Worldcon – LA Con V

There was a Worldcon. It was in Los Angeles so obviously I couldn’t go. But they did put a lot of effort into the virtual side of the event. Presumably they were well down on attendance because lots of other people don’t want to travel to the USA any more.

I was given two panels. The first was titled ‘Gods Did WHAT?!’ and was about creation stories from around the world. This one, I felt, did not go as well as it might have done. The object should have been to tell entertaining stories, not to talk about the stories from an academic point of view. Hopefully I was entertaining.

The other panel was titled ‘Lady Knights and Sword Lesbians’. This one was awesome. Valerie Valdes turned out to be a superb moderator, and the entire panel was on point with great stories and wonderful reading (and watching) recommendations.

I also watched two panels. The first was Ada Palmer talking about the latest research into Norse mythology. So Heimdahl is a tree. Who knew? I am very much looking forward to her Norse fantasy series, Hanged God’s Game, which I first heard about at Archipelacon 2. Sadly it is now scheduled for June 2027, so there is a long wait ahead of me.

The other one that I watched was about the Sauútiverse. This project continues to fascinate me as an exercise in collaborative worldbuilding.

And that was it. It is great that LA put so much effort into virtual programming, but I am finding that, unless I am actually on panels, I’m unlikely to follow many of them online. This is partly because I have been to so many conventions over the years that it is hard to find programme items that sound fresh and new. But it is also because when I am at home I have heaps of other things demanding my time. Had I been in LA, I would doubtless have spent a lot of time socialising. Kayla was there and apparently had a great time.

Still, Montréal next year. I plan on being at that one in person.