Fandom Is Dead. Long Live Fandom!

Fandom Is Dead. Long Live Fandom!

If you change the medium, you change the message. Philosopher of communication Marshall McLuhan argued persuasively that advances in media, regardless of content, can incite dramatic, culture-wide effects. A best selling print book can reach millions of people, but turn that book into a hit movie, and you increase its…
January 28, 2016
Cirsova Heroic Fantasy is Here!

Cirsova Heroic Fantasy is Here!

Science fiction used to be a niche market restricted to a small cult following. Back in the day, a sci-fi fan could easily read every novel and short story published in the field each year. A handful of magazines and one or two major conventions could easily accommodate the whole…
January 18, 20162 Comments
Book Review: The Cunning Blood by Jeff Duntemann

Book Review: The Cunning Blood by Jeff Duntemann

The dawn of 2016 finds my to-be-read pile one book shorter. A hard sci-fi book review should augur well for the new year. The hard SF book in question is The Cunning Blood, authored by a publishing industry veteran who's worn pretty much every hat in the business: the esteemed…
January 2, 20162 Comments
A Discussion of Sci-Fi Soul Swapping

A Discussion of Sci-Fi Soul Swapping

The perennial subject of mind/soul-swapping as portrayed in science fiction recently came up at John C. Wright's blog. Reader Kevin Stuart Lee kicked things off. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the metaphysics of mind transfer. Does that tenet of the singularitarians and transhumanists assume materialism? If so,…
December 24, 20154 Comments
Star Trek Is Not a Post-Scarcity Economy

Star Trek Is Not a Post-Scarcity Economy

Robert P. Murphy points out that, not only does the post-scarcity economy portrayed in Star Trek not make sense, it's not really even post-scarcity. In reply to Brad DeLong, an economist on the Trekonomics panel at the New York City Comic Con, Murphy writes: In reality, DeLong is wrong to think…
November 5, 20154 Comments
Fisking Wired

Fisking Wired

Entertainment Weekly Wired ran a hit piece against Sad Puppies on Friday. The author is an ostensibly accomplished writer whose journalistic neglect and aversion to contrary evidence nonetheless compel me to refer to her as "hack". Jobs like this don't normally fall to me, but the regular guy is out of town…
November 2, 2015
Citizen Vader

Citizen Vader

Image by Red Letter Media My post on books that informed Star Wars drew multiple calls to examine George Lucas' cinematic influences. The Star Wars saga borrows from and pays homage to so many films that covering them all in depth would require a lengthy series. You could probably sustain a whole blog…
October 29, 2015
Why Authors Need to Be Readers: Books that Informed Star Wars

Why Authors Need to Be Readers: Books that Informed Star Wars

Star Wars concept art by Ralph McQuarrie The best way to prepare for a writing career, besides writing every day, is reading at least as often. The importance of broad and deep reading for good writing strikes me as so self-evident that it baffles me whenever I ask aspiring authors…
October 23, 2015

Geek Gab: Sci Phi Journal Editor Jason Rennie

This week, Geek Gab is pleased to welcome Jason Rennie, Hugo nominated editor of Sci Phi Journal. His magazine published my first pro short story, so I twisted Daddy Warpig's arm to return the favor and get Jason on the show. Just kidding. Jason is a knowledgeable and hardworking guy…
October 10, 2015
Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

My SF education reached an important milestone this week when I finished reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Published 25 years ago to great acclaim, including the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hyperion has had a long enough shelf life to obviate a formal spoiler warning. But this review won't shy away from…
September 2, 2015