Profile: The Chair Entity

In light of the "Why SF?" article in the last issue of Wyrmtongue, I thought it would be interesting to consult the committtee on which particular area of the vast SF world they particularly enjoy. First up, as befits his position as most senior member of ICSF, is our illustrious Chair Entity, Jakob Whitfield, who took a momentary break from the rigours of running one of the most popular societies in IC to enlighten us unto his tastes...

Favourite book:

Though I'm mostly a fan of hard SF, I read 'The Lord of the Rings' before I ever read Science Fiction. For an epic tale with a truly immersive fantasy world, I have found no better. For great 'ideas' SF, I can recommend 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson and 'Neuromancer' by William Gibson.

Favourite film:

Although I'm not old enough to have seen it the first time round, my favourite film is probably 'The Empire Strikes Back'. The Star Wars Trilogy has always been a favourite of mine for its magic fantasy world and sheer sense of 'Boys Own' type adventure. I particularly love the darker feel of this movie, and of course the whizzy spaceships : ). Ridley Scott's movies have beautiful visuals, as does 2001 - but the trippy ambience is a little weird.

Favourite Author:

I like stories that consider new (imaginary) technology and its impact on society. This means that I'm a big fan of cyberpunk SF, so I would have to count William Gibson and Neal Stephenson among of my favourite authors. Peter F. Hamilton and Ken McCloud are probably my two favourite British SF authors for their visions of a future Britain that is almost completely different, yet still recognisable.

Favourite short story:

I actually got into SF through SF anthologies, and started on Asimov, Clarke and Heinlein. I've read and forgotten too many short stories to have a favourite, but one I read recently and enjoyed greatly was 'Great work of time' by John Crowley, though this may be considered a novella. Otherwise I recommend reading some 'best of' anthologies of the forties through the sixties, when more short stories seem to have been published due to the proliferation of SF/F magazines.