Cora Buhlert's Blog, page 27

Non-Fiction Spotlight: Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction 1950 to 1985, edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre

The nominations for the 2022 Hugo Awards close tomorrow, so I have one last Non-Fiction Spotlights for 2021 for you. Though I will keep the project going and present SFF-related non-fiction books published in 2022, because after the Hugos is before the Hugos.

If you’re just joining us, the Non-Fiction Spotlights are a project, where I interview the authors/editors of SFF-related non-fiction books that came out in 2021 and are eligible for the 2022 Hugo Awards. For more about the Non-Fiction Spotlight project, go here. To check out the spotlights I already posted, go here.

For more recommendations for SFF-related non-fiction, also check out this Facebook group set up by the always excellent Farah Mendlesohn, who is a champion (and author) of SFF-related non-fiction.

The subject of today’s Non-Fiction Spotlight is Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction 1950 to 1985, a collection of essays about a most exciting period of science fiction, during which the genre changed and evolved significantly.

Therefore, I am pleased to welcome Andrew Nette, one of the two editors, to my blog today:

Tell us about your book.

Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction 1950-1985 is the third in a series of books I’ve coedited that examine various aspects of pulp and popular fiction in the post war period, from the early 1950s until the early to mid 1980s, with a particular focus on what is sometimes called as ‘the long sixties’. This era, which began in the late 1950s and extended well into the 1970s, has become associated with widespread radical social upheaval and change. The most public manifestation of this was the plethora of social and liberation movements focused on class, racial, gender, sexual and other inequalities that emerged during this time. This period also coincided with the paperback revolution in the US in the immediate post war period, a development that soon spread to the UK and by the early 1960s to Australia. Because paperback producers needed a lot of material, fast, it was inevitable that many books would mine social developments taking place during this time, whether it was moral panics about youth or the civil rights and anti-war movements. This publishing market allowed a growing number of authors to make it into print and sustain a living doing so. This included a more diverse group of writers, obviously women, but also gay and lesbian authors, as well as, albeit, at a much slower place, people of colour.

The first book in this series, Girl Gangs, Biker Boys and Real Cool Cats: Pulp Fiction and Youth Culture, 1950 to 1980, examined how paperback fiction reflected public anxieties, fears and fascinations in the US, UK and Australia around various youth subcultures: delinquent youth gangs, beatniks, hippies, musicians and groupies, bikers, and even surfers. The second book, Sticking it to the Man: Revolution and Counterculture in Pulp and Popular Fiction, 1950 to 1980, looked at how pulp and popular publishers, and the various genres they produced, crime, erotica, adventure, etc, responded to the upsurge in radical social movements that challenged the status quo in the US, UK and Australia, particularly in the 1960s and early 1970s: civil rights and Black Power, the New Left and the student movement, anti-war, gay and lesbian liberation, and feminism.

Dangerous Visions and New Worlds is focused on the science and speculative fiction that appeared from the 1950s until the mid-1980s in the US and UK, with a focus on the loose movement known as the new wave science. Starting in the second half of the 1960s, this saw the emergence of a body of works that challenged and destabilised the conservative literary, sexual, political and identity conventions of science fiction. This is, of course, not to say that there were no science fiction writers pushing boundaries prior to the new wave – writers such as Catherine Perkins Gilmore and Aldous Huxley are two very notable earlier examples just off the top of my head. But the changes in the second half of the 1960s, particular the upsurge of radical activity around the Vietnam War, significantly pushed the genre in all kinds of innovative ways, in terms of its political content, expressive and literary style, and the aesthetics of the cover illustration. Despite resistance from some fans, publishers and editors, the novels and short stories associated with this turn became hugely popular to the point of pretty much dominating awards and the field in the 1970s. As I noted above, this in turn also led to the gradual diversification of the authorship of science fiction.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m a Melbourne based writer of fiction and non-fiction. But I’ve had many work incarnations, so to speak. For a large chunk of the 1990s I was a journalist in Indochina. I’ve since worked as a university researcher and in various policy development positions for a range of community and trade union organisations. And I just completed a PhD into the history of Australia’s largest post war pulp publisher, Horwitz Publications, which should be seeing the light of day as a wildly overpriced academic text sometime in 2022.

What prompted you to write/edit this book?

The second book in our series, Sticking it to the Man, originally included material on radical science fiction but the length of the book completely blew out and our publisher insisted we shorten it. It was at this point that my co-editor, Iain McIntyre, and I realised we had the makings of a third book – on radical science and speculative fiction. We pitched the idea to our publisher, and they were very receptive. With the high/low culture, hardback/paperback, literary/pulp distinctions particularly blurred with sci-fi, and a huge range of authors and works to choose from, we certainly had no trouble finding enough material for book-length treatment of the subject. Indeed, Dangerous Visions and New Worlds could have been twice as long, and we still would not have been able to cover everything.

Why should SFF fans in general and Hugo voters in particular read this book?

Every review that I have read of our book has had something different to say about it & why it should be read (or in the cases not). I would nominate four reasons why people may be interested in reading this book.

First, we have made a deliberate attempt to expand the notion of new wave science fiction. This means that while our book looks at key new wave writers, such as Michael Moorcock, Samuel Delany, J. G. Ballard, Judith Merrill, etc, just to name a few, we also examine lessor known or recognised participants, including some of those working at the pulpier end of the spectrum. This includes things like smut SF, UK science fiction television novelisations, books like Hank Lopez’s little-known Afro-6, and William Bloom’s Qhe! series. It also meant looking at some well-known authors from a different angle; for example, examining John Wyndham from the point of view how his work aligned with second wave feminism, and Daniel Shank Cruz’s wonderful piece on the young Samuel R. Delaney’s time living in the Heavenly Breakfast commune on Manhattan’s Lower East Side during the winter of 1967-1968, an aspect of his life that has not received so much attention. Having this balance is not only about being comprehensive and expanding the commonly accepted parameters of new wave SF, but it works in terms of giving readers a glimpse of the work of little known or completely forgotten authors.

Second, we wanted to show the diversity of attitudes, styles, concerns, backgrounds and people involved with radical science fiction in the period examined in the book. While the new wave, certainly in its earlier days, was predominantly white and male dominated, this began to break down in the early 1970s with the success of authors such as Ursula K Le Guin, Joanna Russ and Marge Piercy, and in the UK the work of radical publishers such as the Women’s Press. Slowly but eventually, science fiction also became more racially diverse.

Third, the book includes an in-depth look at the political concerns of new wave science fiction and the direct political activity of many of the authors involved in it.

Fourth are the covers. As I noted earlier, a major part of the way in which science fiction began to change from the mid-1960s was aesthetic. Dangerous Visions and New Worlds contains hundreds of full colour cover images that are not only stunning to look at but they shed light of the political and thematic pre-occupations of the genre during the time.

Do you have any cool facts or tidbits that you unearthed during your research, but that did not make it into the final book?

I read a lot of new wave science fiction in my teens and have continued to dip into the genre ever since, so I feel I was already well versed on the subject. That said, doing this book exposed me to the sheer scale and diversity of new wave of science fiction. Not just in terms of stories, plot lines and speculative sub genres but the influence that came to bear on the new wave, everything from the Beats, modernism, New Journalism, William Burroughs, to psychedelics and eastern spirituality. Connected to this, it is fascinating how immersed in the counterculture a lot of the authors were and how this impacted their writing. Themes of mental disintegration, mass media saturation, sex, drugs, rock and roll, the occult, feminism, and anti-authoritarianism, not only influenced how writers told stories but manifested in books featuring experimental and bizarre prose and, of course, the cover art.

I was also really interested by how the new wave played out in terms of changing conceptions of sexual identity and joy. This is obviously related to factors such as the counterculture and the breakdown of strict post war censorship systems in the 1960s. But also important was technological innovation such as the uptake of offset printing which facilitated cheaper production and greater design flexibility, making it commercially viable for small publishers to undertake potentially risky publications, including those with heavily sexualised and pornographic content.

SFF-related non-fiction is somewhat sidelined by the big genre awards, since the Nebulas have no non-fiction category and the Best Related Work Hugo category has become something of a grab bag of anything that doesn’t fit elsewhere. So why do you think SFF-related non-fiction is important?

Not surprisingly, I think that non-fiction studies of book culture in general – not just science fiction – are vital. Hence why I have coedited three related volumes on the subject and a book an academic book on Australia pulp publishing in the works. I find authorial histories really interesting. Ditto, research on the marketing, distribution, and other political and economic aspects of the production of texts. Having a knowledge of these things really fleshes out and breathes additional life into ones appreciation of book culture and its social, economic and cultural links.

Where can people buy your book?

Depending on where your readers are, Dangerous Visions and New Worlds is stocked by a number of bookshops. In the US, the book is available through our publisher, PM Press here: https://www.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1201. Readers in the UK and Europe can get the book through PM’s British site here: https://pmpress.org.uk/product/dangerous-visions-and-new-worlds/

Of course, it is also available on all the usual sites, Amazon, Book depository, etc.

Where can people find you?

I have a long running website called Pulp Curry.

You can find me on Twitter at @Pulpcurry and Instagram as @pulpcurry.

Thank you, Andrew, for stopping by and answering my questions.

About Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction 1950 to 1985:

Much has been written about the “long Sixties,” the era of the late 1950s through the early 1970s. It was a period of major social change, most graphically illustrated by the emergence of liberatory and resistance movements focused on inequalities of class, race, gender, sexuality, and beyond, whose challenge represented a major shock to the political and social status quo. With its focus on speculation, alternate worlds and the future, science fiction became an ideal vessel for this upsurge of radical protest.

Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985 details, celebrates, and evaluates how science fiction novels and authors depicted, interacted with, and were inspired by these cultural and political movements in America and Great Britain. It starts with progressive authors who rose to prominence in the conservative 1950s, challenging the so-called Golden Age of science fiction and its linear narratives of technological breakthroughs and space-conquering male heroes. The book then moves through the 1960s, when writers, including those in what has been termed the New Wave, shattered existing writing conventions and incorporated contemporary themes such as modern mass media culture, corporate control, growing state surveillance, the Vietnam War, and rising currents of counterculture, ecological awareness, feminism, sexual liberation, and Black Power. The 1970s, when the genre reflected the end of various dreams of the long Sixties and the faltering of the postwar boom, is also explored along with the first half of the 1980s, which gave rise to new subgenres, such as cyberpunk.

Dangerous Visions and New Worlds contains over twenty chapters written by contemporary authors and critics, and hundreds of full-color cover images, including thirteen thematically organised cover selections. New perspectives on key novels and authors, such as Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin, Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, John Wyndham, Samuel Delany, J.G. Ballard, John Brunner, Judith Merril, Barry Malzberg, Joanna Russ, and many others are presented alongside excavations of topics, works, and writers who have been largely forgotten or undeservedly ignored.

About the Editors:

Andrew Nette is a writer of fiction and nonfiction based in Melbourne, Australia. He is the coeditor of Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and Real Cool Cats: Pulp Fiction and Youth Culture, 1950 to 1980 (2017) and Sticking it to the Man: Revolution and Counterculture in Pulp and Popular Fiction, 1956 to 1980 (2019), as well as the author of a monograph on Norman Jewison’s 1975 dystopian science fiction film Rollerball, published by the independent film and media studies publisher Auteur in 2018. His contributed reviews and nonfiction to the Los Angeles Review of Books, Sight and Sound, Australian Book Review, the British Film Institute, and Australian Centre for the Moving Image. He has written two novels, Ghost Money (2012), a crime story set in Cambodia in the mid-90s, and Gunshine State (2016), and his short fiction has appeared in numerous print and online publications.

Iain McIntyre is a Melbourne-based author, musician, and community radio broadcaster who has written a variety of books on activism, history, and music. Previous publications include Sticking It to the Man: Revolution and Counterculture in Pulp and Popular Fiction, 1956 to 1980 (2019); On the Fly! Hobo Literature and Songs, 1879–1941 (2018); Girl Gangs, Biker Boys and Real Cool Cats: Pulp Fiction and Youth Culture, 1950 to 1980 (2017); How to Make Trouble and Influence People: Pranks, Protest, Graffiti & Political Mischief-Making from across Australia (2013); Wild About You: The Sixties Beat Explosion in Australia and New Zealand (2010); and Tomorrow Is Today: Australia in the Psychedelic Era, 1966–70 (2006).

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This is the last non-fiction spotlight for a 2021 book. But will you publish a work of SFF-related longform non-fiction in 2022 and want it featured? Contact me or leave a comment.

Fancast Spotlight: Rogues in the House

Nominations for the 2022 Hugo Awards close on March 15, so here is another Fancast Spotlight for your consideration. For more about the Fanzine/Fancast Spotlight project, go here. You can also check out the other great fanzines and fancasts featured by clicking here.

Today’s featured fancast is Rogues in the House, an excellent podcast dedicated to all things sword and sorcery.

Therefore, I’m pleased to welcome Matt John of Rogues in the House to my blog today.

Tell us about your podcast or channel.

Rogues in the House, as the title may suggest, is a sword-and-sorcery focused podcast. We explore everything from Conan the Cimmerian to Elric of Melnibone, and we aren’t afraid to dive into adjacent genres and topics. Masters of the Universe, Willow, and the Witcher tend to simmer in our soup as well.

We call ourselves half-baked experts and usually place fun in front of fidelity, though we do do our homework.

Who are the people behind your podcast or channel?

Our little show started with myself (Matt), Logan, and Alex. We’ve since added Deane to the roster. What other Rogues may join us in the future? We shall see.

Why did you decide to start your podcast or channel?

Logan, Alex, and I (Matt) met via Conan Gaming Group (a drama-free, low toxicity Facebook group I admin). From there, we began playing’ Conan Exiles together (On Playstation), and we soon realized we had a gift for gab. After a test-run episode, we decided we were entertaining enough to carry on. And here we are, a few years later.

What format do you use for your podcast or channel and why did you choose this format?

While we have done live videos in the past, we prefer the audio-only approach. Editing video is an extra layer of complexity, and it may be something we do someday, but we mostly like to talk. You don’t need to see our mugs.

The fan categories at the Hugos were there at the very beginning, but they are also the categories which consistently gets the lowest number of votes and nominations. So why do you think fanzines, fancasts and other fan projects are important?

It’s strange, isn’t it? Ultimately, all of these projects are created by imaginative human beings–dreamers, dare I say? Those who create under the banner of large publishers did not always create under such banners. Sure, there’s a learning curve, but every expert begins as an amateur, right? Fortunately, social media has made promotion of indy material more feasible. It also allows for individuals to come together in supportive communities of the like-minded. Conan Gaming Group on Facebook and the Whetstone Discord channel are two highly recommended haunts. We keep them free of scum and villainy. But I’m definitely digressing.

As a writer and game designer, I’ve worked for small and large publishers and in most cases I find scant difference between the quality of the output. My team of freelance designers for the Monolith Conan board game have, for years, created excellent ‘fan’ content, which does not get the same attention as official releases. This is particularly baffling since those who create these ‘fan’ projects are, in fact,  the same people who create the official ones. If I had to guess I’d say it comes to stigma. Indy or small projects aren’t always given the benefit of the doubt, but in my experience they damn-well should.

In the past twenty years, fanzines have increasingly moved online and fancasts have sprung up. What do you think the future of fan media looks like?

That’s a great question. My optimistic side says the future is bright for indy/fan content creators. Really, what’s stopping us? It comes down to marketing and stoking the interest of your audience. When I think of the niche genre of sword-and-sorcery, I get a good feeling about these things. It’s a smaller fandom than, say, epic fantasy or steampunk or My Little Pony, but it looks like we’re starting to find each other and coalesce as a community. And that’s without even mentioning all the smaller presses responsible for such great (and surviving) pubs such as Tales From the Magician’s Skull, Weirdbook, and Whetstone.

“It’s an older (redacted) genre, sir, but it checks out.”

The four fan categories of the Hugos (best fanzine, fan writer, fan artist and fancast) tend to get less attention than the fiction and dramatic presentation categories. Are there any awesome fanzines, fancasts, fan writers and fan artists you’d like to recommend?

Oh, boy. I’m sure there are a lot of names I could conjure. For podcasts, I’m a HUGE fan of Perfect Organism: The Alien Saga Podcast. The Cromcast is also great. For zines I recommend Whetstone. It’s online, it’s free, it’s sword-and-sorcery, and it’s excellent. Logan and I both have stories appearing there [they published Cora as well]. And–OH MY GOD–check out Tales From the Magician’s Skull. Goodman Games and Howard Andrew Jones are killing it. Not sure TFTMS classifies as ‘fan’, but you need to behold the beauty of that magazine.

[Both Tales From the Magician’s Skull and Whetstone are actually semiprozines according to the Hugo rules. They’re still very good and well worth checking out.]

We’ll actually have a Rogues in the House anthology coming out in the near(ish) future. Inside you’ll find both established authors and newcomers [including a story by Cora]. We’re excited about it but need to take the time to do a great job. We already have a tiny little sampler volume 1 out there (Amazon)that includes work from Logan, Alex, and me.

Where can people find you?

Podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/show/56vfPymYqV2qV9MZe7qDP7
https://anchor.fm/rogues-in-the-house

Email: roguesinthehousecast@gmail.com

Instagram: @roguesinthehouse

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoguesintheHouse

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rogues_podcast

Thank you, Matt, for stopping by and answering my questions.

Do check out Rogues in the House, cause it’s an excellent podcast and one of my personal favourites.

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Do you have a Hugo eligible fanzine/-site or fancast or a semiprozine and want it featured? Contact me or leave a comment.

Star Trek Picard does “Penance”

With the latest episode of Star Trek Discovery out of the way, here’s my take on the second episode of season 2 of Star Trek Picard. For my take on previous episodes and seasons, go here.

Warning: Spoilers below the cut!

When we last saw Jean-Luc Picard and his friends, Picard had just triggered the self-destruct mechanism of the Stargazer to prevent it as well as much of Starfleet from being assimilated by the Borg. Picard survived the destruction of the Stargazer, only to wake up at Chateau Picard in France again, only that things have changed. His com badge and uniform are different, his Romulan housekeeper, friend and maybe more Laris is nowhere to be found and he has an android servant named Harvey. And as if all that wasn’t bad enough, Q pops up to taunt Picard.

This episode continues where episode 1 left off, with Q taunting Picard. We also get the zoom in on Chateau Picard once again, only that Earth is protected by some kind of forcefield now. Q and Picard spent almost ten minutes sparring, with Q dropping cryptic hints about Picard needing to do penance and atone for some unnamed sin, while Picard both realises that Q seems more unhinged than ever and becomes increasingly frustrated with – quote – Q’s “bullshit”. Since Picard runs on the Paramount Plus streaming service and not US network TV, Picard can actually swear at Q now.

The confrontation between Picard and Q is a so much fun that you barely notice that Q doesn’t really say very much about what’s going on, probably because he’s too busy trading insults with Picard and also because he’s Q and dropping cryptic statements is what Q does. At one point, Q tells Picard that he just waited for a big explosion (i.e. the Stargazer and half of Starfleet self-destructing) to find him, which is hilarious, because even if we confine it to the Star Trek universe, waiting for a big explosion could just as easily have brought Q to Kirk, Janeway, Sisko, Archer or Michael Burnham. If we expand it to other universes, waiting for a really big explosion may well have landed Q in the Star Wars or Marvel Cinematic Universe. But lucky for Q and unfortunate for Jean-Luc Picard, he hits the correct explosion and the correct person. The chemistry between Sir Patrick Stewart and John DeLancie is still as great as it ever was and the opening scene is a joy to watch. Tor.com reviewer Keith R.A. DeCandido clearly agrees with me.

From Q and Picard touring the Chateau and the vineyard, we glean that Earth experienced massive environmental devastation, hence the forcefield. The grapes have not been harvested (and frankly, the vines don’t look very healthy at all), but the record player is still there, only that now it plays Edith Piaf’s “Non, je ne regrette rien”, which is an interesting choice, considering that Q insists that Picard must do penance for something.

There still are Romulans working at the Chateau, only that these Romulans are slaves. Picard is horrified, but it gets even worse. For in this reality, Picard has a Lorca-style murder trophy room full of alien weapons and the literal skulls of his enemies. There’s a Ferengi, a Borg, the Klingon General Martok, the Cardassian Gul Dukat and Sarek of Vulcan, whom – as Q gleefully informs Jean-Luc – Picard personally beheaded in front of the Vulcan Science Academy while his wife and son (either Spock or – considering how xenophobic Earth is in this timeline, which would make a marriage between an Earthwoman and a Vulcan unlikely – Sybok) were watching. So Picard personally murdered such popular Star Trek characters as Martok, Gul Dukat and Sarek in this timeline and he’s also a terrible warlord and commander of the starship Woldrazer. Boo!

After having shown Picard the grisly trophy room, Q promptly vanishes, as is his way, leaving Picard to solve the puzzle of how on Earth did he end up in this unpleasant reality and how can he get back. Picard starts by questioning the android Harvey. He tries to locate Laris, only to learn that she and Zhaban were killed fighting to liberate Romulus (which apparently still exists in this reality). Even worse, it turns out that in this reality, Picard drinks strong black coffee, which causes him to note that this really must be Dante’s inferno. As someone who intensely dislikes black coffee, trust me, Jean-Luc, I sympathise.

Harvey informs Picard that the President expects him. “And why does the President summon me?” Picard asks. “But, sir, it’s Eradication Day”, Harvey informs him. Uh, now that doesn’t sound ominous at all.

The scene now switches to Seven waking up in the sort of blandly grey apartment that is sadly fashionable right now (the present day is the nadir of interior design in the past two centuries. Even the 1970s with their orange, brown and avocado were better). Seven is confused and calls for Raffi. Then she gets up, looks at herself in the mirror and finds her Borg implants gone. Just as alarming is the fact that there is a wedding ring on her finger.

This scene is very cleverly edited and shot, hiding the left side of Seven’s face, until she looks at herself in the mirror. And yes, there are moments where “character looks at themselves in the mirror” scenes are appropriate and this is one of them.

Seven barely has time to adjust to this new reality, before the husband who comes with the wedding ring (played by Jon Jon Briones, real life father of Isa Briones who plays Soji) shows up, uniformed goons in tow, to wish his dear Annika a happy Eradication Day and asks if she wants updates from the Vulcan front.

Seven realises that in this reality she – or rather her never Borg-assimilated alter-ego Annika Hansen – is the president of the Confederation, a xenophobic and imperialistic Earth that has conquered and subjugated much of the galaxy.

Now Star Trek has no shortage of dystopian fascist alternate realities. Indeed, io9 reviewer James Whitbrook calls “What if everything was a bit more fascist?” one of the favourite questions Star Trek has explored. Star Trek‘s flirt with fascist alternate realities goes all the way back to “Mirror, Mirror” back in 1967. We’ve revisited the mirror universe several times since, most recently in season 1 and season 3 of Star Trek Discovery. Though the reality where Picard and the gang have landed is very clearly not the mirror universe. It has a President rather than an Emperor for starters and the prevailing look is totalitarian black and grey rather than the glittery Flash Gordon look of the mirror universe in Discovery. Fun fact: The Nazis only went with brown, black and grey uniforms, because they could get the fabric cheaply. It’s not as if they actually liked the colours, though black and grey (and sometimes brown) since become the look of fascist dystopias everywhere.

Seven is quick to react to the appearance of this unwanted husband and declares that yes, she wants updates from the Vulcan front, but she does not want them from General Sisko (nice callback to Deep Space Nine there), but from someone who’s actually fighting on the front line, namely – Seven quickly flips through the Starfleet database looking for a familiar face – from one Colonel Cristobal Rios.

Rios, meanwhile, has problems of his own, because when he comes to, he’s back aboard La Sirena and in the middle of a space dogfight over Vulcan as it’s still called at this point in the timeline (Ni’Var is a later development). Rios is hailed by the captain of another ship, who informs him that his cunning plan to break the Vulcan resistance is working. Rios responds with a delightfully confused look. “Wait a minute, we’re shooting at Vulcans? Why?”

Before Rios can give away that he is not who everybody thinks he is, he is interrupted by a call from the President. He quickly recognises Seven’s voice and the two compare notes. Seven also officially order Rios back to Earth, so they can figure out what’s going on and how to get out of this situation.

The scene now shifts to Okinawa – a place singled out as a hotbed of terrorist activity in the briefing Seven was given earlier – where a group of Romulan resistance fighters are just blowing up some skyscrapers. A very confused Elnor is there – well, more confused than usual – and promptly finds himself hugged by a young female Romulan (or maybe she’s Vulcan). “It worked, it worked”, the young woman exclaims and is about to kiss Elnor, when the police arrives and shoots her. Yes, Elnor has a girlfriend in this reality. Though she sadly gets killed before Elnor can get as much as a kiss, let alone more.

Elnor runs away, but is quickly surrounded by police officers and about to be shot. Luckily, a woman in a black hooded coat shows up and orders that she wants this one taken alive, because she wants to know what he knows. The woman sweeps back the hood of her long black coat and it’s Raffi, who is apparently chief of the Confederation police now.  She takes Elnor, who professes with absolute Candor that he knows nothing, into custody. Honestly, Elnor really needs to know when to keep his mouth shut. Though the moment where Elnor hugs Raffi is very sweet and reminds us that Elnor is still very much a kid, though a kid who’s very deadly with a sword.

Seven and her terrible husband (who never gets a name or at least I didn’t catch it) have meanwhile arrived in San Francisco at the Confederation Headquarters for the Eradication Day celebrations, where Seven tricks her husband into explaining what exactly Eradication Day is to her and audience. Basically, Eradication Day is a holiday where the Confederation celebrates its subjugation of alien species by publicly executing their leaders. And the subject of this day’s public execution promises to be particularly fascinating, since it marks the victory over one of the most dangerous foes humanity has ever faced. Luckily, Dr. Jurati has been preparing this dangerous foe by rendering it perfectly harmless and readying them for execution.

At the mention of Dr. Agnes Jurati, Seven’s ears prick up and she demands to speak to her. At this moment we cut to Agnes waking up in a lab, while a grumpy AI cartoon cat notes that public executions are barbaric in the voice of Patton Oswalt. Yes, they got Patton Oswalt to voice a cartoon cat. Agnes questions the cat and learns that she programmed him, but before she can find out anything else, Seven and her shitty husband arrive. Agnes almost blows everybody’s cover by calling Seven “Seven” rather than Annika or Madame President. Luckily, Seven manages to save the situation and Agnes at least doesn’t make things worse in spite of her babbling.

Seven’s shitty husband demands to see “the specimen”, so Agnes opens a stasis tube and out pops none other than the Borg Queen (now played by Annie Wersching, the third actress to play this role). The Borg Queen is babbling, clearly insane because the rest of the Borg have already been eradiated and she’s the only one left. She recognises Seven as someone once assimilated and then escaped. The Borg Queen also notes that time is broken. There’s some very nice acting here by from Jerri Ryan, who visibly recoils at the sight of the Borg Queen, and Annie Wersching (who actually made her screen debut as a guest star in an episode of Star Trek Enterprise twenty years ago), who wonderfully oscillates between batshit insane and calculating.

Meanwhile, Picard arrives at Confederation Headquarters to see President Hansen (not sure if he’s made the connection yet, since Picard may not be aware of Seven’s pre-assimilation name) and just chances to spot Raffi and the arrested Elnor. He interrupts his guide and declares that he absolutely needs to speak to both of them. Luckily, Elnor does not blow the situation with absolute candour, so Picard, Raffi and Elnor go to see Seven.

Seven’s shitty husband is horrified that Picard would bring a Romulan terrorist within striking distance of the President, but Picard and Raffi point out that Elnor has very important information about a planned attack, which the President needs to hear at once. Seven finds a pretext to send her shitty husband away and Raffi of course has to needle her about the fact that while Seven has commitment issues in our timeline, she got married to a terrible guy in this one.

Then everybody goes to see Agnes and the Borg Queen. The Borg Queen confirms some of Q’s cryptic hints, namely that this is not an alternate universe, but the Star Trek prime universe, only that the timeline was tampered with by Q. Of course, every jonbar point creates an alternate timeline, so Picard and friends theoretically are in an alternate universe, albeit one caused by Q tampering with the timeline.

The Borg Queen can even pinpoint the place where this tampering occurred, namely in Los Angeles in the year 2024.   The Borg Queen also informs them that there’s a Watcher there and that they must find that Watcher. So that’s where the team must go next to fix the broken timeline.

Now Star Trek has frequently traveled back into the present day, all the way back to “Tomorrow is Yesterday” in 1967 (which was my friend Annette’s very favourite Star Trek episode back in the day) and “Assignment Earth” in 1968. It usually makes for fun and cheap episodes, since no special sets are needed and watching the various Starfleet officers interacting with the present day is always fun, though rarely more so than in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

The said, 2024 is only two years away and setting anything science fictional that close to the future always means that it will become outdated very quickly. James Whitbrook points out at io9 that the reason the writers chose 2024 is likely because the so-called “Bell riots”, referenced as an important historical event in the Deep Space Nine episode “Past Tense” happen in 2024. Besides, Star Trek‘s fictional history has been overtaken by real world history before – or did you notice any eugenics wars in the 1990s? But while Star Trek writers in 1967 can be forgiven for not expecting that their show would still be watched, let alone generating spin-offs thirty years later, Deep Space Nine writers in 1994 might resasonably have assumed that there would still be some kind of Star Trek around in 2024.

But for now, the problem is getting to 2024. The Confederation does not appear to have time travel technology, so the team goes through other known time travel methods and arrives at the slingshot method first used in “Tomorrow is Yesterday”. However, they are still missing two crucial ingredients. The first, a spaceship, is no problem, because Rios is on his way with the La Sirena. The second, someone who can do the necessary calculations, is more of a problem, for while the Enterprise had Spock, no one of this team, not even Agnes, is capable of doing the calculations. Luckily, they have a Borg Queen at hand, who is well capable of doing the calculations and who can be persuaded to help, because as much as she may dislike Picard and Seven, she still prefers the prime timeline to one where the Borg have already been eradicated and she’s next. So the Borg Queen agrees to help.

As if on cue, Rios arrives and proceeds to beam everybody aboard La Sirena. Only that this does not work, because the Confederation headquarters has blocked all transporters for security reasons because of the upcoming Eradication Day celebrations. Communications drop out a moment after, as Seven’s shitty husband appears to inform Seven and Picard that it’s time for the grand Eradication Day ceremony. Picard manages to tell Agnes to restore communications and Raffi to deal with the transporter block before he and Seven go to attend a stereotypical fascist rally, complete with flags, uniformed thugs and crowds baying for blood.

Now we get a lengthy – almost too lengthy scene – of the fascist rally intercut with Agnes trying to restore communications, while babbling about her relationship issues with Rios, and Raffi trying to disable the transporter block. In order to do this, Raffi drags Elnor to the security center and claims that she captured him uploading a virus into the system, which she must now neutralise. Meanwhile, the assembled security goons can have some fun beating up Elnor, which Raffi accesses the computer to disable the block. Poor Elnor, of course, cannot fight back, until Raffi gives him the sign that she’s done. Then Elnor cuts loose, quite literally. He doesn’t even ask the goons to “choose to live”, probably because he knows they won’t.

Meanwhile, we get treated to a lengthy fascist rally which begins with Seven holding a speech. Then Picard appears, which whips the crowd into even more of a frenzy, and the Borg Queen is brought on stage. Picard waves to the crowd, takes out a gun with great flourish, aims at the Borg Queen, all the while desperate to stall until Rios can beam everybody out.

Now fascist rallies tend to be lengthy and boring. I watched Triumph of the Will at university and after a while, we started fast-forwarding through the endless speeches of little remembered second tier Nazi officials, because they were just that boring, and besides we were watching the thing for the cinematography, not to listen to second and third tier Nazis droning on.

However, Star Trek Picard is not Triumph of the Will. We didn’t need to listen to that much of Seven’s speech and we didn’t need to see quite so many cuts to the crowd baying for blood. Of course, we know that Seven and Picard are stalling, but they don’t need to stall the audience. Also, isn’t shooting the Borg Queen a bit anti-climactic for a public execution? At any rate, I would have expected something more dramatic.

Eventually, even Seven’s shitty husband catches on that something is wrong and orders the armed goons to shoot the Borg Queen, since Picard isn’t going to do it. This leads to a shoot-out with the armed goons and then Agnes finally gets the transporter signals fixed and Rios beams everybody out.

They flee, the Confederation fleet in hor pursuit, while Agnes plugs the Borg Queen into La Sirena over Rios’ objections. The Borg Queen, meanwhile, reacts to being plugged into a system greater than herself with positively orgasmic joy.

Unfortunately, before the crew can execute the time slingshot manoeuvre, Seven’s shitty husband beams aboard La Sirena with armed goons, shoots Elnor and proceeds to arrest everybody, crackling with glee at the prospect of having the great General Jean-Luc Picard executed for treason. Cue credits.

This episode treads well-trodden Star Trek ground. Q sparring with Picard, a fascist alternate reality where our heroes are all terrible people, time travel to fix a problem with the timeline, there’s nothing here we haven’t seen before in Star Trek umpteen times.  Nonetheless, you barely notice while watching the episode, because the cast are clearly having a ball and the whole thing is just so much fun.

Tor.com reviewer Keith R.A. DeCandido points out that the fact that Q made sure that only the people in the opening credits remember the original timeline makes no real sense, because even though they are all connected to Jean-Luc Picard, there are people who are a lot closer to Picard and might help such as Riker, Troi, Worf, Geordi, Dr. Crusher, etc… Of course, everybody who’s in the opening credits was also present when the Stargazer self-destructed, but then there were a lot of other people on the bridge as well and they apparently don’t remember. The Borg Queen does remember, but that’s because she is the Borg Queen, not because she was on the bridge of the Stargazer (if it is indeed the same Borg Queen) when it exploded. Also, it’s mightily convenient that pretty much everybody is in an influential and useful position in the alternate world. Even getting a ship, let alone the Borg Queen would have been much more difficult, if the crew had ended up being shoemakers, low level security guards, waiters, etc….

But since the episode was so much fun, I have no problem suspending my disbelief. Star Trek Discovery definitely had the better episode this week, but while Star Trek Discovery‘s fourth season was fairly weak and lacks a sense of urgency in spite of our heroes tackling a galaxy-shaking, planet-eating threat, season 2 of Star Trek Picard has been a blast so far.

I guess next episode will see the team going back in time – and I also really hope that either Raffi or Seven herself lets Seven’s shitty husband know that they’ve been sleeping with each other and that it was so much better than anything Seven’s shitty husband could come up with.

Meanwhile, Soji is missing in action, after only having a very brief appearance last week. I suspect she’ll be back, though unlike everybody else she was not aboard the Stargazer or Excelsior, when they self-destructed.

Star Trek Discovery finally meets “Species 10-C”

It’s the penultimate episode of season 4 of Star Trek Discovery. Reviews of previous seasons and episodes may be found here.

Warning: Spoilers under the cut!

When we last saw the Discovery and her valiant crew, they had explored what they assume to be the original home planet of Species 10-C and found out that Species 10-C transmits emotions via pheromones which are basically psychedelic dust. So now Discovery is finally ready to initiate first contact and communications with Species 10-C.

Of course, they must get through the hyperfield protecting Species 10-C first. And since Discovery has no way through, they decide to politely knock. This “knock” involves sending a couple of DOT robots to inject the pheromone that means “peacefulness” into the hyperfield. This ploy works spectacularly well, since the hyperfield promptly gobbles up first the DOTs and then Discovery.

While all this is going on, Zora, the Discovery‘s newly sentient computer, realises that something is off, even though her system diagnostics show that everything is functioning normally. Zora has no idea what the problem is, but the viewer does.

Because as we saw last episode, Book’s ship is attached to Discovery, cloaked and hidden from Discovery‘s sensors and Zora, because Tarka whipped up a patch and installed it in Discovery‘s engineering section. Unfortunately, he was caught red-handed by Jet Reno and took her hostage.

However, once the hyperfield of Species 10-C gobbles up Discovery and Book’s ship along with it, everybody has the same problem, because they are trapped in an impermeable bubble and Species 10-C has deactivated all shields and weapons, while leaving the life support systems intact, all of which suggests that they are not deliberately hostile. Not that Tarka cares.

Most of the rest of the episode is given over to the attempts to communicate with Species 10-C. Discovery tries broadcasting a prepared message on all frequences, but Species 10-C does not respond, probably because they don’t recognise the message as a message.

The next attempt at communication is to offer a gift. And since the only thing the Discovery crew knows Species 10-C wants is boronite, they beam some boronite onto the edge of the bubble. This does the trick, because a member of Species 10-C (who really are the Medusa-like floating jellyfish whose remains we saw last episode) appears outside the Discovery‘s shuttle bay.

Michael, Saru, Rillak, T’Rina, Ndoye and Dr. Hirai go to meet the 10-C and try to communicate with it. The random Ferengi is nowhere to be seen, which begets the question what the purpose of that character even is, if he never does or says anything.

The 10-C sends the first contact team a bunch of mixed pheromone dust and flashes some lights at them. Unfortunately, the universal translator can’t make heads nor tails of either. Dr. Hirai suggests flashing the lights back to show the 10-C that Discovery got the message, but that does not do the trick. The 10-C just flashes the same lights pattern again.

After some debating, Saru suggests calling in three members of the bridge crew – Detmer, Rhys and Nielsen – to get a new perspective.  Eventually, they figure out that the light pattern is a sequence telling them how to decode the pheromones mix. Dr. Hirai decodes the message and realises it’s a set of mathematical equations, math being used as a kind of universal language here similar to the real world Lincos, which is even namechecked by Dr. Hirai. Discovery sends back a message that they understand, so the 10-C send a bubble like capsule filled with breathable air to continue communications.

Michael, Saru as well as Presidents Rillak and T’Rina board the capsule. Dr. Hirai is left behind to his infinite disappointment, because his expertise is needed on Discovery should the team not return. General Ndoye also opts to stay behind, because unbeknownst to everybody else, she’s feeding information – and more – to Book and Tarka.

The inside of the capsule turns out to be a replica of the Discovery‘s bridge – the 10-C clearly tried to create an environment in which the team would be comfortable. Also inside the capsule is a replica of Tarka’s isolynium weapon (isolynium is element 178, we learn – in the real world, we’re up to element 118 Oganesson). This freaks out the team, since isolynium is hugely dangerous. But then they decode the message that comes with it and realise that the 10-C are merely curious as to why their visitors (or rather Tarka, but the 10-C have no way of knowing that) shut down the DMA (represented by a mathematical equation describing its distinctive shape).

The team replies that the DMA has caused them great pain and terror, sending out the mathematical equation that represents the DMA, the pain and terror pheromone and the composition of the air inside the capsule and aboard Discovery as a way of saying “us”.  The 10-C reply with the symbol for “greater than” and the sadness pheromone. So in short, they apologise for the pain and trouble caused.

The scenes of the first contact team trying to communicate with the 10-C are incredibly entertaining and made my linguist heart leap with joy, especially since the linguistic principles behind the whole thing are sound – even if they involve psychedelic pheromone dust. The actors also convey the sheer geeky joy of learning to communicate with a very different lifeform and even though it’s a blinking tentacly mass on a viewscreen, I suspect the 10-C feels the same. After all, the 10-C are very isolated outside our galaxy and probably don’t get a lot of visitors. In fact, they may have had no idea that there is other sentient life at all and are clearly delighted to have found some.

Tor.com reviewer Keith R.A. DeCandido and io9 reviewer James Whitbrook both agree with me that the attempts of the first contact team to communicate with Species 10-C are the best part of this episode and probably the whole season, because this is exactly the sort of stuff – brilliant, geeky people using science rather than guns to solve a problem – that Star Trek fans crave.  “Species 10-C” is the first thing I put in the Best Dramatic Presentation Short tab of my personal Hugo longlist for 2022, because the first contact bits are just that good.

Unfortunately, the monomania and general arseholishness of Ruon Tarka has to throw a monkey wrench into the proceeedings. Tarka still wants to snatch the DMA power source to get back to his friend turned lover Oros. He also has a cunning plan for Book’s ship to break out of the 10-C’s bubble – a plan which requires General Ndoye to sabotage Discovery‘s systems. Ndoye is initially not happy with this – she signed up to pass on information, not engage in sabotage (and that, kids, is why you never let yourself be recruited as a spy for any group or power) – be she eventually goes along with the plan, because the communication attempts are taking too long for her.

Meanwhile, Jet Reno sees only too clearly that both Book and Tarka are motivated by pain and that Tarka is also – to quote Jet – “a few cherries shy of a sundae”. Jet also gets a glimpse at Tarka’s calculations and realises that snatching the DMA power source will cause the hyperfield to collapse, putting Discovery, Book’s ship and Species 10-C in deadly danger. Worse, the subspace rift this will cause will endager Earth and Ni’Var just as much as the DMA itself would. So in short, Tarka’s plan is a huge “no win, everybody dies” scenario.

Jet tells Book about this and encourages him to confront Tarka about it. “The equations will mean nothing to you”, she says, “But his face will tell the story.” So Book confronts Tarka and Tarka basically admits that Jet is right. However, the imposion of the hyperfield will not be so bad, because Book’s ship can get away via its spore drive as can Discovery. The 10-C can probably get away as well, not that Book cares about them. As for Earth and Ni’Var, they’ll have a month to evacuate everybody and surely that’s enough time.

Book has finally had enough of Tarka’s bullshit and attacks him. But Tarka has hacked Book’s ship – again – to project a forcefield around himself which repeals any attack on the attacker. Book is finally knocked out and Tarka locks him up behind a forcefield with Jet Reno.

Now it has been very obvious since Tarka first showed up that he’s a massive arsehole who cares for nothing and no one except himself and Oros. Never mind that Tarka has been lying to Book from the get-go and keeps lying to him as well as making unauthorised modifications to Book’s ship. Finally, Tarka’s brilliant plans inevitably backfire or otherwise don’t work out and threaten to get everybody killed. Hey, the first time we saw Tarka, he almost blew up the Discovery.

So in short, it’s absolutely obvious what Tarka is and why he can’t be trusted. Everybody else in the show and watching at home can see this, so why can’t Book? Why does Book keep trusting Tarka and does not just slug him in the jaw, considering the many times Tarka has lied to him, has modified his ship without his knowledge, put people’s lives at risk and has just generally been a massive arsehole?  And when Book finally realises what Tarka is – well after everybody else has realised this – it’s too late and Tarka locks him up, left alone to execute his plan that will get everybody killed.

Luckily, Jet Reno is smarter than this. She palmed a communicator chip and activates it via the conductive properties of the glycerin contained in the licorice she asks Book to replicate for her. However, Jet can’t get past the defences of Book’s ship, so she needs Book’s access codes, which he gives her, once he realises that Tarka is going to get everybody killed, so Jet manages to send a warning to Discovery.

At the same time, Zora and Dr. Culber have figured out that Zora’s mysterious feeling of something being off started shortly after the replicator malfunction, which Jet Reno repaired. Culber and Zora decide it might be helpful to ask Jet about that and head to engineering, where Jet is according to Zora’s sensors. Only that Jet is not there and Stamets hasn’t seen her all day long either. Eventually, Culber, Stamets and Adira find Jet’s com badge as well as the patch Tarka installed. They remove the patch and Zora detects Book’s ship attached to Discovery‘s hull. However, before anybody can do anything about that, Tarka launches his escape plan with the help of Ndoye and blasts out of the bubble.

This happens just as Species 10-C has basically apologised for causing the Discovery crew pain. Species 10-C is understandably not amused about Tarka blasting through their bubble and return the first contact team to Discovery and break off communications. So now the race is on to stop Tarka before he gets everybody killed and make it clear to Species 10-C that this arsehole does not speak for us. Cue credits.

All in all, this was a really good episode, the best of what has been a lacklustre season so far. The communication attempts with Species 10-C were a joy to watch. Unfortunately, Tarka’s arseholish behaviour not just cuts short that communication attempt, but also creates unnecessary drama in order to have a flashy, saved in the nick of time season finale. Because come on, we know they won’t destroy Earth, Ni’Var, the Discovery and Species 10-C, though Book’s ship and everybody on board are fair game. And I’m sad to say that Jet Reno, whom I adore, is the character I’d miss the most, if Book’s ship were to be destroyed. Because honestly, I don’t see how Book can remain a part of the crew and the show after what he has done. Yes, he’s grieving and in pain, but he also keeps working with Tarka in spite of all the shitty things Tarka has already done. A heroic death is probably the best Book can hope for. Which is a pity, because I enjoyed his character a whole lot back in season 3, before he became a meatball of pain and grief. As for Tarka, I honestly don’t care what happens to him. Ditto for Ndoye.

There are plenty of lovely character moments as well, whether it’s Michael and Saru trying primal scream therapy to the irritation of Grudge, Michael giving Saru relationship advice for dating Vulcans, Jet talking about the death of her wife and her time on the crashed Hiawatha, trying to keep the injured crew alive or Book explaining that Cleveland Booker is a name passed on from courier to courier in Dread Pirate Roberts fashion.

The fact that this episode is both very good and very good Star Trek only serves to highlight the fact how lacklustre this season has been so far. Particularly the second half of the season has moved at a glacial pace. Did we really need to spend two whole episodes chasing after Book and Tarka, only for Tarka to be a total arsehole and sabotage everything? Did we really need a whole episode to cross the Galactic Barrier, something which took five minutes the last few times we saw it done? Couldn’t we maybe have spent more time communicating with the 10-C?

This episode and the previous one do seem to hint at a return to form for Discovery after a largely lacklustre season. Let’s hope that the season finale continues this positive trend.

Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for March 2022

It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie and small press authors newly published this month, though some February books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Once again, we have new releases covering the whole broad spectrum of speculative fiction. This month, we have urban fantasy, epic fantasy, historical fantasy, fantasy romance, paranormal romance, paranormal mystery, science fantasy, space opera, military science fiction, science fiction anthologies, science fiction romance, dystopian romance, dystopian fiction, historical horror, vampires, werewolves, elves, mages, superheroes, arranged marriages, alien artefacts, space marines, space pirates, kidnapped princesses, crime-busting witches, crime-busting skeletons, resurrected giants and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a group blog run by Jessica Rydill and myself, which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things speculative fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

Resistance by Jay Aspen:

Would you risk everything for freedom?

Resource wars have wrecked most things from refineries to satellites. Danger stalks an uneasy peace.

It was the day Jac discovered how precarious her life had become.

Her love of nature and steadfast loyalty to her remote forest community no longer weaves the illusion of safety she has believed for so long. Driving damaged roads to a city she hasn’t seen for six years, Jac uncovers disturbing truths about the ruthless Avarit imperium controlling their lives.

And then… she has never met anyone like Raine, the mysterious and charismatic leader of the outlawed forest rangers. She offers her medic skills to the Resistance, caught between the Avarit military and the terrorist F2 gangs inflicting havoc on the city and Outlander families.

Maybe she will discover why her father was killed…

But would you risk everything for freedom?

Resistance is the first book in the Phoenix Enigma series, the dystopian romance epic from Jay Aspen.

Mage of Fools by Eugen Bacon:

In the dystopian world of Mafinga, Jasmin must contend with a dictator’s sorcerer to cleanse the socialist state of its deadly pollution.Mafinga’s malevolent king dislikes books and, together with his sorcerer Atari, has collapsed the environment to almost uninhabitable. The sun has killed all the able men, including Jasmin’s husband Godi. But Jasmin has Godi’s secret story machine that tells of a better world, far different from the wastelands of Mafinga. Jasmin’s crime for possessing the machine and its forbidden literature filled with subversive text is punishable by death. Fate grants a cruel reprieve in the service of a childless queen who claims Jasmin’s children as her own. Jasmin is powerless—until she discovers secrets behind the king and his sorcerer.

Causes of Death by K.T. Belt:

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

The members of Space Force Fleet Command are renowned for their battle-hardened professionalism…except for one ship—the men and women who crew the ISS Griffin. Yet these misfits, screw-ups, and mutineers are Carmen Grey’s only hope at locating and destroying an alien research base concealed aboard a freighter deep behind enemy lines.

The Clairvoyant can fly and read minds, but even she can’t imagine the harrowing secrets contained aboard the freighter, which may be the key to stopping a menace poised to sweep across the entire galaxy. She has only a number of days to find the alien ship before it is lost forever.

When the situation grows desperate and when surrounded by enemies, sometimes the most dangerous adversary is the friend watching your back. The clock’s ticking.

The Tea Shop Witch by Thora Bluestone:

A disappearing body.
Hidden magical talents.
An adorable mind-reading dog.
And small-town secrets . . .

Addie James’s life imploded when she discovered her fiancé cheating and got downsized from her biotech job. So she left Silicon Valley for the haven of her Aunt Kate’s tea and apothecary shop in the peaceful mountain town of Stargaze. There, she plans to take a deep breath and figure out what’s next.

But when Addie reaches Stargaze, there’s no trace of her aunt. Until one night, Aunt Kate’s lifeless body shows up and then disappears from the locked shop.

And that’s when things really start to get strange.

As Addie sets out to find the murderer, she begins to realize her own hidden magical talent is the key to discovering what really happened to her aunt . . . who might not be quite so dead after all.

The problem is, logical Addie isn’t sure she can accept the magical parts of herself that science can’t explain. Will she learn to embrace this new life that’s full of supernatural surprises and solve her aunt’s case?

Hometown Magic by Amy Boyles:

There is a killer on the loose in Peachwood, and that person is targeting witches. Worse, there’s no rhyme or reason to the murders. Clementine and Rufus are at a loss as to how to find the killer.

They need help, and a lot of it. So the entire witch and wizard community of Peachwood bands together to help. Only, those folks tend to whine a lot and they’re not sure if Rufus can be trusted. With time running out, and more attacks occurring, Clem and Rufus are forced to rely on witches who can’t be trusted for help.

Will they solve the mystery? Or will Clem and Rufus be the next victims?

The Elf Tangent by Lindsay Buroker:

As a princess in the impoverished kingdom of Delantria, it’s Aldari’s job to look pretty, speak little, and marry a prince.

Studying mathematics and writing papers on economic theory in an effort to fix her people’s financial woes? Her father has forbidden it. With war on the horizon, they must focus on the immediate threat.

Reluctantly, Aldari agrees to marry a prince in a neighboring kingdom to secure an alliance her people desperately need. All is going to plan until the handsome elven mercenary captain hired to guard her marriage caravan turns into her kidnapper. His people are in trouble, and he believes she has the knowledge to help.

But with an invasion force approaching Delantria, Aldari’s own people need her. She must do everything in her power to escape the elves and make it to her wedding in time.

Never mind that her kidnapper is witty, clever, and offers her a challenge that intrigues her mind even as his easy smile intrigues her heart…

Aldari can’t let herself develop feelings for him. To fall in love and walk away from her wedding would mean the end of her kingdom and everyone she cares about.

Throw Me a Bone by Rachel Ford:

I’m a magic-wielding Freak. My partner is a sentient skeleton. My fiancée is a broke lawyer. We’re Flint & Co Paranormal Investigations. And we’re going to change the world.

Being a Freak cost me my job with the police department, but that’s okay. My magic isn’t a curse, and I’m done running from it.

Which is good, because with my fiancée too busy saving the world one pro bono lawsuit at a time to take a case that actually pays and my partner losing his shirt on a Crypt Coin investment scam, it’s going to take some supernatural help just to keep the lights on.

Never mind track down the Southside Stalker, the notorious serial killer terrorizing New Boston and baffling law enforcement. Or the Pestilence, the mysterious vigilante targeting the undead. (Come on, universe! Throw a girl a bone, why don’t you?)

But, whatever: I’m ready. I can shoot fire from my freaking fingertips. I’ve got this.

I hope.

A Boy’s Hammer by Alex Grass:

20 years ago, Alan and his mother disappeared in a plane crash off the coast of Helsinki.

20 years later, a giant man with his whole body covered in tattoos appears amidst the rubble of an explosion at a Philadelphia oil refinery. He says that he’s Alan come back from the dead. Alan’s genius billionaire Aunt Mimi agrees.

And the first thing the reappeared giant has to do? Return to Helsinki, Finland.

All the while, strange happenings are underway in Philly:

A resurrected serial killer. Hidden (oc)cult conspiracies. Bizarre murders that defy the laws of space and time. Aunt Mimi in a miraculous trance state that grants her unseen visions of prophecy, and telekinetic powers.

The only person capable of unraveling this mystery? Detective Jefferson O’Brady, a dissolute alcoholic with a photographic memory…and absolutely no friends on the force.

Something’s going down in the City of Brotherly Love.

Tall Tales and Witchy Fails by Lily Harper Hart:

Splat.

That’s the sound Hali Waverly made when she hit the pavement after a drunken billionaire ran her over with his golf cart.

Cha-ching.

That’s the sound her bank account made when his handlers got him under control and swooped in to buy Hali off. The offer? Ownership of a tiki bar on the property of a busy resort and lodging in one of the villas on St. Pete Beach.

Now Hali is officially successful. That doesn’t mean her life is a beach of roses.

When private investigator Grayson “Gray” Hunter shows up asking questions about a missing woman, Hali is evasive. It’s not because she doesn’t want to help as much as she’s already running her own investigation with the help of her best friend, another witch, and a group of sirens who control the beach.

Gray and Hali lock horns as they continuously cross paths with one another, to the point where they agree to join forces … but only temporarily.

Evil is stalking the resort. Young women are going missing at every turn. It’s going to take a mixture of magic and might to save the day … and even that might not be enough.

St. Petersburg has a new crime-fighting team. Are they strong enough to survive the rising tide and take down a monster?

You’re about to find out.

Artifact by Joshua James:

FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS, SATURN HID AN ALIEN SECRET.
IN 2065, HUMANITY WILL FIND IT.

Lowell Carpenter is a disgraced Marine assigned to a remote US research station on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, where scientists have made an extraordinary discovery in the ocean below.

A special forces team, led by Lowell’s murderous former commanding officer, shows up to investigate. Almost immediately, everything begins to unravel.

Something beneath the surface has been activated.

Soon every space force on Earth — American, Chinese, Russian, and more — is converging on the tiny moon, ready to start a war.

But when a young archeologist with a knack for dead languages makes an amazing discovery of his own, Lowell realizes the stakes are higher than anyone could’ve imagined.

He soon has no choice but to disobey orders and fight soldiers he helped train as he races to stop an unimaginable chain reaction that threatens the entire solar system.

The countdown has begun…

Fang Deep in the Blues by Gaja J. Kos:

Ever had a fucked up wolf prowling beneath your skin?

I don’t know what peace is anymore. The quiet that comes after a brutal, bloody fight, though…

I’ll take that.

The pain helps drown out the loss, even if it doesn’t last long enough.

Or gives me what I need most.

When a Leshy ambushes me one night with an offer to come work for the Interspecies Crimes and Relations Agency, I want to laugh in his face. What good could a packless, beaten-down werewolf be?

I’m good in a ring with next to zero rules, but, fuck, I’m not agent material. I’m not even functional.

Just my godsdamned luck that it looks like I’m about to be out of options.

With his magic infestation acting up, tapping into Agency’s resources might be the only way to save my brother.

And I want to. More than fucking anything.

I’m just not sure if I can save myself.

Phantom in the Pines by R.K. Latch:

In 1933, Mississippi was in the throes of both the Great Depression and Prohibition. Dirt poor living was the way of life for most.

Some folks were forced to turn to any means possible to put food on the table. In Winchester County, the Lawtons turned to brewing moonshine to make ends meet. Though dangerous and illegal, their operation ran smoothly until John Kirkwood, a highly ambitious federal revenue agent, came to town.

Thanks to a dirty deal with a man with deep pockets, Kirkwood sees ridding Winchester County of its moonshiners as his way to fortune. Enlisting the aid of the corrupt local sheriff and a squad of bandits and goons, they launch a brutal rampage against local ‘shiners, piling up bodies along the way.

Henry Lawton works for his father in the family moonshining business. Henry also happens to be one of the best bootleggers around runs the dark country lanes delivering his daddy’s corn whiskey. At 19, he’s tough as nails and knows the backroads like the back of his hand.

Henry is also in love with a young woman. Iris is a beautiful, intelligent, artistic young woman that has captured Henry’s heart. Unfortunately, Iris is the granddaughter of Pearl Broussard, the woman the locals call the Witch of Winchester, which is a whole heap of trouble in itself. To make matters even worse, Henry is white. Iris is black. In 1930s Mississippi, such relationships are recipes for certain disaster.

When Kirkwood and his band of bandits strike close to home, seemingly wiping out the Lawtons in one horrendous night, it seems like all hope is lost. Pearl Broussard uses ancient magic known as the Arts Dark to summon a magical force known as the Spirit of the Trees with only one thing on its mind: vengeance.

The best weapon against the evil of man is the supernatural.

When the Spirit of the Trees walks free, evil runs in fear.

Sticks and Crones by Amanda M. Lee:

When Scout Randall’s past came into focus, she thought the hard part was behind her. She was wrong.

Now, not only is she dealing with a day-walking vampire who has all the strengths and none of the weaknesses associated with his kind, but there’s also a new bloodsucker in town … and this one is out for revenge.

When she killed the last master, Scout assumed that was it. She didn’t count on him having a brother. That brother is intent on making her pay, and he’s not shy about dropping bodies in an attempt to rattle her along the way.

Scout has a sister she can’t trust, a former partner she’s trying to bring back to the world of the living, and a crew that’s often steeped in drama. When you add the Winchesters from Hemlock Cove into the mix, she has her hands full. A new vampire gang is the last thing she needs, especially when people start falling under glamours and making targets of themselves.

Scout has magic and might on her side but the fight she’s facing could force her to make a choice she never thought she would have to make.

Darkness is taking over Hawthorne Hollow. Vampires are gathering evil forces to take over the town.

The fight is on.

Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Vol. 2 (1953 – 1957), edited by Gideon Marcus:

Women write science fiction. They always have.

Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1953-1957) offers, quite simply, some of the best science fiction ever written: 20 amazing pieces, most of which haven’t been reprinted for decades…but should have been. Whether you are a long-time fan or new to the genre, you are in for a treat.

Dig in. Enjoy these newly-rediscovered delicacies a few at a time…or binge them all at once!

“Kudos to the editing team for going beyond the usual selections for the classic authors featured herein. Most of these stories were entirely new to me. An exemplary assortment of SF from half a century ago, this anthology should appeal to people familiar with the period and people unfamiliar with it wishing to gain familiarity.”
~James Davis Nicoll on Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963)

The Assassins of Consequence by Marshall Ryan Maresca:

The autumn semester at the University of Maradaine is underway, and Veranix Calbert is doing his best to balance the new responsibilities of being a fourth-year magic student under the militant Altarn Initiatives, while still acting as The Thorn, the street vigilante deep in a personal war against the drug kingpin Willem Fenmere. With the help of his friends Kaiana, Delmin, and Mila, he’s been able to strike real blows against Fenmere’s empire.

But Veranix’s fight has earned him more enemies than just Fenmere, including the mad alchemist Cuse Jensett, the imposters Erno Don and Enzin Hence, and the Deadly Birds Magpie and Jackdaw. These five killers join forces to escape Quarrygate Prison and offer an alliance to Fenmere, bringing with them the perfect leverage to seal the deal: the Thorn’s identity.

Once Fenmere knows who Veranix is, he doesn’t just want to kill him, but to utterly shatter him. Calling on everyone in Maradaine holding a grudge against the Thorn, he unleashes a brutal hunt against Veranix. With old and new enemies all looking to claim the bounty on his head, stripped of the security of his secret identity, Veranix faces the most brutal fight of his all too-short life.

Shamrocked by Dakota Rebel:

I didn’t even want to come back here. I was perfectly happy living a perfectly non-magical life out in the real world. And yet, here I am. Back in Fayshore, surrounded by every painful memory I’ve spent the last six years trying to escape.

To add insult to injury, I think I might have just bumped into my soul mate.

I’d sworn that if and when I ever did settle down with someone, it would be a man who was normal. A man who wouldn’t make me feel inferior the way my family had all my life.

Except Lachlan doesn’t make me feel inferior. In fact, his completely chaotic nature actually makes me feel seen in a way that I’ve never experienced before. In a way that’s making me question absolutely everything about myself and my outlook on life.

Is he magically delicious enough for me to change my tune?

Fireball Teen by Rose Roach:

14 year old Levi lives on Florida’s space coast. When he was only 3, his father, a lead scientist in the space program, died in a lab accident.

The details of his mysterious death were covered up immediately…

Levi always felt different from others, and his obsessive thoughts complicate his life. But he’s smart, compassionate, and has normal teenage interests, like playing video games with his best friend.

One day, Levi buys an ancient, sacred book. Its words glow before his eyes and foretell events. Levi’s skin takes on the same glow; muscles he’s never had emerge.

He hides all this at first… but when the mysterious power overtakes him, the scrawny 14-year- old boy becomes a superhero takes down a gunman and a robber.

Under the scrutiny of the FBI and scientists his father knew, Levi is detained as a potential national security threat and isolated from his mother!

Can Levi figure out his powers?

Can he ever escape?

Hag of the Hills by J.T.T. Ryder:

“Nothing is unconquerable; even our gods can die.”

Brennus is destined from birth to become a warrior, despite his farmer’s life. But when the Hillmen kill his family and annihilate his clan, he now has the opportunity to avenge those who he loved.

Brennus must survive endless hordes of invading Hillmen and magic-wielding sidhe, aided by only a band of shifty mercenaries, and an ancient bronze sword.

Failure means his family and clan go unavenged. Victory will bring glory to Brennus and his ancestors.

Hag of the Hills is a heroic fantasy novel set in 200 B.C. on the Isle of Skye, steeped in Celtic mythology and culture.

Lured by the Lion by Aurora Springer:

Space opera and second chance romance with a moody hero and pirates.

After the death of her ailing father, Jocelyn Navarre Yazzie is free to roam the galaxy in the Star Condor, the spacecraft she inherited from her deceased husband. She embarks on a trip to deliver her father’s bequest to her aunt on a rural planet outside the civilized sectors. A chance encounter with the crippled Leonardo Horlis changes her future. Leo Horlis suffers from a debilitating malady and expects to live for less than a year. Josie is strongly attracted to him, yet she cannot hope to compete with his beautiful dead wife, whose portrait dominates his house and his memories. Sympathizing with his grief and illness, Josie offers to transport him in Star Condor to the top medical center of the ultracivilized inner planets. Their attraction intensifies in the cramped quarters of her ship. But, Leo has a dangerous secret that threatens to terminate their voyage and their lives. Can Josie and Leo escape the perils and vanquish the ghosts of their past to find happiness together?

Beyond the Eyes of Mars by Glynn Stewart:

Beyond the borders of the Protectorate
Beyond the eyes of the Royal Martian Navy
Beyond the reach of the Mage-Queen
Innocents cry out for help—and Mars will answer!

When the Royal Martian Navy moved against reports of piracy in the Fringe Systems, the last thing Mage-Commander Roslyn Chambers expected was to find was a malignant remnant of the defeated Republic of Faith and Reason.

Now the Royal Martian Navy knows their enemy and their Mage-Queen has charged them to bring the First Legion, conquerors of the hidden colonies beyond the Fringe, to justice. The Legion knows the RMN’s tricks, though, and has cleverly concealed their tracks.

As Chambers and the spy Kelly Lamonte sweep distant stars for the trail of their enemies, the fleets of Mars gather behind them—but the fate of millions may lie in the hands of a woman none of them have ever met.

A woman the Republic already killed.

Some Comments on the 2021 Nebula Finalists

, again very close to the Hugo nomination deadline, though not quite as close as last year.

So let’s take a look at the individual categories:

Best Novel

None of the 2021 Nebula finalists for Best Novel are entirely unexpected, but they’re also not entirely expected. But then it seems to me as as 2021 had fewer obvious standout SFF novels – the ones everybody talks about – as 2019 and 2020, both of which were extremely strong years for longform SFF.

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark is a novel that’s also on my personal Hugo longlist (I haven’t finalised my nominations yet) and I’m glad to see it recognised here.

I pleasantly surprised to see A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark nominated for the 2021 Nebula Award, since I have been enjoying Clark’s alternate Cairo stories a whole lot. This one is also on my personal Hugo longlist.

Machinehood by S.B. Divya got a lot of buzz, when it came out early last year. I haven’t read it yet, though I’m looking forward to doing so.

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine is a sequel to the 2020 Hugo winner A Memory Called Empire and probably the most obvious finalist in this category. It’s also a great book.

Finally, Plague Birds by Jason Sanford is another very pleasant surprise on this ballot, since it got less attention than the other novels, probably due to being published by a small press, Apex Books. I’m also really happy for Jason, who’s one of the hardest working people in SFF. Plague Birds is a great novel as well, which hits a lot of my personal buttons.

Diversity count: 3 women, 2 men, 3 writers of colour

Best Novella

This category is a mix of the expected and the unexpected.

Tor.com makes another strong showing with four of seven nominees. Neither Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard (which is also on my Hugo ballot in this category) and A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers are a big surprised, since both are fine stories by popular and well regarded authors.

The other two Tor.com novellas, Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee Ogden and Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn are more of a surprise, since I did not see a lot of buzz for either of them. I haven’t read either, though they both sound interesting. Sun Daughters, Sea Daughters is an SF-nal retelling of The Little Mermaid, continuing both the trend for fairytale retellings and also for fairytale retellings to move further away from the originals than the first wave did. Flowers for the Sea, meanwhile, continues the trend of horror fiction winning nominations in the Hugos and Nebulas, which have traditionally been not all that open to horror.

The small press Neon Hemlock represented in this category with two novellas, And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed and The Necessity of Stars by E. Catherine Tobler, which makes me happy, because Neon Hemlock does good work and was the target of a vicious harassment campaign last year. I haven’t read either novella, though both seem to be dystopian (as is Flowers for the Sea), so we have another trend here.

I’m afraid that “The Giants of the Violet Sea” by Eugenia Triantafyllou passed me by, when it was published in Uncanny last September, probably because I was busy with other things at the time. However, Eugenia Triantafyllou is certainly a name to watch out for as well as one of my TOC mates in the upcoming Volume 7 of The Long List Anthology.

There’s also a note that Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells received enough nominations to make the ballot, but that Martha Wells graciously decline, declaring that Murderbot has already gotten so much love and acclaim that she’d rather open the floor to other voice. And that’s why Martha Wells is one of the best people in the industry.

Diversity count: 7 women, 3 authors of colour, 3 international authors*

Best Novelette

I have to admit that this category was a big surprise to me, because I haven’t read any of the stories and none of them are on my personal Hugo ballot. That said, I’m looking forward to checking them out.

Nigerian author and editor Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki is one of the most interesting emerging voices in our genre, as is John Wiswell. They’re both wonderful people as well. P.H. Lee is a name I’ve increasingly noticed in the SFF magazines I read, though this particular story passed me by. Caroline M. Yoachim is another great short fiction writer who has popped up on the Hugo and Nebula ballot several times in recent years. Lauren Ring, finally, is another new writer and artist as well as another of my TOC mates in Volume 7 of The Long List Anthology.

This category also has a nice range of places where the stories in question were published. Uncanny is represented by two stories, GigaNotoSaurus and Galaxy’s Edge, two magazines that don’t get a lot of awards love, are presented by one story each, while the venerable Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction holds up the flag for the traditional print mags.

Diversity count: 2 men, 2 women, 1 non-binary, at least 2 writers of colour, at least 1 international writer

Best Short Story

Once again, there are a lot of excellent writers nominated in this category, even if there is little overlap with my personal Hugo ballot.

“Mr. Death” by Alix E. Harrow is the one story here that’s also on my Hugo ballot and a great story (and a real tearjerker) it is, too.

“Let All the Children Boogie” by Sam J. Miller is a lovely retro story about two small town kids bonding over radio in a not so alternate 1980s, where the Cold War is about to turn hot. As someone who’s about the same age as these kids and who also messed with the radio to listen to snatches of police radio or the weird beeps you got when you pushed the tuner all the way to the edge of the frequency range, this one really spoke to me. It came out very early in the year, so I had forgotten it was a 2021 story, but this might change my Hugo ballot.

“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather” by Sarah Pinsker is a fascinating story in the form of a Wikipedia article plus discussion page about a (fictional) folk ballad.

“Proof by Induction” by José Pablo Iriarte completely passed me by, I’m afraid, though I look forward to reading it.

“For Lack of a Bed” by John Wiswell also passed me by, but as I said above, John Wiswell is one of the most interesting new voices in our genre as well as one of the nicest people. I look forward to reading this story.

“Laughter Among the Trees” by Suzan Palumbo is another story that passed me by, though I normally check out The Dark. This is another horror story nominated and more proof that the Nebulas are more open to horror than they used to be.

Once again, we have a nice range of places where the stories originally appeared. We have two stories from Uncanny, one from Tor.com, one from Apex, one from Diabolical Plots and one from The Dark.

Diversity count: 2 men, 3 women, 1 non-binary, 2 writers of colour, 1 international writer

Andre Norton Award for YA and Middle Grade SFF

There are comparatively few surprises and a lot of very good books in this category.

Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders was one of the most buzzy YA SFF novels of last year (and also a really good book), so I’m not at all surprised to see it here.

Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko is the sequel to last year’s Nebula and Lodestar finalist Raybearer and another fine choice.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao was another buzzy and much discussed YA SFF debut. I haven’t read it yet, though it’s on my list.

I haven’t read A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger yet, though I enjoyed last year’s Nebula and Lodestar finalist Elatsoe a whole lot.

Leah Cypress has been active in the SFF field for more than twenty years now, though I haven’t read her nominated novel Thornwood, which is yet another fairytale retelling.

Eden Royce is best known for her gothic and horror short fiction. Root Magic is both her first novel and her first foray into fiction for younger readers. I haven’t read it, but it sounds like something that should be right up my alley.

Diversity count: 5 women, 1 non-binary, 4 authors of colour, 1 international author

Ray Bradbury Award for Best Dramatic Presentation

There are a few surprises in this category, the most notable being the absence of Dune, which I fully expected to see here.

I’m not at all surprised to see both Loki and WandaVision here, since both shows were hugely popular as well as a lot better and weirder than most of us expected. Of the Disney+ Marvel shows, these two were clearly the highlights of 2021.

Marvel is also represented by Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings. Again, this isn’t much of a surprise since Shang-Chi was a thoroughly enjoyable movie, largely independent from the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe and it also nicely showed how the Marvel movies and TV shows absorb different influences to tell a broad range of different stories. The same goes for Loki and WandaVision, by the way. The reason Marvel is so successful, in spite of the many naysayers, is because they produce a lot of fun and well-made movies and TV shows.

I’m very happy to see The Green Knight here, since it was a beautiful movie and one that IMO got way too little attention. I guess the viewers were expecting Ridley Scott or Game of Thrones type knightly action and got something quite different.

I’m also very happy to see the South Korean film Space Sweepers here, a) because it’s a thoroughly enjoyable movie and b) because non-English language films often have a hard time getting recognised by the Hugos and Nebulas. That said, I’m surprised not to see Squid Game, also from South Korea, here, since that was a worldwide hit.

What We Do in the Shadows is one of those shows I’ve been meaning to check out for ages, only that there is more good SFF TV than I have time to watch. It’s definitely an offbeat show, so I’m happy to see it recognised.

Encanto is a hugely popular animated film with an earworm soundtrack, so I am not at all surprised to see it  nominated. Though I have to admit that the sing-songy Disney/Pixar animated movies aren’t my thing at all, but then I’m not the target audience and haven’t been for decades. The Black Cauldron was the last animated Disney movie I saw at the theatre. I remember enjoying it a lot – probably because I was at the right age for it – though oddly enough it’s one of the least well remembered Disney movies.

Arturo Serrano has a really great essay about Encanto from the POV of someone who’s from Colombia, i.e. the country where Encanto is set, at nerds of a feather BTW.

No diversity count, too many people are needed to make movies and TV shows.

Best Game Writing

I can only repeat what I said about this category last year and the year before, namely that I’m not a gamer, don’t recognise any of the titles and can’t really say anything about them.

That said, Thirsty Sword Lesbians is an awesome title.

No diversity count, too many people are needed to make games.

All in all, this is another excellent Nebula ballot. Those who are worried that not enough men are being nominated for the big genre awards will be happy to see that there are several men, including white men, on the ballot this year. Though I’m sure they will find something wrong with the men in question.

Tor.com is still fairly dominant in the novella category, though not as dominant as they used to be. Besides, the current novella renaissance wouldn’t exist without Tor.com. Uncanny still does well, but is no longer as dominant as they used to be either. Meanwhile, the print mags are declining further in importance and have nabbed only one nomination this year. Small Presses like Apex and Neon Hemlock are doing well this year and we’re also seeing a couple of magazines like GigaNotoSaurus, The Dark, Galaxy’s Edge and Diabolical Plots, which we rarely see on the Hugo and Nebula ballot. It is also notable that Clarkesworld, Lightspeed and Beneath Ceaseless Skies have not gotten a single nomination this year.

There are no indie writers on the Nebula ballot for the third year in a row. Is it because indies don’t have a marketing budget of a big publishers and are thus invisible to many nominators (but then we have a lot of small presses here) or because indies don’t write the sort of thing Nebula voters are looking for or did the indies all take their ball and went home after the 20Booksto50K uproar of 2019?

With regard to trends, we see a couple of longstanding trends continuing such as stories about and from the POV of robots and AIs, fairytale retellings, Lovecraftian horror and horror in general. We have several dystopian tales on the ballot this year, which is probably a response to the generally sorry state of the world. Science fantasy, i.e. stories which mix elements of science fiction and fantasy, also continues to make a good showing. Finally, we also have several dark-tinged fantasy stories which are closer to sword and sorcery moodwise than to epic fantasy.  I see very little of what might be called “squeecore” on the ballot, though I’m sure this will not stop the people trying to make “squeecore” a thing from claiming it dominates the ballot.

All in all, it’s a very strong Nebula ballot.

*International authors means authors living and writing outside the US.

Non-Fiction Spotlight: Lovecraft in the 21st Century Dead, But Still Dreaming, edited by Antonio Alcala Gonzalez and Carl H. Sederholm

The 2022 Hugo nomination deadline is approaching and the Non-Fiction Spotlights are coming fast and furious now. If you’re just joining us, the Non-Fiction Spotlights are a project, where I interview the authors/editors of SFF-related non-fiction books that came out in 2021 and are eligible for the 2022 Hugo Awards. For more about the Non-Fiction Spotlight project, go here. To check out the spotlights I already posted, go here.

For more recommendations for SFF-related non-fiction, also check out this Facebook group set up by the always excellent Farah Mendlesohn, who is a champion (and author) of SFF-related non-fiction.

The subject of today’s Non-Fiction Spotlight is a collection of scholarly essays about H.P. Lovecraft entitled Lovecraft in the 21st Century: Dead, But Still Dreaming, edited by Antonio Alcala Gonzalez and Carl H. Sederholm.

So I’m pleased to welcome Tony Alcala Gonzalez and Carl H. Sederholm to my blog today:

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Carl: I am originally from Long Beach, California, but I’ve lived in Utah since 1996. I am currently a professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Brigham Young University, where I have taught for 21 years. I am also the co-editor of The Age of Lovecraft, another collection of essays that focuses on Lovecraft and his impact.

Tony: I’ve lived my whole life in Mexico City where I’m currently a literature professor at Tecnologico de Monterrey (campus Santa Fe). All my dissertation projects, from college to PhD, focused on Lovecraft and different aspects of his work, so you can say I’m Lovecraft-obsessed. At present, I’m specializing my research on a branch called Nautical Horror.

What prompted you to edit this book?

Carl: Tony reached out to me and invited me to be part of it. He wrote a generous review of The Age of Lovecraft and thought that expanding the ideas brought forward in that book would help spark more discussion about Lovecraft in the current moment. I agreed.

I must also note that editing this book was a pleasant experience overall. The authors gave us terrific work and were very easy to work with during the editing and revising phase. Tony and I were also very impressed with the ways the topics tended to cluster into clear categories from the outset.

Tony: I came up with the idea of this book after having witnessed for years the growing presence of Lovecraft in literature and media conferences as well as in the syllabi of graduate and undergraduate literature courses around the world.

Receiving such insightful proposals from our contributors was an amazing experience that confirmed the tentacles of Lovecraft’s legacy extend longer than the mere literary and film areas. Their contributions state that this author is here to stay for long.

Why should SFF fans in general and Hugo voters in particular read this book?

Carl: I first became interested in Lovecraft because of references to him in popular culture. As I began to read more and more of his stories, I became fascinated by the ways his work continues to show up in everything from heavy metal music to board games to internet memes to television shows. What I didn’t know was that there were dozens of others having similar experiences. This book provides a glimpse at what others have discovered in their own journey through Lovecraft. I think anyone with an interest in Lovecraft, including SFF fans and Hugo voters, can discover just how far Lovecraft’s influence goes through a book like this. Even those who already have a firm grasp of Lovecraft should be able to find new insights and research opportunities here.

Tony: Lovecraft’s Mythos have an ingredient of SFF, especially his production commonly known as Cosmic Horror where he speculates on the role of humanity when pictured against life and knowledge from beyond the confines of our planet. In such line, this book can become a helpful reference for readers interested in finding connections between SFF and the Antrhopocene, and the way Lovecraft even anticipated contemporary concerns about our relationship with the universe.

Do you have any cool facts or tidbits that you unearthed during your research, but that did not make it into the final book?

Carl: Although this isn’t necessarily a cool fact or tidbit, it is important to note that we had such a strong response to the call for papers that we decided to divide things into a book and into a special issue of an academic journal. It was amazing to see the overlap between the book and the journal issue, especially on topics like video games, Lovecraft and gender, and Lovecraft and race. We felt like the issue and the book were in dialogue with each other while we worked on them. In one instance, authors from each collection corresponded and shared some ideas.

Since all those essays are available to read online, anyone who wants to see what else came out of this larger project can find them at

https://www.aeternumjournal.com/volume-8-issue-1

More to the point, the project does not have any “deep cuts” so to speak. Everything our authors wanted to address went into print. For me, the biggest surprises came from how well the essays blend discussion of contemporary challenges with Lovecraftian fiction. He definitely seems to be more relevant than ever.

Tony: Indeed, rather than tidbits, what the project brought was the revelation that the discussion around Lovecraft can bring together many interdisciplinary perspectives in terms of both the media and the academia. As Carl says, the interconnection between the book chapters proves Lovecraft’s legacy can be approached from multiple lines; all of them pointing at the central concern of his thought: the questioning of what being human means in the vastness of time and space around us.

SFF-related non-fiction is somewhat sidelined by the big genre awards, since the Nebulas have no non-fiction category and the Best Related Work Hugo category has become something of a grab bag of anything that doesn’t fit elsewhere. So why do you think SFF-related non-fiction is important?

Carl: When I think of the Hugos, I imagine a community of readers who care about their subjects enough to comment on them and to share their ideas with others. Academic work fits into that impulse to share and discuss even though some people are reluctant to call themselves fans. To me, SFF-related non-fiction is a way to test out ideas and interpretations and to see what others think of those ideas.

Tony: That’s right, SFF-related non-fiction can provide additional angles to approach the way SFF fiction is read, thus enriching the scope of interpretative discussions around it.

Are there any other great SFF-related non-fiction works or indeed anything else (books, stories, essays, writers, magazines, films, TV shows, etc…) you’d like to recommend?

Carl: I would recommend the podcast called “Imaginary Worlds.” I’ve listened to it for years and I love it. The episode on Philip K. Dick was one of my favorites, but the show never disappoints. I’m sure lots of your readers already know about that podcast, but if they don’t, they’re in for a great experience. I’ve also been fond of K. J. Bishop’s writing for the last couple of years.

Tony: I can recommend Sara Wasson and Emily Alder’s Gothic Science Fiction 1980-2010 (2011) as a reference on studies that focus on the interconnection between SSF and other types of fiction.

Where can people buy your book?

Routledge

Amazon

Where can people find you?

Carl: I don’t use social media as much as I used to, but I can sometimes be found on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/CarlSederholm

https://hum.byu.edu/directory/carl-sederholm

Tony: Mainly, at my FB account:

https://www.facebook.com/tony.alcala.5

http://sitios.itesm.mx/ehe/facultad/aalcala.htm

Thank you, Carl and Tony, for stopping by and answering my questions.

About Lovecraft in the 21st Century: Dead, But Still Dreaming:

Lovecraft in the 21st Century assembles reflections from a wide range of perspectives on the significance of Lovecraft’s influence in contemporary times. Building on a focus centered on the Anthropocene, adaptation, and visual media, the chapters in this collection focus on the following topics:

Adaptation of Lovecraft’s legacy in theater, television, film, graphic narratives, video games and game artworkThe connection between the writer’s legacy and his lifeReading Lovecraft in light of contemporary criticism about capitalism, the posthuman, and the AnthropoceneHow contemporary authors have worked through the implicit racial and sexual politics in Lovecraft’s fictionReading Lovecraft’s fiction in light of contemporary approaches to gender and sexualityAbout the Editors:

Antonio Alcala Gonzalez is founder of the International Gothic Literature Congress and chair of the Humanities Department at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City.

Carl H. Sederholm is professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Brigham Young University and chair of the Department of Comparative Arts and Letters.

***

Did you publish a work of SFF-related longform non-fiction in 2021 and want it featured? Contact me or leave a comment.

First Monday Free Fiction: Thirteen Minutes

Welcome to the March 2022 edition of First Monday Free Fiction.

To recap, inspired by Kristine Kathryn Rusch who posts a free short story every week on her blog, I’ll post a free story on the first Monday of every month. At the end of the month, I’ll take the story down and post another.

These are dark times, so after some deliberation I decided to post a dark story today. Because dark stories serve as warnings. I doubt that the people who really need to hear that warning will read this story. But let’s not forget that it was stories – two TV movies in particular – who terrified the right people and thus helped to prevent what you’re about to read from becoming reality.

Today’s story is one of two short stories collected in Four Minute Warning. When I wrote both stories back in 2015, they were a period pieces, set in an alternate timeline where the world as we know it ended in 1984.  Recent events have made both stories a lot more timely than they used to be. So let’s hope that these stories remain period pieces, a stark reminder of a timeline that might have been, but thankfully never came to pass.

So follow college students Luke and David as they spend their last…

Thirteen Minutes

It was the long hot summer of 1984 and it was about to get even hotter.

Luke Stanton and David White, friends since childhood and now seniors at Bayshore College, were at the supermarket, buying burgers and steaks and sausages and beer for the annual Fourth of July neighbourhood barbecue. They were standing in the check-out line with a fully loaded shopping cart, moving towards the cashier at a glacial pace, when the sirens began to wail.

For the first twenty seconds or so, no one responded except for old Mrs. Zippowitz, who’d survived the firestorms of World War II in Europe and reacted badly to sirens ever since. But to everybody else, it was just a fire alarm or a tornado warning at worst.

Sure, there had been international tensions of late, in Europe, in the Persian Gulf, in the South China Sea. But there were always international tensions, always crises. And things always calmed down again eventually. No crisis would ever escalate to the point of nuclear war. No one would ever be so stupid, neither the Americans nor the Soviets.

Only that someone had been that stupid. No one would ever know who exactly it was that pressed the button or what it was that made him do it, cause there was no one left to tell. Not that it mattered much now. The deed was done.

Luke and David realised that something was seriously wrong at around the same time everybody else did. The sound of the sirens was wrong, for starters, not the steady sound of the tornado warning or the three blasts of the fire siren. No, this was a continuous wail, steadily rising and falling in pitch. And it didn’t stop, it just went on and on and on.

Luke and David exchanged a glance.

“Fuck, that’s a nuke attack warning,” Luke exclaimed.

At that exact same moment, the supermarket around them erupted in pandemonium. People screamed and ran, stumbling over abandoned shopping carts and each other. Some particularly obstinate or hopeful individuals threw anything that might conceivably come in useful into their carts and headed towards the exits. Outside in the parking lot, cars were starting, engines roaring, horns beeping, people crying and screaming. And above it all, the steadily rising and falling wail of the civil defence siren.

Luke and David stood rooted in place, as the chaos surged around them.

“You think this is the real thing?” David wanted to know.

“If not, it’s one hell of a sick joke,” Luke remarked, watching as an elderly man and an overweight woman tried to get through the turnstiles simultaneously and both got stuck.

The exits were jammed as well with a mob of screaming, panicked people. A few had already gotten trampled underfoot. No one seemed to care.

Luke and David still stood rooted in place, in the now empty check-out line.

“Why the fuck are they running away?” Luke wondered, as he watched the cashier make off towards the exit, the cash drawer pressed to her ample bosom, “We’ve got a fucking nuke incoming. You can’t run away from that.”

“We don’t know for sure it’s a nuke,” David pointed out.

“What else could it be? People don’t freak out like that over a tornado. And besides, the alarm is all wrong.”

Luke looked around the mess of overturned shopping carts and toppled shelves that had once been the Buy More supermarket. His gaze locked on a specific direction, like a dog that had caught a scent.

“Let’s find out,” he said and headed off deeper into the supermarket.

With a shrug, David grabbed the beer from the shopping cart and followed him. A woman ran past them, screaming for Jesus. A man sat on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest and crying for his mommy. In the wine and liquor aisles, several people were helping themselves to the merchandise to make the apocalypse more bearable.

“They’ve got the right idea,” Luke said.

David nodded and held up the six-pack he’d grabbed from the cart. “They do. That’s why I brought this.”

Luke flashed him an approving smile.

In the cereal aisle, several shoppers had started an impromptu prayer meeting, kneeling in front of an advertising display. It almost seemed as if they were worshipping Nutty Nuggets.

David shook his head. “Nutty Nuggets, really? They couldn’t at least have found a better cereal?”

In the dairy aisle, they passed a couple tearing off each other’s clothes right in front of a cabinet full of half-price yoghurt, about to do it on the floor in a puddle of spilled milk. David and Luke traipsed past, careful to look the other way.

“Do it,” the woman moaned, “Do it now. I don’t want to die a virgin.”

After maybe half a minute, David and Luke ended up in the deserted electronics aisle in front of a shelf full off cheap battery-operated radios. They needed three tries until they found one that was working.

The radio came on with a squeal and a burst of static.

“…warning” a sombre male voice said, “We have several nuclear warheads incoming in the Westerby, Tanglewood, Twin Bridges and Sagemill areas. Please proceed to the nearest shelter. This is not a test. Civil defence war…”

Luke turned the volume down. He and David exchanged another glance. “Fuck,” they both said simultaneously.

“How long do you think until they get here?” Luke wanted to know.

“Thirteen minutes,” David replied, “I saw this thing on TV a few days ago. Civil defence procedures and all that…”

Luke snorted. “Yeah, right. Like that’s gonna help.”

David nodded sombrely. “We should have gone to those peace marches at college,” he said, “I mean, we talked about going, but we never did.”

“Probably wouldn’t have helped,” Luke said.

“Probably not,” David agreed, “But at least we could’ve said we tried to do something. Like those peace protesters in Europe.”

“Did you see the footage of those anti-war riots in France and West Germany?” Luke asked, “They dragged the politicians out of their offices and strung them up in front of parliament.” He shook his head. “I thought that was excessive, but now I understand.”

David nodded. “So what do we do now?” he asked, “Cause running away is kind of stupid. Can’t outrun a nuke or several.”

Luke chewed his lower lip and looked at the abandoned merchandise around him. “Well, we’ve got thirteen minutes and a whole supermarket to choose from…”

David glanced at his digital watch. “More like eleven now.”

Luke shrugged. “Still, might as well make the most of it. Have some fun while we still can.”

He grabbed an abandoned shopping cart and pushed it across the floor right into a display of stacked up pea cans. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” he said.

A can of peas had rolled towards David and came to a halt at his feet. He bent down to pick it up and hurled it full force into a TV, which exploded in a satisfying shower of sparks.

“Me, too,” he said.

“Maybe we should go up to the roof,” Luke suggested, “I mean, if we’re going to die anyway, we might as well watch the lightshow.”

David considered for a moment, then he nodded. “Good idea.” He held up the six-pack he’d rescued from their shopping cart. “I’ve even brought beer.”

In response, Luke held up the radio. “And I’ve got the music.” He experimentally turned up the volume again, but the civil defence guy was still droning on. “If they’ll eventually play music again, that is.”

“They won’t let that run until the nuke vaporises the broadcast station, will they?” David remarked, “Because I’m sure everybody has got it by now and it’s nicer to die with music.”

“And just in case…” Luke pocketed a cassette tape, Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

“And now for something to eat,” David said, “Ice cream or chocolate?”

“Ice cream,” Luke replied, “Preferably with chocolate chips.”

They shared a smile and headed off towards the refrigerated section, where they picked up two tubs of ice cream, chocolate chip and butterscotch cream. For why settle for just one flavour, when it was the end of the world?

They also found a forgotten child, a little black boy of maybe two or three, crying his eyes out in front of a freezer cabinet full of deep frozen pork chops.

“Now that’s just wrong,” Luke exclaimed, “What sort of asshole would forget their kid in their rush to run away like a headless chicken?”

David shrugged. “Maybe it was a mother who had four other kids and lost one in the chaos.” He bent down to pat the little boy’s head. “So what do we do about him? We can’t just leave him here?”

“We’ll simply take him along,” Luke said. He shifted the radio to his left hand and picked up the little boy. “Come on, bud, do you want to eat ice cream and watch mushroom clouds with us?”

The little boy made a sound that might have been “Yes”.

“All right then, let’s go.”

They made their way to the roof of the supermarket with maybe seven minutes to spare. An alarm blared, as they pushed open the access door to the roof, adding its noise to the cacophony of sirens, air planes, engines, car horns and screams.

“Where do you think they’ll hit?” Luke asked David.

David considered for a second. “That way,” he finally said, pointing eastwards, “Twin Bridges Air Force Base is in that direction.”

Luke nodded. “Makes sense. Twin Bridges is — what? — twenty miles away? Should be a great view.”

They settled down at the very edge of the roof in front of the large Buy More sign overlooking the parking lot, where the last of the shoppers were still scrambling to get away.

“Hey, you down there, did anyone lose a kid?” David yelled, but none of those still on the parking lot even looked up.

“Pathetic,” Luke said in disgust.

“They’re just scared.”

“Well, yeah, I’m fucking scared, too, but I’m not dumping my kid in front of an open freezer,” Luke said, “And now let’s have some beer and some ice cream.”

David busied himself opening the beer and the ice cream, while Luke settled the little boy on his lap and handed him a toy car he’d grabbed in the supermarket. And then they just sat there on the roof, drinking beer and eating ice cream.

Luke fed some ice cream to the little boy, who squealed with joy. “More,” he demanded, so Luke gave him more.

Meanwhile, David tried the radio again. The civil defence announcement was gone, replaced by an equally sombre hymn.

“Nearer my God to thee…” David exclaimed, “Really? The world’s about to end and that’s the best they could come up with?”

“Why not?” Luke replied, “Supposedly, that was the last song they played on the Titanic before it sank.”

“Yeah, but this isn’t nineteen fucking twelve,” David countered, “And besides, I’m Jewish.”

“Oh.” Luke shifted the kid on his lap and pulled the cassette tape from his jeans pocket. “Time for Michael Jackson then.”

He pushed the tape into the tape deck, pressed “Play” and the opening beats of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” echoed across the supermarket roof.

“How long now do you think?” Luke asked.

David glanced at his wrist watch. “Not long. Maybe two or three minutes.”

“Better fast forward to ‘Thriller’ then,” Luke said and pressed the button. When he released it again, Michael Jackson was singing about evil lurking in the dark. The little boy squeaked, recognising the song, and bobbed up and down in tune with the music.

“Uhm, there’s something I have to…” David began.

“I need to tell you something,” Luke blurted out at the same moment.

They looked at each other, lost for words for the space of a few heartbeats.

“You first,” David finally said.

There was another pause, precious seconds ticking away. Then they both blurted out simultaneously.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you this since forever — well, since senior year, at any rate. Anyway, I…”

“Please don’t hate me, but I need you to know that…”

“I love you.”

“I’m gay.”

For a long moment, they looked at each other, Luke’s blue eyes meeting David’s brown, both finally understanding.

“Me, too,” they said simultaneously.

They both bent forward, shy and uncertain at first. Then their lips met and they kissed, kissed while the sirens wailed and Michael Jackson sang and the little boy squeaked and the nukes passed overhead on their way to Twin Bridges Air Force Base.

They were still kissing, when the first nuke hit and the world burned.

***

That’s it for this month’s edition of First Monday Free Fiction. Check back next month, when a new free story will be posted.

Star Trek Picard Meets “The Star Gazer”

Season 4 of Star Trek Discovery hasn’t yet wound down, yet season 2 of Star Trek Picard is already starting up. I’m not sure if I will continue to do episode by episode reviews of Picard or indeed any Star Trek, because it’s a lot of work and there is also simply too much Star Trek, let alone other SFF TV of interest, around to cover.

That said, you can find my thoughts on the season 2 premiere of Star Trek Picard below and my thoughts on season 1 here.

Warning! Spoilers below the cut!

Remember that I complained that season 4 of Star Trek Discovery moves too slowly in spite of a world-threatening menace to deal with? Well, you certainly can’t accuse Star Trek Picard of moving too slowly, for the first episode of season 2 contains more action than all of Star Trek Discovery since the mid-season break at least.

The episode begins with one of those flash forwards to some action scene which occurs later in the episode or during the climax. In the case, we see a Starfleet security team racing through the corridors of a ship that’s clearly under attack. The ship is nameless for now, though it is later revealed to be the USS Stargazer. Star Trek fans will remember the Stargazer as Picard’s first command. The poor security officers, who have redshirt written all over them, though their uniforms are yellow, head for the bridge in a turbolift and emerge into pandemonium. Picard is there in civilians clothes – yelling at everybody to hold their fire. Chris Rios is there as well in Starfleet uniform, as are Dr. Agnes Jurati and Seven of Nine, both in civilian garb. There’s a lot of shooting going on and then Picard orders the Stargazer to self-destruct and faces an unseen helmeted figure. Finally, the Stargazer apparently self-destructs in a flash of blinding white light. Cue credits.

I have to admit that I’m not a fan of flash forward intros (which were apparently invented by Aaron Sorkin, which explains a lot, since I have never liked the man or his work), because they feel unearned and are also used to cover up the fact that the beginning of a story is weak. Now the best way to fix a weak beginning is by making it more exciting. Never mind that a beginning doesn’t need a lot of explosions to be exciting.

Because the beginning of the episode proper is actually a very good one. The camera zooms in on Earth and particularly on France and Chateau Picard, as an old-fashioned record player (there still are functioning record players in the 24th century?) plays “Time Is On My Side” in what is either the 1964 Rolling Stones version or a cover that comes very close (the rights to Rolling Stones songs are expensive). It’s not Irma Thomas, the blues singer who recorded the song a year before the Stones, at any rate. Even though this is another example of “There was no popular culture worth remembering after 1965 in the Star Trek Universe”, it is oddly appropriate, a) because the song dates from the same era as the original Star Trek, b) it’s a song that Patrick Stewart may well have enjoyed as a young man, and c) lost time and second chances are one of the themes of the episode.

It’s harvest time at Chateau Picard. Jean-Luc Picard is back home, inspecting the grapes with his faithful bulldog Number One. The harvest itself is a charming mix of the traditional and the modern. The wine is still bottled and shipped in wooden crates, but the grapes are beamed from the vine onto a hovering drone and the labels are remote projected onto the bottles. Laris is there as well, exchanging smoldering looks with Picard, while Zhaban is notable by his absence.

We later learn that at least one and a half years have passed since the end of season 1 of Picard. Zhaban has died in the meantime and Laris is ready to move on, as is the Romulan way. She and Picard share a moment and I guess I wasn’t the only one yelling at the screen, “Go for it, Jean-Luc. There’s an attractive and lonely Romulan woman who’s interested in you, so what are you waiting for?”

Alas, Picard is still Picard and so he blows it, just as he has blown several similar moments with Beverly Crusher and a couple of others. The episode attempts to explain why Picard chose the stars, when he had a perfectly fine vineyard at home, and why he eschews committed romantic relationships. The explanation lies in Picard’s childhood, delivered via a flashback, which shows us young Jean-Luc (who for reasons unknown is dressed like a World War II refugee child) and his Mom in the otherwise empty chateau. They are standing in a somewhat dilapidated greenhouse – a greenhouse which is even more dilapidated in the present in spite of the otherwise excellent condition of the chateau. Picard’s Mom tells young Jean-Luc that this can be their secret place, that they can fix it up and paint on the glass panes. Then she tells him to look up and look at the stars and ends with “Let’s see what’s out there!”

We already know that Picard’s brother and father didn’t care for his passion for space exploration, though it seems his Mom – whom we’ve only seen once before as a vision of an elderly lady drinking tea in the Next Generation episode “Where No One Has Gone Before” – encouraged him. And so, in the present day, we see Picard picking up a shard of a shattered glass pane that’s painted with roses suggesting that Jean-Luc and his Mom did paint the greenhouse. We also get more flashbacks at scenes of domestic violence. So Picard’s Mom (and possible Jean-Luc and his brother as well) was a victim of domestic violence, which – it is implied – is the reason that Picard eschews committed relationships.

Sir Patrick Stewart has been very open about the fact that he witnesses domestic violence as he grew up, that it deeply affected him and that ending domestic violence is a cause close to his heart. We also know that Sir Patrick Stewart has input on the scripts of Picard, so the domestic violence backstory may well originate with him as an attempt to raise awareness for the issue. And this is laudable.

However, I dislike that stereotype that people who eschew committed relationships or any kind of relationships must have had unhappy childhoods and must have grown up in broken homes. Because there are plenty of people – and I’m speaking as someone who’s happily single myself and has been for a long time now – for whom committed relationships are simply not a priority in life. For starters, asexual and aromantic people exist and no, they don’t come from broken homes either. Since Picard clearly has had sexual and romantic relationships in the past, he’s not ace or aro. However, he has always struck me as someone who simply has other priorities (his career, Starfleet, the Federation, exploring space, making wine) which don’t mesh well with committed relationships and family life. Which is okay. Quite a few people value other things higher than committed relationships and no, they don’t all come from broken families or have experienced violence.

It’s still early in season and we don’t yet know where the subplot about Picard’s commitment issues and his family will go. I also have faith that the writers will handle the subject of domestic violence sensitively, especially since their star is a survivor of domestic violence. So let’s see where this goes.

Paul Levinson points out that Picard’s commitment issues may also be due to the fact that he died at the end of season 1 and now lives in an android body. Though having an android body stopped neither Data nor Grey from Discovery. Also, Picard was no different when he still had his original body.

After Picard blows his chances with Laris, he heads to San Francisco to give a speech at the Starfleet Academy graduation ceremony. One of the cadets is none other than Elnor, the young Romulan Qowat Milat warrior (it’s complicated), whom Picard took under his wing last season. I don’t know how long Starfleet Academy takes, but I suspect two years at the very least, suggesting once again that quite a bit of time has passed since the end of season 1. Elnor is also the first fully Romulan cadet Starfleet has ever had. Picard’s graduation gift to Elnor is a first edition of Spock’s biography, describing Spock’s struggles as one of the few Vulcans serving in Starfleet.

Raffi is at the ceremony as well, back in Starfleet uniform. She’s captain of the USS Excelsior, a ship (or series of ships) with a storied history that frequently pops up across the various versions of Star Trek. One of the Excelsior‘s previous captains was none other than Hikaru Sulu. Since Raffi sort of adopted Elnor over the course of season 1, she has made sure that the newly minted cadet is assigned to her ship, because – so she tells Picard – Elnor’s habit of always speaking the truth with absolute candour is sure to get him into trouble.

Raffi has been no more lucky in love than Picard, since we learn that her budding relationship with Seven of Nine broke up in the time between seasons 1 and 2. I for one find this a pity, because I would have loved to a mature lesbian couple star in “Elnor Has Two Mommies”. Though I suspect that Seven and Raffi will get back together before long.

As for Seven, she, too, has priorities other than romantic relationships, since she’s back doing humitarian work (with some muscle to back it up) for the Fenris Rangers. Seven has also taken over Rios’ old ship, the La Sirena, and kept his holograms. And so we get to watch as Seven and the Emmett, the Spanish-speaking, long-haired and tattooed engineering hologram, take out a bunch of space pirates who tried to steal medical supplies that Seven is delivering on behalf of the Fenris Rangers. Emmett the hologram tries to flirt with Seven, but she’s having none of that, since she’s got other priorities.

In recent years, we’ve seen an uptick in badarse women in their 50s kicking arse and taking names, whether it’s Ming Na Wen in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, Michelle Yeoh in Star Trek Discovery and everything she’s been in really, Sandra Oh in Killing Eve and now Jeri Ryan in Star Trek Picard. As someone who’s closer to fifty than thirty myself, I love seeing older women kicking arse and taking names. It’s a far cry from not too long ago, when women over forty (and sometimes not even yet forty) were relegated to playing matriarchs and long suffering wives in soap operas or sitcom mothers. Because especially girls and young women need to see older women role models who show that life does not end at 40 or 45 and that there are things they can be other than wives and mothers, even if few women will become ex-Borg outlaws, ex-Imperial snipers, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents or former Empresses of the universe.

While we’re checking in one the rest of the main cast, we next see Soji and Dr. Agnes Jurati (who has been cleared from the murder charge for killing Dr. Maddox, since she was under Romulan telepathic influence at the time) on a good-will tour of the Federation, now that the ban on synthetic lifeforms has been lifted. Soji is enjoying dinner with what I initially thought was a group of Dora Milaje who’d wandered into the wrong franchise by mistake, but which then turns out to be a bunch of Deltans. I have to admit that I had completely forgotten the existence of the Deltans. I should be forgiven for that, because Star Trek never did much with the Deltans beyond Star Trek: The Motion Picture and they were always badly defined. All we know about the Deltans is that they are bald and supposedly so sexy that they drive everybody mad (though only everybody of the opposite gender in The Motionless Picture) and need to take an oath of celibacy before being allowed to serve in Starfleet at all. My younger self found this both infuriating – who is Starfleet to dictate to the Deltans how to live their sex life? – and baffling, for while Persis Khambatta, whom we lost too soon, was a very attractive woman, she was not very attractive when playing Ilia.

Agnes Jurati is also immune to the Deltan charms, for when a barkeeper tries to flirt with the very drunken Agnes, she blows him off with her disastrous relationship history. She broke up with her last boyfriend – Chris Rios – and killed the boyfriend before that – Dr. Maddox. Yes, it’s not just Picard who’s unlucky in love, it’s everybody in this show.

As for Chris Rios, he, too, is back with Starfleet now and captain of the USS Stargazer. He’s still chomping his cigar, too, which is odd since I don’t think we’ve ever seen anybody smoke in Star Trek, not even during the Original Series, which was made at a time when smoking was still widely accepted. Star Trek fans will know that the Stargazer (a previous Stargazer, it turns out) was Jean-Luc Picard’s first command, before he became captain of the Enterprise. The Stargazer is ordered to investigate a spatial anomaly – a rip in the fabric of space and time – which has just popped up. At this point I groaned, for while spatial anomalies may be dime a dozen in the Star Trek universe (though Starfleet seems to have forgotten that by the 31st century), Star Trek Discovery has just spent an entire season trying to unravel the mystery of what is essentially a planet-eating evil black cloud. So if Picard was going to spend a whole season dealing with an evil black cloud edged in green, it would really be too much of an already tired plot device. Luckily, Star Trek Picard‘s evil green-edged black cloud is only the incicting incident which gets the plot proper moving.

For it turns out that this spatial anomaly is broadcasting something. Because Rios’ Bajoran communication officer can’t make head nor tails of it, Rios asks his ex-girlfriend Agnes Jurati for help. So a very drunk Agnes beams aboard the Stargazer, plops down in the first officer’s chair and then chases the poor Bajoran officer away from her console to analyse the signal. It turns out be three words, broadcast over and over again: “Picard, help us!”

Blissfully unaware of all this, Picard takes a detour to Los Angeles to visit an old friend, Guinan who now runs a retro bar. Picard claims that he only wants to deliver a bottle of his latest vintage, but he’s truly there to ask Guinan for advice about his romantic dilemma with Laris. Guinan realises that something is up at once and asks “Top shelf or hooch?” And so we get the very welcome return of Whoopi Goldberg to Star Trek. Of course, there’s no real reason for her to be here – Picard could have talked to Raffi or Riker or anybody else just as easily. But it’s Whoopi Goldberg, so any excuse to get her on the show will do.

Guinan’s appearance does create a problem, for while Guinan is an extremely long-lived alien and therefore shouldn’t have aged at all, Whoopi Goldberg is still human and clearly has aged in the 28 years since Star Trek: The Next Generation ended. The solution to this dilemma is elegant. It turns out that Guinan’s people can control their rate of aging and Guinan opts to age, so as not to freak her human friends and customers out.

Upon returning to Chateau Picard, Picard receives a visit from a female Starfleet Admiral who informs him about the Stargazer’s discovery. After beginning with “Help us, Picard”, the broadcast continues by quoting the entire article five of the Federation constituion, an article about worlds applying to join the Federation. Some unknown species wants to join the Federation and they will talk only to Picard about it.

So Picard is off to the Stargazer, where he is reunited with Rios, Agnes and Seven, who already was in the area when the anomaly appeared and shows up to help. Picard and Seven take a stroll through the corridors of the Stargazer, while crewmembers scramble out of the way – though whether it’s because they’re awed by Picard and terrified of Seven or both is not quite clear. Picard points out that the more these old ships are retrofitted, the more modern they look – a clear reference to the fact that the Starfleet ships seen in Discovery and Star Trek: Enteprise look a lot more modern than ships which supposedly date from later times.

Seven points out that the Stargazer is the first Starfleet vessel to incorporate technology scavenged from the wrecked Borg Cube seen in season 1. Seven is not at all happy with this and thinks it’s too dangerous, conveniently forgetting that she modified Voyager with Bog technology long before Starfleet did.  Meanwhile, the random mention that this particular Starfleet vessel happens to be equipped with Borg technology also serves as a huge red flashing signs that Chekhov’s (Anton, not Pavel) Borg technology will play a part later on. Especially since black and a sickly neon green are exactly the colours we associated with a certain cybernetic species.

Picard arrives on the bridge and hails whoever is on the other side of the anomaly, whereupon a sinister black and sickly neon green spidery spaceship emerges from the anomaly. Seven confirms that it’s a Borg ship, as if there was any doubt.

So the Borg want to join the Federation – or do they? Seven is sceptical and points out that the Borg are in pretty bad shape following the events of the Next Generation episodes I, Borg and Descent. Individuality introduced via Hugh is spreading like a virus through the Collective and more and more Borg are breaking away and becoming ex-Borg. And since the Borg can’t conquer by force anymore, they might well use trickery. Seven also points out that the Borg never join or cooperate, they only assimilate.

Picard is no fan of the Borg for obvious reasons, but he is at least willing to listen to what they have to say. That said, the appearance of a Borg ship in Federation space is cause for concern and brings much of Starfleet coming to the aid of the Stargazer, including the Excelsior with Raffi and Elnor on board.

It is notable that we have never seen a single Borg in season 3 and 4 of Discovery, suggesting that the Borg may no longer exist as we know them by the 31st century. So are we seeing the twilight of the Borg here? Or is something else going on?

The Borg declare that they will send an emissary to negotiate with Picard. Rios absolutely does not want any Borg on his ship, which everybody sympathises with. However, the Borg don’t respect shields and beam their emissary on board anyway. The emissary appears to be the Borg queen, only that she is wearing a black cloak and a full face mask/helmet now. The Borg queen declares that she will negotiate, but first she requires power. Then Doctor Octopus like tentacles (maybe the Borg assimilated a fan of vintage Marvel comics and got the idea from there) shoot out of her back and into the consoles of the Stargazer. A ship, you’ll remember, which has been modified with Borg technology.

So what has been signposted all along by the discussion about Starfleet ships using Borg technology happens: The Borg queen begins to take over and assimilate the Stargazer. And since the Stargazer is connected to the rest of the fleet, the same happens to them. Now we cut back to the flash forward scene from the very beginning of the episode. There’s pandemonium on the bridge, the bridge crew is ineffectively firing at the Borg queen, while the Stargazer and the whole fleet are slowly being assimilated.

“We can’t hand them an armada”, Seven says and everybody realises that she is right. So Picard triggers the automatic self-destruct. Of course, Picard is the highest ranking officer, but normally only captains and first officer can trigger the self-destruct. Which meanns Rios and whoever his first officer is. So can admirals trigger every single self-destruct mechanism in every Starfleet vessel? At any rate, Picard initiates the self-destruct, everybody braces themselves as the countdown goes down to zero and the Stargazer and the rest of the fleet explodes.

And now it’s revealed that season 2 of Star Trek Picard was merely a ruse and that we’re getting Star Trek: Strange New Worlds instead. No, not really.

Instead, Picard suddenly wakes up back at the chateau with the worst case of “It was all a dream” since a whole season of Dallas (and a pretty good one, too) was annulled as “Just a dream”, because viewers couldn’t live without Patrick Duffy.

However, the viewer – and Picard – quickly realise that something is wrong. For starters, Picard’s com badge looks different now. And a portrait of Picard in a black uniform hangs above the fireplace. Picard calls for Laris, only to be met by an android servant named Harvey, who has never heard of Laris.

And then, to make matters worse, Q shows up to inform Picard that they meet again, because the trial never ends and that this reality is the end of the road not taken. Cue season trailer for credits.

Like Guinan, Q is an alien who does not age, whereas John DeLancie is an actor who definitely does age, though he actually looks more handsome now than he did 28 years ago. The way around this is that Q realises that Picard has aged and adjusts his appearance accordingly.

The Guinan cameo was clearly just there to bring back a beloved character, whereas Q promises to play an important role in the plot. And a most welcome return it is, too, because Q was always a favourite of mine, annoying as he is.

And come to think of it, we have also never seen any members of the Q Continuum in th 31st century. Okay, so we haven’t seen any Klingons and any Deltans either (but then no one cares about the Deltans), but it’s still a notable pattern of absence.

The season trailer suggests that Picard and his friends have landed in an alternate reality which is a fascist dystopia. Which isn’t exactly original, but more original than “Here’s a scary black evil cloud, let’s figure out how to deal with it?”

All in all, I enjoyed this episode a lot. Unlike the glacial pace of season 4 of Discovery, it moves at a crisp pace, reintroduces all the characters and where they are now and offers plenty of new mysteries and threats to deal with. As Tor.com reviewer Keith R.A. DeCandido points out, the climax with the Borg Queen assimilating the Stargazer was telegraphed way too blatantly and the fight on the bridge was clumsy. Also, why does everybody keep firing at the Borg Queen, when their phasers can’t penetrate her shields.

In the end, I enjoyed this episode a lot more than Keith R.A. DeCandido did. It’s a fun and action-packed start to a new season that promises to be a lot more fun than the rather lacklustre season 4 of Discovery.

So, to quote Picard’s Mom, let’s see what’s out there!

Non-Fiction Spotlight: Out of This World: Speculative Fiction in Translation from the Cold War to the New Millennium by Rachel S. Cordasco

The 2022 Hugo nomination deadline is approaching and the Non-Fiction Spotlights are coming fast and furious now. If you’re just joining us, the Non-Fiction Spotlights are a project, where I interview the authors/editors of SFF-related non-fiction books that came out in 2021 and are eligible for the 2022 Hugo Awards. For more about the Non-Fiction Spotlight project, go here. To check out the spotlights I already posted, go here.

For more recommendations for SFF-related non-fiction, also check out this Facebook group set up by the always excellent Farah Mendlesohn, who is a champion (and author) of SFF-related non-fiction.

SFF-related reference books and overviews of a certain aspect of the genre have appeared on the Hugo ballot several times, including all three editions of the venerable Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.  The subject of today’s non-fiction spotlight is a work along those lines and also one that’s dear to my heart, because it focusses on SFF translated into English.

Therfore I’m thrilled to welcome Rachel S. Cordasco, author of Out of This World: Speculative Fiction in Translation from the Cold War to the New Millennium to my blog today.

Tell us about your book.

Out of This World is a reference book for anyone interested in translated speculative fiction since 1960. SFT has been gaining an audience since the Cold War, though it really hit its stride at the beginning of this century. Each chapter, which is introduced by a guest scholar, focuses on a single source-language and the kinds of books that are available to Anglophone readers. The fourteen chapters explore SFT from the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I received my PhD in Literary Studies in 2010 and thought I would become a professor. After a single semester, I realized that it wasn’t going to happen, and I found a job as an editor at a historical society press. When I took a few years off to have my kids, I needed to keep my brain busy and started reading and reviewing science fiction, which I hadn’t read in years since my focus in grad school was American Literary Naturalism. Eventually, my interests in translation and science fiction converged, so I started SFinTranslation.com to track science fiction, fantasy, and horror in translation. My freelancing continued when I went back to my editing job, and somewhere along the line I started translating, as well. A few months ago, life started feeling pretty crazy and I decided to leave the editing job to focus on my kids, my freelancing, and my translating.

What prompted you to write this book?

After building the SFT website, I realized that a lot of the information it contained might be useful in book form. Following a discussion with an editor at the University of Illinois Press, I started writing a book that functions as a reference/analysis text. Each chapter reviews what’s available but also analyzes why certain subgenres are more prominent in some SFTs rather than others. Furthermore, my general introduction to the volume offers an overview of SFT as a subject of discussion (stretching back to the 1970s and even earlier). Hopefully, this book will help scholars in their exploration of world SF, professors who are building world SF courses, and readers just looking for new and interesting stories.

Why should SFF fans in general and Hugo voters in particular read this book?

This book isn’t necessarily the kind of thing you’d read in one sitting by the fire (though you definitely could!). Rather, it’s the kind of book that you’d read to learn about SF from different source languages. You might read the Finnish chapter if you’re interested in Sinisalo or Krohn. Then, if you’ve picked up a work of Japanese space opera at a bookstore, you could turn to the relevant section to learn about that  language’s wide variety of hard-science-fiction subgenres. You could even use the index to find themes that span the different SFTs and compose reading lists for your book club. Also, that cover is gorgeous (the people at UIP picked it), so it would be a lovely display for your coffee table.

Do you have any cool facts or tidbits that you unearthed during your research, but that did not make it into the final book?

I did have to cut about twenty thousand words to keep the manuscript within the word limits, but most of what I cut was textual analysis (which wasn’t necessarily crucial). I would love to write a second volume that focuses on underrepresented source languages in SFT: Romanian, Greek, Tamil, Bulgarian, Danish, etc.

SFF-related non-fiction is somewhat sidelined by the big genre awards, since the Nebulas have no non-fiction category and the Best Related Work Hugo category has become something of a grab bag of anything that doesn’t fit elsewhere. So why do you think SFF-related non-fiction is important?

SFF-related non-fiction represents the analysis/discussion side of the larger SFF genre. Authors write fictional texts, and then readers and scholars discuss them. SFF non-fiction is the tangible manifestation of those discussions and is an integral part of the genre ecosystem.

Are there any other great SFF-related non-fiction works or indeed anything else (books, stories, essays, writers, magazines, films, TV shows, etc…) you’d like to recommend?

In terms of SFF-related non-fiction, I highly recommend Ian Campbell’s Science Fiction in Translation: Perspectives on the Global Theory and Practice of Translation. The website https://sciencefictionruminations.com/, which reviews vintage science fiction published from the 1950s through the 1980s, is also a wonderful place for reviews of older SF (including translations) and some of the great SF art of the period.

Where can people buy your book?

You can buy the book directly from UIP (https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=45sfy6nx9780252043987) or anywhere else you buy books! Also, ask if your local or university library has it.

Where can people find you?

rachel@sfintranslation.com
https://www.sfintranslation.com/
Twitter: @Rcordas

About Out of This World: Speculative Fiction in Translation from the Cold War to the New Millennium:

The twenty-first century has witnessed an explosion of speculative fiction in translation (SFT). Rachel Cordasco examines speculative fiction published in English translation since 1960, ranging from Soviet-era fiction to the Arabic-language dystopias that emerged following the Iraq War. Individual chapters on SFT from Japanese, French, and twelve other source languages feature an introduction by an expert in the language’s speculative fiction tradition and its present-day output. Cordasco then breaks down each chapter by subgenre–including science fiction, fantasy, and horror–to guide readers toward the kinds of works that most interest them. Her discussion of available SFT stands alongside an analysis of how various subgenres emerged and developed in different source languages and why some subgenres have been more likely to be translated into English.

An informative and one-of-a-kind guide, Out of This World offers readers and scholars alike a tour of speculative fiction’s new globalized era.

About Rachel S. Cordasco:

Rachel S. Cordasco founded the website SFinTranslation.com. She works as a writer, editor, and translator and is co-translator of Clelia Ferris’s Creative Surgery.

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Did you publish a work of SFF-related longform non-fiction in 2021 and want it featured? Contact me or leave a comment.