How Many Ways Can You Say Multiverse?

Perhaps one of the more interesting concepts (I wouldn't even necessarily limit it to science fiction) in the past few decades is the term multiverse, supposedly popularized by Michael Moorcock in his Eternal Champion stories. And as much as I love the term, I think it's been overused and even cliche. Yet as a reader, aspiring writer, and GM, it's a tool that can't easily be thrown out the window. In fact, many people have used the same concept albeit phrased it in different terms (planes, dimensions, hyperspace, etc.). Here's two that I've managed to discover. Any recommendations for alternatives to Multiverse?

1. Paraverse: In The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov, humanity "discovers" a new power source by accessing a paraverse--a universe very much unlike our own. This was in the 70's and while parallel universe's probably aren't revolutionary, what makes this paraverse particularly different from something like say, alternate timelines, is that it's really a universe that's vastly alien and obeys different laws of physics.
2. Omniverse: While many have claimed to have used the term, I find omniverse interesting because of its usage of omni to suggest a sense of perfection and completeness. Recently, I came upon it in the Mutants and Masterminds Freedom City campaign setting where the Omniverse takes the place of DC's Multiverse.
   

The Mech Warrior Movie That Could Have Been

This is mainly for my non-Filipino readers but here in the Philippines, we've done a couple of movies and TV series's which have been ripped off from existing brands. We've had a Batman and Robin movie in the 80's, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles clone ("Pandakekoks"), etc. Also during Christmas is our annual Manila Film Festival so we miss out on all the foreign movies and instead the theaters only show all local movies so December is like movie release month in the Philippines. Here's one of the movies that's going to be shown starring one of our local action movie stars/politician (he's not governor but...)

The film's website can be found here.

Trailers:

Volunteer for the SFWA

From Mary Robinette Kowal

Those of you who aren’t interested in the politics of Science-Fiction and Fantasy can skip this post. For the rest of you, I have some explaining to do.

I’ve volunteered to help SFWA by chairing the Service to SFWA committee, which has been revamped to recruit, retain and reward volunteers. Any service organization, like SFWA, relies on its members to be active participants in supporting its goals. More specifically, it relies on its active members to set those goals.

I have not been happy with a number of things about SFWA lately, however, when I look at the organization as a whole it has accomplished some very good things. Griefcom, the Legal Defense Fund, the Emergency Medical Fund, raising the pro-rate standard from 3 -5 cents… These are good things that volunteers accomplished. At its core, SFWA exists to promote and aid Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writers.

That’s me. I am a science-fiction and fantasy writer.

So my choice is to walk away from the good things or to try and change the things that I don’t like. I want an organization that represents me and that represents my interests. From working with other non-profits, I’ve found that quickest way to be taken seriously is to volunteer. So that’s why I’m doing this.

And that’s why, if you aren’t happy, I think you should consider volunteering. Shift the balance. Help me.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can help your fellow Science-Fiction and Fantasy authors, please fill out the following questionnaire and email it to sfwavolunteer@gmail.com or leave it in the comments here.

1. I am interested in volunteering for SFWA — [short-term/long-term] (ie.a quick one-time job, versus an ongoing position)

2. I can offer [x] hours per month for volunteer work.

3. I am interested in learning more about volunteering to help with
a) Website
b) Writing related advice
c) Legal advice or issues (ie contracts, copyright, etc.)
d) Outreach (ie, Youth, Speaker’s bureau, Conventions, etc.)
e) Publicity (ie publications, Nebulas, PR, etc.)
f) Operations (ie audits, procedures, run for office, etc.)
g) Grunt Work (ie stuffing envelopes, sorting lists, lifting tables, etc.)
h) Other (ie I got mad skillz you don’t even know to ask about, teleportation, graphic design, an active fan base, FTL travel, etc.)

Thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to working with you.

Mary Robinette Kowal

Edited to add: You don’t need to be a member of SFWA to volunteer for anything except running for office or chairing a committee. All you need is an interest in support science-fiction and fantasy writers, or concern with helping to shape the future of the organization.

The Science Fiction in the Original Gundam

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

When I mention Gundam, I'm expecting one of two reactions. To the non-anime fan, it's this huge commercial franchise that's earning tons of money from selling model kits and toys. To the anime fan, it's this paragon of the real robot (as opposed to the super robot) genre. Before all that occurred however, there was of course the first anime of the same title--Mobile Suit Gundam--from which this franchise began. What some might not realize is how the series is this big science fiction opus, not necessarily space opera, but one that incorporates various elements from the genre such as technology to politics.

If you've ever taken the time to watch this show from the late 70's, it's really a struggle and perhaps not as refined as the later Gundam shows. One reason for this is that the Gundam was living under the shadow of another prevalent genre, the super robot, which is the flashier type of robot show where instead of superheroes, you have these robots that save humanity. If Gundam's red and blue colors are hurtful to the eyes of hard science fiction aficionados, this is the reason. Yet at the end of Gundam's run (which survived an almost-cancellation), it managed to subvert the genre and formed what anime fans would later recognize as the real robot (in science fiction terms, the equivalent of the super robot genre is Star Wars, while the real robot genre almost approaches hard science fiction, the best analogy of an American TV show that I can think of is Babylon 5). But enough of the background, let's get around to the science fiction part.

The first element is the nature of the robot itself. The Gundam is actually a prototype--a robot designed for mass production for military use. Now in the series, the Gundam actually wasn't the first robot in existence. Perhaps the first "true" robot in the series was The Ball (see, space vehicles that are actually spheres do exist in science fiction shows!) which was originally a construction pod later fitted with weaponry and armor. The Gundam was a counter-technology to the Zaku which was the opposing side's (The Duchy of Zeon which I'll touch on later) robot that won them victories earlier in the war. Now any science fiction aficionado is asking: why construct a robot in humanoid form? Whereas most robot shows of that era took it for granted, Gundam attempts to give us a rational explanation for it: versatility. Zakus (and Gundams) can traverse a wide variety of terrain. In the Gundam universe, there is actually a war that is taking place on two fronts: space and Earth. The Zakus and Gundams could easily adapt into any environment, water and the air being the only exception (both robots are actually functional underwater but they aren't the "optimum" form while Zakus and Gundams can't really "fly"). Both robots even utilize interesting physics as while both robots are quite mobile in space (where there is no gravity), that's not necessarily the case when landing on a space station or a planet: they don't have flight capabilities (although there were experiments to build such a robot). Also unlike super robots of its era, beheading the robot wasn't fatal--that's not where the cockpit is located but rather the "head" serves more as a camera rather than a true brain center. What leads more credence to the show is that instead of super-powered robots battling it out, the robots are mass produced and even have serial numbers to identify the various models and prototypes. That's not to say Gundam doesn't have its own share of super science. Zakus and Gundams wouldn't exist without the help of Minovsky Physics (easily the counterpart of nuclear technology in the modern era or spice in the Dune universe) but there is a definite attempt to ground Gundam physics with actual science. I can babble on about the technology (the space stations in Gundam for example uses Lagrangian Points) but honestly, what makes a show science fiction isn't just limited to technology. Let's move on to the other themes.

The second element is the setting itself which is set amidst a war. There are two opposing forces: The Federation and The Duchy of Zeon. Now the protagonist in the series sides with the former although it is clearly shown in the show that neither side is truly good or evil. Both "nations" have their own sets of heroes and villains and have various justifications for their actions. Suffice to say, there is conflict between the two factions and each is trying to dominate the other. Now what's interesting is what each of these two factions represents. The Federation is basically the wealthy citizens of Earth who have chosen not to migrate to space and are instead living comfortable lives on the planet. The Duchy of Zeon, on the other hand, are those who migrated to space (whether forcefully or by their own volition) to satisfy the energy and resource requirements of Earth. Suffice to say, there is much tension between the two factions, the former wanting to maintain its subjugation while the latter striving for independence. Both sides eventually resort to unethical means to achieve what they want and gave rise to the current conflict. In many ways, the Duchy of Zeon is the future of man: they are those brave enough to leave earth and expand and colonize. The Federation, on the other hand, represents our innate fears, especially how we react when we feel jealousy or paranoia and attempt to maintain the status quo. This might seem like the Duchy of Zeon is easily the heroes of history but that's not necessarily true as well. For all their good intentions, the current ruler of the Duchy of Zeon achieved his current status by assassinating its former leader. Moreover, they launched a devastating attack on Earth by killing an entire space station using nerve gas and then hurled it against the planet (a "colony drop" so to speak). Gundam is easily a narrative about the atrocities of war and what each side is willing to do in order to achieve its ends. The story is more of a gray area rather than heralding the tale of one true protagonist.

The third element is the inclusion of "Newtypes", supposedly the next stage of man, easily the ubermensch. Newtypes are basically human beings with latent psionic powers, such as an enhanced intuition ("spider-sense tingling!"). Many of the protagonists of the series are Newtypes, although an interesting development in the series is that most of the Newtypes are those who lived in space colonies, the reaction of the human body to adapt to the rigors of space. Yet for the most part, in the show they are merely tools, exploited by the military and politicians for their gifts. One never sees a Newtype who isn't a civilian perhaps because this is a military tale after all. Yet their inclusion explains why there are "ace pilots" in the series and why the Federation for the most part have been disadvantaged in their battles. Of course the existence of Newtypes pose an interesting question: does humanity need to live in space in order to evolve further? What I find interesting is that Gundam is one of those science fiction titles that espouses the theory that humans need to migrate to space in order to survive and earth is a symbol of regression and stagnancy (which is also a theme explored in another science fiction series, The Legend of Galactic Heroes).

Behind the seemingly fantastical concept of a robot and its pilot, Mobile Suit Gundam is really quite the science fiction title and would serve not only as the foundation of all future Gundam series's but influence mecha shows succeeding it such as the ever popular Macross (or Robotech).

The Science Fiction in Frank Herbert's Dune

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

One of my favorite novels is Frank Herbert's Dune. At the time I was reading it, I was still getting into the science fiction groove. I consider myself more of a fantasy writer and I easily spotted the fantasy elements of the novel. On one hand, Dune is about as science fiction as Star Wars--at least at first glance. As much as Dune is heroic fantasy set in space (with retro-elements such as melee combat using swords, a phobia for "thinking machines", a feudalism of sorts, and a vulnerability to the environment), it does have its own fair share of notable science fiction elements.

Spice in Dune is as McGuffin. It's certainly not based on any presently known substance but is rather more of an analogy of a resource--a precious resource that only a few have real access to yet is indispensable to running society. The first thing that comes to mind, and a friend did point out the Iran/Iraq and desert comparison, is oil. Of course in the novel, I'd like to think that spice is more valuable than oil. It's an amalgam of boons, a power source and a wonder drug at the same time. Yet like many such commodities, it is not without its own costs. Spice is addicting and eventually alters your physiology. But society needs its comforts and to most people, the benefits outweighs the drawbacks. Removing spice from the economy is unthinkable.

Before I move on to the implications of spice---since spice is literally the center of the universe in the novel--I want to talk about religion. For the most part, what unifies the citizens of the Dune universe is a common religion. On one hand, you have the Orange Catholic Bible (O.C. Bible) which for the most part is the religious text the majority is familiar with and also constantly reminds people of their common enemy, the thinking machines. But minor cults and beliefs cannot be totally obliterated despite the assimilation of the O.C. Bible of popular religions we are aware of in the real world. Like the Vorlons in Babylon 5, the Bene Gesserit also manipulate religion to suit their ends. And for the most part, they are successful.

Returning to the topic of spice, this resource affects nearly every important faction or group. First off are the ruling houses. Dune is a feudal-like society, each sector or planet governed by one of the many influential houses. At the top is House Corrino who are virtually emperors in the universe. It is not a democratic system but rather the right of rule passes on to your next of kin. This also governs the politics of the other houses. If one eventually plans to rule, there are two options: one is to outright rebel and the other is to marry into the ruling family. It is for the same reason that Leto Atreides never marries his concubine, so that he might keep the possibilities for an alliance open. Yet as much as House Corrino officially rules all of space, that is not the case. Because other institutions control the flow of spice, House Corrino is not omnipotent or unchallenged. For the most part, House Corrino only has power over the other houses and appoints its favor by determining which house can harvest spice from the planet Arakkis--in which it is assumed corruption and bribery occurs, therefor increasing the wealth of that particular house.

The Spacing Guild is one institution that challenges the authority of the Houses. For the most part, the universe can't live without them for they control transportation, at least the more efficient ones. Without them, trade, communication, and enforcing the edicts of the Houses would not be possible. Yet they are dependent on the resource of spice. Their pilots would not be able to navigate space without the use of such materials. In modern day terms, they are very well like the corporations, exerting a strong influence in how the world works without directly being in a position of rulership.

Then there is the planet Arrakis itself where spice is harvested. For the most part, it is the most harsh and unforgiving habitable planet, barely being livable. Because of that fact, I don't think it's a surprise why religion plays a huge part in Arrakis culture. But that topic is debatable and what is undeniable in the book is how the locals are exploited to harvest spice. Harvesting spice is a dangerous endeavor yet it is the main livelihood of many who are on Arrakis. I live in a third-world country so I can't help but compare it to some of the employment environments here or child labor. Another consequence of such an environment is that it produces the best warriors in the universe, even better than the imperial house's own guards who hail from the prison planet Salusa Secundus. But what's even more interesting for me is how the comfort of an entire universe is paid by a single planet. Is it possible to convert Arrakis into an utopian planet? Yes but it will mean losing their most vital resource: spice.

We also have the Bene Gesserit--femme fatales with mystical powers--who serves as advisors to those who would have them. While many know of the power the Bene Gesserit wields, few suspect the true extent for they are located in every noble house and wield much influence in planets where they make use of the local religion. Of course since the Bene Gesserit possess "magic", they are also the targets of hate and envy, a symbol of people's typical reaction to the unknown. And for the most part the Bene Gesserit are aware of this which leads them into more secrecy so that the common populace might not panic at the extent of their true power (which is explored in the later novels). Unlike the other institutions. the Bene Gesserit also seeks to lead humanity. But instead of directly manipulating them, they do so subtly, usually with long-term plans in mind. What's also interesting about the Bene Gesserit is their heirarchy of values. They place duty as the most important ideal and emotion a weakness. Then there is their breeding program, the culmination of their long term strategy and their sexual prowess.

There are other science fiction elements sprinkled throughout the novel but are only hinted at. The Mentats for example are a product of technophobia, the Suk doctors proof that the incorruptible can be corrupted. CHOAM of course is the body that represents most of the influential forces in the Dune universe, and Herbert spreads the propaganda of the evils of the nuclear bombs as atomics is warily but nonetheless utilized. And at the end of the day, the protagonist Paul Atreides seeks power not for himself but to avert a great disaster he predicts will happen in the future, an ideal I'm sure many leaders have claimed to justify their actions. That's not to say Dune is not without its romantic elements. In fact, its romantic elements are what stands out the most and why more often than not, I'll classify Dune more a fantasy than science fiction (and is perhaps why the sequels weren't so successful: because they was more SF and less fantasy). But the treasure trove of SF elements is there and what makes this book a classic.

Science Fiction Panel at NWA 5

Kenneth Yu has photos of the event but in the meantime, here's a recording of the event which was nearly two hours long. I have to warn you though, the sound quality is terribly awful, and I've experimented with various technical techniques to no avail. The biggest problem is that the microphone was causing too much reverberations when used too close and while it probably would have been better if the panelists didn't use the microphones, well, you know what they say, hindsight is 20/20 (it's either that or maybe my recorder was too close to Kenneth and produced a double echo of sorts).

Anyway, here's some details on the event. We had writer/artist Tobie Abad as the emcee for the event and was one of the panelists in last year's event. We started with two panelists, Kenneth Yu of Philippine Genre Stories and Joey Nacino. Later on, we were joined with Professor Emil Flores of UP Diliman.

As far as the audio quality goes, it's audible for the most part but unfortunately, Kenneth, who probably talked the most during the event, sounds like mumbles due to the microphone (and not because he has a Chinese accent). Emcee Tobie Abad kept the mike at a distance so he's the most audible while the participants in the forum and Professor Emil Flores could be made out. (Just bear with the recording. Or fast forward to around 28:00 or 58:00 to hear the more audible parts.)

If you want the panelists to clarify or expound on a certain subject (or simply have a question), you can reach them via their emails:

• Kenneth Yu: pdofsf[at]yahoo[dot]com
  
• Joey Nacino: estranghero[at]gmail[dot]com
• Professor Emil Flores: flores[dot]emil[at]gmail[dot]com

Anyway, here's the link to the recording which is 47 MB and 103 minutes.

Vote and Recommend New Short Stories Meme

From Ellen Datlow:

Ok. Here's my impassioned plea/push/nag for anyone who reads this blog and is eligible to recommend stories and or novels for the various peer group science fiction, fantasy, and horror awards. I know that some people feel that awards themselves are a bad thing and that they should all be abolished. I'm not talking to you. I don't believe that and I know I'm not going to change your minds.

Awards are NOT going to go away but they could become less visible (which I think is a bad thing). As an editor I really appreciate it when the stories/books I edit make final award ballots and win awards. And I think most writers are even more appreciative of this. It gives a sense of validation for what you're doing by your peers (for the Nebula and Stoker).

Right now is "award rec season" and there are discussions on both the SFWA Bulletin Board and the HWA Bulletin Board about how their respective awards are dying --not enough members are recommending works to even make a preliminary ballot.

Now some people think that this might be because no one likes the work being published.
Others that no one is reading enough short fiction to be interested in recommending works in those categories.
I have a really difficult time believing the first reason. I've been reading sf/f/h short fiction for twenty five years and have found no drop off in quality in any of those fields.

I can't answer for the second but I hope it's not true because if so my profession will die and I love editing short fiction.

If you care at ALL for the genre short story then I urge you to recommend the stories that you think are worth bringing to the attention of your peers.

Well, I wish I had the power to nominate or recommend fiction but alas, that's not within my sphere in influence. Still, this is the age of blogging however so here's my new meme: recommend a new (published this year) short story that you really enjoyed and why--sort of a mini-review (yes, so far, out of something like ten memes I tried to spread, only one caught on but failure isn't stopping me!). The Year's Best Science Fiction is still unopened and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror hasn't arrived yet (praying to the bookstore gods it'll arrive this weekend!) so I'll take my picks from Rich Horton's anthologies, Science Fiction: The Best of the Year 2007 and Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2007 (and I expect some stories will overlap).

Science Fiction:

I actually read several great science fiction stories this year but the one that stands out the most for me (i.e. I actually remember it after several months) is "Okanoggan Falls" by Carolyn Ives Gilman. It's set on contemporary Earth with a unique twist: aliens invade! Yet Gilman handles the story very differently from what most would expect and has that slow, steady pace as opposed to the adrenaline-pumping War of the Worlds-type of fiction. The aliens are also an interesting concept but the strength of the story I think are the characterizations. No evil overlords here! Never read sci-fi? Give this short story a shot. Love romance? You might want to have a taste of this. Hard science fiction fan? Maybe the aliens will do it for you. Looking for a female SF writer? Give Gilman a try.

Fantasy:

There are actually several great fantasy short stories too that it's difficult to choose. I'd like to recommend "The Osteomancer's Son" by Greg van Eekhout (while it has its weaknesses, I still found enjoyable) and "Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge" by Richard Parks but I'll go with my gut feeling and choose "A Siege of Cranes" by Benjamin Rosenbaum. Suffice to say, "A Siege of Cranes" is included in the anthology Twenty Epics whose goal was to tell an epic story in under ten thousand words. Rosenbaum's story was great read and incorporated non-standard fantasy fare yet retaining the tropes of such a genre. It satisfies my guilty pleasure senses and my literary fiction intellect at the same time.

Go read and better yet, recommend your own new short stories!

Life Imitating Fiction

Last week, I heard about a murder in Belgium that paid homage to the manga/anime series Death Note. It reminded of how "assassins" Mark David Chapman and John Hinckley Jr. were influenced by Catcher in the Rye. But another idea also struck me. I was listening to Rick Kleffel's podcast on the Singularity Summit and one of the people he interviewed was Paul Saffo. As some of us might have heard, science fiction isn't supposed to be predictive--SF writers write either about the present or even the past. Yet how is it that many SF novels and short stories seem to be a precursor of future innovations? Saffo postulates that SF is a forecast of the future not necessarily because SF writers see that far, but rather because the present innovators were influenced by the books they read as a kid: atomic scientists on the Manhattan Project were inspired by H.G. Well's super bomb, the moon program crew grew up with Buck Rogers and space opera, and of course William Gibson gave us cyberspace. Courtney Brown even mentions how catastrophe theory is similar to a Seldon Crisis and who can forget Arthur C. Clarke and telecommunication satellites (the latter perhaps is the one of SF's truly predictive writers)?

Now innovation and propaganda obviously isn't exclusive to fiction or SF writers. Scientists have written papers, scholars essays and studies on various ideas, and columnists their own opinions on relevant issues. Yet fiction, in many ways, has proven to be more digestible and effective, and in the case of something like Death Note, actually mainstream. For me, it's because fiction gives us a context. Fiction is very unlike the current education system where knowledge is taught without understanding its practical applications. In Math for example, I find it peculiar that they present to us the formulas before the word and story problems. Or how torc and quadratic equations and calculus are so removed from their relevance (which is to say they are relevant yet many students don't understand that). Stories, on the other hand, give us that context. When George Orwell talks about the perils of communism, he gives us specifics in Animal Farm. When Ray Bradbury talks about losing interest in reading literature (or the more common interpretation, censorship), he gives us Fahrenheit 451. Fiction, so to speak, has a humanity and social aspect to it that is not evident in mere empirical theories as beautiful as they are (E=mc^2).

Of course that is not the only explanation. There are a dozen other reasons why fiction has that certain appeal and perhaps the beauty of it all is that each individual has their own set of motivations for reading fiction, whether it's for the beautiful prose, the writer's ideas, or simply for the sake of reading. At the end of the day however, I think fiction resonates within each individual, something that can't be answered by reality. What drives people to commit murder or create devices previously uninvented by man? We may never know the platonic ideal but fiction perhaps is a close second. It's the only other reality we have to compare after all.

New Worlds 5 Plug

New Worlds 5: The 5th Philippine Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention
October 27, 2007
Glorietta Activity Center

• Cosplay Gathering Guidelines
• Science Fiction Philippines at New Worlds 6
  

Authors Who Blog: JM McDermott

Just got an email from JM McDermott whose first book will be published next year and is one of the authors in the Wizards of the Coast Discoveries. You can visit his blog at http://jmmcdermott.blogspot.com and add him to the SF&F authors who blog and in this case, particular interesting because his book isn't published yet and isn't yet a fiction author that has legions of fans (you know, to the point that you can comment but you won't necessarily get a reply because there's too much fan mail to respond to).

I guess I better start Googling Rob Rogers and Richard Dansky too.

Pop SF by Scale

From SF Signal

Ever wondered how Yoda would stand up to E.T.? Or how taller the Predator is compared to a Klingon? Jeff Russell has a size comparison by the meter.

Distinguishing Fantasy from Science Fiction

When I was met with Zarah last weekend, she was surfing the 'net and found out that one of her students was reading Neil Gaiman's Stardust. It was a welcome surprise although she clarified to her student that Stardust was not science fiction but fantasy (maybe the star in the title confused him?). Now defining science fiction vs fantasy has been an age old debate in the genre. Personally, I'll just use the term speculative fiction so that it encapsulates both (although using SF as an acronym can be confusing... SF for me used to stand for science fiction but the same acronym is also being used to refer to speculative fiction). The question I want to ask however is whether we should be rigid in defining what is science fiction and what is fantasy. Take Ted Chiang's The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate. Now Chiang has been known to be a writer of SF (science fiction) yet his latest work reads like a story out of Arabian Nights. But as Dean pointed out, to some SF fans, just because Chiang hints of a worm hole in the story automatically makes it SF. And then there's the likes of China Mieville's Perdido Street Station or Jeff Vandermeer's Veniss Underground which seamlessly blends magic with science fiction elements (or is it vice versa?). Whenever I talk about Frank Herbert's Dune, I usually tell people that for me it reads more like a fantasy epic rather than a science fiction novel in much the same way Star Wars is more mythic rather than hardcore SF. And as a D&D player, I must mention Jack Vance whose magic system later was referred to as "Vancian magic" (damn you Vance and your spell memorization!). But the interesting concept about Vancian magic is that it's really pseudo-science at work rather than actual mysticism (I'm curious though what George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois will do with the Jack Vance anthology coming up in 2009). Even until today, I'm still surprised when people talk about Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 or Lois Lowry's The Giver as SF because for me it feels more like a what-if fantasy tale. Is it that important to distinguish one from the other? Could we not live with the new term speculative fiction instead? I mean we're already lumping science fiction with fantasy either way with terms like SF&F. In most of the bookstores I visit, both genres are located in the same shelf. And just this week, a co-worker asked what I did in my spare time. I told him that I read fantasy and he replied by asking if I read science fiction.

One good reason to distinguish the two is due to the tropes. Fantasy and SF might have a lot of elements common between them but there are also characteristics that is known for in one genre but not in the other. At the very least, it helps set expectations for the reader. A lot of fiction (and not just genre fiction) usually incorporates some form of happenstance, Act of God, or surrealist event yet we don't call them fantasy per se. And as much as political fantasy has been done before (the likes of Terry Goodkind is more blatant about it but I appreciate Terry Pratchett's take as he liberally douses it with satire), politics and social commentary feels more "natural" in the realm of science fiction. To the casual reader, the fact that both science fiction and fantasy are deemed "impossible" might be a worthy excuse to lump the two genres together but to fans who can distinguish in minutiae and talk about the various sub-genres in detail, it's for their sakes that we distinguish science fiction from fantasy.

What I'm more impressed with however are those who go beyond genres and challenge the medium. At the end of the day, whether you're science fiction or fantasy, you're interested in telling a great story and as a writer, you'll use whatever tools you deem necessary. There are a lot of writers out there who mix fantasy with literary fiction (although the public doesn't necessarily see them as so) for example and I love them: Jeffrey Ford, Kelly Link, Aimee Bender. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is at the same time young adult, religious, fantastical and even contains sci-fi elements. I really enjoyed Neil Gaiman and Michael Reeve's Interworld which is similarly a fusion of various genres. While I think genres are good "boundaries", it's also a pleasant surprise when a piece of fiction goes beyond what is expected. Isn't that a SF&F author's calling too? To ask the question of what if? Not just in terms of story but in terms of technique and style.

Psychohistory is Here

It was back in college that I started reading Asimov thanks to an Inquest Gamer (back when they were still Inquest) article of the 100 books you were supposed to read (the cover had a werewolf in front). It wasn't I, Robot that I read but rather Foundation and I was blown away. The central science fiction of the series is Psychohistory, a predictive science that the protagonist, Hari Seldon, develops. Psychohistory can be summed up like this: the future actions of a collective (as opposed to an individual) can be predicted. It is by this theory that Seldon steers the fate of humanity for the next few centuries.

Now predicting the future using mathematics appear to be quite fictional. The first Foundation short story was published in 1951 and it's been more than half a century since then. Perhaps just as Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea served as inspiration for the world's first submarine, could Foundation lay the groundwork for a real-world science? Now I know it's not the duty of science fiction to predict the future but rather talk about modern day concerns (just look at 1984). Asimov himself admits that The History of the Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire served as inspiration for his series. Yet it's not uncommon for people to draw inspiration from science fiction and make them a reality.

I've recently been listening to Courtney Brown's lectures on Science Fiction and Politics and one of the first novels he tackles is the Foundation series. He brings up two good points. One, that Foundation's science is that of social science. Typically, when I think of science fiction, I usually think in terms of physics or biology or chemistry. While I've certainly read science fiction that's classified as political or social, I never thought to view them from the perspective of the social sciences. The second point he brings up is that facets of Psychohistory is here. By no means do we have Second Foundation-level psychics (i.e. actual psionics) but we do have a mathematical formula that predicts human behavior to a certain extent. For example, we have Social Theory that tries to explain human behavior on a large scale and identifying telltale signs when a government or regime will fall (for the most part, Foundation is the story of the fall of empires).

The elements Asimov brings into play isn't new. Government, religion, economics--these are forces we're all familiar with and suspect others as using for their gain. For example, when Spain attempted to conquer the Philippines, many Filipino scholars do not think it was coincidental that it was followed by numerous missionary expeditions. The Catholic church wielded great power centuries ago and to a certain extent, it still does now, affecting the decisions of how the citizenship will vote, what laws to veto, or even how to live their sex life. Right now in most countries, economics is the name of the game and trade is used as a tool to subjugate other nations albeit less directly. Perhaps we'll ultimately know if there's a fall-out when countries start cashing in on their debts.

I've been thinking of the political climate in this country and it's interesting to note where rallies and coups tend to converge. The first and most obvious is Mendiola due to its proximity to the seat of government, Malacanang Palace. That's as no-brainer. The second and perhaps most prominent is EDSA Shrine in Ortigas, the site of all three EDSA Revolutions. Granted there was no religious significance attached to the place prior to the first EDSA Revolution (there wasn't a shrine back then), but it did become a focal point for politics and religion afterwards (or rather it's no surprise why the site was converted to a mini-church). The third is Makati, easily the hub of Philippine commerce. And when I talk of Makati, I'm really talking about a small portion of it, where business is most centralized. It's been the site of a bombing, a coup, and to this day when there's a bombing rumor, Makati is frequently cited (and is followed by another business hub, Ortigas).

In many ways, I think my perspective is limited, mainly because I close myself from most of the world: I don't listen to the news, I don't read the newspaper, I don't go out much, and I don't travel. I can just imagine that a political science student might draw much more from Asimov and perhaps even generate new and original theories. But the thing is, when I think of political scientists, science fiction isn't the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to their reading material (although I'm sure there are those that do read and appreciate SF). Then again, the same can be said for me. Why don't I become more politically active, more politically aware?

Jack Vance Anthology

Old news by Internet standards (it was last week) and perhaps the reason I didn't originally post it before was because all I had was a few lines from George R. R. Martin's blog (that and I'm not really a big fan of Jack Vance). Anyway, the anthology seems to have an interesting line-up of writers and I'm interested in seeing Glen Cook and Jeff Vandermeer's take. Here's what's mentioned on George R. R. Martin's website:

We've assembled an all-star lineup of contributors for the book, we think. Songs of the Dying Earth will feature original stories from Dan Simmons, Robert Silverberg, Michael Moorcock, Tanith Lee, Elizabeth Hand, John C. Wright, Glen Cook, Jeff Vandermeer, Neil Gaiman, Paula Volsky, Tad Williams, Howard Waldrop, Michael Shea, Mike Resnick, and a host of other terrific writers and hardcore Jack Vance junkies, some of whom offered us their firstborn children for the chance to be a part of this project. And yes, I plan on doing a story for the book myself (after I finish A Dance With Dragons). Jack Vance and his representatives have been so kind as to give us permission to use Jack's characters as well, so longtime fans can expect to appearances from Cugel the Clever, Chun the Unavoidable, T'sain and T'sais, and other favorites.

Wizards of the Coast Discoveries Open Call

I think I missed this piece of info (or if it was lost in my constant plugging of Wizards of the Coast's various submission guidelines) but Wizards of the Coast has a new imprint called Wizards of the Coast Discoveries and features various original novels.

Moreover, it's open season for submissions (see the full guidelines here):

Submissions are accepted annually between the dates of September 1st and February 1st. Any submissions received outside of that timeframe will not be read.

This is not a contest! It is a call for proposals from professional authors and aspiring professional authors.

Please read these guidelines very carefully before submitting. We have made some changes not only to the sort of subject matter we’re interested in, but the nature of the proposals as well. Submissions that do not conform to the guidelines will not be accepted.

Our annual open call is for a speculative fiction imprint that publishes novels with science fiction, fantasy, and/or horror elements for an adult audience. What we’re most interested in are books that are set in a contemporary or historical setting but with the addition of some SF, fantasy, and/or horror elements. Because we continue to enjoy great success with our shared world fantasy lines, we’re not looking for more of that sort of thing for this imprint. Likewise we’re not too keen right now on “straight” science fiction (far future settings, extreme high tech, etc.). We’re always open to supernatural horror. We are not interested in pornography, romance, or nonfiction of any kind.

We are looking for novels for an adult audience only, so please do not send short stories, short story collections, poetry, etc., or books for young readers.

Right now there are four writers who are going to see print come 2008, and one of the more interesting blurbs is Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott. Here's what it says:

A tale of revenge that grows into something more, Last Dragon is a literary fantasy novel in the tradition of Gene Wolfe and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Anyway, game designer and author Ari Marmell mentioned in his blog that his novel got picked up as well, and we can expect Shades of Grey one year from now.

The Bastards of SF&F

I'm currently a lurker in a local RPG organization that's trying to promote RPGs. I've been part of it for more than five years now and one of the biggest hurdles the group has been facing is the lack of new blood. Sure, there are the occasional new faces but for the most part, whenever I attend an event, it's more or less the same people running the show. Ever since the big fandom boom in the country (which I'll associate with the popping up of The New Worlds Alliance), we've been trying to get more gamers from these other fandoms. Interested in Star Wars? We'll run a Star Wars tabletop game (alas, where were you Saga Edition two years ago?). Lord of the Rings fan? Decipher's got you covered. Pirates of the Carribean? We'll work something out with 7th Sea (-cough- Pirates of the Spanish Main -cough-). Anyway, the hobby gaming industry I think is a spot missed by many SF&F fans. The most obvious ones of course are the RPG supplements.

For example, one thing Glen Cook's The Black Company series always lacked was a decent map. Green Ronin's The Black Company Campaign Setting not only contains maps of the world but includes a geography lesson of the setting and a brief summary of all the novels. Guardians of Order previously released a campaign setting on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (the RPG license is now with Green Ronin) and it included not only artwork for the series but a history and timeline as well. During the recent cosplay competition at the Manila International Book Fair, one of the cosplayers dressed up as Ser Barrister Selmy. I didn't recall that he was dressed in such ornate armor but when the cosplayer showed me the source of his inspiration, it was from the Game of Thrones Collectible Card Game (CCG) from Fantasy Flight Games. The Wheel of Time RPG from Wizards of the Coast, while perhaps not as full of information as the two other RPG books mentioned, is nonetheless a good repository of Wheel of Time artwork and has an interesting bestiary and close-up maps of the city of Caemlyn and Illian to name a few.

It's not limited to just RPG books though. Various franchises have spawned numerous products that include board games, CCGs, video games, and comics. Not every writer gets a chance to publish a Silmarillion or The History of Middle-Earth but various material are released that expand and built upon the world. At the very least, works that are deceased (or on "hiatus" depending on your faith) such as Serenity might find new life in an RPG book or continued in a comic line which was the case with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. An example of an adaptation that made a big impact in its field was the video game Dune 2000, based on Frank Herbert's Dune. Dune 2000 was basically the inspiration for the ever-popular Warcraft franchise that came to dominate the RTS genre during the 90's. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings arguably changed the way how movies are made and was a big boon to New Zealand (well, Lord of the Rings and Power Rangers). It's all interesting to witness how a novel or franchise can branch out to other mediums and make a huge impact.

The Epic Fantasy of Hugh Cook

I get a warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I get to bounce off the post of other bloggers. I was going through My Elves are Different and he name drops Hugh Cook, an author of a 10-book epic series. Now I'm unfamiliar with Hugh Cook so I do a quick Wikipedia research. Apparently his Chronicles of an Age of Darkness series was originally intended to be twenty novels long, succeeded by two equally lengthy series (making it a 60-book epic!). Unfortunately, it wasn't to be so (don't worry, Cook is still alive).

Buy Books to Help Fight Cancer

Pat of Pat's Fantasy Hotlist will be donating his earnings from Amazon Associates Program to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Here's how it works:

Hence, from here on to December 31st, I will donate the proceeds of my Amazon Associates Programs to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Granted, I've been an associates for over a year, and I've accrued the sum of about 50$ in that span of time. Not exactly the kind of amount which can make a different, some would say. But I disagree. In such an andeavor, every single penny counts.

So if you want to help, all you need to do is click on any of my Amazon links (the Canada, USA, Europe links you see in various posts) and purchase your stuff from there. It doesn't matter if you wish to buy that particular novel or not. As soon as you click on those links, you're good to go!:-) So whether you're shopping for books, DVDs, CDs, yada yada yada, old and new, every purchase you make will help raise funds to find a cure for Breast Cancer. You don't need to spend more, to donate any of your hard-earned dough, or to do anything special to support this worthy cause. Simply click on a link before buying whatever it is you want. As crazy as it sounds, it's as simple as that! With new releases from Brooks, Martin, Pratchett, Novik, Goodkind and so many more already out or on the way, it's never been easier to do a good deed when buying books by your favorite SFF writers.

When Writers Die

Perhaps one of the ironic things in life is that a creator's construct is able to outlive its progenitor. In terms of writing, an author's novel or short story might be remembered far longer and in more detail than the writer himself. Aristotle, Jesus Christ, or even Shakespeare could have been a mere footnote in history if written records did not exist. Instead, they are thrust into the limelight and their fictional adventures intertwines with actual events. But for the most part, these are individuals whose life's work can be measured with a beginning and an end. The biggest tragedy are those people who leave this world with unfinished business, more so the death of a writer. Entire worlds are left hanging, open, and without closure. Writers and historians of future generations might exploit this potential but in the meantime, fans and readers will never experience the writer's vision of the world they created.

The first writer that comes to mind is Franz Kafka. He wasn't a starving artist but he was plagued by sickness and worse--literary rejection. He had few works published in his lifetime but they were met with dismal failure to the point that on his deathbed, he requested that all his work be disposed of, never to see the light of day. Fortunately for us, his friend Max Brod went against his wishes and published the recovered writings of Kafka. While Kafka would be best-known for his story The Metamorphosis, he has attempted to write a few novels and many of them were published even if they remain unfinished (The Castle and The Trial). One wonders what could have happened if Kafka had attained literary acceptance during his lifetime instead of his post-mortem acclaim (and perhaps one of the signs of Kafka's impact in literature is the fact that we have an adjective attributed to him: Kafkaesque).

Genre fiction, on the other hand, has attempted to continue the legacies of deceased authors. Isaac Asimov had his Foundation series and Robert Ludlum had his Jason Bourne series. While the novels in both were self-contained and had a definite end, the publishers deemed it profitable to continue the line and so we have the likes of Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, and David Brin writing one Foundation novel each while Eric Van Lustbader contributed two sequels to the Jason Bourne saga. But for the most part, these sequels are non-essential and purist fans of the original authors could easily ignore the books written by these modern writers and lose out on nothing.

As unlikely as it seems, writers are not immune to tragedy and it seems to strike at the most inappropriate of times. There are cases when writers are struck down before their life's work can be finished. One of the more defiant but ultimately futile gestures I read was of manga creator Shotaro Ishinomori who is responsible for creating the likes of Cyborg 009 and Kamen Rider. While the latter lives on to this very day and is part of Japan's cultural identity (along the same lines as Godzilla, Ultraman, and Pokemon), Cyborg 009 is a special series because Ishinomori faced the same circumstances which led to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle resurrecting his popular fictional character Sherlock Holmes. After devising a brilliant but tragic ending for the series, Ishinomori was forced to resurrect his Cyborg 009 protagonist due to fan clamor. The series ended in 1981 but it is rumored that before he was sent to the ER, Ishinomori defiantly told his doctors that he could not die yet because he still had to write a "true ending" for Cyborg 009. That would have been a great story in itself but Ishinomori did not survive and passed away in 1998.

One of the great science fiction epics is Dune by Frank Herbert. For some SF&F fans however, the original novel was the only book in the series worth reading (and it worked quite well because it stood well on its own). Herbert wrote five of the sequels himself and he was going about the 7th novel when he died of pulmonary embolism in 1986. He left an outline however and this served as the basis for the prequels and sequels his son Brian Herbert and SF author Kevin J. Anderson wrote. If some purist fans disliked the sequels the original Herbert wrote, how much more was their reaction to these estranged novels that were a pale shadow of the deceased author? (I assume they actually sold well considering there's at least 8 Dune books in which Herbert Jr. teams up with Anderson.) I followed Herbert's Dune series faithfully though and I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Frank himself wrote the ever-elusive book seven.

Lately it's fantasy who has taken a big blow with the demise of Robert Jordan. His greatest body of work is neither his Fallon series nor his Conan: The Barbarian novels but rather the 12-novel epic Wheel of Time. Of course when he started writing the series, no one really knew (not even the author himself) that the books would stretch to a dozen titles. Some would argue that the Wheel of Time made it possible for series's like Malazan Book of the Fallen, The Sword of Truth, and A Song of Ice and Fire to be published. While the serial novel is by no means unique to fantasy, Jordan and his ilk ushered in a new sub-genre of adult fantasy that involved interlinked novels that were nearly a thousand pages long (some even surpassing that number) and broke the trilogy formula (although there are a lot of previous writers who did not write in trilogies). (As an aside, it's also interesting to note that while not as popular as Wheel of Time, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman saw the publication of their own seven-book epic The Death Gate Cycle at nearly the same time.) Sadly, one book shy of finishing the epic, Jordan died on September 16, 2007. Some fans can't help but compare his fate to Frank Herbert. What's disconcerting is that lightning has indeed struck twice and I imagine this won't be the only time such an event will occur. (Maybe that's the new catchphrase--he/she pulled a "Frank Hebert/Robert Jordan".) Will Jordan's work live on? Certainly. But one will always wonder what it would have been like had Jordan had a few more months to complete his epic. What makes me admire Jordan is that like Ishinomori, he fought 'til the end, struggling and dreaming of stories to write even as the shadow of death loomed over him. The greatest stories ever told aren't necessarily the ones in fiction. The likes of Jordan show us that a writer's life can be as exciting and courageous as the stories the author writes.

New Worlds 5: The 5th Philippine Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention

The Philippines might not have a Gen Con or a Dragon Con but thankfully we still have conventions dedicated to niches like genre. Anyway, one of the annual conventions is by the New Worlds Alliance (and for me New Worlds Alliance is an interesting organization because it's not exactly one group but actually lives up to is name and is composed of several different randoms). Here's the plug for the event:

The New Worlds Alliance presents
New Worlds 5: The 5th Philippine Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention
October 27, 2007
Glorietta Activity Center

http://www.newworlds.ph