Congratulations to the Toronto Public Library’s Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy on its 50th anniversary. As part of its celebrations for this important milestone, the Merril has compiled some recollections from a number of writers, editors, and scholars of speculative fiction including Leah Bobet, John Clute, Julie Czerneda, Alyx Dellamonica, Cory Doctorow, Ed Greenwood, Paula Johanson, Shirley Meier, Pippa Wysong, Melissa Yuan-Innes, and yours truly. Best wishes to the Merril on its first half century, and may it prosper into the coming centuries so vividly portrayed in the works of the collection.
All posts by EricChoi
In Memory of Ben Bova (1932–2020)
I first met Ben Bova at the 2011 Ad Astra science fiction convention in Toronto. Thanks to Alana Otis Wood and the concom, I found myself sharing an author signing table with Ben. There was a huge queue of fans for Ben and almost none for me (which meant that everything was right in the Universe), but I managed to make some small talk in the rare moments when he wasn’t giving his time to his readers. What I really wanted to talk to him about was an idea I had for a hard SF anthology, but I couldn’t quite get the nerve. Finally, like an awkward teenager asking for a date, I managed to blurt out my idea and asked if he might be interested in working with me.
He said yes.
Carbide Tipped Pens came out three years later, and I had found a mentor and a friend. Ben’s name rightfully came first on the cover, but he would often say to people “it’s really Eric’s book”, an act of genuine kindness that would leave me in a state of Heisenbergian uncertainty somewhere between impostor syndrome and bemused pride. I only knew Ben for a few years, just a short moment in the grand tour of his remarkable life, but that’s all friends need.
I am deeply saddened by Ben’s passing, but I am also angry. His death was due in part to the consequences of a pandemic whose effects have been made far worse by selfishness, science denialism, and outright lies – all things antithetical to Ben’s generosity, wisdom, and honesty. As writers and readers of speculative fiction, we can honour Ben’s memory by paying it forward and being voices for fact-based reason and science in the service of humanity.
My thoughts are with Rashida Loya and all of Ben’s family and his countless friends.
Abridged Excerpt from “Raise the Nautilus”
Here is an abridged excerpt from “Raise the Nautilus”, a story set during the First World War about an attempt by the Royal Navy to salvage Captain Nemo’s Nautilus and retrieve an artefact that could turn the tide of the conflict. The story was first published in 20,000 Leagues Remembered edited by Steven R. Southard and Kelly A. Harmon and will be reprinted in the upcoming anthology Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne from the North American Jules Verne Society. This will be the first collection of short fiction ever sponsored by the Society.
South Pacific Ocean
1,700 nautical miles east-northeast of New Zealand
June 1916
Commander Thomas Jennings and the key divisional officers of HMS Euryalus had been briefed by Donald McCabe from the Meta Section of the Directorate of Military Intelligence on the Nautilus file just before their departure from Auckland. Of particular interest to the War Office was a description in the Smith-Harding report, corroborated by earlier accounts from Aronnax, of “a destructive weapon, lightning-like in its effects” that could stun or kill men. His Majesty’s Government was still telling the public that the Great War was going well, but military men like Jennings knew the terrible truth. Such a weapon, in the hands of the British, could break the stalemate on the Western Front.
“The report on the condition of the Nautilus is excellent news,” said Lieutenant-Commander Eugene Seagram. “It means we can proceed with the original salvage plan with little modification.” He spread across the table a schematic diagram of the submarine, copied from a trove of documents seized five years ago during a joint raid by the Directorate of Military Intelligence and the British Army on the ancestral palace of the late Prince Dakkar in the Bundelkhand region of India.
There was one other aspect of the Smith-Harding report that had made an impression on Commander Jennings — the fanatical hatred of Prince Dakkar, later known as Captain Nemo, for the British Empire. How ironic it would be if Nemo’s invention ended up saving it.
20,000 Leagues Remembered
My new story “Raise the Nautilus” is the closing story in the anthology 20,000 Leagues Remembered edited by Steven R. Southard and Kelly A. Harmon. This collection commemorates the 150th anniversary of the first publication of the classic Jules Verne novel. “Raise the Nautilus” is an alternate history set in 1916 about an attempt by the British Navy to salvage the Nautilus and retrieve an artefact that could turn the tide of the First World War.
Here is my contributor copy of 20,000 Leagues Remembered with the original Jules Verne novel on a map of The Mysterious Island. A hundred and fifty years of speculative fiction in one image.
Q&A for the Astounding Analog Companion Blog
The Astounding Analog Companion blog has posted a Q&A in which I discuss the background of my story “The Greatest Day”, how my late dear friend Leslie Gelberger introduced me to Analog, the engineers and scientists who have inspired me, how I got into writing, the reading pile on my bedside table, and my career in aerospace engineering.
“The Greatest Day” in the Special 90th Anniversary January/February 2020 Issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact traces its heritage back to Astounding Stories of Super-Science, the first issue of which appeared in January 1930. I am tremendously grateful to Trevor Quachri and Emily Hockaday for the privilege of having my story “The Greatest Day” in the 90th anniversary January/February 2020 issue of Analog alongside astounding tales by Harry Turtledove, Sarina Dorie, C. Stuart Hardwick, Sean McMullen, Jay Werkheiser, Ian Randal Strock, Douglas F. Dluzen, Izzy Wasserstein, Matthew Claxton, A.J. Ward, Wendy Nikel, Gregor Hartmann, Richard A. Lovett, Joel Richards, and Rachel Rodman.
An alternate history about the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, “The Greatest Day” is my fourth-plus-one appearance in Analog because the story is accompanied by a companion fact article in the same issue. For their 90th anniversary year, Analog has also launched a free podcast in which they feature one story from each new issue of the magazine. I am honoured to have been asked to read “The Greatest Day” as the first of these podcasts. You can listen to the podcast here.
Paul Fraser has posted a detailed review (with some spoilers) of the 90th anniversary issue. He gives “The Greatest Day” four stars, compares it favourably to Apollo 13 and The Martian, and says the story “would be in my Year’s Best”.
Apollo 11 and Science Fiction on TVOntario’s “The Agenda”
Robert J. Sawyer, Kim Stanley Robinson, and I were on the July 22nd episode of TVOntario’s The Agenda, “Moon Rising: 50 Years After Apollo 11”, to talk about how the historic lunar mission has influenced our work as science fiction writers. The episode is now available online.
Returning Guest of Honour at Ad Astra 2019
I am delighted to be a returning Guest of Honour at Ad Astra 2019, which starts tomorrow at the Sheraton Parkway North in Richmond Hill, Ontario. My programming schedule can be found here.
My Top Ten Scientists and Engineers
SF2 Concatenation is running an excellent series of articles by science fiction writers with a degree in science, engineering, mathematics, or medicine about the Top 10 scientists (and engineers) born in the 20th Century who have most inspired or influenced them. Click here to read my article, which appears in the Summer 2019 edition.
Previous authors in the series include Julie Czerneda, Sam Peters, Peter Watts, Andrew Bannister, Paul McAuley, Ian Stewart, and Tony Ballantyne.
We Shall Be Monsters
My co-author Joseph McGinty and I are delighted to have received our contributors copies of the new anthology We Shall Be Monsters, pictured below with its original inspiration. Edited by multiple Aurora Award winner Derek Newman-Stille and published by Renaissance Press, We Shall Be Monsters commemorates the bicentennial and legacy of the ground-breaking and genre-changing novel Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. The anthology features 24 stories and poems by diverse authors from around the world, ranging from direct interpretations of Shelley’s text to innovative explorations of stitched, assembled body, and narrative experiments in monstrous creations.
Our story “F. – A Post-Modern Prometheus” is a satirical tale about a hapless modern day Victor Frankenstein struggling to raise funding for his monstrous research. Check out the bonus material related to and inspired by our story including a teaser preview, deleted scenes, and even Frankenstein’s PowerPoint presentation!
