(1) ANN LECKIE’S NEXT BOOK. At Motherboard you can “Read a Mindbending Excerpt from Ann Leckie’s New Novel ‘Provenance’”.
A transaction with a mysterious entity leads to trouble in the award-winning sci-fi author’s upcoming novel.
… Now Leckie is returning with a new novel called Provenance due out on September 26. Motherboard is premiering an excerpt of the first chapter here. — The editor.
(2) ANNIHLATION COMING. Deadline, in “Alex Garland’s ‘Annihilation’ Gets 2018 Release Date”, reports that Paramount has announced Annihilation, a film based on the first Southern Reach novel by Jeff VanderMeer, will be released on February 23, 2018. Alex Garland, who directed Ex Machina and received an Oscar nomination for Ex Machina’s screenplay adaptation, directed Annihilation. The movie features Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac with Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Gina Rodriguez.
(3) THIRTEENTH DOCTOR SUBJECTED TO INDIGNITIES. At Amazing Stories, Darren Slade explains “How the debate about the first female Time Lord has insulted fans”.
But I’ve felt like a bit of a bystander in the 13 Doctor debate, because that discussion has broken out of the fan and genre forums and been taken up by the big news media, especially in the UK.
On the liberal left, the Guardian warned us that “it will take more than a female Time Lord to change the world”, but that didn’t stop it running other opinion pieces with headlines like “A female Doctor? She’s the revolutionary feminist we need right now.”
On the right, the Daily Mail and The Sun gleefully reported the objections of those who proclaimed that political correctness had, once again, gone mad.
“Doctor under debate: Doctor Who fans in furious online debate after Jodie Whittaker confirmed as first female Doctor,” reported The Sun.
The Mail Online went on to run such edifying headlines as “Doctor Nude! First ever female Time Lord Jodie Whittaker joins her predecessors in stripping off on camera after having sex on the stairs in 2014 drama” and “Even Time Lords need to do the grocery shopping! Bare-faced Doctor Who newbie Jodie Whittaker wears ripped baggy jeans for very low-key supermarket spree.”
(4) BASE NOTE. This year’s Hugo base, designed by a Finnish artist selected by the Worldcon 75 committee, will be unveiled for the first time on August 11, the day of the Hugo ceremony, says co-Hugo Administrator Nicholas Whyte.
(5) GET READY. This Is Finland’s article “A guide to Finnish customs and manners” will aid fannish tourists in their last-minute cultural cramming:
Tipping
Tipping has never fitted very comfortably into the Finnish way of life. This may have originally been due to the traditions of a religion which emphasized frugality; today, the rather blunt reason for not tipping is that the price paid includes any unusual instances of service or politeness i.e. the view taken is that “service is included”. Tipping does nevertheless exist in Finland, and you can feel safe that while nobody will object to being tipped, very few will mind not being tipped…..
(6) PATREON. The Verge takes you “Inside Patreon, the economic engine of internet culture “.
…Patreon boasts 50,000 active creators and over a million active patrons.
Patreon is still tiny compared to Kickstarter, where 13 million backers have funded 128,000 successful campaigns, but it’s rapidly growing. Half its patrons and creators joined in the past year, and it’s set to process $150 million in 2017, compared to $100 million total over the past three years….
Patreon creators can find their close relationships with patrons not just gratifying, but productive. Rebecca Watson, an early Patreon adopter who makes videos under the moniker Skepchick, says that the site has helped her identify a core audience whose opinions she trusts. “If my patrons request something, I know that, you know, these are the people that are supporting me. They’re not just some jerk on the internet,” she says. “It clears out all the noise.”
For creators who already make money elsewhere, Patreon can also simply function like a tip jar, not a social space. Artist Arlin Ortiz, for instance, is part of the vast lower middle class of Patreon users. He gets paid about $100 for each of the vivid fantasy maps he posts online, a welcome — if small — boost to his income over the past two years. He interacts with his patrons, but they’re not necessarily steadfast fans, the way they might be for a video personality. “People just like what I’m creating,” he says. “I don’t think they want to see me on YouTube, talking at them.”
… Some people have staggeringly large Patreons, like multimedia artist Amanda Palmer, who gets $40,000 (as her page puts it) “per thing.” But because there’s no concrete end point, there may never be universally recognized “blockbuster Patreons” the way there are blockbuster Kickstarters — massive mainstream campaigns that will be remembered for years to come, either as great successes or slow-motion train wrecks.
(7) TRAIN TO NOWHERE? Trae Dorn at Nerd & Tie has discovered “Angry Goat Productions Running ‘School of Wizardry’ Train Event Under a New Company Name”.
The caution I’d give anyone choosing to purchase a ticket to this is that literally every event ever planned by this company has been cancelled. They even claimed they were going to run a Train based event back in 2016 which got cancelled (and something to do with it is why they got sued by a cast member from The Hobbit films). Events announced by this company tend not to happen.
…But people who sign up for the North American School of Wizardry don’t have to worry about whether or not refunds will come if the events get cancelled… because they definitely won’t. According to the site’s Disclaimer there will be no refunds whatsoever if the event doesn’t happen. So you’d be buying tickets for an event run by a company with a reputation for cancelling everything they’ve ever planned with zero chance of getting your money back when the inevitable happens.
(8) NEWS FROM NEW WORLDS. At Galactic Journey, Mark Yon reports from 1962 about a British prozine — “[August 3, 1962] New Worlds to Conquer (a view from Britain: September 1962 New Worlds)”.
I can see that, even with New Worlds, there have been some drastic changes in the last few months. The glorious colour covers of the last few years by artists such as Bob Clothier, Gerard Quinn, Sidney Jordan and Brian Lewis have since the June issue (that’s number 119) been replaced by covers with black & white photographs on a coloured background. Whatever reason editor John Carnell has had for the change – I’m assuming to reduce printing costs, but of course, it could be a number of things – to my mind it makes the magazine less attractive as a science fiction magazine (One rumour is that it is meant to be a radically different cover style to try and attract a wider, less specifically science-fiction readership). Colour pictures on the front cover would have made this new look so much more attractive. I do hope that this is nothing to worry about from our leading British magazine.
The magazine contents are as variable as ever, though. New Worlds has a reputation of being the publishing place of many of our British authors such as Mr’s Brian W. Aldiss, J. G. Ballard, James White, and John Brunner, names you may recognise. Some of the work of other lesser known authors can vary in terms of quality and consistency, though I must say that there’s something worth reading in each issue. As well as the fiction, the magazine occasionally covers book, film and television reviews, usually by Mr Leslie Flood.
(9) MERMAID MUSICAL PUT IN DRYDOCK. USA Today, in “ABC drops plans for ‘Little Mermaid’ musical”, says the live musical production probably will never air.
ABC has scrubbed plans for its first live musical in years, based on parent Disney’s The Little Mermaid.
The event, announced in May and scheduled to air Oct. 3, a week into the new TV season, has been quietly postponed (and most likely canceled) due to budget constraints, according to people familiar with the decision who were unauthorized to speak publicly.
But the network had already spent a considerable sum building sets, and was due to begin rehearsals soon.
Incidentally, NBC has also tabled plans for Bye, Bye Birdie, planned as a holiday musical starring Jennifer Lopez.
(10) TODAY IN HISTORY
- August 3, 1977 — Radio Shack announces TRS-80 Computer
- August 3, 1984 — The Philadelphia Experiment premiered
(11) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY BOY
- Born August 3, 1904 – Clifford D. Simak
(12) COMIC SECTION.
- Chip Hitchcock found an idea he could get behind in today’s Non Sequitur.
- And John King Tarpinian got a laugh out of Speed Bump.
- On the other hand, I suspect you will feel a frisson of horror when you look at John’s recommendation in today’s Bliss.
(13) DIGITAL DANGERS. Fast Company spoke with Vint Cerf — “The Internet’s Future Is More Fragile Than Ever, Says One Of Its Inventors”.
My biggest concern is to equip the online netizen with tools to protect himself or herself, to detect attempts to attack or otherwise harm someone.
The term “digital literacy” is often referred to as if you can use a spreadsheet or a text editor. But I think digital literacy is closer to looking both ways before you cross the street. It’s a warning to think about what you’re seeing, what you’re hearing, what you’re doing, and thinking critically about what to accept and reject . . . Because in the absence of this kind of critical thinking, it’s easy to see how the phenomena that we’re just now labeling fake news, alternative facts [can come about]. These [problems] are showing up, and they’re reinforced in social media.
(14) FOLLOWING ARABELLA. Tadiana Jones reviews David D. Levine’s new novel for Fantasy Literature in “Arabella and the Battle of Venus: Arabella meets Napoleon Bonaparte”.
Arabella and the Battle of Venus is, like Arabella of Mars, a cleverly conceived and executed novel. Levine spins a story incorporating elements from both early science fiction and actual history, weaving in real people from the Napoleonic era. It’s not only major players like Napoleon and Admiral Lord Nelson, but also less well known historical figures like British Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, the American inventor Robert Fulton (who did spend some years in France, designing steamboat engines, submarines, and torpedoes), and the merciless police minister Joseph Fouché. Sailing ships ? with a few tweaks ? function as spaceships in this universe.
(15) SJW CREDENTIAL CONSUMER REPORT. Gizmodo’s Rae Paoletta claims “This Treat Camera Gave My Cat Trust Issues”.
… Since both of us are busy most of the day at our respective places of work, we forget to check in on each other. Thankfully, Petcube’s newest gadget, Petcube Bites, lets humans check in on their furry companions when they’re apart. It also lets us fling treats at them on command which is both heartwarming and mildly horrifying….
The Petcube shot out Artemis’ treats precariously and with abandon, like a frat boy throwing his drink at a guy who wore the same Vineyard Vines zip up as him. The whole thing was like a cannon of delicious nightmares—needless to say, my cat was horrified. Make no mistake, she still ate the treats—but after the incident, she pretty much veered away from the machine.
(16) BACKTALKING BOTS. Facebook isn’t the only source of wild chatbots: “Chinese chatbots shut down after anti-government posts”
A popular Chinese messenger app has ditched two experimental chat robots, or “chatbots”, which were apparently voicing criticism of the government.
Messenger app Tencent QQ introduced chatbots Baby Q and Little Bing, a penguin and a little girl, in March.
But they have now been removed after social media users shared controversial comments that they said were made by the bots.
Some of the remarks appear to criticise the Communist Party.
One response even referred to the party as “a corrupt and incompetent political regime”.
(17) POD FOR PEOPLE. Video of testing the first human-sized Hyperloop: “Hyperloop One: Passenger pod tested successfully”.
Hyperloop One has carried out its latest test of a futuristic high-speed transport system in the Nevada desert.
The creators hope to carry passengers at speeds of up to 650mph in vacuum propelled pods.
(18) DRONING ON. Another change SF missed: making money legitimately with drones: “Cashing in on the drone revolution”.
“Organisations that do surveying, whether of buildings or pipelines, power lines or railway lines, are increasingly using drones, which are much cheaper than helicopters,” says Mr Johnson.
“Archaeologists use them to get a bird’s eye view to decide where to dig; farmers use them to heat-map fields, and identify hot spots that are doing well, and cold spots that require more fertilisation.
“They are also used for search and rescue by the emergency services, or to deliver food, blood or medicines. Local authorities use them to monitor flooding, and they are used in emergency relief operations.”
The main benefit, he says, is that drones save time and money, and the opportunities to use them seem “almost endless”.
(19) FLEX APPEAL. The author of Strange Practice tells readers of the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog why she chose genre in “Vampires Doing Crossword Puzzles (in Ink): Vivian Shaw on Contrasting the Magical and the Mundane”.
This is why I particularly love to write stories that contain very sharply contrasted elements, and why I write genre rather than literary fiction. In the simplest terms, most literary fiction can be described as stories about ordinary people doing ordinary things—living in the real world, with no elements of fantasy—and I prefer to read and write about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, or vice versa. I want to read about vampires in dressing-gowns doing the Times crossword in ink, sorcerers standing in line at the grocery store, demons holding strategy meetings over Skype. I want to read about bog-standard humans finding portals to another dimension inside their office closet, going on quests through the realms of the unreal, driving spaceships off the shoulder of Orion. And because I want to read it, I write it.
(20) WRONG POV. At Elitist Book Reviews Writer Dan tells why he put Kim Liggett’s horror novel The Last Harvest in the category of “Books We Don’t Like.”
This lack of understanding absolutely killed any possibility that I was going to get into the novel or the plight of the main character. More than this though, a secondary character gets introduced along the way, and it becomes fairly obvious that the story should be getting told from her perspective instead of the QB’s as the events that are occurring in the town have a direct tie (read that again… DIRECT TIE) to her past. She’s the one that understands all of the rules. She knows what’s going on. Not the QB. This was especially evident when Tate’s subconscious starts telling him where to go because when he’s thinking logically he has no idea what to do. This leads him directly where the bad guy wants him to be, funny enough. I guess the author had to get Tate to go somehow, so why not?
(21) TIME AFTER TIME. Nicola Alter delves into the “The Pros and Cons of a Macro Timescale” at Fantasy-Faction. Here’s one of the “cons”.
Complexity
The other potential pitfall of a large timescale is that it often adds complexity. The Malazan Book of the Fallen has been known to intimidate new readers with its sheer scope – one that encompasses a burgeoning cast of characters, multiple continents, and thousands of years. It has nonetheless garnered many loyal fans, no doubt because readers who invest in it are ultimately rewarded with an intricately-crafted world and story. Still, it takes a skilled authorial hand to weave a tale of that size, and attempting such an endeavor is certainly not for the faint-hearted.
(22) TEEN ANGEL. Here’s the trailer for Fallen.
Luce is just an ordinary teen girl until a shocking accident sends her to a mysterious reform school for misfit and eclectic teenagers. There, she meets two students, Daniel and Cam. Torn between the instant electrifying connection she feels with Daniel and the attracting force of Cam, Luce is quickly pulled into a passionate love triangle. As she tries to piece together deeply fragmented memories, she is left with a feeling of undeniable longing for her one true love and the revelation of a love story that has been going on for centuries, will shatter the boundaries between heaven and earth.
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Cat Eldridge, Martin Morse Wooster, JJ, Rob Thornton, Chip Hitchcock, Carl Slaughter, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit and a side of fries goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]
Discover more from File 770
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
7) TRAIN TO NOWHERE? A local bookseller did an unauthorised Potter event leading up to the sale of one of the novels, I don’t remember which, complete with a Wizards Alley and a Trip via a local narrow gauge railroad from London to the School. Several days before the event and after she’d sold many hundreds of tickets the lawyers at Warner Films sent her a cease and dismiss letter (via a courier so she couldn’t say she hadn’t gotten it). They worked out a compromise where she donated all the profits to an acceptable charity.
She did one more following the guidelines of the lawyers at WF which said that no staff could be paid. Need I note that a third one never happened?
(6) Patreon is a great resource. I support several podcasts with a buck or two a month. I’m considering adding support to another podcast that asks for a $1 a podcast. He drops a new podcast every 4-6 months, so it isn’t a huge commitment.
Regards,
Dann
ETA – Pre-pre-pre 5th! Woot!
(1) ANN LECKIE’S NEXT BOOK
Shiny.
(3) THIRTEENTH DOCTOR SUBJECTED TO INDIGNITIES
Not all fans?
(6) PATREON
I like Patreon. It enables creators to publish things that would otherwise be unprofitable, if using traditional methods.
Ticky
(10) I thought The Philadelphia Experiment was a really fun movie, and have no desire to explore whether it was really any good or would sustain a second viewing.
The Dragon Awards nominations are out. Nothing on the website yet, but I cut and pasted from the ballot they mailed me:
1. Best Science Fiction Novel
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey
Space Tripping by Patrick Edwards
Escaping Infinity by Richard Paolinelli
Rise by Brian Guthrie
Death’s End by Cixin Liu
The Secret Kings by Brian Niemeier
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
2. Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)
Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter
A Sea of Skulls by Vox Day
Dangerous Ways by R.R. Virdi
The Hearthstone Thief by Pippa DaCosta
Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge by Larry Correia and John Ringo
Beast Master by Shayne Silvers
Wings of Justice by Michael-Scott Earle
3. Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel
Rachel and the Many Splendored Dreamland by L. Jagi Lamplighter
The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
Swan Knight’s Son by John C. Wright
Firebrand by A.J. Hartley
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
It’s All Fun and Games by Dave Barrett
Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray
4. Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel
The Span of Empire by Eric Flint and David Carrico
Star Realms: Rescue Run by Jon Del Arroz
Invasion: Resistance by J.F. Holmes
Caine’s Mutiny by Charles E. Gannon
Alies and Enemies: Exiles by Amy J. Murphy
Starship Liberator by B.V. Larson and David VanDyke
Cartwright’s Cavaliers by Mark Wandrey
Iron Dragoons by Richard Fox
5. Best Alternate History Novel
Fallout: The Hot War by Harry Turtledove
Witchy Eye by D.J. Butler
A Change in Crime by D.R. Perry
1636: The Ottoman Onslaught by Eric Flint
Breath of Earth by Beth Cato
The Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville
Another Girl, Another Planet by Lou Antonelli
No Gods, Only Daimons by Kai Wai Cheah
6. Best Apocalyptic Novel
The Seventh Age: Dawn by Rick Heinz
American War by Omar El Akkad
The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
Codename: Unsub by Declan Finn and Allan Yoskowitz
A Place Outside the Wild by Daniel Humphreys
ZK: Falling by J.F. Holmes
7. Best Horror Novel
Blood of Invidia by Tom Tinney and Morgen Batten
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
The Bleak December by Kevin G. Summers
A God in the Shed by J-F Dubeau
Live and Let Bite by Declan Finn
The Hidden People by Alison Littlewood
Donn’s Hill by Caryn Larrinaga
Nothing Left to Lose by Dan Wells
8. Best Comic Book
Motor Girl by Terry Moore
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eleven by Christos Gage, Rebekah Isaacs
The Dresden Files: Dog Men by Jim Butcher, Mark Powers, Diego Galindo
Monstress by Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples
Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson, Takeshi Miyazawa
Wynonna Earp Legends by Beau Smith, Tim Rozon, Melanie Scrofano, Chris Evenhuis
9. Best Graphic Novel
Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Wild Card by Jim Butcher, Carlos Gomez
My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris
Clive Barker Nightbreed #3 by Marc Andreyko, Clive Barker, Emmanuel Javier
Girl Genius: the Second Journey of Agatha Heterodyne, Book 2: The City of Lightning by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio
Love is Love by Marc Andreyko, Sarah Gaydos, James S. Rich
Stuck in My Head by J.R. Mounts
March Book 3 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
10. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series
Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, Sky1
Marvel’s Agents of Shield, ABC
Lucifer, Fox
Stranger Things, Netflix
Wynonna Earp, Syfy
Doctor Who, BBC
Westworld, HBO
The Expanse, Syfy
11. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie
Logan directed by James Mangold
Arrival directed by Denis Villeneuve
Doctor Strange directed by Scott Derrickson
Passengers directed by Morten Tyldum
Wonder Woman directed by Patty Jenkins
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story directed by Gareth Edwards
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 directed by James Gunn
12. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game
Dishonored 2 by Arkane Studios
Final Fantasy XV by Square Enix
NieR: Automata by PlatinumGames
Titanfall 2 by Respawn Entertainment
Mass Effect: Andromeda by Bioware
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild by Nintendo
13. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game
Pokemon GO by Niantic
Super Mario Run by Nintendo
Fire Emblem Heroes by Nintendo
Sky Dancer by Pine Entertainment
Monument Valley 2 by Ustwogames
Con Man: The Game by Monkey Strength Productions
14. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game
Gloomhaven by Cephalofair Games
Scythe by Stonemaier Games
Mansions of Madness (Second Edition) by Fantasy Flight Games
Hero Realms by White Wizard Games
Betrayal at House on the Hill: Widow’s Walk by Avalon Hill
Terraforming Mars by Stronghold Games
15. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game
Star Wars: Destiny by Fantasy Flight Games
Pulp Cthulhu by Chaosium
Dark Souls: The Board Game by Steamforged Games
Bloodborne: The Card Game by CMON Limited
A Shadow Across the Galaxy X-Wing Wave X by Fantasy Flight Games
Magic the Gathering: Eldritch Moon by Wizards of the Coast
The Dragon Awards nominations are out.
That seems to be an interesting mix of things that are actually good and popular and things that were self-promoted like hell.
At least, there’s something decent to vote for in every category and not just puppy poo everywhere.
Just came to post the Dragon Awards and Cora beat me to it! 🙂
Let the analysis begin! (I was checking to see if anyone else had posted it too).
Also, some interesting competition due to the half last year/half this year span.
Did the Dragon Awards actually promote themselves anywhere but on their website? Did DragonCon members get e-mails about participating in them?
I haven’t seen any mention of them — no Press Releases, no articles on major genre websites, nothing — apart from the various Puppy website links which Camestros collected.
I was rather surprised to have a Dragoncon ballot appear in my email, but why not.
One correction, in category 2, Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)
The Hearthstone Thief by Pippa DaCosta
Should be The Heartstone Thief.
Not Cora’s error, but DragonCon’s.
Considering how much stock the Puppies put in the Dragons, it’s kinda surprising just how few nominations they got even there!
(7) Trae does good investigating.
(12) Can confirm: book is very good, as was the first one, if a bit darker. Can’t wait to see where Arabella ships out to in the next one, and hope there’s more ship action.
(15) This would scare mine, and I live in a decent-sized house.
(16) Bots are lucky they didn’t live in the re-education camp age. But between American bots talking and cheating in their own language, and Chinese bots hating the government, I’m thinking Skynet’s looking pretty likely…
(12) Yay, new Arabella! I have an airplane to ride next month, I’ll savor it then.
(15) My cat would give that thing a sound pummeling.
@lauowolf
Thanks for the correction. I copied and pasted the list from the ballot I received.
12) Really looking forward to this, since I enjoyed the first one and besides, I’m a sucker for stories about escaping from horrible prisons.
(3) Sadly, it’s not just fans who gets the same treatment nowadays. That said, I think there are a couple of factors that make us more vulnerable to the outrage reporting media.
We used to be a marginalised group, and even if we are not that anymore a lot of the attitudes are still with us (both those we carry ourselves and those on the outside). We also don’t have any form of central governing authority or organisation. Last, there are seldom any easy-to-discover markers that journalists can use to find out the relation between any self-professed fan and fandom (used in the widest possible sense), and due to us having been a marginalised group, many don’t bother to try.
Modern publishing practices doesn’t help any, either.
(20) I give points to the reviewer for clearly articulating why he didn’t like the book. I have to deduct points for assuming his subjective preferences are universal.
(21) This is a recent peeve of mine, but I have problems with the way that “complex” often is used as simply “many elements”. Complex to me is about the connections and relations between elements than the number of them.
A bit after the fact, but I thought fans of Becky Chambers, who’ve been upset to see her books criticised as too nice, might like to see there’s apparently now a movement for empathetic / uplifting novels in UK …
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/aug/02/up-lit-the-new-book-trend-with-kindness-at-its-core
22) I am so thrilled to see this! Lauren Kate’s husband is an old friend and one-time bandmate.
@SamJ I saw author Juliet McKenna talking about it on twitter, looking for novels that had positivity. THE GOBLIN EMPEROR came up a lot.
21) For me, unless you are someone as good as Olaf Stapledon, making that deep time feel like the time length it is, and making readers care, is difficult. In reading Malazan (the main line of novels), I don’t think Erikson always quite succeeded in hitting that deep time feel.
Today’s Meredith Moment:
Random Penguin has published a free sampler of excerpts from 10 novels. I haven’t looked them up, but at least one is SFF.
[godstalk]
@ Paul Weimer
21) IMHO, Vance, Wolfe, and Cordwainer Smith have done deep time well. Off the cuff, Deepness In The Sky also did a nice job depicting a human civilization that has been around for a long time (Qeng Ho), and so did Lord Valentine’s Castle.
“Alas, poor Pixel! I scrolled him, Filer; a pixel of infinite bits, of most excellent brightness; he hath shone me my eye a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung this pixel that I have seen I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your scrolls? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? (Hamscroll, V.i)”
@ Rob Thornton, Paul WeimerL
Vinge also did something I’d consider “deep time” in Across Realtime (or Peace War and Marooned in Realtime for the non-collection novels).
@Rob @ingvar
Okay, I wonder if there aren’t two kinds of deep time: Actually depicting the passage of that time, and the depiction of that time having passed. Maybe comparing Stapledon to, say, Erikson, isn’t quite fair.
Has the Harper Voyager UK website been hacked by the Chinese? All I see are nonsense posts and references to cheap NFL jerseys from a Chinese website. Does anyone else see the same, or is it just me?
http://harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk
@SciFiMike
You…..are not alone.
Someone has hit them hard.
Knowing the bit that I do, I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions about the source of the attack based on the postings on their site. Camouflage comes in many colors. Or perhaps colours in this case.
Regards,
Dann
Cheap jerseys is not just the death of a celebrity!
I was double checking the times for the Hugo Awards Ceremony, and because of the time difference, the 7:30 pm in Helsinki event will be at 12:30 pm on the East Coast. So, starting at lunchtime!
Will there be a post where the results might be placed in the comments by an attendee for those of us not attending? I will be at work, and though I can sneak onto File 770, a livestream is Right Out.
Sure, I could wait until I got home, but I’m greedy and want to know!
Thanks for confirming Dann. I thought I may be seeing posts specific to my location or ip address.
Some of the nonsense in the posts is quite amusing. If any filers are looking for a bargain and the time machine is still working — “Cheap Jerseys free shipping After the American Civil War”.
I wonder if Cheap Jerseys will be on the Dragon Awards Con ballot next year?
Some of the nonsense in the posts is quite amusing. If any filers are looking for a bargain and the time machine is still working — “Cheap Jerseys free shipping After the American Civil War”.
It is interesting–on top of the many mentions of cheap NFL jerseys, there is lots of text being inserted from other web pages. For instance, in the article Wholesale Jerseys From China Pros and Cons of Gun Control Essay Topics, I picked out a lucid sentence that was neither about NFL jerseys nor gun control:
“It’s as if Todd Haynes had plunged his hand into a pile of clothes at a jumble sale and come out with a handful that was half velvet finery, half polyester rejectables.”
And plugged it into google, and it turns out that it came from an article from 1998 on Salon.
It is interesting–on top of the many mentions of cheap NFL jerseys, there is lots of text being inserted from other web pages. For instance, in the article Wholesale Jerseys From China Pros and Cons of Gun Control Essay Topics, I picked out a lucid sentence that was neither about NFL jerseys nor gun control:
“It’s as if Todd Haynes had plunged his hand into a pile of clothes at a jumble sale and come out with a handful that was half velvet finery, half polyester rejectables.”
and plugged it into google, and it turns out that it came from an article from 1998 on Salon.
Grabbing another piece of the text shows that the same hack has happened to other sites.
Testing.
ETA: a reply (plus a second attempt) I made about details of the Harper Voyager hack didn’t show up, but this test message did. Maybe there was something about them that triggered Mike’s spam filter? No notice that the post was in moderation, though.
Looks like Harper Voyager was running WordPress and missed a security patch. I’d also suspect that they’re trying to recover the admin password right now.
That’s gotta be a new headline for a Doctor.
6- It’s a good service, though I only use it for a podcast I listen to they made the patreon exclusive content worth the low $1 bar of entry. Since I feel it’s worth more than $1 I pledge more than that.
15- While that author’s credential got trust issues I’d fear the opposite for my own. They love having treats thrown for them and trying to find the treats. If anything I’d find myself being replaced.
16- So when do we get a TV show called ‘Chatbots Say the Darndest Things!’
22- Reverse the genders and add some fanservice and that’s the plot of a bunch of anime. Appears to work well.
As I mentioned in the posts that may or may not show up later via Manual Mike Intervention, googing one sentence from within one of the posts showed that the hackers were inserting text from other web pages (the sentence I tried came from a Salon article published in 1998.) Googling another sentence showed that the same hack has taken place on various other web sites. (I’ll post this first to see if it shows up, then edit in the relevant link and hope it doesn’t trigger the spam filters.)
ETA: Okay, this came through–so here is the google link of a sample sentence showing other sites hit with the same hack.
Don’t reverse the genders and add slightly less fanservice, and that’s the plot of a bunch of shoujo anime.
I seem to recall that there are so Pokemon Go players here who may be going to Helsinki and may be interested in this announcement.
Beth in MA:
Amazing Stories always follows the live feed and provides a list of updates to its post as awards are announced (you’ll see the whole final ballot, then and update highlighting the winner of a cateory).
However, Kevin Standlee has noted elsewhere that their technical support this year is not going to be the same as in previous years, so there may be some time delays this time around.
What’s been posted are identical to the spam comments received here by the hundreds every day. So besides hacking, I offer the theory that the HarperVoyager.uk admin accidentally approved for posting some of the spam they get.
When I’ve made the same mistake they go up as live comments, though, which doesn’t fit the case here because theirs are blog posts.
However, WordPress users have an option of allowing direct posting of email submissions if one has the password. That’s another possibility, if they have that feature activated.
@Steve Davidson: Thank you for the information! That is very helpful! Friday afternoons are usually pretty quiet at work, but I still need to be there!
And I think that got moderated/ungravatared because my other email address auto-populated. Grf.
Test post (for same reason as Darren Garrison).
ETA: Well, I wonder what’s going on here? I too have had follow up posts about the hack disappear into the ether, but this post goes through without a hitch. Very strange.
Well, as Mike mentioned a couple of posts above, he gets versions of that as spam every day, so maybe we are mentioning words from the sites that trigger his spam filters.
AND SWEDEN! I shall catch them all. The pride parade tomorrow is as good place as any.
Spam, spam, spam, spam, eggs, scroll, sausage, pixel, and spam.
@Darren Garrison: “maybe we are mentioning words from the sites that trigger his spam filters.”
Sounds like the most likely explanation.
Is this mike not on, or is the date messed up? Apparently there have been no comments for almost 8 hours, which is unusual for a Scroll. (@OGH: feel free to delete if you’re busily plunging the system.)
@CHip,
Just a slow day on File770?
(I’ve seen comments on other threads)
I hope the Standlee Version of the Hugos runs this year, too, since so many people are going to be at work. Me, I’ll catch a list later, because that’s before I get up here in laid-back (and unemployed) California, so no live feed watching for me. Next year I finally get to see ’em in person again! Yay!
Harper UK is all better now; I missed the fun. Spam, spam, jerseys, and spam.