Video Found: Conan the Barbarian, the Musical

Not too long ago I posted a video some folks did where they turned Total Recall into a musical. Now the same folks have done the same thing with Conan the Barbarian, with Arnold singing about the lamentation of the women...Hilarious indeed.

See for yourself (after the fold)

The Skiffy and Fanty Show #7 is Live!

And another episode has hit the Internet-waves. This week features a guest host and discussions on sword and sorcery, the next big thing in science fiction and fantasy, and much more.

Feel free to check out the episode here (stream and download), or search for the show on iTunes! We'd also appreciate reviews on iTunes if you have the time.


Anywho!

Interview w/ Darren Shan

I've had the pleasure to interview Darren Shan, whose newest book, The Procession of the Dead, came out on the 4th of June. You can find out more about Mr. Shan and his various books, including the Cirque du Freak and Demonata books, at his website.

Now for the interview:

First, thanks very much for doing this interview. Could you let folks know a bit about who you are? What first inspired you to try your hand at writing (for fun and professionally, if you can disentangle the two)?

I've spent the last ten years writing books for older children and teenagers -- Cirque Du Freak and The Demonata -- but I actually started out writing for adults, and now I have returned to that field with Procession of the Dead, the first of a trilogy. I've always wanted to be a writer, ever since I was 5 or 6 years old. I just love telling stories! I began trying to write books when I was a teenager, completed my first full draft when I was 17, and powered on from there. I began writing full time when I was 23 and got my first cheque a couple of years or so later. I struggled to get off the mark with my adult books initially, but then Cirque Du Freak came along by accident -- I didn't plan to write children's books for a living; I just wanted to try it for fun! Fifteen million book sales later, I've never looked back!
Who are some of the books/writers who have most influenced you? Likewise, who are some of your favorite authors/books from the last ten years?

Stephen King's been my biggest single influence, but I like to read widely and have been directly inspired by all sorts of writers, from Mark Twain and Frances Hodgson Burnett, to Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut, to Jonathan Carroll and James Ellroy, and many, many more. From the last ten or so years, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman has impressed me the most. I also loved Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.

Your bio indicates that you are a huge movie and comic fan. Which movies and comics do you find yourself going back to over and over and what draws you to them?

With movies, all sorts, but some of the ones which I watch religiously every few years or so are everything by Sergio Leone, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Being There (the Peter Sellers film), The Chocolate War, Pulp Fiction, the Star Wars movies, the Godfather films, The Searchers... As for comics, The Watchmen is absolutely amazing and my favourite single work of any medium. V For Vendetta, Miracleman, The Killing Joke, The Dark Knight Returns, Love & Rockets, Cerebus, The Sandman, Bone.

What does your writing space look like? Are you the messy desk type, or the old cushy chair with the patches type? Pen and paper, old typewriter, or computer?

I write on a PC, and I like organised chaos! My office is fairly tidy, and my books are stacked meticulously on their shelves, but there are always bits of paper everywhere, books on the floor waiting to be sorted through and shelved (my books are published in almost 40 countries, so I get lots of foreign editions in the post every month!), CDs of photos waiting to be uploaded to my site, and so on. It's all fine as long as nobody comes in to disturb it!

Do you develop your novels, whether in The City Trilogy or your previous series, with the idea of a series in mind, or do they sort of take a life of their own after the first book? What for you is the most difficult aspect of writing a series of books?

No, all of my three series to date started out as stand-alone story ideas. With Cirque Du Freak I knew there would be room to do some sequels if I felt like it, but I didn't have a long series planned. With Lord Loss and Procession of the Dead I never dreamt that either would be the first book of a series. But after I'd written them, I came up with ideas for stories that tied in with them and took things from there.
Procession of the Dead reminds me a lot of Gangs of New York and some of the work by Brian Evenson (along with other 1920s-30s-styled books/movies). What was the inspiration for this particular novel? How did it develop in your head? And why blind Incan priests who seem to be invisible to everyone else?

It actually started life when I was watching Barton Fink! I wanted to write a quirky, funny book about an insurance agent and his wacky mentor. But as I played around with ideas it quickly became something more sinister and involved. I wrote the first draft back in the early 90s. Other influences would have been the Godfather movies, Once Upon A Time In America, the old gangster movies that I've always loved (the ones with Jimmy Cangey, George Raft, Bogie, etc), the books of Jonathan Carroll. The Incan angle came after I'd pieced together most of the main story. I was looking for a good title for the book, and I remembered reading an Incan calendar some months earlier. When I went back to it, I liked what I found and chose the names for the chapter headings. Then, as I worked on the book and subsequent drafts, the Incans just sort of grew and became more integral.

Your books have a particularly dark fantasy slant to them, and Procession of the Dead certainly seems to play even more with the dark, odd, and bizarre. What draws you to the dark and the bizarre and what do you think it is that intrigues us, as readers, about such things?

I think it has to do with our fear of death. We're aware that we have limited time on this planet, and I think most people like to believe that death won't be the end of us, that we'll live on somehow, some way. Any sort of fantasy helps us cling to the idea that there's more to life than this one short burst of it. Even if it's a horror story, I think people would rather believe in a world of monsters and dark magic than a world of plain, brutal reality when we live for a while, die, and the universe moves on quite nicely without us. Fantastical explorations, whether they take the form of religious books or horror novels, are crucial to keeping most of us sane and on the right track. In a world of darkness, there's a chance that a force of supreme good exists and that we are being judged. In a world of bland reality, why should we obey laws, respect the rights of other people, toe the line? If anyone ever proves that there are no gods or ghosts or any other supernatural beings, I think we're going to find ourselves in a whole heap of trouble! In the meantime, let's dream big and believe whatever the hell we want to and play with all the dark, morbid, other-worldly stories that our fevered minds can conjure up -- it's fun and it's good for us!

Do you keep maps of your world(s), such as the City in Procession of the Dead, or do the places you play with in your writing exist as vivid dreams in your mind?

The only time I've ever drawn a map was when I wrote The Thin Executioner, which is an out-and-out fantasy novel set on a make-believe world. Otherwise I keep my stories in this realm, although I do often play around with geography -- I don't feel like I have to completely obey the laws of reality, and places like The City are a mix of various towns, cities and villages which I have visited or imagined over the years.

Being a bestselling author, you have undoubtedly dealt with modern innovations in distributing stories, such as ebooks and so on. Do you think we will live in a mostly paperless world, with physical books becoming more like collector's items than the preferred medium?

I definitely think hard copy books are on the way out -- digital books just offer too many advantages. It's like DVD versus video, CD versus tapes -- there's only ever going to be one outright winner! However, I think it will take time for books to go completely digital. People like me, who grew up on books, have an emotional attachment to them that's hard to break -- that's why many people ridicule the very idea of reading from a screen, because to them it's an insult to even suggest that they might ever abandon their beloved paperbacks. But as computers become more commonplace in schools, and as more and more children are taught to read by looking at a screen, they will grow up without that emotional attachment, and they will opt for the more advanced digital world over the very 20th century world that we have come from. The revolution will truly begin with the young, but it's a revolution I look forward to -- it will make access to books far easier and more widespread than it could ever otherwise be, and I think it will lead to even more people reading.
What other projects do you have coming up besides The City Trilogy? Can you tell us a bit about them?

In August I release my one-off book, The Thin Executioner. Then in October I start a four book series called The Saga Of Larten Crepsley, about one of the characters from my vampire series.

What unusual piece of advice would you give to any aspiring writers out there?

Don't think too hard! Writer's block only happens when you think too much about a story. It's like riding a bike -- don't stand there looking at the damn thing and trying to analyse everything that must be done in order to operate it -- just jump the hell on and see where the ride takes you!
Random Question: If you could bring to life any dark fantasy creature you've either invented, written about, or read about, which creature would it be and why?

This world would be a very interesting place with the chess-playing Lord Loss from my Demonata series, an eight-armed demon master with a hole where his heart should be, filled with dozens of tiny, writhing snakes, and a desperate yearning to experience human sorrows in all their forms and flavours. Oprah would love him!

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And that's it, folks! Thanks again to Mr. Shan for his time and patience. Now go get a copy of Procession of the Dead!

Blogging About Altercations Happening Elsewhere?

(Forgive the title. I couldn't think of anything else to call this post.)

A few days ago I had a kind of argument/altercation with another person on another blog. The story vaguely goes like this: I posted that I thought there was a problem something in the post, but that otherwise I didn't disagree; the blogger proceeded to assume I was attacking him/her because of an -ism and denied doing what was in the post; I pointed out where it occurred, reiterated that I didn't disagree and that it wasn't an attack; the blogger went off on me for something I never was doing and implied I was an -ist. Note that I'm using -ism and -ist here, because you can basically shove any sort of ism into this situation and it would basically be the same thing. A friend of mine did join in on the conversation in an attempt to point out why the blogger had basically gone overboard (he/she had) and then got banned for apparently being a troll (my friend wasn't, but apparently if you disagree with someone on the Internet, you're a troll).

So, the point of this post has more to do with my apprehension to post a more detailed discussion and critique of what happened. On the one hand, I think the situation is ridiculous and am tempted to post a scathing argument against the individual in question to point out that he or she has essentially gone off the deep end. On the other hand, I don't know if I want to continue with the discussion or bring up that topic on this blog again (for the third or fourth time this year), partly because it might open up a shitstorm and partly because I'm not entirely sure I can get enough distance from it to speak calmly about it (though I'm rather surprised at how calm I am while writing this, so maybe that isn't a real concern after all).

The question is: At what point does one subject become too much for one blog when that subject isn't the primary focus of the blog itself? At what point do we turn away and decide we're fed up and have no interest in engaging with a certain part of the community any more, even if what that segment is fighting for is something you care about too? Is it possible to disengage and shut out such a group of people, and is that healthy to do, not just for yourself, but for the community at large (isn't that the opposite of what should be happening)?

I guess what I'm concerned with here is that if I don't talk about it, then my only recourse is to stop paying attention to anything like it again, even when I agree with the discussions, because I am not the type of person who will not point out flaws when they exist. But maybe that's a weird way of thinking about all of this, and it's not like I'm giving specifics to make this make more sense.

So, taking into account the vague-ness of this post, what do you think? Is there a point where you feel you can disengage, even if those you are disengaging from are still using your words against you and others or making arguments that perhaps damage the community they claim to be a part of by participating in the same discourse they are attempting to fight?

Giveaway and Poll Reminder!

Just wanted to let you all know that there are only 2 days left in the giveaway of 3 copies of Procession of the Dead by Darren Shan. It's open internationally, so enter before it's too late.

I also wanted to remind you about the poll I'm running about your favorite genre (science fiction, fantasy, horror, or other). Just pop on to the site; the poll is on the left hand side. So far fantasy is beating scifi something fierce, which is somewhat odd considering that this blog is largely scifi-based.

Anywho!

Haul of Books 2010: Stuff For Me v.12

Some more oldies! I bought this a while back when Tobias S. Buckell was offering up first edition, signed copies of his books. So, these are the last two from that group.

Here's the picture (after the fold):


And the descriptions, from left to right (taken from Amazon):

1. Halo: The Cole Protocol by Tobias S. Buckell (signed)

In the first, desperate days of the Human-Covenant War, the UNSC has enacted the Cole Protocol to safeguard Earth and its Inner Colonies from discovery by a merciless alien foe. Many are called upon to rid the universe of lingering navigation data that would reveal the location of Earth. Among them is Navy Lieutenant Jacob Keyes. Thrust back into action after being sidelined, Keyes is saddled with a top secret mission by ONI. One that will take him deep behind enemy lines, to a corner of the universe where nothing is as it seems.

Out beyond the Outer Colonies lies the planet Hesiod, a gas giant surrounded by a vast asteroid belt. As the Covenant continues to glass the human occupied planets near Hesiod, many of the survivors, helped by a stronghold of human Insurrectionists, are fleeing to the asteroid belt for refuge. They have transformed the tumbling satellites into a tenuous, yet ingenious, settlement known as the Rubble--and have come face-to-face with a Covenant settlement of Kig-Yar . . . yet somehow survived.

News of this unlikely treaty has spread to the warring sides. Luckily for the UNSC, this uneasy alliance is in the path of the Spartan Gray Team, a three-man renegade squad whose simple task is to wreak havoc from behind enemy lines in any way they see fit. But the Prophets have also sent their best---an ambitious and ruthless Elite, whose quest for nobility and rank is matched only by his brutality . . . and who will do anything to secure his Ascendancy and walk the Path.

2. Halo: Evolutions (Essential Tales of the Halo Universe) by Various (signed)

When humanity expanded beyond the safety of Earth to new stars and horizons, they never dreamed what dangers they would encounter there. When the alien juggernaut known as the Covenant declared holy war upon the fragile human empire, millions of lives were lost—but, millions of heroes rose to the challenge. In such a far-reaching conflict, not many of the stories of these heroes, both human and alien, have a chance to become legend. This collection holds eleven stories that dive into the depths of the vast Halo universe, not only from the perspective of those who fought and died to save humanity, but also those who vowed to wipe humanity out of existence.

I'll admit that I'm not a Halo fan, but I love Buckell's work, so I might read these at some point in the near future. If anyone can make that universe interesting to me, it would be him.

Have you heard of these before? Have you read them? What did you think? Feel free to leave a comment!

Video Found: General Grievous Costume!

This is freaking awesome! Now, it's in German, so I haven't a clue what the guy is saying, but look at the costume he's managed to create. Talk about clever and amazing.

Here (after the fold):


Thanks to SF Signal for the discovery.

Haul of Books 2010: Stuff For Me v.11

The journals/movies below actually came into my possession some time ago, but I didn't have a chance to post them here. Not much else to say other than, here's the picture (after the fold):
And now the descriptions, from left to right, top to bottom (taken from Amazon, or made up by me):

1. The Journal of Popular Culture, April 2010, Vol. 3, Number 2 (subscribed)

This issue contains essays on Dawn of the Dead, The Incredible Hulk, cyberspace, chick-lit, Michael Moore, and much more. It looks interesting and some of the articles seem to be much more up my alley than in the previous issue I talked about.

2. PMLA, March 2010, Vol. 125, Number 2 (subscribed)

The PMLA is really impossible to describe. This issue has stuff on Beowulf, Milton, eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (who I've never heard of), Leo Bersani (ditto), and one really intriguing article called "The Humanities and HIV/AIDS: Where Do We Go From Here?" I'll probably read the last article, but the rest doesn't seem to be of interest to me.

3. Dark City (Director's Cut)(DVD)

The critically-acclaimed triumph from visionary director Alex Proyas (I, Robot, The Crow) is back with a brand new directors cut featuring enhanced picture and sound, never-before-seen footage and three commentary tracks that take you deeper than ever before into the world of one of sci-fis most exciting and revered tales. When John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) wakes with no memory at the scene of a grisly murder, he soon finds himself hunted by the police, a woman claiming to be his wife and a mysterious group of pale men who seem to control everything and everyone in the city. Starring Rufus Sewell (The Illusionist), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), William Hurt (A History of Violence) and Kiefer Sutherland (TVs 24).

4. Sunshine (DVD)

The crew of the Icarus II is sent into deep space to reignite the sun, after the failure of the first mission... (a terribly short synopsis, no?)

And that's it for this edition. Not as book heavy as previous editions, but so be it.

So, anything sound interesting to you up there? What have you bought or received recently?

The Skiffy and Fanty Show #6 is live!

Well, if you didn't know already, the sixth episode of the podcast I'm doing is now available to stream or download. The show is also up on iTunes, but it might take a little time for ep. 6 to appear there.

In this episode we try to define science fiction and talk about Ridley Scott's alien movies and the death of the rejection letter.

Anywho. Thanks for listening!

Haul of Books 2010: Stuff For Me v.10

It's been a while since I last posted a Haul of Books. The following books are pretty much the last ones I have for an independent study I'm doing on Caribbean science fiction. Some of them are probably not actually SF, but I'm going with a fairly loose definition on purpose (otherwise I'd have nothing to talk about, because most Caribbean "SF" isn't actually SF, but more like science fantasy). Still, the books are interesting, the class should be enlightening, and I might produce a publishable paper and Master's thesis out of this.

So, here's the picture, followed by the descriptions (after the fold):
And now for the descriptions, from left to right, top to bottom (taken from Amazon):

1. Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

The Caribbean-colonized planet of Toussaint celebrates Carnival in traditional fashion, and Tan-Tan, a young reveler, is masked as the Midnight Robber, Trinidads answer to Robin Hood. But after her father commits a deadly crime, he flees with her to the brutal New Half Way Tree, a planet inhabited by violent human outcasts and monstrous creatures known only through folklore. Here, Tan-Tan is forced to reach into the heart of myth and become the legendary heroine herself, for only the Robber Queens powers can save Tan-Tan from such a savage world.

2. Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson

A new collection of short stories from Hopkinson, including "Greedy Choke Puppy," which Africana.com called "a cleverly crafted West Indian story featuring the appearance of both the soucouyant (vampire) & lagahoo (werewolf),""Ganger (Ball Lightning)," praised by the Washington Post Book World as written in "prose [that] is vivid & immediate," this collection reveals Hopkinson's breadth & accomplishments as a storyteller.

3. Whispers From the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction edited by Nalo Hopkinson

The lushness of language and the landscape, wild contrasts, and pure storytelling magic abound in this anthology of Caribbean writing. Steeped in the tradition of fabulism, where the irrational and inexplicable coexist with the realities of daily life, the stories in this collection are infused with a vitality and freshness that most writing traditions have long ago lost. From spectral slaving ships to women who shed their skin at night to become owls, stories from writers such as Jamaica Kincaid, Marcia Douglas, Ian MacDonald, and Kamau Brathwaite pulse with rhythms, visions, and the tortured history of this spiritually rich region of the world.

4. The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson

THE NEW MOON'S ARMS is a mainstream magical realism novel set in the Caribbean on the fictional island of Dolorosse. Calamity, born Chastity, has renamed herself in a way she feels is most fitting. She's a 50-something grandmother whose mother disappeared when she was a teenager and whose father has just passed away as she begins menopause. With this physical change of life comes a return of a special power for finding lost things, something she hasn't been able to do since childhood. A little tingling in the hands then a massive hotflash, and suddenly objects, even whole buildings, lost to her since childhood begin showing up around Calamity. One of the lost things Calamity recovers is a small boy who washes up on the shore outside her house after a rainstorm. She takes this bruised but cheerful 3-year-old under her wing and grows attached to him, a process that awakens all the old memories, frustrations and mysteries around her own mother and father. She'll learn that this young boy's family is the most unusual group she's ever encountered and they want their son back.

5. The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson

Multiple award-winning author Nalo Hopkinson delivers a triumphant novel in the bestselling tradition of such literary greats as Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. When three Caribbean slave women gather one night to bury a stillborn baby, their collected mournings braid into a powerful calling, and a deity is born. So begins the epic journey of a spirit who, in a desperate bid to discover her ownnature and identity, defies the limitations of time and place to inhabit the minds of living women throughout history. From Jeanne Duval, the seductive black mistress of 19th-century bohemian poet Charles Baudelaire, to a Nubian prostitute on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 300 A.D., the spirit gathers the power and the wisdom of the ages, only to come full circle on the island of St. Domingue. There, she is reunited with the very women who gave her life, and who still struggle to survive under the tyranny of brutal masters.

And that's that. So, have you read any of these before? I haven't, hence my curiosity. Do any of them sound of interest to you? Let me know in the comments.

RIP: Sweetie

Some weeks ago I had to take my leopard gecko (Sweetie) in to have a growth removed. It turned out to be an infection, but the vets managed to get the stuff out and she seemed to be recovering nicely. Then a little over a week ago she stopped eating and became lethargic. We put her on some meds and some liquid food on Friday, hoping she'd start eating on her own again.

I woke up this morning at 9 AM to find that she had passed on. And I'm not particularly happy...

For those that don't really know much about her, I can easily say she was appropriately named. She was really rather sweet. She never once bit me, though she certainly got fed up with me from time to time. She always had a cute look on her face too. She's been with me for several years now and even produced an egg several years back, which gave me Little Buddy (who I lost last year).

I hope she had a good life.

Here's the only picture I could find. I'm sure mother has more:

Calling All Readers: Help Me Name My Pet Fern!

I brought a new friend home with me today. It's a Boston fern (I think). A friend of a friend decided to dig one up out of the latter friend's yard after hearing me talk about how I was thinking of getting a plant for my apartment. Now I have one, and I want your help.
I want to name my fern. So, here's what you can do. In the comments for this post, suggest one name you would give this fern. Only one. I will only count the first name you give, so don't name twelve or thirteen. Think of some clever, unusual, bizarre, or downright hilarious names, because I want it to be unique (although if you wanted to name it Bill, I would be fine with that, because it's funny and dry).

Then, once the poll I have running on the left has ended, I'll start up a new poll with a list of the names and let you all vote! Whichever name gets the most votes wins. Sounds easy enough, right?

So, have at it!

P.S.: In the event that there are too many names to put on one poll, I'll run a series of polls in a semifinals sort of fashion and put the best choices in the final poll. Hopefully that won't happen, but just in case.

Reader Question: Do you think science fiction is inherently liberal?

A friend sent this question to me the other day, along with a bunch of others. I couldn't answer them all in one post, but this one in particular sparked my curiosity.

One thing that has to be decided is what the word "liberal" means in a political context (since that is the context in which the question was asked). It would be nice to look at American politics, but the more you look into that, the more the lines blur. What is an American liberal or conservative? Is it a raging socialist vs. a mouth-foaming Tea Bagger? Can we reduce the political parties to less government vs. more government?

For the purposes of this post, I am going to take liberal to mean a belief in reform, progress, equality in a broad sense, environmentalism, and moderate to significant government intervention to achieve social cohesion; conservative will, for me, represent a disinterest in change (i.e. maintaining traditional values), individual liberty over sanctioned equality, and valuing profit and capitalism over people and the environment. These are all debatable, but this is the closest I can get to addressing the liberal vs. conservative argument in SF without bringing in irrelevant stuff. For example, while liberals are typically for abortion (if not in every form, then at least on a basic level) and conservatives are typically against it, it isn't an issue that regularly appears within SF (I can't even think of an example right now). Other liberal/conservative issues are the same, and so I'm not including them in the definition.

Now to the answer:
Having read and watched loads of science fiction books and movies, and dabbled in writing the stuff myself, I consider myself well-versed in SF. Yet, when I think about this question it occurs to me that the liberal/conservative issue has never seemed to be, well, an issue. I'll read most anything in SF, and have wandered around enough in the SF landscape to be considered an SF slut.

But looking back at what has been applauded by the SF community, or enjoyed fervently by me, it does seem that the majority of SF stories are to the left of the political scale. James Cameron's Avatar, whether great or terrible, is undoubtedly liberal; its messages range from environmental to racial and so on, with the bad guys clearly marked as the wicked militaristic capitalists, and the good guys the soon-to-be-tree-hugging whiteys (and the giant smurfs, obviously).
Examples of similar liberal leanings exist throughout SF film: Star Wars, WALL-E, and so on. There are exceptions: Metropolis both critiques industrialization and scientific/social progress (after all, the workers' revolt in the end leads to the workers' city being destroyed, which is not exactly a positive for the anti-industrialization crowd); Aliens isn't altogether clear what it is (on the one hand it's about the evils of the company/corporation, but on the other it's about the gung-ho "shoot before asking" mentality that exemplifies the rather conservative old west more so than the probable more liberal future); District 9 only sort of supports liberal anti-corporate interests in the end, but the rest is only liberal if you don't agree with the point of view being presented (which is exactly what happens in the real world in Africa, in terms of corporations dictating what goes on); and so on.

Literature is no different. Regularly SF novels play the liberal vs. conservative card (defined generally by the present-day political climate). Edward Willett's novels Marsegura and Terra Insegura pit genetically augmented fish people against a rabidly religious post-apocalypse Earth; issues of race, religion, tradition, and so on appear in the novel and, despite some ambiguities towards the end of the second book, present liberal values as the "good" ones and conservative values (albeit of the most extreme kind) as the "bad" ones. There are certainly plenty of other examples, most less obvious than might be found in Willett's work or in the work of the infamous Kim Stanley Robinson.
Some examples of conservative SF do exist, though: Frankenstein (against unfettered scientific progress; 1984 (an easy choice, since it is a critique of extremist liberalism); some of Heinlein's work (entrepreneurs fighting government restriction, and so on); and many more.
The interesting thing about SF literature is that its political leanings are somewhat easily isolated by genre. Military SF, for example, tends to be rather conservative compared to other forms of SF, mostly notably because the military often is perceived as conservative (even if that perception is inaccurate). Most of this is hearsay, to be honest, since I am not altogether familiar with military SF as a reader (just as an academic).

But (and this is a big but) none of this proves that SF is inherently liberal. It does demonstrate that much--perhaps most--SF is liberal, sure, but that is an entirely different thing that what is implied in the question: that a liberal view of the world is an essential characteristic of SF. There are only a handful of things that I would be comfortable saying are inherent to SF, but a liberal view is not one of them. The other side of this is somewhat more complicated: even when liberal views are present and emphasized, they are often in league with conservative values. This seems to reflect the wishy-washy way in which Americans deal with politics, because most of us are a collection of liberal and conservative ideals, with one seemingly more pronounced than the other. SF, in my opinion, is less about the flaws of any particular political position or belief than about human flaws, and if you think about the extreme future of any human flaw, you'll end up with something worth critiquing.

I think the much more interesting part of all of this is the relative paucity of conservative SF in film and literature. Are conservatives less able or less inclined to think about their own future? Are writers more often than not of the liberal persuasion? You'd think that the answer to these two questions would be a resounding "no," but here I am...wondering.

So, the question I'm going to throw out to all of you is the same question that was asked of me: is science fiction inherently liberal?

Let me know what you think in the comments.

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If you'd like to ask me a question about science fiction, fantasy, books, writing, or whatever (anonymously, even), feel free to ask on my Formspring page or via email at arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com (or as a comment).

Poll: What is your favorite genre?

It's time for a new poll! On the left side there you'll see a little box where you can vote (science fiction, fantasy, horror, or other). I want to know what your favorite genre is. If you want to tell me why, feel free to leave a comment here. Otherwise, the anonymity of voting on my polls should be fun enough.

So, what is your favorite genre?

Poll Results: What gender are you?

A huge thanks to all of you who participated in the poll. I appreciate it. Forty-five of you voted, which is a good chunk of the readers here. The results are as follows, with a few comments from me afterwards:

• Female: 22 (48%)
• Male: 17 (37%)
• Other: 6 (13%)

Now, I'm going to assume that the six who say they identied as "Other" weren't messing around and actually do not identify as either gender. If that is so, then I find that very interesting, because I had no idea that any of my readership were from that community. Welcome to the site!

As for the rest: It seems that "Male" and "Female" are fairly close, with the ladies beating out the men by about 10%. I'm okay with that, but it is an interesting thing to consider, because I figured that I would be of significantly more interest to male readers than women. A silly assumption, obviously, but it just never occurred to me that my blog would be of interest to so many women. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I am quite happy about that, and it has taught me a valuable little lesson--don't make assumptions about how I might be perceived by others.

That said, I should note that the margin of error based on the population and sample size for the poll is about +/- 13.78%, so it's entirely possible that all of the figures above are completely meaningless in the grand scheme of things (I found out the margin of error here). The cool thing about the Internet is that it has taught me how large of a sample size I would need before the margin of error would be small enough to make polls like this produce accurate results (less than +/- 5%). That number? 200. I don't know if I'll ever get that many people to vote on a poll here so long as I'm around...

In any case, thanks again to everyone who volunteered their information, anonymous as it was. I appreciate it and hope you'll vote again in the future. More polls are certainly to come.

Anywho!

Book Review Up: Spellwright by Blake Charlton

I've been reading a lot more fantasy than I would like lately, but so be it. Here's my review of Charlton's debut novel. It's an interesting read, and I think Charlton has potential, but there are some issues here or there. Read the review for yourself.

Anywho! What have you all been reading?

Poll and Giveaway Reminder

There's only one more day left to vote before the poll I'm running on the left sidebar ends. If you haven't popped in and given your vote yet, I'd appreciate it if you could. Right now the numbers are about even between male and female. I'm hoping that is representative of my actual readership, but having more votes could definitely solidify the results. So, please come onto the main site and take two seconds to click an option on the poll on the left. Thanks!

Also, for those that haven't entered yet, I am giving away three copies of Darren Shan's new adult dark urban fantasy novel, Procession of the Dead. The giveaway is here and it's really easy to enter.

Anywho!

Reader Question: Have you ever been squirrel fishing and, if so, how much did you enjoy it?

Once again someone has asked me a very intriguing question on Formspring, which I intend to answer here.

I must admit that I have not been squirrel fishing before, but I have managed to actively participate in the next best thing. You see, many years ago, I was part of MARTI (that is, Mankind Against the Regional Tamias Invasion). Our purpose was, essentially, to keep at bay the impending enslavement of mankind by chipmunks, something they had been planning for centuries. They were so patient and diligent at making this goal a reality that they had managed to pull most of the rodent population under their command, with the exception of the rats--who were smart enough to realize that humanity had basically made it possible for them to survive the Darvasti Plague of 443 R.C.P. (rodent century prime; roughly 25,000 B.C.E. in human years). But the chipmunks had a lot of power and influence.
You might be shocked to learn that most human wars were actually fought over chipmunks, and not the various other things that have been cited. Unfortunately, chipmunks have so infected the historical database by buying off historians that it is impossible to tell the difference between fiction and reality anymore. On top of this, the chipmunks were excellent stockpilers, having learned just about every trick from their ancestors--and their cousins, the squirrels (even a few tricks were picked up from the marsupials, who, oddly enough, never joined the chipmunks, but did try to wage their own war against the mice over recent invasions of the Australian mainland). The chipmunks knew how to hide a full-sized tank right under your nose and they had mountains and mountains of weapons. They'd even discovered how to manipulate human brains, which resulted in a few dozen human males under the direct authority of Chhtchkttch Grtchtkhk, the then dictator of the Chipmunk Empire. The plan ended in disaster for them, but that's another story.
That said, when I was active in MARTI, I had the opportunity to go chipmunk fishing, which is a very strange practice where a nut or a piece of very thick break is jammed over a hook, hiding it within, and then dropped down a hole via a line attached to a reeling machine. When the chipmunk bites down and tries to run off with the bait, the machine is turned on, which jams the hook into the chipmunk's mouth and drags the little beast at about forty-five miles per hour out of the hole. They are typically caught by another person who wears a very large catcher's mitt. This whole process is then repeated. On a good night, we caught forty-seven.

If anyone intends to go chipmunk fishing in the future, feel free to send me an email asking for some tips. Not many people can do it well and it does take a lot of practice.

Now I'm going to throw the question to you. Have you ever been squirrel fishing?

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If you'd like to ask me a question about science fiction, fantasy, books, writing, or whatever (anonymously, even), feel free to ask on my Formspring page or via email at arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com (or as a comment).

The Skiffy and Fanty Show #5 is Live!

If you all are interested in listening to the latest episode, it's now available here. We interview the creators of Universal Dead, a new zombie webshow, and talk about a crazy Twilight fan letter that's been circulating on the net, among other things.

Anywho!

Reader Question: What is the best way to explain foreign technology in science fiction?

This question was sent to me anonymously via my Formspring profile. After thinking about it for a while, I've come to the realization that it's not exactly an easy one to answer. There are no hard-set rules for how to deal with description and explanation in fiction, particularly in science fiction. People try to say that there are, but any time someone comes up with a writing rule that is rigid and absolute, rather than usually right, but reasonably flexible, you should know you're dealing with a bad piece of advice. "Show, don't tell," for example, is not absolute, yet it is told as if it is. This question is very much related to that, and I'm going to try to answer it based on my experience as a writer and as a reader, since what works and doesn't work is, for me, tied up in both.

Explaining technology, specifically technology that is foreign to the reader, is not an easy task primarily because how you can or should explain will depend very much on the situation. For example, typically one explains something in one of the following three ways:

--Telling It
Literally writing "it does this," but, preferably, in more eloquent prose.

--Showing It
Describing the thing in action. For example, instead of saying how a toaster works, the author would simply show it doing what it was designed to do. A simple example, but the point easily applies to anything else.

--By Comparison
You can apply comparison to "telling" or "showing." By using a comparison you are essentially saying that your new-fangled thing is similar to this old thing, but different because of X, Y, and Z, perhaps implicitly or explicitly.

All three of these types have their place in science fiction (and fiction in general), and any writer can make all of them work. While the universal rule has always been "show, don't tell," trying to show too much can be just as annoying as trying to tell too much. It's a balance issue.

If you have a new technology present in a scene, but have no reason to show that thing in action (perhaps because it isn't integral to the plot), then you should avoid telling or showing it at all. But if you need the main character to know what something does before s/he uses it, then you can't avoid telling the audience what's what. The rule about telling really should be: use it sparingly. If you can show it, then do so. If you can't without bogging down the story, then don't. "Show, don't tell" really only applies in its most rigid sense when you are talking about action. You always want to avoid telling in action. You can bring in emotions and brief snippets of things, but the reason why writers say to avoid telling is because it typically bogs down action, which is not a good thing when you want your reader to be engrossed in what is going on.

The last from the list above is one that gets used from time to time, but never really discussed. Depending on the situation, using a comparison is very much a form of telling, but it can be done in a way that a) doesn't bog down the story, and b) keeps things brief and to the point. For example, instead of describing how a futuristic printing press works, you can simply make a comparison between the presses of today and note, briefly, the differences (similes and metaphors are a must). Simpler versions use old terms with a modifier (laser toaster; you know what it does and how just by the title--a ridiculous example, sure, but it gets the point across). This method isn't used often and really doesn't apply to very complicated processes or systems, particularly if your audience doesn't know those systems, but it can be very effective.

Ultimately, if you don't have to tell how something works, or even describe it, then don't. If there's no reason for it, then that's really the only response you should have. If you do have to describe something, however, then consider how it would be best to do so; the more complicated of a system/process it is, the less likely you can reduce it to an info-dump without pulling your readers out of the story. This applies to all forms of fiction.

In the end, the best way to deal with this is to come to terms with whether you have to describe it. Don't waste space doing something you don't need to do.

What about you? If you've found ways to deal with this, let me know in the comments!

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If you'd like to ask me a question about science fiction, fantasy, books, writing, or whatever (anonymously, even), feel free to ask on my Formspring page.

Giveaway: Procession of the Dead by Darren Shan (3 copies)

Guess what? I have three copies to give away of the U.S. edition of Darren Shan's new book, Procession of the Dead!

Most of you will remember Mr. Shan as the author of the Cirque du Freak vampire novels (which recently hit the big screen) and The Demonata Series. Procession of the Dead, however, is his first adult novel and part of a trilogy called The City. It debuted in the United States on June 4th from Grand Central Publishing. You can find out more about Darren Shan and his books on his website.

Details about the giveaway are at the bottom of this post (contest is international). Here's the cover image (after the fold):
About the Book:

The City trilogy is a noirish, gritty urban fantasy for adults from the bestselling author otherwise known as Darren Shan. Quick-witted and cocksure, young upstart Capac Raimi arrives in the City determined to make his mark. As he learns the tricks of his new trade from his Uncle Theo -- extortion, racketeering, threatening behaviour -- he’s soon well on his way to becoming a promising new gangster. Then he crosses paths with The Cardinal, and his life changes forever. The Cardinal is the City and the City is The Cardinal. They are joined at the soul. Nothing moves on the streets, or below them, without the Cardinal’s knowledge. His rule is absolute. As Capac begins to discover more about the extent of the Cardinal’s influence on his own life he is faced with hard choices. And as his ambition soars ever higher he will learn all there is to know about loss, and the true cost of ultimate power!

Here's the author talking about the U.S. release:

About Darren Shan:
Darren Shan was born in London but at an early age he moved to Limerick, Ireland, with his parents and younger brother. He is a New York Times bestselling author. An extended biography can be found on Mr. Shan's website.

Giveaway Details:
Anyone may enter, unless you live somewhere where I cannot ship the books, like the bottom of the ocean or the Moon. Otherwise, it's open worldwide.

To enter to win a copy of Procession of the Dead you may do any of the following things:
1. Leave a general comment (you can say anything you like)(if your email is not attached to your profile, then leave a way to contact you)
2. Leave a comment telling me a weird, bizarre, scary, or downright creepy thing that you have seen or done (it can be anything, just tell me about it, briefly or at length; you can even make something up)(again, please make sure I have a way to contact you)
3. Send an email to arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com with the subject line as "Darren Shan" (you can put whatever you like in the email)

The first two winners will be selected at random from a list of all entries. The third winner, however, will be selected based on the most entertaining response to the 2nd option above.

Additional entries:
--Follow this blog on Google (the follow widget is on the right-hand side)(+1 to follow; +1 if you already follow)
--Subscribe to this blog via RSS, Email, or the Kindle (links on the right; let me know which or if you already subscribe)(+1 to subscribe or be subscribed)
--Tweet about this giveaway with @shaunduke in the message (+1)
--Blog about this giveaway (provide a link in your comment)(+1)
--Share this giveaway via Stumbleupon, Digg, or any other social network (+1 for each; provide links)

Contest runs until June 25th, 2010. As long as it's still the 25th for you, you can still enter.

Thanks and good luck!

Video Found: Oedipe (Short Film)

I was actually quite surprised by this little eight minute animation. It has the cute hilarity of a Pixar short and a strong animation style that reminds me of what Disney's Hercules would look like if it had been CG instead of standard animation. I found myself laughing while watching it. Make sure to watch the credits, because there are a few cute bits there!

You can find out more about the film on its website.

And without further delay, here it is (after the fold):

Thanks to SF Signal for finding this one.

Excerpt of The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson Released (New Series)

Brandon Sanderson, the author who took over Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, has a new series in the works called The Stormlight Archive, the first book of which, The Way of Kings, will hit your shelves on August 31st, 2010! The best part, however, is that you can read the first three chapters for free on Tor.com (along with a prelude and introduction by the author)! All you have to do is head on over to this link and sign in or sign up (it's free to join Tor.com). More information about the series will become available here. More information after the fold:
About the Book:
The Way of Kings is the first book in a ten-book epic fantasy series. The publicist who brought this book to my attention had this to say:

Here is a world with historical depths to rival Tolkien, a deep and compelling cast of characters to rival Jordan, and a complex and involving story with all the head-spinning twists and surprises the young fantasy master has become known for. Sanderson’s unique gifts for imaginative landscapes and distinctive systems of magic and technology have never been more apparent. THE WAY OF KINGS is an ambitious and immersive first novel in a series that could ultimately redefine the fantasy landscape.

And the back cover apparently reads as follows (from Amazon):

Widely acclaimed for his work completing Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga, Brandon Sanderson now begins a grand cycle of his own, one every bit as ambitious and immersive.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan’s motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths,

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

Sounds interesting. I hope there's as much detail in the world as this seems to indicate.
Author Bio:

Brandon Sanderson is the New York Times bestselling author of The Hero of Ages and Warbreaker. He is currently completing Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. He also teaches at Brigham Young University, where he earned a master's degree in creative writing. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he lives in Utah with his wife and two children.

And that's all I've got right now. Sounds interesting. I've never read anything by Sanderson before, but this one has grabbed my interest for sure. What about you?

European Science Fiction: More Serious Than American SF?

I've been mulling over a quote I found over at io9 some months back from Franz Rottensteiner, a European editor of science fiction. When I first read it, I found myself disagreeing almost immediately, and only recently have I managed to disentangle that incredibly nationalistic "but America is awesome" reaction from the things I actually have a problem with. First, I'll give you the quote:

I think that the great difference between the mass of American SF and the (very rare) European masterpieces is their degree of seriousness, moral seriousness. Best exemplified perhaps by Frederik Pohl's "Gateway" novels and the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic. Roadside Picnic is in essence an existential novel about fighting on and keeping your moral integrity in a corrupt world where life is constant fight for survival. Pohl's novels are simply about winning in the lottery, hitting the jackpot. It may cost your life, but the rewards for winning are tremendous, and the universe is full of gifts. The Strugatskys adopt fairy tale motifs, but their stories are the realistic ones, and Pohl's the fairy tales.

Let's get realistic with numbers before I try to address what I think is a gross oversight on the part of Rottensteiner:

--The Publishing Industry in the United States brought in roughly $35.7 billion of net revenue in 2006.

--Following the United States (in 2006) were Japan (about $10.7 billion), China (about $4-5 billion), the United Kingdom (about $3.6 billion), and somewhere in the mix is Germany (I couldn't find an exact number). In 2006, the Federation of European Publishers, using figures from twenty-six national associations of publishers, reported that the total net revenue from the publishing industry of Europe was about $27.8 billion.

--Popular fiction makes up around 55% of what is purchased (which explains why popular fiction, in all its forms, has so much of a presence in bookstores).

When I looked at all of that and then re-read what Rottensteiner said about American SF, a few things popped into my mind:

a) On some level he's probably right. When you consider the issue of mass production, most of what comes out of the U.S. is what you might call popcorn or fluff literature. That's not to say that those titles aren't good reads or without value, just that the content of their pages is not what most would consider to be of "literary value" (however you determine that).

b) "Serious" is a very subjective concept. For some people, gambling may very well be a serious affair, and reading a book about characters gambling with their lives or money or whatever, regardless of the setting, could produce the same impact on that individual as a character study in novel format might on someone who reads fiction for substance.

Rottensteiner's argument, however, has one fatal flaw: he's comparing the mass of American SF to what he very clearly states are the rare European masterpieces. With that kind of logic, it's easy to make any kind of blanket statement about the publishing industry of another country or continent. For example, if you look at the split of fiction by language in Europe, it becomes very clear that English is not in the majority in terms of overall size. Only about 21% of sales are for titles in English in Europe, which is beat out only slightly by titles written in German. Collected together, 79% of sales in Europe are for books not written in English. If you take the very generalized route that Rottensteiner takes, then we could assume that the majority of all books in Europe are of no interest to Americans simply because they are not written in English, and, thus, Europeans are, by default, very disinterested in having their work read abroad. A ridiculous argument, to say the least. But, even if you set all this aside and take Rottensteiner's argument for what it is trying to say, the whole thing simply falls apart.

One can't possibly make the argument that European SF is more serious than American SF without immediately coming off as somewhat ignorant (or maybe extremely ignorant). This is like saying that American film is not serious simply because everyone goes to fun blockbusters like Transformers, which inevitably become representative of the industry, even though they aren't. What about authors like Neal Stephenson, Jeff VanderMeer, Ursula K. Le Guin, John Crowley, Samuel R. Delany, Jonathan Lethem, Cormac McCarthy, Mary Doria Russell, and the dozens and dozens of others in the U.S. who are writing "literary" SF? These people aren't names people recognize because they're unimportant to the genre. They're names because they've provided something to the genre that Star Wars novels have yet to do: a kind of original, well-crafted, well-written, beyond-pop supremacy that makes the genre so diverse and great.

It all seems rather silly to say that somehow American SF is less serious than European SF. Maybe it seems that way when you look at the body of science fiction literature that has come out of Europe and made its mark in America. If you look at just that, then, yes, of course European SF looks remarkably serious by comparison. But that's like saying that translated fiction in the U.S. is somehow representative of the publishing industries of other countries, which is something that anyone with a few braincells knows is ridiculous. American SF may very well have a vibrant popcorn fiction market, but it has an equally powerful and vibrant non-popcorn streak too, and it's only invisible if you're not really looking.

Sources:The io9 Article
Parapublishing Book Industry Statistics
European Book Publishing Statistics (pdf)
The Field of Japanese Publishing (pdf)

P.S.: I've taken the liberty of using current (as of 6/9/10) currency rates to figure out the dollar equivalent of the various figures listed above. Those rates were likely different at the time of the report and at the time of sales, so there are obviously some discrepancies present in this post.

P.S.S.: I would love to include statistics for the number of books published in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, but I currently don't have the time, nor the resources, to disentangle all of the factors that play a part in those numbers (for example, cutting out reprints and books originally published in one country, and then brought over and published by the foreign arm of the same publishing company, such as what happens between the U.S. and the U.K., and so on).

P.S.S.S.: I'm not saying that Star Wars novels don't add something to the genre or aren't well-written. I'm simply saying that Star Wars novels are not, as of right now, going to influence school curriculum or change how we think about genre fiction. They will absolutely change how we think about Star Wars and the movies and so on, but that's a different thing entirely.

Poll: Gender Breakdown (Still Need Votes!)

Dear Readers (that's you!),

I've had about thirty of you vote on my poll about the gender of those who read this blog, but I could definitely use some more. There's about a week left on the poll and if you could take ten seconds to pop onto the main page and vote on the left-hand side, that would be fantastic! There are about 400 of you reading, so getting closer to 100 would awesome.

Anywho. Thanks for your time and thanks for reading!

Review Copies: Random Gender Distribution or Directed Traffic?

Recently I've been having a discussion on my podcast and elswhere on the Internet about the problem of gender balance in fiction, particularly the anthology that sparked a bit of a controversy a couple of weeks ago. One thing that has come to my attention due to that discussion and due to the list I posted the other day is that my own reading has been heavily skewed towards the male end of the spectrum. Why? It's not a conscious or subconscious choice. Most of my reading is for school, so by default much of what I read are "classics" or subjects that are, unfortunately, heavily male. The other side of this, however, is something I want to talk about here: review copies.

Looking back at all the books I have received for review, I can honestly say that only a dozen of those titles have been by women (not a terrible number, but also not ideal). On the one hand, I am very grateful to publishers who have been gracious enough to send me books for review, firstly because I have been exposed to a number new and amazing writers, male and female, and secondly because I like free books. On the other hand, however, I find it very curious that so many of the books I have received have been by male authors. Strangely enough, most of what I receive for review are fantasy novels, which is rather female heavy--at least, when you compare it to science fiction.

This has raised a few questions:
--Does my gender have something to do with what publishers decide to send me? Tor, for example, publishes a lot of books every year, and obviously can't send them all to me, knowing that I can't possibly read them all. So, they have to decide which books to send to me, and which books not to. Does my gender play into that?

--Are certain publishers more male heavy than others? I know that men publish more SF than women (and I imagine that's true of fantasy as well), but is it possible that certain publishers are more male heavy than others, and push male authors over female ones? I don't think that's necessarily true, but it's a question I asked myself anyway.

--Who are the new SF/F female writers in the field right now? Not folks who have been at it for a decade, but folks who have only begun publishing novels in the last year. Who are they and do they matter to the genre? If not, why not or why should they? I'm asking this not because I think women don't matter to the genre, but because I'm curious if they have an impact on genre right now or if they are sort of hidden in the shadows.

Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on this, or am I just talking to myself in the corner?

Promo Bits: Go Mutants! by Larry Doyle

Matt Staggs recently brought this book to my attention, and I thought you all would be interested in checking it out. The book also has an interesting website. Here's the cover (after the fold):
And here's info about the book:

GO MUTANTS:
What if the movies that glowed from drive-in screens from the '50s and '60s weren't fantasies but really happened? In Go, Mutants!, Larry Doyle has created a world populated with the monsters, aliens, and mutants of B-movie legend, with all the beach parties, dances, fist fights, and hotrod races of classic teen dramas. An unforgettable era of pop culture is brought to life in an uproarious mash-up filled with Romance! Danger! Intergalactic Conspiracy! Molting!

Earth has survived alien invasions, attacks by hordes of atomic mutants and the ravages of dinosaurs brought back to life. Now we're in the blissful future. The grass is always green, freshly mowed by famous robots. Carhops in jetpacks deliver burger and fries to your atomic coupe. And automatic sidewalks can take you anywhere: the Watch the Skies Drive-in, Crater Cove, and Manhattan High, where everybody roots for the Mutants.

J!m, the son of the alien who nearly destroyed the planet, is a brooding blue-skinned rebel with an enormous forehead and exceptionally oily skin. Along with Johnny, a leather-jacketed radioactive ape, and Jelly, a gelatinous mass passing as a fat kid, J!m navigates a scary adolescence in which he really is as alienated as he feels, the world might actually be out to get him, and true love is complicated by misunderstanding and incompatible parts. As harmless school antics escalate into explosive events with tragic consequences, J!m makes a discovery that will alter the course of civilization, though it may help his dating life.

You can find Go Mutants! for pre-order on Amazon and The Book Depository.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show #4 is Live!

For those of you interested, the fourth episode of my podcast with Weirdside is up. We talk about the genderfail issue of last week's episode again (sort of), new science fiction magazines, Realms of Fantasy, and magical realism. Let us know what you think; we're always interested in hearing from listeners, regular or otherwise.

You can stream it or download it here.

Meme: Women in Science Fiction

John Ottinger over at Grasping For the Wind posted a meme yesterday based on Sandra McDonald's periodic table of women in science fiction. Since I've recently been talking about women in science fiction with Weirdside on our podcast, I thought it would be fun to do this meme here. I'll put my stats at the bottom of the list with a brief comment.

(One thing to note: I own a lot of books and it's entirely possible that some of the folks below should be bolded who are not. I can't remember all of the books I own; there are just too darn many.)

The meme:

Bold the women by whom you own books
Italicize those by whom you’ve read something of (short stories count)
*Star those you don’t recognize

Andre Norton
C. L. Moore
Evangeline Walton*
Leigh Brackett
Judith Merril*
Joanna Russ
Margaret St. Clair*
Katherine MacLean*
Carol Emshwiller
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Zenna Henderson*
Madeline L’Engle
Angela Carter
Ursula LeGuin
Anne McCaffrey
Diana Wynne Jones
Kit Reed
James Tiptree, Jr.
Rachel Pollack*
Jane Yolen
Marta Randall*
Eleanor Arnason*
Ellen Asher
Patricia A. McKillip
Suzy McKee Charnas*
Lisa Tuttle
Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Tanith Lee
Pamela Sargent*
Jayge Carr*
Vonda McIntyre
Octavia E. Butler
Kate Wilhelm
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Sheila Finch*
Mary Gentle
Jessica Amanda Salmonson*
C. J. Cherryh
Joan D. Vinge
Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Ellen Kushner
Ellen Datlow
Nancy Kress
Pat Murphy
Lisa Goldstein
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Mary Turzillo*
Connie Willis
Barbara Hambly
Nancy Holder*
Sheri S. Tepper
Melissa Scott
Margaret Atwood
Lois McMaster Bujold
Jeanne Cavelos
Karen Joy Fowler
Leigh Kennedy
Judith Moffett
Rebecca Ore*
Emma Bull
Pat Cadigan
Kathyrn Cramer
Laura Mixon*
Eileen Gunn
Elizabeth Hand
Kij Johnson
Delia Sherman
Elizabeth Moon
Michaela Roessner*
Terri Windling
Sharon Lee
Sherwood Smith
Katherine Kurtz
Margo Lanagan
Laura Resnick
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Sheila Williams
Farah Mendlesohn
Gwyneth Jones
Ardath Mayhar*
Esther Friesner*
Debra Doyle*
Nicola Griffith
Amy Thomson*
Martha Wells*
Catherine Asaro
Kate Elliott
Kathleen Ann Goonan
Shawna McCarthy
Caitlin Kiernan
Maureen McHugh
Cheryl Morgan
Nisi Shawl
Mary Doria Russell
Kage Baker
Kelly Link
Nancy Springer
J. K. Rowling
Nalo Hopkinson
Ellen Klages
Tananarive Due
M. Rickert*
Theodora Goss
Mary Anne Mohanraj
S. L. Viehl
Jo Walton
Kristine Smith
Deborah Layne*
Cherie Priest
Wen Spencer
K. J. Bishop
Catherynne M. Valente
Elizabeth Bear
Ekaterina Sedia
Naomi Novik
Mary Robinette Kowal
Ann VanderMeer

The breakdown is like this:
--Total authors on the list: 117
--Authors I have never heard of: 25 (21.4%)
--Authors whose work I own: 49 (41.9%)
--Authors whose work I've read: 18 (15.4%)
--Authors whose work I've never read: 99 (84.6%)

Alright, so here's what I think about all of this.

1. While I only own work for 49 of the authors listed above, I also own multiple books by the majority of them. I am well on my way to owning everything Nalo Hopkinson and Kage Baker have ever written, have a dozen Andrew Norton novels, and quite a few from many others on the list.

2. I'm rather shocked that I don't own work for many of the big name authors on the list. I may have to check my library to make sure I'm not forgetting things.

3. Of the 18 authors whose work I have read, many of them I have read multiple times. I've read two Kage Baker novels, at least four Elizabeth Bear ones, two by Jo Walton, and a number of Le Guin and Butler titles.

4. A lot of female authors I have read do not appear on this list, such as: Susan Beth Pfeffer, Jennifer Rahn, Chris Moriarty, Kay Kenyon, and Mary Shelley.

5. I really would like to read more of the authors on this list. This has been an issue for me for two reasons: the first is that I receive very few female authors in either science fiction and fantasy to review; the second is that most of the female authors I have read are either fantasy authors or authors of other genres; and the third is that I don't have as much time for free reading as I would like, which inevitably means I don't get to read more diversely. I am hoping to solve the last of these issues, though, and maybe I'll get the opportunity to read more female authors in the future. We'll see. Right now, things are looking pretty crowded.

6. After all is said and done, I do think I may have to be a little more proactive in diversifying my reading, not just in terms of gender, but in terms of race as well. I've said as much before, but this is making it a little more clear for me. I've also said in the past that my non-diverse reading is not at all intentional, nor subconscious, which is perhaps made clear by the fact that many of the women I have read on this list are folks I came to organically, enjoyed, and continue to read.

And that's the end of that. I'm curious how the numbers look for everyone else, though. Let me know in the comments.

Webshow Review: Universal Dead (Ep. 1 and 2)

The web has proven to be a great place for amateur and accomplished filmmakers to showcase their talent. Joss Whedon gave us Dr. Horrible; Felicia Day and her pals gave us The Guild; and Sandeep Parikh gave us The Legend of Neil. Now comes Vernon Mortenson's Universal Dead, a novel attempt at a zombie-apocalypse webshow featuring D. B. Sweeney (Fire in the Sky, Jericho), Gary Graham (Alien Nation, Star Trek Enterprise), Doug Jones (Fantastic Four 2, Hellboy 2), and a crew of real life military men (one Marine and four Navy SEALs).

The story is set in the near future after a strange infection or disease has devastated the world. It follows Dr. Macavoy (Graham), a scientist with the CDC who has been brought out by Captain Trent (Sweeney) to a quarantined San Diego to see a presentation by Dr. Vataber (Jones) that, we're led to believe, will change how the CDC and everyone else views the "infected." The first two episodes very clearly establish a number of conflicts: the personal conflict between Trent and Vataber, the rational vs. irrational conflict between the more scientific Macavoy and the more mystical Vataber, and the physical threat of the "infected" outside the walls of San Diego.

Right from the start, Universal Dead gets a huge thumbs up for its cast. I loved Fire in the Sky, my grandma turned me on to Alien Nation when I was younger, and the fact that there are real military men playing, well, military men is definitely a major plus. How Mortenson managed to get all of these folks is beyond me (in an email he indicated that everyone is doing this for next to nothing in terms of payment, which I think is really a fantastic thing to do for a young filmmaker). There isn't much chemistry between the various cast members yet, but I think this has more to do with the fact that the first two episodes show only about eight minutes of actual story, which hasn't given us the conflict we know and hope is coming (it's a zombie story; let's face it, we all know what we want and expect). I think the personal conflicts and the impending social/political/physical conflict will flare bright in the next few episodes. Here's hoping something great comes out of the wait.

Visually, Universal Dead takes a page from past and present-day zombie films, particularly in terms of cinemetography. While the makeup and set designs are sparse, which might be a weak aspect of the film, the way the film relies on simple shots, rather than overly complex, and perhaps out of place ones, is effective and doesn't make the show into something it shouldn't or can't be. I think the folks behind this production know what their limitations are and are using what they have at their disposal to produce the best thing they can without overwhelming the story or losing focus.

Universal Dead, of course, is not without flaws. While the aforementioned aspects are imperfect, there are some other things that I think are worth mentioning. First, some of the acting is a little uneven. I think Jones and Graham are the strongest of the cast, but each have a few lines that are said either a little forcefully or that are not received well by the other actors. I think this is something that will correct itself as the story progresses, but I do think it is something that is holding show back from meeting the bar set by webshows like Dr. Horrible. Second, I think the 4 minute episode length is far too short, particularly when it takes a week or more between episodes. The length of the episodes and the length between them makes each new episode feel very much like how one feels when the networks show you four episodes of a new show, and then give you nothing for two months, by which time you've sort of forgotten what the heck happened or lost interest. The only good thing about the length of the episodes is that it doesn't take that much time to catch up, which is not at all true of regular length television shows.

Still, while I don't think Universal Dead is a perfect webshow, it has a lot of potential and I will keep watching. I love zombie films, and I have to be honest about something: after only two episodes, I think Universal Dead is thousands of times better than the absolutely dreadful Land of the Dead. No joke. There are no intelligent zombies that make really annoying groans and absolutely no hamfisted political messages. I also think the inclusion of a government official who takes a rational approach to the situation is very realistic; adamantly referring to the "undead" as the "infected," even if there is no proof of an infection, is exactly how I would expect top scientists to react in the real world.

Universal Dead is definitely worth checking out. If you've got the time, give the first two episodes a shot: