SF/F Commentary

SF/F Commentary

2011 Hugo Awards: My Thoughts

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(I’ve added an addendum to this post in order to pull my foot out of my mouth.  Feel free to read it after you read everything below.) I stayed up nice and late in order to watch the event live, which may or may not have been a mistake.  Now that I’m wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, I feel up to giving my thoughts about the Hugo Awards Ceremony and the winners in the various categories.  Hopefully my attempt at organizing these thoughts won’t deter you from reading them.  (Some of these are probably going to get me in trouble…) Hosting Matters I don’t think I’ve ever seen these awards before, so I assume having hosts in Academy Awards fashion has been a staple of the Hugos for a while.  For 2011, Jay Lake and Ken Scholes hosted the events, following a scripted set of jokes and jibes in order to keep the audience amused between awards.  It’s hard for me to fault them for what turned out to be a not-very-funny event; Lake, after all, has been battling cancer for so long now I can’t remember when it all began — as a cancer survivor, I sympathize and feel it’s fair to indulge him in whatever he is interested in doing, even if he’s not terribly good at it. But mostly the jokes and constant references to singing and self-deprecating humor were forced and excessive.  The ceremony is exceedingly long anyway, and it seems to me they could have cut down on the jokes to save a good 45 minutes.  Or instead of following a script, they might have provided more natural discussion points, with some humorous anecdotes from actual interactions they’ve had (at the Hugos or elsewhere).  Folks seemed to enjoy them, though, so I suppose I’m out of place on this. Now on to the individual awards: The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer Winner — Lev Grossmam Who I Thought Would Take It — Lauren Beukes I haven’t read Grossman’s novel, so I can’t say whether his book is any good.  A lot of folks seem to love Grossman for The Magicians, but I personally thought Lauren Beukes should have taken the award for Moxyland and Zoo City.  She’s bloody brilliant and I think it’s a shame that she isn’t being acknowledged as such through such an important award. Best Fan Artist Winner — Brad W. Foster Who I Thought Would Take It — No idea I don’t know who any of the people on the nomination list are, so I have no connection to either of them.  This is one of those categories that I just don’t care about, which may make me a jackass. Best Fanzine Winner — The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J. Garcia and James Bacon Who I Thought Would Take It — StarshipSofa, edited by Tony C. Smith StarshipSofa is the only one of the nominees that I even know about.  I don’t think Smith should have won the award, though.  His podcast is not a fanzine.  It hardly produces anything of a fan-ish nature and is more accurately described as a micro-press and audio fiction joint than anything else.  But the other options on the list seem utterly irrelevant to me.  I don’t read them.  Most of them I didn’t know existed until they showed up on ballots in the last year.  Most of them are old format.  And to be honest, I think websites like SF Signal should be on this list.  But whatever. The amusing thing about this award was Garcia’s emotional response, which could be described as a uber-freak-out.  It was fascinating and amusing in a kind of “good for you, mate” way. (Edit:  You really should see Garcia’s response.  It was honest and, well, clearly winning the award meant a hell of a lot to him.  And you have to appreciate that for someone who has dedicated themselves to a fan pursuit and suddenly gets recognition for it by people who, largely speaking, are the objects of that venture.) Best Fan Writer Winner — Claire Brialey Who I Thought Would Take It — No idea This is another category I care nothing about.  I’ve never heard of any of the people on the list and am sure I never will beyond seeing them on this list. Best Semiprozine Winner — Clarkesworld Who I Thought Would Take It — Clarkesworld The real question is who I thought should take the award.  And that answer is easy:  Interzone, edited by Andy Cox.  I think Interzone is long overdue for some damned recognition.  It’s one of the few print magazines with excellent production values, both in terms of its look and its fiction.  They publish amazing stuff.  I don’t get why they haven’t won this damned award yet.  Not to mention that Clarkesworld, which is a great magazine (in general), has published some real stinkers in the last year.  It’s a good magazine, but this is not a banner year, you know? Meh. Best Professional Artist Winner — Shaun Tan Who I Thought Would Take It — Stephan Martiniere To be honest, I thought Tan would get an award for “The Lost Things” instead of this particular award.  I think he’s deserving of an award somewhere on the ballot, though, so saying that I think Martiniere would have and should have taken the award isn’t anything against Tan.  It’s more my confusion about his placement.  But good on Tan.  He damn well deserves an Hugo! Best Editor, Short Form Winner — Sheila Williams Who I Thought Would Take It — John Joseph Adams In all honesty, all of the names on the list are names that we’ve all seen before, which leads me not to care all that much who wins.  Oh, JJA took it?  That’s nice.  He’ll be there next year.  Oh, it’s Williams this time?  Nifty.  Then again, Strahan and Schmidt haven’t taken it yet, have they?  Hmm… (Edit:  Again, this is nothing against Williams.  In

SF/F Commentary

2011 Hugo Winners: The Full List

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I will have extended thoughts later today.  It’s 1:32 AM for me, which is a little late to be coherent… Here is the list (winners in bold): The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer Presented by Stanley Schimdt and Seana McGuire Lev Grossman Saladin Ahmed Lauren Beukes Larry Correia Dan Wells Best Fan Artist Presented by Stu Shiffman Brad W. Foster Randall Munroe Maurine Starkey Steve Stiles Taral Wayne Best Fanzine Presented by David Cake The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J. Garcia and James Bacon Banana Wings, edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer Challenger, edited by Guy H. Lillian III File 770, edited by Mike Glyer StarShipSofa, edited by Tony C. Smith Best Fan Writer Presented by John Coxon Claire Brialey James Bacon Christopher J. Garcia James Nicoll Steven H. Silver Best Semiprozine Presented by David G. Hartwell Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace; podcast directed by Kate Baker Interzone, edited by Andy Cox Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams Locus, edited by Liza Groen Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong Weird Tales, edited by Ann VanderMeer and Stephen H. Segal Best Professional Artist Presented by Boris Vallejo Shaun Tan Daniel Dos Santos Bob Eggleton Stephan Martiniere John Picacio Best Editor, Short Form Presented by Ellen Datlow Sheila Williams John Joseph Adams Stanley Schmidt Jonathan Strahan Gordon Van Gelder Best Editor, Long Form Presented by Ellen Asher Lou Anders Ginjer Buchanan Moshe Feder Liz Gorinsky Nick Mamatas Beth Meacham Juliet Ulman Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form Presented by George R. R. Martin Doctor Who: “The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang,” written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales) Doctor Who: “A Christmas Carol,” written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales) Doctor Who: “Vincent and the Doctor,” written by Richard Curtis; directed by Jonny Campbell (BBC Wales) Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury, written by Rachel Bloom; directed by Paul Briganti The Lost Thing, written by Shaun Tan; directed by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan (Passion Pictures) Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form Presented by Bill Willingham Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner) How to Train Your Dragon, screenplay by William Davies, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders; directed by Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders (DreamWorks) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, screenplay by Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright; directed by Edgar Wright (Universal) Toy Story 3, screenplay by Michael Arndt; story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich; directed by Lee Unkrich (Pixar/Disney) Best Graphic Story Presented by Trixe Pixie: Alexander James Adams, Betsy Tinney, S. J. Tucker Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse, written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment) Fables: Witches, written by Bill Willingham; illustrated by Mark Buckingham (Vertigo) Grandville Mon Amour, by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse) Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel, written and illustrated by Howard Tayler; colors by Howard Tayler and Travis Walton (Hypernode) The Unwritten, Volume 2: Inside Man, written by Mike Carey; illustrated by Peter Gross (Vertigo) Best Related Book Presented by Farah Mendlesohn Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea (Mad Norwegian) Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001, by Gary K. Wolfe (Beccon) The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing, by Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg (McFarland) Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 1: (1907–1948): Learning Curve, by William H. Patterson, Jr. (Tor) Writing Excuses, Season 4, by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells Best Short Story Presented by David D. Levine “For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010) “Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed, June 2010) “Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Tor.com, November 17, 2010) “The Things” by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, January 2010) Best Novelette Presented by Nancy Kress “The Emperor of Mars” by Allen M. Steele (Asimov’s, June 2010) “Eight Miles” by Sean McMullen (Analog, September 2010) “The Jaguar House, in Shadow” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s, July 2010) “Plus or Minus” by James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s, December 2010) “That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made” by Eric James Stone(Analog, September 2010) Best Novella Presented by Robert Silverberg “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean) “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window” by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Magazine, Summer 2010) “The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon” by Elizabeth Hand(Stories: All New Tales, William Morrow) “The Sultan of the Clouds” by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s,September 2010) “Troika” by Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines, Science Fiction Book Club) Best Novel Presented by Tim Powers Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra) Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen) The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr) Feed by Mira Grant (Orbit) The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

SF/F Commentary

A Short Story Wants to Get Away From Me

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Earlier this week, I started writing a short story entitled “The Girl Who Flew on a Whale” as part of my WISB Podcast project.  The story, as my friend Adam Callaway remarked, is a whimsical fantasy for young readers (chapbook level).  I’ve always wanted to write a story like this.  They’re fun to read and the current venture has been fun to write.  But one of the issues I’ve had is the tug in my mind to turn this short story into a much larger project. “The Girl Who Flew on a Whale” is about a young girl who lives in a semi-Victorian-era town on the continent of Traea (many centuries after the events of The World in the Satin Bag).  Her mother wants to prune her for the aristocracy, while the little girl, affectionately called the Dreamer, wants nothing to do with that world — rather, as her name implies, she dreams of the legends and myths of her world, wondering and wishing some of them are true.  The conflict is one that I’m sure has been seen many times before, but it is also a conflict that is close to my heart.  I don’t have children, but know that when I have them, I’ll do everything I can to foster their creativity. Because children who have their dreams crushed are children who lose the very thing that makes the world grow:  creativity and innovation.  We need dreamers today more than we ever did before.  “The Girl Who Flew on a Whale” is partly about that conflict, but I’ve set it in a fantasy world (with plenty of whimsy) to get the message across via an adventure. And that’s where the issues arise.  The story is begging me to expand the narrative I have already started.  It’s begging me to bring in swashbuckling pirates and strange creatures and wonderful magic and all sorts of silly and beautiful things.  Many of these I’ll put into the story anyway, but the grand adventure my mind is trying to imagine won’t fit into a short story or novelette.  I’m having to keep those things at bay while I write a more manageable tale (and one that I can actually read in a single sitting for the podcasted version I promised everyone). Something I’ve been thinking of doing is providing the short version and then expanding it into a proper chapbook.  I know many writers have done things like this (writing novel versions of shorts they wrote a long time ago).  But is it as common today as it was in the old days of SF/F?  I can’t think of many contemporary examples. I bring all of this up because I’m curious about some things: How do you go about keeping a story under control?  Or do you throw your hands up and give it what it wants? Do novel versions of short stories work for readers?  Do you enjoy reading those kinds of stories? What do you think? ———————————————————– P.S.:  I actually already have cover art for this story, which is amazing.  My lady has been working on artwork for me (not because I asked, but because she’s freaking amazing).  I’ll share such things later.  Maybe I’ll even do a special illustrated edition of the short story.  That would be cool, no? P.S.S.:  The inspiration for “The Girl Who Flew on a Whale” came from the following image:

SF/F Commentary

Video Found: Schools Kill Creativity (Ken Robinson)

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I thought you all would be interested in this February 2006 talk by Ken Robinson about how schools destroy our creativity. As someone who teaches at the university level, and someone who loves the “what if” aspect of science fiction, I think there is a lot to be said about the way we teach our students. The sad truth is that people who study pedagogy know that our public schools are (at least partially) a failure. They’ve been saying it for decades. But the people who run our schools are, more often than not, people who either don’t have degrees or didn’t get them in professions which required them to learn how to teach.  That’s not the case with myself. Part of my educational requirements here at the University of Florida is to teach undergraduate composition and (now) literature courses. We’re still teaching formulaic writing at the university level, something which I’ve tried to go against in my courses. The result of working in opposition to formula has been eye-opening. Many students simply don’t know how to be creative.  Some of those students, when challenged to think for themselves and to use their critical thinking skills (what little they have) to move beyond the “right way of thinking and writing” often get flustered, because they haven’t a clue what to do, how to do it, and so on. We’re not teaching our young people how to be the builders of tomorrow.  We’re teaching them how to fit into a society which works like a repetitive machine.  And as we’ve seen in the last few years, that machine is running out of oil.  It’s breaking down. Here’s the video (after the fold):

SF/F Commentary

Life Update #1001093838199392: Computer Woes

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Some things are going to be put on hold for a week.  Why?  Because my laptop decided it wanted to die yesterday, leaving some edited work unavailable to me on my other systems (I hadn’t made a backup for all the work done over the weekend, which was quite stupid of me).  This means some things will have to wait: New audio chapters of The World in the Satin Bag A story I was working on for Bryan Thomas Schmidt’s Space Battles anthology Other writing projects I was in the middle of (since the tech people have my external hard drive so they can save the data on the dead computer). I am still able to write and what not, but the absence of a computer will make my life very difficult over the next few months, in part because I need a portable computing device for taking notes in my classes and what not.  Sadly, I do not make enough money to afford a new computer outright and every time I apply for credit, I get denied, despite the fact that far less responsible individuals who make the same as I do and have ten times the financial burdens are wandering around with five credit cards in their pockets.  I just want one…for a computer I plan to pay off in 6 months. I apologize for all the personal posts as of late.  The last 5 days have been pretty much garbage, with the A/C and hot water heater breaking, the laptop dying, and the passing of Noodles.  It’s not the most exciting vacation time I’ve ever had, that’s for sure… Maybe I need to do one of those “help Shaun get a new computer” donation drives.  But that seems enormously unfair.  So instead of that, you should all donate food to the homeless.

SF/F Commentary

SandF Episode 4.9 (Interview w/ Daniel Polansky) is Live!

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I’ll let our humorous introduction to the episode post do the talking for me: Daniel Polansky, author of Low Town, joins us for a riveting interview about his life in the Reformed Farm Animal Circus, in which he was known as the Great Fiddlestick. Okay, so that’s not really true. Rather, in this episode, Daniel talks to us about his debut novel, a dark genre-bending noir monstrosity we could best describe as awesome, and other fun things, such as how his book can save the World Economy. If you haven’t read Low Town, we highly recommend it. It’s noir. It’s New Weirdy. It’s dark. And it’s amazing. (Plus: Daniel is a hoot.) Hopefully you all enjoy the interview. We had a blast!

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