Exploring New Worlds: Finding Science in Science Fiction

(by Tracy Gath, from May/June 1999 SB&F, Vol. 35, No. 3)

SB&F has just begun its foray into science fiction, but many of our reviewers have spent a good deal of time there already. Many of them, as perhaps many scientists, were inspired to pursue a career in science by their early love of science fiction. For our special 1998 anniversary edition of SB&F, we asked a number of our reviewers to write a review of their favorite science fiction book. Beginning with the January/February 1999 SB&F, we have published reviews of new sci fi books (for example, see pages 115 and 123 in this issue). Although numerous sources of reviews of science fiction/fantasy books and films already exist, SB&F brings its own unique perspective to science fiction: science. While our reviewers care about a good story as much as anyone, they are qualified to evaluate the science behind the fiction. Good science fiction does not necessarily have to contain good (or "real" or "hard") science, but isn't it more interesting (and perhaps more frightening or encouraging) when it does?

For some interesting insights into the "real" science in science fiction, listen to the discussion between Leonard Nimoy and science fiction authors John Cramer and Rob Sawyer on "Science in Science Fiction" on Ira Flatow's "Talk of the Nation: Science Friday" (http://www.sciencefriday.com/pages/1998/Nov/hour2_112098.html). The webzine Strange Words (http://www.strangewords.com/archive/science.html) also examines the issue.

Because the world of science (or speculative) fiction is so vast (books, stories, films, television shows, Web pages, space opera, anime, comic books, conventions, chats, reviews…the list is nearly as infinite as the imagination of science fiction writers), we compiled this guide as a starting point for your adventure into the amazing genre of science fiction. It covers only a fraction of what is available, but we want you to have fun discovering, too. Most of the resources below are found on the Web. As you can imagine, science fiction writers, producers, and fans are a computer-savvy bunch. They have posted some amazing things on the Internet that we hope you will enjoy exploring.

While you are surfing the Web for science fiction, remember to visit SB&F Online. SB&F subscribers have access to our database of reviews spanning the most recent seven years (/10.htm). To read our reviewers evaluations of science fiction books, simply choose "science fiction" under categories and peruse the list. Click on "details" to read their reviews. And, anyone who visits our site can go to our Online Bookstore, which features annotations, reviews, and links to Amazon.com of the classic science fiction books published in our special edition (/15b.htm).

Magazines

Below are some of the major periodicals in science fiction. Many of the Web sites for the journals post entire stories for free, but science fiction buffs will want the print editions in their hands to read again and again.

Analog
http://www.analogsf.com/0203/issue_0203.html
ANALOG Science Fiction and Fact, Box 54027, Boulder, Colorado 80322-4027
1-800-333-4561 or 1-303-678-8747 (outside USA)

Analog (originally began as Astounding, now often referred to as ASF) is the longest running, almost continuously published science fiction magazine in the world. When John W. Campbell became editor in 1938, he "demanded that his writers try to think out how science and technology might really develop in the future—and, most importantly, how those changes would affect the lives of human beings." The current issues features the serial The Quantum Rose (Part one of three) by Catherine Asaro, and novelettes The Vaults of Permian Love by Bill Johnson and Red Sky at Morning by Ben Bova.

Asimov's Science Fiction
http://www.asimovs.com/
Asimov's Science Fiction, Box 54033, Boulder, Colorado 80322-4033
1-800-333-4108 or 1-303-678-8747 (outside the United States)

Edited by Gardner Dozois, Asimov's stories have won numerous awards including 29 Hugos and 23 Nebulas, and the magazine has received the past 10 Locus Awards for best magazine. The current issue features a novella Son Observe the Time by Kage Baker and novelettes Soldier's Home by William Barton and The Oracle by Brian Stableford. Their Web site includes an excellent forum, links, and subscription rates and forms.

DNA Publications
http://www.dnapublications.com/
DNA Publications, P.O. Box 2988, Radford, VA 24143-2988
DNA Publications publishes five magazines, to which you can subscribe separately or to all of them at once for $70/year. Their Web site has a comprehensive page of links.

• Their magazine holdings include these that feature science fiction:

Webzines

There are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of science fiction/fantasy "Webzines" on the Internet. Many of these are produced by fans of sci fi (often referred to as "fanzines"), who dedicate their time to share their passion for science fiction with the world. A good place to start is with the SF Zines WebRing, which hosts 85 Webzines.

Hugo Gernsback's Forecast
http://www.twd.net/ird/forecast/index.html
Hugo Gernsback is considered the father of science fiction, and, you guessed it, the source of the Hugo award for outstanding science fiction. Beginning in 1951, Hugo produced annual "Forecast" booklets and sent them to friends and associates each December. Current issues of Forecast can be found on their Web site and feature these prescient essays by Gernsback.

Dark Planet: A Webzine of Science Fiction, Modern Fantasy, Poetry, and Related Nonfiction
http://www.sfsite.com/darkplanet/
Features an Editor's note, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Current fiction includes "Happy Hour," a science fiction story by Rob Ashcom, "Alien Lust," a light SF story by Tony Chandler, and "Farewell, Obesity," an science fiction story by Marc Drummond. Current nonfiction features a review of Bloom by Wil McCarthy, reviewed by Peter D. Tillman.

Omni
http://www.omnimag.com/fiction/index.html
Omni fiction editor Ellen Datlow hosts a section titled "Ellen Datlow's Universe," which contains her reviews, great links (to magazines, publishers, and authors; for fans; for readers and writers; and to science organizations, weird sites, and art), writing tips, and fiction guidelines. The site also includes a round robin, in which professional writers write a science fiction story online with other writers. The most recent round robin featured Kelley Eskridge, Graham Joyce, Ed Bryant, and Kathe Koja. Unfortunately, the forums and "SF Café" have been closed down.

Strange Words
http://www.strangewords.com/
This well-designed and spunky Webzine features different themes in every issue. Close to our heart is issue #18, whose theme was "Science and Fiction" (look for it in their Archives). The April 1999 issue (their 23rd) highlights the Steampunk movement of the early 1980s, "the bastard child of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, a recursive fiction that sets the new in the Old, a science fiction version of a magical realism eruption of the fantastic (and very modern) into the mundane."

Infinity Plus
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/iplus/
From the United Kingdom, this Webzine features science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories and also includes reviews.

Events

For all local and worldwide sci fi events log on to:

http://www.sfsite.com/depts/cons01.htm

Resource Guides

Need we say more? The three sites listed below could be all you need to find everything sci fi!

The Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase
http://www.sfsite.com/isfdb/
Look up the winners of over 35 sci-fi awards, discover books written by thousands of authors, order books through at least 5 different online booksellers, check out forthcoming books listed by month, or search the entire database.

The Linköping Science Fiction & Fantasy Archive
http://sf.www.lysator.liu.se/sf_archive/
From Sweden comes the Linköping Science Fiction & Fantasy Archive. Editor Mats Öhrman says, "The archive of Science Fiction and Fantasy that currently resides here at Lysator is a collection of texts I have saved from USENET since somewhere about summer 1985. It is mostly reviews and list of different kinds, but also some other stuff that I've found interesting for this or that reason. The order may not be the best, and early texts may have their header stripped or weirdly transformed (I did not know better then), but I hope these texts may be of some use to you." Despite these caveats, this site offers so much information that it is s well worth visiting.

Reviews

The sources below are not the only places for science fiction reviews, but are some of the best. For other reviews, check out nearly any sci fi magazine or Webzine.

Science Fiction Weekly
http://www.scifi.com/sfw/current/index.html
With more than 98,000 registered readers, this news digest of Sci-Fi Wire features "News of the Week," an art gallery, and reviews of books, films, classics, games, "cool stuff" (including Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System, Seeing Ear Theatre, and The Encyclopedia Shatnerica (to discover the "wit and wisdom of William")), and Web sites. You can also sign up to receive their e-mail newsletter.

SF Site
http://www.sfsite.com/
This site is the host for many of the better science fiction sites you'll find on the Web. But look here also for reviews—most recently featured include The Silicon Dagger by Jack Williamson; The Q Chronicles by Gene Roddenberry et al.; and Rant and Ravey, UK video reviews by Colin Ravey, who "takes a thoughtful meander through the theatrical, frightening and fanciful world of fantasy and science fiction on the UK's small screen." Not to mention No Limits, written and edited by Julie E. Czerneda, Trifolium Books Inc., and Packing Fraction, edited by Julie E. Czerneda, Trifolium Books Inc. No Limits is a textbook built around the stories collected in Packing Fraction. With these two books, Canadian science fiction author Julie Czerneda uses science fiction to spark an interest in science. She has been writing classroom resources for high school teachers and students for over a decade.

Ellen Datlow's Reviews
http://www.omnimag.com/fiction/datlow/reviews/index.html
Ellen Datlow is the fiction editor for Omni magazine and also a critic for sci fi, fantasy, and horror.

Orson Scott Card
http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/f&sf/index.html
Not only is he a prolific writer in sci-fi and other genres of fiction, Card also reviewed hundreds of science fiction books over the years. Check them out at his official Web site.

Awards and Distinctions

Now you'll know what they're talking about when a publisher boasts of its "Hugo Award–winning author" or "Nebula Award–winning book."

Arthur C. Clarke Award
Famed British science fiction novelist Arthur C. Clarke founded the award, first given in 1987. Each winner receives an inscribed plaque and a check for £1,000. The short list for the 1999 award—given to the best science fiction novel whose first U.K. edition was published in 1998—has been announced, according to the fanzine Ansible. This year's list includes: The Cassini Division by Ken MacLeod (Orbit), Cavalcade by Alison Sinclair (Millennium), Dreaming in Smoke by Tricia Sullivan (Orbit), Earth Made of Glass by John Barnes (Orion), The Extremes by Christopher Priest (Simon & Schuster), and Time On My Hands by Peter Delacorte (Gollancz).

Hugo Award
http://www.wsfs.org/hugos.html
The Hugo Award was named in honor of Hugo Gernsback, "The Father of Magazine Science Fiction," as he was described in a special award given to him in 1960. The Hugo Award, also known as the Science Fiction Achievement Award, is given annually by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). The award is administered by the committee of the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) held that year, and is determined by nominations from and a popular vote of the membership of WSFS. In general, a Hugo Award given in a particular year is for work that appeared in the previous calendar year.

SFWA Nebula Awards
The Nebula Awards are administered by, voted on, and presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) to acknowledge excellence in science fiction writing.

Prix Aurora Awards
http://www.sentex.net/~dmullin/aurora/
The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association since 1980 have given these awards. They give out awards in 10 categories. There are six professional awards (three for English and three for French), three fan awards, and the artistic achievement award (open to both professionals and fans).

Book Publishers

Below are a few of the major publishers of science fiction books, with some of their more recent offerings.

Del Rey Books
http://www.bdd.com/delrey/
Del Rey Books
201 East 50th St.
New York, NY 10022

A Calculus of Angels by J. Gregory Keyes, Faces of Infinity, Book 2 of The Gates of Time series by Dan Parkinson, Newton's Cannon by J. Gregory Keyes, The Termination Node: A Cyber-Thriller by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg.

Harper Prism
http://www.harpercollins.com/imprints/harper_prism/
HarperCollins Publishers
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
(212) 207-7000

Recent titles include In Alien Hands by William Shatner, Blackmantle by Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, The Alien Years by Robert Silverberg, Takeover by Forrest Evers, Blood Lines by William R. Burkett, Jr., Mirror World by Tad Williams, Isaac Asimov's I-Bots Time Was by Steve Perry & Gary A. Braunbeck, and Glimmering: A Novel of the Coming Millennium by Elizabeth Hand.

Voyager
http://www.fireandwater.com/imprints/voyager/
This is a HarperCollins imprint; British sci-fi and fantasy publishing. Includes Kim Stanley Robinson's seminal sci fi work of the '90s (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) with The Martians, a collection of short stories inspired by the red planet.

Meisha Merlin Publishing
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/MeishaMerlin/
Meisha Merlin Publishing
PO Box 7, Decatur, GA 30031

Recent titles include Sex and Violence in Zero-G by Ron Miller, Three Heralds of the Storm by Storm Constantine, and Plan B by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller.

Tor
http://www.tor.com/tor.html

May 1999 hardcover releases: Muse of Art by Piers Anthony, The Dragon's Eye by Joel Champetier, The Conqueror's Child by Suzy McKee Charnas, Brotherhood of the Wolf by David Farland, Violent Stars by Phyllis Gottlieb, and Down There in Darkness by George Turner.

June 1999 hardcover releases: The Stars Asunder (Mageworlds #6) by Debra Doyle & James D. Macdonald, Dark Cities Underground by Lisa Goldstein, Centaurus: The Best of Australian SF ed. David Hartwell & Damien Broderick, Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen, The Far Shore of Time by Frederik Pohl, The SFWA Grand Masters, Volume 1, ed. Frederik Pohl, and Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer.

Warner Aspect
http://pathfinder.com/twep/aspect/index.html
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson, The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton, and Masque by F. Paul Wilson and Matthew J. Costello are recent titles.

Authors

Though hardly comprehensive, this list will introduce you to a few of the thousands of science fiction authors published today. Check out their pages; you'll be impressed.

SFF Net
http://www.sff.net/people/
Many science fiction authors have pages listed here. It's a good starting point.

Catherine Asaro
http://www.sff.net/people/asaro/index.htp
The Last Hawk (nominated for a Nebula), Aurora in Four Voices (nominated for a Nebula), The Quantam Rose, The Radiant Seas

Isaac Asimov
http://www.clark.net/pub/edseiler/WWW/asimov_home_page.html
The Isaac Asimov home page contains a comprehensive collection of resources pertaining to Isaac Asimov (1920–1992), the quintessential author, who in his lifetime wrote more than 500 books that "enlightened, entertained, and spanned the realm of human knowledge."

Ben Bova
http://www.sff.net/people/benbova/
Moonwar, Moonrise, Mars, Brothers, Orion Among the Stars

Michael A. Burstein
http://world.std.com/~mab/
Author of "TeleAbsence," published in Analog, and nominated for the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Short Story

Orson Scott Card
http://www.hatrack.com/
Ender's Game, Alvin Journeyman, Pastwatch, and Songmaster, to name a few. Card will be featured on the Sci-Fi Channel's online chat on Tuesday, May 25th, 9:00 p.m. EST. He will be discussing his new anthology Far Horizons. Other authors will also be present.

Jack Chalker
http://people.delphi.com/jchalker/index.html
Author of over 50 science-fiction novels, including Midnight at the Well of Souls.

John G. Cramer
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~jcramer/
Cramer, the author of the novels Twistor and Einstein's Bridge, is also a science columnist who provides "The Alternate View" for Analog Magazine. "The Alternate View" columns are short essays about cutting-edge science aimed at readers (and writers) of "hard" science fiction, but are about real science, usually physics or astronomy.

Joe Haldeman
http://www.sff.net/people/joe.haldeman/
http://www.teleport.com/~cos/jhald/index.html
The Forever War (winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards), Mindbridge

Wil McCarthy
http://www.sff.net/people/WMcCarth/
Bloom, The Fall of Sirius

Vonda N. McIntyre
http://www.sff.net/people/Vonda/
The Moon and the Sun (Nebula Award for Best Novel of 1997)

Jerry Oltion
http://www.sff.net/people/J.Oltion/
"Abandon in Place" (Nebula Award for Best Novella of 1997)

Robert J. Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
The Terminal Experiment (Nebula Award for Best Novel of 1995), Starplex (the only novel to be nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards presented in 1997), Frameshift (finalist for the 1998 Hugo Award)

Organizations

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.
http://www.sfwa.org/
For all questions about the organization, its membership, membership requirements, etc., write to Sharon Lee, Exec. Director, SFWA, Inc., P. O. Box 171, Unity, ME 04988-0171
e-mail: execdir@sfwa.org

Founded in 1965, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., counts more than 1,200 science fiction and fantasy writers, artists, editors, and allied professionals as members. They present the Nebula Awards for the science fiction or fantasy best short story, novelette, novella, and novel of the year.

New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA)
http://www.nesfa.org/home.html
NESFA, PO Box 809, Framingham, MA 01701-0809

The New England Science Fiction Association is one of the oldest science fiction clubs in the northeast United States. They run the NESFA Press and conventions. The upcoming Boskone will be held Feb. 18–20, 2000. They have over half a dozen books in production, and also give out two awards, the Skylark and Gaughan awards.

Miscellaneous

Alien Voices
http://alienvoices.com/intro.html
From the Web page: "Alien Voices is a multi-media production company created by Leonard Nimoy and John de Lancie that is dedicated to quality dramatizations of classic science fiction. In 1996, these former 'Star Trek' actors began their Alien Voices enterprise by writing, producing, and fully dramatizing state-of-the-art audio plays. By the spring of 1997, the first three Alien Voices audio productions of H.G. Wells': 'The Time Machine,' Jules Verne's 'Journey to the Center of the Earth,' and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Lost World' were published by industry leader Simon & Schuster Audio. Since then, additional titles, 'First Men in the Moon' and 'The Invisible Man' have been added to the Alien Voices audio collection."

Mind's Eye Fiction
http://tale.com/

"Read the first part of each story for free, pay a small amount or read an ad to see the ending." Some examples of stories you'll find at this site: Neutron Star by Larry Niven (Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1966), The Shape of Things to Come by Marianne J. Dyson, '--and Subsequent Construction' by Spider Robinson, and TeleAbsence by Michael A. Burstein.

Scifi.Com
http://www.scifi.com/

The official Web page of the Sci-Fi Channel, this site includes programming information, links to Sci-Fi Wire News, Science Fiction Weekly, entertainment, QuickTime movies, weekly chats, chats with authors, and transcripts of chats from 1996–1999.

Sci-Fi Wire: A News Service of the Sci-Fi Channel
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/

This easy-to-navigate site includes links to stories about Television, Sci-Fi Channel, Film, Internet, Unexplained, Fandom, Science, Print, Games, Toys. Visitors can e-mail a story to another sci-fi buff.