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Nova Mundania Reviews
Sep. 21st, 2012 11:16 amHey,
So with September being a slow month for new books coming out I want to read, I availed myself of inter-library loan to pick up a couple of older things I wanted to read.
The first is Nova by Samuel R. Delany. This is one of Delany's older sci-fi novels and a more accessible one than Dhalgren or Triton.
The basic idea is that humanity's space-faring empires run on Illyrion, a super-heavy element with fabulous properties (including the ability to make FTL possible). It only appears in very minute quantities. Lorq Von Ray, scion of the one of the most powerful families in the Pleiades believes he knows where he can pick up several tons to Illyrion -- at the heart of a sun going nova. So he gathers together a crew and sets off on a journey to find it. He'd being chased by Prince and Ruby Red of the Earth-based Red family who controls starship production and have something of a stranglehold on the economy.
All of this is really more of a frame to hold the stories of the misfit crew who join Von Ray and for the events that drive Von Ray to undertake this insane journey. In particular, we follow Mouse, a Roma from Earth and Kaitin, a former resident of Luna who wants to re-invent the lost art of the novel. So there are lots of thinky discussions between the crew, meditations on the Tarot and the Grail and history and fiction. Again, this one doesn't go quite as deep as some of Delany's other novels, but you can see where he's splicing in a more literary quality to his sci-fi. Overall it was a pretty good book.
Next up: Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing Games By Lizzie Stark.
Uh...hrm. I'm not entirely sure I can give a decent review. I mean, I don't LARP regularly but I do and have been for many years. I'm probably not the target audience for Stark's book. So I mostly have gripes, but I realize it's very likely nerdy pedagogy and not a real review. So fair warning.
The thing is, she gets into LARPs through DEXCON's Avatar system (a theatre-style game where you can play anything), then graduates to a boffer game called Knights Realm, then runs a Cthulhu game, then goes to Knudepunkt (the Nordic LARP convention). And while she doesn't LARP ironically nor really go "look at these losers", it skooshes that way a bit. In the US she focuses on stuff around New York and never looks at Chicago, the West Coast, or even DC or Boston. She mentions Intercon, but refers to it as "Intercons" (using the plural when it should be singular) -- which is probably an editing mistake -- but how hard would it be to check it out?
There's also a huge chapter on the roots of LARPing from wargaming to RPGs to LARPs. In the process, she talks about the hysteria from the 80's around RPGs and how that carries over into LARPing. Oddly, she never mentions Dark Dungeons. Again, I realize my social circles insulate me from a lot of crap but...really? Is there still a huge social stigma around RPGs? Around LARPs? I don't mention my hobbies a great deal, but most of my "normal" friends don't either.
I dunno, I just wanted to send her a list of corrections.
Good points -- She does address the fact that there aren't too many POC's in the American LARPing scene. She talks a bit about racism and sexism in LARPs. She did at least pick up on the Nordic scene so there's some contrast.
Best point -- In the late 1930's at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (GO BIG RED), a student named Fredrick Lee Pelton created the imaginary world of Atzor. Atzor was a bit like WWI Europe and people played the heads of state. There were stamps and currency and war games to resolve issues and it looks kind of amazing. So -- LARPing has Nebraska roots and I am indebted to Ms. Stark for finding that tidbit.
Overall though? I think most of my readers will want to send in corrections as well. There's nothing terrible about the book it's just...not really aimed at me I guess.
later
Tom
So with September being a slow month for new books coming out I want to read, I availed myself of inter-library loan to pick up a couple of older things I wanted to read.
The first is Nova by Samuel R. Delany. This is one of Delany's older sci-fi novels and a more accessible one than Dhalgren or Triton.
The basic idea is that humanity's space-faring empires run on Illyrion, a super-heavy element with fabulous properties (including the ability to make FTL possible). It only appears in very minute quantities. Lorq Von Ray, scion of the one of the most powerful families in the Pleiades believes he knows where he can pick up several tons to Illyrion -- at the heart of a sun going nova. So he gathers together a crew and sets off on a journey to find it. He'd being chased by Prince and Ruby Red of the Earth-based Red family who controls starship production and have something of a stranglehold on the economy.
All of this is really more of a frame to hold the stories of the misfit crew who join Von Ray and for the events that drive Von Ray to undertake this insane journey. In particular, we follow Mouse, a Roma from Earth and Kaitin, a former resident of Luna who wants to re-invent the lost art of the novel. So there are lots of thinky discussions between the crew, meditations on the Tarot and the Grail and history and fiction. Again, this one doesn't go quite as deep as some of Delany's other novels, but you can see where he's splicing in a more literary quality to his sci-fi. Overall it was a pretty good book.
Next up: Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing Games By Lizzie Stark.
Uh...hrm. I'm not entirely sure I can give a decent review. I mean, I don't LARP regularly but I do and have been for many years. I'm probably not the target audience for Stark's book. So I mostly have gripes, but I realize it's very likely nerdy pedagogy and not a real review. So fair warning.
The thing is, she gets into LARPs through DEXCON's Avatar system (a theatre-style game where you can play anything), then graduates to a boffer game called Knights Realm, then runs a Cthulhu game, then goes to Knudepunkt (the Nordic LARP convention). And while she doesn't LARP ironically nor really go "look at these losers", it skooshes that way a bit. In the US she focuses on stuff around New York and never looks at Chicago, the West Coast, or even DC or Boston. She mentions Intercon, but refers to it as "Intercons" (using the plural when it should be singular) -- which is probably an editing mistake -- but how hard would it be to check it out?
There's also a huge chapter on the roots of LARPing from wargaming to RPGs to LARPs. In the process, she talks about the hysteria from the 80's around RPGs and how that carries over into LARPing. Oddly, she never mentions Dark Dungeons. Again, I realize my social circles insulate me from a lot of crap but...really? Is there still a huge social stigma around RPGs? Around LARPs? I don't mention my hobbies a great deal, but most of my "normal" friends don't either.
I dunno, I just wanted to send her a list of corrections.
Good points -- She does address the fact that there aren't too many POC's in the American LARPing scene. She talks a bit about racism and sexism in LARPs. She did at least pick up on the Nordic scene so there's some contrast.
Best point -- In the late 1930's at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (GO BIG RED), a student named Fredrick Lee Pelton created the imaginary world of Atzor. Atzor was a bit like WWI Europe and people played the heads of state. There were stamps and currency and war games to resolve issues and it looks kind of amazing. So -- LARPing has Nebraska roots and I am indebted to Ms. Stark for finding that tidbit.
Overall though? I think most of my readers will want to send in corrections as well. There's nothing terrible about the book it's just...not really aimed at me I guess.
later
Tom
