Socialism's Orphan Child

borusa — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 09:57:07 GMT

Another bit of fiction - this was for the 75 word challenge, theme "Departures". The title is shamelessly nicked from a computer game.

Papers, please!

“Arrivals” is full of joy.
“Departures” … more of a mixture. The excited among the resigned; the willing among the unwilling. I watch over them, check their documents, wave them on.
New worlds wait at the end of their journey. For some, a whole new life. A few linger in the lounge.
Once, I watched boats cross the river. Now it’s gleaming spaceships through the dark void. My job is unchanged. May I inspect your ticket?

Fiction-Writing

borusa — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 09:51:40 GMT

So, after Worldcon I joined an SFF forum - http://www.sffchronicles.com - which is really nice, except occasionally a bit reactionary. It has a monthly 75-word fiction challenge, a quarterly 300-word challenge and an almost-monthly anonymous 100 word challenge. And I find them quite enjoyable, and as a result I've written a number of short things (and one longer one), which I thought I'd repost here, sporadically.

Here's the first, written for a the anonymous 100 word challenge, for which the theme was "That Old Chestnut"

The Lost Portal

“What’s the use of knowing about a magical world if you forget where the entrance is hidden?”

Michael looked incongruous, his shiny armour reflecting the illuminated “Greggs The Baker” sign in a way that only the very charitable would describe as “eldritch”. I hardly looked any less odd with my wizarding robes and my sacred staff, which was absolutely not a wand.

“I think we should have another go. We can pretend we’re live role-players.”

Minutes later, we were walking through Cannon Hill Park counting trees. “Twenty-three… twenty-four… that’s it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, it’s definitely that old chestnut.”

Interesting new business direction...

borusa — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 12:49:30 GMT

According to my webmail client, Prezzo are diversifying in a slightly surprising way.

There should be a word for this...

borusa — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 12:09:46 GMT

Sometimes, one is reminded of the limitations of language. Of the words that should exist but don't, and it's hard to find ways to express the concept.
There should be a word for the days when the past lays heavy on you. When every bad, wrong, stupid or embarrassing thing you've ever done pursues you, nipping at your heels, catching you when you pause for breath to run you through the heart again and again. It doesn't matter whether they're things that only you can remember, or things that you get teased about, or the worse things that nobody mentions but you know people are aware of.
First year, juniors. I'm either seven or eight years old. We have a daily "word quiz" - the idea being at the end of the day, the teacher gives us a question and we go away and look it up/find out the answer, overnight. One day, the question was "A quarrel is an argument... what else is it?" And I, for reasons probably to do with fantasy books, know it. Hyper-competitive (really, some things don't change), I blurt out the answer. "It's an arrow for crossbows!" Is there a more embarrassing word than blurt? It's up there in the pantheon of 'words and phrases that are never good' along with "smirked" and "a double-length edition of You and Yours".
More than thirty years, and that little memory has been a recurring pain. A burr that prevents me from sleeping comfortably. And of course, when you've thought of one embarrassing thing, all the others come crowding in, as if not wishing to miss out on the opportunity to give me a good kicking. Many of you were there for some of them. I regret them all.
There needs to be a word for it. Some kind of incantation that banishes it, some kind of lotion or balm. Alcohol looks promising, but like most such things it's just an invitation for further incidents.
There's an Aimee Mann song about this:

Uncle Kenny

borusa — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 15:29:34 GMT

I was reading about Anne Sexton today. She's the subject of Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street", based on her poem "45 Mercy Street". She committed suicide by, as the link says, downing a glass of vodka, going into the garage, closing all the doors, staring the car, and dying by carbon monoxide inhalation.
The first time I came into contact with suicide, I must have been about 12 years old. Lucky, perhaps, for it to be that late. Back then, I used to be a scout - all of my primary school friends had been cubs, but I was the only one that transitioned to Scouts (or at least the only one who stuck with it). Welcome to the big leagues, here's your swimming proficiency badge and your woggle.
I don't really know who Kenny was. He came to Scout meetings occasionally. A friend of one of the leaders, I suppose. It was the '80s; we called him Uncle Kenny. He helped out with some activities, but mostly just hung around and chatted.
Looking back, that last paragraph rings the odd alarm bell or two. Maybe it shouldn't. Maybe it's all as it appeared at the time. I don't know. It's hard to cast myself back to that 12 year-old me, limited in horizons in some ways, athletic but un-coordinated, already deeply uncertain about himself. I know that I didn't really think anything bad about it at the time.
One day, the scout leader announced in a sad voice that Uncle Kenny had killed himself by running a pipe from his car exhaust through the car window. I didn't know you could do that. I remember not really being sad, but not really understanding, either. Previous experiences with death had been before I was six, and mostly old relatives just not being around any more. Great-Grandmother. Grandmother before that, before I really knew her, just an old lady, somehow tinged with sadness. It would be six years after Kenny's death that I lost someone whose existence was woven into mine. I didn't know it would become a theme.
Like most voyages through memory, this ends in dissatisfaction. Who was Uncle Kenny? Did he leave any trace in this world? The piece of land where the scout hut stood is still there, though the scout hut has clearly been rebuilt - ours was narrow and damp and google shows me a smart modern building. The scout troop still exists, but meets elsewhere, closer to the churches it's associated with.
Maybe this is all prompted by the time of year, maybe it's turning 40, maybe I have always had a streak of melancholy within me. I listen to sad songs and watch the boats pass on the Thames, the frothing wake spreading, fading, reflecting, faint and then gone. The river flows on.

borusa — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 14:56:16 GMT

I just received an email promising "Mind-blowing Cashback Deals".

Seems a tad unlikely... oh... BY GRABTHAR'S HAMMER, WHAT A SAVINGS!

Things I need to remember

borusa — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 10:34:21 GMT

Swimming makes me happy.

I've been twice over the last two days, and I'm kind of buzzing. I can go any time I like! And there is a pace clock and the pool is a correct length.

Moments from WorldCon, pt. 2 - Problematic things.

borusa — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 22:21:48 GMT

Being a Fan of Problematic Things
"I know the writer is a sexist, homophobic bigot but I really love this show and I can't stop watching." Statements like this are common but they cause very strong reactions with many fans feeling insulted that their idol or favourite television shows are being accused of some pretty harsh things. Others, however, feel offended that the fan is still watching despite these things. In this session we ask how it is possible to still enjoy television programmes, movies, books and the works of controversial creators when we as individuals or community groups consider the subject matter or means of representation problematic. We also ask why some fans react so badly to this criticism and if there is a way to make the bitter pill easier to swallow."

So, this panel struggled to stay on topic, but was sporadically interesting. Early on, the moderator spoke far too much and with little of significant value. There was then a long but interesting digression into the nature of trolls on the internet, which is relevant in that it's about the reaction to it being suggested that a thing you like is problematic (the example given was Tolkien and Orcs), but it suggested that, assuming you weren't screaming death threats in the comments, you were OK, and I'm not convinced that's the case.

There was then a spectacular drive-off-the-cliff derail from the audience which included a non-ironic use of "political correctness", a use of the N-racial epithet in a completely off-topic trip to Mark Twain-ville. There was a moment when I actually wondered if the audience member was a stooge, sent in as some kind of unfathomable but memorable demonstration.

Between these exciting diversions (I'm unconvinced that "what software you use to moderate" was within the core brief) there was some useful but fairly uncontroversial discussion. I came out thinking a few things.

Because our societies are unequal, and all works are products of those societies, all works are in some way problematic. Which isn't intended as a "so anything goes" comment, but more of a "we all have feet of clay". I do think that it would be better to focus on "how is this thing problematic?" rather than "is it problematic?"

That being the case, we have a choice of how to react to criticism of things we like. We can ignore it (and actually I think this is often the best option, though sometimes very very difficult), or we can engage, which means at the very least listening, and trying very hard not to take it as a personal assault. Whether we then choose to respond is another question entirely, and one I'm still conflicted about.

As a corollary, if your intent in criticising a work is to have people engage with you, and to persuade them, then it's probably better to try to avoid saying or strongly implying that they are... whatever you think the problem with the work is. "This is a racist book and anyone who likes it is a racist" is the kind of thing you should only say if you really mean it, and if you're prepared to lose friends over it.

At the same time, it can be confusing, upsetting, and anger-making when someone likes something you think is beyond the pale. “I thought we shared the same values, is that really not the case? How can you not see how bad this is?” Particularly if it's something that presses points where your personal experience has hurt. I don't know that it's actually much consolation that your squee-post over something else probably pressed someone else's buttons. [1]

There's a general belief, when commenting on works, that you should play the ball and not the player (i.e. criticise the work, not the artist). I think that's mostly a laudable aim, but I'm not convinced many people do it very well. I do worry about the tendency to infer authorial approval to character statements - sometimes even when it's "obvious", it's wrong, and it's often more complicated than it's given credit for. This is separate, obviously, to circumstances where an artist has made statements outside of the work, though even that, I think, should be approached with caution. People say stupid things they don't mean, or are misquoted or misinterpreted. But on the other side, how can you change things if you don't cause a bit of a stir? Would J J Abrahams have apologised for that scene in Star Trek Into Darkness if people hadn't got in his face about it? (We don't know if he won't do it again, and it's hard to tell if it had any impact on anyone else, but the apology was good)

I do think there's a question, often, about venue. Do people seek out your blog entry, or whatever, or is it pushed upon them? If it's the latter, in what context? If it's an article about, say, Breaking Bad, on a Breaking Bad forum, then that's maybe different to sharing with your social friends on Facebook, which is different again to commenting on someone else's blogpost. I think that changes the nature of the communication (and I think it's always about communication), which does change the expectations of the interaction.

That leads me on to the "responding when challenged" thing. So, you've said something like "I really enjoy the Kinks." And someone responds to you with "Yeuch, transphobic much?" (I write such good dialogue). How do you handle it? Your options are 1) Don't, 2) Denial/defensiveness, 3) Engaging. I think (1) and (3) should be viable options, and (2) is the pitfall that, from bitter and embarrassing personal experience, it's all too easy to fall into. Where I have a problem is with option 3 - I see so many examples of it all going horridly wrong, and not many of it resulting in a useful discussion. If anyone has any thoughts on how to discuss the problematic elements without agreeing with every proposition, I'd love to hear them.[2]

So, to sum up - I like problematic things. Not, in general, because they're problematic, but I do try to recognise it, or at least (where I'm blind) accept the possibility. I believe everyone does, because all things come from our cultures, and our cultures are inherently problematic. It doesn't diminish the fact that they are problematic, but I think a general recognition of this might raise the quality of discussion. Normal remains White, Male, Straight, Cis, Middle Class, and a citizen of the USA.[3]

[1] Really, ask me about tea sometime. But not if you really like tea.
[2] I'm very aware that one's tolerance for problematic elements varies depending on life situation and experience, and I'm aware that "you're wrong" is not the right (or helpful) response when someone tells you their experience but there should be more discussion possible than it sometimes seems there is.
[3] All but one member of the panel was from the USA. Oddly, it was the one thing that didn't get discussed.

Moments from WorldCon pt. 1

borusa — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 14:02:12 GMT

My question during the panel "Pew Pew! Where Have the Lasers Gone?":

"Is there any way that the disappearance of lasers from Science Fiction could be a rejection of sanitized killing?"

The panel was about the way that nobody has a good ray gun any more, they have projectile weapons and flechette rounds and explosions. And the panel had spent a lot of time discussing how laser technology in the current day had effectively de-mystified the laser gun, and people's understanding of the limitations of the technology meant that it just wasn't convincing. There was also quite a lot of the kind of weaponry discussion you get when a certain sort of fan encounters a fertile subject: "The US Military is currently [insert thing that may or may not be true, but definitely appeals to readers of Jane's Killing Machines Monthly]".

But I've been mulling over my question since, and I think it might have been related to a shift in the nature of space opera (to an extent, the shift of a section of works from "Space Opera" to "Military SF") sometime around 1970. Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War" is clearly a landmark in the area (I'm not claiming "it changed the world", but just that you can point at it as a significant feature). And that leads us, inevitably, to Vietnam. Post-Vietnam, there appears to be a more general shift away from romantic space conflict (though the roots of this clearly go earlier) and towards a level of verisimilitude (though often in only certain aspects). (1)

Recent works, even ones that might be regarded as "pro" military (for example, Tanya Huff's "Valor" series, Elizabeth Moon's "Vatta's War", or Jack Campbell's "Stark's War") tend not to portray conflict as anything other than painful and bloody, though the value conclusions that they draw from this may vary wildly. If there are laser guns, they tend to sever limbs, put burned-through holes in people, rather than just cause them to fall over decorously. Star Wars and its immediate descendants are in some ways throwbacks to the previous era (there is a long held belief that visual-media SF lags about a decade behind written) as, to a large degree, are the Star Trek family.

It's unsurprising that the c.1945-c.1960 Space Opera mirrors the action adventure works after the second world war. There's not much difference between the tone of E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman books and films such as "Flying Tigers", or "Where Eagles Dare". What's possibly more surprising is the initial leap - the same author's "Skylark" series predates the second world war, but seems to me uninfluenced by the first world war, instead harking back to H. Rider Haggard's "King Solomon's Mines".

To answer my own question: partly. If it is, then it's part of a wider movement, and the rationale behind it is more complicated.

(1) It's interesting to contrast two novels in Gordon R. Dickson's "Childe" saga - Dorsai! (1959) and Tactics Of Mistake (1971) - there's a definite difference in terms of the handling of conquest, at least.

PS. Please don't tell me you don't like space opera or milSF in the comments? It's a perfectly valid opinion but not very helpful or constructive.

Hugo Reviews Pt. 3 - Novellette

borusa — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 12:59:53 GMT

Or, Vox Unpopuli, Vox...

1) “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean, Fall 2013)
I loved this - I liked the layered story, I liked the SF "gimmick" that kicks the whole thing off. I'm a fan of unreliable narrators (though struggle to remember that unreliable narrators are /always/ unreliable, particularly after they've just had a revelation), and I liked the way that this explored its moral question ("is it actually better to remember accurately?") without definitely coming down on one side or the other.
2) “The Waiting Stars” by Aliette de Bodard (The Other Half of the Sky, Candlemark & Gleam)
So, being a bit thick, it took me a little while to "get" this. I enjoyed it enough on first read, which I took rather at face value. It was only later that I thought about it more allegorically (and it is allegory, without question), and thought that it was a powerful statement about what it feels like to be removed from your own culture and effectively brainwashed in another one, even when that brainwashing is done for (possibly) noble reasons. I quite like the dislocated method of storytelling, but like unreliable narrators, I can imagine people justifiably not liking it.
3) “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” by Mary Robinette Kowal (maryrobinettekowal.com / Tor.com, 09-2013)
Other people seem to have liked this more than I did, which is to say that I enjoyed it, but found that the dilemma element never really convinced me - I couldn't see it ending any other way, and that made it all feel a little pat. I did like the way the characters were drawn, and it is nice to have an old-fashioned SF story with an older women protagonist.
4) “The Exchange Officers” by Brad Torgersen (Analog, Jan-Feb 2013)
Above no award because I felt it wasn't taking the mickey. It's not very good, though - the writing is too "on the nose", to the point of being clunky, the tech gimmick is unoriginal and the politics are stupid and a bit offensive. Oh, and the ending is irritating. But it's not a joke of a story.
No Award
“Opera Vita Aeterna” by Vox Day (The Last Witchking, Marcher Lord Hinterlands)
Ballot-stuffed. Not good in any way. Dull used furniture, bad religion, worse words. Would not support author if entire genre depended on it. Unintentionally hilarious in places.

Hugo Reviews Pt. 2 - Related Work

borusa — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 11:51:33 GMT

This category... caused me some problems, and much irritation. I'll explain why.

1) Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff VanderMeer, with Jeremy Zerfoss (Abrams Image)
I've only read the packet version; I will be getting the print version soon. It's beautiful, and clever, and with a variety of voices and angles and opinions. It would be worth this position for the "history of science fiction" diagram alone. I think I would be a little sad if this didn't win, because it feels like the kind of thing that only comes along once every so often.
2) Queers Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the LGBTQ Fans Who Love It Edited by Sigrid Ellis & Michael Damian Thomas (Mad Norwegian Press)
I didn't love every essay within this, but that's not quite the point. Some had power, some wit... and there was a moment where I had the "hmm! Maybe I shouldn't be arguing with this article written by someone who's bisexual about Doctor Who, because I don't have the credentials to... wait a second..." revelation. It may not, in many ways, be as crucial as "Chicks Dig Time Lords", but one of the slightly weird things about the new popularity of Doctor Who is that it has had the effect of de-gayifing a previously very (male) gay fandom. I think that an effort that re-includes the gay in the "narrative of Doctor Who", and at the same time widens that definition to the other letters, is worthy of praise.
3) “We Have Always Fought: Challenging the Women, Cattle and Slaves Narrative” by Kameron Hurley (A Dribble of Ink)
I think this is a great essay, and an important and clear one. But it's a single essay, and to put it above the great essays in QDTL or the whole of the Wonderbook seems wrong to me. I could query some of the accompanying art choices, a bit, as well.
4) No award
5) Speculative Fiction 2012: The Best Online Reviews, Essays and Commentary by Justin Landon & Jared Shurin (Jurassic London)
Don't get me wrong, much of this is wonderful. But given that it's a curated collection, I ended up hating the curation bias. And if a curated collection of already published work is nominated, it surely must be for the curation? In particular, there are not one, but two, articles from the "I didn't like all the stories in this collection therefore Speculative Fiction is DYING" mould (see every year ever) and the inclusion of Christopher Priest's diarrheic torrent of abuse ("I don't like some of these award-nominated stories therefore I must insult the authors, judges and a whole bunch of other people I just randomly wandered past"), is unforgivable. By curating blog pieces into a collection, you're essentially holding them up as worthy of separating from the general conversation - I think that Speculative Fiction 2012 ends up being unrepresentative, and it left a nasty taste in my mouth.
6) Writing Excuses Season 8 by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Jordan Sanderson
Sorry, categories exist for a reason. However rough, they try to mitigate against the chips-to-daddy problem. This is a podcast. There is a category for podcasts. This belongs in that category.

(0) No footnotes. I must be unwell.

Hugo Reviews Pt. 1 - Short Story

borusa — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 11:11:11 GMT

Everybody else(1) seems to be doing these (and is very wrong in them, except when they are right), so I thought I'd do them too. Let's start with the uncontroversial (2) category.

1) “The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere” by John Chu (Tor.com, 02-2013)
I enjoy SF that explores the consequences of a single change (whether scientific or magical), rather than the mechanics of it happening. It is a little strange that people seem to have adapted to the magic lie-detecting water, but the way that they have adapted, and the way that plays out in a beautifully characterised story made this the easy choice for my number one slot. The prose is also exceptional: It's transparent and seems effortless in a way that only both skill and effort can manage.
2) “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love” by Rachel Swirsky (Apex Magazine, Mar-2013)
Is it SF? Maybe. Does it have an impact, yes, I think so. It reads almost like one of those books (Guess How Much I Love You, for example) for children, with a repeating pattern, only then it isn't.
3) “Selkie Stories Are for Losers” by Sofia Samatar (Strange Horizons, Jan-2013)
I kind of get this, and it's nicely written, but I ended up rather wondering what the whole point was. Sometimes, short stories are perfectly formed units, the bonsai trees of the fiction world, and sometimes they feel like someone's just hacked at a tree that wants to be larger (2). This felt the latter - it wants to be a longer, deeper, story, and is short-changed by the short length.
4) “The Ink Readers of Doi Saket” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Tor.com, 04-2013)
This ended up feeling like arbitrary appropriation. It's not overtly evil, but it's just not very good in any single way.

Overall, I don't think this is the strongest field ever produced in the Short Story category, and I felt, as a whole, it was lacking in punch, wit and vigour. On the plus side, whatever ballot-manipulation was going on in the other categories doesn't seem to have landed here.

(1) Read: Some other people.
(2) Possibly "unexciting"
(3) What do you mean, "not very good at metaphors".

Hugo Packet Released

borusa — Fri, 30 May 2014 09:00:30 GMT

Woohoo!

Blargh

borusa — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 08:11:19 GMT

So, I got home on Friday night to discover a very sick the_alchemist. Fever, shaking, coughing so much she auditioned to be the lead singer of "The News"...

"Right", said I, being all in-charge. "We're definitely not going out this weekend."

Mid-way through Saturday, guess who starts shivering and coughing and generally making a palaver?

Yuletide

borusa — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 17:22:30 GMT

So, for the first year ever I wrote more than one story. In addition, I wrote two of them significantly before the deadline.

All Alone in the Night
Susan Calvin - Isaac Asimov's Robot Series. "Case-fic"
I actually did a canon review on this (such hardship). I wanted to write something that fitted in with the existing Robot stories, and at least vaguely felt like it could have been a (short) part of it. In the end, I might have done this a little too well - I wanted to get Susan Calvin to diverge a little from Asimov's, and I think I didn't quite get that enough. There's a paragraph that I would have back and rewrite, because I think the emphasis is wrong. I ended up having to sweat a bit over the writing - I knew what I wanted to do, but I couldn't quite make it come out.

Le Marché Lutin
Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market. CAUTION: NSFW! Modern(ish) formal kink AU.
I picked this off a post as part of the "Yuleporn" challenge, because I got an idea about how to do it. I'm rather proud of this story, and it seems to have eventually found something of an audience. It's the second longest story I've ever written, and once I had the structure sorted, it came quite easily.
It's kind of set in Baton Rouge, though I rowed back from that due to not finding much in the way of useful information and never having been there.

Nectar of the Honeymen
Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market.
So. Amusing story here. the_alchemist and I were sitting having a mini-write in when this came up on the pinch hit list. I'd already finished the other Goblin Market story, and the_alchemist said "Your Goblin Market recipient's come up on the pinch hit list, do you want it?" I rather vacillated, and she grabbed it for me.

Not the right recipient.

So, I had to come up with another story. The recipient had suggested dystopia SF AU's, so I decided to write that, but had no real idea about how to do it. It was only when, slightly drunk, I was walking back through wet London streets, and the first paragraph or so popped into my head. I went back home and madly flailed at it for a bit, then all the next day was coming up with phrases and images. I've never made up so many words in my life, but I think it works as a fiction quite well.

My gift:
Controlled Flight Into Terrain by VerySleepy
The Magicians - Lev Grossman.
I liked this a lot! I wanted something with Alice and Julia, because they're my two favourite characters (they never meet in the book), and this delivered in a canon-appropriate and interesting way. Very pleased.

Movies that must exist

borusa — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 09:53:35 GMT

vs

Weird problems #1

borusa — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 11:42:17 GMT

Trying to search for music by "The Band" on Deezer (thing like Spotify, a bit, I get it "free" on my phone).

Book meme

borusa — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 02:19:05 GMT

"In your ~~status update~~ LJ post, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don't take but a few minutes, and don't think too hard -- they don't have to be the "right" or "great" works, just the ones that have touched you."

1. A Rag, A Bone and a Hank of Hair - Nicholas Fisk. More in terms of tone than in terms of plot. I remember this scaring and enthralling me. Strangely, I don't own a copy, which means I've probably only read it three or four times.

2. The Magicians - Lev Grossman. Covered in LJ posts passim.

3. The Dark Is Rising - Susan Cooper. I shouldn't need to explain.

4. I Flew With Braddock - possibly Gilbert Lawford Dalton. My Dad had a copy of this - it's boy's own adventure stuff, set in the second world war, from the 1950's. It's a link to Dad, and great fun, and I've read it about a thousand times and there are NO PROBLEMATIC ELEMENTS HERE AT ALL. (There are problematic elements. There are also some pictures of planes and a nice reassuring blue cover and a contents page. That's all).

5. Dragonsinger: Harper Of Pern - Anne McCaffrey. Yes yes yes I /know/. But still!

6. Shadow Man - Melissa Scott. Sure, the setup is a little obvious in its metaphor (as a result of radiation exposure received during a colony ship flight, mutations mean that there are five genders. There are twin planets, one of whom does not officially recognise this fact), but the play out of the social consequences is excellent.

7. The Dispossessed - Ursula Le Guin. More than the Left Hand Of Darkness, I think because it spoke to issues I felt more strongly about when I was a teenager and read it for the first time. I think its power rests in the advertised ambiguity. Owes a fascinating debt to Stranger In A Strange Land.

8. Citizen Of The Galaxy - Robert Heinlein. The Heinlein Juveniles aren't as controversial as the "adult" books, but in some ways they're purer storytelling. This one has one message: slavery is wrong and bad, and pretending it doesn't exist is the privilege of the rich, who benefit from it.

9. Among Others - Jo Walton. I read this almost immediately after "The Magicians". It's just the most magic book about being an outsider and finding a home amongst SF fans. And there are fairies, maybe, and odd parents and strained relationships and everything.

10. Fire And Hemlock - Diana Wynne Jones. I think this is the densest and most interesting (if far from the safest) of DWJ's books. It's the one that I go back to and worry away a plot details, at relationship moments, at moral questions. I'm not sure that it's perfectly structured (HMC has a much better structure, for example) but there are layers upon layers in it.

Dear Yuletide Author

borusa — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 16:54:40 GMT

Dear Yuletide Author!

First up, thanks for taking part in this ridiculous activity, and for offering something I requested.

Here are previous yuletide letters:
http://borusa.livejournal.com/326082.html
http://borusa.livejournal.com/321617.html

In general, I like things that fit in with the tone and theme of canon, either as interstitial scenes, or "what happens next" type things.

I don't much like crossovers, because the feel of one world often jars (for me) against the feel of another - it's often like that feeling you get in your teeth when someone runs nails down a blackboard.

I do like plot, kink, characters just talking, different (from canon) viewpoint characters and cleverness.

I have a huge squick about eye-related violence. (Blindfolds are fine, sharp pokey things are not).

Here's my prompts:

Fandom: Mighty Good Road - Melissa Scott
Characters: Gwynne Heikki, Marshallin Santerese
Prompt:
There's an interesting class-dynamic in the book - as well as being from the more urban centre than the rural Heikki, Santerese appears to be of a higher class. Certainly the relative wariness and formality that Heikki displays towards her implies that (to me). How did they meet? Do others think that Santerese is "slumming it" in some way? How do their differing backgrounds affect their relationship?

It's an area undeveloped in the book, sadly, and one I'd love to see explored.

Additional:
MGR is an early Melissa Scott novel, and it's not without a few plot structure issues (though fewer than, say, Dreamships). But it does have a fairly compelling world to it, and I particularly like the transport elements of it, and the sense of corporate intrigue.

Fandom: The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Characters: Alice, Julia
Prompt:
Alice and Julia don't ever meet in the books, which I find interesting. Also, there aren't any sections with Alice as the point-of-view character. Does she secretly know what is going to happen to her? Does she fear it? Accept it?

Is there a way that Alice and Julia could meet after the end of the Magician King? What does it mean to be a niffin?

Or you could have them meet in one of the gaps in the books, perhaps in the period when the Brakebills are living in the city. I think they could find a lot to talk about, if they could find a way to talk. And it definitely doesn't have to be about Quentin (though I won't object if it is).

Additional info: I wrote my reaction to The Magicians here: http://borusa.livejournal.com/325417.html
I would add that on a re-read, I noticed how desperately all of the characters need Fillory, while at the same time pretending that they don't. This is particularly true of Quentin, but it's more that he doesn't notice how much it obssesses the others too. There are layers about fantasy there, but also about religion, given Narnia, that are interesting.

Fandom: Secretary
Characters: Lee, Edward
Prompt:
It saddens me that there isn't more Secretary fan-fic. Yes, it does veer towards the "S/M people are broken" view, but it does so lovingly and fairly non-judgementally.

I'd love to know what Lee and Edward's marriage is like. At the end of the film, there's a shot of her bratting (again), which is interesting. Have they found a way to talk more? Or do they still exist in a world of meaningful gestures and long silences (punctuated by the odd staccato sound)?

Additional info:
Not much that's useful. I like Lee's agency in the film, I love the scene where she wins Edward in particular.

Fandom: Star Cops
Characters: Any of them. Really.
Prompt:
As near as I can tell, there exists no fanfic for this show, which I think is an absolute tragedy. Really, I'd be happy with anything at all, any content whatsoever, but as that makes a rubbish prompt:

Nathan Spring & Pal Kenzy - there is a troubled relationship there, and an interesting one. Does Pal see Nathan as some kind of father figure? A potential love interest? Will she try and play him again?

Colin Devis & Pal - how long would she put up with his unreconstructed ways? What happens when she stops?

If you're feeling ambitious - a mystery on the high frontier! With the Star Cops investigating!

But really - optional details are optional.

Additional info: I absolutely mean this. I watch Star Cops on average about once every other year, and I love it to pieces, despite its faults.

borusa — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:37:00 GMT

Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep seas swell
And the profit and loss.
A current under sea
Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Entering the whirlpool.
Gentile or Jew
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.

Lyrics quiz!

borusa — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:19:15 GMT

I like quizzes, OK? First lines from things... google is cheating, natch.

1) Many times I've tried to tell you. Many times I've cried alone. Always I'm surprised how well you cut my feelings to the bone.
2) There's cold wind in the city. There's a darkness on the land. There's rust upon the slipways where the great ships used to stand.
~~3) You think I've got an evil mind. I tell you honey, I don't know why.~~ Cum On Feel The Noize - Slade/Imagined Village. strongtrousers
~~4) I do not like thee [Redacted], you made me fall in love with you.~~ Dr. Fell - Juliet Turner. phlebas
~~5) I don't care what the weatherman says, when the weatherman says it's raining, you'll never hear me complaining.~~ Jeepers Creepers - bluesbell
6) Where in hell can you go far from the things that you know?
7) Looking down on empty streets all she can see are the dreams all made solid, the dreams all made real.
~~8) I've had relations with women of many nations.~~ Sexuality - Billy Bragg. braisedbywolves
~~9) You are the hole in my head. You are the space in my bed.~~ No Light, No Light - Florence And The Machine blane_firewing
10) R-O-C-K Mafia! Creation shows me what to do, I'm dancing on the floor with you.

Anyone who gets (10) should hang their head in shame.

Dear Yuletide Author

borusa — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 17:27:33 GMT

First of all: Here's last year's DYA letter. Different fandoms, same general guidelines.
http://borusa.livejournal.com/321617.html

The Magicians: I wrote a review of it here, http://borusa.livejournal.com/325417.html that talks about my reaction to it.

Smugglers (The Song): I've loved this song for years, particularly the Men They Couldn't Hang version. Just write some fun stuff around it and I'll be happy. The song made me want to be a smuggler before I realised that wasn't quite as romantic as it used to be. For some reason, Alfred Noyes' The Highwayman seems to occupy the same space in my head.

Space Girl: I first saw Liza play when I was about 19 and she was about 18. So, you know, longterm celebrity crush there. There's a weird sexiness about this song that I really like, even if it doesn't fit onto the album amazingly.

Have fun, and thank you
borusa

The Magicians - Lev Grossman

borusa — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:23:27 GMT

I read this on a recommendation. It made me sad, but not entirely in a bad way.

The Magicians is usually described as "Harry Potter for grownups", or "a Narnia ripoff". Neither seems very accurate to me, or rather, they're only accurate if you focus on details rather than theme. There is a magic school, Brakebills, which is clearly a version of Hogwarts. There is a magic land, Fillory, which is Narnia with the serial numbers filed off. But Grossman is interested in analysing those other works, not in lifting them, and this isn't a pastiche. It is, perhaps, critical of a particular sort of escapist fantasy, but the nastiness in the book isn't aimed at them.

I suspect that whether or not you find reading The Magicians rewarding is likely to be linked to your tolerance for Quentin Coldwater, the viewpoint character. Quentin is 18 at the start of the book, and miserable for no really obvious (i.e. easily solvable) reason. He stays miserable and disconnected, to a large extent, for the whole novel. Reviews I've seen have found this off-putting, found themselves disliking him because with all of his undoubted privilege (he gets to go to magical worlds! His parents are well off! He can do magic! He's white, male etc), he doesn't seem to enjoy himself.

The trouble with that view is that it isn't the way the world works. Quentin knows he should be happy, but he just isn't. I don't think that's a crime, particularly. One of the major themes of The Magicians is about growing up, in the sense of coming to terms with who you are, at least acknowledging your limitations, and it makes the statement powerfully that 1) you have to do this and 2) it hurts. A lot. Quentin amasses successes and failures, and his mistakes (and he makes some big ones) hurt him more than his successes buoy him. Oddly enough, I found quite a lot of empathy for Quentin, even if his whining can get grating, the fact that he knows it saves him. At heart, Quentin is a long way from Thomas Covenant, which I think is a blessing.

The second major theme of the book is an uncertain grappling with fantasy. Grossman meditates over whether fantasy can be a cure, or whether it's only a palliative. When Quentin and associates finally visit Fillory, they don't find a magical land that cures their problems. Instead they find the problems that they brought with them, and that things are never as simple as they appear in books.

In the hands of another writer, The Magicians could be mean-spirited and scathing. But Grossman loves fantasy, and instead of damning it, worries and considers.

I don't know that I loved the book. But it moved me, and made me sad, and made me mull my own limitations and failures. I read the sequel immediately after, and I'll buy the third one when it comes out.

But that was true of Thomas de Prima's "A Galaxy Unknown" and /that's/ unspeakable rubbish (but kind of fun, in an unspeakably rubbish way).

Yuletide

borusa — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:16:41 GMT

Dear Yuletide Author!

Hello and thank you for taking part in this frankly ludicrous endeavour, and for writing something for me. This is the first Dear Yuletide Author letter I've written - in the past, I've rather left it up to the person writing.

In general, I like things that fit in with established canon - though I'm not a canon fanatic, and I don't nitpick. I mean that, if Snape is a teacher at Hogwarts in canon, I'm not a great fan of stories that have him being the Minister of Magic. Similarly, I prefer prologue, interstitial or (particularly) stories set after the events of canon to ones that conflict. I enjoy speculating about what happens next.

I tend to like the characters to act in ways that feel like they're the same characters as those in the original material.

I vehemently dislike crossovers.

I'm quite easy when it comes to... you know, the things that people put into fanfic often. I'm not going to be displeased by sex, nosex, kink, nokink, suggestiveness or people just chatting.

I like people chatting.

I put everything I could think of into my weird and eclectic collection of prompts. I always enjoy getting a story, and the fact that someone wrote it for me already means it's kind of great.

I'd rather you enjoyed writing it than you felt that you had to do x y and z to please me. A story that someone enjoyed writing is always better, in my book, than one they didn't, even if it doesn't match my exacting requirements perfectly.

Write the story you want to read. I'll probably want to read it too.

Prompt specific things:

Secretary: I like Lee's agency. I wonder if they made it work, or if they went around the same kind of cycle again and again. Can Edward overcome his insecurity?

A Tale Of Time City: I was really interested in Faber John and the Time Lady - I think they're quite ambiguous morally, and I wonder why Time City was created. Faber John in particular seems to have quite the ego.

Three Colours: Red: Once again, ambiguity and uncertainty. I guess that I don't want resolution, just some kind of exploration.

I notice that, although these three fandoms are pretty disparate, there's a running thread of morally ambiguous and complex relationships. Maybe that's my theme for the year. Anyway, please have run, Authorperson, whichever one you write. Thanks again!

borusa

Music Quiz, unanswered ones

borusa — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:10:43 GMT

1. {redacted} the Lord has risen.
John Tavener - As One Who Has Slept.
4. Ehstehn yayau deh tsaun we {redacted}
Bruce Cockburn - Iesus Ihatonnia (The Huron Carol) - this is in Huron, so not surprisingly hard to get.
6. You're a living walking dream, you're the best I've ever seen.
Harry Chapin - Poor Damn Fool
7. Oh the working man as you can see that is what he was born to be
Martin Carthy - Working Life Out To Keep Life In
8. Good morning heartache, you're an old friend.
Rancid - The Way I Feel
9. Bigger head, you've got no bread in our house
Mansun - Lemonade Secret Drinker
14. That nice easy mark at the edge of the park
Richard Shindell - State Of The Union
16. Oh my name is {redacted} in the Gallowgate I dwell.
The Unthanks - Betsy Bell
19. You thought you were invincible with your magic and your charms.
Julian Dawson - Brando's Perfect Girl
20. I don't want another heartbreak.
Faith Hill - This Kiss (Mildly surprised nobody got this, probably because of lyric fatigue)