Blog Posts

Indy Genre: Holy Motors (2012)

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Over the past several years, I’ve come to the conclusion that independent film is the place to search for the weird, fantastic, and creative. You know:  the stuff of our genre. This is where labors of love and concepts a little too off beat to soothe conservative investors end up, where storytelling gets pushed to its limits… at times unsuccessfully. And with generally smaller budgets, if these films succeed, it’s not because they’ve leaned on visual spectacle and slow-motion pyrotechnics as a distraction from the fact that it’s really just a story about a white dude’s biceps and the director’s inescapable misogyny. Since this year’s Skiffy and Fanty theme is World SF, that dovetails perfectly with the hunt for smaller genre films. I hope you’re ready for subtitles. I promise, they won’t hurt a bit. We’re taking a ride on Holy Motors.

Blog Posts

“Secret Option C: A More Inclusive World Fantasy Award Statue isn’t A Person At All” by Carrie Cuinn

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Recently, author and activist Daniel Jose Older started a petition to change the World Fantasy Award statue from a bust of author H.P. Lovecraft to one of Octavia Butler. On the surface, this may seem to be a change from one distinct thing to an opposite one:  moving from a white, male author who was racist, misogynistic, paranoid, and possibly without much skill as a writer, to a black, female author who is seen as one of the best-known writers of color in the field of genre fiction. However, this isn’t the difference between one side and another. Both options represent aspects of the same side, and both are wrong. Lest you think I dislike the idea of changing the bust because I don’t read or enjoy either of these writers, you should know that I’m actually a fan of both Lovecraft and Butler. I’ve studied Lovecraft extensively, have published (to great reviews) Mythos fiction, and even edited an anthology of Mythos-inspired erotica. At the same time, I’m well aware of his repugnant aspects, and have long argued that we can only celebrate his influence if we include an effort to bring much-needed diversity into the work he inspires. Butler wasn’t on my radar until a decade ago, but since then I’ve read most of her published work and can clearly see why she’s so admired. Each author deserves their fan base. Problem is, that fan base isn’t global enough.

Blog Posts

Brief Thoughts on 47 Ronin

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So, I confess I tend to avoid films starring Keanu Reeves. He’s just not one of those actors I prefer (although, he doesn’t actively annoy me). Also, I studied Kendo, jujitsu, and enjoy things samurai-related. It appeals to my inner warrior, and hey, female samurai actually existed, as opposed to the European knights who were all male all the time (as far as we know). That said, the trailer for 47 Ronin instantly turned me off from the film. The reason why has everything to do with The Last Samurai, another movie I avoided in theaters but saw at home. The Last Samurai highlights the historically non-existent role of a white samurai from North America[1] who through his super powers of whiteness, American-ness, and dudeness attempts to save a group of samurai from progress — or something. Ugh. Just… ugggh.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

221. Nordic SF (LonCon3 Panel) w/ Tore Høie, Anna Davour, John-Henri Holmberg, Sini Neuvonen, and Marianna Leikomaa

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode221NordiceSFAtLonCon3/SandF%20–%20Episode%20221%20–%20Nordice%20SF%20at%20LonCon3.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSMoomin, the Arctic Circle, and volcanoes, oh my!  In our first panel recording from LonCon3 / Worldcon, Tore Høie, Anna Davour, John-Henri Holmberg, Sini Neuvonen, and Marianna Leikomaa discuss sf/f from the Scandinavian countries.  ‘Nuff said. We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 221 — Download (MP3) Show Notes ((I may have missed a few things mentioned in the podcast.  If pick anything up that is not listed in the show notes, please leave a comment!): Panelists: Tore Høie (Moderator) Anna Davour John-Henri Holmberg Sini Neuvonen Marianna Leikomaa (Cheryl Morgan popped in to offer up titles towards the end, so she gets an honorary slot here) Finnish Weird Magazine Risto Isomäki: Sands of Sarasvati by Risto Isomäki Jaybird by Lauri & Jaakko Ahonen Sing No Evil by JP Ahonen and KP Alare Finnish Tolkien Society (where the Mirrormere Awards are given) Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy Best Swedish Crime Novel Award Hans Christian Andersen Song for Eirabu by Kristine Tofte Hulder by Tonje Tornes Odinsbarn (Odin’s Child) by Siri Pettersen Landet under isen (Land Under the Glacier) by Lars Mæhle Jotnens hjemkomst by Andreas Bull-Hansen Strupesang by Liv Margareth Alver Bian Shen by Torbjørn Øverland Amundsen Lucifers evangelium by Tom Egeland Prost Gotvins geometry by Gert Hermod Nygårdshaug Sjelkaagenten by Mari Moen Holsve Lasarusfenomenet by Kjetil Johnsen The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell (available in English!) Thale (film by Alexander Nordaas) Huset mellom natt og dag by Ørjan Nordhus Karlsson (some of his other work has been translated) The Sami Hannu Rajaniemi The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen Leena Krohn Tove Jansson Moomin! Anne Leinonen John Ajvide Lindqvist Anders Fager Fruktan (Swedish author collective) Asgard Park by Ronald Simonar Edmund W. Hansen Neils E. Neilsen Peter Høeg The Man Who Remembered by Eiler Jørgensen Jannick Storm The Billion Year Spree:  The History of Science Fiction by Brian Aldiss Sky City:  New Science Fiction Stories by Danish Authors edited by Science Fiction Cirklen Erwin Neutzsky-Wulff Vladimir Semitjov Dénis Lindbohm The Martin Beck Series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö Sture Lönnerstrand Swedish SF (see the paragraph on “Swedish Social Fiction”)(term invented by German author and academic Ulrike Nolte, in German “Schwedisches soziale fiction”) Hulder (fairy tale) Fantastik Podd (Swedish podcast) Boel Bermann Anders Björkelid Erik Granström The Kalevala Johanna Sinisalo Irmelin Sandman Lilius Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder Partial Recall (blog on Finnish fandom) Rising Shadow (reviews; has a Finnish site) Archipelacon Science Fiction Encyclopedia Entries: Sweden Finland Denmark Iceland Norway Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

Blog Posts

“The Mysterious Appeal of Tintin” by Jonathan Wood

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Hey guys, I’ve got this great idea.  I’m going to write detective stories about a Belgian man-child and his alcoholic best friend.  For kids! Clearly that shouldn’t work.  It’s madness.  Except Hergé started drawing his Tintin cartoons in the 1930s, and in 2011 the series was still popular enough for Steven Spielberg to turn it into a blockbuster movie.  Hell, I’ve loved Tintin since I discovered him about twenty-five years ago.  Clearly, there is some curious Belgian alchemy at work here.   But what the hell is it?

Blog Posts

My Superpower: Corie Weaver

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My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome Corie Weaver to talk about how the power of Overcomplication relates to The Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide (Kickstarter). ——————————– If you asked my husband, he’d say my superpower is overcomplicating things. The other night, we grilled out, and at the last minute, I decided I didn’t want ketchup. I could *taste* what I wanted. Tomato paste, a tiny bit of red wine, chili powder. I was right – it was delicious, but it did create an unexpected bump in the dinner plans. And that may be how, when I had planned to spend the summer putting the final touches on a new YA space opera, we’re instead editing an anthology of science fiction stories for middle grade readers. Like a lot of the sudden complications in our life, it started from a few diverse ingredients.

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