Thinking timetravel: Interview with Andy Sawyer

Andy Sawyer is the librarian of the Science Fiction Foundation Collection at the University of Liverpool Library, and Course Director of the MA in Science Fiction Studies. He also teaches a science fiction module on the undergraduate course.

He has published on children’s/young adult SF, John Wyndham, Telepathy, Babylon 5, “Reverse-Time narratives” and Terry Pratchett. He co-edited the collection Speaking Science Fiction (Liverpool University Press, 2000).

He is also is Reviews Editor of Foundation: the International Review of Science Fiction and Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of Themes in Science Fiction and Fantasy (Greenwood Press).

Now he is here with us for his very first interview to Latin America about the primordial subject of his SF classes: timetravel.

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Eduardo Torres & Octavio Aragão: It seems that nowadays only three types of people discuss seriously - and professionally! - time travel: relativistic physicists, science fiction writers and philosophers. Do you exchange opinions? If so, could you cite influences in one way of thinking (philosophers who were influenced by SF writers) or another (the opposite: SF writers who made their homework based in philosophy papers)?

Andy Sawyer: It would be interesting if we did! I think it does happen informally. Of course, some science fiction writers are physicists anyway (Gregory Benford, for example, and I guess the science fiction writer half of him liaises pretty well with the physicist side!) And here in Liverpool our Professor of Philosophy Stephen Clark has a big interest in science fiction, particularly that of Olaf Stapledon -- who was himself a philosopher. What I'm interested in is the way all three groups -- sf writers, scientists and philosophers -- use "thought experiments" for slightly different ends. You *have* to use science fiction (or science fiction-like techniques) to move ahead in these fields.


ET&OA: Your Time Travel course seems to deal with many temporal paradoxes, including the most famous of all, the so called Grandfather Paradox. How do you and your students discuss (explain?) it in your course? Do your students split in different 'explanation groups'? Is there a 'right explanation' for this paradox in your course? If so, you base your assertive in which authors?

AS: I don't teach this aspect of the course -- I'm a literature rather than a philosophy specialist. It's taught in different ways, and I don't think the idea is to define an "explanation" which is right or wrong -- more the different ways in which different stories might illustrate examples of the idea. One thing I do when teaching HG Wells is to consider his model of time in The Time Machine and look at the way Stephen Baxter has incorporated more contemporary ideas of time based upon quantum theory which seems to contradict any question of returning to the same timestream that you left.


ET&OA: In your course you distinguish Object Loops, Information Loops and Causal Loops as distinct phenomena. Most authors, however, consider the two first as special cases of the third. Could you briefly explain the essential differences among these temporal paradoxes in your opinion?

AS: I'll probably get into philosophical complexity beyond my depth if I try this. I think there's a distinction between a causal loop and an information loop (where I remember something that I have gone back in time and told my younger self) , although once you get within the loop such distinctions become very shaky.


ET&OA: If time travel is possible, do you think (logically and philosophically) that past can be changed or is unalterable? Why? How you discuss free will in your course in the second case? Which examples do you use to give?

AS: Personally I am agnostic on any of these. Free will can be an illusion – if we look at some of Stapledon's "possible" universes in Star Maker we get some bizarre possibilities. "Quantum" interpretations get us out of the paradox neatly by assuming that *whatever* decision we can make in some probable universe we *do* make it, but I'm not very happy about asserting the *truth* of it. I'm not about to throw myself off a cliff simply because in some other probable timestream I *haven't* thrown myself off. Within the Time and Consciousness course "free will" tends to be discussed as part of ideas about the "self" or virtual reality – e.g. Greg Egan's Quarantine 5- You also talk about different views on the nature of time: Presentism, Eternalism, Growing Block and Truthmaking. Could you explain in short these concepts? Well, again these are not concepts I specifically use in my own teaching.


ET&OA: You said you don't intend to discuss the aesthetics and/ or quality of time travel stories in class. Do you discuss science fiction time travel literature at all in your course? Why or why not? If so, which novels or short stories are part of your bibliography?

AS: Actually I do discuss matters of aesthetics and quality because these are areas I'm interested in: how the concepts become literary creations. The "Time and Consciousness" module looks at a number of texts: What is Personal Identity? Robert Heinlein’s All You Zombies. Can the Past be Changed? Orson Scott Card’s Pastwatch: the Redemption of Christopher Columbus; Fritz Leiber’s The Big Time. How Many Histories are Real? Stephen Baxter’s The Time Ships; Greg Benford’s Timescape; Diana Wynne Jones’ Witch Week. How Long Have We Got? Stephen Baxter’s Time; Olaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men.


ET&OA: Are Time Travel courses usually found in contemporary Philosophy graduation programs in United States? If you are the very first, how was the acceptance of the course initially?

AS: We were the first postgraduate taught course in science fiction in the UK. It was well received, although some of the students from a non-philosophy background apparently found the philosophical concepts difficult to deal with at times. I do know of other course which use sf to illuminate philosophy -- there's a guy at Brown University in the USA called Brian Weatherson who does this.

Thank you very much, Mr Sawyer and best wishes!

***

Andy Sawyer Science Fiction Librarian Special Collections and Archives University of Liverpool Library PO Box 123, Liverpool L69 3DA, UK.

Course Director, MA in Science Fiction Studies.

Reviews Editor: Foundation - The International Review of Science Fiction

The Science Fiction Foundation Collection.

The Science Fiction Foundation.

CFP: A Commonwealth of Science Fiction, Liverpool Foresight Centre Liverpool, UK. (Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 August 2004). Details here.

Para Tudo Se Acabar Na Quarta-Feira: layout de capa

Guido Matheus Renhe arremessa uma colega de trabalho enquanto sua gangue espreita na quarta capa.

Agora é reta final.

Researching Heroes: Interview with Jess Nevins

He wrote HEROES AND MONSTERS, a very detailed book, a real companion to the LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN comics, the steampunk book by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neil. According to Moore, he is “that psycho American guy who probably just drifts eerily in a flotation tank all day with a reference library wired directly into his brain-stem”. But Jess Nevins is not a newcomer to the fields of comics research... his sites about pulp fiction and Victorian literature are great reference sources for all the amateurs literary researchers.

Octavio Aragão – Hi, Jess! I'm late, I know. I'm very sorry, but my son was born last November 13 and I was suddenly drown in a sea of diapers!

Jess Nevins – I think that's a good reason for being late with the questions. :-) Congratulations!

OA – Thank you! I also had time to read your book and think about the questions. If it is fine with you, let's go with our five questions!

Your book HEROES AND MONSTERS is an amazing body of work through all the XIX Century (and early XX) genre literature, not to tell about the heavy info that you collected in your other sites, Fantastic Victoriana – and Pulp & Adventure Heroes of the Pre-War Years – . How is your research process? You still visit libraries?

JN – Thanks for the kind words! I do visit some libraries, but mostly I get the relevant books sent to me via Interlibrary Loan and read them myself. Some books and magazines I can't borrow, of course, so when that happens I do go to the libraries to do the reading. This spring I'm going to the British Library in London for two weeks to do research; the British Library is the only holder of many books that I want to read, so I have to go there to do the research.

OA – I believe that the kind of passionate work you do is a valuable source of info to a lot of researchers of the pulp fiction around the world, but why and where did you had the idea to begin with this herculean project?

JN – All of my websites and books began with the same idea: they were things I wanted to read. But no one had written a guide to League, and no one had written a guide to characters from 19th century literature, and no one had written a guide to characters from the pulps, so I decided to write them myself.

OA – You are a great fan of the works of Philip José Farmer - notably the Wold Newton series, where he organize the literary pulp as a coherent universe - and Kim Newman, author of the ANNO DRACULA series. Don't you feel tempted to write a similar research to these books as you did to the comics by Alan Moore, Mark Waid and Alex Ross?

JN – I do, but other people have already written them. At this point I try to avoid duplicating other people's work. It's partly an ego thing and partly a time-saver on my part.

OA – And what about your own literary projects? Any ideas for a novel or even a short story? Have you ever written a script for comics?

JN – I've written several scripts, but the American comics industry is dying a slow and ugly death and the chances of me getting something published by them is slim. I do have ideas for a number of short stories, and several movie scripts, and I will write them, eventually, but for the next 3-4 years I'm going to be busy writing non-fiction books. I'd rather be writing fiction, but the non-fiction books are guaranteed money, so I'll write them first.

OA – With the success of HEROES AND MONSTERS, you'll be considered for sure one of the next "mass media" researchers of the millennium. Any plans for a new issue of HEROES focusing the second volume of LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN or a new updated version of the same book?

JN – Yep! The working title is A BLAZING WORLD, and it should be out next summer. (We're not planning to update HEROES & MONSTERS, though). A BLAZING WORLD won't have any essays in it--the book is long enough as it is--but it will have interviews with Moore and O'Neill, and of course all the annotations, rewritten and expanded, to the second League miniseries.

All best,
jess

The early LoEG research by Jess Nevins can be found here.

Philip K. Dick: Mundo de Papel - depoimento de Lúcio Manfredi

Minha descoberta de Philip K. Dick tem uma história e uma pré-história.
Desde pequeno, a minha relação com o mundo sempre foi marcada por uma certa ambivalência. A realidade não me parecia ter realidade suficiente. Eu sentia que, a qualquer momento, o mundo poderia fugir sob os meus pés e eu mesmo me parecia tão irreal ou semi-real quanto esse mundo cuja evanescência me perturbava muito antes que eu soubesse o que quer dizer "evanescência".

Entre os três e os nove anos, essa sensação de falta de solidez nas coisas fazia com que todas as noites eu tivesse pesadelos horríveis, dos quais acordava gritando sem parar, e até os doze anos, eu era simplesmente incapaz de me lembrar do meu próprio rosto. Precisava olhar no espelho sempre que quisesse saber como eu era. Muitos anos mais tarde, vim a saber que os psicólogos denominam esse estado de espírito de ‘desrealização’ ou ‘despersonalização’, mas prefiro a designação muito mais poética de Julio Cortázar: "o sentimento de não estar de todo".

Não é de Cortázar, porém, que eu quero falar, mas de Philip K. Dick.

Eu tinha 12 anos quando chegou aos cinemas a versão original de Blade Runner. Nunca tinha ouvido falar de Ridley Scott e não fazia a menor idéia de quem era Philip K. Dick. Mas já era apaixonado por ficção científica, o que, para mim, nessa época, significava antes de mais nada Asimov e Clarke.

O spot do filme que passava na tevê me deixou galvanizado, especialmente aquela imagem clássica do aerocarro subindo nos céus de uma Los Angeles chuvosa e em trevas permanentes. Corri para o jornal para ver os horários e sessões, e meu entusiasmo foi recebido com a proverbial ducha de água fria.

Blade Runner era proibido para menors de dezoito anos (ou era dezesseis? A memória já vai ficando para trás, junto com os milhares de neurônios que a gente começa a perder diariamente após os trinta). Dois anos mais tarde, isso não teria sido um problema: eu já teria descoberto que sempre é possível driblar a censura e entrar num filme proibido, especialmente nos cinemas do centro. Mas ainda não sabia disso quando Blade Runner estreou e o filme adquiriu para mim uma espécie de aura mítica, um paraíso proibido, fora do alcance dos meus olhos mortais.

Pouco tempo depois, ao passar por uma banquinha de livros nas imediações de Perdizes (ou era em Pinheiros? a memória, etc.), dei de cara com o romance que tinha dado origem ao filme: O Caçador de Andróides, de Philip K. Dick, com aquela capa horrenda que a Francisco Alves costumava colocar em seus livros. A capa não importava. Era a história do filme, o filme ao qual eu não podia assistir. Comprei o livro e comecei a ler no metrô mesmo, a caminho de casa. Não, não foi uma revelação. Os céus não se abriram, os mortos não saíram de suas tumbas e eu não tive nenhuma epifania. Sim, era uma história fascinante, suficientemente próxima da ficção científica à qual estava acostumado para eu gostar do que estava lendo e, ao mesmo tempo, diferente o bastante do que eu conhecia para me animar a buscar outros livros do autor. Mas não foi um livro que mudou a minha vida.

A revelação e a epifania, no entanto, vieram com o livro seguinte de Dick que me caiu nas mãos: Os Três Estigmas de Palmer Eldritch, na edição de bolso das Publicações Europa-América. Já nem me lembro onde foi que o comprei. Minhas recordações desse livro têm início com o instante exato em que abri a primeira página e comecei a ler. Estava de novo no metrô, voltando de onde quer que eu o tenha adquirido. Reconheci imediatamente o estilo do autor, a maneira peculiarmente irônica com que Dick construía suas frases, a forma como ele invertia os lugares-comuns, como, por exemplo, ao mostrar pessoas que procuravam os psiquiatras, não para se curar, mas para ficarem doentes. Era divertido, era atraente, dava vontade de continuar lendo, mas não muito mais que isso. Até chegar ao terceiro capítulo, quando os colonos ingerem uma droga e entram no mundo de Perky Pat. Um arrepio de unheimlich me subiu pela espinha. Eu conhecia aquela sensação. Aumentei o ritmo da leitura. Barney Mayerson e depois Leo Bulero presos no mundo de Palmer Eldritch, aquele mundo alucinatório que você *sabe* que não é real e do qual, mesmo assim, não consegue escapar. A figura aterrorizante de Palmer Eldritch, tão semelhante aos fantasmas que povoavam meus próprios pesadelos de infância. Sim, eu conhecia aquele mundo. Era o meu mundo.

Daí para a frente, tratei de procurar e ler com voracidade tudo o que conseguia encontrar desse autor. Fui descobrindo coisas sobre ele, a experiência mística de 2-3-74, seus surtos esquizofrênicos e ataques de paranóia, a faculdade de filosofia interrompida (como eu mesmo faria alguns anos mais tarde), sua morte em 1982, no mesmo ano em que eu tentara em vão assistir Blade Runner... Foi graças a Philip K. Dick que eu tomei contato com o gnosticismo, uma forma de filosofia religiosa que, mais do que qualquer outra, resume a minha atitude perante o mundo. Dick também me levou a Jung, outra influência determinante no curso da minha vida. E, evidentemente, marcou a minha maneira de escrever. Certa vez, um amigo que conhecia todos os meus contos e estava lendo O Homem do Castelo Alto comentou que agora entendia porque eu gostava tanto dos livros de Philip K. Dick: existiam semelhanças notáveis (palavras dele) na maneira de nós dois vermos o mundo. Ainda considero o melhor elogio que já recebi como escritor...

Para muitos leitores, o primeiro encontro com seu autor favorito é um evento que muda o curso de suas vidas. Para mim, depois de descobrir Philip K. Dick, a realidade continuou sendo exatamente como era antes - incerta, evanescente e nada confiável. Mas, agora, eu sabia que não estava sozinho.

***

Lúcio Manfredi é roteirista da Rede Globo e autor do romance mashup Dom Casmurro e Os Alienígenas (Leya, 2010)

Tá, muito azar, sei...

Oi, pessoal

É um assunto meio nada a ver, mas não tive como deixar de postar isso aqui. Afinal, o seguro morreu de velho.

“Olá,
Meu nome é Bruna e tenho dezesseis anos. Gosto de trocar mensagens, conhecer pessoas pela Internet e adorei seu blog. Por isso, escolhi você para ser meu novo amigo. Eu acredito que vamos nos dar muito bem.
E para isso acontecer, poste esse email no seu blog. Torça para ter sete comentários, ou então você terá MUITO azar.
Se não postar? Vai ser muito pior. Mas você não faria isso.
Você não recusaria o pedido de uma morta, né?”

Vocês devem estar achando que eu sou muito bobo ou que estou pregando uma peça em vocês. Depois de ver o vídeo abaixo, vão entender porque eu tive que fazer isso.
E por favor, COMENTEM!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-nqzPihkMI

IV Semana de Quadrinhos UFRJ

O evento Semana de Quadrinhos é uma realização da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, através da Escola de Belas Artes (EBA) e da Escola de Comunicação (ECO), em parceria com o SESC-Rio, pela filial de Madureira. O evento possui dois objetivos: o primeiro é mostrar as Histórias em Quadrinhos (HQs) que, além de entretenimento, pode ser usado como uma ferramenta de comunicação, educação e linguagem artística. O segundo motivo é homenagear Angelo Agostini, quando rememoramos 100 anos do seu falecimento. Agostini foi um importante artista italiano que veio para o Brasil na adolescência e se tornou um dos percussores dos quadrinhos mundiais.

O evento contará com palestras de profissionais da área, oficinas ministradas por artistas renomados e contará com stands de revistas em quadrinhos independentes e fanzines. Em paralelo às oficinas, haverá uma mesa redonda de bate-papo, para trocar idéias sobre tudo relacionado a HQ.

No último dia do evento, cujo debate é justamente sobre Agostini, haverá uma homenagem a Athos Eichler Cardoso, maior especialista no assunto.

Vale lembrar que o evento tem entrada franca, inclusive para as oficinas, palestras e bate-papos.

Sigam o twitter, o blog ou a comunidade para se manterem atualizados, pois além das informações já liberadas, novidades podem surgir.

A programação completa, endereços e informações sobre como chegar podem ser encontrados aqui.

O evento conta ainda com facebook e flickr.

Vale a pena conferir o blog e a programação. Este ano também haverá transmissão ao vivo pela internet com a X4 ids, para que o povo de fora do estado possa acompanhar o evento. Em breve estarão sendo disponibilizados os links.

O evento acontecerá em 3 pontos diferentes: Fundão (Reitoria/EBA), Madureira (SESC) e Botafogo (Campus Praia Vermelha).

O público carioca de quadrinhos merece um evento como esse!

Magic aliens: Interview with Kerry Orchard

Kerry Orchard is a Canadian writer whose speciality is a new genre called “Science Fantasy”: novels which blends a competent mix of magic, science and lots of action. With growing recognition – mostly because of the samples of her texts in her official site kerryorchard.com – she is one of a new breed of authors that are gaining a place in the editorial industry thanks to the Internet.

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Octavio Aragão – Hi, Kerry, good to have you here! Would you like to introduce yourself to our Intempol readers? How many books have you written till now?

Kerry Orchard – I am a fantasy author (well, more “Science Fantasy"). I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. My works are The Thoughtmaster's Conduit and The Augur's Voice. I am currently working on The Timekeeper's Breath.


OA – So you like to call yourself a "Science Fantasy" writer. Why is it so? Why not just a "Fantasy" or "Science Fiction" writer? And which are your favorite authors inside the genre?

KO – I say “science fantasy” because I like to use a bit of science in my books, about aliens or timetravel. I also like my magic to be planned and explained. The book I am currently working on is a paranormal science fantasy where the world has gone from magic to mostly science.

My favorite fantasy works are Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings, Stephen R. Donaldson's Unbeliever series, Weis and Hickman’s Death Gate Cycle series, The Time Machine, by Wells. Some of these are personal favorites for sentimental reasons but none the less are my favorites... I like a broad spectrum of works. I try not read much fantasy now because I am writing and you can get ideas from others.


OA – You're from Canada and, before you, the only woman I know who lived in Canada (but wasn't actually born there) and wrote something like Science Fiction, gaining international recognition, was Ayn Rand, back in the 30's. How is to write Science Fantasy in a field dominated by men and living outside the USA? Any institutional prizes or recognition from the "powers that be"?

KO – Hmmm... being with a smallish publisher, I don't expect to gain international recognition. The only award I have entered for was the Eppie, and Thoughtmaster was a finalist for best fantasy. I've thought a lot about this as I have been invited and encouraged by major publishers with all the works I have submitted, but they are rarely taking on new authors and mainly push those they feel would sell for them. IT is difficult to get ahead and get acceptance in the literary world, and crossing and mixing genres makes it even more difficult.

I write what I write what I write and I am proud and pleased of my accomplishments. I don't expect to be rich. I don't expect to be the next J. K. Rowlings and am not sure I want to be. I hope that my books will be more readily available in physical bookstores in the future but am not sure of the future of such places, with the advance of the Internet. For now, I am content. I feel pleased and blessed to have made it this far and to have overcome some of the difficulties in my life to continue.


OA – How is the Internet working for your books? Are you gaining any profit from the sales made by the sites or it is just a "window" to show your books?

KO – Any book from any new author with any publisher from Penguin down, does not make much money... or very rarely. There is a site that actually lists what the average payout to authors is and you would be surprised at how small it is and how small the advances are becoming from major publishers. I am doing ok. I think the Internet is a great resource for people. A great way to buy books and shop and to really see what's out there. Most bookstores only carry a small percentage of the books for sale worldwide. They are bound by distributors and distributors choices as are Internet sellers, but it's a little easier for them to get and show new works from new authors.

Places such as Fictionwise e-books are doing very, very well. E-books are nice in the sense that they are cheap and can be sent right to your computer. If you like the book a lot and it comes out in print, such as mine, you can always order the hard copy later. If you hate the book you are not out a lot. It's not a career you can choose if making a lot of money is your goal. Most writer's remain mid list at best...you do it for the love.


OA – And what about the future? Any other books or related projects in the horizon?

KO – Yes, a few novellas for my publisher and The Timekeeper's Breath. It is still in early stages but is a time travel paranormal type story. I don't like to talk too much about a plot early on in my writing but will try:

The Timekeeper is a guardian. The guardians are mostly killed by the ruler of the humans who turns out to be joined in body and soul with the Lord of the Elements, who wants many things from his new human form, including the Timekeeper's lover. The Timekeeper can see and communicate with ghosts who are trapped and used as slaves by LOE.

LOE is one of the few left possessing magic now that the guardians are gone and all must turn to science or a mix of science and magic. In order to end the destruction the timekeeper must go back in time and retrieve the Timekeeper eternal (he is the physical)... ah it's a little hard to explain. Time is an ongoing study at the center for magic and science, and they have created a new device that combines the two, though no one has tried it.

I won't go into the breath part and why it is so important... have to have some secrets.



OA – Thank you, Kerry. If you want to add something more, please feel free to do it!

KO – I hope that people will continue to try new authors and new ways of reading. You'd be amazed at the talent out there.


Kerry Orchard
Fantasy Author of The Augur's Voice & The Thoughtmaster's Conduit
New Concepts Publishing.. ebook&print