Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Menus and Roses

I don't surf the Web much, partly because I'm so inept on-line and partly because I'm afraid it will become a time sink. However, recently I've been lurking on the ASIMOV'S Forum site. As an addendum to my previous post, I'm astonished at the wide range of reader reactions to various stories. Some people love stories I disliked; some people dislike stories I love; some people interpret stories in entirely different ways than I do. I guess that's why restaurants have menus: Not everyone likes Chicken Marengo.

However, all this lurking has given me a new appreciation for Sheila Williams's job. As editor, she is trying to do more than merely choose stories she likes personally -- she's trying to create a balance among various kinds of stories in every issue. That way, nobody leaves the restaurant hungry. At least, I think that's what she's trying to do. I'm having dinner with her at World Fantasy Con this weekend, and I'll ask her and post the response. The Saratoga Hotel, I've just learned, has wireless, so the laptop goes with me.

Not an easy job. Therefore -- a rose for Sheila.

7 comments:

Steven Francis Murphy said...

All I've got to say, and I shouldn't even say this much, is that I miss the days when Gardner ran the mag.

Respects,
S. F. Murphy

Unknown said...

Wait, Asimov has a forum? Is it an all Asimov forum or what? What kind of magical place is this? I regret to say I've never read any of Asimov's shorts. I feel rather inadequate now having not enjoyed his amazing work. Wait...no I have. Didn't he write one about the thousand names of God? Or was that Niven? No, I think it was Asimov, and it was fantastic!

bluesman miike Lindner said...

S.m.d., maybe you're thinking of Arthur Clarke's THE NINE BILLION MAMES OF GOD?

It's been decades since I read it last, but the last line goes something like, "And in the sky, one by one, without any fuss, the stars were going out."?

bluesman miike Lindner said...

Please read NAMES for MAMES in my last post. Mercy, we need an "edit" function here. Ur elz uz who typw too fasy///

Unknown said...

That's the one. I love that story!

bluesman miike Lindner said...

I love it too. Have you read Clarke's THE STAR? The most powerful closing line I've read in any sf yarn.

BTW--fergettin' me manners here--a pleasure to meet you. Trumpet, eh? How long have you been with that demanding instrument? Do you play out?

Unknown said...

No, I haven't read that one :S.

I actually have been playing for 12 or so years. But I don't get much time to play now that I've started at UC Santa Cruz :S