Question: What happens when laser pistols are everywhere?

The question is actually more complicated than the title suggests.  It reads as follows:

In a science fiction world where guns can be made of deadly lasers, pew pew pew, that you'd have to move at the speed of light to avoid, would there be a need for guns? I mean, if you got mad at someone and whipped out your laser gun, they could be dead before they heard the gun go off, sonic boom style. So... why guns?

I take as the underlying assumption here that such guns use realistic laser technology and not the sort of thing we see in science fiction from practically everything written in the 30s, 40s, and 50s to Star Wars to even the absolutely gorgeous trailer for the film adaptation of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas.  In other words, lasers that likely make less noise than contemporary guns, have

Question: Why does fantasy default to pseudo-medieval?

It's an obsession.  The contemporary fantasy genre has been making sweet, soft, dirty love to vaguely medieval Western cultures for almost a century now.  You can tell because the two have made so many degenerate babies that the bookshelves are full with them.  Some of them are more degenerate than others, taking those medieval Western cultures as mere background rather than as setting.  Others are clearly the product of a well-managed, passionate marriage (or other applicable union).

Joking aside, the reason for the clinging behavior of fantasy has more to do with the heritage of colonialism than it does with anything else.  The last 400 years of empires, scientific racism, hierarchical anthropology, and so on have created a deep link within our conscious and subconscious minds that privileges the West.  At some point in our cultural history, we started calling some "ancient cultures" by a new name:  "primitive."  Thus, Rome became the pinnacle of the West, despite also being an "ancient culture," and all those non-Western cultures, from Africa to Asia to the Americas, became "primitive."  "Primitive" ceased to mean "old, dead culture" and

Bad Worlds, Bad Language, and Worldbuilding Gone Bad

Recently, I've been reading Star Carrier Book One:  Earth Strike by Ian Douglas.  I was intrigued by the epic military SF setting and decided to plow into it.  What begins as a solid piece of action writing, however, quickly dissolves into a linguistic nightmare in the first chapter written from an alien POV.  In this chapter, Douglas stops using standard words for time or distance and instead opts for a series of nearly incomprehensible terms:  mr'uum, g'nyuu'm, g'nya, g'nyurm, and lurm'm. 

I'm not sure what these terms actually mean, nor do I care to find out.  What annoys me about them isn't just that they are incomprehensible, but that no other vaguely scientific (or intensely scientific, for that matter) elements are written in this way.  Douglas is careful to avoid turning all

Stina Leicht Auction Winner: Brent Bowen! (a.k.a. @daemonrange )

The title says it all.  Brent Bowen took the winning bid on a signed/personalized copy of Stina Leicht's amazing second novel, And Blue Skies From Pain, at a very reasonable $40.  That means he gets:

1. Stina's book
2. A personalized collection of short stories by me
3. A pre-order for Edison Crux's Tales of the Wisconsin Werewolf
4. An internet hug

Congratulations to Brent.  And, of course, a huge thank you to both Brent and Stina for the help!  A+

If you still want to help out and get some free stuff, that would be awesome.  Details here.

Crowdfunding Update: Stina Leicht Auction and New Perks from Edison Crux

New things are happening with my attempt to get financial help from the public to replace my busted laptop.  In particular, two wonderful people have offered up books to help with donations.  Details to follow:

#1 Auction:  And Blue Skies From Pain by Stina Leicht (signed/personalized)

Author Stina Leicht has kindly offered a signed/personalized copy of her latest novel to help me out.  Those familiar with her work will know she's an amazing writer.  Those who aren't should check out the interviews over at The Skiffy and Fanty Show (there are two).  Either way, this is a wonderful thing for her to do for me.

How the auction will work:

1. Bidding will start at $15 (the cost of the book).
2. You may up the bid by leaving a comment on this page (please provide a contact email).  Any increment is fine.
3. The auction will run until Monday (July 23, 2012) at 11:59 PM.
4. The winner will be announced shortly thereafter and contacted for shipping details, which I will forward to Stina.  If you want your book personalized, let me know in the email.  All you do at that point is send your bid amount to arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com and a magic book will be on its way to you.

It's that simple.  Bidding starts right now.  I will keep track of all bids at the top of this page.

You can learn more about And Blue Skies From Pain here.

By bidding, you will automatically receive a collection of short stories from me (see the details about my general funding project and perks here).  There are also other perks for winning bids of $50 or more.

Additionally, if you donate or have a winning bid of $20 or more, you will be eligible for the following perk:

#2 Perk:  Edison Crux Pre-Orders for Tale of the Wisconsin Werewolf

Anyone who donates (or has donated) $20 or more will receive a copy of Crux's upcoming novel at release.  The novel is based on urban legends from the Elkhorn, Wisconsin.  Sounds pretty interesting to me.

Donations are easy enough:  Paypal + arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com + $20 (or more) = Pre-order of Tale of the Wisconsin Werewolf.  And, of course, doing so means you receive those free short stories, and larger donations still include lots of other nifty stuff.

And that about does it.  Start bidding!

Sneak Peak: Alphas (Season Two)!

The marketing long arm of Syfy recently pointed me in the direction of these great sneak peaks into the second season of their hit show, Alphas (starring David Strathairn, Ryan Carthwright, Malik Yoba, and many others).  I must admit that I haven't been able to watch the show, being a poor graduate student who simply cannot afford cable, but I am quite intrigued and may have to check out the first season on DVD.

A bit about the show:

The second season of Syfy's hit series Alphas returns Monday, July 23 at 10PM ET/PT with a deep roster of guest stars. New this season are Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Rudy), C. Thomas Howell (Southland), Lauren Holly (NCIS), Steve Byers (Immortals, Total Recall), Kandyse McClure (Battlestar Galactica) and Noah Reid (Rookie Blue). Summer Glau (Dollhouse, Firefly) who was a fan favorite last season playing an Alpha, Skylar Adams, will return for three episodes.

The new season picks up eight months after last year’s stunning season finale with the stage set for an explosive turn of events at the Binghamton facility (the Guantanamo of the Alpha world) that could have devastating, far-reaching consequences. Dr. Lee Rosen, having exposed the existence of Alphas to the unsuspecting public, finds himself discredited and imprisoned by a government desperate to cover up his stunning revelation. Some of the team have disbanded and without Dr. Rosen’s care and guidance, have regressed to their old, destructive ways. They must now battle their individual demons, reunite and try to save their own.

For those of you who have been watching, the following clips should get you salivating for the upcoming season!


Who is going to watch?

My PhD Reading List -- For the Exams of Doom

Obviously, I'm in this thing called a PhD program.  In English (not Creative Writing).  And that means I have to take a series of exams (half written component and half oral).  As such, it's necessary for me to have a reading list of primary and secondary texts (in my case, literature for the primary and theory/history/architecture for the secondary -- some English majors do it the other way around).

Before I give you the list, it might be important to tell you want I'm doing.  I am studying the spatial organization of empire in the Caribbean.  In other words, I want to know how empires constructed themselves as physical and social spaces and how that reflects in the literature of Caribbean peoples.  That's the short version anyway.

Now for the list: