Voices of Vision: Creators of Science Fiction and Fantasy Speak (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) - Softcover

Blaschke, Jayme Lynn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803262396 ISBN 13: 9780803262393

Publisher: Bison Books, 2005

Synopsis

As the world around us becomes more fantastic, and science itself more surreal, the realms of science fiction and fantasy become correspondingly both more bizarre and more relevant. Voices of Vision offers a rare look into the inner workings of this realm and into the very thoughts and methods of those who make it tick: editors and writers of science fiction and fantasy, and creators of comic books and graphic novels. In wide-ranging interviews that are by turns intimate and thought provoking, irreverent and outrageous, Jayme Lynn Blaschke talks shop with some of the most interesting voices in these genres as well as the people behind them, such as current Science Fiction Weekly and former Science Fiction Age editor Scott Edelman.

 

A host of authors talk to Blaschke about what it’s like to do what they do, how they work and how they started, and where they think the genre is headed. Blaschke talks to writers such as Robin Hobb, Charles de Lint, Patricia Anthony, and Elizabeth Moon; revered authors of comic books and graphic novels, including Neil Gaiman and Brad Meltzer; and icons such as Samuel R. Delany, Gene Wolfe, Harlan Ellison, and Jack Williamson. Editors such as Gardner Dozois, editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, discuss their publishing philosophies and strategies, the origins and probable directions of their magazines, and the broader influence of such ventures. For devoted reader, aspiring writer, and curious onlooker alike, these interviews open a largely hidden, endlessly engrossing world.

About this title

About the Author

Jayme Lynn Blaschke is a public information specialist at Texas State University–San Marcos and the fiction editor of RevolutionSF.com. His interviews have appeared in Interzone and The Science Fiction Chronicle.

Reviews

Anthologies of mainstream author interviews are common enough, but similar resources covering sf creators rarely see print, except online. Blaschke, fiction editor for RevolutionSF.com, fills something of a vacuum, then, with this outstanding collection of conversations he has had with leading sf editors and authors since 1997. He sorts the interviewees into four whimsically titled categories. "A Source of Innocent Merriment," for instance, focuses on such highly distinctive voices in speculative fiction as urban fantasist Charles de Lint, and "I Am Legend" targets genuine luminaries of the field, such as Samuel R. Delaney and Gene Wolfe. Standout interviews include those with 800-pound gorilla Harlan Ellison, displaying his usual cynicism about sf films and their fans, and perdurable grandmaster Jack Williamson, who explains how he has kept the creative fires burning since his first publication in 1928. Another section takes note of comic book creators, with Sandman author Neil Gaiman leading the pack. Must reading for devotees curious to see what makes their favorite authors tick. Carl Hays
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Edition details

• Publisher: Bison Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803262396
• ISBN 13: 9780803262393
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 198