Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Be Ready for the Next Controversy!

NPR is asking SF/F readers to vote for the Best SF or Fantasy book, and, as we all know, this will lead to a list mostly consisting of dead white guys and a chorus of disapproval of same by people who are generally not dead, white, or guys.

So prepare your arguments now, folks -- be ready to explain why the winner (whatever it is) is illegitimate, because of the patriarchal hegemony, or the dead hand of the market, or the mind-control rays of the Alien Space Bats. Be inventive! Don't just demand that people stop supporting the status quo; have a manifesto and a plan to blow the whole thing to hell.

Because, if we're going to go through that damn thing one more time, it had better be entertaining this time around.

And, if you're going to vote, think really hard about your Tolkien-Asimov-Heinlein-Herbert-Bradbury list before pressing "send." Do you want to be seen as an enemy of the proletariat? I know I don't, so I won't be participating. If you have more energy than me, go ahead.

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