• At SciFi Wire, John Joseph Adams profiles Chris Roberson, author of The Dragon's Nine Sons and Three Unbroken.


• io9 interviews Charles Stross (Halting State): "Fiction, confabulation, story-telling -- is, when you get down to it, usually used as an entertainment medium, and also as a mechanism for showing us about other ways of thinking, and if you try to preach a political message you usually end up with something that's not very entertaining (if not outright annoying to a lot of your readers)."


• S.M. Duke interviews Jennifer Rahn (The Longevity Thesis): "Now I live in perpetual angst, hoping that Joan D. Vinge will publish something new. Honestly, the woman writes literary crack."


• Paul McAuley asks: "Has SF lost its grip on the future?" as he wonders about science fiction's retreat from classic tropes.


• Matt Mitchell explains The Difference Between SciFi and Fantasy: "When the science of something is explained plausibly, within the laws of physics it is SciFi.
  When the science of something is not explained, it is fantasy."


• Jeff VanderMeer has Sarah Monette talking about Catastrophe. "...twist endings are something we grow out of, both as readers and as writers."


• At Intergalactic Medicine Show, Carol Pinchefsky asks: Is There Nepotism in Science Fiction? "Because of this ultra-socialization in the genre, editors tend to buy stories and novels from people that they often already know, at least tangentially." [via Futurismic]


• Free Fiction:
  • Edward Willett has posted the first two chapters of his upcoming SF novel Marseguro (due out from DAW Books February 5) online.
  • The January 2008 issue of Apex Online has been posted.
  • Orbit is giving away a copy of Iain Banks' latest Culture novel, Matter.
  • Illusion On-Demand has launched Transmitter, a new online sci-fi anthology magazine.
  • Elizabeth Bear has the skinny on Shadow Unit, a "website for a serial drama in internet form", some free, some by reasonably-priced subscription. Staff writers include Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Sarah Monette and Ms. Bear herself.


• Subterranean press is showing off their cool cover of Snow Crash, a Neal Stephenson limited edition reprint due in the Fall. [via Big Dumb Object]


• Fascinating: SciFi Scanner tells us that there will be three Spock characters in the new Star Trek movie.


• Mike Brotherton (Star Dragon, Spider Star) lists Top 10 Science-Based Sci-Fi Movies.

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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday January 09, 2008 at 12:14 AM
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