Boskone 57

Later this month, I’ll be at Boskone! It’s New England’s longest-running science fiction and fantasy convention and always a delight. For more info, visit The Boskone Blog, Twitter, and Facebook, and if you want to join me, register here!

Saturday, 15 Feb

12 pm — 100 Years From Now…

The world as we know it has changed dramatically in the last 100 years. How about the next 100? What might everyday life be like a century from now? What technological marvels will the near future bring? What social changes will take place? How about natural and human-made disasters? Overall — where will we be, and how will we get there? Is the Singularity coming? “Day Million”? Or will our grandchildren herd sheep and shiver in the dark?

Allen M. Steele (M), Cadwell Turnbull, Jeffrey A. Carver, Karl Schroeder, Andrea Martinez Corbin

Sunday, 16 Feb

11 am — Adventures in Eco-Fiction

Since the ancient tales of Great Floods, storytellers (like our panelists, for instance) have set their adventurers moving through half-drowned cities, poisoned hills, deserts that eat men, and worlds overgrown by plants. When does a story’s ecology stop being a setting and become a character? How much real science should be behind a good eco-adventure? Can a story be eco-centric without being eco-catastrophic?

Steven Popkes (M), Isadora Deese, Robert V.S. Redick, Kim Stanley Robinson, Andrea Martinez Corbin

12:30 pm — Reading

I will read something to whoever shows up. I may bring treats. I may turn it into a Socratic method examination of what a story is and can be. It’s the last day of con! Anything goes!

Arisia 2020

Once again, I’m going to be at Arisia in Boston, January 17–20! Here’s where you can find me, in addition to extending the WicDiv panel to any time anyone asks me about my feelings:

Saturday, January 18

7 pm — Praise the Dead: The End of WicDiv
Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s hit series The Wicked + The Divine took readers into a world where gods were pop stars and pop stars were gods and examined the connections between fandom and hero worship. It was decadent, complicated, hated, loved and now it is over. Did Gillen and McKelvie accomplish what they set out to do? Our panelists are here to praise and bury the book, the characters and maybe even give a shout out to Cam from The Letters Page.
Donna Martinez (m), Beth Barnett, Andrea Martinez Corbin, Tori Queeno, Mark “Justin” Waks

Sunday, January 19

1 pm — Welcome to The Good Place! Everything Is Fine.
For four years, The Good Place has challenged us with its combination of sitcom humor and moral philosophy as it presents a fantastical vision of the afterlife. What does this show do so well to attract so many different types of viewers? What lessons can we learn from it about living our own lives ethically? Or is it all just a big joke?
Andy Hicks (m), Arthur Chu, Andrea Martinez Corbin, Ilene Tatroe, Cadwell Turnbull

Monday, January 20

1 pm — Ray Bradbury at 100: From Green Town to Mars
Ray Douglas Bradbury, who passed away in 2012, would have turned 100 this year. From his first published SFF work at the age of 18, Bradbury was beloved worldwide as the author of The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked This Way Comes, and is perhaps most famous for his masterwork, Fahrenheit 451. He remains one of the most influential figures in American and international genre fiction. We’ll look at his life and legacy.
James Hailer (m), E. C. Ambrose, Andrea Martinez Corbin, Timothy Luz, Sonya Taaffe