Fantasy & Science Fiction Mar-Apr 2013 (37 page)
Read Fantasy & Science Fiction Mar-Apr 2013 Online
Authors: Spilogale Inc.
Not to say that, for all this collection's fine representation of the period and the excellence of the novels, there are no flaws or faultlines. The legs work great, but as with all of us so grandly aging, there's the occasional limp and stagger. And sometimes, for a sentence or two, we kinda, you know, forget what we were going to say?
So, yeah,
The Space Merchants's
loose-jointed structure may creak in the wind a bit and leave readers at times wanting. Stereotypical Fifties male attitudes therein may rankle others. Here and elsewhere, the humor is often broad and can fall flat. A pervasive Cold War presence tends to anchor the Budrys to the past, as do strains of Freudian psychology in Bester and Sturgeon, while, by contrast, the very
un
grounded nature of the war and of existence itself in Leiber's novel, along with the demands it makes on the reader, may frustrate. Admittedly, too, the language does upon occasion cluck and sputter. But for the most part—though they do occur—this literature is not about great prose and beautiful sentences. This is about story: stories that strive to find their way into recesses of mind that harbor our great myths, right up there alongside Jung's archetypes, and to remain.
Tim Powers says of
Who?
that "Algis Budrys was one of the handful of literary geniuses who have found that science fiction is the field most open to the exploration of their deepest personal convictions." These novels were written to sell, yes, and to be read; but there is to each a sense beyond the commercial, a sense of necessity, of an individual leaning close to tell us
what matters
.
I tell my students that science fiction, arealist fiction of every sort, puts a frame around mankind's existence, the same thing that all literature does, but then pulls back, well outside the frame, to have another look. In an unassuming, natural, story-based manner, science fiction can ask the big questions. What are we? Where do we come from, where will we go? What is identity and can we buy some? Must I live the life dealt me, or can I trade up? How do I learn? Is what I see real?
In one of my first published stories, disguised as an aged, world-weary poet, I wrote, "I suppose when I was a young man I cared nothing for history of any sort." All literature builds on what came before, of course, but not in a progressive manner. The arts never reach some pinnacle of activity and achievement; instead, they forever circle back, loop and reboot, repeat themselves, put on new hats, reinvent themselves. Every journey is as much
from
as it is
to
. I was fortunate enough to read these novels fresh off the tree, and eventually to meet several of the writers. Many of those writers are gone. The books remain. Perhaps it's important that today's readers and writers, cruising faultless interstates, glance in their rear view mirrors at the county roads we have so recently left?
Collections such as this from The Library of America bring us to consider anew what we've perhaps passed by too quickly, or what we've too long taken for granted. Connie Willis's comments on
Double Star
speaks to all these novels: "Heinlein's novels of the 1940s and '50s shaped every single science fiction writer of my generation and everyone currently writing science fiction."
Damon Knight said that as writers we're magpies, stealing shiny things from other nests. Lots of shine here. Gold we are still mining.
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CROSS-BRANE CHORUS
PROJECT STATEMENT: Assemble, rehearse, and take on the road a chorus of identical individuals from several timelines.
PROJECT FUNDING: 3.9
5
megacoins.
PRESENTATION PRÉCIS: Hi, Kickstarters! My name is Hayden Planarian, and I'm a well-established singer, having performed at such venues as Trump Marsport, Hard Rock Café Puppis, and Bellagio Casino Ursa Major. My dream right now is to recruit approximately fifty of my doppelgängers from across various parallel branes to form a unique chorus of myselves, then conduct a galactic tour. I would not draw any salary from the Kickstarter funds, but instead subsist on whatever ticket sales accrue, divided equally among myself and my "sisters." My major expenses are 1) securing access to cross-brane portals (approximate power demands per minute of active usage is point zero five percent of standard annual solar output); and 2) hiring translators, bodyguards, and diplomats, as well as providing bribes, on those branes that deviate significantly and perhaps dangerously from my own.
10
KILOCOINS OR MORE: inclusion of donor in a role in my promotional Multiverse TV augmented reality software.
10
MEGACOINS OR MORE: one-night stand with myself and any desired number of my counterparts.
PERCENT FUNDED: variable across multiple branes.
UPLIFT SLIMEMOLDS OF
UPSILON ANDROMEDAE VII
TO SENTIENCE
PROJECT STATEMENT: The Society for the Extension of Turing-ready Species wishes to confer sophont-hood on the highest lifeform of Upsilon Andromedae VII.
PROJECT FUNDING: 1.5
10
gigacoins.
PRESENTATION PRÉCIS: As the wavefront of SETS works its way across the galaxy, our dedicated missionaries have encountered many species that were just trembling on the verge of sentience, and needed little more than a stern lecture from one of our Monoliths or the introduction of a non-cannibalistic mating ritual to make the leap to true self-awareness. But with the slimemolds of Upsilon Andromedae VII, we are faced with a truly superhuman task. We cannot use genetic engineering to impose our own ineluctably biased standards of sentience on a species that can barely yet climb a simple ramp, but must instead rely on accelerated Darwinian evolution
in situ
. Although the chronofield generators are fairly inexpensive, this project will take eons, and we must budget for continuous Uatu-level monitoring during that period.
10
MEGACOINS OR MORE: determine which kind of economic system any particular slimemold nation will utilize.
10
GIGACOINS OR MORE: become the supreme deity of one fully self-aware slimemold society, with all associated privileges.
PERCENT FUNDED: .9%
RECREATE ENTIRE 25-PART GEORGE LUCAS
STAR WARS MYTHOS
ON A 1:1 SCALE WITH REALITY
PROJECT STATEMENT: To emulate to a high degree of precison what will become, in effect, a live-role-playing simulation of the entire canon of ancient
Star Wars
"movies."
PROJECT FUNDING: 8.620 petacoins
PRESENTATION PRÉCIS: Galactic civilization having finally reached a developmental stage that matches or surpasses that depicted in the High Chaotic Period entertainment franchise known as the
Star Wars Mythos
, it is now finally possible to "swede up," as the period slang would have it, a remake of the entire saga, a production that completely eschews special effects of any kind, thus providing a more authentic experience for the dedicated acolytes of this cult. (Small cosmetic enhancements and prosthetics will be allowed to bring contemporary characters into complete conformity with the originals.) We need to purchase many, many items in advance, such as several planets and Death Stars for destruction; to hire millions of extras; and to work out the last few bugs from the design of the double-bladed Lightsaber so that its users do not instantly kill themselves upon activation of the unwieldy weapon. After an internecine interplanetary civil war between rival factions of our team, we have cut down our original cost estimates by deciding to forego hiring any scriptwriters to improve the dialogue.
10
TERACOINS OR MORE: ten one-hour life-coach sessions with Yoda.
10
PETACOINS OR MORE: Darth Vader will father your heir.
PERCENT FUNDED: "Do or do not…there is no try."
BUILD DYSON SPHERE AROUND 51 PEGASI
PROJECT STATEMENT: We intend to disassemble all planets in this system with the exception of exoEarth 51 Peg b for the construction of a totally sealed adamantium, energy-sequestering and causal-blockage globe around the primary.
PROJECT FUNDING: 5.825 zettacoins.
PRESENTATION PRÉCIS: The best stochastics for 51 Peg b indicate an imminent Singularity incident within the next three years, plus or minus 10%. The League to Preserve Baseline Humanity wants to shield the planet from contact with the rest of the galaxy—and vice versa—well before that time, while still allowing its residents maximum developmental freedom, under the terms of the United Planets charter (the famous "life, liberty, and the pursuit of computational density" clause). The well-being and stability of all systems inside a ten-thousand-light-year sphere with 51 Pegasi at its center is our primary concern.
10
EXACOINS OR MORE: likeness of donor engraved on inner surface of the Dyson Sphere at astronomical magnitude.
10
ZETTACOINS OR MORE: rights to address one question per solar year to the 51 Peg b Singularity Mind. No answer or utility of answer guaranteed.
PERCENT FUNDED: 115%
TURN E. L. JAMES IX FAN FICTION INTO BEST-SELLING URBAN FANTASY NOVEL
PROJECT STATEMENT: I have written over two thousand pages of fan fiction based on the novel
Shades of Ultraviolet
by E. L. James IX, and I need to revise it to feature supernatural elements.
PROJECT FUNDING: 10,000 zeptocoins.
PRESENTATION PRÉCIS: Although the franchise begun by the original E. L. James and continued by her dynastic successors owed its origin to the supernaturally replete
Twilight
series, all E. L. James, Inc., properties since that first repurposing have been rigorously stripped of any paranormal elements. I was inspired recently (by sales figures for paranormal romances) to conceive of restoring these occult plot and character tropes to my own clonal iteration of the sampling of the mashup of the slash homage. The small sum I am asking for will cover merely my caffeine consumption, interweb service fees, and purchase of inspirational fantasy trilogies during the revision process, much of which will be facilitated by market-based, reader-polled, artificially creative content- provider software packages.
PERCENT FUNDED: -99%
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