The idea of writers being able to bring their creations directly to readers is widely touted as a radical advance in authorial control and a revolution in the creative process. Its popularity has soared and its champions, such as the writer and founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors, Orna Ross, proclaim it as something “radical, really revolutionary within my world”.. Self-publishing is the revolution du jour, the change that will liberate writers and democratise publishing.
Unfortunately, self-publishing is neither radical nor liberating. And, as revolutions go, it is rather short on revolutionaries. It is actually reactionary, a contracted version of the traditional publishing model in which companies, who produce for a wide range of tastes and preferences, are replaced by individual producers each catering to very narrow range.
Self-publishing is supposed to democratise publishing. For Nicholas Lovell, writing in the Bookseller, “publishers no longer have an ability to determine which books get published and which books don’t.” In other words, democratisation is nothing more than the expansion of the publishing process from the few to the many. But this both overestimates the barriers to traditional publication – the vetting and selection process may be deeply flawed, but every writer can submit a manuscript – and underestimates the constraints of the marketplace. It also fails to consider whether the democratisation of publishing produces a similar democratisation for the reader by making literary culture more open.
By definition, self-publishing is an individualistic pursuit in which each writer is both publisher and market adventurer, with every other writer a potential competitor and the reader reduced to the status of consumer. Publishing then becomes timid, fearing to be adventurous and revolutionary lest it betray the expectations of its market. This is a natural tendency in traditional publishing but it is one restrained by the voices of its authors who are free to put their work first and entrepreneurship a distant second. With authorship and entrepreneurship now equal partners, the new authorpreneurs have thrown off the dictatorship of the editor to replace it with the tyranny of the market.
Gatekeepers are liberators! The freedom of the market is tyranny! War is peace! Black is white! Evil is good!
These people lie as automatically as they breathe. How absurd is it to say that traditional publishing is not as restricted as it appears because “every writer can submit a manuscript”? This article didn’t convince me that self-publishing is a bad thing, it convinced me that in addition to being outdated, the traditional publishers are outright evil.
The ironic icing on the cake is the fact that the author, a former publisher, “has self-published his last three novels”. His best-selling book ranks #700,264 on Amazon. Little wonder he despises “the tyranny of the market”.
School health services in the small Swedish city of Norrköping have found 60 cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) among schoolgirls since March, with evidence of mutilation found in all 30 girls in one class, 28 of the most severe form…. According to EIGE, concerns about FGM became widespread in Sweden in the early and mid-1990s with the influx of Somali migrants: “The first national action taken in the field…was initiated after alarming testimonies from the healthcare sector indicating the existence of FGM among many — if not all — women that originated from FGM-practising countries.”
Now the daughters of immigrants are in danger of undergoing FGM. According to the Local, the risk of becoming a victim of the procedure increases in the summer when many schoolgirls visit their parents’ home country: “We’re working to inform parents that they could face prison if they come back and their children have undergone female genital mutilation,” said Petra Blom Andersson, student health coordinator in Norrköping.
Let me get this straight. The immigrationists can’t prevent their beloved third world barbarians from cutting off the genitals of girls in the second generation, and we’re supposed to believe that their complete integration and magical transformation into white 1950s Westerners is inevitable?
I won’t be surprised if within 20 years many European countries will adopt a White Europe policy similar to the old White Australia one. It’s beyond irony that it’s in heavily feminist Sweden that public school girls are being mutilated.
I didn’t expect this game to be of any interest, but in light of the Uruguay-England result, Costa Rica should probably be taken more seriously than I’d assumed. That being said, it’s a lot easier to penetrate the Uruguay defense than the famous catenaccio, even if it’s no longer being anchored by Maldini and Cannavaro. So, I still expect a fairly routine 3-1 Italian victory, but it should be one that is on the entertaining side of routine.
In any event, the prosecco is flowing and the match is on. Avanti Azzurri!
France v Switzerland is the match I’m really anticipating. The French looked much stronger than I’d anticipated, as Pogba is a fearsome midfielder in the mode of a more aggressive Patrick Viera and Griezeman is a classic fox-in-the box, albeit with speed. Prior to the tournament, I would have bet on the Swiss, but so far, they appear to be more lucky than good. I think a draw would be a good result for the Swiss, but then, the French are young, so it’s entirely possible that they’ll end up imploding.
FIRST HALF: Italy is completely controlling the ball but it’s going to be hard for them to win if they leave Balotelli up front. His head is clearly not in the game and he’s blown two very good chances. Costa Rica is robbed of a penalty, but grabs one before the half when Chiellini gets lazy. 1-0 Costa Rica.
SECOND HALF: Ugh. As Ender said, Italy looked lazy, clumsy, and slow. One would almost suspect they were content to lose in order to knock England out. They’ll have to do better against Uruguay or they’ll be coming home too.
UPDATE: As for the France-Switzerland game, the Swiss haven’t been trounced so roundly since the days of the Napoleonic invasion. It’s 3-0 at halftime and should be 4-0 considering the missed penalty and the follow-up shot that hit the crossbar. That’s more goals than the Swiss gave up in the previous eight games.
John C. Wright and George R.R. Martin both attempt to explain John Scalzi’s habitual reaction to criticism and public humiliation:
The Evil League of Evil smites again. I am too delicate of constitution to repeat the details, since the writer involved, Mr. John Scalzi, is one who has treated me with respect in the past, and I would wish to return the favor if I could.
Despite this, my loyalty to the Evil League of Evil requires me to draw attention to the odd phenomenon of leftwing thinkers of reacting to public humiliation by redoubling their efforts to humiliate themselves.
There is a normal psychological mechanism, something like an inner ear, which allows someone to correct himself when his words and thoughts become imbalanced. The social cues, or the whisper of conscience or reason, tells a man he has said something too extreme or too absurd, and that his thought no longer reflect reality, and so he reverses course, modifies his position, admits of some exception, apologizes and puts himself right.
This mechanism, in those poor souls afflicted by the political neurosis of Leftwingnuttery is jammed or, worse, is set in reverse. When they discover themselves to be in an unbalanced position, instead of shifting their center of mass and returning to true, their psychological inner ear tells them their fault is that they are not tipping far enough, and so they throw themselves headlong.
That is a credible theory, but I think it fails to take human socio-sexuality into account, and particular, the Gamma Delusion Complex, as does Mr. Martin’s explanation, provided in A Game of Thrones.
When Tyrion encounters Jon Snow up at the wall, he gives Ned’s bastard the classic, but profound advice of the misfit: “Let [those who mock you] see that their words can cut you, and you’ll never be free of their mockery. If they want to give you [an insulting] name, take it, make it your own. Then they can’t hurt you with it anymore.” – “A Different Kind of Other: The Role of Freaks and Outcasts in A Song of Ice and Fire“, Brent Hartinger
This is why John Scalzi has publicly adopted the Gamma Rabbit as a device and why he attempts to redefine every apt description of his cowardly, dishonest, and reprehensible behavior, from “insect” to “pussy”, as a compliment of some kind. He reacts in this manner because he is a deeply insecure misfit, a fatherless and effeminate man, so his instinctive response is not to deny the charge and demonstrate it to be false, but rather to protect his own overly sensitive feelings.
This is also why he is always pretending to enjoy the very abuse that hurts him and returns him to his feelings of childhood rejection. After having his overtures rejected by Larry Correia, Scalzi predictably lashed out in a bitter and vulgar manner, only to suffer a very public humiliation at the hands of the Correiakin, who, being masculine and of higher socio-sexual status, does not fear direct conflict. This promptly led to exactly the sort of misfit posturing recommended by Martin’s Tyrion, prior to Scalzi finally metaphorically placing his hands over his ears when he couldn’t take the humiliation any longer.
“So you’re saying I’m tough, resilient, constantly reinventing myself, and a source of great pleasure? This is an insult?” – retweeted 19 Jun 2014
“Honestly, the stupidity of people who think they’re making clever points on my thread is like a meeting of the Dunning-Kruger fan club.” – tweeted 19 Jun 2014
“Shhhh. Can you hear that? It’s the sound of a bunch of jackasses on Twitter, desperately trying to pretend that I haven’t muted their asses.” – tweeted 20 Jun 2014
He can mute his own Twitter account, but he can’t mute reality. As I’ve demonstrated here, the correct way to puncture John Scalzi’s incessant spinning is to simply keep repeating the truth no matter how he tries to deflect and redefine it. Just continue observing the readily apparent: he is a fraud, he is a literary mediocrity, he is a socio-sexual gamma, he is a coward, he is insecure, and he is unable to engage in effective debate.
I suspect Scalzi will always remain popular in some misfit circles because he is, and he will probably always be, one of them. Unlike those misfits (or as Sarah Hoyt would say, Odds) who are determined to improve themselves and grow out of the social prison of their low status, the self-deluded Gamma redefines his every action as winning, and reinterprets every expression of criticism or contempt as praise. The fact that he does so is not an indication of psychological strength, but rather, extreme psychological weakness. The Gamma has to claim victory on all occasions, however absurd the claim appears, because he simply cannot handle the pain of admitting that he is a loser.
I recently finished reading Thomas Asbridge’s book on The Crusades, which I recommend despite its moderately secular bias. I was a little surprised, however, to note that I’d only marked five notes, one of which was the following:
However, for all the contact between Muslims and Latins witnessed in this era–through war and peace–Islam’s attitude towards western Christendom was not radically altered. Old prejudices remained, among them popular misconceptions about the worship of Christ and God as an indication of polytheism, as well as entrenched antipathy towards the use of figurative religious images, forbidden in Islam, and wild assertions of Frankish sexual impropriety. Familiarity does not seem to have bred much in the way of understanding or tolerance. But equally, contrary to the suggestion of some scholars, the advent of the crusades did not prompt widespread deterioration in Muslim relations with indigenous eastern Christians. There were some intermittent signs of a hardening in attitudes, particularly in cases where native Christians living under Islamic rule were suspected of aiding or spying for the Franks, but, broadly speaking, little changed until the rise of the more fanatical Mamluks.
For both Islam and the West, perhaps the most striking transformation wrought by the crusades related to trade. Levantine Muslims already maintained some commercial contacts with Europe before the First Crusade through Italian seaborne merchants, but the volume and importance of this economic interaction were revolutionised in the course of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, largely as a result of the Latin settlement of the eastern Mediterranean. The crusades and the presence of the crusader states reconfigured Mediterranean trade routes–perhaps most powerfully after Constantinople’s conquest in 1204–and played a critical role in solidifying the power of the Italian mercantile cities of Venice, Pisa and Genoa.
Two interesting notes there. First is the fact that after 200 years of close contact, there was little improvement in terms of understanding or toleration between the Frankish and Islamic cultures. There was even some indication of “a hardening in attitudes” despite the occasional intermarriage and a considerable amount of trade; neither side objected in the least to making use of the women of the other side.
Given that the West has had much the same result with its African subculture over the last 200 years, these multiple multi-century data points should suffice to demonstrate that both the multicultural and the melting pot models of multiethnic societies are fundamentally incorrect. This historical conclusion is soundly supported by the relevant social science. And that means that as happened before in both the Holy Land and in Spain, and as is happening now in the Middle East, societal homogeneity will come to the fore again in the West. The Western equivalent of “the more fanatical Mamluks” will eventually rise due to the failure of their predecessors to deal with the problem in a less violent manner.
The second is the way that the main transformation was economic. In the West, we assume that because there has been an economic transformation, there will be a cultural transformation. The history of the Crusades indicates this is incorrect, and that the economic transformation is ultimately irrelevant to the cultural and demographic transformations. This historical perspective is in line with socionomic theory, which holds that economics is a consequential factor, not a causal one.
This is the latest book in the ‘Carrera’ series by Tom Kratman. The story covers the activities leading up to and the beginning salvos of the second stage of the war between the Tauran Union (the EU) and Balboa (Panama). Now for those of you who wonder how the hell Panama could be in a war with the EU much less how it could manage to be kicking the EU’s sclerotic, bureaucratic ass you really have to read the ‘What has gone before’ section. Trust me when I say it is necessary there’s a lot that has happened to get the action to this point and a whole mess of characters that are important to the plot. When reading Tom Kratman you never know who is going to be an important character and who is going to wind up killed so you better pay attention.
So to the story itself. It is a good military adventure yarn. That should be no surprise by now, Kratman writes military adventure and whatever he does he does well. It is just barely science fiction. Yes it is set on a different planet, yes there is marginally advanced technology, but this series is really just an alternate history of what could have been done following September 11th. It could just as easily been set on Earth beginning Sept 11, 2001.
The story is well written and for me the easiest of the series to read and follow. I was never left wondering ‘who is this and what are they doing’. The action is realistic and of course plenty gritty. The characters were as usual interesting and drawn just as finely as they needed to be for the part they played in the story. Most of the book is taken up with behind the scenes type of political wrangling and espionage but there still are big meaty chunks of combat and conflict.
The Good: “The Rods and the Axe” is well written, the prose is clear and clean without anything extraneous getting into the way. The people, places, and activities on ‘Terra Nova’ are presented in well crafted brush strokes. Even the characters that are seen once and will never be seen again were easy to envision. Some would say Kratman makes good use of stereotype but I prefer to think of his bright-line characterization of minor characters as solid use of easily understood motifs.
The characters are easy to connect to and visualize. Motivations fit the characters and the actions they take except for one really jarring scene (more about that later), are never forced. The actions feel like they are the real actions of the characters and not something that Kratman has decreed for the characters to do everything feels very organic. One thing that Kratman is very good at is people and he easily acknowledges that every side can have heroes. The enemies can be just as well intentioned, heroic as Carrera and his Legion and are certainly as well written.
The organizations of Terra Nova are realistic and Kratman does a good job of describing them. Of course, that is not a huge stretch because Terra Nova is really just ‘Earth’. Every nation and organization has its counterpart on Terra Nova.
Not much to say about Kratman’s gift for writing military action that has not already been said. The action whether it is a bar fight with broken bottles or a naval gunnery barrage with 150mm guns is all well written. The pacing of the action is particularly good and will keep you reading (I read the book in one sitting). Kratman is a master of his craft and belongs with Drake or Pournelle when discussing good military science fiction.
One thing and perhaps this is just a matter of personal taste but I like that while Kratman’s characters are fully adult and human and have sex the sex is all ‘off screen’ and fade to black type of activities. I find that refreshing.
The Bad: Here’s the good news; nothing ‘bad’ about this novel. The story is first rate, the characters are well written and interesting and the action is realistic and visceral. But there is that one scene I mentioned earlier and that’s ugly.
The Ugly: First let me say that I know Kratman is one sneaky bastard (I mean that as a compliment) and that he knows where his stories are going a long way a head, however, Carrera makes a really jarring bonehead move that stood out like a green stick fracture. At one point he has Carrera going into a major conflict zone for (at this point in the story) no damn good reason. It is such a bad decision that I had a hard time getting past that. It was like Ike landing with the grunts at Utah Beach. I know Kratman is probably just setting us up for something that requires Carrera to be where he is but the action itself was double-stupid and his aides should have sat on him until he regained his senses. I won’t say anything more about that because that would give away too much of the plot.
All in all I cannot recommend this book enough. If you at all like military fiction you’ll like this book and if you do like military fiction and haven’t found this series yet you are in for a treat. Kratman has stepped up his game with this book and is now firmly in the top tier of military fiction not just military science fiction.
And JW has already read it and finished his review as well. The speed with which these gentlemen blew through the book should also tell you something about whether Tom Kratman’s latest is worthwhile for fans of military science fiction.
Tom Kratman has out his sixth novel in the Carrera series, and it’s a worthy addition indeed. The Legion del Cid, with Patricio Carrera in command, has kicked the Tauran Union forces occupying the Balboa transitway out, in bloody fighting. In Book 6 they are concerned with the final preparation for the invasion of the Taurans and their Zhong allies, and, then the beginning of an epic battle for the tiny country of Balboa. The Taurans are providing air cover and a blocking force in the neighboring country of Santa Josefina and the Zhong providing the landing force attempting to take the Isla Real, the immense and heavily fortified island commanding the transitway. There are time references both backward looking and forward, starting with the Amazon Legion, continuing in the fifth novel Come and Take Them. I would highly recommend reading the whole series. It’s more than worth it.
Many of the characters from the previous novels are here with some added fleshing out particularly concerning the High Admiral Wallenstein and her latest relationship and some truly funny plot elements revolving around Carrera’s son Hamilcar and his domestic difficulties. Lesson there: you don’t really need twelve wives, lad.
There are new characters, of course, notably among the Zhong Imperial Marines and their bloody sacrifices on the beaches of Isla Real. The battle action starts about 45 percent into the book with an interesting taste of things to come in the Prologue, and continues until the book ends with a not-so-subtle cliff hanger pointing to Book 7. Personally, I can’t wait until the Legion takes on the UEPF, the United Earth Peace Fleet, in orbit around the planet and providing from orbit intelligence gathering for the Tauran forces.
I can’t give you metrics of prose competence, plot flow, etc. All I can do is tell you this a real page turner and a long awaited addition to the series. I loved it. Enjoy!
If you enjoy keeping up on the latest in SF/F, I would encourage you to begin following the Castalia House blog on a daily basis, where our SEVEN bloggers are now posting regular reviews of both conventional and independently published SF/F books. Mascaro has posted a review of AS I WALK THESE BROKEN ROADS by DMJ Aurini and Jeff’s review ofSHADOW OF THE STORMby Martin J. Dougherty is a must-read for any TRAVELLER aficionado, as it sounds like Marc Miller has found himself a good writer who is respectful of the game canon.
And, by extension, to every member of SFWA, the organization that celebrates child molesters and champions of child molestation such as Walter Breen, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Arthur C. Clarke, and Samuel Delaney. It’s written to Jim Hines by a man who was victimized himself as a child:
Why are you focusing on Larry Correia?
I just don’t get this.
At all.
Why are you responding to a piece by a guy who thinks rape is wrong and just disagrees with you on the exact nature of the problem and the solution? I’m not saying those aren’t large gaps. I’m not saying I don’t think he’s wrong about rape culture. I’m not saying I don’t think he’s wrong about education (another survivor I know actually works in those groups with those people and says its effective and I trust him, although to be honest even giving offenders that much help makes my stomach turn).
But why is Larry Correia a target?
I don’t agree with a lot of what Larry has to say, but I’ll be honest and say I still like him. He reminds me of a couple of uncles I have and some friends I used to argue with at a couple construction jobs I had. He’s really loud and says some shit I don’t agree with but you also see him actually trying to help other writers and doing stuff for charity all the time.
So, I get that you guys have serious disagreements. I get that he’s called you names. You feel attacked and that makes sense that you’d want to focus on him.
BUT (and this is what’s bugging the shit out of me): The community just found out that Marion Zimmer Bradley was a child rapist. As in, she raped children. She put her hands on kids. I’ve just found out that the community knew she was a procurer and turned a blind eye to child-rape for decades on top of all of that. And no one talks about it.
No one in the community who usually talks about this stuff is talking about this.
I was five when I was victimized. That story hit me right in the guts. I figured I’d see everyone talking about it, trying to do some agony origami and figure out what to say about it that might bring some kind of useful awareness to the community. The silence has been deafening.
I get that Larry is loud and he says things that people don’t like. But maybe fandom needs a voice like that? Before you disagree, Larry’s website is the only place I’ve heard anything even WHISPERED about Samuel R. Delany. I can’t quite seem to figure out why that is.
Samuel R. Delany was just honored at the Nebulas and quoted in NK Jemisin’s speech (I agree with a lot of what she has to say, but I just don’t get how this isn’t at least being pointed out) and Samuel R. Delany outright without any kind of doubt or apology speaks up for NAMBLA.
NAMBLA is a group that advocates grown men raping young boys.
That’s so fucked up I don’t even have words for it.
Look at his Wikipedia page. If you can stand to do it, go to NAMBLA’s website. They quote him right goddamn there.
I’m not going to say that being a male survivor is harder than being a female survivor. But I will say that when you’re a male survivor not nearly many people are willing to talk about it. Giving a pass to a guy who supports NAMBLA is not okay. It’s not okay. Focusing on Larry Correia when that shit is not being talked about is not okay.
It is not okay.
I’m hoping you didn’t know. I’m hoping NK Jemisin and K Tempest Bradford and Mary Robinette Kowal don’t know. I saw everyone tweeting happily when he won his award. Because if you guys all know and aren’t saying anything about it and maybe even turning a blind eye because it’s really hard…
Well, I’d even kind of get that.
People talk a big game until that stuff is at their doorstep and then it becomes really easy to look away. We’re all human. No one’s invincible or infallible.
This is about the ugliest thing you can look at as a person.
But it’s still not okay.
I know none of you are under any obligation to condemn Samuel R Delany or Marion Zimmer Bradley. But when you’re going to start attacking people and you choose Larry Correia….
I just don’t get this.
The science fiction left is attacking Larry Correia for the same reason they have been attacking me since 2005. Because he is a threat to their claimed dominance of the genre. He exposes their lies. He proves that you don’t have to be a left-wing sexual deviant writing about progressive ideology and the deviancy du jour in order to write and sell books today. He shows that their ultimate victory is not inevitable.
First they tried to win him over, and pretend that his offense was aligning himself with me. Once they learned that he is not aligned with me, that he speaks for himself, and that he rejects everything for which they stand, they showed their true faces, their twisted, ugly, hateful faces.
They attack Larry Correia for his ideas and his language because he is a good man who is willing to stand up for what is right. They attack him while overlooking the deeds of perverts and molesters and rapists because they are evil. It is that simple.
This is the game where we discover if England are a second-rate or third-rate team. I didn’t think they showed much against Italy, but then, Italy is one of the premier defensive teams and it’s easy to look hapless and out-of-sorts against Gli Azzurri. Uruguay is always underrated and forgotten, but they are always a talented and technical team that can give absolutely anyone trouble. I’m looking forward to this one.
And in the meantime, I’m going to sit down and enjoy Columbia v Ivory Coast. Couldn’t care less who wins, but it should be entertaining enough.
UPDATE: yep, it was entertaining. Drogba had a chance to pull it level, but Columbia wins without too much trouble. The African teams just are not at the same technical level as the South American teams.
FIRST HALF: Tough miss by Rooney, but the cross to Suarez and his subsequent header were things of beauty. Nice active match between two good teams who are focused on attacking the goal.
SECOND HALF: Lovely team goal and easy finish for Rooney. But Suarez plays the miss – ALWAYS PLAY THE MISS – and puts away the long ball from the goalie that Gerrard deflected backwards. A pure striker’s goal. You can always tell the true striker, because he a) shoots on goal, and, b) doesn’t drill it right at the keeper. A good win for Uruguay, although there is no way they should have left Alvaro Pereira in the game after he was kneed in the head by Sterling.
Japan vs Greece has been a snoozer. The Japanese simply have no idea how to attack, even though Greece is down to 10 men after their captain picks up a pair of stupid yellow cards.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled six federal trademark registrations for the name of the Washington Redskins, ruling that the name is “disparaging to Native Americans” and thus cannot be trademarked under federal law that prohibits the protection of offensive or disparaging language.
The U.S. PTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board issued a ruling in the case, brought against the team by plaintiff Amanda Blackhorse, Wednesday morning.
“We decide, based on the evidence properly before us, that these registrations must be cancelled because they were disparaging to Native Americans at the respective times they were registered,” the board wrote in its opinion, which is here. A brief explanation of how the Board reached its decision is here.
Setting aside the possibility that this decision will, like the 1992 case, be overturned, it is apparent that the anti-Redskins activists, most of whom appear to be in the media, are counting on Daniel Snyder to behave like the greedy monopolist of their fantasies.
The thing is, the value of Redskins-branded merchandise is relatively trivial compared to the overall value of the teams. Teams only make about $5 million per year from their merchandising and there is already a considerable amount of knockoffs available. For example, I once saw a guy lifting at a gym in Italy wearing a Minnesota Vikings shirt. The only sign that it was a knockoff was that the Vikings running back featured on the shirt was #33, and I knew the Vikes have never had a notable running back with that number.
But there is a very real potential benefit to Snyder and the Redskins in the loss of the trademark, because an increase in the production and distribution of Redskins merchandise could lead to the Redskins truly becoming America’s Team in a way that the Dallas Cowboys are not. And with or without the Redskins trademark, Redskins gear can’t be sold as Official NFL gear by anyone anyhow. But whether the PTO board’s decision stands or not, I think the loss of the trademark is very unlikely to create any significant pressure on Snyder to change the team name, despite the media’s bizarre portrayal of the decision as “a landmark”.
The idea that there is a “rape culture” in the USA is a myth. There are individual imbeciles, individual evil scumbags, and there are some criminal gang subcultures where rape is business as usual, but for most regular people it is an evil anomaly, and our children are taught accordingly. To all of these TEACH BOYS NOT TO RAPE morons, my question is who the hell is teaching them that it is okay? Where do you live? Next to Roman Polanski or Bill Clinton?
Some of his science fiction author brethren weren’t too pleased with it and sanctimony ensued.
In addition to accusing Larry of looking like “a rape-excusing asshole” (I note that unlike Scalzi, Larry Correia does not belong to the group that associated with Walter Breen and still celebrates both Marion Zimmer Bradley and Samuel Delaney), John Scalzi went on to claim that Larry’s blog readers are misogynists, that Larry is “sexist” and not “able to understand the English language past the fourth grade level”, and even went so far as to assert that Spacebunny does not exist in her own right, but is merely my sockpuppet.
John Scalzi @scalzi @Spacebunnyday Hi, Vox. Run along now. @monsterhunter45
Larry Correia @monsterhunter45 Uh… @Spacebunnyday is an actual female human person on the internet @scalzi
I thought that was a little rich coming from a self-described rapist who claims to be celebrating two decades of married bliss with a drag queen. Isn’t denying female agency supposed to be an important aspect of Rape Culture? Anyhow, given the timing of the relevant laws, it should be apparent to the casual observer that it is not my wife, but his marriage, that is imaginary.
But since we’re talking about the Hugo-nominated Larry Correia, I would be remiss were I to fail to note that Larry’s latest Monster Hunter International, NEMESIS, is already available on Amazon despite its nominal release date of 1 July. Does the man not entertain you? I’ve read the previous four books in the series and I’ll be posting a review here next week. I was intending to post it on the release date, but either Baen or Amazon threw me a curve ball with the early release of the ebook on that one.
UPDATE: I just noticed that Tom Kratman’s THE RODS AND THE AXE are also available on Kindle. It’s a big day for Baen fans! But don’t be disappointed if you’re a Castalia fan too… we’ll have a little something for you on Monday.
