SF/F Links: A Few Feb Links
Well, I thought I would bring this feature back. I’m not going to make it as big as I did in the past, but hopefully it will be of use to folks. Here goes: Charles Stross and John Scalzi have posted their opinions on the issue of lateness that has GRRM’s fans all twisted in knots and GRRM a bit irritated. SF Signal has their latest mindmeld feature up asking various authors who their literary influences are in the realm of science fiction. Scifi Chick has a short interview with Eliza Dushku from Dollhouse. Climb the Sky talks about magic and it’s many interesting points. Locus Online has an article about why science fiction often fails at predicting things. It’s interesting, to say the least. I take issue with some of the points made, though. I don’t think science fiction is so much as failure in predicting a lot of things, just not very good at picking good dates. Reality dictates that we’ll conquer space eventually, just not on the time frame provided by science fiction writers… And some random science for you all: Japanese coral can apparently change back and forth between sexes as needed based on their environment. What the heck is it with the environment and sex changes? SF Signal asks what your favorite bookstore is. It’s old, but so be it. Mine, as I’ve mentioned before, is either Bookshop Santa Cruz or Logos in Santa Cruz (or Borderlands Books in San Francisco or Powell’s City of Books in Portland, OR). What about you? What is your favorite bookstore and why? And there you have it! Hope you enjoy the links.
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.
Science Fiction/Fantasy Awards: The Hugos and Other Things
Recently the blogosphere has been somewhat up in arms about the whole SF/F awards thing, particularly the Hugos. After reading some of what Adam Roberts had to say and what some others said in response, I decided that I should give my two cents on the issue. Apparently there are two primary items that folks are discussing: the Hugo Awards aren’t getting enough votes (apparently a horrendously dismal amount); and whether or not awards like the Hugo, Nebula, etc. are worthless. My personal opinion on the voting problem for the Hugo Awards is that the folks that run it are simply outdated. Back in the day (assuming that they’ve run the Hugos relatively the same since when it first started out) there weren’t a lot of ways for folks to communicate about their favorite books. There was no Internet, telephoning people you didn’t know was pretty much impossible (or creepy), and basically the only way to really connect was either to go to one of those new-fangled conventions or hang around with a local SF/F group. In those days it made a lot of sense to have an award that was voted on by attendees of a convention. There weren’t a lot of books to read back then (so the big ones tended to shine through) and the folks who were likely to vote were already going to be at Worldcon. But with the invention of the Internet, the Hugo Awards are a bit outdated these days. The problem is that folks who can’t attend the convention aren’t likely to spend $50 to be able to vote on a favorite book, and those at the convention either aren’t voting because they don’t care, or aren’t voting for the same books (or something of that nature). The thing is, the Hugo Awards are a fan-based award (primarily speaking). Why is it that most fans can’t vote? Now, granted, $50 isn’t a lot, but if you can’t go to Worldcon, it’s kind of a lot of money just to be able to cast a vote. And with the economy in crummy condition, do you honestly expect anyone to fork out $50 to get to vote for an award that largely means nothing to them? My suggestion on how to fix the Hugo Awards to make them more appealing is to change the entire structure to allow for folks who haven’t paid to vote. Sure, that might tick people off, but at the very least you could make it so the votes of Worldcon members are worth more than non-Worldcon members (like Locus). This would get more people involved who don’t have the money to become a member. We have to remember that one of the largest audiences of SF/F is not a bunch of old guys with steady jobs; it’s teenagers and college kids. We’re the ones consuming these books in large quantities (especially fantasy). How many teenagers do you know that are willing to fork out $50 to vote? I don’t know any. I wouldn’t have. I’d rather have spent that $50 on movies and crap that I didn’t need. The Hugo Awards, in my opinion, forget about these folks precisely because they are outdated. This needs to change so that the Hugos do more than be remembered as “some award,” but become something more fans actually care about. And that’s where my thoughts on the whole “awards are rubbish” thing come in: To me, none of the awards really matter at all. While I think they are wonderful for the authors and probably have a good impact on sales, I don’t necessarily care. A book with “Hugo Award Winner” on the cover is not likely to make me jump with joy to read it. I simply don’t buy or read books that way. I think of these awards along the same lines as the Oscars. They’re more symbolic than anything else. But that’s me and I am in no way the only opinion. There are those who think the awards are garbage and worth nothing. I disagree. I think many do pay attention to the awards when buying books (or at least notice them in a good way). I think the awards need to exist to congratulate good authors for good genre writing. But I get the point. For folks who really don’t care, who hate the politics behind it, etc. awards really are valueless. That’s just the way it is. I also understand Adam Roberts’ point about SF/F awards having too much focus on the fanbase. I think there need to be more significant awards that don’t take fan-voting into account, but judging. This might sound screwed up, ignoring the opinions of fans, but fans tend to latch onto the same kinds of books and don’t always move outside of that comfort zone. The awards aren’t really about that; they’re about the best works in the genre. That has to be emphasized more. The Hugo is great for being a fan-voted award, but we need more judge-voted awards out there to make sure that none of the greats that folks might not have read or ignored for some reason slip through the cracks. What do you think about all this? If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, etc.
Steampunk Reading List?
Some time ago I found this list of Steampunk novels that someone had put together as a sort of preliminary reading list of the genre. Interestingly enough, it splits the list into three categories: proto-Steampunk, early Steampunk, and recent Steampunk. I’m not sure that there really is that big a difference between the first two categories (as named categories, not by what they contain), but so be it. The list is as follows: Proto-SteampunkGormenghast Novels (esp Titus Alone), Mervyn PeakeWorlds of the Imperium, Keith LaumerQueen Victoria’s Bomb, Ronald W. ClarkA Nomad of the Time Streaks, Michael Moorcock Early SteampunkThe Anubis Gates, Tim PowersHomunculus, James BlaylockInfernal Devices, K W Jeter More Recent SteampunkThe Difference Engine, William Gibson and Bruce SterlingLeague of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore (Comic)Steampunk, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer (Anthology)Girl Genius, Studio Foglio (Comic)A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket It’s an interesting list, to be sure, and I’m curious what you all would consider to be good Steampunk reading that could be added to it. I, for one, think that a Steampunk list is required to have at least one Jules Verne novel, considering that he was sort of the unintentional father of the genre. But that’s me. What about you? Edit: These are some suggested books from the comments, etc.The Court of the Air by Stephen HuntThe Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen HuntThe Rise of the Iron Moon by Stephen Hunt
Ten Ways NASA Has Fundamentally Changed the World
…for the better. A lot of folks have been talking about cutting NASA’s funding as of late. The more I read about it, the more I realize that the reason isn’t because NASA hasn’t actually produced anything of value since the moon landings, it’s because people are generally led to believe that NASA just sends people to space and does all those complicated, uninteresting science-y things that don’t really matter (except they do). The reality is that you, someone you know, industries you buy from, etc. have been fundamentally changed by NASA research. NASA isn’t just a space agency; it’s a research organization that happens to specialize in space, but what it does on a daily basis has ultimately made our lives better in some way or another. With that in mind I decided to make a short list of crucial advancements in technology or other areas that have spawned due to NASA’s consistent dedication to science: Cordless toolsYou know, power tools run by batteries. Drills of all kinds and other nifty battery-powered gizmos that come in handy in the real world. You may never use them personally, but the person who built your house probably did, or your mechanic does. Heck, it really doesn’t matter if you or someone you know has ever used one, because without cordless tools, well, things would sort of suck. Imagine having to drill screws into giant logs on your own. That would suck. Medical TechnologyI’ve seen the benefits of this first hand. CAT scanners were developed following an industrial version that used to find abnormalities in rockets and the like. Now we use it on people instead of big metal things. Oh, and that’s not all. Dialysis machines exist thanks to NASA as well as cardiovascular conditioners, MRIs, invisible braces, safer breast imaging (for cancer and such), ear thermometers (which I particularly like over the alternative), and a vast array of surgical and other medical improvements that would probably cause my blog to explode if I listed them all. The put it simply: if you’ve gone to the doctor at some point since 1970, you’ve likely seen the benefits of NASA first hand. Athletic Shoes/Shoe SolesThat part inside of your new pair of shoes that’s designed to make walking better for you than walking on rocks? You can thank NASA for that. Specifically, you can thank the Apollo missions, since their lovely space suits contributed to the development of better shoes. Go figure. Water Purification TechnologyBrita filters, filtered water of any kind, etc. All because of NASA. Okay, so somebody might have figured it out anyway, but NASA helped in the process. And now we have an entire industry that basically owes NASA a big thank you check. You hear that Aquafina and Dasani? Send some money to NASA! Satellite TelevisionThis is an easy one, right? After all, without NASA we wouldn’t have satellites or ways of getting such things into space. But NASA does more than simply provide the technology to get these things up there. NASA has helped develop ways to improve reception and make satellite television better. So, when you’re watching Dish Network or DirectTV or whatever satellite company you have, remember that NASA helped make that possible. Fire Fighting EquipmentThe material used to make fire resistant suits for fire fighters was developed for space suits. Granted, if any of the Apollo vehicles exploded it wouldn’t have matter much, but I suppose they had their reasons. Sun GlassesAstronauts do a lot of crap up in space, including welding and dealing with that bright yellow ball of gas floating up there. It’s only logical that they would create a way to keep all those harmful bright lights out of their eyes, right? And now we have them here on Earth too! PlasticNASA had its hand in this industry. Since things need to be light and durable in space, NASA needed to develop new materials that could be used for a variety of things. In the process, similar processes and materials have been used down here on Earth for things like food packaging. So, next time you drink a bottle of Coke or Pepsi, remember that NASA helped make that happen. Scratch-resistant LensesYou might say to me, “Well, maybe you should take better care of your glasses, Mister,” and I would have to agree. But for those of us that don’t take such great care of our ocular devices, scratch-resistant lenses are a godsend. Granted, I don’t wear my glasses much, and they do have some small scratches from when I dropped them and kicked them across the floor and then left them there because I didn’t know I’d dropped them and kicked them across the floor, but still…they’re mostly still in good shape. More Efficient Cars/Hybrids/ElectricNASA didn’t invent these cars, but NASA funding and researchers/engineers have helped develop cars that run on lithium batteries, cars that get better gas mileage and release few emissions, etc. In fact, NASA has aided all sorts of transportation industries from cars to boats to airplanes. Pretty impressive for some silly organization that puts monkeys in space, huh? And that’s all. NASA has invented or had a hand in the invention of over 1,300 pieces of technology, most of which you probably didn’t even realize NASA was responsible in some capacity for. So the next time you sit down to use a cordless tool or watch satellite television or get a CAT scan, remember that without NASA we would be decades behind on this stuff. Without NASA the world would be a far different place, a scary place. If you want to find out more about NASA inventions, you can check out the Spinoff Database or Google search.