Bewildering Stories Editorial

by Jerry Wright

A Variori

Which probably dog-Latin for "Various Things". Or perhaps not. I find myself on the other side of the state tonight, getting ready to crash and burn (as it were) for another seminar. However, when I get back home next Friday, I'm taking at least 2 and probably 3 weeks off to decompress and recuperate. Anyway, several things on whats left of my mind. Paule's essay is quite interesting, and there has been a bit of discussion on it in the Forum.

I also read the latest issue of the "Internet Review Of Science Fiction" (aka IROSF) and in among the various essays was an interesting bit of business by Jay Lake, and I believe, Ruth Nestvold. Among a number of comments (some of which I agreed, some not) the statement was made that the majority of stories in the slush pile were actually pretty good, and because of limited space, what was chosen had to not only be good, but have something extra to make it outstanding. The comment was also made that your average editor does not have the time to spend educating writers so as to better themselves (or something of that nature--I don't have the original column in front of me and I'm feeling much to lazy to spend the 7 minutes or so to bring it up, as I don't have IROSF set automagically on this computer too bad). Anyway, the thrust of my thought is that is where a 'zine like BwS comes in, and comes to the fore.

Because we are weekly, we have room for MANY more stories than do most of our fellow publications. And because this is a labor of love, we can actually spend time grooming writers so that (theoretically at least) they will become better writers.

Of course, on the the other hand, because we are not genre-bound, we can publish a wide mix of stories and articles that might not otherwise see the light of day, and we've been adopted by some very talented writers who under normal circumstances actually expect money for their efforts (and deservedly so...)

Changing the subject, I feel the need to expound on "the death of Science Fiction". Of course, it ain't dying, but it is being overwhelmed by a glut of Fantasy, and Fantasy definitely seems to be selling better than SF, in fact Fantasy and Romance and a melding of the two seems to be quite hot.

I note that Charles Stross's new series "The Merchant Princes" is positioned as fantasy, when it really is unabashedly Alternate History SF huggermugger in the vein of H. Beam Piper. Of course, it is also very Zelaznyish, but unlike Nine Princes In Amber, there is no magic, and nothing akin to "shadow shifting" between the worlds of Amber and the Courts of Chaos.

Give the "Clan" a "sideways in time Machine" and it would be similar (in a VERY generic sense) to a multitude of Alternative Reality stories like the new YA series by Tim Zahn or old stories by Piper and Andre Norton.

But of course, Stross is NOT Piper, Norton, or Zelazny, and his "Merchant Princes" stories are not anything like the others. I just had the privilege of reading book two called The Hidden Family. Aside from the whirlwind ride Stross takes us (and his protagonist) on, there are some very interesting educational "info-dumps" (if you will) on mercantilism and capitalism that are not only necessary to the story, but are absolutely fascinating in and of themselves.

I understand that this series is doing quite well and that Stross is on the hook to write a bunch more. He is an EXCELLENT writer with a great imagination, and it would be hard to imagine anything MORE different from, for example, Accelerando or The Iron Sun.

Write, Charlie... Write!