io9: Worth Reading or Consumerist Fluff?
Mulluane recently suggested I should talk about this topic. I’ve been avoiding it under the assumption that nobody really wants to hear what I think about the enormous blog site io9 and whether I agree with some folks out there that think it’s largely a meaningless place for literature enthusiasts. SF Signal has already asked the general public what they think about io9 and I have already left a comment with a short answer. But I suppose longer, more elaborate discussions are in order. I don’t read io9…anymore. Why? I don’t follow io9 because they post too much content that isn’t of interest to me. My disinterest in io9 has nothing to do with the fact that they don’t cite sources or provide a little link love (although those things do irritate me a great deal), it has to do with simply finding their content to be largely uninteresting. I like the occasional post about upcoming movies and lost things rediscovered, but io9 is too much of a media outlet for me and focuses too much attention on these things. It became apparent to me at some point that I was skimming most, if not all of io9’s posts, and I made the decision to cut it from my RSS reader. Now, I’m not in any way saying that io9 is a “bad blog.” I suspect that many people find it interesting; on occasion I’ll find a post by them that actually does something for me, but because that doesn’t happen often I see no point having it clogging up my RSS reader. For what io9 covers, I think it does a good job. It succeeds in stirring up controversy, getting people to talk about things within the genre, and digs up old junk from the past to offload on an unsuspecting, but excited public. It has a purpose. With that in mind, I agree entirely with the Crotchedy Old Fan that io9 should be called out for its failure to credit its sources. It doesn’t take more than a few moments to link to someone, and if you’re going to take content from them, the least you can do is give some link love (it’s good for you, good for them, etc.). Besides, if you enjoyed someone else’s content so much as to want to use it for a post of your own (or, maybe you hated it enough to do the same thing), then it seems only logical that you would want to make sure that person keeps producing interesting content. Not linking to someone whose content you enjoyed is like me not linking to SF Signal’s post on this very subject (io9). At the end of the day, however, I don’t read io9 because it simply fails to provide me regular content in subjects I’m interested in. But, that’s the case with 99.9% of the blogosphere, hence why I only follow some blogs and not others. If every blog provided content we enjoy, then I suspect we’d never get out of the house. Anyone else have any opinions on the matter? If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, or buzz it.
Aliens and Spaceships Do Not a Science Fiction Make
Recently in my South African Literature course my professor, in talking about Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People, mentioned that the story, while not based on any sort of reality that we understand to exist, is also not a science fiction story because it doesn’t contain aliens or spaceships or anything like that. I, obviously, disagreed, but didn’t say so in class primarily because I didn’t want to have an argument over something that largely wasn’t relevant to our discussion at the time. This sort of misconception of science fiction seems to be rampant in the “literary” world and I’m not quite clear as to why. While it is certainly true that much of what makes up science fiction literature, film, art, etc. revolve around the tropes (spaceships, aliens, etc.), there is also an enormous body of science fiction that is completely devoid of these elements. But they aren’t seen as science fiction. Why? Is it because the “literary” world refuses to acknowledge that science fiction is about far more than just aliens and spaceships, that it’s a genre of speculations about what may be under the umbrella question “what if?” Authors such as Margaret Atwood have made it clear they dislike being labeled as science fiction, and, of course, you have to wonder why. After all, quite a lot of people read science fiction, and if you could act as a gateway into other literary forms that those SF readers might not have encountered before, isn’t that a good thing? And it works the other way too. What’s wrong with reading science fiction? Should we enjoy the reading process and isn’t the fact that people actually read at all a good thing? When starting this post I immediately thought of such works as Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union and McCarthy’s The Road, among others. Both are science fiction stories, but written for a “literary” audience. Perhaps this is a trend now; we put the works that lack the most flamboyant of SF tropes in the “literary” category as a way of marketing them to an audience that may not have been receptive with the SF name flashing on a metaphorical billboard. I simply would like to see the “literary” world acknowledge that science fiction isn’t limited to aliens and spaceships, but is a genre that encompasses politics, sociology, biology, and much more. Being marked as a “science fiction tale” is not a debasement, but, perhaps, an honor. If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, or buzz it.
New Scientist: Transporters Are Real?
Recently New Scientist had an article about scientists who had managed to transport ions across a room. They didn’t put it in a box and walk it over. No. They actually transported it. As in: Poof, it’s there! Pretty incredible if you ask me. Maybe we’ll do two ions this time. And then a goldfish! Who knows! If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, or buzz it.
Rejection: Artemis
No, you haven’t seen this post before. I’ve simply been rejected in record time. And no, I’m not upset. It shall be submitted elsewhere! Anywho!
Rejection: Artemis
I keep getting rejected on this darn story. Oh well, it’ll go off to some other place soon. *poof*
Readers, Authors, and GRRM: Angry Over Waiting (for the next book)?
Apparently the blogosphere is alive with discussion of fan reactions to George R. R. Martin’s rather long writing periods between installments of the A Song of Fire and Ice series. Some folks agree and are either dropping GRRM from their libraries or simply bitching about it; others are defending GRRM and bitching about everyone else. My opinion on this matter probably won’t make anyone happy. In fact, it might just tick off some folks who read this blog or know me. Now, I haven’t read GRRM, obviously, but I’ve read plenty of other series, some of which have had relatively long wait times. The Harry Potter series took forever to finally be finished, but fortunately for that series, I didn’t start reading all the books until the sixth one was about to be released; my wait was short. But there are other series that weren’t so fortunate to have snatched me up late in the game. What happens to the authors of these series? I drop them. Now hold on, hear me out. I don’t drop them because they are bad authors/writers, nor because I’m pissed off that I have to wait. I drop them because I just don’t care anymore. I’ve lost interest. I’ve moved on to other things. The thing is, waiting two or three or five years for the next book in a series is too much for me. I’ve stopped reading the Eragon books for this very reason; by the time Brisingr came out, I had lost interest. I like being able to stay connected to a series as it is being written, but those two plus year lulls contribute to my forgetfulness, and unfortunately there are few, if any, series I’m willing to read over and over to gain back the details I’ll need to fully understand what is happening in the new installment. And I read too much as it is (for school, mostly) to dedicate an entire section of my brain to every minute detail of one series. This, however, does not mean I think we should boycott authors or throw a fit when one takes too long. GRRM likely has damn good reasons for taking a hell of a long time to produce a book. I don’t know. But if you’re so upset with the author that it makes you red in the face, then maybe you should find someone else to read. GRRM doesn’t need the stress from you haggling him ever ten seconds to hurry up with the next book and it’s probably not healthy for someone to get ticked off every minute just because a book hasn’t come out that you want. Give him some slack or drop him and find someone. Don’t email him about it either. That’s just rude. And that is all. Any thoughts?