Ahmed Writes

Updated August 6, 2025 LATEST BOOK LAUNCH ON KINDLE DIRECT: https://www.amazon.com/Kai-Lung-Flips-Open-Laptop-ebook/dp/B0FKZJFC5C/ Want to join me on facebook? Here is the link:  https://www.facebook.com/ahmedkhanwrites/ Want to provide me feedback on any of stories or articles? Email me at khan.ahmeda@gmail.com. ARTICLES Gaia and the Art of Fighting Marine Oil Pollution - in "Ships and Soil" . Non-verbal Communication: Fact and Fiction  -  "Strange Horizon" (26 Feb. 2001 Two Solitudes: An Interview With James Alan Gardner - in "Absolute Write" (Aug. 2005) Philosophy of Monotheism - published in "Ambitions" . Lateral Thinking for Writers  -  "Visions" (2006) Smell of Time - in "Suddenly Lost in Words" (Oct. 2012) The Future of Futuristic Fiction  -  in "New Myths" (2016) Islamic Speculative Fiction: Past, Present and Future  -  in "Samjoko" (April, 2025) SHORT STORIES SCIENCE FICTION ...

Book: MY NAME IS LEGION Writer: Roger Zelazny Del Rey, May 1978 - Third Printing The cover of this edition of the book is quite unattractive. The book itself consists of 3 novellas, losely connected by the fact that they have the same protagonist. He, like almost all Zelazny protagonists, is a larger-than-life character. His real name is not known to anyone, including the readers. He appears under a different name in each story. The stories are told in first person. The first novella is titled "The Eve of RUMOKO". It is an interested read except that I detested the ending. I have found that other than larger-than-life characters, unsatisfactory endings are quite common in novellas and novels of Zelazny. However, he writes so well that most of his stories are worth reading in spite of unsatisfactory endings. This story made me look up more details about undersea drilling of earth's core. I found out about the American Miscellaneous Society and about project Mohole. I...

Book: THE DREAM MASTER Writer: Roger Zelazny Paperback, Ace, 1966 - First Edition This novel incorporates Zelazny's Nebula Award winning novella, "He Who Shapes". This book displays Zelazny's signature writing style - poetic and complex - but in spite of it (or because of it?) it is a smooth read. The main character, Render the Shaper, is a psychiatrist who tries to help his patients by shaping dreams for them - dreams that have the potential to aid the patient in coming to terms with reality. There are some very interesting, and even insightful, passages in the book. For example, at one point, Render muses on the rising rate of suicides: The power to hurt has evolved in a direct relationship to technological advancement. Man's potential for working simple mayhem has been multiplied by mass-production; his capacity for injuring the psyche through personal contacts has expanded in an exact ratio to improved communication facilities. This passage took me on a ...

In this new year of 2022, I will be blogging information about some of the books that I read and enjoy. If any of those books take me on side excursions, I will be sharing those journeys too. "Bookscan" is the name I have given to this series of blogs. And here is Bookscan #1 Book: THE STARCROSSED Writer: Ben Bova TOR Paperback, 1988 This is a novel that I thoroughly enjoyed, starting from the gorgeous cover itself. In a way, the book is a tribute to Harlan Ellison and is dedicated to Cordwainer Bird. If you don't know who or what Cordwainer Bird is, I suggest googling it. Ellison, in the guise of the writer Ron Gabriel, is one of the main characters of the book. Obviously, Ben Bova had great fun writing this novel and this sense of fun leaps of the written pages. Definitely a good start to my 2022 book reading.