Science Fiction

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

#15 — Babylon 5 Re-Watch (S1D3: Eps. 9-12) — A Shoot the WISB Discussion

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB15Babylon5ReWatchep912/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2315%20–%20Babylon%205%20re-watch%20%28ep%209-12%29.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSGenocidal maniacs, unions, and aliens above the law, oh my! Mike, Paul, and Shaun offer their thoughts on episodes 9-12 of Babylon 5 in our third ever re-watch session. We also really want to hear what you think!  So feel free to watch along with us!  Next up, the fourth disc of the Season One box set! Spoiler Alert:  the following podcast contains spoilers for the film being reviewed; if you wish to see the film without having it ruined for you, download this podcast and save it for later. Download the episode here. [audio http://archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB15Babylon5ReWatchep912/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2315%20–%20Babylon%205%20re-watch%20%28ep%209-12%29.mp3] Show notes (info about our contributors can be found on the about page): Babylon 5 (IMDB) Episode 9:  “Deathwalker“ Episode 10:  “Believers“ Episode 11:   “Survivors“ Episode 12:  “By Any Means Necessary“ Comment away!

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Finding Filipinos in Science Fiction and Fantasy

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A decade ago, whenever I mentioned Filipinos in science fiction and fantasy, genre fans here and abroad would mention two novels to me: Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers and Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon. Now I haven’t read Cryptonomicon, but I have read Starship Troopers. My initial impression with the book was that here was a book that featured a Filipino (well, Filipino-American) protagonist! As I grew older, I realized Starship Troopers was a squandered opportunity (aside from Heinelin’s pro-military propaganda). I had questions like:

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Mining the Genre Asteroid: Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner

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Donald Hogan is a spy. Meanwhile, his roommate, Norman House, suspects nothing of this. To him, Donald is a self employed dilettante. Bookish, maybe, but not a bad guy. Norman has other things to occupy him, like his rising star at General Technics. General Technics is a corporation vast enough and powerful enough to contemplate a political and economic takeover of an small, refugee-laden African nation which by all rights should be absorbed, conquered, or writhing in civil war and discontent like much of the continent. And yet it is not. Why?

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Business Time – Impatience, Rapid Release, and Saturation

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This has been a busy week in publishing news. A lot of people are talking about authorearnings.com and/or the Digital Book World response to same. Lots of people are talking about that report, but since I’m not a statistician and I don’t have access to Amazon’s actual sales numbers, I’m going to talk about something I *do* know about, and that’s rapid release schedules in genre publishing. Prompted by this New York Times article, I wanted to talk about my observations about reader impatience, quick-to-market releases, and market saturation. Rapid release has been going on in genre publishing for quite some time. The romance category has numerous authors who write incredibly quickly, keeping their names fresh. In SF/F, we have our prolific authors as well. Seanan McGuire, Chuck Wendig, and more.  Angry Robot and several other small/medium publishers have shorter production windows, meaning that the time from acquiring the book to releasing it is less, sometimes much less, than the 12-15 months you might see at other times.

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Book Review: CROWN JEWELS by Walter Jon Williams

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Drake Majistral is a minor aristocrat, traveling the area of human space that once was conquered by the alien Khosali but now is independent. He is not particularly well off, even given his rank of nobility, and so he makes his living as a professional “Allowed Burglar.” The rules are relatively simple for Allowed Burglars. Keep what you steal for 24 hours without getting caught; there’s no crime, and you can sell the item free and clear.

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Introductions: So, There Is A Place Called SEA (Southeast Asia and SF/F)

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If you want to be politically aware or saavy, the member states of ASEAN (Associaton of Southeast Asian Nations) are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Phillippines, Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.  ASEAN spreads over a region with diverse, complex and vivid cultures and ethnicities. It is also a region where migrations and intermingling of cultures and identities play an important role. Phew, now that just sounded like one of my lessons in school. But there you have it:  Southeast Asia, explained in gist.

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