PS the full set of photos and video should be up later this week: so prepare to spot yourself!

Professor Gary K. Wolfe

Locus editor Jonathan Strahan

Episodes 14,  15,  and 16 from Notes from Coode Street are still available on Strahan’s blog, where Wolfe and Strahan discuss all things sci fi, including non-English books in the genre, classic SF “books you don’t need to read,” and other fascinating stuff. A recent 2010 podcast roundup by Jonathan McCalmont said Wolfe and Strahan’s podcasts “are a real ray of sunlight . . .They are fun, they are engaged and they manage to walk a fine line between talking about new books, old books, ideas and issues affecting the field of science fiction . . . Anyone with an interest in science fiction should find it intensely rewarding.”

Border crossing: YA authors writing for adults and vice versa
Thursday 1500 Room 212
Speculative Fiction is notable for the number of authors who readily cross borders and write for both Adults and Young Adults. Some of our finest practitioners discuss the differences and similarities in writing for these two distinct audiences.
Bec Kavanagh (mod), Marianne de Pierres, Pamela Freeman, Cory Doctorow

Breaking the fourth wall: Supernatural and its audience
Thursday 1500 Room 211
What happens when a television series begins to break down the “fourth wall” that divides the characters from the audience watching them? Supernatural has arguably demolished its wall, leading to an uneasy and uncomfortable relationship between the creators and their fans. What other series are playing directly with their audience in this fashion, and who is doing it well? How do you directly connect with your audience, and is it a good idea to do it at all? How does the current climate of Internet communications and social media affect the distance between the shows
that are made and the viewers who watch them?
Karen Miller, Jeanette Auer, Seanan McGuire

Signing:
Thursday 1700 Rm 201
Peter V Brett

Magic mean streets: The city as a fantasy location
Thursday 1600 Room 210
While some fantasy novels explore vast terrains of forests, mountains and oceans, others choose to remain within the confines of the city. What is the appeal of the fantasy city, how does it contribute to the tone and plot of the fantasy novel, and how much detail do writers need to develop to make their fantasy cities work? A look at the best – and possibly worst – of fantasy city design.
Ellen Kushner, Trudi Canavan, Carol Ryles, Jennifer Fallon

Academic Panel: Destroying the future to save the planet: the environmental politics of SF/F
Thursday 1700 Room P3
SF/F has long dealt with environmental concerns, imagining the future impacts of overpopulation, climate change, peak oil, and water shortages. Contemporary writers talk about the importance of ecological themes in their work.
Tom Moylan (mod), Kim Stanley Robinson, John Clute, Glenda Larke, Jonathan Cowie

Finding the difference: Australian SF vs the rest of the World
Thursday 1700 Room 217
Australia has a strong and vibrant speculative fiction industry and community – but how does it differ from the SF produced in the USA, the UK, or other nations around the world? Is there a unique cultural identity to Australian SF – and if there is, what are the most common elements?
Lucy Sussex, Peter M. Ball, Tehani Wessely, Jack Dann

Signing
Friday 1000
Mary Victoria

Friday 1000 (Room 204)
Galactic Suburbia
Alisa, Alex and Tansy record a “live” episode of their SF discussion
podcast, Galactic Suburbia. On the menu for this episode: regular
segments SF News and What We’ve Been Reading, plus Worldcon gossip and
highlights. Pet Subject: our Favourite Female Heroes of SF/F.
Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts

Playing in someone else’s sandpit: Franchise writing
Friday 1100 Room 204
With original novels based on entertainment properties such as Star Wars, Doctor Who and Halo regularly hitting the bestsellers lists, media tie-in fiction is big business. It is also a type of fiction that comes with its own rules and expectations. A group of experienced authors of tie-in fiction discuss their own experiences working with someone else’s characters – the challenges, the benefits and the drawbacks.
George Ivanoff, Karen Miller, Paul Cornell, Russell Blackford, Jennifer Fallon

Making a living: Professional writing for speculative fiction authors
Friday 1200 Room 219
For many writers of science fiction and fantasy, the money earned from her or his craft is never enough with which to make a living. What other opportunities are there to earn a sustainable income? A look at ways to earn many as a professional writer outside of the speculative fiction markets.
Cory Doctorow, John Scalzi, George Ivanoff, Jennifer Fallon

Panel
Friday 1200 Room 211
Keeping pace: maintaining momentum in fiction
What keeps the pages turning on a good speculative fiction novel? A panel of authors reveal the tricks and tools they have used – and others they have seen as readers – to keep the momentum of a good story going, and to ensure the reader’s attention. What makes the difference between a tedious bore and an un put-downable narrative rollercoaster?
Peter V. Brett, Carrie Vaughn, Howard Tayler, Jay Lake

Friday 1200 (Room 207)
Non-traditional publishing in YA spec fic
A discussion of the opportunities beyond traditional print-based
publishing and the challenges that lie ahead.
Peta Freestone, Kate Eltham (chair),Tansy Rayner Roberts, Patrick
Nielsen Hayden

Panel
Fri 1300
Foundlings and orphans
The orphaned baby who grows up to become a master wizard. The lonely farmboy who becomes a powerful Jedi. The last son of the planet Krypton, who assumes the mantle of the world’s greatest hero. Foundlings and orphans form a common and powerful theme in popular culture and fiction around the world, but why? What is the origin of this storytelling theme, and why does it appeal to writers and audiences so much?
Faye Ringel, Sarah Parker, Delia Sherman, Gillian Polack, Mary Victoria, Mur Lafferty

A Game of Thrones: bringing the fantasy epic to HBO
Friday 1500 Room P1
A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin’s widely acclaimed fantasy epic, is being brought to the small screen by
HBO Television. In this special presentation, George reveals the development and production of 2011’s must-see TV
event.
George R. R. Martin

The author’s strait-jacket: Switching genres
Friday 1500 Room P3
Becoming a successful author brings with it a strong, enthused fan base of readers, all of whom come with strong expectations. How then does an author try something different? If your readership is clamouring for your next fantasy epic, how do you go about writing something different – science fiction, horror, straight literature? Is it a matter of bringing your existing readers with you, or finding a whole new crowd?
Kim Stanley Robinson, Marianne De Pierres, Melinda Snodgrass, Ian Irvine

Reading
Friday 1500 [30 mins] (Rm 207)
Probably from Power & Majesty!

Reading
Fri 1500
Mary Victoria

Six years on an island: Lost in review
Friday 1700 Room 213
It burst onto screens with one of the most watched series pilots in history, and just got stranger and more intriguing from there. With the conclusion of its sixth and final season Lost has earned a permanent place in the history of television drama. With the story complete, we take a look at one of the past decade’s most intriguing speculative fiction dramas to see how it fared, explain why we like it – and examine what sort of legacy it leaves behind.
Duncan Lay, Michael Capobianco, Priscilla Olson, Ian Mond, Robert Shearman

Girl meets boy meets dragon: Romance in fantasy
Saturday 1000 Room 219
Fantasy and romance have always seemed natural bedfellows. What can romance bring to the fantasy story, and
what do fantasy elements provide to the romance? What are the challenges of writing a story that combines both
genres – neither of which seem to get the critical respect that they deserve? Is there a common element between the
two genres that makes their combination work so effectively?
Tracey O’Hara, Darlene Marshall, Fiona McIntosh, Nicole R. Murphy

How much science should be in YA science fiction?
Saturday 1000 Room 211
How much science is too much for YA readers? How much is not enough? Writers share their thoughts.
Nansi Kunze,Kerrie Dougherty, Jonathan Strahan, Ang Rosin (chair)

Reading from the other shelf: When SF becomes literature
Saturday 1100 Room 213
Some of the best speculative fiction available can’t be found in the science fiction or fantasy sections of the bookshop – you need to go hunting in the “literature” shelves for Attwood, Noon, Palahniuk and Murakami, among others. A
discussion on why authors and publishers choose to be marketed within or without the genre they are writing in, and in some cases refuse to acknowledge genre at all. What makes a book science fiction, and what makes it literature?
John Clute, Rani Graff, Simon Spanton, Jack Dann

Saturday 1100 (Room 211)
Capes and skirts: The plight of female superheroes
Superman has starred in six feature films. Batman has starred in
seven. Wonder Woman has starred in none. The female superhero has been
a constant presence through the history of American comic books, but
yet has never managed to reach the traction of their male
counterparts. Who are the super heroines who succeed? Which ones fail?
Why can’t theyfind as big an audience, and what needs to be done to change that?
Why haven’t we seen a Wonder Woman movie?
Tansy Rayner Roberts, Karen Healey, Peter V. Brett, Seanan McGuire

Panel
Sat 1200
Rm 213: The follow-up: writing the second novel
Everybody focuses on the first novel, that once-in-a-lifetime achievement that takes the aspiring author from idea to execution to publication – but what then? How does the life of the author change once his or her first novel has been published? What are the challenges and difficulties in following it up with a second book?
Peter V. Brett, Fiona McIntosh, Will Elliott

Did the future just arrive?: The e-book and the publishing industry
Saturday 1300 Room P3
After years of slowly growing in popularity and profile, the e-book is now a significant medium for the distribution and sale of science fiction and fantasy. As with all new media, however, the e-book brings with it its own special set of challenges. How can publishers adjust to selling their books online rather than through physical distribution? How has the relationship changed now that readers, authors and publishers can connect more directly online? Where does this leave the brick-and-mortar bookshop?
Cory Doctorow, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Alisa Krasnostein, Jonathan Strahan

Signing
Sat 1500 Rm 201
Kim Falconer

Panel
Sat 1500
Rm 204: The writer and the audience: online interaction and public personae;
Peter V Brett

Kaffeeklatsche
Sat 1500
Mary Victoria

Finding the right voice: Accents and speech patterns
Saturday 1600 Room 204
When representing different accents and ways of speaking in fiction, some authors choose to add the occasional slang term or flourish while others go to the lengths of writing entire novels in a vernacular accent. How much is too much? Is it worth sacrificing readability for authenticity? Tips, strategies and techniques for accurately representing speech in fiction.
Karen Miller, Jack Dann, Deborah Kalin, Kaaron Warren

Panel:
Saturday 1600
Thinking in trilogies:
The trilogy seems synonymous with the fantasy story. Why is fantasy so closely tied in with the idea of the three-book story? Is it simply a marketing requirement, or are their structural advantages to the form that are not provided by the single novel? A look at the arguments for and against the trilogy, and whether it’s a tradition that’s here for good or due to be retired.
Glenda Larke, Trudi Canavan, Fiona McIntosh, Russell Kirkpatrick, Kim Falconer

Saturday 1700 (Rm 203)
Academic Panel: Fantastic females: reworking feminism in women’s fantasy
Is fantasy the new vanguard of feminist politics in specfic?
Fantasy authors discuss the role of gender issues in their work
Delia Sherman (mod), Catherynne M Valente, Gail Carriger, Alaya Johnson,
Glenda Larke, Tansy Rayner Roberts

Reading
Sun 1000 Rm 219
Peter V Brett

Sandbox vs theme park The design of MMOs
Sunday 1000 Room 210
Through hits such as World of Warcraft, Everquest and EVE Online, the massively multiplayer online (MMO) game has become a significant genre of computer game. Different strategies are used to design these games, however, from the ‘theme park’ technique of giving the players pre-designed missions to complete through to the ‘sandpit’ ideal of giving the players the tools to make the game experience for themselves. We explore what works, what doesn’t, and what the future might hold for gaming’s most innovative and interesting genre.
John Rotenstein, David Cake, Will Elliott

Climate change and Utopia
Sunday 1100 Room P3
In the last thirty years utopia has gone from a nice idea to a survival strategy. In the coming era of climate change
we will not be able to muddle through in our current system, because the bio-physical base of our existence will not
support it. Social change is therefore inevitable; and the work of all the sciences together now suggest an emerging
plan for change in a positive direction, and a resulting sustainable civilization. Enacting that plan will be both the
history of the twenty-first century and the best utopia yet. The talk will explicate this argument.
Kim Stanley Robinson

Sunday 1200 (Room 204)
The case for a female Doctor
He’s transformed from an old man into a young one, so why not from a
man into a woman? Doctor Who remains one of the most imaginative and
open-ended science fiction programmes ever produced, but can the
format extend to include a female Doctor? What other elements of the
series are necessary? Does he/she have to have a TARDIS? Does there
need to be a companion? Must the series be British? An examination of
how far you can stretch the world’s most stretchable science fiction series.
Tansy Rayner Roberts, Carolina Gomez, Kerrie Dougherty,
Catherynne M. Valente, Paul Cornell

Panel
Sun 1500 Rm 211: Crowns and swords: the intertwined worlds of fantasy and monarchyWith so many fantasy novels based in a setting drawn from medieval Europe, it’s no surprise to see so many stories based around monarchies – kings and queens, princes and princesses, tyrannical emperors and long-lost heirs to the throne. How much of fantasy’s appeal is grounded in a monarchic setting, and how can this long-standing tradition of genre be updated or refreshed – or abandoned entirely?
Glenda Larke, Fiona McIntosh, Duncan Lay, Kate Forsyth, Mary Victoria

Kaffeeklatsche
Sun 1200 Rm 201
Kim Falconer

Jack Vance and the Dying Earth
Sunday 1200 Room P3
Since 1945 Jack Vance has authored more than 60 books, captivating readers with such works as The Dying Earth and Lyonesse. What is the secret to Vance’s success, and what influence has he had on subsequent generations of SF writers? What are the must-read texts of his ouevre, and the undiscovered gems that every reader needs to hunt down and read?
Jonathan Strahan, Terry Dowling, George R. R. Martin, Mark Olson

Dreaming down-under, again
Sunday 1400 Room 211
The landmark anthologies Dreaming Down-Under and Dreaming Again punctuate Australian dark fiction. Join the authors, editor and publisher as they discuss how the field has changed in general, and for them personally.
Jenny Blackford, Jack Dann, Jason Nahrung, Stephanie Smith

Creativity: The improbable aircraft
Sunday 1700 Room 213
A discussion about creativity as it applies to science fiction and fantasy in film and novels. A screening of the Academy-Award nominated film The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello from Mark Shirrefs, a reading from Jack Dann’s bestseller The Memory Cathedral. Mark and Jack will also be discussing their exciting new projects.
Jack Dann, Mark Shirrefs

Taking it on the chin: Authors and reviews
Sunday 1700 Room 204
Sooner or later, every author is going to receive a bad review. Bad reviews hurt, and it’s often hard not to take them personally. How should authors react to negative reviews? How can you tell the difference between a review that’s negative one that’s actually unfair – and what can or should you do about it if it is?
John Berlyne, Jean Johnson, Karen Miller, John Scalzi

The bioethics of terraforming
Monday 1000 Room P1
Let’s say we colonise Mars, and develop the technology to terraform its environment and create a warmer, breathable atmosphere for humans to breathe. Let’s also so that we discover bacterial life on Mars – life that cannot exist if the planet’s atmosphere changes. Do we have a responsibility to leave Mars intact, or simply try to save the bacteria the best we can. What are the bioethics of terraforming worlds?
Kim Stanley Robinson, James Benford, Sam Scheiner, David D. Levine

How we edit
Monday 1000 Room 213
In many ways the editor has one of the most invisible professions in publishing. What exactly is it that an editor does? From the first encounter with an author to the publication of the completed book, we take you step by step through the working life of a professional editor – and how that job can vary from book to book, story to story, and author to author.
Jonathan Strahan, Ellen Datlow, Amanda Pillar, Simon Spanton

Music, movies and speculative fiction
Monday 1100 Room 212
We always know when Darth Vader is on the way, or when James Bond is coming to the rescue. Music forms an integral part of genre cinema, yet is rarely examined or celebrated. What genre movies had the best music? How does Howard Shore compare to John Williams? Do movie soundtracks make good collectibles?
Tee Morris, K. J. Taylor, David D. Levine

Climate change: Possible futures for planet Earth
Monday 1200 Room P1
Climate change is real — there’s no serious question about that, but just about everything else you read about it is open to dispute by serious, knowledgeable people. Is it actually bad? (It’s change, but is change necessarily bad?) It
will cause habitat change, (But how much and how serious?) It will cause changes to the weather. (But for better or for worse?) Assuming it can be stopped or slowed, which approaches are most likely to work? A discussion of what we know, as well as what we don’t.
Kim Stanley Robinson, Sam Scheiner, Sean McMullen, Tiki Swain, Grace Dugan

Dirty feed
Monday 1200 Room 210
Are attempts to censor the web an assault on our freedom or a necessary precaution? As in Australia, so to the world.
Talie Helene, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Gary Kemble, Cory Doctorow

RPGs, storytelling and authorship
Monday 1200 Room 211
We know Dungeons and Dragons is a game, but is it art? An examination of the storytelling process behind roleplaying games—part creative writing, part performance, and almost entirely disregarded as an artistic work. If it is some kind of cross between the written and performing arts, what can GMs and players learn from those disciplines to make their games even stronger?
Will Elliott, Bob Kuhn, Howard Tayler, Jennifer Brozek

Panel
Monday 1300 (Room 213)
The world of YA spec fic reviewing
Those who know will share their experiences of reviewing YA
Speculative Fiction – and might make some suggestions.
Lili Wilkinson, Ian Nichols, Tansy Rayner Roberts,
Gail Carriger, Megan Burke (chair)

The difficult second album: Middle parts of movie trilogies
Monday 1300 Room 210
2010 is the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, the most widely acclaimed of George Lucas’ Star Wars movies, and also – alongside The Godfather Part II – the most respected and popular of all second parts of movie trilogies. A discussion of the challenges faced when you have to start a film in media res, fill it with two or more hours of entertainment, and then end still in the middle of the story. Including such films as The Empire Strikes Back and Back to the Future Part II through to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, our panelists examine what works, what doesn’t, and try to discover if there is a roadmap to creating the perfect second installment.
Duncan Lay, David D. Levine, Laurie Mann, Sam Scheiner

A house made from stories: Building the anthology
Monday 1300 Room P3
How does an editor construct the perfect original anthology of science fiction? How do you develop the subject matter
or theme, how do you select and approach the contributors, and how do you tie all of the elements together into a
single cohesive work? A panel of editors reflect on their own experiences to help form a blueprint for the perfect
science fiction anthology.
Ellen Datlow, Robert Silverberg, Alisa Krasnostein, Jonathan Strahan, Jack Dann

Panel:
Monday 1300
Getting edgy: The disreputable protagonist in modern fantasy
While fantasy used to centre around noble and good-hearted heroes, a growing sub-genre of recent years has celebrated a less savoury breed of protagonist. Knights and wizards-in-training are giving way to thieves, assassins, mercenaries and cutthroats. What is the appeal of this form of anti-hero, and what are its origins? How does changing the protagonist alter the kind of story you are able to tell?
Ellen Kushner, Trudi Canavan, Fiona McIntosh, Kim Falconer

Counterfactuals: Science fiction vs historical analysis
Monday 1400 Room P1
What role can alternate history fiction play in historical analysis? By examining the potential after-effects of a
fictionalised course of events, do we gain a fresh and valuable perspective on what actually happened? If so, what
requirements exist for alternate history fiction to achieve this aim? A look at alternate history fiction from two
perspectives: as science fiction readers, and as historians.
Kim Stanley Robinson, Gillian Polack, Dena Taylor, Jonathan Walker

Shadows and hearts: Unpacking paranormal romance
Monday 1500 Room 210
Paranormal romance is perhaps the most successful sub-genre of speculative fiction in the past 20 years, yet it is also one of the most widely dismissed. Is it something new, or a relabelling of a very old genre? What are the key elements to paranormal romance, the tropes and traditions, and the key to its success?
Lucy Sussex, Jeanette Auer, Erica Hayes, Nicole R. Murphy, Ginjer Buchanan

Maybe I am too normal to enjoy this book…
Monday 1500 Room 212
Horror authors share the worst things ever said about their work and discuss the context of the outburst. Audience members are invited to share their own worst “critiques”.
Scott Edelman, Will Elliott, Deborah Biancotti, Rob Hood, Martin Livings

Fantasy cinema after Middle Earth
Monday 1500 Room 213
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a phenomenal box office hit, and led to a string of big budget fantasy movies – including The Golden Compass, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Eragon and many others. Which films have worked, which haven’t, and what is stopping fantasy cinema from being more of a mainstay of big budget cinema?
K.J. Taylor, Ben Chandler, Paul Poulton

Panel
Mon 1500 Rm 219
Whores and virgins: finding roles for women in fantasy fiction

When developing fantasy fiction based on a historical inspiration, the roles for female characters in these stories would appear to be limited – or are they? What were the possible roles for women in medieval life, and how might that lead to new directions and ideas in fantasy fiction? Rose-Marie Lillian, Darlene Marshall, Jennifer Fallon, Kim Falconer

So Swords & Dark Magic is an excellent showcase for both its contributors and the subgenre itself. If epic fantasy is generally considered to be most comfortable with a word count measured in the millions, sword and sorcery proves to be the perfect genre for the short story. Like their protagonists, the authors follow the adventurers’ code: get in and get out. The result is an anthology with a remarkably high hit rate. In fact, this is probably the single best original fantasy anthology I’ve read. More please.

It turned out to be a cracker but I initially requested a copy of Swords & Dark Magic because of an increasing interest in commercial fantasy, its substance and its taxonomy. This was also the subject of two earlier posts:

• Extruded Fantasy Product
• Epic Fantasy Vs Sword And Sorcery

Edit: I gave Gene Wolfe’s contribution, ‘Bloodsport’, short shrift in my review since I don’t think it really fits with the anthology. However, I did discuss it in detail here.

I shall begin with some thoughts on the podcasts that made the list last year.

A) In Our Time : This BBC Radio 4 podcast remains the only podcast whose output I systematically trust.  Regardless of how ‘off my radar’ the content may sometimes be, I know that sooner or later these — sometimes surprisingly combative — chats between academics will produce an insight that will justify the forty five minutes a week I devote to the podcast.  As ever in podcasting, the quality of the individual show (which continues to deal with art, literature, philosophy, history and the sciences whilst devoutly ignoring continental philosophy and elements of contemporary culture such as film) depends upon the personalities of the people speaking but Bragg’s moderation is usually invasive enough to ensure that the show ticks along neatly.  In Our Time is also a wonderful show to subscribe to as, even if you don’t necessarily listen to every episode, its episodes constitute a real resource.  Frequently I will find myself scrolling through my back-catalogue of old episodes in order to learn more about some topic of interest.  It is almost like subscribing to an encyclopaedia that comes to you one topic at a time.  The BBC seem to have realised this aspect of the show and nowadays you can not only get most of it online, you can also buy a book containing the text of most of the early podcasts.  Still an absolute gem.

B) Thinking Allowed : When I wrote about Thinking Allowed last year, it was something of a new discovery.  I loved Laurie Taylor’s witty and informed presentation style and the fact that it dealt with a different sociological topic every week.  However, over the past year, my appreciation for Taylor’s show has grown enormously as I have come to realise quite how political the choice of topics can be and how willing Taylor is to use current research in sociology to attack trends in contemporary British political culture such as the belief that big government is necessarily bad and the misperception that white collar crime is somehow less harmful than burglary or violent crime.  When Thinking Allowed strays into my areas of interest it invariably rewards me with some key insight.  When it deals with something I have no interest in, it still manages to make for an interesting and engaging show.  As with In Our Time, most of the back-catalogue is now available online and Taylor provides a fun weekly email that you can subscribe to.

C)  The Film Programme : Having flirted with the Guardian’s Film Weekly and (very) briefly returned to the Kermode show, I am now firmly of the opinion that Radio 4’s The Film Programme is the best film podcast currently running in the UK.  Its strength comes from its ability to mix an interest with the history and the making of film with a desire to engage with the newer titles.  With an endless line of celebs looking to promote their latest release, it would be easy for the Film Programme to fall into the trap of servicing the PR industry by only concentrating upon the new titles but instead, Francine Stock will generally do one interview per week with a director or actor (and it is usually an excellent interview) before devoting the rest of the show to a critical piece, a think-piece or an interview with some retired member of the British film industry.  Indeed, 2010 has seen the Film Programme continue Matthew Sweet’s interest in unearthing the lost gems of British cinema and this continues to be a deeply rewarding strand that has run throughout the show.  I still think that Sweet’s stint as presenter last summer during Stock’s holiday constitutes a high-water mark for film podcasting but even when Stock returned and the contemporary reclaimed its prominence in the show’s editorial selections, The Film Programme has remained unrelentingly thoughtful.  A refreshing antidote to film journalists as handmaidens to PR companies.

D)  Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History : 2009 was not kind to Hardcore History.  After a fascinating episode devoted to the question of how a society could become addicted to slavery, Carlin then devoted eight months of the show’s output (admittedly only four podcasts) to an extensive discussion of the Russian side of World War II.  Lots of battles.  Lots of logistics.  Very little interest.  Since then, the series has slowly been clawing its way back into my affections with a discussion of the age of exploration seen through the lens of globalisation and a recent episode devoted to whether or not it makes sense to talk about one culture being ‘tougher’ than another.  This episode was particularly interesting as it spiralled out into a discussion of how fine-grained academic history had become and what had been lost by the tendency of modern historians to refuse to look at “big questions”.  I’m still a subscriber but after two good ideas-driven episodes, I am waiting for the other foot to drop and for Carlin to subject us to six months on the Battle of Britain or something equally excruciating.

E) Binge Thinking History Podcast : I really like Tony Cocks’ style.  He has a nice personality and speaking voice without which I suspect I would have unsubscribed a long time ago.  The problems with the Binge Thinking History Podcast are twofold — Firstly, Cocks only updates from time to time.  This means that in a year, the podcast covers very little ground indeed.  Secondly, Cocks has locked himself in to a history of the British Navy.  And he is taking it very very slowly.  Cocks’ style and a willingness to focus on personalities and politics over battles and tactics (as Carlin can lapse into) makes these slices of naval history more interesting than they might otherwise be, but at this point I am only hanging on in the hope that he’ll move away from ships and start looking at a wider array of topics.

***

Having dealt with my opinions on the state of the podcasts I was listening to last year, I will now move on to some of my discoveries from this year.

***

F)  Notes from Coode Street : A recently-launched science fiction podcast hosted by Jonathan Strahan who wears a number of hats in the SF field including that of an anthologist and of the reviews editor for industry and sub-culture bible Locus magazine.  Initially, these podcasts were quite short and featured mostly Strahan talking about whatever came to mind but more recently, he has shuffled the show over to a more rewarding topic centred upon a weekly hour-long discussion with the critic and academic Gary K. Wolfe (though the excellent critic Graham Sleight has also featured).  These podcasts are a real ray of sunlight for me.  They are fun, they are engaged and they manage to walk a fine line between talking about new books, old books, ideas and issues affecting the field of science fiction.  Recent discussions have included the question of whether you could retell the history of science fiction using only female authors and whether there are works of classic SF that people simply no longer ‘need’ to read in order to fully grasp the history and shape of the genre.  I have flirted with SF podcasts in the past (and been asked to contribute to a couple) but Notes From Coode Street is the only one I actually listen to.  Anyone with an interest in science fiction should find it intensely rewarding.

G)  The Marketplace of Ideas : A recent discovery (tip of the hat to Richard at THE DRIFT) that has proved incredibly rewarding for me.  The format is simple : An American radio show in which every week a different author (of a novel, a work of non-fiction, a piece of journalism or a scientific study) is invited on and interviewed over the course of an hour by host Colin Marshall.  What is fascinating about this show is the extent to which its quality varies enormously depending upon who the guest is.  One week you get Alexander Theroux ranting and raving about idiot reviewers before comparing himself to Cervantes, Shakespeare and Christ but the next you will have an interview with someone who has written about the decline of French cookery and who spends the hour making huge sweeping and condescending generalisations about French and European cultures.  Marshall has an endearingly ‘bloggish’ fondness for interviewing the hosts of other cultural podcasts and radio shows but despite elements of navel-gazing, these episodes are a great way of discovering other podcasts and they tend to produce quite fascinating and wide-ranging chats.  Particularly worthwhile is Marshall’s interview of Bookworm’s Michael Silverblatt (available at their archive) that really gets to grips with what it means to be a) a cultural commentator and b) an intellectual.  Hit and miss overall but when the show gets it right, it is genuinely brilliant as it not only gives thinkers enough space to lay out their ideas in detail, it also holds their personalities up to the light.

H)  Bookworm : I have only recently started getting into this (largely as a result of Marshall’s interview with the host Michael Silverblatt) but I am already impressed.  The format of the show is a half-hour interview with, usually, a single author but what is most impressive about the show is not so much who they get on as Silverblatt himself.  Engaging, passionate and wildly intelligent, Silverblatt approaches the authors not as a fan or as a petitioner in search of wisdom, but as an equal.  Every episode is effectively a meeting of minds with Silverblatt not only managing to coax great performances out of his guests but also challenging their ideas and providing insights of his own on the themes and ideas they have engaged with in their writing.

I) Reading Marx’s Capital : I was tipping off to the existence of this short series of podcasts by Thinking Allowed’s interview with David Harvey a little while back.  Every year, David Harvey runs a reading group that works its way through Capital chapter by chapter.  He has been doing this for a huge amount of time but every year the class changes as new students bring new comments and Harvey’s interests change.  Back in 2008, some bright spark decided to record Harvey’s classes and put them online giving us a series of 13 two hour-long discussions of Marx’s Capital with a couple of extra podcasts at the end for good luck.  Fiercely challenging stuff that had me struggling to keep up but I am planning on re-listening whilst re-reading the book chapter by chapter.  When I get the time.  Warmly recommended though.

Suggestions for podcasts I may be missing are, as ever, more than welcome.

Alright, but will people please stop giving Neil Gaiman awards? Not that I think he doesn’t deserve them, but seriously, he could build a house out of the ones he’s already got … although … mmmmm, a house built out of awards you say? By Neil Gaiman? Oh, okay, give him the awards.

Science Fiction Novel

• The Empress of Mars, Kage Baker (Subterranean; Tor)
• Steal Across the Sky, Nancy Kress (Tor)
• Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor)
• Galileo’s Dream, Kim Stanley Robinson (HarperVoyager; Ballantine Spectra)
• Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles Wilson (Tor)

• The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan UK)
• Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett (Harper; Doubleday UK)
• Drood, Dan Simmons (Little, Brown)
• Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra)
• Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland)

• The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade)
• The Manual of Detection, Jedediah Berry (Penguin)
• Soulless, Gail Carriger (Orbit US)
• Lamentation, Ken Scholes (Tor)
• Norse Code, Greg van Eekhout (Ballantine Spectra)

• The Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon)
• Going Bovine, Libba Bray (Delacorte)
• Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic; Scholastic UK)
• Liar, Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury; Allen & Unwin Australia)
• Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse; Simon & Schuster UK)

• The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker (Subterranean)
• “Act One”, Nancy Kress (Asimov’s 3/09)
• “Vishnu at the Cat Circus”, Ian McDonald (Cyberabad Days)
• Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon)
• “Palimpsest”, Charles Stross (Wireless)

• “By Moonlight”, Peter S. Beagle (We Never Talk About My Brother)
• “It Takes Two”, Nicola Griffith (Eclipse Three)
• “First Flight”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor.com 8/25/09)
• “Eros, Philia, Agape”, Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 3/3/09)
• “The Island”, Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2)

• “The Pelican Bar”, Karen Joy Fowler (Eclipse Three)
• “An Invocation of Incuriosity”, Neil Gaiman (Songs of the Dying Earth)
• “Spar”, Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld 10/09)
• “Going Deep”, James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s 6/09)
• “Useless Things”, Maureen F. McHugh (Eclipse Three)

• Analog
• Asimov’s
• Clarkesworld
• F&SF
• Tor.com

• Baen
• Night Shade
• Pyr
• Subterranean
• Tor

• Lovecraft Unbound, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Dark Horse)
• The New Space Opera 2, Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan, eds. (Eos; HarperCollins Australia)
• The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s)
• Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Subterranean)
• Eclipse Three, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade)

• We Never Talk About My Brother, Peter S. Beagle (Tachyon)
• Cyberabad Days, Ian McDonald (Pyr)
• Wireless, Charles Stross (Ace, Orbit UK)
• The Best of Gene Wolfe, Gene Wolfe (Tor); as The Very Best of Gene Wolfe (PS)
• The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny: Volumes 1-6, Roger Zelazny (NESFA)

• Ellen Datlow
• Gardner Dozois
• David G. Hartwell
• Jonathan Strahan
• Gordon Van Gelder

• Stephan Martinière
• John Picacio
• Shaun Tan
• Charles Vess
• Michael Whelan

• Powers: Secret Histories, John Berlyne (PS)
• Spectrum 16: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Cathy & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood)
• Cheek by Jowl, Ursula K. Le Guin (Aqueduct)
• This is Me, Jack Vance! (Or, More Properly, This is “I”), Jack Vance (Subterranean)
• Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess, Charles Vess (Dark Horse)

Fomr here
http://www.locusmag.com/News/2010/04/locus-awards-finalists.html

Ticon has also recently made available two anthologies: Scary Kisses, involving paranormal romance, and Belong, speculative tales with a migration hook.

And in awards news, Jonathan Strahan, Justine Larbalestier (Liar) and Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan) are Aussies all in the running for Locus Awards. This follows the excellent news that Margo Lanagan is up for a Shirley Jackson award for her novella Sea-Hearts, published in X6.

Here’s a cool trailer for Scott’s Leviathan, a very fun take on the outbreak of World War I:

And one for Liar, a compelling if infuriating read!

And not to be overlooked is this new offering from Rowena Cory Daniells, a fancy trailer for her new (and much awaited) trilogy. Rowena has been a stalwart of the spec fic community in Queensland for many a year, helping to found both the Vision writing group (going strong) and the EnVision writers workshop (now defunct, but in a way living on in the Queensland Writers Centre’s year of the novel program): two things that have been of massive benefit to me as a budding author.

KRKhd from Daryl Lindquist on Vimeo.

This is the first book in a trilogy and represents a partnership between Heavy Metal magazine and Tor books.  “Heavy Metal Pulp will partner the top illustrators and designers from the iconic fantasy magazine with today’s most talented science fiction authors, blending the sensuous artistic style and graphic imagery of Heavy Metal with classic noir storytelling.”  After seeing the cover, I don’t want to make any assumptions (even though my mind unavoidably already has).

Also received a couple books coming out at the end of March from Night Shade Books: The Best Horror of the Year Volume Two edited by Ellen Datlow, and The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Four edited by Jonathan Strahan.

Artwork by Warwick Fraser-Coombe.

Clear a wall! This year all six covers are by Fraser Warwick-Coombe and they will join together to form one giant piece of art. The interior is full colour throughout and is mind-blowingly stunning, with more artwork from Ben Baldwin, Mark Paxton, Jim Burns and Daniel Bristow-Bailey. Am I biased? Yeah – but it doesn’t mean that I’m wrong. There is fiction from Jason Sanford, Tyler Keevil, Mercurio D. Rivera, Jay Lake, Rachel Swirsky and Stephen Gaskell, and non-fiction from David Langford, Tony Lee and Nick Lowe. There’s also an index for all the stories published last year because it’s time for the readers’ poll. Go on – show your favourite authors some love.

The BookZone this month reviews:

The Secret History of Science Fiction edited by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel (reviewed by Andy Hedgecock)

Winter Song by Colin Harvey (reviewed by Paul F. Cockburn)

The Cardinal’s Blades by Pierre Pevel (reviewed by Ian Hunter)

The Battle of the Sun by Jeanette Winterson (reviewed by Maureen Kincaid Speller)

Brain Thief by Alexander Jablokov (reviewed by Ian Sales)

The Sad Tales of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington (reviewed by Iain Emsley)

The New Space Opera 2 edited by Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan (reviewed by Ian Sales)

Ars Memoriae by Beth Bernobich (reviewed by Peter Tennant)

Black and White by Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge (reviewed by Vikki Green)

Go here to sample some of the contents or to buy your copy or – better still – subscribe. And you can follow its adventures here.

1. “It Takes Two”, Nicola Griffith (Eclipse 3, ed Jonathan Strahan)
2. “Three Twilight Tales”, Jo Walton (Firebirds Soaring, ed Sharyn November)
3. ???
4. “The Island”, Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2, ed. Jonathan Strahan/Gardner Dozois [read online, "chapter two"])
5. “Ferryman”, Margo Lanagan (Firebirds Soaring)
6. “A Wild and Wicked Youth”, Ellen Kushner (F&SF, April/Mary 2009)
7. “The Pelican Bar”, Karen Joy Fowler (Eclipse 3)
8. “Spar“, Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld)
9. “Going Deep”, James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s, June 2009)
10. “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown”, Holly Black (The Eternal Kiss ed. Trisha Telep)
11. “Zeppelin City“, Michael Swanwick & Eileen Gunn (Tor.com)
12. “Dragon’s Teeth”, Alex Irvine (F&SF, December 2009)
13. “This Wind Blowing, and This Tide”, Damien Broderick (Asimov’s, April/May 2009)
14. “By Moonlight”, Peter S. Beagle (We Never Talk About My Brother, Peter S Beagle)
15. “Black Swan”, Bruce Sterling (Interzone)
16. “As Women Fight”, Sara Genge (Asimov’s, December 2009)
17. “The Cinderella Game”, Kelly Link (Troll’s Eye View ed. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling)
18. “Formidable Caress”, Stephen Baxter (Analog, December 2009)
19. “Blocked”, Geoff Ryman (F&SF, October/November 2009)
20. “Truth and Bone”, Pat Cadigan (Poe, ed. Ellen Datlow)
21. “Eros, Philia, Agape“, Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com)
22. “The Motorman’s Coat”, John Kessel (F&SF, June/July 2009)
23. “Mongoose”, Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear (Lovecraft Unbound, ed. Ellen Datlow)
24. “Echoes of Aurora”, Ellen Klages (What Remains, Aqueduct Press)
25. “Before My Last Breath”, Robert Reed (Asimov’s, October/November 2009)
26. “Jo Boy”, Diana Wynne Jones (The Dragon Book, ed Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois)
27. “Utriusque Cosmi”, Robert Charles Wilson (The New Space Opera 2 [read online, "chapter one"])
28. “A Delicate Architecture”, Catherynne Valente (Troll’s Eye View)
29. “The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles, Kij Johnson (Tor.com)

The obligatory observations: I have read precisely two of the stories, the Sterling and the Swirsky, both of which I’m quite happy to see included. I suspect I’ll be reading a few more over Christmas, but discounting the mystery story (“I’ve agreed not to publicise one of the stories until the book comes out, so that publication here doesn’t step too badly on the toes of its original publisher”), by my count 14 of 28 tales come from 10 different books; this would be a very expensive list of stories to try to recreate yourself. Among magazines, the winners are F&SF and Asimov’s, with four stories apiece, and — interestingly — Tor.com, with three, the lion’s share of the online fiction. I think that the stories split pretty much half-and-half between sf and fantasy — I’ve made a few guesses to get that figure, and assumed sight unseen that, e.g., the Baxter story is sf, so I could easily be out by a bit. And, of course, at least 59% of the stories in the final book are by women, assuming you count the Swanwick/Gunn collaboration; the lowest the percentage could be, if you don’t count it and if the mystery story is by a man, is 57% — which is still the highest proportion of women I can recall seeing in a Year’s Best anthology.

EDIT: And here’s Rich Horton’s anthology:

1. “A Story, with Beans” by Steven Gould (Analog May)
2. “Child-Empress of Mars” by Theodora Goss (Interfictions 2, ed. Christopher Barzak and Delia Sherman)
3. “The Island” by Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2)
4. “Events Preceding the Helvetican Renaissance” by John Kessel (The New Space Opera 2 [read online, "chapter three"])
5. “The Logic of the World” by Robert Kelly (Conjunctions 52)
6. “The Endangered Camp” by Ann Leckie (Clockwork Phoenix, ed. Mike Allen)
7. “Sylgarmo’s Proclamation” by Lucius Shepard (Songs of the Dying Earth, ed. Gardner Dozois and George RR Martin)
8. “Three Twilight Tales” by Jo Walton (Firebirds Soaring)
9. “Necroflux Day” by John Meaney (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction 3, ed. George Mann)
10. “This Peaceable Land; or, The Unbearable Vision of Harriet Beecher Stowe” by Robert Charles Wilson (Other Earths, ed. Nick Gevers and Jay Lake)
11. “Technicolor” by John Langan (Poe)
12. “Eros, Philia, Agape” by Rachel Swirksy (Tor.com)
13. “A Painter, a Sheep, and a Boa Constrictor” by Nir Yaniv (Shimmer 10)
14. “Catalog” by Eugene Mirabelli (F&SF, February)
15. “Glister” by Dominic Green (Interzone, August)
16. “On the Human Plan” by Jay Lake (Lone Star Stories, February)
17 .“Dragon’s Teeth” by Alex Irvine (F&SF, December)
18. “The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew” by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld)
19. “The Qualia Engine” by Damien Broderick (Asimov’s, April-May)
20. “The Long Cold Goodbye” by Holly Phillips (Asimov’s, March)
21. “Wife-Stealing Time” by R. Garcia y Robertson (Asimov’s, November)
22. “As Women Fight” by Sara Genge (Asimov’s, October-November)
23. “Images of Anna” by Nancy Kress (Fantasy)
24. “Mongoose” by Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear (Lovecraft Unbound)
25. “Crimes and Glory” by Paul McAuley (Subterranean)
26. “Living Curiousities” by Margo Lanagan (Sideshow, ed. Deborah Noyes)
27. “The Death of Sugar Daddy” by Toiya Kristen Finlay (Electric Velocipede)
28. “Bespoke” by Genevieve Valentine (Strange Horizons)
29. “The Persistence of Memory; or, This Space for Sale” by Paul Park (Postscripts #20/21)
30. “Secret Identity” by Kelly Link (Geektastic, ed. Holly Black and Cecil Castalluci)

With, again, one more story to come. Note that this list is not in final TOC order. In the meantime: overlap of six stories with Strahan (Watts, Walton, Swirsky, Irvine, Genge, Monette/Bear); two that I’ve read again (Swirsky and Valente, this time); 47% from books; Asimov’s the magazine winner, with four stories, but in general a wider range of magazines; 43% women; and I think about 55% sf, though I’m less confident here than with Strahan, and have made more guesses. 53% sf according to the editor.

EDIT: Dozois contents here.

“The Pelican Bar”, Karen Joy Fowler A willful young woman (as they used to say) is sent away for to a tough-love camp in Mexico, which turns out to be particularly brutal, and from which she dreams of escape. The story’s well-written, and especially strong in exploring the Norah’s psychology and internal dialog, but I never quite caught on to the motivations of the reform camp operators — why they ran the camp as they did, what they were gaining from it, and why they eventually allow Norah her freedom.

“A practical girl”, Ellen Klages A girl growing up in the shadow of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton gets an impromptu math lesson from Grace Hopper. The story takes a magical turn when she uses her new knowledge of imaginary numbers to save a friend from an unwanted future. A sweet, nostalgic story.

“Don’t mention Madagascar”, Pat Cadigan This story takes the disorientation of long-distance travel to its ultimate extreme. Clever and entertaining.

“On the road”, Nnedi Okorafor On a visit to relatives in Nigeria, a Chicago policewoman learns that the old country is home to forces that the West has forgotten. The protagonist’s worldly attitude and her fantastic experiences are balanced perfectly.

“Swell”, Elizabeth Bear A strong story about gifts given, but returned.

“Useless things”, Maureen F. McHugh Only just science fictional, this story explores the limits of compassion. It’s a fine story, but maybe could have been tightened up. One scene, in particular, where the protagonist encounters a group of swaggering young men, struck me as only breaking up the story without advancing it.

“The coral heart”, Jeffrey Ford The only (so far as I can recall as I write) pure swords and sorcery fantasy in the collection, from an author who, as far as I can tell from reading his webpage but not being familiar with his work, rarely writes in that subgenre. About a hero so powerful he can’t recall all of his conquests, or, as it turns out, all of his mistakes.

“It takes two”, Nicola Griffith What a Seattle tech industry businesswoman named Cody initially thinks is a one night stand that might have some future to it turns out to be manipulation by someone she thought was her friend. The story takes a couple more turns from there, and finally leaves the reader asking one of the deepest questions of anything in this collection.

“Sleight of hand”, Peter S. Beagle Grieving at the loss of her husband and daughter, our protagonist meets a prestidigitator who can’t, he says, turn back the clock, but maybe he can do some stage magic that can grant her wish. A magical story, even if it explicitly denies its magic.

“The pretender’s tourney”, Daniel Abraham This story is swords without sorcery, so what I said about the Jeffrey Ford piece isn’t all wrong. Young Dafyd has just inherited his father’s Duchy following a devastating plague. With the king also fallen to the plague, and the kingdom in upheaval with the many deaths, he must decide whether to contend for the crown, eventually winning a moral victory over other dukes who scheme for the kingdom. One triviality that bothered me, even though the setting wasn’t strictly England, was the forms of address. As I understand it, in English (the language), as Duke of Westmont, Dafyd might be called “His Grace”, or “Westmont”, or “the Duke of Westmont”, but not “Duke Dafyd”, a form that’s jarringly used for a couple of his adversaries in the story.

“Yes we have no bananas”, Paul Di Filippo The story is a surrealistic riff on the looming (it’s been in all the papers) extinction of the Cavendish banana(Wikipedia link). Somehow the surrealism is something I expect from Di Filippo, though I can’t say I can recall any specific others of his stories I’ve read. It was effective here, amongst other stories that are mostly more straightforward, but I don’t know if I would be able to wade through a whole anthology of only Di Filippo’s stuff.

“Mesopotamian fire”, Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple A lighthearted story about a dragon that unexpectedly turns out to be real.

“The visitted man”, Molly Gloss An old man, newly alone in the world, is saved by the also aging Henri Rousseau (Wikipedia, again), who happens to live downstairs. A charming story about a misunderstood man who is full of understanding.

“Galapagos”, Caitlin R. Kiernan. This story screams to be called Ballardian, with its disjoint sense of time and space in the narration by an astronaut nearly driven insane in a close encounter in Jupiter orbit. I don’t know if J. G. Ballard ever wrote a story with a lesbian couple, both astronauts, as central characters, but the near-future space tech (thought the story date is actually 100 years from now) and the format itself, a series of dated journal entries by the recovering astronaut, also reflect what I infer as Ballard’s influence. And Kiernan’s effort stands up well to the high bar she’s set herself by following one of the acknowledged top literary stylists of the genre. Despite all the story threads in play, and the nonlinear narrative style, the entire thing holds together well, and doesn’t fail to delight.

“Dulce domum”, Ellen Kushner The story mixes up Kenneth Grahame (or some near facsimile), the AIDS epidemic (symbolically), vampires, and young love among the east coast upper crust. I’m not sure I can really assimilate all that to find a message in the story, and I can’t really relate to the aristocratic characters, so this wasn’t really the story for me.

Also reviewed by:

• Not if you were the last short story on Earth
• Bibliophile Stalker

So I guess if we just cover the highlights or Good Stuff that Happened:

The wonderful Sean Williams’ pirate party – an event filled with Haighs choclit frogs, munchies, drinkies, and much talk. It was also a great chance to catch up with Kirstyn McDermott, Jason Nahrung, Kate Eltham and Rob Hoge.

Notcoffee (for the second time) in Rundle St, where LBH and I met with the most excellent Peter Ball and Jason Fischer for a writing intensive. We wrote, ate more bacon and drank a lot of coffee and wrote a lot more. A major distraction – which I was lucky enough to have my back to – was a series of paintings on the wall. One of them the one we named ‘Baboon Goat Butts’ and I give it to you below:

A rocking dinner at Concubine in Gouger St, in the company of the superb Ron Serduik of Pulp Fiction Books (and Press), Sean Williams, Karen Miller, Jonathan Strahan and Dr Helen Merrick. It was noisy, it was fun and it was clever. And I had duck – duck for entree and duck for mains – had there been, as Sean suggested, duck ice cream, I would have had that. It was ducktacular.

Two hours spent with Karen Miller discussing novels – specifically my novels – she knows her stuff. Any time you hear the words ‘Don’t worry about making word count: you’ve got enough there for two books, maybe three’  is a good time.

Guest of Honour Julie Czerneda was superb. She totally rocked – she’s funny and smart and was, unfortunately, a bit underutilised.

Caught up with the inimitable Dirk Flinthart – this con was good coz this time he didn’t attempt to use me to demonstrate martial arts throwing techniques. And we scoped out a new novella (working title of Flying Willow) and generally did what writers do best: see who can tell the biggest porkies and exchange the most unusual and useless facts. [Ten points to Mac North, who managed to tell DF something he did not know ... I don't imagine it's happened very often and has earned Dr North as much Jameson whisky as he can drink for the rest of his life.]

Jason Fischer provided the frog cake – which I must say was delicious. It was filled with cream and covered with icing is so thick and gooey it will stop your arteries.  And it inspired this t-shirt design by Jason’s mate Liam, and the Lovecraftian wordery by JJ Irwin:

Peter Ball’s launch of Horn – which both rocked and scared small children. It’s put out by super indie press Twelfth Planet Press. You should go and find it on the TTP website
http://twelfthplanetpress.wordpress.com/
.

Ditmary goodness went to Sean Williams, Dirk Flinthart, Alisa Krasnostein and Kirstyn McDermott amongst other legends.

Lowlights? All the goodwill in the world cannot make up for a lack of organisation. This con was almost completely uncontaminated by any kind of organisation. The program felt very much last minute and by-the-seat-o’the-pants. Panels had no designated moderator and not all of them had the ideal number of members (three panellists, one moderator – and ideally those people will have had a chat beforehand). For those of us who had people to catch up with, professional contacts and the ability to network, it was okay – we had the time and the place to catch up with folk. However, had I been a newbie, someone who didn’t know anyone and had paid my money for the con and the flight to Adelaide for an experience that included learning opportunities as well as the chance to discuss the state of the genre, I would have been a bit disappointed. This is to in no way denigrate the hard work put in by volunteers and the committee … a con is not an easy thing to do, it is time-consuming and can’t be done well at the last minute. Personally, I like organisation. I like certainty. I don’t necessarily cope with with a mid-range chaos factor, but I recognise that may just be me. But hey, everything happened that was supposed to happen; the launches were terrific, the dealers’ room was filled with books; the Maskobolo was superbly DJ’d by Sean Williams and some of the costumes were amazing. People were friendly and I guess it wasn’t intimidating – I was at the EasterCon Orbital last year in the UK and that was intimidating.

Ultimately, a good con had by most of my crowd; a chance to relax, chat, drink and eat too much, sit on our backsides and make up stories. And eat frog cakes. Huzzah.

Textul “Two Hearts” de Peter S. Beagle deschide antologia, scriitorul fiind cunoscut mai ales pentru romanul fantasy The Last Unicorn, publicat in 1968.O poveste in care un grifon, agresiv de data asta, fiinta fantastica, jumatate leu-jumatate acvila terorizeaza un sat de tarani. Nemaisuportand rapirile copiilor, o fetita isi ia inima`n dinti si purcede la drum sa ceara ajutorul regelui. Un text dramatic, in care cavalerii se sacrifica si prefera pericolul actiuni in dauna unui trai linistit.O poveste in mare parte banala si intinsa.

Antologia continua cu un text al republicatului scriitor Tritonic, Charles Stross, si anume “Snowball’s Chance”. Eram nerabdator cu aceasta intalnire insa m-am dezumflat repede. Actiunea se petrece intr-un bar iar discutiile cu accent irlandez au reusit sa ma scoata destul de repede pe tusa. Am zis pas.

Buuun. Si ajungem la “Sunbird” de Neil Gaiman. Un text in care membrii unei societati de gurmanzi, ce se lauda ca au degustat tot ce se poate pe lumea asta pornesc in cautarea unei pasari rare si fantastice. Sa o puna de o fripturica cum altfel. O alta povestire ce a monopolizat nejustificat mare parte din antologie iar umorul de limbaj folosit de ajutor nu m-a ajutat chiar deloc sa-mi mai sting amarul . Citat:

Augustus Twofeathers McCoy was shown to his room. Professor Mandalay was shown to his room. Jackie Newhouse was shown to his room. This was not a lengthy procedure; they were all in the same room, after all. There was another room in the back where Virginia would sleep…

Jane Yolen a scos sufletul din mine in “A knot of toads” un text in care moartea parintelui siliste o tanara sa se intoarca in orasul natal. Aici ea descopera ca de fapt tatal studia o congregatie de vrajitoare si este nevoita sa dea piept, intr-un final, mult asteptat de mine cu cele mai rele temeri ale sale. Deja am ajuns cu mainile in cap. De ce sa ma mai mire ca fantasy-ul este vazut de outsideri ca o opera in care danseaza exclusiv elfii, vrajitoarele si eventual si ceva orci. O idee iar mult prea intinsa cu reale valente de a trezi somnul.

Totusi de la Jeffrey Ford si “Boatman`s Holiday” putem observa un oaresce reviriment. Ni se ofera o frantura din mitul luntrasului vesnic Charon, pe care-l putem insoti in cateva zile obisnuite de lucru dar si de minivacanta. Intrigat de spusele unor “calatori” porneste in cautarea unei himere care totusi nu este pe atat de intangibila pe cat credea la inceput.

Cristopher Barzak publicat mai ales in antologii horror a fost selectat impreuna cu textul “The language of Moths”. Sunt surprinse in mare parte relatiile din sanul unei familii aflate undeva la munte, in timp ce tatal vaneaza o molie necunoscuta. In acest timp, Dawn fata autista vorbeste cu insectele si imcearca pe cat poate sa faca pe placul familiei, in timp ce Eliot fratele ei,este aproape doborat de responsabilitatea de a avea mereu grija de sora plimbareata. O povestire de maturizare si descoperire de sine, cu un puternic accent dramatic.

M. Rickert in “Anyway” vorbeste despre dramele adevarate pe care le traiesc parintii celor plecati departe de casa sa lupte in razboaie. In cazul nostru o mama are de ales in a-si sacrifica fiul si a salva lumea de razboi sau a-l proteja si a nu stavili viitorul fatidic.Ori, ori.

Urmeaza o mica bijuterie a la Paul di Filippo. “The Emperor of Gondwanaland” ne introduce in viata monotona si obositoare a unui asistent de editor de revista care descopera absolut intamplator o lume fascinanta. Este vorba de un joc online in care utilizatorul primeste un nickname si se trezeste aruncat intr-o lume medievala ce se conduce dupa propriile-i reguli. Textul se finalizeaza un pic in aer iar titlul te duce cu gindul la o posibila petrecere a unei actiuni ulterioare. Incep sa se miste treburile mai bine.

“The Pirate’s True Love” a scriitoarei Seana Graham este destul de reusita. Se radiografiaza starea de melancolie si disperarea ce o inconjoara pe iubita piratului, nevoita sa-l astepte cuminte acasa.. Stare ce evolueaza pina la urma intr-o serie de actiuni ce destabilizeaza actiunile piratilor.

Necunoscuta Ellen Klages, finalista totusi a John W. Campbell Award, in “Intelligent Design”, speculeaza intr-o mica masura asupra modului in care Dumnezeu a reusit sa creeze lumea. Un text scurt, departe de ceea ce se asteapta unii ca ar reprezenta fantasy-ul si cu un impact puternic asupra imaginatiei.

“Pip and the Fairies” de Theodora Goss rememoreaza viata unei fiice a carei mama, scriitoare de lucrari fantastice, a trecut in nefiinta. Un text mai mult ca sa fie la numar.

Un australian, Simon Brown, realizeaza un text reusit in opinia mea, strabatut de accente dramatice. Un baietel reuseste sa se salveze dintr-un avion prabusit doar pentru a constata ca a ajuns pe un “Leviathan” urias. Aflam apoi ca baiatul cu pricina sufera de o boala incurabila iar calatoria sa se transforma intr-un fara nicio sansa de izbanda. Un text incarcat de semnificatii si lectii de viata.

Si in aceast antologii m-am “lovit” de renumitul Bruce Sterling. Nu as exagera daca as spune ca textul domniei sale este unul dintre cele mai bune din intreaga antologie. “The Denial”, urmareste destinul unui cap musulman de familie confruntat cu o inundatie. In urma acestui dezastru natural are impresia ca sotia sa, plecata la un moment dat de linga el, nu mai este cea care a fost. Astfel recurge la o comunitate retrasa, invaluita de misticism al carei preot ii da o serie de sfaturi si o amuleta magica. Finalul te loveste prin rasturnarea de situatie,oferindu-ti o serie de informatii neasteptate.Un scriitor care nu m-a dezamagit.

La fel se intampla si cu Jeff VanderMeer ce a imaginat in “The Farmer’s Cat” un text de o simplitate fantasy aproape sublima. Un fermier are parte in fiecare iarna numai de necazuri atunci cand hambarul sau este vizitat anual de o banda de troli. Pisica pe care o cumpara la un moment dat si modul in care scapa de troli era intr-o evolutie fireasca a actiunii. Totusi impresioneaza modul in care este relatata si buna concentrare pe doar cateva pagini a povestirii.

“There’s a Hole in the City” de Richard Bowes, un text cu trimiteri catre evenimentele din 11 septembrie din New York, destul de lung. L-am inceput si am sarit peste in scurt timp. Fara substanta fantastica evidenta, cel putin in cele cateva pagini parcurse.

“Monster” de Kelly Link incheie in mare stil antologia best fantasy pe 2005. Sunt urmarite aventurile unor copii aflati in tabara confruntati cu posibilitatea ca mitul existentei monstrului sa fie adevarat. Un final destul de singeros, o povestire buna, care m-a convins ca in mod cert Link nu scrie pentru copii.

Desi pe la jumatatea antologiei imi retineam din greu impulsul de a ma lasa pagubas, totusi, situatia incepe sa se mai imbunatateasca pe masura ce trecem de jumatate. Si cred eu ca deseori antologatorii unor asemenea lucrarii pacatuiesc cand isi aleg nume cunoscute, cu rezonanta pe piata sf-ului, insa cu povestiri mai mult decat mediocre. Insa nu pot trece cu vederea ca in orice antologie poti gasi macar 3-4 povestiri care sa-ti fie pe plac. Raportul de forte, comparativ cu numarul total al celor prezente in antologie este intradevar foarte mic si deloc de neglijat dar, eu cel putin am cam inceput sa ma invat cu stilul asta si nu mai stramb asa tare din nas. Cred ca de acum o antologie de asemenea proportii nu poate decat sa-mi confirme talentul unor scriitori sau eventual sa pot descoperi scriitori noi, cu lucrari la fel de reusite. De exemplu am devenit foarte curios de  volumul Magie pentru incepatori de Kelly Link, aparut si la noi la Tritonic, in perioada de “aur” a editurii,  dupa lecturarea povestirii din antologia de fata si “Geanta Fărmăcată”. Povestire pe care am putut-o citi si intr-unul din primele numere Sci-fi Magazin.

As mai adauga ca in Ziarul financiar de duminica trecuta Michael Haulica a realizat o recenzie la antologia The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror, de Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link si Gavin Grant aparuta la Nemira in 2008, in care sunt traduse si povestirile lui Bruce Sterling si Jeffrey Ford.

Last night I discovered  Keri Arthur’s Aussie speak dictionary for the podcast on the Urban fantasy versus paranormal she did with Jane Routley and myself at Conflux 4 in 2007. (There’s also a link to the podcast on Marta Acosta’s vampire wire ).

That panel was a lot of fun, and thinking about it reminded me of the other great panels that were produced as podcasts.

I chaired a panel on The dead body – How to kill someone heroically, where Keri, Richard Harland and I were treated to a brilliant display of sword fighting by Chris Barnes (unfortunately the visuals don’t show in the podcast ) and participated in Telling the future – how divination really works, with Kylie Seluka (Chair) and Margi Curtis.

There were panels and inerviews with Kevin J Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Garth Nix, Trudi Canavan, Graham Joyce, Jonathan Strahan, Simon Brown, Rob Hood, Maxine McArthur, Sean Williams, Terry Dowling, Karen Miller, Sharyn Lilley, Donna Hanson, Gillian Polack, Kaaron Warren, Leigh Blackmore, Cat Sparks, Jack Dann, Liz Argall among other talented writers.

All the Conflux4 podcasts produced by Joffre Street Productions are still available online at the Conflux website  here.

Millennium Press recidiveaza si saptamana asta si vine cu o noua oferta in cadrul campaniei „O carte la zece zile”. de aceasta data este vorba de JAMES DEAN, REBELUL de Jack Dann. Mai multe detalii aici sau la un click pe imaginea copertii din partea dreapta, jos.

De la grupul editorial Corint avem un link cu o serie de romane la reduceri, mai mult sau mai putin substantiale.

Ziarul de Iasi iese in fiecare marti insotit de o carte de la Polirom, inainte era 5 lei, acum a mai urcat un pic la 6. Romanul de martea viitoare este aici si aveti in vedere ca arhiva este in dreapta sus si se pot comanda si prin posta.

Editorul Jonathan Strahan lucreaza la o noua antologie Hard SF si a apelat la ajutorul cititorilor pentru a mai obtine nume de scriitori, mai mult sau mai putin renumiti, insa trebuie sa-i avem in vedere doar pe cei care au publicat romane intr-adevar pe aceasta ramura, cum sunt Greg Egan, Greg Bear, Nancy Kress, sau Linda Nagata.

A aparut recent si lista lunga cu nominalizarile la Arthur C. Clarke Award. V-am dat doar link-ul si o sa revenim cand se vor mai cerne din romane.

Aliette de Bodard’s Butterfly, Falling at Dawn is his favourite from Interzone 219, and he also has good things to say about Mercurio D. Rivera’s The Fifth Zhi, Gord Sellar’s The Country of The Young, and Jason Sanford’s When Thorns Are the Tips of Trees.

In the review of 2008, Jonathan Strahan made Greg Egan’s Crystal Nights (Interzone 215) one of his top ten stories of the year.

This issue contains the voting form for the Locus awards, although you can also vote online.  If you’re a subscriber, you will get another issue added to your subscription for taking part, so don’t throw away your envelope before taking a note of your number. All the recommended titles from last year are listed, including the three Interzone titles (one more than 2007), but you can, of course, nominate any title you wish from 2008.

Thursday. Another dull day at the sausage factory. Cut, paste, upload. Repeat. And then Sean Williams, bless his love of 80s electronic music, sent me this. It is essentially a trailer for Tron, set to one of my favourite Depeche Mode songs, Suffer Well. And done very nicely, too.

And where does the comedian Fox Klein fit in? Well, nowhere, except that he, and the two Coronas I had with dinner, were the highlight of the evening at the Sit Down Comedy Club. A charismatic comedian, offering a storyline or at least a consistent theme with moments of absolute cleverness, and lots of relationship/sex talk without resorting to smut.

Which goes to show how music, fantasy and a sense of humour will overcome

Meanwhile, check out this download from ABC Radio’s Book Show, featuring Aurealis Award winners Jonathan Strahan, Alison Goodman and KA Bedford talking about the importance of the awards, speculative fiction’s ability to compete for attention in the wider market place, and other stuff.

Bedford, writing as KA Bedford, has had all four of his novels published by Edge in Canada make the finalist lists of the awards, and last night he scored his second win: for best science fiction novel, Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait. The novel is also a finalist for the Philip K Dick award.

The awards, recognising excellence in Australian speculative fiction, were presented in a sold-out Judith Wright Centre, with Queensland Governor Penelope Wensley in the audience.

Other winners were:

Children’s fiction

Illustrated work/picture book: Richard Harland and illustrator Laura Peterson, The Wolf Kingdom series
Novel: Emily Rodda, The Wizard of Rondo

Illustrated book/graphic novel: Shaun Tan, Tales from Outer Suburbia

Young Adult
Short story: Trent Jamieson, “Cracks”, Shiny #2
Novel: Melina Marchetta, Finnikin of the Rock

Collection: Sean Williams and Russell B Farr (ed), Magic Dirt: The Best of Sean Williams

Anthology: Jonathan Strahan (ed), The Starry Rift

Horror
Short story: Kirstyn McDermott, “Painlessness”, Greatest Uncommon Denominator #2
Novel: John Harwood, The Seance

Fantasy
Short story: Cat Sparks, “Sammarynda Deep”, Paper Cities
Novel: Alison Goodman, The Two Pearls of Wisdom

Science fiction
Short story: Simon Brown, “The Empire”, Dreaming Again
Novel: KA Bedford, Time
Machines Repaired While-U-Wait

Peter McNamara Convenors Award: this special award was presented to Jack Dann for his incredible lifetime of achievement in the genre.

This was the first year that prizes were awarded for best collection, anthology and illustrated book/graphic novel.

Fantastic Queensland chairman Damon Cavalchini announced that 2010 would be the last year that FQ would host the awards as their contract with awards founders Chimaera Publications will expire, and a new team to organise the awards for 2011 and onwards is needed.

Exhalation – Ted Chiang (Eclipse 2)
Shoggoths in Bloom – Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s, March; online)
Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel – Peter S. Beagle (Strange Roads)
Fixing Hanover – Jeff VanderMeer (Extraordinary Engines)
The Gambler – Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2; online)
The Dust Assassin – Ian McDonald (The Starry Rift)
Virgin – Holly Black (Magic in the Mirrorstone)
Pride and Prometheus – John Kessel (F&SF, Jan; online in this collection)
The Thought War – Paul McAuley (Postscripts 15)
Beyond the Sea Gates of the Scholar Pirates of Sarskoe – Garth Nix (Fast Ships, Black Sails)
The Small Door – Holly Phillips (Fantasy Magazine, July; online)
Turing’s Apples – Stephen Baxter (Eclipse 2)
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates – Stephen King (F&SF Oct-Nov)
Five Thrillers – Robert Reed (F&SF, April)
The Magician’s House – Meghan McCarron (Strange Horizons, July; online)
Goblin Music – Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden)
Machine Maid – Margo Lanagan (Extraordinary Engines)
The Art of Alchemy – Ted Kosmatka (F&SF, June)
26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss – Kij Johnson (Asimov’s, July 2008; online)
Marrying the Sun – Rachel Swirsky (Fantasy Magazine, June; online)
Crystal Nights – Greg Egan (Interzone 215)
His Master’s Voice – Hannu Rajaniemi (Interzone 218)
Special Economics – Maureen McHugh (The Del Rey Book of SFF)
Evidence of Love in a Case of Abandonment – M Rickert (F&SF Oct-Nov)
From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled… – Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s, Feb)
If Angels Fight – Rick Bowes (F&SF, Feb)
The Doom of Love in Small Spaces – Ken Scholes (Realms of Fantasy, April)
Pretty Monsters – Kelly Link (Pretty Monsters)

So let’s see: that’s 29 28 stories, of which 14 (50%) are from non-magazine sources. Is that the highest proportion yet for a year’s best? Of those that are from magazines, the clear leader is F&SF with 6 — twice as many stories as its nearest rival, Asimov’s, and a fifth of the entire book. Three stories were first published online, and an additional four are already available online. Given that, of the seven stories on this list I’ve read so far, the only one I question the inclusion of is the King (I’m not as bowled over by “His Master’s Voice” as some, but it’s certainly ambitious), and three are already on my planned Hugo ballot, I will be tracking down as many of the others as I can before nomination time rolls around. Two further notes: 10 11 stories are by women, or 34%, about the same as 39%, slightly up from the two other volumes in this series; and I could be wrong, but I don’t think any of these stories are novellas. Is that the case? And if so, has it just been a weak year for novellas? [I am wrong; "Five Thrillers" and "Pretty Monsters" are novellas.]