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.