200 Significant Science Fiction Books by Women, 1984–2001, by David G. Hartwell
Dec. 14th, 2025 09:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
james_davis_nicollI was a bit surprised to come across this as Hartwell wasn't really the go-to editor where women's SF was concerned. An interesting snapshot of SF in a sixteen-year period. The end is the fall of the American republic. Not sure what was significant about 1984.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Cold War in a Country Garden (Dilke, volume 1) by Lindsay Gutteridge
Dec. 14th, 2025 08:46 amjames_davis_nicoll
One very small step for a man, one giant leap for Her Majesty's Government.
Cold War in a Country Garden (Dilke, volume 1) by Lindsay Gutteridge
Twin Cities history: 1980s, ARA (Anti-Racist Action), Baldies, punk, music, Uptown
Dec. 14th, 2025 01:32 amelisem Um.
I tried to write an intro for this, but all I can do is gesture incoherently. No, I wasn't a Baldy, I wasn't a skinhead, but the milieu affected my life for Reasons. If you watch this documentary it may give you a better understanding of (some of) what made Minneapolis in the 80s what it was. Or maybe you were there too, and this will be an interesting tour of byegone days.
I really want to get together and share stories of those times. For now, here, have a pretty good documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=8BSDZ1DIEIQ
I tried to write an intro for this, but all I can do is gesture incoherently. No, I wasn't a Baldy, I wasn't a skinhead, but the milieu affected my life for Reasons. If you watch this documentary it may give you a better understanding of (some of) what made Minneapolis in the 80s what it was. Or maybe you were there too, and this will be an interesting tour of byegone days.
I really want to get together and share stories of those times. For now, here, have a pretty good documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=8BSDZ1DIEIQ
After some digging
Dec. 13th, 2025 07:12 pmjames_davis_nicollI am not aware of any big name authors who got their start with a work published by Baen Books after 2006. If there are recent analogs of Bujold or Weber, I do not know of them.
Huh
Dec. 13th, 2025 09:39 amjames_davis_nicollSo, I asked on Bluesky:
I got three names: Chuck Gannon, Jason Cordova and Mike Kupari. Gannon actually debuted at Baen in 1994 but only two (I think) short pieces, after which there was a long delay until his novels began appearing. I don't know the other two but SF is huge and it's perfectly possible for me to overlook BNAs. Still, granting all three, with LC that makes four... and in 2028, Toni Weisskopf will have been running Baen for as long as Jim Baen did.
This could, of course, be the natural consequence of the Del Monte approach.
[added later]
Aside from Larry Correia, are there any big name Baen authors who debuted at Baen, after Jim Baen's death?
(So, Tim Powers wouldn't count because he debuted not at Baen and also long before JB died)
I got three names: Chuck Gannon, Jason Cordova and Mike Kupari. Gannon actually debuted at Baen in 1994 but only two (I think) short pieces, after which there was a long delay until his novels began appearing. I don't know the other two but SF is huge and it's perfectly possible for me to overlook BNAs. Still, granting all three, with LC that makes four... and in 2028, Toni Weisskopf will have been running Baen for as long as Jim Baen did.
This could, of course, be the natural consequence of the Del Monte approach.
[added later]
Merry Christmas for Poilievre!
Dec. 12th, 2025 01:26 pmjames_davis_nicollI got much better at spelling his name once I realized it contains "lie".
Embattled CPC leader's Christmas card list gets one name shorter.
Embattled CPC leader's Christmas card list gets one name shorter.
Looking Back at the Work of John Varley, 1947-2025
Dec. 12th, 2025 12:12 pmjames_davis_nicoll
Where to start reading — or rereading — Varley's many series and stories.
Looking Back at the Work of John Varley, 1947-2025
The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson
Dec. 12th, 2025 09:03 amjames_davis_nicoll
The visitors might be Bird Island's salvation or simply the next step in its doom.
The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson
Summer of Love (Zhu Wong, volume 1) by Lisa Mason
Dec. 11th, 2025 08:28 amjames_davis_nicoll
A 2567 blueblood travels back to the Summer of Love to save one very special 16-year-old.
Summer of Love (Zhu Wong, volume 1) by Lisa Mason
Bundle of Holding: Magical Kitties
Dec. 10th, 2025 02:13 pmjames_davis_nicoll
Magical Kitties Save the Day, the all-ages introductory storytelling game from Atlas Games.
Bundle of Holding: Magical Kitties
To The Warm Horizon by Choi Jin-Young (Translated by Soje)
Dec. 10th, 2025 08:54 amjames_davis_nicoll
Could safety from the global pandemic be found in desperate flight towards a land of banditry and violence?
To The Warm Horizon by Choi Jin-Young (Translated by Soje)
reading about writing, thinking about art
Dec. 9th, 2025 02:45 pmelisem So, just a few minutes ago in one place or another, I was reading what someone had to say about style. In the course of exploring a particular writer's habits and style, they said that they themselves weren't sure they knew what style was.
A long time ago, a sentence came into my possession that has been both comforting and humbling by degrees. It is this: "Style is what you can't help doing."
The comforting part is that if you can't help having style, or doing style, or whatever sort of verbing of style is accurate for you and your work, then you might as well stop any worrying about style and get on with the work. Saves a tremendous amount of time, really.
Thoughts?
A long time ago, a sentence came into my possession that has been both comforting and humbling by degrees. It is this: "Style is what you can't help doing."
The comforting part is that if you can't help having style, or doing style, or whatever sort of verbing of style is accurate for you and your work, then you might as well stop any worrying about style and get on with the work. Saves a tremendous amount of time, really.
Thoughts?
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
Dec. 9th, 2025 06:35 amjames_davis_nicoll
A depowered witch discovers she is just one zany scheme away from regaining her power... provided her estranged mentor does not intervene. Which of course he will.
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
Bundle of Holding: Forged 3
Dec. 8th, 2025 02:53 pmjames_davis_nicoll
The third array of recent standalone tabletop roleplaying games using the Forged in the Dark rules system based on John Harper's Blades in the Dark from One Seven Design Studio.
Bundle of Holding: Forged 3
Five Freshly Reprinted SFF Books and Series
Dec. 8th, 2025 02:08 pmjames_davis_nicoll
Did you miss these books the first time around? Good news!
Five Freshly Reprinted SFF Books and Series