San Francisco, 6:59 AM
Wed Dec 2
29 posts in the last 24 hours
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The photograph here of "Greg Egan" is not me (the SF writer mentioned in the article), it is a professor of electrical engineering who happens to share my name.
'the implication that a "pay-to-play" workshop is going to be the main entry point for new writers to F&SF is causing some consternation.'
Would you care to offer a cite for whatever implies that? I don't have the August/September F&SF issue yet to read the original editorial and I don't see anything in the post by Paula R. Stiles that carries that implication.
I like the reviews here, too. If I want to know what Tor is putting out then I can look at the Tor website, or at the sci-fi section at the borders down the street. There's no good independent bookstore in town here for sci-fi, so all I see on the big book chain shelves are novels by Bujold--who I like, don't get me wrong--and Mcaffery and stack upon stack of awful licensed books. I'm more interested in reading about books I might not find on my own and in new editions of works by older writers that I might not see sitting on the shelf of a book store (Jack Vance, here I come).
@secretmission: Nope, wrong. All the best stories of the year are repeated in both anthologies, but Hartwell's unique picks are uniformly sub-par. Plus Dozois has more bang for your buck, more stories equals more enjoyment
I actually enjoy the way you guys do reviews because book specific sites and forums have always held tons of references for the less "arty" stuff. This site turns me on to stuff I wouldn't normally find that would fall through the cracks, and maybe I am just in tune with your style of hipster sci-fi lit, but your choices seem spot on to me.
The Dozois Year's Best anthologies are always, always a delight. Sooo worth picking up and reading. All excellent, across all genres; stuff you already like and a good way to discover authors/genres you wouldn't have given a thought to.
If you can only afford one of these books, get that one.
You know, I've been lurking here on i09 for quite some time, and these book posts have always seemed odd to me.
It seems that the authors I tend to read never end up here.
No John Ringo, Harry Turteldove, Anne (or Todd) McCaffery, Louis McMaster Bujold.
Thinking about it, most of the Writers that I've started reading over the past few years I got started on by the Baen Free Library (free e-books, usually the first in a series).
Have any Baen Books been mentioned on these "New Books" posts?
@EbeneezerSquid: We make a point of being as inclusive as possible, especially in our monthly roundup of new books. At the same time, it's probably fair to say that none of those authors has put out a book recently that any of us contributing to the site has felt like reading or reviewing, for whatever reason. We only have a limited amount of time to devote to new books, and we pick the ones we're personally most excited about to write about. I love older Anne McCaffrey, especially The Ship Who Sang, but haven't read anything she and Todd have written in the past decade or so. As for Bujold, we've mentioned her work a lot.
@Klebert L. Hall: The Baen Free Library definitely got a shout out during the last year as did some of the books on its e-shelves. I do recall the one with the Fast Elves on the cover.
brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there( was starred
brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there( was unstarred
Part of the reason for the decline of magazines in general, not just the SF digests, is that magazines don't seem to be distributed as widely as they once were. Sure, bookstores may have a significant magazine section, but other places that used to carry magazines, such as convenience stores and grocery stores, have cut back the space they devote to magazines and books. Around where I live, most of the convenience stores don't carry magazines at all anymore, and a new grocery store just opened without a magazine or book section.
@Lamar Henderson: Yeah, magazine distro is a very different picture than it used to be. The days of spinner racks at supermarkets are over. It's the same problem afflicting mass market paperbacks, only worse.
It might be hard to get up circulation.All your older industries like video rents, books, music are all down and not to piracy as the big suits at DRM want to make you think.
I do believe that folks nowadays do a lot of different things weekly and it all starts with surfing the internet for hours at a time when you could be reading that new mag or renting a video , etc.
@gorehound: "It all starts with surfing the internet for hours at a time..."
"...Not to piracy as the big suits at DRM want to make you think."
Again with the delusion. The cognitive dissonance on this issue is astounding. It also leads me to believe people can convince themselves of anything if it is in their own self-interest. Explains a lot of human history.
Look, the music industry alone has declines 10-12% a year since Napster. Continuously. Now, I don't particularly like the RIAA. They fucked up, and their tactics are grotesque. Downloading a $15 CD should be a minor fine, not $80,000. That, however, does not make downloading music illegally right.
We haven't yet crossed the bandwidth threshold to see the same effect in movies, and we probably won't anytime soon with how far American keeps sinking in worldwide bandwidth rates, but you can expect the same there someday. It's definitely already affecting video rentals.
Now, I don't care if anyone does steal shit online. Go for it. It's human nature to want something for less, and we're all hypocrites when it comes to the law. (Read Freakonomics for mathematical proof). Just don't act like a hero for getting free shit. That's what pisses me off. You're not fucking Robin Hood.
"Oh, but CDs are too expensive. That's why I steal. Power to the people!"
I love how when people don't know where the money is going, they assume it's all going into someone's pockets at the top. A $15 CD?
$1.00 is going to the artist
$3.75 is going to the retailer
$3.75 is going to the distributor
$3.00 is going to the label
$0.75 is going to the mechanical royalty
& $2.50 is going to research and development (R&D)
Now, as for R&D - most bands CDs don't make their money back, and this covers their costs. Without this, labels can't afford to cover recording costs for new & unknown bands. Guess what is also the first to be cut when sales fall? Yep. This is part of the reason for the current dirge of music we have now.
Just... do whatever the hell you want to do. I don't care. Just don't pretend that sitting on your ass while your computer downloads the latest CD from some band that hasn't even made the radio yet that you're fighting the good fight. It's sad and pathetic self-delusion.
@Paul_Is_Drunk: perhaps that rant could have been avoided had gorehound included the word "...and not >only< to piracy...".
talk all you want about declines in music/movie revenue - the simple fact is that the RIAA/MPAA etc have not once been able to show the real relationship between a downloaded CD and the loss of a CD sale...the entire entertainment industry is just at the beginning of a fundamental change in the way it delivers/sells it's products...
That cliche has been used so much, we sent out purely photonic models to deal with you so-called clever apes. Magnetic fields don't do jack. And if you figure a way out of that, we've got the nanomechanical models waitin' in the wings.
08/05/09
07/11/09
I need a cigarette.
07/01/09
Fortunately, I've got plenty of cash lying around, due to my success as an author of fantasy and science fiction short stories.
06/30/09
Would you care to offer a cite for whatever implies that? I don't have the August/September F&SF issue yet to read the original editorial and I don't see anything in the post by Paula R. Stiles that carries that implication.
07/01/09
06/27/09
06/27/09
06/27/09
06/27/09
06/27/09
06/27/09
06/27/09
06/27/09
06/26/09
06/27/09
06/26/09
If you can only afford one of these books, get that one.
06/26/09
It seems that the authors I tend to read never end up here.
No John Ringo, Harry Turteldove, Anne (or Todd) McCaffery, Louis McMaster Bujold.
Thinking about it, most of the Writers that I've started reading over the past few years I got started on by the Baen Free Library (free e-books, usually the first in a series).
Have any Baen Books been mentioned on these "New Books" posts?
06/26/09
06/26/09
Maybe you just need more reviewers with wider taste/preferences? Reviewing books that are Ripping Yarns, but not going to be up for awards?
(Perhaps someone who was already adult and going to cons in the 80's and has been a fan since Star Trek was brand new?)
06/27/09
I could swear you reviewed something from Baen last fall, but I can't remember what.
-Kle.
06/27/09
06/27/09
Which is indefensible -- I kinda feel sorry for the authors sometimes.
06/26/09
Can't wait for The Women of Nell Gwynne's to arrive, though.
06/25/09
06/25/09
06/25/09
I do believe that folks nowadays do a lot of different things weekly and it all starts with surfing the internet for hours at a time when you could be reading that new mag or renting a video , etc.
06/25/09
"...Not to piracy as the big suits at DRM want to make you think."
Again with the delusion. The cognitive dissonance on this issue is astounding. It also leads me to believe people can convince themselves of anything if it is in their own self-interest. Explains a lot of human history.
Look, the music industry alone has declines 10-12% a year since Napster. Continuously. Now, I don't particularly like the RIAA. They fucked up, and their tactics are grotesque. Downloading a $15 CD should be a minor fine, not $80,000. That, however, does not make downloading music illegally right.
We haven't yet crossed the bandwidth threshold to see the same effect in movies, and we probably won't anytime soon with how far American keeps sinking in worldwide bandwidth rates, but you can expect the same there someday. It's definitely already affecting video rentals.
Now, I don't care if anyone does steal shit online. Go for it. It's human nature to want something for less, and we're all hypocrites when it comes to the law. (Read Freakonomics for mathematical proof). Just don't act like a hero for getting free shit. That's what pisses me off. You're not fucking Robin Hood.
"Oh, but CDs are too expensive. That's why I steal. Power to the people!"
I love how when people don't know where the money is going, they assume it's all going into someone's pockets at the top. A $15 CD?
$1.00 is going to the artist
$3.75 is going to the retailer
$3.75 is going to the distributor
$3.00 is going to the label
$0.75 is going to the mechanical royalty
& $2.50 is going to research and development (R&D)
Now, as for R&D - most bands CDs don't make their money back, and this covers their costs. Without this, labels can't afford to cover recording costs for new & unknown bands. Guess what is also the first to be cut when sales fall? Yep. This is part of the reason for the current dirge of music we have now.
Just... do whatever the hell you want to do. I don't care. Just don't pretend that sitting on your ass while your computer downloads the latest CD from some band that hasn't even made the radio yet that you're fighting the good fight. It's sad and pathetic self-delusion.
06/25/09
talk all you want about declines in music/movie revenue - the simple fact is that the RIAA/MPAA etc have not once been able to show the real relationship between a downloaded CD and the loss of a CD sale...the entire entertainment industry is just at the beginning of a fundamental change in the way it delivers/sells it's products...
06/01/09
06/01/09
uh, it's the future. so, robots. DUH.
06/01/09
"Who builds the robots? Who cleans up the puddles of machine oil that they leave behind? Who repairs the robots that repair the robots?"
06/01/09
It's robots all the way down dude.
You don't think we didn't already have that covered?
06/01/09
06/01/09
EMP grenades? Tsk. I'm rolling my CCDs here!
That cliche has been used so much, we sent out purely photonic models to deal with you so-called clever apes. Magnetic fields don't do jack. And if you figure a way out of that, we've got the nanomechanical models waitin' in the wings.
My lounge signin' days are over carbon unit!
Face it, you're all trumped!
06/01/09