Helix #2
Damien Neil
frank, the first issue left me cold. I'm pleased to report that I found
almost half the stories worth the reading this time.
The jewel of the piece is Peg Robinson's "Tonino and the Incubus", a
glorious story of love, gods, gigolos, priests, and miracles. Go read
it, now. I'll wait. It's right here:
<http://www.helixsf.com/fiction/Q2_robinson_tonino.htm>
As for the rest.
"Put Up Your Hands", by Terry Bisson exemplifies what I disliked about
the first issue of Helix. This didactic little piece has a Message, and
it isn't shy about letting you know about it. Hip-hop culture? It's
bad. And there, I've just saved you the time of reading the story,
because there isn't much else there. We get a brief lecture on the ills
of hip-hop, the role of The Man in perpetrating it, and occasional
interjections from Colonel Sanders. (This *is* Bisson, and his
trademark touch of surrealism is executed with his usual deftness.)
"Forward", by Doranna Durgin, is a by-the-numbers story-with-a-twist,
and a Message of its own. Reading, it seems, is a useful skill.
Goodness. Who could have imagined?
And now for a brief digression. What, exactly, is the point of these
blunt objects of fiction, these thudding lumps that make no point,
convey no interesting message, and insult the reader? Helix's first
issue brought us "After the Protocols", in which the Jews triumphantly
pack up their bags and depart the universe, which now bereft of their
guiding light promptly collapses into a hellish pit of war and
starvation. (You might think that I'm distorting or exaggerating the
contents of this story. I'm not.) "Mahmoud's Wives", in which
space-Muslims have taken to cutting off their womenfolk's legs. "Going
to See the Beast", where George W. Bush is the Antichrist.
I'm not objecting to the overall message present in these stories. I
don't care much for President Bush, I don't approve of Islam's history
of female repression, and while I'd like to think that us goyim aren't
the rabid maniacs that appear in "After the Protocols", I agree that
antisemitism is a bad thing.
The problem is that these are works without anything *interesting* to
say. Cutting off your little girl's legs is a Bad Idea. I agree!
Hell, I'm pretty certain that if you polled Afghani men, they'd all
agree too. What statement of interest is being made by writing a story
whose only purpose is to portray Islam with the female-repression dial
turned up to eleven? This is the literary equivalent of bathroom-wall
scribbles depicting the captain of the football team being buggered by
the coach.
On that note, I turn back to Melanie Fletcher's "The Padre, the Rabbi,
and the Devil His Own Self". A rabbi and a Catholic priest are
kidnapped by rednecks in need of an emergency exorcism. Along the way,
they find themselves butting heads with a slimy televangelist. Under
other circumstances, I'd probably be inclined to call this a reasonably
amusing bit of light entertainment. As it is, the sour taste left by
the above stories leaves me with no taste for the comedic depiction of
back-country hicks straight out of "Deliverance". I fail to revel in
the gleefully-depicted downfall of the televangelist.
"Real North", by Jay Lake, is a welcome change. Unfortunately, it's
also rather slight. I honestly can't think of anything to say about it,
except that it was unoffensive.
"Port Custodial Blues", by Vera Nazarian, is where Helix #2 turns the
corner. This is the stuff that doesn't get written often enough these
days: Unabashedly science fictional and cheerfully unpretentious.
Through the the narrator we get a janitor's-eye view of life (and
excretion) in a multi-species spaceport. Varied alien species make
their appearance and use the toilets. In the background, a minor drama
involving smuggled info-chips plays out. This isn't spectacular SF, but
it's solid, entertaining, and doesn't overstay its welcome.
"Captive Girl", by Jennifer Pelland, is an ugly, ugly story. Alice is a
young woman, crippled by extensive cybernetic modification. Marika is
her lover, with a deeply creepy attraction for Alice's deformity and
helplessness. Pelland unflinchingly explores their relationship. There
is no Message here, no easy answer or clear villain. I was left
uncomfortable and disturbed.
And finally, there is "Tonino and the Incubus". You've read it, right?
- Damien
Lawrence Watt-Evans
<neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
>The jewel of the piece is Peg Robinson's "Tonino and the Incubus", a
>glorious story of love, gods, gigolos, priests, and miracles. Go read
>it, now. I'll wait. It's right here:
>
> <http://www.helixsf.com/fiction/Q2_robinson_tonino.htm>
>
>And finally, there is "Tonino and the Incubus". You've read it, right?
And sent us money so that we can pay Peg a tiny fraction of what she
deserves for it?
--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com
The second issue of Helix is at http://www.helixsf.com
A new Ethshar novel is being serialized at http://www.ethshar.com/thevondishambassador1.html
Frank Mayhar
> On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:06:21 -0700, Damien Neil
> <neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
>
>>The jewel of the piece is Peg Robinson's "Tonino and the Incubus", a
>>glorious story of love, gods, gigolos, priests, and miracles. Go read
>>it, now. I'll wait. It's right here:
>>
>> <http://www.helixsf.com/fiction/Q2_robinson_tonino.htm>
>>
>>And finally, there is "Tonino and the Incubus". You've read it, right?
>
> And sent us money so that we can pay Peg a tiny fraction of what she
> deserves for it?
Yep. To both questions.
(Was anyone else somewhat reminded of some of Zelazny's work while reading
that story?)
--
Frank Mayhar fr...@exit.com http://www.exit.com/
Exit Consulting http://www.gpsclock.com/
http://www.exit.com/blog/frank/
Lawrence Watt-Evans
wrote:
>On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 01:18:08 -0400, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:06:21 -0700, Damien Neil
>> <neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
>>
>>>The jewel of the piece is Peg Robinson's "Tonino and the Incubus", a
>>>glorious story of love, gods, gigolos, priests, and miracles. Go read
>>>it, now. I'll wait. It's right here:
>>>
>>> <http://www.helixsf.com/fiction/Q2_robinson_tonino.htm>
>>>
>>>And finally, there is "Tonino and the Incubus". You've read it, right?
>>
>> And sent us money so that we can pay Peg a tiny fraction of what she
>> deserves for it?
>
>Yep. To both questions.
Thank you.
>(Was anyone else somewhat reminded of some of Zelazny's work while reading
>that story?)
I hadn't consciously made the connection, but yeah, there's definitely
a resemblance.
Damien Neil
> On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:06:21 -0700, Damien Neil
> <neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
> >And finally, there is "Tonino and the Incubus". You've read it, right?
>
> And sent us money so that we can pay Peg a tiny fraction of what she
> deserves for it?
I just made a donation. I'd like to note that "Tonino" is entirely
responsible for it, while the responses to Rebecca Rice's letter to the
editor damned near convinced me that Helix would never see a penny of my
money.
- Damien
Damien Neil
> > Damien Neil:
> >>And finally, there is "Tonino and the Incubus". You've read it, right?
> (Was anyone else somewhat reminded of some of Zelazny's work while reading
> that story?)
Huh. I can almost see it.
Which Zelazny are you thinking of? "Tonino" seems a bit more upbeat
than what I usually associate with him.
- Damien
serg271
Damien Neil wrote:
> And now for a brief digression. What, exactly, is the point of these
> blunt objects of fiction, these thudding lumps that make no point,
> convey no interesting message, and insult the reader?
snip
>Mahmoud's Wives", in which space-Muslims have taken to cutting off their womenfolk's legs.
snip
> The problem is that these are works without anything *interesting* to
> say. Cutting off your little girl's legs is a Bad Idea. I agree!
> Hell, I'm pretty certain that if you polled Afghani men, they'd all
> agree too.
First - they are not space-Muslims. Or they are space-Muslims in the
same sence as Tolkien orcs are fantasy-soviet-russians.
And I read the story differently - It's not about that cutting legs of
females is a bad idea.
It's about
.
Major Spoiler
.
.
.
.
.
Even if you cut people legs away, some would still escape. Even to
almoste certain death from hunger.
r.r...@thevine.net
<neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
Thank you for putting words to something that I was feeling better
than I could. I read some of the stories in the first edition, and
definitely got the impression, as you put it, that there wasn't
anything "interesting" about it. And yet, I couldn't help feeling
that there _ could_ have been an interesting story there, if the
approach had been done differently. Instead, it seemed that many of
the authors decided to go for rather heavy-handed preaching.
Rebecca
Damien Neil
[Mahmoud's Wives]
> First - they are not space-Muslims. Or they are space-Muslims in the
> same sence as Tolkien orcs are fantasy-soviet-russians.
> And I read the story differently - It's not about that cutting legs of
> females is a bad idea.
> It's about
> .
> Major Spoiler
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> Even if you cut people legs away, some would still escape. Even to
> almoste certain death from hunger.
If you check the letters to the editor section of Helix #2, it's very
clear that these are intended to be space Muslims. Janis Ian (the
author) writes:
I know of no other "endorsed" religion that makes such a grand
fetish of demeaning its women. And if you look at the roots, it's
truly more demeaning to men than women, because it assumes men are
beasts, with no control over their actions.
The escape at the end of the story is purest Western wish-fulfillment,
bearing no resemblance to or bearing on the reaction of real Muslim
women to repression. The women are in no danger of starvation:
If her sons came looking, they'd eventually have to conclude that
some terrible accident had befallen their father, and the women had
wandered off to perish of hunger and exposure in the forest. Those
frightening stories about the incompetence of women in the wild had
their place, to be sure; no one would ever believe they'd survive on
their own. But they could, and they would.
The subject of Islamic attitudes towards women is an immensely potent
one, worthy of commentary and investigation. "Mahmoud's Wives" isn't it.
- Damien
David Goldfarb
Damien Neil <neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
>I just made a donation. I'd like to note that "Tonino" is entirely
>responsible for it, while the responses to Rebecca Rice's letter to the
>editor damned near convinced me that Helix would never see a penny of my
>money.
For my own part, I glanced at _Helix_ #1, formed a vague intention
to look at it again sometime -- and then reports of its editor's
antics started making the LJ rounds. (James Nicoll had some stuff
about it.) Reading his posts (er, the editor's, not James's)
killed all my interest in the magazine.
--
David Goldfarb | "And it came to pass by the way in the inn,
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him."
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu | -- Exodus 4:24
serg271
Damien Neil wrote:
> "serg271" <aocr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> [Mahmoud's Wives]
>
> > First - they are not space-Muslims. Or they are space-Muslims in the
> > same sence as Tolkien orcs are fantasy-soviet-russians.
> > And I read the story differently - It's not about that cutting legs of
> > females is a bad idea.
> > It's about
> > almoste certain death from hunger.
>
> If you check the letters to the editor section of Helix #2, it's very
> clear that these are intended to be space Muslims. Janis Ian (the
> author) writes:
What is auther intend and what reader read is not the same. Arab names
and women mutilation are not defining protagonists as muslims for me.
Any religious fundamentalists would fit.
> The escape at the end of the story is purest Western wish-fulfillment,
> bearing no resemblance to or bearing on the reaction of real Muslim
> women to repression. The women are in no danger of starvation:
I read it as women wishful thinking. I don't belive three legless women
without any outdoor expirience could survive in the forest, and be
hiding on top of it. The closest analog would be WWII russian fighter
ace Maresiev, who was downed above German held territory and crawled
through the forset toward front line 18 days with paralized legs,
eating whatever forest edible he could find. He barely survived
expirience.
netcat
aocr...@yahoo.com says...
>
> Damien Neil wrote:
> > The escape at the end of the story is purest Western wish-fulfillment,
> > bearing no resemblance to or bearing on the reaction of real Muslim
> > women to repression. The women are in no danger of starvation:
>
> I read it as women wishful thinking. I don't belive three legless women
> without any outdoor expirience could survive in the forest, and be
> hiding on top of it. The closest analog would be WWII russian fighter
> ace Maresiev, who was downed above German held territory and crawled
> through the forset toward front line 18 days with paralized legs,
> eating whatever forest edible he could find. He barely survived
> expirience.
Indeed. When I read it, I thought immediately "They are _so_ dead"
rgds,
netcat
rap...@netscape.net
<spoiler maybe ... though so is all of the above>
I thought that the ending was also part of The Law. After a certain
amount of time, the women kill (and eat) their husbands and set it up
so they are "found" by a relation.
This would also explain why there is more wives than husbands. OTOH, I
guess that doesn't quite match some of the text in the ending.
James Nicoll
David Goldfarb <gold...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>In article <neild-usenet4-70A...@news.individual.net>,
>Damien Neil <neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
>>I just made a donation. I'd like to note that "Tonino" is entirely
>>responsible for it, while the responses to Rebecca Rice's letter to the
>>editor damned near convinced me that Helix would never see a penny of my
>>money.
>
>For my own part, I glanced at _Helix_ #1, formed a vague intention
>to look at it again sometime -- and then reports of its editor's
>antics started making the LJ rounds. (James Nicoll had some stuff
>about it.) Reading his posts (er, the editor's, not James's)
>killed all my interest in the magazine.
You know, the number of SF magazines edited by someone whose
personality was several deviations from the norm is not small.
James Nicoll
--
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll
http://www.cafepress.com/jdnicoll (For all your "The problem with
defending the English language [...]" T-shirt, cup and tote-bag needs)
Nancy Lebovitz
Damien Neil <neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
>
>On that note, I turn back to Melanie Fletcher's "The Padre, the Rabbi,
>and the Devil His Own Self". A rabbi and a Catholic priest are
>kidnapped by rednecks in need of an emergency exorcism. Along the way,
>they find themselves butting heads with a slimy televangelist. Under
>other circumstances, I'd probably be inclined to call this a reasonably
>amusing bit of light entertainment. As it is, the sour taste left by
>the above stories leaves me with no taste for the comedic depiction of
>back-country hicks straight out of "Deliverance". I fail to revel in
>the gleefully-depicted downfall of the televangelist.
I hated it, too, and it might have partly been the portrayal of most
of the back country hicks, though the grandmother was pretty sharp
even if criminal.
However, I think part of it was the replay of Connie Willis' "Inside
Job". Sceptics should make their own arguments instead of having wish
fulfillments about demons and ghosts doing the work.
--
Nancy Lebovitz http://www.nancybuttons.com
http://nancylebov.livejournal.com
My two favorite colors are "Oooooh" and "SHINY!".
Nancy Lebovitz
>frank, the first issue left me cold. I'm pleased to report that I found
>almost half the stories worth the reading this time.
>
>The jewel of the piece is Peg Robinson's "Tonino and the Incubus", a
>glorious story of love, gods, gigolos, priests, and miracles. Go read
>it, now. I'll wait. It's right here:
>
> <http://www.helixsf.com/fiction/Q2_robinson_tonino.htm>
Tastes vary, and I got tired of the Spanish (pseudo-Spanish?) tone
pretty fast. On the other hand, the story started working for me when
the demon showed up.
It didn't remind me of Zelazny--he generally used a more varied tone.
Part of the fun in most of his work was alternation between a high
poetic style and colloquialisms.
r.r...@thevine.net
This bears repeating. What members of a culture find offensive can
vary in surprising ways. For example, I was channel surfing and came
across a show called Tribal Something (Life, Odyssey, something like
that). It's about a researcher who goes and stays with various tribes
and studies their customs. This particular show was about a tribe's
male coming-of-age ritual, which involved the guy doing cattle jumps,
after his female relatives (sisters, and I think cousins) have been
whipped. And we're not talking light, symbolic whipping. The
intention is to leave scars that will remain for the rest of their
lives. And the thing that the researcher had the hardest time with
was that the women involved _wanted_ to be whipped. They were out
there begging to be whipped, reviling the guys doing it if they didn't
hit hard enough or often enough. If the government passed a law
tomorrow saying that it was illegal, those women would be out there
defiantly breaking it, not thanking them as their saviors. There is
some indication that the ritual may slowly be changing, since they
talked to a young girl who had been to school, and she said that she
wasn't going to be whipped. But the other women quite simply don't
consider her a part of the tribe anymore if she doesn't get whipped,
and the men apparently find the scars important in deciding who to
marry, so it's going to be a slow change.
Rebecca
Wayne Throop
:: women without any outdoor expirience could survive in the forest, and
:: be hiding on top of it. The closest analog would be WWII russian
:: fighter ace Maresiev, who was downed above German held territory and
:: crawled through the forset toward front line 18 days with paralized
:: legs, eating whatever forest edible he could find. He barely
:: survived expirience.
: netcat <net...@devnull.eridani.eol.ee>
: Indeed. When I read it, I thought immediately "They are _so_ dead"
Huh? I perceived broad hints there was a relatively large community
of "escaped" women, working plots of land manless. "Hidden" in plain
sight, by the fact that nobody would ask about it, since clearly the
men involved were derilict in their duties, and probably lowlife
scum that nobody'd want to associate with anyways.
Hence, my perception was not "they are so dead", but "maybe farming
won't be so hard on them without the men to contend with".
Not that any of that makes it plausible.
I don't think it was meant to be plausible.
Wayne Throop thr...@sheol.org http://sheol.org/throopw
Jeff Stehman
neild-...@misago.org says...
>
> The jewel of the piece is Peg Robinson's "Tonino and the Incubus", a
> glorious story of love, gods, gigolos, priests, and miracles. Go read
> it, now. I'll wait. It's right here:
Wow.
--Jeff Stehman
@hotmail.com.invalid Eric D. Berge
<neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
>If you check the letters to the editor section of Helix #2, it's very
>clear that these are intended to be space Muslims. Janis Ian (the
>author) writes:
<boggle>
Not Janis Ian, the singer/songwriter, Shirley?
...and boy, those are some bigoted letters to the editor in response
to Rebecca.
Damien Neil
> On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 01:00:18 -0700, Damien Neil
>
> >clear that these are intended to be space Muslims. Janis Ian (the
> >author) writes:
>
> <boggle>
>
> Not Janis Ian, the singer/songwriter, Shirley?
>
> ...and boy, those are some bigoted letters to the editor in response
> to Rebecca.
Yes, the same one, AFAIK. And those aren't letters *to* the editor
responding to her--they're letters from the editor and the author of the
story.
- Damien
lclough
> In article <efvugo$11r3$1...@agate.berkeley.edu>,
> David Goldfarb <gold...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>
>>In article <neild-usenet4-70A...@news.individual.net>,
>>Damien Neil <neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
>>
>>>I just made a donation. I'd like to note that "Tonino" is entirely
>>>responsible for it, while the responses to Rebecca Rice's letter to the
>>>editor damned near convinced me that Helix would never see a penny of my
>>>money.
>>
>>For my own part, I glanced at _Helix_ #1, formed a vague intention
>>to look at it again sometime -- and then reports of its editor's
>>antics started making the LJ rounds. (James Nicoll had some stuff
>>about it.) Reading his posts (er, the editor's, not James's)
>>killed all my interest in the magazine.
>
>
> You know, the number of SF magazines edited by someone whose
> personality was several deviations from the norm is not small.
>
> James Nicoll
And if you read only the works written or edited by
well-adjusted and socially dext people, you would have a very
short reading list indeed.
Brenda
--
---------
Brenda W. Clough
http://www.sff.net/people/Brenda/
Recent short fiction:
FUTURE WASHINGTON (WSFA Press, October '05)
http://www.futurewashington.com
FIRST HEROES (TOR, May '04)
http://members.aol.com/wenamun/firstheroes.html
Default User
> Eric D. Berge <eric_berge @ hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:
> > On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 01:00:18 -0700, Damien Neil
> >
> > > If you check the letters to the editor section of Helix #2, it's
> > > very clear that these are intended to be space Muslims. Janis
> > > Ian (the author) writes:
> >
> > <boggle>
> >
> > Not Janis Ian, the singer/songwriter, Shirley?
> >
> > ...and boy, those are some bigoted letters to the editor in response
> > to Rebecca.
>
> Yes, the same one, AFAIK. And those aren't letters to the editor
> responding to her--they're letters from the editor and the author of
> the story.
On the whole, I didn't have too much problem with what Ms. Ian said.
Mr. Sanders, on the other hand, was a right Mean Old Bastard. As that's
in his job description (although Emeritus) I suppose that shouldn't be
a surprise.
Brian
--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)
David Goldfarb
>James Nicoll wrote:
>
>> In article <efvugo$11r3$1...@agate.berkeley.edu>,
>> David Goldfarb <gold...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>>>For my own part, I glanced at _Helix_ #1, formed a vague intention
>>>to look at it again sometime -- and then reports of its editor's
>>>antics started making the LJ rounds. (James Nicoll had some stuff
>>>about it.) Reading his posts (er, the editor's, not James's)
>>>killed all my interest in the magazine.
>>
>>
>> You know, the number of SF magazines edited by someone whose
>> personality was several deviations from the norm is not small.
>>
>
>well-adjusted and socially dext people, you would have a very
>short reading list indeed.
Well, I'm not exactly hurting at the moment for things to read or
ways to fill my time. Quite the opposite.
--
David Goldfarb |From the fortune cookie file:
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu |
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu |"You have at your command the wisdom of the ages."
_ berge @hotmail.com.invalid Eric D. Berge
wrote:
>
>On the whole, I didn't have too much problem with what Ms. Ian said.
>Mr. Sanders, on the other hand, was a right Mean Old Bastard. As that's
>in his job description (although Emeritus) I suppose that shouldn't be
>a surprise.
I think she's demonstrating considerable ignorance of the wider world
if she imagines that Muslims hold some sort of trophy for Most
Opressive Culture towards women. Also, wtf is an "endorsed" religion?
Does Islam come with God's autograph?
Robert Hutchinson
> David Goldfarb wrote:
> >Damien Neil wrote:
> >>I just made a donation. I'd like to note that "Tonino" is entirely
> >>responsible for it, while the responses to Rebecca Rice's letter to the
> >>editor damned near convinced me that Helix would never see a penny of my
> >>money.
> >
> >For my own part, I glanced at _Helix_ #1, formed a vague intention
> >to look at it again sometime -- and then reports of its editor's
> >antics started making the LJ rounds. (James Nicoll had some stuff
> >about it.) Reading his posts (er, the editor's, not James's)
> >killed all my interest in the magazine.
Ditto. It put a serious damper on something else for me, too--which I'd
rather not discuss, but it sucks anyway.
> You know, the number of SF magazines edited by someone whose
> personality was several deviations from the norm is not small.
Yes, and? I'll be sure not to have bought those.
--
Robert Hutchinson | "I've never really been that into hips, T-Rex!"
| "Perhaps that is because you have a case of the
| perversions!"
| http://www.qwantz.com/index.pl?comic=849
Lawrence Watt-Evans
hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:
><boggle>
>
>Not Janis Ian, the singer/songwriter, Shirley?
Yes, it's that Janis Ian. She's taken up writing short SF as a hobby
in recent years.
Will Sanders is something of a fan of hers; it's been amusing watching
his reaction to getting a story from her.
Scott Golden
> On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 01:18:08 -0400, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>
>
>>On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:06:21 -0700, Damien Neil
>><neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>The jewel of the piece is Peg Robinson's "Tonino and the Incubus", a
>>>glorious story of love, gods, gigolos, priests, and miracles. Go read
>>>it, now. I'll wait. It's right here:
>>>
>>> <http://www.helixsf.com/fiction/Q2_robinson_tonino.htm>
>>>
>>>And finally, there is "Tonino and the Incubus". You've read it, right?
>>
>>And sent us money so that we can pay Peg a tiny fraction of what she
>>deserves for it?
>
>
> Yep. To both questions.
>
> (Was anyone else somewhat reminded of some of Zelazny's work while reading
> that story?)
>
>
I was but I was reluctant to mention it (I already felt weird after I
compared Doranna Durgin's "Forward" to the work of the late great
Fredric Brown). There's definitely something in the verve of Robinson's
writing style that struck a familiar chord and made me think of Zelazny.
Scott Golden
> In article <efvugo$11r3$1...@agate.berkeley.edu>,
> David Goldfarb <gold...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>
>>In article <neild-usenet4-70A...@news.individual.net>,
>>Damien Neil <neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
>>
>>>I just made a donation. I'd like to note that "Tonino" is entirely
>>>responsible for it, while the responses to Rebecca Rice's letter to the
>>>editor damned near convinced me that Helix would never see a penny of my
>>>money.
>>
>>For my own part, I glanced at _Helix_ #1, formed a vague intention
>>to look at it again sometime -- and then reports of its editor's
>>antics started making the LJ rounds. (James Nicoll had some stuff
>>about it.) Reading his posts (er, the editor's, not James's)
>>killed all my interest in the magazine.
>
>
> You know, the number of SF magazines edited by someone whose
> personality was several deviations from the norm is not small.
>
> James Nicoll
>
"The Norm." It takes few chances and its achievements are
correspondingly mild.
Nancy Lebovitz
IIRC, Zelazny did write a Spanish themed story about bull-fighting with
cars instead of bulls. Maybe that's the one "Tonino and the Incubus" is
reminding people of.
@hotmail.com.invalid Eric D. Berge
wrote:
>On Wed, 4 Oct 2006 21:24:30 GMT, Eric D. Berge <eric_berge @
>hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>><boggle>
>>
>>Not Janis Ian, the singer/songwriter, Shirley?
>
>Yes, it's that Janis Ian. She's taken up writing short SF as a hobby
>in recent years.
>
>Will Sanders is something of a fan of hers; it's been amusing watching
>his reaction to getting a story from her.
I've liked her music in the past. Pity she seems to be such a shrill
ideological crank in person.
Jon Schild
Damien Neil wrote:
> I approached this issue of Helix with some trepidation, since, to be
> frank, the first issue left me cold. I'm pleased to report that I found
> almost half the stories worth the reading this time.
>
> The jewel of the piece is Peg Robinson's "Tonino and the Incubus", a
> glorious story of love, gods, gigolos, priests, and miracles. Go read
> it, now. I'll wait. It's right here:
>
> <http://www.helixsf.com/fiction/Q2_robinson_tonino.htm>
>
> On that note, I turn back to Melanie Fletcher's "The Padre, the Rabbi,
> and the Devil His Own Self". A rabbi and a Catholic priest are
> kidnapped by rednecks in need of an emergency exorcism. Along the way,
> they find themselves butting heads with a slimy televangelist. Under
> other circumstances, I'd probably be inclined to call this a reasonably
> amusing bit of light entertainment. As it is, the sour taste left by
> the above stories leaves me with no taste for the comedic depiction of
> back-country hicks straight out of "Deliverance". I fail to revel in
> the gleefully-depicted downfall of the televangelist.
>
> "Real North", by Jay Lake, is a welcome change. Unfortunately, it's
> also rather slight. I honestly can't think of anything to say about it,
> except that it was unoffensive.
>
> "Port Custodial Blues", by Vera Nazarian, is where Helix #2 turns the
> corner. This is the stuff that doesn't get written often enough these
> days: Unabashedly science fictional and cheerfully unpretentious.
> Through the the narrator we get a janitor's-eye view of life (and
> excretion) in a multi-species spaceport. Varied alien species make
> their appearance and use the toilets. In the background, a minor drama
> involving smuggled info-chips plays out. This isn't spectacular SF, but
> it's solid, entertaining, and doesn't overstay its welcome.
>
> "Captive Girl", by Jennifer Pelland, is an ugly, ugly story. Alice is a
> young woman, crippled by extensive cybernetic modification. Marika is
> her lover, with a deeply creepy attraction for Alice's deformity and
> helplessness. Pelland unflinchingly explores their relationship. There
> is no Message here, no easy answer or clear villain. I was left
> uncomfortable and disturbed.
>
> And finally, there is "Tonino and the Incubus". You've read it, right?
>
> - Damien
I must admit I didn't read all of the first issue, but that was because
of the stories I did read, none were worth the time expended. So I gave up.
Scott Golden
For me it was the style of the writing (word choice and the overall
energy of the narrative) that made me think of Zelazny, not the story
content itself.
Michael Stemper
>James Nicoll wrote:
>> You know, the number of SF magazines edited by someone whose
>> personality was several deviations from the norm is not small.
>And if you read only the works written or edited by
>well-adjusted and socially dext people, you would have a very
>short reading list indeed.
It wouldn't leave much of rasw, would it?
--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
2 + 2 = 5, for sufficiently large values of 2
lclough
> In article <iTWUg.8541$753.2602@trnddc05>, lclough writes:
>
>>James Nicoll wrote:
>
>
>>> You know, the number of SF magazines edited by someone whose
>>>personality was several deviations from the norm is not small.
>
>
>>And if you read only the works written or edited by
>>well-adjusted and socially dext people, you would have a very
>>short reading list indeed.
>
>
> It wouldn't leave much of rasw, would it?
>
SFWA would also be cruelly thinned out.
Mike Schilling
"lclough" <clo...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:dOBVg.2586$Ed5.2438@trnddc03...
> Michael Stemper wrote:
>
>> In article <iTWUg.8541$753.2602@trnddc05>, lclough writes:
>>
>>>James Nicoll wrote:
>>
>>
>>>> You know, the number of SF magazines edited by someone whose
>>>>personality was several deviations from the norm is not small.
>>
>>
>>>And if you read only the works written or edited by well-adjusted and
>>>socially dext people, you would have a very short reading list indeed.
>>
>>
>> It wouldn't leave much of rasw, would it?
>>
>
>
> SFWA would also be cruelly thinned out.
As well as unemployed, with their readership almost wholly eliminated.
Cyli
wrote:
>Nancy Lebovitz wrote:
>
>> IIRC, Zelazny did write a Spanish themed story about bull-fighting with
>> cars instead of bulls. Maybe that's the one "Tonino and the Incubus" is
>> reminding people of.
> >
>For me it was the style of the writing (word choice and the overall
>energy of the narrative) that made me think of Zelazny, not the story
>content itself.
It made me think of John Brunner for some reason.
--
r.bc: vixen
Speaker to squirrels, willow watcher, etc..
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless. Really.
Lawrence Watt-Evans
wrote:
>On Thu, 05 Oct 2006 22:24:11 GMT, Scott Golden <gyps...@aol.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Nancy Lebovitz wrote:
>
>>> IIRC, Zelazny did write a Spanish themed story about bull-fighting with
>>> cars instead of bulls. Maybe that's the one "Tonino and the Incubus" is
>>> reminding people of.
>> >
>>For me it was the style of the writing (word choice and the overall
>>energy of the narrative) that made me think of Zelazny, not the story
>>content itself.
>
>It made me think of John Brunner for some reason.
Okay, that I really don't see.
By the way, the language in the story is Peg Robinson's own invention;
I found it believable enough that I thought at first it was Gallego (a
Portugese dialect), but I asked, and no, she made it up. It's clearly
Iberian, but not Spanish, Portugese, or any of the more obscure
tongues.