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.
Tag: Short Stories
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.
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 |
Video Clip
Well, I did my first video clip a few posts ago and have been thinking on what to do next. Just prior to this I’ve posted an interview from Death Ray Magazine. Interviews generally demonstrate the interest of the interviewer (if any) and what he thinks might interest his audience, and he won’t necessarily get that right. So, why don’t we dispense with the interviewer sitting between me and you? YOU ask me questions. Put them here in the comments section and once I’ve compiled enough I’ll do another video clip to answer them, if I can, if they’re not to personal or abusive!
Art Competition
Okay, I haven’t forgotten about this. I’m going to sort through all the pictures and pick winners in four days time, so if you’ve got something left to send, get it to me now.
Thanks to Julie and Chloe at Macmillan the prizes are these:
1st place: A signed proof copy of Orbus, a signed copy of The Gabble and signed brand new reissues (with the new covers) of Gridlinked, The Skinner, Cowl & The Line of Polity.
2nd & 3rd place: A signed proof copy of Orbus and a signed copy of The Gabble each.
Forbidden Planet
I went to London yesterday to see Julie Crisp and Chloe Healey (commissioning editor and press officer) at Macmillan yesterday so, beforehand, popped into Forbidden planet to sign some of my books. They had a stack of about 100 to 150 for me to wade through (including ones with the new covers like the one here) so if you want a signed copy, keep checking out their website here – my signed copies aren’t up on it yet.
Another place for signed copies is Chelmsford. There’s about forty books divided between the two branches of Waterstones and the W H Smiths there.
Conflicts.
Ian Whates, who edited the Subterfuge anthology published October 2008 will be producing another one called Conflicts due for publication in April. Here, as of two weeks ago is the provisional running order:
Psi.Copath – Andy Remic The Maker’s Mark – Michael Cobley Sussed – Keith Brooke The Cuisinart Effect – Neal Asher Harmony in My Head – Rosanne Rabinowitz Our Land – Chris Beckett Fallout – Gareth L. Powell Proper Little Soldier – Martin McGrath War Without End – Una McCormack Dissimulation Procedure – Eric Brown In the Long Run – David L. Clements Last Orders – Jim Mortimore Songbirds – Martin Sketchley
Maybe there’ll be another of those signed limited editions as there was with Subterfuge. I’ll let you know more about this when I know too. But maybe Ian is a bit busy since he acquired John Jarrold as an agent last year and is involved with Ian Watson producing The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories…
New Covers WOW!
As I believe I mentioned on here before, Macmillan have decided to produce new covers for the first four of my books. I guess they thought it about time what with, for example, Gridlinked now in its twelfth print run. Here are two of them. Please let me know what you think!
Both of these images are a mere blink away from what I was seeing in my fevered mind. Brilliant work Mr Jon Sullivan.
