RIP: Frederick Pohl
The science fiction legend, Frederick Pohl, passed away yesterday. Jo Walton has written up her emotional reaction to the news (while in attendance at Worldcon) here, which I recommend reading. I may have more extensive thoughts later. Right now, I’m jetlagged and incapable of fully taking in such news. He was undeniably one of the greatest science fiction writers that every lived, and while he experienced an extraordinarily wonderful (and long) life, it is becoming clearer and clearer these days that so many of the folks who made the genre a genre will not longer be with us by the end of this decade. He will most certainly be missed, not just by his family, not just by other writers, but by the entire community. –End
Around the Podosphere: Shoot the WISB Review of Elysium
I’ve been wildly anticipating the next Neill Blomkamp film for a long while. Now it’s finally here, and I’ve joined David Annandale and Paul Weimer to talk about it in the current episode of Shoot the WISB. Go check it out after you see the movie yourself! You might also like to check out some other episodes over at The Skiffy and Fanty Show, including these: An Interview w/ Michael J. Martinez (author of The Daedalus Incident) Torture Cinema Meets Transformers (2007)
Open Road Media and Genre-Bending Novels (and a Book Sale)
Open Road Media is running a sort of awareness campaign / sale for novels which essentially defy categorization. There are quite a few interesting books on the list, so in case you’re interested in that sort of thing, here are the details: Jonathan Carroll. Edward Whittemore. Robert R. McCammon. James Morrow. All of these authors have written novels that defy our understanding of conventional genres. More than just literary fiction, these novels rejoice in the fantastic and the sublime. Since their initial publication, many of these stories have been categorized as science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, and “other.” This week, Open Road Media is celebrating these tales of the in-between. Novels that, for one reason or another, refuse to be categorized. We encourage you to take a look at the ten ebooks we’ve selected and expand your conception of genre fiction. The titles with the asterisk* will be on sale for $3.99 or less until August 20th. 1. The Summer Isles* by Ian R. MacLeod2. From the Teeth of Angels by Jonathan Carroll3. Black Light by Elizabeth Hand4. Sinai Tapestry* by Edward Whittemore5. The Eighth Square* by Herbert Lieberman6. Expiration Date* by Tim Powers7. Mine by Robert R. McCammon8. The Broken Land* by Ian McDonald9. The Only Begotten Daughter by James Morrow10. The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti by Stephen Graham Jones Cross genre boundaries and join the conversation this week. Feel free to share your thoughts on your site, or contribute to ours. Even our authors are speaking out. “The real reason I write across genre lines,” explains Stephen Graham Jones,” “is because I want to see cool stuff.” You can find details about the books on sale here. There’s an interesting question behind all of this: what are some of your favorite genre-bending stories? And so that’s the question I’ll leave you all with: What are some of your favorite genre-bending novels, short stories, or films?
Top 10 Posts for July 2013
Finally! A month without seas of old stuff. Awesome job, folks! Here’s the list: 10. The Politicization of the SFWA? (A Mini-response to Michael Z. Williamson) 9. Month of Joy: “The Joy of City Stomping” by David Annandale 8. Movie Review: The Wolverine (2013) 7. Link of the Week: Speculative Friction (the website is still up, actually, though nothing new has been posted in a while…) 6. The Vigilante in American Mythology (Brief Thoughts) #monthofjoy 5. Top 10 Cats in Science Fiction and Fantasy 4. Week of Joy (Day Seven): “The Genre Books That Influenced & Inspired Me to Read & Write” by Stina Leicht 3. Orson Scott Card is a Yard Shitter (and a note on Redeemability) 2. Top 10 Overused Fantasy Cliches 1. 8 SF/F Writers Who Changes My Life (#WeekofJoy)
Robotech, the Live Action Movie is Coming! Initiate the SqueeFest (Thoughts) #monthofjoy
The Geekexchange (via The Wertzone) reports that Warner Bros. has snagged the rights to Robotech, the classic 1985 anime. And there are some good names attached to the project: For a legion of fans that grew up on Robotech, it was fantastic news that it was previously announced that Warner Bros. picked up the rights from Harmony Gold USA to create a live action film version of the series. With big name veteran producers Akiva Goldsman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, I Am Legend, Fringe (TV-series)), Tobey Maguire (Seabiscuit, Rock of Ages), and Jason Netter (Wanted, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles) all attached to the project in producer roles, the search was on for a director. I remember watching re-runs of Robotech as a kid at some godawful hour of the morning (Saturdays!). I was all of two-years-old when the show first aired, so I didn’t start watching until the mid-90s, when one of the local channels started showing it to nerds who had to be up at five in the morning. Later, I read several of the novelizations, including Genesis by Jack McKinney. I’m pretty sure we picked them up at a thrift store for 25 cents each (it was the 90s, so the books had been out for a while). The covers were super cool — giant robots and all — though I don’t remember much about them now, except that they followed the narrative of the show fairly directly (my memory about the novels and show are a tad hazy, though, as most of my Robotech experiences involved seeing things out of order — yes, I’ve seen the original Japanese versions too).* I probably read the first three books of the Robotech novel series at least three times as a young person. Weirdly enough, I’d completely forgotten about them until the news about the live action Robotech movie hit the web. Strange. After the novels, I traversed into late-night Anime binges. My grandmother discovered the wonders of satellite TV in my late teens, which meant I got to stay up late on weekends watching anime movies. I discovered Blue Seed and a whole bunch of other anime shows that way. One of the things that occasionally appeared at one in the morning was Robotech (specifically, Macross: Do You Remember Love? and Macross Plus). This stuff helped foster a love for mecha shows, including Gundam Wing, which remains one of my favorite anime shows of all time. I should also mention that while discovering Robotech, I had also spent a great deal of time playing around with old RPG source books for Battletech, another mecha franchise. My friends and I used to use tracing paper to mix-and-match weapons on Battletech mechs, creating our own super mechs. I still have those somewhere, along with a whole lot of Battletech toys…And then I bought a few of the Palladium RPG books for Robotech and did the exact same thing. All of those books are still on my shelves… Basically, I was a total geek in my youth. And I’m still a geek today, because I will go see a live action Robotech movie even if they cast gerbils for all the roles. This is just too awesome! —————————————— *For those that don’t know. Robotech is the name of the American adaptation of the original Japanese anime franchise, Macross. The U.S. edition took the first three series of Macross and turned them into three seasons of Robotech (this is a drastic oversimplification, though, and I’m probably half wrong).
The Mind Meld of Doom: Great SF/F Stories by Women
If you didn’t see it already, I’m one of many who contributed to the recent Mind Meld at SF Signal. Head on over and see what everyone suggested, and then add your two-cents in the comments. All hail Joanna Russ!