The Bonnie Banks O' Glasgow WorldCon

The August 2024 WorldCon at the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow, Scotland, was a treat for science fiction and fantasy fans, especially those escaping the heat and smoke of the U.S. summer.

Art by Sara Felix

An early morning stroll before the day's schedule was an opportunity to hobnob with celebrities such as Gareth Powell and Nnedi Okorafor. We walked through Georgian-style neighborhoods to the vast Kelvingrove Park, spying bagpipers practicing in the wild. An evening concert of science fiction themes by the WorldCon orchestra soothed our musical souls, while we got wardrobe fashion ideas from the spectacular Masquerade event. I wonder where I can get some elf ears like those worn by Princess  Zelda. Entertainment was by Ada Palmer's Sassafrass group, who explained Norse mythology a cappella. Anyone up for filking? I'm still practicing "Song of Time" on the ocarina.

Fans lined up for table talks, readings, and author signings. A reading by Edinburgh native Charlie Stross could only be described as kind of ...(fun? weird? addictive?). Having read several of Adrian Tchaikovsky's recent books, I finally sprang for a print copy of his Arthur C. Clarke Award winner, "Children of Time." The art exhibition showed the best of the best, and featured work by Artist Guest of Honor Fangorn  (Chris Baker).

As is customary at WorldCons, the  Free Library  was giving away books and games in the exhibition hall, and I was happy to leave off some copies of my short story collection, "Twelve All in Dread: The Twelfth Witch and Other Stories."

My favorite panel was a presentation on the ten "defining principles" of life (hint: viruses aren't alive) by  Sam Scheiner, who heads the U.S. National Science Foundation Biological Sciences Directorate, entitled "All of Biology in 60 Minutes or Less." Free download is available at FoundationsofBiology.com.

View of Scotland from space (Glasgow SSC)

We were lucky enough to meet up with our Scottish relatives, who took us and the grandkid to the Glasgow Science Centre right next door along the River Clyde. The huge number of educational science exhibits were aimed at kids and adults alike.

The highlight of every WorldCon is the presentation of the Hugo Awards. I held my breath as they announced the finalists of the best novel category, and cheered for the winner, "Some Desperate Glory," by Emily Tesh. The competition this year was especially strong, and Tesh's triumph was well deserved. A near-scandal in which some fans tried to stuff the Hugo Award ballot box was detected early, and the bogus votes disqualified.

Sadly, we've returned home, but the privilege of living in Colorful Colorado is some consolation.

Review - Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

 This novel, Tesh's first, is tremendous, in the sense of being huge, wide-ranging, and astounding.  At first glance, it appears to simply be a space opera starring a human teen, Valkyr, who has been bred for warfare. Only a few humans remain after the destruction of Earth, and she's being trained to wreak revenge on the civilization that destroyed our planet. A common starting point for a sci-fi adventure novel, but it becomes so much more, not just touching on common tropes, but venturing into important societal issues, such as gender, sacrifice, religion, power, loyalty, and love. Although the protagonist is a teen, this is an adult novel in every way.

The novel is a finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award, and it is my pick for the best of the bunch, edging out other worthy entries (including this year's Nebula winner, "The Saint of Bright Doors"), for its incredible world building, despite a claustrophobic setting in a hidden colony within an asteroid, where desperate humans hide and plot.

I think fans of the late Iain M. Banks will find a worthy successor in Tesh. The alien race that has defeated Earth is governed by a powerful artificial intelligence called the Wisdom, and although Valkyr at first seeks its destruction, she and her alien counterpart ultimately undergo multiple dimension and time shifts in order to "get it over with."  They learn from their mistakes about who to trust and how to make the world a better place, but suffer so many heartbreaks.

After the novel's end, Tesh offers a reading list that includes books explaining topics such as fascism, authoritariansim (e.g., North Korea), and quasi-religeous movements such as Scientology, and how these take hold in society. I always find it interesting when authors cite their inspirations in a reading list. I'm thinking of Alastair Gray's "bibliography" for his SF masterpiece, "Lanark." Tesh even mentions the Lord of the Rings and the battle against evil.

Offshoots: Humanity Twigged Anthology - Editor's Note

 

It's hard to believe how quickly twelve years have passed, and another Third Flatiron anthology, our 33rd, has launched. Offshoots: Humanity Twigged showcases 24 authors, nearly half of whom are returning, as well as others making their first appearance in our pages. Wulf Moon challenged his writing group to submit stories to us, and they did—in a big way. We're grateful. Our theme, while open-ended, seeks to envision some speculative future directions for humanity.

 We were saddened to hear of the recent death of Catherine Weaver, who completed her time-travel story shortly before passing away. Her story, "Another Day, Another Me," in which a woman runs into herself at the beach, leads off the anthology, opening up a world of possibilities.

A number of stories in the anthology concern the rise of artificial intelligence and its ramifications. "Software" by Evan A. Davis speculates that artificial intelligence employed by competing nations might ultimately help us avoid war. Yet although we are becoming increasingly dependent on the benefits of artificial intelligence, we humans need to treat the home appliances with a bit of caution, warns Curtis James McConnell in "Smarthouse Revolution." Jesse Back introduces us to an agreeable android caretaker, in "What Would You Do for Me."

We've all heard author Arthur C. Clarke's famous saying, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." M. Richard Eley's AI decides to investigate the veracity of that statement in "The Magic of AI."

Utopias can be in the eye of the beholder, as a future gardener feels he gets no respect in John A. Frochio's "Rogue Garden, Rogue Gardener." But living in virtual reality may hold considerable charms, as in "Monad" by Jackson Willis and "Messiah in the Machine" by Yelena Crane.

Other stories concern the evolution of the human race. Enjoy Robin Pond's poetic parable, "Ginger," for a sweet treat. In contrast, see how it feels to be judged, in Edward Barnfield's "A Kid with Six Arms Wants to Kick My Ass."

As humans evolve, they may find themselves living alongside other, uplifted, species, formerly considered vermin, as in "The Missing Music in Milo Piper's Head" by David Hankins. A lesson in humility.

Tired of Earth's problems? Space exploration's pros and cons are featured in "Our Foul Ancestors" by Neil James Hudson, "In Search of the Twinkle Toad" by E. J. Delaney, and "What Remains of the Rainbow" by David Cleden.

Maybe a helping hand will reach out with a fix, as in Juliana Rew's "Dreams of Rain: Probability of Precipitation," or Robert Stahl's "How Billy Adams Destroyed Humanity but Then Found a Way to Make It Right Again."

Fantasy worlds are often quite different from our own, but some themes are universal, such as the importance of fashion, as Scott M. Sands explains, in "Fashion, Darling, For an Untamed World." We also think a perfectly reasonable future for humanity would include a partnership with pixies. So: Theme achieved! Check out Wulf Moon's fantastic "Pink Pickled Pixies."

We conclude with a cautionary note. Humans haven't always been on their best behavior. Not all of these stories foresee a positive future. If things don't work out, the evolutionary tree might need a bit of tweaking, as in Jennifer R. Povey's admonitory tale, "When to Nurture, When to Prune."

Delight in our expanded flash humor section, Grins & Gurgles, with "In the Nick of Time" by Henry Herz and Jason M. Hough; "Ten Easy Steps to Boosting Your Civilization's Kardashev Rating" by Pauline Barmby; "They Eat Plants!" by Esteban Raposo; and "Purrfect Intuition" by Elizabeth Spencer Spragins.

We hope you find these new stories to ring true as much as we did at Third Flatiron. Slàinte!

You can obtain the anthology in Kindle and paperback at https://www.amazon.com/dp/ B0D8CVYDMY

 

Juliana Rew, July 2024

After the Ren Faire?

 There's currently a documentary series showing on HBO about the largest Renaissance Festival in the U.S., and how its aging creator is fighting advice to retire. I can see how he's loathe to leave behind his greatest creation. After all, as Mel Brooks's Louis XVI in "History of the World" said, "it's good to be the King."

I've admired people who had multiple talents. Tonight Show host Steve Allen was a well-known "Renaissance person," a skilled raconteur, comedian, writer, and musician. Plus, he made it clear he loved his wife and supported efforts to uplift humanity. He didn't really want to be the king. These days, despite a plethora of "influencers" and talking heads in the media, real Renaissance role models are in shorter supply.

For the past dozen or so years, I've tried to help speculative fiction authors by providing a venue to express their ideas, as the editor and publisher of Third Flatiron Anthologies. I gained skills as a science editor and writer from my years with the Geological Society of America and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and these transferred easily to the field of publishing. I didn't see myself so much as "the Queen" as a facilitator. With a lot of hard work, and help from my friends (aka First Readers, artists, and podcast voice talent), Third Flatiron saw steady growth, and we became Affiliate Members of SFWA. I nominated our writers in award programs and readers' polls, and they even won some.

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. That, plus more advertising emphasis on live media such as Instagram and TikTok, seemed to put the brakes on, or to at least move us over to the slow lane. Twitter tried to make me pay to claim that I am a real person. In order to "give back" to readers, I even produced an anthology, "Gotta Wear Eclipse Glasses," and am making it free on Smashwords. After all, a venture is not a failure simply because it fails to make money. At least the authors got paid.

A true Renaissance person has other interests, right? I certainly do, such as my own fiction writing, reading, music (did you know a mandolin is a form of lute?), and travel. I've written several novels and am active in a critique group. However, my writing, while well reviewed, seems to have gone down the same rabbit hole as my publishing business. (Or maybe a parallel universe rabbit hole?)

It's not as though I wasn't warned. David L. Felts, who encouraged us early on, closed his anthology run after about 10 books, moving to an online review site at SFReader. We've all heard that 90 percent of small businesses never make it, nor do 99 percent of writers. But I'm noticing a renaissance of new publishing ventures, some run by authors starting their own imprints using Kickstarter campaigns. Hope springs eternal.

A marketing expert advises bosses (including, I assume, editors) to keep their eye on the priorities, instead of constantly putting out small fires and pulling out bindweed. And instead of trying to do all the marketing (support our Patreon!), I should hire one of them. Well... ok...

A recent episode of Shankar Vedantem's "Hidden Brain" podcast about the search for happiness hints that although it's important to be seen as useful and helpful, trying too hard can backfire on you.
But I would add that being sustainable requires a lot of hard work.

So, that's our story to today. How's that renaissance thing working out? Hard to say for sure. Maybe it's time to go to YouTube and take a jazz lesson from Steve Allen. (Oh, and don't miss the Third Flatiron Anthologies video trailer.)