INTERACTION

I think Eurovision might be one of those "the truth is stranger than fiction" things, which means by implication that there is no way of making it Mundane

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Jo Thomas
http://www.journeymouse.net/

So "socially" profitable space travel is fine? *fingers crossed*

R.

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[center]Ceci n'est pas un sig[/center]

Maybe. Give it a shot! Convince us. :)

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Best,

Trent

I've been noticing a good bit of angst on the part of the sf community about this upcoming issue (see the thread at Asimov's at http://www.asimovs.com/discus/messages/ ... 1181576234 ). My favorite comment in that thread is "I would encourage people to just stamp on this nonsense, but I don't think they need encouraging.... it'll die the death on its own."

This reaction actually excites me because I'm enough of a contrarian to want to take on any subject which everyone else hates. In fact, the only thing I've learned in my studies of life is that what everyone expects to happen is usually what doesn't happen.

Yeah. I like the one that says:
"Say no to Mundane SF.
Say yes to Fun SF."

Lovely. That'll be the Fundamentalist wing of SF talking. Are these the same sorts who get riled by high fantasy, by any chance?

Is "mundane SF" the dogme of the sci-fi genre?

R.

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[center]Ceci n'est pas un sig[/center]

I'm loving the comparison (Mundane/dogme) - I'm sure something could be made of that!

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Shaun C. Green

Nostalgia For Infinity
Literature, gaming, punk rock... and all that.

Does that mean we have to write it in one pass with a pen?

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http://www.icarusquay.org

That's how I write, yo. Lamy Studio, brown ink, lined composition book.

And we're only allowed to write by natural light, and only shift our seating position twice . . .

I have to say, I'm really looking forwards to the m.sci-fi Interzone. It's always great to see what talented people do when forced outside their comfort zone. The first time I had to write a story under 3,000 words - not a word over - really pushed me right outside mine and changed the way I write and read stories immeasurably. It was like reading Dubliners all over again. I'm really hoping that, without all the comfortable old shoes to wear, these stories are going to break some new ground. I'll be a little surprised if they don't to be honest.

I totally agree. I find placing limitations on my work highly stimulating. Mind you, if there are any UK writers out there who read Writing Monthly, this month's competition is doing my head in!!

Sorry, off-topic. I'll take it elsewhere.

R.

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[center]Ceci n'est pas un sig[/center]

Sounds like a very reasonable level of constraints to me. Good chunks of Alistair Reynolds Revelation Space series come to mind. Redemption Ark, I believe, has a good long sequence about a near-lightspeed chase between two ships, relativity and all.

Some of the best scifi comes from the simplest improbable (but not impossible) idea, and its effects on the people - and therefore society - who use it. Take the concept of slow glass as an example - glass with such a high refractive index that light takes months if not years to pass through. "Light of other days" by Bob Shaw explores this concept directly (the full text of the short story is on the web, google it) but plenty of scifi looks at the idea of a time-viewer.

I think I read this some time ago in an anthology - if not it was something very similar - I shall look it up and thank you for the pointer. But while it is clever, I have one problem with the idea of slow glass. What about the days/weeks/months/years of sitting in the dark, waiting for the outside light to get to you? Although if I can see the point of taking say 12 hours - no sitting in work wishing you were out in the sun, no boiling in summer, etc.

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Jo Thomas
http://www.journeymouse.net/

The short story i mentioned specifically mentions "10 year synced" glass whereby the thickness of the glass is precisely manufactured so that a viewer would see it in sync with their day/night routines AND summer/winter (provided, one assumes, they are in the same time-zone as the window farm). The use here being that the farm has the windows on a hillside overlooking a scenic lake and countryside view and you'd hang one on the wall inside your crummy dark city apartment.

Possibilities abound can be (and have been) explored. because the glass is essnentially always "recording" and always in both directions. A detective might sit and watch the reverse (usually against the wall) side of a slow-glass-scene-window waiting to see a murder take place in the room it was hanging in. The time-rating of the scene-window would determine how long he would have to wait.

Considering who won it last year, you may have a point there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdbDNL5oqCs