Through the discussion over at SF Signal I learned that sf writer Michael A. Burstein is an Orthodox Jew.
His story "Sanctuary" is about a Catholic priest, a pregnant alien, and, well, sanctuary! The first part is available online. It opens with a quote from Jesuit astronomer Guy Consolmagno.
A collection of his stories is coming out in September, entitled I Remember the Future. The subtitle is "The Award Nominated Stories of Michael A. Burstein." Burstein has been nominated for many Hugo awards but has not yet won any.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Ancient tech
Build your own personal Stonehenge*, using just rocks and branches!
And while you're at it, you could make your own Shroud of Turin imitation!
(That second one is fairly old news, but it's still good stuff. And he's added more information to the FAQs over time.)
*That wasn't an intentional pun but it does remind me of this.
And while you're at it, you could make your own Shroud of Turin imitation!
(That second one is fairly old news, but it's still good stuff. And he's added more information to the FAQs over time.)
*That wasn't an intentional pun but it does remind me of this.
David Martin on science, religion, and sociology
Martin is an esteemed British sociologist of religion and an Anglican priest. In 2005 he gave a lecture on the question: Does the Advance of Science Mean Secularization? He thinks that, historically speaking, the answer has been "For the most part, no" and explores the many other factors that affect how religious or secularized a society is. The sociology of religion is a fascinating and very complex topic. The lecture displays Martin's dry British-academic wit and vast learning.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
A must read on sf/f and religion
Hurry on over to SF Signal to a new discussion on the question:
Is Science Fiction Antithetical to Religion?
The question as a whole is: "Two of the most highly regarded fantasy authors - Tolkien and Lewis - were also Christians, whereas the fathers of science fiction were atheists, and SF itself, it could be argued, grew out of Darwinism and other notions of deep time. Is science fiction antithetical to religion?"
The participants are sf writers, critics and commentators: Mike Resnick, Lou Anders, Ben Bova, Gabriel McKee, Jay Lake, James Wallace Harris, Carl Vincent, Adam Roberts, Larry Niven, Andrew Wheeler, Michael A. Burstein, D.G.D. Davidson, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., John C. Wright, and James Morrow. Along the way some identify as atheists, others as religious, and still others don't say, choosing instead to focus on the question.
I'm deeply impressed by the maturity and nuance of the responses. Nobody argues that science fiction is, has been, or must be, automatically antithetical to religion. Many different aspects of the question are discussed. Some respondents do grind their favourite axes a little, but they mostly stay on track. Quite a few interesting treatments of religion are listed, and the names of a number of sf authors who are personally religious are mentioned.
This kind of thoughtful, balanced discussion is very encouraging to me.
Many thanks to Aka for pointing this out!
Is Science Fiction Antithetical to Religion?
The question as a whole is: "Two of the most highly regarded fantasy authors - Tolkien and Lewis - were also Christians, whereas the fathers of science fiction were atheists, and SF itself, it could be argued, grew out of Darwinism and other notions of deep time. Is science fiction antithetical to religion?"
The participants are sf writers, critics and commentators: Mike Resnick, Lou Anders, Ben Bova, Gabriel McKee, Jay Lake, James Wallace Harris, Carl Vincent, Adam Roberts, Larry Niven, Andrew Wheeler, Michael A. Burstein, D.G.D. Davidson, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., John C. Wright, and James Morrow. Along the way some identify as atheists, others as religious, and still others don't say, choosing instead to focus on the question.
I'm deeply impressed by the maturity and nuance of the responses. Nobody argues that science fiction is, has been, or must be, automatically antithetical to religion. Many different aspects of the question are discussed. Some respondents do grind their favourite axes a little, but they mostly stay on track. Quite a few interesting treatments of religion are listed, and the names of a number of sf authors who are personally religious are mentioned.
This kind of thoughtful, balanced discussion is very encouraging to me.
Many thanks to Aka for pointing this out!
Friday, March 14, 2008
The Blogger's Complaint
Or at least one of them. I'm irritated by novel titles that use this format:
The [Profession/Position/Identity]'s [Relative]
Say, for example:
The Time Traveler's Wife
Over the past five or six years I've come across far too many books that march in tight fashionable lockstep title-conformity. The first few were fine, but after awhile they multiplied and it became more and more precious and pretentious. Maybe the publishers are saying "Look, this is a good book, but if we change the title to this vaguely post-modern literary-sounding format that stresses relationships we'll make an extra $50K." I came across yet another one in the new books section at the library today, and felt like tossing it out the window. I'd thought the trend was over.
Let me just make some random ones up to illustrate what I'm talking about - though I'm sure that some of these are real titles:
The Butcher's Daughter
The Assassin's Son
The Beekeeper's Niece
The Dictator's Friend
The Spy's Nephew
The Traitor's Lover
The Diplomat's Wife
The Musician's Uncle
The President's Husband
The Astronaut's Wife
The Torturer's Daughter
The Transvestite's Son
The Explorer's Great-Aunt
The Grandmother's Monk
The Writer's Second Cousin
The Magician's Apprentice
The Killer's Aquaintance
The Nephew's Uncle
The Niece's Journeyman Locksmith
The Hearing Impaired Lesbian Farmer's Adoptive Maternal Grandfather's Second Cousin
The [Profession/Position/Identity]'s [Relative]
Say, for example:
The Time Traveler's Wife
Over the past five or six years I've come across far too many books that march in tight fashionable lockstep title-conformity. The first few were fine, but after awhile they multiplied and it became more and more precious and pretentious. Maybe the publishers are saying "Look, this is a good book, but if we change the title to this vaguely post-modern literary-sounding format that stresses relationships we'll make an extra $50K." I came across yet another one in the new books section at the library today, and felt like tossing it out the window. I'd thought the trend was over.
Let me just make some random ones up to illustrate what I'm talking about - though I'm sure that some of these are real titles:
The Butcher's Daughter
The Assassin's Son
The Beekeeper's Niece
The Dictator's Friend
The Spy's Nephew
The Traitor's Lover
The Diplomat's Wife
The Musician's Uncle
The President's Husband
The Astronaut's Wife
The Torturer's Daughter
The Transvestite's Son
The Explorer's Great-Aunt
The Grandmother's Monk
The Writer's Second Cousin
The Magician's Apprentice
The Killer's Aquaintance
The Nephew's Uncle
The Niece's Journeyman Locksmith
The Hearing Impaired Lesbian Farmer's Adoptive Maternal Grandfather's Second Cousin
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Dreamers of the Day
Today I received my copy of Dreamers of the Day, which is Mary Doria Russell's latest book!
[grins madly and rubs hands together excitedly]
OK, so it's not science fiction or fantasy. It's historical fiction, rather like A Thread of Grace. When I thought about how intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually stimulating her previous three books were (sometimes painfully so), I decided I must own the latest. And, hey, it's historical. I'm a history major. Easy sell.
[grins madly and rubs hands together excitedly]
OK, so it's not science fiction or fantasy. It's historical fiction, rather like A Thread of Grace. When I thought about how intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually stimulating her previous three books were (sometimes painfully so), I decided I must own the latest. And, hey, it's historical. I'm a history major. Easy sell.
Friday, March 07, 2008
The Road to Cana
The second volume of Anne Rice's Christ the Lord has come out! It's reviewed here. I quite enjoyed the first volume, Out of Egypt.
Rice's pre-conversion work isn't exactly sf/f, but hey, again I say 'close enough!' And this is interesting... Rice writes: "Yes, I am contemplating one last novel involving the Vampire Lestat, and the Talamasca, the fictional organization I created years ago in the Vampire novels. The novel, if ever written, would be entirely Christian in framework and would involve Redemption."
I haven't read anything by Rice aside from Out of Egypt, so I really have no idea what a redemptive Vampire novel would be like.
Rice's pre-conversion work isn't exactly sf/f, but hey, again I say 'close enough!' And this is interesting... Rice writes: "Yes, I am contemplating one last novel involving the Vampire Lestat, and the Talamasca, the fictional organization I created years ago in the Vampire novels. The novel, if ever written, would be entirely Christian in framework and would involve Redemption."
I haven't read anything by Rice aside from Out of Egypt, so I really have no idea what a redemptive Vampire novel would be like.
Katherine Paterson
Today I came across a book entitled The Light of the World. It's a picture book about the life of Jesus, written by Katherine Paterson, and illustrated by Francois Roca. Paterson is the award-winning author of A Bridge to Teribithia, Jacob Have I Loved, and many other books. One recent book is about the famous Bread and Roses strike in 1912, which I only learned about last month, from a different source.
Paterson's a Presbyterian. The jacket blurb for The Light of the World quotes her: "The challenge for those of us who care about our faith and about a hurting world is to tell stories which will carry the words of grace and hope in their bones and sinews and not wear them like fancy dress." I haven't read any of her books, but I did see the recent adaptation of Teribithia and was moved by it. I wasn't aware of her religious background: this quote puts a new slant on the film for me. I do appreciate stories that address grace and hope, not lightly or cheaply, but in the context of profound human pain.
Looks like she's like Madeline L'Engle in that she's a thoughtful, complex Christian writer whose YA books have been banned and railed against by certain conservative Christian moralists. Good for her.
(I don't know if Teribithia counts as fantasy or not, but it's close enough for me to post about it on this blog.)
Paterson's a Presbyterian. The jacket blurb for The Light of the World quotes her: "The challenge for those of us who care about our faith and about a hurting world is to tell stories which will carry the words of grace and hope in their bones and sinews and not wear them like fancy dress." I haven't read any of her books, but I did see the recent adaptation of Teribithia and was moved by it. I wasn't aware of her religious background: this quote puts a new slant on the film for me. I do appreciate stories that address grace and hope, not lightly or cheaply, but in the context of profound human pain.
Looks like she's like Madeline L'Engle in that she's a thoughtful, complex Christian writer whose YA books have been banned and railed against by certain conservative Christian moralists. Good for her.
(I don't know if Teribithia counts as fantasy or not, but it's close enough for me to post about it on this blog.)
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