Feature: Brief Points on A Post-Book Blockade Philippines

Every Wednesday, I have an essay or feature article on any topic that catches my fancy!

To Tax or Not To Tax?

Personally, I'm not against taxing books per se. However, Undersecretary Sales' implementation leaves much to be desired such as:

1) Failing to comply to international law, in this case the Florence Treaty. Tax books, fine, but our government shouldn't claim that it's honoring--at the very least--the spirit of the Florence Treaty. Opt out of the treaty, at least there's no hypocrisy that way.

2) Due process of passing "new" laws. There's a complex system for proposing new laws and Undersecretary Sales is free to propose the taxation of books. Let's at least honor our own legal system. Otherwise, why have our existing government set-up in the first place if due process is just going to be arbitrarily bypassed, whether it's Undersecretary Sales or someone else?

3) Lack of coordination between the various departments. Department of Education might want to promote reading but Department of Finance creates a policy that undermines that goal.

Books are not Educational.

For me, the problem is determining which books are educational, scientific, or cultural. It's as precarious as determining genres. Books are art and unfortunately, there's no empirical way (i.e. something that can be consistently proven) to judge them. For example, we have George Orwell's Animal Farm. It's a fantasy novel (and there are those who would argue that it's a "novel" period and shouldn't have the fantasy label attached to it). When the book initially got released, does it qualify as educational? For the sake of argument, let's say no. And then later on, due to the various reactions, it became this literary icon for anti-communism and several schools included it as part of its curriculum. It may not have been classified as educational originally but for certain schools and universities, it did become educational. So there's no real fixed standard to these things and honestly, a university's syllabus will be in constant flux. There's no empirical way to determine whether a book is "educational," unless Undersecretary Sales really means "text books," in which case I think the original law would simply have mentioned text books.

And if what's "educational" is already in a precarious situation of being defined, how much more a looser term such as "cultural?"

What's even scarier is who gets to unanimously claim which books fall under which category (or rather exclude them from, say, being cultural). It may not be direct censorship, but it's a policy that discourages specific titles (which is fine if we're not claiming to be a "free" and democratic country).

It's fine to tax -insert type of book here- but we should make exemptions on -insert type of book here-

The problem here is who gets to determine which books should be exempt and which shouldn't? Or why should Book X be taxed but Book Y not? Those looking for such a policy is only interesting in furthering their own agenda rather than everyone's. (For example, I'm sure the Church would love to tax books like Da Vinci Code and make exemptions on books like The Bible. But why should we give preference to the Church as opposed to everyone else?)

Also, see the previous point.

And not to rant, but other mediums such as comics have been proven to be educational/cultural, such as Art Spiegelman's Maus. Or magazines such as Playboy have featured literary fiction from authors like John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemmingway, and Jack Keruoac, despite what others might think of the rest of its content.

The new law is good for local book publishing.

Wrong again.

First off, some local publishers have their books printed (publishing isn't simply about printing the books) outside of the country. They will be taxed.

Second, some companies are in the business of importing/distributing foreign books for local consumption. Local business, foreign materials. They will be taxed.

Third, if you think Filipinos will buy more local books because a) import books are more expensive or because b) there's suddenly less import books on the shelves (honesty an unlikely possibility), then you're working on a wrong assumption. (Granted, this isn't a fact and can be argued against, but when was the last time you bought a local book because you couldn't purchase an import?)

Fourth, if you think this will encourage local publishers to acquire the rights to reprint foreign titles and print them locally, that's also an unlikely scenario. Local publishers don't do that in the first place because there's usually an expensive licensing fee to do so--thus making the local reprint expensive as well even if the publisher could afford it. There are some exemptions of course (i.e. Ang Munting Prinsipe) but they're the exception rather than the norm. Acquiring local reprint rights for a mid-list author might cost $500~$1,000, which in the case of the Philippines translates to a publisher's entire marketing budget for the year, or the actual cost for the book's initial print run.

Fifth, a lot of the people involved in local publishing read foreign books too. Unless you want to encourage a stagnation in creativity where the only books people read are those written by fellow Filipinos.

Local books are being sold at a high profit margin because they retail for less than their US counterparts.

First off, honestly, the only way to determine the profit margin of any business is to get a look at their accounting books. I'm not privy to those details.

If certain bookstores (i.e. National Bookstore) sell books at a cheaper rate than in the US, it's because they have a system in place that subsidizes the expenses. Such as selling school supplies (and National Bookstore honestly doesn't have to sell books or price them as cheaply--a good chunk of their income is derived from selling school supplies; in The 2000 Philippines Yearbook, Clinton Palanca interviews Socorro Ramos and is quoted for saying "If I didn't sell the pencils, I wouldn't be able to sell the books."). (And if you notice, this is the common trend for the past few decades, such as the case with Goodwill Bookstore.) That's also why in independent bookstores, books are being sold at higher than the US retail price.

Bookstores might be given distributor discount (30%? 60%?) but they have 1) overhead costs, 2) shipping costs, 3) pay its staff, 4) make profits, and 5) pay its taxes (different for custom duties). Anyone who has experience in business will know that a few percent can mean the difference between staying in business or not.

No new books were being imported during the book blockade.

Old news but I want to reiterate this fact: the statement above is false. "...customs curtailed all air shipments of books entering the country." That's air shipments. Books were still being delivered through sea (which is how most bookstores transport their stocks). The new law, however, taxes all shipments, whether via air or by sea.

Having said that, here are some points I want to make:

Undersecratary Sales should not be surprised at the reactions.

According to various sources, people did express their distress when Undersecretary Sales proposed the customs tax. Why she didn't listen to them, I don't know. Did she understimate the public's reaction? Or is simply the type of person who ignores feedback?

The law hurts the lower-income people.

Guys and gals, let's face it. The rich will shop abroad or consider the increase in costs negligible. The slightly-less wealthy buy their books online. Majority of people who buy their books in local brick and mortar stores will be the middle-class and those with lower incomes.

Whether there actually be an increase in book prices.

Honestly, the correct answer here is I don't know. I can only say that the independent bookstores are more likely to increase their prices compared to the mainstream bookstores but that's no guarantee whether they actually will or not. There are a lot of variables in business, such as gas. This new tax is simply another of those variables. Whether it's enough to justify a price increase depends on their business plan and how it relates to the other variables (i.e. when the peso-dollar ratio or gas prices were increasing, not everyone raised the prices of their products). And when bookstores do increase their prices, it won't necessarily just be by 1% or 5%.

It doesn't affect certain businesses that sells books.

Comic shops sell books. In a mailing list, I got into this argument regarding gaming books being sold in hobby shops. They're not affected by this tax mainly because they never declared their inventory as imports falling under the Florence agreement. I talked to a friend who owns a comic shop and they're paying regular import duties for the comics they bring in, which is based on a formula that takes into account the weight of the shipment and its invoice price.

Not enough media exposure.

The fight that book aficionados should fighting right now is that of propaganda. Aside from money, a good motivator for politicians to act is through social pressure and that's usually through the media. (I expected more posturing from politicians, especially with elections coming up soon, and this could be a platform people that their supporters could rally on.)

Unfortunately, right now, despite attempts by personalities like Manuel Quezon III, there's really not a lot of coverage regarding the issue. It's not making the headlines, whether in TV or print (although thankfully there are editorials and columns tackling the issue). I really love the grass-roots campaign that's going on here in the Internet, but I honestly don't think it should end there.

Why not a lot of people are aware of the issue.

Because not everyone who needed to be informed about this new law was actually informed. Sure, Sales may have contacted the booksellers, but they're not the only ones affected by this. There's the local publishers for example. They might have published in the Inquirer the new law but how can the lay man (myself included) understand all that legal jargon? There's also a lot of misconception and ignorance about what the new lay entails. If, for example, I said that tuition will go up by 1~5%, would more citizens be up in arms? (Clearly this won't cause tuition to go up by that much but let's say you're an English Major who needs to read ten [Western] literary books in a semester. Those books will be taxed. Unless the government is encouraging our lack of respect for intellectual property laws via rampant photocopying, even if it is for educational purposes.)

Taking it to court is a long and tedious process.

It's a last resort but right now, I'd bet more on increasing media exposure rather than relying on court of law to reverse the decision.

This policy is embarrassing.

It's honestly embarrassing to the other countries who actually honor the Florence Treaty. And if we're willing to break this treaty, what else are we willing to break? (It doesn't help that piracy and corruption runs rampant in this country.)

Feature: Mini-Directory of SF&F on Twitter

Every Wednesday, I have an essay on any topic that catches my fancy!

I signed up for Twitter a few weeks back and the presence of the SF&F community there isn't lacking. Twelfthhouse compiled a list of authors on Twitter and there's a couple of online articles compiling personalities to follow on Twitter (Sci-Fi Wire and Tech Republic for example) so I thought I'd come up with my own that's focused on the SF&F genre. Not that this list is comprehensive (it's definitely not original) but hopefully it's a start for fans who are curious about Twitter. (The categories are also approximations, especiallly for those publisher cum editor cum writer types.)

Publications

Abyss_Apex - Abyss & Apex Maagzine
AMidsummerNight - A Midsummer Night's Press
angryrobotbooks - Angry Robot Books
ApexBookCompany - Apex Publications
bantamspectra - Bantam Spectra
chizinepub - ChiZine Publications
circletpress - Circlet Press
DelReyBooks - Del Rey
EosBooks - Eos Books
erictreynolds - Publisher of Hadley Rile Books
jlassen - Co-publisher of Night Shade Books
Krasnostein - Publisher of Twelfth Planet Press
LonesomeRobot - Lonesome Robot Press
Marc_Gascoigne - Publishing Director of Angry Robot Books
Norilana - Norilana Books
oldcharliebrown - Publisher of Prime Books
orbitbooks - Orbit Books
planetstoriesTM - Planet Stories
Pyr_Books - Pyr
subpress - Subterranean Press
torbooks - Jen Hill who promotes Tor Books
tordotcom - Tor.com
torforgeauthors - An aggregation of various feeds
TTApress - Publisher of Interzone, Black Static, Crimewave, etc.

Magazines

BlackGameDotCom - Black Gate
CemeteryDance - Cemetery Dance
clarkesworld - Clarkesworld Magazine
CoyoteWild - Coyote Wild
dropsofcrimson - Drops of Crimson
gudmagazine - GUD Magazine
Ideomancer - Ideomancer
IROSF - The Internet Review of Science Fiction
mbranesf - M-Brane SF
nanoism - Nanoism Twitterzine
outshine - Outshine Twitterzine
StarShipSofa - StarShipSofa
strangehorizons - Strange Horizons
thaumatrope - Thaumatrope Twitterzine

Websites

anthobuilder - Anthology Builder
armadillocon - Austin Science Fiction Convention
AurealisXpress - aurealisExpress
BoingBoing - Boing Boing
bookgasm - Bookgasm
bookspotcentral - BookSpot Central
booksquare - BookSquare
bookviewcafe - Book View Cafe
BSFA - British Science Fiction Association
carlbrandon - Carl Brandon Society
fantasysf - Fantasy SF Blog
gaylaxicon2009 - Galaxicon 2009
Hypericon - Hypericon
interstitialart - The Interstitial Arts Foundation
io9 - io9
MystGalaxyBooks - Mysterious Galaxy
SFAwardsWatch - SF Awards Watch
SFFAudio - SFFAudio
sfsignal - SF Signal
sfwa - SF&F Writers Of America
Shineanthology - Shine Anthology
suvudu - Suvudu
TheHugoAwards - The Hugo Awards
worldcon - Worldcon

Editors

2muchexposition - Liz Gorinsky
AurealisEd - Stuart Mayne
carissathorp - Carissa Thorp
cromercrox - Henry Gee
ericmarin - Eric Marin
johnjosephadams - John Joseph Adams
johnklima - John Klima
JonathanStrahan - Jonathan Strahan
kaolinfire - Kaolin Fire
KathrynC - Kathryn Cramer
LeeAHarris - Lee Harris
martyhalpern - Marty Halpern
mythicdelirium - Mike Allen
nelilly - Nathan E. Lilly
papertyger - Juliette Ulman
pnh - Patrick Nielsen Hayden
SFEley - Steve Eley
thesnowleopard - Paula R. Stiles
tnielsenhayden - Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Authors

AdrienneKress - Adrienne Kress
agamisu - Jay Caselberg
al_robertson - Al Robertson
aLeeMartinez - A. Lee Martinez
AletheaKontis - Alethea Kontis
alexirvine - Alex Irvine
aliettedb - Aliette de Bodard
AngelMcCoy - Angel Leigh McCoy
authorjacks - Jackie Gamber
barthanderson - Barth Anderson
brendacooper - Brenda Cooper
BrianKeene - Brian Keene
Cadigan - Pat Cadigan
Catrambo - Cat Rambo
Cbarzak - Christopher Barzak
cdelint - Charles de Lint
Chadbourn - Mark Chadbourn
CherylMorgan - Cheryl Morgan
cmpriest - Cherie Priest
damiengwalter - Damien G. Walter
davedevereux - David Devereux
david_debeer - David de Beer
daviddlevine - David D. Levine
davidfarland - David Farland
dbassingthwaite - Don Bassingthwaite
esedia - Ekaterina Sedia
DeanWesleySmith - Dean Wesley Smith
dianarowland - Diana Rowland
docbrite - Poppy Z. Brite
doctorow - Cory Doctorow
eileen_gunn - Eileen Gunn
EllenKushner - Ellen Kushner
eugiefoster - Eugie Foster
ewillett - Edward Willett
GLValentine - Genevieve Valentine
gordsellar - Gord Sellar
gregvaneekhout - Greg van Eekhout
gryphoness - Erin Hoffman
Hal_Duncan - Hal Duncan
hollyblack - Holly Black
jay_lake - Jay Lake
jchutchins - J.C. Hutchins
jedediahberry - Jedediah Berry
jeffreyeford - jeffrey ford
jeffvandermeer - Jeff VanderMeer
jelundberg - Jason Erik Lundberg
jennablack - Jenna Black
jennawaterford - Jenna Waterford
jennbrissett - Jennifer Brissett
jenwriter - Jen Hayley
JeremiahTolbert - Jeremiah Tolbert
JMMcDermott - JM McDermott
joe_hill - Joe Hill
jon_armstrong - Jon Armstrong
JSCarroll - Jonathan Carroll
jsmithready - Jeri Smith-Ready
JustineLavaworm - Justine Larbalestier
KarlSchroeder - Karl Schroeder
kelleyeskridge - Kelley Eskridge
KenMcConnell - Ken McConnell
KimFalconer - Kim Falconer
koldobarroso - Koldo Barroso
KristineRusch - Kristine Kathryn Rusch
lawrenceschimel - Lawrence Schimel
laurenbeukes - Lauren Beukes
leahbobet - Leah Bobet
lilithsaintcrow - Lilith Saintcrow
LisaMantchev - Lisa Mantchev
Livia_Llewellyn - Livia Llewellyn
mamohanraj - MaryAnneMohanraj
margolanagan - Margo Lanagan
MarkCN - Mark Charan Newton
markteppo - Mark Teppo
MaryRobinette - Mary Robinette Kowal
matociquala - Elizabeth Bear
MattFnWallace - Matt Walace
mightymur - Mur Lafferty
MikeStackpole - Michael A Stackpole
mkhobson - M.K. Hobson
nalohopkinson - Nalo Hopkinson
naominovik - Naomi Novik
neilhimself - Neil Gaiman
neutronjockey - J.K.Richard
nithska - Brandon Bell
Nnedi - Nnedi Okorafor
NorwichGrrl - Catherynne M. Valente
paolobacigalupi - Paolo Bacigalupi
Paul_Cornell - Paul Cornell
pauljessup - Paul Jessup
PaulLev - Paul Levinson'
Paulskemp - Paul S. Kemp
peterstraubnyc - Peter Straub
PGHolyfield - P.G. Holyfield
PhilippaJane - Philippa Ballantine
pinguinus - Carrie Laben
ProfBrotherton - Michael Brotherton
rachelcaine - Rachel Caine
RindaElliott - Rinda Elliott
robcrogers3 - Rob Rogers
robinwasserman - Robin Wasserman
rsdevin - R. Schuyler Devin
Ruth_Nestvold - Ruth Nestvold
salvaria - Conrad Williams
scalzi - John Scalzi
scottedelman - Scott Edelman
scottsigler - Scott Sigler
seanmarkey - Sean Markey
SFcrowsnest - Stephen Hunt
shadesong - Shira Lipkin
shunn - William Shunn
sirtessa - Sir Tessa
spacejock - Simon Haynes
sparkwatson - Ben Parzybok
SPrineas - Sarah Prineas
stephanieburgis - Stephanie Burgis
steph_campisi - Stephanie Campisi
StevenGould - Steven Gould
SusanKelley - Susan Kelley
TeeMonster - Tee Morris
terryandrob - Terry Pratchett
TheKJA - Kevin J. Anderson
timpratt - Tim Pratt
tobiasbuckell - Tobias Buckell
TomPiccirilli - Tom Piccirilli
victoriajanssen - Victoria Janssen
Vylar_Kaftan - Vylar Kaftan
warrenellis - Warren Ellis
wholeexpanse - Michael Phillips
wilw - Wil Wheaton

Miscellaneous

Kate_Baker - Kate Baker
BlueTyson - Blue Tyson
charliejane - Charlie Jane Anders
ColleenLindsay - Colleen Lindsay
danacea - Danie Ware of Forbidden Planet
darrenturpin - Darren Turpin
deepeight - Matt Staggs
douglain - Doug Lain
drmabuse - Edward Champion
ericrosenfield - Eric Rosenfield
fantasybookcrit - Fantasy Book Critic
fabiofernandes - Fabio Fernandes
grahamsleight - Graham Sleight
Hornswoggler - Andrew Wheeler
IreneGallo - Irene Gallo
jacquesbarcia - Jacques Barcia
Janet_Reid - Janet Reid
jfqbsh - jason quackenbush
JimFreund - Jim Freund
johnottinger - John Ottinger
JohnPicacio - John Picacio
KatMeyer - Kat Meyer
mariaschneider - Maria Schneider
moonrat - Editorial Ass
nethspace - Nethspace
pablod - Pablo Defendini
PaulGrahamRaven - Paul Graham Raven
R_Nash - Richard Nash
SFDiplomat - SF Diplomat
shaunfarrell - Shaun Farrell
SpiralGalaxy - Spiral Galaxy
yodiwan - Yen Cheong

Feature: The Expatriates of Philippine Speculative Fiction

Every Wednesday, I'll have an essay or a feature on any topic that catches my fancy!

The Philippine diaspora (best exemplified by the nation's "heroes," the OFWs) plays a big part in our culture, from the country's economy to our literature. What's interesting to me is how migration--temporary or permanent--results in a fusion of sensibilities. A Filipino living in America for example isn't simply a Filipino anymore. There's a part of the US with him whether they deny it or not and this will affect their writing. These authors might pursue different agendas from that of their homeland (whether it's the Philippines or otherwise), or tackle them through different means. Thankfully, when it comes to Philippine Speculative Fiction, we have a handful of authors living abroad who bring something different to the scene.

Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo is currently residing in Hong Kong (and previously studied in Australia) and from what little I've read of her work, doesn't shy away from themes of social relevance. Koo doesn't limit herself to speculative fiction (nor the fiction format for that matter as she's written a poem and a play) and her most outstanding piece is her story "Benito Salazar’s Last Creation," which is a science fiction story that won third prize in the 2007 Don Carlos Palanca Awards.

Singapore is home to three talented Filipino writers. The first is F.H. Batacan who is prominently known for her Philippine crime novel, Smaller and Smaller Circles. While the crime genre is her foremost passion, she makes the occasional foray into speculative fiction such as "Keeping Time," a science fiction piece which won the 2008 Philippines Free Press Literary Awards. In most of Batacan's stories, speculative or otherwise, she tends to focus on the characters and their psyche, whether it's a serial murderer, a scientist, or a cooking utensil.

Another Singapore-based author is Chiles Samaniego who is probably best known for his Weird Tales story "Time and the Orpheus." He doesn't have a lot of output but each of his stories propel a different agenda and utilizes different techniques. His Weird Tales story for example is simple and the speculative element seeps into the story at the end while "Troll's Doll" (the link is an excerpt) is otherworldly right from the get-go. As far as poetics goes, me and Samaniego (peacefully) clash when it comes to our aesthetic sensibilities but that's not necessarily a bad thing as he delivers something different.

Gabriela Lee is both a recognized poet and fictionist, as well as recipient of the Amelia Lapena Bonifacio Literary Award. Her speculative fiction has been published in Philippine Speculative Fiction I ("Instructions on How to Disappear") and A Different Voice: Fiction by Young Filipino Writers ("Hunger"). Both utilize the second-person point of view and Lee tends to focus on the emotional turmoil of her characters. She has a story in the upcoming A Time for Dragons anthology edited by Vincent Michael Simbulan.

Apol Lejano-Massebieau hails from France and has been a consistent contributor to Dean Francis Alfar and Nikki Alfar's Philippine Speculative Fiction ever since volume 2. She's one of my favorite writers and at her best, Lejano-Massebieau channels elements of magic-realism at the same time fleshing out her protagonists. One good example is "Pedro Diyego's Homecoming."

Rochita Loenen-Ruiz is from the Netherlands and is a columnist and reviewer for a variety of publications including The Fix and The Sword Review. Her most prominent fiction to date is "Teaching a Pink Elephant to Ski" published in Fantasy Magazine but readers should also watch out for "The Wordeaters," which was published in the Weird Tales international fiction issue together with Samaniego. Loenen-Ruiz is a flexible writer and in my opinion she's still exploring her own voice. She's written everything from the most whimsical of stories to high fantasy.

Douglas Candano isn't quite an expat but he's currently pursuing his Masters Degree at McGill University in Montreal, Canada (although he's currently back in the Philippines). Last year, he found himself in Barbados at the university's research station. Candano's signature style is a reportage format that tends to be quite lengthy. My favorite story of his is "Dreaming Valhalla," which won second place in the 2007 Don Carlos Palanca Awards.

There's actually a couple of Filipino expats in the US although personally, they have yet to make a personal impression on me. While not exclusively a speculative fiction writer, Marianne Villanueva is the literary veteran as she's been published in numerous anthologies and even had a short story, "Silence," shortlisted for the 2000 O. Henry Literature Prize. Her speculative fiction story "The Hand" won the Juked magazine fiction contest and was reprinted in Philippine Speculative Fiction III.

Rod M. Santos (a.k.a. Rodello Santos, depending on the publication) is published in numerous online venues including The Town Drunk ("The Great Deeds of Payven Larum" and "Curse of the Friendly Forest"), Flash Fiction Online ("Speed Dating and Spirit Guides"), and Dragons, Knights, & Angels ("The Sheperd of Planets").

Jose Elvin Bueno is published in Philippine Speculative Fiction IV ("All We Need is Five Meals a Day") and I remember him for having a chat with Jeff Vandermeer in order to promote the Philippine Speculative Fiction series.

There's also Alex Paman who will be published in the upcoming Digest of Philippine Genre Stories: Horror issue ("Same Time Again Next Halloween") and has an upcoming article on the state of Philippine Speculative Fiction in Filipinas Magazine. There's probably other authors from the US that I've missed but again, these are the ones that I've noticed.

Feature: A Love Letter... Sorta

Every Wednesday, I'll have an essay or a feature on any topic that catches my fancy!

This Saturday is Valentine's Day and while several singles I know wallow in pity and despair, I'll try to be more positive. Having said that, here are some letters to people I feel are under-appreciated in the publishing industry:

Dear Translator,

You never get enough credit for all that you've done. Your name never graces a book's cover. You are always under the shadow of the author. Some people don't even know you exist. When I approach a fellow bibliophile, they'll name their favorite author or editor but if you ask them to name a translator, few are even able to come up with any name, much less one they love. You pore over someone else's words for weeks, months, sometimes even years. You try to understand them as best you can and find the appropriate words in another language. And then you edit, edit, edit. If there is a mistake, canny readers will blame you. If you do everything right, it is the author who is praised.

Thank you.

Dear Marketing,

You go by many different names and many different tasks yet your goals are all the same. Your tasks seem endless as you contact various bookstores and media. Authors will complain that you don't promote their book often enough. You get harassed by an endless stream of people requesting review copies. Some will even mock your concepts and designs, whether it's book covers or ads or book trailers. After all the haggling, bribing, coercing, and networking, one's time never seems enough as there'll always be the next book or author to promote.

Thank you.

Dear Editor,

The slush piles are deep and for every gem uncovers, one must go through ten horrible or mediocre stories. Unsolicited manuscripts land in your mail or inbox. Some writers demand feedback or assail you with insults and death threats. Even your form letters are scrutinized. There are even squabbles with the writers whose stories that you do accept. And then there's everything else involved in getting the publication out, such as sending out contracts and making sure you got everyone's name right.

Thank you.

Feature: Charles's Top Five for 2008

Every Wednesday, I'll have an essay or a feature on any topic that catches my fancy!

Here's my top five list for the year and it covers books that I've read this year, not necessarily books that were published this year.

Short Stories:

Comments: There's a couple of stories that I really really loved from the 2007 Nebula Awards such as Ted Chiang's "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" and Daniel Abraham's "The Cambist and Lord Iron" but I read them in 2007. There's also some 2008 anthologies that I haven't gotten to read such as Eclipse 2 and Best American Fantasy 2 which I expect will feature some great stories that I'm missing out on. Also, see Everything Else.

"Little Gods" by Tim Pratt (Little Gods) - It's the story I want every girl I have a remote romantic interest in to read.

"Daltharee" by Jeffrey Ford (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy) - The Hollywood pitch would be retro-scifi with a modern touch. Also Ford's most upbeat story in the past year or two.
"Vampires in the Lemon Grove" by Karen Russell (The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror 2008) - Simply powerful, effective prose that makes great use of various genres. Makes me love magic-realism.

"Pretty Monsters" by Kelly Link (Pretty Monsters) - Just when I thought I had Kelly Link figured out, she blows me away with an entirely new and exciting story.

"A Fable with Slips of White Paper" by Kevin Brockmeier (Best American Fantasy) - The brevity and simplicity can be misleading as it weaves into something bigger and touching. Also kudos to the ending of the story.

Anthologies:

Comments: Well, again, another disclaimer is that I didn't get to read some of this year's latest "best of" anthologies such as Best American Fantasy 2 (it wasn't available for order in early December and it takes 3 weeks for the bookstore at best to have it in stock). Also one thing to bear in mind is that the "best of" anthologies--or at least one of them--will have an automatic slot in the list (because "best of" anthologies are always invaluable) and in this case, they occupy three out of the five slots (although one of them was from last year), leaving little room for the original anthologies. Also, I see the "best of" anthologies as interconnected. For example, Best American Fantasy and Fantasy: Best of the Year presupposes that The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror is the basis for comparison (and one of their strong points is that they deviate from the "norm", the norm being The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror) and the three form my holy triumvirate (most likely in the years to come if the quality remains consistent).

Nemonymous: Cone Zero edited by D.F. Lewis - One of most refreshing magazine/anthology I've read in recent years (of course that could just be due to my ignorance) and each story is distinct and makes an impact. Besides, between the anonymous authors and the "cone zero" concept, how could you fail?

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008 edited by Ellen Datlow & Kelly Link & Gavin Grant - On the non-fiction side, the summary and the honorable mention is a much-awaited list. When it comes to the fiction, it's certainly a strong selection.

Best American Fantasy edited by Jeff & Ann Vandermeer, Matthew Cheney - For the most part, it covers territory not featured in other anthologies in addition to including great stories in general.

The Living Dead edited by John Joseph Adams - Blew me away. Okay, here's the thing: this is a thick anthology and each story will do one of two things. Either it'll make an impression on you or it represents a field in the zombie mythos. If nothing else, the sheer content will overwhelm you.

Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2008 edited by Rich Horton - Includes a distinct selection from the other "best of" anthologies out year and bonus points because I'm attuned to Horton's choices which means I really, really liked around 90% of his choices.

Short Story Collections:

Comments: There's actually a couple of good short story collections in recent years including John Grant's Take No Prisoners and Elizabeth Hand's Saffron and Brimstone. This list I think is more representative of what appeals to me and I'm glad there's a variety of quality titles to choose from.

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill - Hill goes for the jugular as he writes powerful horror stories that are propelled by characterization and technique. One could even consider his fiction Literary (that's with a capital L!) and this is one of the more refreshing collections that I've read in recent times.

Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link - I'm a big fan of Link and the titular story, "Pretty Monsters", doesn't disappoint. For the most part, Link fans will want to get this because it compiles some (not all) of her more recent work.

Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi - Bacigalupi is one of the hottest SF writers that deals with current issues and this is evident from his most recent stories. This is honestly what I imagine modern science fiction to be.

Little Gods by Tim Pratt - "Little Gods" is one of those stories that justifies purchasing an entire book but that aside, Pratt is my Hemmingway when it comes to speculative fiction. He accomplishes so much with so little and one can sense the passion in those pieces. Is Pratt perfect? Not by any means but his stories tend to be enjoyable nonetheless.

The Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford - There's actually less variety in terms of style compared to Ford's previous collections but there's also a certain maturation in his writing, a "I've settled down" kind of feeling. His sophistication can be nailed down to sheer technique and at the very least Ford proves that he's as skilled as he ever was.

Novels:

Comments: I haven't been reading many novels lately as I tend to focus on short stories (be it magazines, short story collections, or anthologies) but this is I think a good representation of what I look for in speculative fiction aside from my guilty pleasures. These are books that I can throw at the Literati crowd as they can stand well on their own even against canonical giants. A lot of the books in other people's lists, such as Jo Graham's Black Ships, I simply haven't had time to read. J.M. McDermott's novel Last Dragon isn't in my list because I read it last year and thus made my list in 2007.

How to Make Friends with Demons by Graham Joyce - This is the single novel that made me believe in the author. Suffice to say, Joyce's fiction has gravity at the same time balancing his speculative fiction elements so that they are relevant to the entire framework. A selection from the novel also won the O. Henry Award.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - For a time, I was actually skeptical of Gaiman's recent novels but The Graveyard Book is arguably the author's best work yet and restored my faith in him.

The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia - Sedia's writing makes me green with envy as it's both easy to read and compelling. The strength of this novel is its inclusion of Russian myth and how each chapter adds something new to the novel.

Under My Roof by Nick Mamatas - No wasted space here as each chapter both has an impact and lures you deeper into the narrative. This is a well thought out and well-written book and Mamatas's protagonist is a distinct character.



The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford - The impression that Ford gives off is that he is Bradbury reborn as The Shadow Year is both a touching and well-crafted novel with all the right elements and technique thrown in. Easily stands toe-to-toe with my favorite Ford novel, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque.

Everything Else:

Comments: Technically, these are still books per se but are usually too short or don't fall under any of the other categories.

A Field Guide to Surreal Botany by Janet Chui & Jason Erik Lundberg - Strictly speaking, this is an anthology but it's presented in a way that's different and warrants itself a new category altogether. Suffice to say I'm pleased with the execution, both in the production and the actual prose. Definitely a memorable item and one that you could easily give to anyone.

The Hiss of Escaping Air by Christopher Golden - It's a chapbook but it's such a terrific story (in terms of skill) that yes, it deserves to stand well on its own.

Fairy Tales for Writers by Lawrence Schimel - For the most part, this was fun. Poetry combined with a fairy tale theme and writing advice. How can you beat that combo?

The Harlequin & The Train by Paul G. Tremblay - Paul G. Tremblay? An awesome and versatile writer. This book will hook you and proves what you can do with characterization and horror. And yellow highlighters.

12 Collections & The Tea Shop by Zoran Zivkovic - Suffice to say, the experience for me is like someone discovering Gabriel Garcia Marquez for the first time. Or Umberto Eco. Zivkovic's a non-American writer that's talented and bring something new and different to the field, definitely not limited by constraints of genre.

Interviews:

Comments: Here are what I think are my top five interviews on this blog. And what I mean by that is that these are interviews which through sheer luck and some miracle, I managed to coax a lot out of the interviewee (the brilliance of their answers of course is attributed to them).

Mike Allen

John Grant

Lucius Shepard

Matt Staggs

Sean Wallace

Feature: 2008 Recommended Reading

Every Wednesday, I'll have an essay or a feature on any topic that catches my fancy!

Next week, I'll be posting my "Top Five Best Of" list for the year but in the meantime, here are a dozen books that I'd like readers to give a second look (or first look as the case may be).

How to Make Friends with Demons by Graham Joyce (Night Shade Books): The release of this book has actually been delayed to January 2009 and my advice is to pre-order it now or get it as soon as its available. This is a terrific novel that impressed me and unfortunately, I'm not seeing a lot of press on it. A section of the novel was published as a short story (much like Neil Gaiman's "Witch's Headstone" in The Graveyard Book) under the title "An Ordinary Soldier of the Queen" and won this year's O. Henry Award.

The Ant King and Other Stories by Benjamin Rosenbaum (Small Beer Press): Say what you want about Rosenbaum but he definitely has a unique and distinct voice. The Ant King and Other Stories features a diverse set of stories with a more modern style.


The New Weird edited by Jeff & Ann Vandermeer (Tachyon Publications): Many have described this title as the "Bible" when it comes to the New Weird and I can't help but agree. Which is ironic because I don't think this book was meant to the be-all and end-all but rather a text that encourages dialogue between the reader and the contributors. Definitely a thumbs up in terms of the format and the reader feels they're part of an actual conversation rather than simply being a bystander.

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress (Weinstein Books): A fantastic young adult debut novel in my opinion is Alex and the Ironic Gentleman. It's fun and humorous and upbeat. Not by any means the best book ever written but definitely worth a look.

Devil's Cape by Rob Rogers (Wizards of the Coast Discoveries): There's a lot of non-mainstream superhero novels recently being published but one title that's not receiving a lot of press is Devil's Cape. It combines the best elements of crime fiction with the superhero genre. Here's a part of the blurb from Greg Rucka that I totally agree: "There is NO WAY that this is Rob Rogers’s first novel. This is a novel replete with the rewards of a lifetime of training, effort, and passion."

The Last Book by Zoran Zivkovic (PS Publishing): Matt Denault's review eloquently said everything I wanted to say (and more!). I've read Ulysses and Lolita and this is easily as jam-packed and multi-layered as those books albeit with a significantly lesser word count and a more compelling pace. Definitely one of the books that the Fiction crowd will want to wrangle away from genre and claim as their own.
Psychological Methods to Sell Should Be Destroyed: Stories by Robert Freeman Wexler (Spilt Milk Press): Suffice to say, the stories in this chapbook are refreshing. Wexler's definitely a talented author who deserves more attention and you can read his humble beginnings here.

The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow (Del Rey): Simply put, a collection of well-crafted and well-written stories. It's not lacking attention thanks to the controversy surrounding Margo Lanagan's "The Goosle" (i.e. every review after the controversy must tackle this story in one form or another) but let's not forget all the other great stories in this book including "Daltharee" by Jeffrey Ford and "Gladiolus Exposed" by Anna Tambour (another underrated author).

The Journey to Kailash by Mike Allen (Norilana Books Curiosities): Not that I'm a poetry expert of even an aficionado but if you want to have a taste of speculative fiction poetry, you can't go wrong with Mike Allen. It compiles some of the poet's best and most recent work. You don't have to be a poetry critic to appreciate it.

The Dragons of Manhattan by John Grant (Screaming Dreams): This is an exciting and funny novel, all the while throwing in some recognizable politics and current events. Every scene hooks you to the point that I literally couldn't put it down. The only complaint I have is that this might be difficult for you to order if you're not in the UK. (Edited: You can purchase copies through the website: http://johngrantpaulbarnett.com/Dragons ofManhattan.html)

Spicy Slipstream Stories edited by Nick Mamatas and Jay Lake (Lethe Press): Definitely a guilty pleasure of mine but more seriously, this is one of those anthologies where there were no bad stories in sight and each one had a definite identity. If you like pulp, this is definitely one of the must-have anthologies for the year.

Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy edited by Ekaterina Sedia (Senses Five Press): This is an anthology with a definite goal: usurping the stereotype of "angry chicks in leather" that has become associated with urban fantasy (not that there's anything wrong with "angry chicks in leather"). Did it succeed? Perhaps not but this is nonetheless a good anthology featuring contributions from a diverse set of talented authors.

Feature: Holiday Gift Suggestions for the Ultimate SF Bibliophile

Every Wednesday, I'll have an essay or a feature on any topic that catches my fancy!

Looking for affordable Christmas gifts? Nope, this isn't the article you're looking for. However, these recommendations do give you much value for your money (i.e. gifts I wish other people would get me) and for some people, will last them the entire year. Come on, you're a bibliophile. You don't need a book. You need booksss. (And let's face it... if you don't indulge yourself on Christmas, when will you buy yourself the best present money can buy? Bonus brownie points for supporting indie publishers.)

1. Benefactor Special Offers from Electric Velocipede ($150) - "The base offer includes a t-shirt based on this design, a copy of Logorrhea, one copy each of the Ezra Pines, William Shunn, and Robert Freeman Wexler chapbooks, and copies of Electric Velocipede 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14."

Here's your chance to get everything John Klima at an affordable price. Logorrhea is a fantastic anthology while the chapbooks and magazines features new and underrated authors. The package also includes everything Klima will publish in the future and the price is the same for both US or international customers--clearly Klima is losing out on this deal! (And one should hurry as as of press time, there are only 16 slots left for this deal.)

Also Consider: Electric Velocipede Subscription ($20.00) and get 2 Night Shade Books titles free (and, uh, each Night Shade title tends to cost more than $10.00 so it doesn't take a math genius to figure this one out).


2. Small Beer Press Library Paperback ($299) / Hardcover ($314) - "Small Beer Press has published 26 books (not including chapbooks or paperback reprints of our own hardcovers) which all together have a retail price of $475."

Small Beer Press is simply awesome and features an ensemble of quality authors such as Kelly Link, Elizabeth Hand, Geoff Ryman, Carol Emshwiller, Joan Aiken... the list goes on. And in the event that you do want to set up a library (whether public or private), this is a fantastic start. Oh, and if I were you, I'd get the Hardcover package. Just $15 to "upsize" your order.

Also Consider: The Whole Small Beer Ebook Package ($99.95) in a 2 GB flash drive.

3. Soft Skull Fiction Subscription 2008 ($100.00) - Includes Black Flies, Mercury Under My Tongue, Wildly Irish, All About Lulu , Dead in Desemboque, Mr. Spic Goes to Washington, Lonely Werewolf Girl, Suzy, Led Zeppelin, and Me, The Pisstown Chaos, Bad Habits, and How the Dead Dream.

Soft Skull Press features a diverse set of authors and books that would otherwise might not have seen the light of day. If you want a sampling of several good, modern titles, you might want to give this deal a look.

4. PS Publishing Lifetime Membership Subscription (£1,600) - Includes: Standard hardcover editions of all novella titles; Standard hardcover editions of all other long-form titles; Unsigned, paperback editions of all issues of Postscripts magazine.

When it comes to cutting edge horror (and anything else related to that field), PS Publishing can't be beat. Unfortunately, the company's print runs are very limited and this is your chance to grab what are definitely collector items (more so if you go for the Deluxe Package). But simply put, imagine this: getting a number of quality books/magazines every month for the rest of your life (okay, so maybe it's not so great a deal if you have a life expectancy of less than one year...).

Also Consider: Postscripts Subscription for 5 Years (£200/$300).

5. Planet Stories Ongoing Subscription (20% off the cover price, each title retailing around $12.99) - "Personally selected by Erik Mona and Paizo's award-winning editorial staff, each Planet Stories volume has been chosen with the interests of fantasy and science fiction enthusiasts and gamers in mind. Timeless classics from authors like Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian), Michael Moorcock (Elric), and Leigh Brackett (The Empire Strikes Back) will add an edge to your personal library, providing a better understanding of the genre with classic stories that easily stand the test of time.

Each Planet Stories edition is a Paizo exclusive—you cannot get these titles from any other publisher. Many of the tales in our line first appeared in the "pulp era" of the early 20th Century that produced authors like H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Fritz Lieber, and Robert E. Howard, and have been out of print for decades. Others are available only in rare limited editions or moldering pulp magazines worth hundreds of dollars."

The pulp genre has made a comeback and Planet Stories pays tribute to some of the best authors in the genre's long history. No longer are authors such as C.L. Moore and Leigh Brackett reduced to scholarly footnotes, one can actually read their work and enjoy their prose.

Feature: The Ender's Game Series and Flowchart.com

Every Wednesday, I'll have an essay or a feature on any topic that catches my fancy!

This is probably going to be one of those experimental hybrid posts that's one-part informative and one-part advertorial.

First off, Monday's book review of Ender in Exile has received some comments. What's fascinating about Ender's Game as a series is that it has a non-linear chronology. It's not like The Wheel of Time where you simply read books one to eleven in that order. It's probably more similar to Anne McCaffrey's Pern although it isn't as confusing as Dragonlance.

Wikipedia has a flowchart of the timeline of events:

(Source)

Anyway, to the uninitiated, the flowchart can be confusing so I decided to make my own, focusing on the novels (the only one I haven't read is A War of Gifts so I leave it out of my chart):

This is my suggested method of reading the books. The main book that you should read, of course, is Ender's Game. Everything else branches off from there.

Speaker for the Dead and its ilk follows the story of an older Ender. For me, the tone of these novels is quite different, focusing more on the science fiction aspects (biology, extra-terrestials, etc.) and has a more mature tone. (Philosophy and religion is thrown in as well but that's present in all the books of the series.)

Ender's Shadow until Shadow of the Giant, on the other hand, follows the story of Ender's "sidekick" Bean. The tone of these novels is a smoother transition from Ender's Game and Shadow of the Hegemon has a more political focus.

The latest novel, Ender in Exile, returns to Ender as a narrator but it builds off the events that take place in Shadow of the Giant. While it can be seen as a prequel to Speaker for the Dead (because it follows Ender's point of view), it's more of a sequel to Shadows of the Giant as it resolves some threads there.

If you want to see how the novels relate to each other as far as chronology is concerned, I refer you to this flowchart:


As can be seen, Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow takes place more or less in the same time period. Events branch out from there, with the end of Shadow of the Giant transitioning to the middle of Ender in Exile.

Now the second part of this feature will talk about flowcharts. I could have opted not to use images to show how the Ender novels relate to each other but it wouldn't be as effective. Most people tend to think visually and flowcharts are one way of representing a thought process.

The program I used to make my flowcharts is the software aptly titled Flowchart. It's in its beta stage and currently free. What I like about it is that it's browser-based which mean whether I'm using Windows XP at Home or OS X at the office, I can access Flowchart. Because it's cross-platform, I can share my flowcharts to anyone and know that they'll be able to read it. And if all else fails, Flowchart exports to PNG (an image file) and PDF.

The program isn't as intuitive as I'd like it to be (I had difficulty finding the export function) and it's not without its flaws (the arrows tend to disappear on my screen for example even if they're still there). For the most part, however, it works and anyone playing with it for an hour or so will quickly grasp its many functions.

The first time I encountered flowcharts was in a programming class in high school (yes, they inflict programming lessons in my high school!). We were tasked to create a simple program and flowcharts are a good way of describing the various processes. I've discovered flowcharts however to be handy in other areas.

When it comes to writing, flowcharts are optimal when you're devising your Choose Your Own Adventure novel or hypertext "book". However, it's also helpful in plotting long family trees, timelines of your non-linear and/or mosaic novel, interstellar routes, relationships between factions/nobles/families, etc.

Those writing scripts, either for video games or film, might also find it a handy tool to use.

Personally, as a tabletop RPG player, flowcharts are also a good way to help design your campaign. If you don't want to railroad your players but unwilling to totally embrace the free-form nature of a sandbox game, flowcharts are a good way of devising beforehand how the story might develop. One D&D supplement wherein flowcharts were put to good use was Heroes of Battle.

Anyway, flowcharts is something that might aid you in your writing and a tool to add to your arsenal. Flowchart.com is currently free and is a good web-based application although don't hesitate to take out a sheet of yellow pad and start scribbling your own.

Feature: Amenities of Philippine Bookstores You Might Not Be Aware About

Every Wednesday, I'll have an essay or a feature on any topic that catches my fancy!

Aside from the ability to place book orders or reserve books (each store will have their own policy), here are some services from local bookstores that you might not be aware of.

National Bookstore:

Everyone knows about NBS's "Laking National" card (similar to a white credit card) which earns you points with each purchase but did you know they also have a discount card (colored red) which you can obtain through an accumulated P20,000 worth of purchases in a year?

Fully Booked:

Depending on your location, for a minimum purchase of P2,000, you can have books delivered to your home!

Powerbooks:

Stores now have a terminal in which you can check to see what titles are available and in what branches. You can also use the said terminal to check how many points you've accumulated if you're a Powercard holder.

Booksale:

Looking for a book in that random pile of secondhand books? Try their website.

Books for Less:

You can email/text inquiries at bookrequest@booksforless.ph or 630-9999 respectively.