Denvention, Post Five

[drcpunk]

1 pm: The Coming Thing: What's Next and Newest in SF.

This started with just Lou Anders of Pyr books. Daniel Abraham had to leave, and Charles Stross was late arriving at his signing, so he was staying late to compensate.

I'm having trouble deciphering my notes here. I remember Lou saying that Charles Stross was tired of being referred to as the guy who wrote about the Singularity, as he'd moved on from that long ago. So, in a sense, the latest trend in sf would be whatever Charles Stross said he'd be working on when he arrived.

Lou also talked about the supernatural thriller / urban fantasy. When I think "urban fantasy", I think Emma Bull's War for the Oaks and Charles de Lint, and then I branch out from there. But today, for a lot of people, "urban fantasy" means Laurel Hamilton's Anita Blake books, Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books, and the various series that followed these -- supernatural detective series.

Lou thought that the next step would be to add a patina of sf to this trend, so that, instead of, say, vampires, there'd be aliens. Aliens plus detectives plus romance. Lou talked about the Great Man Theory, that about 10 people at a time make it happen, and about accidental trends. I think my notes say that the new urban fantasy fall into the category of accidental trends, but I'm not sure.

He also said that part of the reason for the wild success of the Harry Potter novels is that they had the same tone as classics of children's literature, such as the Narnia books, and that they avoided pop culture references. This lets them stand on their own. They blend Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic with Terry Pratchett's Unseen University.

He mentioned something called Keeping It Real, something 2015 about exploding into 7 worlds (like Sherri Tepper's The Margarets?). He mentioned Ghost in the Shell and (or as?) the latest version of the Bionic Woman. The next thing I can read says something about Christina Robinson being like William Gibson with sex and chocolate.

Anthologies -- Live Without a Net, and somethign about Tropes in Cyberpunk. And a more legible note about Sidewise in Crime being sold out in the dealers' room. This is an alternate history mystery anthology. I think he said that alternate history is coming to the foreground of sf. He also said something along the lines of how all sf writers should logically be natural mystery writers.

I asked about what kills trends, apart from Charles Stross moving on. I can't quite read the answer, but it included market saturation. Lou also said that short stories (and, presumably, longer works of fiction) are dialogues between authors, and that, sooner or later, the conversation moves on.

Someone mentioned the idea of authors running in horror from what they'd done.

At this point, Lou spotted Walter Jon Williams and drafted him for the panel. I think that he said that he was a recent multiple Hugo loser, and mentioned Implied Spaces and This Is Not A Game.

Someone in the audience asked about a remix of old ideas, citing Naomi Novik's Temaire books. Lou identified this as Master and Commander and the Pern books.

Walter Jon Williams said something about extensions backwards in time and steampunk.

Someone in the audience asked about trends in military sf. Walter Jon Williams said there were more explosions, space ships exploding, and something about lost Roman Legions. I'm not sure how serious this comment was.

And there's something I can't quite read about how many of a given type of story the market can support. The audience asked about whether something, I think, the paranormal sf romance, would draw in new readers. Walter Jon Williams said that it would if it had lots of sex.

Someone in the audience mentioned "religious sf", citing The Da Vinci Codex.

I think Walter Jon Williams said that he saw this as a new trope for thrillers, saying that there's always been an overlap between thrillers and sf. There must be a mcguffin for the chase. He thought he'd written a thriller once, but he was told that thrillers take place over less time and had more fights and chases. Then, there's something about something he wished he'd thought of that Lou said he had thought of in 1996.

The audience asked about the marketing strategy. The Temaire trilogy -- three new books released a month apart. Lou said that Del Ray and Orbit did this too, successfully. Lou and Pyr were under a lot of pressure from Borders to do this as well. He says that Pyr will do this in 2009 with 2 new series. I think one is military sf, and one is about the Formori and the Tuatha de Danan, urban fantasy / Arthuriana.

Walter Jon Williams said something about the fey coming back and never saying where they've been. Lou said that this series does explain it.

Walter Jon Williams: They've been at the beach.

I think someone in the audience asked about space opera being popular again.

Walter Jon Williams: Judging by sales figures, yes.

It will never really leave -- it's at the core of sf: military, exploration, first contact, and so on.

I think Lou said something about that same question being asked in 2003. He said that Neal Stephenson's novel Anathem is set on another planet, the first time Neal's ever done that.

Walter Jon Williams said that sf has escaped its cage in the 21st century. Most no longer has "sf" printed on the side. Movies, television, manga, graphic novels.

Then I have something about "them" being a bigger market, younger, and being around longer -- how does one capture this market?

Lou said that sf authors used to write for television a lot, and he blames Harlan Ellison for this not happening much anymore. Hollywood used to be run by old men who didn't know what the audience liked, but who knew what they liked. Now, however, the kids run the show. Whedon, JJ Abrams -- the geeks are running the show, the fans. David Tenant won't quit Doctor Who. He's a huge Peter Davidson fan and is dating Davidson's daughter. Perhaps they'll make person who'll be the Doctor in 20 or 30 years. Respect followers.

John Mallozi, producing sf, is an avid reader. He pushes books on his blog. Go there and tell him Lou Anders sent you.

The audience asked about superheroes. Walter Jon Williams said that there are going to be new Wild Cards books. These are not your daddy's Wild Cards.

The audience asked about other trend setters. There's Charles Stross and Cory Doctorow. In fantasy, there's Daniel Abraham. [NB: I've read the first two of the Long Price Quartet and am not that impressed. I was blown away by his short story, "The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics".] Lou Anders also cited Joe Abercrombie's trilogy, which he describes as if Gandalf assembled questers to find the ring for him, and they weren't sure whether to aid him or thwart him.

[NB: From what I've heard, I'm not at all sure that this would be to my taste. I've no objection to folks writing in the gritty realism mode or writing to turn genre conventions upside down, but unless this is done very well, I generally sigh and say to myself, "There is a reason I read and reread the old fashioned books like Lord of the Rings." A lot of this stuff was not written for me, which is fine. Hm, I may also have gotten tired of he Gritty Realism Mode when doing my doctoral disseration. I read many variants on the King Arthur stories, and a surprising number were Grittily Realistic. A couple were quite good. The rest were missing the point about why many of us read the other versions.]

Walter Jon Williams mentioned The Shadow Unit, which I really need to start reading.

I've got a note about reinventing the Western. Then I've got stuff I no longer understand about Extraordinary Engines, The Court of the Air, The Somnambulist by John Burnes, and something that looks like The Offended Bridge, but I'm not sure that's the right title.

Someone in the audience: Is nanotech dead?

Lou Anders: No!

Walter Jon Williams: What happened is nanotech moved into the real world.

Original concept, assemblers, disassemblers. close to it -- but nano scale -- robot tech. Big scale yet to be developed. Small scale.

Lou said something about the SF Channel, George Clooney, and The Diamond Age with Neal Stephenson scripting.

Gibson calls it something I can't quite read. Something about telepresence. All objects are virtual. More realistic to where we are headed. Info plague, multireal.

Economics. The Dark Lord can't have minions without farms.

Audience: Folks hoping for a trend in shorter books.

Audience: Accidental Time Machine.

Walter Jon Williams mentioned his latest, Implied Species.

I asked about cover art trends. I think Lou said that he picked out artists for Pyr books. He added that there's a deplorable trend of cheap photoshop, and that this is a huge mistake. SF and Fantasy are unique in trending towards working with artists. Niche market -- letting your audience ID your product as fast as possible. The cover is a mating call, the pretty flower that signals the bee. That is its purpose. Don't misrepresent the book, or the reader won't come back.

Audience: Do illustrators get to read the manuscript first?

Lou: If there's time!

He said that Ian McDonald is the James Michener of sf. He goes to the country in which his next novel will be set. Thus, the next novel will be two years overdue. Something about sending a 60 page outline to the artist.

Someone in the audience asked about writing stories based on art. Walter Jon Williams and I said that this had been done. Walter Jon Williams has done it. Someone in the audience asked about trends in cover art. One trend is to show the back of a woman.

I think after the panel, I hooked up with Josh, and we went to the tail end of the filk in the official Sheraton convention space. We were told where the dead dog would be, which was someone's hotel room, something I was a bit dubious about. Larry Niven was in the filk room at this point and liked some song that Josh sang.

Josh and I retired to the gaming area which, while officially defunct, wasn't actually off limits. Avram and Christine were there at some points, as were Brian and Alia, and I played my first game of Race for the Galaxy. I was concerned about getting dinner, but the Con Suite was a floor or two down and very well stocked with meats which the folks running the Con Suite wanted us all to eat. I spent some time in the Con Suite, and I think I remember conversations with Avram and others while stuffing my face. The Con Suite was open until 10 pm, I believe, and we were very well fed.

We never got to the official dead dog filk. Instead, a few people saw the big empty gaming space and asked if we'd mind if they filked there. So, filk came to us! This lasted a while, with good singing and good conversation. When it finally broke up, Josh and I walked with Kathy Sands, and I think Harold Stein, but I'm not sure if I've got that right. Eventually we all went back to our own hotels. And, I started The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Two, edited by Jonathan Strahan. The first story, Ted Chiang's award winning "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" blew me away.

The next day, Josh, Avram, Christine, and I ate at The Delectable Egg, then took a cab to the airport. Josh and I packed Avram's new gel soles in our checked luggage, along with the chocolate honey blends we'd bought in the dealers' room. We all landed safe and sound, if somewhat tired.