Here’s another event of interest to science fiction fans in the Washington, DC region:

Click on poster for full size image

On Friday, May 11th, 2012, the American Women Writers National Museum will be hosting a lunchtime panel on “Fantastic Heroines of Sci Fi & Fantasy.”  The panelists are authors Brenda Clough, Mindy Klasky, L. Jagi Lamplighter and Jeri Smith-Ready, and the panel will be moderated by Fast Forward‘s very own book reviewer, Colleen Cahill.

FANTASTIC HEROINES OF SCI FI & FANTASY
Panel Sponsored by American Women Writers National Museum
Friday, May 11, 2012
11:30am-1:30pm
1275 K St. NW @ 13th St. NW, Suite 102
(13th St. shared space entrance)
Washington, DC
FREE!

FURTHER INFO CONTACT: awwnm1@gmail.com

The folks here at Fast Forward love it when noteworthy SF related events come to our hometown.  So we’re very excited that SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America) is holding their Nebula Awards Weekend in the Washington, DC region this month.  It’s a weekend of panels, workshops, booksignings, and partying – and you don’t have to be a SFWA member to attend – memberships can be purchased by the general public.  Many of the finest and most celebrated SF writers and other SF professionals will be in attendance.  If you’re an aspiring writer this is a great opportunity – don’t miss it!

The Nebula Awards Weekend is happening May 17-20, 2012, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.  For more information, go to the Nebula Awards section of the SFWA website at www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards.

We hope to see you there!

Michael Dirda © 2008 Larry D. Moore

Congratulations to Michael Dirda on winning an Edgar award for his book On Conan Doyle: Or, The Whole Art of Storytelling!

Mr. Dirda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book reviewer who has written for many publications and periodicals, including The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, and The Times Literary Supplement.

This month on Fast-Forward TV, I reviewed The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint and K. D. Wentworth, a wonderful military science fiction work with elements of first contact and adventure.  What you might not know is this is the second book of the Jao Empire Series from Baen Books.  The first book, The Course of Empire, is equally good and can be enjoyed even if you have read The Crucible of Empire already.  This is advice I took myself, as that is the order in which I read the books: it is like visiting friends and learning their past.

The book opens twenty years after the Jao have conquered Earth, turning the human population into servants at best.  This was not an easy conquest, with the destruction of Chicago and New Orleans being some of the cost.  The biggest difficulty the Jao have is trying to deal with how humans think.  A great example is that most the Jao do not see any need for sports, art, gambling or other recreations that “produced nothing beneficial, nor taught or honed any useful military skill”.  This caused a major incident when the Jao forbid an expedition to Mount Everest and when the humans went ahead anyway: the Jao destroyed them and the entire mountain.  Nor are humans any better at understanding their conquerors, as the Jao language is very depended on body positions, including some that use their flexible ears, which is not only difficult for humans to interpret, but impossible for them to replicate.  None of this is made better by the very hostile attitude the Jao Governor, Oppuk krinnu ava Narvo, has toward this planet and all its inhabitants.

Into this very tense environment a new element is added: the arrival of Allie krinnu ava Plutharak as the new commander of ground forces is making waves through the Jao hierarchy.  For one, he is a member of a different kochan, or clan, than the leaders of the conquest, and these two kochan have not worked well together in the past.  That he is sent to bring change is a given, but even Allie is not sure how or for what purpose.  He finds many surprises in front of him, not only from the alien humans, but from his own people, some of whom have gone native enough to even begin enjoying music and other human recreations.  To try and understand the native race, Allie decides to add some humans to his personal service, basically making them his aides, but closer to a feudal lord and vassal relationship.  One such human, Gabe Tully, is less than pleased as he is actually a member of the human resistance forces.  He becomes much more like a prisoner after his first attempt to escape, and Yaut, who is Allie’s fraghta or senior advisor, starts using Wren-Fa or body learning on Tully.  The Jao believe Wren-Fa puts lessons “in the brain too deep for conscious understanding”; from Tully’s viewpoint, it causes a lot of bruises and pain. This is soft training, however, compared to what Caitlin Stockwell has received over the years.  Daughter of the reluctant human President of North America, she is a hostage to his good behavior and since the age of three, has had a Jao bodyguard who seems to spend more time looking for reasons to discipline her than protect her.  Caitlin is also one of the few humans who understands the Jao body language, making her a pawn for the increasing insane Oppuk, but to what end?

As in the latter book, there are too many characters for me to describe in this review, but none are window dressing.  This is a complex work that deals with many issues, including human-alien communication and understanding, all amidst a swirling political situation that will lead to someone dying.  Oh, and did I mention that Terra was conquered because the Jao believe their enemy the Ekhat will be visiting soon?  If you have read the later work, you will know what a terror this is, but for the humans in this volume, most think it is a fairy tale excuse used to take over the planet.

I can give plenty of reasons for reading this book, including a great story, wonderful characters and some intriguing human-alien interactions.  Another good reason is if you have an ereader, you can download the book from the Baen Free Library for … free!  Whether you read this book first or have already sampled the second work, you will find The Course of Empire a terrific book.

Congratulations to Tom Doyle, a wonderful local Washington, DC area writer, who has won a Writers of the Future award!  You can see video of Tom accepting his award at the writersofthefuture.com website.  Please note – the video of the ceremony is 3 hours long – Tom’s piece begins at about 2:20:30.

We note that author K. D. Wentworth, co-author of our reviewed book this month, The Crucible of Empire, passed away on April 18th, 2012.  Ms. Wentworth won the Writers of the Future Contest in 1988, as well as the Field Publications Teachers as Writers Award in 1991.  She went on to publish several novels and more than 50 pieces of short fiction.  You can find more details about K. D. Wentworth and her writing at the website www.kdwentworth.com.  Locus has posted an obituary.

Artist Bob Eggleton

The interview from Fast Forward: Contemporary Science Fiction Episode #255 is now available to view.  This month we feature an interview with artist extraordinaire Bob Eggleton!  In the interview Mr. Eggleton talks about his lifelong fascination with dinosaurs, spaceships and art, and how his painting career developed.  He also discusses working with various media, and why he currently loves to paint with oils.  He even provides some helpful advice to new painters.

Also in the episode:

Colleen Cahill reviews The Crucible of Empire, a novel by Eric Flint & K. D. Wentworth.
Marianne Petrino gives 4 chans to Eden of the East, an anime video and movie series.

This interview was recorded in May, 2011, and run as part of episode #255 in April 2012.

Editor Ginjer Buchanan

The interview from Episode #254 of Fast Forward: Contemporary Science Fiction is now available to view online.  This interview is with the editor-in-chief of Ace/Roc Books, Ginjer Buchanan.  Mrs. Buchanan discusses the process of creating a print book, from calculating an author’s advance to final proofing.  She also talks about her own career, and mentions some of the influential people in the field of science fiction editing and publishing.

The interview was recorded on May 21, 2011.  We want to give a special thank you to SFWA, the committee of the 2011 Nebula Awards Weekend, and the staff of Arlington Independent Media for helping make this interview possible.

Also in this episode:

Marianne Petrino reviews the anime feature film, Loups=Garous.
Colleen Cahill reviews the Prospero’s Daughter trilogy, by L. Jagi Lamplighter.

This episode of Fast Forward was first shown in March of 2012.

Author Jack McDevitt

The interview from Episode #253 of Fast Forward: Contemporary Science Fiction is now available to view online.  The interview is with award winning author Jack McDevitt, who talks about his writing career, as well as his various non-writing jobs.  He gives some insight into both his Alex Benedict and Academy (aka Priscilla “Hutch” Hutchins) series of books, and discusses both the pleasure and pain of award nominations.

The interview was recorded on May 20, 2011.  We want to give a special thank you to SFWA, the committee of the 2011 Nebula Awards Weekend, and the staff of Arlington Independent Media for helping make this interview possible.

Also in this episode:

Marianne Petrino reviews the anime television series, Sound of the Sky.
Colleen Cahill reviews the China Miéville novel, Embassytown.

We’ve posted interviews from the most recent episodes at both the FF website, and on our Youtube channel.  We hope that you enjoy them.

Want to watch Fast Forward without stressing your monthly data plan?  If you live in the US, you may be able to get the video series shown (for free!) on your local cable access channel.  Visit the website http://www.fast-forward.tv to find out more.

As always, thanks for watching!