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The 20 most influential fantasy novels of the past decade

From Book Riot: THE 20 MOST INFLUENTIAL FANTASY BOOKS OF THE LAST 10 YEARS

In years with a boring and undistinguished number, such as 2023, I think it would really be best to round it off: the most influential fantasy novels since 2010, say. Also, I’m resigned to the notion that I won’t have read any of the books mentioned. Probably — this is just a guess — I’ve never heard of half of them and the other half are on my TBR pile.

Also, separate issue — I’m not sure you can pick out anything as “most influential” a mere decade after it was published. Maybe? But for influence, maybe you can’t tell yet? I mean, maybe you can say, “Look, The Hunger Games spawned this ocean of first-person-present-tense YA dystopian SF trilogies between this year and that year, a fad that burned itself out about here and left no particular influence on YA science fiction in general.” I seems to me something can be influential in producing a fad, but won’t look particularly influential if you wait another ten years.

Fine, though: what are these recent influential fantasy novels?

First, let me count the ones I’ve never heard of. Eight. Not quite half, but not far off.

1) The Jasmine Throne by Suri — Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple … the secrets of the Hirana call to Priya … [who] works as a servant … cleaning Malini’s chambers. When Malini witnesses Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a ruthless princess seeking to steal a throne. The other a powerful priestess desperate to save her family. Together, they will set an empire ablaze.

2) Children of Blood and Bone by Adeyemi — They killed my mother. They took our magic. They tried to bury us. Now we rise.

3) An Ember in the Ashes by Tahir — Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

That’s a good tagline for the description. I was pretty tempted by this one, but then this: “Tahir’s world-building is wonderfully detailed and the setting is an unusual one for fantasy novels. All of her characters, even minor ones, are fully realized….For fans of Game of Thrones and of Melina Marchetta’s Finnikin of the Rock.” That’s from School Library Journal, but the point is, I hated Game of Thrones and Marchetta’s Finniken trilogy was too dark for me and I gave it away. I can’t remember if I read the third book or just couldn’t face it, but I know it was dark, dark, dark and I just couldn’t. Plus this was years ago, when I was much more tolerant of grim fantasy than I am now. The reviews are all, “brutal world,” and “This novel is a harrowing, haunting reminder of what it means to be human—and how hope might be kindled in the midst of oppression and fear” and I’m thinking I’m just not up for this.

4) Pet by Emezi — There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother’s paintings and a drop of Jam’s blood, she must reconsider what she’s been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption’s house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question–How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?

This sounds interesting and maybe kind of a magical realism story.

5) The Gilded Ones, by Forna — Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs. But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death. Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.

My favorite cover

I like some of what I see in the description here. The setting sounds very cool. The plausibility … oh no, I’m semi-immortal! … I’m having trouble with this notion. Then I see some of the reviews say things like, “If you’ve read any fantasy books, you’ll know Deka is in trouble. How much trouble is probably beyond what you imagine. Her trials are brutal. This book is not for the fainthearted. The story contains torture, mutilation, rape/sexual assault, child abuse, and human/child trafficking.”

6) Black Leopard Red Wolf by James — Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: “He has a nose,” people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard.

A lot of these novels seem to be revenge fantasies. This one, not so much. I was thinking of picking it up, until I saw this header for a review:  Dark and cynical, punctuated by horror and lost hope. “Everything seems corrupt and meaningless, and every once it’s as horrific as Mama June in a car crash. There are a few moments where hope seems possible for some more redeeming characters, but fortunately the author slams the door shut on that with gusto.”

Okay, so I’m like, um, nope. I don’t care how cool the setting is, I’m not up for this.

7) The Midnight Library by Haig — Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? … Nora finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Whew! A totally different type of story! A complete departure! “A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits.” “Charming.” “Uplifting.” You know what, I’m picking up a sample out of sheer relief that I’ve hit finally a book on this list that does not sound grim, grim, grim.

8) Circe by Miller — In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child — not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power — the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

This sounds good! But a few days ago, commenter Kriti pointed to this Reddit thread where Circe is specifically mentioned as a story where everyone is mean to everyone else and particularly to Circe. “Every single character besides Circe is unbearably and unendingly cruel, rude, and spiteful. It feels like an abusive relationship in book form. Why is everyone so awful?!?”

I have no tolerance for this kind of story, as I found out again fairly recently by reading a book where I kept thinking, “For crying out loud, is anybody EVER going to be nice to the protagonist?” Eventually someone sort of was nicer, but I had a really hard time with this story and I’m now going to more trouble to avoid reading anything like that. I fully realize that the Greek gods were like that, but I just don’t want to read about it. Kriti also suggested Ursula K LeGuin’s Lavinia as an alternate novel, also based on Greek mythology, but with far more kindness rather than such an unrelenting focus on unkindness. I picked up a sample of Lavinia instead of Circe.

Next, how many have I heard of, but haven’t ever actually looked at? Two.

1) A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab — Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

2) Shadowshaper by Older — Sierra Santiago planned an easy summer of making art and hanging with her friends. But then a corpse crashes the first party of the season. Her stroke-ridden grandfather starts apologizing over and over. And when the murals in her neighborhood begin to weep real tears . . . Well, something more sinister than the usual Brooklyn ruckus is going on. … With the help of a fellow artist named Robbie, Sierra discovers shadowshaping, a thrilling magic that infuses ancestral spirits into paintings, music, and stories. 

Both sound interesting and potentially good. Oh, look at that, the two top ratings for Shadowshaper are a detailed five-star review and a detailed one-star review. This is a great moment to just mention that no book appeals to everyone. This made me skim through three-star review, and for me, here is the decisive critique: “Every assumption Sierra makes, every mystery inexplicably solved, every chance encounter- none of it is a red herring. … So basically, the villain is the villain with no surprises, and Sierra’s pure assumption about this stranger’s motives turn out to be totally true and no one is surprised.” I’m seldom okay with this particular weakness.

Next, how many do I have on my TBR pile? Three:

1) A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske — Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

This one starts off really grim, so I haven’t quite gone past the torture-and-murder prologue to the actual book. Eventually I will, given the steller things I’ve heard about this book.

2) The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune — an enchanting love story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.

You all have provided mixed reviews about this one.

3) Jade City by Fonda Lee — Jade is the lifeblood of the island of Kekon. It has been mined, traded, stolen, and killed for — and for centuries, honorable Green Bone warriors like the Kaul family have used it to enhance their magical abilities and defend the island from foreign invasion.

Neat concept. I hear it’s good, but a bit grim. I’ll try it when I’m in that kind of mood.

Next, how many have I actually read? To my surprise, one:

1) Piranesi by Susannah Clarke

And as you may recall, I thought it was lovely.

One more unexpected category: How many have I tried and disliked/DNF/was completely repulsed by? An unexpected and whopping six.

A) The Fifth Season by Jemisin, where I was deeply repulsed by the beginning and I don’t care that I’ve loved other books by Jemisin, I don’t plan to read this one.

2) A Court of Thorns and Roses by Maas, and to be fair, it was the first book the trilogy where I raised my eyebrows at the first page and set it aside, wondering how it could be popular. This is the one where on the very first page, Maas uses the word “parameter” where she meant “perimeter,” and I was like, nope.

3) Six of Crows by Bardugo, and here I tried the book and somehow it didn’t click for me, but I don’t know why not.

4) Benti, by Okorafor. I read the first novella, detested it for several reasons, and will never understand its appeal.

5) Legendborn by Deonn. I started it, lost interest, and set it aside.

6) The Grace of Kings by Liu. I’ve admired some of Ken Liu’s short fiction, but I started this novel, was surprised and disappointed not to be at impressed with the actual prose, then was disappointed at what seemed to be thoroughly one-dimensional protagonists, and quit.

I’m not crazy about thinking that more than a quarter of the most influential fantasy novels of the past decade are novels I personally disliked or found disappointing. I’m not keen about so many being brutal tear-it-all-down revenge fantasies either.

However, I’m not concerned at all, because whatever this post is about, it’s not about what novels are likely to be influential. I mean, Piranesi, seriously? In what universe do we expect that book to be influential? Have we seen a spate of novels that feature one character and are set in exceedingly weird settings where the world may or may not communicate with the single character through the flights of birds or other natural phenomena? No? Do we expect to see a swelling number of novels in this general vein in the future? No?

Well, then, maybe “influential” is not quite the right word.

The author of this post appears to be defining “influential” as “won lots of prizes, got lots of attention, and/or is really popular.” They keep saying, “This book won these awards, this book was nominated for this award, this book made various Best Of lists.” Well, I don’t care. As far as I can tell, winning awards has nothing to do with — FINE, not much to do with — being influential. Now, being popular does tend to increase the chances a book will be influential, but being popular can also mean that a book jumped on someone else’s bandwagon and rode a trend, such as (sorry, but I think this is a great example) the Divergent trilogy by Roth, which rode the popularity of The Hunger Games trilogy. I strongly suspect that if the Divergent trilogy had come first, it would have been far less noticed.

Personally, I would suggest we define influential as having a significant influence on trends in writing and publishing books, which is, you know, actually the definition.

Lots of the books above do not look at all likely to be influential to me. Circe, a retelling of mythology? In what universe would this be considered influential? We already have great heaping oodles of fantasy novels that are retellings of myths, legends, fairy tales, etc. If we see another hundred in the next twenty years, it won’t be because of this specific novel or any other specific novel. If I were going to pick out an influential fantasy series that draws on classical mythology, it’d be Percy Jackson’s popular series because that might have influenced a lot of young readers to try their hand at mythology-based fantasy. But even that looks to me like just part of a broader trend toward the popularity of retellings in fantasy.

The Grace of Kings? What are we arguing, that it may create a surge of interest in epic fantasy? How would we be able to tell? There’s lots of epic fantasy already. A surge of epic fantasy with settings that have a Chinese flavor to them? If we actually saw that, why not give GGK the credit? His novels with Eastern-inspired settings are well known, he’s a popular author, and as near as I can tell, the actual writing and storytelling in Under Heaven is a lot better. (A lot.)

Honestly, the linked post should have picked one thing and argued for that thing. Here’s what it looks to me like the author of the post started to do, but got distracted and went off in a different direction:

Claim the post should have made: We’re seeing more African-derived settings than we used to and this is likely to continue. Here are fine modern examples of fantasy novels with these kinds of settings that illustrate a trend toward non-medieval European settings in fantasy novels.

I will say, the settings for a LOT of the above books sound extremely neat. BUT, the books with these settings all sound extremely dark. If any of you have read any of these books and would like to comment, please do. Is anything here that sounds dark, but isn’t as dark as it sounds?

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Update: Many Distractions, but Good News!

So, I didn’t want to post about this anywhere until it was clear she would be okay, but —

MORGAN IS FINE

She got bitten by a copperhead at dawn Friday morning. First time in twenty-five years or thereabouts. It happened because of pure owner inattention and stupidity, because the copperhead was extremely obviously lying coiled up on the road, but I wasn’t watching at all and the first I knew about it was Morgan saying YIP and jumping backward.

I couldn’t find any sign of a bite, but there was that yip, so I wasn’t sure. I flipped the dogs’ leads around a tree, got a big, long stick, and went back to confirm that the snake was a copperhead (I knew very well it was a copperhead). It was cool enough that morning that the snake wasn’t particularly active. It had just stayed right there. After confirming that it was indeed a copperhead, I used the stick to shove it off the road so it wouldn’t get squished by a car. I mean, it wasn’t the snake’s fault I was an idiot and let Morgan put her face up to it. Then I went back and looked again. No obvious sign of the bite, but Morgan rubbed her face with her foot, so I thought yep, she was bitten. I went home, waited ten minutes till the vet opened, called the vet, and said to the tech who answered the phone, “Cindy! Morgan was bitten by a copperhead. I have Benadryl right here. Should I give her that or bring her in?” So, you know, having Benadryl on hand was lucky. That’s not why I had it, but it’s a good reason to make sure I never run out. She got Benadryl right then and Carprofen an hour later and of course came to work with me. At first she was too sick to enjoy that, but the drugs made a lot of difference and she was going to students for attention by that afternoon. I was warning people very sharply not to touch her face, but to pet her shoulder and chest, and I was sure happy to see she wanted attention and petting. (You have to speak in an extremely sharp tone to get people to listen to you when they want to pet a little dog; I learned that when I had Papillons.)

Benadryl and Carprofen around the clock for three days. Every time I gave her a pill, I set an alarm for the next pill. She didn’t show a lot of swelling, and it came on rather slowly and was worse Friday evening into Saturday, then eased off and was gone by Sunday afternoon. This morning she no longer seemed bothered when I touched her face. I still don’t know exactly where she was bitten except definitely on the head somewhere. I looked in her mouth because it turns out a good many dogs are bitten on the tongue, and I don’t think so because her tongue looked fine the whole time. A lot of copperhead bites cause some degree of tissue necrosis. I don’t see any signs of hair loss or any tissue damage, but I’ll be looking carefully at her mouth and face for a few days yet before I relax about that.

I think the bite was not quite “dry,” but not far from it. Lucky, lucky Morgan, and I don’t expect to miss another snake that is TOTALLY OBVIOUS and RIGHT THERE in plain sight. Lots of information about snakebite out there, much of it kind of over the top with a kind of hysterical tone, but here is a non-panicky, informative site that I think is good for information about copperhead bites on pets. I will add that my own vet’s staff didn’t think it was necessary for Morgan to actually come in given that I had Benadryl and Carprofen on hand and could report that she wasn’t showing problems with breathing or huge swelling or anything like that.

Morgan, picture taken last month, her face looks just like this as of this morning.

MEANWHILE

By Friday afternoon, I was pretty sure Morgan was going to be fine, which made the weekend much less stressful. However, I didn’t make a lot of progress on SILVER CIRCLE because —

A) You know how I said I would include little Ugaro (and probably eventually) Lau stories in my newsletter? Well, I want to send out a newsletter maybe October 1, and there I was, not having written any such stories. So early last week, I went through Tuyo, Tarahana, and Tasmakat, collecting references to stories and made a list. Then on Saturday, I picked one, and wrote a story. You remember when Ryo told Tathimi the story about the boy and the fox, changing the boy to a girl for that particular story? It ends, “So the girl let the fox go, and that is why the little foxes of the north turn white in winter.” Something like that, that’s probably not exact working.

I wrote that story. It took almost all Saturday, not that I wasn’t doing other things, of course, but that was where Saturday went. I changed the girl back to a boy because that provided the kind of minor problem that worked for this story. It was kind of neat writing basically a Just-So story. I resisted the urge to write, “And that, Best Beloved, is why foxes turn white in the winter,” but it was tempting. I added a story hook for another story of the same type, too.

I won’t put these little stories anywhere but the newsletter for quite a while, but eventually, when I do a second Tuyo World Companion to add all the new worldbuilding stuff, I’ll include them all in that. A bit early to look that far forward, but maybe in 2026 or 2027, depending on how fast I write other novels in the Tuyo world.

B) I started re-reading Black Dog. First time in years I’ve read through that one. I’m happy to say that I still like it, but I’m tweaking it just a tiny, tiny bit where I forgot some detail and therefore have introduced something inconsistent.

C) Being immersed in the Invictus world for so long means that the first scene of a potential sequel came to me, and I realized that I’m probably more likely to write something if I’ve got the first scene actually written down, so I started that scene. Honestly, I ought to also write the first scene of a NFS sequel for the same reason. While I’m at it, maybe the first scenes for Tano’s next story and Tathimi’s story. And, hey, the first scene of the third Floating Islands story. Really, I should do that. By this time, I’m pretty certain that writing thirty or fifty pages of something and setting it aside does make it more likely that I’ll eventually pick that up and write the whole thing.

I did move forward with SILVER CIRCLE too, just not very far. I’ve got 90 pages sitting here, which is a decent beginning. I’m still guessing I’ll have a draft complete sometime in November, but if it’s December, that’s fine.

So that was last week! This week, much useful work on this and that, I trust, and NO CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH DANGEROUS WILDLIFE. I like snakes very much and would be happy to see another copperhead, but only from a safe distance.

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Tedious! But finished!

All right, just letting you all know that I’ve loaded the final (mostly final!) version of INVICTUS: CRISIS to KDP.

The tedious part is the paperback, where it’s necessary to check the page numbers, update the ToC to match, find an extra page after chapter 21, take it out and update the ToC, skim through the whole thing and decide to add a blank page here and a blank page there and one more blank page in this other place, little tweaks. Every time, you have to load the new version and check the relevant parts, realize you missed something or you need to remove a few words and pull a page up to make it look better or whatever.

You know what was even more tedious?

That’s right, you guessed it: making the three hundred (roughly accurate estimate) changes after the second proofing read. It’s not really a proofing read exactly, it’s for tweaking. I can’t believe that I made about as many little teensy tweaks the second time as the first. I caught another half-dozen actual typos, too. After which I got my mother’s paper proofing copy and corrected the other half dozen typos she caught that I missed (which means I missed them over and over, sheesh).

Plenty of time for one more proofing read, and this time I do not intend to tweak anything. We’ll see if I can stick to that resolution. But at least at this point all the pages are in the right places for the paperback.

ALSO

If you noticed any typos in INVICTUS: CAPTIVE, this is a good time to let me know. I’ve corrected three that one sharp-eyed reader caught and I’m going to re-load the corrected version maybe Sunday or Monday.

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Dear Author: Are you a person?

A post at Writer Beware: Dear Author, Are You Human? Certifying Authenticity

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that where there is an issue of concern for writers, someone will find a way to monetize it.

And with AI suddenly omnipresent in our lives (or at least in the media), creators are confronted with a bewildering multiplicity of issues of concern, from unauthorized use of creative works for machine learning, to whether AI-created work is covered by copyright, to crappy AI-created books inundating Amazon and in some cases impersonating real writers, to the replacement of (expensive) creators with (cheap) generative AI tools like ChatGPT and MidJourney, to the looming prospect of machine-created art or novels or journalism becoming indistinguishable from the work of humans.

In this fraught environment, it was probably inevitable that enterprising people would come up with the idea of a service to certify or authenticate human authorship, and invite creators to buy into it. This post takes a look at two such services. …

I would like to go on record by declaring that I’m absolutely good with the idea that “where there’s an issue of concern for writers, someone will find a way to monetize it.” Please, by all means, go right ahead and offer me services addressing issues of concern, for a fee. There are many situations where I’m more than happy to pay somebody to do something because it’s complicated, time consuming, difficult, or I just don’t want to do it. That’s why I pay a CPA to do my taxes and it’s why I pay money to promotion services on a routine basis.

However, whatever these services are, they need to be real services and also they must be useful.

The first service here is evidently a service that certifies you’re a real author after you pledge not to use AI generated content in your work. Seriously? We’re going with the honor system? That seems fine in a restricted number of other contexts that are not this. The second evidently certifies work as human-generated after testing to see if their algorithms think the content is human generated. Well, that’s probably a good start.

Victoria Strauss also makes the obvious point that readers may not care whether content is human- generated or AI-generated if they like the content. At the moment, I don’t think readers can possibly like AI-generated content, because it’s garbage. I guess maybe some (a very tiny number of) readers can’t tell, but avid readers certainly should notice.

Would you like to see some generated text? Because there are lots of fake answers on Quora, posted by all kinds of people who apparently think it’s clever to post fake answers. Quora sometimes sticks its AI generator right under a question in case you want help in answering the question. It’s right there! Just click and you’ll get helpful answers which you can pretend you wrote! These fake answers can be quite funny, as AI text generators are obviously not actually intelligent and can’t tell when an answer has segued from reality to fantasy. Less amusing is the obvious fact that a lot of people can’t tell either.

Here are some typical fake answers collected in a few minutes browsing Quora:

Q: Why does my 6 month old Dachshund always roll onto his back when wrestling with his much smaller 2 month old Pug brother?

ChatGPT (or Poe or whatever other generator):

The behavior you’re describing, where your 6-month-old Dachshund rolls onto his back when wrestling with his smaller 2-month-old Pug brother, is a common display of social and playful behavior in dogs. Here are some reasons why your Dachshund might be doing this:

Submission: Rolling onto their back is a sign of submission in dogs. By doing this, your Dachshund is showing that he acknowledges the Pug’s dominance or is willing to play in a gentle and non-threatening manner. This is a natural behavior in many canine interactions and helps to maintain a harmonious play dynamic.Playfulness: Rolling onto the back during play can be an invitation for more play. It’s a way for your Dachshund to engage in friendly play and interact with his younger brother….

And so on. This answer starts off okay, though right away this sounds generated. The repetition of phrases from the question is pretty typical. The “here are some reasons” phrase is a definite tipoff that this is a generated answer. The list format is another tipoff. The bland phrases are characteristic. The idea that the Dachshund is acknowledging the dominance of an eight-week-old puppy is unspeakably stupid, which is, alas, another tipoff. The overall look of this answer says pretty clearly that it’s a generated answer. Let’s take a look at another handful of generated answers:

Q: I love my girlfriend but do not like her children. What should I do?

ChatGPT:

Navigating a situation where you love your girlfriend but do not have a strong connection with her children can be challenging. Here are some steps you can consider to address this situation:

Open Communication: Have an open and honest conversation with your girlfriend about your feelings. It’s important to communicate your concerns and emotions. Approach the conversation with empathy and understanding, and listen to her perspective as well.Understanding the Children: Take the time to understand her children better. Building a relationship with them may require patience and effort. Get to know their interests, hobbies, and personalities. Spend quality time with them and try to find common ground. …

Q: How many carbs should you eat per meal?

Chat GPT:

The ideal number of carbohydrates to eat per meal can vary widely depending on various factors, including your individual dietary needs, activity level, health goals, and any specific medical conditions you may have. Here are some general guidelines:

Balanced Diet: For most people, a balanced meal typically includes a source of carbohydrates, such as whole grains, starchy vegetables, or legumes. Aim for a reasonable portion size, which could be around 30-60 grams of carbohydrates per meal. This can provide a steady source of energy throughout the day.Low-Carb Diets: If you’re following a low-carb diet, such as the ketogenic diet or a low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet, your carbohydrate intake per meal will be significantly lower, often in the range of 20-50 grams per day or less. In such cases, each meal might contain 5-15 grams of carbohydrates …

Q: Should I take a multivitamin regularly?

Chat GPT:

Whether you should take a multivitamin regularly depends on several factors, including your individual dietary habits, nutritional needs, and health status. Here are some considerations to help you decide:

Dietary Habits: If you have a well-balanced and varied diet that includes a wide range of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and dairy or dairy alternatives, you may already be getting most of the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs. In such cases, a multivitamin may not be necessary.Specific Nutritional Needs: Certain groups of people may have higher nutritional requirements and could benefit from a multivitamin. This includes pregnant and breastfeeding women, individuals with specific medical conditions that affect nutrient absorption, and older adults who may have difficulty getting enough nutrients from food alone. …

For a while, I didn’t know what people meant when they said ChatGPT answers have a certain style. However, by now I’ve seen these kinds of answers enough that they’re obvious. I’m guessing that English comp instructors are going to learn to recognize whatever the typical style is for generated essays.

I’m sure text generators will get better, but I’m not sure how fast that will happen, because, as should be obvious, they are not intelligent and cannot exercise any sort of judgment and therefore cannot tell when they are spouting nonsense or when their style is incredibly generic or whatever. I expect detectors will get better as well, and we’ll have an arms race, and who knows where it all will end. But for now, you may not need a detector because so much of this generated text is so obvious. But you sure do need to dial up your bullshit detector, because so much of the information in these sorts of answers is just wrong.

Meanwhile, if I were an English comp instructor, or if I were teaching any class where any written work was assigned, I would require the student to turn in at least one rough draft as well as the final draft, maybe an annotated bibliography if the project involved citations, and if I still had any doubt, not only would I use a detector, I would require an oral component or something else that is impossible to plagiarize.

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Subgenres of SF

A mind-blowing infographic showing the history of SF. Click through to take a look. I like how it starts with “fear” and “wonder” intertwined way, way back in prehistory. But as far as I can tell, this graphic only identifies five main subgenres in modern SF: hard, soft, space opera, new space opera (that’s interesting! Though I agree, come to think of it. New space opera is distinct from Golden Age space opera), and cyberpunk.

However, interesting as the linked infographic may be, it’s really not particularly useful for what I was looking for. I just wanted an infographic sorting out SF subgenres. So, hey, since I couldn’t find that kind of infographic, let’s see what Canva can do for us if we want to make a simple (sort of simple) Venn diagram.

Great job, Canva! You know, frustrating as it is to try to get Canva to do various trivial tasks, such as put a frame around a picture, which you wouldn’t think would be especially difficult — anyway, what I’m saying is that honestly, Canva is a great tool. I never used it before this year, and I have to say, I kind of love it. I’ve never found an easy way to make a Venn diagram before, and here we are, piece of cake. I see the printing is a little fuzzy, but whatever, it’s good enough. (This seems to be Canva’s unofficial motto: We’ll help you make images that are good enough!).

I do not by any means think the above Venn diagram is actually all-the-way correct. You can probably think of lots of books that can’t easily be placed on it because the circles don’t really overlap exactly the way they should. But it was fun to make and I think some things about it are correct.

You can see that I put No Foreign Sky in an overlapping area where it belongs to space opera, military SF, and sociological SF. Then I placed Invictus in sociological SF, just brushing the edge of military SF, but outside the space opera circle. I think this is pretty much correct, though maybe not exactly. I’m sure it’s all debatable.

Some of the books I put on here to illustrate the subgenres are certainly familiar to us all, but some may not be. Those include:

Military SF — Prince of Mercenaries, Honor Harrington, Forever War, Valor series, Seafort Saga

And I have said this before, but the Valor series by Tanya Huff is my personal favorite military SF series.

Space Opera — Trading in Danger, The Warrior’s Apprentice, Chanur series, The Long Way.

As you see, I put the first two on the intersection between military SF and space opera. I think they’re more the latter than the former, but there are things that kind of push the boundaries for these series. And I put the Chanur series but not the others up in the Sociological SF circle. I’m not sure The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet has all the characteristics I listed off earlier for space opera — I don’t think it has high, ratcheting stakes. Hmm. Even so, I feel that it’s space opera.

Golden Age Space Opera — The Lensman series, and it looks like you can pick up all seven books for $1.99. Fine, who knows if I’ll ever get around to reading this series, but I’m picking it up because that price is irresistible.

Sociological SF — Persona is the one you might not recognize. It’s near-future SF, a subgenre that generally doesn’t appeal to me, but I’ve read a handful. Genevieve Valentine is one of the rare authors who seems to be so good she can make any subgenre work for me. I note that the publisher is once again behaving like a lunatic and failing to link the second book to the first. This is pretty awful since it’s really one story cut in half. It’s also surprising, as Saga normally does better than that. For your convenience, book two, Icon. This is an intense, claustrophobic SF novel about celebrity. I really did like it a lot, but while we’re on the subject, the single book of Valentine’s I actually like best is a historical called The Girls at the Kingfisher Club. I note that the hardcover is half the price of the ebook. Publishers, I swear. But if you would like the hardcover, good time to pick that up.

Near-future SF — Corsair, Hot Moon. Corsair is by James Cambias, and I liked it quite a lot given that it’s near-future. I haven’t read Hot Moon yet, but I really liked the Cahokian Mound Builders Meets Romans trilogy by this author, which I will warn you is quite grim at times, but I will add that it does wind up in a good place.

Far-future SF is also a subgenre that doesn’t really appeal to me, but I think it’s as much a real subgenre as near-future SF. I haven’t read Count to a Trillion, but it takes the reader very, very far-future, I know that.

Hard SF is a big category and includes things like A Darkling Sea, the Mars trilogy, Dragon’s Egg, and, entertainingly enough, the Steerswoman series, which looks very much like it should be fantasy, but isn’t; it’s also the single series I most wish the author would finish because I just love it.

Once again with publishers screwing things up for authors: A Darkling Sea isn’t available as an ebook and wow, look at that official price for the paperback. Since I have it as an ebook, there seems to be NO REASON for this book to be unavailable in that form. But here’s something nice, a two-novella collection by Cambias that is available for $1.99. This sounds really fun and I’m glad I happened to be looking at Cambias’ author page.

The Mars trilogy currently has the most super-basic covers I’ve ever seen:

Wow, this is a little too basic imo

SF fantasy really is fantasy, with handwavy SF elements. We’re all familiar with Pern, surely? Archangel is Sharon Shinn’s SF fantasy. Like the Steerswoman, it looks like fantasy. Unlike the Steerswoman, it really is fantasy. The SF elements are thoroughly handwavy. It’s one of my favorites by Sharon Shinn; I should read it again.

Psionics is a specific category of SF fantasy, so I gave it its own circle. I don’t know that this was really justified. Psion is the one by Joan Vinge. This is the first book of the Cat trilogy, which I liked a lot. It’s interesting because I debated dropping it into the intersection between Psionics and Space Opera, but didn’t wind up doing that because it’s such a personal story that I don’t think really fits the space opera category — maybe the adventure category. Maybe I should have used two circles there, one for Adventure that encompassed the Space Opera circle, but was larger and provided room for adventure SF that isn’t Space Opera. In retrospect, I probably should have done it that way.

Cyberpunk is my least favorite SF subgenre up there because I’m not that crazy about the punk style, which usually includes urban grittiness. The only one that leaps to mind for me is Snowcrash, which I read long ago but don’t remember much about.

Have I missed any huge subgenres? Maybe I should have added “Post-apocalyptic SF” somewhere. Or, slightly broader, “Dystopian SF.” Probably I should have added that. In fact, if I’d put Adventure SF as a really big circle, I could have dropped all of Space Opera and almost all of Dystopian SF into that category. Oh, oops, I can see now that I should have overlapped Adventure SF with everything, honestly, including Hard SF, which it doesn’t overlap at all.

Fine, pretend that the circle just says Space Opera and that Adventure SF pretty much encompasses everything else. A few books lie outside the Adventure category, though, including Persona, for example, and actually a lot of sociological SF isn’t going to fall into an Adventure circle.

Anyway! Fun to create this diagram. You may now all critique it and explain where it goes wrong, which I’m sure is a lot of places.

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How to train a kitten: classical conditioning is your friend

So, I’ve finally been letting the kittens out on the deck and in the fenced yard. Because the weather has been nice, I’m leaving the pet doors open most of the time while I’m home.

Typical location of kittens when they’re inside

The good things: No attempts to get out of the yard. I mean, that’s kind of expected. They’re still pretty young (which sure serves to point out how ultra-tiny they were when that jackass dumped them). For several days they didn’t go more than 20 feet from the bottom of the stairs. They rapidly gained confidence and will now go a hundred feet or so, meaning into the (overgrown, weedy, exciting) hosta bed, where they chase each other through the weeds. They also hung out below the deck while I clipped Naamah this past weekend, because I was throwing handfuls of fluff over the railing and they pounced on the fluff as it fell. This was just as cute as it sounds.

The bad things: Wow, kittens, please do not climb up on and walk along the deck railing, thirty feet or fifty feet or whatever that is above the ground. That is scary even though the railing is wide and flat. Also, if you try to creep down the slanted railing along the stairs, you will slide right down it and drop off the end, if you are lucky, and please don’t fall off that railing until you get to the end.

Further good things: No kitten has fallen off the railing, though Maximillian realized he was in a bad position when he started sliding down along the stairs and jumped off, onto the stairs, rather than continue skidding. Magdalene is braver and when she tried that, she skidded all the way to the end and jumped or fell off. Which did not faze her one bit. She is a very brave kitten.

I keep approaching as gently and reassuringly as possible, then briskly removing kittens from the railing where the drop is scarily high. I’m also reminding myself that I never worried when Chrestomanci jumped up there. But babies are idiots compared to experienced cats like Chrestomanci.

I am also training the kittens to come when called. I’m using absolutely standard no-frills classical conditioning, and actually it’s funny because I’m basically using a bell, like Pavlov himself. Since I don’t have a large bell, I’m actually using a saucepan lid and a spoon. It’s very simple: whap the lid with the spoon and immediately provide kitten treats. Repeat five times. Next day, do it again. It’s handy that neither kitten is afraid of a loud BOING sound. I want something that is recognizable and carries a long way. I might get a whistle or something too.

Regardless, after three days, the kittens were coming to the sound indoors with no distractions. After five, they are running into the house to get their treats. When I find out which kind of treats they REALLY LOVE, I’ll start practicing calling them in from the hosta bed or interrupting them in a play session. I want them enthusiastic, so zero treats of any kind without a BOING sound first. Or if I say kit-kit-kit, they get a treat for coming to that as well. But I mean, no treats unless they come to some sort of recall signal first.

Later, I may add an aversive — we’ll see how it goes. I might try putting pennies in a can and throwing the can at the fence when they try to climb the fence. Pros: Could be useful in discouraging that behavior. Cons: They’re not fazed by sounds. Maybe a squirt gun would work better. More important cons: I don’t want to discourage them from trying to get back into the yard if and when they get out. Potential solution: I’m considering waiting till I’m pretty sure they’re big enough to get in and out, making sure they’re hungry, taking one at a time out of the yard, and inviting the kitten to get back into the yard for a serious, major reward, such as canned tuna or something. I would like to be sure they know how to get back in, because the odds are good they will someday get out. Chrestomanci knew just how to do it. There’s a place by the low part of the deck where it’s relatively easy.

Possible question: Why let them out at all?

Answers: it’s conventional wisdom that indoor cats are just as happy as indoor-outdoor cats. This is nice to believe, but it’s generally not true. Indoor-only cats routinely develop mildly neurotic behaviors because of boredom, as noted for example by Nicholas Dodman, who founded the Animal Behavior Clinic at Tufts University. If you live in a town, that’s an acceptable problem given the huge risk of letting the cat outside. It’s also another excellent reason to get two kittens at a time, never just one. If you live in the middle of nowhere, then the risks are much lower. Roaming dogs, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and birds of prey are the big risks. Being inside at night massively reduces those risks.

Given that I have a pretty secure yard and given that I’m willing to put a fair bit of time into teaching the kittens to come, teaching them to stay in the yard, teaching them to get back into the yard if they get out, and arranging their schedule to get them in at night … well, the large increase in happiness means I’m willing to risk the dangers.

Maximillian doesn’t just share the ee genotype with Golden Retrievers, he is actually a Golden Retriever in disguise! He is super sweet, and he likes to “kiss” your hands and arms, which makes it that much harder to type.

I’m not that worried about the wildlife. I don’t care if the cats catch the occasional rabbit. So do the dogs, after all. We are not going to run out of rabbits. I would certainly prefer they don’t catch birds, but I try hard to prevent flycatchers from nesting on the lights over the deck, and most other birds seem pretty much of the opinion that nesting in the yard is not a good idea. So, we’ll see how it goes …

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What is space opera?

Okay, so I’ve been saying all year that NO FOREIGN SKY is space opera and INVICTUS isn’t, that it’s something else. What criteria, you may wonder, am I thinking of when I say that? Both take place in space. The settings are spaceships in both cases. We never even see a planet. What is the difference that I think is so important that these stories wind up in different subgenres?

What defines space opera? Well, let’s try to define the subgenre by example.

Elizabeth Moon, Trading in DangerLMB, The Warrior’s ApprenticeCJC, ChanurKate Elliot, Unconquerable SunH Beam Piper, Space Viking

As a side note, did you know you can pick up an H Beam Piper collection of 33 novels and stories for a dollar? Nice to see someone bringing back classic SF repackaged in accessible ebook form.

What’s not up there? Military SF, which intergrades with space opera, but is something different.

Dave Weber, Honor HarringtonDavid Feintuch, Seafort SagaJack Campbell, The Lost Fleet seriesJoel Dane, Cry Pilot seriesTanya Huff, the Valor series, my personal favorite by a lot.

For me, space opera means a fast-paced adventure story … set in space … with normal SF tropes, such as wormholes … where the stakes are high and keep ratcheting upward, with big consequences for winning or losing … and there are probably multiple battles against increasing odds … and the good guys win.

Military SF means that we’re following one or more military personnel … with a focus on the military organization … and there are probably battles … but not necessarily with increasing stakes … and the tone can be gritty rather than adventurous … and the good guys probably win, but not necessarily.

The focus on military personnel and the military organization is a big difference between space opera and military SF. If a book has those features, it’s military SF. If it doesn’t, it’s not. If you were drawing a venn diagram, there would be plenty of overlap, but also lots of books that belong to one subgenre or the other, not both.

What’s still not up there?

CJC, ForeignerCJC, CyteenKSR, the Mars trilogyHerbert, DuneCorey, The Expanse series, and I know that it lands on a lot of space opera lists, but I disagree.

I thought of grabbing stuff off “sociological SF” lists, but I don’t want to imply that everything that’s not space opera or military SF is sociological SF, because obviously it’s not. That’s why I picked The Expanse. It keeps appearing on lists of all-time-great space opera and I just don’t think it is. Maybe I should add, I just read the first book. But I don’t think it’s space opera. It’s too slow-paced. It’s too gritty. The focus isn’t right. It isn’t a romance in the technical sense — it’s not an adventure story. Adventure happens, but that’s not the same thing as being an adventure story. Ender’s Game keeps popping up on space opera lists too, and again, I don’t agree. As far as that goes, I disagree much more vehemently about later books in the series.

In my opinion, Invictus fits in this third group. It’s not an adventure story. I mean, at all. It’s got some exciting moments, but it’s definitely not swashbuckling in space. It’s not a fast-paced story with ratcheting stakes. The stakes are high throughout, but the reader can’t see clearly what those stakes actually are until halfway through. It’s got heroes yes, but not quite in the traditional mode.

Is it sociological SF? I would say, not exactly, or not quite. Of the books up there, it’s most like Cyteen, because it’s kind of a take on some of the same questions Cyteen addresses.

Side note: What is WITH publishers, anyway? Cyteen is not currently available in Kindle form. Sometimes I really cannot believe how ridiculous publishers are. If they’re reissuing Cyteen as an ebook, why first make it unavailable? If they’re just not bothering to make it available, what the hell is wrong with them?

Regardless, Cyteen is a book I love. I mean, I really love it. I’ve read Cyteen innumerable times, starting when Young Ari appears because the first bit is pretty grim and I don’t care to revisit that part. But even though I love this novel — I love Young Aris and Caitlin and Florian, and Justin and Grant — and I think this is just a fantastic novel, the society shown in Cyteen is honestly very iffy.

If you squint at it at all, you have to realize this is a society founded on large-scale slavery. The azi are slaves. Not using the word doesn’t change the basic fact that they are slaves. Creating them was not a great thing to do, founding the whole society on them, on their labor, was not a great thing to do, and yes, the azi who are important characters are amazing characters, but the whole society is founded on some pretty terrible ideas.

The Ubezhishche in Invictus were created just like the azi, or very nearly — I added one tweak which is, depending on how you look at it, actually not very far removed from how CJC did it.. But, unlike the azi, the Ubezhishche broke free of their creators, went off, and founded their own society. That’s the deep backstory here. And yes, this is very much a response to the society shown in Cyteen.

If you’ve read the Tuyo World Companion — I mean the part about inspirations — then you know that a huge source of inspiration for me goes like this:

A) I’m reading a book I really love

B) I run into something awful. Some terrible thing happens to a character I care about.

C) I think, “Oh no, aargh, how awful! That should never have happened! What should have happened is a much better thing, which is now in my head.”

And then later (often much later), this appears in one of by books as the situation leads toward a moment when a similar awful thing might happen, but instead a much better thing happens.

It doesn’t have to be quite like that. It might be a great scene, but one that didn’t fulfil the potential I think the scene had. I’ll rewrite the original scene in my head and then it’s pretty likely I’ll put something similar in a different context later. Or this can happen with characters, where I think the author misses the chance to really bring a great character front-and-center and I develop a character who is similar in some ways and put that character in the foreground, not the background. Lots of variations on this basic idea.

For Invictus, the inspiration was one hundred percent the azi in Cyteen. If you create a genetically engineered slave caste that is completely under the control of born-men supervisors, then if your slaves decide this is wrong and bring your society crashing down around your ears, you totally deserve that.

This story isn’t about that part. That’s the backstory. The Ubezhishche went in their own direction, and about the only thing they share with the azi now is that they really do not want to be born-men — in this case, Elysians. They’re just fine the way they are, thank you, and when their genomic designers tweak the designs, they have their own priorities in mind.

Despite this kind of backstory, this really isn’t sociological SF, or I don’t think it is. I honestly don’t know what subgenre it fits. As categories, I picked SF–General, SF-Adventure, and SF-Genetic Engineering. I don’t think this is actually an adventure story, but the categories are limited and I had to pick something. However, that doesn’t seem to be what Amazon is saying. Amazon shows the categories as SF-Space Fleet and SF–Space Marines. Well, the word “marines” does appear in the book, but really? I hope the wrong readers don’t pick it up on the theory it is Military SF. Or rather, if they do, I hope they love it, even though it isn’t Military SF.

Maybe in a few days, I’ll try to lay out all the recognized subgenres of SF and see if I can better identify where INVICTUS fits.

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Update: Progress!

Okay, so you know what gets in the way of being a hermit, pulling into my shell, and putting words in a row? Right, beautiful fall weather, that’s what.

What am I supposed to do, ignore this great weather? I took the dogs for ordinary walks around my house, but I also took some of the dogs to the park and then I took the other dogs to the park, and so progress was made, but not as much as if it had been 100 F or raining. Really nice weekend, and I hope you all had beautiful weather too, wherever you are!

BUT, I also did manage to get some writing done. I’ve got 25,000 words of SILVER CIRCLE and I’m fairly happy with it. I really want to re-read the entire Black Dog series from the top. I’m feeling like that would help. It’s not like SILVER CIRCLE is going badly; it’s fine; but I still feel it would help get back in that world and in everyone’s proper voice if I re-read the whole series. Do you realize it’s been three years, story time, since the beginning? The younger characters have grown up a lot, and I want to be sure that’s apparent.

You know, the only reason Natividad and Miguel and Alejandro were so young in the first book is that the publisher wanted it as YA and asked me to age them down a good bit. I can’t remember how old they were before that — I do have that draft somewhere, but I haven’t looked at it for a long time. Anyway, that’s why Natividad wound up just fifteen in BLACK DOG. It took some creative plotting to arrange story events in a way that prevented her from getting serious with Ezekiel until she was a little older. SILVER CIRCLE opens right after the last novella, the one with Keziah and Justin. By that time, Natividad’s eighteenth birthday is coming up pretty soon. To me, this is a more comfortable age for a serious relationship. Honestly, the whole story is a little easier to handle now that they’re all a little older. But they do need to seem that little bit older.

Anyway, moving ahead with that, so this is good! It’s nice to be working on something new.

HOWEVER, speaking of something new, you know how I said I’d be writing Tuyo-world folktales and stories about little incidents and whatever, dropping those in the newsletter? Well, I need to send out a newsletter sometime this month, so I have set SILVER CIRCLE aside for today and probably tomorrow. I’m writing an Ugaro folktale instead. So that’s fun, but a little bit of a tonal shift.

ALSO, yep, still proofing INVICTUS: CRISIS. I’m about halfway through this particular proofing run. I’m still (still!) doing a surprising amount of tweaking, mostly very small-scale, plus I’ve found, I don’t know, four or five actual typos.

If you’ve left a review for INVICTUS: CAPTIVE, thank you! If you’ve sent me a private note about it, thank you! I’m very happy to see that first reactions are quite positive, plus people aren’t screaming about the cliffhanger. Or not in a bad way! All I can say is, I hope everyone is also happy with the second half of the story! If you read an early draft and commented, thank you SO MUCH because you are definitely responsible for the final version smoothing out.

Coming up this week: Finish this proofing run-through for CRISIS, finish the Ugaro folktale and put together the newsletter, start reading BLACK DOG, make progress on SILVER CIRCLE. Also, take dogs to the park, because the weather is still very nice! Going to be a busy week!

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Out today: INVICTUS: CAPTIVE

Yay! Always exciting!

Reminder #1: CAPTIVE ends on a cliffhanger!

Reminder #2: There’s a glossary at the back!

Every soldier knows there are endless ways to die.
Every Ubezhishche soldier knows there are far worse fates than death.

Sevastien one zero two four, S line third modification, has survived the destruction of his own ship and an enemy station. But he was rescued by the wrong side — by Nalyn Ila, captain of the Elysian destroyer Invictus. Now he’s facing a difficult problem: How to persuade Captain Ila and her people that he is not an enemy combatant. That if there was an act of war, it was committed by her people, not his own.

Sevastien is almost certain he was an innocent bystander of disaster … unless his own people set him up, aiming to get him aboard Invictus for reasons he can’t yet understand. Maybe they did. It’s just the kind of thing Ubezhishche Command might do.

Nalyn Ila is almost certain Sevastien is an enemy agent, placed aboard her ship by Ubezhishche Command. But no one, not her own people nor the enemy nor Sevastien himself, can possibly guess what use she might actually have for an Ubezhishche soldier. Even if he actually is an innocent bystander, she may be able to use him in her private long-laid plans. And if he’s actually an enemy agent … that might be even better.

***

Reminder! There is a glossary and a short note about history at the back. I have definitely read books where, only when I reached the end, I discovered a glossary or a dramatis personae. Then I kick myself because I wish I’d realized that earlier. Flipping to a glossary is a pain in an ebook, I know, but sometimes I think it’s worth the trouble. I’m therefore hoping readers notice these things are there when they skim past the ToC.

Meanwhile! I’m closing in on the necessary last tweaks to the second book, after which I’ll send myself a clean electronic copy, create a paper version and get a proofing copy in paper, and continue proofing. I’m feeling relaxed about this. There’s almost a whole month before I need to upload the final versions. I expect I will feel much less relaxed around October 5th, but at the moment, all is proceeding according to plan.

No plan ever survives contact with the enemy.
Especially when you can’t be certain which side is your enemy.

Nalyn Ila did her best to lay plans for every imaginable contingency. But some contingencies were not imaginable. Now Ila has no choice but to change her plans as fast as she can, trying to stay one step ahead of disaster. Without Syova’s help, everything she has tried to achieve will certainly fail.

Now that everyone’s secret plans have been revealed, Syova has no choice but to reassess everything he knows about his enemies—and his friends. The Ubezhishche people haven’t yet gone to war with Elysium … not quite. Now devastating war may be unavoidable. Unless Captain Ila is telling him the truth.

With the survival of both his own people and hers at stake, Syova had better make all the right choices.

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Archon Schedule

Okay, so the program schedule for Archon just came out. Not a lot of time to prepare! It’s Sept 29 and 30 and Oct 1. Barely more than 2 weeks away!

I usually go to Archon because, I mean, it’s right there. It’s about an hour and a half from me, which is about as close as anything gets. It’s hard for me to travel right now, but not so hard I can’t manage this.

Here’s my personal Archon schedule:

Faith, Religion, and Science Fiction

How have different books, series, or movies used religion as part of their storytelling? 29 Sep 2023, Friday 20:00 – 21:00

Wait, Didn’t She Die in the Last Book? 

When writing a series, how do you keep it all straight and consistent? 30 Sep 2023, Saturday 11:00 – 12:00

Write What You Know! (But Give It a Twist!)

The truism of “write what you know” feels inapplicable to writing science fiction and fantasy—but is it?
A panel of authors discusses how they used their real life skills and knowledge to inform their fantastic
worlds. 30 Sep 2023, Saturday 14:00 – 15:00

Rewrite, Revise, or Edit? Format: Panel

What’s the difference and how do you know which one to use? 30 Sep 2023, Saturday 16:00 – 17:00

Walking in Another’s Shoes, or Avoiding the Mary-Sue

Writing a protagonist who’s nothing like you. 30 Sep 2023, Saturday 17:00 – 18:00. I’m moderating this one, I see.

GM Ohhhhs – Genetically Modified Pets 

Could genetically modified pets be the ultimate in adorable or just a horror movie in the making? 1 Oct 2023, Sunday 12:00 – 13:00. I’m also moderating this one.

Now, if I’m NOT moderating, this is easy enough! Take fast notes about the topic and boom, done.

If I’m the moderator, then it’s a bigger deal. I’ll be coming up with leading questions for those topics, which ones are they again — oh, writing protagonists who aren’t like the author, great topic, glad I’m on that panel. And genetically modified pets. Sure, yes and yes for that one, although it’s hard to get into real, true horror movie territory without (a) weird supernatural stuff going on, or (b) weird handwavy science-y stuff going on. Out here in the real world, army ants do not eat everyone in a town and little fluffy critters don’t transform into demonic sprites if they’re fed after midnight.

Actually, the real answer for genetically modified pets is: let’s move ahead with genetic modification to edit out Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy in the dog and then we can do it the same with humans, since it’s exactly the same gene in both. Then we can tackle stuff that is caused in similar ways but not by quite the same genes, which encompasses oh, rough guess, hundreds of diseases. Simultaneously, we can tackle complex traits like heart disease. In all those cases, we could and should use dogs to pave the way for human treatments, because YAY LET’S GET RID OF MVD IN OUR DOGS is going to be pretty much the way reputable breeders feel, and once a genetic engineering technique is obviously safe in dogs, it’s harder for the FDA to continue letting people die of whatever disease, though I’m sure they’ll try.

However, the cute answer will no doubt include examples of genetically modified animals in SFF, and here I’m thinking of David Brin, of course, though I’m sure there are other examples. If anybody can think of genetically modified animals, pets or otherwise, in SFF, by all means drop that in the comments! Weren’t their tiny pet unicorns or something on Cetaganda in LMB’s novels? I remember the kitten tree, which is much more on the horror-movie side of the spectrum, but I think there were other pets that weren’t so problematic.

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