(1) LOCUS LIST’S UNEXPECTED TREND. Dave Truesdale on Facebook wonders why so few of the listed stories come from Analog, Asimov’s, and F&SF. It is rather surprising.
Over at Locus Online the February Locus Magazine Recommended Reading List for 2020 has been posted. Granting my total count of novellas, novelettes, and short stories might be off by one, it makes no difference to the statistic I am about to reveal.
Of the novellas there are Zero stories from Analog, Asimov’s, or F&SF.
Of the novelettes there are Zero stories from Analog, One story from Asimov’s, and Two stories from F&SF.
Of the short stories there are Zero from Analog, Asimov’s, or F&SF.
Out of 124 stories in three fiction length categories selected by Locus reviewers and a few other outsider recommenders, there are exactly 3 stories selected from what has been traditionally known as the Big Three SF magazines. Offer your own theories as to why this has occurred–and has been occurring with a steady downward slide for a number of years now. They don’t give their fiction away for free is one guess and only a few review copies are sent out to review sites, thus accounting for perhaps fewer number of short fiction recommenders, and although other zines posting online do charge a little bit they are in the distinct minority. So are Locus recommenders reading primarily free magazines, or is there some other reason, maybe one having to do with content? This picture isn’t hanging quite straight and I’d like to know why so miserably few short fiction recommendations coming from Locus have appeared in the pages of Analog, Asimov’s, and F&SF. I’m sure their editors and authors would like to know, too. So if you have any ideas…
(2) KGB. Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series hosts Matthew Kressel and Ellen Datlow will host livestream readings with this month’s authors, Kathleen Jennings and Shveta Thakrar, on YouTube, Wednesday, February 17 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The link will is posted later.
Kathleen Jennings
Kathleen Jennings is a writer and illustrator from Australia. In 2020, her debut (illustrated) novella Flyaway was published by Tor.com, and her debut poetry collection Travelogues: Vignettes from Trains in Motion by Brain Jar Press. Her short stories have been published by Tor.com, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and Strange Horizons, among others. She’s currently working on a PhD about contracts in fantasy novels.
Shveta Thakrar
Shveta Thakrar is a fantasy writer and full-time believer in magic. Her work has appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies including Enchanted Living, Uncanny Magazine, A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, and Toil & Trouble. Her debut young adult fantasy novel, Star Daughter, is out now, and her second novel will follow in 2022.
(3) IT’S IN THE RNA. Romantic Novelists’ Association released the shortlists for the 2021 Romantic Novel Awards on February 1. [Via Locus Online.]
The Fantasy Romantic Novel Award:
- Echoes of the Runes, Christina Courtenay, Headline Review
- The Start of Us, Hannah Emery, One More Chapter, HarperCollins
- The Reluctant Witch, Amelia Hopegood, Independently Published
- The Cornish Connection, Amanda James, Independently Published
- Someday in Paris, Olivia Lara, Aria, Head of Zeus
The winners will be announced on March 8.
(4) PLAGIARISM CHARGE. Comic artist and illustrator Adam Ellis alleges the makers of the movie Keratin stole the plot from his comic. Thread starts here.
Newsweek’s article, “Cartoonist Adam Ellis Says Movie ‘Keratin’ Was Plagiarized From His Work”, which is largely composed of Ellis’ tweets, does have this original quote:
“A couple festivals have DMed me and said they’re pulling the film, and the main actor in the film also told me he wasn’t aware that it was plagiarized and he never would’ve signed on if he knew,” Ellis told Newsweek. “It’s hard to know what festivals they submitted to, since the filmmakers haven’t been in contact with me.”
Ellis said that he was not currently pursuing litigation against the filmmakers.
“I’ve also had some lawyers reach out, and I’m keeping my options open, but I’m not interested in legal action at the moment,” Ellis said. “I don’t think it would ultimately lead anywhere, but we’ll see what happens. Mostly I just want the film to be pulled. The story is personal to me and I’m protective of it!”
(5) SHE’S REALLY A WONDER. Adweek Network says the numbers show Wonder Woman 1984 topped Soul in their Christmas Day streaming face-off.
…Nielsen says Wonder Woman 1984 racked up huge audiences on its opening weekend, becoming the biggest feature film in Nielsen’s rankings—and one of the biggest streaming titles of any kind since Nielsen launched its streaming measurement. (THR / Live Feed)
The movie amassed nearly 2.3 billion minutes viewed among U.S. viewers, about 35 percent more than Soul. Previously, Nielsen had said Pixar’s Soul was the most-viewed on its Top 10 streaming ranking for Dec. 21-27, 2020. (Variety)…
(6) BRIEF INTERZONE UPDATE. [Item by PhilRM.] This addendum was posted today on the TTA Press – Interzone page:
UPDATE 1ST FEB: Please be assured that we are addressing the concerns expressed by some subscribers and are seeking confirmation of certain matters. We’ll update again asap. Assuring you of our best efforts at all times…
(7) WE INTERRUPT THIS WANDAVISION. An intriguing mid-season trailer has dropped for Marvel Studios’ WandaVision. John King Tarpinian says of the show, “Really well done, each episode keeps you on your toes.”
(8) BURNS OBIT. Producer and screenwriter Allan Burns died January 30. Deadline’s tribute begins with some of his genre credits:
Allan Burns, a television producer and screenwriter best known for cocreating and cowriting for the television sitcoms The Munsters, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Rhoda, died Saturday at home. He was 85….
His first venture included working in animation for Jay Ward on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Dudley Do-Right, and George of the Jungle. Among his other accomplishments in his early days was creating the Cap’n Crunch cartoon character for Quaker Oats.
Burns formed a writing partnership with Chris Hayward, and the team created The Munsters (1964) and My Mother The Car (1965). They also teamed as story editors for the classic Get Smart.
(9) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.
[Compiled by Cat Eldridge and John Hertz.]
- Born February 1, 1874 – Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Two of this gifted poet’s short stories for us are available in English. He worked closely with another strange gifted man, Richard Strauss, writing the words of two fantastic Strauss operas, The Woman without a Shadow and The Egyptian Helen. More about HH here. (Died 1929) [JH]
- Born February 1, 1884 – Yevgeny Zamyatin. Had he only written We it would have been enough for us – maybe; others have taken it as a springboard. Three of his shorter stories and an essay on Wells are in English; We has been Englished nine times. Z’s life was so complicated you might want to look here. (Died 1937) [JH]
- Born February 1, 1908 — George Pal. Let’s see… Producer of Destination Moon (Retro Hugo at Millennium Philcon), When Worlds Collide, The War of the Worlds (which I love), Conquest of Space (anyone heard of this one?), The Time Machine, Atlantis, the Lost Continent, Tom Thumb, The Time Machine, Atlantis, the Lost Continent, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (another I love)and his last film being Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze which is not so great. Can we hold a George Pal film fest, pretty please? (Died 1980.) (CE)
- Born February 1, 1936 – Paul Turner. Rooted in Los Angeles, knew and reached many. Promoted a LASFS (L.A. Science Fantasy Society) building fund, kept at it till the spark caught; LASFS with luckily finite improbability bought a clubhouse; few have. Served a term as Director (as it then was), later President; earned the Evans-Freehafer Award (service); thirty years later, Fan Guest of Honor at Loscon 20. Also promoted conversation. Particular friend of Bill Rotsler. My appreciation here. (Died 2019) [JH]
- Born February 1, 1942 — Terry Jones. Member of Monty Python who was considered the originator of the program’s structure in which sketches flowed from one to the next without the use of punchlines. He made his directorial debut with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which he co-directed with Gilliam, and also directed Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life. He also wrote an early draft of Jim Henson’s 1986 film Labyrinth, though little of that draft remains in the final version. (Died 2020.) (CE)
- Born February 1, 1946 — Elisabeth Sladen. Certainly best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith on Doctor Who, the most loved of all the Companions among fans. She was a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), and reprised her role down the years, both on the series and on its spin-offs, K-9 and Company (truly awfully done including K-9 himself) and The Sarah Jane Adventures (not bad at all). It’s not her actual first SF appearance, that honor goes to her being a character called Sarah Collins in an episode of the Doomwatch series called “Say Knife, Fat Man”. The creators behind this series had created the cybermen concept for Doctor Who. (Died 2011.) (CE)
- Born February 1, 1954 — Bill Mumy, 67. Well I’ll be damned. He’s had a much longer career in the genre than even I knew. His first genre roles were at age seven on Twilight Zone, two episodes in the same season (Billy Bayles In “Long Distance Call” and Anthony Fremont in “Its A Good Life”). He makes make it a trifecta appearing a few years later again as Young Pip Phillips in “In Praise of Pip”. Witches are next for him. First he plays an orphaned boy in an episode of Bewitched called “A Vision of Sugar Plums” and then it’s Custer In “Whatever Became of Baby Custer?” on I Dream of Jeannie, a show he shows he revisits a few years as Darrin the Boy in “Junior Executive”. Ahhh his most famous role is up next as Will Robinson in Lost in Space. It’s got to be thirty years since I’ve seen it but I still remember and like it quite a bit. He manages to show up next on The Munsters as Googie Miller in “Come Back Little Googie” and in Twilight Zone: The Movie In one of the bits as Tim. I saw the film but don’t remember him. He’s got a bunch of DC Comics roles as well — Young General Fleming in Captain America, Roger Braintree on The Flash series and Tommy Puck on Superboy. Ahhh Lennier. One of the most fascinating and annoying characters in all of the Babylon 5 Universe. Enough said. I hadn’t realized it but he showed up on Deep Space Nine as Kellin in the “The Siege of AR-558” episode. Lastly, and before our gracious Host starts grinding his teeth at the length of this Birthday entry, I see he’s got a cameo as Dr. Z. Smith in the new Lost in Space series. (CE)
- Born February 1, 1962 – Maryrose Wood, age 59. Ten books for us, two of them with the Duchess of Northumberland (I am not making this up). Was in the original cast of Merrily We Roll Along (the musical, not the Kaufman & Hart play – nor was it with that Prince; another one). Three Richard Rodgers Awards. [JH]
- Born February 1, 1965 — Sherilyn Fenn, 56. Best known for playing as Audrey Horne on Twin Peaks. Her first genre work was in The Wraith as Keri Johnson followed by being Suzi in Zombie High (also known charmingly not as The School That Ate My Brain). Her latest work is Etta in The Magicians series. (CE)
- Born February 1, 1965 — Brandon Lee. Lee started his career with a supporting role in Kung Fu: The Movie, but is obviously known for his breakthrough and unfortunate fatal acting role as Eric Draven in The Crow, based on James O’Barr’s series. Y’ll know what happened to him so I’ll not go into that here. (Died 1993.) (CE)
- Born February 1, 1967 – Meg Cabot, age 54. (Rhymes with “habit”.) Two dozen novels for us, half a dozen shorter stories; eighty books all told. Princess Diaries became two Disney films. Many awards, NY Times top best-sellers, 25 million copies of her books in print worldwide. Married on April Fool’s Day, possibly to spoof her husband, anyway they’re still at it. Works with charities e.g. Make-a-Wish Fdn, United Nations Refugee Agency, Reading is Fundamental, NY Public Libraries. Blogs abut her cats. [JH]
- Born February 1, 1972 – Cristina Jurado, age 49. Editor and translator, SuperSonic. A dozen short stories, half available in English; so are anthologies Spanish Women of Wonder (not its Spanish title) and The Apex Book of World SF vol. 5. “Fandom in Spain” for the Worldcon 75 Souvenir Book, thanks Jukka, Curtis, Charlotte, Vesa. Interviewed (in English) in Three Crows. [JH]
(10) COMICS SECTION.
- Here’s Bizarro’s take on a police lineup.
(11) NANA NA NA, NANA NA NA. New Atlas reports “Newly discovered ‘nano-chameleon’ is world’s smallest known reptile”.
A tiny new species of chameleon has been discovered, and it seems to be the smallest reptile in the world. Known as Brookesia nana, or the nano-chameleon, the petite species can perch on a fingertip and may have the smallest adult males of any vertebrate….
Daniel P. Dern notes, “I’m sure that, at least with this group, I’m not the only person who instantly thought of the classic Bob & Ray ‘The Komodo Dragon’ bit.”
(12) ANTICIPATION. Before there was social media there were apas. “The circulation of controversy: Mimeography, fanzines and the amateur press association” was a topic presented in 2019 by Will Straw, James McGill Professor of Urban Media Studies at McGill University. It apparently includes a treatment of the 1964 Breendoggle. I could not locate a recording or transcript online.
Abstract: Long before photocopiers and on-line blogs became the tools of fandom, science-fiction fans mastered the art of mimeography and other methods of amateur publishing. Since the late 19th century, amateur printers had grouped together in so-called “amateur press associations” (or “apas”) to distribute their home-made magazines to each other in bundles. The “apa” was a key feature of science fiction fandom by the 1940s. By the 1950s, critics were wondering whether the back-and-forth exchanges which went on inside “apas”, as members used their own magazines to respond to others, was producing unprecedented levels of infighting and souring the atmosphere in science fiction fandom. In the early 1960s, a move to block an accused pedophile from attending the World Science Fiction Convention split science fiction fandom into warring factions, and the heated discursive environment of the amateur press association was seen as one cause of this atmosphere of intense polemic. Drawing on my new research into mimeography, pre-media fandoms and the amateur press association, I will show how systems for the distribution and circulation of fanzines shaped particular climates of dissension.
(13) PRIVATE SATELLITE NEWS. The AP tells how “Maine company successfully launches prototype rocket”.
A Maine company that’s developing a rocket to propel small satellites into space passed its first major test on Sunday.
Brunswick-based bluShift Aerospace launched a 20-foot (6-meter) prototype rocket, hitting an altitude of a little more than 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) in a first run designed to test the rocket’s propulsion and control systems.
It carried a science project by Falmouth High School students that will measure flight metrics such as barometric pressure, a special alloy that’s being tested by a New Hampshire company — and a Dutch dessert called stroopwafel, in an homage to its Amsterdam-based parent company. Organizers of the launch said the items were included to demonstrate the inclusion of a small payload.
The company, which launched from the northern Maine town of Limestone, the site of the former Loring Air Force Base, is one of dozens racing to find affordable ways to launch so-called nano satellites. Some of them, called Cube-Sats, can be as small as 10 centimeters by 10 centimeters….
(14) COLORING INSIDE THE LINES. The Schickele.com Site Map is the best ever says Daniel Dern. It helps that it’s an actual map. The site promotes the performer known as PDQ Bach. And that’s not all he’s known for.
(15) 42. [Item by David Doering.] Slashdot, the propeller-head site similar to F770 in format, in “Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy: New Research Says #42 Really Is Our Number”, cites a new scientific paper (too dense for me to understand) but quotes reader “Informativity” who concludes that the paper says:
Turns out the entire universe is a product of the number 42, specifically 42 times the collection of lm/2t, such that l, m and t are the Planck Units. In a newly published paper, Measurement Quantization Describes the Physical Constants , both the constants and laws of nature are resolved from a simple geometry between two frames of reference, the non-discrete Target Frame of the universe and the discrete Measurement Frame of the observer. Its only and primary connection to our physical reality is a scalar, 42. Forty-two is what defines our universe from say any other version of our universe. So, while Douglas Adams may have just been picking numbers out of the sky when writing Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it turns out he picked the right number, the one that defines … well … everything.
In addition to presenting new descriptions for most of the physical constants (descriptions that don’t reference other physical constants), the paper is also noted for presenting a classical unification of gravity and electromagnetism.
(16) DON’T BE ON THE LOOKOUT. “Texas Department of Public Safety Accidentally Sends Out AMBER Alert for Chucky and Glen Ray” – Yahoo! Entertainment has the story.
The Texas Department of Public Safety generated some attention when it accidentally issued AMBER alerts for two Child’s Play film franchise characters.
On Friday, missing alerts for the Texas Department of Public Safety included the murderous doll, Chucky, and his son, Glen Ray. Glen is described as having a blue shirt and black collar while Chucky is said to be wearing “blue denim overalls with multi-colored striped long sleeve shirt” and “wielding a huge kitchen knife.”
The local NBC affiliate learned that this was actually the result of a test gone wrong. The Department of Public Safety was testing out its server when it accidentally made these faux alerts public.
(17) VIDEO OF THE DAY. In “The Hunger Games Sequels Pitch Meeting” on ScreenRant, Ryan George takes on the three sequels to The Hunger Games, noting †he capitol is guarded by “really mean Power Rangers” and the plot of the third movie can be summarized as “The rebels compensate for Katniss’s poor acting abilities.”
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Hampus Eckerman, David Doering, Michael Toman, Andrew Porter, Martin Morse Wooster, PhilRM, Mike Kennedy, JJ, John Hertz, Danny Sichel, Daniel Dern, and Cat Eldridge for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Anna Nimmhaus.]
Discover more from File 770
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
First!
Second!
Now reading Aliette De Bodard’s Seven of Infinites
(1) They’re not generally available on magazine racks, so they don’t attract new readers. Or people like me, who might be convinced to buy an ish if they were easier to find (and had a story I really liked).
P J Evans says They’re not generally available on magazine racks, so they don’t attract new readers. Or people like me, who might be convinced to buy an ish if they were easier to find (and had a story I really liked).
They may not be available all on physical magazine racks but I’ve seen all three at my local Books-A-Million pre-Pandemic. (Post-knee surgery I’ve not been back, something I miss doing as I did buy stuff there.) They were stocked oddly enough next to the single issue comics. And all three are available in the Kindle store though not in the Apple Books stores.
Cat Eldridge: all three are available in the Kindle store
The problem is that they’re only available by subscription. You can’t just buy one issue.
There was a novella in one of last year’s Analogs that I wanted, so I subscribed long enough to download the issue, and then unsubscribed. I don’t know if it will allow me to do that n number of times, though.
As well as through Barnes & Noble as Nook publications–at least Analog and Asimov’s are, which is how we’ve subscribed to them for years. I don’t know if that’s the case for F&SF, since I’ve had a lifetime subscription to that magazine since 1977. (I’ve been reading it since the January 1965 issue.)
9) Concerning Mumy as his alter ego Art Barnes, is Fish Heads genre?
John Lorentz says As well as through Barnes & Noble as Nook publications–at least Analog and Asimov’s are, which is how we’ve subscribed to them for years. I don’t know if that’s the case for F&SF, since I’ve had a lifetime subscription to that magazine since 1977. (I’ve been reading it since the January 1965 issue.)
I checked. They don’t. Only Kindle offers all three of them. As I said, Apple Books doesn’t offer any of them currently. I only have two of the book apps on my iPad, Apply Books and Kindle, which is quite enough.
David Shallcross ponders Pinky style: Concerning Mumy as his alter ego Art Barnes, is Fish Heads genre?
You decide.
I was purchasing F&SF on the newsstand until May 15, 2017, when they had a subscription sale to celebrate being Wikipedia’s featured article of the day. I haven’t been to a newsstand since December, but the one I visited then did indeed have F&SF, along with Analog and Asimov’s.
(Although there are fewer newsstands than there were pre-pandemic.)
as for ‘Fish Heads’ being genre, I’d say no, because there’s nothing in the lyrics that’s not a literally accurate description of fish heads (except ‘laughing’, which we can take as a figurative description of a happy not-captured-and-killed fish).
(1) In the print/PDF edition of February’s Locus there’s a chart of sources of recommended short fiction over the last several years on page 60. What’s striking about it is that, at least for Asimov’s and F&SF, the numbers are down significantly from last year, although last year was a local maximum: 2 in 2018, 6 in 2019, and 1 in 2020 for Asimov’s; 4, 7, and 2 for F&SF.
The other notable drops were stories from anthologies (23 in 2019, 12 in 2020) and collections (14, now 4). Biggest increase was Tor.com (7, now 13).
Cat Eldridge:
Based on other responses I wonder if this is regional? I have also seen stacks of all three (plus Locus, and even Interzone once or twice) at my local Barnes and Noble—which also stocks a number of other non-genre literary magazines. Pre-pandemic, if you timed it for when the issue was on-sale, it was completely possible to browse a recommended story or two just by reading from the issue in-store.
(I’d ideally prefer to do the latter via a library copy but I don’t know of any libraries around here that get copies—not even the SJSU library, although it does have a bunch of old Analogs on microfilm.)
Mainly just dropping in to encourage everyone to read Star Daughter. It’s a lovely book that foregrounds a culture and mythology that don’t get foregrounded nearly enough.
#
Data point re: B&N access –
On my Nook app, here in the U.S. (Colorado), I was able to get to a purchase page for the latest issues of Analog and Asimov’s ($5.99 and “Try for Free”).
As for F&SF, a search on the full name found me an anthology and sample packet or so, but no current magazine or subscription option.
Seems explainable. Asimov’s and F&SF’s award nominations came largely from people reading physical copies of the magazines. I’d hazard that 2020’s lockdown did a number on that in several ways:
1) People who bought individual issues at a B&N store or other newstand carrier stopped going, or going as often, to physical bookstores/newstands;
2) a normal attrition rate among subscribers, via disinterest or death, was not counterbalanced by new subscribers who had seen and liked individual issues;
3) the lockdown’s economic uncertainty probably discouraged both renewals and potential new subscribers; magazine subscriptions take a back seat when one is uncertain if you’ll be able to pay rent or buy food in a few months;
4) I had a fourth point to make, and now I can’t remember what it was.
Change of subject: Has any here read any of Kate Milford’s Greenglass House books? I own a Goodreads Giveaway for the latest, THE RACONTEUR’S COMMONPLACE BOOK, due out 2/23 and the fourth in the series, tho’ apparently a standalone. Looks interesting (nice cover!), using the “Storm-stranded travelers pass the time by telling each other wild tales” idea, with an overarching plot. Worth bumping to the top of the TBR pile, hopefully to review before publication?
(9) The first time I encountered the name George Pal was in the opening song to Rocky Horror Picture Show…
“The sky above the File was the color of Pixels, tuned to a dead Scroll”
ETA: Joe H got there first: https://file770.com/pixel-scroll-122016-wheres-the-pixel-there-was-supposed-to-be-a-scroll-shattering-pixel/comment-page-2/#comment-527326
I’ve seen Conquest of Space, though it was a while ago… some fancy model work, with a wheel-shaped space station and a rocket to Mars. The plot involved the first Mars landing, there was a lot of practical detail, and the whole mission was, umm, made more difficult by the commander being an insane religious fanatic.
On an unrelated note, Micaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds (which appeared on that Locus recommended list, in the First Novels category) is a Kindle daily deal in the UK today, price 99p.
A Round Pixel in a Square Scroll
15) That abstract reads like three Zabriskan fontemas in a trench coat.
Anybody in the Louisville KY area (I know there are a few of you out there!) can buy all three sf magazines at Carmichael’s Bookstore. Bestseller is probably F&SF, followed by Asimov’s and Analog.
(9) I used to think that Mumy was the kid Andromeda in a “My Favorite Martian” – but that was another fellow (Wayne Stam)
Judging from complaints I’ve read at the Kindle store, Analog/Asimovs electronic subscriptions only allow you to keep an issue for a limited amount of time (something like six months) – so you only have a maximum of 6 issues available to you at any one time (this may be an out-of-date complaint).
I liked THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS, so I encourage UK friends to give this one a try.
Andrew (not Werdna) says Judging from complaints I’ve read at the Kindle store, Analog/Asimovs electronic subscriptions only allow you to keep an issue for a limited amount of time (something like six months) – so you only have a maximum of 6 issues available to you at any one time (this may be an out-of-date complaint).
Did you note the date on that complaint? It’s eight years old. Such policies are set by the publisher, not the distributor.
@Cat: I noted the date, but couldn’t tell whether the complaint was still relevant.
At any rate, since my wife prefers to read the Big three on paper, we’ll be keeping our paper subscriptions.
Andrew (not Werdna) says to me I noted the date, but couldn’t tell whether the complaint was still relevant.
Not sure but I doubt it. Kindle Unlimited came along after that and it has no limits on what you can, urrrp!, feast on, so I doubt it limits what you can have at one time.
At any rate, since my wife prefers to read the Big three on paper, we’ll be keeping our paper subscriptions.
Fair enough. I do almost all of my reading on the iPad these days as I can adjust the font size and type which is very useful.
Now reading: the February issue of Locus
Andrew (not Werdna) wrote:
I remember reading that in reviews. If that was true originally, it might have changed. (FWIW it was not true of the Nook, even way back in 2015.)
But I checked my Content and Devices page on Amazon. You can choose “Magazines” to show just the magazines. Then, find the magazine in the list and tap or click the … to bring up the menu. Next, tap or click “”Deliver past issue to my…” to select past issues to send to your Kindle. For example, I have 12 issues of Analog from 2015 I can select from plus some Fantasy and Science Fiction issues.
I wish I liked reading SF magazines on Kindle and Nook more. It’s better than print because I can increase the print size. However, it’s not perfect. For example, I think some magazines don’t include the illustrations, though that may have changed.
I checked the negative reviews of F&SF on Amazon. The reviews between 2015 and 2017 complained that subscribers couldn’t keep back issues. More recent reviews complain that the magazine has been “ruined” by feminism and “virtue signaling.”
Sigh. How times have changed.
@Cat Eldridge–
Kindle Unlimited lets you have ten items at a time, unless they’ve changed that in the past year.
Anne Marble says I checked the negative reviews of F&SF on Amazon. The reviews between 2015 and 2017 complained that subscribers couldn’t keep back issues. More recent reviews complain that the magazine has been “ruined” by feminism and “virtue signaling.”
Sigh. How times have changed.
Yeah I’ve watched the recent trend towards complaining bitterly that F&SF has taken a hard turn to the Left. It’s been of a small l liberal bent for decades now which is decidedly good thing. Given that one of their book reviewers is Charles de Lint who’s definitely leftist I’d not be surprised if most is likewise.
Meredith moment: both volumes of the Songs of Earth and Power series, The Infinity Concerto and The Serpent Mage, by Greg Bear are available at the usual digital suspects for $3.99 for just today.
14) I saw a P.D.Q. Bach performance back in college in 1980 or ’81. Unbeknownst to me (or probably anyone else in the audience) at the time was that his cellist accompanist would soon go on to his make his own mark in the classical music world: Yo-Yo Ma.
@Cat Hrm, Amazon does not seem to work with me in that regard. Oh wait, its the single complied volume, not the individual ones.
Paul Weimer says Hrm, Amazon does not seem to work with me in that regard. Oh wait, its the single complied volume, not the individual ones.
Yep. Still a good deal I’d say. I swear I’d thought that it’d won Awards but checking ISFDB shows that neither novel did. I read it in the Tor hardcover single volume that came out nearly thirty years ago.
Item 15, when followed beyond Slashdot, leads to an organization called the Informativity InstituteTM which wants the reader to be very sure that the name is a trademark, and is less clear on what if anything the organization does to study or publicize its ideas. (Independent scholars who aren’t listing an academic affiliation, fine, but surely one “TM” in a paragraph is enough?)
I am also skeptical of Theories of Everything, which this looks like: they’re claiming to have unified electromagnetism and gravity, but I will defer to the physicists in the audience on that.
@Marc Criley: I recently read Robert Hazen’s non-fiction book Symphony in C: Carbon and the History of (Almost) Everything. Hazen also played trumpet in various orchestras alongside his scientific career, and he tells an anecdote about an orchestra rehearsal where a tech working on the lighting over the stage dropped an 18-inch wrench that missed the cellist by about a foot. That cellist was also Yo-Yo Ma.
12) I looked at Will Straw’s web site willstraw.com to see if his fanzine paper was there. I didn’t find it, but his site has entries describing various short-lived publications, such as “The Canadian True Crime Magazine of the 1940s and 1950s”. None are of SF/fantasy interest, but they do feature a lot of true crime and pulp, and he’s provided scans of a bunch of covers.
It is too late for the Pixels to vote, the Scroll has already begun
1) This ties into one of my long-term observations about what gets elevated for attention. The results are highly dependent upon the reading routines of reviewers. If they are of the opinion that Source A is more likely to publish high-quality work than Source B, then they are more likely to read something from Source A when time limitations restrict them from reading both. It turns into a bit of a self-reinforcing circle that gets magnified when a review source is considered “important”.
No one is immune to that phenomenon. I read almost everything that Grimdark Magazine puts out and am rarely disappointed. So at least one anthology and one novella from GdM will be among my nominations. I prefer Netflix and Amazon Prime over movie theaters. That will be reflected in my nominations as well.
Of course, I’m just one person and not widely read. So, my self-reinforcing habits aren’t as much of a problem as a larger effort that omits genre sources from consideration for one reason or another.
Now playing Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Reading – The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.
Regards,
Dann
You can take everything a man has as long as you leave him his dignity. – John Wayne
I have been informed that individual issues of F&SF are indeed for sale.
https://www.amazon.com/Magazine-Fantasy-Science-Fiction-February-ebook/dp/B088KT36L5/
and here,
https://weightlessbooks.com/category/publisher/spilogale-inc/page/2/
I just thought of something else that makes me scratch my head. While the Big Three charge for subscriptions, each of them has thousands and thousands of them paying to read each issue. Is it reasonable, therefore, to assume that extremely few of these multi-thousands of subbers to Analog, Asimov’s, and F&SF are among Locus recommenders? Surely, there are enough subbers to the Big Three magazines for Locus recommenders to rec more than 3 stories out of the previous 12 months. Or are Locus recommenders so alike in their tastes that they don’t follow the Big Three anymore for other reasons? And what could these reasons be? I have my suspicions, but would rather hear from others.
The Big Three SF magazines have thousands and thousands of subscribers, yet none (or precious few) seem to be Locus recommenders. Is there a contradiction here? If so, what is it, and why?
(1) I tend to agree that the list is biased towards sources with more readers. I believe it would be better if Locus used its existing short fiction reviewers. Each one could provide their recommended stories from those they have reviewed. Then as a group they could make a final selection from among those they have each recommended. This way, the reader number bias would be eliminated.
The nearest physical bookstore in 10 miles from me, at a location that’s difficult to get to from my area. There used to be nearer ones – both of them B&N – but those closed long before the pandemic.
@1
Statistics and taste, as always. Three years from now, we’ll be better able to see if this is an augur of the trend or a rounding error.
@15
So. If it turns out that 42 really is the secret to yada yada yada, what does that tell us about Douglas Adams?
P J Evans says The nearest physical bookstore in 10 miles from me, at a location that’s difficult to get to from my area. There used to be nearer ones – both of them B&N – but those closed long before the pandemic.
I’m lucky in that there are there are three new bookstores within two miles of me, plus two used bookstores as well. And The Mall which is just ten miles away has a freestanding Books-A-Million.
I just checked the Amazon reviews for Analog, and there are recent (2020) negative reviews where people are complaining because Analog is now “getting woke” or “too political” or “more and more left.” There’s also one from 2018 complaining about “slanted” editorials (121 helpful votes on that one). (Gee, wait until they hear about this guy called John W. Campbell…)
For current Analog readers, is this true? Is Analog now suddenly “left of center”? Or are these readers bonkers? Does it depend on what you consider to be the “center”? This sounds like it could be a case of supposed long-time SF readers who suddenly can’t handle stories about gender (as complaints often fixate on that). Or who can’t listen to people who disagree with them about controversial issues.
(1) I think it’s worth noting that some of the venues in the shortlist are appearing in Locus for the first time. This is a golden age for short fiction, and there is more excellent short fiction available than one can reasonably consume.
Alex says I think it’s worth noting that some of the venues in the shortlist are appearing in Locus for the first time. This is a golden age for short fiction, and there is more excellent short fiction available than one can reasonably consume.
Datlow used to point out in her section of the Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror that most of her selections came from far beyond the traditional venues where genre fiction was expected to be published. It certainly has gotten even truer in the time since that august publication ceased to be.
@Alex: Agreed. The table I mentioned above lists ten different venues with no prior (at least since 2013) appearances. (Breathe Fiyah and Translunar Travelers Lounge with 3 each, Slate with 2, and seven with 1 each.)
From the Locus announcement: “Short fiction recommendations had input from editors and reviewers Rachel S. Cordasco, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Vanessa Fogg, Maria Haskins, Charles Payseur, Nisi Shawl, TG Shenoy, Sheree Renée Thomas, Sean Wallace, and Alison Wise, plus our own reviewers. Locus thanks all involved for their time and their expertise.”
Locus has reviews of short fiction every month, split into several categories, one of which is fiction in the print magazines. I seriously doubt that the reviews and others above made fewer recommendations from the Big Three because they charge for material or have distribution issues.
Jerry Kaufman says Locus has reviews of short fiction every month, split into several categories, one of which is fiction in the print magazines. I seriously doubt that the reviews and others above made fewer recommendations from the Big Three because they charge for material or have distribution issues.
So do I. It sounds decidedly like a copout as both are rather weak ass excuses for not reviewing material. Subscriptions for all three would run a minimal amount per year if they anted up the money for all three.
I don’t participate in the short-fiction recommendations, but I do see the process as it unfolds. There are multiple rounds of suggestions and rankings from about 20 people (that’s what I see on the e-mail list), followed by further rounds of responses from the entire recommender’s group. Both sets of recommenders are listed in Liza’s introduction to the Recommended Reading section.
The expansion of outlets for short fiction–and the growth of readerships that follow them–guarantees that the established print magazines are going to see competition for the finite number of recommendation slots. And free instant access to the on-line outlets can’t not have an effect. SFF is not the only literary market segment dealing with these circumstances.
Regardless of the reason, what does all of this say of any Recommended Reading List where three of the most revered and historical SF magazines in the SF field are all but ignored? Does any such list maintain the same level of reliability, legitimacy and respectability it has long enjoyed? Yes? No? Or just something the field will lamentably have to get used to?
(1) I used to subscribe to both Asimov’s and F&SF via Kindle. I did experience having problems accessing back issues. Sometimes I could get a back issue by downloading again, but more often than not I got an error message. I have a dim recollection of trying to chase a story, going to the mag’s website and trying to order a hard copy. They took my money, claimed to have mailed the issue, but I never received it. That contributed to my eventual unsubscribing but it wasn’t the whole reason.
I’d just found fewer and fewer stories were knocking my socks off. They weren’t bad, just okay. I’m not right-adjacent in any way – quite the opposite – so it wasn’t a change in viewpoint on the part of the magazines. I was finding the more interesting stories at other venues. It just seemed to me that they weren’t keeping their fingers on the pulse of the genre.
It doesn’t necessarily say anything, Dave. Time will tell.
OTOH, maybe it’s telling us sf is vaster than just the old genre now, so…that would be a really good thing, would it not?