Marginalia

[coalescent]

Probably old to many, but new to me: an entertaining discussion about the definition of sci-fi. And whilst I'm on old hobby-horses, how about an article on the hostility of lit fans towards media fans (with some SF vs fantasy snobbery thrown in for good measure)?

An article observing the move of sf TV to cable. Has anyone seen or heard anything about 4400?

More worthily (...), Jeff Vandermeer suggests summer reading from the edges of genre; and Daniel Blackston provides an essay on Jeffrey Ford's Nebula-winning novellette, 'The Empire of Ice-Cream', here

Chris Priest reviews River of Gods, which after slipping down last month is finally back at the top of my to-read pile, because...

I've most recently read Tony Ballantyne's debut novel, Recursion. Black humour, social satire, layered ambiguity, creepy Von Neuman machines and real, serious science fiction Ideas in only 350 pages: I liked it. A review will be appearing on Diverse Books in due course.

Comments

[iainjclark.livejournal.com]

The 4400 is a new show involving several veterans of DS9 - Ira Stepehn Behr and Rene Echevarria, notably, with Robert Hewitt-Wolfe in a consulting capacity.

It seems to be Close Encounters of the Third Kind meets The X-Files, with 4400 alien abductees from different decades being returned to earth, not having aged. Each one has some kind of mysterious power. There's an agency investigating them, although much of the story seems to be that of the abductees themselves.

Hope it's better than the recent Spielberg mini Taken.

See also some variable reviews and the official site

Yup, you've pretty much covered it...

[applez.livejournal.com]

I, too, was dissappointed with 'Taken' - only marginally assuaged by Dakota Fanning's very good acting.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

It was the DS9 connection that intrigued me, yes. :)

I may look into getting copies.

Hold on...

[applez.livejournal.com]

I can give you a proper review once the SciFi Channel airs it here.

Incidentally, I still need to see the new SG-1 season, and the SG:Atlantis.

[ex-toastie256.livejournal.com]

the definition of sci-fi.

I tend to agree with Mitch Wagner when he says:

Eschewing the term "sci-fi" in favor of "SF" seems to me to be putting on airs. ... It's like when Trekkies get all upset because you call them Trekkies rather than Trekkers.

It always struck me that SF was a code word for entry into the fan *community*, rather than something obvious to those who are simply fans of the genre. The notion that regular readers would automatically think the term sci-fi was bad seems silly to me. People invent terminology when they want to feel elite, which is why I always assumed members of the fan community adopted the term SF. Am I wrong?

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Personally, I've always understood 'sci-fi' to be, by definition, the lightweight end of the spectrum because, well, it sounds lightweight. Science fantasy, almost. Star Wars, Trek, that sort of thing. SF, on the other hand, was for full science fiction (or latterly speculative fiction :) - the stuff that also gets described as a literature of ideas. To me, sci-fi isn't inherently bad - Farscape and Firefly would also be sci-fi - although vast swathes of it are bad, and though I'm aware that some people use it that way. I just use it as a useful way of distinguishing content. The media/written problem comes in because I can't think of many films or TV shows that would qualify as SF - Gattaca, maybe - nor of many books that I would describe as Sci-Fi - EE Doc Smith, perhaps?

I don't know why I have this definition, only that I always have. I think the issue comes from the fact that SF is the older term, and sci-fi only appeared when the mainstream wanted an easy label for the stuff.

I am amused by this:

Damon Knight: Mark, I think what we have to do is round up everybody who has ever referred to SF as "sci-fi" in an ignorant way, confine them in old army barracks, and reeducate them. I realize this is a big order, but we're compiling lists now, and by the way, you're on one.

But I most strongly agree with this:

"Sci-fi" is one of those Rohrschach points, like Freud. You can judge a lot about people by how they react to the term. Someone who's offended by it is probably (in my estimation) spending way too much time thinking about and dealing with SF. Someone who uses it innocently hasn't spent much social time with the SF community.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Entirely tangential, but I also love this quote:

Then Morris Stands Up For Horror. "When an author says, 'My latest work is Dark Fantasy,' reply with, 'Oh, you mean Horror?' Make sure to wear a good pair of running shoes and scope out the best places to duck for cover." Rather than running, I'd suggest just standing there and mumbling while the author says "No. Dark fantasy. ENGLISH MOTHERFUCKER, DO YOU SPEAK IT??!?!"

(From here, in response to the Strange Horizons article.)

Sci-fi? SF?

[applez.livejournal.com]

"Mark J. McGarry: Journalists resist using "SF" in part because "SF" means "San Francisco" to the rest of the world."

Using 'SF' as I do, I must acknowledge that the two letters are hardly very popular amongst native San Franciscans, largely because SF can be taken to mean 'San Fernando' or even worse locations... ;-)

Re: Sci-fi? SF?

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

SF is also the international car number coade for, I think, Finland...

Re: Sci-fi? SF?

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

So I should just go with 'frisco next time I'm in town? ;-)

Re: Sci-fi? SF?

[applez.livejournal.com]

Ssssss! :-p

Re: Sci-fi? SF?

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

And you’re a city of snakes, I see! Everyone goes on the internet with a snake in their browser...

Re: Sci-fi? SF?

[applez.livejournal.com]

Ssssss! Ssssss!

(don't make me 'Whaaaa' you! ;-) )

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

I'm currently midstream in River of Gods and in general agreement with Chris Priest, particularly his comment on what it owes in style to John Brunner. I'm also mindful of how similar the neutered/androgynous trope is to Gwyneth Jones's 'Aleutian' trilogy; though he's not doing anything noticeably original with it that doesn't detract from what he does do with it. He also revisits infidelity, a possibly too-recurrent theme that has appeared in all the other books of his that I've read.

It's not an easy novel but certainly is an impressive one, possibly too long and possibly too detailed, but then McDonald does like to do prose: he clearly wants this book to be experienced rather than merely read.

[nwhyte]

There are neutered/androgynous characters also in the (much less sexual) Bujold novels.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

particularly his comment on what it owes in style to John Brunner

This occured to me too, although I haven't actually read Brunner myself, only about him. Normally you get a future that (like, say, the one in Recursion) focuses on the effects of one or two developments; River of Gods seems to be doing them all. AI, global warming, gender imbalance (and nutes), possible alien contact, increased prominence of second/third-world countries...it is overwhelming, but I've got to say that so far (100 pages in) I'm loving it.

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

This occured to me too, although I haven't actually read Brunner myself, only about him.

Paul Di Filipo also mentions the Brunner link in his review.

You really should read Stand On Zanzibar, it's one of those classics that deserves its status and has stayed fresh. You can see the whole of cyberpunk lurking inside it waiting to burst out.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I've just finished River of Gods -- I need to review it for Alex (making up for the review copies I've had and haven't done (whoops)) but I thought it was jolly fine really. As others have noted, there's nothing hugely new in this -- but it's such a joy to read.

[andrewducker]

The onlt review I've heard of 4400 was in the middle of a post about something else and said "Better than I expected."

And I agree about the stupidity of looking down on media fans, while still feeling that I've seen great fiction in written form more than in visual form. But that's not restricted to SF - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a great film, but it's never going to be the book. Having said that, I'd much rather watch LOTR than read it.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Having said that, I'd much rather watch LOTR than read it.

Oh, hell yes. :)

There are also responses to the Strange Horizons piece by Nick Mamatas here and Matthew Cheney here.

[andrewducker]

I'm mostly with the second guy, except that (despite having seen a lot), I'm not as big a fan of Shakespeare as I am of Stephen King. Well, some Stephen King. His blanket "If you like X more than Y then we can blanketly ignore you." and attempt to compare to basketball (a game with defined rules, therefore nothing like writing) are ridiculous, but other than that, it's a good piece.