Peter Kazmaier

My book, The Halcyon Dislocation was reviewed by Lloyd Rang in the July issue of Faith Today.

One of the nice things he said had to do with the plausibility of the science behind the plot. That was particularly gratifying since it was one of the things I worked hard to achieve. Here is what Rang said:

Reprinted with the gracious permission of FAITH TODAY

Notable Quote:

For his first novel, Kazmaier does well at quickly getting the plot in motion and describing the new world. The science makes good reading, too – perhaps no surprise, since Kazmaier is a working and teaching scientist. He makes dimension and time travel appear plausible and comprehensible. (No mean feat – the writers of the TV show Lost could’ve used his help.)

Lloyd Rang also gave some helpful advice about making the secondary characters more three dimensional which I will take to heart. If you want to peruse the review in its entirety, keep reading.

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Robert J. Sawyer is arguably Canada’s best known Science Fiction author and has achieved significant international  recognition as a Hugo Award winner and through the recent debut of his novel FlashForward on television. Given his stature in the field of Science Fiction, his blog entitled “Are the Days of the Full-Time Novelist Numbered?” is of particular interest to all of us who follow Science Fiction and Fantasy literature. Sawyer begins his blog by alluding to an invited lecture he gave  to the Canadian Book Summit:

I started by recounting how, a few months ago, I’d had fellow science-fiction writers Robert Charles Wilson and James Alan Gardner over for pizza; at that dinner, I’d told Bob and Jim that I feared there was only a decade left in which anyone could make a comfortable living writing science-fiction novels, and urged them to plan their careers and finances accordingly.

If someone with Robert Sawyer’s achievements  makes this observation, then one ought to listen. Are the days of the full-time novelist numbered? What does this mean for novelists who are just starting out (like me)?

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Jo Walton, a Science Fiction and Fantasy writer who lives in Montreal, recently she  wrote an interesting post explaining why she re-reads books that she doesn’t like. She developed this unusual habit in her childhood when she would read books that were beyond her years. Although these books such as Ivanhoe and David Copperfield were not that interesting at first they were on re-reading and so there was a sense of “growing into fiction.”

I have to say this has not been my experience with one notable exception. I love C.S. Lewis’ Science Fiction Trilogy Out of the Silent Planet. However I could not get through the second volume Perelandra (or sometimes called Voyage to Venus). I started it three or four times and always bogged down in the same place and then skipped on to That Hideous Strength. Finally I read it all the way through and now it is indeed my favorite book in the series.

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I do re-read many books, but they are my favorites. Like old friends, even though I know the stories inside out, just to hear them say it again brings out an image, or a thought I had not seen before. By having the rest of the book in my mind because of many re-readings, I can often put together thoughts that could not have occurred to me on the first reading.

Perhaps I should take a cue from Jo Walton and try re-reading books I have abandoned.

Which books do you like well enough to re-read?

Thanks for reading,

Peter

http://peterkazmaier.com

Later tonight we’ll find out if Avatar is selected by the Motion Picture Academy for the award of Best Picture. I had a chance to see Avatar in 3D a few weeks ago and I would love to see it again in the IMAX format (although the IMAX versions still seems to be sold out in my area). So what did I think of the movie and should it be selected as Best Picture? (continue reading…)

Why do so many people read Science Fiction? Why do so many more watch movies with Science Fiction themes. This was discussed on a TV Special called Listen Up TV on Global Television yesterday. You can also see it online .

One of the key conclusions was that Science Fiction encourages a sense of wonder and even of hope.

At the end of the special, I had the privilege of being interviewed by Lorna Dueck about The Halcyon Dislocation and my motivation for writing it.

Thanks for reading,

~Peter

Links to other Science Fiction Blogs cited in this episode:

• Gabriel McGee – SF Gospel Blog
• John C. Wright – John C. Wright’s  Live Journal
• Robert Sawyer – Robert Sawyer’s SF Blog

I found out this past week that my novel The Halcyon Dislocation (Wolfsburg Imprints ) has been selected as a finalist in The Word Guild 2009 Canadian Christian Writing Awards in the category of Futuristic Fiction. The award recipient will be selected at the Awards Gala in Mississauga on June 17th.

The other finalist is a novel by Richard Allen Wunderlich of Salmon Arm, B.C. called Tomorrow’s Paper (OakTara Publishers). Mr. Wunderlich has graciously made several chapters of his book available for download on the internet.

For more information about The Word Guild, go to www.thewordguild.com .

For more information on the awards gala contact Jeanette Duncan

Email: twgjeanette@gmail.com

Ph: 519-886-4196

My first novel, The Halcyon Dislocation , has just been published.

After a risky physics experiment transports the island University of Halcyon to a new world, engineer Dave Schuster and his fellow students struggle to survive in this alien, hostile environment. As tyrannical forces within the University use the catastrophe to strengthen their power and control, Dave encounters an even greater menace which threatens the very existence of their fledgling colony.

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We are facing a very tumultuous time in Canadian Democracy. We have only just finished an election a few weeks ago that saw the Conservative Party extend their lead in the number of seats but still fall well short of a majority. Now the Liberal Party, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the separatist Bloc Quebecois have struck a deal to put together a coalition government that would relegate the Conservatives to opposition stutus without an election. What has all of this to do with Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers ? (continue reading…)

Orson Scott Card , known for the classic Science Fiction novel Ender’s Game , gave an excellent interview to Moira Allen on religion in Science Fiction and Fantasy. To my mind Card’s responses, although they were given some time ago, continue to be the best expose on this subject. Here are a few of his quotes from the interview (shown in bold blue) and some of my comments to go with them: (continue reading…)

I remember reading a Science Fiction short story in which space explorers landed on the ideal planet where nature was in perfect harmony and the plants and animals co-existed without competition. The planet presented a park-like environment and the only animals were herds of cow-like herbivores. Periodically one of these animals, in the bloom of health, would wander up to the space ship stop its own heart and offer itself up for food. After their initial suspicions were allayed, the space travelers found these bovine steaks were the best they had ever eaten. However, after several months, the first crew member disappeared. The others, as they searched for him, found a large cocoon-like object and out of it emerged a replica of the cow-like creature. The planet’s inhabitants won by losing.

Perhaps this is how Pacifism is supposed to work. A Pacifist may say in answer to my last article “sure our gates are open wide; you can conqueror us, take over our country, and even kill many of us, but just like the bovine aliens, we will take you over from within.” (continue reading…)