Dear SF Signal Readers,

Hi! My name’s Zack Jernigan. I conducted this roundtable interview over the last year. Just so you know, I wrote a long, painfully self-conscious introduction about my upbringing as a white, heterosexual male born into a middle-middle-class family and how that contributed to my desire to start a discussion on the subject of Writing About Race in Sff Literature, but I scrapped it. When you’ve received such amazing responses from your interviewees, it’s best to get to them with the minimum of words.

So: Suffice it to say, this is an important topic for discussion. I hope that you enjoy reading part 2, below (Part 1 is here), and that you’ll feel free to comment. I also encourage you to visit the authors’ websites and buy their amazing work.

And enjoy!

A Roundtable Interview with David Anthony Durham, Aliette de Bodard, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Ken Liu
(Continued from Part 1)

Permanent shift. In some ways it feels like a rapid shift, but there’s no going back. A few years ago, when I first began going to cons, there were a handful of writers of color that been around for a while-Octavia Butler, Samuel R. Delany, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, and a few others. It was a short list, and it didn’t take long to rattle through it.
Read the rest of this entry

Dear SF Signal Readers,

Hi! My name’s Zack Jernigan. I conducted this roundtable interview over the last year. Just so you know, I wrote a long, painfully self-conscious introduction about my upbringing as a white, heterosexual male born into a middle-middle-class family and how that contributed to my desire to start a discussion on the subject of Writing About Race in Sff Literature, but I scrapped it. When you’ve received such amazing responses from your interviewees, it’s best to get to them with the minimum of words.

So: Suffice it to say, this is an important topic for discussion. I hope that you enjoy reading this first part, that you’ll return for the second, and that you’ll feel free to comment. I also encourage you to visit the authors’ websites and buy their amazing work.

And enjoy!

A Roundtable Interview with David Anthony Durham, Aliette de Bodard, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Ken Liu

I hope so.

Personal point of reference on a limitation of mimetic fiction… My first two novels were mainstream works about African-American history. Readers that picked up those books did so because they wanted to read about race and slavery. They went in knowing the material would be difficult, and most of them probably believed that ruminating about our racial history is relevant for modern day. That’s great, but it means a limited readership. What about reaching more folks-including folks that don’t think they’d be interested in reading about race?
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Saddle your pterippus, folks! It’s time for another Book Cover Smackdown!

Here are the contenders…

Your Mission (should you choose to accept it): Tell us which cover you like best and why.

Books shown here:

• Blackveil by Kristen Britain (Artist: Unknown)
• Ravensoul by James Barclay (Artist: Raymond Swanland)
• The Sacred Band by David Anthony Durham (Artist: Unknown)

NOTE: Bigger, better cover art images are available by clicking the images or title links.

• Interviews and Profiles:
  • @Tor.com: J.C. Hutchins (Personal Effects: Dark Art).
  • @Master of Light and Shadow: Janny Wurts.
  • @BSCreview: Sharon Shinn
  • @Temple Library Reviews: Kaaron Warren.
  • @Stomping on Yeti: Jason Stoddard.
  • @The Dragon Page: David Anthony Durham
  • @I Should Be Writing: Mur Lafferty interviews Lou Anders and Pablo Defendini. Thanks for the shout-out, Lou!
• Michael Chabon, Cory Doctorow, and Annalee Newitz renew their privacy concerns as judge sets November 9th deadline for revised $125m Google book settlement
• Issue 21 of Death Ray magazine will be the last.
• There’s some good discussion going on at Lou Anders blog about science fiction going mainstream (or not).
• At Tor.com, GD Falksen offers up a beginner’s primer with Steampunk 101.
• Ann Aguirre on MST3King B-movies: “Anything with a lesser Baldwin is generally a good candidate”.
• For writers:
  • Brenda Clough talks about Ways to Trash Your Writing Career.
  • Kristine Kathryn Rusch continues her writing advice series with Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Success (Part One).
• Charles Tan on The Taboos of Editing.
• Here’s a sneak peek at Pyr’s Spring/Summer 2010 Season.
• Like retro gaming? Then you may like this Alfa Romeo commercial: Car vs. Space Invaders.
• Retrospace offers up a gallery of Monsters Carrying Chicks.
• Fun Flash Game: Frankenstein – The Creature Must Die!
• Lists:
  • @BestScienceFictionStories: Science Fiction Stories About Kids With Powerful Objects.
  • @Fandomania: 10 Notable Science Fiction Pulp Magazines.
  • Alongside all the books about sex, Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight makes the list of The top ten most pirated eBooks of 2009. [via LIT LISTS]

We’ve already covered first science fiction books, now it’s time to flip the coin with this week’s panelists. So we asked them:

Check below to see their responses. And tell us what book got you hooked!

The first fantasy I was ever given was Tolkien. For many, perhaps, that would be the end of the story. But I wasn’t a terribly good reader at the time, and though I read and enjoyed the The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings was like a big brick wall. I slammed right into it and couldn’t get past the barrow scene.

And so, I figured fantasy was boring stuff and went back to video games. (Atari 2600–state of the art.)

The real breakthrough came when I hit 8th grade. A teacher assigned me to do a book report, and I tried with all my conniving little heart to get her to let me do mine on one of the Three Investigators novels (which I’d enjoyed reading in second or third grade.) The result of this little power struggle was me, sullenly slinking to the back of the room where she kept her cart of books, bearing the instructions that I HAD to pick one of those to read.

And there, sitting in full Michael-Whelan-Covered-Glory, was Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly. I think angels might have sung (though it was probably the school choir class next door.) Anyway, that was beginning of the end for me. I LOVED that book; and right next to it in the card catalogue at school was a listing for Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey.

Eddings, Melanie Rawn, and Williams came next. I was thoroughly a fantasy super-geek by the time 1990 rolled around, and Eye of The World was published.

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• Interviews and Profiles:
  • Irene Gallo interviews Scott Westerfeld about the art of Leviathan, his latest book, a steampunk adventure.
  • Jon Armstrong interviews David Anthony Durham (The Other Lands).
  • Peter F. Hamilton answers blogger questions via video.
• Speaking of steampunk, check out Jaymee Goh’s article on Steampunk as Subculture over at Tor.com.
• Ever wonder what a book cover artists thinks of other people’s covers? Head on over to Missions Unknown and see their resident artist extraordinaire, John Picacio, do just that.
• SciFi Scanner points us to retro Iron Man cover art and re-imagined classic scifi movie posters.
• For those keeping track, George R.R. Martin is up to page 1100 writing A Dance with Dragons, and hopes to be done in less than 400 pages more.
• Alan Moore’s New Fanzine, Dodgem Logic, launches in November.
• Patrick at Stomping on Yeti has posted an awesome trailer for Star Wars: Death Troopers, the new novel by Joe Schreiber.
• Here’s Mike Allen on The Speculative Poetry Scene.
• For the writers: Victoria Strauss’ Thoughts on Self-Promotion.
• EVENT: Ray Harryhausen and his co-author Tony Dalton will be signing An Animated Life at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Saturday 24th October 1 – 2pm.
• Amazon Settles Kindle Deletion Lawsuit For $150,000: “Amazon.com has agreed to pay $150,000 to the student who sued the company for deleting his digital copy of George Orwell’s 1984 from his Kindle e-book reading device.” Wow! (Thanks, Daniel!)
• Lists:
  • @Stomping on Yeti: 10 Ways to use Time Travel to Fix the Short Fiction Market.
  • @Automopedia: 10 Fantastic Cartoon Science Fiction Ships
  • Mike Brotherton lists his scientific heroes
  • SciFi Scanner lists Cult SciFi Classics in Need of Interactive Treatment. I’d take a Big Trouble in Little China game any day…

• Interviews and Profiles:
  • @ A Dribble of Ink: Jesse Bullington (The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart).
  • The Big Idea: Mindy Klasky.
  • @SF Site: Mark Chadbourn.
  • @Omnivoracious: David Anthony Durham (The Other Lands). [via Bibliophile Stalker]
• Award-winning sf writer and teacher Nalo Hopkinson is offering $2,000 intensive, one-on-one mentorships to budding writers, via email. [via Boing Boing]
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Freelancer’s Survival Guide: When To Return To Your Day Job.
• Robert Charles Wilson reviews Margaret Atwood’s A Dystopia Sketched in Crayon.
• AT B&N, Paul Goat Allen reviews Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl.
• Biology in Science Fiction examines James P. Hogan’s Inherit the Stars.
• It’s Steampunk Month on Tor.com! To wit: Lou Anders reviews George Man’s awesome book The Affinity Bridge.
• Brenda Cooper talks about 2 Very Cool Futurist Events.
• @AMC: Mary Robinette Kowal’s Guide to the Real Classics of Fantasy.
• David Langford has posted Ansible #267 for October 2009.
• John Anealio has posted a Sci-Fi Song podcast.
• I, for one, would like to welcome our tiny, remote-controlled insect Overlords… [Thanks, Ray!]
• Daily Galaxy asks: Space Colonization: Future or Fantasy?
• HBO’s fantasy Game of Thrones urgently needs male horseriders! [via Slice of SciFi]
• This NY TImes profile of FlashForward drops some hints about the show’s direction and the network’s commitment. For example, despite the foreshadowed April 2010 date, “…a few of the clues will not pan out for several seasons…” [via Gary Farber]
• Philippine SF Fan Charles Tan talks about the recent flooding there and lists some ways you can help.

[SF Signal extends Best Wishes to Joe Haldeman, who took an unexpected trip to the hospital. Get well, Joe!]

• Interviews and Profiles:
  • @New Statesman: Iain M. Banks (Transition). [via Bibliophile Stalker]
  • Suite101.com interviews Tamora Pierce.
  • @SciFi Scanner: Robert J. Sawyer.
• David Anthony Durham offers his Thoughts on Winning the John W Campbell Award.
• David B. Coe says With Worldbuilding, Every Detail Counts.
• Matt Jones On Cities, Future And Science Fiction. [via Big Dumb Object]
• Artist Robin Chyo’s tribute to games like God of War and Dante’s Inferno is really cool.
• EVENT: The first ever SFX Weekender — the “ultimate sci fi and fantasy event” being held in the UK on February 5th and 6th, 2010 — will feature guests, book readings, interviews & panels, workshops, the SFX Awards and screenings of forthcoming films and TV series, plus more.
• What If Star Wars Was Made By Environmentalists? [via Boing Boing]
• Lists:
  • Fandomania has begun listing The 100 Greatest Fictional Characters. Lots of names instantly recognizable to genre fans.
  • @Automopedia: 10 Epic SciFi Battle Scenes – In Space!
  • @Mental Floss: 10 Facts About Stephen King.

• Interviews and Profiles:
  • @The Dragon Page: Jane Lindskold (Nine Gates).
  • Bibliophile Stalker interviews Marc Gascoigne, Publishing Director of Angry Robot books.
  • Rick Riordan Discusses Labyrinth and Lightning Thief at B&N Video. [via Missions Unknown]
  • Mary Robinette Kowal-bits:
    • @Writing Excuses podcast-interviews Mary Robinette Kowal.
    • Locus Online has interview excerpts with Mary Robinette Kowal.
• For those who wish to follow the latest Genre vs. Literary debate, follow this trail:
  • @WSJ: Good Novels Don’t Have to Be Hard Work by Lev Grossman. And subsequent responses from:
    • Cheryl Morgan
    • Ellen Datlow
    • Matt Cheney
    • Patrick Nielson Hayden
    • Jeff VanderMeer
    • Edward Champion
  • Guardian: Why Kelman’s rage at the genrefication of Scottish literature concerns us all. And responses from
    • Cheryl Morgan
    • Seanachie
• @Guardian: Ursula K. Le Guin reviews Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood. [via Locus Online]
• Author Philip Palmer has a thoughtful essay on George Orwell’s sf masterpiece, 1984.
• BookViewCafe.com to Publish Steampunk Anthology.
• Free Excerpt: Chapter One of The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham (whose website just got a face lift). [via Suvudu]
• Jonathan Strahan on eBooks vs. printed books.
• Oh Noes! “e-Books Will Be Our Downfall!” says publisher.
• @The World in the Satin Bag, S.M. Duke talks about Punking the begeezus out of Everything in SF/F.
• Spike TV Announces Nominees for ‘SCREAM 2009′ – Star Trek Tops List With 17 Nominations.
• Bored: here’s How to Create a SciFi Space Helmet for less then $20.
• Old news by now: Disney buys Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. [Insert your own joke here.]
• Lists:
  • Fandomania is undertaking an ambitious project to name The 100 Greatest Fictional Characters of All Time.
  • Make Use Of has tips on How To Find A Book Without Knowing The Title Or Author.
  • @Wired.com: Wired‘s Favorite Sci-Fi Flicks of All Time.
  • Damien G. Walter lists 3 ways to help Support Our ‘Zines Day (October 1, 2009).