Today, April 30, marks the birth of science fiction and fantasy author Larry Niven (b. 1938). I’ve been away from the house for most of the day, so I’ve not had a chance to read anything by him. Niven was one of the first authors I read when I was getting into science fiction and fantasy, and he’s someone I reread when I get a chance.
So Happy Birthday, Mr. Niven, and many happy returns.
And about time, too. Niven is one of the most influential authors of science fiction and fantasy of the last century. He’s written or cowritten such classics as Ringworld and The Mote in God’s Eye. My most recent reviews of his books are The Goliath Stone with Matthew Joseph Harrington (review here) and Bowl of Heaven with Gregory Benford (review here; really need to read Shipstar).
Niven will be presented with the Award at the Nebula Awards Banquet this Junes. For more details, the SFWA press release is here.
Adventures Fantastic would like to offer Mr. Niven congratulations on being named a Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master. Well done, sir. Well done.
You may remember the controversy last summer over the SFWA bulletin, which encompassed, among other things, people being offended by some things said by Mike Resnick and Barry Malzberg, some other articles deemed sexist, and of course, the cover you see on the left. I discussed the situation in this post.
Well, now there’s another controversy brewing. Steve Davidson of Amazing Stories does a fine job of summarizing it here.
I’ll hit the high points, but you’ll have to track down some of the details on your own. During last summer’s fiasco, publication of the Bulletin was suspended. Plans are for it to resume. A few things need to happen first, like a new editor has to be hired. And there’s some sort of oversight committee that will be put in place to see to it that the Bulletin doesn’t publish anything that isn’t up to SFWA standards.
And that’s got some people upset. Continue reading