Thursday through Saturday, February 17-19, I attended BYU’s science fiction and fantasy symposium. For the first time, I attended a science fiction convention as a panelist, rather than just a fan.
But that doesn’t mean I didn’t go as a fan, too. It’s been nearly twenty years since I first read some of my favorite hard science fiction novels: Lucifer’s Hammer, Footfall, The Mote in God’s Eye and others coauthored by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. So I was interested in what Jerry Pournelle would say as one of the Guests of Honor at the convention.
Just imagine how thrilled I was to be sitting next to Jerry Pournelle on a panel about “The science in science fiction: how ‘real’ is the science in your favorite books, movies and TV shows? Why or why not?” (Now, my presence on the panel might be considered as evidence of the scarcity of quality guests at the symposium, but I am at least qualified to discuss the subject.) Of course, Jerry Pournelle dominated the panel (as he seems to do every panel on which he appears) but I felt I managed to say a few things pertinent to the subject.
Other highlights of the convention included:
- Finally meeting Robert J. Defendi, whom I knew from the Codex forum.
- Hearing bestselling fantasy author L. E. Modesitt, Jr., refer to Jerry Pournelle’s work as “technoporn.” (Pournelle was not amused.)
- Serving on panels about Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and Writers of the Future.
- Finding out that the original story and screenplay one of my favorite movies of the past few years, Galaxy Quest, was written by LDS screenwriter David Howard.
- Being introduced to the science fiction humor webcomic Schlock Mercenary and its author, Howard Tayler.
- Getting autographed L. E. Modesitt books for my brother Michael, who is a big fan of his work.