Beyond the Speculative Horizon

In case you weren't aware (and let's face it you are), Speculative Horizons is closing up shop. As such, I wanted to bid James a fond farewell and just say thanks for a lot of quality content over the past few years. Speculative Horizons really sets the bar when it came to emphasizing quality over quantity and based on the overflowing comment thread, I'm not the only one who thinks so. Speculative Horizons was one of the few blogs whose entries that I could read from start to finish and unfortunately one that won't easily be replaced. James is an excellent writer and his commentary is honest and concise where so many of us (myself included) write a lot without saying much. James hits the high notes without being overzealous and manages to provide criticism without it reading like an attack. Anyone who has struggled through writing a few dozen reviews will know how difficult that is.

Luckily, James isn't walking away because he lost his love for the game. Quite the opposite in fact. James is giving up his amateur status and taking an assistant editorial position at Orbit Books. I don't think I'm the only blogger who is more than a little jealous. Orbit has picked up a talented individual and one that can both cut to the core of a book and professionally communicate his opinions on it. They are also inheriting about as much genre cred as you can get in a blogger. I know I would trust anything he might pull from the slush pile. While Speculative Horizons is ending it's run, I don't think this will be the last we will hear from Mr. Long. At least I hope it's not.

Anyway, congrats to James on the new job and thanks again for putting in the hard work over the past few years. Best of luck and may the words come easily!