Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Dirda recently reviewed Keith Roberts’ magestic novel, Pavane, in The Washington Post, describing it as a fix-up novel, a term coined by the late A.E. van Vogt. The review sparked a conversation about fix-ups, what they are and where the term comes from, and how terminology forms in the SF field. It’s digressive, unresearched, and un-factchecked, but at least it’s not talking about awards. As always, we hope you enjoy the podcast.
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The UK comedy show you were trying to remember is Call My Bluff.
Interesting show.
I wasn’t aware Gunn objected to “fix-up”. I think it’s a value-neutral term, but I can understand why he would object especially since most of his novels are fix-ups but work well as novels.
As far as “fan” terms now dead, I came across one recently I hadn’t heard of: “sword and planet story”. That was a Wollheim term to describe a Barsoom-type story.
jonathanstrahan.podbean.com and the podcast feed seem to be down. I can’t download or play any episodes.