I remember when first reading the Otherland quadrilogy by Tad Williams that it would make a great, if difficult, project for an MMO developer. I’ll be watching this one closely.

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Originally written serially and published online as a blog (unfortunately no longer available), it gained a large following and widespread praise for its humour and style. The author continues to delight readers with short stories and novellas, again published online, which expand upon the history of the universe of Simon and give insights into how things as they are in Simon of Space came to be. There is an entire world of characters and events encased in Mr. Brown’s skull and I can heartily recommend this book and Mr. Brown’s continuing online work to any fan of new science fiction. Read and be enthralled.

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I was taught to read at about the age of four, I used to stand at the bookshelves in the supermarket and look at the Ladybird books while my parents did the shopping. When they were done my dad would say to me “Pick a book. If you can read the first page, its yours” So I not only learned how to read, I also learned the value of the written word. I earned those books (my parents still have most of them in their attic), they were precious to me. That has stayed with me to this day. Books are precious things, it pains me to see them mistreated. The casual disregard with which my stepson treats his (and occasionally my) books distresses me greatly. I can’t even watch Farenheit 451 (I’ve read the book though), and footage of the book burnings of The Third Reich makes me very uncomfortable.

I have been reading almost constantly since I learned how to and it has brought me nothing but pleasure, joy and, most importantly of all, knowledge. People talk of the internet being a great source of knowledge but give me a book any day. Don’t get me wrong, the internet is a wonderous and staggering tool, but it is sometimes too easy to get things published via the internet. There is an awful lot of dross on the web (you’re reading some of it now, heh) which is disseminated unvetted, unedited, and valued only by those that publish it. If someone has gone to the trouble of publishing a book then it means that someone other than the author sees value in it. A book is also something tangible, portable and not reliant on batteries. Try reading a novel on your PDA when you’re miles from a decent network connection, power socket, or corner shop (to buy batteries). Granted these obstacles can be surmounted but it involves carting all sorts of peripheral technology around with you, when all you want to do is read a book.

The Dark Ages could be said to have ended with the invention of the printing press, which made the mass production of texts, previously laboriously copied out by hand, a feasible enterprise. The Roman Catholic Church, which had maintained control over much of western Europe by keeping them ignorant began to lose its grip on the populace. Books became inexpensive, though still valuable, and knowledge spread like a fire bringing with it the renaissance. No longer did the church have absolute control over the information sources, people could publish whatever they liked. Without books we would not have the amazing technology and opportunities that we have today, and there are many in the world who still don’t.

There’s an old aphorism which is trotted out quite often when discussing charity and charitable causes;

“Give a man a fish, and he has food for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he has food for the rest of his life”

I would like to add to that: “Teach a man to read, and he can teach himself anything.” Literacy breaks the hold of that most insipid of oppressions, the oppression of the mind. No man is more a slave than the man who knows no better, free the mind and the body will inevitably follow. So go buy a copy of Harry Potter and teach someone to read, you won’t just be getting a book, you’ll be setting someone free.

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