A Few Links for My Boredom as much as Yours

The title says it all – I’m not motivated to ‘real’ work, so I figure I link a few things that I’ve found interesting in the last week or so.

• SF Signal has another Mind Meld – this time discussing what people would change about SF if they could. A reaction from Andrew Wheeler proves the more interesting read.

• Hi, my name is Jim C. Hines and I’m prejudiced against media tie-in books.

• Grasping for the Wind asks bloggers what they think is behind the popularity of urban fantasy – a question I found to be very interesting. My response seems to stray a bit from the others.

• Watch a video about the mysteries of lightening – cool stuff!

• A volcanic eruption in Alaska may be releasing enough sulfur dioxide gas to cool the global climate for a year or two.

John Scalzi Answers Questions Five

John Scalzi has quickly risen to become one of the most popular science fiction writers out there right now. This has lead to nomination for several high-profile awards, including wins for the John C. Campbell Award and most recently, the Hugo for Best Fan Writer – he missed winning Best Novel for The Last Colony (US, UK, Canada) by less than 10 votes. He is best known for his series of books that starts with Old Man’s War (US, UK, Canada), with his latest, Zoë’s Tale (US, UK, Canada, my review), a stand-alone set within the Old Man’s War universe. However, Scalzi is possibly even better known for his blogging at Whatever, which he has been doing since 1998.

I thank John for taking the time to participate in Questions Five.


YA – Why or why not?

JS: Seriously? I think getting kids to enjoy reading is a pretty necessary step, and also essential for genre, which lives or dies on its ability to hook readers on its product before they're old enough to be convinced by a bunch of illiterate teenage popularity mongers that reading genre isn't cool. So we really need to lay the table for young readers. Not every SF/F writer can or should write YA, but we need to make sure that those who do write YA in SF/F are really good writers.

What advice do you have to give to men in their late 30s pretending to be teenage girls?

JS: Trying to hang around actual teenage girls (say, in the mall), will get arrested and/or having you collect those delightful documents known as restraining orders. Instead, rely on those women you know who are closer to your age, and have them use their own memories of being a teenager to check your character voice. No restraining orders or arrests (unless, you know, you're just that sort of loser), and your own level of self esteem will be considerably higher, because unlike teenage girls, these female friends of yours will not look at you with an expression of vague disgust.

Fill in the blank: Kids today just don’t appreciate the value of ___. How does Zoë’s Tale reflect this?

JS: Kids these days don't appreciate the value of my mortgage, and Zoë’s Tale gives them an opportunity to correct this by sending me money. Hopefully, many of them shall do just that.

More seriously, I'm pretty sure kids today have the same level of appreciation for the value of (x) as they did in my day, which is, not much unless it's directly some aspect of their lives that they need to focus on RIGHT NOW. Being a teenager is an inherently selfish process, because being a teenager is about defining one's self. You stop being a teenager (or more accurately an adolescent) when you start seeing others and their needs on the same level of consideration as you see yourself and your needs.

Why should Zoë’s Tale be the next book that everyone reads?

JS: It doesn't have to be; I'd be happy with it simply being the next book everyone buys (and then, you know, reads at their leisure). But I do hope they read it because I'm very happy with the character of Zoë; I think in fact that she's one of the best characters I've ever written. Also, the title really does reflect the book -- it really is her story, and how, to go back to a previous question, she moves out of adolescence and toward adulthood. Plus, there's snarky dialogue, and how can you not like that.

What peculiar qualities of Ragamuffin should readers be aware of?*

JS: They should be aware that this Nebula-nominated tale of action and adventure is fully and comprehensively made of win. Is this a peculiar quality? Well, as one of only five novels nominated for the Nebula last year, it is certainly rare, at the very least.

*Astute readers will quickly realize that Ragamuffin (US, UK, Canada) was written by Tobias Buckell and not John Scalzi. This is a rather embarrassing error on my part and clear example of the trouble cutting and pasting can get you into when you don’t take the time to review. Thankfully, John was a real sport about it and we agreed to leave it as is since pimping Toby is fine thing in and of itself. It is worth mentioning that the same day Zoë’s Tale is released (August 19, 2008), Sly Mongoose (US, UK, Canada) by Tobias Buckell is also being released. Since both authors live in Ohio, some people have begun referring to August 19, 2008 as “Ohio is Coming To Kick Your Ass With Science Fiction” Day – originally declared (of course) by John Scalzi.

Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi

I posted my review of Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi (US, UK, Canada) over at FantasyBookSpot. I have to say that this one is Scalzi's best book yet and I really enjoyed it. Hopefully I'll be getting a Questions Five interview within him soon.

Review excerpt:

Zoë’s Tale is far and away Scalzi’s best book yet. The voice of a teenage girl is always tricky, yet Scalzi, a male in his upper-30s, manages to get it rather right. Zoë is just as snarky, inconsistent, short on judgment, emotional, and remarkable as any teenager can be. She really comes alive through Scalzi’s witty dialogue and uncertain internal discourse – it’s very easy to imagine Scalzi channeling his pride of his own young daughter into Zoë, and I get the feeling that his daughter is his number one audience. (full review)

Links to Waste Time With

My (un)usual round-up of links that have kept me interested in the last week or so.

• The Hugo Awards were announced on Saturday. The biggest surprise to me is that they weren’t so horrible in their choices – I am especially happy that John Scalzi unseated Dave Langford for best fan writer. There is always interesting discussion on the results – and I find the Westeros discussion of most interest, as usual. I found this post by Patrick Nielsen Hayden very interesting as it indicates the ‘age-ist’ voting tendencies of both the Hugos and Nebulas – younger authors need not get their hopes up. I've written of my opinion of SFF Awards before and I see no reason to change that opinion.

• John at Grasping for the Wind has a new Ask the Bloggers series going on – of course I’m interested.

• This was getting a lot of attention for a while, but I’m happy it’s fading away.

• The World Fantasy Award short-list was announced – I find this award to be the most interesting of the various SFF awards, though I haven’t read a single one of these – heck, I haven’t heard of most of them.

• And for the random geo-related links: One of the more magnificent arches in Arches National Park collapsed last week. Alaska has quite a few volcanic eruptions at the moment, with one causing havoc with airline schedules.
  
  
  

Review: Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost

Stories within stories, layers on top of layers, bridges spanning a world and a journey alike, and players dance to the whims of a shadowy puppeteer – this is the Shadowbridge (US, UK, Canada) Duology by Gregory Frost and Lord Tophet (US, UK, Canada) the conclusion.

Like Shadowbridge, Lord Tophet is but one half to a whole – in other words, read Shadowbridge first. Events pick up immediately after the cliffhanger ending of Shadowbridge and the various mysteries introduced in Shadowbridge are explained – Leodora’s dealings with the gods, Soder’s past and what he is hiding about her parents, the coral man, and others. In fact, by the end of the novel everything is wrapped up rather neatly with a pleasing ending for a book about stories.

The stories within stories structure beautifully blends with the overall narrative and becomes less about the tales told by Leodora and more about stories of Leodora – her family, her past, her journey, and the mysteries that follow her. The moralistic lessons of her fables both mirror and anticipate those of Leodora’s own life as she grows into herself, learning her own heart and desires while realizing her role in the coming conflict with Lord Tophet. These economic, poetic and ultimately pleasant stories make Lord Tophet a joy to read.

The characterization suffers a bit in comparison to the stories, but in a way that fits. The characters seem like caricatures at times, characters in a play (or a story) and not real people. This feels intentional to me and it fits so well with the stories within stories structure and overall sense that these characters are all shadow puppets in Frost’s capable hands.

Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet evoke conflicting reactions in within me. Surficially, I love to see fantasy novels that don’t function well as doorstops – Shadowbridge weighs in at a mere 272 pages and Lord Tophet even shorter at 222. Another part of me then wonders why they couldn’t be published as a single volume – is this just a grab for more money? This is particularly grating with the cliffhanger ending of Shadowbridge.

However, Frost contends that these two novels were conceived as separate works, and after reading Lord Tophet this becomes clear. The thematic heart of these two novels is strikingly different – Shadowbridge is the beginning, the journey, a bridge at so many levels. Lord Tophet concludes – a tale of consequences, love and betrayal with all dancing to the predestined strings of a shadow puppeteer.

In my review of Shadowbridge, I said that its ultimate success would depend on the conclusion in Lord Tophet. The conclusion offered leaves me drifting somewhat aimlessly, making this pair of reviews some of the most difficult reviews I’ve written. The conclusion works – it even works well, but does it live up to its potential? The potential of the Shadowbridge/Lord Tophet duology was huge, and these could have been memorable, timeless works – the stuff classics are made of. Simply said, this potential is unrealized – these books are great and should be talked about, but the climatic moments lacked that extra punch needed to attain true greatness. The conclusion was ultimately expected, and while it was heartfelt – it needed to be heart-wrenching. This is disappointing since unrealized potential often tastes bitter even when compared to lesser works lacking potential. However, the Epilogue is the sweet refrain for the bitter climax and ends the book with a fitting upswing.

The Shadowbridge/Lord Tophet duology is a beautiful read and stylistic wonder with the weaving of stories within stories and the resulting thematic tapestry – the work of a true craftsman. Even with unrealized potential, these books stand apart and above much of the ‘standard’ fantasy offered and easily earn a label of literary fantasy. The world of Shadowbridge is rich with stories waiting to be told and I look forward to Frost answering that call. 7.5-8/10

Orson Scott Card - Terrorist?

Orson Scott Card has a history of writing pretty hateful things - here is the latest example, where he literaly calls for an overthrow of the government of the US if gay marriage is legalized (does this make him a terrorist?).

This blog post at SF Diplomat points out the long history of Card's hateful speak, and points to the Feminist SF Blog reaction (I highly recommend reading this). There are plenty of other reactions around and I just don't have the time to search them all out.

Anyway, this is just another example of why I choose not to support OSC in anyway I know of. It makes you wonder what other SFF authors out there think this way - particularly those among the Mormon faith.

Link Menudo

A few things that have been of interest to me this week:

• Gabe is at it again with his always interesting Monday Meanderings at Mysterious Outposts. He’s gotten lots of attention from his post about bloggers getting paid – though most of the discussion I’ve seen misses the more interesting aspects of his post, which I felt I addressed in the comments (of course this could be due in part to my own choice in title of the Westeros post). What’s more interesting is that the narcissism of bloggers seems to be overlooking the more interesting post he made yesterday.

• Stephen Hunt of SF Crowsnest starts a SFF social networking site – Hive Mind. I signed up, and right now it looks to have potential, but I think it’s a got a ways to go before it stands out.

• A moderate earthquake shakes LA…it makes me remember fondly when I felt my first earthquake east of LA a few years ago (yes, I’m a weird geologist like that).

• I’m really enjoying the Eruptions Blog and the realization of just how many volcanic eruptions are occurring around the world at any given time. Montserrat had another big one.
  

EDIT: I totally forgot to mention that Acacia (my review) by David Anthony Durham has been picked up for a movie. I generally don't like crossovers, but congratulations, I'll certainly see it.

A Voice from the Past

A relatively new podcast that I discovered from the exhaustive genre round-ups provided by Matt Staggs has a new episode featuring a past interview with Robert Jordan. Reality Break has its origins in the 1990s when it was a syndicated radio broadcast for NPR and has reinvented itself as a podcast with both new and old content.

The 30-minute interview with Robert Jordan was conducted in 1994 as he was touring for the release of Lord of Chaos, the 6th book of the Wheel of Time. Incidentally, this is about the time I began reading the Wheel of Time which eventually lead to my love of genre and a presence on the internet (I was still a few years from the step to the internet at that time). In the mythos of Wheel of Time this discussion would be considered non-spoiler (even then), and really is all the more interesting (and timeless) as a result.

I certainly recommend a listen.

Review: Mirrored Heavens by David J. Williams

The year is 2110 and the world a hellish reflection of today – global warming has wrecked everything, the environment has been all but destroyed with places like the Amazon nothing but a polluted wasteland, and humanity has endured and multiplied. The US has evolved into a near-fascist state controlling the Western Hemisphere; a Russo-Chinese government dominates the east, with a neutral Europe in the middle. A fragile peace emerges after a long cold war and an unknown terrorist organization strikes at the heart of the world order.

Mirrored Heavens (US, UK, Canada) tells its story through the eyes of the soldier-agents of David J. Williams’ world – following three arcs to the conclusion. Each arc generally focuses on a pair of individuals, each similar with a high-tech agent (razor) working with a high-talent physical force (mech). The razor hacks into the cyber-world known as the zone and the mech blows things up. Each pair follows a mission of sorts, fights for survival and understanding, leaving a staggering body count in their wake.

Williams’ take on a post-cyberpunk military sci-fi presents an interesting perspective – near enough in the future to be relative, far enough to be a shadow of what we know today. The political and environmental realities represent today’s worst-case scenarios and the world is decidedly not a better place. But, Williams doesn’t get far into it – this is the Hollywood-video game version, all action, all octane, and things blow up. Depth is hinted, but not realized; characters created, but who can trust those creations when their very memories were probably invented by those in charge to fit the circumstances necessary. Trust no one, believe nothing, and carry a big stick. It’s a strange combination of left-leaning ideas, right-leaning violent response, terrorism, and government betrayal and corruption.

Utilizing this made-for-Hollywood script of all action and little depth, Williams manages to sneak in some interesting ideas with a subtle (and exaggerated) allegory to 9-11 and various reactions, with a seeming nod towards conspiracy theories. While I would have loved to see this aspect further explored, it certainly wouldn’t fit well with rough ‘em up, shoot ‘em up approach taken.

The prose is serviceable, the characterization adequate (at best) and the action nonstop. In fact there is so much action, and detailed description of it, I became somewhat desensitized to it – which is big word for bored. While the plot was fun and interesting (and has a few good twists along the way), the all-out focus on action assaulted me to the point of not caring. I could easily put the book aside and not pick it up for ages – in stead of being an addicting page-turner, it often found use as a coaster.

David J. Williams’ debut novel hits the ground running and never slows down. The cover blurbs speak true and untrue – they praise the action and vision of the future, but calling this a next-generation Neuromancer (US, UK, Canada) goes too far. Mirrored Heavens should especially appeal to a younger audience addicted to Hollywood and video games and its marriage of military sci-fi and a post-cyberpunk world. In the end Mirrored Heavens is a forgettable book that may be a fun way to pass the time for those who need a break from gaming and their home theatres. 5.5-6/10

And some more links...

I’ve been flirting with the idea of a link round-up all day – well I’ve finally just gotten around to doing one since there are a number of things interesting me at the moment.

• Gabe continues to produce intriguing stuff over at Mysterious Outposts. His Monday Meanderings are quite interesting with a couple of challenges to reviewers and an unrelated rant.

• Everybody else is linking the new Tor website, so I guess I will too (I don’t do cliffs though). What’s even more interesting is the great Scalzi-McCalmont debate in progress (via OF Blog)– I’ll let you decide who is ignorantly digging themselves deep in their own excrement.

• This comic made me laugh.

• This made me laugh even more…and it’s damn impressive.

• And I still love Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Now maybe I’ll get inspired to write a review for Mirrored Heavens.

Forgotten Friday’s: Kage Baker Writes Fantasy Too

Kage Baker is best known for her short fiction and a series of SF books – The Company. What is less known is that she has written fantasy as well, and it’s quite good. The Anvil of the World (US, UK, Canada) is a mosaic novel that is heavy in satire and subversion of fantasy norms – a book that I enjoyed quite a bit (full review – it’s one of my earliest, so don’t hold that against me :).

About The Anvil of the World:

And now, a fantasy. The cast:

The CHILDREN OF THE SUN are an energetic, mechanically-minded race, offspring (so their legends say) of a blacksmith-god and a fire-goddess, long ages ago. Sanguine, optimistic, quarrelsome, artistic, inventive yet a bit careless with their technology. They live in stone cities. Long ago some immense catastrophe nearly wiped them out, a fact they cheerfully ignore as their slag heaps grow ever higher, as their cities grow ever more crowded.

The YENDRI are a forest-dwelling people, refugees from ancient slavery in another land, led to freedom by a Holy Child. They have long since settled into a pastoral life of meditation and other spiritual pursuits, which would be perfectly idyllic but for two things: they can’t abide the Children of the Sun, whom they see as vulgar and destructive, and their Holy Child grew up and married someone they despise even more bitterly than the Children of the Sun.

DEMONS. No, we’re not talking about Eeeevil and the hosts of Hell. These demons are elementals, insubstantial unless given bodies, with a ratio of Good to Evil about the same as any other race. Some of them are quite intelligent; some of them are abysmally stupid. All are powerful and dangerous if crossed. Many of them have gone into service in exchange for corporeal forms, and they serve a shadowy figure known as the Master of the Mountain… who happens to be the husband of the Green Saint, formerly the Holy Child of the Yendri.

Complications:

A Child of the Sun going by the alias of Smith, for reasons best known to himself, has a hidden destiny. It requires that he change addresses a lot. He’s not getting any younger, though, and, times being what they are, he accepts a job as a caravan master…

The Master of the Mountain and the Green Saint have had children. A lot of children. In fact, they have released a rather large brood of semidivine semidemonic highly-conflicted offspring on the world. Certain extremist elements amongst the Yendri are really, really angry about this, regarding the children’s very existence as Sacrilege…

The Children of the Sun have reached critical mass, and their fate is about to be shaped on the anvil of the world. Will they perish or survive? The past rises like a ghost, old scandals are raked up, long-buried secrets are brought to light—and Smith discovers he is not the only one with something to hide…

She is returning to fantasy with a new release coming from Tor in September – The House of the Stag (US, UK, Canada), set in the same world as The Anvil of the World.

Dr. Horrible’s Viral Sing-Along

Well, I have to admit, I’m really digging Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. I’m at a least mild fanboy of Joss Whedon so I had to check it out. Nathan Fillion is always fun and I love the way Neil Patrick Harris has reinvented himself since his wonderful bit part in Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Doogie bears watching.

Enjoy – it’s still free, but not for long.

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NPR to Slash Science Friday?

I saw this today and it makes me very sad:

NPR is cutting funding by 60% for the immensely popular Science Friday starting in October, as part of budget problems. SF has 1.3 million listeners per week and 10 million podcast downloads plus science videos, blogs (it has the only full time science reporter based in Beijing), and more. It is one of the successes in engaging the public in science but also talking to scientists ourselves.

An email forwarded from former NSF director Rita Colwell, says the show is short about $500K of the annual $950K budget, which means Science Friday will either go off the air or stay on in a greatly diminished form until or unless new funds are found. What's most surprising to me is that NPR says it will no longer seek foundation underwriting for Science Friday: Rita says if Science Friday is to stay on the air, it is up to the scientific community to raise the money for it.
(source)

I can’t find any verifying information on this yet, but I find this to be very dangerous. At this point in time, this nation needs more, not less science coverage. NPR is the most reputable news sources out there, and this action is disheartening beyond words. Please spread the word, make ruckus and let’s make sure this doesn’t happen – the way I figure it, one less reporter in Iraq could cover the cost.

Blurb Worthy

Today I received a copy of the new release Multireal by David Louis Edelman (US, UK, Canada). Somewhat to my surprise, I find myself in the blurb section with snippets from my review of Infoquake (US, UK, Canada), the first book in this trilogy. As far as I know, this is my first blurb (though I assume there is one in the newer version of Infoquake as well) and it’s the first time I’ve noticed a dedicated section of ‘Blogger Blurbs’. I’m joined, of course, by a lot of familiar names and a few that have faded in the accelerated time of the internet.

I don’t aim for blurbs – I just say what I think. Sometimes, ‘blurb-worthy’ words are strung together, often, even praise of high-order, would simply make for a poor blurb. But the narcissist in me is proud to see my name in print. And for some strange reason, I’m now even more anxious to read Multireal – was this all just a conspiracy to get me to read this book sooner than I would have otherwise?

Miscellany of Links

After a wonderfully relaxing holiday weekend, here are some of the links I’ve followed with interest this week.

• ‘Controversial’ blogger Gabe Chouinard is back on the scene with a new blog Mysterious Outposts.

• Bloggasm has an interesting article about Tor’s free ebook program – with this equally interesting reaction.

• Tobias Buckell writes about a disturbingly racist rejection letter this author received and it has now blown up and turned nasty.

• The Locus Award hoopla blew up in rather interesting ways and then fizzled.

• Richard Morgan is guest blogging at Amazon – some people are not too happy with his language (what the fuck?).

• Lava fountains at Kilauea, global warming grows glaciers at Mt. Shasta, and the USGS declares the Mt. St. Helens eruption over.

• Poll shows Obama* winning in Arizona – first polls can be very wrong and this one stands apart from the others. But, something close to 1/3 of eligible voters in Arizona didn’t live in the state when McCain was last elected to the Senate. I think that Arizona is going to be much closer than many think.

* I think that my Word spell checker is a right-wing blogger since it wants me to replace Obama with Osama.