ThReads Must Roll: the new, improved rolling fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction &c. thread

<3 Sheckley

yeah! don't think I'd seen a pic of him before

Really? Not even this one: http://www.jgballard.ca/non_fiction/jgb_new_metaphor_future1973.html

More here: http://www.jgballard.ca/deep_ends/jgb_rio_convention.html

whoah!

Niven looks like a combo of Eric Bloom and Jeff Lynne

Now if only there existed a picture of Horace Gold's poker group.

Also want to reiterate that I believe Ballard said he was inspired to become an SF writer when he was sitting around leafing through Galaxy magazine during pilot training downtime in Moose Jaw or Medicine Hat, in which he must have been reading Sheckley.

kinda want to go back in time and punch harlan

Ha, he is the worst.

By he, I mean HE™

Lol

He's def not as great or important as he thinks he is

His shtick has gone on for so long am reluctant to go back and reread to see if any of his stuff holds up.

It does not

That simplifies things

Only read a handful of Ellison fictions. Some of it good, some forgettable. My brother tells me "The Function Of Dream Sleep" and the Glass Teat books are winners.

I love a lot of the interviews and stage talks. Many of the rants are bad and unconvincing and sometimes he goes really low to shock. His story about an old eccentric friend from SF fandom was so beautifully told. He's one of the few writers whose readings enhance his writing.

One of the rants I agreed with was his insistence that all the really old and important SF writers should just get lifetime achievement awards in one ceremony before going back to one per year.
The counterargument of the time was that it would demean an award to give out so many in such a short time. But Ellison thought since they're definitely going to get those awards eventually, you might as well do it when they're alive.

I understand people who don't care for awards but a lifetime achievement award is a lot less likely to be unearned. RL Stine won a horror lifetime achievement award once but that must have been for indoctrinating so many children.
I think these awards are good for writers who have gone out of fashion or were never really that popular but have enduring critical acclaim. Lifetime achievement awards might not sell many books but at least it helps secure a legacy and it might be a relief to see that happen when you're alive.

been awhile since I've re-read the only Ellison collection I own ("I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream") but I recall the title story and a few others as being solid. His self-satisfaction with himself and his concepts really does ooze off the page though, his ego upstages his talents and his ambition outpaced his capacity.

and oddly I've never read the original Dangerous Visions (never even seen a copy, but I have read most of what was included in other anthologies) but he deserves some credit there as an editor. But Moorcock or Gold or Pohl he was not.

i have no mouth and i must scream is deeply unpleasant.

dangerous Visions has some very good stories, but his intros are rubbish and his own contribution is shithouse

I once seen someone saying his intros were better than the stories, which seemed like an awful thing to say about an anthology.

Really? Can't think of anyone who would say such a thing except him.

By him, I mean HE™

I've heard that he's still writing all the time but there's not much fiction in the last two decades. I'd like to see Vic And Blood finished.

Read this one, Robert? Anybody? Forsooth!

http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-terrors-of-dr-treviles-peter.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Wormwoodiana+%28Wormwoodiana%29

Harlan Ellison is basically the Stan Lee of SF, a huckster whirlwind of self-aggrandisment who should have shut up decades ago

Haha ouch

Stan's pretty likeable by comparison

Dow- hadn't heard of any of that. But I do have some Redgrove in a monster anthology.

Aside from the selfaggrandizing I think Lee and Ellison have very different flaws and virtues. They're opposites in many ways.

Been reading about Redgrove and Shuttle. They were a married couple of poets who written supernatural stories occasionally, solo and collaborating. Shuttle also wrote books about menstruation, feminism and a book about Redgrove after he died.

From Subterranean Press newsletter---sell thy firstborn:

We're thrilled to announce that we'll be stocking Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber, the first in the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series being published by Centipede Press. (In fact, you'll be able to order copies of all the volumes through us.)

About the Book:

In the annals of heroic fantasy one epic tale stands head and shoulders above the rest, spanning sixty years in the telling, the saga of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser has captivated fans ever since Fritz Leiber's first tale of the duo appeared in the August, 1939 issue of Unknown. Just in time for the seventy-eighth anniversary of the characters debut, Centipede Press is releasing the first of what will be the definitive eight-volume set comprising not only all of the stories by Fritz Leiber (and his friend Harry Fischer), but also the brilliant epilogue to the series, Swords Against the Shadowland by Robin Wayne Bailey.

These are archival editions, lavishly illustrated and featuring guest introductions from some of the top writers in the field. We plan on releasing both Swords and Deviltry and Swords Against Death this year and customers are encouraged to contact us about reserving the entire set. There are 500 unsigned copies available.

The story of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is among the most enduring in modern fantasy and we suggest reserving your set sooner rather than later.

Swords and Deviltry features five color interior illustrations, a full-color frontispiece, full color wraparound dustjacket, and custom illustrated endpapers. The introduction is by Michael Moorcock. The book includes all of the stories that make up Swords and Deviltry along with two archival essays by Harry O. Fischer, Fritz Leiber's 1973 introduction, two "Gray Mouser" poems from The Acolyte, and an interview with Fritz Leiber from 1979. Yes, we will be publishing the entire series of novels, each one with a load of extras. This is the ultimate edition of this legendary fantasy series.

Edition Information
Bound in full black cloth, blind stamping on front board.
Color illustrations hand-tipped into the book.
Introduction by Michael Moorcock.
Gorgeous dustjacket on Mohawk Superfine.
Head and tail bands, ribbon marker.
The limited edition (300 copies) is signed by the living contributors; the trade edition is unsigned

anyone read Borne yet? About halfway through. Much more accessible (and I'd even say...fun) than the Southern Reach trilogy. Reminds me of Mieville's New Crobuzon books a bit, although a lot lighter on its feet. Plus you know, it's got a gigantic flying bear monster

http://www.zagava.de

Zagava are reprinting dual language versions of Der Orchideengarten magazine, possibly the first speculative fiction magazine. Oddly they're doing them issue by issue rather than larger compilations (which I would prefer), so if they manage to do all 51 issues this will murder your wallet if you buy them all.

One of the best illustrated magazines I've seen.
http://50watts.com/filter/orchideengarten

"but his intros are rubbish"

he's written more introductions to his own fiction than most people will ever write fiction!

i was reading an sf short story collection recently - not by harlan - and the author wrote a long introduction that introduced ANOTHER introduction that he had written for the same story in a previous anthology and the second introduction was even longer than the first one. i was wiped out by the time i got to the actual story.

Who was the author, what the book? Obv. beyond embarrassment, so it's okay to say.

OK, would LOOOOVE those Orchideengarten reprints, but can't afford them at all :(

I'm a bit on edge as I've paid a lot of money for 26 old issues of Weirdbook and apparently they've been sitting in a French transit office for a few weeks.

reading The Mote In God's Eye and its funny how much it reminds me of the jack mcdevitt book i just read. it could have come out last year. it has that same vibe that a lot of recent bureaucratic/military/empire kinda SF books i've read have. now i know where all the newer writers got it from.

NK Jemisin won a Hugo for best novel second year in a row. Women won a huge majority and the Puppies didn't win a single thing.

more about dragon awards: here's what Asimov wrote about the Futurians in his memoir. fascinating how stable this phenomenon is pic.twitter.com/lKNZ6ribkJ

— Francis Bass (@FrancisRBass) August 10, 2017

nk jemisin is so bad. her prose is so dorky i feel embarrassed for her while reading it. it's like amanda palmer or something.

recent non dorky doorstop fantasies recommendations welcome

Good to hear criticism of newer stuff. I thought the premise of the Broken Earth trio sounded pretty cool but it's probably a good few years before I read it.

I'm not that familiar with Palmer's lyrics but it can't be worse than the Joss Whedon influence on modern fantasy.

For a second I thought was going to be about Robert Palmer and Jack Vance.

depending on how wide a net you cast i think jemisin could be called whedonesque.

i just want something outside of the tolkien/terry brooks tradition. somewhere in the middle of vance and lieber and wolfe and delany. i mean i could reread any of those but i want something shiny and new.

here is an awesome list of old stuff i will probably never read:

http://hilobrow.com/radium-age-100/

I'm impressed by this guy's lists, haven't heard of him or this site before. I own a bunch of these books but the only one I've read on the radium list is Hodgson's Night Land, great/awful. I suspect a lot of these are also not easy reads.

Was amused that recently on goodreads Jemisin did her first review for years and it's a one star review with no explanation. Possibly pissed at someone.