It needs to be said: iTunes is a kludgy product, and you are not the first person to lose data because of it. I personally have no stake in Google, but I will say that Android gives you more control. Just a thought…

It almost makes me want to go out and read They’d Rather Be Right!

Now I want to go re-read Clarke. I think he holds up much better than generally suspected, characters and all. (I’ve always loved his prose, so I don’t know what people go on about there.)

I was curious to hear more about what was problematic about Disch’s SF criticism (was that directed to ON SF, or THE DREAMS OUR STUFF IS MADE OF?). It is a very personal critical discussion that I thought made some good points and asserts others that are overly. . . not curmudgeonly, but certainly quite bitter. I wonder what can be pulled out of that bitterness that tells us something about the genre.

Yes, The Quantum Thief is eligible again this year. (The eligibility extension motion passed on the nod again.) However, I suspect it will have trouble making the ballot. Past experience suggests that in such cases people who voted for it in the first year are reluctant to do so again.

As for buzz, my top pic is Mechanique. Review here: http://www.cheryl-morgan.com/?page_id=11225.

I’ve been building a website that is an attempt to give visitors that bookstore experience online. My site, www.WorldsWithoutEnd.com, is built around the top awards in the field, Hugo, Nebula and Campbell etc., and on numerous “best of” lists like SF Masterworks and Classics of SF. Both awards and lists are presented in cover art galleries that make the site extremely browse-able.

There are indeed many thousands of books our there and the awards and lists serve as a base-line for the books we add to our database. These are the books we would have in our brick-and-mortar store if only we had one! By presenting many different awards and lists we hope to more fully cover the broad spectrum of SF/F. They are recognized and trusted sources that fans readily identify with and serve as substitutes for store employees who might recommend you a book. You can also join our growing community of fans and share your love of SF/F with like-minded folks.

The whole site is designed to let you shop the way you’re used to shopping in a store. Browse the Hugo award listing like you would the shelves at your favorite store. Click a cover to take it off the shelf for a closer look. Turn it over and read the blurb. Sound interesting? Open it up and read an excerpt or maybe read a bit about the author in the back of the book. You can even see what other people rated the book and read some reviews - like talking to somebody in the store. You don’t have to know what you’re looking for to find exactly what you want. If you find a book you want you can purchase it right there or put it on your reading list for later.

We’ve also got a ton of other features like our BookTrackr that lets you customize the lists to display your reading history and a whole bunch of resources like our extensive lists of book related SF/F podcasts (which is where I found your show!) and magazines etc. but I’ve gone on far too long already. Do check us out. I’d love to hear what you think of our site!

Cheers!

The academic literature not only takes a lot of time to percolate, it is often not easy to obtain, and it is also couched in specialized language that can perplex the average reader. I think there is a real need for the return of the literary essay, and I agree that the web is a good place for it. The question is, who will write them, and will more people read them? It often takes more time and thought to write a good literary essay than to write a review, and reviews and interviews and fun essays (like top ten lists, etc.) draw more hits to a site. The peculiar economics of the internet don’t often reward the thoughtful essay.

For more serious writers, it is more efficacious (and validating)to focus on fiction because fiction sells (even for a pittance) and fiction gets more notice. I love writing literary essays, but as someone trying to break into the field, I have to balance my time between writing short essays, which feeds my need to write something critical and observant, and writing the fiction that will hopefully get me more notice and possibly paid. I am not sure what rewards, from attention and engagement to remuneration, await the serious literary essayist. I would like to think that there is an audience for the literary essay, but my experience so far is that such works don’t garner the consideration or rewards (social or financial) that fiction or purer entertainment do.

I’ve been writing short essays on fantastika over at SF Signal for the past few months, and while a few essays have gotten some attention and discussion, I think that more frequently people see a longish essay and move on once it is clear that it is not just a review or distraction. I really wonder what the “market” is for this type of essay. Personally, I think they have great potential for generating discussion and excitement about the field, but we may need to think more creatively about what to talk about, how to get them in front of people, and how they can be used to enrich the field and even draw more people to the literature.

The archive for my column is at SF Signal: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/cat_columns/the_bellowing_ogre.html