One Geek's Mind: Science Fiction

Showing posts with label Science Fiction. Show all posts

Friday, June 7, 2013

Short Story of the Week (June 2013)

photo 06dd4655-66e1-469c-8647-50e85cf79452_zps6c6a156c.jpg

Hi! Most of you probably already know who I am and are aware that I am a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy who blogs regularly over at Stainless Steel Droppings.

This is not the first time I've had the pleasure of being featured here on John's blog as host of the Short Story selections for a month. If you have not taken advantage of the chance to volunteer to pick our weekly short stories, I highly recommend you sign up now. Slots are open and it is a great deal of fun.

Rather than rehash information from previous posts, let's hit the highlights. The picture of my wife, Mary, and I posted above was taken last weekend by my future son-in-law while we were out celebrating my daughter's 21st birthday. A few weeks prior to this Mary and I took a week off to stay in two of our favorite Inns located in Missouri's wine country to celebrate our 24th anniversary. I know the words "Missouri's wine country" probably sound like an oxymoron, but trust me on this, the landscape is beautiful and the wine is very good.

In addition to celebrating our anniversary, May 2013 was a big month for me on the fan-boy front. I was able to spend two weekends in a row with Hugo-winning artist John Picacio at conventions he was attending here in Kansas City. I had the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with some of my long-time idols including Michael Whelan, Gregory Manchess and Charles Vess. I had the pleasure of interviewing Charles Vess live on stage on the final day of the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2 event. I also was able to visit with Cathie and Arnie Fenner, editors of the outstanding, award-winning annual, Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art. It is a memorable experience to be able to have more than just a few minutes with creative people who are a source of inspiration.

I am a big fan of short stories. I think there is something special about this particular form of storytelling and when done well the temptation arises to resort to hyperbole and describe them as having a certain sort of "magic"--I know, heresy in a Science Fiction book club. When an author can use a very limited word count to evoke emotion, inspire debate, provoke deeper thought or simply entertain I believe it is worth celebrating. It is my pleasure to bring to you the short stories for June 2013. In an ideal world you would enjoy each and every one. But this is the real world and we all have different tastes. At the very least I hope you find something that compels you to offer your thoughts and opinions. Enjoy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Week #1- Deus Ex Arcana by Desirina Boskovich. It was featured in the April issue of Lightspeed. I reviewed it for SF Signal and wrote:

“This work of original fiction”...is a story the author wrote “that reflects the essential absurdity of humans interacting with alien technology” and she does this with great aplomb by juxtaposing her own visually absurd images against some that are truly horrific. The protagonist is Jackson Smith who is seven when the story begins though the reader also spends time with him as an adolescent. It was an ordinary June morning when the box arrived in Springfield, Missouri and from the moment Jackson spies, and then touches, it, the town and the people who inhabit it will never be ordinary again. Boskovich writes in an engaging style that compels you to enjoy the words themselves as well as the images they conjure. Jackson is a very likeable character and in the midst of all the chaos he grounds the reader and keeps the story from becoming silly. I couldn’t help but feel that the story reads like a very serious Outer Limits or Twilight Zone episode. Recommended.

Week #2- Mono no aware by Ken Liu

I'm very excited about this week's short story, the 2013 Hugo and Locus award nominated story "Mono no aware" by Ken Liu. Without giving away too much detail, this is the story of a generation ship bound for a new home which focuses on one particular Japanese boy who is part of the crew. The story was first published early last year in the anthology, The Future is Japanese, and it was one of my favorite short fiction reads of the year. The story's vibe reminds me of a popular classic work of short fiction that many of us have read and discussed in the past. I won't spoil the story by revealing which classic work that is here, we can talk about it in the discussion posts. Don't miss the author spotlight which talks about his inspirations for the story.

Week #3- The Urashima Effect by E. Lily Yu

E. Lily Yu is one of the hot up and coming authors and I've enjoyed the few stories of hers that I've read. For those interested she was the guest on the latest episode of The Coode Street Podcast. I cannot say much about "The Urashima Effect" without spoiling it. A man wakes up after three years of stasis to continue the rest of his journey to the planet Ryugu-jo where he is to establish a base. As part of an effort to combat loneliness and isolation, his ship contains recordings from family and friends, one of which is his wife telling him the story of Urashima Taro. I like the 'story within a story' element in this short as well as the fact that it is a fantasy story/fairy tale embedded in a science fiction story.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Short Story of the Week (May 2013) Women in Science Fiction Literature

photo c07ce863-2143-43ac-aaf3-b5f25482ab8a_zps9f586304.jpg

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Short Story of the Week (April 2013)

Friday, March 22, 2013

2012 Banners Made from Book Covers

Comicbook banners aren't the only kind of banners I've been making. I also make banners for the Classic Science Fiction Message Board and I use the same ones on Facebook. These banners are usually pretty simple. When I first started making them I'd take four of my own books off the shelf and snap a picture of them. That's why on a lot of these you can see a tan border. That's the wall to wall carpet in my apartment! But eventually I grew out of using my own books and started to arrange images I'd find online.

photo harryHarrisoncopy1-1_zpse6cccb39.jpg

photo Picture022-1-1copy_zps1aa717ba.jpg

These are the first theme banners I did rather than author banners. as I run out of authors I'll probably start doing more and more of these theme banners.

photo ConnieWilliscopy-1_zpsc5cf4d20.jpg

photo LoisMcMasterBujoldcopy-1_zps9e753c0a.jpg

Just the other dad my dad gave me a bunch of Heinlein paperbacks with this style art. I've got to figure out if I have all of these covers now. Thanks Dad!

I've still have even more banners to share. When I get a chance I'll post all of the comedic banners I've made in the last year.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Short Story of the Week (March 2013)

This week I thought we could read a SF contender for the Bram Stoker Award - a yearly award for superior achievement presented by the Horror Writer's Association and named after the famed author of Dracula. I know this isn't a horror reading group, but this short story is from a science fiction zine - so I figured we could give it a try.

Week #3- "Five Ways to Fall In Love on Planet Porcelain" by Cat Rambo.

John's Thoughts- Read this story on my lunch today and was blown away! It packs the emotion punch of a 16 ton weight in the gut! Cat Rambo, I hope this wasn't from the heart because if it was somebody hurt you really bad. Great story A+.

Rusty- I also liked the porcelain people, and thought that a world populated with them was a very cool idea! I thought it was a good story told well - and I hope it does well in the Nebula Awards.

Week # 4- Robot by Helena Bell.

Rusty- At first I was kind of turned off that it was one long monologue, but as it went on I realized that we were being given glimpses of this woman's life and thought processes. That part was cool, but I still would have liked more action and explanations in the story.

John's thoughts- What a bizarre and yet fantastic story! I have no concept of what disease this woman has, but that doesn't detract from the story, if anything it just enhances the overall wonderful weirdness. The woman is such an unreliable narrator due to what appears to be dementia and therefore I feel like we know almost nothing for sure.

Week #5 Nanny's Day by Leah Cypess.

John's Thoughts- You work hard at your job so that you can put food on your family's table. You regret that your nanny sees your children more than you do. What if that Nanny decides she wanted to take your children away from you? And what if the courts sided with her?

I found this to be the weakest of the stories this month.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Thoughts on "Imzadi"

photo 9c0d6376-cba0-4c85-a92d-c74394c3d5b9_zpsff804442.jpg

"Imzadi" by Peter David is a novel that explores the complex relationship between Star Trek: The Next Generation characters Will Riker and Deanna Troi.

It was written while TNG was still on so it contradicts some of the facts we learn as the series progresses.

For TNG fans one of the big questions has always been what exactly happened between Troi and Riker? I mean we know they had a romance on Betazed when they were young, but we never learn any of the details.

David makes a great attempt at filling in the details, but unfortunately in a way he never really had a chance, did he? I mean after so many years of wondering TNG fans have inevitably come up with their own version of Riker and Troi’s romance and no two people’s ideas will be exactly the same.

David portrays Riker the young officer as a smart up and comer, moving up through the ranks quickly. He is a skirt-chaser, but he respects everyone he is with. He doesn’t want to be tied down because his primary goal is his career. By the end of their romance, Troi has taught Will to appreciate the spiritual and emotional side of romance instead of just the physical. David’s portrayal of Riker seems to have hit the nail on the head.

On the other hand, David’s portrayal of Troi seemed way off the mark. Troi is portrayed as an over-intellectualized psychology major who has never had a relationship with a man because of the Catch-22 of expecting a deep spiritual and emotional connection with a lover, but feeling that any man is out to get one thing. In the romance department she is on her way to being an old maid librarian. She is also wrapped around her mother Lwaxana’s little finger. Lwaxana has prepared her all her life to be her successor in the aristocratic realm of Betazed. Troi basically has never even considered doing anything else. Riker asks her what she’ll do with her psychology degree and she says nothing, that she’s the heir to the Fifth House of Betazed and that her life is mapped out. Troi is changed a lot by her relationship with Riker. She learns that romance isn’t this perfect storybook thing and that having the spiritual, emotional and physical connection is best, but that even just having the physical connection has it’s merits. She also gains the courage to defy her mother and starts down the path that will later lead her to go into Starfleet.

I thought it was kind of cliché that Troi is portrayed as this schoolmarm type who only finds herself through her relationship with Riker. I’ll be the first to admit that Troi isn’t the greatest TNG character. One of the worst stigmas a TNG episode can have is that it’s a “Troi-episode.” But I do like a couple of things about Troi. One, I like that she is a Starfleet officer, that she went through all the same training as everyone else and yet she is still always able to give an outsider’s perspective. You might say she never drank the Starfleet Kool-aid. And the second thing that I like about Troi is that she understands herself. She is comfortable in her own skin. She is comfortable with her body. Comfortable with how others perceive her. If she encounters a man she likes, she pursues him. She is confident in her abilities and confident that if she puts herself out there emotionally and physically that she can handle herself even if things go bad. Why is it that David felt the need to say that it was Riker who gave Troi this confidence? That it wasn’t present already when they met?

I think it would have been a more effective novel if both characters had met each other as fully formed personalities. Or, the converse would have been that both characters were unformed and were formed by each other. This would have been more even. Will’s growth could have been that his career wasn’t going well and Troi gave him more confidence. But to write that Troi is the only one changed by the relationship is really sexist!

Also, the romance they shared in the novel was too short lived. Basically, they meet, court each other, have an adventure, consummate the relationship, and then break up soon afterwards. The novel suggests they are both deeply changed by the romance, but it seems like too short an affair to change two people so much and bind them together for the rest of their lives.

Spoilers…

There is a great debate in the novel about whether it is right to travel back in time and save Troi. Riker who has been haunted by Troi’s death for 40 years believes his actions are justified because Troi was killed by a poison that hadn’t been developed at the time of her death. Evidence that time travel may have already been involved. Data argues that history must be preserved or it would undo the last 40 years. Data goes so far as attempting to kill Troi in the past himself to correct history. Stirring stuff!

…End of Spoilers

I also felt like the book suffers because of its complete focus on Riker and Troi. There are supporting roles for Data, Wesley as an adult, and Lwaxana, but the rest of the cast only comes in the novel at the end. When I got to read about Picard, Worf and briefly Geordi, it was a treat and I felt like even though it would have further complicated the story, it could have benefited from being framed by a typical TNG story. The framework was already there as the novel’s climax takes place during the peace conference on the Enterprise.

I wanted to briefly mention the creation of Riker and Troi’s characters and how it’s always fascinated me that they were modeled after Willard Decker and Ilia from Star Trek the Motion Picture. Gene Roddenberry apparently liked the characters so much he was originally going to use them in Star Trek Phase II (The show in between Original Trek and TNG that never got through the planning stages) and then they were used in Star Trek the Motion Picture, and then when TNG was being developed he slipped the characters in again. I guess we should be happy he didn’t try to get Marina Sirtis to shave her head.

I’ve often wondered how close Troi came to being dropped as a character. She wasn’t in 4 episodes in a row during the first season. The writers thought she was the hardest character to write for, but she managed to hang on. Maybe it had something to do with Denise Crosby leaving the show halfway through the season and the other female cast member Gates McFadden also on the way out. I mean can you imagine TNG with Diana Muldaur’s Dr. Pulaski as the only female lead? The show never would have made it past the second season!

Riker always seemed redundant. Picard, after all, was sort of a diplomat, but still was an effective fighter of both space battles and fist cuffs when pushed. So he didn’t really need Riker. The only area where he needed Riker was to manage the crew since Picard had a sort of stand-offish approach to being the Captain. But as much as the series didn’t need a second hero, there is just something about Jonathan Frake’s portrayal that is so charming. You can’t help but like Riker, so you don’t mind that he’s just window dressing, just another warm body filling a chair and speaking technobabble. To prove he is redundant, name a situation where Picard and Riker would captain the Enterprise differently? They are practically interchangeable! Contrast that to Kirk and Spock who never looked at a single situation the same way.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Short Story of the Week (February 2013)

Here I am embracing the “tech” of that celebrated year, 1984 – coincidentally, the year I became a “classic” myself.- Becky.

Each week at the Classic Science Fiction Message Board we read a short science fiction piece (short story, novelette or novella). These stories are always available for FREE online so that anyone can participate in the discussion. The stories are chosen by a different member every month, so that we get to read a variety of stories. February's stories are being picked by Becky.

As a contrast to last month's modern stories (thanks, Tinkoo!), I'll be focusing on my first love, the Golden Age of science fiction (generally, the 1930s to 1960). These stories often have a twist or a laugh at the end. I note the year of each story, because it's fun to read about the author's imagined future of 30 or more years ahead, which is now our past, and compare it to what came to pass - many were remarkably correct predictions... but had a different vision of how we would respond to the changes.

I got my love of reading, and senses of curiosity and imagination, from my teacher-parents, and older sister who also became a teacher. I followed her lead into the world of science fiction, beginning at about age 12. My high school also featured some SF in the curriculum, but they were the “thought pieces” such as Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, rather than explorations of where science might take us. Just as the Cold War was winding down, it was the Age of Warnings from the SF community. Nuclear winter, overpopulation, and of course first contact, were some typical themes.

Rather than accumulating a library, I've used the public ones, buying primarily reference books. Now I have a Kindle, which I didn't think I'd like. The advantages I've found include increased font sizes available (if you don't need them now, you will!), built-in dictionary, tons of free books available, and no storage space worries - or dusting.

My other interests include needlework for charity, gardening, and tracing my family tree.

-Becky

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Week #1 Cry From a Far Planet (1958), by Tom Godwin

This week's story focuses on communication, something often ignored or easily explained away, in order to get on with other aspects of a story. However, if we're ever contacted by aliens, this is something we will most likely have to face.

Week #2 The Creature from Cleveland Depths, by Fritz Leiber - 1962

This novella concerns how quickly technology can get out of hand – long favorite theme for SF. You'll find this an easy read that moves right along.

Week #3 Beyond Pandora, by Robert T. Martin, 1962

Here's a super-short story, which looks at part of our everyday world from a completely different angle. Great food for thought.

Week #4 No Moving Parts, by Murray F. Yago, 1960

Science fiction sometimes presents us with puzzles designed to get us thinking "outside the box". This puzzle story is about lost technology (and is of average short story length!) I will warn you that not all SF puzzle stories supply the answer... Enjoy!

Friday, January 4, 2013

Short Story of the Week (January 2013)

final_fantasy_6___arrowny_by_tigerfog-d3fjjez

(Tinkoo declined giving me a picture so he is being represented by one of my favorite video game characters Shadow (center) from Final Fantasy VI (called Final Fantasy III here in America). Also pictured are Strago on the left and Relm on the right. The artwork comes from Tigerfog

Each week at the Classic Science Fiction Message Board we read a short science fiction piece (short story, novelette or novella). These stories are always available for FREE online so that anyone can participate in the discussion. The stories are chosen by a different member every month, so that we get to read a variety of stories. January's stories are being picked by Tinkoo Valia. Tinkoo, an engineer by education and a programmer by vocation, runs Variety SF (a science fiction short story blog) as a hobby and lives in Bombay, India.

Week #1 Shirley Temple Three by Thomas Pierce

I will be choosing short fiction this month. Even though I read more older short stories than recent ones, I will attempt to choose relatively recent stories - there are only 4 to be chosen this month. But only stories that worked for me, at some level.

This one appeared in The New Yorker on 24 December 2012. When "mawmaw" got a cute resurrected prehistoric animal as a pet...

Week #2 Loyalty Beyond Seasons by Mohsen H Darabi

A very unusual romance...

Week #3 Picnic With Ants by Mark W Moffett

First published: Nature, 16 February 2012. Funny diary of an insect researcher's field work... I'm including it because if I were to make a list of "my best of 2012", this story will certainly make it to the list.

Week # 4 Stumpy by Sheila Adamson

First published: Cosmos, November 2012. Don't cry wolf in jest...

This one reminded me of Piers Anthony's classic "Toaster". It's not quite in Toaster's class, but I was amused.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Short Story of the Week (December 2012)

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Short Story of the Week (November 2012)

Each week at the Classic Science Fiction Message Board we read a short science fiction piece (short story, novelette or novella). These stories are always available for FREE online so that anyone can participate in the discussion. The stories are chosen by a different member every month, so that we get to read a variety of stories. November's stories are being picked by Carl Anderson

I’ve lived in Blue Springs, Missouri, a town of around 40,000 that is part of the Greater Kansas City area, for the past 14 years (almost to the day). In that time I have said goodbye to my twenties, experienced highs and lows in my thirties, and have in many ways come into my own in my forties.

The 14 years I have spent here have been some of the most wonderful of my life. In a purely story-related sense this past decade plus has seen a rebirth of a passion for science fiction that had waned somewhat during my twenties. I think the advent of the internet as it exists today, particularly in the realm of book blogging, has done much to add fuel to that fire. Through the internet I discovered a passion for writing about books and sharing written conversations with others. I found a karass of my own. At the same time I found friends here in Missouri who also share my passions and our love for reading and talking about the stories we like has caused us to grow as readers in ways I am convinced would not have happened if reading had remained an entirely solitary venture.

I don’t just read. I have a great love of sports, most particularly the NFL, and over this past year I have developed a personal love for running that I never would have dreamed I would have at age 43. I was a big fan of arcade games and home console games as a child as the advent of those games occurred in my youth. Just before moving to the Kansas City area I got into computer gaming and later returned to console gaming and I spend a good amount of time each year having adventures in worlds created by talented computer programmers and game designers. I’m currently locked in to Dishonored.

I enjoy watching mystery/detective series with my wife. I’m blessed with a spouse who shares my weird sense of humor, my extreme sentimental side, and who also has her own passions unique from mine that make her fun to be around. Twenty-three years in and she remains my very best friend and the one I cannot wait to spend my evenings and weekends with.

I recently completed a long time dream to convert our back sunroom/office into a reading/library nook. After a few more touches I’ll be posting the transformation and finished results on my site. It is small and doesn’t hold many books but it is such an amazing oasis.

I have the privilege of picking the short stories for the month of November. It is always a gamble picking short stories as you never know if they will work, if they will generate conversations, if people will love them, hate them, or be indifferent to them. All one can do is jump in with eyes wide open. As my nomination for the Modern category was chosen for November, A Fleet of Worlds, I thought I would stay in the modern realm with my stories this month, choosing more recent works from authors you may or may not have heard of but who appear to be making a name for themselves with their work today. I hope you enjoy.
______________________________

Week #1: The Art of War by Nancy Kress.

This is from the October 2012 issue of Lightspeed Magazine and can be read online for free here. There is also an audio version available on that same link. I picked this story because of the author. I first discovered Nancy Kress’ short fiction thanks to the Eclipse anthologies edited by Jonathan Strahan. Earlier this year I received an advanced reader copy of her novella, After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, which I thoroughly enjoyed and quickly passed on to my wife (not a big reader of SF but she liked it) and to a SF reading friend who also enjoyed it.

Nancy Kress is a multiple award-winning author and although this is not the best story that I’ve read by her I do think you can see seeds of her talent within. The Art of War takes place largely on the military base of one of humanity’s enemies and looks at warfare both artistically and mathematically. The story starts a little slow but I feel that it builds nicely and while its message(s) is not new it remains universal: those who ignore history, or in this case art history, are doomed to repeat it.

Week #2: Searching for Slave Leia by Sandra McDonald

For my second week of short story hosting duties I am sticking with my theme of featuring current stories/authors with the just released story "Searching for Slave Leia" by author Sandra McDonald. Admittedly the story barely qualifies as science fiction but as it not only coincides nicely with the latest Disney/Star Wars news and touches on the idea of science fiction television I thought it might be fun.

McDonald's character takes leaps through time between her present and her past on a mission that only becomes clear the more time she spends in that past. 80's pop culture and a nod or two at more recent science fiction television makes "Searching for Slave Leia" a light, fun tale. McDonald keeps the story
flowing quickly by keeping the jumps between time periods succinct and relevant to the story she is trying to tell.

Week #3: The Beancounter's Cat by Damien Broderick

This week's short story first appeared in Jonathan Strahan's anthology Eclipse Four and later was chosen for 2012 edition of Gardner Dozois' The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Damien Broderick's tale has flavors of Jack Vance's Dying Earth series and those old Star Trek episodes with odd superior beings advanced beyond that of mere mortals. Perhaps a pinch of Cordwainer Smith's absurdity too.

Broderick has a way to go to stand in that class, but this was a wild story that kept me on my toes until its slightly too abrupt end. I thought it would be a fun one to share.

Week #4 The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species by Ken Liu
I discovered Japanese author Ken Liu from the recently released collection, The Future is Japanese, where his story "Mono No Aware" opens the anthology on a high note. It is a story that reminds me of Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations". That story was on my mind as I sat to pick out this week's selection and I found this story of his online from an issue of Lightspeed Magazine released in August of this year.

The story appeals to me on two levels. One it appeals because it is an imaginative selection of fragments describing various alien species. They are almost like short stories within a short story as we get a vignette of their make up. Two, and most importantly, it is a creative exercise about books and writing and the importance of these to the culture of various species. As a reader I was enchanted by the various ideas about creating books and the storing and passing on of history.

Week #5 Diving After the Moon by Rachel Swirsky

My turn at the short story helm has been an interesting one, at least for me personally. I went into it with a desire to showcase some newer writers and found myself beating my head against the wall in frustration repeatedly because some of the very best stories by these authors, stories I am convinced that you would LOVE, are only available in print at this time, not online.

Still, I pressed on with the great experiment having made the mental commitment to myself. None of this month's stories have been a roaring success and yet I have enjoyed exploring each of them for various reasons.

My final story offering is a blend of science fiction and folk tale by author Rachel Swirksy. She has won one Nebula award, in 2010, and had a few other stories nominated for Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. I tend to like stories based on mythology and folklore and I thought this experiment of setting an old world story in a future that involved travel to the moon was one worth exploring. As with all stories of this kind, I tend to feel that there are deeper meanings that I am not well-read enough to pull out. However, I was touched by the mother-son dynamic while at the same time impressed with the beauty of the storytelling.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Short Story of the Week (October 2012)

I’ve lived in Memphis, Tennesse since 1971, but spent most of my first 20 years living in Miami Florida, but also lived in South Carolina, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Texas. I’ve been married since 1978, to my wonderful wife Susan. She sometimes reads science fiction, but mostly not.

I’d say science fiction is the defining attribute of my life. Science fiction gave my childhood a tremendous sense of wonder that has never diminished.

I discovered Robert A. Heinlein in 1964 and he became my literary father, and lifelong favorite science fiction writer, although I rebelled against him four years later because of the Vietnam War. After I got over my Heinlein hero worship, I read widely in science fiction, finding many writers to admire, but I never found any other science fiction book that gave me the sense-of-wonder thrills than those 12 Heinlein juveniles I read at age thirteen.

I moved to Memphis in 1971, I joined the local science fiction club, started going to conventions, put out fanzines and apazines, and embraced the whole fan culture. I gafiated in 1974 and sold off my whole collection of books and pulp magazines. Because of getting married, finishing college and starting my career in computers, I didn’t read science fiction for many years.

For some reason in 1984, I got back into science fiction, and have been reading it ever since.

In 2002 I joined Audible.com and I started buying audio books of all the science fiction I read as a teenager. I still read science fiction with my eyes, but I mostly listen to it. I love finding audio editions of classic science fiction short stories, but they aren’t that common.

***
Week #1- "Tumithak of the Corridors" by Charles R. Tanner

From the January 1932 issue of Amazing Stories. I discovered this story decades ago in Asimov's Before the Golden Age anthology. All I can remember about the story was it was my favorite of the whole anthology. I haven't even reread it yet. I thought it would be fun to see if it's still good, and for us to read something really old.

If you like Tumithak, there was three sequels that were made into a book. Amazon even has it as a $3.99 ebook.

Week #2- "The Chronic Argonauts" by H. G. Wells

Did you know that H. G. Wells wrote this short story about time travel seven years before his classic novella, "The Time Machine" came out in 1895?

I vaguely knew this and always meant to check it out, but until now I haven't. I'm hoping that picking it for this week's story will get me to finally read it. I always thought it was just a shorter version of the novella, but that's not true.

By the way I have this really cool edition of THE TIME MACHINE called A Norton Critical Edition edited by Stephen Arata, which contains both stories and many essays, early reviews and even an alternate ending and other writings by Wells related to the story. Here's what they say about it at Amazon:

Intrigued by the possibilities of time travel as a student and inspired as a journalist by the great scientific advances of the Victorian Age, Wells drew on his own scientific publications—on evolution, degeneration, species extinction, geologic time, and biology—in writing The Time Machine. This Norton Critical Edition is based on the first London edition of the novel. It is accompanied by detailed explanatory annotations and “A Note on the Text.”

“Backgrounds and Contexts” is organized thematically into four sections: “The Evolution of The Time Machine” presents alternative versions and installments and excerpts of the author’s time-travel story; “Wells’s Scientific Journalism (1891–94)” focuses on the scientific topics central to the novel; “Wells on The Time Machine” reprints the prefaces to the 1924, 1931, and 1934 editions; and “Scientific and Social Contexts” collects five widely read texts by the Victorian scientists and social critics Edwin Ray Lankester, Thomas Henry Huxley, Benjamin Kidd, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), and Balfour Stewart and Peter Guthrie Tait.

“Criticism” includes three important early reviews of The Time Machine from the Spectator, the Daily Chronicle, and Pall Mall Magazine as well as eight critical essays that reflect our changing emphases in reading and appreciating this futuristic novel. Contributors include Yevgeny Zamyatin, Bernard Bergonzi, Kathryn Hume, Elaine Showalter, John Huntington, Paul A. Cantor and Peter Hufnagel, Colin Manlove, and Roger Luckhurst.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

Week #3- "Gulf" by Robert Heinlein

"Gulf" is a fascinating story. It was a trial run back in 1949 for what Heinlein would later explore in Stranger in a Strange Land.

"Gulf" might be one of the most subtly offensive stories ever written for science fiction, and might reveal the basic beliefs of Heinlein. It appears to suggest, if you study this story in context of his other writing, that Heinlein thought he knew better than other people about how things should work. There's a kind of hidden elitism here that's fascinating to observe. I think back in the 1940s and 1950s science fiction fans really wanted to be Slans.

Apologists for Heinlein always claim that his characters aren't speaking for him. But when you hear character after character express the same old ideas, it's hard to believe that.

It explores the problem: Do geniuses know how to rule better than ordinary men?

The story deals with language and developing the mind. It also deals with ESP, but a different take.

I think this story is worth knowing as part of knowing about science fiction history.

Week #4 "The Scarlet Plague" by Jack London

Here's another classic science fiction story, "The Scarlet Plague" by Jack London. It's a little long though. It's something I've always wanted to read.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Short Story of the Week (September 2012)

Neil is picking the stories this month but he gave the first one to me ahead of time and told me I could write his bio. :)

Neil, who hails from Oregon City, Oregon, comes from a long line of Neils. In fact he has traced his line all the way back to King Neil the First who did all the real heavy lifting against the Persian Empire before that Alexander guy came in and took all the credit.

Present day Neil’s first brush with science fiction occurred when he was introduced to Theodore Sturgeon at a dinner party and he asked Sturgeon what he did for a living and Sturgeon replied that he wrote science fiction. And Neil said, “Isn’t 90% of that crap?” Everybody laughed at his quip and the Sturgeon asked, “Mind if I steal that?”

But, after that rocky start Neil developed a great love for science fiction. He devoured such classics as “The Foundation,” “Dune,” and “They’d Rather Be Right.” And I mean he literally devoured them, as in he ate the books. I know it’s kind of strange isn’t it? Pictured above are some of the novels in his home that he hasn’t had a chance to eat yet

Other then enjoying a tasty science fiction novel, Neil has two other passions in life: skydiving and weight lifting. Here are two recent pictures of Neil enjoying his hobbies.

Neil skydiving and Lou Ferrigno...I mean Neil lifting some weights.

Neil is a true renaissance man he has also dabbled in the entertainment business, he wrote and sang lots of number one hit songs like “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” and “Sweet Caroline.” And he wrote such Tony award winning plays as the “Odd Couple” and “Barefoot in the Park.” He costars on the hit comedy show “How I Met Your Mother.” And, he was the first man to walk on the moon.

September Short Fiction

Week #1 How to Become a Mars Overlord by Cathryn M Valente

Neil said, "Valente is one of the most imaginative writers out there right now in my opinion."

According to Wikipedia, "Valente's work tends to center on folkloric and mythological themes, reimagining fairy tales and genre tropes via feminist, surrealist, and postmodern lenses. Her writing is characterized by stylistic and structural experimentation as well as complex linguistic and poetic techniques."

Her novel "Palimpest" was nominated for a Hugo Award.

Week #2 Spider the Artist by Nnedi Okarofor

Who Fears Death was one of my favorite books I read this year. Nnedi Okarofor
has a different voice that get's right into your head when you read her words.

Anyway a story about oil, zombies and music in Spider the Artist.

Week #3 Super-Toys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldiss

A classic from 1969, the inspiration for the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

Aldiss is one of those authors who can really create an atmosphere in his
writing, I think he captures the feeling of loneliness,almost hopelessness with
this story.

Week #4 The Ferryman by Eric Brown

I started the book that was based on this story this week. It's an interesting
premise. What would happen to the world if aliens arrived and gave humanity
immortality, it's seen through the experiences of a small Yorkshire village.

I'm not sure how successful the book is yet but this story definitely has the
human element down.

Week #5 The Streets of Ashkelon by Harry Harrison

This seemed appropriate, I remember reading it a long time ago, this and
Moorcock's Behold the Man had a profound affect on me.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Thoughts on "The Time Traders"

Spoilers...

“The Time Traders” (1958) is the first Andre Norton book I’ve read. I was a little bit surprised that it was a typical 50s science fiction action/adventure story. I mean, I guess I incorrectly thought that since it was written by a woman it would have some sort of feminine touch, but there was only one female character in the entire novel and her part in the story was pretty much insignificant.

The book felt like one of those old movie serials because the hero was constantly getting himself into some sort of cliffhanger moment. I found myself constantly thinking, “How is he going to get himself out of this one?” Through out the course of the novel the hero, Ross Murdock is captured, hit so hard he develops amnesia, tortured, left for dead, shot at, falls into the river, captured again, tortured again, etc.

At the beginning of the story Ross has been found guilty of a crime and is meeting with his judge. The judge tells him that his two options are mental rehabilitation or signing up for a secret government mission. This beginning really reminded me of the beginning of “The Stainless Steel Rat.” I wonder if Harry Harrison ever read “The Time Traders”?

I thought it was neat how at the beginning of the novel Ross doesn’t care about anyone and he just wants to escape, but as the novel progresses this changes. The first change occurs when Ross runs away from the base with a guy that turns out to be a Russian agent. Ross suddenly realizes he does care about America. And then, when he finds out the project concerns time travel, well then Ross is interested because he craves adventure. And as the story progresses Ross forms a friendship with Ashe his mentor and fellow agent.

I really liked the concept of this novel that the Russian and the American in addition to the “space race” were having a “time travel race” and the prize was that somewhere there was advanced technology in the past. It was an intriguing mystery.

I thought the part where Ross has amnesia and thinks he really is a Beaker Trader got to be confusing especially when he’s going through the Russian time machine and ending up who knows when. But, it became less muddled once he got to the alien spaceship and remembered who he was.

I thought it was really cool that Norton didn’t spell everything out. We learn almost nothing about the aliens in the novel. What are they like? Are they evil to the core or, do they just think humans aren’t ready for their technology? And is their civilization still around in the present?

It is also only subtlely implied that Ross has certain mental powers. He says he was such a good criminal because he could read people. Was that undeveloped telepathy or empathy? Then the aliens took a special interest in him. Was that interest really just because he took a pair or their clothing or, was it because they sensed latent mental ability? And then at the end of the book two of the aliens try to invade Ross’s mind and he fights them off with the raw power of his mind. I hope the sequels farther develop this angle.

I’ve already started the next book in the series “The Galactic Derelict” and am excited that it has a Western theme with the point of view character being a “modern day” Apache.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Short Story of the Week (August 2012)

I started life as a child and the first novels that really meant a lot to me were “Gulliver’s Travels” and “Robinson Crusoe.” The first science fiction book I remember reading was “The Foundation” and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Some fun facts about me:

I was recruited by the FBI for my talent of speaking pig-latin.

I can pat my head and rub my tummy while crewing gum and walking and then stick my tongue out and touch my ear.

I know lots of different card games but I almost won a lot of money at a 52-pick-up tournament in Las Vegas.

Week #1 “Genesis” by H. Beam Piper

A story about space colonists that’s mother ship is destroyed and they are forced to live without their technology. Piper, is best remembered for the novel “Little Fuzzy” and the short story “Omnilingual,” but he has written lots of other great stories many of which are out of copyright and are available for FREE online here.

Week #2 "The Unnullified World" by Lloyd Biggle Jr.

This story is about a man going to the planet Llayless to track down a murderer.
The hitch is that Llayless is a planet without laws! One of Biggle's novels "Monument" was one of the Classic Group Reads in 2011.

Week #3 "The Repairman" by Harry Harrison

A lot of us, myself included, are pretty broken up about Harrison's death, so I thought it would be appropriate to read and discuss one of his short stories this week as sort of a tribute.

"The Repairman" stuck me as having a lot of the Harrison elements.

There is a male protagonist who lives to buck authority, but finds that authority is always three steps ahead of him. It's got some space travel, some adventure, some wacky aliens, but it's down to earth. I mean the guy's a repairman.

Week #4 "Forever" by Robert Sheckley

In this short and humorous tale Charles Dennison runs into all kinds of trouble when he discovers the secret to immortality.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Thought on "Hunger Games"

Spoilers...

I was disappointed with “Hunger Games” (2008) by Suzanne Collins because I’d heard it was a great novel. It was entertaining and exciting at some points, but that was it. I felt like it was all surface with no deeper meaning. I don’t think it ever managed to transcend what it was, just a YA novel.

Characters

Katniss- Clueless about her looks and the effect she has on boys and men. Doesn’t understand social situations other people’s motivations. Thinks people in the Hob are nice to her because of her dad instead of realizing her own worth.

Peeta- He’s the “perfect” romance novel guy: Sensitive yet strong, loving, but brave and manly.

Gale- Only in the book at the beginning, but he is a presence throughout the novel. It is hard to know whether or not there is something there romantically between him and Katniss. Gale would have been the perfect excuse for Peeta and Kat to not have a relationship, but instead he’s a weird obstacle in a novel where Kat and Peeta’s relationship is the central theme of the novel.

Ending

The last 3^rd of the book needed to be rewritten. I was with it until after Tresh lets Kat go. After that there was never anything that was as exciting as that confrontation at the Cornucopia. Instead it was anti-climaxtic since Thresh’s death, which I felt should have been significant, happened off-screen and the details were never revealed.

The bad guys on a whole were not developed. They were all just district numbers. So you felt nothing when they died and really had little reason to fear them. Tresh seemed to be the main villain. He stayed in this one area and feed himself and grew stronger. And yet no details about what he eat or where he stayed emerged. I think the ending should have been a confrontation with him on his own turf and Peeta and Kat only win by working together.

I loved the part with the poisonous berries. When Kat kept some of the berries in here pack I knew they would be important later, but I never suspected they might end up using them themselves. But the story should have ended with them about to eat. It would have been a great cliffhanger!

Instead we have a slow ending where after the games Kat is worried about saying a wrong thing and being arrested, but the reader in thinking, “how many more pages of this are there?” It was like a 30 page epilogue in which you never really gain any new information or have any major character developments. Yes, Kat doesn’t know if she likes Peeta because she doesn’t know what she has with Gale. We already knew that!

Kat may or may not have grown as a character. Certainly what she went through should have changed her, but it isn’t really clear how her experiences changed her. I don’t think the author ever really challenged her enough. I mean obviously she was put through an adventure, but at no point did I feel like she experienced anything that changed her. For instance, for the 2 times she had to actually kill people she never gives it any thought. Killing seems to be no big deal. She should have had some self-reflection. She should have felt guilty about the killings. She is supposed to be a human being and not a sociopath, right? I figured the only way she would win the games was to realize that even if she didn’t like killing that it was something she was good at, but the simplicity of the story didn’t seem to have any room for any kind of self-reflection.

Other Books in the Series

I wondered what the sequels were about. I saw three possibilities.

1) Kat somehow ends up back in the arena the following year (My thought was Gale’s name gets drawn and she volunteers again hoping the district team rule will be applied again).

2) Kat has to work behind the scenes during a Hunger Game because she is a girl’s sponsor.

3) Kat somehow becomes involved in a military conflict against the Capital.

I looked up the next two books and it seems like 1 and 3 to some degree are going tot happen in the next books.

Miscellaneous

Peeta knowing how to make himself camouflaged because he knew all about making icing for cakes is like saying he’s an electrician because he made the candles for the cakes.

Hunger Games is fantasy rather than science fiction because no attempt is made to make the world-building in the story make any sense. In this universe California and the areas west of the Rockies are the overlords of the rest of the area that was America because they had nuclear weapons and the rest of the country didn’t. Why didn’t the rest of the country have nuclear weapons?

It doesn’t make any sense that the servant girl made it all the way to Kat’s territory, the furthest territory from the Capital. Did she walk that whole way? And what are the chances that Kat would be given her as a servant? And what purpose did it serve other than to make the story that much more implausible?

The Movie

The movie version of Hunger Games seemed to put the novel on fast forward. The movie was 2 and ½ hours long, but in order to fit everything in the book in that time frame it had to move quickly. This is especially evident at the end of the movie. One of my complaints about the novel was that the ending dragged; well the movie turned that 30-page epilogue into about 5 minutes of screen time. But while the pacing improved that problem it made other problems even worse. For instance, I said that I wished Tresh had had a bigger role in the novel. In the movie he was onscreen for about 30 seconds.

Jennifer Lawrence made a pretty good Katniss, but she seemed too normal. When I read the book I pictured Kat as really socially awkward (like a few steps away from Lisbeth in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”). Peeta also seemed really normal looking; I pictured him as a big bruiser of a guy. The book makes a big point of the fact that since he was a baker’s son he never missed a meal and he’s supposed to be able to throw 100 pound bags of grain. Josh Hutcherson, the guy that plays him looks like he weighs close to 100 pounds. In fact the only casting I liked was Woody Harrelson as Haymitch; he was excellent.

The other major difference in the movie is that there are constantly cuts to the control room of the game and also sometimes you see reaction shots in the Capital and various districts including an all out riot in District 11 when Rue dies. When I read the book I thought the complete isolation from the outside was a weakness of the novel, but after seeing the movie I think it is one of the novel’s strengths. It was better to wonder what was happening then to see weird scenes of Donald Sutherland (as the President) gardening and making vague threats. But I suppose it is the movie’s way of setting up the story for the sequel.

The impossibility of Collin’s universe is only more evident when it starts to be explained. The movie suggests that the game environment is a computer simulation. Dogs are created from nothingness, Tree are created and set on fire instantly. So if nothing is real how are the tributes not all starving to death? How can you gain nutrition from computer-generated wildlife? And wouldn’t those berries at the end of the movie not really be poisonous, the game master could have instantly made them blueberries if he wanted to, right? In the novel as far as the reader knew the trees and everything in the arena were real. Did they uproot trees and move them there or build an arena around a forest? I have no idea. but I do know, that the dogs were cyborgs of some sort. That's what made them terrifying to Kat, that they were partially made from parts of her fallen friends and enemies.

And I have to mention my least favorite scene in the entire movie. When Kat gets to the Capital and she goes to the room they’ve given her and she is suddenly wearing this bright yellow nightshirt and the shirt perfectly matches the curtains and various yellow accents in the room. It looked ridiculous!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Short Story of the Week (July 2012)

My name is Andreas. I was born in Germany and live now in Austria together with my wife and two kids (6+9). Besides reading and collecting books I love travelling and I regularely play chess in a club. My favourite animal is the hippo and I have a small collection of hippos made of wood, plush, glass and china.

My love for SF must be blamed on Jules Verne and on the neverending German pulp series "Perry Rhodan". Somewhen in the late 90's I started to read short fiction as well and never got away from it! I have a project running to read all stories listed in the Locus All-Time Poll from 1999 and I track the progress in my blog. My favourite authors are Gene Wolfe, Theodore Sturgeon and Jack Vance.

Week #1 "A Dry, Quiet War" by Tony Daniel

A Colourful and exotic story of a battle-weary veteran who returns from a bewilderingly strange high-tech future war only to face his greatest and most sinister challenge right at home.

Week #2 and 3 "The Moth Moon" by Jack Vance

Jack Vance, who is still alive, doesn't need a big introduction. He is more famous for his various novels but he has also written quite a lot of short stories. In "The Moon Moth" we can see why he is so popular among his fans. He describes an exotic society in which the consul from earth has to deal with an unpleasant affair...

Week #4 "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" by Eugie Foster

This 2010 Hugo nominated novelette is similar to "Moon Moth" it deals with "masks" but in another way. Enjoy!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

When Did the Doctor Become a God?

photo 763952c8-7dd9-43eb-a754-03458cd7c089_zps2c8a6180.jpg

Spoiler...

I’ve been having more and more trouble with Doctor Who lately and I think I’ve finally put my finger on what the trouble is, the writers have fallen into the classic trap of making their hero too powerful. Superheroes like Superman go through this all the time. I mean if they do a story where Superman survives a nuclear explosion one month, it’s hard to find something to up the stakes the next month.

On the original Doctor Who series, the Doctor was a renegade Time Lord. Most of the time he was on the run from his own people. But, the Doctor didn’t elude capture because he was invincible or smarter than other Time Lords, he eluded capture because the Time Lords occasionally had a use for the Doctor, and so they let him get away. You see the Time Lords didn’t like to get their hands dirty fixing incongruities in time. They preferred to sit on Gallifrey and twiddle their thumbs. They were the Lords of Time, they had mapped out history until the end of time and they didn’t feel the need to worry about small details that would most likely resolve themselves or not affect the larger picture much. But even they had to admit that every once in a while a wrench was thrown into their grand plans.

The Daleks, for instance, were a large problem. They should not exist and yet they did. When they became a large enough problem, the Doctor was sent to the time of their creation in Genesis of the Daleks. They hoped that the Doctor would destroy them before they could ever be a problem, but unfortunately that’s not what happened.

But, that was the original series; at the start of the new series, we meet the 9^th Doctor. This incarnation of the Doctor has been through “The Last Great Time War,” a war between the Daleks and the Time Lords that results in the mutual destruction of both races. (With the exception of the Doctor, the Master who was hiding, and the Daleks that pop up from time to time) Eventually we find out that the Doctor was responsible for not only stopping the Daleks, but also for destroying his own race.

When the new series started the writers must have thought that it was more exciting for the Doctor to be “flying without a net.” After all he’s the last of his kind, if he doesn’t solve the problem he can’t go back to Gallifrey and get help. Also, they thought that the Doctor would seem like a tragic figure who sacrificed his entire species to save the universe from the Daleks. But unfortunately, the time war also changed the Doctor from a happy-go-lucky adventurer into the most powerful judge, jury, and executioner in the universe.

As I said before, the Time Lords are called the Time Lords because they mapped out time until the end of the universe. The Doctor visits the end of the universe in the episode Utopia and humans are there. The Doctor says, “End of the universe and here you are. Indomitable!” Humans are the ultimate survivors, maybe that’s one of the reasons why the Doctor has taken such a shine to humanity.

The Time Lords are able to map out time because, the way time works on this series, there is only one path, one history. The TARDIS can’t normally go to alternate realities. That’s not to say that a time traveler can’t alter history, the TARDIS goes to tipping points in time every episode, but these tipping points are small potatoes, whether or not the Earth gets destroyed is only a footnote in the history of the universe.

But, it’s not small potatoes to the Doctor, so he goes from tipping point to tipping point and makes sure no one messes with his view of history. But why does the universe need constant saving? The Time Lords mapped it out. Did they miss that much stuff? Well, the Doctor typically encounters two types of problems. Problem one is an alien where he/she is not supposed to be. Typically, this is an alien invader on Earth. My theory is that these tipping points aren’t in the Time Lord master plan because it is the Doctor’s destiny to clear all this mess up. You see one of the running gags in the last few seasons with the Doctor’s girlfriend/wife River Song is that she leaves the Doctor notes with time coordinates in museums or on ancient cliff faces and the Doctor always comes to her rescue. But each time he claims he’s not going to help her again. “I'm not gonna be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a space ship,” he says in The Time of Angels. But, River just laughs and says, “And you are so wrong.” You see there are a near infinite number of these tipping points, but it is the Doctor’s destiny to visit them all and fix them. How do we know this? He’s the last of the Time Lords, who else is going to do it? Therefore he can’t die before all the points are dealt with. Therefore the Doctor can never die while dealing with alien invaders hence why the Doctor often gets so cocky.

However there is a second kind of problem he deals with, other time travelers. And this type of problem can get him in trouble. A time traveler can kill the Doctor because time travel is an x-factor, the Time Lords were the Time Lords because they were the only ones with time travel, and therefore other people time traveling wouldn’t fall into their master plan.

But, the Doctor is still too powerful. He is just one man (Gallifrian) and the fate of the entire universe is a lot to put on his shoulders alone. With the rest of the Time Lords gone he is effectively the God of the universe. He decides what species can and can’t do based on his morality and no one can stop him!

I think the last straw for me was in the season finale of the last season, The Wedding of River Song, where the Doctor tricked time. Yes, the Doctor tricked time itself into believing that the Doctor was dead. What?? How do you trick time? It’s not a person or an alien or a consciousness; it’s time. So we are now to believe that the Doctor can outsmart the very fabric of the universe. If that’s not like unto a God, I don’t know what is.

I think it is time for the Doctor to be de-powered, either he needs to lose his TARDIS or be told by some hereto-unseen powers of time and space that he exists only at their pleasure or he needs to meet an enemy that poses a real threat. Anything, to bring back the happy-go-lucky adventurer we all know and love.