Ansible 230 [long]
David Langford
ANSIBLE 230
SEPTEMBER 2006
From DAVE LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5AU. Web
ansible.co.uk. Fax 0705 080 1534. ISSN 0265-9816 (print) 1740-942X
(online). Available for SAE or a tepid mouse/torpid moose.
[NET NOTE. See http://news.ansible.co.uk/a230.html for the nice HTML
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please don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]
L.A.CON IV. The 64th Worldcon was a success by all accounts, although
non-attending cheapskates like me grumbled at the decision not to update
the con website day by day with the usual newsletters, award results,
etc. One major surprise was that Denver won the 2008 site selection
(beating Chicago by 12 votes, with Columbus trailing), an event so
unexpected that `Denver Wins!' had been a droll headline in the
traditional hoax newsletter. [GS].
HUGO AWARDS. NOVEL Robert Charles Wilson, _Spin_ (wild rejoicing at
Tor Books).
NOVELLA Connie Willis, `Inside Job' (_Asimov's_ 1/05).
NOVELETTE Peter S. Beagle, `Two Hearts' (_F&SF_ 10/05).
SHORT David D. Levine,`Tk'tk'tk' (_Asimov's_ 3/05).
RELATED BOOK Kate Wilhelm, _Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More
from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers' Workshop_.
DRAMATIC, LONG _Serenity_.
DRAMATIC, SHORT _Doctor Who_: `The Empty Child' & `The Doctor
Dances'. PRO EDITOR David G. Hartwell (ecstasy at Tor).
PRO ARTIST Donato Giancola.
SEMIPROZINE _Locus_.
FANZINE _Plokta_.
FAN WRITER Dave Langford (blush).
FAN ARTIST Frank Wu.
JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD John Scalzi.
Special awards went to Betty Ballantine for life achievement, and
to Harlan Ellison for 50 years of publishing fiction. It was revealed
that Neil Gaiman's _Anansi Boys_ would have been shortlisted as best
novel had it not been withdrawn by Neil. _Geri Sullivan enthuses:_ `It's
a _beautiful_ Hugo base. 1920s art deco movie theatre theme. Supposedly
sturdy, though one broke pretty much as soon as the winner arrived at the
post-ceremony Hugo Nominees Reception hosted by Nippon 2007.' The Best
Editor rules change was agreed, splitting this Hugo into categories Long
(books) and Short (magazines, anthologies). A change to Best Artist,
requiring 3 or more specific items of artwork to be cited for each
nominee, awaits ratification in 2007.
The only attendance figure I've seen is `over 4000'.
For topical astronomical reasons, the convention ended with a Dead
Pluto Party.
### THE TOUCH OF YOUR HAND ###
BRIAN ALDISS brags: `I am to have a cameo role in a low-budget movie to
be shot in Kansas. It's the project of a wonderful guy I met in Neuchatel
last year, Kevin Wilmott.... Name of film: _Waiting for the Son_.'
_Later, 9 Sep:_ `This week five movie-makers flew over from the USA to
film me ... As the _Oxford Mail_ put it, above a large photo of me more
or less acting, AUTHOR WINS ROLE IN FILM. One section of the shoot was
staged in the Pegasus Theatre in Oxford, the other in my house here --
which is great because it immediately puts the value of the property up.'
DAVID BRADLEY, _SFX_ editor, will be on sabbatical until 2 Jan 2007.
Lucky sod. Meanwhile, former editor Dave Golder is minding the shop.
HARLAN ELLISON caused his customary stir at L.A.con by publicly groping
GoH Connie Willis's breast during the Hugos. She seemed unruffled -- the
show must go on -- but at the closing ceremony said something very like:
`If someone wants to start a petition for Harlan Ellison to keep his
fucking hands off of me, I'd be willing to sign it!' Much post-worldcon
gossip ensued, with Willis wisely keeping silent while Ellison
successively issued a not-quite-apology; railed against fan `maggots' who
had dared to comment; announced that the much-filmed incident never
happened; and eventually appeared to blame Connie Willis. Oh dear.
HENRY GEE of _Nature_ begs for the deluge to end: `_Nature_ has received
quite a few excellent contributions to Futures, its award-winning series
of SF short-shorts. However, the End of Eternity is upon us. The End, not
to put too fine a point on it, is Nigh. The Veil of the Temple is Rent
in Twain. I now have enough copy to fill the column until its end on 21
December, and -- sadly -- I shall not be able to consider any more. There
is a faint hint of a whisper of a possibility of its continuation or
resurrection in some other guise, but that particular wave function has
yet to collapse definitively, one way or the other.'
WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON of _House on the Borderland_ fame won the 2006
Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award, announced in July.
MIKE MOORCOCK mysteriously alludes to: `Jo Fletcher telling people on
radio that it was all pulp crap during the 1960s and then someone or
other came along to change all that? I forget the exact understanding of
the Great Darkness when hacks like Fritz Leiber, Ray Bradbury or Brian
Aldiss were filling the pulps with their lurid muck....' Onward to _The
Last Dangerous Moorcocks_: `Looks like _Moorcock's Miscellany_, which had
become a nightmare of misunderstandings, won't be appearing, though
authors who got paid will stay paid, as will John Coulthart, who was paid
to design a book whose designs they scrapped early on. Last time I get
involved in an anthology I haven't thought of myself. Maybe I could do
a _Best of New Worlds If New Worlds Was Still Running_ anthology, which
would include all the good stories around that aren't seeing the light
of day or only getting a glimpse at it as PODs.'
WILLIAM SHATNER, offered a free Virgin Galactic space trip in 2008
(normal cost Pounds114,000), decided that discretion was the better part
of boldly going: `to vomit in space is not my idea of a good time.' But
Sigourney Weaver is made of sterner stuff and plans to be aboard. [R]
### CONZIEU ###
9-13 Sep [] SPACE SOON: ART & HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT, Roundhouse, Chalk Farm
Rd, London, NW1. Exhibition 12-6pm, free. Entrance-fee events daily: see
www.artscatalyst.org. Box office 0870 389 1846.
27 Sep [] BSFA OPEN MEETING, The Star pub, West Halkin Mews, London, SW1.
6pm on; fans present from 5pm. With Judith Clute.
22-24 Sep [] FANTASYCON 2006, Britannia Hotel, 1 St James Street,
Nottingham. Pounds55 reg; BFS members Pounds50. Day rate for Saturday
only: Pounds20. Contact (SAE) Beech House, Chapel Lane, Moulton,
Cheshire, CW9 8PQ. Main hotel fully booked; overflow rooms available.
28 Sep [] TERRY PRATCHETT in conversation with Sarah LeFanu, Logan Hall,
Inst of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL. 7pm. Tickets
Pounds7, concessions Pounds5. Bookings (Mon-Fri) 0845 456 9876.
23-25 Feb 07 [] REDEMPTION 07 (_B7_/_B5_), Hinckley Island Hotel, Leics.
Now Pounds55 reg; Pounds60 at door. Day: Pounds35, Pounds40 at door.
Under 18s Pounds15; day Pounds10. Contact 26 Kings Meadow View, Wetherby,
LS22 7FX.
10-11 Mar 07 [] P-CON 4, Wynn's Hotel, Dublin. GoH Kim Newman. Euro25/
Pounds15 reg. Contact c/o Yellow Brick Rd, 8 Bachelor's Walk, Dublin 8,
Ireland; UK c/o Dave Lally, 64 Richborne Terrace, London, SW8 1AX.
10-12 Aug 07 [] RECOMBINATION/HARMUNI III (Unicon 21/RPG/filk), New Hall,
Cambridge. Guests Jo Walton, Ian Watson, Chris Pramas, Frankin
Gunkelmann. _Now Pounds24 reg_, rising again `some time in 2007'. Contact
155 Gilbert Road, Cambridge, CB4 3PA.
30 Aug - 3 Sep 07 [] NIPPON 2007 (65th Worldcon), Yokohama, Japan.
_Sterling rates:_ Pounds115 reg/Pounds27 supp, Pounds87/Pounds20 age 13-
19; Pounds42 7-12. Contact (UK) 68 Crichton Avenue, York, YO30 6EE; 07815
767273.
6-10 Aug 08 [] DENVENTION 3 (66th Worldcon), Denver, CO, USA. GoH Lois
McMaster Bujold, Tom Whitmore. $130 reg; site selection voters $80;
presupporters $100; presupp+vote $60. Address TBA.
_Rumblings_ [] CONVOY, the 2007 Liverpool Eastercon, _may_ be cancelled
after another Adelphi Hotel security scare (largely a matter of local
politics, says chairman Tim Kirk). Both hotel reassurances and more paid
memberships are needed to make Convoy workable. Pounds55 to 81 Western
Rd, London, E13 9JE. Full refunds if they do cancel.
### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###
AS OTHERS SEE US. Russell T Davies congratulates himself on resisting the
fatal temptation to commit sci-fi: `I've always got a much more
complicated, science-fictiony version of each episode in mind, and I
always filter that out, and go for the more straightforward version --
the more emotional, honest version. For example, there was a great,
complicated version of "Tooth and Claw" in my mind where, at the end of
the episode, Queen Victoria is killed, and that creates the parallel
universe which becomes the world of "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age
of Steel". It would have been the most brilliant ending, because the
Doctor and Rose would have stood there and gone "That's not supposed to
happen!" But it's very subscription channel, cult audience, male sci-fi.
It's a brilliant moment, but its legacy is too complicated, and too dark
in a boring way.' (_Doctor Who Magazine_ #373) [PC]
R.I.P. _Mike Damesick_ (1949-2006), UK fan and con-goer who had been a
stalwart of the Oxford University SF Group and more recently the Brum
Group, was found dead in his Birmingham flat in early August. Many fans
attended his funeral on 10 August. Dermot Dobson adds: `the vicar
insisted on using SciFi all the time and thought a lightyear was a
measure of time -- ah well....'
_Philip E. High_ (1914-2006), UK sf author who wrote for _Nebula_
and the Carnell-era _New Worlds_, and published 14 sf novels in the 60s
and 70s, died on 9 August. He was 92, but as recently as 2004 had
published a book of new short stories, _A Step to the Stars_.
_Martin Last_ (1929-2006), writer and book dealer who with Baird
Searles ran the New York City SF Bookshop 1973-1986, died on 6 July aged
76.
_Bob Leman_ (1922-2006), long-time US fan admired for his 1950s/60s
fanzine _The Vinegar Worm_ and for a number of short stories eventually
collected as _Feesters in the Lake_ (2002), died on 6 August.
_John Miesel_ (1941-2006), US fan and husband of author/fan Sandra
Miesel, died on 30 August.
_Michael Simanoff_ (1975-2006), US fan, died unexpectedly on the
weekend of August 13. Luis Rodrigues writes: `He was an editor (Ministry
of Whimsy Press, Prime Books, my own _Fantastic Metropolis_), reviewer
(_NYRSF_, _Strange Horizons_, others) and occasional story writer (in
_Electric Velocipede_ and _Revolution SF_).'
_Stargate SG-1_ was rewarded for reaching 200 episodes with a Sci-Fi
Channel decree that the series (launched 1997) is to be cancelled. [SFS]
_Joseph Stefano_ (1922-2006), US screenwriter who wrote _Psycho_
(1960, 1998) and several 1960s _Outer Limits_ episodes, died on 25 August
aged 84. [GW]
_Hirotaka Suzuoki_ (1950-2006), voice actor in many, many anime
films, notably _Ranma 1/2_, _Dragonball Z_, and various incarnations of
_Gundam_, died on 6 August from lung cancer. He was 56. [PM]
_Bertie van Asseldonk_, Netherlands fan active for over 20 years,
died from Hodgkin's lymphoma on 25 June; he was only 40. His wife Chuqing
Chen says he wanted his sf collection donated to a suitable library. [VD]
_Helen Wesson_ (?1922-2006), long-time US APA fan active since 1938
and with FAPA membership dating from 1946, died on 7 September. [RL]
AS OTHERS SEE US II. _John Joseph Adams_ writes: `I called CBS to request
an advance screener copy of their new TV show, _Jericho_, which is a
post-apocalyptic family drama sort of thing. When I explained that I'd
be reviewing the show for an SF magazine ... _Publicist:_ "Oh, but the
show's not science fiction." _Me:_ "Isn't it post-apocalyptic?"
_Publicist:_ "Yes, but it's based on events that could actually happen."'
MORE L.A.CON AWARDS. _Big Heart:_ this, now renamed the Forrest Ackerman
Big Heart Award, was presented to Forrest J. Ackerman.
_First Fandom:_ Joe Hensley.
_Prometheus:_ Ken MacLeod, _Learning the World_ (novel); Alan Moore
& David Lloyd, _V for Vendetta_ (classic); _Serenity_ (special).
_Sidewise:_ Ian R. MacLeod, _The Summer Isles_ (long); Lois Tilton,
`Pericles the Tyrant' (short; _Asimov's_ 10/05).
RANDOM FANDOM. _Bridget Bradshaw_ sent a TAFF postcard: `I'm having a
great time in Madison, home to shops with signs like "Fruit Cheese
Spirits Bakery". I suppose they sell pastries filled with alcoholic lemon
curd (the closest I can think of to fruit cheese).' [29 Aug]
_Martin Easterbrook_ had a successful heart bypass op on 21 August
and is now recovering at home. [MA]
_Victor Gonzalez_ (of Trufen.net) and _Tamara Menteer_ were married
in Washington State on 19 August.
BAD GUYS. The all-time top ten literary villains, voted on by 16,000 UK
children: 1 Lord Voldemort (Rowling), 2 Sauron (Tolkien), 3 Mrs Coulter
(Pullman), 4 Lex Luthor (DC), 5 The Joker (DC), 6 Count Olaf (Snicket),
7 The Other Mother (_Coraline_/Gaiman), 8 The White Witch, (Lewis), 9
Dracula (Stoker), 10 Artemis Fowl (Colfer). The poll was conducted by
those disinterested publishers, Bloomsbury; the only non-fantasy
finalists were Prof. Moriarty (12) and Heathcliff (16). [PDF]
BRITISH FANTASY AWARDS novel shortlist: Ramsey Campbell, _Secret
Stories_; Mark Chadbourn, _The Hounds Of Avalon_; Hal Duncan, _Vellum:
The Book Of All Hours 1_; Neil Gaiman, _Anansi Boys_; George R.R. Martin,
_A Feast For Crows_; Mark Morris, _Nowhere Near an Angel_.
C.O.A. _James Bacon & Simone van Zyl_, 55 Cromwell Rd, Croydon, CR0 2JZ.
_Paul Thompson_, Paasberglaan 5, 6824 PV Arnhem, Netherlands. _Eva
Whitley_, 6316 Cross Ivy Rd, Elkridge, MD 21075.
THOG'S CRITICAL IMPARTIALITY MASTERCLASS. `_Dune_ is the best-selling and
most beloved science fiction novel of all time.' (Brian Herbert & Kevin
Anderson, in the introduction to their _Hunters of Dune_) [PDF]
OUTRAGED LETTERS. _Brian Aldiss_ on _A229_: `I can assure Diana [Wynne
Jones] that Philip Pullman is very much alive and kicking, enjoying, as
he deserves to do, the usual round of summer parties.'
_Richard E. Geis:_ `Thanks once again for _Ansible_. A joy as usual.
I am more and more enjoying the obits, smirking as I note each oldtime
fan I've outlived. Such pleasures are reserved for the aged.'
_Margaret Hoyt_ on Michael Gove MP (see _A229_): `As someone who has
been a woman all her life, or at least the grown-up parts of it, I would
like to tell Mr Gove that seeing a male person reading a science
fiction/fantasy novel (except something by Robert Jordan) would cause me
to think, "Oh good, someone I can talk to." On the other hand, sitting
in an airline seat next to someone reading, say, Philip Roth, I would
have the thought, "Deeply boring, no taste, possibly a politician."'
_Steve Jones_ responds to Jeff VanderMeer's _A229_ comments on that
open letter protesting omission of anthologies from the International
Horror Guild awards shortlist: `In fact, just one person asked to have
their name taken off the open letter after it was released ... and five
more (including Nancy A. Collins -- the founder of the IHG Award!) asked
to have their names added. I also note that, yet again, Jeff fails to
reveal that his wife is one of this year's IHG judges under her maiden
name.'
_Jennie Kermode_ sent happy Aldiss news on 26 August: `_Brothers of
the Head_ has just won the Michael Powell Award for Best New British
Feature at the Edinburgh Film Festival. This is extremely unusual for a
genre film and will almost certainly assure proper nationwide
distribution.'
_David Parsonage_ found that Thog.org.uk belongs to the Tower
Hamlets Opportunity Group. Enraged at becoming a mere acronym, Thog
demanded that I instantly register Thog.org for his very own.
MYTHOPOEIC AWARDS. ADULT Neil Gaiman, _Anansi Boys_.
CHILDREN Jonathan Stroud, `The Bartimaeus Trilogy' (_The Amulet of
Samarkand_, _The Golem's Eye_, _Ptolemy's Gate_).
SCHOLARSHIP: INKLINGS Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, _The
Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion_.
SCHOLARSHIP: GENERAL Jennifer Schacker, _National Dreams: The
Remaking of Fairy Tales in Nineteenth-Century England_.
AS OTHERS SEE US III. The anonymous _Dig_ rant `Chick Lit is Hurting
America' deftly puts sf in its place: `Beyond adding to the cultural
cesspool, what's dangerous about chick lit is that it fills trade slots
at publishing companies that used to be given to literary fiction. Unlike
romance or sci-fi, chick lit is a genre that is in direct competition
with literature because of its price point and packaging.' (29 Aug) [PDF]
FANFUNDERY. _TAFF Nominations:_ the 2007 race deadline has been extended
to 30 September 2006. Should Eastercon be cancelled (see events list
`Rumblings') the TAFF trip may be delayed until later in 2007. Official
release at taff.org.uk.
_Two One-Off Funds._ Harry Bell to Corflu 2007: fine t-shirts for
sale, and a planned `fanarthology'. Contact Rob Jackson, Chinthay,
Nightingale Ln, Hambrook, nr Chichester, PO18 8UH; jacksonshambrook at
tiscali co uk. USA: Rich Coad, richcoad at comcast.net.
John Hertz to Nippon 2007: sjhtn2007.livejournal.com.
LATE NEWS. In June it emerged that a Jim Grimsley story purchased by
_Asimov's_ editor Sheila Williams -- contract signed, proofs printed --
was vetoed by the magazine's owner. Why? Because the story discussed,
though of course did not advocate, child abuse. Thoughtcrime! [PDF]
THE DEAD PAST. _30 Years Ago_, Peter Roberts reclaimed his UK sf
newsletter: `Alerted by strange signs in the heavens and unnatural noises
in the wardrobe, former CP editor Peter Roberts was able to unmask Ian
Maule's miserable scheme to turn _Checkpoint_ into an annual one-page
listing of recent Perry Rhodan reprints.' (_CP74_, Sep 1976)
HIDEOUS GAFFES. _A229:_ My note on the soon-to-fold _Emerald City_ had
it shortlisted for the fanzine rather than semiprozine Hugo. Oops.
_A230:_ sorry this issue is later than usual. Too many distractions....
THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Classic Spung! Dept._ `His fingers enveloped the
fullness of her breasts quite as a boy grasps soap-bubbles and marvels
at their intact resistance.' (Maxwell Bodenheim, _Replenishing Jessica_,
1925) [SJP]
_Dept of Other-Dimensional Cubes._ [A big cube has the Vitruvian Man
engraved on just one face:] `It just sat there, revolving slowly on the
turntable, presenting five blank faces and then the da Vinci design.'
(Alastair Reynolds, _Pushing Ice_, 2005) [JT]
_True Grit Dept._ `The first thing he was aware of was a sensation
of smooth, yielding grittiness.' (Karl Zeigfreid [Lionel Fanthorpe], _No
Way Back_, 1968 -- opening line) [PL]
_Unorthodox Chess Dept._ `"... Listen, rook to bishop nine. Check
it out. Think I've got you, you bastard." [...] Chris studied the board
for a moment, moved the piece and felt a tiny fragment of something
detach from his heart and drop into his guts.' (Richard Morgan, _Market
Forces_, 2004) [AC]
_Dept of Thermal Printing._ `... letting her suddenly erect nipple
write a line of fire across his palm.' (Jon Courtenay Grimwood,
_Pashazade_, 2001) [DL]
_Bogey Dept._ `Perry felt his jaw muscle tighten until hard lumps
and an acrid smell came into his nostrils' (Robert A. Heinlein, _For Us,
the Living_, written 1938/9) [TW]
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CONVENTION LONGLIST
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London meetings -- http://news.ansible.co.uk/london.html
Overseas -- http://news.ansible.co.uk/conlisti.html
[] 2006
9-13 Sep 06, Space Soon: Art & Human Spaceflight, London
22-24 Sep 06, Fantasycon 2006, Nottingham
15-16 Oct 06, Octocon, Maynooth, Ireland
20-23 Oct 06, Cult TV 2006, Great Yarmouth
10-12 Nov 06, Armadacon 18, Plymouth
10-12 Nov 06, Novacon 36, Walsall
[] 2007
?? Feb 07, Picocon 24, London
2-4 Feb 07, D'Zenove Convention (filk), Basingstoke
23-25 Feb 07, Redemption (multimedia SF), Hinckley, Leics
10-11 Mar 07, P-Con 4, Dublin
6-9 Apr 07, Convoy (Eastercon), Liverpool
25-27 May 07, Confounding Tales! (crime/sf/horror pulp), Glasgow
20-22 Jul 07,Year of the Teledu, Leicester
10-12 Aug 07, Recombination/HarmUni III (Unicon/RPG/filk), Cambridge
30 Aug - 3 Sep 07, Nippon 2007 (Worldcon), Yokohama, Japan
21-23 Sep 07, Eurocon 2007, Copenhagen, Denmark
2-4 Nov 07, Novacon 37, Walsall
[] 2008
21-24 Mar 08, Orbital (Eastercon), Heathrow
Spring 08, Distraction, Newbury
6-10 Aug 08, Denvention 3 (Worldcon), Denver, USA
### ENDNOTES ###
APPARITIONS. [] 15-26 September: Raymond E. Feist UK promotional tour.
[] 6 October: Jim Burns talks to the Brum Group at the usual venue --
Britannia Hotel, New St, Birmingham. 7.30pm for 8pm. Pounds3 members,
Pounds 4 non-members.
RANDOM LINKS. Rather than save them up for _Ansible_ each month, I now
add topical links to a sidebar column on the links page:
http://news.ansible.co.uk/ansilink.html
PAYPAL DONATION. Support _Ansible_ and keep the editor happy! Or just
buy his books ...
http://ansible.co.uk/paypal.html
http://ansible.co.uk/biblio.html
http://ansible.co.uk/books/sexcol.html
OPERATION BUGHOUSE. A bug on the Redemption website which prevented
online booking by credit card has been fixed. Judith Proctor writes:
`If anyone tried to book and failed, if they try again it should now
work. In an effort to encourage people to report bugs rather than just
giving up and going away, I faithfully promise to buy a pint for
anyone who tries to book a membership and fails and TELLS me about the
problem.'
http://www.smof.com/redemption/
FESTIVAL OF FANTASTIC FILMS. _Steve Green_ reports: `Despite the
traditional 11th-hour reshuffle of its guestlist and an airline's
temporary mislaying of actor-director Crispin Glover's luggage
(including the movie he was premiering), the 17th Festival of
Fantastic Films proved another hit for fans of the bizarre, obscure
and downright weird in international cinema. The annual awards for
best independent feature and short movie went, respectively, to Paulo
Sedazzali's thriller _The Toybox_ and Mike Flanagan's nightmarish
_Oculus_, whilst Karl Holt's hilarious horror comedy _Eddie Loves You_
received the Delta Award after the closest race ever for best amateur
entry. The re-enthused organisers have already booked Manchester's
Days Hotel for the 18th Festival (31 August - 2 September 2007), when
it's hoped Italian director Lamberto Bava will finally top the bill
after this year's unavoidable raincheck.'
BRITISH FANTASY AWARDS. Oh, all right, here are the remaining
categories that I didn't have room for up there in the bit that gets
printed. Winners will be announced at Fantasycon this month.
[] NOVELLA Guy Adams, `Deadbeat' (_Humdrumming_); Jeffrey Ford, _The
Cosmology of the Wider World_; Joe Hill, _Voluntary Committal_; Paul
Kane,_ Signs of Life_; Paul Meloy, `Dying In The Arms Of Jean Harlow
(The Coming Of The Autoscopes)' (_The Third Alternative_ #42); Sean
Wright, _Dark Tales of Space and Time_; Stuart Young, `The Mask Behind
the Face' (_The Mask Behind the Face & Other Stories_).
[] ANTHOLOGY; Allen Ashley, _The Elastic Book Of Numbers_; Peter
Crowther, _Fourbodings_; Gary Fry, _Poe's Progeny_; Stephen Jones,
_The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 16_; Stephen Jones, _Don't Turn
Out the Light_.
[] COLLECTION Leigh Brackett, _Sea-Kings of Mars & Other Worldly
Stories_; Simon Clark, _Hotel Midnight_; Joe Hill, _20th Century
Ghosts_; Andrew Hook, _Beyond Each Blue Horizon_; Tim Lees, _The Life
To Come_; Stuart Young, _The Mask Behind the Face and Other Stories_.
[] SHORT FICTION Ramsey Campbell, `Just Behind You' (_Poe's Progeny_);
Joe Hill, `Best New Horror' (_Postscripts_ #3 & _20th Century
Ghosts_); Paul Kane, `Homeland' (_Assembly of Rogues_); John Lucas,
`Approaching Zero' (_The Elastic Book of Numbers_); Will McIntosh,
`Soft Apocalypse' (_Interzone_ #200); Marie O'Regan, `Can You See Me?'
(_Midnight Street_ #5); Sean Wright, `The Numberist' (_New Wave
Speculative Fiction_).
[] ARTIST Clive Barker, Randy Broecker, Les Edwards, Dominic Harman,
Richard Marchand, Robert Sammelin.
[] SMALL PRESS Andy Cox, TTA Press; Peter Crowther, PS Publishing;
Andrew Hook, Elastic Press; D.F. Lewis, _Nemonymous_; Christopher
Teague, Pendragon Press.
CULTURAL PENETRATION. _Captain Scarlet lives!_ Moshe Feder notes
another `example of SF turning up in unexpected places. La Cie has
just introduced a new portable hard drive called the La Cie Rugged
Hard Drive. The designer says its appearance was inspired by a
favorite British SF TV show of his youth.' See URL:
http://www.lacie.com/company/news/news.htm?id=10265
_CHECKPOINT_. The complete 1970s run of Peter Roberts's UK sf
newsletter is now archived on line. Peter Sullivan, who has
transcribed no fewer than 34 issues, filled the last gap in
_Checkpoint_'s second series on 7 September. Look on his works, ye
mighty, and despair.
http://checkpoint.ansible.co.uk/
Ansible 229 Copyright (c) Dave Langford, 2006. Thanks to Margaret
Austin, Alexander Campbell, Paul Cockburn, Paul Di Filippo, Vince
Docherty, Peta Lee, Robert Lichtman, Dave Linton, Petrea Mitchell,
S.J. Perelman, The Register, SF Site, John Toon, Tanaqui Weaver, Gary
Wilkinson, and our Hero Distributors: Rog Peyton (BGN), Janice Murray
(NA), SCIS, and Alan Stewart (Aus). Extra Hugo thanks to Bridget
Bradshaw, Martin Hoare & Geri Sullivan.
10 Sep 06
--
David Langford | http://ansible.co.uk/
Latest nonfiction: =The SEX Column and other misprints= (Cosmos, 2005)
Latest fiction: =Different Kinds of Darkness= (Cosmos, 2004)
Dan Kimmel
"David Langford" <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ki08g293ouomuelka...@4ax.com...
>
> ANSIBLE 230
> SEPTEMBER 2006
>
> L.A.CON IV. The 64th Worldcon was a success by all accounts, although
> non-attending cheapskates like me grumbled at the decision not to update
> the con website day by day with the usual newsletters, award results,
> etc. One major surprise was that Denver won the 2008 site selection
> (beating Chicago by 12 votes, with Columbus trailing), an event so
> unexpected that `Denver Wins!' had been a droll headline in the
> traditional hoax newsletter. [GS].
Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought this was an unexpected turn of
events. :)
Keith Stokes
wrote:
> The only attendance figure I've seen is `over 4000'.
The following info (attributed to the Chairman) was distributed a few
days ago:
Here are the final numbers - give or take 1 or 2 - for LACON
6832 total membership
5913 warm bodies
919 no show
418 of the warm bodies were tasters
Tim McDaniel
David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:
> _Dept of Other-Dimensional Cubes._ [A big cube has the Vitruvian
>Man engraved on just one face:] `It just sat there, revolving slowly
>on the turntable, presenting five blank faces and then the da Vinci
>design.' (Alastair Reynolds, _Pushing Ice_, 2005) [JT]
If the cube is balanced on one of its eight points (glued or otherwise
affixed firmly), or on one of its twelve edges, then all six faces
indeed rotate into view in turn. Mind you, I'm not sure I'd use the
word "sat" if it's not resting on one of the faces.
--
Tim McDaniel; Reply-To: tm...@panix.com
Marilee J. Layman
wrote:
> _Dept of Other-Dimensional Cubes._ [A big cube has the Vitruvian Man
>engraved on just one face:] `It just sat there, revolving slowly on the
>turntable, presenting five blank faces and then the da Vinci design.'
>(Alastair Reynolds, _Pushing Ice_, 2005) [JT]
Maybe it was en pointe.
--
Marilee J. Layman
http://mjlayman.livejournal.com/
Dan Kimmel
"David Langford" <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ki08g293ouomuelka...@4ax.com...
>
> ANSIBLE 230
> SEPTEMBER 2006
`As someone who has
> been a woman all her life, or at least the grown-up parts of it, I would
> like to tell Mr Gove that seeing a male person reading a science
> fiction/fantasy novel (except something by Robert Jordan) would cause me
> to think, "Oh good, someone I can talk to." On the other hand, sitting
> in an airline seat next to someone reading, say, Philip Roth, I would
> have the thought, "Deeply boring, no taste, possibly a politician."'
Whereas I would assume someone who made such a remark about Philip Roth was
a philistine and possibly illiterate, certainly not very well-read.
It's one thing to dismiss general commercial fiction, but Roth is one of the
finest American writers of his generation, and certainly one of the greatest
writers in the English language today. Indeed, were I to see someone
reading a Roth novel, I would assume they had excellent taste, were quite
intelligent, and were quite possibly a fellow fan, as Roth has dabbled in SF
at least twice with "The Breast" and "The Plot Against America."
Now if Ms. Hoyt had said John Grisham she'd get no argument from me.
Chris Croughton
I don't know Mr. Roth (but perhaps from your description I should seek
to remedy that), but these days I would be impressed if I saw them
reading anything at all beyond a newspaper. I don't even dismiss the
Harlequin / Mills&Boone 'romances', at least they are reading for
pleasure and that is something to be encouraged. Knowing nothing of
their tastes I cannot judge whether a book they are reading reflects
their intellectual habits or what they do to unwind, not everyone
considers Korzybski or Knuth to be "light reading"...
There are certainly enough 'light' writers in the SF genre that it ill
behoves us to throw stones at others whose taste is different. Even if
they do like Robert Jordan or John Norman or Agatha Christie...
"I like Bach, you like Wagner, he likes Gershwin; I have good taste, you
are deluded, he is a fool." Conjugate with appropriate examples. De
gustibus nil disputandem est.
Chris C
Dan Kimmel
"Chris Croughton" <ch...@keristor.net> wrote in message
news:slrneh8h5m...@ccserver.keris.net...
I don't disagree. I was defending Roth against a slight that exhibited
utter ignorance of the author.
Reading is good. Hopefully the more one reads the more one will be inclined
to read good writers. But reading is definitely better than not reading.
Keith F. Lynch
> I don't know Mr. Roth (but perhaps from your description I should
> seek to remedy that), but these days I would be impressed if I saw
> them reading anything at all beyond a newspaper.
On the trans-continental train to the '02 Worldcon, I set down my book
and went to the observation car for a while. When I returned to my
seat, a woman was sitting in the adjacent seat. When she saw me, she
said she had thought I was a woman. I told her that was the first
time I had ever been mistaken for female. She said she meant because
of my choice of reading material.
It was _The Medusa and the Snail_ by Lewis Thomas.
(Newsgroups restored to include rasff, as I am not a UK fan.)
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.