Link of the Week: Announcing Speculative Fiction 2014: Meet the Contributors!
As you may have heard, I am co-editing Speculative Fiction 2014 with my friend Renay. This morning, our publisher, The Book Smugglers, announced the list of contributors, which is so wickedly awesome that you just have to click this link and check it out. So there you go!
The Worldcon 2017 Site Selection Process: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide
Recently, one of my friends confided in me that she found the process for voting for the Worldcon site complicated to the point of being off-putting. So I decided to make a simplified template to follow for this year’s site selection process. For a far more detailed version, I strongly suggest you read Crystal Huff’s […]
On the Raging Child of Science Fiction Neo-Snobbery
On a foundational level, the most visible element of SF awards discussions concern subjective assertions about literary quality. I have participated in some of these discussions over the years, podcasting about nominees I disliked for whatever reason and otherwise raging against what I perceived as the absence of taste within certain award-giving communities (mostly the […]
Retro Nostalgia: Equilibrium (2002) and the Paradox of Emotion
If you blinked back in 2002, you might have missed this lesser known Christian Bale vehicle featuring stylish gun kata and deliberate and sometimes excessive homages to George Orwell’s 1984 (particularly the 1984 adaptation starring John Hurt). Indeed, one could describe Kurt Wimmer’s Equilibrium as Orwell on drugs. Here, Orwellian propaganda is apparent in the […]
Space Opera and Epic Fantasy: Two Trees Sharing a Root System (and Then Becoming Two Big Nasty Trees That Eat Other Trees, or Something)
Last month, Paul Weimer suggested I write about the connections between epic fantasy and space opera. Initially, I didn’t know how to approach the topic. Paul, you see, is far better read than myself, particularly in the literary history of science fiction and fantasy. What could I say about the topic that Paul couldn’t say […]
My Complete 2015 Hugo Awards Nominations Ballot (Finished on 3/10/15)
It’s that time again. Hugo Awards time. Since the nomination period closes on March 10th, 2015, I figure it’s time to start sharing my ballot with the world. Note: this list is extremely incomplete and will be periodically updated as I find things to add to unfilled categories. Categories are also subject to change. If […]