James L. Cambias's Blog, page 49

Weird War I Breaks Out

If trench warfare, gas clouds, influenza, and revolutionary chaos aren't bad enough, imagine the Great War with zombies! Or malevolent sentient rats! Or sinister sorcery manipulating both sides!

Yes, it's Weird War I, the supernatural theater of operations for World War I adventures. And it's now available as a PDF from Pinnacle Entertainment (the print edition should be out this summer). The game uses the Savage Worlds roleplaying system, which means it's cross-compatible with such excellent games as Deadlands, Rippers, The Day After Ragnarok, The Savage World of Solomon Kane, and many others!

So join Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's secret "MI-13" group to investigate supernatural perils ��� or serve with Austria's Schwarzbureau, with generations of experience dealing with Transylvanian terrors. Because the enemy in this secret war isn't the armies on the other side of No Man's Land, it's the horrors from outside reality, ready to prey on a world exhausted by bloodshed. 

Tales of the Dark Knight!

I don't write comic books, but I've been reading them for decades and I like speculating about the characters. The recent Batman Vs. Superman film got me thinking about how I would write Batman if DC Comics were to hire me.

Bruce Wayne, Gothamite

One thing which becomes obvious when you start thinking about Batman is that Bruce Wayne must really like his hometown. Consider: he's rich enough to live wherever he chooses, his parents were brutally murdered in front of him on a city street, and the place is a hellhole of crime and corruption that combines the worst of Baltimore, Detroit, and Boston.

So why does Bruce stay there, let alone spend all his free time investigating crimes the cops are too incompetent or corrupt to solve?

Answer: Bruce Wayne must love Gotham City, as strongly as H.P. Lovecraft loved Providence or Samuel Johnson loved London. And like both of them, it seems natural that Bruce must have spent a lot of time wandering around his favorite city, getting to know all its neighborhoods, all its quirks, all its secrets. Bruce Wayne is the ultimate Gotham Cityite. He knows where to get the best Gotham-style fried pork rolls and pizza-on-a-stick, he knows the bouncers at all the bars by name, he can point out which house Edgar Allen Poe stayed in during his six months in Gotham, and he knows which streets still have the original gas lamps. He's got season tickets to all the local teams and the symphony, and is the main benefactor of the struggling Gotham Historical Society.

How do we square this love for Gotham with Wayne's own tragic history? My guess is that his original guardian after the death of his parents packed young Bruce off to boarding school, which he hated. Maybe it was run by Jonathan Crane, alias The Scarecrow. After the first couple of times the resourceful lad escaped the school and snuck back to Wayne Manor, the guardians threw up their hands and let the family retainer Alfred Pennyworth look after the lad in the crumbling old house. This gives Master Bruce a lifelong taste for wandering around Gotham unsupervised.

The Last Resort

Another thing which needs fixing is Bruce Wayne's decision to dress in a scary costume and fight crime al fresco. In the comics, that's his lifelong ambition from about the age of ten onward, which seems kind of nuts. He's the scion of Gotham's oldest and richest family. There are other ways he could try to solve the city's problems.

My suggestion is that he already has tried ��� and failed!

After college and law school, ambitious young Bruce Wayne uses family connections to get himself hired as Gotham's youngest Assistant District Attorney (doubtless sharing an office with Harvey Dent). He's eager to take on the gangs that terrorize the city . . . and quickly gets his face rubbed in the fact that Gotham's city government is irredeemably corrupt. From the cops on the beat to the Mayor, everyone is on the take. The gangs run wild because they are hand in glove with Gotham's polticians. Wayne is stuck prosecuting small fry while the big predators are untouchable.

That's the sort of thing that might tempt a man to turn vigilante ��� and which would explain why he is at pains to conceal his true identity. In time Wayne's double life makes it harder and harder for him to continue his public career, and he has to make the choice: remain an ineffectual A.D.A. or devote himself full time to being the Batman? Not a hard decision.

Those Wonderful Toys

The Batmobile has to go, at least in its present form. I'm sorry, but in an age of ubiquitous traffic cameras, there's simply no way Batman can go tearing around Gotham in a unique, highly visible vehicle. Even the legendary incompetence of the Gotham police can't justify that.

No, Batman has to go the James Bond route: his vehicle must look ordinary ��� but with an arsenal of gadgets and special features hidden away under the skin. In fact, I'd suggest that Batman uses half a dozen different "Batmobiles," depending on the situation. There's one that looks like a delivery truck (for Wayne Courier Services, no doubt), another that's an old beat-up Caddy, another that's a taxicab (Wayne Taxi, of course), maybe even a minivan. This way Batman can appear and disappear as if by magic. It need hardly be said that all of them are absurdly fast and maneuverable, with smoke dischargers, ejector seats, mobile crime labs, and whatever else Batman needs.

Batman's outfit needs some tweaks, too. He should have several different costumes. (Bruce Wayne is, after all, a gentleman, and therefore understands the importance of dressing correctly for every occasion.) There's a "combat suit" when he's decided it's time for breaking heads, all Kevlar and night-vision goggles and sharp-edged Batarangs. There's a more concealable one for stealthy operations. And there should be a "breakaway" Bat-suit, so that he can quickly switch from costumed vigilante to ordinary citizen.

This iteration of Batman is more of a detective and a vigilante than a superhero. Unlike some previous takes on the character, this Batman doesn't think of the cloaked avenger as his "real identity" and Bruce Wayne as a social mask. He really is Bruce Wayne, Gotham's last defender. This Batman can tackle some thorny philosophical or ethical questions: is it right for him to appoint himself to the job? Would it be right to turn his back on the problem? Is Bruce Wayne a madman or a savior ��� or both?

Call me, DC. I work cheap.

 

 

My Other Hat

I wear two hats, professionally. One of them is a propellor beanie, and is my Science Fiction Hat (if you win a Hugo award, you get to wear double propellors on your beanie). The other hat is my Game Design Hat (which probably looks like this). I wore my Science Fiction Hat when I wrote the story "Periapsis" for the Hieroglyph anthology. But when I was interviewed by Joey Eschrich, one of the people who created that ambitious collection, I wound up wearing my Game Design Hat for most of our talk.

Put on whatever headgear you find most comfortable and read it here.

Golden Gate Blues: The Untold Story

Anyone who's interested in learning the Secret Backstory of my short story "Golden Gate Blues" can find out on the official 'blog of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, where there's a brief interview about How I Did It.

Thirty-Six Hours Over Albacon!

Tomorrow I set out for Albacon* in romantic Albany, NY. I'll be at the convention for thirty-six hours, but those hours are packed!

Friday, March 4, 11:00 a.m.: POV Waltz ��� Panel discussion about the use of point-of-view in fiction; part of the Albacon writing workshop series.

Saturday, March 5, 11:00 a.m.: Autographing ��� As always, bring anything and I'll sign it. Even meat!

Saturday, March 5, 12:00 noon: The Golden Age of SF ��� Panel discussion about what SF works inspired us at our "Golden Age" in early adolescence.

Saturday, March 5, 1:00 p.m. (estimated): Free Return ��� A Call of Cthulhu adventure set aboard the Aldrin Cycler spacecraft returning from Mars to Earth.

Saturday, March 5, 4:00 p.m.: David Hartwell, An Appreciation ��� Discussion and reminiscences about the legendary Tor editor David Hartwell.

Saturday, March 5, 5:00 p.m.: Reading ��� I'll be reading a selection from the novel I just completed, Arkad's World.

Saturday, March 5, 11:00 p.m.: THE EYE OF ARGON ��� A competitive group reading of the Worst Fantasy Novel Ever.

And then I go home.

 

*Named in honor of famous Upstate fan Alvin Bacon. 

At Your News Stand Now!

The March/April 2016 issue of the venerable Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is on sale now. It's a double-sized issue packed with some great stories ��� all fantasy and science fiction, by an odd coincidence. And one of them is my own "Golden Gate Blues." Buy it, read it, enjoy it!

The Only Award That Matters

You all can squabble over Nebula nominations and Hugo award slates. Corsair just won the only science fiction award that really matters: The Atomic Rockets Seal of Approval! Gaze upon it in envy and despair.

Boskone 2016, Featuring ME!

Join me at Boskone (February 19-21, 2016) at the Westin hotel in Boston, MA for New England's longest running science fiction and fantasy convention. It's going to be a fun weekend filled with books, film, art, music, gaming, and more. For more information about Boskone, check out The Boskone Blog, Twitter, and Facebook. Visit the Boskone website to register.

My schedule (note that Boskone uses an Orwellian 24-hour clock):

Key Moments in Space Travel: Columbia (1981), Vostok (1961)

Friday 17:00 - 17:50, Harbor III. In 2016, we celebrate 35 years since the launch of Columbia, the U.S.'s first reusable space shuttle, and 55 years since Vostok, the first human spaceflight in history. With more than half a century of space travel behind us, let's take a look back at some of the more memorable moments in manned space flight and imagine what we can look forward to in the future. (Allen M. Steele, James Cambias, Andrew Owens, N.A. Ratnayake.)

Theories of Time Travel

Saturday 10:00 - 10:50, Marina 4. As improbable as it seems, is time travel possible? What scientific theories are out there that hint at what it might take to turn time travel into a reality? What practical issues need to be considered? What are some of the best time travel stories and how does their science hold up? Who's doing it right? And is time travel really just science fiction? (James Cambias, Heather Albano, John R. Douglas, Kenneth Schneyer, Jo Walton.)

Conspiracy! ��� The Anthology Group Reading

Saturday 13:00 - 13:50, Griffin. NESFA Press presents a special reading for Conspiracy!, edited by Judith K. Dial and Thomas Easton. This exciting new anthology of original short fiction unveils some mind-bending conspiracies that will get you thinking. Conspiracy! also features cover art by NESFA Press Guest Bob Eggleton and original stories by Boskone 53 program participants James Cambias, Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald, Jeff Hecht, Steven Popkes, Sarah Smith, and Allen Steele.

Boskone Book Party

Saturday 18:00 - 19:20, Galleria-Stage. Join us for Boskone's Multi-Author Book Party, see what's new from authors you love, and discover new favorites. NESFA Press is also launching three books tonight: The Collected Stories of Poul Anderson Vol 7, Conspiracy!, and The Grimm Future.

Cambridge Science Fiction Workshop Reading

Sunday 11:00 - 11:50, Marina 2. This year is the 35th anniversary of the Cambridge Science Fiction Workshop. Come join local members for their annual reading at Boskone! Featuring Steven Popkes, Sarah Smith, Heather Albano, James Cambias, Kenneth Schneyer, Alexander Jablokov.

Autographing: James Cambias, Sharon Lee, Steve Miller

Sunday 12:00 - 12:50, Galleria-Autographing. Bring in anything and I'll sign it.

Thoughts on Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I've held off commenting on the new Star Wars movie for a couple of reasons. First, there's been the huge (and somewhat pointless) push to keep people from revealing "spoilers" about the plot. And second, I wanted to give myself enough time to think about it after the glow of fannish enthusiasm and nostalgia has had a chance to fade.

Overall, I liked it. I give it a letter grade of B+ ��� perfectly executed, but with some flaws in conception. I have no complaints about any of the work that went into putting the movie together. The acting, the cinematography, the visuals, the music ��� all of them were exactly right for a Star Wars movie.

And that, I think, is the reason it doesn't get an A: the director and the writers were trying to make "a Star Wars movie." At some point in the process, I expect someone stood in front of a whiteboard in a conference room and a group of people shouted out things that needed to be in the film in order to make it "a Star Wars movie." The eventual list doubtless included:

Desert planet
Masked villain who turns out to be related to someone
Scrappy kid with untapped potential
The Millennium Falcon!
Dive bar full of scum and villainy
Lightsaber duel!
Rescuing someone from the bad guys
Giant superweapon!
MacGuffin hidden inside a droid
X-Wings to the rescue!
Bottomless chasm
Superweapon destroyed at the last second!

All of those boxes get ticked off in the film. The plot is essentially a way to work through that list, and allow guest appearances by Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill.      

Obviously, it was a success. You don't make half a billion dollars with a movie that's a failure. As someone who owns a little Disney stock, I'm pleased. As a science fiction writer who remembers the boom in SF after the original Star Wars, I'm pleased.

But in the back of my mind there's an echo of the same vague sense of letdown I felt in 1983, when I went to see Return of the Jedi. As the music swelled and the opening text crawl slid up the screen, I read the words ". . . a new DEATH STAR . . . " and my excitement level dropped a couple of notches.

To me, the problem with Force Awakens is not simply that it's derivative. All the Star Wars movies have been derivative. My problem is that Force Awakens wasn't derivative enough.

The original Star Wars drew on samurai movies, Westerns, Flash Gordon serials, the Wizard of Oz, war movies, Robin Hood ��� essentially the whole canon of adventure films from Melies to whatever George Lucas watched in 1976 before going off to start filming in Tunisia. I recently watched a video called "Star Wars Minus Star Wars" which retells the story of the original Star Wars by replacing all the shots in it with shots from the movies that inspired it.

The Empire Strikes Back drew from a different well. With seasoned pulp writer Leigh Brackett crafting the first draft of the script, it incorporated a lot of tropes from the science fiction magazines of the prewar era. If Star Wars was a condensed history of adventure cinema, Empire was a distillation of pulp fiction ��� including scary monsters, a villainous mastermind, a scrappy dame, and a hero with a dark side of his own.

But subsequent movies abandoned that approach. Instead of being derivative of all cinema or all adventure fiction, they were derivative of . . . Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back. Return of the Jedi took us back to the desert planet Tatooine, then to a desperate attack on a new, bigger Death Star. Phantom Menace took us back to Tatooine again, then to a desperate attack on a smaller (but still generally spherical) space superweapon.

Attack of the Clones was a bit of a change-up, with no superweapon to blow up at the climax, and a nice cavalry-to-the-rescue appearance by the titular Clone troopers as the music of the Imperial March plays heroically. (It's no coincidence that Attack of the Clones is by far the best of the "prequel trilogy.") Revenge of the Sith piled up one action sequence on another in order to maneuver us to the endless lightsaber duel between Kenobi and Skywalker, but was hobbled by the fact that the outcome of the entire movie was already set in stone.

Despite my griping, I actually am a little hopeful about future Star Wars movies. Disney/Lucasfilm are already hard at work on a flick called Rogue One, about the daring Rebels who steal the Death Star plans in the first place, kicking off the action of the original Star Wars. Why am I enthusiastic? Because the nature of the story will practically force the moviemakers to break out of their self-referential spiral. We'll have to see new characters (and it's pretty likely that some of them or even all of them will perish); the plot can draw on spy movies, caper flicks, maybe even a bit of film noir with betrayal and counter-betrayal.

I think much of my sense of disappointment since Return of the Jedi has been a feeling that George Lucas et al were squandering the immense potential for storytelling in the Star Wars universe. One of the really nice features of the original film was the way it casually made reference to things like the Clone Wars or the ancient feud between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but didn't bother to explain them. The audience could imagine cool stuff to fill in those hints. It felt like a big universe, with a long and complex history, and lots of stuff going on outside the frame of the screen. Rather than broaden the canvas and show us more of that world, the subsequent films narrowed to an almost obsessive focus on the extended Skywalker family and its assorted snits and dysfunctions.

I want to see the Star Wars films break away from that claustrophobic emphasis and make use of the scope and depth of the universe we all invented in our heads. It's worth noting that the animated television series The Clone Wars managed to have much more interesting storytelling and well-developed characters, and constantly visited new parts of the Galaxy, even though all the plot developments had to fit into continuity between Episodes II and III. What I'm saying is, it can be done. Now I just want to see Lucasfilm/Disney actually do it.

David Hartwell

Earlier today I was at the memorial service for David Hartwell. It has been a week since he died, and in that week I have read a number of tributes, some heartbreaking, some funny, from his family and people who knew him for decades. I knew David for less than twenty years. I can't remember when I met him, but it must have been some time after my wife and I moved to upstate New York in 1997, since that's when I started attending ReaderCon in Boston, and I'm pretty sure that I met him there.

I say I'm "pretty sure" because I literally can't remember meeting him. It just seems as though he was always there, a permanent and essential part of the fabric of the science fiction world. Our first encounter was probably a conversation at his table in the ReaderCon dealer room. That led to other conversations, including a fascinating couple of hours in a hotel lobby in Chicago during the Nebula Awards weekend in 2004. There were no velvet ropes around David Hartwell, no secret password to be ushered into the Presence of the Editor. Even a decade ago he was probably the most influential editor in the field, but he was perfectly happy to spend two hours or more reminiscing about science fiction and science fiction writers to a guy who had only just sold his third story. He knew everyone and he was willing to talk to everyone.

He bought my first novel, A Darkling Sea, as well as my second, Corsair. He picked several of my short stories for his Year's Best anthologies and other collections. Evidently he liked my stuff ��� and that mattered a great deal to me. When he died, I was about two chapters away from the end of a novel I was going to send to him. Now I find myself wishing I'd written faster. I wanted him to see that book. Not simply as an editor with purchasing authority, but as a reader. I wanted to know what David Hartwell would think of that book. I wanted him to like it.

People are usually very utilitarian beings. We value others for what they can do for us. But what I regret most right now is that I didn't get to do something for him. Not sell him a book, but write a book he would enjoy. I suspect I am not the only SF writer feeling that regret right now.