I don’t usually waste a post on pimping a single blog, preferring to gather together some of the great newer blogs and showcasing them all at once, but I felt this was a bit of an exception.
The scribe behind Mysterious Outposts is none other than Gabe Chouinard – blogger extraordinaire who is often mentioned alongside other ‘legendary’ (meaning they ran pretty good blogs and kinda fell off the face of the earth) bloggers such as Jay Tomio and William Lexner (who I hear was pretty awesome back in the day, wrenching respect from the iron grasps of SFF Publishers).
Well, Chouinard’s back and his blog, Mysterious Outposts is already looking promising. Whether he can live up to some of the strong things said about him (even by arch-nemesis, Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, where his name was mentioned several times in this controversial post and its comments). I’m certain that his new blog will be a great addition to the growing blogosphere.
From his post on reviews:
I have two express purposes in writing reviews
The first purpose is purely selfish. I review because I write. A review forces me to examine a given novel with a critical eye, to actively participate in the reading of a work. There is a difference between reading for pleasure and reading for review. When reading for pleasure, one becomes a passive receiver for a writer’s words. We read for enjoyment, for escape. I believe our brain works differently when reading for pleasure; that we are less attuned to the work, content to bathe in the creation with no more participation beyond the surface; our only critical engagement becomes a question: “Am I enjoying this?”
As a writer/reviewer, I become more fully engaged with the text. I pay attention to it. It is reading with all the lights on, and the microscope nearby. I am looking explicitly for what works, what does not work; I am looking for technique and style, both good and bad. I review because I am trying to learn at the same time. This forces me to pay attention, to read actively rather than passively. To read critically is to level the playing field; to become as much a producer of culture as consumer.
I also review because I am unselfish. As a reviewer, I am able to cross the threshold from passive consumer to active consumer. I become a part of the producer/audience loop. By writing and publishing a review, I mirror the flattening of culture I alluded to above, contributing to the erosion of the barrier between the producer and consumer. Reviewing is a way to plant a flag in my particular corner of the cultural discourse; to reach out to others, whether it’s five people or five million, to say “This is what I think. This is why I think it.”
Such engagement has occurred in SF throughout the field’s history, as I’ve already mentioned. Long before the internet appeared, I was aware of that history, having watched it from the sidelines through SF magazines and introductions and essays in various books related to the field. In SF, the reality of a leveled cultural discourse has existed for decades. SF criticism was always in the hands of the reader fans, not sequestered by institutions. The rest of the world is only now catching up.
Gabe Chouinard’s back, everyone. Whether we should rejoice or cower in fear remains to be seen. Mysterious Outposts can be found HERE.
