The Joy Factory Weekly - Issue #4 (4/26/2021)
Alright! You've got your tickets. Let's get to this!
Clickable Geekery
Over at Classics of Science Fiction, James Wallace Harris takes a deep dive into a lesser-known work of SF -- The Clockwork Man by E.V. Odle. This is an interesting piece. Part review and part reflection on the emergence of SF, Harris makes some interesting points about how we perceive the genre from its emergence while contemplating connections to the deep past.
Meanwhile, the fine folks at The Nation have a fantastic profile of N.K. Jemisin's work. Naturally, this is a must read. Also: it's worth pointing out that one of the most significant contemporary figures of SF today is a black woman. That is hardly a small thing in a field that has fought against diversity for decades (or, rather, a group of folks have fought...).
Kacper Szozda offers this thorough analysis of the cyberpunk hit, Disco Elysium, with an eye to the role of politics in RPGs and the game's approach to such topics. Having read this, I desperately want to play this game. It sounds utterly fascinating (and, in many ways, precisely what Cyberpunk 2077 failed to be).
Meanwhile, Lincoln Michel recently shared an extensive discussion of the history behind the length of novels and novellas on Counter Craft. This is incredibly fascinating stuff, especially if you've ever tried to vote for the Hugos and wondered why the lengths are so oddly specific. Well worth reading!
Speaking of books: there's apparently an annual Book Sorters competition. This article is a tad old, but it sure is fascinating that this is a thing!
And if you're interested in detective fiction and want to attend a conference on the very subject, check out Bodies from the Library, which will cover the golden age of the genreon May 15th! There's also the More Than Malice convention on crime fiction (in July)! And the Imaginarium Book Festival for SF/F (May 8-9)!
Clickable Factoids
Snakes, rejoice! The fine folks at Clemson University have discovered that snake venom complexity is a result of the evolutionary distance between the prey animals that snake eats. Basically, if a venomous snake only eats rodents, its venom will be less complex than a snake that also eats amphibians, birds, and insects. This is pretty interesting information, though I'm not sure what to do with it just yet. There's a story here, though...
Meanwhile in space, Proxima Centauri semi-recently had a big old (solar?) flare. Centauri Dreams takes a look at what we know from a recent paper. This will likely make life around that star rather...complicated. Or outright impossible. But, hey, space is still fun!
Clickable Fiction
Here's some fiction worth reading!
"The Looking Glass on East Tenth" by Isabella Rae Barrengos (Your Impossible Voice)
"Her Name is Sonora" by Nadia Villafuerte and translated by Pennell Somsen (Your Impossible Voice)
"The Bird Whisperer" by Richard Zwicker (Love Letters to Poe)
"Stepsister" by Mari Ness (Daily Science Fiction)
"A Song for a Leadwood Tree" by Aimee Ogden (Metastellar)
"The Giving One (Part 2)" by Ashok K. Banker (Lightspeed Magazine)
"Hello" by Ai Jiang (The Dark)
Oh, and the find folks at Arizona State University's Center for Science and the Imagination recently released Volume III in Everything Change: An Anthology of Climate Fiction. There are a lot of new names here, so you absolutely must check it out!
You might also want to check out Uncanny Magazine's upcoming 40th issue, the Spring 2021 issue of New Orleans Review, Issue 328 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and the 57th issue of The Future Fire.
Now on to...
Every so often, I'll share some exciting academic nerdery and CFPs for conferences, conventions, journals, and more for you academically-inclined folks.
Here's what we've got this week:
CFPs
You don't have a lot of time to work on this one, but it's still gonna be interesting! It's a MMLA panel CFP on Roger Corman and the role of collaboration in his work. Abstract Deadline: May 15, 2021.
It's been interesting seeing the rise of SF Studies work on the South. The Society for the Study of Southern Literature seeks subs on precisely this for a panel at SAMLA. Abstract Deadline: May 31, 2021.
Horror fans will be pleased to see this open call for a new companion volume on recent developments in horror film and media. There are a lot of directions to go here. Get those subs ready. Abstract Deadline: June 1, 2021.
Speaking of horror, this edited collection on post-1970s horror and victimhood intended for Amsterdam Unversity Press' Horror and Gothic Media Studies imprint is right up your alley! Abstract Deadline: July 1, 2021.
The Civic Paths research group seeks subs for a special issue on the civic imagination. Lots of avenues to explore! Go for it! Abstract Deadline: July 30, 2021.
If you're looking for a different way to present interesting research in SF/F/H, the Multiverse Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention is seeking presentations for its upcoming event. Proposal Deadline: July 31, 2021.
Murakami fans will be excited to see this CFP for a special issue of In Statu Nascendi on the work of Haruki Murakami! Abstract Deadline: Aug. 1, 2021.
This is interesting! A new edited collection entitled Ethnofuturism: European Perspectives on Afrofuturism seeks appropriately topical essays on a range of related topics. I want this book when it drops! Abstract Deadline: Sept. 30, 2021.
Do you love The Exorcist? Good. Check out this CFP for a special issue of Revenant: Critical and Creative Studies of the Supernatural! Abstract Deadline: Oct. 31, 2021.
Now let's get to...
Now that we're about to exit the wild month of April, I've started thinking a lot about my media consumption habits. I don't read enough, and I spend far too much time on the darn computer. So expect some shifts here in the future. I hope...
Meanwhile, here's what I've been consuming:
Currently Reading:
I'll be at Acacia by David Anthony Durham for a while yet. It's a long book. However, I'm really enjoying it. In a weird way, it reminds me of A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, though most of that comes from the scope of the book and some similar themes. So far, I have enjoyed both works equally, and I'm stoked to see where Durham's story goes!
Additionally, I've also started reading Algorithmic Regulation edited by Karen Yeung and Martin Lodge, an academic collection from Oxford University Press. This is for a review I'm working on for Vector, and part of my desire to continue covering academic work.
Currently Watching:
I'm mad deep into the MCU re-watch now. I've crossed well into Phase Three territory, powering through to Thor: Ragnarok. So far, the one thing that has stuck out to me are my reactions to certain films in the franchise. Notably, it's curious to me that I still get hung up on the central premise of Civil War, which wants us to believe that it's reasonable for every member of the Avengers to fell guilty about every major battle they've had even though only one of those battles (Age of Ultron) was the direct fault of an Avenger (Stark). Of course, this is all reasonable for our world; we'd expect the international community to hold a group of superheroes accountable for things that aren't entirely their fault. I just find it hard to buy into the idea that the heroes themselves would simply accept that this is all an accurate interpretation of what they've done.
That said, I do think there is a lot in the MCU that deserves praise. Some of its less significant films are remarkably good. Doctor Strange, for example, may be a copy of Iron Man, but it is well-paced and overall a lot of fun. It likewise asks some good questions about the role of sorcery in the natural universe, albeit by way of turning an interesting character into a zealot. The upcoming sequel, I hope, will be even more bonkers.
Currently Listening To:
I've recently discovered Bad Bunny's newest album, El Último Tour Del Mundo, which features his hit song "Dákiti." Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican musician who works across a range of related genres from rap to auto-tuned song and more. There's something really exciting about his work, and it has recently sent me down a tunnel of Puerto Rican music.
There have been other tunes, too. You can find these on the 2021 Joy Factory Playlist on Spotify.
How about some things YOU can enjoy?
The first thing I want to share is this video of a new robotic Groot. This is either the most terrifying thing you've ever seen or absolutely adorable. I'm not sure which. If you stuck me in a room with it, I'd likely go mad, but it is kinda cute...
Related to Disney is this pretty exciting fan rendition of The Mandalorian repurposed as a Wild Wild West opener (the original show, not the movie). Quite creative indeed!
Going back in time, there are two nifty classic SF videos to share. The first is a new FANAC Fan History discussion on early Star Trek fandom. The second is the 1950s British Science Fiction YouTube channel. Both are bound to make some of you old school types happy! Meanwhile, there's this fantastic History of Philosophy podcast on Marcus Garvey and the Black Star. If you don't know anything about Garvey's efforts to lead a Pan-Africanist movement, then you should definitely listen. Good stuff!
On the fiction front, there's this great PodCastle episode featuring Tatiana Grey's narration of E. Catherine Tobler's "Blush Response." Give it a listen!
And lastly, the fine folks at APOD have had quite a few new images to stare at until you go mad. There's this delicious image of the warped magnetic fields of Centaurus A, which is the result of two galaxies colliding. Naturally, this is a fate for our own galaxy, and I intend to live forever so I can witness it. Also: there's this wicked looking shot of Mz3 (a.k.a. the Ant Nebula) and its trails of expelled gas. Violent and beautiful at the same time!
And that's it for media! Now on to books!
We're at the end of April, and that means it's time for more books to add to your TBR pile. You know you want to.
Here are a few books worth checking out:
White Magic by Elissa Washuta (Tin House; 4/27/2021)
Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur (Erewhon Books; 4/27/2021)
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (Tor.com; 4/27/2021)
Horror Fiction in the Global South: Cultures, Narratives, and Representations edited by Ritwick Bhattacharjee and Saikat Ghosh (Bloomsbury Academic; 4/30/2021)
White Magic is bound to be a hard hitting book. It's a collection of essays from a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe covering personal reflections on cultural artifacts like Oregon Trail II, colonization, witchcraft, and more. This will be an uncomfortable read for some, but one which is worth having. I'm glad to see it get published by Tin House!
Meanwhile, Erewhon Books has been hitting it out of the park with the kind of weird, genre-bending, magical realist, gorgeously poetic books that drive me up the happy tree. The latest looks to be an incredibly work of art, and I really hope folks will give it a chance. Something tells me Erewhon is gonna start hitting the awards circuit pretty hard this next cycle...
Fans of Martha Wells and the Murderbot stories will, of course, be ecstatic about the release of the next volume in the series. I'm woefully behind on this particular series, but they're reasonably short and pack a punch, so you can expect me to play catchup this year...
And finally, there's this lovely academic book from Bloomsbury sent down from the academic gods to fill my brain with the knowledge I've been hoping for! Getting into horror last year has taken me down a wild path, and this book is going to be part of it the second I can get my hands on it. I'm super curious about horror in the global south. As should we all be...
Now on to a reading list...
Each week, I'll ask my Twitter followers what they're reading and create a reading list for y'all to enjoy.
Here's what folks were reading this past week:
Finna by Nino Cipri (from @Stephen_GM)
Tentacle by Rita Indiana and translated by Achy Obejas (from @TruthyFruit)
No Man Knows My History by Fawn Brodie (from @KateSherrod)
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishigruo (from @Kate Sherrod)
Neverness by David Zindell (from @adamcallaways)
Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pain of the Real Vampira, Maila Nurmi by Sandra Niemi (from @SciFi_Romance)
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (from @cloudscudding)
All Systems Red by Martha Wells (from @CatKimbriel and @fabiofernandes)
Murder in the Gunroom by H. Beam Piper (from @PEMatson)
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delaney (from @rmacanthony)
Perseophone Station by Stina Leicht (from @rmacanthony)
Balthazar by Lawrence Durrell (from @rmacanthony)
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges (from @rmacanthony)
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (from @tarkusest)
Peace by Gene Wolfe (from @M_A_Frasca)
Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders (from @M_A_Frasca)
Nebraska POW Camps: A History of World War II Prisoners in the Heartland by Melissa Amateis Marsh (from @Bookworm604)
Iron Curtain by Anne Applebaum (from @Kajehase)
Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri (from @Kajehase)
Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett (from @SithHounds)
The Last Emperox by John Scalzi (from @KrisKunkelRN)
Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (from @JennyKayNZ)
Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar (from @sfhelmut)
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang (from @VincentTringale)
Silverlock by John Myers Myers (from @SteveJWright1)
The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers (from @templetongate)
Complete Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen (from @Wi11iamSc0tt)
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (from @DanielleGembala)
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (from @SStaatz)
Waste by Catherine Flowers (from @KerryHalladay)
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark (from @Zeteram)
Blood-Dimmed Tide by Michael R. Johnston (from @if_this_goes_on)
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger (from @AnneLibera1)
And we're in the home stretch!
Remember last week when I mentioned that I had a whole sea of things land on my plate? Welp, that plate filled up even more after the last newsletter, and we're not on week two of full plate-ery. But that's OK! We'll survive this! Probably!
I do have some updates to share, though! First, I released two podcasts last week:
Alex Acks and I tackled Brown Girl Begins (2017; dir. Sharon Lewis) on The Skiffy and Fanty Show.
On The Joy Factory Monthly, I shared some thoughts about social media, what it's doing to me, and what I plan to do about it. It's a more somber discussion than usual for the show, but I felt it needed to be done!
Beyond that, I've been getting back "in the groove" around here. This has mean reading a bit more, enjoying walks, enjoying the post-vaccine life (which is not that different from pre-vaccine life), and contemplating what I plan to do for this project going forward...
Which brings me to what are some preliminary thoughts about the changes I'm going to make to my workflow. One of the things I mentioned in the JFM episode is the realization that I spend a lot of time trying to wade through social media to find the content that is meaningful to me. This isn't a particularly good use of my time, especially when I could be working on other things like new articles, commentary, videos, etc. And that's why I'm going to start thinking a lot more about what I can do to be more productive and spend less of my time in the Twitter grind. Ultimately, I want more conversations and sharing of ideas and less of the cycle of misery that social media has become.
What will that mean for this project? I don't exactly know yet. Maybe more articles on the newsletter and blog. Maybe I'll turn to YouTube/Booktube. Who really knows? Change is coming, though. Because it has to...
Strap yourselves in, nerds! It’s time for some joy!
Don't forget to sign up for the Joy Factory Newsletter! And if you'd like to share your thoughts about social media culture, email me directly at shaunduke.net/contact or send me a tweet @shaunduke!
Make sure to check out The Joy Factory Monthly on your favorite podcatcher. If you enjoy the show, throw up a 5 star review on iTunes AND join me at patreon.com/thejoyfactory!
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Thanks again for joining me on another joyful adventure!
This week, I'm sticking to the "not a whole lot" plan because there's just so much to do. That said, I am working on a few things, including:
A new episode of The Skiffy and Fanty Show's Torture Cinema feature. Paul Weimer and I will be discussing Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter (2001) with Tonia Ransom! This will drop no later than 4/27/2021.
I've somehow roped a special guest into a conversation about Pete's Dragon and one other person into a conversation about the joy of gaming. These will be for The Joy Factory Monthly. Release TBD!
The semester ends next week, so it'll be another small scale week until grades are in. However, once those are done, the flood doors will open! Thanks again for sticking with me, y'all!
Joyful Transmission Concluded!
Thanks for reading The Joy Factory Weekly newsletter! As always, if you want to support the project or my other work, head over to patreon.com/thejoyfactory. You can find me @shaunduke on Twitter and at shaunduke.net!