SF/F Commentary

SF/F Commentary

Video Found: A Video Game Quintet (Stop Playing Homework and Do Your Video Games)

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It has a monster of a title, but it’s so geeky and wonderful you have to watch it.  I love it when classical instrumentalists do their own renditions of video games.  It shows immense respect for the source material (the music and the games) and it’s just plain old fun. Here’s the video (after the fold; pay attention to the middle bit — very clever): Awesome, no? Thanks for John Ottinger of Grasping for the Wind for the original discovery!

SF/F Commentary

Poll Results (and My Thoughts): Do you think the $0.99 ebook will hurt authors?

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Another poll down with some very interesting results. Here’s what you all had to say: 50% of you said they will hurt authors. 0% of you said maybe. 50% of you said no. That’s a very interesting divide.  People are very sure of themselves. I’m one of those sure people.  I think the $0.99 ebook will hurt authors, but not because it will hurt publishers.  My problem with the $0.99 ebook is that it limits the ability for authors to make a living off their work and further erodes the potential for midlist authors (however you want to define that category in this new digital age) to fit within that “living writers” group.  Midlist authors have been well served by digital publishing, particularly as it pertains to self-publishing.  Being able to make 70% on a $2.99 book means they make a lot more money than they would with some traditional publishers provided they maintain that “midlist” status.  That’s a good thing.  Let the big fellas handle the bestselling authors and let the smaller guys take their work to the digital stream to make a living too. Maybe the $0.99 ebook will prove beneficial for midlist authors.  I certainly hope so.  Their numbers might go up, they might end up making more money in the long run, and so on.  But if not, what we’ll end up with is a new price-point that consumers will demand.  There’s nothing wrong with a demand, but part of the reason for keeping ebooks reasonably priced (in both directions) is to set a standard for consumers that is good for everyone else too.  I don’t much care for the agency model in terms of its implementation, but it does give publishers more control over their properties.  Amazon’s ebook model gives many writers more control over theirs (sort of).  All these models are useful, and need to be played with, manipulated, changed, and so on until we come up with something that is good for everyone.  I don’t think the $0.99 ebook is necessarily a good thing for everyone.  It’s good for a few, sure.  Amanda Hocking and others are bringing in huge sales and money from using that model.  But they are a minority that will always exist.  The rest will have to contend with increasing their sales by quite a bit to reach the same monetary level as before. But, again, I could be very wrong.  I hope I’m wrong.  $0.99 ebooks are far more likely to sell than $7 ones.  Let’s hope what is happening right now turns out for the best. What are your extended thoughts on this issue?

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.

SF/F Commentary

The Skiffy and Fanty Show #3.1 is Live! (Dungeons & Dragons Reviewed!)

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We’re back with another bad movie review.  The title says it all:  Dungeons & Dragons.  You might remember that awful movie from the year 2000.  If not, then you’ve either suppressed its existence or never saw it.  The great thing about the new episode is that you don’t have to watch it.  We’ve tortured ourselves for your benefit. If you’re interested in hearing what we have to say, check out the episode.  And don’t hesitate to email us with your suggestions for future Torture Cinema episodes.

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