(1) THE FINNISH. Finland hosts the World Science Fiction Convention in 2017 — but if you can’t make it to Helsinki, hit the library: more and more Finnish speculative fiction authors are getting English translations, as NPR reports in “Finnish Authors Heat Up The Speculative Fiction World”.
In the middle of Johanna Sinisalo’s novel The Core of the Sun, the reader is interrupted by an ad. It’s for Fresh Scent, a personal fragrance available from the State Cosmetics Corporation of Finland. It’s marketed to woman, although “marketed” is an understatement. In Sinisalo’s nightmarish, alternate-reality vision of her homeland, a tyrannical patriarchy splits women into two classes — docile “eloi” and undesirable “morlocks,” terms cheekily drawn from H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine — as part of an oppressive national health scheme that crosses insidiously over into eugenics.
The ad for Fresh Scent is just one of the novel’s many fragmentary asides. In additional to its more conventional narrative, which centers on Vanna, a woman with an addiction to chili peppers (it makes sense a skewed sort of sense, really), The Core of the Sun is made up of epistolary passages, dictionary entries, article excerpts, transcripts of hearings, scripts for instructional films, homework assignments, folk songs, and even fairytales that exist only in Sinisalo’s twisted version of the world. Chillingly, one passage concerning the social benefits of human sterilization is taken from a real-world source, a Finnish magazine article from 1935.
There’s a streak of scathing satire to the book’s fragmentary science fiction, and in that sense it sits somewhere between Margaret Atwood and Kurt Vonnegut — but Sinisalo crafts a funny, unsettling, emotionally charged apparition of the present that’s all her own.
(2) SPEAKING OF COLD PLACES. The New York Times captioned this tweet “A Wookie Chills in Washington (Not Hoth)”
Chillin' after #blizzard2016 pic.twitter.com/Gvl9AHxJkN
— Golnaz Esfandiari (@GEsfandiari) January 24, 2016
(3) AN ALARMING INSIGHT.
Yeah, @robertjbennett has social media entirely figured out. #confusionsf pic.twitter.com/G3VktfgkHv
— Michael Lee (@michaellorg) January 24, 2016
(4) DEATH OF A GOLDEN AGE. Saladin Ahmed’s Buzzfeed article argues “Censors Killed The Weird, Experimental, Progressive Golden Age Of Comics”.
In the 1940s, comic books were often feminist, diverse, and bold. Then the reactionary Comics Code Authority changed the trajectory of comic book culture for good.
The comics themselves exhibited wild stylistic variety. A single issue of Keen Detective Funnies could contain one story with gorgeous Art Nouveau-ish illustration, and another with glorified stick figures. The comic books of the Golden Age were also significantly more diverse in terms of genre than today’s comics. On newsstands across America — in an era when the newsstand was an urban hub and an economic juggernaut — comic books told tales of True Crime, Weird Fantasy and Cowboy Love, Negro Romance, and Mystery Men. And Americans bought them.
Even as Amazing-Man and Blue Beetle were rescuing helpless, infantilized women, badass superheroines like the Lady in Red, the Spider Queen, and Lady Satan were stabbing Nazis and punching out meddlesome, sexist cops.
(5) NOW THAT SHE HAS OUR ATTENTION. Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s post “Business Musings: Poor Poor Pitiful Me Is Not A Business Model” actually is not a rant telling writers to buck up, it’s a discussion of the true levers of culture change. But it begins with a rant….
Granted, in the recent past, the major publishing companies were the only game in town. But they are no longer the only game in town. A major bestselling writer can—and should—walk from any deal that does not meet her contractual and business needs.
Hell, every writer should do that.
But of course most writers won’t. Instead, an entire group of them beg for scraps from the Big All-Powerful Evil Publishers, proving to the publishers that writers are idiots and publishers hold all the cards.
I already bludgeoned the Authors Guild letter last week, so why am I going back to the same trough? Because this poor-poor-pitiful-me attitude has become the norm in the publishing industry right now, and I’m really tired of it.
The big battles of 2014 and 2015, from all of the fighting over the meaning of Amazon in the past few years to the in-genre squabbling over the Hugo awards that science fiction indulged in last year to the hue and cry indie writers have treated us to over the various changes in Kindle Unlimited since its inauguration have all had the same basic complaint.
Someone—be it a publisher (that Amazon is Evil argument) or a writer (the rest of it)—believes they’re entitled to something, and when they don’t get that something, they complain loudly, on social media or in traditional media or via group letter or through (in sf’s case) hateful spiteful posts about the opposing parties.
Only a handful of people take responsibility for the situation they’re in—if, indeed, they are responsible. Only a few actually analyze why the situation exists.
(6) HIGH PRAISE. The first line in David Barnett’s review of Charlie Jane Anders’ All the Birds is —
Imagine that Diana Wynne Jones, Douglas Coupland and Neil Gaiman walk into a bar and through some weird fusion of magic and science have a baby. That offspring is Charlie Jane Anders’ lyrical debut novel All The Birds In The Sky.
Do you think that’s a lot to live up to?
(7) TODAY IN HISTORY
- January 24, 1888 — Typewriter “copy” ribbon patented by Jacob L. Wortman. Harlan Ellison still uses one.
- January 25, 1984 – Apple’s Macintosh computer went on sale. Price tag: $2,495.
(8) TRI ROBOT. Mickey Zucker Reichert, the author of To Preserve, is a working physician and the author of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot Trilogy (To Protect, To Obey, To Preserve). The third book will be published in hardcover by Roc in February.
Nate, has been Manhattan Hasbro Hospital’s resident robot for more than twenty years. Nate’s very existence terrified most people, leaving the robot utilized for menial tasks and generally ignored. Until one of the hospital’s physicians is found murdered with Nate standing over the corpse.
As programmer of Nate’s brain, Lawrence Robertson is responsible for his creation and arrested for the crime. Susan Calvin knows the Three Laws of Robotics make it impossible for Nate to harm a human. But maybe someone manipulated the laws to commit murder.
(9) DOUGH-REY. Kip W. pays tribute to characters from that billion-dollar movie The Force Awakens.
Poe, a flier; a fast male flier
Rey, who scavenges a bit,
Maz, a host who knows the most,
Finn, a white shirt drone who quit,
Snoke, a hologram quite tall,
Ren, a very angry joe,
Beeb, a droid head on a ball,
Which will bring us back to Poe. Poe, Rey, Maz, Finn, Snoke, Ren, Beeb, Poe!
(10) FLEXIBILITY. Nick Osment analyzes the benefits of reading science fiction in “What We Can Learn From a Time Lord: Doctor Who and a New Enlightened Perspective” at Black Gate.
If tomorrow you stepped inside a time machine and found yourself standing in the yard of this man who is separated from being your neighbor only by the passage of a century, then suddenly his opinions would become somewhat more relevant because now you would actually have to interact with him. But they would not become any more credible to you just because you were now hearing them face-to-face. You would still hear them from the vantage of having come from the future.
Now imagine your life today not as if you were living in your own time but as if you were visiting from a hundred years in the future. The weight given by proximity, i.e., these people are my neighbors, is leveled off, much the way that visiting that long-dead neighbor would be. Detach yourself from all the noise of the television and the Internet and your workplace, your college, your local pub. See it from a more objective position — of not being of this time, with the knowledge that this time, too, will pass, and all these people who are speaking right now; they all, too, will be dead and most of them forgotten.
(11) BIGGER ON THE OUTSIDE. 11.22.63, the eight-part event series based on Stephen King’s 2011 novel, premieres Presidents Day, February 15 on Hulu.
11.22.63 is a thriller in which high school English teacher Jake Epping (James Franco) travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — but his mission is threatened by Lee Harvey Oswald, falling in love and the past itself, which doesn’t want to be changed
(12) LONG TAIL OF SALES. Fynbospress summarizes the impact of streaming on the music business, and explains the parallels in book publishing to Mad Genius Club readers in “The Importance of Being Backlist”.
In summary, if publishing continues to mirror music, then streaming will continue to increase, but frontlist sales may continue to fall, and it become harder and harder to get discovered in the initial release period. However, backlist volume is growing, and people are discovering their way through the things that have been out there a while. So, while you can and should do some promotion of your latest release – if it fails to take off, don’t despair. Instead, write the next book, the greatest book you’ve written yet. Sometimes you make your money on the initial release surge, and sometimes, it’ll come in having a lot of things out there all bringing in an unsteady trickle.
(13) TWO COMIC CONS MAY SETTLE. A settlement may be at hand in the San Diego Comic-Con’s suit against the Salt Lake Comic Con for for trademark-infringement. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that on Thursday, attorneys for both conventions asked the judge to extend a procedural deadline so that they could work “diligently” on a settlement. The conventions have scheduled a meeting with Adler on Wednesday in San Diego.
Drafts of the agreement have been exchanged,” according to the Thursday court filing requesting the extension, “and the parties hope to soon reach agreement as to all terms.”
San Diego Comic-Con is a trademarked name, and lawyers have argued that the similarity of “Comic Con” in the name of the Salt Lake City event has confused people into thinking the event is somehow associated with San Diego’s convention.
As Salt Lake’s organizers have seen it, the legal battle isn’t just between them and the flagship convention; it’s a threat to the dozens of other comic book conventions around the world that also use “comic con” in their names. Salt Lake Comic Con co-founder and chief marketing officer Bryan Brandenburg previously asserted that if San Diego wins the case, the precedent will allow it to do this to other organizations.
(14) RING OF POWER. Jim C. Hines snapped this photo at Confusion:
.@scalzi recites the Secret Cabal oath: "Let those who worship Hugos' might, beware my power, Tor Cabal's light!" pic.twitter.com/j9zxhfjn9i
— Jim C. Hines (@jimchines) January 24, 2016
[Thanks to JJ, John King Tarpinian, Andrew Porter, and Will R. for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Jim Henley.]
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@Redwombat – Well done!
Also, your children’s books are very popular with the kids who visit our library’s children’s department. 🙂
@RedWombat: *sniffles and wipes eyes.* That is a lovely story. I love the imagery and the narrative voice and if course the two main characters. Thank you!
@RedWombat
Godsdamn all these onion cutting ninjas.
ULTRAGOTHA: I doubt the finalists will be announced Easter weekend this year. It falls too early.
If they’re smart, they’ll take Scalzi’s advice and do the announcement on a Monday morning, when they can maximize PR in mainstream news outlets.
RedWombat, I enjoyed “Razorback”, and it was fun to see local place names in a story. But I can’t quit figure out what mountains Sal lives in. The Uwharries?
*grin* They’re much more like hills, really. People out here have different expectations of mountains than those of us from farther west. (And I dunno, somewhere around Pilot Knob, maybe.)
@Xtifr:
Are you sure about Apache Open Office being dead? Because I’m downloading and installing version 4.1.2. as we speak.
Just a reminder, if you haven’t booked your hotel for MidAmeriCon II yet, there are still a few rooms left. If you can’t get all the days you want, you can probably get a shorter stretch and extend the dates later.
@redheadedfemme: OpenOffice is still around, but the number of developers is decreasing and there’s been much griping about the increasingly slow pace of OpenOffice development, leaving its users vulnerable to security holes.
Has anyone heard of any serious NASFiC bids for 2017?
Also, I want that TOR ring, Scalzi! 😉
@RedWombat
Beautiful story!
@Soon Lee
Thank you for posting the link to A Dry Quiet War. I’ll have to keep my eye out for more by Tony Daniel.
@RedWombat
What a lovely story! Thank you.
@Stoic Cynic,
Tony Daniel’s currently an editor at Baen. His most recent novel “Guardian of Night” was enjoyable, MilSF, has been described as “The Hunt for Red October in Space!”, but does not rise to the heights of some of his other earlier stories.
T. DeWitt Canon on January 25, 2016 at 6:31 pm said:
Has anyone heard of any serious NASFiC bids for 2017?
Here you go: http://www.sanjuan2017.org/
@Camestros
It strikes me that the folks running SP4 are running up against the necessity of making a choice: actually be the not-slate they’ve puffed themselves as, run things openly, and, unless they find a sudden influx of new people, be a freaking Declan Finn vehicle in a clutch of categories; or coordinate with Beale, sell their souls, and enjoy the illusion of relevance.
I do not think that Hoyt is the kind of person to jettison the illusion of relevance. I don’t think Paulk is either, but Hoyt especially. Regardless, either SP4 has had far less involvement and input from others than the previous SPs (for whatever reason that might be) or SP never had all that much popular involvement to begin with beyond Torgerson and Correia’s Sturm und Drang.
And again, I’d invite everyone to consider the tone of some of the linked works over the last months from MGC, from Paulk, and Hoyt. Do they strike you as the sort to abandon the camera on them, the importance, the splash, for the sake of actually running SP4 the way they said they would?
@Michael J. Walsh Ooohh, thank you! 🙂
Nomination deadline is March 31, according to the printed ballot.
So. Fancast. Another category I considerably lack awareness on, and at this point it’s pretty much “ooh, I’ve listened to it and don’t hate it” and it goes onto my nomination shortlist. So far Galactic Suburbia has made it on the list. Heck. it *is* the list. It’s also only the only one of two (three?) 2015 fancasts that I’ve heard.
So, as I have copious amounts of free time (hah!), could I get some recommendations for Fancasts from 2015? Also appreciated are episodes to look out for, if you think there are a couple of noteworthy ones.
Also, is Welcome to Nightvale a Fancast?? I saw that it got a few ballots last year, which is…surprising. If it is, it’s so on the list.
@snowcrash,
Welcome to Nightvale would be “Best Dramatic Presentation” (Short Form for individual episodes).
3.3.14: Best Fancast. Any generally available non-professional audio or video periodical devoted to science fiction, fantasy, or related subjects that by the close of the previous calendar year has released four (4) or more episodes, at least one (1) of which appeared in the previous calendar year, and that does not qualify as a dramatic presentation
ETA: I enjoy the Coode Street podcast which should be eligible for Fancast.
It was good to be da king. 🙂
All Hail!
I might have a biased suggestion for fancast: Fast Forward TV, a local cable access show that has been running for 25 years, interviewing writers and the occasional artist and editor, book reviews, anime reviews, etc. The interviews and various other bits are available on YouTube or through their website: http://www.fast-forward.tv
The bias is because my husband is one of the interviewers.
Seconding the fancast recommendation for Coode Street. I also enjoy Sword & Laser, Rocket Talk, Midnight in Karachi and Tea & Jeopardy.
Thanks Brian. That suits me. I’m sure it will take awhile for them to tally up the nominations so I shouldn’t miss too much of the announcement reaction (e.g. VD’s cat being nominated for Best Editor Short Form etc)
@Camestros Felapton:
Hold on now, are you accusing VD of being an SJW there?
Well, he keeps insisting he’s not a conservative…
(1) That book sounds interesting, but the article not mentioning Rajaniemi is a big omission.
(3) Urrrr. Huh. Hm.
(5) Read the whole thing, it’s worth it. KKR’s blog and free stories are always good.
(6) Probably is that good, but Charlie Jane is likely cringing.
(9) Loved this yesterday, sang it to the husband today who LOL.
(11) Indeed, why Franco? Interest plummets.
(14) PROOF! Right there! (And LOL, nice work Jim and John.)
—————————–
I liked seeing the X-Files return. Original credits and all… my gosh, we were all so young back then. I could have done without Right-Wing Webcast Guy once he’d introduced us to the plot bunny. Scully needs to be slipping meds into Mulder’s drinking water. The necessary infodump at the beginning was handled as well as it possibly could be. And the flying saucer was keen! Oooh, it’s on again, must hurry.
RedWombat: I read that story when it came out for subscribers and I got all teared up then. And now again. Unlikely protagonists, but wonderful.
Also, I would like MOAR Grandma Harken. Keep writing till there is a collection, and I will buy the collection, yea verily, even in dead-tree.
Teddy probably has dogs. Cats are too SJW and don’t take to authoritarian personalities and don’t do what they’re told. Dogs looove being ordered around.
I slept through King Bob’s entire reign.
Camestros Felapton on January 25, 2016 at 8:04 pm said:
Brian Z on January 25, 2016 at 7:14 pm said:
Nomination deadline is March 31, according to the printed ballot.
Thanks Brian. That suits me. I’m sure it will take awhile for them to tally up the nominations
There’s also contacting the nominees to find out if they accept or decline the nomination.
@Lurkertype:
This is what we call anti-making friends.
January 24, 1888 — Typewriter “copy” ribbon patented by Jacob L. Wortman. Harlan Ellison still uses one.
So does Howard Waldrop.
So, as I have copious amounts of free time (hah!), could I get some recommendations for Fancasts from 2015?
I like Verity, but that’s a Doctor Who oriented podcast. If you like Who, its good. If you don’t, it is probably not that interesting. I am also a fan of Under Discussion, by the Undergophers. It is an RPG oriented podcast, but they have a lot of episodes that focus on movies, books, and other non-gaming things, such as their starship crew draft, and their forced filmography series.
JJ said:
Or, if they’re even smarter, they’ll ignore Scalzi’s advice because what he suggests is how it used to be done until a few years ago, and it never got any PR in mainstream news outlets. Moving the announcement to a major convention weekend was a net plus thanks to the increased buzz within fandom.
1. I don’t think cats themselves are that SJW. They strike me as the kind of animal that found Atlas Shrugged as being a suitable lifestyle manual. Cat owners are another matter entirely.
2. My dog has no conception of orders.
3. I don’t think Vox actually has to own a real cat for him to attempt to nominate it for a Hugo. He’d probably pick a cat, thinking that we’d all vote for it because cats are adorable
4. On reflection we shouldn’t put ideas in his head
5. Cats are adorable and if it was sufficiently cute I might vote for it – darn! Outwitted again by VD’s cunning manipulation of my SJW emotions!
@Camestros Felapton – I think she set up a great premise for a bigger anthology by more writers. A deadly game of Pictionary for example or 19th century geopolitics played as Twister.
USAians have a tradition of deadly poker games, but the addition of geopolitics takes it out of the frontier mythos and makes it a game anyone could play. (Really, a brilliant idea about the anthology, because I’d love to see what other writers could make of such an interesting idea.)
After reading Bryony and Roses and the Tomato Thief, I’ve decided I like Ursula Vernon better in longer stories than in short stories. I think the added length gives room for more … tension? Higher stakes? than in her shorter works.
This isn’t to anyone or about Ursula Vernon (if for no other reason than talking about people in front of them would feel weird), but I’ve been thinking about this all day, because it’s not true for me. It’s not that I don’t like novels, but I’m much more likely to find shorter works magical and memorable. I think it’s the compression, the way the world of the story is hinted at rather than written about explicitly, with the focus on the character(s) and the action.
I get that more detail and greater length can increase a reader’s investment in the author’s world, but I’ll gladly give that up in favor of a narrative that offers space for my imagination and empathy to work. That’s probably why my favorite poet is Emily Dickinson.
Petréa Mitchell: Moving the announcement to a major convention weekend was a net plus thanks to the increased buzz within fandom.
What year did that occur?
Teddy probably has dogs. Cats are too SJW and don’t take to authoritarian personalities and don’t do what they’re told. Dogs looove being ordered around.
Well, it’s not just SJWs who have cats; supervillains (or wannabe svs) have them too. Also, my dogs do not follow orders, although they can be persuaded to do things because I ask them politely. In a high, babytalk voice. While telling them they’re the best dogs everrrrrr.
I have the best dogs ever. Also the best foster dog ever. This is not open to debate.
Also, they are as good as any cat, superior to any cat that would agree to live with or be nominated by VD, and Dora, the hairless Chinese Crested, is the best possible SJW credential.
@Jim: Some dogs, if trained that way, will follow orders. They are not dogs that are fun to have around. They are not doggies that you go wooga-wooga on their furry heads and give them treats and scratch their bellies, no they are nooooot!
Ahem.
Cats are basically adorable little narcissistic sociopaths. With adorable triangle ears and fluffiness and pointy little teeth and cute purrrrrrrs. And chewing on your computer cords when you’re in the middle of posting on File 770 so you are forced to scold them but it doesn’t matter.
JJ: Good question. The middle of Easter weekend is a TERRIBLE time to get PR out.
And then the kitty uses its amazing ability to manipulate gravity to increase its weight by a factor of 10 and cut off circulation to your legs.
Calling it now – VD nominates John Scalzi’s twin kittens for a Hugo.
And then the kitty uses its amazing ability to manipulate gravity to increase its weight by a factor of 10 and cut off circulation to your legs.
It’s amazing how a 10-pound cat can pin you down. (But it was very much not fun when mine jumped onto my back once when I was bent over. There was Use of Claws involved.)
@lurkertype
You have demomonstrated that VD is not a feline.
Definitely not adorable. Meets the other criteria.
lurkertype — Were you thinking of police dogs, or seeing eye dogs? I get the impression that sheep dogs get a certain amount of spoiling when they aren’t busy relaying orders to sheep.
When my kids were tiny they thought this was the best thing ever but it kind of reminds me of some of the pre-Hugo messages we got from VD.
[also beagles, ahhhh cute]
Ah, great, I didn’t know about this. Tor.com has now become much more useful for me – I hate reading fiction on a computer screen.
In a surprise twist, John Scalzi’s twin kittens nominate VD.
Bad kittens! Bad! Naughty!
@Camestros Felapton, I can’t believe I’d forgotten Cats and Dogs. My kids loved that movie so much that I hid it after the tenth time they picked it for family movie night.
I now have a Theophilus Pratt/Mr. Tinkles mashup going on in my head.
Oh gods, tiny little flaming swords! Angry, furrow-browed right wing kittehs who are adamantly self sufficient but cry when their food bowl is half empty. I’m seeing VD and his cuddwy wuddwy minyuns in a whole different light. Who’s the tuff kitty? Who’s the tuff kitty? Teddy is, that’s right. Teddy’s the tuff kitty cat! Aww!
They have my vote.
We had two copies because the first one wore out. When we eventually bought a dog it had to be a beagle.
Philip Sandifer’s open letter to Sad Puppies 4.
@TheYoungPretender
I do not think that Hoyt is the kind of person to jettison the illusion of relevance.
Nooooo, I don’t think so either.
@Soon Lee
Thanks for the link. I don’t think Sandifer is buying in to this “rapprochement” thing! He does do a good job of showing that their rebranding attempts are superficial at best.