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The Most Fantastical Cities On Earth, As Chosen By Ursula K. Le Guin And Michael Moorcock
Joyce Carol Oates And Jeff Vandermeer, Together At Last

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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
06/17/09

In reply to The Most Fantastical Cities On Earth, As Chosen By Ursula K. Le Guin And Michael Moorcock
I guess this list leans more towards fantasy-looking cities as opposed to science fiction-looking ones?
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BadUncle
06/17/09

In reply to The Most Fantastical Cities On Earth, As Chosen By Ursula K. Le Guin And Michael Moorcock
China Miéville's pick seems totally unsurprising. New Crobozon is Dickensian London viewed through 5 hits of bad windowpane.
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Pope John Peeps II
06/17/09

In reply to The Most Fantastical Cities On Earth, As Chosen By Ursula K. Le Guin And Michael Moorcock
Haha. Leguin is fun to speak to on the phone. She's super energetic and sweet and clearly has spoken to way too many interviewers in her time because she's got it down to a science.

Also she loves Mieville's work. She nice!
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Pope John Peeps II
06/17/09

@Pope John Peeps II: Also, can someone explain why anyone ever liked Michael Moorcock's work?
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Rasselas
06/17/09

@Pope John Peeps II: Arioch!
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Pope John Peeps II
06/17/09

@Rasselas: Eh yeah. I know he's a big name in influence, and I know he set some fantasy standards, but I just never ever liked the quality of his prose fiction. Just always hit me as sort of.... well, childish I guess.
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Rasselas
06/17/09

@Pope John Peeps II: The prose in the Pyat books, Mother London and The Brothel in Rosenstrasse is substantially better than the speed-written Eternal Champion stuff and the more recent Elric books, I think, but de gustibus.

Also: Everyone Loves Arioch! Tuesdays on Nickelodeon, after SpongeBob!
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braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.
06/17/09

In reply to The Most Fantastical Cities On Earth, As Chosen By Ursula K. Le Guin And Michael Moorcock
I can get down with Marrakesh.
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Plague
06/17/09

In reply to The Most Fantastical Cities On Earth, As Chosen By Ursula K. Le Guin And Michael Moorcock
I find the list rather dull. I can see the reasoning behind all of their choices- but it just seems rather "old school" in the way they came to their conclusions.

I agree with you on HK, though, CJA.
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Pope John Peeps II
06/17/09

@Plague: What does that even mean? "Old school"?
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Plague
06/17/09

@Pope John Peeps II: @Pope John Peeps II: Just the Cornelius books alone should answer that question, aside from all the people he influenced.
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Plague
06/17/09

@Pope John Peeps II: It means what they hold in high regard and of worth seems rather dated.

But I'm sure you knew that.
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Pope John Peeps II
06/17/09

@Plague: Yeah, but I don't understand. You're talking about cities. What's "not dated" about cities.

There's no city that's like.... 35% cyborgs. I mean... You can only like certain things about cities. Are you really complaining? Or is this just a "I'm young, and old people SUCK! REVOLUTION!" kind of complaint.
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Plague
06/17/09

@Pope John Peeps II: Sorry, replied to the wrong post...

As I'm not what you would consider young, that is certainly not it. As I said, I see the reasoning behind their choices, but they seem to lean to the scholarly and historical and less to the fantastical in my opinion. A city like HK, where you seem to be in a different world on each corner, is more to my way of thinking of a "fantastical city". That's all.
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Pope John Peeps II
06/17/09

@Plague: Okay. But you're just doing what they're doing, right? Projecting the times and themes that you consider to be "the future" and then writing that onto a city? I don't see a lot of difference between what Hopkinson and Mieville are saying about their choices, and what you're saying about yours.

I guess it all comes down to what you consider the future to be. I mean, Leguin projects far far forward, looking at the degeneration of advanced societies, and their fight against sloughing down, so she'd obviously love Venice as a symbol.
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Plague
06/17/09

@Pope John Peeps II:

Oh, yes. It's entirely a personal preference.
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Rasselas
06/17/09

In reply to The Most Fantastical Cities On Earth, As Chosen By Ursula K. Le Guin And Michael Moorcock
I have been to only three of the five. I'd say that Hand overstates the alien qualities of Reyjavik; once you've been there a few hours, it starts to look pretty normal, albeit squat, but the minute-to-minute life in Venice is a pretty surprising contrast to the experience of anybody not from Venice.
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limber
06/17/09

@Rasselas: I loooove Reykjavik. Love it. I completely understand why a large percentage of the population believe in fairies. It feels slightly temporary and a little too new, and with all of the gorgeous surroundings it's one of the only places I get the feeling that nature could easily reassert itself and just skitter human habitation right off the island.

It just feels entirely different to me, and I've been to a lot of places -- Reykjavik is a place I return to a lot.
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Rasselas
06/17/09

@limber: The feeling of nature in abeyance only increases when you leave Reykjavik and see the rest of the landscape: blasted volcanic fields, endless mossy valleys, etc. It's pretty memorable.
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limber
06/17/09

@Rasselas: It's one of my favourite places to drive, too, if you're mainly on primary roads. Very smooth.

And to be utterly touristy, it's stunning to hang out in the Blue Lagoon, then climb that flight of stairs and look out on what appears to be a lunar landscape.

Of course, that's leaving out the recent trend of exploding Range Rovers for insurance money and everyone owing fishermen-Viking-bankers millions of kroner (does the kroner even exist anymore?)
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His_Steveness
05/19/09

In reply to Joyce Carol Oates And Jeff Vandermeer, Together At Last
I got as far as "postfantasy fictions" and sprained my brain.

Since Fantasy is a genre that is still being written, a lot, how can something be "post"-fantasy? Inquiring minds want to know.
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Grey_Area
05/19/09

@His_Steveness: The new

Miéville novel is very different from any New Wierd/Urban Fantasy stuff I can think of, he's gone past elves on motorcycles of steampunky cities with monsters. I'll be reviewing it here soonish.
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His_Steveness
05/19/09

@Grey_Area: R.O.A.C.H.: Oh, I understand this is (supposed to be) something new and different, it's just the terminology I can't wrap my head around.
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Grey_Area
05/19/09

@His_Steveness: Yah, that's a pretty clumsy term. Personally I abhor all the labels and sub-genre classifications, but without them how will marketing people know what to sell us?
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Pope John Peeps II
05/19/09

@His_Steveness: In literary theory terms, the word "post-" simply means something that claims to have absorbed and then succeeded past all the rules of a given genre. I.e. "post-modernism" refers to the literature that emerged when authors started to venture past the established parameters of "modernist" fiction. Same with "post-structuralist", which was largely a theoretical concern.
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Plague
05/19/09

In reply to Joyce Carol Oates And Jeff Vandermeer, Together At Last
Are the Vandermeer's still involved here? Haven't seen anything by them on IO9 in aaaaaaaaaaages.
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Charlie Jane Anders
05/19/09

@Plague: They're not really writing for us any more, but they're still io9 contributors because of their outstanding past contributions.
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