#SFF fan

[maaikeatthefullmoon]

Argh!

The British Library Fantasy exhibition finishes at the end of February. So far, so fine. I can scrape together the pennies for one trip.

Except…

Obviously I’m not going to stalk poor Michael Sheen, I’m genuinely interested in this talk and, looking at the schedule, I’m interested in the entire bloody thing.

Bugger bugger bugger. Millennium hand and shrimp.

Gotsta scrape together the pennies!!

[timetravellingkitty]

maybe I don't want yall to hijack a post about how people in my country are dying of heatstrokes just to offer hOpE and AlTeRnAtIvEs through the power of fiction or whatever. anyways not like they know how to read the room they're stupid crackers keep your goddamn fiction stop fucking around on a serious post about global warming and touch grass!

[aplpaca]

i think the popularity of anime means that books could get so much weirder and do fine if publishers werent fucking cowards like. one of the most popular recent animes has a main character who fused with his demon dog and now his head and arms turn into fucking chainsaws. soul eater was fucking huge and just look it it. the grim reapers son has 2 guns that are a pair of shapeshifting sisters and thats only a tiny fraction of whats going on in that series. we need more of this energy in english-language sff books. im begging major publishing to Get Weirder

[anghraine]

Huh, I see a lot of lit-fic fans insisting that the stereotype of lit-fic as "college prof/writer having affairs and people being miserable in a stylistic way" is just a defensive genre fan take that took off.

I wouldn't know, myself, because nearly all my literary reading these days is in the periods I study, ending at around 1815. But my best friend is getting an MFA in creative writing and damn if every lit piece he gets assigned isn't "people being miserable in a stylistic way, especially writers having affairs."

This may not be representative of modern lit fic as a whole! Like I said, I wouldn't know. But the idea that the stereotype is completely manufactured by defensive genre fans seems ... maybe not quite fair.

[deepslumbrrr]

Authors & Fan Fiction

I'm somewhat surprised by how many authors don't like fan fiction of their own works. Frankly, I would be SO flattered if someone wrote fan fiction of my book(s); if someone took the time to sit down and write out an entire story based off of my work, the work that I'd put myself into, that I'd poured myself into.

Hell, I might write fan fiction of my own damned books when they come out. I wouldn't be the first SFF author to do that, but I'd definitely do it!

[bisexualastronaut]

i can finally listen to weezer as they should be listened to (whilst single)

[leojurand]

just finished reading the sacred hunt duology by michelle west (i loved it) and this parallel made me wanna off myself. why would you do this to me.

[dramyhsturgis]

Star Trek and Star Wars are here!

I'm delighted to share that both of my co-edited academic anthologies with Vernon Press are now available: STAR TREK: ESSAYS EXPLORING THE FINAL FRONTIER and STAR WARS: ESSAYS EXPLORING A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY.

They are both available at major bookstores and can be requested via libraries in hardcover or ebook formats. The coupon code CFC10822213C4 provides a 24% "new release!" discount for both at the Vernon Press website.

[poorsapadvocate]

okay fuck it everyone still calling Neil Gaiman sinophobic re: hugo awards is going on the block list

[aristocraticelegance]

March reads. I'm surprised I even got through three this month. I also had my first DNF of the year, which I probably won't record any thoughts on, since I don't have anything intelligent to say about it.

The Closet, Danielle Bobker (Princeton University Press, 2020). I bought a bunch of books from the Princeton University press annual sale; this one turned out pretty good. It does suffer a bit from the problem of stitching together several loosely related research articles, but it was interesting as a history of 16th-17th century closets and their social role. I liked the sections on court favorites/court politics the most. The last chapter tries to link these early closets with the modern concept of coming out of the closet, which was a little half-baked even if it was heading in an interesting direction.

2. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, John Le Carré (1963/2005). The problem with reading old famous books is that if they're good I start going around like omg have your heard of this?? It's good?? Anyways, newsflash, John Le Carré is a good writer. It's also interesting to see elements that I first encountered in later writers. I would be very surprised if William Gibson isn't indebted to Le Carré in some way. I'll probably hunt down more of his books once I figure out what to read next.

3. Hel's Eight, Stark Holborn (Titan Books, 2023)

I bought this when it came out, and honestly I was kind of relieved to realize I was only a year late in reading it. It's the sequel to Ten Low, which I loved. I probably should have re-read it because I only vaguely remembered how it ended, but Hel's Eight was still great. The two books are a mix of Space Western/Mad Max in space with supernatural horror, or something like that. If you liked Mad Max: Fury Road, you should read these.

Short Fiction

I finally finished New Edge Sword & Sorcery vol. 1, which had some great pieces in it, including "The Pillars of Silence" by Prashanath Srivasta. I mostly read short stories during work breaks, so it can take me a while to get through anything, but I really enjoyed this volume and Vol. 0. It's nice to see a magazine with so much art too.

I also finished issue 143 of Apex Magazine. One of the reasons I don't read a ton of short fic is that my preferred sub genres are pretty underrepresented in contemporary SFF. Apex publishes some good stuff, but I've had a hard time with the last few issues, mostly because of the focus on contemporary-set stories. I did like "Chi Tam is Tired of Being Dead" by Natasha King and the reprints by Eden Royce and Christopher Caldwell.

Finally, I really liked "The Angel Azrael and the Dead Man's Hand" (Peter Darbyshire) in Beneath Ceaseless Skies #339. A Fantasy Western that gestures towards some complex setting/backstory.

[galaxseacreature]

next month's queer bookclub theme is booktok, but all social media is fair game. so please recommend me a non-booktok queer book to read

[octydrawz]

"Create. Share. And Play."

Tune in our latest edition of Sonic Fangames First, in Summer 2023 !! Discover new fangames in a Nintendo Direct styled presentation, featuring Podcasts, brand new showcases, private builds and demos!

FEATURING CHAOSX (Sonic P06), MR. BANE (Sonic Momentum) and more !!!

Follow me to never miss an upload and keep an eye out on the future posts for more updates !

[slothinginorbit]

The whole article is a hate piece on not only sanderson but also SFF fan culture. Jason kehe tries to paint the people in a bad light as much as possible: smelly, man-child, cultish, omg they have sword replicas and the swords have names??? Oh and why is there no sex in sandersons books, apparently that is a big sin. I would like to ask why are you so obsessed with having sex in every book sir? Why is it a must?

Why did they write this bs article? Many people are butt hurt in the industry for sandersons kickstarter being immensely successful and making him a lot of money. And that's the connection to this, me thinks. Publishing couldn't pocket all that money like they usually do.

[mllebleue]

Downright brilliant article on canonicity and fanaticism, in Tolkien fandom and well beyond. A must read. Frankly better than a host of academic articles tackling canonicity I've ever read.

Run, don't walk.

[bayconnews]

The hotel room block is filling up fast and will close soon so please reserve your room now while you still can!

https://baycon.org/hotel-2024/

Reasons to stay onsite:

BayCon does not have set hours. You’ll often find programming, gaming, music and filking, and impromptu gatherings continue well into the night.

Our popular room parties are a great place to socialize and meet and converse with fellow fans. Have a room nearby so you can crash and recharge for the evening!

Believe it or not, as part of our agreement to make use of the majority of the hotel’s function space, we have an obligation to sell the majority of our room block. If we don’t, we end up spending more money on the hotel and less on the convention. Do your part to support BayCon by staying with us (staff reserve and pay for their own rooms, too!)

Hauling your books, costumes, games, kids, and everything else to and from the hotel can be a bother. Stay at the hotel and know that all of your belongings are safe and sound. You’re free to enjoy the entire day and evening!

Wake up early in the morning and catch breakfast before making it to morning panels, armed combat demonstrations, signings, and interviews. If you’re already here, you’ll never have to worry about being late!