I’m rather busy today with getting another of my old short stories ready for e-publication, so here’s just a brief link roundup:
At the Book View Café, Sherwood Smith discusses the issue of titles and the problems of finding a good one.
Also at the Book View Café, Steven Harper Piziks complains about badly written fight scenes and predictability.
A few days ago, I was at my parents, when there was a belated report on the British riots on TV (belated, because the program in question was on summer hiatus during the riots and now had to reassert its relevance). In the middle of the report, there was the following line: “The British prime minister David Cameron also proposes to have convicted rioters do clean-up work, dressed in special orange clothing…”
My Mom and I looked at each other. “Hey, David Cameron has been watching Misfits.”
“Yeah, only too bad he didn’t get it.”
Also on the subject of the British riots, here is an interview about rioting and youth alienation in Britain and Germany with Andrej Holm, sociologist at the university of Berlin. Andrej Holm researches the process of gentrification, which also played a role in the London riots (there was more rioting and looting in areas where rich and poor rub against each other such as Hackney and Woolwich than in areas which are entirely poor).
First of all, I have two new posts up at my sister sites, namely an indie publishing link round-up at Pegasus Pulp and a post on Gorleben (which has nothing to do with John Norman’s infamous Gor novels, though that would be funny) at ABC Buhlert.
Now I am not the world’s biggest fan of the George R.R. Martin brand of gritty epic fantasy, as I have pointed out several times in these pages, most notably here. And I actually share many of Sady Doyle’s issues regarding the prevalence of rape and violence against women and children (and not just girls either, boys suffer as well) in A Song of Ice and Fire and its imitators, where the violence is usually kicked up another notch or three.
But really, could she have voiced her legitimate concerns any more offensively?
[…] here’s how it goes, when you criticize beloved nerd entertainments: You can try to be nuanced. You can try to be thoughtful. You can lay out your arguments in careful, extravagant, obsessive detail. And at the end of the day, here is what the people in the “fandom” are going to take away: You don’t like my toys? I hate you!
So, get it out of your system now, because, guess what, George R.R. Martin fans? I don’t like your toys. Deal with that. Meditate for a while. Envision a blazing bonfire in a temple, and breathe in its warmth and serenity. Then, imagine me dumping all your comic books and action figures and first-edition hardback Song of Ice and Fire novels INTO the bonfire, and cackling wildly. Because the fact of the matter is, in my ever-masochistic quest to be hip with what is happening in pop culture these days, I read the first four novels in the series. And my conclusions were: Dear God, George R.R. Martin is creepy. Quite possibly the creepiest author I’ve read in QUITE SOME TIME.
Really, why the need to insult all of fandom – which includes many women, many of them feminists – to make her point that she doesn’t like A Song of Ice and Fire for perfectly understandable reasons? Never mind that fandom isn’t a monolith and that the Westeros forum, which is a cesspool of misogyny, is not representative for fandom as a whole.
Finally, I wonder why she read the first four books, if she dislikes the series so much. I never read beyond the first, once I realized that I didn’t enjoy it and that the nastiness would only get worse in the following volumes. For that matter, why did she bother at all, since she clearly dislikes epic fantasy, because according to her “racism and sexism have been built into the genre ever since Tolkien”.
Frankly, I suspect that Sady Doyle mainly wanted to incite some controversy, because identifying as a feminist in the contemporary US apparently isn’t controversial enough. If I remember correctly, she was also the initiator of the #mooreandme campaign a while back.
***
Here’s something from the department of remakes that should never happen: Ridley Scott is apparently planning to direct a remake of the British Red Riding trilogy, based on the eponymous quartet of crime novels by David Peace. The Red Riding Trilogy consists of three interlinked crime movies about murder and corruption in Yorkshire set in 1974, 1980 and 1983 respectively. The fourth installment of David Peace’s quartet, set in 1977, apparently got lost somewhere during the translation from book to screen, though bits appear in flashback during the 1980 installment.
Now I didn’t particularly care for the Red Riding trilogy, when I watched it earlier this year, which surprised me because it’s exactly the sort of thing that I should have liked: British crime drama, period setting, lots of twists and turns, fabulous actors including Sean Bean, David Morrissey, Daniel Mays, Warren Clarke, Andrew Garfield, Robert Sheehan in what was apparently his acting debut, etc… Really, with an actor line-up like that, who needs a remake, even if everybody speaks with Northern accents, which can be difficult for Americans to understand.
I actually have a long post (and I mean long as in plus 3000 words long) in draft detailing exactly what I didn’t like about it. The short version is, beneath all the arty and serious veneer the story was a collection of hoary clichés that anyone who has ever seen a British crime drama or any crime drama in general has seen a dozen times before, there were several anachronisms including the ferris wheel at Blackpool’s central pier putting in an appearance eight years before it was built, the trilogy was full of random violence and gore to the point that it quickly became predictable (there’s a likable character – he’s toast), women only existed to be stuffed into the proverbial fridge and the overall conclusion to the mystery (or rather mysteries) was rather underwhelming. Evil priest is evil, who’d have guessed. I have no idea whether my issue stem from the books (which I haven’t read) or the films.
However, there was one thing that the trilogy did very well – anachronistic ferris wheels aside – and that was utilizing the Yorkshire setting in all its grimy glory. And what is Ridley Scott planning to do for his remake? He is going to relocate the action to this US.
Arrgghh!
You see, the Red Riding series is very much linked to its Yorkshire setting, as indicated by the title which refers to a part of Yorkshire. What is more, the three (or four in the novels) installments are all built around the hunt for the so-called Yorkshire Ripper, a serial killer who terrorized the West Riding of Yorkshire in the 1970s. In short, this story cannot be relocated to the US without losing its entire context and impact. Never mind that the Yorkshire Ripper context cannot easily be replaced either by a fictional serial killer or by a US killer.
I’m not a fan of remakes in general, but this is one that really should not happen.
It’s another of those awfully hot and humid days, so here is a linkdump for your pleasure:
At File 770, there is a detailed breakdown of the Hugo voting stats. Dan Wells also does some detailed analysis.
James Scott Bell has a great post on dialogue as a weapon at Writer Unboxed.
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books point out this detailed analysis of the subsubgenre of paranormal romance known as Selkie romances at Bitch Magazine. This article immediately went into the PhD bibliography.
Joe Konrath, thriller author and indie publishing guru, has gotten some flak for the fact that some of his books contain sex scenes and now wonders why more people have issues with sex scenes than with explicit violence.
At Tor.com, Ryan Britt explains what is good about the prequels and bad about the original Star Wars films. Some interesting points there.
I agree that Obi Wan is a much better character in the prequels, particularly since I never liked him much in the originals. And it’s always been pretty obvious that the Jedi Council is as much responsible for Anakin turning to the Dark Side as Palpatine, since pretty much every member of the Jedi Council except Obi Wan proves himself (and they are all men) to be completely emotionally tone-deaf. The entire Star Wars series, both prequels and originals, makes much more sense if you accept that the Jedi are not the solution but part of the problem.
I disagree about the love triangle in the original trilogy, though. For starters, that love triangle exists only in the heads of Luke and Han who spend a lot of time vying for the attentions of Leia. There never is any love triangle as far as Leia is concerned, because she has only eyes for Han from the moment she meets him. She likes Luke a lot, but there’s never any sexual or romantic interest from her side. The quick kiss in A New Hope is really just for luck, while the kiss at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back is clearly intended to make Han jealous, which is obvious to everyone except Luke and Han. Chewie even makes a snarky remark in that scene. This also explains Leia’s “Yes, I know. I’ve always known somehow.” reaction to Luke telling her that they are brother and sister. She’s not so much shocked, but relieved to finally have an explanation for the fact that she never felt sexually attracted to Luke.
As for why neither Yoda nor Obi Wan feel the need to tell Luke he has a sister and prevent possible incest, Obi Wan dies too early and Yoda does not much care about incest. Jedi celibacy and inadequate sex education in the Star Wars universe aside, Yoda knows very well where little Jedi come from and what happens when you get the right people with the right midichlorians together. After all, it’s Yoda who assigns Anakin to protect Padme (even though Anakin has had a crush on her since early childhood and putting the two together without supervision is a recipe for disaster), because Yoda knows what might happen and he doesn’t mind.
Urban fantasy writer Rob Thurman is in hospital in critical condition following a car crash. I’m a big fan of Ms. Thurman’s novels. Rob Thurman is the best SFF writer you’re not reading and her Leandros Brothers series is my favourite among the books I may never have discovered if not for the PhD. Since then I’ve been recommending her to everyone who might be remotely interested. Just two days ago, I persuaded my Mom to read Nightlife, the first Leandros Brothers novel, and she’s already hooked.
So leave well wishes at her blog and read Nightlife, if you’re not familiar with her work.
Kindle Direct Publishing finally came through and The Kiss of the Executioner’s Blade is now also available at all three Amazons in addition to XinXii and AllRomance ebooks.
If the title seems familiar, this is one of the erotic pulp stories I wrote for Man’s Story 2. If you want to try before you buy (but I hope you’ll buy it anyway, especially since it’s only 99 cents), the story is still available on their website, where you can also see the original art. Caution: The site is adult, though the story itself is harmless.
France in the year of the Lord 1516: Born a nobleman but long since reduced to the dishonourable profession of executioner, Geoffrey de Bressac is the most skilled headman in all of France. But when he is called to the town of Charentes to put a traitor and assassin to death, a shock awaits him. For the traitor and assassin Geoffrey is supposed to execute is a woman, beautiful and young Angeline de Golon.
Geoffrey has long since hardened his heart against the plight of the men and women he is forced to put to death. But Angeline manages to stir feelings in him that he thought dead. What is more, she insists that she is innocent of the crime of which she has been accused.
Geoffrey does not want to behead an innocent woman? But how can he save Angeline, when she is to die at sunrise?
For more information, visit the dedicated Kiss of the Executioner’s Blade page.
Buy it for the low price of 99 cents at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany,
OmniLit/AllRomance ebooks and XinXii.
Amazon finally sent me an e-mail that they are on the case of my missing e-book. So maybe I will have an official announcement later this week. Meanwhile, the story is already available at OmniLit/AllRomance ebooks and XinXii.
I also experienced something of a statsalanche today, because my post on the issues facing international writers has been picked up by the World SF blog. The same post has also been linked from the website of the Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Unfortunately, my blog has also been targeted by payday loan spammers (not that there’s any connection between the two. I get a spam attack every two months or so) who seem to insist on posting a comment to every single post. I must have deleted approximately 200 spam comments by now. I always scan the spam folder, because occasionally a legitimate comment ends up in there.
In other news we’ve been plagued by thunderstorms these past few days and today was no exception. And unfortunately, thunderstorms or rather the rapidly shifting air pressure tends to give me killer headaches. None of which would have been much of a problem if I could just have stayed indoors. Continue reading
My latest e-book is still missing in action at the Kindle store. I contacted Amazon support today, but haven’t heard back from them yet. This is pretty frustrating.
So the book announcement is postponed for another day. In the meantime, check out these neat links: Continue reading
The 2010 Hugo and Campbell Awards have been awarded.
No real surprises, though I’m kind of disappointed that Blackout/All Clear took the Hugo for best novel, because I found it the least interesting book on the shortlist (though I wasn’t wild about Feed either). But then I’m obviously not the target audience for that one.
I can’t really comment on the short fiction categories, because I haven’t read any of the stories in question. Though a lot of people will be relieved that That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made didn’t win in the novelette category, because there was some uproar when that story won the Nebula Award. Because of the outrage, I made an effort to read the story (it was free at the author’s site for a while, though it seems to be gone now). I didn’t find it as bad as many people apparently did. It was a perfectly acceptable story, though a bit old-fashioned, like a 1960s Star Trek episode. Besides, it’s a space whale story and space whale stories have been passé for ages. Though the hate mainly seems to be directed at the author’s religious beliefs which are reflected in the story. Now I prefer my SF free of religion, but showering hate upon a story and its author just because one dislikes the religious content is not okay, especially as the author isn’t known for sprouting problematic stuff, unlike his multiple Hugo and Nebula-winning coreligionist.
Though considering that a space whale story got nominated for two major genre awards, I may finish my anti space whale story (inspired by my general dislike for the sappy sentimentality of space whale stories) after all.
The Campbell Award went to Lev Grossman which seems a good choice to me. Though it’s interesting that work published in other genres apparently doesn’t count, because Grossman published a non-SFF novel before The Magicians that would have put him outside the eligibility zone.
The Hugo award for best related work went to Chicks Dig Time Lords, the all-women Doctor Who appreciation anthology. This surprised me a bit, because I was pretty sure that the Heinlein biography would take it. But then, there are a lot of Doctor Who fans among the Hugo voter base, as evidenced by the fact that Doctor Who keeps winning in the “Best dramatic presentation, short form” category, even if the actual stories are lackluster. But then I find Doctor Who completely lackluster these days.
Now I haven’t read Chicks Dig Time Lords, because this chick no longer does. However, I have some general issues with the sort of pop culture related essay collections that are increasingly common these days. I ordered a few of those collections as research for my PhD thesis (they were from a different publisher than the Doctor Who collection though), because in some cases these popular essay collections are the only critical works available about certain books and franchises. I knew from the start that those weren’t academic books, but I had still hoped that the content would be a bit more scholarly. Besides, in the collections I read, the quality of essays was highly variable ranging from very good and quotable via “This reads like a squee post on livejournal” to “Why was this accepted at all, considering the author is obviously disturbed and views a TV show as a message from God?”
Again, I know that I’m not really the target audience, as those essay collections are aimed at fans of the book or TV series in question and not at academics. But there’s a lot of intelligent discussion going on in fan fora and intelligent fans deserve intelligent books.
I’m not feeling too hot today. It’s either the weather or there was something wonky about the Tofu burger or the dusty bottle of African style ketchup I had with it last night.
My latest e-book still isn’t up at Amazon, because Kindle Direct Publishing has been having hick-ups for several days now. So the official announcement will probably have to be postponed until Monday.
However, there is a new post over at the Pegasus Pulp blog, which discusses the resurrection of the gothic romance in addition to some general indie publishing links.
Here is the WTF news item of the day: A 500-year-old vampire or rather a disturbed 19-year-old claiming to be one has been arrested in Texas after attacking a woman.
Predictably, the usual suspects try to pin the blame on Twilight and on vampires in popular culture in general. Because no one ever accepts that seriously disturbed people will be disturbed no matter what they watch, read, play or listen to. Never mind that if this guy had really been inspired by Twilight, he wouldn’t have attacked that woman, because the Cullens don’t bite humans.
Finally, I would like to remember two artists whom I admired a lot and who both died much too early on this very day.
First of all, there’s artist and director Christoph Schlingensief, who succumbed to cancer last year at the age of 49. His final project, building an opera village in Burkina Faso, basically an African Bayreuth, is still ongoing. I know, at first glance the opera project sounds a lot like “clueless white person wants to give Africa help it does not need”, but the project goes a lot deeper than that and not only has the support of the locals but also a lot of involvement from African architects, artists etc…
Secondly, there’s German rock singer and occasional actor Rio Reiser, who died fifteen years ago aged only 46. I largely missed his band Ton, Steine, Scherben, because that was a bit before my time, but I was a fan of his solo work and even once named a character, a rock musician who get embroiled in an intergalactic rebellion, in his honour.
So in rememberance, here is my favourite Rio Reiser song and one of my all-time favourite songs in general: Junimond.
This is one of the very few songs that make me cry every single time I hear it. Since Rio Reiser died, I can never get past the line “I’m sitting up here on my cloud” without tearing up.
By now Amazon’s Kindle Direct bookshelf actually lists my latest e-book as “live”, but it still doesn’t exist in the store. Apparently, Amazon is tinkering with the publishing platform, because a lot of people are reporting problems. For a while, my bookshelf vanished altogether.
So the new book announcement is postponed for yet another day. But in the meantime, Elizabeth Bear has a great post about exclusion, exceptionalism and how the majority culture others writers (and anybody really) who deviates in one or more points from the norm of the straight, white, cisgendered man.
Kind of stunning how many people don’t know that Alexandre Dumas pere was also black, but then it’s not exactly a much publicized fact. I didn’t know for many years either, even though I had actually seen a photo of him, because my Mom had a book named Famous Heads of World History, which I loved to look at as a young girl. But then, Alexandre Dumas pere was considered mainly a hack when I was a teen, while his son was considered the really important writer. I had a memorable argument with my 10th grade German teacher that “All for one and one for all” was not a fascist slogan, because it was from the Three Musketeers. I wish I’d know Dumas was black back then, because that would have deflated the teacher’s argument real quickly.
This reminds of the “American short fiction” class I took in my second semester at university. We had to buy two anthologies for that class, Great American Short Stories, which contained a lot of white men and one token white woman (Katherine Anne Porter, who is not the first choice that would come to mind), and Great African American Short Stories, which included a lot of black men and a token black woman (Alice Walker). Even as a nineteen-year-old, ghettoizing the black writers in a separate anthology seriously rubbed me the wrong way. Nowadays, I applaud the professor for at least making an effort to include writers that were not white men, though the class could have included more women. And the anthologies were probably the best he had to work with at the time.
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