Category: Critical Mass News

Max Barry talks about his latest novel

Wednesday 19th July 2023

Best-selling author Max Barry is our guest on in July to tell us about his alternate worlds-sliding doors-trousers of time-alternate histories novel The 22 Murders of Madison May. Many will recall his excellent and popular novel Jennifer Government followed by Lexicon. Madison May was published during lockdown and hasn’t had quite the same media presence but is equally enjoyable and even more unputdownable – it’s a one-sitting book. And Max is an excellent public speaker as well as writer.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’ 

Max Barry is the author of numerous novels, including Jennifer Government, Company, Machine Man, Lexicon and Providence. He is also the developer of the online nation simulation game NationStates. Prior to his writing career, Barry worked at tech giant HP. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife and two daughters.

This meeting will be zoom only

Max Barry and The 22 Murders of Madison May

Please share this invitation with like-minded friends and fans

You are invited to the July Critical Mass zoom meeting at 6:30pm July 19th (Adelaide)

 By Zoom : Critical Mass
Time: Jul 19, 2023 6:30 Adelaide, 7:00pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Every month on the Third Wed

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86711562991?pwd=L0VoYjkrRlIwWU05QmxWU0tqaUZiZz09

Meeting ID: 867 1156 2991
Passcode: 535708

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As several Critical Mass attendees will be interstate or overseas, this meeting will be Zoom only.
Questions or comments typed into the Zoom chat will be discussed as the opportunity permits, and you’ll have the chance to discuss other matters after the main presentation.

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS SECTION

Best Novel – Adult A Rake of His Own by A.J. Lancaster (Camberion Press)

Best Novel – Youth The Rarkyn’s Familiar by Nikky Lee (Parliament House Press)

Best Novella How to Get a Girlfriend (When You’re a Terrifying Monster) by Marie Cardno (Paper Road Press

Best Novelette How to Marry a Winged King by A.J. Lancaster (FaRoFeb)

Best Short Story “My Nascent Garden” by Melanie Harding-Shaw (Analog July/August)

Best Collected Work Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol 4 edited by Emily Brill-Holland (Paper Road Press)

Best Artwork Rebecca Hawkes – Cover of Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol 4 (Paper Road Press)

Best Production/Publication The Black Archive #61 – Paradise Towers by John Toon

FAN AWARDS SECTION

Best Fan Writing Conservation, Red in Tooth and Claw by Rem Wigmore (Climate Fiction Writers League)

Best Fan Artwork Jinx by Leadambeck

Best Fan Publication Phoenixine by John and Jo Toon

 SPECIAL AWARDS

Best New Talent Tehnuka

Services to Fandom Matthew Pavletich

“The machines we have now, they’re not conscious,” [Ted Chiang] says. “When one person teaches another person, that is an interaction between consciousnesses.” Meanwhile, AI models are trained by toggling so-called “weights” or the strength of connections between different variables in the model, in order to get a desired output. “It would be a real mistake to think that when you’re teaching a child, all you are doing is adjusting the weights in a network.”

Chiang’s main objection, a writerly one, is with the words we choose to describe all this. Anthropomorphic language such as “learn”, “understand”, “know” and personal pronouns such as “I” that AI engineers and journalists project on to chatbots such as ChatGPT create an illusion. This hasty shorthand pushes all of us, he says — even those intimately familiar with how these systems work — towards seeing sparks of sentience in AI tools, where there are none.

from a piece in File 770 quoting an interview in the Financial Times

A few elements come to mind:  

• Story has a beginning, middle and an end, with a resolution/catharsis  
• Suspension of disbelief: Story/world/characters must be believable and internally consistent 
• We care about the characters… either because they are likeable or a (macabre) curiosity as to who will survive  
• The world is viewed through the actions of the protagonist rather than (heavy) exposition 

Do you think these elements guarantee a good SF/fantasy story? What would you add to this list? Are there SF/fantasy books you would recommend even though they don’t seem contain these elements?

Share your experiences with books that you don’t think pulled it off even though they seemed to have followed a good formula. Does a good story in fact need to follow any “formula”?

Have the requirements changed from the early days (say, 30s or 70s) SF/Fantasy?

This meeting will be zoom only

Zoom details:

Critical Mass
Time: Jun 21, 2023 6:30pm Adelaide, 7:00pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86711562991?pwd=L0VoYjkrRlIwWU05QmxWU0tqaUZiZz09

Meeting ID: 867 1156 2991
Passcode: 535708

A new Doctor Who trailer revealed episode titles for 60th Anniversary Specials.
Moments before the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final came live from Liverpool the new Doctor Who trailer announced the titles as:  

• Special One: The Star Beast
• Special Two: Wild Blue Yonder
• Special Three: The Giggle

As Yeine is also Arameri, he names her his heir — but he had already assigned that role to both his niece and his nephew. Traditionally the issue is resolved by a fight to the death. Yeine seems an unlikely victor, but there are background political ploys which may work in her favour…

If you’re in Adelaide, meet at kappy’s in Compton St (near the market).
Doors open at 6:15 for a 6:30pm start.

Zoom Details:

Time: Wednesday May 17, 2023 — 6:30 Adelaide, 7:00 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86711562991?pwd=L0VoYjkrRlIwWU05QmxWU0tqaUZiZz09

Meeting ID: 867 1156 2991
Passcode: 535708

ReConnect is a 2023 convention for science fiction, fantasy and horror fans and professionals in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.
Two+ days of panels, discussions, talks, and socializing — all online to revitalize fandom in preparation for the 2024 national convention.

The convention is running online on the weekend of June 2nd.

For more info/membership details: ReConnect

Shades in Shadow

Three brand new short stories set in the world of the Inheritance trilogy.

A newborn god with an old, old soul struggles to find a reason to live. A powerful demon searches for her father, and answers. And in a prequel to the Inheritance Trilogy, a newly-enslaved Nahadoth forges a dark alliance with a mortal, for survival. . . and revenge.

The Awakened Kingdom

A novella which takes place after the events in Kingdom of Gods
As the first new godling born in thousands of years — and the heir presumptive to Sieh the Trickster — Shill’s got big shoes to fill. She’s well on her way when she defies her parents and sneaks off to the mortal realm, which is no place for an impressionable young god.

The Sci-Fi Exploration Bundle – curated by Adam Gaffen:

Exploration. It’s hardwired into humanity’s genes.

As far back into history you want to go, there have always been people who want to push the boundaries of what we know. Whether that was looking to the stars and wondering where those twinkling lights came from, or what was across that intimidating-looking ocean, or what the purpose of all that red stuff inside the human body, the questions never seemed to end.

That spirit of exploration has never stopped. It’s alive today, as we push boundaries in space, on the planet, and into the dreams of cyberspace. We’ve gathered ten notable authors to give you their takes on where humanity’s endless curiosity might take us.

— from Adam Gaffen’s description of the bundle.

Come with us as our voyage of exploration begins!

You can read more about the bundle here — the bundle is available until May 5th.