Political history of SF

Someone reprinted Eric S. Raymond's essay in their LiveJournal, spurring a lengthy debate. I reprinted this essay in Prometheus a few issues ago, and while I don't agree with all the points, it's a very interesting essay.

Free speech in America sighs another death-rattle

How long before this much maligned and restricted right dies completely? The most recent example is grim: convicted and arrested for a joke about Scientology? Give me a freakin' break.

Libertarian writer?

Here's an interview with novelist Scott Nicholson, who apparently describes himself as a libertarian writer. However, in the response to this question, he demurrs, stating:

"Well, libertarianism just plain won’t work in the human world. It would only work if we each lived alone, in a vacuum, where our actions didn’t affect other people. But we live in communities that are bubbles inside larger communities. And I also diverge from the traditional party line: for example, while I favor the legalization of most drugs, I don’t favor unlimited access to guns. The government’s role could be much smaller in our lives, but it also can do good things. Libertarians are mostly out on the extreme fringes of both major U.S. political parties, and if you really press them on their beliefs, a mass of contradictions emerges. So I don’t articulate that so much in my fiction."

And, in the other corner, we have Claire Wolfe, who does seeks some solitude in her life, stating something quite the opposite in a blog entry:

"So many things can bind us to a place. Family. Work. Inertia. Fear. History. Money is a big factor, considering leaving the country. But the ties can be so intricate, so multi-layered, so difficult to convey to anyone who isn't walking that mile in one's own moccasins. Being part of a community like this one -- where people help each other so freely and with such enthusiasm -- is a little miracle (especially for people like me who grew up rootless and unattached to the places we lived and the people who lived there). So I speculate often about getting out of this going-to-hell country. Then I think I'd have to be mad to leave a place like this, a place that embodies the essence of real, old-fashioned community, a place that is what America was at its best and ought to be again."

Judge for yourself. Libertarianism: an atomistic impossibility, or the true spirit of a voluntary community?

When fictioneers bite politicians

The vision of real politicians squirming from seeing themselves potryed in a bad light warms my heart. The fact that this is happening in Great Britain and that it's Labor politicos makes me raise an eyebrow or two in surprise. Then you read further and you see the real cause -

"I didn't mind a little betrayal of socialist ideals," says Beaton, "but the war was it."

Still a healthy dose of disrepect of public figures is always a good thing.

Note: I am far from pro-war, but I wonder if the motives had been non-socialist whether this would have reached the airwaves.

Transhumanism

Interesting interview with a leading transhumanist, Nick Bostrom. According to conservative historian Francis Fukuyama, transhumanism is "the greatest threat to the future of humanity" so you know it has to be interesting and probably a good idea. It's definitely a hot topic in modern sf, viz the novels and short stories of Charles Stross, Vernor Vinge, Chris Moriarty, and countless others.

Libertarian pseudo-novels?

A not easily identifiable person writes a LiveJournal essay on what he/she calls two libertarian pseudo-novels - Henry Hazlitt's Time Will Run Back and J. Neil Schulman's The Rainbow Cadenza. I think the writer is spot on in terms of the Hazlitt book, which is one of the dullest works of 'fiction' that I've ever read, but I can't remmber Schulman's book being as much a 'p o r n' novel as alluded to in the review. Sure, there's sex in the book (some of it not very pleasant), and it's been almost two decades since I read the book, but I thought it was a decent work of fiction then. I'll have to re-read the novel to refresh my memory, but I came away thinking more about the musical sections than the erotica or sex scenes.

Wolfe recommends

Claire Wolfe recommends a book that I think I will need to hunt down - The Secret of Santa Vittoria.

Novel dealing with war on terror

This seems like a very interesting book.

The time is a very near future, whose features are only slightly stepped up from today's. The war is still on, and even more misdirected; domestic anti-terror measures have increased to the point where roadblocks and searches are universal and national identification cards are mandated. (In a nicely absurdist sequence, armed agents so thoroughly ransack a Canadian of Middle Eastern descent on his way into a Mariners game that they deposit a whiff of ammunition on his clothing. When he leaves the stadium in the middle of a disappointing afternoon, he is searched again and the residue prompts the evacuation of 30,000 spectators. One dies of a heart attack.)

One character is "August Vanags, the Latvian-born author of a bestselling Holocaust memoir, is a vociferous libertarian whose charm and wit suggest a concealed degeneracy," and the other personalities in the book range all over the spectrum.

Tapping the global subconscious

A few years I wrote a short story along comic lines, that I called "Bubba Builds a Spaceship." I passed it around at a writers' group I where I attended two sessions and then left. I sent it to a writer friend, who recommended a total re-write along very different lines, with more drama. Instead, I turned it into a short screenplay, and changed the title to "Mars, the Redneck Planet." I put it away and did nothing. Tonight my wife saw a trailer on TV for this movie, and said, "Anders, they made a movie out of your story!" I watched the trailer again, and it's eerily similar, although this is a drama with a few funny lines, and my story was intended as humorous and totally unrealistic from the beginning.

MacLeod collection

I just placed an order for this book by Ken MacLeod, which collects some of his shorter work, both fiction and non-fiction. NESFA Press runs a nice business, but the cover looks a little low-budget this time.

Prometheus redux

The newsletter is back from the printer, and I'm busy attaching labels and stamps to mail it out over the next couple of days. I've already started collecting articles and writing reviews for the next issue, due out some time in April.

If you want to review a book or movie for Prometheus, please send me an email at editor@lfs.org - yes, in the internet age there are still a few print publications around.

WhatSpace

I read last week that there are 140 million member of MySpace. I've only visited the site to listen to a pre-release version of a Robin Guthrie song. I believe David Louis Edelman's piece is a major reason I see no use in joining the site. That, and I'd probably end up with zero friends and go jump off a bridge. Ha.

The Horror!

To hide my shame at not knowing how to link to YouTude directly, a nod to the fellow ERB fans over at Rebels of Mars.

This has to be The. Worst. Movie. Adaptation. Of. A. Book. Ever.

The fact that this was filmed in 1976, one year before Star Wars, speaks volumes for the horrible state of social effects at the time, but even the actors look woefully miscast.

Amazon AStore

I'm messing around with building an Amazon AStore. I found that I've never been able to keep up with linking to Amazon when I mention books, so instead I found I can create a single site with several categories. While still under construction, I have added titles for all past Prometheus Award winners, as well as the 2007 preliminary list of best novel nominees. Since a group of judges whittle down this list to five or six, and I know more novels are currently under consideration*, here's a chance to see the list of early nominated books. I'm embarrassed to say I have read only two of the books of the current nine. I'm going to re-work this site over the next few days before the main categories are set in stone, and also I plan to add remarks to as many selections as possible.

*Full disclosure - I am not a member of the judges committee, although I do vote on the final selection.

Tamara Wilhite Amazon short

Author Tamara Wilhite, whose fiction has appeared in Prometheus in both past issues and the forthcoming January 2007 issue, has a short available from Amazon.com in their Amazon Shorts program. Her story, Natural Talent, is available for download, and her collection of tales called Humanity's Edge also is available.

Prometheus in flight

The January 2007 issue of Prometheus has been shipped to the printer, and should be in the mail to subscribers and members of the Libertarian Futurist Society some time next week. Contents include a review of the Heinlein audio plays from the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company, fiction by Tamara Wilhite, a review of John Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades, a review of Jack Williamson's The Humanoids, a review in poetic form of Sinclair Lewis's novel, It Can't Happen Here, a review of Brad Linaweaver's political broadside, Post-Nationalism, and photos from the FreFan party at the 2006 WorldCon in Los Angeles.

If you're interested in writing anything for Prometheus, please contact me at editor@lfs.org - the next issue is planned for April 2007, and I expect this one to be full of book reviews. Your contributions are most welcome.

The big tease

L. Neil Smith talks about sequels to books that his fans dearly hopes he gets around to writing. I counted at least 15 planned books, which is an ambitious outline of ideas.

RIP Robert Anton Wilson

Sad but not unexpected, given his recent health issues. Robert Anton Wilson, author of numerous books and articles, including Illuminatus! (which was co-written by Robert Shea) died earlier today.

Spectator and Jim Baen

Via Locus Online an article in The American Spectator about Jim Baen, who died last year. Baen published Baen Books, and was noted for hard science and military science fiction novels (though it also published fantasy and non-military sf). The writer of this article, whether consciously or not, remembers the conservative military sf aspects of Baen Books, despite some libertarian and also non-political works published. Aside from other points raised about sf and politics, I take issue with the conservative, revisionist interpretation of Western values of the writer. Apparently instead of individual rights, America and Western Europe rest on "traditional Western values like honor, patriotism, chivalry, duty and military valor." These could be applied to any other non-Western culture, such as China, Islamic nations, Russia, and Latin American nations. Baen, more libertarian than conservative, is being hijacked by conservatives as some sort of knee-jerk supporter of the military nation (with a conservative commander in chief, of course).

Happy New Year

Here's hoping that 2007 is a great year for everyone, with lots of good reading ahead.

I wrote another 1000 words for Prometheus last Thursday, including my poetic impressions on reading Sinclair Lewis' novel, It Can't happen Here, once again. Inspired by John Keats' poem on re-reading Shakespeare's King Lear, my poem follows the rhyming scheme, mimics the title and opening line, but then bears little resemblence (nor, I fear, does it even approach anything as well-written as anything by Keats). It took me 10 minutes to complete the first draft of the 14 line sonnet. Once I started words flowed surprising fast. I had jotted down a few notes while reading the book, and used some of these, but bypassed others, and the ending was not what I expected.

I have a mere 850 words left before the issue is done, all the words within one book review, and then the rewriting and proofing commences. All the artwork for the issue has been placed, and so far it looks good. There are several reviews where I could have written a lot more, but I planned specific word constraints for each article, and lacked space for one more book review that I planned to write. The one I'm currently work on is a little tough, so I'm re-reading the book to solidify my impressions.

I've been reading a lot from and about Clark Ashton Smith lately. Some new biographical stuff certainly jumped out of nowhere, especially his last few years and how he died. He's enjoying a sort of ressurgence of attention lately, with new books of stories appearing quite often, and 2007 should see the first volume of a 'complete' edition of his works. It's not realy complete, I learn, since it only covers fantasy stories, and leaves out his many science fiction tales, as well as almost all his poetry. Ah well, maybe next time. Smith is my second favorite writer, so I'm floating around a few thoughts for a brief article as to why. I've also learned through reading his letters that his political ideas could be classified as having libertarian leanings, though he tended to eschew politics.

I'd rather be watching Heroes right now, but my network connection this evening is spotty, and one second of video vs. three seconds to load the next one is something I only could take for ten minutes. I spotted several inconsistencies and questions with the show, but despite those issues, I think it's the best thing on TV in ages. For now.

Pre-ordered F. Paul Wilson's new novel today, the first day one could do so. Bloodline isn't my favorite title, and after the last Repairman Jack book left me grumbling and depressed about certain events, I am not sure of the direction in the next book. Also learned today that FPW had open heart surgery in December '06. Here's wishing him a speedy recovery. I met him in early November, and probably came across like a total fan-boy, despite only being 20 year his junior.

And so, a rambling entry comes to an end with one more thought. After wrapping up my review of the ATRC audioplays by Robert A. Heinlein, I dug out all my Heinlein books from various shelves in my disorganized study. I think I own less than half his published books, though I've read almost all of his books (friends, libraries). I'm going to try to squeeze in some time to read a few of his short stories. I know that the next issue of Prometheus will require quite a few book reviews, and I have a stack of candidates sitting next to me, but it's been a while since I read anything by RAH, so no time like the present.