Spent a lot of time from Thursday through Sunday online with the Mars Society meeting. As I’ve noted before, this is not a science fiction convention; it is a dead-serious society of people dedicated to putting a real settlement on Mars. The only relationship to science fiction is that the Mars Society aims to turn it into reality. (For a modern science fiction view, read Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang.) Due to COVID-19, the planned in-person meeting in California had to be scrapped but, making a virtue of necessity, the meeting went Zoom and I think we ended up with over 10,000 people registered from countries all across the world. Makes me think we should stick with that format. Speakers ran the gamut from venture capital to NASA administrators to hard core scientists and covered everything from where we might find life on Mars to the details of nuclear electric propulsion and nuclear power in space (that one left me with me with my head in my hands), to what a Martian city might look like. I had to grin when one speaker commented that, due to COVID-19, they were working remotely, so she was driving the Mars rover from her kitchen table. I would say that qualifies as working remotely! Elon Musk (SpaceX, Tesla) spoke and then took questions for close to 50 minutes overall. I thought he framed the objective very succinctly: our aim should be, not just to go to Mars, but to put a settlement there that would thrive even if ships from Earth stopped coming. His company is now developing a vehicle called “Starship” that could be used for these missions. You can find his talk on YouTube and it is worth having a listen as he has demonstrated a pretty good track record for doing things that “conventional wisdom” says are impossible. Can we do this? The answer I took from the presentations is: probably. It was pointed out that there are some yes/no questions that exist. For example, can humans have children and will they grow up successfully in 1/3 of Earth gravity? If the answer turns out to be “No,” then a permanent settlement may be a mirage. Still, we are not going to know the answers without going there. The orbits of Earth and Mars create an opportunity for flight every 26 months; taking that into account, Musk figured a key launch opportunity for a first heavy-lift ship would be in 4 years. So, let’s get there, see what we find and answer the questions!.
Archives for October 2020
Weekend Maunder 9 October 2020
The cover art for Complicated: The Interstellar Life and Times of Saoirse Kenneally has arrived! It is gorgeous (okay, I’m biased) and a very nice incorporation of some key themes from the story. it makes me even more eager to get the book finished. Still tracking for late fall to early winter. You can see the cover on the home page at www.afictionado.com and on Facebook @ColinAlexanderAuthor.
Speaking of cover art, one point I have heard made at a couple of panels and I agree with completely: do not skimp on the cover. Obviously, if you have a book being published by a traditional publisher, this is not the writer’s issue; the publisher handles it. If, however, you are indie and self-publishing, it is important to find a good artist who will do your book justice. People do react to the cover when they are making decisions about whether to buy a book. I do, both online and browsing in a bookstore. The style of cover art has also changed over the years. So, have it done right. I do not think this is the place for DIY.
On the reading side, I saw Hannah Abigail Clarke featured in the SFWA blog last month so I decided to pick up their debut book, The Scapegracers. A note up front, this is a YA book and has a number of familiar themes such as not fitting in in high school, not having friends, and a complex (and sometimes painful) family background. The story takes these themes in different directions than usual, however. The main character is Sideways Pike, a fabulous name even if the derivation is clear (and is explained if you miss it). Yes, she is the angry, socially awkward outsider but, in her case, being gay and a witch have something to do with it. After a magic demonstration at a party she normally wouldn’t be invited to, she gets in with the cool kids, who turn out to have a lot in common with her, including a talent for magic. The danger is supplied by parties who are out to rid the world of witches (including ones in high school). The book spends a lot of time developing the characters and does not take the plot through to completion and I think this is because this is intended to be the first book in a series. Enough of the plot is shown that you can come to a logical pause (if not an end) at the conclusion of the book. The characters were well-developed, especially Sideways, and the construction of the magical world was good. Some of the angst became a bit repetitive, especially in the second half of the book and I would have liked to see more of the plot development but, yes, I am probably going to get the next one. Overall this is a fun, quick read – this from someone who generally doesn’t read YA.