Because the SF/F reactionaries have nothing new to say

Whether or not you're following current discussions in the SF/F field around diversity and inclusivity, you should read Damien Walter's excellent look at why science fiction is going through a real-life war of the worlds. Here's the killer quote:

It is no coincidence that, just as it outgrows its limiting cultural biases, science fiction should also face protests from some members of the predominantly white male audience who believed it to be their rightful domain. What the conservative authors protesting the Hugo awards perceive as a liberal clique is simply science fiction outgrowing them, and their narrow conception of the genre's worth. Of course, if those authors really wanted to de-politicise science fiction, they could easily help to do so – by admitting the genre's historic bias and applauding its growth. And by doing everything within their power to welcome new authors from diverse backgrounds, instead of agitating for protest votes to push them out.

Well said.

This also brings up something I've been meaning to point out: the reactionaries protesting against the changes in the SF/F genre bring nothing new to the table.

Their arguments against diversity and tolerance and inclusion are the same ones people have been making for centuries. In addition, the writers sticking their fingers in the crumbling genre dike of their own privilege are not the authors creating truly groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy.

No, the writers moaning about losing control of the SF/F genre are stuck in the past and their fiction shows it. Their stories are pre-sweetened nostalgia spread between two slices of white bread and proclaimed artificially delicious. Their stories are genre junk food which simply doesn't take you any place new.

And being taken to new literary places is what I, for one, demand from my science fiction and fantasy. 

If you want truly groundbreaking SF/F, read Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor. Read Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. Read A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar. Read Osama by Lavie Tidhar. Read N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy. Read the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. Or read the fiction of Ted Chiang, Rachel Swirsky, Nina Allan, Yoon Ha Lee, Saladin Ahmed, Ken Liu, Aliette de Bodard, Paolo Bacigalupi, Eugie Foster, Caroline Yoachim, and so many other authors I can't even name them all.

These are the authors melding new worlds and original insights with their fiction. These are the genre authors who will still be read decades from now.

I welcome the current discussion going on in our genre. But as you listen to the discussions, don't forget where the truly original SF/F is being created these days.

Hint: It's not by those authors screaming that they don't want their exclusive genre playground to change.

Read N.K. Jemisin's GoH speech

You must read N.K. Jemisin's Guest of Honor speech from WisCon 38. There's nothing more I can say than to read it and then take up her call to action in all our lives.

And if you're not familiar with Jemisin's work, I suggest starting with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. A few years ago I urged Hugo Award voters to select this work in the Best Novel category. While that didn't happen, I still believe Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy is one of the best works of fiction to come out of the SF/F genre in years. (I also believe The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is the only one of that year's Hugo finalists which has actually held up, and yes, that includes the novel which ended up winning the award. But that's a discussion for another day.)

Update: I also suggest people read K. Tempest Bradford's introduction of Jemisin and Hiromi Goto's GoH speech.

SF/F good person of the day: Maurice Broaddus

My personal fight against the hate swirling through SF/F continues with the highlighting of another good person who gives me optimism for the future of our genre: Maurice Broaddus.

If you don't know Maurice, then your genre world is flat-out sad and you should immediately correct this deficiency. Maurice has written a ton of fantasy and horror short stories (including the impressive steampunk novelette "Steppin' Razor" from the Feb. 2014Asimov's Science Fiction, which will be on my list of the year's best fiction). In addition, his Knights of Breton Court novel trilogy from Angry Robot is an imaginative reworking of the King Authur mythology into urban Indianapolis.

But Maurice's influence in the genre extends well beyond his fiction writing. You see, Maurice is also a connector, meaning he brings people together for the improvement of us all. We saw this in the award-nominated anthology Dark Faith, which he edited alongside Jerry Gordon. The anthology explored issues of religion and belief and brought together an amazing group of writers.  And Mo*Con. I absolutely must mention Mo*Con, which is one of the most fun-filled and laid back cons I've ever attended. But Mo*Con also has a serious social justice mission at its core, a mission which is enhanced by the connections Maurice helps build among people. 

Thank you, Maurice, for all you do to bring people together in our genre!

If you'd like to recommend someone as a SF/F good person, email me with their name and why you're nominating them. And don't forget to check out my previous good person picks, K. Tempest Bradford and Jim C. Hines.

Stop the literary vampires from sucking the lifeblood out of readers

I've been avoiding the Stop the Goodreads Bullies (STGRB) controversy for a while. Hell, I thought the whole thing would blow over. I mean, seriously — authors hunting down and exposing readers who dislike their books? How can any author see that as a good career move?

But I've been wrong before and I was wrong about this blowing over. In fact, now that Anne Rice has joined in the campaign there's a chance this could snowball into a larger "reader versus author" fight. Which would be a true shame because most authors are disgusted by the actions of Rice and her fellow STGRBers.

In case you haven't heard of STGRB, a few authors have long complained that receiving large numbers of bad reviews on literary social media sites like Goodreads is equivalent to being bullied. As a result they started a campaign to punish readers who post multiple "bad" reviews. For more on this, I suggest reading Foz Meadows' analysis from several years ago, or this Dear Author post. 

But since Anne Rice joined the campaign the controversy has dialed itself up to 11. For example, when author Jenny Trout recently protested the campaign on Rice's Facebook fan page, Trout and others were blocked, with Rice calling them "gangster bullies."

Really? Fellow authors disagreeing with how Rice and others are acting makes them gangsters and bullies? 

The only bullying going on here is how these supposedly aggrieved authors are bullying their readers. The truth about being an author is that not everyone will like your stories. It's that simple. If you can't handle that truth then don't write fiction.

What really disgusts me about STGRB is how these authors are using their power and large fanbases against individual readers. In this I'm in total agreement with what Cyndy Aleo said in her amazing post "When good authors go to the dark side": 

So there are a few things I can't deal with online. I can't tolerate people who go off half-cocked without doing research. I can't tolerate people who have a huge online following who pick on smaller people. And I especially lose it when I see a combination of the two.

Aleo is absolutely right.

There's also another problem — the STGRB campaign has the potential to hurt all authors. If readers are afraid to voice their opinion online, they'll eventually avoid making any online comments about fiction, no matter if those comments are positive or negative. There's already a trend of businesses suing people for negative reviews on Yelp. Do we really want to expand censorship tactics like these to Goodreads? 

So what's an author to do if they receive a bad Goodreads review? Well, in Cyndy Aleo's essay she gives a great hint on how to handle that very situation — by remembering that Goodreads isn't for authors! It's for readers. For reviewers.

But I suspect the authors behind the STGRB campaign don't want reviewers — they want cheerleaders. 

As an author, I won't lie and say I enjoy negative reviews. But I also like having readers. And you can't have readers without also having some people who don't like your fiction.

So to every reader who has commented about fiction on Goodreads or Amazon or anywhere else — thank you. Please also know that Anne Rice and the other bullies behind the STGRB campaign don't speak for all authors.

SF/F good person of the day: Jim C. Hines

I'm continuing my fight against the hate swirling through the SF/F world by highlighting the good people who give me optimism for the future of our genre. The other day I started with K. Tempest Bradford. My good person pick for today? Jim C. Hines.

I first met Jim back in 2007 at the Context convention in Columbus, Ohio. That was the first SF convention I'd ever attended and Jim was nice enough to both sign a copy of his novel Goblin Quest and to talk with me a bit. I later interviewed him for Monsters and Critics, where he was nice enough to sit through far more inane questions than he likely wanted to answer.

You may have noticed I used the word nice two separate times to describe Jim. Well, there's a reason for that — he's one of the nicest people I've met in our genre. But he also has a strong sense of justice, meaning he'll engage on the tough issues affecting both our genre and the world. The stereotype of the nice guy who keeps his opinions to himself for fear of offending people definitely doesn't apply to Jim.

I urge people to go check out Jim's books and his must-read blog. And if you see him at a convention, go up and say hello. I, for one, will always appreciate how years ago he took the time to make this unknown, first-time convention goer feel welcome in our genre. 

I also want to note that not everyone will agree with the people I'm selecting as good people of our genre. Obviously my selections are highly personal and opinionated. But the point I'm trying to make is to show how many positive people exist in our genre. To show that no matter how much wrongness pulses through the SF/F world, in the long run the good people will outshine the haters.

So please consider making your own list of good genre people and sharing it with the world.