As Spring makes way for summer (something she seems to have done in reality many weeks ago) thus ends the 5th annual Once Upon a Time Challenge. This is the longest challenge that I host. The three months always seem as if they are going to go on forever yet inevitably the time rushes by in a complete and total blur. For the first time in many years I am ready for Spring to give way to Summer, but again I think that is largely to do with the fact that summer weather moved in early this year. While I anxiously await the more tolerable autumn weather, I am excited about projects I would like to get done these next few months, books that I want to read, etc. But more on that in an upcoming Summer post.

As we close the door on the Once Upon a Time Challenge I want to recap what I myself did for the challenge, give you an opportunity to post links to any wrap up post you may do (not required, but please share it if you do one), and of course end with an opportunity for a prize!

Continue reading Once Upon an Ending →

Once Upon a Time…

Four simple words which, when strung together, throw wide the doors of imagination. From our earliest recollection these words began journeys so meaningful and so profound that they were woven into the fabric of our existence, causing us to return to the gateway of fiction year after year, decade after decade, to travel new roads or to trod once more on familiar paths.

Once Upon a Time…

“I felt a curious thrill, as if something had stirred in me, half wakened from sleep. There was something very remote and strange and beautiful behind those words, if I could grasp it, far beyond ancient English.”

~J.R.R. Tolkien, on reading the Cynewulf lines about the star Earendel

For as long as I can remember, fantastical literature has given me that same “curious thrill” that Tolkien references. Fantasy, fairy tales, folklore and mythology are “remote and strange and beautiful”, in part because of the way in which these types or storytelling have their foundation laid firmly in a past so remote that it is hard to truly fathom just how long people have been sitting down across from family, friends, and even strangers telling their own versions of “once upon a time”.

Five years ago I set out to celebrate my own deep affection for this literature by inviting others to set aside the period of the year that in the Western Hemisphere is known as Spring (March 21st to June 20th) to journey together into the magical lands of fantasy, fairy tales, folklore and mythology. This event, known as the Once Upon a Time Challenge, has been a great success because of its most important ingredient: you! Over the past four springs bonds of friendship have been formed, new favorite authors have been discovered, and we have all become keenly aware of just how precious a treasure it is to be able to read good books and talk about them with each other. Allow me to thank each and every one of you who have participated, from one time to all four previous times, for making this so special. It is my honor to announce that the 5th annual Once Upon a Time Challenge has begun.

Now, for the particulars:

Continue reading Once Upon a Time V →

For my part I know nothing with any certainty,
but the sight of the stars makes me dream.

~Vincent Van Gogh

And dream we did. On January first of this fine year a band of intrepid explorers set out on a grand journey among the stars, some seasoned spacers, others still green but eager. Together we took solace in the pages of science fiction. The months of January and February flew by quickly, as they always seem to do. For those who do not believe in time travel, the swift passage of time makes you wonder. The Sci Fi Experience 2011 is over, though the “experiences” we all took part in will surely resonate for a long time to come.

For those of you who participated I wanted to give you this rather belated opportunity to share about your experience, what you read, what did or did not thrill you or surprise you. What books others simply must read and what stories you think should be avoided. Really this is a chance to just wrap things up.

Continue reading We Boldly Went →

(Cygnus, image by Les Edwards, used with permission)

For my part I know nothing with any certainty,
but the sight of the stars makes me dream.

~Vincent Van Gogh

“Science Fiction as a genre and the art of reading have been inextricably linked together as far back as my earliest solo reading memories. It is a bond that the passage of time and my own growth as a reader has not severed. In fact it is quite the opposite. As my length of days stretch out before me I find the ties to my own past growing ever more strong and ever more important.”

~Carl V. Anderson, December 2008

There are any number of myths perpetuated both inside of and outside of the literary world in regards to Science Fiction: the genre is no longer relevant, science fiction novels lack strong characterization, science fiction appeals only to adolescent males (and overweight, mom’s-basement-dwelling males who have never grown up), all science fiction is about spaceships and laser guns, science fiction is filled with confusing concepts for non-science geeks, science fiction is not “literature”…need I continue?

The biggest problem with misconceptions such as these is that there is enough truth to all these myths that it becomes common practice to accept them as truths. Additionally some science fiction fans, like myself, will readily admit to liking a variety of science fiction novels that could easily be held up as poster children for those very myths. If one is honest, however, I believe the same can be said about any “genre”, including what the elite would call “literature”.

Several years ago I decided to host a non-“challenge” reading event entitled “The Sci Fi Experience”, with the emphasis squarely on the word “experience”.

Continue reading The Sci Fi Experience 2011 →