Victor Milán died on February 13. I learned the news one day later, and found it nearly impossible to believe. I’d known Vic for nearly two decades, mostly via email, though we met a few times in person in the mid-1990s when I attended some SF conventions. He wrote an article once for Prometheus back when I used to edit the newsletter, and we discussed books and other subjects when we corresponded. We were both huge fans of Lack Vance, a topic that came up several times. He was alway writing, and publishing great books, all entertaining stories across many genres. I’ve read only a fraction of his books, mainly ones that were published under his own name, not his many pseudonyms. Looking at my stack of his books I’m surprised to find that I own only ten, even though in all he wrote close to 100 novels.
A few years ago he became quite ill, but recovered and kept writing. He recently finished an acclaimed trilogy about dinosaurs and humans, and wrote short stories for George R. R. Martin’s Wild Cards anthology. Having mostly left the major social media platform out there a few months ago, I had no idea that he became ill once again in mid-December 2017, or that he was in the hospital. The news that he died struck me particularly hard.
The first book of his that I read was Cybernetic Samurai, back in 1987. I still have the UK paperback edition. The pages have yellowed slightly, the print seems small by today’s standards. When I moved to the US from Norway in 1988 I found a hardback copy of the US edition, which he later inscribed to me, “Thanks for your friendship and support,” at one of those conventions. I bought the sequel, Cybernetic Shogun, as soon as it was published. Every time I saw a Victor Milán new book I bought a copy, from Runespear; CLD; even his Star Trek novel, From the Depths; Red Sands; and a couple of the Wild Cards anthologies. I treasure the New Mexico writers anthology, A Very Large Array, published in 1987 and containing many of the luminaries of SF, such as Jack Williamson, George R. R. Martin, Roger Zalazny, Fred Saberhagen, and, of course, Victor Milán.
A giant in the field of libertarian SF is gone. More importantly, I have lost a friend, and I’m still processing this loss.
Category: sf (Page 1 of 5)
Cyberpunk is so 1990s. And yet, here is Netflix in 2018, throwing millions left and right at virtually any project. Some are successful, and change the cultural landscape, like Stranger Things. Some I enjoy, like the various Marvel comic books adaptions such as Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones. Others are strange, like the oft-cliched western, Godless. Then there’s the SF series, Altered Carbon. Based on a cyberpunk novel from almost two decades ago, this 10-episode series is one of the more recent Netflix “original” series, debuting on February 2nd, 2018.
I’ve watched the first episode, and so far I see nothing special. Although I’ve not read the novel upon which it’s based, so far it feels like I’m watching a slightly inverted take on Blade Runner. Rather than a cop as the central character, we have a criminal, a terrorist. Frozen for 250 years (!) after being killed, this person is decanted into another body. Supposedly the state in the 24th century keeps spare bodies around, depositing the essence or souls into these bodies. No mention is made of why the spare bodies are so conveniently present. Did their essence die in the virtual world, leaving the shell behind?
What bad science fiction so often gets laughably wrong is time and technology. Time accelerates with progress, and the difference between the 22nd century and the 24th should be massive, but instead the people and place look almost indistinguishable from the present time, as if nothing happened in three centuries except a few advancements in computer interfaces. This silliness alone makes me hesitate to give the series an additional look beyond the first episode, and supposedly this is just the first season.
Why not create a series of science fiction based on Iain Banks’ Culture novels, instead of warmed over cyberpunk that look like it ripped off Blade Runner?
This technology definitely is lifted from the pages of science fiction, no pun intended.
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Users will be able flick through a document by bending the screen, or by joining screens together for a larger display. Each PaperTab will also be aware of other PaperTabs nearby, helping users keep track. Email can be sent by placing the device in an out tray or by bending the top corner of the display. The PaperTab can also store thousands of documents – obviating, its developers say, the need for stacks of paper or a traditional computer monitor.
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Imagine pinning up several paper monitors on you office wall, connecting them together, and having one large monitor.
Tim Powers fans rejoice! Subterranean Press is publishing a new, 21,000 word novella called Salvage and Demolition. Apparently the limited edition is already sold out, and no doubt the trade edition shortly will follow suit. The brief description sounds like classic Powers stuff:
Richard Blanzac, a San Francisco-based rare book dealer, opens a box of consignment items and encounters the unexpected. There, among an assortment of literary rarities, he discovers a manuscript in verse, an Ace Double Novel, and a scattering of very old cigarette butts. These commonplace objects serve as catalysts for an extraordinary—and unpredictable—adventure.
Some of my core TV memories from growing up in Zambia are Astro Boy, The Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Thunderbirds. Though puppet shows seem corny and wince-inducing, Thunderbirds had cool space ships, action, and exciting stories. A couple of days ago the show’s creator, Gerry Anderson, passed away at age 83. I had no idea, though, that a live action movie based on his show appeared in 2004. If must have flown well below the radar.
Some science fiction ideas that became reality. The quantum teleportation remains the most intriguing one, and seems still in early stages.
A very short list from the Telegraph.
A review over at the Washington Post of the Library of America’s two volume collection of some early science fiction novels. Most were published in the middle of the 20th century, and include authors like Robert A. Heinlein, Theodore Stugeon, Alfred Bester, and others. Catch it before the paywall rises.
A nice look back at one of the most under-rated SF shows on TV – Babylon 5. Great stories, great sources, and a large canvas.
From IO.9, the second essay in an on-going series, this one dealing with science fiction in the Soviet Union.
