Dragon*Con Highlights, Part Four - More Events!

Now that I've had some sleep, I can briefly comment on some other interesting panels and presentations I staffed this past weekend:

The Villains Hall of Fame

We had a little media bleed-over on this panel: one panelist (whose name I've forgotten) decided to play the hunter who shot Bambi's mom (next year, he's thinking of playing the rabies that necessitated the death of Old Yeller), while Gary Mitchell portrayed Jabba the Hut (and yes - hilariously - he did the voice). Joe Crowe and Shawn (one of my fellow staffers), however, pulled characters out of books; Joe selected Elric of Melniboné from Michael Moorcock's fantasy series, and Shawn played Professor Snape. I've never read Michael Moorcock's stories, so I can't comment intelligently on Joe's contribution. Shawn's Snape, on the other hand, was excellent, though I must say that I question the classification of Snape as a "villain." I think Snape is more of an anti-hero; he's an awful teacher, he seriously needs to get over his high school baggage, and yes, he's a former Death Eater, but I think that word "former" is very important. Throughout the Harry Potter series, Snape serves the right side. He doesn't always do the right thing happily, but there's certainly a reason why Harry names one of his children after him.

Baen's Traveling Road Show & Prize Patrol

This is the event at which Larry Dixon made his already quoted "breasts with explosions" remark, but this is also the event at which I learned that Jody Lynn Nye has written a novel (to be released by Baen in April 2011) that she advertises as "Jeeves and Wooster... IN SPACE!" That is seriously the coolest thing ever, and I am totally buying that book.

A Tour of Known Space - Larry Niven's World

I served as moderator for this one. After an audience member brought it up, I cited Lucifer's Hammer as one of my "formative books" and noted that some of the images in that novel made an impression on my middle-school-aged consciousness that lingers to this day. I also got a chance to talk about Fallen Angels, "Inconstant Moon," and, of course, "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex." Along the way, I encountered an audience member whose exposure to Niven mirrored my own in every particular. It was rather eerie.

My fellow panelists and much of the audience seemed to be of the opinion that Niven's earlier solo works are better than his later solo works - that recently, Niven has turned out better novels when he's collaborating with Pournelle. Admittedly, I haven't read Niven's complete oeuvre, so I can't throw in my own two cents on that particular judgment. I'd be interested to hear what Dad thinks. (Hi, Dad! Have you ever read The Integral Trees? Or the Magic Goes Away series? Before this panel, my familiarity with Niven was limited to the Known Space canon, some of his stand-alone collaborations with Pournelle, and some of his short stories and articles.)

Science Fiction & Politics

Our director did a great job assembling a balanced group of participants; conservatives, libertarians, liberals, and leftists were all represented. The panel began with a rather sedate discussion of the challenges of fairly portraying the side you oppose (John Ringo admitted he has trouble getting inside the mind of a liberal and openly acknowledged that this is a weakness in his writing), but things got a lot more lively when the authors on the left side declared that libertarians have no ethics and the libertarian author (whose name escapes me) gamely took up the task of defending his beliefs.

My personal comments/observations:

1) With all due respect to a certain military SF author, I don't believe the backroom discussions one individual heard as a kid represent the attitudes of the entire oil and gas industry. The plural of anecdote is not data.
2) Yes, folks, let's look at Sweden.
3) A certain socialist alt history author may remember a time when tax rates were higher and unemployment rates were lower, but Ringo is right: that was after World War II, when the U.S. had no industrialized competition to speak of.
4) I agree that there is a power elite in this country, but its membership is not limited to corporate CEO's. Have you ever noticed that our politicians all seem to go to the same few schools? That our national-level journalists all seem to have similar backgrounds? That our cultural gatekeepers and intellectuals all seem to hold similar views? The "elite" is a much larger class than the left would have us believe, and it cuts across party lines.

God Between the Lines

This was the panel I proposed and moderated. In addition to yours truly, this panel also featured Christian writers M.B. Weston and Chad Sides.

I started off by noting the contradiction one spies when one places the well-known controversy Harry Potter has kicked up in certain Christian churches beside the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, both devout Christians and both believers in the catechetical power of the "fantastic." I stated that the medium of science fiction and fantasy need not contradict Christianity - that it can, in fact, be a perfect purveyor of that faith.

I then asked the panelists which method of incorporating Christianity they preferred: the Tolkien method, in which the Christianity is immanent, or the Lewis method, in which the Christianity is more overt. Weston and Sides believed there was a place in literature for both approaches. I pointed out that Tolkien's method increases the chances of reaching nonbelievers.

We then moved to specific works. Astonishingly, no one in the audience had heard of Andrew Peterson's young adult novels, so I spent several minutes discussing the imagery to be found in the Wingfeather Saga. I also told the audience about Marcher Lord Press and its mission to serve the Christian sci-fi and fantasy niche market. Audience members then brought up Zenna Henderson, Madaleine L'Engle, and Jeffrey Overstreet, and these author's works were also discussed.

Finally, we discussed the presence of Christian images and themes in works that aren't traditionally identified as Christian, including Harry Potter and The Hunger Games trilogy (the third book of which will be reviewed on this blog in the next few weeks). One audience member went so far as to say that Carl Sagan's Contact was one of the best arguments for God he had ever read - an interesting claim given that Sagan was an atheist. Some media was mentioned, but I'm proud to say that 90% of our discussion was focused on books. The general consensus of all present was best expressed by Weston when she stated that "Truth is Truth, and it has a funny way of popping up when you least expect it." I finished by adding that non-Christian authors often can't help using Judeo-Christian symbols because Christianity is indelibly written into the fabric of our culture.

Overall, I think this panel went extremely well. Several people came up to thank me afterward.

Philip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle

I was sitting in the back playing room monitor for this one, but I ended up asking a question after all when the panelists began to discuss the psychotic break Dick experienced and his subsequent fevered attempts to make sense of it. When they started going on about the "pink light" and Dick's kooky letters to his acquaintances, I just had to inquire whether anyone had written a biography of the man. (I want to read it for diagnostic purposes, you see.)

Books You May Have Missed

This was a discussion of obscure and/or older authors. Midway through, panelist John Snider mentioned John Christopher, which made me jump from my chair in excitement. I subsequently recommended the Tripods Trilogy to the surprisingly large Monday morning crowd...

... and that, readers, takes us to the end of the convention. Alas. Tomorrow, we shall return to our regularly scheduled programming.