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Elizabeth Bear, author of awesome scifi novel Carnival along with many others, writes in to tell us about an interesting new online project she's involved with. It's called Shadow Unit, and it's basically an effort to turn the tradition of group-written fanfiction into something more literary than gushing over Harry Potter's pink cheeks. With fanfiction fast becoming an accepted way to break into the book biz, and somebody like Bear on board, we're definitely paying attention. Shadow Unit was created by Emma Bull, who has taught at prestigious scifi writers workshop Clarion West, with help from Will Shetterly, Sarah Monette, and Amanda Downum. Here's what Bear had to say about it.
Essentially, what Shadow Unit is, is a virtual serial drama—sort of a TV show without the actors or directors or Hollywood, for that matter. If you're familiar with the fanfiction concept of a virtual season, it won't seem that unfamiliar.OK, here's some good lunchtime reading for tomorrow!In addition to the site content (we plan to do eight novella-or-novel-length episodes a season, and Season 1 just started), there are also "DVD extras" (vignettes, goodies, artwork, cut scenes, clever bits of meta (a few pages from a crumpled shooting script that might have been used by one of the actors for this show that doesn't exist, for example)—and several of the characters have a web presence. Which is to say, in-character blogs that don't break the fourth wall.
It's all quite experimental.
Shadow Unit [official site]
Comments
I tried to read this but found the first part way too busy and complicated. Too many characters introduced in way too little time, and without enough individuality to get me to care much. I may try to dip in later.
What is your basis for the statement that fanfic is "fast becoming an accepted way to break into the book biz"...?
Ok, I'm a judgy bitch, but fanfiction isn't coming into my pretty little world where novellas are, y'know, coherent.
I applaud Ms. Bears effort; partaking in a literary experiment does sound interesting. I've partaken in group fiction projects before, and they alwasy imploded because of the "Too Many Cooks" rule. That said, I'm glad that someone of her talent is trying; with her guiding influence the product might turn out to be very good. Perhaps in its early, introductory phase the complexity is daunting, but then it might all smooth out as a cohesive story line developes, along with all the fleshing out of characters. Sort of like a TV show that drops you into the action with lots of things going on and lots of characters.
I wish they'd provide a PDF for download. I'd read it on the train ride home.
Ms Bear and her Cohorts are smashing genres and bending genders with some, if not "gay" abandon.. I personally think they are the next great wave of SF&F... Her collaboration with Sarah Monette on "A Companion To Wolves" produced a ground-breaking work, and her "Promethean Society" books are nothing less than awesome.
Yes, i am a fanboy... err.. dog.
So, Codydog, what do you love about her work? She's fun to listen to in person, very "into" it. I'd like to hang with her and her and talk about hardware.
T@helenanapier: Tell it to my fanfic AND my book deal, judgy bitch.
@Jeff-Minor: Her stuff is so dense and meaty. You really have to pay attention. For example, the first Promethean book, "Blood and Iron" has two kinds of Fae, some angels, Morgan Le Fay, and enough obscure relatives of King Arthur to send you to a genealogy text.
The point is that her contemporaries, the 30 year olds are doing to SF&F what they did to Rock and Roll a few years ago.. Slice and Dice, Mix and Match, all with very high technical values and a lot of irony
Let me elucidate. I was raised on my father's Shadow and Doc Savage and Tarzan books.. These thirty years olds apparently used "Ghormanghast" Heinlein and Anne Macafferty as bedtime stories.. You are what you eat.
I know an eight year old girl that reads Wordsworth for fun.. I gave her "The Jack Vance Treasury" for Christmas...The world shivers in anticipation.
Wordsworth? That poor girl. Might as well move to Yeasts. I'm starting on Bear and find that she likes to do little research projects and share a lot of her knowledge with the reader. I think it works well for me just because I love detail (to a point). But some people hate complexity in a story. Go figure.
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