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The Exploding Spaceship Reviews Kevin by Paul Kupperberg (A Teen Family Reading Review)
Posted on 2013-05-19 at 21:11 by angelablackwell
Review of Kevin (from Archie Comics) by Paul Kupperberg (Grosset& Dunlap paper-over-board novel, April 18, 2013)
Kevin Keller is the first openly gay kid at Riverdale High. He had a comic miniseries which was very successful, so he went to an ongoing series which is now on its eighth issue. The second issue of that series dealt with Kevin’s first high school prom. Kevin had been elected class president in issue four of the miniseries, so it fell to him to select a theme for the prom and get all the decorating done. Being a smart leader he delegated most of the decorating to classmates Veronica Lodge and Jughead Jones.
The time the three characters spent decorating for the prom is the framing story for this novel, which tells of Kevin’s middle school prom. As with all Archie tales, the teenage characters are realistic and have a wide variety of family situations. This novel has a strong anti-bullying message and shows how both victims and bystanders can change the situation. One character has a particularly bad home situation where even his father bullies him. Kevin befriends the boy, whose name is Luke, and ends up helping him accept that many students at Medford Middle School are willing to be his friends.
In a time of crisis, Luke comes out as gay to Kevin, trying to show Kevin that no one will want to be his friend because of what he is. Kevin has a nice speech about what he thinks of people who will hate someone for being gay and tells Luke, everyone but the bully will like you for who you are, not who you love (Note that at this time Kevin was not identifying as gay). Helping Luke makes Kevin realize something about himself which had caused him a great deal of confusion and eventually leads to Kevin coming out to his middle-school friends (how he came out to his parents is shown in the comics).
This coming-out story of Kevin and Luke is sweet with a hint of sadness, as well as funny in some places, particularly when Kevin tries to figure out why he doesn’t think his female best mate Sammie is sexy. Luckily for Kevin she is understanding and she is more relieved that there is not something wrong with the way she looks than she is concerned that Kevin likes boys. For anyone who is struggling to find who they are, for people who want to understand those who are doing so, and for those who did so in a time when Luke’s words about hatred were true almost everywhere, this is an excellent read. Read it yourself to see how great it can be when you have understanding friends and family. Riverdale is a fictional place, but the relationships are realistic; share it with friends and family members to make your own coming-out story an easier one. For adults, sharing this book with your teen can help them understand themselves or someone they know because the message is not just about coming out as gay, it is about standing up to bullies and how people with differences can be accepted. It truthfully shows how sometimes having two differences can lead to acceptance, because identifying as a geek makes you fit in that crowd, no matter what other differences you have. If you have ever attended a science fiction convention, you have seen this idea in action because you see every type of person imaginable and they are all part of the geek crowd, and they don’t notice the differences of others because they feel different too.
If you like the Kevin Keller character and would like to read more, check your local comic or book store for comic issues, and compilation paperbacks. Issues can also be read by way of digital comic book apps.
Posted in The Exploding Spaceship
The Exploding Spaceship Visits the Doctor Who Experience Cardiff, Wales.
Posted on 2013-05-18 at 18:24 by angelablackwell
In honor of the finale of this season of Doctor Who, Your Humble Columnists present a review of our trip to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay. First of all, pay attention when you buy tickets because they offer a package deal with a brochure, a t-shirt, some postcards and a cool certificate that says you flew the TARDIS, which looks expensive at first until you realize that most of the stuff you can’t buy even at the Experience. They even have a way to buy a family-of-four package. When buying tickets in the US for events in the UK, pre-paying for extras is always a wise move because of fluctuations in the exchange rate and the usual cash shortage when on holiday overseas. The Doctor Who Experience is a bit of a hike from the closest bank machine so you are better off to pre-pay for some goodies and save your cash for those “I MUST have this!” moments in the little shop.
One of the first things you will notice upon arrival in Cardiff Bay is that as you look out over the water with the Millennium Center and the Torchwood Tower behind you, looking off to the left you will see the TARDIS parked rather unsteadily on an outcropping of rock. This marks the entrance to the Doctor Who Experience, so you simply hike or take a taxi (recommended if you have little ones) as close to the TARDIS as you can get, then you will be outside the building for the Experience. Once inside you will see that there is a little café and a ticket counter. The café is a good place to rest after your hike and to take turns watching your things as everyone makes a restroom run. The Experience is like a museum with a specific path to follow through which is timed by the electronic things going on around you, so leaving to go to the restroom can cause you to miss most of it.
The interactive parts of the Experience which you enter first are quite well-done, with things in the room reacting, videos turning themselves on, and a TARDIS to fly. This is quite good fun even for adults, as all the sides of the console have controls so many people have the chance to fly it and you get directions as to what to do. Of course you have some monster experiences, which are quite exciting and possibly a bit scary for the under 8s, just like the show.
After you exit the interactive portion of the Experience, you enter a section with costumes of companions and monsters, models of technology from the show and an exhibit of all eleven Doctors’ primary costumes from 1963 to present day. There you can also step onto the edge of The Tenth Doctor’s TARDIS console and you can take a picture of yourself there. Nearby is a photography area where you stand in front of a green-screen and it places you in the background of your choice. This is quite cool because you can end up with a souvenir photo of your group with the TARDIS on an alien planet. Like this:
Once you exit the museum area you end up in the souvenir shop, which sells a large variety of Doctor Who merchandise. If you are interested in t-shirts, be sure to ask which ones are not available anywhere else. Also they have other special merchandise for the Experience only, so check on which these are before making your buying choices. The prices are standard retail so unless one of the main street stores is having a special you will not pay any more for things than you would at Toys R Us (there is a large one of these in a Cardiff retail park) or Argos (a UK store sort of like Service Merchandise used to be).
On return to Cardiff Bay, there are several sites which were used as filming locations both in the Bay and short distances away by car or taxi. Look for a list on the web of these sites before heading out to explore. Some food suggestions: you must not miss Welsh cakes which are sold hot from a shop in the bay. Also for child-friendly fare there is a good hamburger restaurant in the bay and a Pizza Express which carries many American style entrees. For Asian fusion food there are branches of the Wagamama chain in Cardiff. For inexpensive UK entrees try one of the pubs in the area, there are several with good food near the bay and in town. There is a massive shopping center in town which has just about every chain in the UK and some stores you don’t find in London, like the wonderful shoe store Hotter.
Hopefully this information will make all our Whovian readers want to visit Cardiff; it is well worth the train trip from London. Too many Americans think a visit to London means they have visited the UK, but by skipping Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland they have really missed out on some beautiful countryside with much cleaner air.
Posted in The Exploding Spaceship
Friday quick updates: Lucy Knisley, James Maxey, and IndieGogos, Kickstarters, and Shindigs, oh my!
Posted on 2013-05-17 at 15:34 by montsamu
Friday Quick Updates for May 17, 2013:
Two events tomorrow (Saturday), the first for writers, at 10 am, as Hillsborough author James Maxey will be teaching a class at the Orange County Library in Hillsboroug from 10 til noon called “Behind Every Great Book is a Great Rewrite.” From Maxey: “It’s going to start from the assumption that you’ve managed to write the first draft of a story or novel, and focus on the things that you should look to fix in later drafts”.
Also tomorrow (Saturday) Chapel Hill Comics hosts a signing with Lucy Knisley, from 1 to 3 pm: “We’ll have copies of Relish, as well as her previous memoir, French Milk, and copies of the Adventure Time comics for which she has provided stories! Here is our Facebook page for the event if you want to RSVP or invite your friends!”
If you missed Mary Robinette Kowal’s reading (and shadow puppet show!) at Quail Ridge Books last Friday, there’s a full video courtesy of the Geek Field Guide’s Warren Schultz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGrZbjm9t5A&feature=youtu.be
Speaking of the Geek Field Guide, there are 6 days left in their IndieGoGo campaign. They’ve got a long way to go to reach all of their goals, but will be going to Europe to take lots and lots and lots of very big pictures. More info, and some example photo sets including some real beauties of Duke Chapel: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/geek-field-guide
Speaking of fundraising, local writer Lauren ‘Scribe’ Harris has a story in a Kickstarter-funded anthology which recently kicked off: “A new steampunk anthology and RPG from The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences!” More info: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1034531507/the-ministry-initiative-steampunk-role-playing-and
There’s also two upcoming “online” events featuring local authors, both on Wednesday May 22. First, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm, Mur Lafferty (The Shambling Guide to New York City) will be participating in a live chat on Shindig.com, and second, starting at 9 pm, Nathan Kotecki (The Suburban Strange) will be on Reddit for an AMA, in the /r/IAmA subreddit.
And speaking of Mur, two notes. One is that she’s posted the 3rd chapter of her free podcast of her forthcoming novel The Shambling Guide to New York City, and I’ve been hosting a Listen-a-Long of the episodes on The AudioBookaneers; check out the very, very nice starred review from Booklist, and subscribe to the podcast, and of course get your pre-orders ready! The second is that she’s just provided a very nice blurb for fellow Durham author Richard Dansky’s imminently forthcoming novel Vaporware: “A meticulous image of the real games industry so detailed that you’ll just assume the supernatural must be part of it. So immersive it makes you want to go check on that video game your spouse is spending so much time with…”
Whew! That’s quite a bit for quick updates, so other than apologizing for the slow emergence of the PDF edition for Bull Spec #8, on to the full list of upcoming events, followed by an updated web and print handout flyer. Cheers, and I’ll see you out and about!
-Sam
MAY 2013
18 (Saturday) 10 am — Hillsborough author James Maxey will be teaching a class at the Orange County Library in Hillsboroug from 10 til noon called “Behind Every Great Book is a Great Rewrite.” From Maxey: “It’s going to start from the assumption that you’ve managed to write the first draft of a story or novel, and focus on the things that you should look to fix in later draft”
NEW: 18 (Saturday) 1 to 3 pm — Chapel Hill Comics hosts Lucy Knisley for a signing of her graphic novel memoir, Relish. “We’ll have copies of Relish, as well as her previous memoir, French Milk, and copies of the Adventure Time comics for which she has provided stories.” More info: http://www.chapelhillcomics.com/content/?p=3006
21 (Tuesday) 7 pm — RTSFS book discussion group. Currently they are discussion this year’s Hugo Award nominees for best novel. Location: Barnes & Noble at The Streets at Southpoint shopping center, 8030 Renaissance Parkway Suite 855, Durham, NC 27713.
29 (Wednesday) — Quail Ridge Books hosts JOHN SCALZI – Hugo Winner With The Human Division at 7:30 pm.
NEW: 30 (Thursday) 7 pm — The Regulator Bookshop hosts Ian Baucom for Through the Skylight: “two tantalizing tales magically intertwine, crossing cultures and spanning centuries as three kids set out to save the lives of three others—who just happen to live in the Middle Ages! A stone lion roars….A sleek black cat speaks….A faun leaps from the canvas of a painting….When Jared, Shireen, and Miranda are each given one glittering gift from an old Venetian shopkeeper, they never fathom the powers they are now able to unleash; they never expect that their very reality is about to be utterly upended. Danger, it seems, has a way of spanning centuries.”
JUNE 2013
May 31 – June 2 (Friday to Sunday) — ConCarolinas in Charlotte, with writer guest of honor Timothy Zahn. More info: http://www.concarolinas.org/
1 (Saturday) 7 to 9 pm — Chapel Hill Comics hosts a launch party for Durham author Mur Lafferty’s The Shambling Guide to New York City, forthcoming in late May from Orbit. More info: http://www.chapelhillcomics.com/content/?p=3107
NEW: 2 (Sunday) 3:00 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts SUSANNA KEARSLEY, The Firebird. “With a simple touch, she can see an object’s past. All who have wanted it. All who have owned it. All who have stolen it.“
[For more upcoming events, see the newsletter or the attached flyer.]
Posted in Uncategorized
Friday Quick Updates: Some miscelleaneous news, and events TODAY with Kelly Sue DeConnick and Mary Robinette Kowal
Posted on 2013-05-10 at 16:15 by montsamu
Friday updates for May 10, 2013:
First, there’s two new Exploding Spaceship reviews that went up yesterday:
- The Exploding Spaceship Reviews Portal by Eric Flint and Ryk Spoor and House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion by David Weber
- The Exploding Spaceship Reviews Transgalactic and World Divided Book Two of the Secret World Chronicles
- Gabriel Dunston has a new podcast, "Getting Paid: a periodic podcast for creative professionals who want their living to be made off of their own creations."
- Mur Lafferty's podcast of her forthcoming novel The Shambling Guide to New York City has just put out episode two.
- Issue #8 cover artist Cynthia Sheppard is involved with a Kickstarter for Shogun Rising: The Graphic Novel, and writes: "199 backers so far !!! Let's see how far we can get past 200 today". More info: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1662720221/shogun-rising-the-graphic-novel
- Richard Dansky recently posted a blurb for his forthcoming novel VAPORWARE, due out in two weeks: 'So this is what Jeff Strand said about VAPORWARE: "Richard Dansky writes about passionate, complex, flawed, and completely believable people in this absorbing novel about the toll of caring so deeply about your art. Very highly recommended!'
UPCOMING MAY EVENTS:
10 (Friday) 11 am to 2 pm — Ultimate Comics hosts Kelly Sue DeConnick for a signing, followed by a writing workshop at 6 pm. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/538576422848053/
10 (Friday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Hugo Award winner MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL for Without a Summer. “The magical book that might result if Jane Austen’s Emma were set against the Luddite uprising in the Year Without a Summer.”
11 (Saturday) 12 pm (registration starts at 10 am) — Atomic Empire hosts a regional Netrunner tournament. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/144665852367785/
16 (Thurday) 7:30 pm – Science and Speculative Fiction Book Group meeting at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. This month’s book is Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks. Flyer: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~skmckinn/BookGroup/SF.pdf
18 (Saturday) 10 am — Hillsborough author James Maxey will be teaching a class at the Orange County Library in Hillsboroug from 10 til noon called “Behind Every Great Book is a Great Rewrite.” From Maxey: “It’s going to start from the assumption that you’ve managed to write the first draft of a story or novel, and focus on the things that you should look to fix in later draft”
18 (Saturday) 1 to 3 pm — Chapel Hill Comics hosts Lucy Knisley for a signing of her graphic novel memoir, Relish. “We’ll have copies of Relish, as well as her previous memoir, French Milk, and copies of the Adventure Time comics for which she has provided stories.” More info: http://www.chapelhillcomics.com/content/?p=3006
21 (Tuesday) 7 pm — RTSFS book discussion group. Currently they are discussion this year’s Hugo Award nominees for best novel. Location: Barnes & Noble at The Streets at Southpoint shopping center, 8030 Renaissance Parkway Suite 855, Durham, NC 27713.
29 (Wednesday) — Quail Ridge Books hosts JOHN SCALZI – Hugo Winner With The Human Division at 7:30 pm.
[For more upcoming events, see the newsletter or the attached flyer.]
Posted in Uncategorized
The Exploding Spaceship Reviews Transgalactic and World Divided Book Two of the Secret World Chronicles
Posted on 2013-05-08 at 22:43 by angelablackwell
Coming to paperback this month, Transgalactic by A.E. van Vogt and World Divided Book Two of the Secret World Chronicles by Mercedes Lackey, Cody Martin, Dennis Lee and Veronica Giguere.
In case you missed it last year when the hardback was released, Mercedes Lackey has a second book in her (and her co-authors) superhero series. It goes to paperback this month. Echo and CCCP including John Murdock continue to battle the Thulians. In this volume a rare chance at some intelligence on the Thulians allows Echo and friends to attack in the Thulians’ space rather than waiting for them to attack. This gives some of Echoe’s misfits some field experience working together but also reveals some weaknesses embedded in the group.
The angel does her best to steer people to the best path for humans to beat the Thulians, but this isn’t always so pleasant in the short term. Tesla is still hamstrung by the democratic processes of Metis in this volume but communication to him is restored somewhat.
There are some changes in the Echo management and oversight which cause the heroes to do more things off the book but even with the problems many members of Echo and CCCP do not feel as helpless by the end of this volume. Hope has been restored in a limited way even though the Thulians are far from defeated.
This volume shows more depth of some younger characters presented in the last volume and shows maturing relationships of the characters on which the action was centered in the last volume. Several of the troubled characters make psychological progress in this volume. These changes make the cast of supers more interesting and the action not as predictable since the changing psychology can result in surprise behavior.
If you like superheroes in any form, whether in media, science fiction or action-adventure then this is a good reading choice. The details of the partially-destroyed present-day Atlanta are particularly interesting to those who live or visit there, which is a surprising number of readers since Dragon*Con is held there. This is a fast-paced adventure with plenty of danger filled moments to keep you reading until the very last page.
It will be interesting to see the Thulian response to the attack in volume three, but we must wait until January 2014 for the release of Revolution.
Also coming to paperback this month from Baen is a reprint volume of classic science fiction from A.E. van Vogt, edited by Eric Flint and David Drake, which came out in hardcover back in 2006. Transgalactic contains Empire of the Atom and The Wizard of Linn which are set in a civilization which has fallen but still contains some remnants of science, and Mission to the Stars along with two short novels from the Ezwal series which are all space adventure.
These are all classic adventures which haven’t seen print in some years, so for classic science fiction fans this volume is a treat. Many of today’s readers have probably never read any of them, but they are all good stories with action, good characterization and that bit of a strange view of our civilization which is common to van Vogt. There are quite a few quirky characters in the fallen civilization novels and the Ezwal short novels have a very strange but interesting alien.
Posted in The Exploding Spaceship
The Exploding Spaceship Reviews Portal by Eric Flint and Ryk Spoor and House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion by David Weber
Posted on 2013-05-08 at 22:09 by angelablackwell
Portal (Baen, May 7 2013 hardcover) is the third volume of hard science fiction adventure from Eric Flint and Ryk Spoor following Boundary and Threshold.
The previous volume left the heroes crashed on Europa with no one near Earth knowing what happened to them, and the survivors did not know if there were any of their fellows remained alive on the ship still in orbit about the Jovian moon. This volume picks up directly from that point with communication being re-established and Earth trying to build a rescue ship. The survivors on Europa realize that it will take some political wrangling as well as many months so they decide to rescue themselves by taking the working parts of the two ships and putting them together to make one ship capable of returning to Earth.
This volume has some harrowing space action and some technical talk about orbits, ships, and the propulsion technology used. Also there is quite a bit of archaeology discussed, but of alien cultures not of Earth. The aliens mentioned in previous stories, the Bemmies, are also discussed a great deal in this volume.
The survivors on Europa put together housing and a centrifuge to survive until they can get the ship built. All the technical descriptions of this and the combined ship project are well done, with enough mechanics to be believable without burying the reader in mathematics.
This is a hard science fiction adventure with good characterization from two of Baen’s best writers, so lovers of hard science fiction, space adventure, or science fiction with highly-polished prose should give this one a try even if you missed the first volumes. While it is not necessary to have read the previous volumes to enjoy this one, they are well worth seeking out.
House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion (Baen, May 7, 2013 hardcover) from David Weber and BuNine is the newest Honorverse book. This volume contains a new short novel from Weber called I Will Build My House of Steel that covers the early days of the Manticoran Star Kingdom and the reign of King Roger, including a look at his death and how Queen Elizabeth III handled becoming monarch at a very young age.
It starts during Roger Winton’s time as a navy lieutenant and follows him through his meeting his future wife, his marriage, and the birth of his heir Elizabeth. We see the relationship of Elizabeth and her father as she grows up. This gives some insight into her motivation for her decisions regarding the investigation of his death, which we get some clues about in other Honorverse material.
This novel really gives Elizabeth and Roger more depth and fleshes out some information not known in detail by other characters. Given the importance of Elizabeth III plays in the more recent novels and the part she must play in the next one as Manticore and Haven fight the terrorists and the Solarian League, this novel gives important insight to what motivates her.
In the rest of the volume contains technical information about the Royal Manticoran Navy, Marine Corps, and Army, historical information, and information on the Protectorate of Grayson, including a wealth of information about the Grayson Space Navy and Army. Also included is information on the non-human sentient species in the Star Empire of Manticore.
The second half of the book provides a wealth of reference information which will be helpful to readers, both new and old. For those who have not read the series yet, or whose reading has gaps, this is a good way to see everything in overview. For those who have read everything it is a convenient way to refresh your memory on culture, ships and people who may not have been the center of a novel in many years.
2013 is the 20th anniversary of the Honorverse and BuNine is throwing a celebration November 1-3, 2013 by hosting the first all-Weber fan convention, HonorCon. Information can be found at www.honorcon.com.
Posted in The Exploding Spaceship
May Newsletter: Free Comic Book Day, Daniel Wallace, Mary Robinette Kowal, John Scalzi, and Mur Lafferty
Posted on 2013-05-03 at 18:55 by montsamu
Vol 3. No 5. May 3, 2013:
Well, it finally happened, the new issue of Bull Spec is actually out in the world! Some of the more remote bookstores I haven't quite gotten to yet, but subscriber mailings are in USPS's hands and quite a few Triangle bookstores are "in stock". It'll be a few days yet on the PDF edition, but look for an announcement on the website when it's available. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed seeing so many supporters at the launch at Atomic Empire as part of NC Speculative Fiction Night as well, and I'm looking forward to reviews starting to trickle in over the coming weeks.
Meanwhile! There are several new books out from local and regional authors last month that I want to make sure to tell people about:
- Bitterwood: The Complete Collection by James Maxey (March 31) -- "This omnibus edition collects the original three novels of the critically acclaimed Bitterwood Trilogy, Bitterwood, Dragonforge, and Dragonseed, plus the prequel short short story “Tornado of Sparks” that first appeared in the Solaris Book of New Fantasy. As an added bonus, this collection includes a complete, never before published fourth novel set 1000 years before the events of trilogy, Dawn of Dragons." -- That fourth novel, Dawn of Dragons, is also available standalone.
- Blood Trade (Jane Yellowrock, #6) by Faith Hunter (Roc, April 2) — “The Master of Natchez, Mississippi has a nasty problem on his hands. Rogue vampires—those who follow the Naturaleza and believe that humans should be nothing more than prey to be hunted—are terrorizing his city. Luckily, he knows the perfect skinwalker to call in to take back the streets.”
- The Heretic (Raj Whitehall) by Tony Daniel and David Drake (Baen, April 2) –An all-new novel in this series, being re-launched through re-issues until: “Humanity settled the stars, only to fall into a catastrophic collapse. On one planet, a single artificial intelligence, a computer program known as Center, found a military genius of grit and daring in Raj Whitehall, and the Galactic Republic rose again.”
- Gnomaggedon by Tonia Brown (April 2013) — “Pack up your dice and character sheets and join us for the release of the goriest, goofiest, gnomeiest novel to ever hit your Kindle. Gnomaggedon has all of the elements of a traditional fantasy with just enough filthy humor and bloody conquest to make you want to wash your hands when you’re done reading it.”
- Rogue Descendant (Nikki Glass, #3) by Jenna Black (Pocket Books, April 30) — “No longer the leader of the Olympians, Konstantin has now gone into hiding. Konstantin is vulnerable, and Anderson believes now is the perfect time to destroy his nemesis. He orders private eye Nikki Glass to use her powers to locate Konstantin, and she balks at the idea until a series of attacks leads her to believe that Konstantin is gunning for her and Anderson instead of remaining safely in hiding.”
- Ending (Laurian Pentalogy, #4) by Danny Birt (Dark Quest Books) -- "Alaris has enacted his continent-spanning plans, and he races against time to get to the ancient tower of mages, Pinnacle, to enact yet more. But Pinnacle is not his ultimate goal: even mage-kind is but a tool to Alaris. How much, then, do mere individuals matter to him?"
- ... and! Mur Lafferty's podcast of her forthcoming novel The Shambling Guide to New York City has already gotten started with Chapter One.
-Sam
Posted in newsletter
The Hardest Part: Athena Andreadis on The Other Half of the Sky
Posted on 2013-05-01 at 14:23 by montsamu
There’s an awful lot of work that goes into an anthology, from conception, to soliciting and editing stories, and all manner of strange things, I’s to dot and T’s to cross, fonts to choose and cover art to go over again and again. Athena Andreadis, author of the poems “Spacetime Geodesics” which appeared in Bull Spec #6 and “Night Patrol” which appeared in Bull Spec #7, writes about the hardest part of putting together the just-released anthology The Other Half of the Sky.
[caption id=“attachment_1937” align=“alignnone” width=“197”]
The Other Half of the Sky, edited by Athena Andreadis and co-edited by Kay Holt[/caption]
Essay: “Like Water through Stone” By Athena Andreadis
I was born and raised in Hellás (Greece to non-Hellenes) and I’ve walked between worlds my entire adult life: I’m a research scientist, a polymath of sorts, a polyglot (though I speak all my languages with an accent), a feminist, a lover of space exploration; an avid reader and a writer of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. My native culture doesn’t have genre boundaries in its literature. In the tightly fenced and patrolled Anglophone side, SF has featured prominently in my reading, although it has been the source of increasing frustration. The problems that have endemically bedeviled the genre are what I call the whiteAnglomale/US suburban fifties syndrome, which result in SF (and fantasy) that’s a toxic cartoon of even known history, let alone the vaunted imagination that should be guiding a genre priding itself on its vision.
To address this frustration constructively, sixteen months ago I conceived of an SF anthology – a collection of original stories, rather than the endless reprint churnings.
I wanted this collection to contain mythic space opera stories with women protagonists as heroes and agents of destiny in universes where equality is as natural as breathing, where women are free to do anything they want without having to spend time and energy justifying choices that go beyond supporting roles. I wanted to see layers and echoes, not the standard conquest-mode gizmo-laden wasteland populated by alpha male Chosen Ones. I wanted to see full adults doing the nuanced, shaded things adults do: vocations and relationships, but also the myriad small struggles and pleasures that constitute a full life. And I wanted to see it done as literature, not hackery trying to hide behind the fig leaf of “story of ideas”.
I solicited SF authors I knew would be willing and able to write such stories. It was a lagniappe that while “looking for the best” I also ended up with women in the slots of co-editor (Kay Holt), cover artist (Eleni Tsami) and publisher (Kate Sullivan). The result of this decision, The Other Half of the Sky, was released to the world on April 23, 2013.
At that time, Sam Montgomery-Blinn of Bull Spec asked me: What was the hardest part of the process? Of course, Sam was instrumental in allowing me to bypass what would have been the hardest part: finding a publisher. He introduced me to Kate Sullivan of Candlemark and Gleam, whose elegant taste and meticulous care are visible on every page of the final book. So that cup, which I truly dreaded as a novice in the logistics of publishing and promotion, passed from me. Of the challenges beyond that, two were the hardest: from the editing domain, sending the submissions back for revisions; from the production domain, the saturation of the cover art (choosing fonts came as a close second, but it was much less stressful… dare I say it, downright fun – except that afterwards I had to increase my lens specs by one notch).
Given my temperament and stamina, I had chosen a K-strategy; namely, I solicited all the stories rather than have open submissions. This meant that my unruly group of cats could only get smaller. I was prepared for up to 30% attrition for all kinds of reasons and excuses, for extension requests (which all editors budget in their time calculations) and for last-minute panic flares. At the same time, I wanted the stories to be their best possible selves. So it was with some trepidation that I’d send the stories back for fine-tuning.
I sent the stories back twice on average: the first time for major items, the second time for minor ones. However, some went back more times than that. Yet I found the authors fell right in with my observations and were more than willing to forge solutions that would enhance their stories. It was a jolt of pleasure to hear from most that they appreciated the close attention paid to their work. Of course, it helped enormously to have the informed, discerning input of Kay Holt, my co-editor, who lent additional weight to my conclusions.
While the stories were getting combed, the cover was going through its own iterations. The original was already remarkable; just as with the stories, we wanted it to fulfill its amazing potential. Eleni Tsami was more than equal to the challenge. Like the writers, she was eager to implement solutions that made the final cover the stunning artwork that it is. But when we sent it to the printer to be tested, we found out that its saturation exceeded his maximum. Eleni had to tread a fine line between meeting them and having the cover look washed out. As you can tell, she triumphed over this obstacle as well.
The anthology has now unfurled its wings. What happens to it is largely beyond our control. For me, the journey alone was worth every moment, and the final product fulfilled all my expectations. In fact, I’m girding my loins to repeat the experience. My next SF anthology will focus on women scientists. Its title will probably be that of my introduction to The Other Half of the Sky – because that’s what scientists do: dream and shape the dark.
Relevant links:
Book site with reviews, interviews, endorsements, excerpts
Additional reward for reading the anthology
Complementary interview by Vicky Hooper
Direct sale from Candlemark & Gleam (includes bundled E-book)
Athena Andreadis was born in Greece and lured to the US at age 18 by a full scholarship to Harvard, then MIT. She does basic research in molecular neurobiology, focusing on mechanisms of mental retardation and dementia. She is an avid reader in four languages across genres, the author of To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek and writes speculative fiction and non-fiction on a wide swath of topics. She conceived of and edited the feminist space opera anthology The Other Half of the Sky (April 2013, Candlemark and Gleam). Her work can be found in Harvard Review, Belles Lettres, Strange Horizons, Crossed Genres, Stone Telling, Cabinet des Fées, Bull Spec, Science in My Fiction, SF Signal, The Apex Blog, World SF, SFF Portal, H+ Magazine, io9, The Huffington Post, and her own site, Starship Reckless.
Posted in The Hardest Part
The Exploding Spaceship Reviews Blood Trade by Faith Hunter
Posted on 2013-04-28 at 04:43 by angelablackwell
Blood Trade (Roc, April 2, 2013) is the newest novel by Faith Hunter. It is the sixth novel featuring skinwalker Jane Yellowrock.
In this volume Jane and her work companions, the Younger brothers, return to Natchez, Mississippi. There is a Naturaleza vampire problem there again, and some friends from Jane’s past appear on the scene to cause additional complications.
The love triangle of Rick, Jane and Bruiser heats up when both guys are called in to assist on the case. Jane’s relationship with Evan, Angelina, and Molly moves slightly toward normal in this volume, so hopefully we will soon see them returning as regular supporting cast members.
Change also comes to the relationship between Jane and Beast as Jane starts to understand herself better. Jane’s skinwalker nature is revealed to some of her supporting cast so this changes their relationships and could lead to some interesting developments later.
The supporting characters all really shine in this volume with Eli, Alex, Rick, Bruiser, and Soul all having moments alone with Jane to tell her (and the reader) more about themselves. Jane continues to grow as a character, starting to learn more about her past and settling some issues from her time in the children’s home.
As usual for Faith’s books, this one moves quickly, with lots of action and weapon-play which results in many permanently dead vampires. This urban fantasy has just enough romance to be intriguing and enough weapons and fighting to satisfy action fans. Gun-loving guys, if you thought urban fantasy wasn’t for you, then you haven’t met Jane Yellowrock.
Posted in The Exploding Spaceship
Bull Spec "alumni" news
Posted on 2013-04-20 at 02:07 by montsamu
I’m always keeping tabs on the authors and poets and critics and artists I’ve been lucky enough to have published along the way so far, so here’s four bits of Bull Spec “Alumni” news:
- C.S. Fuqua ("Rise Up", Bull Spec #1) interviewed by Nerine Dorman on "This is my World"
- Sofia Samatar ("The Year of Disasters", Bull Spec #7) has a new book just out, A Stranger in Olondria (Small Beer Press); she recently wrote an essay about the Big Idea behind her novel
- Author James Maxey ("Tornado of Sparks", Bull Spec #4) and narrator Dave Thompson ("The Gearaffe Who Didn't Tick", Bull Spec #7) offer an excerpt of the audiobook for Bitterwood on Gail Z. Martin's (interviewee, Bull Spec #5) Ghost in the Machine Podcast
- Lavie Tidhar ("The Story of Listener and Yu-En", Bull Spec #3) a new novella, Martian Sands, forthcoming from PS Publishing
- Mur Lafferty's (review, Bull Spec #6) forthcoming novel The Shambling Guide to New York City (Orbit) was just named to Publisher's Press' Best Summer Books of 2013
- Athena Andreadis ("Spacetime Geodesics", Bull Spec #6) -- co-editor with Kay Holt of the forthcoming anthology The Other Half of the Sky (Candlemark & Gleam, April 23)
Posted in Uncategorized
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