Book Magnet Entry #3: Null Pointer and Star Strikers by Ken McConnell
The third entry for my Book Magnet Project is in, and late (because of me). There’s a story, though: I picked up the letter containing Mr. McConnell’s magnet and bookmarks and put it into a book, where it remained for quite some time due to my mind deciding it didn’t want to memorize where I had placed the stuff. But, I found the magnet again, and the bookmarks, and want to tell you all about this very interesting set of books by Ken McConnell! So, let’s start with this first:Description of Null Pointer: The man in the cubicle beside him was dead. The police say it was a heart attack, but programmer Joshua Jones knows better. A message he found in the dead man’s code points to a psychotic hacker who can strike through the internet, leaving no trace. Relying on the advice from his tech savvy friends, Joshua must solve the mystery of who the killer is before becoming the killer’s next victim. It sounds interesting, right? The author was worried that it might not be specfic-y enough, but a story about a hacker that kills people through the Internet? That’s pretty damn specfic-y to me! You can find Null Pointer on Amazon.com or in the various other formats and locations listed here (you might also be curious to know that the novel can be found for free on a blog and in various ebook formats, including the big boys). So, check it out! Might be a thrilling read for the cyberpunk enthusiast!Description of Starstrikers: Starstrikers is a military space opera that takes place during a thousand year war between two galactic civilizations. It captures the strategy of fleet admirals, the bravery of common spacers and the adventures of an elite special forces team as they all struggle against a powerful enemy war lord with devastating new technology. The description leaves much to the imagination, but if you’re into space opera, it might be the one for you! The novel can be found on Amazon.com and loads of other places listed here (in print and digital format). It’s also free in several formats available at the aforementioned link. About the Author: Ken McConnell is a writer of SF and Mystery novels and short stories. He works as a software tester and writes fiction in his spare time. He has maintained a blog about writing and technology since 1998. You can follow him on Twitter (user name: KenMcConnell). You can find more information about Mr. McConnell and his fiction at his website. There you have it folks! Feel free to check out Mr. McConnell’s books and his website. ———————————————————- There you have it. If you have a promotional magnet for your sf/f (or related) book and want to take part in this project, send an email to arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com with the subject “Book Magnet Project.” Help me cover my fridge!
Magical Realism: A Brief Definition (in the form of a rebuttal)
Over at Suite 101 they have an article about Magical Realism. While the author lists some excellent examples of the subgenre, I do think she gets one thing quite wrong: An angel walks into your local grocery story with shiny wings and a glowing halo. Everyone accepts this as a natural occurrence and doesn’t bat an eye. My problem with this statement isn’t that it’s simplistic–the author admits that as a fault. The problem is that it’s wrong on a fundamental level. I would argue that Magical Realism is actually an exceptional disconnection of the fantastic from focus. Yes, it is about the acceptance of the fantastic as natural, but it goes beyond that. Magical Realism makes exceptional, both in its form (writing) and its content (characters, etc.), the naturalization and de-mystification of the fantastic; this means that, while Fantasy presents the fantastic in a way that is both exceptional in its presentation (i.e. we see it vividly and in a form that clearly demarcates the elements that make it fantastic) and its content (stories “of” the fantastic), Magical Realism does the exact opposite, taking something that we know doesn’t exist (or at least only exists in a particularly limited supernatural scope) and putting it into the backdrop of an otherwise “real” story. You don’t actually “see” the fantastic elements in Magical Realism unless you’re intentionally looking for it. They become so utterly embedded into the world, so de-emphasized so as to be less than a passing fancy. You don’t see the fantastic in Magical Realism well enough to say that it is a coherent structure of the fiction being portrayed. So, when an author uses an example like an angel walking into a grocery store, that has far more to do with urban fantasy than it does with magical realism. Why? Because the angel is not de-emphasized; the example clearly allocates considerable textual play to the nature of that angel’s existence, placing such a being outside of the exceptionally naturalized. Magical Realism goes that one step further by making the fantastic natural for us (the readers) too. Does anyone disagree with me? Let me know what you think about Magical Realism. I’m curious to hear opinions on this.