Journal #45
July 16, 2009
I was sorry to hear of the death of Charlie Brown, editor and publisher of Locus, the premier science fiction trade journal. He was a friend, and I’ll miss him. His influence over the field was substantial. Everyone who cares about quality SF has benefited from his presence. He was an enthusiastic fan as well as a talented editor. He participated in some of the Readercon panels this past weekend. It‘s probably the way he would have preferred to spend his last days. Those of us who knew Charlie will never forget him.
For anyone who’s interested in an informal history of science fiction, the inside story, you probably cannot do better than Barry Malzberg’s Breakfast in the Ruins, Baen Books, 2007. I finally caught up with it (after years of intending to read its earlier version, Engines of the Night). It’s an emotional, powerful book. When I was growing up, reading Startling Stories and Thrilling Wonder and Galaxy, I wouldn’t have believed the writers weren’t living in luxurious houses on Cape Cod. (I should mention here that I was late discovering Astounding. Not sure why that was. It might be that Steve’s, where I bought my monthly gold, didn’t carry it.) Anyhow, Barry points out that there were a lot of problems, but we nevertheless got some extraordinary science fiction. We may have been lucky.
President Obama spoke with the Pope last week. Both men professed themselves concerned about poverty in the world. There was apparently talk about how to divert resources to those in need. But if they talked in private about the real problem, no public reference to it was made. World population is at six billion and climbing. It’s already well past the numbers this world can support. Nothing we try to do, about climate change, or a decent life style for everybody, or saving endangered species, will have any long-term effect unless we get population growth under control. Unfortunately, it won’t happen as long as major religions continue to argue that there’s something immoral about artificial contraception. It’s also not surprising that the subject never even got mentioned in the recent presidential election. Not by either candidate. I guess it’s the new third rail.
Kevin J. Anderson’s fans will be interested to know that Kevin, having completed his Saga of the Seven Suns, has embarked in a new direction: Sea-going fantasy. The Edge of the World is just out from Orbit. It’s billed as Part One of Terra Incognita. It contains a goodly portion of Kevin’s trademark political and military conflict, mixed with sea monsters and unknown country. Another good ride from the master.
Rob Sawyer has been turning out a series of strong titles in recent years. Rollback, Wake, and Hominids, among others, have done extraordinarily well, and earned Rob a reputation as one of the best in the field. Flash Forward asks how we might be affected if we could get a glimpse of where we might be twenty years in the future. It will be arriving as a 13-part series on ABC TV Thursday September 24.