Update on Arisia Panels

Now that we are a bit closer to the kick-off for Arisia 2017, I thought I'd firm up the times and locations for panels that I'm participating in.

Arisia is an annual science fiction and fantasy convention, held in Boston in the Westin Hotel drawing bit more than 4,000 fans each every year. This will be my seventh year at the convention and the fifth on panels. So, yeah, I really like the community that turns out for this thing and it's pretty much the high point of each winter.

I like how welcoming and supportive the community at Arisia is. No matter what your interest, there is a track where like-minded individuals can gather, discuss, and participate in that fandom. There are certainly larger conventions that offer that sort of "big tent" ethos, but few that have the cozier, more casual feel of Arisia.

So, anyway, if you are interested in hearing me talk about literature and media from the past year, I'm attending the following panels (Descriptions and panelists taken directly from the Arisia program schedule):

The Alien in the Alien Location: Burroughs

Fri (1/13) 7:00 PM

Description: Many recent sci-fi books have included very alien aliens: creatures whose bodies and thought processes differ dramatically from those of humans - for instance, the Trisolarans in Liu Cixin's *Three Body* trilogy and the Presger in Ann Leckie's *Imperial Radch* trilogy. How do authors convey this feeling of difference? What is gained and lost in the story by having aliens that are so far away from humanity? Panelists: Steve E Popkes (moderator), Dennis McCunney, Sonya Taaffe, Morgan Crooks, Corbin Covault

Preacher: Gone to Texas (and TV)

Location: Burroughs

Sunday (1/15) 5:30 PM

"Preacher" is a marvelously twisted TV show that's not only a hit, but which seems to be toeing the line between faithfulness to the source material and an awareness of the need to shift content when working in a different medium like TV. We'll talk about the wonderful (and thankfully slightly more diverse than in the comics) cast, the wicked sense of humor, our favorite scenes (the motel fight, anyone?), and where we hope the show goes (and doesn't go) in season 2. Panelists: Hildy Silverman (moderator), Antonia Pugliese, Dr. James Prego, Randee Dawn, Morgan Crooks

The Uncomfortable GenreLocation: Burroughs

Monday (1/16) 10:00 AM

The power of SFF to comfort is well explored. Let's take a look at the other side. SFF has an equal power to discomfit and bedevil readers. It can be what the story speculates, such as A. Igoni Barrett's Blackass, how it speculates, such as Mark Danielewski's work, or the characters and situations, such as Helen Oyoyemi or Yoko Ogawa's stories. What speculations keep you up at night? What might we gain from reading the uncomfortable genre? Panelists: Sarah Smith (moderator), Meredith Schwartz, Dennis McCunney, Morgan Crooks

Short Sharp ShocksLocation: Hale

Monday (1/16) 1:00 PM

Simply put, you can do things in short fiction that you can't do anywhere else. Experiments that only hold up for a few thousand words, twists that would fall flat at greater length, intense playfulness with form and function, unrelenting emotional intensity, and more. Let's talk about the best short fiction of today and what makes it great. Panelists: Gillian Daniels (moderator), Keffy R.M. Kehril, Andrea Corbin, Morgan Crooks, MJ Cunniff

I'm very excited for these panels and in the days ahead intend to write down a few thoughts on Ancient Logic for each.

Review of R. Scott Bakker's The Darkness That Comes Before

First, a word about how I came to pick up the first novel in R. Scott Bakker's The Prince of Nothing historical fantasy series. In short, after finishing "A Dance with Dragons," by George R.R. I googled what should I read next. This series came up. I mention this because it might serve as a usual gauge for what to expect from "The Darkness That Came Before;" people liking Martin's mix of history, in-depth characterization, dark subject matter, and world-building will probably like Bakker's work. People not fond of entire chapters devoted to the Byzantine political maneuvers, a dozen pages of appendices on characters, maps, and language trees, or character names with umlauts should avoid this book. Basically, the story of 'The Darkness That Comes Before," follows a warrior monk by the name of Anasürimbur Kellhus, who during a quest to find his father, becomes entwined with a Holy War against a nation of fanatical monotheists. The story is...

Death's End by Liu Cixin

Having recently finished the last book in Liu Cixin's instant classic "The Remembrance of Earth's Past" series, Death's End, I can only report a feeling of total amazement and awe. There is so much about this novel that blew my mind, that offered different and better ways of viewing the universe. This novel did what I wish more novels would, serve up a new universe entire, evoking beauty and horror, nobility and disgust, in a timeless monument to unfettered speculation. Obviously, in discussing the events of the last of a trilogy books, spoilers are to be expected. I am, however, going to try to avoid discussing much beyond the first 100 pages of the third novel. I read the translation of this novel, as ushered into being by the amazing talent of Ken Liu. Ken has written of a certain prickliness when it comes to translating work. He makes an effort not to anglicize the source material, not smudging away the occasional difficulties in bringing Cixin...

A Reaction to Peter Watts' "Echopraxia"

Peter Watts’ Echopraxia is a side-sequel to his previous hard sf horror novel Blindsight . Daniel Bruks, a biologist in the Eastern Oregonian desert, gets stuck in the middle of a war between a fugitive vampire and a cult of rewired post-humans called Bicamerals, ultimately kidnapped by them as they head towards the sun. The goal of post-human and vampire alike is to investigate a possible alien intelligence gaining strength there, to determine if it poses a threat, or offers a weapon for the two sides as they struggle for advantage. Bruks' goal is simple survival. Reading Watts is a simultaneously bracing and discouraging experience. Bracing because his depiction of the future and the oddities who inhabit it continue to get better and better, his plots more complicated and more involving, his characters less like sock-puppets for his ideas and more like actual human beings (or whatevers). Discouraging because Watts uses his considerable gifts, artistic and academic, ...

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