Nerd Word of the Week: Mundanes

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Mundane (n.) - A slang term from science fiction fandom which describes all non-fans. In many instances the term is used as a perjorative. Mundanes is also a term adopted for similar usage by other related subcultures, including goths, who use it to describe non-goths, and the Society for Creative Anachronists, who use it describe anyone who isn't a participating member of the SCA.

The term mundane, sometimes shortened as mun or mundie, is also used within works of science fiction and fantasy. For example, telepaths in the Babylon 5 universe refer to all non-telepaths as mundanes and in the Fables graphic novel series, all characters that do not orginate from fairy tales or folklore are referred to as mundies.

Moreover, there is a subgenre of science fiction known as mundane sci-fi, which adheres to highly realistic and plausible settings and plot devices within its stories, eschewing the more fantastical and extraordinary tropes more often associated with mainstream science fiction, particularly space opera.

Thus, usage of mundane within fandom is somewhat recursive, referring at various times to characters, stories, non-fans, or as a derogatory term for fans that are perceived as inferior or lacking sufficient devotion to fandom in general or an individual franchise in particular. Mundane as a fandom descriptor has fallen somewhat out of usage in recent years in favor of the Harry Potter-inspired (and thus currently more widely recognized) term muggle.

I bring it up because: Today is the first day of the 2009 World Science Fiction Convention, whence come the Hugo Awards, and if any place is likely to illustrate the varied usage of the word mundanes (to say nothing of the obvious dichotomy between fandom and the mundanes) it's WorldCon. Moreover, today is the 75th birthday of author Piers Anthony, whose obscenely long Xanth series of fantasy novels includes one of the most popular invocations of the term mundane, which in his context describes any normal human not born of the fictional world of Xanth. We commend either occasion as an excuse to reach out to any of the Mundanes in your life and share a little bit of the joy of fandom with them. Or just point and call them a mundie. Whatever leads to joy, really.

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My 25 favorite Geekend columns of all time

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As my previous post indicated, I have recently resigned the longest-running writing gig of my career, authoring Geek Trivia and The Geekend for CBS Interactive. As part of dealing with my separation anxiety--and also to incentivize my former Geekend readers to come check out this blog--I've list my personal Top 25 Geekend columns from my four-year run with the blog. Enjoy.

1. Sci-fi rant: When did Star Wars jump the shark?
   
2. Sci-fi rant: When did Star Trek jump the shark?
   
3. Sci-fi rant: When did Trekkers jump the shark?
   
4. Spock loves Linux, Vader is a Mac Daddy
   
5. Sci-fi rant: Why giant mecha robots are stupid
   
6. Where Sci-Fi Channel movies *really* come from...
   
7. Idiot sci-fi question: Why did the starship Enterprise have such a stupid bridge?
   
8. Idiot sci-fi question: Why do X-Wing fighters have...um...wings?
   
9. The Top 10 Most Quotable Geek Films...Ever!
   
10. Sci-fi rant: What should have happened (but didn't) in Spider-Man 3
    
11. The top five sci-fi/fantasy chick flicks
    
12. The top 12 sci-fi plot devices geeks love to hate
    
13. The Top 12 Comic Book Superweapons
14. 10 sci-fi technologies that just might happen
15. Sci-fi and fantasy books that "make you dumb"
16. The geek movies you're embarrassed you like
17. No, I didn't watch the "Enterprise" finale
    
18. Battlestar Galactica and the "new" sci-fi
19. Top 10 April Fool's pranks we wish were real
    
20. Why 'Star Trek's Prime Directive is stupid'
21. 50 ubergeeks worth following on Twitter
22. How much, and how long, would it take NASA to build a Death Star?
23. 75 words every sci-fi fan should know
    
24. Poll: What sci-fi TV series ended in the worst way?
25. The ultimate trivia Web site

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All the SF writing advice you could ever want

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The awesome gang over at SFSignal have put together probably their best Mind Meld column to date, offering up writing advice from over a dozen published and professional science fiction writers and editors. It has some great advice, including how to embrace hate mail, where Robert A. Heinlein was wrong, and exactly what it is that HarperCollins' new SF imprint is looking for. For the sake of example, we give you this paraphrased list from just one of the contributors, author Matt Hughes:

1. Leave out the passages that readers love to skip. (Those would be the ones you worked hardest on).
2. Never open a book by describing the weather.
3. Never open a book with a prologue. They are usually boring.
4. Never describe the physical appearance of a character with details that the reader will soon forget.
5. Use exclamation points sparingly.
6. Never use another verb instead of "said."
7. Never use an adverb to modify "said." The tone of the dialogue should be contained within the dialogue itself.
8. Never use a colon or semi-colon in dialogue.
9. Don't change your writing for the critics who know nothing about writing.
10. Tell the editor not to let the copy-editor mess with your punctuation.

Now go one, get to reading the whole thing.

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Warren Ellis is taunting me

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Even though he promised not to berate the dying Big Three science fiction magazines, Warren Ellis just can't help himself--pointing out with bitter glee that the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction had to cut its frequency in half to survive. Meanwhile, Analog and Asimov's dropped their per-issue word counts by 4000 apiece. Taken together, these are the latest death tremor of printed short-form sci-fi. Put another way, people won't be putting short-form sci-fi onto bundles of dead trees much longer.

To be narcissistic, Warren Ellis is taunting me with my own Sci-fi Magazine 2.0 concept. Because, clearly, starting two businesses isn't enough to do in 2009. I also need to wade into the publishing quagmire and try to fight not just the Big Three, but Baen's Universe, Brutarian, Cemetery Dance, Clarkesworld, Chizine, Cosmos, Dark Wisdom, Dragon, Odyssey, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, Pedestal, Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, and Subterranean.

Stop badgering me, Mr. Ellis. I don't have time for this dream. Seriously. I don't.

(Maybe next year.)

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