Not all genre shows are going under, though. Stargate SG-1 is still going strong, and launched a successful spin-off, Stargate Atlantis. Andromeda and Joan of Arcadia still seem to be doing well, as is the other “psychic” show, The Dead Zone. And The Simpsons and South Park, if you consider them to be genre shows in the first place, keep on truckin’ on, as always (joined this year by Drawn Together, the first “animated reality show,” a mind-boggling concept if there ever was one).
Some of the new shows have done well also. We’ve already mentioned Medium and Stargate Atlantis; ABC scored big with Lost and Desperate Housewives, two of the first successful network genre shows for a long time. Calling Desperate Housewives a genre show is a stretch (although it’s narrated by a dead woman), but Lost fits solidly into a long genre tradition of “lost world” stories, coming across as a mix between Survivor and a much-more-adult Fantasy Island (or perhaps Lord of the Flies), with what I suspect will turn out to be a Forbidden Planet – style monster from the id roaming around and eating somebody every so often to add a pinch of danger and suspense. (That monster seems to be the key to the show’s success to date, with everybody dying to know what it is, and everybody and their brother having a theory, but I wonder if Lost hasn’t painted itself into a corner here—once they tell you what the monster is, many in the audience are going to lose interest in the show … but at the same time, if they stretch things out too long without telling you what it is, people are going to get frustrated and stop watching. It’ll be interesting to see how long they can continue to walk this tightrope without falling off.) The new version of Battlestar Galactica (I’m still not at all sure why we needed a new one, but Lord knows, they don’t ask me about these things) seems to be going over with the fans pretty well to date. And as a sop thrown to inconsolable Farscape fans, there was even a new Farscape miniseries this year, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars.
The Sci-Fi Channel is turning into a big producer of original shows, and one of the year’s other big events, which unfortunately didn’t live up to the anticipation it had generated, was a miniseries adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin’s famous fantasy novel A Wizard of Earthsea (mixed with bits of one of its sequels, The Tombs of Atuan). Hopes had been high for this show, but most Le Guin fans were disappointed in it. It seemed more like an attempt to generate a generic fantasy movie, with bits clearly influenced by Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings movies, than a sincere attempt to translate the style and substance of Le Guin’s work to the screen, and Le Guin herself scathingly denounced it in a series of essays on the Internet. In spite of the disenchantment of most Le Guin readers, the miniseries was a big ratings success for the Sci-Fi Channel, so they were probably happy enough with it. Let’s hope they do a better job, though, with upcoming miniseries versions of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars and Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War.
A case could probably be made for listing some of The Discovery Channel specials such as Chased By Sea Monsters—whose deadpan conceit is that this is just another nature documentary, following scientists who have gone back in time to study the swarming CGI dinosaurs of various prehistoric oceans—as science fiction shows, because the gimmick is played perfectly straight, with little or no breaking of the fourth wall. And considered as science fiction shows, the now rather fake-looking CGI dinosaurs would have been considered to be amazing special effects even as recently as ten or fifteen years ago, which shows you just how fast the whole area of computer-generated animation is evolving.
The 62nd World Science Fiction Convention, Noreascon 4, was held in Boston, Massachusetts from September 2 to September 6, 2004, and drew an estimated attendance of 5,600. The 2004 Hugo Awards, presented at Noreascon 4, were: Best Novel, Paladin of Souls, by Lois Mc-Master Bujold; Best Novella, “The Cookie Monster,” by Vernor Vinge; Best Novelette, “Legions in Time,” by Michael Swanwick; Best Short Story, “A Study in Emerald,” by Neil Gaiman; Best Related Book, The Chesley Awards for Science Fiction and Fantasy Art: A Retrospective, edited by John Grant and Elizabeth L. Humphrey with Pamela D. Scoville; Best Professional Editor, Gardner Dozois; Best Professional Artist, Bob Eggleton; Best Dramatic Presentation (short form), Gollum’s acceptance speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards; Best Dramatic Presentation (long form) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; Best Semiprozine, Locus, edited by Charles N. Brown, Jennifer A. Hall, and Kirsten Gong-Wong; Best Fanzine, Emerald City, edited by Cheryl Morgan; Best Fan Writer, David Langford; Best Fan Artist, Frank Wu; plus the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer to Jay Lake; and the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award to C. L. Moore.
The 2003 Nebula Awards, presented at a banquet at the Westin Seattle Hotel in Seattle, Washington, April 17, 2004, were: Best Novel, The Speed of Dark, by Elizabeth Moon; Best Novella, Coraline, by Neil Gaiman; Best Novelette, “The Empire of Ice Cream,” by Jeffrey Ford; Best Short Story, “What I Didn’t See,” by Karen Joy Fowler; Best Script, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson; plus the Grandmaster Award to Robert Silverberg.
The 2004 World Fantasy Awards, presented at the Thirtieth Annual World Fantasy Convention in Tempe, Arizona, on October 31, 2004, were: Best Novel, Tooth and Claw, by Jo Walton; Best Novella, “A Crowd of Bone,” by Greer Gilman; Best Short Fiction, “Don Ysidro,” by Bruce Holland Rogers; Best Collection, Bibliomancy, by Elizabeth Hand; Best Anthology, Strange Tales, edited by Rosalie Parker; Best Artist, Donato Giancola and Jason Van Hollander (tie); Special Award (Professional), to Peter Crowther for PS Publishing; Special Award (Nonprofessional), to Ray Russell and Rosalie Parker, for Tartarus Press, plus Life Achievement Awards to Stephen King and Gahan Wilson.
The 2004 Bram Stoker Awards, presented by the Horror Writers of America during a banquet at the Embassy Suites in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 5, 2004, were: Best Novel, lost boy lost girl, by Peter Straub; Best First Novel, The Rising, by Brian Keene; Best Long Fiction, “Closing Time,” by Jack Ketchum; Best Short Fiction, “Duty,” by Gary A. Braunbeck; Best Collection, Peaceable Kingdom, by Jack Ketchum; Best Anthology, Borderlands 5, edited by Elizabeth and Thomas Monteleone; Nonfiction, The Mothers and Fathers Italian Association, by Thomas F. Monteleone; Best Illustrated Narrative, The Sandman: Endless Nights, by Neil Gaiman; Best Screenplay, Bubba Ho-Tep, by Don Coscarelli; Best Work for Younger Readers, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling; Best Poetry Collection, Pitchblende, by Bruce Boston; Best Alternative Forms, The Goreletter, by Michael Arnzen; the Specialty Press Award, to Earthling Publications; plus the Lifetime Achievement Award to Anne Rice and Martin H. Greenberg.
The 2003 John W. Campbell Memorial Award was won by Omega, by Jack McDevott.
The 2003 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for Best Short Story was won by “The Empress of Mars,” by Kage Baker.
The 2003 Philip K. Dick Memorial Award went to Altered Carbon, by Richard K. Morgan.
The 2003 Arthur C. Clarke award was won by Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson.
The 2003 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award was won by Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls, by Matt Ruff.
Dead in 2004 or early 2005 were: HUGH B. CAVE, 94, veteran horror writer, author of over forty-five books, including the World Fantasy Award – winning collection Murgunstrumm and Others, winner of both the World Fantasy Convention’s Life Achievement Award and the Bram Stoker Life Achievement Award; FRANK KELLY FREAS, 83, ten-time Hugo Winner as Best Professional Artist, and one of the most famous SF artists in history; WILL EISNER, 87, pioneering comic-book artist and graphic novelist, creator of the famous comic The Spirit; JACK CHALKER, 61, well-known SF author of more than sixty novels, also a long-time fan, convention organizer, bibliographer, and small-press publisher; F. M. BUSBY, 83, well-known SF writer and Hugo-winning Fannie editor, author of Cage a Man and the Rissa Kerguelen series; SONYA DORMAN (HESS), 80, SF short-story writer of the sixties and seventies, perhaps best known for her story “When I Was Miss Dow”; ROGER D. ALCOCK, 89, who wrote more than fi
fty SF stories under the name of Roger Dee; ALFRED COPPEL, 83, author of YA novels such as The Rebel of Rhada and of the Goldenwing trilogy; TETSU YANO, 81, Japanese writer and translator, who wrote many SF novels in his native language, but who is probably best known in the West for having translated works by Robert Heinlein and Frank Herbert into Japanese, and for his story, “The Legend of the Paper Spaceship”; ROBERT MERLE, 96, French SF writer, cowinner of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award; JOHAN SPRINGBORG, 58, Danish SF writer; FRED WHIPPLE, 97, scientist and author, coauthor of the early nonfiction book about space exploration, The Conquest of the Moon, with Wernher von Braun and Willy Ley; BASIL WELLS, 91, veteran SF writer; DILIP M. SALWI, 52, Indian SF writer; ROXANNE HUTTON, 50, SF writer; KATHERINE LAWRENCE, 50, author of SF short fiction, nonfiction, computer games, and TV scripts; ROBYN HERRINGTON, 43, SF writer; BRIAN McNAUGHTON, 68, horror writer; REX MILLER, 65, horror writer; PAULA DANZIGER, 59, author of YA novels; MONIQUE LEBAILLY, 75, French translator, writer, and editor; MICHAEL ELDER, 73, British writer and actor; JACQUES DERRIDA, 74, famous French philosopher and critic, founder of the critical school of deconstructionism that was influential on critical writing worldwide; Australian small-press editor and publisher PETER McNAMARA, 57, founder of Aphelion Publishing; RAY-MOND BAYLESS, 84, fantasy artist and Lovecraft enthusiast; FAY WRAY, 96, actress best known to genre audiences for her role as the continuously screaming blonde beauty in the original King Kong; JANET LEIGH, 77, another scream queen, best known for the shower scene in Psycho; ED KEMMER, 84, star of the fifties television show Space Patrol ; CHRISTOPHER REEVE, 52, film actor, best known to genre audiences for his portrayal of Superman in four Superman movies in the late seventies through the mid-eighties; PETER USTINOV, 82, well-known actor whose connection to the genre is tenuous, but whose face must certainly be known to anyone who’s ever watched old movies on television like Spartacus or Quo Vadis or his sequence of films about detective Hercule Poirot; JERRY ORBACH, 69, Broadway performer and film and television actor whose connection to the genre is also tenuous, except for a role voicing an animate candelabra in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, but whose long-running role on television’s Law and Order probably made him familiar to almost everybody reading these words; HOWARD KEEL, 85, veteran Broadway performer and film star, whose only real connection to the genre was his role in The Day of the Triffids; PETER GRAHAM, 65, long-time fan and fanzine fan, credited with coining the phrase “the golden age of science fiction is twelve”; ALLAN ROTHSTEIN, SF fan and convention-goer; GEORGE FLYNN, 68, scientist and long-ti me SF fan; ANTHONY STERLING RODGERS, six-month-old son of SF writers Alan Rodgers and Amy Sterling Casil.
acknowledgement is made for permission to reprint the following materials:
“Inappropriate Behavior,” by Pat Murphy. Copyright © 2004 by SCIFI.COM. First published electronically on SCI FICTION, February 11, 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Start the Clock,” by Benjamin Rosenbaum. Copyright © 2004 by Spilogale, Inc. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Third Party,” by David Moles. Copyright © 2004 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, September 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Voluntary State,” by Christopher Rowe. Copyright © 2004 by SCIFI.COM. First published electronically on SCI FICTION, May 5, 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Shiva in Shadow,” by Nancy Kress. Copyright © 2004 by Nancy Kress. First published in Between Worlds (Science Fiction Book Club), edited by Robert Silverberg. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The People of Sand and Slag,” by Paolo Bacigalupi. Copyright © 2004 by Spilogale, Inc. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, February 2003. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Clapping Hands of God,” by Michael F. Flynn. Copyright © 2004 by Dell Magazines. First published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Tourism,” by M. John Harrison. Copyright © 2004 by M. John Harrison. First published electronically on Amazon.com, August 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Scout’s Honor,” by Terry Bisson. Copyright © 2004 by SCIFI.COM. First published electronically on SCI FICTION, January 28, 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Men Are Trouble,” by James Patrick Kelly. Copyright © 2004 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Mother Aegypt,” by Kage Baker. Copyright © 2004 by Kage Baker. First published in Mother Aegypt and Other Stories (Night Shade). Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Synthetic Serendipity,” by Vernor Vinge. Copyright © 2004 by Vernor Vinge. First published electronically on IEEESpectrumonline, July 31, 2004.
“Skin Deep,” by Mary Rosenblum. Copyright © 2004 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Delhi,” by Vandana Singh. Copyright © 2004 by Vandana Singh. First published in So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Friction & Fantasy (Arsenal Pulp Press), edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Tribes of Bela,” by Albert E. Cowdrey. Copyright © 2004 by Spilogale, Inc. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Sitka,” by William Sanders. Copyright © 2004 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, April/May 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Leviathan Wept,” by Daniel Abraham. Copyright © 2004 by SCIFI.COM. First published electronically on SCI FICTION, July 7, 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Defenders,” by Colin P. Davies. Copyright © 2004 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Mayflower II,” by Stephen Baxter. Copyright © 2004 by Stephen Baxter. First published as a chapbook, Mayflower II (PS Publishing). Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Riding the White Bull,” by Caitlin R. Kiernan. Copyright © 2004 by Caitlin R. Kiernan. First published in Argosy Magazine, January/February 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Falling Star,” by Brendan DuBois. Copyright © 2004 by Brendan DuBois. First published in Space Stations (DAW), edited by Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Dragons of Summer Gulch,” by Robert Reed. Copyright © 2004 by SCIFI.COM. First published electronically on SCI FICTION, December 1, 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Ocean of the Blind,” by James L. Cambias. Copyright © 2004 by Spilogale, Inc. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, April 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Garden: A Hwarhath Science Fictional Romance,” by Eleanor Arnason. Copyright © 2004 by Eleanor Arnason. First published in Synergy SF (Five Star), edited by George Zebroswki.
“Footvote,” by Peter F. Hamilton. Copyright © 2004 by Peter F. Hamilton. First published in Postscripts, Spring 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Sisyphus and the Stranger,” by Paul Di Filippo. Copyright © 2004 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Ten Sigmas,” by Paul Melko. Copyright © 2004 by Paul Melko. First published in Talebones, Summer 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Investments,” by Walter Jon Williams. Copyright © 2004 by Walter Jon Williams. First published in Between Worlds (Science Fiction Book Club), edited by Robert Silverberg. Reprinted by permission of the author.
ALSO BY GARDNER DOZOIS
ANTHOLOGIES
A DAY IN THE LIFE
ANOTHER WORLD
YEAR, #6 – 10
THE BEST OF ISAAC ASIMOV’S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE
TIME-TRAVELERS FROM ISAAC ASIMOV’S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE
TRANSCENDENTAL TALES FROM ISAAC ASIMOV’S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE
ISAAC ASIMOV’S ALIENS
ISAAC ASIMOV’S MARS
ISAAC ASIMOV’S SF LITE
ISAAC ASIMOV’S WAR
ROADS NOT TAKEN (with Stanley Schmidt)
THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE iFICTION, #1 – 21
The Year's Best SF 22 # 2004 Page 112
