April 2011

SF/F Commentary

Giveaway: Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe

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Apparently I have an extra copy of Dark Jenny to hand off to one lucky reader.  This is good news for one of you.  The ways to enter are at the bottom of this post (and they’re really easy ways). First things first, about the book: Alex Bledsoe’s novels featuring detective Eddie LaCrosse have drawn rave reviews for their ingenious blend of classic fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction. Now with Dark Jenny, Bledsoe returns with an all-new tale of intrigue and murder. . . . For twenty-five gold pieces a day, plus expenses, Eddie LaCrosse will take on most any case. But the unexpected delivery of a coffin in the dead of winter forces LaCrosse to look back at a bygone chapter in his past—and the premeditated murder of a dream. Ruled by the noble King Marcus Drake, the island kingdom of Grand Braun is an oasis of peace and justice in an imperfect world. At least until the beautiful Queen Jennifer is accused of adultery and murder. In the wrong castle at the wrong time, Eddie finds himself drafted at sword’s point to solve the mystery. With time running out, and powerful nobles all too eager to pin the murder on Eddie himself, he must untangle a tangled web of palace intrigues, buried secrets, and bewitching women—before the entire kingdom erupts into civil war. Murder, mystery, and magic—just another day on the job for Eddie LaCrosse. I reviewed the book here. Now for the ways you can enter: If you’d like to win a copy of Dark Jenny, all you have to do is one of the following: 1.  Leave a comment on this post saying something amusing.  You can insult me, tell me a funny story, post a weird word, or whatever.  Short, long, whatever.  I don’t care.  I’m selecting at random anyway, but I’d rather you post something other than “hey, give me the book.”  OR 2.  Send me an email doing the same thing. That’s it.  Simple, right?  Don’t stress on it.  Again, winners will be selected at random.  The “saying something amusing” part is just to make things more interesting for me when I put your name into the pot.  Make sure I have a way to contact you if you win (email in your Blogger profile or what have you).  Unfortunately, this giveaway is U.S. only.  Sorry, international folks! There are, of course, ways to earn extra entries.  You can add +1 to your chances if you post about this giveaway on Twitter, Stumbleupon, or some other social network or community (+1 each).  Just let me know in the comments and post any relevant links.  If you are a blog subscriber, you get an additional +1.  The same is true if you are a blog follower.  Just let me know! The giveaway will run until April 10th.  The winner will be announced on the 11th.  Good luck!

SF/F Commentary

Can Science Fiction Survive the Future?

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I’ve been thinking a lot about this question lately.  It has nothing to do with the publishing industry, sales, or anything like that (at least, not directly).  What I’m really curious about is the ability for science fiction to be science fiction as time progresses:  will we always have science fiction, or will it die because the genre ceases to have a setting which sets it apart from the present enough to make it recognizable as a distinct genre?  Since I don’t consider alternate history to be science fiction (it fits in its own genre, in my mind), there is a very real possibility that our future will make setting SF in a radically different environment (a defamiliarized zone, to link this whole discussion to Fredric Jameson) near impossible. Or will it?  Would we still consider books about alien encounters science fiction even if the means to travel between worlds becomes relatively simple?  Or would such stories become fantasies? When I first began thinking about this question, it occurred to me that many of the definitions we use to describe SF, even in a fairly general sense — such as Darko Suvin’s “cognitive estrangement” or Fredric Jameson’s own manipulation of that concept — become obsolete as the present encroaches on the allegorical past/present/future commonly associated with SF.  How can something be SF if it represents our immediate reality?  That, to me, seems more like mimetic/realistic fiction than anything else.  How do we define a genre like “SF” when it is indistinguishable from realistic fiction? These are the kinds of questions I’m curious about.  Maybe you all will join in and give me your thoughts.  Comment away.

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