Well, we've got bad news and we've got good news.

That bad news is that "A Dream of Flatland," an excerpt from Rudy Rucker's novel Spaceland, is no longer available on The Infinite Matrix website.

The good news is that Spaceland will be published in June by Tor Books. At that time it will be available from fine bookstores (and I hope a few seedy ones) in cyberspace and meatspace alike.

We'll leave the illustration up because it's so cool.

Now, go forth and order Rudy's book.

Rudy Rucker is a mathematician and computer scientist, core c-punk, and prolific writer of fiction, fact, and areas less easily categorized. His fiction has a true gonzo vector: he displays a remarkable ability to grab the tail of pretty much any idea that wanders by, hold on for dear life while it shakes the bejeesus out of him, and let it go before its spirit is broken. For more about the complexities of Rudy’s work and thought, see Tom Georgoulias’s intelligent interview with Rudy, Keeping It Transreal, in the excellent frontwheel drive, and Rudy’s short, fascinating autobiographical essay on his own website.

Rudy’s novel Spaceland was inspired by the novel Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott, first published in 1884. Spaceland tells the story of a Silicon Valley middle manager named Joe Cube who encounters beings from the fourth dimension.