New season, new mission, new name

Introducing Transfer Orbit

Hello!

We’re in the midst of fall here in Vermont — the reds, yellows, and oranges are particularly vivid on the trees and the forest floors. It’s a time of transition, something that’s been on my mind as we barrel into October.

The state of the world — politics, entertainment, SF/F, fandom, etc. — has been on my mind a lot lately, and it’s prompted me to rethink a bit about how I’m approaching this newsletter. I’m making some changes to its focus and mission, and accordingly, I’m giving it a new name: Transfer Orbit.

A New Mission

In the summer of 1939, John W. Campbell Jr. took over the reins of Astounding Science Fiction, one of the many pulp magazines churning out the pulp science fiction stories of the age.

At the time, Campbell was working in a time of almost unfathomable change. A World War was brewing, the United States was about to springboard itself into one of the world’s leading powers, and science and technology promised cures for diseases, new ways of doing business, and even that we’d land a man on the Moon.

Campbell, the authors he published, and the other magazines, editors, and fans began to try and think of what the promise of technology would bring to the future. In doing so, he redefined what science fiction was, and set the mold for what we think of as science fiction for decades to come.

In the summer of 2020, science fiction stands at a similar crossroad.

For a couple of months now, I’ve been trying to grapple with the state of the world, and the need for a better sense of direction for how I approach writing. Where does my opinion and view of science fiction and storytelling fit into this reality that we’ve found ourselves in? How are we using stories to come to terms with an increasingly authoritarian and automated world? How do we tell stories to make sense of a changing climate or privatized space travel? How do the stories that we love provide a rickety platform for the stories that we’re telling now?

These are all things that I’ve written about in this newsletter, but this line of thinking has made me realize that it isn’t enough to write reviews and commentary about the past: in order to be relevant, I need to be thinking about what the state of science fiction is in the months, years, and decades to come.

We’re at a significant point of transition in all facets of the genre. The technological world that surrounds us is changing drastically — we live in a world that is science fictional in many ways. The things we’re fans of is changing, and I don’t think that the traditional world of fandom as we know it isn’t really equipped to handle that.

The genre as it originally existed isn’t a thing anymore: a small group of devotees to the same magazines and fanzines and authors who gathered a couple of times a year with their friends and fellow writers at conventions and in magazine letter columns.

I’ve been frustrated by conventions and the types of discussions that I see happening. A discussion about the future of military science fiction turned into its panelists recommending the likes of The Forever War and Starship Troopers — books released decades ago and which aren’t nearly as relevant as newer works that have come amidst the global war on terror. George R.R. Martin’s horrible performance at the Hugo Awards highlighted just how out of touch fandom (as a whole) can be.

But more than that, Fandom feels like a group of people too focused on pedantic labels, definitions, and the narrow subset of books marketed right to them — all features that lead to exclusion and marginalization of authors, works, themes, mediums, and more.

None of this is new, of course: there are a number of great fan writers and commentators out there. We’ve seen how Fandom as a whole is a microcosm for the larger world. Gamer Gate and Sad/Rabid Puppies proved to be a horrifying dress rehearsal for the hellish four years that we’ve been living through. We’ve seen how arguments about the state of major entertainment franchises can cause major ripples throughout fandom all the way up to studio policy.

So.

As Transfer Orbit, I’m going ensure that my focus is squarely on the future of science fiction. This isn’t to say that I won’t dip into the past or occasionally go down some rabbit hole, but I want to make sure that the genre that I’m looking at isn’t tied directly to the 20th Century and its conclusions: I want to use this publication to look around the corner, to see what the genre might be anticipating, and what lessons we can glean from our recent past. I want to better explore how technology is changing storytelling, how we organize, and how real-world events impact the stories we tell, and vice-versa.

Currently Reading

I finally finished a book! I blew through The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, and really enjoyed it. It’s a heartbreaking, emotional book about a faustian deal, and the cost of human interaction (or lack thereof.) It hits stores soon, and I definitely think you’ll be hearing more about it.

Up next? I’m finally getting through Paul Tremblay’s Survivor Song, and I’ve picked up Rebecca Roanhorse’s Black Sun. I’m enjoying both quite a bit. And of course, I’m working on finishing up Dune.

As noted in my October book list, this is a packed month, and a lot of the books that I’ve been looking forward to are on my to-read list now. The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow, The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, and Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark. But there’s also those surprises that look cool that you don’t discover until it randomly pops up on a Twitter post, like Pantheon by K.R. Paul.

New season, new mission, new name

Introducing Transfer Orbit

A New Mission

More paid posts are coming

Currently Reading

Further Reading