Future Lovecraft officially released!

The Innsmouth Free Press announced the official release of Future Lovecraft. The publishers write:

 "It has landed. Future Lovecraft is officially on sale today! Purchase the paperback or go for the e-book.

Decades, centuries and even thousands of years in the future: The horrors inspired by Lovecraft do not know the limits of time … or space.

Journey through this anthology of science fiction stories and poems inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Listen to the stars that whisper and drive a crew mad. Worship the Tloque Nahuaque as he overtakes Mexico City. Slip into the court of the King in Yellow. Walk through the streets of a very altered Venice. Stop to admire the beauty of the flesh-dolls in the window. Fly through space in the shape of a hungry, malicious comet.

Swim in the drug-induced haze of a jellyfish. Struggle to survive in a Martian gulag whose landscape isn’t quite dead. But, most of all, fear the future.

Featured authors include: Nick Mamatas, Ann K. Schwader, Don Webb, Paul Jessup, E. Catherine Tobler, A.C. Wise, and many more."

In this anthology, you'll find my poem 'The Deep Ones' included in here, in addition to many other great stories. I've had a chance to look at the e-book version, and it's really got some fun stories in there. The editors have made a big effort to gather work from non-traditional perspectives as well, and I appreciate that.

Of course, I also have to recommend picking up a copy of Historical Lovecraft, which features a short story of mine, as well as stories by many others set in the distant and recent past of the Lovecraftian mythos. And of course, stop by the Innsmouth Free Press at www.innsmouthfreepress.com for daily articles, reviews, interviews and fiction regarding the latest happenings in Lovecraftian horror.

Happy reading!

Happy birthday, Fritz Lang

Today marks the 121st birthday of master film-maker Fritz Lang, who was born in Vienna.

Among the best known of his works today is the silent film Metropolis, which enjoys a resurgence of late for its imagery that appeals to steampunk and dystopian science fiction, and given its message on industrialization, speaks volumes to the issues of today.

I personally enjoy his film, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, but really, there are many fine works within his oeuvre worth viewing in your lifetime. He demonstrated how much you could tell with silent images in black and white.

I often wonder how Lao artists might have responded to his work had they seen it in the early 20th century. The possibility of such massive industrialization must have seemed so distant, yet would we see it as an aim in a quest for modernity, or a warning, as Lang thought?

I would definitely recommend taking a look at the British Film Institute's pages dedicated to him on his life's work.

Lokapâla: génies, totems et sorciers du Nord Laos

This is a book with a bit of an unusual history to it. Published around 1954, by Henri Deydier, it has been described as "An important and entertaining work on the beliefs and superstitions of North Laos, the record of Deydier's trip by foot and horse through the jungles; Deydier died in a plane crash in Laos (at age 32) shortly after publication of this book. Lokapala was published in French in 1954 and in German in 1957; no edition in English has been published." It is believed to be approximately 126 pages if you find a copy.

Lao Steampunk: A cue from Khmer rail?

 

Laos doesn't have a rail infrastructure the way Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam do, although new ventures are in the works recently to construct a rail system between China, Laos, and Thailand, with talks of connecting to Vietnam as well. The map above is from Radio Free Asia, who discuss the impacts of the modern plan on Lao citizens and the wariness of who exactly will benefit from such a railway.

According to the public version of the agreements from 2010, the railroad is to initially stretch from Xishuangbanna in China’s southern Yunnan province to the Thai border with Laos, connecting the Lao cities of Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, and Vientiane.

There will ultimately be a rail link between Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, and Singapore. Later, links will connect Vientiane to Vietnam through Khammouane province.

From an alternate history perspective, how might things have developed if Laos had a rail infrastructure in the 1800s or early 1900s? How might it have been financed, and who would have been the lead builders? And, as with any construction and development project, who would be the losers, or displaced, and which families would see their fortunes rise or fall because of it? What would have been done to address crime and corruption, especially given the Golden Triangle issues of old.

If history then went on its conventional course, and Laos still became the most heavily bombed nation of the 20th century, we would see UXO covering over 30% of the countryside, and in an alternate history, likely more, in efforts to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In the course of the conflict and especially the bombing, the Lao rail system would likely be in shambles and in the aftermath likely very much resemble the situation in Cambodia.

In January, 2011, the Smithsonian Magazine ran an article, Catching the Bamboo Train describing the experience on the norries, makeshift vehicles for using the abandoned train tracks of Cambodia.

They're described as: "basically a breadbox-size motor on top of a bed-size bamboo platform on top of two independent sets of metal wheels—all held together by gravity. It’s built from bamboo, old tank parts and motors ripped from broken motorbikes, rice harvesters and tractors. To accelerate, the driver slides the motor backward, using a stick as a lever, to create enough tension in the rubber belt to rotate the rear axle. Though no two norries are identical, a failing part can be swapped with a replacement in a few seconds. Norries are technically illegal but nonetheless vital and, if you know where to look, ubiquitous."