Announcement: Our 2020 (and Beyond) Focus and an Open Call to Publishers and Creators
For the past few weeks, the United States and much of the world has been in the grips of a massive movement of protest and resistance against police brutality and systemic racism, all under the familiar and power banner of Black Lives Matter. To say that 2020 has been a difficult year is an understatement, but while there was very little we, as an SF/F/H podcast, could do about the COVID-19 pandemic, there is something, however small, we can do to support black communities in the world. And so we’re going to do it in the most forceful way we know how. With that in mind, we have three announcements to make:
Month of Joy: The Joy of Living in an Actual Freaking Golden Age of Comics by Stephen Geigen-Miller
This, right now? This is the real Golden Age of comics, and that makes me very happy. If you’d asked me about the ideal future for comics, 25 years ago, as I was learning about the medium and the industry, preparing for my own foray into it? (Part of my secret origin is that before I fell in with a bunch of people who were making comics, and got excited about doing them myself, I really didn’t know much about them!) Or if you were a fly on the wall for the conversations between me and my friends about what comics could and should be? Or if you’d distilled all the Usenet and message board debates over what was wrong with comics, and what would make comics better, not just for us frustrated independent comics readers and creators, but for everyone?
Month of Joy: The Order of the Air by Trish Matson
Last month, I reread the five existing books of The Order of the Air series by Melissa Scott and Jo Graham. These are some of my favorite comfort reads. Parts of these period adventure-fantasies are very cozy, but aside from the wonderful characters’ mutual support, love, and humor, there are also some tense and exciting action sequences, with almost ordinary people teaming up to resist evil and try to make the world better.
Book Review: Winterglass by Benjanun Sriduangkaew
Benjanun Sriduangkaew creates a fascinating and very loose retelling of The Snow Queen folktale with Winterglass, a high fantasy novella that infuses steampunk technology and an interesting form of magic. With gorgeous prose and a refreshing perspective on fantasy in general, Sriduangkaew’s unique take on a classic tale creates a captivating narrative with twists, turns, and deadly secrets. Sriduangkaew’s own-voices retelling features an entirely POC cast and lots of queer rep, set in Southeast Asia. It’s a relatively quick read, and I spent a very enjoyable afternoon in the world of ice and intrigue. We follow the narrative through two points of view, giving us a deeper look at the complicated and twisted workings of an intriguing world. Sriduangkaew balances the narrative across the different sides, leaving readers an interesting perspective on a world wrapped in ice. The narrative itself relies on a concept of a world in the process of being conquered by a deadly force, a queen who desires to be whole.
Fabulous and Free in SFF: Fictional. Queer. Here.
Hello everyone! I’m Becca, the new intern for Skiffy & Fanty! Long story short, I’m ecstatic to be a part of this amazing community and to lend my own voice to it. I’m happy to announce that I’ll be writing a few articles about the LGBT+ community within science-fiction and fantasy, and it starts here! A significant aspect of these articles is the use of the word “queer,” which has been debated for years within the community. For me, reclaiming the word has been an important part of my own identity, and is one way I can describe myself and others in this context without fear. Here at the Skiffy and Fanty Show, we’re on our own journey to represent all of the wonderful people in the LGBT+ community, and we feel that using “queer” as an identifier is a more inclusive and supportive way to do so. Check out this article from Pride.com for more information!
The Intersection: IT
I’m a Stephen King fan. He’s not perfect. No writer is. To this day, I still love his work. Anyway, I read IT ages ago, and the book gave me nightmares. My experience with the book was mostly positive. Mostly. One of the things that I like about King is that his characters often choose to be their better selves under dire circumstances. Also, in The Stephen King-verse, violence isn’t always the answer. I adore that. Of course, this philosophy complicates the task of writing a satisfying ending. Audiences want to see the Big Bad™ roughed up. This is why employing “Love defeats Hate” isn’t a simple or easy way to write a story. And this is why the end of IT…stumbles. To make matters worse, the novel suffers from one of the worst tropes when it comes to female characters: the “Woman equals Love” trope, even the children’s part of the story. The newest movie has similar issues, but at least it didn’t involve raping an eleven/twelve year old girl. I do like the novel—just not that part of it. Which is why I was relieved it wasn’t in this movie. (Thank the gods.)
