Science Fiction

SF/F Commentary

Why the SF Canon Doesn’t Exist

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As is periodically the case in the SFF community, we’re once more in the midst of a conversation about “the classics.” If you’re reading this now, it doesn’t actually matter that I wrote this in 2022; this conversation happens so often that the context above could apply in any given year going back decades, albeit more frequently today than before social media. The conversation typically features the following claims: You DON’T need to read “the classics” for reasons (there are many) You DO need to read “the classics” for reasons (there are many) There are no “classics” for reasons (there are many) I’m not going to list the various reasons offered for all of these. Instead, I’ll note that we usually see two common claims for the first two: 1) that you don’t need to read them because they do not represent where genre is now; and 2) that you do need to read them because they’re necessary to understand how we got where we are now. These are incredibly reductive versions of those common arguments, and both are technically correct but typically uttered in the wrong context.

On Books

10 Caribbean Books You Should Read At Least Once

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As a fan of Caribbean literature who has spent quite a lot of his life reading and thinking about it, it seemed appropriate to finally do one of those “hey, these are the books you should read” lists. And so, I sat down to think about the works I think everyone should read (at least once) from the Caribbean, both in fiction and non-fiction. The list below reflects a combination of my personal interests in Caribbean literature and my academic research in postcolonialism, the Caribbean, and transnational American literature (though not my other academic interests beyond science fiction). This list will, by the limitations of numbers, be incomplete. It will reflect the reading experience of one person. There are hundreds and hundreds of other works of Caribbean literature and criticism and numerous islands not represented here (a list of 10 cannot possibly get them all). Heck, that’s why I included “alternatives” here because there were people left off a list of 10 and it made me sad. Treat this list as a fun starting point of important works. If you’re not familiar with the literature of the reason, this list might help get you started. If you are, maybe it will fill some gaps! And for those who have read all of these, consider leaving a comment letting me know about other works you think folks should read at least once! Here goes:

Announcements

Capricon 41: My Schedule (Panels, Live Podcasts, etc.)

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Welp. It’s that time of year for Capricon, a Chicago-based science fiction convention to run virtually this year. Capricon 41‘s guests of honor include Aliette de Bodard, Brandon O’Brien, John Jennings, Michi Trota, and Dr. Cacophonie Tamayo, all exceptional individuals in general (and within their respective fields). Needless to say, Capricon is going to be on fire this year! This year is unusual, too, for the fact that I helped a little with programming, though not nearly as much as I should have or wanted to when I first chose to participate. It’s been a learning experience, though, and I hope to continue growing and being better at this going forward! With all that out of the way, here’s my schedule of panels (all times in CDT). Come hang out!

Anime TV Reviews, SF/F Commentary

The AI Says It’s an Enemy: Relinquishing Control to the Machine in Yukikaze

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There is no shortage of television shows and films which place at center the question of human importance in the era of artificial intelligence. In film alone, the roots of this central question go back at least to Franz Lang’s expressionist film Metropolis (1927), with Maria’s robotic double wreaking havoc upon the titular city, a theme found in literature stretching back beyond even Frankenstein (1818). Film and television have, as such, been long interested in artificial intelligence, whether in computer form, as in Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) or 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), or robot form, as in The Invisible Boy (1957) or The Day the Earth Stood Still (1957). One common feature in Western (especially U.S.) cinema is the threat of such technologies to human life, whether for sadistic or noble purposes. Our machines develop a mind of their own and turn on us, either because we plan to oppress them or because machine interests and human interests do not align (see The Matrix (1999)). When machines aren’t determined to kill us, they may require us to relinquish control, as in our contemporary fear of automation, which means restructuring society to find new things for humans to do while machines (artificially intelligent but not sentient) can continue to produce for us. U.S.-American science fiction, in a sense, has always been wary of our technology even as we allow it to bleed into our everyday lives and even when that “bleed” results in some truly creepy moments.

The Bookening

The Bookening: New Reads in the Pyramid of Plenty

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Alternate subtitle: A Bear Sits in My Woods! For those that don’t know, I’m a pretty big fan of Elizabeth Bear’s writing. So, too, apparently, my cat, who has spent a goodly portion of the time I’ve spent writing this post sniffing all the books. If my cat approves, then the books must be good, right! Needless to say, I bought a bunch of her books (in some cases, again). So here’s the list:

On Books

The A-Z Book Survey: Or, Now You’ll Know My Secrets

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The blog adventure continues. Today, I’m taking on the A-Z Book Survey, which I found on The Perpetual Page-Turner blog (run by Jamie!). It’s an oldie, but since it appears on the Blog Challenge Project masterlist, I figured fun should override currency. Below, you shall find some vaguely amusing insights into my reading interests and habits. You may use this information for nefarious purposes if you so choose. Here goes:

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