WoT we will miss...

My thoughts and prayers are with Harriet McDougal for her loss.

Robert Jordan has always been somewhat of an enigma to me; often the source of much debate and laughter around the fantasy tables. The discussion always came back to the same question; Who is Robert Jordan? Every new fantastic author was reputed to be the enigmatic Jordan and with Harriet working for Tor books the possibility of a grand conspiracy always seemed a real possibility. However, I will not dwell on this point. Instead I will tell what I will miss.

Robert Jordan was an American Hero having served two tours in Vietnam and earning the Bronze Star and Distinguished Flying Cross and continuing to serve his country as a nuclear engineer after his undergraduate years at the Citadel. Men like him continue to make this world a better place by their courage and valor and I know his books have been bunkmates of several fine soldiers in the United States Armed Forces.

My first experience with Robert Jordan came in the early eighties while reading the Conan series. Later, I picked up the Conan Chronicles and enjoyed the entire collection of work that included Jordan's. His novelization of Conan the Destroyer was always the standard by which all other novelizations would be compared. The scene where Conan fights Bombaata is one of my favorite fight scenes ever written and was better than the visual of the movie.

Later the Wheel of Time came along and the fantasy world has never been the same. Neither would my living room either since I needed to get a new oak bookshelf to hold the massive volumes. When Mr. Jordan announced he had amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy, there was great concern about the final book in the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light. I have little doubt this book will be published and complete the Wheel of Time Series and the movies will ensue. And that is Robert Jordan's power; to hold us waiting for the next story. There are very few authors who can say that.

This is important because the Wheel of Time has left a legacy that will impact fantasy and fantasy authors for decades to come. I imagine that is not what James Rigney Jr. hoped for when he wrote the Wheel of Time but it will be the case. I only hope his legacy will include his life and I am sure Mr. Jordan's spirit lives on...

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning."

Thank you, Robert Jordan, for what you have given us.

A voice from the past for the illiterate...

For all of those who can't read....

Commentary

A voice from the past....

This was previous commentary that I thought would be interesting to put up again....

February 9, 2006: Fantasy Times Commentary

There is an interesting article in Emerald City #125 this month. It’s by Jeff Vandermeer and discusses the “relevance” of fantasy literature and whether it is an important part of genre writing to be relevant in terms of the world or is it simply OK to write an enjoyable story. After a treatise on art and marketing, he seems to decide that it is not important to be relevant, per se, but instead outlines his plan for inserting social commentary into his books that is not obtrusive. He hopes to “change minds one reader at a time.” Mr. Vandermeer at least makes an attempt to be subtle about it, but uses terms like “right wingers” that reveal his ideology and his philosophy. His reasoning is based not on 9-11, but instead on what the government has done since 9-11. Let me say here that Mr. Vandermeer has the right to his opinion and to express them – and – for that matter to write them into his books and stories. This will not be a rant on whether or not his ideas are flawed because that is not my intention nor the purpose of my show. Nor will this be a gloried defense of the actions the government has taken since 9-11 nor a persuasive commentary intended to bring Mr. Vandermeer or you to another way of thinking. What I do hope to discuss, however, is the true lack of understanding the lion’s share of personalities in science fiction/fantasy/horror have in regards to people who hold a different world view than their own. Yes – those right wingers.

I am Ross Janes and I am a conservative.

Surprise! Conservatives do read the genre and there are good reasons why. First and foremost it is enjoyable. We like to read interesting stories about interesting characters in interesting worlds. The stories and novels don’t need to be relevant to today’s world nor do we care if the ideas of the story are considered “liberal” or “conservative”. The first standard we hold an author’s work to is that which is most basic: enjoyment. In fact, the political ideology can be about anything as long as the story is interesting and compelling and those philosophies are intricately woven into the story. This is in contrast to Kage Baker’s, The Anvil of the World, which preaches liberal ideology in an uncompelling story often making page long jumps from the story into social teaching. These forays into ideology didn’t fit within the story and, in fact, were thrown in at odd times causing the book itself to be disjointed. Note I am not complaining about the ideological foundation, but rather the disjointed and unimaginative story.

After entertainment factors, we read science fiction/fantasy/horror because we like new ideas and unique perspective. Yes – contrary to popular belief, we do care about the environment, privacy rights, freedom and the effects of war, but we try to see both sides of these problems. Seeing ALL of the possible outcomes and balancing those against each other is a very important aspect in the formation of our belief whether something is right or wrong. Don’t make an assumption that we haven’t considered opposing sides and have chosen to reject it. Speculative fiction gives us a series of what ifs and a chance to decide whether the outcomes put forth in a story or novel are plausible. This adds to the formation of beliefs in the long term merits of certain programs, actions or laws. For instance, in Gary Wassner’s book The Twins, the underlying story contains what some may consider “liberal” ideology – that trees are very important to the ecosystem and the loss of the old growth trees cause irreparable damage to our environment. However, his story is compelling and interesting and this ideology isn’t beaten over our heads. Instead it is subtle and woven into the fabric of the story and therefore received a review from me that reflected his story telling and the enjoyment I had reading the stories. Kage Baker and Gary Wassner take two similar ideological stances, but advance them in completely different ways. One that is successful and one that is not. Unless of course, your intention was to write only to the liberal reader and not to all readers.

It is hard to be a conservative in this field filled with liberal ideologues, but it is not something I chose to worry about. I only wish authors and genre supporters would take the time to be as eloquent in their arguments as they are in their writing. However, don’t forget that when you call people with opposing viewpoints and belief systems names, you lower yourself below relevance and the likelihood we would consider your outcomes as valid is slim to none. My hats off to Jeff Vandermeer who his one of the few who makes his arguments as eloquently as he writes his stories. I disagree with some of his ideas, but I respect them nonetheless. The moral of this story: Conservatives read the genre and purchase books, magazines and anthologies – just don’t forget us.

Listen to it!

Hugo's there?

I found few surprises in the list of Hugo Award winners this year and found the selection of Vinge's Rainbow's End as the best novel interesting. One thing struck me as I reflected on the winners and losers...I had met only one of the winners. Usually I had met at least a few of the winners but not this year. There are several I would really like to meet, especially Dave Langford because he is very funny. The one I have met was Patrick Nielsen Hayden. As I recall (which is becoming much more difficult it seems) it was in 1999 or so at Windycon 26 or 27 and Theresa was a guest of honor and he must have tagged along. Their hotel room was directly across the hall from my family's room...well, across the hall from our one wall as our door overlooked the courtyard. I saw them a total of 5 times in the hallway counting each encounter with one or the other as one and I politely said hello each time. Not once did they sell hello back; in fact, they barely acknowledged my lowly existence. Not that I cared a lot as it allowed me an opportunity to teach my son about being kind to people who aren't kind to you and to not judge a person's work because they are not nice. Now I grant you that I am pretty much a nobody but there really wasn't any real reason to be unkind.

I am getting to my point...........

When I read Rainbows End I remember thinking about how striking the story gave the message of finality and to basically suck it up and like who you are because you can't have everything. This was a departure (thankfully) from what I had hoped the story wouldn't be....a future world that destroyed the rainbow causes but eventually the GLBT crowd became the heroes and won back their freedom. Of course, this idea was based solely off the title and nothing more.

Now I get to my point. Why? Why the hell did I think that? What caused my mind to jump to this type of story arc? The answer is Patrick Nielsen Hayden. More correctly, the answer started with Patrick Nielsen Hayden and Windycon. It began there with a few arrogant, pompous people (the Hayden-Nielsens and Laurel K. Hamilton) and an understanding that they truly believed themselves better than anyone else and yet were acting exactly like the people they devour on their weblog. The last day of Windycon was the day I believed my voice needed to be heard and so began The Fantasy Times. More to come....

...the passage of time

Is it really possible that I started podcasting in 2005? Seems almost impossible to imagine it has been over two years since that first, very sad podcast. The site has grown and changed and moved and wilted. Fantasy has been thrust into the limelight and is still showing it's powerful draw.

Tepid return

It has been awhile. Actually it has been a very long while. I had a stalking incident that left myself and my family very rattled and I decided to leave the site and concern myself with other things. Of course, the bug always stays biting and I have decided to slowly wade into the pool of the site again. I would like to redesign everything and do it correctly, but we shall see. For now, I plan to use this as a place to comment on things that interest me. In October we should be in the new house and my studio will be completed. At that time I may decide to jump into the podcast side of the site. I am not sure. Thus the "tepid" in the title. For now, I will comment as needed....