Thread of Wonder, the next 5000 posts: science fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction 2021 and beyond

oh yeah - most of them are up at the open library (archive.org) too. i'm not too bothered about not paying royalties to dead authors.

Do they have his Jizzle?

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/iQYAAOSwl0dkpEvw/s-l500.jpg

They do have his jizzle but fadedpage has his third vibrator.

aren't we all, in some way, a servant of the wankh

https://i.imgur.com/qlHHRI7.jpg

in more inadvertant ledge catchup*: have just started Sea of Tranquility

(my spellchecker insisted that i use two l's last night when updating my xls, firefox doesn't seem to care)

*i think there's a big overlap in what we read, he tends to be more up to date

i skipped The Left Hand Of Darkness - read a dozen pages and it wasn't grabbing me

seems like a fairly hasty decision on one of the greatest sf works of all time but ok! I think I'll re-read it soon.

it's only the 19th and the Mandel is quite short, maybe there'll be time for it before the end of the month. it looks a lot like it's a f*****y novel though, with all the names and i can't be doing with that.

Le Guin's style seems kind of dry at first but once you get into the rhythm of it you really get sucked in, I find.

finished Sea of Tranquility and largely enjoyed it, but it wrapped up perhaps a bit too quickly and it just made me think la jetee / twelve monkeys

One of the most satisfying reads in the YA trade pb Unnatural Creatures ("Stories Selected by Neil Gaiman With Maria Dahvana Headley, Illustrated by Briony Morrow-Cribbs", is Nalo Hopkinson's "The Smile on the Face," which immediately zooms in on the mutabilty of early teens, with enormous changes coming anyway, often very quickly, with supernatural shit just adding to the noize, 'til it demonstrates the right to challenge that "just." Lots of levels coming at the peers in an unsupervised party, though assigned school reading is part of it.
Genius genesis liminal evocations of the same, among younger and fewer kids, seem to be via "The Manticore, The Mermaid, and Me, by choreographer-dancer Megan Kurashige, must try to find more by her ("Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Sybil's Garage, Strange Horizons, and Electric Velocopede," but no other books, by according to this one, published in 2013.)
There's also more to be read into 19th century magazine mainstay Frank R. Stockton's "The Griffin and The Minor Canon" than Gaiman's simple-minded introductory comments indicate, and I'll have to look up more by him too. Seems like "The Lady or the Tiger?" was kinda-boring gimmicky, though I prob read it when I was ten or so.
Another fave: "The Cockatoucan; Or, Great Aunt Willoughby, by E. Nesbit (1858-1924), the great writer for and to children: Matilda, in scratchy underthings and under spirit-crushing attention of her nanny. is bound for a visit with her grim Great-Aunt, but they take a wrong turn to a beautiful place where the nanny immediately gets turned into a vending machine, still dispensing admonitions, but at least they're silent. succinct (to fit on the cards), and you don't have to put coins in. The King gets turned into a sad villa, the Prime Minister into an unamused but still comic opera, and the Army into German sausages, but worse when a needy Sunday School, waaah!
However, Matilda gets brighter, temporarily (I like to think of this as a pre-parody of "Flowers For Algernon").
Saki's "Gabriel-Ernest" has an aunt-oppressed male, who seems prematurely middle-aged, dealing with a feral teen male, seemingly cluelessly fostered by said aunt. Very Saki elements, though this time kind of going through the dark motions (Saki set the bar where he set it)(said as a middle school Saki junkie).
Anthony Boucher's "The Compleat Werewolf" is a good, justifiably lengthy lope through mostly nocturnal Berkeley, and briefly elsewhere, during B-movie WWII. The first story I can recall reading by him. although his anthologies, incl. from his founding-editorial era at The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, made him one of my childhood heroes (Notes on Contributors here add that "He was also the first English translator of Jorge Luis Borges.")
Elegantly eerie, rather relentless finale, "Come Lady Death, " is sustained by Peter S/ Beagle.
Some other good stuff in here, along with ones I find a bit tiresome, and Samuel Delaney's "Prismatica" seems the most disappointing, because Delaney, although it's ok.

saki's irl aunts may have been awful but his misogyny is vile.

This one is more habitual than compulsive, and seems---defeatist? An odd choice, if one were going to choose any of his----

This is nonfiction about time travel theory but what a cover
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2907/14659189051_7f724d20a4_z.jpg

haven't purchased it because i am unemployed but this is now out and looks awesome: https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/worlds-beyond-time_9781419748691

so after Sea Of Tranquility i read Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? for the first time in 3 decades? and it was ok. (although the bits about Fordism i remembered weren't actually in there)

(finished off the month with a couple of JGBallard shorts from the huge two volume set and a couple of Aldis short stories from the first one of his)

(although the bits about Fordism i remembered weren't actually in there)

where were they? what were they?

I'm reading to sleep in a sea of stars by christopher paolini and so far there's a place called weyland, a character called henriksen and a 'ship mind' called bishop. ok then. (and an alien of course but non biological.)

The thing I always tell people about The Left Hand of Darkness is that the first half and the second half are very different. The first half is more dry and has a lot of worldbuilding but is essential to set up the second half, which is faster-paced and very much a story about people. If you are not super into politics and worldbuilding (as I am not), I strongly advise persevering with the book because you will probably feel very differently about the second half.

fordism, religion based on Henry ford and his manufacturing techniques. they worship a T (as in model t) instead of a cross.

(which sounds a lot like it should belong in a brave New world, maybe that's where i got it from)

yeah, BNW - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordism

I just finished The Lathe of Heaven and found it a very satisfying read both thematically and stylistically. The Left Hand of Darkness is on the list.

Oh, and hooray for Joanna Russ coming back into print.

Patti Perret - Faces Of Fantasy

Roughly a decade after Faces Of Science Fiction, this time with UK and Irish writers added to Americans, a great deal more women authors but even more light skinned. I think fantasy was at its peak of going into European history more rigorously, the peak of the renaissance fair-hey nonny nonny-celtic-horsegirl- aesthetics. Terri Windling writes a fairly comprehensive introduction to the genre and I think she was a very influential editor at this time.

Both Nancy Springer and Judith Tarr are pictured with their horses. Storm Constantine and Patricia Kennealy-Morrison look like rock stars (both of them did work in the music business). The general settings are more grassy and leafy, more of the writers look like they're trying to dress and live in places like their characters.

There's way more surprises in this book, more writers I had never seen before and many I'm just hearing about for the first time. Poppy Z Brite seems to be the only author best known for horror and I wonder why such a gritty and punky writer was chosen? J. P. Donleavy, Steve Stern and Joyce Carol Oates are here. There's a lot of famous children's authors who I imagine never hung out at fantasy conventions much. Evangeline Walton and Edward Whittemore appearing shortly before they passed away (Whittemore never got to submit a statement).

I'm not sure if this was as good a read as the previous book, maybe it eventually just got repetitive for me but I think a lot of the surprise appearances kind of make up for that and the photos are overall nicer. I'm a little sad Tanith Lee didn't make an appearance but I imagine they tried to get her.

I kept thinking it would be nice to have a new book like this but the geographic expansion would make this really difficult and social media has made this kind of book arguably redundant. Now you can see as much of your favourite authors' pets as you like.

Gave up on 'to sleep in a sea of stars', it was utterly devoid of character in the writing, setting, plot and er characters.

Michael Chabon recreates the sf&f section of his childhood bookstore:

https://✧✧✧.thre✧✧✧.n✧✧✧@mich✧✧✧.cha✧✧✧/post/CvVrj-TLIK7/
https://msha.ke/handmadeplaylists#the-shelves-of-time (scroll down for links)

that's not an email address you silly parser. https://www.threads.net/ (at) michael.chabon/post/CvVrj-TLIK7/

read ‘machinehood’ by s.b. divya

it’s the late 21st century and everyone lives in a gig/meme economy in which people need endless smart drugs to make them even vaguely competitive with computers

our heroine is a hyper-competent ex-commando who would gladly lay down her life for The American People but feels betrayed (if not Stabbed In The Back) by Politicians

someone issues a manifesto demanding equal rights for sentient machines, although no proof of sentience is available

there are various attacks around the world, all of which our heroine is present for

ultimately she must sacrifice herself by becoming basically a cyborg, which also for some reason grants her a satori

it’s fucking dire

> Michael Chabon recreates the sf&f section of his childhood bookstore:

what is beyond the 98MB link?

(the bloke resizes a 4000x3000 image into a space 1/25th that size on the page so i don't have a lot of faith in him)

what is beyond the 98MB link?

beyond? behind?

it's a hi res version of the small image you can see on the screen.

the small image i can see on screen is, if you open in new tab, 4000x3000

ah right, i couldn't open that in a new tab. the small one is a 16000x10000 jpg. the large one is the same res but a png.

^What alien tongue is this - where is my universal translator?

Charles Platt - Dream Makers Volume 1

Sometimes people will say how awfully SFF writers speak of each other these days, sometimes people say it was never really different decades ago, I saw this book series once used as an example. A lot of these writers knew each other so I wonder if some of them remained friends despite the criticisms but some of them really do trash each other.

There has been lots of different editions of the Dream Makers books, none of them complete, these 2021 editions leave out the Hank Stine (now Jean Marie Stine) and Andre Norton interviews with no explanation. But I'd urge you to get these newest editions because the new introduction and "historical context" afterwards to the interviews double or maybe even triple the substance and entertainment; Platt is able to say a lot of things now that he couldn't in the 80s and talk about his further relationships with the writers. I found some of the introduction and the afterwards about Disch, Bester and Brunner quite sad.
I already knew lots of bad things about Harlan Ellison but there's some truly appalling behaviour described here that I hadn't heard about before. Platt's criticisms of Damon Knight were very interesting too. But there's lots of funny stuff here too and almost everyone comes across like a really vivid character. A E Van Vogt is especially eccentric (and its nice to hear him talk about TJ Bass because I never hear anything about him). Algis Budrys was fascinating too.

A recurring subject is the increasing commercial pressures that were coming in with the late 70s and that has never really stopped. When people talk about the artistic freedom of the late 60s to the mid 70s, and the idea that it's been downhill since then, it's striking what a short period of time that was.

Getting a feel for Platt's sensibilities was interesting. Initially I knew about him only as a new waver who rubbed some people wrong but he's actually somewhere between new wave experimenter and golden age optimist, very idealistic about what science can still do for us. He was even disappointed about the extent of the backlash against John W Campbell.
He wanted to do a third Dream Makers book but he said no publisher would pay for this now and crowdfunding was probably too steep a challenge.

This book and the next were a real joy. Highest recommendation, lots of fun.

Charles Platt - Dream Makers Volume 2

The introduction in the first book serves for both of them so I'd urge you to get both.

There's more surprising interview choices in here (DM Thomas, William S Burroughs, Robert Anton Wilson, Alvin Toffler, L Ron Hubbard among them). The most likely criticism of these books is the small number of women, and Platt said he wasn't enthusiastic about some of the women writers his editor wanted but he still gets good interviews from them. His Tiptree interview in particular turned into something quite special, but I think she wasn't one of the editor's suggestions.

Keith Laumer's interview is a bizarre spectacle (with a sad reason behind some of that), but I now understand the puzzling photo of him in Patti Perret's Faces Of Science Fiction.

Janet Morris made a really strong impression and despite my distrust of some of her ideas (but there's plenty to disagree with from many of the writers, maybe even most of them), she's probably the author I was most excited to buy/read after reading these interviews (this is partly because she was one of the few I knew very little about).

If there's anything that makes this book slightly lesser than the first volume it's that several of the interviews in this volume don't have a "historical context" afterward, I guess he didn't have much new to say about those writers?

There's an interview at the end with Platt, he described the idea of people wanting to know more about him as a "strange urge" but I feel that urge and I'm enjoying his new autobiographies so far.

Buy both Dream Makers books, they're really great. Make sure you get the 2021 editions.

Just finished Player Of Games and enjoyed it, tore through the second half of the book. Was a little underwhelmed, though ... Azad is sold as the deepest, most sophisticated game of all time, and central to their culture. So I'm expecting some kind of complex plotting by the Empire beyond a few hapless assassination attempts. And sure the point was that for strategy and ruthlessness you can't beat the Culture, but eh.

xp -- I bought the first Dream Makers book when it came out and thought 'dang this is really heavy stuff.' Not long after that, Carter Scholz reviewed it for The Comics Journal, something along the lines of 'the only takeaway for aspiring sf writers is to give up now.' I sold my copy decades ago and have been thinking for a few months about re-acquiring.

Hey, Carter Scholz seems to have a new short story up here: https://slate.com/technology/2023/08/no-regrets-carter-scholz.html

Bonus points for the appearance of an ILX screenname

Those Dream Makers books have got my name on them.

I know I said it twice already but definitely make sure you get the 2021 editions, the new sections add a ton of substance. I was disappointed that Leiber, Vance and Morris didn't get afterwards sections.

There's a great part at the start of the Janet Morris interview when she talks to some cranky guy shouting in a bookstore. And Platt describes a fight he had with Ellison where they both grabbed each other and Platt said "I'm going to sit down now"

Kindle ebook has them

Some reviews say the formatting is bad

Not so bad.

Okay, Volume II formatting is really bad

I am reading Cordwainer Smith, THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF MANKIND: 1979 collection of stories 1958-63, it seems.

It seems that Smith formulated a vast intergalactic future history and his 50-odd stories narrate this, across thousands of years. So far the first story has been about Stalinists developing telepathy, then survivors from Nazi Germany landing on a future earth to join a 'rebellion' against a mysterious master race, in alliance with talking animals.

It doesn't feel especially coherent, or at least, not very thoroughly explained. Maybe the dozens of other stories do that.

I can see that Smith had ambition (like Asimov) and imagination, but I don't yet find great aesthetic quality in the work.

What do you mean by 'aesthetic quality' - and how is it present in Asimov's writing?

If you're looking for coherence in Smith - or consider that to be an essential quality in fiction - then you're going to be frustrated by this collection. It's just a pleasure to luxuriate in his wild imagination; to go 'out there' with him. Story isn't everything.

OTM. Also, you really should have just started with “Scanners Live in Vain.”

Comparing Cordwainer Smith to Asimov is pretty much fightin’ words.

I didn't say that aesthetic quality (assuming it exists or can be defined) is present is Asimov's writing.

FWIW I think Asimov is one of the least aesthetically accomplished important writers I've ever read.

Insofar as I have compared Smith to Asimov it is to say that both are ambitious in their history-building; no more and no less.

I have started with a particular book that came to hand. I didn't have, or especially desire, a guide to tell me what book to start with. I started at the beginning of the book.