SF Waxes Philosophical

Those of you who had been following my old blog at http://ahmedakhan.journalspace.com know that I was editing an anthology of SF with philosophical underpinnings. The TOC of that anthology, SF Waxes Philosophical, has been finalised. Here it is in alphabetical order:

Michael Bishop: Diary of a Dead Man
Douglas van Belle: The Squirrel That Didn't Bark
Paul Carlson: Waveform
Sean Foster: Different and Again Different
Ren Holton: Lords of Light
Matt Hughes: Liw Osfeo and the Worm
Luke Jackson: The Saving Power
Ahmed A. Khan: The Shores of Id (I have reasons for including one of mine. See below.)
Ted Kosmatka: The God Engine
Marian Powell: Categorical Imperative
Ian Shoebridge: The Day the World Lost Gravity
Steven Utley: Chaos and the Gods
Jetse de Vries: The Third Scholar
Casey Wolf: These Old Bones

Need it be said that I am extremely happy with this anthology? I have received excellent stories in spite of (or because of) the challenging theme.

I have included one of my stories in the anthology for 4 reasons:

Reason #1: When I did not include any story of mine in the previous anthology, "Fall and Rise" (because I thought it was not good form), some of my friends and fellow writers (including some who were included in that anthology) berated me for not doing so. I care more about friends than form.

Reason #2: The anthology had stories dealing with western philosophy; it had stories dealing with far-eastern philosophy; but it did not have any story dealing with middle-eastern philosophy. So I thought my story would strike a right balance.

Reason #3: I think it is a nice story.

Reason #4: Haven't you ever heard of shameless self-promotion?

Comments

Unknown said…
Preferring friends to form is a complete philosophical statement in its own right! And why shouldn't you feature one of your own stories, I always find it helps me understand the organising principle of an anthology if the editor reveals their own fiction too.
August 4, 2007 at 10:49 AM
Anonymous said…
Nice job on getting that together.


patchmulberry
-------------
bleaklight.com
August 4, 2007 at 12:52 PM
Anonymous said…
Many congratulations to the stories' authors! And congratulations, too, to you, Ahmed -- it's great to hear that you're so pleased with how the project's turned out!

Oh, and as far as including a story of your own is concerned... well, goodness, I don't think that there's any question as to your writing ability, and both you and Ms. Sexton make outstanding points:

1) By including a story that involves Middle-Eastern philosophy, you improve the span of the anthology;

2) By including a story that you yourself have written, you provide readers with a clear view of your aesthetic and demonstrate to them what you intended with the anthology.

And if it makes your friends smile, so much the better!

Congratulations all around!
August 5, 2007 at 4:37 PM
Ahmed A. Khan said…
Hey! Thanks, Kay, Patch and Sean, for your wonderful comments.
August 5, 2007 at 7:47 PM
Luke said…
Looks great! It is indeed an honor to be included alongside such illustrious names.
August 6, 2007 at 9:21 AM
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