tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post4530154704588255942..comments2024-03-26T17:54:54.592+01:00Comments on Speculiction...: Review of Stations of the Tide by Michael SwanwickUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-91863595581583364732017-12-08T14:27:26.534+01:002017-12-08T14:27:26.534+01:00Speaking of zingers, have you published your thoug...Speaking of zingers, have you published your thoughts on Vacuum flowers?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-44517515634950290802015-06-01T06:38:20.371+02:002015-06-01T06:38:20.371+02:00As I mentioned in my comment on Bones, I'm a l...As I mentioned in my comment on <i>Bones</i>, I'm a little surprised the novel doesn't have an extra layer or two. But then again, as Les Claypool said, 'They can't all be zingers...'Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07796098208589965362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-54954376040420941712015-06-01T05:16:49.777+02:002015-06-01T05:16:49.777+02:00Yes, very good timing. I am definitely still curio...Yes, very good timing. I am definitely still curious about Swanwick's bibliography despite my lackluster experience with BONES OF THE EARTH. Your gripes about the narrative structure sound familiar considering BONES also has a structure that prevents it from ascending the superficial. Or if it did, I missed it because the plot was so awfully blase and disappointing. <br /><br />On to JACK FAUST!... one day... :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-36240973038634099552015-05-30T08:22:08.195+02:002015-05-30T08:22:08.195+02:00I don't know if the term post-cyberpunk entire...I don't know if the term post-cyberpunk entirely fits the science fiction post-80s. We don't have post-Golden Age, post-New Wave, post-Silver Age, or post-anything from the other major waves of genre. As such, calling it post-cyberpunk seems a little restrictive, as if what came after were dismantling the cyberpunk notion rather than striking out in a new direction. While I like the definition you linked to, and there are a lot of truths in it, I'm not sure it fully captures the sense of science fiction that began mid 90s, peaked, and has sort of petered out since. I think there is more to it than just reaction to cyberpunk. The New Wave, for example, while being a reaction to the Silver Age, was more a reaction to larger cultural and societal events and changes. When I look at the work of Charles Stross, I see fleeting elements of cyberpunk, but I see a stronger desire to disassociate his work from the nitty gritty of hear and now and till fresh soil in the far future. His works feel more fantasy than science fiction, something which I think the Accelerated Age, Singularity texts, Posthumanism, and other names capture better than post-cyberpunk. Or, from another perspective, can you imagine calling Joanna Russ' <i>The Female Man</i> post-Silver Age and believe it's a more descriptive term than New Wave?<br /><br />By the way, modernism and post-modernism are the two major cultural/artistic/critical movements of the past century, which science fiction can likewise be parsed into. The transition from the Silver Age to New Wave is generally considered the dividing line, which means cyberpunk and whatever has come after are all still post-modern. What with all the -isms floating around today (something mirrored in science fiction, by the way), however, many think we are living in post-post-modernism. It's also been called metamodernism, a term which seems to me to suit the wide, wide variety of social and cultural interests we see now appearing in sf... Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07796098208589965362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670543499274741427.post-78868161643342869502015-05-30T00:17:47.058+02:002015-05-30T00:17:47.058+02:00Science fiction yet to settle on the name of post-...<i>Science fiction yet to settle on the name of post-cyberpunk fiction (at least as far as I know)</i><br /><br />Isn't it just called <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcyberpunk#Postcyberpunk" rel="nofollow">postcyberpunk</a>? :-) As postmodern begat modern, it makes sense to me.<br /><br />Great review -- this one has been on my list for a while, and you make it sound very appealing. Good timing with Megan's review, too.admiral.ironbombshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02209722437784430986noreply@blogger.com