(1) John Green of the Vlog Brothers waves Nalo Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber at the camera and heartily endorses it to 2.6 million subscribers at the 2:00 mark in his “Pizzamas Day 4” video posted November 12.
Today Hopkinson’s book – originally published in 2001 — ranks 2,902 in Amazon’s Kindle eBooks>Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban category. I wish I knew where it was ranked the day before for the sake of comparison.
(2) NPR interviewed Stan Lee about his new autobiography.
The man who dreamed up lots of backstories for Marvel characters has now put out his own origin story: A memoir, Amazing Fantastic Incredible, in comic book form. It begins with Lee as a boy, transported to other worlds through books by Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells and William Shakespeare. His real world was the Depression, a father mostly out of work and a dingy New York apartment with laundry hanging in the kitchen and a brick wall for a view. Lee says his mother doted on him; he remembers she’d just watch him read. “One of the best gifts I ever got — she bought me a little stand that I could keep on the table while I was eating, and I could put a book in the stand, and I could read while I was eating. I mean, I always had to be reading something,” he recalls.
(3) Discovery Times Square is hosting “Star Wars And The Power Of Costume: The Exhibition” which includes costumes from the forthcoming movie.
Featuring 70 hand-crafted costumes from the first six blockbuster Star Wars films, this exhibition reveals the artists’ creative process—and uncovers the connection between character and costume. George Lucas imagined and created a fantastical world filled with dynamic characters who told the timeless story of the hero’s journey. The costumes shaped the identities of these now famous characters, from the menacing black mask of Darth Vader and the gilded suit of C-3PO, to the lavish royal gowns of Queen Amidala and a bikini worn by Princess Leia when enslaved by Jabba the Hutt. A special presentation for the showing at Discovery Times Square in New York will feature seven additional costumes from the highly anticipated film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
(4) James H. Burns denies that “love of the Three Stooges is a guy thing” at TV Party.
One night, in one of the popular Broadway joints, I’m having a couple of drinks with an actress I had recently met. A lovely, musicals-type gal….
And. somehow, I mention the Stooges. She tells me she LOVES the Stooges…
So, being a little devilish, as many of you know I can be, I say to her:
“Great…. What’s the only known defense for this…”
And I start doing a, slow-motion, split-finger, eyepoke. She INSTANTLY raises her hand, sideways, to her nose.
(5) Get the electronic Mythlore Plus Index for free – or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work. Order fulfillment goes through PayPal which won’t take a zero-price sale.
Available as a fully searchable digital file downloadable in PDF format, this newly, updated edition of the Mythlore Index covers issues 1-127 and has now been expanded to include all articles and reviews published in the Tolkien Journal, Mythcon Conference Proceedings, and Mythopoeic Press Essay Collections. Articles are indexed by author, title, and subject, and reviews by author and author of item reviewed. The index is illustrated with classic black and white artwork from early issues by Tim Kirk and Sarah Beach. This essential reference in mythopoeic studies will be updated after the publication of each Mythlore issue.
Add it to your cart and when you check out you’ll be sent a download link.
(6) Today In History
- November 16, 2001: First Harry Potter film opens
(7) Christopher M. Chupik, guided by his own reading experiences, says there is a tendency to shortchange the appeal of classic sf, in his guest post “Reflections of a Golden Age” on According To Hoyt.
My high-tech Kobo e-reader has a copy of Edmond Hamilton’s The Star Kings on it. Does it matter that I was reading this novel with a device more sophisticated than any of the computers contained within? Of course not.
One of the complaints made was that the younger generation can’t relate to “futures” where men still wear hats and they can make intelligent positronic robots but not personal computers. I say you’re not giving the younger generation enough credit. When I was reading Bradbury and Asimov, I was very aware that I was reading of future’s past. It doesn’t matter that Orwell’s 1984 is behind us (or is it?) any more than it matters that the Mars that Burroughs and Bradbury wrote about has no more foundation in reality than Middle-Earth.
It didn’t matter to me because I could see the things that hadn’t changed. Ultimately, the human experience remains consistent across the ages. Sure, superficial things like slang and fashions change with the decades…
Feel free to ignore the slur on this blog in the first paragraph; I did. (Almost.)
(8) Heritage Auctions is taking bids on a large selection of classic comics. At this writing, Superman #1 is going for $30,000.
(9) T. Campbell’s nominations for the“11 Weirdest Supergirl Stories” are posted on ScreenRant.
The Time She Was Superman’s Archenemy
No one seems to be quite sure where the Linda Danvers Supergirl is at this point (we last saw her in Hell, of all places), but not long after Supergirl‘s comic cancellation, a Supergirl from Krypton showed up (Superman/Batman #8, 2004) who was just straight-up the cousin of Superman. No angel powers, no shapeshifting, no unfortunate Luthor connections, no alternate-Earth shenanigans… just Kara Zor-El, the classic “Orginal Recipe” Supergirl from before things got messy. Except for the part where she might’ve been sent back to kill Superman.
(10) Lou Antonelli stopped doing the backstroke in the punchbowl long enough to post “You Heard It Here First” at This Way To Texas.
George R.R. Martin will be the next recipient of the Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master Award (The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award).
No, I do not have inside information, nor do I have a crystal ball. It’s simply a logical conclusion, especially if you know how the literary leaders of the science fiction community think.
Regardless of the merit of Martin’s literary output, he will get the award as a reward for helping trounce the dissident nominees for the Hugo awards this year (the so-called Sad Puppies). It’s not really any more complicated than that.
(11) In “A Forthcoming Speculative Fiction Anthology Asks Transgender Authors To Imagine New Worlds” at Bitch Media, Katherine Cross posed this question to Casey Plett and Cat Fitzpatrick.
On that note, what are your thoughts on the controversy around the Sad Puppies, the group who tried to rig the reader-voted Hugo Awards to favor “traditional” sci-fi works. It was clearly a powerful, angry, and organized reaction against the steady diversification of storytelling in sci-fi and spec-fic. What exactly is happening to this genre that’s so explosive and dangerous?
CP: White straight cis men are getting very upset because they feel they’re losing something when a more diverse set of stories is represented. On the one hand, they don’t have to worry—the share of representation of white straight cis male characters in sci-fi is maybe dropping from 98 percent to 95. But on the other hand, they’re right—they are losing some measure of dominance, and they should lose this. And I think acknowledging that challenges a fluffy teddy-bear idea of what an ally is—the idea that no one is going to lose anything. Being an ally requires giving shit up, which is what these people are not prepared to do.
CF: I think the throwing-the-toys-out-of-the-pram thing totally describes Brad Torgersen [sci-fi author and ringleader of the Sad Puppies]. I think Vox Day [another author, who organized an extreme offshoot of the Sad Puppies called the Rabid Puppies] is altogether a more sinister person, with really far-right politics and a desire to upset people to get attention. He’s a serious reactionary, traditionalist, religious, pseudofascist type—he even called leading spec-fic writer N.K. Jemisin an “uneducated half-savage” because she’s Black. And I think he saw Torgersen’s toy-throwing and said, “Here is a tool I can use to hurt people.”
I do fear that the way the story has been reported makes it seem as if spec-fic is going through growing pains that literary fiction outgrew long ago, as if lit-fic is more mature than spec-fic or sci-fi. Yet lit-fic has these same problems [with diversity and bigotry] and actually deals with them in a much less effective way. Part of it is that spec-fic is always concerned with community—you always have to invent the world from scratch, which entails obviously political choices. Traditional lit-fic straight white authors can say, “I’m just writing how the world is,” and even believe it, but if you’re a sci-fi writer who wants every book to be like Heinlein, you can’t escape the fact that you’re making this up, that your choice as a writer is meaningful and political.
CP: I think this stuff does get talked about in lit-fic—the VIDA Count revealed just how male the writing published by prestigious magazines was. That caused a big scandal. But it was still limited to writers. People in my mfa knew, but I think if you asked a person in a bookstore’s fiction section about the VIDA Count, they would have no idea what it was, whereas someone in the sci-fi section would probably know about Puppygate.
CF: Totally. On one hand, that relative openness laid them open to the whole Puppy thing, but on the other hand, it has meant much more engagement with the debate. And in the end the Puppies were voted down in the actual awards, even if that meant not awarding some categories. Which was kind of amazing. And it opened up a really important conversation and brought a lot of people together around it. I’m actually kind of happy about how the spec-fic or sci-fi community as a whole has handled this thing.
CP: I have a friend who said, “When stuff like this happens, it means you’re winning,” and I think they might be right in this case. It also opens up that question, “Who is focused on awards, and why?” I know awards can help sales, and it’s nice to be recognized, but I think it’s interesting these straight white cis guys are so focused on prestige. Whereas our feelings as editors about recognition are, “It’s nice, but it’s a byproduct.” We’re not interested in this writing being prestigious, we’re interested in it being interesting, first of all, to a trans audience—we want to be accountable to them.
(12) Steven Erikson’s guest post “Awards or Bust”, largely devoted to a critique of Stephen Jones’ defense of the WFA Lovecraft bust (on Facebook), concludes —
The time was long past due on getting rid of that bust. And at the table at the banquet at the World Fantasy Awards, I made my applause loud and sustained. And as for the Lovecraft pin I wear to conventions, indicating a past nomination, I’d love to see a new version. In the meantime, however, I will continue to wear it, not in belligerent advocacy of H.P. Lovecraft, but to honour all past winners of the World Fantasy Award.
In my mind I can make that distinction. That I have to lies at the heart of the problem with having Lovecraft as our symbol of merit. To all future nominees and winners, you won’t have to face that awkward separation, and for that, you can thank that ‘vocal minority,’ who perhaps have not been vocal enough, and who are most certainly not a minority. Not in this field, not in any other.
(13) Laura J. Mixon’s conclusion, after quoting one of Lovecraft’s racist statements in “Farewell to the Bigoted Bust”:
These are not simply a few hot-headed opinions popping out of the mouth (or the pen) of a young man, whose attitudes mellowed with age. They weren’t ill-considered Thingish thoughts that he reconsidered later. Nope. He remained hostile and entrenched in these views to the end of his life, despite the sustained efforts of his friends and family.
[Thanks to James H. Burns, Diana Pavlac Glyer, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Will R.]
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@ Aaron
Did you see Torgersen’s comments? He’s running his mouth about one or more encounters with you. I don’t remember him telling you that soldiers actually earned their pay (I guess in contrast to a lawyer employed by Uncle Sam). When was that?
Now I’ve had time to read and digest the story – congrats, Jonathan Edelstein! First of many, I hope.
re: Watchmaker
I only remember one who disliked it, PhilRM posted a negative reaction about a month ago. Vigorous discussion ensued. :-9
There may have been a “meh” or two, but I don’t recall anyone in particular.
Other than that there’s been general squeeing about “I wanna Katsu clone” and lotsa sparkles and heart-eyes (well, not quite that smarmy, but close.) I’ve been one of the cheerleaders, so I know whereof I speak. Love the book, it’s high on my Hugo list. Pulley’s on my Campbell list.
Torgersen’s comment about Aaron’s kids is so far over the line I’m not even sure Torgersen would be able to see the line from where he is now.
What the actual what?
Is Brad Torgersen attacking children now to get at their parent?
Is that seriously what is going on?
@Junego
Pulley is Campbell eligible? Excellent, that’s a very easy addition to my list.
@Meredith
Oh….ffs. The man has lost all sense of proportion.
@Peace (ETA: and Mark)
I’m hoping Aaron won’t mind me copying this over. I don’t know whether its based on anything, and it wouldn’t matter whether it was, because either way its just plain nasty.
Brad Torgersen:
What a thoroughly pleasant man that Brad Torgersen fellow is.
He’s a soldier? Thought he was a part-time logistics worker?
The weird thing about Antonelli’s Aaron meme is that making it does nothing to establish that Aaron is, you know, wrong about Antonelli.
@JJ
Antonelli’s a jerk who shouldn’t be allowed to attend Worldcon because he’s proved he isn’t safe to be around, but personally I’d be more worried about Tank Marmot attending. He seems the most likely to be an actual physical danger to people around him – and I don’t say that lightly. I wouldn’t want to be in proximity to someone who says the things he does.
@rob_matic
Since “soldier” neither increases nor reduces his moral standing, I don’t think it hurts us anything to grant him that much even if he’s unlikely to be in any danger whether he’s deployed in a combat zone or not. The logistics staff are vital, too.
He’d still be a jerk even if he was on the front lines.
@Jim Henley
I’m not entirely clear on why Antonelli is so determined to protest people calling him an asshole by being an even bigger asshole. I would have thought that logically that was unlikely to persuade anyone thus far unpersuaded.
I don’t remember him telling you that soldiers actually earned their pay (I guess in contrast to a lawyer employed by Uncle Sam). When was that?
If he did say that, he did it when I didn’t notice. Of course, he more or less denigrates every civil servant with the comment, which seems par for the course for him.
I’m hoping Aaron won’t mind me copying this over.
I don’t. I haven’t made a secret out of the fact that I have had a difficult time with my two kids. They are teenagers and I’m divorced from their mother, who hasn’t been all that helpful in dealing with them. Things are complicated and they run hot and cold, like teenagers do. I’m not surprised that Torgersen would stoop to attacking on that basis – it seems to be in the same vein as his “imply Scalzi is gay, hurr , hurr, hurr” routine from a month or two ago. He knows he doesn’t have any actual argument he can make, so he resorts to this sort of thing. The blunt truth is Antonelli’s meme and Torgersen’s comments just show how little they have to argue with.
I just hope that Torgersen’s relationship with his own child is less rocky when she is a teen.
I would also point out that Torgersen talking about my relationship with my kids means he has been stalking my social media even though I have him blocked on both Facebook and Twitter. Just think about the level of sad and pathetic obsession that kind of behavior on his part implies.
Aaron: I just hope that Torgersen’s relationship with his own child is less rocky when she is a teen.
Sooner or later, that poor child will manage to get an Internet connection. I wish her the best when that happens. 😐
I went though a phase when I was sixteen where I thought my mother made an extra effort to pitch her voice into the tone that would annoy me most. For about 6 months she couldn’t speak a single word in my presence without my getting pissy.
Which is a long way of saying that I was a little shit and so feel for all the parents of teenagers.
Just when I think I can’t lose respect for Brad…he goes and does this. I’m sorry to see this, Aaron.
I’m sorry to see this, Aaron.
It is very sad to see. However, like Torgersen’s “Scalzi might be gay” routine, it is an “attack” that is pretty toothless. Teenagers are difficult. My kids are teenagers. Yelping about how my kids are difficult isn’t telling me anything I don’t already know, and doesn’t serve to actually make me feel bad. All it really does is demonstrate how tiny a person Torgersen is and diminish his stature even further.
I think I spent two straight years of teenagerdom screaming at people and then running off to my room and slamming the door, and I really liked everyone I was living with and there were no divorces involved. Teenagers being difficult is nothing but proof that teenagers are difficult. I’m glad Torgersen’s pettiness hasn’t got to you, Aaron, but I’m still sorry that he tried to use it against you. Shameful behaviour.
Re: Civil service
While I stand by my comment about soldiers above, I do wonder at a logistics person who doesn’t do combat duty looking down on civil servants who also don’t do combat duty. I’m not sure why one would “earn” the paycheck more than the other, if “earning” must involve combat.
Also, didn’t Correia use to work for the government as an accountant..? Does this mean that according to Torgersen, Correia didn’t “earn” his paycheck?
@JJ, @Meredith
Y’know, after looking at Antonelli and Trrgerson’s comments… I’m in the position that while MAC II is in road-trip distance, I’m wondering if I want to go. That’s a lot of compensating man-boys with a lot concealed weapons.
I think some alleged liberty-loving folks are firmly in favour of a massive state-run bureaucratic institution as long as it either involves wearing a uniform or it benefits them directly and personally.
That makes two of us. He has actually threatened a friend of mine often, but the last iteration was that he wouldn’t kill him personally, he would have an underling do it, because he is too valuable for his skills.
I mean, at one level it’s funny…
@TheYoungPretender
I think (hope) that most or all of them are all bark and no bite. It’s easy to play the big man on the internet. Marmot’s the only who, as far as I know, has threatened physical violence, even if the others have been threatening in other ways (e.g. siccing the police on people). I also vaguely recall Marmot saying he wouldn’t want to attend Worldcon and so long as that remains true it should be safe enough.
I share your concern, though. Some of the rhetoric they resort to is very worrying.
@rob_matic
Some libertarians are very confusing.
ETA
@Anna Feruglio Dal Dan
Yup. Nasty stuff. Especially since I’m pretty sure he means it. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him and I hope the Worldcon peeps for the next few years are aware of him so that if he tries to attend some thought can go into whether it would be wise to prevent it.
@rob_matic
I always felt some level of sympathy with Jon Stewart’s take on it:
Oh my gods. That is so hurtful, lame and low.
I sincerely hope Brad Torgersen has had no loved ones in messy divorces and has not lived through or known anyone who has lived through their parents’ divorce as teenagers.
That way one could simply ascribe his comments to bad manners, ungentlemanly callousness, a failure of compassion, and sneering contempt for children in a bad situation, rather than to a cold, inhuman disregard.
Attacking people through their children is about as low as a person can go, in my book. I can forgive a lot of sharp-elbowed comments from people in the heat of the moment, as someone who isn’t always the most temperate, but the impulse that led Torgersen to post that comment is truly vile.
A friend of mine from the Church choir had a mixed wedding – that is, two priests, one from my Church and one from the one his wife went to, which wasn’t CoE. Two children, who were roughly tweenage, were in attendance whose parents were going through a messy divorce. The priest from the other church, in full knowledge of the children and their family, decided to go off on a tangent during his sermon about how divorced couples went to hell. It was the only time I’ve sincerely and enthusiastically wished there was some sort of protocol for interrupting priests, and if looks could have killed the choir would have made short work of him between them.
I suppose Torgersen was just thrilled to be able to escalate from his previous “no friends” attempts, but neither the “no friends” taunts nor this one are acceptable, honourable, or even something I would think of as behaving like a mature adult. I’m glad that Aaron is fairly immune to them, but I’m not looking forward to them trying this crap on someone more vulnerable.
I sometimes have to double-check that the Puppies are older than I am. I’ve met teenagers who had sweeter natures and a considerably better grasp of how to behave.
Mike
not a problem – I will learn from the experience.
but the impulse that led Torgersen to post that comment is truly vile.
It is merely the desperate flailing of a deeply insecure man.
Aaron, I’m sorry. That’s dirty pool and even Torgersen ought to know better.
Jonathan Edelstein: I thoroughly enjoyed your story. It is written with such confidence and deft writing that I never would have thought it a first sale. Congratulations on the publication.
Your use of orishas was a pleasant reminder of a novel I read that introduced them to me: Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson.
It was an interesting choice for you to employ so many exotic terms. A lot of them gave me only a vague sense of meaning, but the most repeated ones like nganga and musambilila carried the tale for me.
Was it tough to decide when to italicize them and when not? Part of me wished that none of them were, simply because they were so common.
@Aaron: I am also shocked and sorry that Torgersen attacked you in this way, and admire your response here.
Especially this: I just hope that Torgersen’s relationship with his own child is less rocky when she is a teen.
As someone who was 17 when my parents divorced (and who had a slightly younger brother), I can say that situation is hard for all concerned–and I was a total shithead in many ways (that I could only realize after getting into my late 20s/early 30s). It took time, but my father and I worked to build a relationship.
I hope that you and your children are able to do so in future as well.
I hope that you and your children are able to do so in future as well.
So do I. My son will graduate from high school this spring. I think that when he has to deal with some hard realities, his attitude may change concerning a great many things that have been bones of contention between him and me.
Getting to school any other way than walking or bike riding was a startling and unapproved thing, unless you lived far enough from the school that you had to ride the bus.
We got to ride the bus if we didn’t go to the school where band (or orchestra) practice was held. We got rides when it rained. But otherwise, we walked or rode bikes. (I started walking to school in about 4th grade, and did so all the way through high school. It was so much fun in winter, with my first class at 8am.) In high school I’d sometimes take the long way home, to go by the library.
Do I want to know where Torgersen has said these things?
Do I want to know where Torgersen has said these things?
Facebook, in comments on the thread where Antonelli made up a meme involving misquoting me and inventing a job title I don’t actually have.
@Cally
The Facebook link JJ shared on the last page.
Other highlights: People congratulating Antonelli for trying to get Aaron fired, and gloating over the possibility of that happening after the next USA presidential election after Obama can no longer protect him. Because apparently that’s a thing.
gloating over the possibility of that happening after the next USA presidential election after Obama can no longer protect him. Because apparently that’s a thing.
The ignorance of how civil service works is strong among them. I’m not a political appointee. The next time Obama “protects” my employment will be the first.
@Aaron
I’m sorry. That’s so sad and ridiculous, for Torgersen to stoop to that. I wish you and your children the best.
It’s a hell of a thing, to drag children into this.
Well, these all seem like fascinating people to be near whilst they are armed to the teeth.
Well, these all seem like fascinating people to be near whilst they are armed to the teeth.
MidAmericon doesn’t have a weapons policy posted yet, but their Code of Conduct web page says that one is forthcoming.
3. I am only one third the way through the Watchmaker of Filigree Street.
4. I think I am in love with that book.
5. Gushing about books is unseemly
6. Simebody here needs to read it and post why they hate or it bored them or something to restore the cosmic balance
I didn’t dislike it, but ultimately found it a bit slight. Not a lot of payoff for the effort that that went into the construction of the story.
(Nyfb, V jnf abg xrra ba gur snasvp gebcr jurer gur vagrerfgvat ohg gbxra srznyr punenpgre jub jnf gur ybir vagrerfg bs bar bs gur zra vf erqhprq gb gur frysvfu ivyynva bs gur z/z ybir fgbel. Vg frrzf haxvaq va snasvp, naq vg frrzf haxvaq urer.)
A deserved Campbell nomination, I think, but not a Hugo nomination. It feels like a promising beginner work with a high degree of polish.
Facebook? That explains why I didn’t see it; I don’t bother to go to Facebook links as most of the time I can’t see them.
My sympathies to Aaron for being subjected to such asshattery.
Phew! Balance is restored! 🙂
@Amoxtli: Vg pregnvayl guerngraf gb unir gung qlanzvp, ohg V guvax hygvzngryl Tenpr vf ure bja punenpgre (naq fur’f abg va ybir jvgu Gunavry). Abar bs gur punenpgref vf cresrpg (pregnvayl abg Gunavry), naq fur’f zber guna n ivyynva be n sbvy. LZZI, gubhtu. Nalubj, va nyy gubfr qvfphffvbaf jr unq orsber, gurer jrer crbcyr nethvat gung Tenpr jnf nofbyhgryl evtug va nyy gur jbefg guvatf fur gubhtug nobhg Zbev.
An idle thought: Lizzie’s mileage may vary.
@ rcade:
The italicization was actually a communication glitch between me and Strange Horizons. I sent the manuscript to them with all foreign words italicized (which is conventional). They told me that the editors were moving toward not italicizing foreign words, and asked me if I minded; I said no, but my emails didn’t seem to get through and I had no other way of reaching them.
Anyway, the use of language was something I thought about a good deal when writing the story – I wanted to make sure that all the terms were explained or else could be derived from context, and I also wanted to strike a balance between scene-setting (of which the language is an important part) and readability. It’s an inexact science.
My review of Jonathan Edelstein’s excellent First Do No Harm is now up.
JJ:
Could we please not drag children into this?