We’re not on the blockchain, but we are blocked by Gareth Roberts

Skip to content

Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

16 Comments

  1. James Wylder
    February 6, 2016 @ 2:00 pm

    I’ll be curious what people post in here for their Hugo ballots. I’m still hoping one of my stories manages to dark horse it’s way on ( The most likely of which seems to be “A Less Holy Grail” for best Novelette so I may as well shamelessly link it for the curious: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/for-your-consideration-a-less-holy-grail. )

    I’m really excited for the surprise book, also.

    How revised will LWiA vol 1 be from its original posting?

    Reply

  2. Jane
    February 6, 2016 @ 3:33 pm

    What a weird definition of “pagan.”

    Reply

    • anna
      February 8, 2016 @ 9:59 am

      Yes, the contemporary pagan community does indeed have a pretty weird definition of “pagan”.

      Reply

    • Aylwin
      February 8, 2016 @ 1:23 pm

      I don’t see a definition, just some examples illustrating the diversity of groups within that category. And while giving examples from a category necessarily requires some kind of underlying definition of that category, I don’t see anything more specific implied here than “those describing themselves as such”, which is the lowest-common-denominator default for defining any identity group.

      Reply

      • Matt
        February 9, 2016 @ 10:57 am

        Is there actually a pagan “community” as such? Or are there numerous groups and individuals in majority Christian countries trying to create / recreate alternatives to Christianity – and urban / industrial society – based on a plethora of texts – ancient and modern?

        And wasn’t “pagan” a derogatory term used by Christians to label their opponents?

        Reply

  3. Chris Kelley
    February 6, 2016 @ 6:38 pm

    Sometimes your Burroughs fandom really sticks out.

    Reply

    • Elizabeth Sandifer
      February 6, 2016 @ 10:15 pm

      At one point I was considering, as a way of ending the book, gradually transitioning to having a higher percentage of sentences in a given section be cut-up generated until by the end it no longer actually parses as English.

      I’m not doing that, you’ll be either disappointed or glad to hear.

      Reply

      • Chris Kelley
        February 7, 2016 @ 1:30 am

        Disappointment is the dominant emotion.

        Reply

  4. Matt
    February 7, 2016 @ 10:20 am

    Looking forward to the book on Neoreaction.

    I’ve been pondering the rise of the “Silicon Valley consensus”. When I talk to certain people in the tech industry, there is a certain set of truths that are held to be self-evident, some of which are major in key and some minor:
    – Technology is an unalloyed force for good.
    – Inequality is the natural result of humanity containing a small number of geniuses (mostly software engineers) who through a mix of their superior intellect and enterprise deserve to own everything.
    – Automation and robots will wipe out the need for all other jobs.
    – Governments largely get in the way of technological innovation and should be replaced by a mix of technology and markets.
    – Tech businesses are meritocracies and cannot, by definition, be racist or sexist.
    – Bitcoin will replace all other currencies.
    – The internet of things already works.
    – Facebook is already the world’s largest nation state.
    – There is nothing that a human can do that an algorithm cannot do better.
    – The only thing worth teaching children is how to code.

    These beliefs are not identical with those represented by the Neoreactionaries but they overlap. The Silicon Valley consensus is uncomfortable with Human BioDiversity and Men’s Rights / Gamergate – but not to the extent that many would openly condemn them.

    Rewind:

    Back in the dim-and-distant 90s, there was a whole stack of cybertheory – perversely claiming influence from old French writers from a generation earlier: Deleuze & Guattari, Virilio, Baudrillard, Foucault, Lyotard.

    http://www.sterneck.net/cyber/plant-land-cyber/

    And there was also emerging criticism of coming from a more traditional leftwing point of view:
    http://www.imaginaryfutures.net/2007/04/17/the-californian-ideology-2/
    http://www.imaginaryfutures.net/2007/04/13/the-holy-fools-long-mix-by-richard-barbrook/

    Both of these positions now feel dated but for me, the more trad leftwing critiques feel more relevant. Technology has not accelerated the end of capitalism.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism
    http://backdoorbroadcasting.net/2010/09/accelerationism/

    Reply

  5. Daibhid C
    February 7, 2016 @ 7:43 pm

    I’m still undecided as to whether I can afford an associate membership to Worldcon, but I’ve been doodling a list just in case. So far, I’ve got:

    BEST NOVEL
    The Shepherd’s Crown, Sir Terry Pratchett (obvs)
    The Gospel of Loki, Joanne M. Harris
    The Annihilation Score, Charles Stross (probably, once I’ve read it)

    BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST
    Peter Dennis (Discworld Atlas; Discworld Diary – A Practical Manual for the Modern Witch)
    Paul Kidby (Shepherd’s Crown cover and chapter headings)
    Babs Tar (Batgirl)

    BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM)
    Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
    Legends of Today/Legends of Yesterday (Flash/Arrow)

    BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM)
    Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)
    Fast Enough (Flash)

    BEST GRAPHIC STORY
    Multiversity
    Gotham Academy
    Rivers of London: Body Work

    BEST RELATED WORK
    Last War In Albion
    The Compleat Discworld Atlas

    BEST FAN WRITER:
    Our esteemed hosts
    David Langford

    Reply

    • Elizabeth Sandifer
      February 7, 2016 @ 8:42 pm

      Last War in Albion, as an ongoing work, is not eligible this year. Whatever portions published in 2015 are, but that’s a pretty arbitrary stretch.

      TARDIS Eruditorum is eligible in its entirety though, having wrapped in 2015.

      Reply

      • Daibhid C
        February 9, 2016 @ 12:13 pm

        Okay, cut and replaced.

        Reply

  6. Jordan Murphy
    February 8, 2016 @ 3:33 am

    I was a nerdy teenager in the 80s, but I didn’t read Godel, Escher, Bach until I was in my 20s in the 90s.

    I did read Metamagical Themas as a nerdy teenager, however, and it had a profound effect on my developing brain.

    Reply

    • Elizabeth Sandifer
      February 8, 2016 @ 6:43 am

      And is also better than HPMOR.

      Reply

      • Citizen_Alan
        February 10, 2016 @ 8:27 am

        I am bemused by your apparent hatred for MOR. It obviously has its flaws (mainly relentless and often sanctimonious preachiness on the topic of RationalityTM) but it also a number of passages I like well enough to reread them even today. Is it just because of Yudkowsky’s politics and ethical views.

        Reply

        • Elizabeth Sandifer
          February 10, 2016 @ 8:31 am

          It’s because in addition to its manifest flaws as a novel it’s simply very poorly argued in its sanctimony. It certainly has its moments, but they are spread too thinly, and what lies in between is at best unconvincing and at worst unseemly.

          I can see the appeal, but it’s a weak entry in its genre in really every sense.

          Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from Eruditorum Press

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading