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In another thread that has apparently been deleted, aspectre mentioned Baen books.
While I don't know much about Baen, I do know that (like OSC) they've started their own webzine. A few authors I'm acquainted with have been accepted. I'm still trying to get a feel for how Baen's mag will work out (they pay professional rates, but their submission process is apparently a little. . .odd).
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Submitting to Baen's is always very, very odd.
I'm still debating posting my rejection letter from them ... it only took two and a half years to get it.
Posts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
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I've read Baen books that I really liked a lot. "Fallen Angels". "The General's President". "Sideshow". "First Citizen". All cool books that really make you think.
But then they have war and war and war and more war, and right wing nuttiness like "A State of Disobedience", which I actually managed to read all the way to the end. <shudder>
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This is a quote from the editor of Baen's Universe.
quote:We want writers, especially popular writers, writing stories with that market in mind. We are, [to be] blunt, not interested in stories that seem to be mainly written to win an award or get good reviews. If that makes me sound like a hopeless lowbrow, so be it."
Yeah... it kinda does.
I guess I'm sad that Sci Fiction, which tended to publish the kind of stories I want to read, is on the way out while an admittedly more 'poppy' online magazine is on the way in. If the magazines don't push the field forward, I don't see how new authors can be expected to grow and discover new forms.
I feel like Baen Books just keeps pumping out the same Man-Kzin-Wars-style material year after year, while other publishers are innovating.
Posts: 4600 | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:Originally posted by starLisa: Have you tried S.M. Stirling's Nantucket trilogy? When I read 1632, I couldn't help comparing it.
Oh yeah. The Nantucket trilogy was amazing. I haven't started Striling's new one about the world Nantucket left behind though. The first book being Dies the Fire. Do you know if it is any good?
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quote:Mmm. . . publishers will publish what sells. Sci Fiction didn't really have this problem-- it was completely funded by SciFi. Nothing to sell.
Yeah, but Asimov's does have to turn a profit, and it's just as innovative as Sci Fiction was.
quote:Why is stylistic change good?
It isn't always, of course. But anyone familiar with the "style" in which old-school SF is written should agree that stylistic experimentation is good for SF.
Let's face it, Asimov and Clarke couldn't write very well.
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I read Dies the Fire and The Protector's War. They're amazing. Very different from the Nantucket trilogy, of course, but truly excellent.
The only thing he's done recently that I didn't really like was The Peshawar Lancers. It just didn't hold my attention. I stopped a little ways in, because I was bored. Then after I read The Protector's War, I was so freaked out about now having the third book to read for another year that I went back to The Peshawar Lancers and managed to push my way about a third of the way through the book. I don't think I'm going to try again.
I don't know if I can recommend the Dies the Fire books, though. Not until the third one comes out. It would be too cruel.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by starLisa: The only thing he's done recently that I didn't really like was The Peshawar Lancers. It just didn't hold my attention. I stopped a little ways in, because I was bored. Then after I read The Protector's War, I was so freaked out about now having the third book to read for another year that I went back to The Peshawar Lancers and managed to push my way about a third of the way through the book. I don't think I'm going to try again.
Thats funny, I didn't even make it through the first chapter of Peshawar Lancers.
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S.M. Stirling is usually a fairly fun read. There isn't a whole lot of depth to his stuff, but it's very good at being the kind of fiction it sets out to be. The only thing of his that I've read so far and actively disliked was Conquistador. I generally enjoy "portal into an alternate earth that is earlier in societal development or evolution" stories but my Conquistador was just completely unengaging. First time I've ever been bored by Stirling. It's worth noting that I haven't come close to having read all of his stuff, by the way. I've been eyeing The Peshawar Lancers for some time, but it's never quite made it home with me. Given what you have to say about it, Lisa, I'll probably pass on it, period.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Noemon: S.M. Stirling is usually a fairly fun read. There isn't a whole lot of depth to his stuff, but it's very good at being the kind of fiction it sets out to be. The only thing of his that I've read so far and actively disliked was Conquistador. I generally enjoy "portal into an alternate earth that is earlier in societal development or evolution" stories but my Conquistador was just completely unengaging. First time I've ever been bored by Stirling. It's worth noting that I haven't come close to having read all of his stuff, by the way. I've been eyeing The Peshawar Lancers for some time, but it's never quite made it home with me. Given what you have to say about it, Lisa, I'll probably pass on it, period.
I love Conquistador, so if we disagree on styles of writing, you may like Peshawar Lancers.
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quote:Yeah, but Asimov's does have to turn a profit, and it's just as innovative as Sci Fiction was.
I don't think that innovation should be a magazine's focus; and I know that you didn't imply that it should be.
I agree about Asimov-- Foundation was enormously difficult for me to get through. But I loved his short story 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'
I've only read one Arthur C. Clarke book, and enjoyed it for the most part. (I don't read much sci-fi right now, beyond Asimov's Magazine, so I don't know what the trend is in regards to style for novels).
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote:I agree about Asimov-- Foundation was enormously difficult for me to get through. But I loved his short story 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'
That's a Philip K Dick short story, actually.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Noemon: What about it appealed to you, Stephan?
Out of curiosity, what are a few of your favorite books?
I felt the characters were very believable. I liked the fact that the guy who started it all (can't remember any of the names) didn't like the fact that all the American Indians died, but didn't see how it was any different then our own universe. He was just trying to make a better place for his family. He wasn't a mini-Hitler, but wasn't a saint either.
My favorite authors are Robert J Sawyer, Robert Charles Wilson, Dean Koontz, and Carl Hiaasen. I just recently started reading every Leon Uris book I can get my hands on.
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quote:My favorite authors are Robert J Sawyer, Robert Charles Wilson, Dean Koontz, and Carl Hiaasen.
I picked up Hiaasen's 'Lucky You' and loved it. 'Stormy Weather' is also fairly good.
Then you have to start from scratch with Tourist Season. Actually got the Florida government upset with him.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Noemon: What about it appealed to you, Stephan?
Out of curiosity, what are a few of your favorite books?
I felt the characters were very believable. I liked the fact that the guy who started it all (can't remember any of the names) didn't like the fact that all the American Indians died, but didn't see how it was any different then our own universe. He was just trying to make a better place for his family. He wasn't a mini-Hitler, but wasn't a saint either.
My favorite authors are Robert J Sawyer, Robert Charles Wilson, Dean Koontz, and Carl Hiaasen. I just recently started reading every Leon Uris book I can get my hands on.
Heresy. How can you not mention our noble host?
Authors whose grocery lists I'd pay to read (in no particular order):
Orson Scott Card Robert Heinlein Spider Robinson Robert Sawyer Connie Willis Stephen King Harlan Ellison John Varley Larry Niven
Authors whose books I look for and almost never disappoint:
Isaac Asimov Leo Frankowski (despite his antisemitism and neanderthal-like sexism) S.M. Stirling Harry Turtledove David Gerrold Gael Baudino David Brin Greg Bear Joe Haldeman H. Beam Piper Pamela Dean
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As a person, OSC would definitely be my favorite author. But I'm not big on fantasy, so I can't say I would read everything he writes or has written.
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