Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) - Nerds protecting nonces

[Loose Goose]

somewhere out there is an autist writing good sword and sorcery or Jack Vance-inspired stories, but we have to deal with these faggots getting the spotlight because of labels.

Check out DMR books for that kind of thing. They publish pulpy heroic fantasy with a heavy emphasis on short stories. Their authors tend to be metalheads, mechanics, plumbers and ex military; all white guys and not a tuft of purple hair in sight. Cirsova magazine is also devoid of wokeness, although a lot more uneven. These are small outfits whose authors don't get awards for obvious reasons, but you can find them if you look around. DMR also publishes forgotten fantasy and historical adventure classics you probably don't know yet.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

Check out DMR books for that kind of thing. They publish pulpy heroic fantasy with a heavy emphasis on short stories. Their authors tend to be metalheads, mechanics, plumbers and ex military; all white guys and not a tuft of purple hair in sight. Cirsova magazine is also devoid of wokeness, although a lot more uneven. These are small outfits whose authors don't get awards for obvious reasons, but you can find them if you look around. DMR also publishes forgotten fantasy and historical adventure classics you probably don't know yet.

oh yeah I'm aware of DMR. Not the others. I'd love to get the new Argosy Reprints of classic historical fiction and adventure pulp novels but it's like 30 bucks for a copy of Bretwalda.

Sorta surprised they got Howard Andrew Jones to do an intro to one of their Swain reprints.

 

[Mola Ram]

Check out DMR books for that kind of thing. They publish pulpy heroic fantasy with a heavy emphasis on short stories. Their authors tend to be metalheads, mechanics, plumbers and ex military; all white guys and not a tuft of purple hair in sight. Cirsova magazine is also devoid of wokeness, although a lot more uneven. These are small outfits whose authors don't get awards for obvious reasons, but you can find them if you look around. DMR also publishes forgotten fantasy and historical adventure classics you probably don't know yet.

You might even find a Kiwi in Cirsova.

 

[Fandom Pulse]

somewhere out there is an autist writing good sword and sorcery or Jack Vance-inspired stories, but we have to deal with these faggots getting the spotlight because of labels.

Best place to find this kind of work is Cirsova Magazine. They're on amazon, I'm not affiliated other than as a reader.

 

[Flexo]

Robopocalypse sounds like like an Archie Sonic thing, not an actual book title.

Or an adult swim show.

 

[Meriasek]

Nope. The march through institutions has been remarkably successful. The Horror Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America are perhaps not quite as bad as the SFWA, but I wouldn't count on it. Especially with the HWA re-doing the icky pooh Lovecraft statue to some sort of dildo looking thing. Oddly, the Romance Writers of America were possibly the last to fall.

On a lighter note:

4 Overrated Sci-Fi Classics (and 4 to Read Instead)

https://archive.is/XDOHE

"Don't read Dune, read N.K. Jemisin instead," the article.

All of these recommendations sound kinda awful and bland. Aside from one, they're all on Earth taking place in the rather near future, and all do Current Year things. Just... Lame. Not that the old books were all perfect, but the classic authors went out of their way to explore some new ideas or philosophies in interesting way. Now? "Climate change... But what if everyone was queer?".

 

[Alexander Thaut]

All of these recommendations sound kinda awful and bland. Aside from one, they're all on Earth taking place in the rather near future, and all do Current Year things. Just... Lame. Not that the old books were all perfect, but the classic authors went out of their way to explore some new ideas or philosophies in interesting way. Now? "Climate change... But what if everyone was queer?".

I'd be glad to just see better execution of cool older ideas. Like, has anyone though of retreading Poul Anderson's Brain Wave in the modern day?

 

[Meriasek]

I'd be glad to just see better execution of cool older ideas. Like, has anyone though of retreading Poul Anderson's Brain Wave in the modern day?

The basic idea is a bit like the Zones of Thought novels by Vernor Vinge, particularly A Fire Upon the Deep. But that was from like 1992, so not exactly modern day, either.
Shit, A Fire Upon the Deep is almost as far from now as it was from Brain Wave, actually.
No idea if any current year author did that. I fear it'd be just "Climate change unlocks melanin brain powers, Africans go full Wakanda and take over the world".

 

[Alexander Thaut]

The basic idea is a bit like the Zones of Thought novels by Vernor Vinge, particularly A Fire Upon the Deep. But that was from like 1992, so not exactly modern day, either.
Shit, A Fire Upon the Deep is almost as far from now as it was from Brain Wave, actually.
No idea if any current year author did that. I fear it'd be just "Climate change unlocks melanin brain powers, Africans go full Wakanda and take over the world".

africans gaining 400% IQ only to have whiteys and asians get even higher.

honestly i do wonder if they'd actually figure out how to be content instead of screaming and whining.

a Kiwi or 4channer could write this tale. it'd be interesting.

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

No idea if any current year author did that. I fear it'd be just "Climate change unlocks melanin brain powers, Africans go full Wakanda and take over the world".

Dan Simmons got in a great deal of trouble with the "right people" when he wrote a novel heavily implying climate change was a fraud, that the laws passed to help ameliorate it lead to the ham-stringing and ultimate collapse of the USA economically called Flashback. He unfortunately kind of pussied out when called out about it, but it is still kind of a hoot to read.

As the novel opens a private detective in Los Angeles addicted to a hallucinogenic drug called flashback is wondering what to do as Mexico is about to initiate the final "Reconquista" of the entire American Southwest, including the ethnic cleansing of blacks and whites from greater Los Angeles. As in, leave or die.

I'd say more, but this review on Goodreads probably promotes the book better than I could. One can sense the spittle flying out of corner of the mouth as this was written/the righteous anger expressed but said reviewer....

Spoiler: salty little peanut

Dear Dan Simmons,

We have taken your family hostage. If you want to see them alive again, immediately write a dystopian novel that incorporates the following ideas:

1) The election of Obama in 2008 triggers a wave of socialist entitlement programs that bankrupts the United States. Be sure to repeatedly point out that the debt run up by the liberals is the key factor in this. Do NOT mention that Bill Clinton‘s administration paid off a huge national debt that had increased dramatically during the Reagan and Bush Sr. years or that a surplus once again became massive debt during George W. Bush‘s two terms.

2) 75% of the US population does NOT pay taxes, but is entitled to expanded benefits like retiring at 50 with full Social Security benefits. Do NOT point out that it’s usually the Democrats who are accused of wanting more taxes or that current conventional wisdom regarding Social Security is that the retirement age will be raised, not lowered.

2) Muslim extremists now rule most of the world because Obama and the liberals appeased them at every turn. Do NOT mention the so-called Arab Spring or how Obama ordered a SEAL team to appease Osama bin Ladin.

3) The US has lost several states to secession and the southwest has been captured by militarized Mexican gangs.

4) Global warming was proven to be a myth. That’s it. Just say that.

5) The US wasted the last of its money researching worthless green technologies. All the cars are now electric pieces of shit with extremely limited range. Make sure that at some point the hero pins all his hopes of escape on obtaining a V8 muscle car and that his idea is inspired by Mad Max and The Road Warrior. Do NOT point out that a huge expansion of power by countries promoting radical Islam would probably have to be financed by oil production.

6) Right wing radio commenters have been banned and broadcast as pirate radio stations while the state sponsored NPR is the official news channel. Do NOT mention Fox News at any point.

7) The liberals stripped the US military of its nuclear arms and funding. However, the military is now farmed out as a mercenary army to raise cash. If the army was gutted, why would anyone hire it as a mercenary force? Do NOT raise that question.

8) Be sure that there is a character who is an aging academic who is realizing that his type of well-meaning but fuzzy headed liberal thinking was the reason the world has gone to hell.

9) Japan now effectively controls the US.

10) Texas is an independent republic that is the last bastion of real American ideals like keeping most of what you earn to pay for your own health care. Wait. Didn’t we say that we wanted you to have most of the old US paying no taxes and that was part of the downfall? Oh, well. Write it up like that anyhow. No one will notice.

You may incorporate whatever sci-fi elements you feel necessary to entice your usual readers. We suggest a drug that most of the country is addicted to that allows users to relive their favorite memories over and over. Also, mystery stories are popular so incorporate some kind of plot with a detective. Perhaps a former cop who is now addicted to this drug after the death of his wife? We leave those details up to you so that you can get your fans to read this political manifesto.

Once this book is published, we will release your family unharmed.

Sincerely,
The Tea Party

Still not sure how a big publisher actually published this, even for a famous author like Simmons. Then again, it was published in 2011 and perhaps things weren't quite as lockstep as they are today.

 

[Meriasek]

Still not sure how a big publisher actually published this, even for a famous author like Simmons. Then again, it was published in 2011 and perhaps things weren't quite as lockstep as they are today.

2011 was still pre-Current Year. A famous author like Dan Simmons could get away with something like that.

 

[Welf Welf]

On a tangential note, even as "recently" as stuff made/published in 2013, I see things that would NEVER fly today in Current Year. It's amazing just how fast everything went to shit after 2014.

 

[Fandom Pulse]

I'd be glad to just see better execution of cool older ideas. Like, has anyone though of retreading Poul Anderson's Brain Wave in the modern day?

No, but I took Ensign Flandry as inspiration for my comic series that I'm kickstarting (sorry not sorry for the self-shilling), and obviously The High Crusade was a big inspiration for my NanoTemplar series and Deus Vult comic. He's my favorite author and gets almost zero credit or recognition -- largely because he was a card carrying Reagan Republican. His talent level was beyond Heinlein in my opinion. I'd love to be able to just blog Poul Anderson content and analysis like he was Tolkien and get enough clicks to survive but this is not the world we live in.

Check out: The High Crusade, Ensign Flandry, Three Hearts and Three Lions, and Fire Time for some really incredible books if you haven't and you're a sci-fi lover.

Also had a whistleblower at Gencon who overheard a crazy rant by Cat Rambo. This would get anyone canceled if they weren't in the clout structure.

 

[Big Nasty]

Three Hearts and Three Lions was a major inspiration for 1st ed Dungeons & Dragons.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

No, but I took Ensign Flandry as inspiration for my comic series that I'm kickstarting (sorry not sorry for the self-shilling), and obviously The High Crusade was a big inspiration for my NanoTemplar series and Deus Vult comic. He's my favorite author and gets almost zero credit or recognition -- largely because he was a card carrying Reagan Republican. His talent level was beyond Heinlein in my opinion. I'd love to be able to just blog Poul Anderson content and analysis like he was Tolkien and get enough clicks to survive but this is not the world we live in.

Check out: The High Crusade, Ensign Flandry, Three Hearts and Three Lions, and Fire Time for some really incredible books if you haven't and you're a sci-fi lover.

Also had a whistleblower at Gencon who overheard a crazy rant by Cat Rambo. This would get anyone canceled if they weren't in the clout structure.

I've read High Crusade and own Three Hearts/Three Lions, Brain Wave, Boat of a Million Years, Tau Zero, and The Guardians of Time or w/e that mass of time patrol stories is called in the SF Gateway omnibus.

Fire Time? isn't that part of some big series?

I'm sure Anderson gets recognition to an extent in his day, but now he's sorta relegated to just being hawked on Open Road Media's kindle shop and Gollancz. In the 00s a ton of his work got reprinted by Baen too. Think it's still listed on the Baen site. Nesfa whipped up a short story collection for Anderson in 7 volumes.

I do see people slowly getting into him. There's new people interested in vintage SF/F due to some booktubing and other places (4chan's lit board and etc.). I've seen tons of praise for Tau Zero and Broken Sword. Broken Sword better be worth the 10-15 bucks when I get to it. ISTG.

Anderson's Ys series looks fun too.

I wouldn't say he's been totally forgotten, but he's certainly underrated.

Wait a fucking minute you're that del arroz guy on YT, aren't you.

Three Hearts and Three Lions was a major inspiration for 1st ed Dungeons & Dragons.

I can believe it. Didn't Gygax also invite Fritz Leiber and Andre Norton to play and get involved early on?

Andre Norton's also been kinda neglected too. Shame. I know she was more of a YA author but she seems to be beloved.

 

[Boston Brand]

Check out DMR books for that kind of thing. They publish pulpy heroic fantasy with a heavy emphasis on short stories. Their authors tend to be metalheads, mechanics, plumbers and ex military; all white guys and not a tuft of purple hair in sight. Cirsova magazine is also devoid of wokeness, although a lot more uneven. These are small outfits whose authors don't get awards for obvious reasons, but you can find them if you look around. DMR also publishes forgotten fantasy and historical adventure classics you probably don't know yet.

Anvil and Battleborn Magazines too... I know the new editor there, it's the guy from Baen who got them to publish Howard Andrew Jones.

The latter I'm especially excited about. Seems to be shaping to be Tales of the Magician's Skull 2.0, ie everything the Weird Tales revival SHOULD have been

 

[Fandom Pulse]

For some reason the farms won't let me quote some posts sometimes. Weird. Fire Time is technically in a 2 book series but it's like loosely connected novels, it's pretty standalone and the sequel isn't his best work.

Yeah I have all the Baen reprints and that short story collection hardcovers (which are beautiful). Well worth it.

And yes, I'm that guy.

Cat Rambo had ONE person watching her panel at Gencon. All those years of chasing industry clout for nothing.

 

[JJLiautaud]

For some reason the farms won't let me quote some posts sometimes. Weird. Fire Time is technically in a 2 book series but it's like loosely connected novels, it's pretty standalone and the sequel isn't his best work.

Just highlight and and click quote the parts you want to respond to.

 

[Mikoyan]

Just highlight and and click quote the parts you want respond to.

To explain: This is done on long posts to prevent people having massive quotes in their replies.

Heavy handed but it's done for a reason.

 

[Fandom Pulse]

Just highlight and and click quote the parts you want respond to.

Ahh. Thank you for un-boomering me.