a sad note on a day of joy

i make no secret of my geeky love of all things sci-fi, the high and the low brow. the murky inner workings of my brain are certainly colored with the creations of philip k dick, octavia butler, asimov, le guin, and gibson. so it is with regret for all the stories he had yet to write that i read today about the passing of Michael Criton

for me, his stories have always had a great balance of science (real or skewed) with fantasy that make you believe in the possibility of his words. that's why i love science fiction, it makes you think and forces you to imagine the consequences of how we live, naturally and artificially. his final book, "Next," deals with biotechnology and is one of his best.

one of my favorites, though, is his non-fiction book "Travels." i appreciate the wanderlust we shared.