Two science fiction authors I like, Ada Palmer and John Scalzi, have both just turned over drafts of their last-in-a-series novels to their publishers, which is exciting for me if not you.
But for Scalzi that also means he may have some brain space to post some other thoughts to his blog about the state of our country and world... or not. As he put it:
Essentially, the problem I’ve been having writing about politics in the Trump era is the same problem I’ve had since it’s begun, which is that it’s so obvious that Trump’s a corrupt, incompetent, bigoted tool that I find it difficult to find much new to say about him. Likewise, not too much to say about the Republican party these days except that it’s decided to expend its capital propping up the most corrupt, incompetent, bigoted tool that we’ve had as president in living memory, and will deserve what they get when demographics catch up with them and all the old white voters they’ve invested so much money into scaring die in the next 20 years, to be replaced by everyone else for whom the GOP brand is “ignorant white racist fauxvangelical moneyworshippers.” I’m going to live long enough to see this bullshit expunged, which is a lovely thought. But again, not sure how many words that merits from me at the moment.Readers of my blog know that this mostly speaks for me. It's hard to write about the constant outrage every day or even a few times a week. I won't say I've given up, because I haven't, but you can't always or even usually see it here. It's an act of self-preservation and mental health and, yes, privilege.
Sometimes, looking back through my posts, I realize that a future reader would have no idea this blog was written during a time when both our planet and political system were burning.
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The two series are:
- Ada Palmer: Terra Ignota. Set on Earth in about 400 years in a post-scarcity world, which we would consider utopia in many ways... but it's still not, because humans. As told by a writer who's a professor of Renaissance history so the world-building is complex and real.
- John Scalzi: The Collapsing Empire. Far-future intrigue and political realities clashing across space.
1 comment:
So difficult for the everyday blogger to know how to respond. Sometimes what I want to write is an alternative to the mess around us. At other times I feel some obligation to say something, if only for my own conscience.
I’ve asked my parents, How did people at home in the U.S. cope during WWII? How did they get through everyday life? Their only answer is that it was hard and people just did. And they followed sports, listened to radio shows, and so on, always with the cloud hanging over everything.
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