Review: Conversations From the Edge: The Galaxy's Edge Interviews by Joy Ward

Conversations From the Edge: The Galaxy's Edge Interviews 

by Joy Ward (interviewer) 

Arc Manor 

Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles 

Biographies & Memoirs , Sci Fi & Fantasy

Joy Ward is a veteran journalist and has been doing interviews for Galaxy’s Edge since the beginning. These are the interviews collected here: a long list of major science fiction and fantasy writers and editors (see below).

Ward's best ability is to get at the personal side of the authors, although she does manage to coax out good writing tips from some. Some of the interviews--if you've read about the authors before--will be familiar, George R. R. Martin, for instance. But some writers have evolved, so that the Kij Johnson I interviewed a decade and a half earlier differs from the Kij Johnson that Joy Ward interviewed.

Some interviews are touching simply because the writers are no longer with us: Jerry Pournelle and Gene Wolfe. The Pournelle interview gains new interest following the interview with his friend and collaborator, Larry Niven. Some older writers like Terry Brooks, Robert Silverberg, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Joe Haldeman seem to feel outside the field at present.

Speaking of Niven and Pournelle collaborations, a substantial number of writers discuss their collaborations: Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, Eric Flint, and David Gerrold.

The most revealing interview is last one: David Drake. He shares a rather stunning, personal story that I was unfamiliar with, so my interest in his work is now piqued. Most readers, I suspect, will be writer wannabees, but Drake's intimate revelation makes me wonder if interviewees have been missing out on not making themselves as interesting as the work itself.

Some interviews have been expanded from the original publication. There is some redundancy in reintroducing the author: with new and original introductions. One introduction might prove sufficient.

Interviews include the following writers and editors and something of what you will find:

1. George R.R. Martin (turns a dead end into a superhighway)
2. Jerry Pournelle (his politics, his path to publication and collaborations with Niven)
3. Nancy Kress (her initial introduction to the field)
4. Joe Haldeman (tried to maintain involvement in several genres: poetry, literary, SF, adventure)
5. Peter S. Beagle (the importance being recognized)
6. Eric Flint (his politics, and his collaborations)
7. Mercedes Lackey (collaborations and indifference to art as opposed to craft)
8. Larry Dixon (collaborations and indifference to art as opposed to craft)
9. Gene Wolfe (how new writers don't pay attention to advice)
10. Jack McDevitt (the importance of SF & curiosity)
11. Greg Bear (his personal motivations)
12. David Gerrold (perhaps the most writerly--modeling stories, voice, showing/having reader experience the story as i
13. Kij Johnson (her interest in experimental structures and her tapping into flow)
14. Mike Resnick (his beginnings in pornography and interest in new writers)
15. Terry Brooks (the importance of putting in hard work) 
16. David Brin (the science in science fiction and the destruction of dystopias)
17. Catherine Asaro (women as lead characters)
18. David Weber (advantage of plot and character over style)
19. Robert Silverberg (the history of the field)
20. Toni Weisskopf (the importance of healthy discussion within the genre)
21. Lois McMaster Bujold (the importance of short fiction to selling novels, talk with editor generating Falling Free)
22. Robert J. Sawyer (the importance of research, dislike of endless series)
23. Harry Turtledove (read and write)
24. Connie Willis (importance of having good manners and of having m.s.s. out and comforting self when rejections come in that a better story is circulating)
25. Larry Niven (collaboration)
26. David Drake (how experience can feed one's muse)

NEWS: Robert J. Sawyer wins Heinlein award, free Pixar writing course

1. Robert J. Sawyer won the Heinlein award for "science fiction and technical writings to inspire the human exploration of space." Other award announcements can be found here at Locusmag.

2. Pixar has a free online writing course.

3. Richard Parks's first book in the Yamada series, which I recommended here, is on sale for $5 at Audible (among other first books in a series). It's worth it.

4. Nebraska Writing Workshops. Laura Madeline Wiseman will be doing a workshop in Chadron, NE. As a poetry workshop leader, she will give you constructive criticism and questions to ponder. If you're a poet in Western Nebraska (or South Dakota, Wyoming), check it out. Other writing workshops, dates, and Nebraska locations listed.

Review: Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer

Red Planet Blues 

by Robert J. Sawyer

Alex Lomax, PI, investigates two mysteries. First, the disappearance of Joshua Wilkins (covered here in "Identity Theft") and those still after the transfer Pickover's Alpha deposit--a highly sought-after deposit of Martian fossils that Pickover wants to preserve for humanity while treasure-hunters want to exploit it for profit. The original deposit discoverer, supposed dead, turns up as does his diary, which many will kill for. Yet another mystery underlies these: The Bowman of the ship B. Traven unfroze and molested its passengers for months.

The tale is full of Analog escapades--thrust into difficult situations that require scientific or engineering ingenuity to resolve tricky scenarios.

Commentary with Spoiler Clues:

Sawyer expands the scope of the original novella admirably. The idea of identity, however, melts away--at least, to a degree no more than most mysteries.

What's left is the idea of fossils on Mars, which assumes life propagated to a degree big enough to have, presumably, something the size of trilobites on Mars. Maybe we could grant microbes, but fossils seem something of a leap--not just a multicellular organism, but one with specialized features that can fossilize. It would be a huge discovery though Sawyer doesn't fully explore this idea (it is, after all, a mystery and not a dig). Maybe in a sequel?

The novel is intense, and the frequent problem-solving creativity is amazing, astounding, Analog and, otherwise, impressive. Sawyer pulls several tricks from seemingly empty sleeves. One nit, though, is that climax does have a semi-deux-ex-machina although it does resolve well in other regards.

Another nit can be examined by comparing the ending of "Identity Theft" to the novel. First, let me talk about the first season of Monk, which I just finished. The show lasted an impressive eight seasons, with one show temporarily holding the record for most watched episode. The conceit, an OCD former homicide hetective turned consultant, is clever and holds one's attention... until familiarity breeds.... well, not contempt because we still like the guy. How about over-familiarity? He's like an old friend you like, but not enough to keep him living in your basement. He's got to maintain our interest. Usually, that involves change.

"Identity Theft" does involve change. We take a detective, Alex Lomax, who starts down on his luck and finally comes into some money. He helps out a guy who shouldn't exist and gives him a new identity. We like Alex. He has problematic habits but has a good soul. His past, though, is mostly veiled as it does not pertain much to the present at hand.

Meanwhile, the novel takes a character who was supposed to be dead, springs to life to resolve the plot, and Alex invites her to join his team. This might have been satisfying but come off as too pat. Sawyer rejected it. But nothing comes in to replace it. The novel's events don't appear to shape Alex. "It's a mystery," you might say. True, and because of that, this qualifies as a nit. Still, good mysteries allow for protagonist change, however slight. The novel might have garnered more attention had it done so.

It is worth reading, especially if you like mysteries and floundering in other worldly environments versus strange antagonists. Definitely read "Identity Theft." Be forewarned that if you do, you will likely read the novel as well, a delicious entree of wonders.

"Identity Theft" by Robert J. Sawyer

Printed and reprinted by Mike Resnick, it was up for the Hugo, Nebula, Aurora Awards, and won the UPC Award.

Alex Lomax is a hard-boiled detective on Mars. Cassandra Wilkins, jaw-dropping beauty and transfer, steps into his office and asks Alex to investigate the disappearance of her husband, Joshua, who's also a transfer. Due to confidentiality, an investigator can't simply log into people's brains and ID them. The police haven't been helpful, but that's kept him in business. Barely.

Alex finds Joshua rather simply, next to a suicide note and a jack hammer, but the mystery doesn't end there. It's just getting started.

Meanwhile, Lomax picks up a second client to do the job his first client wanted but for a different reason: He fears he's been bootlegged.

Commentary:

Reading Red Planet Blues, I thought it familiar. And, lo, the ebook image said it incorporated "Identity Theft" in it. I checked out the blog and missed putting up commentary here though I was certain I had.

The mystery is well constructed. Sawyer lays the groundwork from the start, so it's worth the reread just for that. It's a little gem worth excavating, but if you're going to read the novel, anyway, the differences are minute. It does work better as a story. Nonetheless, if you're interested in both, you may need to read them separately as the payoffs differ. Maybe you could get by with reading the opening and closing of the story.

The focus of the tale shifts from the novel. Identity is a central theme here: What is it? How are we shaped by it? Do we drop tells of our identity? Sawyer suggests, yes to the last question, or he wouldn't have had much of a story.

The idea of transfer is not completely exhausted here, and it is explored more in the novel. Even then, the idea has more life in it yet.

Review: Quantum Night by Robert J. Sawyer

Quantum Night 

by Robert J. Sawyer  

Berkley Publishing Group  

Ace 

What makes a man a psychopath, a thinking man, or a philosopher zombie (that is, one of the sixty percent of society that follows the prevailing winds of society)? These are the questions Robert J. Sawyer explores in his latest novel, Quantum Night, just out in trade paper.

Professor James Marchuk has developed a test for psychopathy called "micro-saccades." If he can watch you uninterrupted for ten seconds, he can tell whether you are a psychopath more reliably than other tests. A lawyer hires Marchuk as an expert witness on behalf of a defendant who has had other psychological tests with mixed results. When Marchuk takes the witness stand, however, the prosecuting attorney rips apart Marchuk's testimony, calling into question his operating motives. Marchuk, the attorney says, is only trying defend his family. He has no idea what she is talking about. When he asks his sister about this, he learns he has lost six months of memories from this time--six months of which he can recall nothing.

As Marchuk slowly unravels this mystery--tied to a study he participated in as a student--the world falls apart: Streets erupt into riots; president psychopaths march nations toward war.

Everything hinges on a flash of insight when he helps a friend's brother recover from a twenty-year coma. He's not the man he used to be, just as Marchuk was briefly a different man. They come up with a bold idea to turn the world on its head.

This displays classic SF at its speculative best. Sawyer proposes not one crazy idea, but several--quantum consciousness, levels of (un)consciousness that can flip, new perspectives on psychopathy and empathy.

The challenge of this work lies in that Sawyer sets his speculative goals at Olympic levels. He expects you to keep up. Reading other readers’ responses, I found this proved difficult for some. I admit that while I understood the ideas, a few struck me as dubious, so I performed some background investigation, digging deeper into what psychopathy was, which may be more frightening than even this novel suggests. Quantum consciousness remains in the hypothetical stage. My suspicion is that consciousness mirrors other genetic traits: It sprawls across a spectrum.

None of this detracts from the story, which follows Freytag's staggered cliffs of drama. For some reason, we expect perfect prediction from speculative fiction (note that last term), as opposed to allowing it to stimulate our imagination and possibly inspire future researchers to think outside the established, prim-and-proper boundaries of science. Sawyer accomplishes all of this in a drama that thrills.

David Wolverton / David Farland talking about editing

I just found this video on David Wolverton / David Farland talking about editing.  Very good. I used to mill about in my edits, blindly trimming or adding too much.  Wolverton clarifies the process, some of which I learned slowly just by going over and over manuscripts.  Here he lays it out so clearly.  He says he needs six revisions per manuscript.  Cat Rambo said that Andy Duncan recommended nine.

In following Duncan's advice, I uncovered or discovered items I'd brushed over.  Stuff I let slide become irritants, and I have to figure out a better way of saying it.  You get tired of the dead weight, so you hack and slash the lifeless prose.  It becomes a test of "Do you want to read it again?  What makes it worth reading multiple times?"

Interesting quote:

"A great story offends half its audience. It polarizes. It doesn't try to please everybody. It makes them think about things in life. An rating of 2.5 rating. Half love it, half hate it." -- Robert Sawyer and Dave Wolverton / David Farland in conversation 

Recent Award lists

2013 works

2013 Nebula Awards Nominees

2013 Stoker Final Ballot

2013 James Tiptree, Jr. Award

2013 Aurealis Awards Finalists

2013 BSFA Shortlist

Sofia Samatar Wins Crawford Award

2013 Kitschie Winners

2013 Philip K. Dick Nominees

Lifetime or Retrospectives

2014 Prometheus Award Hall of Fame Finalists

Geoffrey A. Landis is the winner of the 2014 Robert A. Heinlein Award

HWA Lifetime Achievement Awards

Skylark Award: Robert J. Sawyer

Magazines

Apex reader poll:  A Matter of Shapespace by Brian Trent

Strange Horizons reader poll 2013

Fiction Vortex: 2013 editor, 2013 reader, Feb 2014

$0.99 ebooks + 1

Legacies 
(Repairman Jack) 
by F. Paul Wilson

Galaxy's Edge Magazine: 
Issue 1, March 2013: 
Stories by Robert J. Sawyer, Jack McDevitt, Kij Johnson, JamesPatrick Kelly, Stephen Leigh, Lou J. Berger, Nick DiChario, Alex Shvartsman,Robert T. Jeschonek

Writing Scary Scenes 
(Writer's Craft) 
by Rayne Hall

Waiting for Snow in Havana: 
Confessions of a Cuban Boy 
by Carlos Eire 
$2.99

Book Bundles

• bookbale.com has works by Kevin J. Anderson, Leigh Brackett, Brian Herbert, Mike Resnick, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert J. Sawyer, L. Neil Smith, Brad Torgersen (pick your price: $2.99+)

• storybundle.com has a bunch of indie authors, e.g. Chris Robertson, Matthew Wayne Selznick, Michael J. Sullivan

Huge Book Bundle

Bookbale.com  has six books for the price you name ($2.99+), with a 2-book bonus if you pay $10.  Authors included:

Andre Norton, Bill Ransom, Frank Herbert, Joe Haldeman, Kevin J. Anderson, Mercedes Lackey, Mike Resnick, Nancy Kress, Robert A. Heinlein, and Robert J. Sawyer

Links: European SF, F&SF, and Sawyer

Anthony Burgess brings literary legitimacy to SF through dystopias.

Anthony Burgess didn't read SF, did he?

Europa SF

Robert J. Sawyer on 5 myths about SF writers

Michael Dirda on The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

Michael Moorcock's new New Worlds

Links: Mentoring a Crackling-Real Mars at Lightspeed

News of import from Mars?

Australian mentorship

Free Margo Lanagan story online from her new collection, Cracklescape.

Alastair Reynolds interview with Lightspeed online

Reality of reality

Robert J. Sawyer talks about Mars on the Daily Monocle, beginning at 1:43:30 on #279 from 22/11/12

Robert Sawyer on Immortality

TED talk from Robert J Sawyer about living forever.

Come All Ye Faithful, by Robert J. Sawyer

Availability:

1. Space Inc., edited by Julie E. Czerneda (DAW Books, July 2003)
2. Identity Theft, story collection by Robert J. Sawyer
   
3. Escape Pod, audio read by Mike Boris

Summary: Stationed on Mars, Father Bailey is sent out to investigate a purported appearance of the Virgin Mary. He reports in gilded detail that indeed she is.

Sources:

• From the introduction, the author calls this his "schtick [about] the conflict between faith and rationality."
  

Questions:

1. The story opens with someone damning in the name of God in front of Father Bailey, our narrator--possibly in an attempt to anger or upset the Father. Does it work? Why or why not? How does this set the stage for what is to follow?
   
2. What is Father Bailey's feeling about how the Mars colony feels about Father Bailey and his religion?
   
3. What is Father Bailey sent out to investigate? What significance might there be that he is sent out to investigate this near the face on Mars?
4. How does Father Bailey feel about the televangelist, Jorgan Emet?
   
5. Why does Father Bailey choose to lie? See question #2 and the story's title for one possible explanation. How is this choice complicated by his feelings toward Jorgan Emet? Was Father Bailey wrong to do this? Traditionally, in science fiction, there is a history of stories (such as that found James Gunn's Station in Space) where the implication is that lying is a means justified by the end. In fact, many in politics feel this way. Do you agree? Why or why not?
   
6. Returning to what the author calls his "schtick" (see Source above), what does this story have to say about religion? Robert Sawyer writes, "[A]s an author I no more am obligated to truly believe in all the things I write about than George Lucas is obligated to really believe in the Force." Is the story about religion in general or an aspect of religion? Might your beliefs impact how you read the story?
   
7. If you can think of other possible questions , please let me/us know.
   

Applicability:

• Science: This is probably not a story that applies to the science curriculum.
  
• Philosophy: A course in philosophy may be the best application for a story discussing choices made by religious authorities.
  
• English: Clearly the story has some thought-provoking elements, but it may be best suited for a science-fiction unit or as story choice for a student interested in philosophy, religion, or science fiction.
  
• If you can think of other possible uses, please let me/us know.
  

Shoulders of Giants, by Robert J. Sawyer

Availability:

1. Star Colonies edited by Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers (DAW Books, June 2000)
2. Iterations, story collection by Robert J. Sawyer
   
3. Relativity, story and essay collection by Robert J. Sawyer
4. Escape Pod, audio read by Stephen Eley.
5. SFwriter.com, author's website.
   

Summary: Colonists are bound aboard a generation starship to Tau Ceti, captained by both Toby (our narrator) and Ling Woo. They have been frozen for centuries only to discover the planet, that they had intended to settle, has already been settled when they arrive--for six generations. They are greeted as novelties--as relic celebrities since these colonists were born centuries before they were. The captains of the Pioneer Spirit ask for a new starship, to take them to Andromeda galaxy.

Sources:

• From the introduction, the author lists Michael T. Savage's The Millennial Project as saying, "[O]nly a fool would set out for a long space voyage on a generation ship."
• Another source, thematic, is listed as a link in the fifth question.
  

Questions:

1. The first sentence--"It seemed like only yesterday when I'd died, but, of course, it was almost certainly centuries ago"--is known as a science-fiction sentence. Can you guess why? Context should supply the meaning, but you might have to read the whole story to find out how the sentence is meant. How can someone dead tell a story? The narrator, it becomes clear, is no zombie or vampire. What is meant by that sentence? The story never states the answer explicitly, but perhaps you've read or watched stories that have happened like this.
2. What other uses do you think the name of the starship has in the story aside from being just a name? How does it reflect on the captains and the colonists they represent? How does this impact their reaction to being greeted and asked to stay on the planet circling Tau Ceti?
   
3. What does the story's title refer to? Who originally said it, in what context, and for what purpose? How is the title meant by the first Tau Ceti colonists? How do the captains of the Pioneer Spirit change its meaning?
4. How does the attitude of the Pioneer Spirit (question #2) impact the change of meaning in the title (question #3)?
5. Can the title mean more than what the story is about? How might it be applied to your life today? The author comments on the application to his own life.
   
6. If you can think of other possible questions , please let me/us know.
   

Applicability:

• Science: As much as the story runs on a scientific concept, this is probably not a story that applies to the science curriculum. One possibility might be during the teaching of dimensional analysis or some other unit on measurement, but it is perhaps too long for what science it conveys. One might mention the story in passing, however.
• English: Clearly the story has some thought-provoking elements, but it may be best suited for a science-fiction unit or as story choice for a student interested in science or science fiction.
  
• If you can think of other possible uses, please let me/us know.