Convention Report: LTUE XXVI
Posted February 17th, 2008 by Howard TaylerThe full name of the event is Life, The Universe, and Everything: the Marion K. “Doc” Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy, but we just call it LTUE. This year was the twenty-sixth, and it was a much bigger, better event than any of the last four I’ve attended.
Kevin Wasden’s main address was about sketchbooks, and he did a good job of convincing me that I need to be carrying mine around with me everywhere. In that spirit, the illustration accompanying this blog post is something I doodled at the event.
Kevin has a page for his cause – go to www.up-art.com, and learn about his “give a kid a sketchbook” philosophy. Then, the next time you’re out, spend a couple of bucks and buy a sketchbook for a kid. Any kid. Seriously.
Orson Scott Card’s main address was fascinating. His topic was “Why so many fantasy and science-fiction authors are Mormons.” I can’t do the topic justice myself. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed the address, and am every bit as happy with my religion as I was before Card spoke.
I missed Gail Carson Levine’s address. On a happy note, I sold a lot of books and t-shirts. I shared a table with Brandon Sanderson and Bob Defendi, and while their business didn’t boom quite the way mine did, we ALL did much better than we have in years past.
My one gripe about the event… I went into it having shorted myself on sleep for two nights running. I was exhausted the whole time, and never really caught up. Sandra tells me that nobody else noticed, but I felt like I didn’t give ‘em my “A” game. This is a bad precedent to set with the first convention of my nine-month season, but I figure I’ll learn from it, and sleep well before the events that are coming.
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February 17th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I strongly suspect that Howard’s C game is everyone else’s A game.
And I hope someone recorded OSC’s talk. I would love to hear it.
February 17th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I saw cameras there. Not sure where we might find the recordings, though.
February 17th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Oh. Hmm. Maybe they’ll be available at http://www.ltue.org/deep_thoughts.html at some point.
February 17th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Maybe. It looks like they’re only NINE YEARS BEHIND RIGHT NOW.
February 17th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Not that Howard’s judging, or anything. :)
Howard, check yer in-box… :)
February 17th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Never mind… lol
February 17th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
So… Why are so many F&SF authors Mormons? Okay, you can’t do the topic justice yourself. Fine. Give us the gist, with a suitable disclaimer. I don’t want to wait nine years.
February 17th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Great. I lived in Utah for the past 5 years. I move and OSC comes to LTUE! Oh well.
February 17th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Well, my fav comic is Howard’s. And he’s a Mormon. My fav sf/fantasy author is L.E.Modesitt and he’s from Utah and he features some Mormon or Mormon-like culture in about 20% of his books. He’s probably not a Mormon himself as he blows up their entire solar system in one of his books…
So there’s something about that sf=mormon theory :-)
February 18th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Howard, you did remember to give Brandon his $20 right?
Now that it’s public, you sure better have.
As well, Maddie’s arm is in you in-box.
Picture, the PICTURE of her arm is in you in-box. I really should have had more sleep too. Oh well, to late to worry about it now, on to another week of delivering high explosives to those in need.
February 18th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Well, I don’t know what Card had to say this time, but in the past he wrote a whole series of novels that he said were loosely based on the sequence of events in the Book of Mormon. If I remember the author’s note correctly, he noticed that the Book of Mormon has a lot of the elements of the more exciting sorts of SF/F adventures (larger-than-life heros, despicable villains, epic quests, lost wisdom of the ancients, massive wars for the survival of civilization between the forces of Good and Evil, you name it), and so he finds it an excellent source of inspiration for his novels. After reading the Book of Mormon myself, I tend to agree.
Was that more or less the gist of his talk, or is there more to it?
February 18th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Okay, fine…
The short answer, the “quip” that fails to do the topic justice (and these are Card’s words) is that “Mormonism is a Science-Fiction religion.”
The longer answer, point by point, establishes the things that Mormonism (not just The Book of Mormon, mind you) have in common with good sci-fi. Here’s a short list:
1) Mormonism has an internally consistent mythology
2) Mormons like doing things for themselves
3) Mormons don’t believe things without asking for proof
4) Mormons believe that the universe is governed by laws, and that even God has to obey these laws.
5) Mormons believe that salvation is accompanied by a license to do some world-building.
The thing about this list, and about Card’s talk, is that it only makes sense if it’s being presented within the shared context of mormon beliefs. If you don’t believe, nor even understand some of these points, then the comparisons won’t work for you.
Card drove this home, pointing out that BYU’s SF symposium is pretty much the only place he could give this address. He can’t give it to a non-Mormon audience because they won’t get it, and he can’t give it from the pulpit in church because it’s not really content- or audience-appropriate as a sermon.
February 18th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Howard,
I was surfing along elsewhere, and caught Day By Day, with Zed wearing a familiar looking sweater http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/2008/02/18.
So that reminded me to get my butt over here to check things out. In case you don’t remember, I was the large, scruffy dude at MountainCon in September, introduced to you by Nathan Balyeat.
Anyhow, I think your summary above of Card’s talk is a riot. I take minor exception to #3 (proof? apparently y’all believe SOME things without proof…but all religions do so to properly call it a ‘faith’), and #5 about had me shooting beer out of my nose as I read it.
No, I’m not Mormon. I enjoy the culture, even if I scoff the doctrine…but I sure ‘got’ your summary well enough.
So, that said, I’ve heard that the original Battlestar Galactica was basically a Mormon-influenced sci-fi show. If that’s so, you MUST clue me in on all the new goodies on the new show, I can’t wait until March!
February 18th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
…as opposed to Scientology, which is a Bad Science-Fiction religion.
*ahem*
Doesn’t every religion claim that its mythology is internally consistent? Well, okay, maybe not Anglicanism. Okay, I’m done with cheap shots for now…
Points 2 to 5 are interesting. I think I’ll look into Mormonism sometime soonish…
Hey, how accurate is the South Park episode about Mormonism? I ask because it seems somewhat contrary to point 3 of that list.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Sam and bltdonahue… if I may repost…
The thing about this list, and about Card’s talk, is that it only makes sense if it’s being presented within the shared context of mormon beliefs. If you don’t believe, nor even understand some of these points, then the comparisons won’t work for you.
Thank you for proving that out, though you also succeeded in making me regret sharing something that wasn’t meant for this audience.
I don’t want to have a theological discussion here. It would be a little bit like writing a dissertation in order to explain a joke: far too much effort for a tiny payoff. Should you choose to investigate Mormonism in its own right, rather than in an effort to “get the joke,” the payoff is wonderful, and well worth whatever time you put into it. It is a faith that invites you to prove to yourself whether it works. I know that it does, and I also know that nobody should take my word (or anybody else’s) for it.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:22 am
I personally now REALLY wish I could have heard OSC talk. Not being Mormon, I still find his claim interesting, and not entirely impossible to believe… Of the good sci-fi writers I know of, several of them ARE mormon, and I can’t help but wonder now if David Webber is Mormon.
If so, I’d have to cede the point to OSC. :)
February 19th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Hey, I won’t be looking into it to get any joke—that would strike me as a stunningly bad investment of time—it’s just that some of the points in that list piqued my interest. All I know of Mormonism so far is the bits that have been parodied on South Park and John Safran vs God. But that list:
#1 is easy to write off as bias. Ho hum.
#2 and #3 likewise, *except* that at least they show you’ve got your heads on straight—some religions would write those off as hubris.
#4 and #5 are much more interesting. For starters, the accuracy of statements like those depends more on the speaker’s knowledge than on their impartiality. (i.e. How would a biased speaker know which way to spin it?)
#4 suggests to me that Mormonism may have a decent solution to various theological problems that make a lot of other religions ridiculous. (By the way, anyone who’s *certain* that their religion is one of those I’ve offended with that statement knows enough to have a crisis of faith. :-þ So there.)
#5 could be interpreted in a couple of ways, but either way it’s interesting.
So, Howard, don’t regret sharing that—it’s gotten me interested in Mormonism.
February 20th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Aaaghh! Darned Denvention! You’re coming to town but I don’t have $200 and four days to spare…