(1) Shea Serrano at Grantland asks “Which Movie Astronauts Would You Want To Be Stranded With In Outer Space?”
And which ones would you definitely not want to be with in outer space?
This doesn’t necessarily presume that you and your astronaut friend will definitely face a life-or-death situation, but it does consider how that astronaut would navigate any life-or-death situation that might arise. Other things involved: How would he or she handle the mental punishment that being in space inflicts upon the brain? How would he or she deal with the possibility of having to spend the rest of his or her life in space? How would he or she react should aliens turn out to be real? And so on.
Normally, these sorts of conversations require rules to function efficiently, but really there’s only one that needs to be instituted here. It’s easy: We need to get rid of the astronauts from movies in which people live in space full time (or mostly full time), because those characters are already comfortable with the unnaturalness of Being In Space. So let’s consider only those who have traveled to space or been placed into space in a temporary context.
His article lists lots of obvious favorites, and others I’d never thought of in those terms.
(2) ”Skin Feeling” , Sofia Samatar’s beautifully-written essay on what it is like to be an African-American professor (she teaches at the University of California Channel Islands) covers a lot of ground, and one of her points is this:
In the logic of diversity work, bodies of color form a material that must accumulate until it reaches a certain mass. Once that’s done, everyone can stop talking about it. For now, we minimize talk by representing our work with charts that can be taken in instantly, at a glance. In her book On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, Sara Ahmed writes of diversity workers of color: “We are ticks in the boxes; we tick their boxes.” The box is the predictable form, the tick the sign of how quickly you can get past it. Get past us.
Well, you ask, should we dissolve all the committees, then? Keep faculty of color off them? What’s your solution? Try to read the demand for solutions and your frustration for what they are: products of the logic of diversity work, which wants to get the debt paid, over with, done. Diversity work is slow and yet it’s always in a rush. It can’t relax. It can’t afford the informal gesture, the improvised note, the tangential question that moves off script, away from representation into some weird territory of you and me talking in this room right now. Diversity work can’t afford to entertain the thought that some debts can’t be paid, that they might just be past due. With agonizing slowness, this work grinds on toward payment—that is, toward the point where it will no longer exist. It’s a suicidal project.
(3) The sf magazine field is probably about to experience a contraction, says Neil Clarke in “Editor’s Desk: The Sad Truth About Short Fiction Magazines” at Clarkesworld.
- Quality
If the number of quality stories isn’t growing as fast as the number of stories publishers need to fill all their slots, then quality must dip to fill the void.
- Sustainability
If the number of readers willing to pay for short fiction isn’t growing as fast as the financial need of the publishers, the field begins to starve itself.
…But what can any of us do about it? Here’s a few suggestions:
- Subscribe to or support any magazine that you’d be willing to bail out if they were to run aground. Just-in-time funding is not a sane or sustainable business model. If you want them to succeed, then be there before they need you.
- If a magazine doesn’t offer subscriptions or have something like a Patreon page you can support them financially through, encourage them to do so.
- Encourage SFWA to raise their qualifying rate for short fiction. Why? Given the small explosion in markets that are paying that rate, it’s clearly too easy for publishers to earn that badge. Yes, that rate is a badge of honor for publishers. Seriously though, the authors deserve better.
- Don’t support new (or revival) projects until they clearly outline reasonable goals to sustain the publication after their initial funding runs out.
- Introduce new readers to your favorite stories and magazines. This is particularly easy with so many online magazines being freely available at the moment. We need more short fiction readers if all this is to remain sustainable. This plays into my comments on short fiction reviews last month.
(4) Neal Stephenson has been named a Miller Distinguished Scholar at the Santa Fe Institute. He visited SFI this week and will return for periodic visits through the end of 2016.
The Miller Distinguished Scholarship is the most prestigious visiting position at SFI, awarded to highly accomplished, creative thinkers who make profound contributions to our understandings of society, science, and culture.
Stephenson will be the sixth SFI Miller Scholar since SFI Board Chair Emeritus Bill Miller conceived and underwrote the scholarship in 2010. Stephenson follows philosopher of science Daniel Dennett (2010), quantum physicist Seth Lloyd (2010-2011), actor/playwright Sam Shepard (2010-2011), philosopher/author Rebecca Goldstein (2011-2012), and author/narrative historian Hampton Sides (2015-2016).
(5) George R.R. Martin describes his fascination with the red planet for the Guardian in “Our long obsession with Mars”.
Once upon a time there was a planet called Mars, a world of red sands, canals and endless adventure. I remember it well, for I went there often as a child. I come from a blue-collar, working-class background. My family never had much money. We lived in a federal housing project in Bayonne, New Jersey, never owned a car, never saw much of anywhere. The projects were on First Street, my school was on Fifth Street, and for most of my childhood those five blocks were my world.
It never mattered, though, for I had other worlds. A voracious reader, first of comic books (superheroes, mostly, but some Classics Illustrated and Disney stuff as well), then of paperbacks (science fiction, horror and fantasy, with a seasoning of murder mysteries, adventure yarns, and historicals), I travelled far and wide while hunched down in my favourite chair, turning pages.
… Growing up, I think I went to Mars more often than I went to New York City, though Manhattan was only 45 minutes and 15 cents away by bus.
Mars, though … I knew Mars inside and out. A desert planet, dry and cold and red (of course), it had seen a thousand civilisations rise and fall. The Martians that remained were a dwindling race, old and wise and mysterious, sometimes malignant, sometimes benevolent, always unknowable. Mars was a land of strange and savage beasts (thoats! Tharks! sandmice!), whispering winds, towering mountains, vast seas of red sand crisscrossed by dry canals, and crumbling porcelain cities where mystery and adventure lurked around every corner.
(6) “Still not a reason to start drinking coffee,” says John King Tarpinian. Star Wars Spiced Latte.
(7) Today in History:
October 2, 1950 —
- The “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles M. Schulz was published for the first time.
October 2, 1959 —
- Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone debuts on TV with the episode Where Is Everybody? in which a man finds himself alone in the small town and without any recollection of where or who he is.
(8) Today’s birthday boy –
#HappyBirthday Hugo, Locus, Prometheus, Campbell Awards winner #VernorVinge
http://t.co/SK31zHqnXf pic.twitter.com/9SPzc3xCVz— Victor Farmington Library (@VictorLibrary) October 2, 2015
(9) Kevin J. Anderson recommends the Superstars Writing Seminar, to be held February 4-6, 2016.
If you’re serious about taking your writing career to the next level, this business seminar is a must—three days and nights immersed in a heightened atmosphere of real-world wisdom and professional advice dispensed by best-selling authors Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, David Farland, Eric flint, and James A. Owen. Some of the guest speakers for the 2016 Seminar include Jody Lynn Nye, Penguin/Putnam editor Ann Sowards, and some urban fantasy author named…Bisher…Bonger…no, uhm…Butcher. Yeah, that’s it. Jim Butcher.
There are five scholarships available from the Don Hodge Memorial Scholarship Fund.
(10) Harrison Ford will be honored by BAFTA on October 30 at the Britannia Awards.
Ford will receive the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment at the ceremony to be held at the Beverly Hilton.
“It is impossible to imagine the past 40 years of Hollywood history without Harrison Ford, and his performances are as iconic as the films themselves,” BAFTA Los Angeles chairman Kieran Breen said in a statement.
The ceremony, hosted by actor-comedian Jack Whitehall, will air Nov. 6 on Pop. The Britannia Awards had aired on BBC America in recent years but were carried by TV Guide Network, the predecessor of Pop, in 2010 and 2011.
Other Britannia honorees this year include Orlando Bloom, who will receive the Britannia Humanitarian Award, and Meryl Streep, who will receive the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film. Sam Mendes, James Corden, Amy Schumer and event production company Done + Dusted will also be recognized.
(11) Here’s a list of “The Best Haunted House for Adults in Los Angeles”.
Though there are nearly 5,000 professional haunted attractions operating nationwide every Halloween, there’s never a guarantee when it comes to true, bone-chilling quality. From haunted mansions and abandoned asylums to old prisons or open fields, you want the haunts that’ll scare you the most. They provide visitors with a horror experience that just makes you feel like you’re in your favorite horror movie. Given its close ties to the entertainment industry, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Los Angeles is home to some of the best haunted houses for adults. This Halloween, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to face your fears at the five best haunted houses for adults in Los Angeles.
(12) A new film clip from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 – “Star Squad”
[Thanks to Andrew Porter, Martin Morse Wooster, Will R., Mark sans surname, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]
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1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
1. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2. Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
3. Anathem, Neal Stephenson
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
I thought Accelerando was excellently written and inventive. I wanted to see it go further.
@Kyra I want to 2nd @Glyer
You’ve gotten us to talk about books (here and offline), get to know our librarians better, made a number of bookstores happy, and helped some authors income
I hope you’ve had fun creating and running them. If you have a favorite online bookstore maybe we could find a way to get you a thank you gift card
@Kyra @Tasha
I’d chip in on that (gift card). I very much appreciate the work you’ve done here.
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
1. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2. Anathem, Neal Stephenson
47. Diplomatic Immunity, Bujold
And that’s after finishing Anathem’s Calcas early this morning and just finishing my reread of AJ in prep for Mercy a few minutes ago, so they are both fresh. There’s a lot to like in Anathem in terms of the ideas and worldbuilding and linguistics, but AJ is structurally more of a novel shaped thing (though I was pleased that Anathem had more of an ending than some of Stephenson’s books have).
In fact, it’s a sad day when a Stephenson novel sticks the landing better than one by Bujold — I was really unhappy with the last section of DI, and have felt no urge to reread it since it was first released.
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART SIX:
THUS READ ZARATHUSTRA
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon
@Kyra
I’ll fourth or FIFTH the thank you’s.
@Tasha
I’d donate to that, too.
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART SIX:
THUS READ ZARATHUSTRA
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
1 – Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2 – Anathem, Neal Stephenson
3 – Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
Eifelheim should be second.
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
The Baroque Cycle, Neal Stephenson
1. 1. Ancillary Justice
2. Anathem
2. What should have won?
I think the game has run its course fairly and will produce a legitimate winner in either of the 2 above. ( i’m reading Bujold in order and have only reached Mirror Dance at this point.)
@Jim Henley
Hmmmm
Which one is Leckie and which Bujold?
Oh, and here’s a nice article from io9: “What Are the Best Stories of the Year So Far?” for those looking for 2016 short fiction recommendations.
@Lauowolf: Ann Leckie is an army of mini-Ditkas (not shown).
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
1 Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2 Anathem, Neal Stephenson
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART SIX:
THUS READ ZARATHUSTRA
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
1. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2. Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
3. Anathem, Neal Stephenson
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
A sentimental vote for Fledgling, by Octavia Butler
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART SIX:
THUS READ ZARATHUSTRA
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
1. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2. Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
Of all the books mentioned in nominations for this round, Never Let Me Go is the one for me, with The Girl With All the Gifts a distant second but still beloved book. What really wins for me, though, is ALL THE BOOKS.
And Kyra. Thank you so much for your hard work, your brilliant titles and your evil dice.
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
I… I just… okay, give me a moment here. breathes deeply, counts breaths
Despite my I-will-fight-you-level Bujold love, Diplomatic Immunity was not one of her stronger books, IMO. And Ancillary Justice made my brain work in really chewy, fun ways. Anathem was a nice palate cleanser after reading REAMDE (which I haaaaated) but didn’t stick in my mind otherwise.
My vote: Ancillary Justice.
lies down with lavender-scented cloth on forehead
What should have won? Hellspark, of course. My default entry.
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
1. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2. Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON
I dunno, AJ seems like a pretty reasonable choice.
@James Moar: Heh, looking for images of God-Emperor of Dune, I found a book cover with a nighttime forest and a ghostly, sad, soulful wolf gazing up at the moon. WTF is that?! 😉 There are stranger things, etc. [ETA: I mean this was a cover for that book, hence my “WTF?!” reaction.]
@Kyra: Thanks for all the brackets! 😀 I will vote, despite not having read the Bujold or Stephenson. But this means I can only vote for the Leckie. . . .
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
1. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
Anathem, Neal Stephenson
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
As above; I’m good with this win!
Or maybe Chris Dolley’s Resonance – just to be contrary. 😉 This is probably another “only I know/love this book”. . . .
Or maybe Daryl Gregory’s Pandemonium (which I barely count as SF, but could understand others calling fantasy).
Or The Girl With All the Gifts (of course!). Okay, so I have 3 personal runners-up here. Gah. I can’t say “all the books,” like Cally & others, but I could say “some/many of the books.” 😉
/god-stalk
The fact that Cally and I are clones has nothing whatsoever to do with my vote. That said:
1 Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2 Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
3 Anathem, Neal Stephenson
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
ALL THE BOOKS.
(And thanks, Kyra!)
@redheadfemme
Thanks for the iO9 link. The stories sound interesting. I’d really like to find more ‘blow-my-socks-off’ stories.
Another product of all the recs here, my review of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
AJ works for me.
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
(1) Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
(2) Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
(allthebooks)
1. Anathem
2. Ancillary Justice
Thabk you for your bracketological endeavours 🙂
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
3 Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2 Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
1 Anathem, Neal Stephenson
Yay, my first vote in this bracket!
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
The Algebraist, Iain M Banks
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
First place: Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
It’s well-written, with solid world-building and a god plot, it’s got a mystical Gonne, and Breq is a very cool protagonist.
Second place: Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
Diplomatic Immunity was not my favourite Vorkosigan book, but it’s infected with enough greatness from the rest of the series to be a worthy contender. I might have put Bujold first if the vote had been for Komarr.
Unlisted: Anathem, Neal Stephenson
Haven’t read it. Never been a big fan of Stephenson.
Argh, I’ve been on holiday/in courses for two weeks and I miss the 21st century SF brackets!
Anyway:
1: Ancillary Justice
2: Anathem
(not read the Bujold)
AJ, Anathem, DI.
Ancillary just beats out Anathem for me, but that could well be the “newer read” effect. They’re both excellent. I’d have had a harder time with an earlier Miles book, but DI doesn’t have the sheer invention of the other two books.
@Lexica: Hellspark strikes me as an eccentric choice for “What should have won the 21st Century SF bracket?” inasmuch as it was published in 1988.
1. Ancillary Justice (best off the books I’ve read in the bracket)
2. Diplomatic Immunity (I’d have voted for some of the earlier books)
3. Anathem (bounced off of it)
I can only hope the dice let you enjoy your retirement.
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART SIX:
THUS READ ZARATHUSTRA
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
1 Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2 Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
3 Anathem, Neal Stephenson
How convenient. You listed them in order,.
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
Bold as Love. Which, to be fair, is at least as much science fiction as it is fantasy.
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART SIX:
THUS READ ZARATHUSTRA
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
1. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
2. Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
Not a difficult decision at all for this moose. (I can’t comment on Anathem due to not having read it.)
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
I’m happy with Ancillary Justice; Diplomatic Immunity is not Lois’ best work in that universe. I’d like Look to Windward to have placed higher up the brackets, though.
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
Argh, Anathem vs Ancillary Justice? Argh. Evil.
But because it dragged me in kicking and screaming and then I wouldn’t leave without kicking and screaming and a sudden interest in clocks, Anathem, Neal Stephenson
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
Damn. There’s a question.
The ones that pop to mind are Blindsight, Red Mars, and the dozen others that pop up are all pre-2000… and once the edit window ends, I’ll think of two dozen more I should list…
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART SIX:
THUS READ ZARATHUSTRA
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold
(Why? Because it took a long standing fan explanation for Ivan’s behavior and explicated it perfectly)
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
Gah, I dunno. CARNIVAL by Elizabeth Bear. One of the greatest lines in SF history:
“Have you *met* my species?”
1 Abstain, only read one
2 What should have won?
Toss up between Rainbows End and The Algebraist
@Rick K
Ah well, it was just a theory. Still not reached that one anyway.
Paul wrote:
Er, I don’t think Ivan appeared in DI as far as I can remember. Are you sure you don’t mean CVA? (Otherwise I’m a very confused moose (probably because the time-dilation effects have worn off again and I’m back in 2015).)
Kyra, thank you for all your hard work putting these together. 🙂
21ST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION PART SIX:
THUS READ ZARATHUSTRA
1. MILES, MILLENARIAN MATHS, AND MULTIPLE MIANAAI
Abstain, for reasons.
2. WHAT SHOULD HAVE WON?
(Aside from All The Books) Hm… Of the books that I’ve read in the bracket, The Knife of Never Letting Go wowed me the most, so I think that should have won.
Special mentions to Lock In for seemingly effortless prose, The Martian for pulling off an entire book of technobabble without being boring, Station Eleven because it’s pretty, and World War Z for being the best television show that no-one’s made yet but I have very solid ideas of what it would be like.
Of course, considering how many books I hadn’t read, I might change my mind entirely in a year or so. 🙂
Michael Eochaidh on October 4, 2015 at 5:04 am said:
1. Ancillary Justice (best off the books I’ve read in the bracket)
2. Diplomatic Immunity (I’d have voted for some of the earlier books)
3. Anathem (bounced off of it)
I can only hope the dice let you enjoy your retirement.
I’m afraid the dice must be fed, Kyra.
Perhaps you can pass them along for the comics brackets.
If they will allow you to.
(Planning on closing voting in an hour or so.)
I think we need to get up a collection for blood to feed Kyra’s dice.
Or maybe not, considering all the anguish they’ve given.
Paul Weimer (@princejvstin) on October 4, 2015 at 7:36 am said:
(Why? Because it took a long standing fan explanation for Ivan’s behavior and explicated it perfectly)
I may be as confused as the Moose. I don’t remember Miles even thinking about Ivan in DI.
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, OTOH, took bits and pieces of years and years of conversations on the Bujold list and made them canon.
U.S. folks interested in Ancillary Mercy – if you were planning on buying it in person, check out your nearest Barnes & Noble. The one I went to had it out early, on the “New F&SF” table! 😀
The “You may also like” printout that came with my receipt is amusing, though; they recommend the first two books in the series (uh, yeah, I did like them), among other books. 😉
ULTRAGOTHA on October 4, 2015 at 3:04 pm said:
I think we need to get up a collection for blood to feed Kyra’s dice.
Or maybe not, considering all the anguish they’ve given.
They feed on bitter tears.
1. Ancillary Justice
What should have won? Quite possibly Ancillary Justice. In the cloud of honorable mentions, I would want to see Fledgling, The Southern Reach Trilogy, Embassytown, The Quantum Thief, and The Hunger Games.
Al, your dismissal of Samatar’s essay, especially given that you haven’t read the whole thing, us coming across as glib and dismissive to me.
1 Ancillary Justice, although 2 I’ve no idea.
All right. Closing the voting. Let’s Do This Thing.
(The Rolling Dice shall roll; and, having rolled,
Decide: and neither Talk nor Prayer nor Gold
Shall lure them back to change a single Pair,
Nor all thy Tears wash out the Tale they told.)
First for question 2, by far the most popular answer was ALL THE BOOKS. Yay!
And here are a few of ALL THE BOOKS, other than the three remaining in the bracket, that some singled out for special recognition (whether they would have been within the rules for this bracket or otherwise):
Accelerando
Against the Day
The Algebraist
The Baroque Cycle
Blindsight
Bold As Love
Carnival
Eifelheim
Embassytown
Fledgling
Fitzpatrick’s War
The Girl in the Road
The Girl With All the Gifts
Hellspark
The Hunger Games
Julian Comstock
The Knife of Never Letting Go
Lock In
Look to Windward
The Lost Steersman
The Martian
Never Let Me Go
Pandemonium
The Quantum Thief
Rainbows End
Red Mars
Resonance
The Southern Reach Trilogy
Station Eleven
The Time Traveler’s Wife
World War Z