Fall in! They’re talking about military SF over at Tor.com!
Thanks to a heads-up from fellow word slinger Jason Schmetzer (translation: I read his Facebook update about his new blog post), I remembered that Tor.com is in the midst of running a series of essays about different facets of military science fiction. Check it, yo:
Military Science Fiction on Tor.com
The topics run the gamut, from appreciating classics of the genre to examining and questioning its various tropes from both the writer's and reader's (or viewer's) perspective. Contributors to this set of features include such fine folks as John Scalzi, Jo Walton, David Drake, Robert Buettner and a host of others. So far, things have managed a nice balance of subjects and viewpoints, and while not everything grabbed me the same way, I think there's at least something there for anyone who might be interested in some interesting takes on the topic. Among my personal favorites (aside from my predictable "Whatever Scalzi wrote" response) is a pair of articles provided by Myke Cole titled "Why Every Writer Should Join the US Military."
(No, it's not like that. Do yourself a favor and read both pieces, and see where the man's coming from. Being one of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, I was able to relate to how he feels his service days helped him achieve his goals as a writer.)
Like I said, there's a lot to read over at good old Tor, and I rather enjoyed going down the list and taking it all in. Those of you who dig mil-SF should give it a look-see.
Thanks again to Jason for alerting me (and his other readers) to this!
(Originally published at The Fog of Ward and cross-posted to LiveJournal.)