Ansible 418 -- May 2022

[Ansible Newsletter]

ANSIBLE(R) 418
MAY 2022

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 the Chaos Engineers' navigational charts of the Second Ether.

[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a418.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a418.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]

RECLAMATION. The 2022 UK Eastercon reportedly went well despite several problems with the understaffed Heathrow hotel and its dodgy IT systems (a long walk to one's room to find the keycard didn't work was a common complaint). Nevertheless huge enthusiasm was expressed, and people seemed to be having fun even from my own worm's-eye viewpoint of daily newsletters (online at reclamation2022.co.uk/newsletter), social media and Discord text channels only: the latter provided some cognitive dissonance as pointed questions to convention bid committees showed up in the voting channel but I never saw the answers. For Eastercon 2023, the Conversation (venue TBA) bid won over Persistence (Birmingham NEC Hilton) by 148 votes to 98 with 16 abstentions; Levitation in Telford was unopposed for 2024; see events list below for details of both.
     A highly technical yet also funny panel on Peeing In Space was much applauded.
     _BSFA Awards:_ NOVEL _Shards of Earth_ by Adrian Tchaikovsky. FOR YOUNGER READERS _Iron Widow_ by Xiran Jay Zhao. SHORTER _Fireheart Tiger_ by Aliette de Bodard. NON-FICTION _Worlds Apart: Worldbuilding in Fantasy and Science Fiction_ ed. Francesca T. Barbini. ARTWORK _Glasgow Green Woman_ by Iain Clark.
     _Doc Weir Award_ (unsung heroes): James Shields. [MJL]
     The membership count was 797, with 659 physically present. [JS] Some fans had to self-isolate in their rooms following positive Covid tests, or came down with it afterwards. Post-con positives were listed on Discord until 22 April, when the count hit 74; dozens more reports followed. A certain Twitter handle changed to 'Alison Scott (Plague! Unclean!)'.


### THE FACE OF THE FLY ###

CHARLES DE LINT has stepped down as a Chicon 8 guest of honour, apparently because of his wife's prolonged illness. (_File 770_, 4 April)

OGHENECHOVWE DONALD EKPEKI triumphantly tweeted about being the first African-born Black writer to reach the final Hugo ballot -- twice, for best novelette and best editor (short form). (7 April)

FRED HOYLE was remembered in an Inquisitor crossword based on his cheering observation that 'Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards.' (_i_ newspaper, 2 April)

MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL's remarks as an Eastercon GoH included: 'We are always twenty years away from Mars.' (_Proclamation_ 3, 16 April)

BOB MADLE asks us all to keep an eye out for his copies of the very rare fanzine _Science Fiction_ (#1-#5, 1932-1933) ed. Jerry Seigel, with #3 containing the first appearance of Superman -- stolen from his collection (by a visitor to his home?) at some time before March 2020. [CP]

LIZ WILLIAMS was one of many who underwent the Generation Starship Experience of hotel check-in at Reclamation, enjoying much suspense from her 11am arrival to getting a room at 10pm. (Facebook, 15 April) The hotel apologized with a 25% discount/refund of all Friday-night room fees. In the great fan tradition of running jokes into the ground, the spoof issue of the daily newsletter proposed a new SI unit, the check-in queue or cq: 'One cq is approximately 17 miles or 12.65 hours.'


### CONJURY ###

7-8 May [] PORTSMOUTH COMIC CON, Guildhall, Portsmouth. GBP25 adult weekend ticket; various other rates at portsmouthcomiccon.com.

19-22 May [] SCI-FI LONDON (film festival), Picturehouse, Stratford, London. See sci-fi-london.com.

21-22 May [] HORRORCON UK, Magna, Sheffield. GBP45 reg; GBP55 early admission (10am rather than 11am). Day rates at horrorconuk.com.

23 May [] TOLKIEN LECTURE, Pichette Auditorium, Pembroke College, Oxford. Speaker: Rebecca F. Kuang. 6pm. See tolkienlecture.org.

26-29 May [] CHILLERCON UK (horror), Grand and Royal Hotels, Scarborough. GBP130 reg; HWA members GBP120. See chillercon-uk.com.

26 May [] VAMPIRE HORDE, Whitby Abbey. English Heritage hopes to break the 2011 record of 1,039 vampire impersonators gathered together -- ideally with 1,897 participants to mark the year of _Dracula_. The dress code is tough: a 2013 West Sussex attempt failed because too many of the caped and fanged wore 'non-regulation shoes'. (_Guardian_, 20 April)

27-29 May [] SATELLITE 7, Crowne Plaza, Glasgow. GBP70 reg (GBP80 at door); under-25s GBP60; under-18s GBP20; under-12s GBP5; under-5s GBP2. Advance registration closes 20 May. Day rates at seven.satellitex.org.uk.

28-29 May 2022 [] EM-CON (media), Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham. Weekend tickets GBP30 (GBP40 early entry); day rates at www.em-con.co.uk.

28-29 May [] LAWLESS (UK comics), Hilton Doubletree, Bristol. Tickets GBP63; day rate GBP31.75. See new website: lawlesscomiccon.co.uk

HYBRID. 3-5 Jun [] CYMERA SF FESTIVAL 2022, Edinburgh and online. GBP80 in person; GBP50 digital. See www.cymerafestival.co.uk.

CANCELLED. 25 Jun [] ORION@40, Southend. See www.orionat40.com.

15-17 Jul [] LAVECON (gaming), Kents Hill Park, Milton Keynes: _new dates and venue_. Tickets awaited at www.hwsevents.co.uk/shop-1.

5-7 Aug [] TITANCON, Hilton Hotel, Belfast. _Now GBP40 reg;_ GBP45 from 1 July and at the door. More at titancon.com.

1-5 Sep [] CHICON 8 (80th Worldcon), Chicago, IL, USA. _Now $230 reg; first Worldcon $130; under-25s $100; under-18s $70_; under-14s $50; under-10s free; $50 supporting. Hotel booking now open. See chicon.org.

29 Oct [] BRISTOLCON, Hilton DoubleTree Hotel, Bristol. GoH Liz Williams, Stark Holborn. GBP30 reg; GBP15 under-18s and concessions; under-14s free; GBP10 supp. Registration at www.bristolcon.org.

3-4 Dec [] FOR THE LOVE OF SCI-FI (media), BEC Arena, Stretford, Manchester. GBP41.25; under-10s GBP13.20. More at fortheloveofsci-fi.com.

18 Mar 2023 [] BEDFORD WHO CHARITY CON (_Doctor Who_), King's House, Ampthill Road, Bedford, MK42 9AZ. 10am-5:30pm. Tickets available 'soon' from bedfordwhocharitycon.co.uk.

7-10 Apr 2023 [] CONVERSATION (Eastercon) , venue to be announced. GoH Zen Cho, Niall Harrison, Jennell Jaquays, Kari Sperring, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Ursula Vernon (T. Kingfisher). GBP70 reg; GBP40 concessions; GBP35 supporting or online only. These rates will be held until after the location is revealed. See conversation2023.org.uk.

29 Mar - 1 Apr 2024 [] LEVITATION (Eastercon), Telford International Centre. GoH Jackie Burns, Genevieve Cogman, Michelle Sagara, Tade Thompson. GBP95 reg (_rising to GBP115 'after Satellite', so not before 30 May_); GBP50 concessions; GBP35 supporting. See eastercon2024.co.uk.

RUMBLINGS. _Eurocon Bids_ announced at LuxCon (Luxembourg, April): 2025 Aland, Finland; 2026 Berlin, Germany; 2028 Zagreb, Croatia. The 2024 event will be in Rotterdam, The Netherlands: see erasmuscon.nl.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS SEE US. Christian Lorentzen reviews Emily St John Mandel and the entire sf genre she rode in on: 'A book like _Sea of Tranquility_ is a sign of a genre's exhaustion.' (_Financial Times_, 13 April) [AB]

MORE AWARDS. _ESFS European Grandmaster:_ Claude Peiffer (Luxembourg).
     _HWA Life Achievement:_ Jo Fletcher, Nancy Holder, Koji Suzuki. [SJ]
     _Philip K. Dick Award:_ _Dead Space_ by Kali Wallace.

PUBLISHERS AND SINNERS. Charles Platt had nine ebooks on sale at Orion/Gollancz's SF Gateway, but rights were reverted in 2021: 'I resold the books to a new publisher, which put its Kindle editions online this year. / The new publisher has now received notification from Amazon/Kindle accusing it of piracy. In fact, ALL of the new publisher's titles (not just mine) were delisted. The new publisher will not receive any more royalties. The new publisher will never be allowed to use Kindle services ever again. / I checked and, of course, Orion had failed to remove my titles from their web site, even though they reverted the rights. Presumably Kindle runs some kind of bot check on ebook availability in a commendable effort to crack down on piracy. Unfortunately at this point Orion are the ones guilty of piracy, as a result of their incompetence.' (Email, 21 April) The SF Gateway ebook listings have since vanished.

AWARD SHORTLISTS. _Booker (International):_ the only finalist with fantastic themes is _Cursed Bunny_ by Bora Chung. [F770]
     _Hugo Finalists_ in selected categories: NOVEL _A Desolation Called Peace_ by Arkady Martine; _The Galaxy, and the Ground Within_ by Becky Chambers; _Light From Uncommon Stars_ by Ryka Aoki; _A Master of Djinn_ by P. Djeli Clark; _Project Hail Mary_ by Andy Weir; _She Who Became the Sun_ by Shelley Parker-Chan. SERIES The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee; The Kingston Cycle by C.L. Polk; Merchant Princes by Charles Stross; Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer; Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire; The World of the White Rat by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon). RELATED WORK _Being Seen_ by Elsa Sjunneson; _The Complete Debarkle_ by Camestros Felapton; _Dangerous Visions and New Worlds_ edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre; 'How Twitter can ruin a life' by Emily St. James (Vox, 6/21); _Never Say You Can't Survive_ by Charlie Jane Anders; _True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee_ by Abraham Riesman. DRAMATIC (LONG) _Dune_, _Encanto_, _The Green Knight_, _Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings_, _Space Sweepers_, _WandaVision_. LODESTAR (YA, not a Hugo): _Chaos on CatNet_ by Naomi Kritzer; _Iron Widow_ by Xiran Jay Zhao; _The Last Graduate_ by Naomi Novik; _Redemptor_ by Jordan Ifueko; _A Snake Falls to Earth_ by Darcie Little Badger; _Victories Greater Than Death_ by Charlie Jane Anders. For the full list of 114 finalists see chicon.org/home/whats-happening/hugo-awards/. (Though deafly unable to appreciate podcasts, I was pleased to see the UK _Octothorpe_ in Best Fancast.)
     _Prometheus_ (libertarian): _Between Home and Ruin_ by Karl K. Gallagher; _Seize What's Held Dear_ by Karl K. Gallagher; _Klara and the Sun_ by Kazuo Ishiguro; _Rich Man's Sky_ by Wil McCarthy; _Should We Stay Or Should We Go_ by Lionel Shriver.

AS OTHERS ... Elon Musk complains: 'Can they please just make sci-fi/fantasy at least *mostly* about sci-fi/fantasy?' (Twitter, 20 April)

R.I.P. _Rae Allen_ (1926-2022), US actress whose films included _Damn Yankees_ (1958) and _Stargate_ (1994), died on 6 April aged 95. [AIP]
     _Christine Ashby_, Australian fan since 1969 who won DUFF in 1976 and was treasure of Aussiecon and Aussiecon Two (the 1975 and 1985 Worldcons), died on 29 March aged 70. [MO]
     _James Bama_ (1926-2022), US artist best known for realistic Western subjects, who painted 62 noted covers for Bantam's Doc Savage paperbacks, died on 24 April aged 95. [PDF]
     _June Brown_ (1927-2022), UK _Eastenders_ actress also in _Doctor Who_ ('The Time Warrior' 1973-1974) and _Gormenghast_ (2000), died on 3 April aged 95.
     _Sonny Caldinez_ (1932-2022), Trinidad-born actor in several _Doctor Who_ serials (1967-1974), _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ (1981) and _The Fifth Element_ (1997), died on 12 April aged 89. [SS]
     _Ann Davies_ (1934-2022), UK actress in _Doctor Who_: 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth' (1964), died on 26 April aged 87. [SS]
     _Valerio Evangelisti_, Italian fantasy, sf, horror and historical author who won the Urania Prize, Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire and Prix Tour Eiffel, died on 18 April aged 69. [SJ]
     _Ralf Alex Fichtner_ (1952-2022), German artist and cartoonist who created covers and interiors for several sf publications, died on 6 April aged 69. [PDF]
     _Christopher Finch_ (1939-2022), UK artist and author associated with _New Worlds_ 1967-1968, whose pop-culture books include _Of Muppets and Men_ (1981) and other Jim Henson studies, died on 1 April aged 82. [DP]
     _Renee Glynne_ (1926-2022), UK script and continuity supervisor for _Four Sided Triangle_ (1953), _Spaceways_ (1953), _The Quatermass Xperiment_ (1955), _The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires_ (1974) and many more, died on 6 April aged 95. [SJ]
     _Gilbert Gottfried_ (1955-2022), US comedian and voice actor in _Aladdin_ (1992 plus sequels and spinoffs), _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_ (2014-2016) and others, died on 12 April aged 67. He appeared in _Dr Dolittle_ (1998) and the last three _Sharknado_ films (2016-2018). [LP]
     _Rio Hackford_ (1970-2022), US actor in _Stay Alive_ (2006), _Jonah Hex_ (2010) and _The Mandalorian_ (2019), died on 14 April aged 51. [SJ]
     _Estelle Harris_ (1928-2022), US actress in _Addams Family Reunion_ (1998) and _Toy Story 2/3/4_ (1999-2019), died on 2 April aged 93. [SJ]
     _Kathryn Hays_ (1933-2022), US actress in _Ladybug Ladybug_ (1963) and episodes of various genre tv series, died on 25 March aged 88. [LP]
     _Michel Henricot_ (1936-2022), French artist whose fantastic/surreal work appeared in _Omni_ 1979-1992, died in February aged 85. [PDF]
     _Alan J. Hruska_ (1933-2022), US author, lawyer and filmmaker whose sf novel was _Borrowed Time_ (1984), died on 29 March aged 88. [AIP]
     _David M. Jones_, visual effects artist whose credits include _Star Wars_ (1977), _Close Encounters_ (1977), _Alien3_ (1992) and _Starship Troopers_ (1997), died on 8 April aged 74. [LP]
     _Harold Livingston_ (1924-2022), US screenwriter for genre tv series and _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ (1979), died on 28 April aged 97. [LP]
     _David McKee_ (1935-2022), UK children's author whose work includes fantasy and sf -- one title in his Mr Benn series is _The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr Benn Spaceman_ (2015) -- died on 6 April aged 87. [AIP]
     _Patricia MacLachlan_ (1938-2022), Newbery Medal-winning US children's author whose work included fantasy such as _Waiting for the Magic_ (2011), died on 31 March aged 84. [JY]
     _Natalya Markelova_ (1976-2022), Russian author of a fantasy trilogy and a standalone fantasy novel, died on April 22. [AM]
     _Denis Meikle_ (1947-2022), UK genre film historian whose many books include _The Ring Companion_ (2005) and _A History of Horrors: The Rise and Fall of the House of Hammer_ (2008), died in mid-April. [SS]
     _Tullio Moneta_ (1937-2022), Italian actor in _Steel Dawn_ (1987), _Howling IV_ (1988) and _Outlaw of Gor_ (1988), died on 31 March aged 84. [SS]
     _Robert Morse_ (1931-2022), US actor with voice credits in _The Stingiest Man in Town_ (1978) and _Teen Titans Go!_ (2015-2021), died on 20 April aged 90. [MMW]
     _Christopher Muncke_ (1942-2022), US actor in _The Spy Who Loved Me_ (1977), _D.A.R.Y.L._ (1985), _Whoops Apocalypse_ (1986) and others, died on 6 April aged 79. [SJ]
     _Jacques Perrin_ (1941-2022), French actor in _Donkey Skin_ (1970) and _Brotherhood of the Wolf_ (2001), died on 21 April aged 80. [SJ]
     _Nehemiah Persoff_ (1919-2022), Jerusalem-born US actor in many genre tv series and _An American Tail_ (1986, plus sequels), died on 5 April aged 102. [AIP]
     _Vlasta Pospisilova_ (1935-2022), Czech animator who worked on _Jabberwocky_ (1971) and fairytale adaptations, died on 15 April aged 87. [PDF]
     _Steve Redwood_ (1943-2022), expat UK author of two novels including _Who Needs Cleopatra?_ (2005) and many shorts, reportedly committed suicide in Spain on 10 March. [IW]
     _Klaus Schulze_ (1947-2022), German electronic music pioneer formerly with Tangerine Dream and the space-rock Ash Ra Tempel, died on 26 April aged 74.
     _Edwin A. (Ted) Scribner_ (1943-2022), Australian fan in the Sydney Futurians, who with Edwina Harvey published the Ditmar-winning newsletter _Australian SF Bullsheet_ 2002-2010, died on 30 March aged 78. [EH]
     _Liz Sheridan_ (1929-2022), US actress in _Jekyll and Hyde ... Together Again_ (1982), _World War III_ (1982) and _ALF_ (1986-1990), died on 15 April aged 93. [LP]
     _Re Styles_ (1950-2022), actress in _The Holy Mountain_ (1973, as Re Debris) and Sun Ra's _Space Is the Place_ (1974), died on 17 April aged 72. [AIP]
     _Jan Swihart_, actress starring in _Teenagers Battle the Thing_ (1958, reworked as _Curse of Bigfoot_ 1975), died in November 2021. [SS]
     _Kenneth Tsang_ (1935-2022), Chinese actor in _Die Another Day_ (2002) and _Super Me_ (2019), died on 27 April aged 86. [LP]
     _Alexandra Yakovleva_ (1957-2022), Russian actress in the Strugatsky-based musical _Charodei_ (1982), died on 1 April aged 64. [AM]
     _Barrie Youngfellow_ (1946-2022), US actress in _Nightmare in Blood_ (1977) and _Vampire_ (1979), died on 28 March aged 75. [SJ]
     _Jimmy Wang Yu_ (1944-2022), Chinese-born martial artist, producer and actor in _Master of the Flying Guillotine_ (1976) and _The Beheaded 1000_ (1991), died on 5 April aged 78. [LP]

THE DEAD PAST. _100 Years Ago_, a novelist imagined the world of the future: 'A great deal of power will be obtained from radium ...' (W.L. George, _Memphis Commercial Appeal_, 7 May 1922) [PL]
     _80 Years Ago_, a UK fan who drew and modelled futuristic stuff 'enclosed a photo of a drawing of an "Atomic Power Plant" (sic) in a letter to U.S.A. only to have it returned by censor with a sternly worded admonition that photos of buildings, _plants_, and machinery were not allowed to be sent out of the country. Tell it to Campbell, somebody.' (_Futurian War Digest_, May 1942)
     _40 Years Ago,_ Stu Shiffman explained the TAFF voting breakdown: 'I allowed Dave Langford to come up with all these numbers because, after all, he's a nuclear physicist and I'm not.' (_File 770_ #32, May 1982)

FAKE NEWS! 'James S.A. Corey' (Daniel Abraham and Tyler Corey Franck) tweeted: 'On[e] of the most weirdly persistent internet rumors is that we wrote any of @GRRMspeaking's ice and fire books. We did not. Ty ran his company for a while, and @AbrahamHanover co-wrote a book with him and Gardner Dozois. But we have never worked on Ice and Fire novels.' (Twitter, 22 April)

FANFUNDERY. _TransAtlantic Fan Fund:_ voting closed at midnight on 19 April and the 2022 winner was very soon announced as Fia Karlsson of Sweden; other candidates were Anders Holmstrom, Mikolaj Kowalewski and Julie Faith McMurray. 237 valid votes were cast, the most since 2006. See taff.org.uk for official releases and the voting figures.
     _Michael J. 'Orange Mike' Lowrey_, the 2020 TAFF winner, was at last able to make his official trip in April, attending LuxCon and Reclamation among other European travels.
     _TAFF Free Ebooks:_ Rob Hansen is now working on another fanhistorical epic, _1957: The First UK Worldcon_, telling the story from how the bid began through detailed reportage of the convention itself to an aftermath that included a lawsuit.
     Reclamation fan-fund auctions and donations raised over GBP540 for TAFF and GUFF. [CB]

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Volcanic Quease Dept._ 'Ancient urges rolled down his spine to squirm in his belly and erupt unnervingly.' (Megan Lindholm, _The Wizard of the Pigeons_, 1986) [BA]
     _Eyeballs on the Run._ 'He came back towards Helen, his dark eyes running up and down her body.' (Tony Ballantyne, _Capacity_, 2005) [BA]
     _Neat Tricks._ 'Haddad lit a cigarette and threw his legs over an elegant wooden chair.' (Ben Taub, 'Shallow Graves', 24 December 2018 _New Yorker_) [MMW]
     _Man of Muscle Mystery._ 'He laid his hand on Fengriffen's shoulder to restrain him, and that hand virtually leapt away, as Fengriffen's trapezius muscles exploded along the line of his shoulders...' (David Case, _And Now the Screaming Starts..._, 1970) [BA]
     _Radiophonic Workshop Dept._ 'The scream came tumbling down the stairs, turning over and over as it fell headlong and came to a sudden crashing halt against my eardrums...' (_Ibid_) [BA]


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### ENDNOTES ###

PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Donate to support _Ansible_, cover website costs and keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.
https://ansible.uk/paypal.html
https://ae.ansible.uk/
https://ae.ansible.uk/ebooks.php
https://ansible.uk/books/index.html

RANDOM FANDOM. _Mike Lowrey_ was scheduled to fly back to the USA on 30 April, but reported on the 29th that he'd tested positive for Covid-19 and must self-isolate for five more days in the UK. All sympathy....

EDITORIAL. After each issue, at least one reader complains that their favourite convention or festival isn't getting enough free publicity in _Ansible_. Because space is limited in the monthly newsletter (print edition still a single sheet of A4), it's not feasible to run the full longlist always on view at news.ansible.uk. Events appear here when announced, when significant changes need to be reported, and when they're getting close.

C.O.A. _Moshe Feder_ is dropping the feder.name domain long used for his email, and asks correspondents to switch to Mosaic [at] gmail dot com.

VIRTUAL MEETINGS.
     15 May 2022 (third Sunday of each month), afternoon/early evening: Sheffield SF and Fantasy Society online meeting using Zoom. For access details contact Fran Dowd, thesofa [at] gmail dot com.
     19 May 2022, evening: London Zoom meeting, third Thursday of each month. 'Please share this with people who you know typically come to the Bishop's Finger, but aren't on Facebook.'
https://bohemiancoast.medium.com/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f

SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
     2022 TAFF winner, and newsletter with voting stats
https://taff.org.uk/news/Announce_20Apr2022.pdf
https://taff.org.uk/news/TAFFish2.pdf
     Eastercon newsletters
https://reclamation2022.co.uk/newsletter/
     ESFS Awards
https://www.esfs.info/2020-2/
     Hugo finalists -- full list
https://chicon.org/home/whats-happening/hugo-awards/

THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 178, May 2002. _Highbrow Dept._ 'Then he whistled softly and his eyebrows climbed towards the ceiling.' (Arthur C. Clarke, _The Sands of Mars_, 1951)
     _One-Eyed Trouser Snake Dept._ 'Poring over the curves of her breasts and hips, Patrick's erection pulsed wildly.' (Thomas Staab, _Heart of Ice, Blood of Fire_, 2000)
     _Timeless._ 'He was not as old in appearance as his age might have made him appear.' (Gordon R. Dickson, _Soldier, Ask Not_, 1967)


_Ansible_(R) 418 (C) David Langford, 2022. Thanks to Brian Ameringen, Adam Bowie, Claire Brialey, Warwick Colvin Jr, Paul Di Filippo, _File 770_, Edwina Harvey, Steve Jones, Pamela Love, Michael J. Lowrey, Andrey Meshavkin, Lawrence Person, Curt Phillips, Andrew I. Porter, David Pringle, James Shields, Steven Smith, Ian Watson, Martin Morse Wooster, Jane Yolen, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy, and Alan Stewart (Australia). Early release to avoid the UK bank holiday....

29 April 2022