Will it be Fire or Ice?
The End of the World is a serious subject. Poets, notably Misters Eliot and Frost, both misquoted above, have commented on it. However, I would like to call your attention to two science fiction novels, one recent and one a golden oldie, that have a somewhat humorous—well, darkly humorous—take on the subject.

What does a nine-year-old military genius have in common with an oversized modern dancer?

Neither one of them cares about up or down. They don’t become disoriented in a free fall or microgravity environments, and it gives them both the edge over the rest of humanity when it comes to defeating hostile aliens. Two books that have become classics of science fiction start by questioning whether creatures that spend their lives at the bottom of a gravity well will adapt to life and be able to orient themselves when gravity becomes a force that’s as gentle as a mild breeze. It might be a skill that could save all of us from extinction at the mandibles of hostile aliens.

Have you been waiting for some good reads out of SF?  Anticipating the winter season to end so the publishers start passing out those Spring titles?  Robin Hobb (Liveship Traders Trilogy) starts a new series Rain Wilds Chronicles with Dragon Keeper.  While waiting for your HCPL book to come in, which you can place a hold on now, you can read a sneak peak at HarperCollins website.

Back from World Fantasy 2009 full of thoughts and interesting questions.  One of the panels I attended was about how laws and cultural ideologies would change when supernatural beings are accepted as fact and not fiction.  What legal ramifications would be involved in "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" if vampires and werewolves were our neighbors?  Could they run for office?  Talk about one long senatorial run if you had an immortal in the seat.