Report from planet midnight

by Nalo Hopkinson

Paper Book, 2012

Status

Checked out

Genres

Fiction

Publication

Oakland, CA : PM Press, 2012.

Description

A fascinating fictive polemic from the award-winning Nalo Hopkinson. Hopkinson address the crowd during a Guest of Honour address to the 2012 conference of Interational Association of the Fantastic in the Arts, in the voice of an alien. The alien evaluates Earth's strange customs, including the marginalisation of works by non white and women authors. A dramatic mix of humour, anger and shrewd analysis pervades this discussion of the unconcious and unacknowledged racism of white colleagues and points the way to a more diverse and inclusive future.

User reviews

LibraryThing member eenerd

Engaging small collection of two short stories, one performance/speech and an interview with the author. Apparently Hopkinson is something of an activist author, working towards equality and fair representation for all those in the science fiction/fantasy genre, and there is an excellent

introduction to her in the interview and the speech. Putting politics aside, though, Hopkinson is a fantastic author. Each story in this volume was a really enjoyable read--from the incredible last ditch plea of a time-bending traveller in "Message in a Bottle" to the clashing sibling gods and the mortal caught in their midst in "Shift". If you're looking for a sci-fi/fantasy author outside of the cookie-cutter planetery or high fantasy mold, then you should give her stuff a try. I'm very pleased I did, and will look forward to reading more of her stuff.

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LibraryThing member scott.neigh

I've read a few pieces of Hopkinson's work but not nearly enough, and this great little book has whetted my appetite for more. It contains two short-stories, both very good; the text of an important address on science fiction/fantasy and racism she gave to a convention during the fateful days of

Racefail '09; and an enjoyable and thoughtful interview of her done by series editor Terry Bisson. Lots of good writing and important ideas in a very digestable package.

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LibraryThing member maeve_spry

Two excellent short(ish) stories, and some non-fiction that looks at the world of science fiction and fantasy through a clear lens. Brilliant.

LibraryThing member JimDR

Report from Planet Midnight is a tight little collection of work for Marketing Hopkinson. It contains a lovely short story about time travel, animal art, and childhood; a fascinating interview; and the titular work, a speech about race and racism in speculative fiction fandom given at an industry

event.

This is a well chosen intro to the thought and work of a great, and important, voice in modern SFF.

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