Anda's Game

Anda's got a bit too much podge, she hates PE, and she loves sweeties and her online RPG. There's nothing particularly futuristic about this British teen, the protagonist of the third tale in Cory Doctorow's Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present, until her passion for her favorite game gets her into more than one kind of trouble.

"Anda's Game" was a lot of fun to read. Doctorow is to be praised for the use of such phrases as "sensible boobs" and characters like "Liza the Organiza." Anda's voice is realistic- sweet, but sometimes greedy, depressed, bored. Anda's round character showcases Doctorow's ability to actually get inside a twelve-year-old girl's head. The plot is engaging, and leads logically down a path that brings Anda and the reader to a genuine dilemma.

In his forward to the story, Doctorow goes into great detail about what inspired him to write "Anda's Game." Thumbing his nose at the misnomer that titles can be copyrighted inspired the title. The practice of gold farming gave him the idea for the plot. What Doctorow fails to mention is where he got the idea that female role-playing gamers were better than males. This assumption is the only element of the story that I didn't find plausible.

Doctorow cites some believable reasons why girls aren't as avid gamers as their male counterparts, including avatars that make them "perv-magnets," taking crap from boys, and gamespace that "smells like a boy's armpit." Where he loses is me is the premise that female gamers are better than male gamers. Just as good, could be. But better?

Doctorow's feminist RPG queen, Liza the Organiza, claims that girls are "faster, stronger, and better than boys." Let's just say this is Liza's opinion, not Doctorow's. But later, when Liza says that girls' cooperative spirit makes them better fighters than boys, I really got the feeling Doctorow shared her opinion. Indeed, important events of the story were tied to the way the girls in game cooperated.

I've observed a lot male gamers playing online MUDs, RPGs and XBOX Live Arcade games. Say what you will about these fella's armpits- the spirit of cooperation is strong with them. Listen in to the audio chat channels during play. You'll hear guys of all ages from all over the USA (and in some cases the world), guys who have never even met each other, spontaneously working together to achieve a team goal. You'll hear them sharing the spoils of war, covering each other's backs, and teaching inexperienced players the ropes. It's beautiful, in a kind of smelly guy way.

I don't think girls are going to edge out male gamers based on spirit of cooperation.

The Father of Science Fiction?

This morning I came across a reference to the origins of science fiction in an unexpected context. I was reading The Story of French by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow. In a chapter illuminating the forward-thinking progress made by France at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the authors cited Jules Verne as the father of science fiction. I always question these kind of statements, which can be tricky to prove. The authors mentioned that Verne was a predecessor to the British H.G. Wells. A quick check of their bibliographies backed up this statement: Verne published such titles as Journey to the Center of the Earth and From the Earth to the Moon in 1864-1865. Wells' first publication was in 1888, his Time Machine: An Invention dates from 1895. My research on Wikipedia drew my attention to the statement: "Verne, along with Hugo Gernsback and H. G. Wells, is often popularly referred to as the 'Father of Science Fiction'."
Well, the first thing I did was check out this Hugo Gernsback. Gernsback wasn't even born until until 1864. A native of Luxembourg (and no doubt a Francophone), Gernsback moved to the U.S. in 1905. Modern SF fans most likely remember him for his first name, given to the prestigous Hugo Award. He gets the appellation "Father of Science Fiction" and is often credited for creating the genre, because he founded and promoted Amazing Stories, the first commercial magazine dedicated to science fiction.
Meaning no disrespect to the worthy trinity of our science fiction fathers, I was more interested to discover who first started writing science fiction than in who established the genre niche in popular literature. Further research led me to The History of Science Fiction: A Chronological Survey by Agatha Taormina. Taormina divides the origin of science fiction into stages: prehistory, pioneers, Wells and Bouroughs, early modern science fiction, the Golden Age, postwar era, and the modern age. Prehistory yielded some interesting results stretching back to elements of the fantastic in classical literature. But I was interested in the pioneer age, the first authors to pen tales that meet our modern genre requirements for science fiction. The result? The father of science fiction, in the sense of the first person to write a genuine science fiction novel, wasn't the father of science fiction, but the mother: Mary Shelly. Her Frankenstein : A Modern Prometheus, was first published in 1818. The wikipedia entry for this book notes that "many distinguished authors...consider this the very first science fiction novel."
If you're only familiar with Frankenstein as a monster movie icon, you're in for a treat when you discover the 1818 novel at the origin of this classic tale. Frankenstein is fantastic fodder for a future blog post. For now I'll leave you with highlights of Agatha Taormina's list of the earliest pioneers of science fiction. These authors are among my favorites.

• 1818 Mary Shelly (British) Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus
• 1836 Edgar Allen Poe (American) The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym
• 1840's Nathaniel Hawthorne (American) "The Birthmark" (1843) and "Rappaccini's Daughter" (1844)
• 1860/70's Jules Verne (French) Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870)

Friggin' Writers' Panel

This evening from 7-9 ET I'll be one of two guest authors discussing science fiction in the first of Friggin' Write's series of teleconference writers' panel meetups. I'll be joined by award-winning short-story writer and novelist, Karen Heuler.

To learn more about tonight's discussion and to learn about upcoming telephonic discussion panels and NYC writer events, check out the Friggin' Write website.

Transformations of King Arthur Through Time

This week I finished Joseph Campbell's Transformations of Myth Through Time. Campbell takes on the daunting task of explaining the Western individual's cultural and spiritual heritage, beginning with the dawn of human consciousness, and discussing the major Eastern and Western civilizations whose stories make up our heritage. He also attempts to answer the question "How do I connect with the magic of the universe?" for those who come from Judeo-Christian traditions, and provides an explanation of Oriental philosophy and spirituality to the Westerner, including how these traditions influenced our own.

The final three chapters are a special treat for fantasy fans like me. Campbell delves deep into the tradition of the troubadours, and unearths the dawn of such legends as King Arthur, The Search for the Holy Grail, and Tristan and Isolde.

I had read several accounts of historical leaders named Arthur who may or may not have been the source of the Arthur stories. Campbell suggests Arthur was "originally a Celtic god, and the place where we find him revered is in the Pyrenees." Campbell explains that the name Arthur is related to several ancient deities, including Artus (Roman) and Artemis (Greek). In all these cases, the deity is identified with the bear. Joseph Campbell fans will know that the bear is the "oldest worshiped deity in the world...going back to Neanderthal times." There's a really cool photograph accompanying this text, a tombstone from first century A.D. in St. Pé, France. The inscription reads, "Lexiia, the daughter of Odan, has gained merit through her vows to Artehe." Campbell finds it easy to make the leap from "Artehe" to "Arthur" (you will, too, if you speak both words out loud), and uses this monument as evidence that Arthur was still a deity in Roman times.

Campbell does an excellent job of connecting tales from distant lands and distant times to the swarm of stories we all have swimming deep inside our brains. His tone is conversational, and laced with humor, the weight of a lifetime of mythological study, and love for these stories.

Overclocked Announced

Cory Doctorow announced the publication of his new collection of short stories on the famous Boing Boing, the "directory of wonderful things." You can see for yourself how wonderful- or not- the collection is either by buying the book, or by reading it for free under a Creative Commons license which Doctorow summarizes as "Take 'em, send them around, convert them to new formats, make new and cool things out of them -- but don't charge money for them without talking to me."

In typical Doctorow fashion, the stories are available for free in practically every digital format known to man. So far I've read the first Dickensian science fiction tale, "Printcrime," in pdf on my mac. Next up, "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" in Mobipocket on my handheld. I'll have reviews of the stories over the coming weeks. To learn more about Doctorow's policy of giving his work away for free, check out my previous post on Doctorow.

Full Metal Panic!

That giant robot you saw earlier this week on the cover of Full Metal Panic - Mission 01 is actually called an Arm Slave, a deadly mechanical exoskeleton operated by a human soldier on the battlefield. War tactics and soldierly bravery make up the shōnen aspect of the series, which is supposed to appeal to guys. One of these soldiers, Sosuke Sagara, is taken out of his Arm Slave and charged to go undercover as a high school student in order to guard Kaname Chidori. The relationship that develops between these two provides fodder for the girl-pleasing shōjo audience.

So, why is a battle-hardened soldier guarding a Japanese high school student? That's where the science fiction comes in. Though Kaname doesn't know it, she's a Whispered, a young woman who can hear distant voices that speak of technology beyond anything previously dreamed by humans. Kaname isn't the only Whispered- we also meet Captain Tessa, a frail American teenager in charge of a futuristic submarine she designed and built with the help of the whispering voices. What I like about Full Metal Panic! is that advances in technology come with very realistic consequences. Anarchists and terrorists are drooling to get their hands on one of these young Whispereds so they can put them to work designing weapons. They are successful in getting their hands on some Black Technology, which allows them to soup up an Arm Slave with the Lambda Driver. I won't tell you what this nightmare weapon does- you'll have a lot of fun finding out. But I will say that the only way Sosuke can defend Kaname against the Lambda Driver it is to learn to use it, himself.

Full Metal Panic! digs into the psychology of the soldier, explores sense of duty in military organizations, gives an interesting twist on the child prodigy, and even offers insight into Japanese culture. But let's not forget that it's also got Sosuke booby trapping school lunches and blowing up shoe lockers. And, most important of all, it's got Kaname hitting hopeless Sosuke over the head with her fan every time he makes a civilian blunder- and falling deeper in love with every swat.

What is the Difference between Manga and Anime?

Before I began my foray into the world of manga, I was confused on this point, but it's really pretty simple. Manga are Japanese comic books in print. Anime is manga in motion, cartoon series on video media.

Fantasy and science fiction series are well-represented in manga and anime series, but mainstream romantic comedies and other genres are also quite popular. More important than genre distinction is the intended target audience of the series. There are many kinds of target audiences, but the main divisions are shōjo (intended for a female audience) and shōnen (intended for a male audience). Now, it isn't as though only boys can only read shōnen and girls abhor everything but shōjo. In fact, my favorite series is a blend of shōjo and shōnen combined with a good dose of science fiction. This week I'll be doing a review of the series, Full Metal Panic, in which I'll point out which elements appeal to spec fiction fans, which elements appeal to boys, which elements appeal to girls, and why this unique combination makes a fun series for everyone.

For now I'll leave you with the links to Full Metal Panic! Volume 1 (this is manga) and Full Metal Panic - Mission 01 (this is anime). Note the meeting of shōjo and shōnen on the cover of the manga, and the giant robot on the DVD of the anime.

Stone and the Librarian

What a treat! One of my favorite writers, William Browning Spencer, has a short story in the February issue of F&SF! Spencer presents us with a protagonist, Stone, who hates, despises, and loathes literature. At the same time, his ability to connect deeply with the written word has been noticed by the Librarian, who holds Stone prisoner and forces him to read, and read, and then read some more. For Stone, life in Knowledge Base #29 makes him feel as though "time turned the color of a rain-laden sky." Forced forays into Faulkner give Stone the impression he's trying to "puzzle out the thought process of a giant squid mulling things over at the bottom of the night-black sea." Yet Stone wakes in the middle of the night, having understood the precise essence of what Faulkner was trying to say. He runs through his prison, shouting the message at the top of his lungs- but all anyone can hear is a madman shouting gibberish.

As in my other Spencer favorites, Zod Wallop and Resume With Monsters, the beauty of "Stone and the Librarian" comes from those moments when the reader sinks with the protagonist into a whirlpool of uncertainty about what is real, and what represents the fevered workings of a mad, mad brain. At a certain point the reader feels a jolt, a moment of being unsure whether he's still got all his marbles. For me the moment came on p. 56. Where is the fall for you?

As you can tell from the large amount of quoting in today's post, the prose is also fantastic in this story. Spec fiction fans will enjoy the references to Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Great fun for literature buffs, too!

The Darkness Between

Today I read a really fun novelette by Jeremy Minton. "The Darkness Between" uses a classic science fiction scenario. Two technologically advanced civilizations wipe themselves out with battle lust, and the story takes place ages into the aftermath, focusing on a primitive society coming of age. I like the fact that the coming of age of the primitive society is paired with the coming of age of the young protagonist.

But we've all seen this scenario many times before. Why read "The Darkness Between?" For all that fun stuff I was talking about: an untrustworthy magician; impossible battles with knuckledusters in close, dark tunnels, lit only by the glow of the monsters' bodies; mining for spiritual drugs; rockfruit; a geography that includes locations like the Drop and the Lightless Lake. In short, the world building here is fantastic.

You can find "The Darkness Between" in the January 2007 issue of F&SF .

Learning to Shudder

What do Jim Henson's the Storyteller and the Japanese anime series Full Metal Panic Fumoffu have in common? Well, not much- except that both of them have an episode based on my favorite Grimm's fairy tale: "The Story of the Youth who went forth to learn what Fear was." I first encountered this tale in Bergamo, Italy, where I picked up a book of local fairy tales and legends. I've since encountered a similar version in Grimm's.

It's not surprising that Jim Henson's the Storyteller,which pulls directly from German folk tales, used this tale which is, after all, the fourth of two hundred ten tales in The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales. Henson tells the story of a tailor's son who is a little too simple, a little too dumb, to have ever been afraid. At the urging of his father, the young man leaves family, home, and his true love behind and goes on an adventure to seek out his first fright- to learn, as it were, how to shudder. The journey leads our hero on a number of adventures that are supposed to frighten him, but do not. He finally ends up in a haunted house, where a ghoul comes tumbling down the chimney (in the Italian version, this ghoul falls down the chimney in many pieces, in Henson's version, he is separated in just two pieces, his legs scampering away from his upper half). The ghoul challenges the young hero to a game of nine pins, for which the prize is winning the hero's legs. The young man wins the game, survives the night, and finds great riches in the haunted house. He goes home a wealthy man, but he still hasn't learned to shudder. It's not until he returns home to tell his father his fortune that he learns his true love has fallen deathly ill. Summoned to her side, the young man is certain his true love will die, and fear of losing her makes him shiver in terror for the very first time.

Compare this traditional tale to the romantic comedy/sf war (yes, you read that correctly) manga and anime series from Japan, Full Metal Panic. In the Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu portion of the series, we have spunky Japanese high school girl, Kaname, showing the foreign-born soldier, Sosuke, the ropes of teenage life in Japan. Sosuke has learned that high school can be more challenging than the battlefield, where he spent most of his childhood and young adult life. In Episode 6, "The Patient of Darkness," Kaname is telling ghost stories to her friends. The only one she can't scare with her stories is the battle-hardened Sosuke. Kaname takes him to an abandoned hospital that the locals believe is haunted. Right away the duo sees an elderly patient who died at the hospital staring at them through a broken window. Inside, a defunct telephone line rings. The caller is trying to reach the hospital- but he's already dead. Bloodied children from the pediatric ward begin to chase them down the hallway with cleavers. Through all these increasingly scary situations, Kaname is jumping out of her skin, but Sosuke remains unmoved, pointing out at each juncture that old ladies and even small children with weapons are no match for his soldierly skills. The pair are about to discover the true nature of the hospital hauntings, when some old floor boards give way and Kaname falls through to the hospital's basement. The next scene shows her in a heap of rubble, unconscious. There is blood everywhere. Enter Sosuke, sweating and shaking, stuttering- in other words, he's terrified. Like the fairy tale hero, our level-headed soldier has learned what fear is.

January 2007 F&SF

The last two stories of the first 2007 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction are enough to get readers excited for a great year of fiction. The final tales are by Neil Gaiman and Robert Reed. Gaiman takes us on adventure with two young men both at the tender age of fifteen. Reed's leading men are both the same age, too: this time fifty-three years young.

"How to Talk to Girls at Parties" is both the title of Gaiman's story and a serious problem for protagonist, Enn. He watches with envy as his buddy Vic glides uninvited into a house full of beautiful girls, plucks the prettiest from the lot, and makes her his date. The only advice lady-killer Vic can give Enn on girls is to talk to them, then listen to what they say. Enn takes this advice to heart- and the girls start jabbering away, making even less sense than girls usually do. This story was taken from Gaiman's most recent book, Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders, though all the references to stars throughout the story may bring to mind another Niel Gaiman title, Stardust, which editor Gordon Van Gelder reminds us is coming out in film this March.

"X-Country" by Robert Reed describes the Gatsby-esque character, Kip Logan. Kip's origins are uncertain, his aptitudes moderate, he's good looking, and liked by both men and women. His only outstanding achievement was constantly beating protagonist Don at all the local running events. Then one day Kip left town, traveled the world, and came back rich enough to buy a mansion and fancy sports car with cash. The details of where he went and how he made his money are, like most things in Kip's past, very sketchy. Now fifty-three years old, both Don and Kip are back competing in races- Kip winning, as per usual. Then two very interesting things happen. Don suffers a hip injury that threatens to end his running career and his active lifestyle for good. Kip decides to sponsor his own X-country race- not cross-country- Kip is very adamant about that. Just what this X-country race might be is a mystery to Don and the entire town, but the prizes Kip is offering make it worth while to run.