Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti [Amazon | B&N | IndieBound] is one of the finalists for the Nebula Award in the Novella category. From the official description:

Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself but first she has to make it there, alive.

Like all of Okorafor’s work, Binti is full of imagination, fantastic worldbuilding, and layer upon layer of cultural development and conflict. Binti herself is a 16-year-old harmonizer, a gifted, courageous girl and the first of her people to leave the planet. She faces alienation and racism and loneliness, but she’s determined to grow and learn. She’s on her way to study at Oomza Uni when her ship is attacked by the Meduse, a violent, jellyfish-like race with a vendetta against humanity.

Communication is at the heart of the story. An ancient device called an edan allows Binti to communicate with the Meduse. It’s the key to everything that follows. Communication and harmony as the antidote to violence and war. It’s not easy; in fact, it’s terrifying and dangerous. That’s part of what makes Binti’s story so powerful.

The plot itself is relatively straightforward, as Binti tries first to survive the war between humans and Meduse, and then to change that war. But this isn’t a story you read for the plot. You read for the beautiful characterization, the deep cultural clashes both among Binti’s people and between humans and other races, and for enough fascinating ideas to fill several novels.

I finished the story wanting more, and will be waiting impatiently for a novel set in this universe.

You can read an excerpt of the novella here.

IndNoWriMar

It’s short for Individual Novel Writing in March.

I’ve been poking and prodding at the SF novel for the past month or so, trying to find the plot, the voice, the characters…pretty much everything. It’s one of the more frustrating parts of the process for me, because there’s way too much uncertainty for my comfort level. But I think I finally have a bit of a handle on this book.

So the plan is to write the first draft, or at least 50K words of the first draft, by the end of March. I’m announcing this in the blog because it will help keep me motivated and accountable.

Making this proclamation on a day when I have to shovel snow, take one kid to a doctor appointment, then take same kid to a two-hour thing in the evening might not have been the best idea, and I’m guessing today’s output will be rather disappointing. But I wrote a 1775-word prologue yesterday, so I’m using that to cover today’s gap.

ETA: Also, apparently today is March 2. I had it in my brain that today was the 1st. This doesn’t bode well for my organizational abilities…

Word Count Meter

Prioritizing the draft means I may slow down a little on blog posts, or fall (further) behind on emails, but hopefully I’ll be able to find a new equilibrium.

Wish me luck!

Historical Context and “Men of Their Times”

Inspired in part by an all-too-familiar conversation on Facebook a few months back, I present my essay “Men of Their Times” in the newest issue of Uncanny Magazine:

At the World Fantasy Awards ceremony in November 2015, it was announced that the bust of H. P. Lovecraft would no longer be used as the award trophy. This came after statements from prominent authors such as Nnedi Okorafor and Daniel José Older, among others, who felt that Lovecraft’s racism made him a problematic symbol for the celebration and recognition of the world’s best fantasy.

One of the immediate counterarguments was that it’s unfair to judge Lovecraft by the standards of the present day. As Lovecraft scholar S. T. Joshi put it:

“This shows a cultural intolerance and lack of historical understanding that is very discouraging… I daresay we will be judged harshly for all manner of derelictions a hundred years from now.”

This argument comes up so quickly and reliably in these conversations that it might as well be a Pavlovian response. Any mention of the word “racism” in association with names like Tolkien or Burroughs or Campbell or Lovecraft is a bell whose chimes will trigger an immediate response of “But historical context!”

You can read the whole thing on the Uncanny website, including discussions of L. Frank Baum and Edgar Rice Burroughs, and arguments about tolerance, forgiveness, and historical homogeneity.

The Importance of Having and ENFORCING Harassment Policies at Cons

I get it. It’s one thing to write up policies on harassment and appropriate behavior for a convention. It’s another to find yourself in the midst of a mess where you have to enforce them.

Emotions are running high. The person accused of violating the policy isn’t a mustache-twirling villain, but someone who’s been attending your con for years. They’ve got a lot of friends at the con — possibly including you. If you enforce the consequences spelled out in your policies, someone’s going to be upset. Someone’s going to be angry. Someone’s going to feel hurt. It feels like a no-win situation.

And it is, in a way. There’s nothing you can do to make everyone happy. But we’ve seen again and again that there’s a clear losing strategy, and that is to do nothing. To try to ignore your harassment policy and hope the problem goes away on its own.

It won’t. As unpleasant as it is to be dealing with a report of harassment, doing nothing will make it worse. Here are just a few examples from recent years.

#

ReaderCon: In 2012, a ReaderCon attendee reported ongoing harassment by René Walling. Readercon had a zero-tolerance policy for harassment. Whatever you might think of zero-tolerance policies, this was the promise the con had made. The board ignored its own policy and instead issued a two-year ban.

This generated a great deal of anger and backlash. In the end, the entire board resigned. ReaderCon issued a formal apology and voted to reverse the board’s decision and enforce a lifetime ban against Walling.

World Fantasy Con: In 2013, WFC chose not to have a harassment policy at all, saying in part, “…it is extremely unusual for this kind of behavior to take place at a World Fantasy Convention, as it is largely a professional-oriented event.” (Source) Multiple people ended up reporting multiple incidents of harassment. The convention did…pretty much nothing.

One of the effects of this and other harassment-related mistakes has been long-term damage to the reputation of the convention. I know professionals who refuse to attend for this reason.

WisCon: In 2013, at least one person reported Jim Frenkel to the convention for harassment at WisCon. This was not the only report of harassment WisCon had received about this individual. The convention later said they misplaced at least two complaints, and Frenkel showed up again in 2014.

Frenkel was “provisionally” banned for four years in July 2014. At least one member of the concom resigned. In August 2014, the con voted to permanently ban Frenkel from the convention. Natalie Luhrs has a roundup of some of the reactions and negative press that came about as a result of the slow and inconsistent handling of harassment.

ConText: In 2014, a consuite volunteer named Jeffrey Tolliver was banned from Context following multiple complaints about this individual’s conduct. However, this process involved a great deal of internal conflict over the enforcement of the harassment policy, to the point that several volunteers resigned because they did not trust the convention to take harassment seriously. There were also statements defending Tolliver as a long-time volunteer, a friend, and someone who was being attacked for being old/clueless.

In addition to the volunteer resignations, the ConText board was (I believe) eventually dissolved, and ConText was cancelled for the following year.

ConQuesT: Mark Oshiro just talked about the racism and harassment he experienced as Fan Guest of Honor at ConQuesT. He followed the convention’s processes in reporting the incidents. Eight months later, after multiple follow-ups, he discovered that nothing had been done.

At this time, one member of the concom has resigned, and it feels like most of the SF/F internet is discussing all the ways ConQuesT dropped the ball and screwed up.

#

These aren’t the only such examples, but I hope they’re enough to see the patterns.

Again, I’m not trying to pretend that enforcing such policies is easy. It’s not. We go to conventions to have fun. Volunteers pour countless hours of work into the events, trying to host a successful weekend party for everyone involved. No one wants to have to deal with confrontation. But choosing not to deal with it is almost universally worse for the convention, leading to things like:

  • Resignation of volunteers
  • Negative publicity, including people publicly stating they won’t be coming to your convention
  • Cancellation of the convention
  • Feelings of anger and betrayal from attendees
  • A lot of broken relationships

And in most cases, the convention still ends up having to follow through on its harassment policies and deal with what happened.

The logic seems pretty simple to me. It makes a hell of a lot more sense to just follow through on policies in the beginning. It sucks to have to do it, but it sucks even more to be dealing with all the additional consequences of not following through.

Revisionary Discussion Post

Revisionary - Cover Art by Gene MollicaIt’s been three weeks since Revisionary [Amazon | B&N | Indiebound] came out.

This is your official post for talking about the book, asking questions, or just yelling at me for turning Gutenberg into a sixty-foot-tall cyborg.

It should go without saying, but there will be spoilers in the comments!

My thanks as always to everyone who bought a copy or borrowed from the library or a friend. Huge thanks as well to those who’ve posted reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and elsewhere. (It all helps.)

 

Links for the SF/F Community

Rather than blathering on today, I want to direct folks to a number of posts I feel are important to read and be aware of.

Sokka Facepalm gif

  1. The Geek’s Guide to Disability, by Annalee Flower Horne. Some very good information about what disability is (and what it isn’t), and the erasure, exclusion, and stereotypes face by many disabled people.
  2. Mark Oshiro talks about racism and harassment he faced as Fan Guest of Honor at ConQuesT.
  3. Huge Congratulations to the Nebula Awards Nominees! (I needed something upbeat and celebratory in here.)
  4. Submissions are open for UP AND COMING, the 2016 anthology of Campbell-eligible authors.

Signing Tonight in Okemos

So far, today has been rather obnoxious in terms of snatching up spoons from various directions. I’m hoping the afternoon will calm down a bit.

In the meantime, if you’re in the area, I’m doing a booksigning event at Schuler Books in Okemos tonight at 7 p.m. I’ll be signing copies of Revisionary (and anything else you’d like me to scribble in), doing a bit of chat and Q&A, and probably reading from…something. I’m not sure what just yet. The short story I have coming out later this year is inappropriate for public readings, and the new book is way too rough. Maybe something from that middle grade fantasy I’ve been working on?

Anyway, it should be fun, so y’all should swing by and say hello.

«< 66 67 68 69 70 >»