Live Granades has a survey of current SF, done in the form of a school walk-through with new principal Michael Capobianco (who won the SFWA election discussed earlier this year). It’s pretty amusing if you know the authors involved, but one bit made me just about spit my drink at the monitor: Of course. I’d… Continue reading …For Loud Values of “Quiet,” Anyway
Category: SF
Thoughts on Clarke’s Laws
Speaking of dubious and oft-cited “Laws”, I’ve run into a number of citations of “Clarke’s Laws” recently. Of course, these were apparently subliminal mentions, because I can’t seem to locate any of them again, but it put the subject in my mind, which is partly why I was primed to be annoyed by the subject… Continue reading Thoughts on Clarke’s Laws
My Hugo Ballot
Having finished all of the fiction nominees, I’m now basically ready to submit my votes for the Hugos. Though it occurs to me that I’ve actually seen two of the five movies up for “Best Dramatic Presentation,” so I might Netflix the others, and check off yet another category. At any rate, I’m sure you’re… Continue reading My Hugo Ballot
Peter Watts, Blindsight [Library of Babel]
This is the final Best Novel Hugo nominee of this year’s field, and given James Nicoll’s immortal description of Watts’s writing (“When I feel my will to live getting too strong, I pick up a Peter Watts book” or words to that effect), I wasn’t terribly enthusiastic about picking up Blindsight. I was on something… Continue reading Peter Watts, Blindsight [Library of Babel]
Biological SF and “Getting” the Web
Andre at Biocurious points out an interesting piece in Nature. They interviewed four prominent SF authors–Paul McAuley, Ken Macleod, Joan Slonczewski, and Peter Watts about biology in science fiction. The resulting article is a good read, with lots of interesting anecdotes and examples, and if you go to the supplementary information page for the article,… Continue reading Biological SF and “Getting” the Web
You Gripe About What You Know
Via PZ, a blog on biology and science fiction is griping that biology gets no respect, and links to a Jack Cohen article complaining that authors and filmmakers don’t take biology seriously I was particularly struck by this bit: Authors, film producers and directors, special-effects teams go to physicists, especially astrophysicists, to check that their… Continue reading You Gripe About What You Know
Charles Stross, Glasshouse [Library of Babel]
My intention of reading all of the nominees for the Hugo Awards in the fiction categories hit a bit of a snag yesterday. I finished all the short fiction (novella, novelette, short story), and most of the novels, leaving only Peter Watts’s Blindisght and Charlie Stross’s Glasshouse. James Nicoll described Peter Watts as the sort… Continue reading Charles Stross, Glasshouse [Library of Babel]
Hugo Nominees: Best Novelette
This is the last of the short fiction categories. You can read my comments on the Best Novella and Best Short Story nominees in the archives. This means the only fiction nominees I have left to read are Blindsight and Glasshouse. The nominees in the Best Novelette category (the full text of all the stories… Continue reading Hugo Nominees: Best Novelette
Hugo Nominees: Best Novella
I’ve never really understood the distinction between “Novellas” and “Novelettes”– I know it’s a length thing, but I don’t have a good feel for where the dividing line is, and I can never remember which is longer. And, as far as I can tell, the only place this ever comes up is in SF awards.… Continue reading Hugo Nominees: Best Novella
Top Science Fiction Movies
Via Jeff “jefitoblog” Giles, who wrote the Editor’s Notes, the collaborative review site Rotten Tomatoes has generated a list of the top 100 science fiction films, based on their user ratings. It’s split over 100 individual pages, and tarted up with lots of slow-to-load graphics, so here are their top twenty films: 20) Mad Max… Continue reading Top Science Fiction Movies