Enchantment Is Fragile Magic
Hot off the electronic presses–SCI FI Wire just, and I mean just published a piece I wrote about Graham Joyce’s novel, The Limits of Enchantment, which is a World Fantasy Award finalist this year.
Lunar Exorcises Ellis’ Ghosts
Today, SCI FI Wire published a piece I wrote about Bret Easton Ellis’s World Fantasy Award nomination for his novel, Lunar Park.
Anders’s Laws of Editing
Check out Lou Anders’s excellent “Three Laws of Editing” (modeled on Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics). As someone in the comment thread points out, it might be better to call it the “Three Laws of Publishing,” since it has to do with acquisitions, not actual editing, but still, check it out. Be sure to check out the comments for Paul Cornell’s comment, which is pretty damn funny.
Slush Trends: Post-Apocalyptic SF
If you’re thinking of writing a post-apocalyptic story right now, you might want to hold off for a bit and work on other things. At the moment, it seems like at least 75% of the SF we’re seeing is, if not strictly about post-apocalyptic life, is set in a post-apocalyptic future–so much so that we’ve got good stories we might need to pass on just because we’ve got too much similar in inventory.
Don’t get me wrong; I love me some post-apocalyptic “wandering in a depopulated world, scrounging cans of Campbell’s pork and beans, defending one’s family from marauders”* as much as the next guy, but unless we’re going to change the name of the magazine to Mutants and Marauders Monthly, we’ve got to draw the line somewhere.
*From John Varley’s “The Manhattan Phone Book (Abridged).”
War Story Recalls Forever
Today, SCI FI Wire published a piece I wrote about Joe Haldeman’s new story collection, a Separate War.
Star Trek Remastered
By now you all have probably heard about the new Star Trek project, in which the TOS episodes will be remastered, with spiffed special effects (like Lucas did with Star Wars, but not quite; think of it as a Lucas-lite overhaul). I know a lot of people will probably be up in arms about this, but I’m cool with it so far. Sounds like they’re not going to monkey with it too much, and if it brings new life to the franchise, then good on them. (I reserve the right to change my opinion after seeing the remasters, of course.)
But while this sounds like a big project that’s going to get people talking…it’s not being broadcast on regular network TV–it’s going to be syndicated (as the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine were). So, it’s not exactly expected to be a big hit, I guess. But that’s fine, so long as I can watch it. So where do I watch it? Um…a little help here, Star Trek people. Why in the hell isn’t the TOS Remastered station list available somewhere on StarTrek.com? Oh, and if you go examine the list, you’ll see further evidence of just how small potatoes everyone thinks this is going to be ratings-wise: in the New York area, it’ll be airing on Monday mornings at 3:05 AM.
STRONG MEDICINE book reviews: September 2006
The latest installment of my book review column, STRONG MEDICINE: Books That Cures What Ails You, has just been published in Intergalactic Medicine Show.
In this column, I review Paragaea by Chris Roberson; James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips; and Map of Dreams by M. Rickert.
[Excerpt:] Will our intrepid heroes find the portal home, or will they be stuck on Paragaea forever?
If that last line doesn’t clue you in to the very essence of what Paragaea is all about, then the novel’s subtitle, “A Planetary Romance” (a term harkening back to the days before science fiction was called science fiction), surely will. It’s neo-pulp; that is, it’s written in the tradition of the pulp masters of the past–Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, et al.–but is written in a modern style more accessible to contemporary readers. Roberson knows his pulp well and has fun exploring and reinventing the tropes of that era, and he does so in a fresh, original, and–most importantly–fun way. And like Burroughs’s Barsoom stories, Roberson’s Paragaea is otherworldly swashbuckling action-adventure at its finest.
Go read the review and then come back and tell me how awesome it is.
Inda Returns To Source
Today, SCI FI Wire published a piece I wrote about Sherwood Smith’s new novel, Inda, which is set in the same world as her best-selling young adult novel Crown Duel.
As Ansible Sees Us
Carnival Re-Imagines SF Ideas
Today SCI FI Wire published a piece I wrote about Elizabeth Bear’s new novel, Carnival, which she described as resulting from “putting [Joanna Russ’] ‘When It Changed’ and [Robert A. Heinlein’s] Farnham’s Freehold in a box and poking them with sticks until they fought.”