tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360438076058684472024-03-13T10:05:16.573-07:00The Infinite ReachFantasy and Science FictionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-57056835424482049912019-07-26T07:43:00.000-07:002019-07-26T07:53:47.954-07:00My 25-Year Voyage to IKARIE XB-1<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hFN3uuylS6w/XTsQ7BQAdwI/AAAAAAAAAhk/7aSBSRQZ0y0kQPE8qyWOLbLcL6ouHagvACLcBGAs/s1600/Ikari%2BXB-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="187" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hFN3uuylS6w/XTsQ7BQAdwI/AAAAAAAAAhk/7aSBSRQZ0y0kQPE8qyWOLbLcL6ouHagvACLcBGAs/s200/Ikari%2BXB-1.jpg" width="138" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">By Michael Popham</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Back in the late 1970s I was a junior high school kid living
in rural Minnesota. My dad had been lured out to the wilds of Isanti County by
the promise of cheap land, but he got swindled into buying 30 acres that were mostly
swamp. He moved an old house onto a relatively dry part of the property, and
that’s where I grew up.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I spent my summers hanging around the house and slapping
mosquitos, trying to stave off boredom. I devised pointless and obsessive
projects: I once tried to rebuild an air-cooled VW engine without guidance or
spare parts; on another occasion I built a miniature set for a stop-motion animated
short that never happened because I had no money for 16mm film magazines.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">On the warm humid nights I would sit up late, watching
movies on television. This was the era before home video, and if you were
stranded in the sticks all summer, as I was, you got your movies from broadcast
TV or you didn’t get them at all. There were only 5 channels, but nearly all of
them ran movies. In fact there was usually a movie playing on at least one
channel from early afternoon until all the stations played The Star-Spangled
Banner and signed off for the night, around 2 am. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Late one evening I caught a strange black-and-white sci-fi
film that I had never heard of, and which never turned up on TV again. The
movie was obviously dubbed, and had both robust production values and a tone
that was a lot more serious than most sci-fi I’d seen up to that point.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the film a group to travelers are on an interstellar
journey in a gigantic spaceship, but the toll of the voyage is tremendous: the
trip takes years, and the travelers become increasingly disheartened. They
encounter a number of perils, some of which get members of the crew injured or
killed. The travelers nearly succumb to exhaustion and ennui, but eventually
arrive at their destination. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I thought about this somber film a lot in the months and
years after I saw it, but I couldn’t find any information about it. I
remembered the title as “Journey Across the Universe” but none of my friends
had heard of it. I tried looking it up in film encyclopedias but couldn’t find
a single reference to it. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">It wasn’t until I was in college that I learned that I’d had
the title wrong. It was a 1963 Czech film called <i>Ikarie XB-1</i>, released
in the U.S. the following year as <i>Voyage to the End of the Universe</i> by
American -International Pictures. AIP was the cheapo distributor of Roger
Corman and Bert I. Gordon flicks, and to keep product in the pipeline would buy
up the rights to eastern bloc sci-fi films, strip out anything that might smack
of commie propaganda, and release hacked-up, dubbed versions. To disguise their
foreign origins, names of the cast and crew were anglicized (top-billed actors Zdenek Stephanek and
Franisek Smolik, for example, magically
became “Dennis Stephens” and “Frances Smollen”; director Jindrich Pollich was
credited as “Jack Pollack”).</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">But even though I now knew the title of the film, there was
no way to see it. It had never been released on video. In the early 2000s I
began corresponding by email with a film collector in Poland who had an interest
in Eastern bloc sci-fi. He had a particular fondness for <i>Ikarie</i> and said
he would try to answer any questions I had about the movie. I only had one.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">“How does it end?”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">For me, the movie I’d seen on TV all those years ago had only
been marred by its ending. The space travelers reach the mysterious “Green Planet”
they had spent so many years trying to find. Through their viewscreen the
clouds part and the new planet is revealed: there is a grainy stock shot of
lower Manhattan, and then the Statue of Liberty. In a twist ending, the
spaceship is revealed to be from another solar system, and the “Green Planet”
they’ve been traveling to all this time is actually – gulp – Earth! </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Even as a kid it didn’t ring true to me. It was too cheap a
gimmick for such a carefully made movie. I didn’t want it to end that way.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Happily, it didn’t. My contact had never heard of AIP’s cheesy
recut ending, and thought it was amazingly daffy. In the fall of 2004 he tipped me off that a
Czech company called Filmexport would be releasing the movie on DVD soon, and I
ordered a copy the first day it was available. The DVD menu was in Czech, but
one of the subtitle options was English. So finally, after a quarter-century of
searching, I finally got to see <i>Ikarie XB-1.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was fully prepared for a letdown, but sometimes life is
kind. The uncut <i>Ikarie XB-1</i> actually exceeded my expectations. It's a stylish film that, while not widely seen in the west, was influential. Stanley Kubrick was known to have seen it when he was
preparing to shoot <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i>, and Gene Roddenberry clearly
borrowed elements of his <i>Star Trek</i> series concept from it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Ikarie XB-1</i> is a
rare sci-fi movie from that era that’s actually about something: the inadequacy
of even the most towering human ambitions when set against the frailties of
individual people and the indifference of a vast universe. </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-37789342591270209102019-05-06T08:53:00.001-07:002019-05-06T08:53:57.548-07:00Nebula's Arcby John Petrila<br />
<br />
This essay contains spoilers for <i>Avengers: Endgame</i><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WFsXFJyYHMw/XNBTin4suMI/AAAAAAAAAgs/tfIw0LbYzyUDxX0K9_PMZhPUpinJwgiMwCLcBGAs/s1600/Starknebula.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="302" height="176" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WFsXFJyYHMw/XNBTin4suMI/AAAAAAAAAgs/tfIw0LbYzyUDxX0K9_PMZhPUpinJwgiMwCLcBGAs/s320/Starknebula.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><cite class="kr hq">Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures</cite></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
I've seen <i>Endgame</i> twice now, and after
letting it settle a bit I just had to write out a post talking about how
phenomenal Karen Gillan is as Nebula in this film. I'm going to talk
about the entire arc of her character in this movie, so if for some
reason you missed the spoiler warning in the title, get thee hence and
go watch this movie, then come back.</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
Cool? Cool.</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
One
of the things I loved most about <i>Endgame</i> in general is the massive
amount of long-term character payoffs we get in this film, and Nebula is
one of the most significant examples of this. From the very first time
we see her, she is playing a game with Tony and is clearly so warped
(still) by Thanos' upbringing that she assumes the only way to win is
through raw aggression. Once Tony explains the rules of the game, and
then Nebula actually <i class="s1w8oh2o-15 kemdUu">wins</i>, the look
of shock on her face speaks volumes. The point of the game was just to
have fun, not to prove anything, and the handshake at the end of the
scene was exactly the sort of gesture that she'd been so hellbent on
walling herself off from earlier in her life, viewing it as a sign of
needing support; of failure and weakness (we'll come back to that in a
bit).</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
Then you have the heartbreaking
montage of Nebula insisting Tony eat the last of the rations and fixing
him up while he sleeps, a far cry from her "of all our sisters, I hated
you the least" declaration to Gamora in <i>Guardians 1</i>. To add to this, in
his message to Pepper, Tony describes Nebula as "only slightly
sadistic". Which, even taking Tony's sense of humor into account, is a
far cry from the Nebula of old.</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
When
she gets back to earth, Nebula immediately comforts Rocket, and then in
her scene where she explains where Thanos has gone, she is mirroring
almost exactly Gamora's speech to the Guardians and Thor in <i>Infinity War</i>
("For as long as I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal...",
paraphrasing/"My father spent a long time trying to perfect me...").
These two moments are very elegant ways of showing just how far Nebula
has come in terms of confidence and emotional vulnerability/openness.</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
Her
reaction at Thanos' death is also poignant, but unlike Gamora's weeping
in <i>Infinity War</i> when she kills the Reality Stone illusion version of
Thanos (which I will forever hold up as one of the most perfect examples
of the counter-intuitive mind-screw that is mourning an abusive
relationship that I've ever seen in a film), Nebula merely solemnly
closes Thanos' eyes and moves on. She has made her peace with what was
done to her, gets her closure, and walks away.</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
Later
in the film, we come to what is perhaps my favorite character moment:
Nebula's conversation with Rhodey in the Temple of the Power Stone. I
know most of the fandom is highlighting and underlining the all-female
superhero moment in the finale as a powerful moment of representation,
which it is. But as someone with a physical handicap, seeing two people
who have been literally, physically bent out of shape or torn apart by
circumstance bond over their shared trauma and resolve to continue
kicking ass anyway (because damn it, that's just what needs to be done
to save the universe) was <i class="s1w8oh2o-15 kemdUu">incredibly</i>
powerful for me to see. In my particular minority, it's very uncommon
to see representation in an action movie in a role that isn't relegated
to something like tech support from a wheel-chair. So thank you for that
one, <i>Endgame</i>.</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
Of course, on the heels
of that we get the jewel in the crown of this performance: when Karen
Gillan plays two versions of the same character at the same time, and
you can clearly see just how different each of them is. 2023 Nebula
knows exactly how to go for the throat of her 2014 self "You're
weak/"I'm <i class="s1w8oh2o-15 kemdUu">you</i>", and leverages what
she knows about Vormir to start winning over 2014 Gamora-- displaying a
level of emotional openness and concern for her sister that 2014 Nebula
would never show, as evidenced by the earlier moment where she slaps
away an offered hand from Gamora. Later
on, 2023 Nebula connects with Gamora and takes her hand, echoing her
moment with Tony at the beginning of the film and directly
counterpointing 2014 Nebula's prickly aggression.</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
Which leads, near the end of the film, to the most heartbreaking moment
of her whole arc. When the two Nebulas face off, you can see 2014 Nebula
hesitate, and try desperately to believe that she could, in fact,
become the version of herself she sees before her eyes. But her trauma
overcomes her, she breaks, and says "He won't let me [change]." The way
she says it killed me each time I heard it, and the look on 2023
Nebula's face after she kills her is haunting. To say nothing, of
course, of the pained look on 2014 Nebula's face and the tear that falls
out of her eye as she slumps dead on the floor.</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
Basically,
Gillan's performance is a master class in portraying the journey from
abuse and pained isolation to self-acceptance, agency and emotional
vulnerability and trust-- while also showing, via the 2014 version, just
how far the 2023 version has come. Gillan plays two radically different
versions of the same character equally convincingly, and manages to
display a shockingly large range of emotions for being covered in facial
make-up. I love everything about this performance, and I think that if
it took place inside of a standard prestige drama movie, she'd get a
nomination for an Oscar.</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
I'm so glad
McFeely, Markus and the Russos let her take center stage for <i>Endgame</i> on
the heels of her supporting role in <i>Infinity War</i>, because she brought
the three-movie arc of this character to a resoundingly powerful
conclusion.</div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
<br /></div>
<div class="s1w8oh2o-10 bQeEFC">
I just hope Gunn isn't tied
up too much longer by <i>Suicide Squad 2</i>, because Endgame made me so much
more excited than I even thought possible for <i>Guardians 3</i>.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-40493287690962314992019-03-21T06:40:00.000-07:002020-04-01T19:25:58.655-07:00Book Review: By Fire Above by Robyn BennisReviewed by J. D. Popham<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>By Fire Above</i>, the latest novel by Robyn Bennis, is not the adventure story it deserved to be. This is a hard thing to say as I quite enjoy the irreverent and slightly manic quality the author brings to her stories. Sadly, while there are passages in <i>Fire</i> that work well, the book as a whole is sufficiently weighed down by its flaws that it struggles to stay airborne.<span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fire</i> is the second novel in Bennis' <i>Signal Airship</i> series, a steampunk offering centered around protagonist Josette Dupre, captain of the airship <i>Mistral</i>.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>Bennis' first novel, <i>The Guns Above</i>,
followed Dupre's trial by fire as the first woman to command a combat
airship. Her need to prove herself and gain her crew's confidence as
captain provided that book's primary source of dramatic tension. At the
close of <i>The Guns Above</i>, Dupre's command bone fides are
established, both with her crew, and the Ganarian Kingdom's high command.
Even the enemy Vin, awed by her heroics<i>, </i>refer to both Dupre and the <i>Mistral</i> as "The Shark".<i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>By Fire Above</i> begins where <i>Guns</i> left off, aboard the battered <i>Mistral </i>in the aftermath of the first novel's climactic battle<i>. </i>It's a tricky starting point. The dramatic energy and tension, expended in battle just ended, are at low ebb. The wounded <i>Mistral</i>
and her depleted crew head back behind the lines for refit,
replacements and some much deserved R&R. Spare parts shortages and
logistic snarls delay the <i>Mistral's</i> return to combat, forcing Captain Dupre to spend her time attending galas, rubbing elbows and playing politics with Ganria's upper crust, and dallying
romantically. Despite two ship-board
incidents inserted to boost the tempo of its early chapters, the first
half of <i>By Fire Above</i> drags badly.<br />
<br />
Even in the absence of action sequences, the nuanced shadow play of
high-stakes political intrigue is endemic to seats of power during
wartime. This should have provided ample edge-of-your-seat story telling opportunities. Unfortunately, in <i>By Fire Above</i>, Bennis never really engages their potential. In large part, this is Josette Dupre's fault.<br />
<br />
In order to convince us of the captain's badass bone fides, Bennis
continually resorts to dumbing-down the other inhabitants of her
steampunk world. At times this is such a naked device I'm reminded
of Spengo, the planet of idiots from <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104905/"><i>Mom and Dad Save the World</i></a>.
Faced with the kingdom's
political and social elites Dupre yawns her way through one political
or social confrontation after another, either deflating or overawing
imperial aristocrats and bourgeoisie, according to the needs of the
plot, with unrealistic aplomb. Amusing at first, this device quickly becomes tedious. By hobbling Dupre's supposedly dangerous political opponents in order to make the Captain appear formidible, Bennis jettisons much needed opportunities to inject dramatic tension and narrative velocity into the story. <br />
<br />
Absent drama from <i>Fire</i>'s political intrigue, Bennis is forced to keep the reader engaged by playing for laughs. But humor and the odd dallop of pathos (particularly when so much of the humor depends on her lead characters smirking and rolling their eyes) aren't enough to sustain <i>By Fire Above</i> through the novel's early chapters. <br />
<br />
Finally, in chapter eight, Dupre and the <i>Mistral</i> depart the capital to besiege the city of Durum, occupied by the enemy Vin, and the story gradually picks up much needed steam. While Durum has no strategic value, it's Dupre's home town and her mother and assorted friends are trapped there. In order to free them, Dupre has convinced the King of Ganaria that the city is only lightly defended: a perfect training mission for a newly minted army division (jokingly referred to as the Fearless Fops) in need of 'blooding'. The <i>Mistral</i> accompanys the mission, only to find that Dupre's intelligence as to the defenders' strength is on the unreliable side. Hijinks ensue.<br />
<br />
This is where Bennis seems most comfortable, and where the steampunk world she's created comes to life. The city provides a well drawn backdrop for the book's second act, and its siege is a marvelous set piece with many moving parts. Shifting her point of view between Dupre, aristocratic second son Bernat, and young Ensign Kember, Bennis deftly shows the parts off in detail while keeping the larger action moving at a brisk and steadily rising tempo.<br />
<br />
Even here, though, Bennis' characters and plot often ring false. She repeatedly breaks through the belivability envelope in order to push the plot forward, or to deliver Dupre and her companions from disaster. Events hinge too often on characters acting against character, or wildly improbable strokes of luck becoming unaccountably probable, causing the story to lose its natural flow and become forced. Fortunately, the brisk pace of events Bennis maintains in the second half of the book are sufficient to keep the story aloft.<br />
<br />
Bernat, the preening aristocrat, largely delivered comic relief in <i>The Guns Above</i>. He begins <i>By Fire Above</i>
in much the same vein, but as the book moves from the capital city
to the front Bennis begins adding depth to his character. By
the end of the book Bernat is in many ways becoming more interesting
than the tin-typed Dupre, who has gained scar tissue from the adventure,
but little by way of wisdom or insight. Indeed, during <i>By Fire Above</i>'s denouement, Bernat shows himself the wiser of the two, and gets the book's best line in the bargain.<br />
<br />
Ensign Kember's character ends <i>By Fire Above</i> much as she began it: primarily a vehicle for reflecting Josette Dupre's brilliance. Despite negligence on D<span class="vmod">upre's part that puts </span>Kember and the <i>Mistral</i>
in avoidable peril (and could result in the ensign's court martial on
capital charges) her hero worship remains
undimmed. It will be interesting to see whether, should the series continue, she will cease to see her captain through rose tinted aeronaut goggles and move past the role of dutiful side-kick.<br />
<br />
When all is said and done, <i>By Fire Above</i> is bouyed up despite its flaws by the irrepressable sense of fun Bennis brings to her writing. It's a quality that will allow many readers to ignore (or at least quickly forget) the smoke and occasional clanking eminating from the steampunk engine room, and simply enjoy the airship ride. In the current science fiction and fantasy zeitgeist, fun <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">action-adventure stories are often dismissed as 'pulp' fiction: comfort food written by lesser
writers for lesser readers.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> Happily, Robyn Bennis doesn't read those memos. </span></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-8947045784668543702019-02-11T13:53:00.001-08:002019-03-12T10:03:10.402-07:00Unsafe Spaces<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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by J.D. Popham<br />
<br />
The world is trying to kill you. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Really. Not a joke. Just ask <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw62e4SDHHo" target="_blank">Neil deGrasse Tyson</a>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The universe in general, and the Earth in particular, are
working very, very hard at your untimely demise. From your first breath until you
shuffle off this mortal coil, you are on a cosmic hit list as the world
conspires to lay you low.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UDNOTiH6Gco/XGHtVHnMl3I/AAAAAAAAAd8/Qs3oDdFZJwUQ4rQvGyToApSnuW5Mf-ibgCLcBGAs/s1600/strike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="149" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UDNOTiH6Gco/XGHtVHnMl3I/AAAAAAAAAd8/Qs3oDdFZJwUQ4rQvGyToApSnuW5Mf-ibgCLcBGAs/s200/strike.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="img_comments_right">Image Credit: NASA/Don Davis</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The good news is it’s not
personal. The universe has it in for <i>every</i> living thing. It’s all part of the vast celestial clockwork we inhabit. Think of the universe as an
unthinkably massive threshing floor on which the evolutionary wheat is
continually and repeatedly separated from the evolutionary chaff. Its fell machinery is relentless, implacable
and it never stops. Not ever. Like all other organisms on Earth or in the
universe at large, humans are never far from the shadow of the winnowing fan.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To readers for whom being fed, warm and safe is the baseline state, this may sound a tad alarmist. Even in a year rife with natural and human-made disasters, things probably seem far less…perilous than I’m making them sound. In fact, if
one were to put together a Relative Peril Scale showing the degree of immediate
threat to which individual humans and the overall species are exposed, we’d
find that humans are relatively safe at the moment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Relatively. At the moment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As they say on financial prospectuses, past performance is
not an indicator of future results. Humanity's track record for dodging the universe's
efforts to knock that smug look off our collective face only goes back a <a href="https://www.mruniversity.com/courses/everyday-economics/trade-growth-hockey-stick-human-prosperity" target="_blank">few hundred</a> years. That's slim to the point
of being non-existent when held up against a geological (let alone a
cosmological) time table. The universe has plenty of time on its hands. It plays
a long game. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Such a long game, in fact, that human thinking goes a bit wobbly when we
try to play on the same temporal game board. It’s hard for humans to take seriously
threats that haven’t occurred within living memory, or that come at us so
slowly and incrementally that our short-game brains dismiss them. This is why,
against all common sense and scientific evidence, we have anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers, and the 'raw water' craze.<br />
<br />
Science fiction, of course, has been tossing around the apocalyptic
football for well over a century. With little required by way of pesky science, one can
remake the world pretty much as one pleases in order to deliver a cautionary
tale, moral message or <a href="http://theinfinitereach.blogspot.com/2014/07/those-deep-down-dystopian-post.html">post-apocalyptic theme park</a>. The end of modern civilization is prime
real estate for issuing doleful cautions and commentaries on the shortcomings of
modern society and its institutions. Or for positing better worlds that might bloom from the ruins were apocalyptic upheaval to hit the the civilization <i>reset</i> button. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still, for all our noodling over the end of the world as
we know it, science fiction’s post-apocalyptic societies of late seem, more often than
not, surprisingly familiar places. They tend to reflect mindsets and moralities that have emerged during humanity’s moment of
relative security. It is ironic that we raze our civilization to the ground so often
and so blithely in our flights of fancy these days, yet seem reluctant, even a bit squeamish,
when it comes to acknowledging the degree to which such events would also remake who we are. <br />
<br />
Rachel, the protagonist of Jeff Vandermeer's <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Borne-Novel-Jeff-VanderMeer/dp/0374115249">Borne</a>, </i>for example,<i> </i>is presented as a hardened scavenger under constant
existential threat. She lives in a devastated city situated on the banks of a
toxic river, and afflicted by a giant flying bear who gobbles humans by
the pawful. The city is chockablock with lethal traps and pitfalls.
Sudden death lurks around every corner. Yet <i>Borne</i>'s violence tends to
occur offstage or at a far distance, rendering the humans who suffer
death and dismemberment comfortingly anonymous. As a result, Rachel's character renders more as a twenty-something liberal arts grad living in a transitional urban neighborhood than as the hard-bitten
survivor of a cruelly dystopian city.<br />
<br />
In part this is endemic to story-telling. Audiences enjoy a tale
more
when they can admire or sympathize with an author's characters as they confront mutants, zombies, and roving gangs of apocalyptians<span class="st">® </span>with perfectly horrible table manners. That's difficult to do if the chords of reason or emotion
struck by the characters don't resonate with the
audience. Stories that reflect the target audience's cognative biases are much more likely be successful than those that
challenge
them. Authors who peddle safe, comforting stories rarely want for
work.<br />
<br />
However, social media seems to have exacerbated this tendency, narrowed the spectrum of character with which it's acceptable to engage. Genre fiction in particular has become
prone to literary
ethnocentrism,
with authors and audiences self-selecting into isolated cultural
pockets, each confident in its own
superiority and speaking only to its own. We have become dabblers
around the edges when it comes to cultural collapse. The deeper waters
are murky and have an unwholesome look. They teem with dark,
discomforting ideas about who we are, and why, and what we are capable of becoming. Authors who enter the deep,
who dare stir up such dangerous creatures, are rarely loved by those
whose social paradigms they ruffle.<br />
<br />
Yet, science fiction at its best dares those darker waters. It trades in
unsettling ideas, gives witness to dangerous visions. It seeks to divine
our essential nature: to look beyond the zeitgeist of our current cultural moment, pull down the mask of ought-to-be and catch us up in an unsparing glimpse of our own true selves. It forces us to grapple with our mutable nature, which is both curse and gift. <br />
<br />
The universe, meanwhile, cares not a fig for our social paradigms. It merely subjects them to the relentless binary test it
applies to everything: Will a given tendency improve your odds of avoiding extinction? That's it. Yes or no. Pass or fail. It will continue to shape us. At the margins for the moment, and wholesale should the institutions that protect us fail. Truths we think universal and immutable will be scoured away, and scoffed at by futures that (as most futures do) imagine themselves superior to the past.<br />
<br />
Assuming there's anyone left to remember us at all. </div>
<br />
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<![endif]-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-92117678482365813922015-09-01T11:55:00.000-07:002018-03-29T07:40:01.348-07:00A Matter of Listsby J. D. Popham<br />
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I was in San Francisco during Hugo Awards weekend, basking in the Bay Area cool while attending my brother-in-law's wedding. Both wedding and reception were held in his home and, being family and all, mine was a busy Saturday full of duties and distractions. Festivities and subsequent clean-up wore deep into the night before I let sleep take up it's knitting needles to knit up my much ravll'd sleeve of cares. Then it was off to the airport godawful early, and a Sunday spent on airplanes in order to get back to DC at a respectable hour.<br />
<br />
With all the rushing about I completely missed the Hugo Awards ceremony. Looking at the news and follow-ups it seems a case of slate voting being deployed as a means of beating back slate voting. More on that after I recover from the trauma of this year's award season.<br />
<br />
I've been thinking a bit about top ten lists. I have my own top ten list of science fiction novels, of course, though I tend to keep it inside my head unless asked. But, after listening to reviewer and critic Renay's interview on <a href="http://jonathanstrahan.podbean.com/e/episode-244-renay-nina-allan-the-weight-of-fannish-history/">The Coode Street Podcast</a> (which I highly recommend - it's a fascinating discussion) I decided to lay out my personal top ten list. Straight from the shoulder, and true as I can make it. No fudging to make it seen erudite, respectable or diverse. Just my all-time favorites. My only rule was that I couldn't use the same author twice.<br />
<br />
So here's my list, in no particular order. My comments on it follow. <br />
<br />
1 - <b><i>A Storm Over Warlock</i></b> by Andre Norton<br />
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In 1969 a woman opened a doorway for me. Stepping through to the
other side I found myself on an alien world, and never returned to my
point of departure. Forty five years have come and gone since I took Andre Norton's <i>Storm Over Warlock</i> down from a bookshelf. I have journeyed a long distance since that day
in many senses, having become unstuck from space and time by the act of
reading it. This is hardly Norton's best work, but it was my first exposure to written science fiction and a vintage copy rests in a place of honor on my bookshelf.<br />
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2 -<b><i>Lord of Light</i></b> by Roger Zelazny<br />
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This book tends to make both Science Fiction and Fantasy lists as it stands in near perfect balance between the two genres. It is the story of a select group of space travelers who have used technology to set themselves up over their fellow colonists as gods from the Hindu pantheon. One of their number, Mahasamatman (or Sam), undertakes to play the role of Prometheus and break the 'gods' rule over the rest of humanity. Along the way Zelazny delivers one of the worst puns in the whole of science fiction, but does so in the best possible way. <br />
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3) - <b><i>Downbelow Station</i></b> by C J Cherryh<br />
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One of the best 'ships in space' science fiction yet written. In Downbelow Station, Cherryh hits every marks she aims at. The richness of texture and scope of her storytelling is astonishing. Somehow the clash of fleets and the politics of interstellar war are kept in balance with Cherryh's depiction of the human lives caught up in events. Topping it off, this book delivers the iconic starship captain, Signy Mallory. Simply brilliant.<br />
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4) <b><i>A Fire Upon the Deep</i></b> by Vernor Vinge<br />
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Beautiful use of science to create characters and drive events in a story. One wickedly malevolent AI is inadvertently set free and tears into interstellar civilizations with mayhem on its mind. Vinge's description of the fall of major political and economic powers is riveting, as is his use of characters, both human and alien. It's up to junior librarian, two lost kids, couple of sentient trees and a planet full of dog-like aliens to save the galaxy's civilizations from destruction.<br />
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5) <b><i>The Left Hand of Darkness</i></b> by Ursula K. Le Guin<br />
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A great bit of story-telling from LeGuin. <i>The Left Hand of Darkness</i> explores the role of gender in heroic tales by setting this one on a planet called Gethen, where people are neither male nor female most of the time, taking on gender only briefly for purpose of conceiving children. The social institutions LeGuin creates for a population in which one can be father to some children and mother to others are credible and well thought through. At the same time she delivers an engaging adventure story with politics, intrigue, betrayal, and a daring escape across a frozen wasteland.<br />
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6) <b><i>A Canticle for Leibowitz</i></b> by Walter M Miller Jr.<br />
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Arguably the best post-apocalyptic science fiction story yet written. Set in the deserts of the Southwest United States after a nuclear war has destroyed civilization, <i>A Canticle for Leibowitz</i> follows the efforts of the monks of the fictional Order of Leibowitz as they attempt to preserve the remains of human knowledge following the nuclear holocaust. It's a ticklish task, what with humanity being by far the greatest danger to the monks and their precious horde of books.<br />
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7) <b><i>Dune</i></b> by Frank Herbert<br />
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Never mind the sequels that followed. <i>Dune</i> stands best on its own. The book is set in a future interstellar empire where noble houses owe allegiance to the powerful Padishah emperor. The story is centered around Paul Atreides, whose family is given stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis, the sole source of 'melange' or 'spice'; a drug that makes navigating across interstellar distances possible and thus is the lynch-pin of the imperial economy. It is a coveted position, but a dangerous one given that the noble houses are in a constant state of intrigue and the Atreides' enemies are plotting to end their family's line for good. While the larger plot arc is simple, the tapestry of politics, betrayal, religion, ecology, technology and culture Herbert weaves in the telling of it makes<i> Dune</i> a classic.<br />
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8) <b><i>Ender's Game</i></b> by Orson Scott Card<br />
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Having barely fought off two alien invasions, humanity is searching for a military leader ruthless and brilliant enough to win an interstellar war, yet empathic enough not to become a despot once the war is won. Selected children, including the protagonist, Ender Wiggin, are sent to an orbital 'battle school' where they are trained, tested and evaluated. In lesser hands the machinery of the novel would have descended into trope-ridden military fiction. However, Card's deft handling of the characters, relationships and the emotional underpinnings of the story resonate powerfully. While Card himself has fallen from grace owing to his position on and recent statements regarding homosexuality, <i>Ender's Game</i> remains a brilliant piece of writing.<br />
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9) <b><i>Neuromancer</i></b> by William Gibson<br />
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<i>Neuromancer</i> to my mind, defined the Cyberpunk subgenre. It was the author's first novel and it hit the science fiction world like a lightning stroke. Science fiction hasn't been the same since. 'Nuff said. <br />
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10) Snowcrash by Neil Stephenson<br />
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It's a rare author who can deliver a complex plot filed with rich concepts, riveting prose and unforgettable characters. Its a rarer author who can do so with perfect narrative clarity while propelling readers through their story at high velocity. Neil Stephenson is a rarer author. Snowcrash follows Hiro Protagonist (last of the freelance hackers, greatest sword-fighter in the world and pizza delivery man for the Mafia) and Y.T. the skateboard courier as they search for the secret behind Snowcrash, a biolinguistic virus capable of infecting both machines and human brain stems.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>~</b> </div>
<br />
Now, you'll note that my list includes no books earlier than 1960, or later than 1996.<br />
<br />
None of that is for want of reading older books or more recent books. For example, I'm perfectly comfortable reading prose by Romantic and Edwardian writers and enjoyed reading both Shelly's <i>Frankenstein</i> and Wells' <i>The Time Machine. </i>But neither made my top ten because, while I believe they are essential reading for someone who wishes to be well grounded in the genre, I find the prose from that period uses a lot of literary conventions that tend to keep the reader at arms length.<br />
<br />
Moving into the early to mid twentieth century, I like reading writers like Asimov and Simak. I find their books well constructed and their underpinning ideas rich and complex. But their characters tend to be weak, almost a secondary consideration, and fail to engage me as a reader. Once again, they are on many 'must read' lists (including mine) for people who want to grok science fiction, but for my personal top-ten they don't make the grade. <br />
<br />
While I've been reading a lot of more recent works, there's not much out there that's really grabbed me. That's not to say I don't enjoy works published post-1996. However, much of the science fiction published of late are near-future dystopias or straight-up military science fiction. That's literary ground that has been so overworked that little of note grows there anymore.<br />
<br />
Still, there are a number of newer writers such as Leckie, de Bodard and Weir who have side-stepped the mire of zombies and space marines and are turning out quite good work. None of them, however, have struck lightning with me so far. A number of my pre-1996 favorites, like Gibson, Stephenson and Cherryh are still publishing, but they seem to have lost some of their early zeitgeist. It's good writing; mature, solid and polished, as I'd expect with a master of the craft. But I no longer close their books wishing there were more.<br />
<br />
However, it's all about the journey. The search continues. I'll keep you posted.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-25435570495341510692015-08-10T08:54:00.000-07:002018-03-29T07:40:26.945-07:00Fiction Review: Little Man by Michael Cunningham<br />
Reviewed by J. D. Popham<br />
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<br />
I keep intending to write a bit more about the Hugo Awards. But, each time I try I recoil at the thought of the raging nerds occupying the fringes of fandom's political spectrum. The visceral pleasure they seem to take in foaming at the mouth and attempting to claw out the eyes of their opposites makes thoughful discourse on the subject seem a waste of time. Indeed, as fandom's fringes descend into an orgy of fear and loathing, both sides perceive voiced reason as a symptom of disloyalty to their respective cause. Meanwhile, those of you gentle souls who are here for the stories, and not to mount someone else's ideological ramparts, have heard quite enough.<br />
<br />
Good then. Enough. Be still, my soul.<br />
<br />
Instead, let's talk about good stories, well told. In particular, let's talk about <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/10/little-man"><i>Little Man,</i> by Michael Cunningham</a>. It's a wonderfully executed fantasy story offered up in the pages of the current New Yorker.<br />
<br />
In <i>Little Man</i>, Cunningham retells the story of Rumpelstiltskin from the eponymous character's point of view. The device of re-telling old stories from the villain's point of view has been used so often that it's become hackneyed, and is only rarely well-done. Its most successful execution to date was in John Gardner's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Grendel-John-Gardner/dp/0679723110"><i>Grendel</i></a>. It speaks well of Cunningham's retelling that, as I read<i> Little Man</i>, Gardener's work kept hovering at the back of my mind.<br />
<br />
The main character, who we know well though he never names himself, opens the story with a simple question: <i>What if you had a child?</i> He goes on to describe why having and raising a child has become such a singular passion to him. Yet, what with his being an ugly two-hundred-year-old gnome, the possibility of parenting seems out of reach. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>You are driven slightly insane—you try to talk yourself down; it works some nights better than others—by the fact that, for so much of the population, children simply . . . appear. </i>Bing bang boom<i>. A single act of love and, nine months later, this flowering, as mindless and senseless as a crocus bursting out of a bulb. </i><br />
<br />
<i>It’s one thing to envy wealth and beauty and other gifts that seem to have been granted to others, but not to you, by obscure but undeniable givers. It’s another thing entirely to yearn for what’s so readily available to any drunk and barmaid who link up for three minutes in a dark corner of any dank and scrofulous pub.</i></blockquote>
The prose is thoughtful and compelling. The author's use of the second person point of view serves as a proposition to the readers to put themselves into narrator's shoes. It also recalls the ancient oral forms of story-telling that were the wellspring for the modern canon of fairy-tales. The result is a narrative voice that is poignant at times, whimsical at others and, in total, as elegant as the narrator's outward appearance is ugly.<br />
<br />
As he muses on prospect of parenthood, the little man's attention is drawn into the plight of an actual parent; a miller who, in order to draw a king's attention to his daughter, has told the king she can spin straw into gold. The king puts the poor girl to the test. He locks her into a room with a large supply of straw and a spinning wheel, promising her execution as punishment for her father's cheek should she fail to deliver. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"When you hear the story about the girl who can supposedly spin straw
into gold (it’s the talk of the kingdom), you don’t immediately think,
This might be a way for me to get a child. That would be too many steps
down the line for most people, and you, though you have a potent heart
and ferocity of intention, are not a particularly serious thinker.</i>" </blockquote>
Nonetheless, the little man, obsessed with the lot of parents, has a certain sympathy for the miller. He decides to help because some good may come of it, and because, for the first time in his gnomish life, he has something to offer a young woman that no one else can.<br />
<br />
From there the story follows its traditional plot arc, but Cunningham's execution of that arc creates a compelling relationship between the little man and the miller's daughter that sows the seeds of the tragedy to come. While each is well intentioned, both of them are driven by irreconcilable desires that can only be satisfied by compromise with their darker natures. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-4352840950518750982015-07-20T06:07:00.000-07:002018-03-29T07:40:46.648-07:00Final Proposal of 'Best Series' Hugo Award Postedby J. D. Popham<br />
<br />
Sasquan, hosts of this years World Science Fiction Association convention, has posted this year's <a href="http://sasquan.org/business-meeting/agenda/">proposed amendments</a> to the Worldcon constitution. As anticipated, the proposed amendments include several intended to change the nomination process for the Hugo Awards in order to dilute the influence of 'slate' voting. However an unrelated addition to this year's business meeting is a proposal to add a new Hugo Award category for Best Series: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"A
work of science fiction or fantasy presented as a single series with a
unifying plot, characters or setting, appearing in at least three (3)
volumes consisting of a total of at least 240,000 words by the close of
the previous calendar year,at least one of which was published in the
previous calendar year. If such a work has previously been a finalist,
it shall be eligible only if at least two (2) additional volumes
consisting of a total of at least 240,000 words have been published
since its last appearance on the final ballot by the end of the previous
calendar year and provided it has not won...before."</blockquote>
<br />
Presently a series in its entirety can be nominated for a Hugo Award under the best novel category the year the last book in the series is published. However, some fans of the series format argue that, with series becoming increasingly important in science fiction and fantasy genre publishing, that format deserves its own Hugo Award category.<br />
<br />
The last time a Hugo Award specifically dedicated to a series was awarded was in 1966 when when Isaac Asimov's Foundation series won <a href="http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1966-hugo-awards/">Best All-Time Series</a>, beating out Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom series, E. E. 'Doc' Smith's Lensman series, Robert Heinlein's Future History series and J. R. R. Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings" for the honor.<br />
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The initial draft of the proposal amendment created some controversy as, in order to make room for the new award, it would have eliminated the Best Novellette award. Presently there are three short fiction awards, including Best Short Story (up to 7,500 words), Best Novellete (up to 17,500 words) and Best Novella (up to 40,000 words). The final draft of the proposed Best Series amendment does not require any other Awards be eliminated in establishing a Best Series award.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-90688277390764542572015-06-28T10:33:00.000-07:002019-03-12T10:03:45.819-07:00Book Review: Ancillary Sword by Anne LeckieReviewed by J. D. Popham<br />
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Possibly the greatest weakness of Anne Leckie's <i>Ancillary Sword</i> is that it has the great misfortune of being the sequel to her previous novel, <i>Ancillary Justice</i>, which deservedly swept the science fiction novel category during the 2014 Science Fiction awards season. <br />
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In <i>Ancillary Justice</i> Leckie told the story of Breq, the last surviving corpse soldier, or ancillary, from the interstellar troop carrier Justice of Toren. Once a peripheral extension of that ship’s Artificial Intelligence, Breq retained the AI's identity following the troop carrier's destruction. Using alternating chapters, <i>Justice</i> told its protagonist's story using two plot lines; one following the star ship Justice of Toren’s AI through events leading up to its destruction, and the other following Breq, Justice of Toren's sole surviving ancillary, on her quest for vengeance against Anaander Mianaai, the emperor responsible for Justice of Toren’s destruction.<br />
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Mianaai, Lord of Radch is the ultimate imperialist. She is an ancient, shared consciousness comprised of multiple physical bodies. For millennium, Mianaai has ruled humanity, her many bodies allowing her to maintain personal presence and control throughout her interstellar empire and extend her reign across many human generations. Now, however, some subsets of the Lord of Radch’s personality have begun to rebel against the rest of its collective self. The opening moves of an interstellar civil war are in progress.<i> </i><br />
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<i>Ancillary Sword</i> picks up the story where <i>Ancillary Justice</i> left off, with Breq having allied herself with one faction of the Lord of Radch’s larger personality. Breq is provided a ship, the Mercy of Kalir, the rank of fleet captain and is ordered to secure and take command of a system called Athoek.<br />
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The fracturing of Anaander Mianaai, Lord of Radch, to whom all humans
owe absolute and unquestioning loyalty, into rival factions was a rich
plot device in <i>Ancillary Justice</i>, driving most of the action in that novel. In <i>Ancillary Sword</i> Leckie allows the cascade of knowledge and events set loose by Breq’s quest in the previous novel to begin to break out onto the larger stage of interstellar politics and intrigue.<br />
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For millennium, failure to obey the Lord of Radch has been de-facto treason. However, when cognitive dissonance ruptures the once monolithic imperial mind into multiple contesting factions, every act of obedience becomes, likewise, an act of treason. With this dissonance now out in the open, the highly centralized imperial society is beginning to break down. A choosing of sides has been forced upon humanity. Thus, <i>Ancillary Sword</i> begins with the makings of a very taut and exciting middle act to Leckie’s planned trilogy in place. Unfortunately the author misses the opportunity to capitalize on that potential narrative energy. The result is a disappointing offering by a talented author.<br />
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In part this is due to the structural differences between the two books. <i>Ancillary Justice</i> had the danger and urgency of Breq’s quest plot-line trading fours with the impending disaster of Justice of Toren’s destruction, an event that reveals the splintering of a 3,000 year old emperor’s multiple selves into warring factions, to drive it forward. The loss of the ship’s-eye-view of events in Justice, with scenes described as they unfold from the AI’s many-POV perspective as a means of driving dramatic tension, is particularly missed in <i>Ancillary Sword</i>.<br />
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With the alternating Breq narratives reconciled, Leckie continues her story in linear fashion and from a conventional first-person point of view. After the opening chapters orient the reader and introduce the crew of Mercy of Kalr, Leckie sets the book in motion as the ship and crew travel to Athoek. However, once the Mercy of Kalar arrives at their destination, <i>Ancillary Sword</i> segues into a meditation on human social and economic hierarchies and the evils of empire. The narrative velocity of the story is allowed to dissipate as Breq turns her hand to delivering comeuppance to those at the top of the social order and succor to Athoek's much put-upon underclass.<br />
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While essentially a spaceship's AI downloaded into a human body, Breq understands humanity and what is best for us much better than we do ourselves. Leckie's rationale for this is that, having seen to the needs of its human crew for thousands of years, the AI is well equipped to intervene in human affairs. This could have been an interesting idea if Breq were allowed to stumble as she navigated the differences between managing a few dozen humans in the tightly controlled context of a ship under military discipline, and doing so with billions of obstreperous free-range humans within much looser social construct of civilian society. Sadly, this opportunity is missed as well. Breq begins the work of re-ordering society, humbling the exalted and exalting the the humble, with nary a misstep. Every human intervention Breq
undertakes goes surprisingly well. And that, to some degree, is the central weakness of <i>Ancillary
Sword</i>. Time and again, Leckie passes over the opportunity for nuance in favor of
easy moralizing.<br />
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While Leckie is an ambitious and talented world builder, her characters tend not to receive the same
level of attention. Beyond the protagonist Breq and Anaander Mianaai, the characters in <i>Ancillary Sword</i> tend toward thin and
shallow sketches. They exist functionally and, at times, as a gestalt without seeming to emerge as fully realized characters. Breq's crew are not referred to by names, but as a number within their
unit designation; an odd conceit for Breq to maintain given her
objection to the continued use of humans as ancillary troops. Privileged characters are venal and shallow. Unprivileged characters
are, almost invariably, good and thoughtful souls; the salt of the earth except when pushed to
extremes by the venality of their privileged overlords. Most exist primarily as moral foils for Breq,
providing her reasons to comment on events or hold forth on her personal
philosophy. Or they offer facile counter-arguments for Breq to dispatch
with ease. There is little by way of spark of life within them.<br />
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A notable exception to this is Dlique, a human raised by an alien race, the Presger, in order to serve as their translator. Translator Dlique explodes onto <i>Ancillary Sword</i>'s stage for a mere ten pages or so but, in that brief space, manages to become the series' most memorable character to date. Indeed, Dlique's commentary in the inadequacy of eggs (they never become 'anything interesting like regret, or the middle of the night last week') is <i>Ancillary Sword's </i>most frequently quoted passage. Alas, poor Dlique is hustled back to the wings all too quickly. Understandably, I think. The light and color injected by Dlique into Leckie's otherwise brooding narrative would quickly have become too difficult to maintain without putting the larger work off its balance.<br />
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In the last quarter of the book Leckie re-engages the larger story arc, which injects sufficient energy into <i>Ancillary Sword</i> to drive the book's crisis and denouement to a satisfying conclusion. Revelations place Breq and the Mercy of Kalr in the shadow of potential threats lurking near the Athoek system. The impending civil war, which has spent much of <i>Ancillary Sword</i> as a faint rumble on the far horizon, seems suddenly (and finally) a clear and present danger once more.<br />
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While <i>Ancillary Sword</i> is not as good a work as <i>Ancillary Justice</i>, it is still a respectable entry into the far-future science fiction subgenre. It delivers a thoughtful 'ships in space' novel, leveraging the conventions of space opera and military science fiction without slipping into their more hackneyed tropes. While <i>Sword</i> does not stand well on its own, it provides a passable transition from <i>Ancillary Justice</i> to the final book in the <i>Imperial Radch</i> trilogy.<br />
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More than one author, having dazzled the public with their first novel, have become trapped by that success and never published a second. With <i>Ancillary Sword</i>, Leckie has gotten past the second novel curse in good form.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-9996173091614833302015-04-28T11:51:00.001-07:002018-03-29T07:41:29.124-07:00The House of Many Roomsby J. D. Popham<br />
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Interesting days for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Seems my return to the genre community could have been timed better. Ah, well. As Ursula LeGuin once observed, you can go home again as long as you accept that home is a place you've never been before.</div>
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As I mentioned <a href="http://theinfinitereach.blogspot.com/2015/04/hugo-awards-best-novel-nominees.html">last week</a> I'll be reviewing all of the Hugo Award nominees for best novel. I 'm finishing up my review of Anne Leckie's <i>Ancillary Sword</i> and should post that later this week. My review of Jim Butcher's <i>Skin Game</i> was <a href="http://theinfinitereach.blogspot.com/2014/06/book-review-skin-game-by-jim-butcher.html">already posted</a> prior to its being nominated.<br />
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Marko Kloos has become, alas, a casualty of the culture wars presently raging in Worldcon. He withdrew his <i>Lines of Departure </i>from the Hugo Awards final ballot in order to remove his name and his work from the current Hugo Awards controversy.<br />
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With Kloos' withdrawal, Jim Liu's translation of Liu Cixin's well regarded <i>The Three Body Problem</i> has been elevated to the final Hugo Awards ballot. I plan on going forward with the review of Kloos' <i>Lines of Departure </i>nonetheless. I will simply add <i>The Three Body Problem</i> to my pre-Hugos review slate. That should be and happy addition to my workload, given the reputation of Liu Cixin's entry.<br />
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I regard the withdrawal Kloos' <i>Lines of Departure </i>as a profound pity. Both the book and its author seemed well regarded across the community leading up to the announcement of the final ballot. Indeed, John Scalzi, hardly a member of the puppies fan club, has championed Kloos' <a href="https://twitter.com/scalzi/status/576115411030175745">awesomeness</a> and <a href="http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/02/03/these-books-are-partially-my-fault/">endorsed <i>Lines of Departure</i></a> to the Scalzi readership. It's a sad state of affairs when an author with broad appeal is pressured from award contention because a someone with reprehensible views likes their work. One would have thought a book that could appeal to both John Scalzi and Vox Day is precisely the sort of book that <i>should</i> be a contender for the Hugo.<br />
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Alas, the quality of one's stories seems to have become a secondary consideration when Hugo Award worthiness is measured.<br />
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Of course, it is an ill wind that blows no one good. If nothing else, the sturm und drang surrounding the Hugos appears to have re-energized the larger science fiction community's engagement with the Hugo voting process. George R. R. Martin commented in his blog post <a href="http://grrm.livejournal.com/418643.html"><i>What Now?</i></a> that a air of complacency has surrounded the nomination process in recent years, with many Worldcon members abdicating the nomination process to a small group of Worldcon insiders. As I pointed out in <a href="http://theinfinitereach.blogspot.com/2015/04/2122.html">2,122</a>, for every voter who submitted a nominating ballot this year, at least seven of the ~16,000+ eligible voters did not. I'd expect to see next year's nominations get a lot of love from the science fiction community. With more fans voting, the 2016 nominations should represent a much broader cross-section of (lower-case) fandom's population.<br />
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It remains to be seen, however, whether the Hugo Awards' current open nomination process will survive beyond 2016. George R. R. Martin wrote in the same blog post that Worldcon members currently in control are crafting changes to the voting rules. The proposed changes are intended to preclude interlopers from nominating 'undeserving' authors and their works for Hugo Awards in the future. By definition, such rule changes would have to limit the democratic nature of the nominating process; shifting influence from the general public (who can buy a supporting Worldcon membership for $40) to insiders who can be, it is supposed, counted on to nominate works that reflect the will of Worldcon's current movers and shakers.<br />
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Those speaking for Worldcon have gone out of their way in the last month to emphasize that the Hugo Awards are bestowed by Worldcon, and not by the science fiction and fantasy reading public. This suggests that Mr. Martin is correct and that plans are motion to take at least the the Hugo Award nominations out of the hands of said reading public. This could be done in a number of ways. For example, Worldcon's insiders could vote to limit the pool of eligible Hugo Award nominators to those Worldcon members who regularly attend the event. They could weight the nominations of attending members more heavily in order to reduce the influence of nominations from supporting members. They could appoint a panel of judges empowered to select a final ballot of deserving nominees based on works submitted by Worldcon's rank and file members, thus taking the final ballot out of the hands of the rank and file. And so on. <br />
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In order to protect the Hugo Awards from being rigged, it appears Worldcon's deciders are poised to rig the Hugo Awards, an irony not lost on Mr. Martin:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>[The Sad Puppies] started this
whole thing by saying the Hugo Awards were rigged to exclude them.... So what is happening now? The people on MY SIDE, the
trufans and SMOFs and good guys, are having an endless circle jerk
trying to come up with a foolproof way to RIG THE HUGOS AND EXCLUDE
THEM. God DAMN, people. You are proving them right.</i> "</blockquote>
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While Worldcon owns and bestows the Hugo Awards, they have commonly been promoted as an expression of the reading public's will, as the most democratic of literary awards. At the end of the day Worldcon has been defined by its membership, i.e., any and all of the reading public who wished to participate and paid for a membership. It has been, at least nominally, a community of equals whose sole common denominator was a love of the genre.<br />
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It is deeply disappointing to learn that some of that membership now wish to be more equal than others.<br />
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As I've written elsewhere, science fiction and fantasy have long been a big house with open doors, and lots of rooms in which to dream. Squids from space, Bug Eyes Monsters and granite-jawed starship captains legitimately share the table with Breq, Pyanfar Chanur and Therem Harth rem ir Estraven. This is not a weakness of the genre. It is the genre's strength, this cross-pollination of the ridiculous and profound, the vulgar and the high-minded.<br />
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Those who value that house and the stories told therein should be exceedingly slow to judge who does and does not deserve a place at that eclectic table. We are an unlikely-to-the-point-of-absurdity community of wild and obstreperous minds, opinions and dreams. Our stories are born in the midst of tumult. Ours is not a respectable house, and we are not possible otherwise. <br />
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Babies and bath water, my friends. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-41222093965565398792015-04-13T03:51:00.003-07:002018-03-29T07:42:18.229-07:00Hugo Awards - Best Novel Nomineesby J. D. Popham<br />
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The nominations came out for the Hugo Awards last week and, despite the controversy surrounding the nominating process there's general agreement that the line-up in the best novel category is an interesting one. I plan on posting a review for each of the best novel nominees this year, so the good news is that I've already read two of the finalists; Ann Leckie's <i>Ancillary Sword</i> and Jim Butcher's <i>Skin Game</i>. As I've already published a review of <a href="http://theinfinitereach.blogspot.com/2014/06/book-review-skin-game-by-jim-butcher.html"><i>Skin Game</i></a> and am well into hammering out a review of <i>Ancillary Sword</i> my burden of reading and writing is much lighter than it might have been.<br />
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I'm looking forward to Katherine Addison's <i>The Goblin Emperor</i>. It's been getting a lot of good press and has been high on many recommendation lists, including <a href="http://www.locusmag.com/Magazine/2015/02/2014-locus-recommended-reading-list/">Locus Magazine's 2014 recommendations</a>, which is put together by a pretty erudite and eclectic collection of reviewers. Kevin J. Anderson's <i>The Dark Between</i> the Stars and Marko Kloos' <i>Lines of Departure</i> will be my first encounter with those authors, so I'm looking forward to making their acquaintance as well.<br />
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From what I know of the nominees so far I look for a horse race this year when it comes to the voting. Leckie's <i>Ancillary Sword</i> is solid, workmanlike science fiction, but lacks the brilliance of her <i>Ancillary Justice,</i>
which made a well deserved sweep of the category during last year's
award season. Still, the fans of the <i>Ancillary</i> series will be lining up to send
Leckie back to the Hugo podium. Butcher has labored long in the
vineyards of urban fantasy and is well overdue for a Hugo nomination.
While <i>Skin Game</i> is not the best work in his <i>Dresden Files</i> series,
Butcher has a very large and loyal following who will want to reward
him for many years of entertaining reading. <i>The Goblin Emperor</i> is a name to conjure with in 2014 and, if the book lives up to its reputation, it should be a contender as well. <i>The Dark Between </i>and<i> </i><i>Lines of Departure</i>
have less buzz in the marketplace however, if they deliver the goods
from a story-telling perspective, either of them could emerge as a dark
horse at this year's Worldcon awards ceremony. <br />
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For the purpose of the reviews, the usual rules of engagement will be in effect: Praise where I believe praise is due, but no punches pulled when an author drops the literary ball. Some reviewers follow the 'if you can't say something good, don't say anything at all' rule of book reviews in order to avoid hurting feelings or drawing the ire of authors and their followings. For myself, I believe the first duty of the reviewer is to the prospective reader. The readers are, after all, the ones who have to decide where to spend their hard-earned cash.<br />
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Reviews aside, I won't be making a recommendation with regard to Hugo voting. As George R. R. Martin has <a href="http://grrm.livejournal.com/417812.html">pointed out,</a> the promotion of works for the Hugo has been becoming ever-more overt these last ten years. This year the polite fiction that interested parties don't campaign for the Hugos has been blown to smithereens. There will be plenty of recommendations crowding the blogosphere and social media as Worldcon draws near without my adding to the sound and fury.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-24744781192762795722015-04-08T06:57:00.001-07:002018-03-29T07:42:57.722-07:002,122<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The really dangerous people believe they are doing whatever they are doing solely and only because it is without question the right thing to do. And that is what makes them dangerous.</i> <br />
- Neil Gaiman </blockquote>
Consider the number 2,122. Not a big number as numbers go. Not a small one either. Now, set the number 2,122 aside for a moment, but keep it in the corner of your mental field of vision.<br />
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The Hugo Awards, as most of you know, are awards nominated by and voted on by science fiction and fantasy (SF&F) fans. With many literary awards, nominees are submitted to a panel of judges who then select the final slate of nominees. Not so with the Hugo Awards. The Hugos put SF&F fans firmly in the driver's seat. Fans of SF&F select the finalists, and fans of SF&F elect the annual winners of the Hugo Award from among those finalists. No panels. No notables or literary luminaries sitting in judgement. No yardstick for artistic or cultural merit. Just the votes by fans of the genre for the works they wish to honor that year.<br />
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In this sense, the Hugo is a 'popular' award, unlike the Nebula Award in which nominating works is limited to the roughly 1,800 members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and voting on the finalists is limited to Active and Lifetime members of the SFWA.<br />
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I've always liked the Hugo. Sure, sometimes I might argue with the collective taste of fandom, but I'll be the first to admit I can be a bit of an elitist when it comes to the written word. I've been delighted when the rest of fandom's choices align with mine, but hardly put-out when they didn't. For me the point of the Hugos has always been about fun; about rewarding good stories that resonate broadly among the genre's fan base. It is the only major writing award in which the little guy had a say, and in which the influence of insiders on the final results was restricted by the nature of the process.<br />
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Over the years I've liked to think that the Hugo Awards are about Jane and Joe lunchbox, for whose spare shekels
the publishing industry lustily competes, having a chance to voice
their opinion and have that opinion heard.<br />
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The list of <a href="http://www.thehugoawards.org/">Hugo Award finalists</a> were announced on Saturday. This year it's created something of a kerfuffle in the science fiction and fantasy community.<br />
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Well, that's not precisely true. It's actually the latest eruption in a kerfuffle that's been going on for several years. OK. Strictly speaking it's not, technically, a kerfuffle. It's more a nasty, mean spirited holy war; with fringes of the science fiction and fantasy community having a go at each other and the rest of the community caught in the middle. Both sides have legitimate grievances, but neither are in a mood to listen to one another.<br />
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At the surface the divide is a political one, with the fandom's liberal fringe on one side and it's conservative fringe on the other. Disagreement with even the most extreme orthodoxy of either of the two groups causes its membership to cast the dissenter as a member of the opposition. Both sides are in 'with us or against us' mode as they attempt to force the greater fan community to choose between them. Most fans I know have been keeping their opinions to themselves and maintaining a low profile as they wait for the angels of our collective better nature to prevail, but there seems no end in sight.<br />
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Political tempers are running so hot that a fan's taste in science
fiction and fantasy literature is beginning to be taken as a statement of political
loyalties. Any dedication to old fashioned adventure stories featuring rockets,
ray-guns, swords or sorcery causes one to be marked as a conservative partisan and a white-male power fantasist. A preference for literary or social science fiction and fantasy, in which today's culture and diversity issues are explored, causes one to be marked as a liberal partisan and a social justice warrior. Both sides spend a surprising amount of time trash-talking what they perceive to be the inferior literature of the opposition.<br />
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Of course the Hugo Awards have become ground zero for this dispute.<br />
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In the last few years both sides have sought to influence the outcome of the Hugo nominations and final awards voting in a manner that favors their literary and social point of view. Historically, openly campaigning for a Hugo has ended badly for the
campaigner. Thus, while SF&F's taste-makers and insiders have always had some influence on the Hugo Awards, traditionally that influence has been muted. In recent years, however, we've seen the advent of internet-based 'eligibility' and 'recommendation' lists published by persons of influence within the science fiction community. While they stopped short of saying 'vote my slate' the intent to influence Hugo voters was clear.<br />
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This year, SF&F's conservative fringe escalated the conflict, mounting a campaign intended to fill the entire finalist slate with nominees in line with their tastes, but eschewed by SF&F's liberal fringe. In this they were largely successful.<br />
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SF&F's liberal fringe has responded by threatening a <a href="http://www.thehugoawards.org/the-voting-system/">'no award</a>' campaign; urging Hugo voters to vote 'no award' in any category dominated by the conservative fringe. If successful, this would result in the awards for most categories of Hugos being withheld for 2015. While a satisfying block for the liberal fringe in the short term, this would very likely begin a cycle of retaliation, with each side using the no-award mechanic to stick a thumb in their enemy's eye. With each turn of this self-destructive crank, the reputation of the Hugo as one of the most venerable and democratic science fiction/fantasy awards will be diminished.<br />
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About now you're probably wondering how some marginal fringe groups have gained so much influence over the Hugo Awards. After all, like space, SF&F fandom is big. Really big. It's a huge demographic that consumes an astonishing quantity of books, magazines, graphic novels, movies and sundry media each year. The audience of the genre is far larger than it's ever been before. How could a relatively small subset of that audience put the Hugo Awards at risk of becoming the booby prize in their political/social pissing contest.<br />
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The answer is 2,122.<br />
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2,122 is the total number of nominating ballots that went into determining who would be on the final Hugo ballot in 2015. It was, believe it or not, a record turn-out. In choosing the finalists for fandom's greatest honor, only the opinions of 2,122 individuals mattered. <br />
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Now, for the purposes of the Hugo Awards, a 'fan' is a member of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). Anyone who buys a full or
supporting Worldcon membership for the prior year, current year or upcoming year is a member of the WSFS and eligible to nominate and vote for the Hugos. Membership and voting rights are open to any science fiction or fantasy fan with the price of at least a supporting membership in hand. Thus, among the movers and shakers in the WSFS, a Fan is a member of the WSFS, and Fandom is the overall WSFS membership. Based on Worldcon registration numbers for the current and prior years, the number of eligible voters should be over 15,000. But only 2,122 opted to nominate works for the Hugo Awards. Based on past history, fewer than double that number will vote to select the winners from the final ballot. <br />
<br />
With only 2,122 voters weighing in on the slate of Hugo finalists, influencing the outcome isn't terribly difficult. A few hundred votes one way or another can make the difference in a decision that has significant financial and career outcomes. In such a small pool, non-aligned voters may outnumber faction voters, but uncoordinated votes have less impact on the outcome. This serves to give both fringe groups influence far in excess of their numbers. Now that the battle over the Hugo Awards has broken out into the open, we can look forward to both fringes levering that influence with a will.<br />
<br />
It would be good for the larger SF&F community if the leaders on both sides of this fracas would call their troops to heel, take a breath, and work matters out like grown-up. Inside voices and all that. Science fiction and fantasy are not, after all, a zero sum game. For one side to win the other side needn't lose. However, said leaders are true-believers, convinced of the virtue of their cause and the nefarious nature of the foe. They would sooner see the house of Hugo burn to the ground than put out the present fire.<br />
<br />
The only solution available then is to increase the number of un-aligned voters. The larger the pool grows the more effort will be required to influence the outcome. If 15,000+ fans voted in the Hugos Awards the influence of fringe groups would be profoundly diluted, and the results would more accurately reflect will of the larger science fiction and fantasy community. To me, that's what the Hugo Awards should be all about.<br />
<br />
Of course, growing the pool of voters that much would require science fiction and fantasy community to roll up its collective sleeves, and for larger fandom take ownership of the Hugo Awards by participating in the process. We need an extraordinary effort by science fiction and fantasy's real fans.<br />
<br />
So here's the question: What makes someone a 'real' fan? <br />
<br />
I ask it because the fringe groups presently raging about and breaking the crockery within the WSFS seem quick to deny anyone with whom they disagree the right to call themselves fans. The leadership of the WSFS itself has stated that, as the Hugo is administered and bestowed by the WSFS, its membership comprises fandom. There's a lot of fan-denial going on these days at cons and on the internet. As if being a fan of science fiction and fantasy had anything to do with deserving, anything to do with money or anything to do with membership. As if passion for the form and the stories it tells were not enough. <br />
<br />
Well. Let's just fix that right now, shall we?<br />
<br />
<b><i>Therefore, by the power bestowed upon me by Andre Norton, whose stories began my life-long slow dance with the impossible, I declare this day that we are all true fans of science fiction and fantasy. </i></b><br />
<br />
There. You are anointed. Now go forth and do your fannish duty.<br />
<br />
If you are an eligible Hugo Awards voter already, vote without fail for the Hugos this year. If you aren't an eligible voter, <a href="https://sasquan.swoc.us/sasquan/reg.php">become one</a> and then vote without fail for the Hugos this year. Take the time. Do the reading, watching and listening. Vote, and vote no one's agenda but your own. Then nominate works and vote again next year.<br />
<br />
Let no one deter you. Let no one deny you. Let no one deride you as unworthy of this duty.<br />
<br />
Vote.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-5067750348730885272015-01-12T08:14:00.000-08:002015-06-28T13:13:30.911-07:00Feature: The Revenge of Dr. Hasslein<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-04VOeDOmYYg/U298A1S9BfI/AAAAAAAAAHc/IcTD1SCzLyM/s1600/hasslein.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-04VOeDOmYYg/U298A1S9BfI/AAAAAAAAAHc/IcTD1SCzLyM/s1600/hasslein.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Dr.
Otto Hasslein has served as science adviser to two Presidents. He is
perhaps best-known for his theoretical work in time-dilation physics,
and for exposing the sinister agenda of “ape-o-nauts” Zira and
Cornelius, thereby prevented a terrifying dystopian future.</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Now
enjoying a well-earned retirement in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Dr.
Hasslein has kindly consented to lend his considerable subject matter
expertise to </span></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Infinite Reach</span></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">. </span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Readers with questions for Dr. Hasslein may send them to </span></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Infinite Reach</span></span></span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"> via the Hyperspace Com Uplink referenced on our home page.</span></span></span></span></i></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Dear Dr. Hasslein,</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">I was
puzzled by a scene in the movie <i>Interstellar</i>, and thought you might be able to
help me understand it. In the movie Dr.
Mann attempts to dock his shuttle to the <i>Endurance</i>. He gets an imperfect lock on the docking
ring, but when he attempts to force open the hatch his ship explodes and a good
chunk of the Endurance is destroyed.
Since there was nothing explosive in either airlock, how is this
possible?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
Dr. Hasslein Replies:<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">You are correct that this incident was very problematic, as
little should have happened except rapid depressurization of Mann’s own airlock
(and perhaps rapid depressurization of the airlock on the </span></span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Endurance</span></span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">; it wasn’t clear to me if the other airlock was
pressurized). It’s possible that the force of decompression would be enough to tear
the two ships apart, damaging the docking ring in the process. But this would
depend on several factors we’re not able to easily calculate without more data,
such as the force with which the shuttle capture mechanism was gripping the
docking ring of the </span></span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Endurance</span></span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">, the
tensile strength of the materials on either side of the ship, the amount of
oxygen vented from the two ships, and so on.</span></span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I will admit that this did scene did not bother me so very much,
as I had already given up on the movie by this point. Interstellar
has its good points – the special effects were very impressive, the robots were
amusing and Anne Hathaway is always very pleasant to look at. However, both the
story and the science were quite laughable. I don’t know who would be foolish
enough to try to colonize a planet near a singularity, or how NASA could
operate a secret underground program that is somehow more ambitious and more successful
than it’s ever been, or why the agency would recruit a sweaty, beady-eyed
townie in a barn coat to lead the next mission, just because he blundered onto
their secret location. The idea that he is the only pilot available for such a
mission is extremely improbable. It is the same sort of plot device that used
to be employed in </i>Star Trek, <i>where
the</i> Enterprise <i>was always “the only
ship in the quadrant”.</i></span></span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">On top of this is the sort of treacly spirituality that seems de rigeur for big-budget science fiction films these days, apparently out of fear of scaring away mainstream audiences. People say lines like "Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that perceiving that transcends time and space", a sentiment we are assured is true because we love people even when they're not around and after they're dead. One might point out that under this definition hate might transcend time and space to the same degree, but somehow people don't go around mouthing platitudes about the universe-saving power of hate. </span></span></i></div>
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<br />
<br />
Dear Dr. Hasslein,<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">I
knew that there have been lots of movies about computers taking over the world,
but I was surprised to stumble across the movie Colossus: <i>The Forbin Project</i>,
since it was made in 1970, quite a long time before <i>The Terminator</i> and <i>The Matrix</i>. Do you know of any movies that tackled this subject earlier than that?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
Dr. Hasslein Replies:<i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>No, not unless you count </i>The Invisible Boy<i> (1957), though if I remember correctly the supercomputer in question was being manipulated by aliens from another solar system. However as was often true, this theme was worked over rather heavily in science fiction literature even before then. In Mary Shelly's novel </i>Frankenstein<i>, the monster demands that a mate be created for it, and Frankenstein balks because he realizes that a new, artificial species might run humanity into extinction. Karl Capek's </i>R.U.R.<i> (1921) ends with the robot slaves turning on their masters. Probably the first story of machines actively enslaving humanity was Jack Williamson's novella </i>With Folded Hands<i>, which was published in 1947 - a god deal earlier than </i>Colossus: The Forbin Project<i> which was, incidentally, based on a 1963 novel by F. D. Jones.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Dear Dr. Hasslein,<br />
<br />
Westerns had John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, horror films had
Boris Karloff and Vincent Price, gangster movies had Jimmy Cagney and Edward G.
Robinson. But where are the big stars of science fiction?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How come science fiction doesn’t have durable
stars in the same way?<br />
<br />
Dr. Hasslein Replies:<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I suspect this is true because science fiction tends to be
less formulaic than other genres. One
western is not so different from another. One horror film will have a lot in
common with other horror films. But familiarity
isn’t as important in the science fiction genre. </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Having said that, some actors have gotten typecast in SF
films just because they are recognizable to fans of the genre. Richard Carlson
was in a number of science fiction films in the 1950s, including </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It Came From Outer Space</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">, </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Creature From the
Black Lagoon</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">, </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Magnetic Monster</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Riders
To the Stars</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Kier Dullea’s role in </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2001:
A Space Odyssey</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> was impassive enough to mask his mediocrity as an actor,
and no doubt was responsible for his later genre work, in the Canadian series </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Starlost</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and the television
miniseries </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Brave New World</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> in
1979. More recently, Tricia Helfer’s role
in </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Battlestar Galactica</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> seems to have
led to her appearance in the mini-series Ascension,
as she is a familiar face to </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sy Fy</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> network viewers. </span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It should be noted as well that the late-career Tom Cruise has seen science fiction as a reliable go-to as his box office appeal fades. Charlton Heston went through a similar cycle late in his career, as films like </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Planet of the Apes</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">, </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beneath the Planer of the Apes</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">, </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Omega Man</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Soylent Green</span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> helped keep him a viable leading man long after his expiration date. </span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"></span></span></span></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-3944000626087696892014-12-29T14:30:00.000-08:002014-12-30T06:58:35.429-08:00Television Review: Doctor Who Season Eightby Mord Fiddle<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FSRmY2nFBoQ/VKGsBKPPj_I/AAAAAAAAAR4/JaJYNc64yWQ/s1600/Whomas_(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FSRmY2nFBoQ/VKGsBKPPj_I/AAAAAAAAAR4/JaJYNc64yWQ/s1600/Whomas_(1).jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
So disappointing. <br />
<br />
I thought we'd seen the last of Clara Oswald. At the end of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_in_Heaven"><i>Death in Heaven</i></a> I said to myself, 'Well self," ('self' being what I call myself when we're alone) "With any luck Moffat has finally cut loose the Clara Oswald sea-anchor and now <i>Doctor Who</i>'s center of gravity can shift back to its titular character. Now that every episode doesn't have to revolve around Clara, Capaldi will have the elbow-room needed to put his own stamp on The Doctor."<br />
<br />
Then,<i> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Christmas_%28Doctor_Who%29">Last Christmas</a></i>, 2014s Christmas episode of Doctor Who, dropped a wagon full of coal on me. <br />
<br />
I have dubbed season eight of <i>Doctor Who</i> 'The Fan-Fiction' season. One could see it coming on. Under Moffat's tenure, periodic fan-fic episodes have been a reality since the onset of season six. He was restrained about it that year - an episode here and there, usually by a guest writer. However, with the arrival of Clara Oswald (a fairly blatant Mary Sue) Moffat's control began to slip. Season seven was one long, slippery fan-fiction slope with Oswald's 'impossible girl' waiting for us at the bottom.<br />
<br />
Since the arrival of Peter Capaldi at the beginning of season eight, episodes of <i>Doctor
Who</i> have largely revolved around Clara Oswald.<br />
<br />
To an extent this is
understandable. During the Tennet and Smith years <i>Doctor Who</i> developed a strong romance-oriented following. While Moffat and company wanted to cast the post-Matt Smith Doctor as an older, cynical and far less romantic Doctor, no one wanted to lose this new romance-oriented demographic. In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Breath_%28Doctor_Who%29">Deep Breath</a>, season eight's opening episode, when Madame Vastra took Clara to task for recoiling from the The Doctor because he was no longer young and a potential love interest, Moffat was speaking to the part of the audience that viewed The Doctor through a romantic lens. That plot-line was a careful threading of the needle, and while it was a self conscious plot-line that put the episode out of balance, it was a needed farewell to the Doctor as romantic interest<br />
<br />
That done, I thought we could move on. Have a little fun, run a nice dramatic story arc or two, and save a few worlds without it having to do with Clara for a while. Sadly, season eight turned into all Clara all the time. Every single plot was Clara-centric. I'd venture that Jenna Coleman has had more screen time in Peter Capaldi's first season as The Doctor than Peter Capaldi. <br />
<br />
First it was Clara as love interest, coming to terms with the Doctor as a non-romantic figure, which meant they had to give Clara a new love interest (because god forbid Clara not have a romantic subplot in her life).<br />
<br />
Then it turned into Clara as daughter figure, which meant her love interest must be someone the Doctor would disapprove of and who would disapprove of The Doctor so we could play up the father-daughter-boyfriend triangle.<br />
<br />
And then it was all 'Ooh Doctor I so hate you (for no good reason, but it's in the script therefore), you must leave and never come back".<br />
<br />
And then it was all "Ooh, Doctor, I'm all sad and conflicted because my loyalties are torn between you and my boyfriend, and therefore I must lie to you both in order to continue our adventures in time and space on the sly."<br />
<br />
And then it was all "Ooh, Doctor, I'm so distraught at having distracted my boyfriend by pronouncing my complete and total love to him (over the phone) as he was crossing a busy street, thereby killing him. Bring him back or I'll destroy all you hold dear."<br />
<br />
GAH! {Bangs head on keyboard}<br />
<br />
Anyway (ow), with Clara and The Doctor apparently parting ways at the end of the season I thought we were done with <i>Doctor Who</i> revolving around this banal instance of Mary Sue flotsam. Oh, I knew she'd be back at some point for a visit during Capaldi's final season. Maybe for a special episode. I even half suspected that this Christmas episode might end up being a cozy farewell to Clara. Which I was prepared for. Really. Totally cool with it so long as the Tardis would hie off after the closing credits, leaving Clara and Earth in the rear-view mirror for a while.<br />
<br />
But no. Apparently no decent movie offers came in for Jenna Coleman and we'll be stuck with her for another season. Clara Oswald, like sidewalk gum on a hot summer day, is proving a bit of a tough scrape to get off the bottom of the Doctor Who shoe.<br />
<br />
Wake me for the 2015 Christmas special. <br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-29760567332996193302014-12-19T09:22:00.002-08:002014-12-19T09:33:24.287-08:00The Infinity Scarfby Mord Fiddle<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The other day I heard someone say that they wanted an
infinity scarf for Christmas and was immediately intrigued.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As the names of things go ‘infinity scarf’ is pretty wicked. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I immediately imagined something like a
wearable TARDIS or Infinite Improbability Drive. Or perhaps a means of
accessing alternate time streams running in parallel with our own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In terms of ‘look’ I imagined the scarf in a
constant state of flux, its warp and weft giving off ominous metallic flickers
as an infinite array of possibilities and nascent realities manifested
themselves across its surface.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Imagine my disappointment.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In what universe do you sew the ends of a scarf together to
make a circle and then modify the name of this mundane and unimaginative scrap
of cloth with an adjective as wild and stuffed with possibilities as ‘infinity’?
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is a moral outrage; a cruel ‘bait and switch’ scam. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like hearing about Santa Claus for the
first time and then, just when your heart was filled with innocent delight,
being told “Oh, by the way, there ain’t no such person and it’s all a marketing
ploy”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The bastards!</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I mean, maybe if they made one using a really cool electric blue
fabric and printed it with Eucliud’s Proof of the Infinitude of Primes I could
allow points for whimsy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no. The
so-called infinity scarf is so pedestrian, so relentlessly dull and boring that
the guys at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Think-Geek</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Forbidden Planet</i> wouldn’t touch it with
a four-meter light saber.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The only solution now is to get it into a decent work of science
fiction and redeem the name before it is indelibly tainted by association with
a flash-in-the-pan wearable one is later embarrassed to admit one owns; on par
with the dickey, the snuggly and the ascot. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gaimen might be able to help. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe Aliette de Bodard who is, I
understand, between projects and in the mood for something short and fun. If
all else fails I could take a cut at it myself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hmmm. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe
a theme anthology – a collection of short stores based on an impossible scarf
knit up from the stuff of the infinite.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I suppose it <i>is</i> a bit mad, setting your heart on something so unlikely even for a moment. My inner curmudgeon should normally have kicked in ahead of time, dashing any surge of wide-eyed anticipation with a cold bucket of past precedent. After all, what was I expecting? And the answer is, I suppose, that this is the time of year for unfettered dreaming, when my more jaded self steps back and gives my inner innocent the window seat that looks out on the world. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And in such dreams, I might just wear infinity on my shoulders. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-45618411578528948932014-12-09T08:21:00.001-08:002018-03-29T07:45:32.492-07:00Hwæt!by J. D. Popham<br />
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Back when I was an undergrad I learned to read Old English. What can I say. I was young, foolish and had no sense of the practical. Of course, back then practicality was only beginning to be the sole point of undergraduate studies. Discovery and extending the boundaries of what you knew was important for its own sake. In those days a youthful fascination with dead languages, like butterflies, needed no excuse.<br />
<br />
As a result of my ill-spent youth and linguistic dalliances, I've had the good fortune to read <i>Beowulf</i> in its original Old English as well as in a number of modern English translations. While the original and the translations tell the same story and describe the same sequence of events, they are very different literary experiences. Until the Normans wandered across the English channel and steeped Old English in French for more than a few generations, English was a primal, hard hitting language full of 'skull' words. We retain enough of the old words that one can still hear in the better modern English translations the echos of primal monsters and heroes from Scopic songs. However, I assure you, if you've read <i>Beowulf</i> in translation, whether it's by Tolkein, Chickering or Heaney, you haven't read <i>Beowulf</i>.<br />
<br />
Like Homer's
<i>Iliad</i> and <i>Odyssey</i>, <i>Beowulf</i> was originally oral poetry, intended to be
performed for an audience. It's set in the 600s and the oldest written
version that survives was written down a bit after the turn of the first
millennium, CE. At that time the
literate folk in England were almost invariably churchmen, and so I like to think that the two scribes who recorded it
for posterity were a couple of reprobate Benedictines who preferred a
good yarn about heroes, mead-halls, mere-walkers
and dragons to chanting Vespers.
By adding a thin overlay of
Christian forms to <i>Beowulf</i>'s original Scopic sensibility and pitching it as a Christian morality tale, the two saved a decidedly pre-Christian tale from being forgotten and lost to future generations.<br />
<br />
Once, when my son was very young, about eleven years old, he had a few friends overnight. They did the usual things. They bedded down in the living room with their sleeping bags, flashlights and snacks. They watched videos and played board games and told the sorts of really horrible jokes that are uproariously funny to the eleven-year-old mind but utterly lost on anyone else. And finally, as the night wore on and the sugar rush wore off, they pulled their sleeping bags into a circle and asked if I knew any good ghost stories.<br />
<br />
"<i>Hwæt!</i>" I said to them. "<i>Listen!</i>" And I had their attention. "We have heard of the Spear-Danes, in days gone by, and of the of the brave kings who led them to greatness," I went on. "And of their king Scyld Sceffing who defeated many enemies and threw over the benches in their mead-halls."<br />
<br />
What followed was a very abridged retelling of <i>Beowulf</i>, pitched to the ear of the modern eleven year old. (In case you're wondering, I left in all the grisly bits. No one appreciates grisly like an eleven year old.) My Old English professor, who looked the very model of an aging Saxon Earl who'd set aside his armor and spear for a brown wool suit and a red editorial pen, would have frowned in disappointment at the resulting translation. The kids, however, were riveted, their eyes wide and in rapt attention as Grendel and Beowulf each came to Heorot, Hrothgar's mead-hall, and to battle with one another. Sometimes the boys cast nervous glances at the dark beyond the windows, the idea of a mere-walker lurking outside in our flower beds to peer in at them having moved into the realm of the possible.<br />
<br />
It is a primal thing, gathering together in the dark and telling scary
stories. It seems etched into our DNA, undiminished by the ongoing
march of written and digital entertainments.<br />
<br />
A few weeks ago my son, now just shy of his thirtieth year, mentioned that he and his friends still recall that telling of <i>Beowulf</i>, and that it was a happy and stand-out moment in their childhoods. Praise from an audience of eleven-year-olds doesn't get any higher than that. And their reaction, echoed across the span of twenty years, may explain why a couple of reprobate monks spent time and ink recording an old pre-Christian epic, likely risking the ire of their monastic superiors in the process.<br />
<br />
And in my minds eye, the old Saxon Earl cum Old English professor finally ceased to frown and has put up both his spear and red editorial pen. There might even be the trace of a smile. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-52313325027310248422014-12-02T16:12:00.002-08:002018-03-29T07:45:57.486-07:00Book Review: Foxglove Summer by Ben AaronovitchReviewed by J. D. Popham<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Hrw5oxnZvc/VHXakMTNqyI/AAAAAAAAAQA/CJOhiBYdQ2s/s1600/Foxglove%2BSummer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Hrw5oxnZvc/VHXakMTNqyI/AAAAAAAAAQA/CJOhiBYdQ2s/s1600/Foxglove%2BSummer.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Until now the <i>Rivers of London</i> series has kept </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Police Constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant </span>close to home and followed his encounters with the ghosts,
mystical creatures and Newtonian magics that exist just beyond the public's
sight in contemporary London. In London, of course, even things that go
bump in the night are subject to the Queen’s peace, and the Metropolitan Police
has the job of dealing with breaches of said peace; even when they involve
malevolent spirits, jazz vampires and river goddesses. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Foxglove Summer</i>, the fifth book in the series, </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">takes PC Grant out of his beloved London and deep into the English
countryside; to Herefordshire, to be precise. There, two eleven year-old girls have
gone missing and the search for them has captured the attention of the 24-hour news machine and thus the British public. What with the disturbing connection between the blood of innocents and the more ethically challenged magics, Grant is dispatched by </span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Inspector Nightingale to check in on an elderly wizard, long retired to the area, in order to confirm that he is not somehow involved in the girl's disappearance. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Before long both Peter Grant and the urban river goddess Beverly Brook, are drawn into the search proper. What follows is a very pleasant collision between urban Fantasy and the rustic/rural wellspring of the tales and folklore that form much of modern fantasy's foundation. At the same time <i>Foxglove Summer</i>'s police procedural elements get the opportunity to rub shoulders with British police/detective fiction's </span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">countryside tradition.</span></span></span></span></span></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The urban/rural divide in English crime fiction is one of long standing. Sherlock Holmes famously opined in <i>Silver Blaze</i> that "</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">the
lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record
of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside". Happily, Aaronovitch avoids reaching for the threadbare tropes about the city cop out of his element in the sticks. PC Grant is as good humored as he is tough and clever, and his view of the countryside and its denizens is pragmatic and even-handed. Besides, between his duties as a copper in the ongoing search for the missing girls, magical doings afoot, and a river goddess to act as his liaison with the local genius loci, boredom is the least of Peter Grant's worries. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
London has been central to the <i>Rivers</i> series so far, and setting <i>Foxglove Summer</i>
in the English countryside makes evident the degree to which the city
drives the tempo and energy of Aaronovitch's Peter Grant stories. The
little town of Rushpool lacks the kinetic charge of London, and not even
the frantic search for the girls and the accompanying news media
feeding frenzy is going to change that.<br />
<br />
This,
however, is where Aaronovitch shows his skill as a story-teller. He
never fights his setting or attempts to press Rushpool or its denizens
into behaving out of character as a means of injecting energy into <i>Foxglove</i> <i>Summer</i>.
Rather, he lets the story move at a pace appropriate to the setting,
allowing Peter Grant's narrative voice, his observations of and
interactions with the town, and with the emerging evidence of the
fantastic that lies beneath, provide the book's rhythm and tempo.<br />
<br />
Some of Aaronovitch's more impatient readers have grumbled that the <i>Rivers</i> story arc featuring the Faceless Man, the series' primary antagonist, gets little attention in this outing. Over at <a href="http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/11/book-review-ben-aaronovitch-foxglove-summer">Tor.com</a> Liz Bourke has gone so far as to dismiss <i>Foxglove Summer</i> as a 'placeholder novel', which it is certainly not. Given that in <i>Broken Homes</i> Peter's fellow constable and apprentice Leslie May betrayed Peter, Nightingale and the Metropolitan Police, joining the Faceless Man on the
ethically challenged side of both magic and the law, they can be forgiven for feeling a bit let down. However, anyone paying attention to the pacing of the <i>Rivers</i> series to date will have expected the sound and fury of the Faceless subplot to recede to the background in <i>Foxglove Summer</i>.<br />
<br />
Aaronovitch tends to avoid spending his story's dramatic tension all at once. He leaves the Faceless Man subplot largely behind periodically, knowing the reader will be all the hungrier for it when he returns. However, to call <i>Foxglove Summer</i> a mere placeholder is to imply that its central story is throw-away and that the book contributes nothing of value to the larger story arc, neither of which is the case. <i>Foxglove</i> merely changes the larger story's tempo, creating a bit of narrative elbow room before foreshadowing the storm to come. <br />
<br />
By doing so, Aaronovitch allows himself the space and literary tempo needed to extend Peter Grant's character at something less than a gallop. It also allows the author to develop Beverly Brook, who has been consigned to cameo appearances since her introduction in <i>Rivers of London</i>, and to give their heretofore slow-approach relationship room to breathe and unfold naturally. He uses <i>Foxglove</i> to expand the back-story of Molly, Nightingale's otherworldly
housekeeper, of Ettenberg where the flower of English wizardry was broken, and to hint at what is walled away in the
basement of the Folly behind sheets of battleship steel. And we learn
that that the Genius Loci of the rivers of London are reaching out and
establishing their own entente with their peers in the countryside.<br />
<br />
<i>Foxglove Summer</i> is worth your hard-earned shekels, and I recommend it. Fans of the Aaronovitch's earlier works will enjoy it (provided they can school themselves to patience) and readers who wish make Peter Grant's acquaintance without reading the series from its beginning will find <i>Foxglove</i> a good place to jump in.<br />
<br />
Alas for our American readers, while released in the UK in November, <i>Foxglove Summer</i> will not be sold by US retailers until January. <i>The Infinite Reach</i> will reference this review again when the book is released in the US, lest you forget. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-5697636585639253672014-12-02T08:10:00.000-08:002014-12-09T09:31:33.280-08:00On Spoiler Alerts and Trigger Warnings<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">by Mord Fiddle</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mvewltL4QKw/VH3gjmMVTwI/AAAAAAAAAQc/xnV1WpnQ0XM/s1600/Warning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mvewltL4QKw/VH3gjmMVTwI/AAAAAAAAAQc/xnV1WpnQ0XM/s1600/Warning.jpg" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After thoughtful consideration, the policy of<i> The Infinite
Reach</i> with regard to the use of spoiler alerts and trigger warnings is as
follows:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We don’t do spoiler alerts and trigger warnings.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With regard to spoiler alerts:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When writing reviews we’ll avoid (to the degree reasonable)
giving away plot twists and reveals the revelation of which would degrade the reading/watching/listening
experience for the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, a
review is intended to provide media consumers with an evaluation of a work
prior to the reading/watching/listening-to of said media and assumes that many of
the readers/watchers/listeners will not have already read/watched/listened to
the work being reviewed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This being the
case, it can be assumed that reviews at <i>The Reach</i> will (for the most part) avoid
giving away key elements of the reviewed story in advance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously where there are no intended spoilers there is no need
for a spoiler alert.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Having said that, when the odd
spoiler does happen to slip in we still won’t issue a spoiler alert. That’s right. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You won’t
know. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll just have to take a chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll have to hang it out on the edge and
dance on the rim of the abyss. <i>The
Infinite Reach</i> isn’t about playing it safe.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Even within the context of reviews, the avoidance of
spoilers applies only to the work being reviewed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prior
entries in a fiction series get no such consideration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, let’s say <i>The Infinite Reach</i> reviews the
sixth book in the <i>Brak the Barbarian</i> series. Our review of that august tome will
avoid spoilers for book six, but may contain spoilers for prior books in the
series without issuing a spoiler alert. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if you plan on reading the fifth <i>Brak the
Barbarian</i> book and would be upset to find out that Princess Iruda is revealed therein
to be Brak’s daughter by way of his tryst with the Dread Spider Queen of Yizod back
in book number three (oops!), you might want to hold off on our review of <i>Brak </i>number
six.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Outside of reviews, we reserve the right to spoil with
abandon and without prior notification.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For example, let’s say I write about the importance of Thomas Piketty’s
observations on wealth and capital to understanding <i>Star Wars</i>’ Imperial economy. I’m not going to issue spoiler alerts prior to revealing that Luke Skywalker and
Princess Lea are the twin offspring of Darth Vader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And,
before you ask, I have no idea how the Skywalker lineage could possibly be in any
way relevant to the discussion of the behavior of imaginary economic actors in
a fictional imperial economy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But hey,
it’s economics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could come up. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, no one spins a good science fiction
yarn like Alan Greenspan.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With regard to trigger warnings:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Trigger warnings are for intellectual sissies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There was a story in the <i>NY Times</i> last summer about English Literature
majors in American universities demanding trigger warnings for each book that
had content a student reading it might find disturbing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To my mind any Lit majors making such demands should immediately and
forthwith be drummed out of the Literature program and have their library privileges revoked. Literature is no place for the
faint of heart.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The job of literature in general and science fiction in particular
is to disturb; to move readers outside the comforts of their closeted day to
day, to give them a peek over the walls of conventional wisdom and cause them readers
to question what they had previously thought to be unshakable truths. Shelly's <i>Frankenstein</i>, Orwell's <i>1984</i>, Leguin's <i>The Left Hand of Darkness</i> and Delaney's <i>Dhalgren</i> all rattled the crockery of convention when they were published, and the tremors they set in motion still reverberate today.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If I’m doing my job right you’re going to read something
that discomforts you now and again. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The
Reach</i> isn’t here to pad the corners of the universe or to make readers feel
safe. Reading is not a safe activity.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Books are dangerous things.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>Literacy,
real literacy, requires courage.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-42656490063212693972014-11-21T04:22:00.001-08:002018-03-29T07:46:38.257-07:00Not a Review of Interstellarby J. D. Popham <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xRls4AyLEX4/VG8nPhgtpVI/AAAAAAAAAPw/5z_jQ52eom0/s1600/Interstellar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="83" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xRls4AyLEX4/VG8nPhgtpVI/AAAAAAAAAPw/5z_jQ52eom0/s1600/Interstellar.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
I went to see <i>Interstellar</i> over the weekend. Interesting movie. If <i>The Grapes of Wrath</i> and <i>2001 A Space Odyssey</i> had gotten together and had a baby it would probably look something like <i>Interstellar</i>. But I’m not here to review <i>Interstellar</i>. Instead I want to talk about the larger science fiction story lurking beyond the edges of <i>Interstellar</i>.<br />
<br />
As you’ll know from various reviews, the central premise of <i>Interstellar</i> is that Earth is on the verge of becoming so inhospitable to human beings that the species is faced with the choice of moving off-world or becoming extinct. Of course, humans have never had the lift technology needed to send even a fraction of our population into space, and aren’t likely to develop it in the future. And even if we did, Earth is so far out in the galactic boondocks that any potentially habitable planets are beyond our reach. <br />
<br />
Happily for humanity, some anonymous fifth dimensional benefactors have apparently detected our plight and opened up a wormhole out near Saturn. At the other end of this wormhole are, not one, not two, but three planets that look at least marginally habitable. Early on in <i>Interstellar</i>, we are told that scientists are working on two separate plans for using this wormhole to save the human race from group suffocation. <br />
<br />
Plan A involves mucking about with gravity (using insights gained from our fifth dimensional friends’ bending of time and space) in order to lift some really, really massive space stations off Earth. Once in space these city sized craft would gravitate their way out to Saturn, through the wormhole, and on to humanity’s new home on the other side. Of course Plan A depends on Michael Caine cracking the physics of gravitational manipulation in order to succeed. To that end he remains on Earth, writing out reams of equations while a crew of intrepid explorers travel through the wormhole to select humanity’s destination.<br />
<br />
Now, it is possible that the secret to manipulating gravity is beyond even Michael Caine’s awesome intellect, and Earth’s human population is be doomed to perish in place. In that case humanity’s future will depend on Plan B. Our intrepid explorers have brought along with them a large cryo-bank of fertilized human eggs (and, one assumes, the means to bring them to term without Anne Hathaway having to carry all the maternal freight for the first few generations). In the event Michal Caine’s calculations fail, Plan B calls for the team of astronauts to establish a colony on one of the three candidate planets, and there birth and raise a smallish generation or two from the egg bank. Those generations will then birth and raise increasingly larger generations, until a self-sustaining population with sufficient genetic diversity has been established. <br />
<br />
At the end of<i> Interstellar</i>, both Plan A and Plan B have been executed. At least some of Earth’s population has been lifted from Earth in massive space stations and these stations gravitate merrily about the Solar System. And yet, while enough time has passed that a few generations have been born and raised on the stations, no one on Earth's side of the wormhole seems terribly interested in traveling through to the other side and establishing a new home on a new world. The Earth-born seem content with their nomadic lot. There is baseball on the stations and, we assume, all the cultural comforts that it implies. Perhaps, having barely avoided extinction on Earth, they are reluctant to trust themselves to the hardships and uncertain mercies of planetary life.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, on the other side of the wormhole the astronauts, believing Plan A to have failed, have fallen back on plan B. The cryo-bank has been deployed and the first generation, we assume, are merrily gestating their way toward birth. A new human race, which has only the most tenuous connections to Earth, its cultures and human ancestors is underway. <br />
<br />
So there we are: Two parallel human civilizations separated not by mere terrestrial geography, but by a nigh untraversable expanse of galactic real estate. Their only means of contact is through a wormhole, and humanity’s friends from the fifth dimension have given no indication as to how long that interstellar emergency exit will be held open. It’s entirely possible that the two human civilizations could be separated for tens of thousands of years if not forever, without contact. The Earth-born might never know of their lab-born kindred, and the lab-born would only know stories of lost Earth through tales passed down across the generations, those tales becoming entwined with and indistinguishable from that culture’s own unearthly myths and legends. <br />
<br />
<i>Interstellar</i> sets the stage for the opening act of an Homeric science fiction saga that looms in the shadows just beyond the<i></i> end titles. Given the rich story-telling possibilities inherent in the film’s end position, I couldn’t help but feel a bit cheated when the lights came up. It was as if the filmmakers had filmed a prologue and left the story proper, the story I really wanted to see and hear, on the cutting room floor. <br />
<br />
Failure of imagination? Possibly. Or a matter of artistic temperament. Christopher Nolan’s movies turn inward rather than outward, tending toward the claustrophobic spaces of an individual’s dreams, memories and illusions. Or Gotham City. Even <i>Interstellar</i>, set in the vastness of space, has a somewhat closed-in feel, maintaining as it does a largely inward focus on a few characters and the small spaces they occupy. Nolan rarely pulls the camera back to let the audience take in the larger view. Even if he were mindful of the larger story he'd set up, grandeur and sweeping epics are not his idiom. <br />
<br />
I tend to call these abandoned or ignored bits of narrative 'found science fiction'. You see them all the time once you start looking for them. Every story occurs within the context of a larger narrative, and stray plot lines, walk-on characters or roads not taken by one author are fodder for the imagination of another.<br />
<br />
As I left the theater that night some new characters were murmuring in the back of my mind, and new plot lines began to unfold around them. I walked the cold streets of DC with my head down, lost in thought, spinning stories. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-4677749456437139052014-11-04T10:36:00.002-08:002018-03-29T07:47:01.133-07:00Book Review: Lock In, by John Scalzi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rxie2TJcvXA/VD53vsOEWDI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/loKdWRTJhWY/s1600/Lock%2BIn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rxie2TJcvXA/VD53vsOEWDI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/loKdWRTJhWY/s1600/Lock%2BIn.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Reviewed by J. D. Popham</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">John Scalzi writes nice science
fiction. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is to say that while minds are not blown, paradigms are not shifted and hearts are not moved when Scalzi takes up the pen, he does tell a likable story in a prose style that makes said story go down easily. Like most of his books, <i>Lock In</i> is not
particularly profound or original, but at the same time it is charming, entertaining, inoffensive, and modestly clever so long as one doesn’t think too much while reading it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i> </i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i>Lock In</i>,<i> </i>a near-future police procedural, has all the qualities one wants in a good airplane read. </span>I expect to see many copies of it in airport bookstores during my travels next year.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, lest you think I am damning either <i>Lock In</i> or Mr. Scalzi's writing with faint praise, understand the high value I place on airplane reading. When packed along with in excess of
two hundred other people into an aluminum tube 30,000 feet above the ground for
five hours, one wants as many of those people as possible reading the sort of
charming and inoffensive prose Scalzi produces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thus entertained, they are less likely to wax wroth when a reclining
airline seat bashes them in the knees, the passenger next to them gets
territorial about the shared arm-rest, or a nearby one-year-old expresses displeasure or discomfort with the in-flight service in extreme tones.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One should never underestimate the value of a charming read.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The main driver of events in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lock In</i> occurs in 2028, when the world is struck by a flu-like
pandemic that leaves roughly one percent of those infected ‘locked in’; to
outward appearances in a comatose state, yet conscious, aware and able to
perceive most of what goes on about them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With no cure or preventative for the virus on the horizon and with the
medical community unable to unlock the locked in, the government spends lavishly
on an aggressive technological program intended to develop means of releasing the
afflicted from captivity within their own bodies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The result of this program are advanced telepresence
technologies and the infrastructure needed to support them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A specialized neural/IT interface surgically
implanted in the brains of the locked in (or ‘Haydens’ as they’re called in the
novel) allows them to project their presence via the internet into a robotic
body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haydens use these robotic bodies, called
‘threeps’ (owing to their resemblance to a certain movie robot) to interact with
the physical world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to occupying robotic bodies,
Haydens are capable of ‘borrowing’ or doing a ride-along in the bodies of Integrators;
an Integrator being one of a small population of able-bodied persons augmented
with the neural/IT interface for that purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lastly Haydens are able to use the new technologies to exist as a
virtual presence in a sophisticated online space called the Agora, reserved exclusively for
their use.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After establishing most of this backdrop with a short
prologue, Scalzi introduces his protagonist, the newly minted FBI agent Chris
Shane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shane is a Hayden, having been locked-in since childhood, which means that his day-to-day duties are performed via his robotic 'threep'. As a novice FBI agent, Shane is partnered with an experienced colleague; the hard-bitten and hard-living Agent Vann. Vann is a former Integrator. She has a bad reputation with the local police, a penchant for smoking, drinking and ass-chasing, and a closely held back-story that, we are are assured, explains her private pain and public dysfunction.<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As a Hayden and a former Integrator, Shane and Vann </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">are the FBI's go-to team for Hayden related crime. Because of the advanced telepresence at the disposal of Haydens, a Hayden whose actual body is in Topeka can commit a crime in Washington, DC via a threep. Hence crimes committed by and against Haydens tend to cross state lines and thus fall within the FBI's bailiwick. As there seem to be only two agents assigned to this line of inquiry it would seem </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">that Haydens are a fairly well behaved lot. Happily </span>for the reader, before agents Shane and Vann even shake hands on his first day, a violent Hayden-related murder occurs and we're off to the races.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As tends to occur in books like <i>Lock In</i>, the initial murder is not a stand-alone event, but the first in a trail of breadcrumbs that leads the two agents and the reader toward a larger conspiracy rife with murder and financial intrigue. This is where Scalzi is at his best. He is an engaging story-teller with an prose style that goes down easily and a plot that unfolds smoothly. His characters, while not particularly interesting, perform according to spec and in a manner calculated to please the reader. The good guys are likable, the bad guys are jerks and the reader isn't overly challenged when it comes to telling the former from the latter. While occasional information dumps are used to to provide the reader details about the t</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">elepresence technologies on which the plot hinges, Scalzi keeps them reasonably integrated i</span>nto the story.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Despite the deftness with which Scalzi handles his descriptions of the </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">technologies developed for the use of those suffering Hayden's syndrome, the way he uses them </span>is a central weakness of <i>Lock In</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In order for the novel to work as a police procedural
Scalzi continually places limits and qualifications on the book's telepresence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> He boxes </span>in the technology so that it can only be used in a manner that will support the who-done-it in progress. That is where <i>Lock In</i> becomes awkward and ungainly despite Scalzi's best efforts. While he provides long passages devoted to explaining
why these technological limitations exist, most don't pass the credibility sniff test. They only make sense in terms of keeping the police procedural bits of the story from running off the tracks, and explaining why two trained FBI agents overlook clues that
are immediately evident to the reader, or why they insist on taking at face value events that are obviously intended to deceive them.<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For all its charm, <i>Lock In</i> punches through the credibility envelope early and often. </span>Nothing in Scalzi's near future seems quite right because, like its technologies, everything in the story is somewhat skewed to serve the book's mechanics. FBI agents fail to behave like FBI agents, lawyers fail to behave like lawyers and businesspersons fail to behave like businesspersons. Secondary characters are, for the most part, straw-man characters; set up to be easily knocked down. Their actions take place not because they makes sense, but to facilitate the hero's heroics and to make sure the story has a happy ending.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Who the perps are in <i>Lock In</i>, as well as their motives and methods of operation, will be evident early on for readers who care to focus on such things. In that sense this book is very much like the many police procedural series that populate cable channels these days. The point is not to puzzle you, challenge you or</span> make you think, but to allow you to disengage your brain, let the scenery go by, and enjoy the story and its atmospherics on the story-teller's terms. From a financial standpoint passive entertainment is the foundation of the modern entertainment industry. And if that's the sort of good time you're looking for, you should be quite happy with <i>Lock In</i>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">John Scalzi has stated on a number of occasions that he approaches writing as a business. He plans his books as financial as well as a creative endeavors, and writes with a specific audience and the publishing industry's marketing needs in mind. This is a solid formula for financial success in the writing trade. Unfortunately, it also tends to result in a certain lack of creative daring; it tends to result in nice, inoffensive science fiction. I believe Mr. Scalzi has the
creative wherewithal to write great science fiction. However, for that to occur he'll have to let his imagination off-leash to gambol and play at the edge
of the abyss.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In that sense,<i> Lock In</i> disappoints and represents a missed opportunity. If the author had taken the rather linear 'what-if' premise at the center of <i>Lock In</i> and run
it through a few ninety degree turns and inverted spins, he might have taken us to someplace amazing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alas, 'nice' books don't
visit such places. </span></div>
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<![endif]-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-13815902955123757542014-10-16T10:53:00.001-07:002018-03-29T07:47:25.669-07:00Aye, and Zelazny.by J. D. Popham<br />
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If you wish to write good stories, you must read good stories, and among the best in the science fiction and fantasy genre are those written by Roger Zelazny. Many readers will only be acquainted with Zelazny though his <i>Amber</i> novels; a ten-book fantasy series published over the course of twenty years. So it may come as a surprise that I regard Zelazny primarily as a Science Fiction writer, albeit one who infused science fiction with myth and legend, treating the two genres as a continuum rather than drawing hard lines between them.<br />
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Zelazny was a word man, which is to say he delighted in the sound of words at play, and his books and stories reflect that delight. As an undergraduate he studied Jacobean literature and, if you have the wit to listen for it, the spirit of John Donne hovers at the edges of his prose. It was not uncommon for him to deliver dialogue with Elizabethan flourish, only to punctuate it with a bit of 1960s East Village beatnik (which drove Ursula K LeGuin just a little bit crazy). He was insatiably curious, forever reading new authors and auditing classes on a diverse set of subjects. He once commented that, if he weren't a writer, he'd enjoy working in an old-fashioned hardware store because all the humble bits and pieces that underpin civilization can be found in the aisles, and received a flood of employment offers (which he politely declined). All of this informed his prose, yet his prose is never inaccessible.<i> </i><br />
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<i>Lord of Light</i> and a few of Zelazney's non-Amber related novels are still in print and, though rarely stocked at bookstores, are easy to find online. If you have not read Zelazny's <i>Lord of Light</i>, go do so. Do it now. Really. Stop reading this blog, go lay hands on a copy of <i>Lord of Light</i> and read it. It is one of my favorites and every now and then I re-read it just to recall how good at telling a story he was.<br />
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Unfortunately his novel <i>Doorways in the Sand </i>appears to be out of print altogether, which is a shame as it's also high on my recommended reading list, though used versions if it are still to be found. It's a very different book from <i>Lord of Light</i>. <i>Doorways</i> is straight-up science fiction, a near-future story of interstellar intrigue involving an acrophiliac undergrad, undercover aliens, extraterrestrial artifacts, the Lady with the smile and the Crown Jewels of England. It's Zelazny at his best; words at play in a wry and playful book.<br />
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Much of Zelazny's short and novella-length fiction has gone out of print in the mainstream press and become wicked hard to lay hands on. I have a very old and much thumbed copy of the Avon printing of <i>The Doors of His Face, The Lamps Of His Mouth</i>, a collection of short stories from Zelazny's early days. I bought it at Savran's Book Store on Cedar/Riverside in Minneapolis back in the day when there was a Savran's Book Store on Cedar/Riverside in Minneapolis. Which is to say I've had it for a long time. I hold onto it like grim death not only for sentimental reasons, but also because the book has become irreplaceable. Like much of his short and mid length fiction, <i>The Doors of His Face, The Lamps Of His Mouth </i>hasn't graced the shelves of bookstores for a long time.<br />
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So it was with a certain delight that I stumbled across the New England Science Fiction Association's hard-bound six volume set of Zelazny's stories last month. <i>The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny</i> is an impressive offering. Not only are Zelazny's published stories collected, but most of his unpublished stories as well, along with a number of essays Zelazny wrote for various markets over the years. Chris Kovacs' literary biography of Zelazny, titled <i>...And Call Me Roger</i> is spread in sections across the six volumes, and most of Zelazny's stories are followed by some comments on the piece by the author. It's interesting to note that often Zelazny's commentary had to be cobbled together using snippets from a number of sources. Zelazny had, as he put it, a bug about privacy, and was rarely given to talking much about himself or his work; a rare quality in today's social media saturated world.<br />
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Robert Silverberg provided a general introduction to the overall collection, and Carl Yoke, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Walter Jon Williams, Neil Gaiman, David
G. Hartwell, Joe Haldeman, Steven Brust, Melinda Snodgrass, George
R. R. Martin, Jane Lindskold, Gerald Hausman and Gardner Dozois each contributed introductions to the individual volumes. The introductions I have read so far are striking. There is nothing pro-forma about them. Written by authors, many of them luminaries in their own light, their respect for Zelazny the writer and an honest warmth toward Zelazny the person are evident.<br />
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And I have the sense that I have met the man they describe. However private and retiring Zelazny was, his presence couldn't hide behind his prose. It's good to know that the author, as recalled by his friends and colleagues, is the same one I've known all these years through his writing. He has been my companion for a very long time; since I met him at the tail end of the alphabet in the science fiction section in Savran's Book Store on Cedar/Riverside.<br />
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If you haven't already, I highly recommend you make Roger Zelazny's acquaintance.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-8763734407913852682014-10-12T12:34:00.002-07:002018-12-16T12:06:14.187-08:00Book Review: I Robot: To Obey, by Mickey Zucker ReichertReviewed by J. D. Popham<br />
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Mickey Zucker Reichert's <i>Isaac Asimov's I Robot: To Obey, </i>published by Penguin Random's ROC imprint<i> </i>is a testament to the greed of publishers and the sad state of science fiction today.<br />
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It is a profoundly bad piece of writing in almost every respect.<br />
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Reichert's characters in <i>To Obey</i> are flat and uninteresting, the prose is turgid and shot through with information dumps, and the plot devices are both awkward and transparent. The action sequences in <i>To Obey</i> are some of the worst I have ever forced myself to read through. The author has managed to write a tech thriller that is almost completely devoid of thrills or technology. If that weren't sufficient, Reichert has managed to avoid even the faintest evocation of the eponymous Asimov Robot novels, and gets almost everything to do with Asimov's robots and Susan Calvin completely wrong.<br />
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The novel's central conflict involves the efforts of a crew of jack-booted government thugs to upend the three laws of robotics; laws central to the functioning of the robots' positronic brains that make them incapable, through action or inaction, of harming humans. As written by Isaac Asimov, Susan Calvin was a leading mind in the early days of U.S. Robotics and Mechanical Men, and would have been a reasonable target for evildoers seeking to bypass the three laws for their own nefarious ends. However, Reichert's Susan Calvin possesses none of the original's cold passion for robotics. In <i>I, Robot: To Obey</i>, Calvin is a second year Psychiatry resident (Asimov's Susan Calvin had a PhD in Psychology and was not an MD) with minimal insight into or interest in robots. She is thus an unlikely target for evildoers with robotic mayhem on their minds. To properly motivate the men in black hats, Reichert must provide Calvin with a father who is a famed robotics engineer at U. S. Robots. The shadowy government conspirators believe Susan possesses a key developed by her father that will turn helpful and harmless robots into ruthless killing machines.<br />
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Unfortunately, these plot developments are back-loaded into the second half of the novel. To arrive at them the reader must trudge through chapter after dreary chapter of back-story, explications, office politics, and office banter with co-workers and side-kicks. When the intrigue portion of the book finally gets underway, it clanks and grinds its way into motion in a manner more mechanical than even the most primitive of Asimov's robots. Reichert's writing becomes ever more ungathered and her characters' actions ever less credible as the author attempts to force dramatic tension into the novel's flaccid story-line. As the novel collapses across the finish-line, one has to wonder whether Reichert's heart was in the writing of <i>I Robot, To Obey. </i><br />
<br />
In this book Reichert shows an utter lack of imagination when it comes to writing futurist fiction. While the sole robot inhabiting <i>I Robot: To Obey</i> is so advanced it is indistinguishable from a human (sparing Reichert the toil of writing a credible robot character), her world of 2036 is otherwise 2013 with a few very cosmetic changes overlaid. Medicine, for example, has not advanced at all and the futuristic medical resident Susan Calvin spends her days treating 2013 diseases with 2013 medical technology, and the residents are still wondering whether 'retarded' is an appropriate term to use with their patients. (Perhaps all the research grants went to robotics.) A 'vox' subs in for a smart phone, a 'floater' stands in for the bus, and evil government employees bent on subverting Asimov's three laws hide guns in their underwear. Otherwise, at least in Mickey Reichert's imagination, the trip between now and 2036 is going to be one hell of a dull ride. <br />
<br />
"I Robot: To Obey" has every hallmark of a cash grab by Reichert and her publishers at ROC. Both they and Reichert should be ashamed, not only for inflicting this book on the SF market, but for the damage they have done to the Asimov name and brand as well. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-81543805794199098362014-10-03T08:48:00.002-07:002018-03-29T08:48:19.216-07:00The State of the Genre<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->by J. D.Popham<br />
<br />
There are two things for which I’m actively searching these days.<br />
<br />
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The first is a good coffee house or café. You’d be surprised how hard it is to find a place with a “just so” combination of good coffee and a creative ambiance in DC. Starbucks and Pain Quotidian are too institutional and the food is unappealing. The coffee shop at Politics & Prose is too small and usually crammed with double-wide strollers. Then there’s the small indie coffee shop a few blocks away with the uninteresting and poorly lit interior that serves marginal coffee; I think not. I had hopes for the recently opened Bread Furst, which is a solid fit to my needs. Sadly, many others share that opinion and its tables are occupied as soon as it opens; an eloquent statement on DC’s unsatisfied demand for good places to sit and think.<br />
<br />
Am I being too demanding; setting the bar too high? Oh, yes. Yes I am. Life is too short to spend on bad coffee and unpleasant surroundings.<br />
<br />
The other thing I’m looking for is decent science fiction novels to review.<br />
<br />
Finding any reasonably good new science fiction novels seems a chore these days. Really. I swear, the state of the genre where novels are concerned is nothing short of woeful. And bear in mind, my internal measuring stick for ‘woeful’ is pretty low. Science fiction has always been a continuum when it comes to style and quality, with one foot firmly rooted in the pulps of the early 20th century. Squids from space, Bug Eyes Monsters (or BEMs as they are sometimes called) and granite-jawed starship officers legitimately share the science fiction table with Pyanfar Chanur, Valentine Michael Smith, Therem Harth rem ir Estraven, and Hari Seldon. However, even if one allows for a healthy dose of pulpy goodness, an inordinately large percentage of the science fiction hitting the retail outlets these days is mind-bogglingly awful. The genre science fiction novel is, from a critical stand point, in deep decline.<br />
<br />
Fantasy has not suffered a similar drop in quality over the years. Quite the contrary, in fact. There are a lot of good writers putting out a lot of good fantasy novels. There’s some bad stuff of course, but as with any genre fiction that’s to be expected. The bad writers are generally kept at the fringes of the market by ample competition from capable writers. This suggests that the fantasy’s talent basket is much fuller than science fiction’s. Which may explain the prevalence of post-apocalyptic and zombie novels in the current science fiction market, as those sub-genres tend to unfold as fantasy with only trace quantities of science fiction in their make-up. Thus a certain amount of overflow of writers from the crowded fantasy market into those sub-genres is reasonable.<br />
<br />
As I’ve written <a href="http://theinfinitereach.blogspot.com/2014/07/those-deep-down-dystopian-post.html">elsewhere</a>, I believe the reason for the decline in the science fiction novel is a generational failure of imagination and a growing pessimism. As a culture we’ve become increasingly mistrustful of science and people in the sciences. We increasingly treat science and the laws of nature as if they were offerings at a Mongolian barbecue, selecting only the bits of science that don’t discomfort us, that don’t cause moral or political indigestion. Denial of established science has become commonplace and, worst of all, tolerated, as though immunology and climate science were like politics or religion, matters of opinion or articles of faith. It’s no wonder that fantasy and zombies are the hot ticket these days for writers of speculative fiction.<br />
<br />
What's to be done? Well, as I often say, you can only begin from where you are.<br />
<br />
For myself I will put more emphasis into reviewing science fiction. And in so doing I’ll be tossing aside the rule of thumb about not saying anything at all if there’s nothing nice to say. I’m finding that too many reviewers of science fiction would rather not review a book at all than to give the book a bad review. I’m not here to get invited to the right parties or to be fawned on by publishers. I’m here for the stories. I’ll be unstinting with praise when I find a rare jewel, but I won’t be shy about taking the rod to a bad piece of work, even when written by an author who’s well respected by me or beloved by the SMOF community.<br />
<br />
Going forward I will have a few rules of engagement:<br />
<br />
The books must be recently published or forthcoming. A few weeks ago I asked a publisher what science fiction they had by female authors that was new or recent and was provided a title that had been in print for more than a year. The nerve, I tell you. <br />
<br />
The books must feature stories in which science is an essential element. Which is to say, no subbing in ray guns for six shooters and no time vortexes that lead a modern lass to romance in 17th century Scotland. No space westerns and no science fiction romance or other non-SF genres dressed up as SF. <br />
<br />
I won’t review post-apocalyptic fiction or novels featuring zombies or zombie surrogates. Not even if they're martians who happen to behave like zombies. Just no. <br />
<br />
No full reviews for truly awful prose. However novels containing passages such as<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Sweat dripped from his lean frame and his muscles writhed with intoxicating interest – the women couldn’t tear their gazes from him.” (Vaughn Heppner, <i>The Lost Starship</i>) </blockquote>
will be called out as objects of derision and scorn in periodic “Authors Who Must be Stopped” lists. We shall point fingers at them and laugh. <br />
<br />
Am I being too demanding; setting the bar too high? Oh, yes. Yes I am.
As with coffee, life is too short to spend on bad fiction.<br />
<br />
I don’t expect I’ll make friends doing this. Nor do I expect that <i>The Infinite Reach</i>, an admittedly small patch of literary earth, will influence much or many. Oh, it might nudge things, ever so slightly, in the right direction but not much more. Given that, why bother. Why not just go along to get along? I suppose it’s because science fiction and I go way back, because some debts should be paid. <br />
<br />
As ever, I’m here for the stories.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-19113522606542877442014-08-18T09:10:00.004-07:002018-03-29T08:40:43.590-07:00Tor and the 2014 Hugo Awards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p9V7SMV16hw/U_Ib_VjnYlI/AAAAAAAAAOc/jfTnVq464aw/s1600/hugo_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p9V7SMV16hw/U_Ib_VjnYlI/AAAAAAAAAOc/jfTnVq464aw/s1600/hugo_sm.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
by J. D. Popham<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.thehugoawards.org/2014/08/2014-hugo-award-winners/">2014 Hugo Awards</a> were held yesterday at the World Science Fiction Convention, hosted this year by Loncon3, the London Science Fiction Convention. I walked away from this year's ceremony with three main observations: <br />
<br />
First, <i>Ancillary Justice</i>, Ann Leckie's first novel, picked up a well-deserved win for best novel. <i>Ancillary</i> is thoughtful, well written and a good story well told in the best tradition of Science Fiction. Ms. Leckie's novel pretty much ran the table for awards in its category this year. <i>Ancillary Justice</i> won the Arthur C. Clarke award (for Science Fiction first published in the United Kingdom), the Nebula Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) and the Locus award for best first novel. Taken together, this represents a rare consensus across the Science Fiction/Fantasy community with regard to the quality of Ann Leckie's work.<br />
<br />
Second, <i>Game of Thrones, 'The Rains of Castamere'</i> won the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. During the presentation (which was broadcast on UStream TV) there was a bit of snarking on Twitter that at least it didn't go to <i>Dr. Who</i>. This puzzled fellow blogger <a href="http://floor-to-ceiling-books.blogspot.co.uk/">Amanda Rutter </a>from England, who asked whether there was some backlash behind the sniping at the beloved BBC series.<br />
<br />
The answer is that the good Doctor has been dominating this category for the last ten years. In fact on this year's ballot alone the Time Lord occupied three of the six final nominations for the category, with two episodes from the show itself (<i>The Day of the Doctor</i> and <i>In the Name of the Doctor)</i> and one comedic send-up of the show (<i>The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot)</i>. While <i>Game of Thrones</i> has won this category two years running (winning with<i> Game of Thrones, 'Blackwater' </i>in 2013<i>)</i>, <i>Doctor Who</i> has not had fewer than two nominations in the category since 2005. From 2006 to 2012 the good Doctor pretty much owned Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, losing only once; in 2009 (the year of the great television writers' strike) to Joss Whedon's <i>Dr. Horribles' Sing Along Blog</i>. <br />
<br />
I enjoy <i>Doctor Who</i> very much. However, it would be wise for the Hugo Awards to limit final nominations for shows in an episode format to one episode. Allowing a single television show, however popular, to occupy multiple slots on the final nomination ballot presents a myopic view of the state of the art. There's a lot of excellent Science Fiction and Fantasy being produced in short form these days that are well regarded by fandom, but looking at the Hugo ballot the last few years, one would think that weren't the case. Limiting final nominees by a single franchise would present a more expansive view of what fandom is watching. <br />
<br />
Finally, you'll recall I pointed out earlier this year that Tor Books is very far ahead of the other Science Fiction and Fantasy imprints when it comes to proactive outreach to the fan community. Their website, <a href="http://tor.com/">Tor.com</a>, does more than merely flog it's latest offerings and broadcast marketing-chum onto the web. Tor maintains a family of bloggers whose writings inform opinion for much of Science Fiction and Fantasy fandom. It publishes short stories, novellettes and novellas and has the resources needed to ensure good quality both in terms of the fiction acquired and the editing and presentation of that fiction on its web site. The authors, bloggers and editors in the Tor community know each other
and each others' work. Fans who visit and read the Tor website know
them as well. <br />
<br />
And you can see the pay-off on Tor's community building strategy in this year's Hugo Awards. Tor authors won the Hugo's in the short story, novella and novelette categories. Ellen Datlow, a Tor editor, won the Hugo for Best Editor, Short Form. Aidan Moher, whose <i>A Dribble of Ink</i> won the Hugo for Best Fanzine is a former member of the Tor.com blogger community. This doesn't mean Tor expects its community to vote in lock-step, but that Tor understands that people in a community tend to look kindly on works by their peers within that community and that translates into both votes and vote recommendations.<br />
<br />
Of course winning Hugos in the shorter fiction forms doesn't automatically translate to revenue for Tor. However, it goes a long way toward reinforcing the image of the Tor brand and the Tor community as a center of quality in Science Fiction and Fantasy fandom. It creates pride and shared accomplishment within the Tor community - a sense of 'Look what we did'. So, when Tor promotes books to that community, readers and writers therein are much more likely to consider reading those books and then going on to generate positive social media buzz for those books they enjoy. <br />
<br />
What I find fascinating is that none of Tor's competitors seem minded to repeat Tor's success in this area. While Tor's website has become an internet destination for SF&F fandom, <a href="http://www.orbitbooks.net/">Orbit</a>, <a href="http://www.delreyuk.com/">Del Rey</a>, <a href="http://harpervoyagerbooks.com/">Harper Voyager</a>, <a href="http://www.angryrobotbooks.com/">Angry Robot</a>, <a href="http://www.penguin.com/meet/publishers/daw/">DAW</a>, <a href="http://www.penguin.com/read/category/scifi-fantasy/">AceRoc </a>and the rest of the Science Fiction and Fantasy imprints, all seem flat-footed and crude when it comes to their presence on the web. Their websites and social media broadcasts announce their presence and push product, but little more. While they seem to view social media as mere digital billboards for peddling their imprints, Tor is integrating themselves into the fan's Science Fiction and Fantasy
experience.<br />
<br />
So props go to Tor this Hugo season. Congratulations, and well done. As for the rest of the SF&F imprints, you might want to slip out of your bow-ties and eye-shades, get off the sidelines and into the game. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-38545382043488100302014-08-11T12:48:00.000-07:002019-04-05T06:59:50.783-07:00Television Review: The Strain <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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by J. D. Popham<br />
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As I've mentioned <a href="http://theinfinitereach.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-heirs-of-scheherazade.html">previously</a>, there's a lot of good Science Fiction and Fantasy turning up on television these days. However, an ongoing bone on the throat for me is television's insufferable vampire dependency. Or maybe it's television enabling the public's insufferable vampire dependency. Anyway, suffice it to say that I reached vampire overload some years ago. I find vampire fiction trite, boring and unoriginal. It's been done to death and back again. It's the same stupid story and I don't care how much we like to hear it over and over and <i>over</i> again, The last thing television landscape needs is a widening of the already yawing vampire narrative sink-hole. I swear, I'd trade every vampire show on the air for one decent space-based science fiction series.<br />
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It is therefore with considerable chagrin I must admit that one of the best SFF shows of this Summer involves (sigh, you guessed it) vampires. <br />
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I have to confess I've been enjoying FX's series <i>The Strain</i>, based on Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan's three book vampire series. Now, in my defense I have to say that I was sucked in by the visuals and promos before I knew I was dealing with vampires. It looked as though FX was planning a sciencey <i>Body-Snatchers</i> meets <i>Contagion</i> mash-up with great production values. Which was clever on the part of FX. By the time I realized <i>The Strain</i> was a vampire-driven series they'd gotten past my guard and I was looking forward to the pilot. <br />
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To an extent, the early episodes have followed the <i>Body-Snatchers</i> meets <i>Contagion </i>theme I was anticipating.<i> </i>And in large part it's that Science Fiction take that's allowed the show to stand out from the usual suspects in the vampire line-up. <i>The Strain</i> thus far treats vampirism as an ugly and virulent vector-borne disease: a parasitic virus that kills its host and then animates the dead host's body as a means of transmitting itself further. Not only does it re-animate the body, it remakes it; rewriting the host's genetic pattern to create a form optimal to the disease's needs.<br />
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As a result the vampires of <i>The Strain</i> retain only the most basic human parameters. There is nothing romantic, sulky or debonaire with these blood-suckers. Rather we're treated to decidedly inhuman predators in whose presence humans cease to occupy the top rung in the food chain. These are feral monsters that project six-foot long 'stingers' from their mouths through which they ingest their victim's blood and inject into said victim the tiny worm-like creatures that transmit their disease; thereby feeding and reproducing at once. Oh, and they defecate while they feed, and I don't see anyone in the paranormal romance business making that look suave or sexy anytime soon. It's a nice touch that serves to move the creature firmly beyond the boundaries of human-kind. <br />
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Alas, del Toro and Hogan didn't have the courage to trim away a number of weary vampire tropes when writing the books on which the series is based. The vampires are controlled by a central consciousness; an uber-vampire predictably called 'The Master', who spends his days in an ornately carved dirt-filled coffin. Abraham Setrakian (David Bradly), aging vampire hunter and Latvian survivor of the Holocaust is a stand in for Van Helsing. The vampires are vulnerable to ultra-violet light, and are best dispatched using silver, with the body beheaded and burned afterwards. It's not surprising, I suppose. Del Toro has always had a soft-spot for bringing old lore into the light of the present day. And Setrakian's silver sword is quite an attractive accessory, just the sort of visual del Toro loves. I expect you'll be able to order it on-line in time for next year's Comic-Con. <br />
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Eph Goodweather (Corey Stoll), the CDC doctor in charge when the contagion arrives by jet-liner at Kennedy airport, and the series' main protagonist, is a scientist's man of science. He is suddenly in over his head, trapped between the political maneuverings of his superiors and a plague so unlikely that he has trouble convincing himself of its true nature, let alone anyone else. With the situation relentlessly slipping out of control, he's forced to abandon the usual medical protocols and depend on the advice of Setrakian, who Goodweather had previously dismissed as a disaster-chasing crank. And, of course, the more stridently Goodweather insists all is not well, the more unsettling his discoveries, the more marginalized he becomes from the CDC and those with the power to take effective action.<br />
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Alas, I fear the science fiction bit aspects of the show will not last much longer, though the show-runners are obviously making an effort to keep <i>The Strain</i> from going full-vampire as long as possible. Eventually science will have to take the back seat before it is finally abandoned by the side of the road, and we'll move from a science fiction/horror hybrid to an old testament/horror hybrid with post-apocalyptic overtones. I won't say precisely how or why that's the case. Suffice it to say that the plot of the <i>The Strain</i> will eventually leave the science fiction environs and travel to musty and well-trodden places I prefer not to revisit, no matter how good the show's visuals and production values. <br />
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In the meantime, I'm content to sit back and enjoy the ride. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-636043807605868447.post-70290707834299370712014-07-24T05:23:00.003-07:002018-03-29T08:36:42.419-07:00Those Deep Down Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic Bluesby J. D. Popham<br />
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Post-Apocalyptic. Everyone's doing it.<br />
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In television, movies, books and games the sub-genre's gotten to be such common parlance that it practically needs no set-up. <span class="st">Throw a few overgrown, crumbling buildings onto a desolate landscape, drop in some distressed and abandoned </span><span class="st"><span class="st">cars and/or SUVs, cue the entrance of a scruffy looking wanderer (or group of wanderers) armed with a random assortment of high and low-tech weaponry, and the audience knows they're in </span></span><span class="st"><span class="st">a post-apocalyptic setting. </span></span><br />
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<span class="st">I get the attraction. Really, I do. Post-apocalyptic is easy. It's </span><span class="st"><span class="st">so easy that even mainstream literary writers like Lee, McCarthy and Lepucki are getting in the act. </span>It's science fiction without having to bother much with the pesky science bits. In fact most post-apocalyptic stories dispense with the science early on, if they bother with it at all, during the set-up. Take <a href="http://theinfinitereach.blogspot.com/2014/07/movie-review-dawn-of-planet-of-apes.html"><i>Dawn of the Planet of the Apes</i></a>, a recently released Summer blockbuster. In the film's prologue we learn that apes were made intelligent by a virus that, as an encore, all but wiped out humanity. After that, science is pretty much sent to the showers and the movie proper unfolds as social allegory and CGI battles scenes. </span><br />
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<span class="st">The Post-Apocalyptic movie and television show have become to the new millennium what the Western was to the mid-twentieth century. They are popular, action-oriented entertainments that are inexpensive to produce. And you can do pretty much as you like with zombies, mutants, aliens and the other stock villains of post-apocalyptic fiction. They can be as evil and threatening as you need them to be and you can kill them off in droves. No one's going to object that you're vilifying and misrepresenting an actual race of people European settlers drove to the very brink of extinction. Unlike Native Americans, zombies, aliens and post-apocalyptic mutants have the advantage of being fictional. They are the ultimate 'other' who can be exterminated wholesale without hesitation or moral qualm; a critical consideration if the excessive deployment of assault weapons and other small arms is central to a story's entertainment value.</span><br />
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The apocalypse used to be a bad thing. Some <span class="st">post-apocalyptic stories, such as Miller's <i>Canticle for Leibowitz</i>, </span>were cautionary tales warning us of the fragility of civilization and the dangers of technological hubris. In others, like David Brin's <i>The Postman</i>, the devolution of society after an apocalypse and our darker impulses are obstacles to be overcome in order to arrest the slide toward chaos. Still others examined the essential nature of the human society when a civilization arrived at over the course of thousands of years suddenly falls away.<br />
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Lately though, we've become jaded. The Post-Apocalyptic landscape has become so familiar, so laden down with tropes, that it's more theme-park than catastrophe in the popular imagination.<i> </i><br />
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<i>Zombieland</i>, for example, is a dark comedic romp where there's little remorse for civilization lost. Tallahassee, played by Woody Harrelson, a man without purpose in a civilized society, has found his true calling as a Post-Apocalyptic zombie killer. Jesse Eisenberg's Columbus has a shot at love with Emma Stone's Wichita, a woman who would be well out of his league if all the attractive guys hadn't been turned into the shambling undead. Aside from the dwindling supply of Hostess Twinkies, the apocalypse has been a net positive for the male protagonists of <i>Zombieland</i>.<br />
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Never mind that polio, cholera, mumps, measles and tetanus are far scarier than zombies when modern medicine doesn't have your back. There is money in pushing the post-apocalyptic world as a dystopian fantasy. A quick survey of the internet will reveal a surprising array of items for sale that no post-apocalyptic survivor would want to be without, from <a href="http://survivalcache.com/survival-gear-review-mainstay-3600-emergency-food-ration/">survival rations</a> to anti-zombie <a href="http://www.gerbergear.com/Apocalypse/Gear/Apocalypse-Kit_30-000601">cutlery</a> and <a href="http://www.midwayusa.com/product/966486/hornady-zombie-max-ammunition-45-acp-185-grain-z-max-flex-tip-expanding-box-of-20">ammunition</a>. Even the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm">CDC and FEMA</a> have leveraged our fascination with the zombie apocalypse and the end of civilization as we know it in order to promote emergency preparedness. This is not lost on risk-averse publishers and media execs who, perceiving the apocalypse as a sure thing, are sold on selling us the end of civilization. And so they do. Like a raging virus or the rampaging undead, post-apocalyptic fiction, movies and video are overwhelming the Science Fiction landscape.<span class="st"> </span><br />
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<span class="st">Like I said, I get it. Publishers and media execs are paid to make money, not to exercise artistic integrity. </span><span class="st">Post-apocalyptic is an easy sell and "It's the next Hunger Games" goes a long way toward getting a project green-lighted. But it's getting old. The apocalypse used to have shock value. Now it's just banal and depressing. Worst of all, it's become unimaginative, and that's exceedingly bad news for Science Fiction; a genre that is at its best when the imagination is in full flight.</span><br />
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<span class="st">Much has been written about the decline of Science Fiction. It is, I have to admit, a much less dynamic a form than it used to be. As writers we are decidedly <a href="http://www.studio360.org/story/power-of-positive-sci-fi/">less daring and creative</a> than we once were. I believe it is because we dream less expansively, less audaciously than we once did. We have lost our enthusiasm for the future. We have become tied down by convention, as if all the trappings of Science Fiction have been invented, all its stories told, and there is nowhere left in all the wide universe we have not gone.</span><br />
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<span class="st">Publishers bear some of the responsibility for this, favoring as they do books that align best with established marketing categories and sales projections. Following the current hot trend before it cools is the best way to get published, particularly if your book is structured and pitched as a potential series in the event it's a success. Post apocalyptic stories may be unimaginative, but they fit easily into a publisher's comfort zone and market forecast.</span><br />
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<span class="st">However, at the end of the day, we are in charge of what we dream, and responsible for the stories we tell. If we confine our dreams to the boundaries of popular culture or a publisher's sales plan, we have done both ourselves and the genre we love a great wrong.</span><br />
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<span class="st">I have a first edition of the <i>Adventures in Time and Space</i> anthology published in 1946 by Random House. Most of the stories in it, from John Campbell's <i>Astounding Stories</i>, are over seventy years old. They are products of their day and some wear their advanced years better than others. However, even the most cautionary of the authors' tales carry an unmistakable enthusiasm for the possibilities that lay before them. The world we live in was, to them, the stuff of dreams. And the stuff of their dreams shapes our world even now. </span><br />
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<span class="st">Dream lavishly, my friends. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0