Ansible 398 -- September 2020

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ANSIBLE(R) 398
SEPTEMBER 2020 

From DAVID LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Available for SAE or a Project for a General Illumination of the Human Mind.

[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a398.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a398.pdf for a printable PDF. Mailing list subscribe/unsubscribe information appears below -- please don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]


### THE HAPPY HYPOCRITE ###

JOHN BOYNE's research for his very serious historical novel _A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom_ led him to include a recipe for red dye, allegedly used at the court of Attila the Hun, with such specialist ingredients as keese wing, Octorok eyeball, red lizalfos tail and Hylian shrooms. Incautious Googling had unearthed dye-making instructions from the fantasy videogame _Zelda: Breath of the Wild_. (_Guardian_, 3 August)

BRENDAN DUBOIS spotted a tasty new adverb in the _New York Times Book Review_ for 23 August: 'Sometime between then and now, the writer Kurt Andersen argues in his essential, absorbing, infuriating, full-of-facts-you-didn't-know, saxophonely written new book....' (Facebook, 23 August) The time has perhaps come for all of us to act accordionly.

MIKE MOORCOCK, speaking for the Jack Trevor Story Memorial Prize committee, announced Peter S. Beagle as winner of the 2020 award -- a cup plus $500 to be spent in 'a week to a fortnight'. (11 August) As Jack Trevor Story once told a bankruptcy court: 'You know how it is, judge. Two hundred or two thousand. It always lasts a week to a fortnight.'

MARC ZICREE, a member of SFWA, spammed its membership directory with mass email plugging his television project. The SFWA Board was not pleased, and fast-tracked an already planned announcement that the directory 'is not to be used for marketing or promotional purposes', with hideous penalties such as 'a formal letter of censure' and (second offence) ejection from SFWA. Zicree responded with a video non-apology consisting mostly of further self-promotion. [F770]


### CONSISTORY ###

ONLINE. 3 Sep [] VIRTUAL FIRST THURSDAY, 6-10pm, replacing the usual London pub meeting. See tinyurl.com/uow6hqn. _The Bishop's Finger reopened on 3 August, but only 12 people are allowed in 'our' bar._ [RR]

ONLINE. 16 Sep [] LAUNCH EVENT for the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic, University of Glasgow. 6pm-8pm. With Ellen Kushner, Terri Windling, Brian Attebery, Robert Maslen. Free ticket booking via the CFF website at fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk (see the post for 24 August).

ONLINE. 18-20 Sep [] OXONMOOT (The Tolkien Society). _New dates._ GBP30 'per connection' for all events; Tolkien Society members GBP20. More details at www.tolkiensociety.org/events/oxonmoot-online/.

ONLINE. 2-4 Oct [] FUTURICON (Rikon/Eurocon); original venue was Rijeka, Croatia. Euro10 reg; Euro5 supp; under-14s free. See futuricon.eu.

ONLINE. 7-11 Oct [] GRIMMFEST (horror/cult films); original venue was Odeon Manchester Great Northern. See grimmfest.com.

ONLINE. 9-11 Oct [] LAKES INTERNATIONAL COMIC ART FESTIVAL, Kendal, Cumbria. Free virtual event. See www.comicartfestival.com.

ONLINE. 16-18 Oct [] THE INEFFABLE CON 2 (_Good Omens_). Guests include Neil Gaiman, Rob Wilkins. GBP25 reg. See theineffablecon.org.uk.

POSTPONED AGAIN. 17 Oct [] BEDFORD WHO CHARITY CON: see below.

22-25 Oct [] CELLULOID SCREAMS (horror films), Showroom Cinema, Sheffield. GBP90; GBP85 concessions. Still on, according to twitter.com/sheffhorrorfest, though celluloidscreams.co.uk is seriously broken.

POSTPONED. 24 Oct [] WHOOVERVILLE 12 (_Doctor Who_): see below. 

CANCELLED. 7-8 Nov [] EDGE-LIT 9, QUAD Centre, Derby. 

19 Mar 2021 [] FUTUREFEST (futurology), Tobacco Dock, London. 10am-10pm as usual? 'If you are a current ticket holder, we'll be in touch.' 2021 ticket sales awaited at www.futurefest.org.

10 Apr 2021 [] BEDFORD WHO CHARITY CON (_Doctor Who_), The King's House, Ampthill Road, Bedford, MK42 9AZ. _New date; 2020 tickets refunded or carried over_. 10am-5:30pm. GBP42.50 reg; under-19s/students GBP22.50; under-14s GBP15. More at bedfordwhocharitycon.co.uk.

4 Sep 2021 [] WHOOVERVILLE 12 (_Doctor Who_), QUAD Centre, Derby, DE1 3AS. _New date._ Tickets GBP50; concessions GBP33; online booking at www.derbyquad.co.uk/whats-on/events/whooverville-12.

19-22 Aug 2022 [] DISCWORLD CONVENTION, Hilton Metropole, Birmingham NEC. _New dates._ GBP85 reg, GBP60 concessions. See dwcon.org.

RUMBLINGS. _Worldcon 2023._ The bid committee for Memphis, Tennessee -- opposed only by Chengdu, China -- announced that owing to the 'increasingly mixed' reaction to the Retro Hugos they don't plan to award 1948 Retros for 1947 work. The next 1948 opportunity is in 2048.
     _Surrey Steampunk Convivial_ (Epsom), normally thrice yearly but not held this July, may just possibly take place on 10-11 October: developments are awaited at bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials.
     _Whitby Goth Weekend_, cancelled in April, remains unsure about its own hoped return in October. See www.whitbygothweekend.co.uk.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS SEE US. From a story about the COVID-19 era: 'Life as he -- and everybody else on the planet -- had known it had been replaced, seemingly overnight, with some pulp-science-fiction approximation of itself.' (John Wray, 'Barcelona: Open City', _New York Times_, 12 July) [MMW]
     On a writing workshop held by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: 'Many students in the workshop loved science fiction, but she thought sci-fi was childish, because anything could happen.' (Larissa MacFarquhar, _New Yorker_, 4/11 June 2018) [MMW]

AWARDS. _Gollancz/Rivers of London BAME:_ 'The Principles of Moments' by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson.
     _The James White Award_ for short stories by new writers will not be presented this year, owing to both pandemic and website problems.
     _Seiun_ for translation into Japanese: _The Three-Body Problem_ by Liu Cixin (trans. Nozomi Ohmori, Toya Tachihara, Sakura Mitsuyoshi, Wan Zai) [F770]
     _This Is Horror Awards_ best novel: _The Bone Weaver's Orchard_ by Sarah Read.
     _World Fantasy Awards_ novel shortlist: _Queen of the Conquered_, by Kacen Callender; _The Ten Thousand Doors of January_ by Alix E. Harrow; _The Raven Tower_ by Ann Leckie; _Gideon the Ninth_ by Tamsyn Muir; _The Memory Police_ by Yoko Ogawa (trans. Stephen Snyder).

TWINNED WITH INNSMOUTH. News from a lake in Gosport: 'Over the weekend, those living in the area spotted hundreds of dead fish, including a local councillor.' (BBC, _South Today_, 16 August) [RJ]

R.I.P. _Raymond Allen_ (1929-2020), US actor in _Fight That Ghost_ (1946), died on 10 August aged 91. [LP]
     _John Bangsund_ (1939-2020), noted Australian editor and one of the greats of Aussie fandom, died from COVID-19 on 22 August; he was 81. From the Melbourne _Age_ death notice by Sally Yeoland: 'John will always be remembered as the Australian ambassador for science fiction to the rest of the world, and as Toastmaster at Aussiecon Worldcon 1975. And also for _Australian Science Fiction Review_, _Scythrop_, _John W. Campbell: An Australian Tribute_, _Philosophical Gas_, _Parergon Papers_ and many other fanzines, newsletter editor for the Victorian Society of Editors, Muphry's Law and Assistant Editor _Meanjin_.' Visiting him was a highlight of my only trip to Australia. Somewhere in Flann O'Brien territory, Keats and Chapman are in deep mourning and laying the groundwork for a dreadfully sombre pun.
     _Chadwick Boseman_ (1977-2020), US actor who was in _Gods of Egypt_ (2016) and played T'Challa/Black Panther in _Captain America: Civil War_ (2016), _Black Panther_ (2018), and _Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame_ (2018/2019), died on 28 August aged 42. [SG/LP]
     _Richard Bright_, UK producer/director of arts documentaries including _Angela Carter: Of Wolves & Women_ (2018) and _Paddington: The Man Behind the Bear_ (2019), has reportedly committed suicide aged 51. [SJ]
     _Elisar Cabrera_ (1971-2020), UK film-maker and critic whose low-budget horror productions ran from _Demonsoul_ (1995) to _The Tombs_ (2019), died in early August aged 49. [AIP]
     _Brent Carver_ (1951-2020), Tony-winning Canadian actor whose films include _Millennium_ (1989) and _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_ (1999), and who played Gandalf in the 2006 _Lord of the Rings_ musical, died on 4 August aged 68. [AIP]
     _Ben Cross_ (1947-2020), UK actor whose many genre credits include _Paperhouse_ (1988), _The Unholy_ (1988), _Dark Shadows_ (1991), _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_ (1997), _The Invader_ (1997), _Exorcist: The Beginning_ (2004), _Species: The Awakening_ (2007), _Hellhounds_ (2009) and _Star Trek_ (2009), died on 18 August aged 72. [SG]
     _Andre-Paul Duchateau_ (1925-2020), Belgian author who created the long-running detective/fantastic comic _Ric Hochet_ in 1955 (with artist Tibet) and scripted the dystopian sf series _Hans_ (1980-2000), died on 26 August aged 95. [PDF]
     _Kathleen Duey_ (1950-2020), prolific US children's author whose work includes much fantasy -- such as the 'Resurrection of Magic' series opening with _Skin Hunger_ (2007) -- died on 26 June aged 69. [AIP]
     _Susan Ellison_ (1960-2020), UK fan and convention-goer, business partner and widow of Harlan Ellison, and author of the 'Through the Lens' media column in _Aboriginal SF_ 1988-1996, died on 3 August aged 60.
     _Leslie H. Freas_ (1956-2020), twin sister of Linda Hamilton and her stunt double in _Terminator 2_ (1991), died on 22 August aged 63. [MMW]
     _Rolf Gohs_ (1933-2020), Estonian-born Swedish comics artist who created over 900 covers for the Swedish edition of _The Phantom_, died on 25 August aged 86. [PDF]
     _Billy Goldenberg_ (1936-2020), US composer whose credits include _Circle of Fear_ (1972-1973), _The Sixth Sense_ (1972), _Frankenstein_ (1986) and _Annabelle Comes Home_ (2019), died on 3 August aged 84. [AIP]
     _P.M. (Pauline Margaret) Griffin_ (1947-2020), US author of the 12-book 'Star Commandos' military sf series (1986-2004) and contributions to various Andre Norton series (some in collaboration with Norton), died on 10 August aged 73. [L]
     _Pete Hamill_ (1935-2020), US journalist and author whose novels _Snow in August_ (1997) and _Forever_ (2003) have fantastic elements, died on 5 August aged 85. [PDF]
     _Paul Hammond_, UK artist, translator and historian whose books include _Marvellous Melies_ (1974) -- first English-language study of the film-maker -- has died aged 72. [AIP]
     _Neil Kaden_ (1954-2020), US fanzine publisher, con-runner (chair of Ditto 13 in 2000) and contributor to various APAs, died on 28 August aged 66. [F770]
     _James Keast_ (1957-2020), UK costume designer with genre credits for _Clash of the Titans_ (1981), _Truly, Madly, Deeply_ (1990) and _Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World_ (2001), died on 11 July aged 63. [AIP]
     _Paul Knight_ (1944-2020), UK tv producer with credits for _Robin Hood_ (1984-1985) and _Stanley's Dragon_ (1994), died on 16 August aged 76. [AIP]
     _Linda Manz_ (1961-2020), US actress whose films include _The Game_ (1997), died on 14 August aged 58. [PDF]
     _Bob March_, who in the title role hosted the sf-themed Californian children's tv programme _Captain Satellite_ (1958-1968), died on 8 March. [PDF]
     _Andrei Moscovit_ (pseudonym of Igor Markovich Efimov, 1937-2020), Russian-born US author whose sf novel is _The Judgement Day Archives_ (1982; trans 1988), died on 12 August aged 83. [AM]
     _Elaine Moss_, UK author, critic and publisher's reader of books for children -- who wrote some fantasy and a 1961 children's abridgement of _Gulliver's Travels_ -- died in August aged 96. [AIP]
     _Lori Nelson_ (1933-2020), US actress in _Revenge of the Creature_ (1955), _Day the World Ended_ (1955) and _The Naked Monster_ (2005), died on 23 August aged 87. [LP]
     _Svetozar Obradovic_ (1950-2020), Serbian comics writer who worked on _Tarzan_ and co-created the Serbian titles _Cat Claw_ and _Kobra_, died on 15 August aged 69. [PDF]
     _Tom Pollock_ (1943-2020), US producer whose credits include _Evolution_ (2001, plus two animated spinoffs) and _Ghostbusters_ (2016), died on 1 August aged 77. [MMW]
     _Roberta Jane Pournelle_ (1955-2020), US fan and convention-goer, widow of Jerry Pournelle, who had published nonfiction in _Analog_, died on 2 August aged 65.
     _Andre Ptaszynski_ (1953-2020), UK theatre producer whose credits include the musicals _Return to the Forbidden Planet_ (1990), _Matilda_ (2011) and _Groundhog Day_ (2016), died on 29 July aged 67. [AIP]
     _Allan Rich_ (1926-2020), US actor in _The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire_ (1981), _Highlander II: The Quickening_ (1991) and _Rise: Blood Hunter_ (2007), died on 22 August aged 94. [MMW]
     _Jean Rosenthal_ (1923-2020), French publisher and translator of English-language fiction who translated Isaac Asimov ('Foundation' trilogy), Clifford D. Simak (_City,_ as _Demain les chiens_), A.E. van Vogt and many others, died on 26 August aged 97. [PDF]
     _Joe Ruby_ (1933-2020), US producer and writer who co-created _Scooby-Doo_ and whose credits include _Planet of the Apes_ (1974 tv), _Bigfoot and Wildboy_ (1977-1979) and _Rumpelstiltskin_ (1995), died on 26 August aged 87. [AIP]
     _Reni Santoni_ (1939-2020), US actor in _Manimal_ (1983), _Radioactive Dreams_ (1985) and _Doctor Dolittle_ (1998 plus sequel), died on 1 August aged 81. [PDF]
     _Gillian White_ (1945-2020), UK author whose psychological thrillers beginning with _The Plague Stone_ (1990) sometimes hinted ambiguously at supernatural influences, died on 24 July aged 75. [AIP]

THE CRITICAL HERITAGE. _Warm Words Dept:_ 'You only need to read a handful of Cat Sparks's stories before you start feeling the need for some shade and a nice margarita.' (Gary K. Wolfe, _Locus_, August) [MMW]
     _Dept of Literary Precedence._ From an Amazon.com review of Sarah Hoyt's _Ill Met by Moonlight_: 'I don't like the title which reminds too much of Fafrd and the Grey Mouse by Leiber.' (_sic_, 15 July) [GF]

YO-HO-HO. The Ukraine-based ebook pirate website KISS Library was taken down following a US court's restraining order, requested by Penguin Random House, Amazon and various authors. (_Locus_, 22 August) No doubt they'll soon be back under a different name.

THE HIGH CASTLE. Fawkner, Australia (a suburb of Melbourne), can boast the world's second tallest skyscraper at 2,300 feet, an awesomely towering sight in a flattish urban area -- at least when seen in Microsoft Flight Simulator. This game takes its data from OpenStreetMap, where someone had accidentally or naughtily listed the building as having 212 storeys rather than its actual two. (_The Register_, 20 August)

VOICES PROPHESYING WAR. As you well know, Professor ... the dangerous, rabble-rousing, violence-inciting US demagogue in Octavia Butler's dystopian sf novel _Parable of the Talents_ (1998, set in 2032) is particularly fond of the slogan 'make America great again'.

RANDOM FANDOM. _The Eye of Argon_ saw its 50th anniversary on 26 August. [JM] Also overlooked in the August _Ansible_ were the 35th anniversaries of the final UK Silicon and my first Hugo.
     _Fanac.org_ has redesigned its archive of Worldcon publications at fanac.org/conpubs/Worldcon/.
     _Chris Garcia_ and his family had to flee the wildfires threatening their North California home, and are living in hotels: there's a fannish fundraiser at www.gofundme.com/f/garciagatepenguins-need-a-new-home. [F770]
     _Ian Sorensen_ brags: 'Sept 26th marks my 40th anniversary in fandom -- I went to Hitchercon 1 in Glasgow.'

AS OTHERS SEE US II. 'The devastation of [Hurricane] Laura in Louisiana and Texas has felt "like a week out of a bad science fiction novel," one mayor said ...' (NBC-2.com, 28 August)
     On the return of the SpaceX astronauts: 'Fifty-one years ago, 63 percent of U.S. households watched at least some of Apollo 11's historic trip to the moon. Sunday's return, by contrast, mostly enthralled space geeks who've been planning to colonize Mars since they were old enough to read their first science fiction.' (Megan McArdle, _Washington Post_, 5 August) [MMW]

THE DEAD PAST. _40 Years Ago,_ Peter Roberts reported from the doomed UK SF Book Club: 'No, I'm not in charge of the SFBC. As you might have guessed, _nobody_ is.... All 10 Readers Union societies are run together, so I write copy for the SF newsletter along with the Sports, the Gardening _et al_.... Look out for overuse of the word "eldritch" and other hallmarks of Roberts copywriting.' (_Ansible_ 12, September 1980)
     _20 Years Ago:_ 'Piers Anthony's web newsletter contains a shock revelation that the controversial rape episode in _Lord Foul's Bane_ stemmed from Stephen R. Donaldson's having been gang-raped 60 times in prison in 1973, leading to his death from AIDS in 1996. A little research shows that PA has confused "our" still-living Donaldson with an entirely different one.' (_Ansible_ 158, September 2000) 'The _New York Times_ makes a careful and pointed distinction in its 23 August article on writers who retire, which mentions Iain Banks's current sabbatical year in the wake of "a relentless writing schedule that has resulted in an annual novel or science fiction title for the last 16 years."' (_Ibid._)

ONE OF US? A striking recent US obituary begins: 'Holly Blair exploded into glitter and bats on Aug. 17, 2020.' It goes on to say: 'Her future plans include drinking beer with Terry Pratchett and flying across the moon on her broomstick on Halloween.' (Twitter, 31 August)

EDITORIAL. The latest from Ansible Editions is _The Jonbar Point_ by Brian Aldiss, at last collecting his two long essays from _SF Horizons_ in the mid-1960s, with a new introduction by Chris Priest. Read all about it at ae.ansible.uk/?t=jonbar (and don't forget the recent _Puff Love_ by John Sladek: ae.ansible.uk/?t=pufflove).
     The 'Complete BoSh' project to collect all Bob Shaw's fan writing as free TAFF ebooks concludes with _Slow Pint Glass_, a vast (167,000 words) compendium of material outside the scope of _The Serious Scientific Talks_ and _The Full Glass Bushel_. Though Rob Jackson and I still hope to add a few minor, hard-to-find items, it's time to release this third volume: taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=Shaw3.

PUBLISHERS AND SINNERS. Head of Zeus announced its new 'high-concept SFF' imprint, innovatively called Ad Astra (11 August). [L]

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Parlour Games Dept._ '... dark-blue eyes straying towards the window whenever he tried to catch them ...' (John Dickson Carr, _Dark of the Moon_, 1967) [BA]
     _A Villain Gloats Over Her Captive._ 'It is a species of boa constrictor [...] This particular boa is very fond of detectives, having developed that taste, from the fact that fate made it possible for him to swallow four in the last two years.' (David H. Keller, 'The Menace', _Amazing Stories Quarterly_, July 1928)
     _Philosopher's Reversible Stone Dept._ 'We finally were able to take a piece of the synthetic gold and shoot a special X-ray at it over half a mile and, pop, it would turn back to lead.' (_Ibid._)
     _Neat Tricks._ 'Her mental jaw dropped at prince Bifalt's willingness to concede.' 'If lines marked his face, they were obscured by his short, blond beard.' (both Stephen R. Donaldson, _The War Within_, 2019) [AR]
     _Dept of Sensual Simile._ 'I looked at her breasts jutting against the soft fabric of her dress, nipples like split infinitives.' (Max Byrd, _Fly Away Jill_, 1981)


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CONVENTION AND EVENT LINKS
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     Overseas -- https://news.ansible.uk/conlisti.html [no longer updated]


### ENDNOTES ###

PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Support _Ansible_, cover website costs and keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.

VIRTUAL FAN MEETINGS.
     3 September 2020, evening: Alison Scott has set up this alternative to the physical London First Thursday meeting: 'Please share this with people who you know typically come to the Bishop's Finger, but aren't on Facebook.'
     20 September 2020 (and every other third Sunday of the month), afternoon/early evening: Sheffield SF and Fantasy Society online meeting using Zoom. For access details contact Fran Dowd, thesofa [at] gmail dot com.
     15 October 2020, 8pm-9pm: Event Horizon online.

EDITORIAL II. It's a long time since I remembered any dialogue from dreams, but I woke up on 26 August (after a roughish night) with crystal-clear recollection of being told: 'If you wrote a book about John Clute, nobody would be punished.' Reassurance or warning? What does it mean, Dr Freud, what does it mean?

SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
     Arkham Board of Health evaluates Miskatonic University reopening plans
     John Bangsund (1939-2020)
     A Conversation Larger than the Universe
     _Cloud Chamber_ 164
     Richard Glyn Jones likes Thog
     Seiun Awards at _File 770_

THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 158, September 2000. _Dept of Wooden Handshakes._ '"Pleased to meet you," Arnstein said, and took the offered hand. It felt like a wooden glove inside a casing of cured ham ...' (S.M. Stirling, _On the Oceans of Eternity_, 2000)
     _Dept of Advanced Darwinism._ 'In every human being there is the genetic code for mutation.' (_X-Men_ ad, 2000)


_Ansible_(R) 398 (C) David Langford, 2020. Thanks to Brian Ameringen, Gregory Feeley, Paul Di Filippo, Steve Green, _File 770_, Rob Jackson, Steve Jones, _Locus_, Jay Martin, Andrey Meshavkin, Lawrence Person, Andrew I. Porter, Adam Roberts, Roger Robinson, Martin Morse Wooster, and our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy and Alan Stewart (Australia).

1 September 2020
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