Lord Dunsany and the development of fantasy fiction.

The influence of others is a force we all experience, and whether it is in science or the arts, it's always interesting to see how people of the same profession affect each other.  You may not be familiar with the writer, Lord Dunsany (1878-1957), but if you read science fiction or fantasy, or enjoy movies based on those genres, you've felt his influence.

Before inheriting his title, Lord Dunsany was Edward Plunkett, or Eddie to his friends.  His family owned land in both Ireland and England, including an estate, a cottage and two castles.  His father died in 1899, so the title passed to Edward.  That same year, England went to war in South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899-1902).  I think a wealthy peer like Dunsany could probably have avoided military service, but instead he served in that difficult guerrilla conflict.  And his brother joined the British Navy, eventually rising to the rank of admiral. 

Years later, after he was married and had a son, Dunsany returned to military service and fought in the trenches in World War 1.  Although he enjoyed fun activities like cricket, tennis, shooting and hunting, when his country called, Dunsany served.

In the realm of writers, there are some who excel at the novel, others the short story, or poetry.  There are few who are good at more than one of them.  Dunsany wrote short stories, novels, poems and plays--and was good at all of them.  In fact, while he is remembered most as a fantasy writer, he was actually quite successful as a playwright and once had five of his works running concurrently in four capital cities and New York.

Writers are influenced by their dead predecessors, as well as their contemporaries.  And if they're lucky, their works will survive to affect others long after their death.  Dunsany understood this--he knew the power of words to survive the ages and preserve the tales and thoughts of those long past.  He not only helped fellow writers, but also hosted visitors like William Butler Yeats and Rudyard Kipling.

Dunsany's fantasies often have a dream-like quality to them.  His use of language is masterful, and he excelled at naming people and places in his imaginary worlds.  His writing certainly influenced writers like H.P. Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula le Guin, and Neil Gaiman, who each in turn went on to affect future writers with their work. 

Dunsany died of an appendicitis in Dublin in 1957, but his work lives on.  Thanks to the wonder of the information age, you can download many of his stories that might otherwise have been lost, or found only in rare books.  The following quote from Dunsany establishes how well he understood the timeless power of the written word.

"And little he knew of the things that ink may do, how it can mark a dead man's thoughts for the wonder of later years, and tell of happenings that are gone clean away, and be a voice for us out of the dark of time, and save many a fragile thing from the pounding of heavy ages; or carry to us, over the rolling centuries, even a song from lips long dead on forgotten hills."

--Lord Dunsany

(This site has a thorough biography and links to a Dunsany bookstore, while this site has interesting content about Dunsany and his fascination with chess.  The picture is from the Curtis Brown LiteraryAgency site, which also contains useful information.)

Did they or didn't they? Did neutrinos break the speed of light?

Scientists at the Cern laboratory in Switzerland announced that their experiments revealed neutrinos can travel faster than the speed of light.  Before we jump into the whats and hows, why is this important?

First, let's consider another speed, the speed of sound.  When we first built airplanes, they were very slow.  However, we knew rifle bullets broke the speed of sound, so it was at least possible.  Eventually, we built jet aircraft that broke the sound barrier.  With light speed, we're still at the stage where we don't know if going faster is possible.  But as we've talked about before, if we're going to reach distant planets, we need spaceships that go light speed or faster.

To experiment on the light speed problem, scientists at Cern in Geneva, Switzerland, shot neutrinos through a tunnel to a special barrier 454 miles/730 kilometers away in San Grasso, Italy.  A neutrino is a tiny object that has almost no mass, and doesn't carry a positive or negative charge.  Also, neutrinos have so little interaction with matter that they are nicknamed 'ghost particles.'

In the first experiments, clusters of neutrinos arrived in Italy 60 billionths of second faster than light travels.  Twenty recent experiments using shorter clusters of neutrinos achieved similar results. 

There are two problems with all this.  The first problem is that exceeding the speed of light violates Albert Einstein's theory of Special Relativity.  This states that no matter what your motion is relative to a light source, the speed of light is the same for all observers.  We are so certain of the speed of light that we used it to make up the meter for measurement.  But back in 1905, Einstein's theory actually contradicted the science of the time.  So there is the possibility that Special Relativity does not hold for neutrinos.    

The second problem is that measuring an amount like 60 billionths of a second at two points 454 miles apart is tricky.  It seems that even a small error could cause a 'mistake' to look like a 'result.' 

There aren't many labs in the world set up to detect neutrinos, but a few of them will be performing their own tests to verify the Cern results.  Fermilab in the United States, Gran Sasso in Italy, and the T2K experiments in Japan will all conduct their own tests, so in the next year or two we may learn more.

In tough economic times, it's easy to think we should cut science funding because we can't always see an immediate application for their results.  And if neutrinos can go faster than light, it may not make any change in our lives right away.  But simply knowing that it can happen opens up a whole new realm of possibilities.

(Here is a helpful BBC article on the experiments, and one from Physics World.  Also, a wiki article on specialrelativity.  The pic is from the BBC article.)

The argument for space: Why we must reach other planets.

Astronomers have given us a lot of good news lately about planets.  Apparently, there are plenty of planets out there among the stars, we just couldn't see them because of the stars themselves.  And with the privatization of space, it appears we'll soon have new options for blasting into orbit and up to the International Space Station.

This is all good in the short term, but humanity's long term outlook worries me.

There are various arguments for exploring beyond our solar system and visiting distant stars and their planets.  A popular theme in science fiction stories and sometimes in present-day politics is that Earth will soon be overcrowded, so we'll have to find other planets to colonize.  I don't agree.

Every time a country raises its level of education and inexpensive birth control becomes available, population growth levels off and often turns downward.  For instance, Europe and the United States would probably have shrinking populations if not for immigration.  So while the Earth's total population may continue to grow for another generation or two, eventually it will level out and then probably decline. 

Another argument is that climate change will render our world uninhabitable and force us to find a new home.  Certainly a major change in our climate could kill many or all of us off.  Meteor impacts probably didn't help the dinosaurs.  If climate change is caused by humans, we may be able to act to save ourselves.  If it's a natural cycle or the Sun, we're probably in trouble.  Either way, it's a good idea to do what we can to clean this place up.  And if the worst happens, humans are resilient creatures.  Maybe we'll retreat from the coastlines and have to deal with a different way of life.

I think the real impetus for reaching other planets is economics. 

The Earth's economy is all about trade.  Individuals trade money or goods or services.  Banks and corporations trade.  Counties, states, and provinces trade.  Countries trade as individuals, and also form trading organizations and blocs.  We're always looking for ways to open up new markets. 

For instance, the United States wants to export more goods to China.  And as incomes in China rise, Chinese people will want to buy more cellular telephones and computers and game consoles and cars.  So the system works, for a while. 

The problem is that the Earth is a closed system.  It is finite.  Once everyone on the planet has an iPhone, who else are you going to sell one to? Now it's true that new products come out all the time, and there will always be people who can afford more, and people who can afford less.  But is it possible that at a certain point we'll have no new markets to open up?

If we build a colony on another planet, then suddenly we'll have new markets.  Colonies traditionally produce raw materials to send back to their founders, while the founders send manufactured goods out to the colonies.  I think it could work like that in space.

The problem is getting there, and back again.  The distances are so vast they can sprain your brain thinking about them.  I don't believe we'll get there by building bigger, faster rockets.  In fact, I don't think the initial solution will come from a machine shop or an aircraft hanger.  It will come from a chalkboard.

We need a basic scientific breakthrough in our understanding of physics.  Something that will allow for either light speed or faster than light speed travel.  And it has to be something we can do with reasonably safety.  So hopefully there is a team of physicists somewhere drinking coffee and drawing on a chalkboard and kicking around ideas.  And maybe one of those ideas will be what we need to spread out from this majestic little rock we live on.

In the meantime, we're stuck here, so we need to learn to get along and to clean up after ourselves.

(The pic is of the M81 galaxy, and is from wordlesstech.com)

The Digital Comic: Droids, Chrome, Brick and Mortar

If you read comics or are simply interested in economics and technology, these are interesting times.  Marvel Comics recently announced a plan to synchronize the release of digital versions of their comics with their paper counterparts.  The implications of this move has led many business analysts and comic fans to wonder what the future holds for print comics and the brick-and-mortar stores that sell them.

Some people collect comics, some read them with no thought to their future value, and some do both.  For the reader, digital comics may hold attractions--they save trees, and when you're done you don't have to store them.  But for the comic book store owner, this may mean people not coming to the store to pick up their usual 'pull service' of titles they purchase each month, plus impulse buys, and related items like trade paperbacks, T-shirts, DVDs, games, sleeves, boxes, etc.

Currently, DC Comics offers a wide range of their titles in digital format that can run in Microsoft's widely used Internet Explorer.  The titles are priced from $2.99 to .99, and the site is well organized for browsing.

DarkHorse Comics also has individual issues for sale, from $1.99 to 4.99.  Their setup allows you to read online or download to your iPad or iPhone, and Android devices will be added soon.  Dark Horse has a "My Collection" feature, but in the FAQ area explains that you do not own a digital comic, rather you are licensing the right to read it. 

This brings up some interesting questions of ownership, something that is not a problem when you buy a paper copy.  There is also the issue of where your digital collection is stored, as well as its security and ease of access.  And will the increasingly large digital footprint of the big companies like DC and Marvel affect the readership of independent creators of webcomics like WannabeHeroes and Atomic Terrier?

MarvelComics offers various ways to go digital--you can buy individual issues or subscribe to their digital catalog for $4.99 per month on a one year plan (for a total of $59.88.)  Issues can be read online, but only in Google's Chrome browser, leaving out those who use Firefox or Internet Explorer.  You can also download issues to your iPad, iPhone or Android device using the Marvel application.  However, it did not appear that very many of Marvel's numerous titles were available in digital.

In an interview with Newsarama's Michael Doran, Marvel's VP of Sales David Gabriel talked about an incentive program designed to help comic shops.  Marvel is experimenting with a program where paper comics have a code inside that gives the reader access to a digital version.  The code is also linked to the individual store that sold the paper comic, and Marvel is apparently providing some incentive to these shops for each issue sold.

Digital comics are still in the very early stages of development, and comments online reveal readers' frustrations with poorly functioning applications and clunky interfaces.  The hope of all comic companies is to gain new readers by appealing to people (especially younger people) who are comfortable reading on tablets, phones and computer screens.

Whether this will actually encourage these new readers to enter a comic shop and buy physical comics and comic-related items remains to be seen. 

Comic book shops are one of the few places left where you can share your enthusiasm for something you've read with fellow readers, make new friends, and talk with the actual owner of the business.  Comic readers create a unique brand of community best experienced in person, so please support your local comic shops.

(The Superman pic is by Alex Ross.)

Veterans Day 2011

Here in the United States, today is Veterans Day.  In Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, it is Remembrance Day.  No matter which country you're in, it's a suitable opportunity to thank any veterans you may know.  They will appreciate your gratitude, but I suspect days like this are different for them than for the rest of us.

I never served in a war, but I have listened to those who did and I believe there is a vast, unchangeable gulf between us.  Most of us are grateful for their service, some will thank them, many will pray for them, and a few will just be glad to have a three-day weekend.  However, I think it's different for veterans.

Most veterans I know are reluctant to speak about their war time experiences.  I think veterans hang out with other veterans because they are the only people who can understand what they went through.  The rest of us, no matter how much we care about them, are separated by that big, invisible gulf.

On the rare occasions when they do open up, they seem puzzled, mystified by it all.  Why did they live, when their friends died? Why did some come back wounded or paralyzed, while others went unscathed?

These aren't the sort of questions anyone ever answers, no matter how many years they have to think about it.  But I think our veterans keep turning these questions over and over in their minds, year after year.  Contemplating the dead, and wondering...always wondering.

Welcome to Viking Mart!

Imagine walking into Walmart and some guy in a helmet and chainmail is working as the 'greeter.'  He raises his axe and shouts, "Welcome to Viking Mart!" 

When we think of Vikings, we think of raids.  A rowdy crew of tall warriors rowing up a river, beaching their ship and dashing into the nearest village.  Of course, if you're a villager, these Vikings are the epitome of evil and Dark Age misery.  If you're a Viking, you're trying to run back to the ship with a pig under each arm before one of the locals puts an arrow in your back.

But I recently read something that made me look at Vikings from a different angle--as merchants.  In Bernard Cornwell's novel THE LAST KINGDOM (which is about Saxons and Vikings in Dark Age era Britain), he mentioned that the dragon heads on the prows of Viking longships were removable.  Cornwell wrote that they would remove the dragon head to indicate they were coming to trade peacefully, and put it back when raiding.  Similar to pirates raising the skull-and-bones flag many years later. 

I'd never read this, but Cornwell is usually very exact about his research.  I found Gwyn Jones A HISTORY OF THE VIKINGS, and delved in.  Inside was a picture of a pre-Viking dragon head from a Migration Age ship.  The bottom of the wooden figure has a long stem that could fit into a socket, which makes me think Cornwell is probably correct.

Of further interest is that the Vikings set up trading areas Jones called 'marts.'  An example of this is Birka, a walled trade town built on an island in Sweden in the 800s AD.  Earthen ramparts, wooden palisades and towers, and blockhouses full of guards protected the mart.  The shore is flat enough to land ships, plus the Swedes built jetties and breakwaters to cater to merchant ships.

While we usually picture Vikings in their 'raid' mode, it's important to understand that the rule of law functioned very well in their trade towns.  The only way to maintain a constant stream of imports and exports was to guarantee the safety of merchants who came there.  So although Vikings are known for chaos, in this case they were all about order.  Studies of the coins and manufactured goods in Birka revealed they hosted all sorts of traders--Frisian, Dane, German, English, Finn, Swede, Balt, Greek and possibly Arab.

The local merchants could only profit from the orderly sale of goods.  And the Swedish king benefited financially, too, which strengthened the monarchy in central Sweden for two centuries.  It's worth noting that while some Vikings were busy killing, stealing, and dying, others were running well-ordered marts where people profited from the rule of law and the free exchange of goods.

So welcome to Viking Mart!

(Sources:  THE LAST KINGDOM by Bernard Cornwell.  A HISTORY OF THE VIKINGS by Gwyn Jones.  Super cool pic of ship from:  pimpmyspace.org)

Let's stoke the economy!

It's a tough economy these days, and readers need a break, too.  So I made coupons on the Smashwords bookseller site to give folks a price cut.  For a limited time, you can get either of my ebooks for $1.99.

THE CULTIST by Mark Boss:  A young woman races to save a boy lost in the New Mexico wilderness before a vicious cult leader can kill him. (A thriller/young adult novel.)

Coupon Code:  NP57N

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/91010

or

HIRED GUNS by Mark Boss:  When a rogue scientist sells a bioweapon to terrorists who poison 8,000 people, reformed gangster Hector Tombs leads a team of adventurers to capture the antidote.  (A thriller novel.)

Coupon Code:  FK67G

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/85451

* * *

Also, I'm preparing an interesting article on Vikings that I should post here this weekend.

Thanks for reading!

-- Mark