SFBC 1988 (third quarter)
James Nicoll
Lists courtesy of Andrew Wheeler.
Contents for anthologies and omnibuses from the Locus Index
to Science Fiction www.locusmag.com/index/
July AVARYAN RISING (3-in-1 of THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING, THE LADY OF
HAM-GILEN an A FALL OF PRINCES) by Judith Tarr
I missed this.
2061: ODYSSEY THREE by Arthur C. Clarke
And this. Actually, I think I gave up around page 50.
WILLOW by Wayland Drew (Alternate)
Movie tie-in, I think. I wonder why Drew wasn't tapped to write
the curiously unlabeled (as sequels to Willow, I mean) and Chris Claremont
was.
BECOMING ALIEN by Rebecca Ore (Alternate)
By gum, I liked this series. For some reason the first volume was
hard to find and it took me about half a decade.
Young down-and-outer in Rural America is drawn into a life of
crime by his brother. They happen to be the people on the spot when overt
and unintended contact is made between aliens and humans. The contact goes
horribly wrong and the alien dies. In payment our two humans are dragged
offplanet to learn diplomatic skills, something only the younger brother
is capable of doing.
More interesting than that makes it sound. The aliens seem to be
strongly influenced in design by various terrestial animals.
Ore falls into that select group (along with Will Shetterly)
where I buy their books despite having had contact with the author.
SIRENS by Chris Achilleos (Enclosure)
Never heard of it.
August PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION by Isaac Asimov
Never read this.
The 1988 Annual World's Best SF ed. Donald A. Wollheim (DAW
0-88677-281-8, Jun '88 [May '88], $3.50, 303pp, pb)
+ 9 o Introduction o Donald A. Wollheim o in
+ 12 o The Pardoner's Tale o Robert Silverberg o ss Playboy Jun
'87
+ 37 o Rachel in Love o Pat Murphy o nv IASFM Apr '87
+ 71 o America [*Carpenter] o Orson Scott Card o nv IASFM Jan
'87
+ 102 o Crying in the Rain o Tanith Lee o ss Other Edens, ed.
Christopher Evans & Robert Holdstock, London: Unwin, 1987
+ 121 o The Sun Spider o Lucius Shepard o nv IASFM Apr '87
+ 158 o Angel o Pat Cadigan o ss IASFM May '87
+ 177 o Forever Yours, Anna o Kate Wilhelm o ss Omni Jul '87
+ 192 o Second Going o James Tiptree, Jr. o nv Universe 17, ed.
Terry Carr, Doubleday, 1987
+ 240 o Dinosaurs o Walter Jon Williams o nv IASFM Jun '87
+ 270 o All Fall Down [*Hlutr] o Don Sakers o nv Analog May '87
Aside from the much-reviewed WJW, I seem to have missed these.
AT WINTER'S END by Robert Silverberg (Alternate)
I think I stalled somewhere around the halfway point with this
one.
THE WARLOCK'S NIGHT OUT (2-in-1 of THE WARLOCK WANDERING and THE
WARLOCK IS MISSING) by Christopher Stasheff (Alternate)
More Stasheff that I never read.
September THE LOST SWORDS: THE FIRST TRIAD (3-in-1 of WOUNDHEALER'S STORY,
SIGHTBLINDER'S STORY and STONECUTTER'S STORY) by Fred Saberhagen
I had given up on the series by this point.
NARABEDLA LTD. By Frederik Pohl
A mediocre Pohl novel about a fellow who ends up shanghaied
to an alien trading post. It's run by a non-utopian civilization that
quickly turns out to be under more stress than was immediately apparent.
STARFIRE by Paul Preuss (Alternate)
Mediocre novel about a space pilot who gets red-tagged due to
radiation exposure who nevertheless gets to perform one more act of
derring do in space.
DAGGER by David Drake (Alternate)
No idea what this is.
--
"About this time, I started getting depressed. Probably the late
hour and the silence. I decided to put on some music.
Boy, that Billie Holiday can sing."
_Why I Hate Saturn_, Kyle Baker
Default User
James Nicoll wrote:
> Ore falls into that select group (along with Will Shetterly)
> where I buy their books despite having had contact with the author.
Do your contacts with authors usually go badly? Or do you have a natural
reluctance to read stuff from people you know?
Brian Rodenborn
James Nicoll
on the odds of me buying their books. Ore and Shetterly are in the 'total
prats but I buy their books anyway' class. There's actually only one author
in the 'will not buy their books lest that purchase extend their career'
class. Careful readers of the group will be able to deduce who it is.
I could explain why the Wonder Twins get a little more slack from
me than the other person but it would be OT and I think I may be about to
use up my second OT post for the day.
Garrett Wollman
Art book.
-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | [G]enes make enzymes, and enzymes control the rates of
wol...@lcs.mit.edu | chemical processes. Genes do not make ``novelty-
Opinions not those of| seeking'' or any other complex and overt behavior.
MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002)
GSV Three Minds in a Can
James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> said
<snip>
>August PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION by Isaac Asimov
>
> Never read this.
Well done. Extremely mediocre tale or Seldon wandering around
increasingly unlikely bits of Trantor, prior to forming the Foundations.
Much of the detail conflicts with the original Trantor stories (e.g.
w.r.t. all food being imported, w.r.t the planet being covered in bare
metal - Seldon actually gets lost in the trees/ground on top of the
'roof' at one point).
Adds nothing to the Foundation trilogy, and takes about 400 pages to do
so. ymmv.
<snip>
--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Outgoing Msgs are Turing Tested,and indistinguishable from human typing.
Niall McAuley
news:b9bi3j$r6c$1...@panix3.panix.com...
> 2061: ODYSSEY THREE by Arthur C. Clarke
Snoozefest in which tremendously old Heywood Floyd goes
into space, and then forgets what he's doing there, and
young folks today, what the... AAAHHH COMET!!
--
Niall [real address ends in net, not ten.invalid]
Joe Bernstein
And here I thought 1988 would be getting into the era of sf that
I'd actually read again. Oops.
> BECOMING ALIEN by Rebecca Ore (Alternate)
>
> By gum, I liked this series. For some reason the first volume was
> hard to find and it took me about half a decade.
> Ore falls into that select group (along with Will Shetterly)
> where I buy their books despite having had contact with the author.
I only know either from Usenet, but have had a fair amount of contact
with her here. (Well, not here, mostly on news.* actually.) I found
myself in the interesting position a few months ago of vehemently
disagreeing with her about something, but at the same time defending
her as a writer from those who even more vehemently disagreed with
her, but at the *same* time saying that I'd lost interest in her
writing some years ago. It wasn't fun.
I respected this trilogy a lot without actually liking it much.
> The 1988 Annual World's Best SF ed. Donald A. Wollheim (DAW
> 0-88677-281-8, Jun '88 [May '88], $3.50, 303pp, pb)
> + 37 o Rachel in Love o Pat Murphy o nv IASFM Apr '87
Fine work.
> + 192 o Second Going o James Tiptree, Jr. o nv Universe 17, ed.
> Terry Carr, Doubleday, 1987
Not so fine work.
And further proof that 1987, at least, doesn't fall into my
return-to-sf period. Oh well.
> DAGGER by David Drake (Alternate)
>
> No idea what this is.
Another Thieves' World novel I bought in order to challenge
the EoF's verdict on "genre fantasy", but then did not read.
Joe Bernstein
--
Joe Bernstein, writer j...@sfbooks.com
<http://these-survive.postilion.org/> At this address,
personal e-mail is welcome, though unsolicited bulk e-mail is unwelcome.
David Bilek
>In article <b9bi3j$r6c$1...@panix3.panix.com>, James Nicoll
><jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>
>And here I thought 1988 would be getting into the era of sf that
>I'd actually read again. Oops.
>
>> BECOMING ALIEN by Rebecca Ore (Alternate)
>>
>> By gum, I liked this series. For some reason the first volume was
>> hard to find and it took me about half a decade.
>
>> Ore falls into that select group (along with Will Shetterly)
>> where I buy their books despite having had contact with the author.
>
>I only know either from Usenet, but have had a fair amount of contact
>with her here. (Well, not here, mostly on news.* actually.) I found
>myself in the interesting position a few months ago of vehemently
>disagreeing with her about something, but at the same time defending
>her as a writer from those who even more vehemently disagreed with
>her, but at the *same* time saying that I'd lost interest in her
>writing some years ago. It wasn't fun.
>
I am in the fortunate position of liking neither her online persona
nor her writing. So I am faced with no purchasing dilemmas.
Actually, I don't think I've ever had a conflict in that area. Even
Steve Stirling's, ah, unique posting habits don't bother me all that
much so I can buy him happily.
-David
Htn963
>In article <b9bi3j$r6c$1...@panix3.panix.com>,
>James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>> SIRENS by Chris Achilleos (Enclosure)
>>
>> Never heard of it.
>
>Art book.
And a decent one. Achilleos did the promo art for the first Heavy Metal
movie.
--
Ht
|Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore
never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
--John Donne, "Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions"|
Htn963
> Most of the time the author is a positive or neutral influence
>on the odds of me buying their books.
Neutral or negative for me.
>Ore and Shetterly are in the 'total
>prats but I buy their books anyway' class. There's actually only one author
>in the 'will not buy their books lest that purchase extend their career'
>class. Careful readers of the group will be able to deduce who it is.
That one who regularly makes your killfile?
And sometimes it is not only the author but their strident and unobjective
fans that can turn potential new readers away. Unfair though it may be to one
said author, the behaviors of some of that author's supporters/prats/twits here
have disinclined me to take any interest in said author's works.
Mike Schilling
> There's actually only one author
> in the 'will not buy their books lest that purchase extend their career'
> class. Careful readers of the group will be able to deduce who it is.
No need to worry, James, Zelazny died some time ago. :-)
James Nicoll
Htn963 <htn...@cs.com> wrote:
>James Nicoll wrote:
>
>> Most of the time the author is a positive or neutral influence
>>on the odds of me buying their books.
>
> Neutral or negative for me.
>
>>Ore and Shetterly are in the 'total
>>prats but I buy their books anyway' class. There's actually only one author
>>in the 'will not buy their books lest that purchase extend their career'
>>class. Careful readers of the group will be able to deduce who it is.
>
> That one who regularly makes your killfile?
Ayup.
> And sometimes it is not only the author but their strident and unobjective
>fans that can turn potential new readers away. Unfair though it may be to one
>said author, the behaviors of some of that author's supporters/prats/twits here
>have disinclined me to take any interest in said author's works.
I would only do that in cases where a cult-like following had
accreted around an author who then used them for their own ends and since
I don't read telepathic pony meets tortured elf-boy books that seems
unlikely to come up.
Garrett Wollman
James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>I don't read telepathic pony meets tortured elf-boy books that seems
>unlikely to come up.
This is obviously a subgenre with which I am insufficiently
acquainted. Can you supply some names so that I know who to avoid?
Katherine F.
(Garrett Wollman) wrote:
>In article <b9e27m$3tq$1...@panix2.panix.com>,
>James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>
>>I don't read telepathic pony meets tortured elf-boy books that seems
>>unlikely to come up.
>
>This is obviously a subgenre with which I am insufficiently
>acquainted. Can you supply some names so that I know who to avoid?
Sounds like Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books to me.
They're not as bad as all that, but once you've read one, you've
read 'em all. And, yes, telepathic horses feature. No elves as
such, but more tortured pretty-boys than you could shake a stick
at.
--
Katherine F. http://puritybrown.diaryland.com
'...a well read gibbering shell is an ornament to any newsgroup.'
-- Niall McAuley, rec.arts.sf.written
James Nicoll
Garrett Wollman <wol...@lcs.mit.edu> wrote:
>In article <b9e27m$3tq$1...@panix2.panix.com>,
>James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>
>>I don't read telepathic pony meets tortured elf-boy books that seems
>>unlikely to come up.
>
>This is obviously a subgenre with which I am insufficiently
>acquainted. Can you supply some names so that I know who to avoid?
Mercedes 'Invisible Ninjas are stalking me' Lackey.
Mark Atwood
Do you think she trades notes with Catharine "Invisbible
Patriarchyists Raped Me In My Hotel And Left No Physical Evidence"
MacKinnon?
--
Mark Atwood | When you do things right,
m...@pobox.com | people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
http://www.pobox.com/~mra
Paul Vader
>jdni...@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:
>>
>> Mercedes 'Invisible Ninjas are stalking me' Lackey.
>
>Do you think she trades notes with Catharine "Invisbible
>Patriarchyists Raped Me In My Hotel And Left No Physical Evidence"
>MacKinnon?
OK, what in hades are you two talking about? *
--
* PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something
like corkscrews.
James Nicoll
Paul Vader <pv+u...@pobox.com> wrote:
>Mark Atwood <m...@pobox.com> writes:
>>jdni...@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:
>>>
>>> Mercedes 'Invisible Ninjas are stalking me' Lackey.
>>
>>Do you think she trades notes with Catharine "Invisbible
>>Patriarchyists Raped Me In My Hotel And Left No Physical Evidence"
>>MacKinnon?
>
>OK, what in hades are you two talking about? *
http://home.attbi.com/~pellaz/misty.html
James Nicoll
James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>In article <vc7sdt7...@news.supernews.com>,
>Paul Vader <pv+u...@pobox.com> wrote:
>
And ML's and Pony White's versions, ripped from the internet:
Newsgroups:
alt.fandom.cons
Date: 1997/07/09
Hello again!
A few days ago, I posted this article in alt.books.m-lackey for Pony White,
one of Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon's personal bodyguards. A somewhat
edited version of this post has already been posted here -- because of this
and some discussion on Mercedes' participation in Dragon*Con, I wanted to
post the original, unedited version here.
Thanks!
In article <5pcvas$6...@mtinsc05.worldnet.att.net>, mrob...@worldnet.att.net
blathered on about...
>
>
>People,
>
>This is Matt Roberds again. Some of you may remember that I posted
>Mercedes' "The Last Straw" a little while back. That was done from
>my mrob...@cyberramp.net address when I was living in Dallas. Since
>that time I have joined Mercedes and Larry in Oklahoma and have the new
>address of mrob...@worldnet.att.net, but I am still posting things for
>people here until everyone gets their own Internet account. Anyone who
>was at DragonCon probably saw or met me as I was with Mercedes and Larry,
>or Mark Shepherd, much of the time.
>
> The following was written by Pony White, another person here at
>High Flight, who worked security for Misty and Larry at DragonCon. You
>can respond to this email address and I will forward it to Pony; you can
>also reach us by snail-mail at PO Box 8309, Tulsa OK 74101, USA. This
>article will also be posted on the Firebird web site
>http://www.usa.net/firebird/ and the Queen's Own/Arrows Online area
>on AOL. Thank you.
>
>Start of message from Pony White
>
> There have been a lot of rumors flying around about the way things
>were done at Dragon*Con. This, however, is not a rumor and is coming
>from Misty and Larry's personal bodyguard. At no point in time did
>they ever ask or order us to step and fetch for them. She did not
>make any of us angry, or more to the point, so angry that we walked away.
>What did occur was that the powers that be in the D*Con H.Q. had no clue
>as to what a real threat is. They were informed of the situation long in
>advance (that there was a security threat). There was also a contract
>that had certain provisions for Misty and Larry appearing at the con.
>The biggest malfunction, in my opinion, was Ed Kramer, who when advised
>of the mix-up with the rooms told us to check out of the rooms we were
>in and go to another hotel. Upon arrival the other hotel had no idea
>what we were talking about, which left us without rooms or a secure
>place for us to retire to, for hours. None of us could take a shower,
>a nap or get anything to eat. It has come to our attention that several
>other guests of honor have been treated with the same amount of contempt.
>After going without for several hours the decision was made to cut our
>losses and arrange things for ourselves. Within the span of fifteen
>minutes, we had all the agreed upon things in a hotel. This arrangement
>was handled by one of the bodyguards from Star Guards. *Fifteen minutes*,
>people! After waiting all day to see it handled like that just goes to show
>that D*con cares more about the money than the safety and comfort of their
>guests and fans.
>
> The only stepping and fetching that was done for Misty and Larry was
>done by Matt and by volunteers. With their help those of us doing the
>guarding were able to effectively do our jobs. The fans that volunteered
>to help made the functions that we did attend possible. I think we all
>owe them a hand as they did a wonderful job. As for Star Guards they
>were the most professional people we dealt with. They are extremely
>good at what they do. I would suggest them to anyone needing bodyguards.
>They made Misty and Larry's well-being the priority. They also treated
>the fans as people. Not a problem.
>
> Now before any rumor gets started about this I want to let everyone
>know that I was assaulted in the course of the weekend. Several fans saw
>this and there is no telling what you might hear. NO, I am not hurt to
>the point of needing hospitalization. I walked away with badly bruised
>ribs. Whatever the reason for the attack, they got more than they
>bargained for. It did end up involving the police, with one person
>arrested. I will be OK but you need to know about it to clear up the
>rumors that Misty was being overly paranoid. I have the bruised ribs to
>prove otherwise.
>
> If there are any questions as to what happened, and you hear something
>check your sources. Remember that not all people have to play by the rules
>that the good guys do.
>
> Thank you for your time and interest,
> Pony White.
>
>PS I can be reached at this email address as long as you put the subject
>as Pony mail. Thanx.
>
and
Newsgroups:
alt.books.m-lackey
Date: 1997/07/04
Hello again!
The following was written by Mercedes Lackey. I am posting it for her
because she does not have direct Internet access. Yes, I am the same
person who posted "The Last Straw" for her, and also the same person who
posted the "Events at Dragoncon from a primary source" post written by
Pony White, a member of the team here at High Flight. Some of you may
have seen me at DragonCon, as I was often with Pony, Mercedes, Larry,
and their professional bodyguards, or Mark Shepherd. If you have
questions about this post you can get in touch with Mercedes or Larry
Dixon via snail mail at:
PO Box 8309
Tulsa, OK 74101 USA
Thank you.
End of message from Matt Roberds
Start of report from Mercedes Lackey
THE DRAGONCON REPORT
Mercedes Lackey
As some of you may know, Larry and I have been the subjects of---well,
there's no better way to put this---a death threat.
This has been ongoing from January, when we first learned of this and
the stated target date of this threat corresponded very closely with the
date of DragonCon, which we were scheduled to attend. When the threat
became even more serious, I tried to cancel our appearance at that time,
and later attempted to do so again, but was talked out of canceling
both times.
At the time we scheduled our appearance at the extreme urging of Ed
Kramer, we were promised the following: first class air (my back can't
take coach seats anymore), a room for Larry and myself, a second room
(adjoining and with a connecting door) for our own nonprofessional
bodyguard and Mark Shepherd to share---the rooms to be on a limited-access
floor, and a speaking fee to cover the expenses of a bird-sitter and
the airfare and meals of the bodyguard. This was witnessed by Marilyn
Morey, head of the Queen's Own track, and later verified in writing from
Ed Kramer.
At the time I attempted to cancel, I was assured that not only would all
these things be taken care of, but that we would always be traveling by
service passages and freight elevators between panels and would not have
to walk out in the open on the street, and that further, a professional
protection service would be hired for us. Ed Kramer was also putting a
great deal of pressure on Marilyn Morey (at a time when her mother was
dying in intensive care) to get us to agree not to cancel. Both because
of those assurances and to relieve Marilyn of this pressure, I agreed.
I was assured that the room arrangements would definitely be as promised,
two adjoining rooms sharing a door on a limited access floor.
When we arrived at DragonCon on Wednesday night, with Mark, Pony White
our own guard, and Matt Roberds our gopher, we discovered we had been
assigned to two rooms separated by a third room, on a completely open
floor at the Westin. Further, the service elevator opened directly across
from our room. If anyone wanted to sneak in via the service elevator
and get into the room, he could do so virtually without being seen by
anyone, and get away without being caught! We didn't appreciate this,
but Ed Kramer was not available, so we decided to make do until Thursday.
On Thursday, the professional bodyguard met with us and just about had
a litter of kittens when he saw the room arrangement. We had a panel
to attend---and had to walk openly through the city streets to get to it,
another touch the professional was not pleased with. Once at the Inforum,
we had to parade openly through that building rather than taking service
corridors as had been promised, and he was even more annoyed. He set
us up at our panel, while Ops was informed that the room arrangement was
unacceptable from a security standpoint. Meanwhile, the pro ordered us to
send Matt Roberds out on any errands we had---we were NOT to go parading
out through the convention except when we had to go to panels, arrive,
or leave. We were also not to linger after any panels to talk to people
or sign things, as this would make a good place for someone to target us.
The panel ended at 2, and we went to Ops to see if anything had been done.
Nothing had been. The professional explained why this was unacceptable
about a dozen times. A staff member attempted to fix things, and at
around 4 pm finally came up with a solution---or so she said. We were to
check out of our rooms at the Westin immediately, take our things to the
Hyatt, and there would be someone waiting to check us into exactly the
kind of rooms we were promised. Larry and I both had panels, so Mark
Shepherd and Matt Roberds agreed to run back to the Westin, check out
all of us and get things taken care of. We went to our panels. We came
back to Ops after our panels to discover that when Mark had gone to the
Hyatt, no one there knew what he was talking about. Now not only did
we not have the rooms we had been promised, we didn't have ANY rooms.
The professional guard nearly had cardiac arrest.
We then went through three hours of nightmare, as he explained the kind
of setup we HAD TO HAVE for the sake of safety, and the staff tried
to arrange it, only to be thwarted time after time because Ed Kramer
wasn't around to approve it. Now, we had all been in body armor since 10
that morning; we were tired, overheated, and had nowhere to go to even
take the stuff off, and our last meal had been at 11 am. By seven we
were miserable. Wearing body-armor is a lot like wearing six girdles,
a corset, and some football plates; it pinches and bruises, even if it is
perfectly fitted, and it is horribly hot. That's the state we were in,
as the clock headed towards 8 pm and our last event of Thursday.
The professional came up (after fifteen minutes of checking his sources)
with exactly what we needed at the Four Seasons---but Ed Kramer wouldn't
approve it. We were finally offered the following at the Hyatt: either
two rooms on separate unsecured floors, or a "suite" of two rooms with
a single pull-down Murphy bed with no rollaways available. I don't
know where they expected Pony, Mark and Matt to sleep, but WE certainly
weren't going to make them sleep on the floor. At this point Larry took
the phone and told Ed Kramer that his so-called offer was far too little,
too late; that he was in breach of contract, and that we were no longer
affiliated with DragonCon. We turned in all DragonCon materials and
went to our last Queen's Own function of the day.
Following this, we spent five minutes on the phone and got exactly
what we needed---but out of our own pockets, which we frankly couldn't
really afford. We've had devastating losses from a fire that destroyed
Larry's studio, and our spare money goes into bird-rehab and supporting
an underfunded volunteer fire department. We moved into our new
arrangements, and returned for the QO midnight reading.
From then on, we attended QO functions only----functions coordinated
and arranged by Marilyn Morey, who made everything run with perfect
smoothness. These functions were open to all members of DragonCon, but
QO attendees were given preference when---as happened at every one of our
panels----there were too many people for the room. The only functions
restricted were the midnight readings----they were restricted to 25
people, chosen by random drawing, because that was all the room would
hold---and the dinner, which had been by reservation only. Everything
else was always open to non-QO attendees.
The professional bodyguards were wonderful, cool and resourceful and a
lot of fun to be around. They gave us the accolade of telling us that
we were a couple of their best clients, since we always did what they
told us to without an argument. Poor Matt deserves another accolade,
as he ran back and forth with drinks, food, and packages all three
remaining days without a complaint. Pony also deserves high points,
fitting seamlessly in with the professionals. The additional security
provided by the QO volunteers (we never saw a a single moment of coverage
from DragonCon security personel) is also greatly appreciated.
Everything went smoothly until the last signing on Saturday night.
We had just about finished the signing when we had---as the pros so
gracefully put it---an "incident." A half-dozen suspicious characters had
been in and out of the room during the signing----watching the security,
and NOT waiting to get anything signed. As the last couple of people
got autographs, a couple QO staff were breaking things down, and with
no one anywhere near the light switches---the lights suddenly went out
in the room. It was a very tense moment until the QO staff got the
lights back on, most of which, for Larry and me, was spent under a pile
of sheltering bodies! Once the lights were on, the pros were taking no
chances, they hustled us out and to a safe room. We still do not know
who caused the lights to go out, or why they did so.
After we relaxed a little, the two pros, Larry, Pony, a QO volunteer,
and myself all went to a sports-bar to watch the Tyson fight---and I
finally got the pros to EAT something! They'd spent most of the day
being so "on the job" that I don't think they'd gotten more than a bite
or two between them, even in restaurants. At last (after three days
in body-armor and one near-cardiac-arrest) we finished all the panels
on Sunday and took the pros off for a pizza-party with the QO staff.
Everybody thought the pros were great, and they had a fabulous time.
Both of them came with us as far as our hotel; the first went on home,
while the second accompanied us all the way to the jetway to the plane
at the airport. He, I am told, returned to the party for a last couple
of slices of pizza and a very-well-earned drink.
But it seems that our drama wasn't over yet, because as Pony left the
party at about 12:30 pm, he was approached in the Hyatt lobby by two
men dressed in black convention-costumes. One asked if he was "Pony",
and when he acknowledged that he was, the second man grabbed and held him
while the first took a walking-stick and tried to beat him up with it.
This was, by the way, in full sight of several witnesses. Fortunately,
Pony was still in his body-armor, and he is highly skilled at martial
arts. He only took one blow before getting free and damaging both
of his attackers; the man who was holding him fled, but he managed to
down the one with the stick and handcuffed him to the railing until the
police came. His attacker was taken to jail---this is also a matter of
public record that can be verified---on assualt charges.
Pony got two cracked ribs, a bruised area about the size of a basketball,
but no further damage as the body-armor absorbed most of the blow.
We have no further information about his assailant at this time, but
it would certainly appear that Pony took the hit that was meant for us,
which only the presence of Pony, two professionals and several volunteers
saved us from. So much for our being paranoid, and I think we were
very lucky to have been in the hands of real pros instead of DragonCon.
If it had been left up to Ed Kramer and DragonCon, odds are we'd have
been hurt or dead before Sunday.
Garrett Wollman
James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote [quoting me quoting him]:
>>>I don't read telepathic pony meets tortured elf-boy books that seems
>>>unlikely to come up.
>>
>>This is obviously a subgenre with which I am insufficiently
>>acquainted. Can you supply some names so that I know who to avoid?
>
> Mercedes 'Invisible Ninjas are stalking me' Lackey.
Huh. I didn't know that she had ever managed to put all three tropes
into one book -- must be on the lookout to avoid that one. I find
that I have only a few quibbles with her settings, in the larger
sense; my quarrel with Lackey is with her mechanics and her (and her
editors') utter disregard for even the remotest notion of
consistency.[**] Of course, I haven't exactly read everything she's
written -- and don't intend to, either.
-GAWollman
[*] She *does* seem to be the poster child for the ``entertaining but
overly sentimental stories inexpertly told'' movement....
[**] I mean, OK, so you don't like maps, but *please*, you could at
least spell proper names the same way the second time around!
Paul Vader
>http://home.attbi.com/~pellaz/misty.html
[Boing!] [cuckoo] [cuckoo] *
Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
> In article <vc7sdt7...@news.supernews.com>,
> Paul Vader <pv+u...@pobox.com> wrote:
>>Mark Atwood <m...@pobox.com> writes:
>>>jdni...@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:
>>>> Mercedes 'Invisible Ninjas are stalking me' Lackey.
>>>Do you think she trades notes with Catharine "Invisbible
>>>Patriarchyists Raped Me In My Hotel And Left No Physical Evidence"
>>>MacKinnon?
>>OK, what in hades are you two talking about? *
> http://home.attbi.com/~pellaz/misty.html
What started these alleged death threats? Was she just off her meds,
or was there something real that she exaggerated into a "death threat"?
--
<a href="http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/"> Mark Hughes </a>
"We remain convinced that this is the best defensive posture to adopt in
order to minimize casualties when the Great Old Ones return from beyond
the stars to eat our brains." -Charlie Stross, _The Concrete Jungle_