I met John Scalzi

Yes, I actually found myself in the presence of the Scalzorc and lived to tell the tale. [Click on that link for awesomeness.] ;-) Seriously, a few weeks ago I went to a reading at the NYPL where Mr. Scalzi, along with Cat Valente, Lev Grossman, and Scott Westerfeld, were giving readings. This occasion was the NYPL's effort to support those who write and enjoy Speculative Fiction. The event was titled, Speculating on Fiction. Isn't that wonderfully telling? These authors all happened to be on book signing tours for their respective new releases. I've been an admirer of Mr. Scalzi's for some time now. Just recently became aware of Cat and knew Lev and Scott by name only. Cat had a really cool publicity promotion for her new book where she wrote some small essay type tales that dealt with her new book which were posted on several of the websites of the venues she stopped at along her tour. I read them all in sequence. They were pretty cool and they worked 'cause I bought the book. However, the main draw for me for this shindig was John. I've been a follower of his online shenanigans, mostly documented here. What I like most about John is not only is he an excellent writer of many things but he also is a huge fan and proponent of SF and intelligence. He showcases other writers on Whatever along with his thoughts, journeys, and insights. Cool dude. And he is a proud Geek! And a very entertaining one as well. For his reading at the NYPL gathering he decided to read a short little tale he wrote as an April Fool's joke for the world. He regaled us with the tale of how the whole thing came about. (I will not reiterate it here for it is well documented on Whatever here.) Then he read us this most epic of epic beginnings the likes of which fantasy has never seen nor will it ever again! Also of note was that he was pretty much hoarse and yet he still gave an excellent performance. And it was a performance, not a reading. This guy is super animated in a good way, he loves what he does and it shows. I like that. He was on tour for Fuzzy Nation, which I bought and will read very soon, and I also bought Cat's new book, "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making" and Lev's, "The Magicians". The Magicians came out last year and Lev is touring for the sequel The Magician King but I figured since I was just being introduced to his work I'd start with the first one. All the readings were wonderful and all of the books were signed by the authors so I am a happy Dragun. Oh and look:

That is John Scalzi next to the Awesome Afro!

(Note the dark background. The NYPL was closing on us and they weren't playing! They shut off the lights in the middle of the meet and greet. Good thing the flash was working! I got my pic and my signatures so I'm good. I'll meet him again.)

Travel to The Other Lands, David Anthony Durham

First, I must say David Anthony Durham is DA MAN! His first SF Fantasy novel Acacia: The War With The Mein was impressive. Hugely impressive. He took the standard rules of fantasy stories and lifted them above his head like a pro wrestler and brought them down across his knee in a super back breaker! His world building is on par with the best, ie. Tolkien and GRRM. (Now it is well known that the standard rules for fantasy were set by Tolkien. Not deliberately, I think, but simply because he broke the rules of writing himself and it worked. Ever since just about every writer of fantasy has used his work as a template. Well, not David. And I must say I couldn't be happier. That's not to say Mr. Durham just broke all rules and wrote with reckless abandon but he didn't adhere to what was laid before like a robot.) He took the time to flesh out each character and the rules of the society and cultures within the world he built. Certain story arcs zigged when the normal rules say they should have zagged and I loved the spontaneity and surprise of it all.

Well, Mr. Durham has done it again in The Other Lands, the second book in the Acacia trilogy. He continues the story not far from where the first one ends. A few things have changed and characters and places hinted at and only talked about are visited in this book as well as the continuing story arcs of the Akarans from the first book. And boy talk about a story zigging where it normally would have zagged. I was surprised several times on the journey of this book. David is all for breaking the old rules and tropes of fantasy writing. And I know it's not consciously done. He's writing from a place that cannot believe in the 'fantasy' of fantasy stories. He innately strives for a sense and level of realism within his fantastical tale that I've not seen done by most writers of Speculative Fiction. (I'll delve deeper into what I mean by this in another post.) There are very few relatively new writers in the field of SF that have generated this much excitement for me and David Anthony Durham is one of them. I cannot wait for the third book!

Bayou: an online comic

If you like comic stories, check out Bayou. This has to be the first fantasy comic I've ever read that is told from a strictly Afican american point of view. It is slightly reminiscent of Pan's Labyrinth but it obviously touches me on a much more personal level. I'm mesmerized reading this. It's almost a shame it's free online, 'cause this I'd pay for. I've been wondering about the level of literature written by folks of African descent in america for a while now. Octavia Butler has left us with a master's worth of Master Works. I've loved Steven Barnes' writings since I was a teenager, I've recently been introduced to his wife, Tananarive Due's excellent works, Chris chambers, Nalo Hopkinson, Nnede MBachu Okorafor, and I've long been a fan of Walter Mosley (especially since he delved into sci-fi speculative fiction). Mosley's Future Land is still the best Speculative Fiction story that I have ever read. I've been introduced to and impressed with a host of other Black authors and this latest, especially in the form of a comic, is, to me, simply wonderful. I implore you to please check it out and actually take the time to read the comic, Bayou. I am very optimistic of the future my children will be a part of as far as literature is concerned. Having Black authors of Sci-fi and fantasy won't be a novelty or a "special" circumstance like it was for me. You have know idea and cannot imagine the level of personal pride and enjoyment I had when I first read, Steven Barnes' excellent story, Street Lethal. It was literally the first modern Specualtive Fiction novel I'd read that had a Protagonist that looked like me. To this day Aubry Knight is still my favorite literary character of all time. And to top it off Steven continued Aubry's story through two more books. A trilogy! Damn near unheard of. The last couple of years I've seen and read many Speculative Fiction stories by many Black authors. Octavia and Steve and Samuel Delaney have been blazing a trail by themselves for a long time but I think their damn near herculean efforts are slowly paying off. Soon I will join the pantheon of Speculative fiction story writers and novelists. I'd just like to say thanks to those who blazed the path. And R.I.P. to Octavia Butler. I hope to see you on the other side darlin'.

Now go check out Bayou.

Speculative Fiction films

Interesting premise here. I admit that for an SF admirer, both literary and film, I haven't seen much of the older and/or more obscure of some films on these lists. I agree with most of the ones I have seen though. I was immensely thrilled that Enemy Mine was on the list. That is still, I feel, one of the best Sci-Fi films ever done. Louis Gossett Jr.'s performance is superbly excellent. One of the films I think should have been on the list is Waterworld, though I'm sure the reasoning for it not being on there would probably be about the same as for A.I., though for the star instead of the director. I was also pleased with Gattaca being on the list as well. Very rare we SF admirers get an SF film that is almost purely cerebral and not be completely boring but entirely engaging And, yeah, Aeon Flux was never going to match the damn anime so, those who use that as an excuse for not liking the movie go suck a rhino's balls. It was actually very decent for what they did. And yeah, Strange Days should have been on the original list. I have a very personal reason for that AND it was a damn good film, period. I get the writer's comments about Equilibrium. Even agree to a degree. But I still really like that movie. Yeah it's fluff with a purpose, but it's good SF fluff!!!

http://www.movieretriever.com/blog/editors/115/Ten-Truly-Underrated-Sci-Fi-Movies

http://www.movieretriever.com/blog/editors/116/Underrated-Sci-Fi-Movies:-Five-We-Missed,-Five-We-Didn't