Bradburyian charms then gleefully skewers you with Kinglike wickedness. Hill also has a knack for reviving the jaded sensibilities of the veteran horror reader. The title tale is a ghost story that delivers the unexpected for those who have read plenty of ghost stories and think they know what to expect. The burned-out editor of an annual anthology discovers an astonishing story and its distressing author in "Best New Horror". The ending may be inevitable, but the tale still entrances. In the accomplished novella, Voluntary Committal, two teenage boys deal with the reality of a terrible accident. Reality may be mutable and memory can be sealed "behind a wall of carefully laid mental bricks," but such a wall may not last forever. In the fabulist "My Father's Mask", a family visits Masquerade House, a place where it's always Halloween, surrounded by a deep dark woods "where grown-ups cannot go." "Pop Art" can be labeled as "magic realism", but it is also a moving yet humorous story about friendship and death. Joe Hill. Read him. (-- First published in Fantasy Magazine #1, November 2005)