There’s been some talk around the Blogosphere of late about media tie-in fiction: its merits and demerits, whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing and so on. The good folk at SF Signal have added their two cents worth, with an interesting Mind Meld: “How do media tie-in novels affect science fiction?“.

The Mind Meld is well worth checking out and dovetails nicely with a book that I’ve been reading. Just last week I was sent a copy of Hellboy: Oddest Jobs (for which many thanks, Garth!!), and it’s been occupying my thoughts on and off ever since. The book features stories by Joe Lansdale, Garth Nix, China Mieville and others. Frankly, if it was anything other than a media tie-in I would have been aware of it, waiting for it, and would be planning reviews etc etc. Instead it blind-sided me. How did a Hellboy anthology come to have stories in it by a bunch of writers whose work I admire and follow, and how would that work stand up to their own non tie-in work?

Well, I’ve been reading it, and it’s good. The writers I’d expect to excel do: Mieville, Nix, Lansdale, and nothing is less than entertaining. In fact, for the most part, it’s a book I’m happy enough to recommend – it’s certainly better than many of the original anthologies I’ve read this year. But… you knew there was going to be a ‘but’, right? The stories are good, and if you love Hellboy then the book is for you, but the stories for the most part feel creatively ‘thin’. I don’t know how else to explain what I mean. These stories lack the kind of texture and complexity that typifies most of the authors’ non tie-in work. They’re not bad, they’re just well, ‘thin’, which I think makes it less interesting than any of the authors’ other stuff.

This reaction has left me wondering if I’m biassed against tie-in fiction. I haven’t read tie-ins in many, many years — I find the idea of reading a Star Wars or Star Trek novel a fairly excruciating prospect, no matter the writer — and while I’m aware of tie-ins, I typically don’t pay any attention to them. I don’t think such books are a bad thing, or that they in some way damage the way an author writes. I also don’t doubt for a moment that the good tie-in books are perfectly entertaining and fine, and that many of them act as introductions to written SF for readers, I just don’t want to read them. I also feel – and this might link to that idea of ‘thinness’ that I mentioned – that tie-ins have a thing in common with fan fiction: they’re the stories that happen in the corner of the eye of the main story, a distraction from the central event. Any Star Wars story is peripheral to the main films, is a ‘what next?’ kind of thing. I think that’s ok, but it doesn’t seem terribly interesting.

It was just pointed out that my publisher, Night Shade Books, have added a pre-order page for The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 3 to their website, and I was just asked if I have a table of contents for the book. I’m guessing this query, which is in comments for another post, came because the Night Shade page mentions that there’ll be two dozen stories in the new book.

The truth is that I’m only a ways along the long and windy road to completing the year’s best. I’m in the middle of reading, and have a short list of stories – some that I already know definitely will be in the final book and some that may. I still have a bunch of things to read, and am yet to see major anthologies like Fast Forward 2 and Firebirds Soaring. I’m also waiting on the final issues of the magazines for the year, and am yet to do any real re-reading. I also need to scope out publications like McSweeney’s and Conjunctions, which I’ve not seen much of yet.

So, where to from here? Well, I should have a near-final table of contents in the first week of October. I’ll probably send out the first contracts then. By mid-October I’ll have have a final ToC, and be writing the main volume introduction and story notes. And, by November 5 (which feels perilously soon), I’ll have handed in the manuscript and be looking to do some catch up reading for the Locus Recommended Reading issue. Based on my previous year’s bests, I’d guess 24 stories is about right for volume three, but we’ll see.

I am pleased that the pre-order page is up, though. I’m hoping the book will do well.  Oh, and if you, dear readers, have any story recommendations (especially from places like McSweeney’s, The New Yorker etc etc) I’d love to hear them.

I’ve been on leave from work since the afternoon of Friday, 25 July.  That’s a month ago.  Today felt like the first real day I’ve had off, though.  When I started my break I was getting ready to go to Denver, then I was in Denver, then I was in the bit after Denver where I worried about health and stuff.  Well, that’s all laid to rest and this morning I met up with my brother for coffee and a chat, then with the family for lunch, then did some idle shopping.  I’ve really done nothing much, and it’s what I need.  I’m very aware that there’s a lot of stuff I need to do, and I intend to get to it Monday (I’m shifting my editing work onto my regular work schedule and taking the time I was editing as holiday time). I apologise if I’m late writing to you, owe you a proposal or something – it’s not that I don’t value it or take it seriously, it’s just that I need a little time.

I’ve been dying to go public about this for a while, but I wanted to make sure it was all solid before I did.  I am DELIGHTED to announce that I have sold a follow-up anthology to The Starry Rift to Sharyn November at Viking Penguin.  Life on Mars: Tales from the New Frontier is a young adult science fiction anthology that takes as its leaping off point that we do go to Mars in 2040, as announced by George Bush last year.  Some of my favorite writers will create stories somewhere in the timeline of that future Mars.  It should be a terrific book. It won’t be out till some time in 2010, but if The Starry Rift is anything to go by it will be beautiful.  I’m also delighted to be working with Sharyn again, who is one of my favorite people.

Well, had the echo stress test done and, according to the doctor and technician there it’s all clear.  It’s still got to be examined by a cardiologist and I still need to see my own doctor, but it looks like I’m not dying any faster than most of the rest of you.  This is good news, and a relief.  Added to the news that I got my job, things have been good since I got back from Denver.  I can’t believe I’ve been on leave for three weeks already, though. Gack. Still things are going well, which is nice. I’m thinking relaxing tomorrow would be good.