Science Fiction & Fantasy's Posts

Sunburst Award

2012-06-30T21:16:26+00:00

The shortlist for the Sunburst Award for Canadian SF is out:
http://www.sunburstaward.org/content/2012-shortlists

When does F = SF?

2012-04-26T18:05:29+00:00

The line between Science Fiction and Fantasy is blurry, so I'd like to offer my take on this somewhat subjective distinction. I think the distinction is in the works -- the way things get done.

If its works work by magic, it's Fantasy. Children get to Narnia by magic, pouf, that's it. When they arrive, they interact with characters who work magic by using words of power, and there are levels of magic that connect to good and evil, as in the "Deep Magic" that brings Aslan back to life. The Lord of the Rings is Fantasy, because both the One Ring and the Nine are magic that responds to their bearers’ unaided will. All those non-humans who try to love or kill Sookie Stackhouse are magical beings, as are all the other shape-shifters, were-wolves and the various fae who are imported directly from Europe and the Middle Ages.

If its works work by natural law (even if those laws are as yet undiscovered by our contemporary science) it's Science Fiction. People get to Darkover by spaceship. Once there, “matrix technology” allows those who have the talent and have learned the craft practice teleportation and telepathy. Heinlein’s Glory Road is unashamed fantasy, but he never made a hobbit of it. All his many earlier stories are anchored in scientific reality, although as he grew older and wrote Stranger in a Strange Land, he heads towards Fantasy by giving his hero inexplicable powers that operate outside both Newton’s and Einstein’s physics. So does Arthur C. Clarke in 2001 A Space Odyssey, when the story and its hero go beyond transportation to transubstantiation -- or something with a decidedly mystical overtone.

If the story ends with the intervention by some fresh outside force that has not featured in the story thus far, it’s Fantasy. Aristotle, who was a keen observer of story telling, called this kind of ending the “Deus ex Machina” or “God in a Machine” ending. He thought it inferior to stories that end by untying the knot (the denouement) made by the characters and their fate. He might have liked the way hard core Science Fiction remains consistent to what we know as, or can extrapolate from science.

If the story ends with its assumptions working, no matter how exotic they may be, then it’s Science Fiction. Asimov’s robots follow the robotic laws, and if there is a glitch or exception, it’s explained. Larry Niven’s Ringworld is self-consistent: even though his characters keep on finding more about how it works, the substrate logic is firmly scientific. Newton and Einstein might wince, but they would appreciate the inventiveness.

There is a grey area, to be sure. But the distinction is important to me, in that I claim that my story, The Astreya Trilogy, earmarked as Fantasy, is also Science Fiction, because it is at the border between the two genres. Astreya’s world is an alternate world similar to the 17th Century, (there’s no rule that SF has to be in the future) and its departures from what is known today and was known then are all self-consistent. Nobody waves a wand or mutters arcane words of power. The conclusion is inherent in the characters and the way their corner of the universe works.

On which quibble (incorporating a deftly hidden plug for my book), I rest my case.

Classic Canadian SF Brought Back to Life

2012-02-10T07:28:44+00:00

Hank Hargreaves' classic short story collection, North by 2000 is being reissued March 1, 2012, by Five Rivers as North by 2000+, the plus indicating that it includes five new stories written since the first edition came out.

North by 2000 was the first collection ever marketed as Canadian SF and had a profound influence on the subsequent generation of Canadian SF writers. The stories are timeless.

Author and reviewer, J.W. Schnarr says, "This book is more than just classic science fiction with familiar names and places. The stories feel Canadian, and Hargreaves is a hell of a writer to so beautifully package what that means."

Also available on Kobo March 1, 2012

Alpha & Omega

2011-07-26T07:47:07+00:00

My latest short story - "Alpha & Omega" - is a science-fiction mystery set partly in reality, partly in virtual reality. You can read it on-line for free at Something Wicked magazine:
http://www.somethingwicked.co.za/2011/07/alpha-omega/
and there's an interview about the story too at
http://www.somethingwicked.co.za/2011/07/writers-cornered-paul-marlowe/

Happy April Fool's Day

2011-04-01T11:48:42+00:00

John Scalzi is honouring the day with an excerpt from his newest book, The Shadow War of the Night Dragons, Book One: The Dead City:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/04/the-shadow-war-of-the-night-dragons-book-one-the-dead-city-excerpt

Indigo doesn't carry this book, sadly--its distribution is limited to stores who send John Scalzi's cat an offering of bacon. We at Indigo are all either Jewish or vegetarians or both, so our hands are tied. However, you can petition Scalzi's publishers to allow payment in tofurkey bacon if you would like this gem of a book to become more widely available.

Gridlinked - Solid SF

2010-11-23T13:59:14+00:00

Gridlinked is the first of the Ian Cormac Polity SF novels by Neal Asher. This is a brilliant first novel creating a fascinating universe that is just screaming out to be explored.

This novel written in 2001 has been one I've looked for the last year or so and found in a Value Village in TO last month. This is the first in a series and I hope to read them all. Rare for me not to find a series at the start and I'm always waiting for the next to be published, but in this case I can go out and find the others and get caught up.

I'm adding Asher to my must read SF English writers list of Iain Banks, Richard Morgan, Peter F.Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds.

Loved this, going to get the rest of this series. He has at least 10 books for me to read

Silly Military SF

2010-11-18T13:40:15+00:00

Can't really explain why I bought this or why I liked it so much. It is total Military SF silliness, but so fast paced that you don't have time to think about the gaping holes in it. A crazy mix of Earth invasion, galactic politics and the most popular genre in recent fiction (think teeth) it all sort of works at least while you're reading it.

Not for all tastes, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

For Weber and Military SF fans only

Tad Williams in Montreal appearance

2010-08-07T10:01:43+00:00

Fans of Tad Williams (Otherland, Shadowrise) will be glad to know Tad and Deborah Beale (Dragons of Ordinary Farm) will be guests of honour at Con*Cept in Montreal, October 1-3. www.conceptsff.ca

New Barbara Hambly: unavailable at Chapters?

2010-08-07T09:59:30+00:00

Visiting the website of one of my favourite authors, Babraba Hambly, I discovered she has a new Benjamin January out since the spring, but it's not listed on Chapters website. Will it be available soon?

Canadian sf

2010-03-29T12:11:59+00:00

In about a week and a half I'm about to head off to the Skopje Book Fair in Macedonia, where I'm to be a guest for the launch of the Macedonian translation of one of my books, receiving an award, etc. - see profile for details! But I'm also taking part in a panel discussion on fantasy in Canada and Macedonia. Since no-one can read everything, I thought I'd ask a few of the fantasy groups here what Canadian fantasy and science fiction writers (both for adults and children) come to mind for you. Maybe there are some I should know about whom I've thus far missed.