Emergency, emergency!

There has been a lot of hand-wringing of late by science fiction professionals over kid literacy.  We can't boldly go where no genre has gone before without Readers, The Next Generation.  What does it mean for the future of this magazine if seventh-graders are too busy twitching characters through Playstation dungeons to read our stories?  And when they do read, how come they seem to be choosing media-related spin-offs, just marking time until their favorite TV show comes on again or the next sci-fi blockbuster opens on three screens down at the Tenplex?   Could it be that Asimov's is obsolete?  That the novellas and novelettes gracing these pages will soon go the way of slide rules and eight track tapes?   That science fiction, the literature of the future, has passed its expiration date?  Danger, Stan Robinson. Danger!

As I began to write this column, a breaking news story shocked the sleepy genre of science fiction. The evil suits who owned Science Fiction Age decided to shut it down after eight-some years and forty-six issues.  While the passing of Asimov's worthy competitor was a blow to the field, it did not immediately suggest itself as something I should bring up here.  As far as I could tell, Science Fiction Age had no significant presence on the web.   But what made it a net story was that I first heard the news in a email from a listserv.  My first impulse was to dismiss it as one of those rumors so common to the web.   How many times have you received a breathless forward from a pal informing you that the next full moon will be the brightest since the invention of cheese?  Or a dire warning about the alphabet virus which will make your keyboard explode, thereby tattooing asdf jkl; permanently on your forehead?   One reason to think this was unfounded rumor was that I had just read in the print version of Locus that Scott Edelman, Science Fiction Age's astute editor, had just been given a big promotion, presumably for a job well done.  But as my inbox filled with ever more obituary email, I decided to turn to the web to see if I could find out what was really going on.  My first thought was to check those usually reliable genre news sources Locus Online and Scifi Wire , but neither had the story.  On to the news page of Science Fiction Writers of America .  Nothing.  Okay, then, where was this story coming from?  I had a hunch, but before I tell you about it, let's digress, shall we?