I’ve been following Babel Clash, the new Borders blog for science fiction and fantasy, for a few days now and thought some of you may be interested. Last week’s guest was Kim Harrison, the author of the new book Once Dead, Twice Shy and The Hollows urban fantasy series (that reminds me I still need to read book 2 since I just got a hold of it recently). Kim discussed horror and phobias since her books are often shelved in horror even though she doesn’t write it. This week Brandon Sanderson is discussing the line between familiar and overused tropes in fantasy – he doesn’t like elves or dwarves yet there is something about dragons that he can’t help but love. It’s been interesting so far and I’m looking forward to seeing what other authors they have lined up.

On the subject of Kim Harrison, I read recently that she also writes fantasy under the name Dawn Cook. I’ve seen books by Dawn Cook several times and wondered how they are. Has anyone read any of them? If so, what did you think?

In other news, I’m still working on my review of The Mote in God’s Eye. It’s about halfway done but I haven’t had much time to finish it lately (at least when I’m not too tired to think straight).