Interesting article here from Mark Charan Newton:
“There is no Schadenfreude; I take no pleasure in holding this viewpoint: the Science Fiction genre is dying. Don’t spit your coffee at the computer screen just yet. I’m talking predominantly in terms of sales over time. I know all you belle-lettristic types don’t like to think about anything but Art, but units-shifted is a factor that matters. It is what shapes the literature industry.”I couldn’t help but wonder how many similar articles came out at the time, some decades ago, when the shelves were seemingly wholly populated by horror books with generic black covers. So often I’ve heard the claim that science fiction is dying, or dead but, every time, an attempt to nail down the coffin lid fails.
Author: Neal Asher
Fantasy & Science Fiction
I’m currently reading The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Gordon Van Gelder and, thinking about this in connection with the books I’ve been sorting through in my loft, it’s a bit of a nostalgia trip, because some of the stories are quite old. All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury is lyrical, enjoyable, but you can’t help but titter a little at a depiction of Venus covered in jungle when we now know the reality. Later I read Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, which has to be somewhere up in the list of the best short stories I’ve ever read. It still chokes me up a little even after all this time.
But short stories. If anyone here wants to read some superb short SF stories, if there is one short story collection I would recommend way above any other, then that has to be Stories of your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. I’ve mentioned it before – brilliant collection.
Some Bits…
Nice little review of The Gabble over here at the Falcata Times.
“No one does monsters better than Neal Asher, so be prepared to revisit the lives and lifestyles of such favourites as the gabbleduck and the hooder, to savour alien poisons, the walking dead, the Sea of Death, and the putrefactor symbiont.”
And a very strange choice of title for a article/essay over here.
Margaret Atwood Steals The Bread From Neal Asher’s Mouth
I noted in the comments that I need to lose weight anyway???
B is Blish, Banks & Butler.
Here’s the ‘B’ section from my SFF collection. I’m a little bit annoyed upon having gone through this lot. One of my very favourite books is missing: Half-Past Human by T J Bass. Doubtless I loaned it to someone and that someone hasn’t bothered to return it.
| IAIN M BANKS | CONSIDER PHLEBAS THE PLAYER OF GAMES INVERSIONS LOOK TO THE WINDWARD |
| CLIVE BARKER | WEAVEWORLD THE GREAT & SECRET SHOW |
| T J BASS | THE GODWHALE |
| BARRINGTON J BAYLEY | THE PILLARS OF ETERNITY & THE GARMENTS OF CAEN |
| GREG BEAR | SONGS OF EARTH & POWER QUEEN OF ANGELS THE FORGE OF GOD EON |
| BENFORD & BRIN | HEART OF THE COMET |
| JAMES BLISH | THE QUICUNX OF TIME JACK OF EAGLES THE WARRIORS OF DAY THE CLASH OF CYMBALS A CASE OF CONSCIENCE MIDSUMMER CENTURY FALLEN STAR EARTHMAN COME HOME ANYWHEN THE TESTAMENT OF ANDROS |
| BEN BOVA | COLONY VOYAGERS II VENGEANCE OF ORION KINSMAN AS ON A DARKLING PLAIN |
| MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY | THE SHATTERED CHAIN – DARKOVER LANDFALL THE SPELL SWORD THE WINDS OF DARKOVER STAR OF DANGER THE BLOODY SUN THE SWORD OF ALDONES |
| JOHN BRUNNER | THE CRUCIBLE OF TIME – THE TIDES OF TIME THE DRAMATURGES OF YAN |
| TOBIAS BUCKELLL | CRYSTAL RAIN |
| MARK BUDZ | CLADE |
| KENNETH BULMER | ON THE SYMB-SOCKET CIRCUIT TO OUTRUN DOOMSDAY |
| OCTAVIA BUTLER | MIND OF MY MIND – CLAY’S ARK IMAGO DAWN |
Questions Please.
Here’s some carry-over questions for the next video clip
Sparks: Has the Cormac arc definitively ended, or is there the possibility that we’ll get to see what happens to the polity *after* the events of Line War? We know *something* of the polity must survive or Orlandine’s story would have had less promise (and probably more dispersal of bodily fluids and other important bits).
Inchy: Do you have someone that you bounce your ideas off regarding future tech? The reason I ask is that, like most of my favourite sci-fi authors, the tech employed in your works is, to me anyway, extremely plausible, almost as if its on the cusp of what we can currently achieve. Is this deliberate?
Michael: How did you make your first break into publishing? Its one of those questions that every aspiring Neal Asher wannabe has to ask.
JMC: My question is, how do you come up with the new technologies in your books and the unique ecologies of the planets you create? It seems quite daunting, either that or I am of limited imaginative scope.
Sparks: Actually, “where do you start” is an interesting question in itself – do you start with the story by having an actual storyline in mind and building the environment around that; or do you build the environment in your mind first and see what storyline emerges naturally?
Let’s have some more questions in the comments here. And try to make them specific. A vague question will get a vague answer.
A is for Asimov & Aldiss.
Having my SFF book collection up in the loft gives us more space in the bungalow, but it can sometimes be a bit of a pain. I don’t get to reread any of the books and less I make a special effort to get up there. When someone asks me in an interview about the books I’ve read and maybe been influenced by I can’t swing round on my chair and check them out. And if I spot a book in a shop by one of the writers I’ve enjoyed, I’m never sure whether or not I have a copy. So, for my interest and yours, I’m sorting through my entire collection, listing the books and photographing them. Today, inevitably, I’ll start with ‘A’.
| BRIAN ALDISS | HOTHOUSE – COMIC INFERNO THE DARK LIGHT YEARS SPACE, TIME & NATHANIEL THE CANOPY OF TIME EQUATOR THE INTERPRETER |
| ROGER MCBRIDE ALLEN | ORPHAN OF CREATION |
| POUL ANDERSON | A CIRCUS OF HELLS A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS & SHADOWS ORION SHALL RISE TWILIGHT WORLD THE DANCER FROM ATLANTIS SATAN’S WORLD GUARDIANS OF TIME |
| PIERS ANTHONY | MUTE OF MAN & MANTA |
| ISAAC ASIMOV | THE STARS LIKE DUST THE NAKED SUN THE CAVES OF STEEL BUY JUPITER THE REST OF THE ROBOTS THE CURRENTS OF SPACE FOUNDATION FOUNDATION & EMPIRE SECOND FOUNDATION |
