Worldcon Finale
Sunday and Monday are somewhat lighter than the previous days, so I'm pasting them together into one big post. I know you're all heartbroken not to have this drawn out more...
Sunday 10:00 a
X H206: My Love Affair With JRR Tolkien
When (and how) did it start? Was it a passing fling or eternal love? Who or what is sitting at home waiting for you to come to your senses? Daniel Grotta, Karen Haber (m), Kathy Morrow, Michael Swanwick, Connie Willis
H303: When Did the Future Get So Far Away?
Remember the 1959s and 1960s, when we thought that by the year 2000 we'd have giant orbiting space stations, routine space travel, and human colonies all over the solar system? Stories written today don't talk of such wonders happening within a few decades—instead, they're a century or more in the imagined future. What happened? Did we get more cynical and lose our near-term dreams, or more practical and assume the future would be harder to get to that earlier dreamers imagined? Judith Berman, Steve Carper, D. Douglas Fratz, John G. Hemry, Mike Shepherd-Moscoe (m)
* H312: The Best Books of 2004 (so far)
You know those hateful people who somehow keep up with their reading? They're all on this panel. They'll share which current works of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and slipstream it's a shame you're missing. Charles N. Brown, John Clute, Jonathan Strahan (m)
[It's all about the book recommendations...]
Sunday 11:00 a
H107: Sword and Sorcery: Heroic Fantasy's Punk Kid Brother
Warrior heroes and mighty magicians strutting their stuff across a world of the author's imagination. That can describe both Heroic Fantasy and Sword-and-Sorcery. But why does one sound more up-market than the other? Does it depend on the style of writing—or just the thickness of the book? Peter Morwood
H203: Criticism or Review?
Is there really a difference? Discuss. F. Brett Cox, Gregory Feeley (m), Daniel Grotta, Graham Sleight, Takayuki Tatsumi
H206: Achilles Needs a Heel!—The Problem With Power
Would Achilles have been interesting if he'd been truly invulnerable, or, instead or dying a tragic here would he still have been acting like a psychopathic adolescent thirty years after the Trojan War ended? Can power without vulnerabilities make an interesting story? (Has anyone succeeded?) What sorts of vulnerabilities are needed? How do you avoid the search for the armor's chink turning a story into a puzzle? Alison Baird (m), Carol Berg, Diane Duane, Sheila Finch
H306: DOA: Books that Died Despite Everything
Well-known author, well-developed plot, thorough marketing plan, yet the book fails to thrive. Why? Did it show too much ambition or too little? Was it old-fashioned, or ahead of its time? Were the stars wrong, or the season, or were we simply coming down with the flu? Let us count all the sad ways good books go bad…Our panel will discuss the phenomenon from multiple viewpoints. John Jarrold, Jane Jewell (m), Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Janna Silverstein, Jonathan Strahan, Jacob Weisman
[In a weird way, this looks like it could be really interesting...]
H311: Exotic Mythologies
Tired of fantasy larded with cardboard cut-outs from Celtic mythology? Explore some of the world's great mythologies that fantasy has yet to fully explore. A survey of great ideas from countries and peoples around the world. Suzanne Alles Blom, Anne Harris, Josepha Sherman (m), Vandana Singh
Sunday 12:00 n
H302: The New Weird: What, Who, and Why?
Now that SF has become more mainstream, what has become the new fringe? Who defines what is "weird," and who and what have been declared "weird,"—and why? Paul DiFilippo, Beth Meacham, Delia Sherman, Graham Sleight (m), Jonathan Strahan, Jeff VanderMeer
[I'm not sure I've actually read anything by any of the "New Weird" authors-- China Mieville is the only one I can think of off-hand, and I never did finish Perdido Street Station (not that I didn't like it, I just wasn't in the mood for it right then, and then misplaced it for a while...). I think VanderMeer is one of the canonical examples, as well, but I haven't seen any of his books.]
H304: Hell is Gray: The Banality of Evil
Back, deep in the mists of history, there has always been a sneaking suspicion that evil is more exciting, more fun than good: many writers (from Milton on down!) make evil seem interesting. (Why?)But is it fun? The (fortunately) few times most of us get near a truly bad person, they don't seem to be very joyful or happy—they seen terribly unhappy and frequently pretty dull. C. S. Lewis called this the banality of evil: uncreative, repetitious, and boring. Hell is not fiery-red, it is gray. Who has done a good job, in fantasy or SF, showing realistic heroes combating realistic evil? Barbara Chepaitis, Stephen Dedman, Paula Guran, Elizabeth Hand (m), Tanya Huff, Mary Turzillo
H312: Reading (1 hour)
Terry Pratchett
Sunday 1:00 p
H204: Turning Children's Books Into Film
Putting the Harry Potter books on film is turning out pretty well. Besides Holes, the latest Peter Pan, the recent TV Wrinkle in Time (plus Peter Jackson's promised The Hobbit ) what other kids' stuff would look great on the silver screen? Why? And perhaps most importantly, how? Kathryn Cramer, Susan Fichtelberg, Diana Tixier Herald, James S. Hinsey (m), Kathleen Kudlinski, Bonnie Kunzel
H302: Stories I'm Too Scared to Write
What makes some topics too frightening to write about? Is one person's bane another's delight? Ginjer Buchanan (m), Joe Haldeman, Louise Marley, Robert Charles Wilson
Sunday 2:00 p
H312: Fantasy Noire
Fantasy doesn't have to be sweetness and light, it can be dark without turning into gore-ridden horror. Who is writing dark fantasy today? Are there several traditions, or does it all derive from Lovecraft? Are there motifs in dark fantasy as pervasive as the Quest is in high fantasy? Has dark fantasy gotten clichéd? Jim Butcher, Glen Cook, Faye Ringel (m), Delia Sherman
[A slow couple of hours, here...]
Sunday 3:00 p
H204: LOTR: Looking Back at the Films
The film series is over, the dust has settled, was it all worth it? A look back, and assessment of the series as a whole. MaryAnn Johanson, Laurie Mann (m), Kathy Morrow
H301: The Fermi Paradox: Where is Everyone?
Enrico Fermi asked the question "Where are they?" Everything we know about astronomy, physics, chemistry and biology seems to say that planets with life ought to be common in the universe. If so, where are the aliens? Something is wrong—but what? John G. Cramer, G. David Nordley, Mark L. Olson (m), Stanley Schmidt
H302: Creating Gods
Gods are important characters in fantasy works from mythology to the Silmarillion to Saberhagen's "Swords" novels to Discworld. How does one introduce superbeings into a work without pushing the human characters into insignificance? Gods are often gigantic projections of human characteristics. Can they serve other functions as well? Additionally, why are polytheistic settings so common in fantasy? What are the sources that authors are using, and why? And why do readers find them so compelling? Lois McMaster Bujold (m), David B. Coe, Glen Cook, George R. R. Martin, Tamora Pierce, Jo Walton
H311: My Favorite Novels
Panelists will supply a list of their favorite novels, and the audience will try to match the authors to their lists. Then, they'll discuss their choices. Rosemary Kirstein, Paul Levinson (m), Robert Reed, Robert Charles Wilson
[Followed by another "Let's see you pick between these panels!" block. Evil bastards.]
Sunday 4:00 p
H107: What's New from Tor
A presentation of recent and forthcoming works published by Tor Books, along with a brief Q&A about the books. Come see the pretty pictures (i.e., cover art). Listen to the editors wax rhapsodic. There will be door prizes! David G. Hartwell, Beth Meacham, James Minz, Patrick Nielsen Hayden
H204: This Book Sucks: How and How Not To Write Reviews
What makes a good book review or a good critical piece? What kinds of things should book reviewers do? What kinds of behaviors should they avoid? Tobias Buckell, Thomas A. Easton, Scott Edelman, Janice M. Eisen (m), Steven Sawicki
Sunday 5:00 p
H310: Discoveries That Weren't: Near Misses in Science
Cold fusion wasn't the first. Scientists talk about promising results that turned out to be dead ends. At the other extreme, what experiments might have led to earlier advances of scientific theory if only scientists had known what they were seeing? And then there were the great scientific mistakes…that actually worked! Teflon, Penicillin, post-its…and where would we be without Silly-Putty? A semi-serious look at what science is really all about! John G. Cramer, Ctein, Howard Davidson (m), Robert A. Metzger, W. A. Thomasson
[The Davisson-Germer experiment is my personal favorite mistake-that-worked...]
And then there's Monday:
Monday 10:30 a
XXX H301: The Afshar Experiment: A Farewell to Copenhagen?
Update on Afshar's new quantum 2-slit experiment: does it falsify the Copenhagen and Many-Worlds interpretations of quantum mechanics? John G. Cramer
[Run Awayyyyyyyyy!!!!!]
Monday 11:00 a
* H206: Warping the Classics
Perverse interpretations of classical SF and Fantasy. LOTR as a musical comedy or a Klingon parable? A Christmas Carol featuring Scrooge as a time-traveling mutant? Arrgh! Mike Conrad, John M. Ford, Mark Mandel, John Pomeranz (m), Darrell Schweitzer
[A topic tailor-made for John M. Ford...]
H302: Best Short Stories of 2004 (So Far…)
Short stories are the lifeblood of the field, where new writers build their reputations and established writers do their best to yank the field in new directions. But how do you keep up, or just find the best? A panel of editors of "best of the year" anthologies give an overview of what's happening in short fiction right now, the best stories of the year (so far!), and what just might be on next year's award ballots. Kathryn Cramer, Jack Dann, Ellen Datlow, Gardner Dozois, Gavin Grant, Jonathan Strahan (m)
X H304: Images of Loss in LOTR
Much of the power of LOTR comes from the deep sense of loss that fills it: the elves' loss of Middle Earth, Men's loss of life, Frodo's loss of the Shire, Arwen's loss of immortality—and there are many others, even Gollum's loss of the Ring. Bittersweet images all. Is this sense of loss essential to the enduring strength of Tolkien's universe? Would we love it as much without the final image of the magic leaving Middle Earth, as the elves (and ring bearers) take the straight path across the sea to the West…? Debra Doyle, Mary Kay Kare (m), Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Jo Walton
H311: It's a Mystery…
Why do so many SF fans enjoy mysteries? In fact, why does anyone enjoy a mystery? And what's the appeal of occasionally crossing genres to dabble in both? Discuss what makes a good mystery and why this sometimes works so well with science fiction. Joshua Bilmes (m), Charlaine Harris, Jay Caselberg, Toni L. P. Kelner, Wen Spencer
H312: The Serious Side of Terry Pratchett
Other writers examine the message behind the merriment in the works of one of our Guests of Honor. What themes occur throughout? How does he combine wisdom with humor? Esther Friesner, Tanya Huff, Peter Morwood, Graham Sleight (m)
Monday 12:00 n
H302: SF: Transcendent Adventure
What is it? How does this term capture the essence of stuff that couldn't possibly be written in any other genre? Jim Frenkel, David G. Hartwell (m), Charles Oberndorf, Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Monday 1:00 p
H304: Hard Fantasy
Even in genre circles, fantasy is often dismissed by saying that we can just make it all up. But many fantasy writers go to a good deal of trouble to research and extrapolate their worlds—everything from finding period maps of London to checking the etymology of period words or delving into other belief systems to give their magic a sense of reality. It is the factual underpinnings which give a good fantasy the solidity it needs. How is this best done? Duncan W. Allen, Stephen Leigh, Susan Shwartz (m), Liz Williams
H306: The Abuse of Biology in SF
How does SF stack up when it deals with the biological sciences? Grievous errors and how writers might avoid them. Bad examples and good examples. Zara Baxter, Perrianne Lurie, Samuel Scheiner (m), Ronald Taylor, W. A. Thomasson
* H309: Hitting "the Wall"
The inverse of "the singularity" is "the Wall," a technological barrier that can't be surmounted and imposes fundamental limits on progress. The Wall for interplanetary travel is the speed of light; SF writers either accept it or tunnel through it by waving their hands about hyperspace or the Infinite Improbability Drive. The Wall for commercial aviation is the sound barrier; with the demise of the Concorde, airline passengers can fly no faster than they could in a 707 40 years ago. Physicists and engineers talk about ultimate limits to things like information density and the smallest possible transistor. What Walls are coming up? Can we dodge them and what can we do if we can't? Thomas A. Easton (m), P. J. Plauger, Charles Stross
H312: How Stories End
Happily ever after? Well, perhaps not always. But—what makes a satisfying ending? And, in fact, does a story really need to have an ending anyway? And does it need to have a "happy" ending to leave the reader feeling good? Discuss favorite endings and why they work so well. Suzanne Alles Blom, Suzy McKee Charnas, James Patrick Kelly (m), William Tenn, Charles Oberndorf
Monday 2:00 p
H305: Force Fields: what can electromagnetism do for us?
What can electromagnetism do for us? Are there any other forces that might be used? How do new materials, potential superconductors, or ultra- fast computer reactions create new possibilities? Dave Clements, Howard Davidson (m), Jordin T. Kare, G. David Nordley
H306: 2024: Technology that We Can't Imagine Being Without
Twenty years ago it was hard to imagine what it was like before copy machines. They had changed the work environment a lot and had gone quickly from being a novelty to such an essential part of business that nobody could imagine what it would be like if we didn't have them. The pace of such "essential" inventions has quickened. How did we ever get by without computers? The Web? VCRs? (Kids today—and adults, since we've changed as we've gotten used to things—can't imagine the days when you had to eagerly scan the TV listing for late-night movies, hoping that somebody would soon re-run the movie you hadn't seen in years or had always wanted to see.) And we're beginning to feel that way about our DVD players. What things that we don't have now will be considered so much a part of life that they'll fall into the "can't imagine life without them" category? Kenn Bates, Marc Gordon (m), P. J. Plauger, Shara R. Zoll
* H310: All I Learned about Science I Learned from SF
Like what? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Can we trust the science in SF…do we want to? Jane Jewell, Steve Miller (m), Rebecca Moesta, Jo Walton
H312: How Do You Know When You're Dead?
The movie The Sixth Sense was not the first fiction to feature a character who is dead. Niven's Inferno, Connie Willis' Passages, and Philip José Farmer's Riverworld series all have protagonists who are dead or die and continue to be featured players. What other fiction features dead people? (And we don't mean vampires—but why not?) Are there any restrictions on the actions of dead people? What are some of the reactions of the characters who find themselves dead? Are there advantages to having a dead protagonist? Should we always fear the walking dead? What do they have to tell us? (Must we listen? Do they lie?) Do they return to harm or advise us? Do they come to warn or blame, comfort or prophesize? Do they offer us forgiveness or courage, or perhaps death itself? Discuss the use of the returning dead, and explain why they are such fascinating subjects. Scott Edelman (m), Neil Gaiman, Larry Niven, Terry Pratchett, Uncle River, Connie Willis
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