2024 BIPOC Caucus Awards

The 2024 BIPOC Caucus award winners were announced during the 45th International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, held March 13-16 in Orlando, FL.

2024 FEATURED CREATURE (CORPORATE PERSONS)

  • SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists)
  • Marriot Orlando Airport Lakeside Hotel

UPLIFTER

  • Haerin Shin
  • Sunyoung Park
  • Alec Nevala-Lee
  • Jennifer Rhee
  • Wole Talabi
  • Mame Bougouma
  • Diene Woppa Diallo

(Steven Barnes received the award last year)

EXEMPLARY ALLY

  • Martha Wells
  • Annalee Newitz
  • Mary Turzillo
  • C. E. Murphy
  • Michael Smith
  • Amanda Firestone
  • Brittani Ivan

[Thanks to Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki for the story.]

Pixel Scroll 3/25/24 For A Short Time, They Were Amber Pixels, But All Cried NAY, And They Returned To True Green

(1) THE THOUGHT PANZER PROBLEM. [Item by Doctor Science.] “Netflix blockbuster ‘3 Body Problem’ divides opinion and sparks nationalist anger in China” reports CNN.

A Netflix adaptation of wildly popular Chinese sci-fi novel “The Three-Body Problem has split opinions in China and sparked online nationalist anger over scenes depicting a violent and tumultuous period in the country’s modern history. …

Author Liu said in an interview with the New York Times in 2019 that he had originally wanted to open the book with scenes from Mao’s Cultural Revolution, but his Chinese publisher worried they would never make it past government censors and buried them in the middle of the narrative.

The English version of the book, translated by Ken Liu, put the scenes at the novel’s beginning, with the author’s blessing.

Ye Wenjie’s disillusionment with the Cultural Revolution later proves pivotal in the sci-fi thriller’s plot, which jumps between the past and present day.

I learned of the CNN article via esteemed Sinologist Victor Mair at Language Log: “’The Three Body Problem’ as rendered by Netflix: vinegar and dumplings”.

All of this rancorous dissension surrounding the Netflix version of “The Three Body Problem” reminds me of what transpired after the airing of “River Elegy” (Héshāng 河殇), which was written during the latter part of the 80s.  This was a six-part documentary aired by China Central Television on June 16, 1988 that employed the Yellow River as a metaphor for the decline of Chinese civilization.  … I strongly believe that it was this artistic production created by Premier Zhao Ziyang’s (1919-2005) zhìnáng tuán 智囊团 (“think tank”) in an inclusive sense that precipitated the Tiananmen protests and massacre one year later …”

“The difference is that “River Elegy” was a documentary created in China by critical, progressive intellectuals, whereas the Netflix version of “Three Body” is a film adaptation of a Chinese sci-fi novel infused with Western ideas and standards by its American producers, making it a much more complicated proposition.

Let’s see if the chemistry is there in Netflix’s “Three Body” to cause the sort of ramifications that ensued from CNN’s “River elegy”.

(Dr. Mair’s history of the think tank, “River Elegy”, and the Tiananmen protests is here: “Thought Panzers”).

… As soon as I read the expression “sīxiǎng tǎnkè 思想坦克”, I had the exact same impression as Mark.  It sounded bièniu 彆扭 (“awkward”), weird, unnatural.  But I don’t think the person who translated the English term “think tank” into “sīxiǎng tǎnkè 思想坦克” was clever enough to add the extra military dimension consciously, though they may have done so sub/unconsciously ….

(2) NO AI RX FOR THE DOCTOR AFTER ALL. [Item by Ersatz Culture.] A couple of weeks ago, the March 7th Pixel Scroll covered the BBC’s plan to use AI to promote Doctor Who.  Today Deadline reports that this plan has been abandoned.

The BBC has “no plans” to use AI again to promote Doctor Who after receiving complaints from viewers.

The BBC’s marketing teams used the tech “as part of a small trial” to help draft some text for two promotional emails and mobile notifications, according to its complaints website, which was intended to highlight Doctor Who programming on the BBC.

But the corporation received complaints over the reports that it was using generative AI, it added.

“We followed all BBC editorial compliance processes and the final text was verified and signed-off by a member of the marketing team before it was sent,” the BBC said. “We have no plans to do this again to promote Doctor Who.”   

(3) AO3 VS. DDOS. Archive Of Our Own’s Systems volunteers have posted an account of last year’s DDoS attacks against the Archive. “The AO3 July/August DDoS Attacks: Behind the Scenes”.

…We later found out that the attack had actually peaked at 65 million requests per second. For context, the largest publicly announced HTTP DDoS attack by Cloudflare at the time was a 71 million request per second attack. Additionally, we received information that the attack originated from the Mirai botnet. However, Cloudflare did its job well and we saw very little, if any, impact….

(4) WOMEN ARTISTS HARD HIT AS NEWSPAPER CHAINS SHED PRINT COMICS. [Item by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.] Cartoonist Georgia Dunn discovered that Gannett has gotten rid of most of its diverse and female cartoonists, even if they’re making money for the syndicate.

Michael Cavna’s article in the Washington Post explains why “Standardization at Gannett, other chains, leaves few women in print comics” [Google cache file; article is behind a paywall.].

The latest warning signs for some female artists began last fall. Suddenly, their work began disappearing from many American comics pages.

An announcement started hitting the pages of newspapers dotted around the country: the USA Today Network, owned by Gannett, was “standardizing” its comics across more than 200 publications. One of those newspapers, the Coloradoan, published a list of comics, batched in groups, that it said made up Gannett’s new lineup of options.

What began to concern some cartoonists and industry observers: None of the dozens of comics listed as print offerings for Gannett papers was actively being created by a woman artist.

Just three strips in Gannett’s list of print comics have a credited woman: “For Better or For Worse,” which creator Lynn Johnston says is in reruns; “Luann,” by writer-artist Greg Evans and his daughter, co-author Karen Evans; and “Shoe,” by artist Gary Brookins and Susie MacNelly.

As the changes rolled out at many Gannett papers between October and early this year, Hilary Price, creator of the long-running syndicated strip “Rhymes With Orange,” said she began to see a significant dip in her sales income.

Price said she is accustomed to encountering misogynistic reader responses to her work as an artist. What is becoming professionally demoralizing to her lately, though, is the sense that female artists are being removed from America’s comics pages as several newspaper chains have consolidated or contracted their print funnies in recent years.

Some female cartoonists say that as they endure double-digit percentage losses in their income from client papers, their representation in print, already historically unbalanced, is growing alarmingly, and disproportionately, small.

…Georgia Dunn, creator of the syndicated “Breaking Cat News,” said her income dropped substantially in recent months as a result.

“I don’t think it’s a Machiavellian plot — I don’t think it’s intentional,” Dunn said of the optics that female artists are being disproportionately affected by the industry’s changes. “But they overlook us a lot.”

…The “Breaking Cat News” creator shared with her readers the bad news that she might have to make some hard financial decisions as her client income dropped sharply. But “when I shared with them how this restructuring hit me, they made up my lost income overnight,” she said.

“I woke up and opened Patreon and started crying,” she continued. “I felt like George Bailey at the end of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’”…

And here’s Dunn’s follow-up post on GoComics. (Scroll beneath the cartoon itself) — Breaking Cat News – March 23.

(5) SAM I AM. John O’Neill’s “The Horrors of Sam Moskowitz” at Black Gate begins its discussion of a series of horror anthologies with this discussion of their fanhistoric editor:

…Moskowitz was an interesting character. A professional magazine editor, he edited the trade journals Quick Frozen Foods and Quick Frozen Foods International for many years, and he gradually put his professional skills to use in the genre, starting in 1953 with Science-Fiction Plus, Hugo Gernsback’s last science fiction magazine. He began editing anthologies with Editor’s Choice in Science Fiction, published by McBride in 1954, and produced two dozen more over the next 20 years.

Moskowitz (who sometimes published under the name “Sam Moscowitz,” maybe because the ‘k’ on his typewriter was worn out?), was just as well known as a critic and genre historian. While still a teenager, he was one of the key organizers of the first Worldcon, held in New York City in 1939 (where he famously barred several Futurians, including Donald A. Wollheim, Fred Pohl, Robert A. W. Lowndes, Cyril Kornbluth, and others).

His genre histories and biographies, including Explorers of the Infinite and Seekers of Tomorrow, are still well worth reading today — as is his legendary history of fannish feuds, The Immortal Storm, which fan historian Harry Warner Jr. summed up with,

“If read directly after a history of World War II, it does not seem like an anticlimax.”

First Fandom still presents an annual award in Moskowitz’s memory each year at Worldcon….

(6) IT’S NOW AN EX-CASE.  Deadline is on hand as “Judge Tosses X/Twitter Case Against Group That Produced Study On Proliferation Of Hate Speech On Platform”.

A federal judge tossed out a lawsuit brought by X/Twitter against a watching group that produced a study that examined the proliferation of hate speech on the platform.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer concluded that the platform, owned by Elon Musk, was attempting to chill the speech rights of the Center for Countering Digital Hate and other groups.

The judge wrote that X’s “motivation in bringing this case is evident. X Corp. has brought this case in order to punish [Center for Countering Digital Hate] for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp.—and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism.”

X/Twitter had sued the group, claiming that in doing their study, they unlawfully “scraped” the platform for its data that led to an exodus of advertisers.

“X disagrees with the court’s decision and plans to appeal,” the company said.

Read the judge’s decision in the X case….

(7) CHECKING IN ON THE COPYRIGHT CLAIMS BOARD. At Writer Beware, Michael Capobianco suspends judgment about the effectiveness of the relatively new Copyright Claims Board: “To CCB or Not to CCB: The Question is Still Out”.

It’s been more than a year since my last post about the now not-so-new Copyright Claims Board (CCB).

Victoria covered the CCB when it first started hearing claims in June 2022, and her post gives a good summary of how it operates and what it is supposed to accomplish. The short version:  The CCB was created as a judicial body under the US Copyright Office to administer small copyright claims that would be too expensive and/or time-consuming in federal court.

At the time I confess I was worried about an eventuality that fortunately hasn’t come true. There are vanishingly few copyright trolls trying to use the CCB to collect money from innocent or ignorant individuals by scaring them into paying settlements. On the other hand, it has worked for some business to business claims: Joe Hand Promotions, Inc., a company that “serves as the exclusive distributor of all Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and select boxing pay-per-view programming” is by far the most frequent CCB claimant, with forty-five claims and counting, mainly against bars and restaurants, and many of those are withdrawn from consideration by the CCB and apparently settled privately.

What has happened in the intervening 20 months has been a disappointment for anyone hoping that the CCB would become a useful tool for writers seeking to get redress for infringement of their work. First of all, the number of “literary” claims is still very small, around 10% of total claims, and many of those, as we previously pointed out, are dismissed by the CCB because they weren’t filed correctly or have other flaws. Some are outright bizarre, and I may do a post about them in the future. With others the claimant doesn’t understand that a vendor selling used copies of their books is not a violation of their copyright….

…In short, even as its second birthday is only a few months away, it’s still too early to draw conclusions about the efficacy of the CCB when it comes to literary works, especially books. The majority of the claims that it has decided so far involve photographs and, in those cases, it generally is finding in favor of the photographer and awarding reasonable to low damages. But there are still only a handful of contested decisions and none of them involve the kinds of published material that Writer Beware usually deals with….

(8) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

Born March 25, 1920 Patrick Troughton. (Died 1987.) So let’s talk about Patrick Troughton, the Second Doctor. 

(Digression: All of the classic Doctors are available on the BritBox streaming service. It’s $8.99 a month for a lot of British content including all of the Poirot mysteries. End of digression.) 

The first time that I watched his run I wasn’t at all fond of him as I thought his characterization wasn’t that serious. Rewatching them a few years ago on BritBox, I realized that he was a much better actor than I thought he was and that his Doctor was a much better, more nuanced persona that I realized. No, he’s still not anywhere near my favorite Doctor but now I can watch him without cringing. 

Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor Who.

Ok I’m getting distracted…

Part of his problem, and yes of the first Doctor, and yes this is just my opinion, is that the scripts weren’t that good. It wasn’t until the Third Doctor that they started actually thinking about having decent scripts.

So what did he do? Well he had the distinct honor of being in The Gorgon, an early Sixties horror film with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.   

Horror films involving Dracula, Frankenstein, feathered serpents and demons would all see him make his appearance. He showed in a lot of mysteries including the Danger Man and The Saint series. And several Sherlock Holmes series as well. 

I think Space: 1999 is the only other genre series he appeared in besides a lot of Robin Hood work in the Fifties, mostly on The Adventures of Robin Hood

(9) COMICS SECTION.

(10) A CHANCE TO START AT THE BEGINNING. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] The weekly 2000AD British anthology SF/F comic has its landmark 2,375 issue coming out next week. “New readers start here: jump on board with 2000 AD #2375”.

First up, it’s a little longer at 48 pages.  Second, all the current stories ended this week, so the next, 2,375 prog will see the start of all new stories: so, no jumping into the middle of something. In short this is an ideal place for newcomers to give it a try. 2000AD is perhaps most noted for its Judge Dredd strip. But there is a Rogue Trooper film in the works….

The new issue of 2000 AD has been precision-tooled for those hungry to discover why it’s called the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic – with bitingly good stories from top comics talent!

2000 AD Prog 2375 is a 48-page special on sale from 27 March, with a bold new cover by Hitman artist John McCrea and colourist Jack Davies.

This latest issue is designed to make it easy for new readers to pick up 2000 AD, with a mix of brand new stories and ongoing series that showcase the best the GGC has to offer!

(11) SHATNER ON JIMMY KIMMEL. The Captain celebrated his birthday on late night TV a few days ago with a flaming cake and a mulligan on Captain Kirk’s final moments: “William Shatner on Turning 93, Going to Space & He Gets a Do-Over of His Star Trek Death Scene”.

(12) A LAUGHING MATTER. Bob Byrne’s enjoyment is contagious in his article “Terry Pratchett – A Modern-Day Fantasy Voltaire” for Black Gate.

…Rincewind isn’t Conan, or Elric, or Gandalf (I’ve met Gandalf, and you sir, are no Gandalf). But while we love reading about the great heroes (or villains), we ‘get’ Rincewind….

(13) FUNNY VIDEO. [Item by Jennifer Hawthorne.] This clip showed up on Reddit. It’s apparently from the shooting set of Ford’s TV show, Shrinking. “Harrison Ford is too old for this shit”.

(14) CARGO CULTISTS. “Astronauts’ mementos packed on Boeing Starliner for crew flight test”Space.com has the story.

A NASA astronaut who had the honor of naming her spacecraft will fly items inspired by that name when she launches to the International Space Station next month.

Sunita “Suni” Williams, who is set to fly with fellow NASA astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore on Boeing’s first Crew Flight Test (CFT) of its CST-100 Starliner capsule, will reveal the “Calypso”-related items once she is in orbit.

“A little homage to other explorers and the ships they rode on, I think we are going to call her ‘Calypso,'” said Williams in 2019, when she announced the ship’s name just after it returned to Earth from flying its first uncrewed mission.

Boeing announced Williams’ intentions as it completed packing Calypso for the CFT launch, which is currently targeted for April 22. All that remains to be added to the vehicle are some late stow items and the astronauts, themselves.

The CFT Starliner will carry 759 pounds (344 kilograms) of cargo, including 452 pounds (205 kilograms) from Boeing and 307 pounds (139 kilograms) from NASA. Boeing will have 25 bags and NASA will have 11 bags stored in the cabin where Wilmore and Williams will be seated….

(15) MARK WATNEY’S HOME AWAY FROM HOME. View NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day at the link – a photo of a place you’ve probably read about already.

Ares 3 Landing Site: The Martian Revisited. Explanation: This close-up from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE camera shows weathered craters and windblown deposits in southern Acidalia Planitia. A striking shade of blue in standard HiRISE image colors, to the human eye the area would probably look grey or a little reddish. But human eyes have not gazed across this terrain, unless you count the eyes of NASA astronauts in the scifi novel The Martian by Andy Weir. The novel chronicles the adventures of Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded at the fictional Mars mission Ares 3 landing site corresponding to the coordinates of this cropped HiRISE frame. For scale Watney’s 6-meter-diameter habitat at the site would be about 1/10th the diameter of the large crater. Of course, the Ares 3 landing coordinates are only about 800 kilometers north of the (real life) Carl Sagan Memorial Station, the 1997 Pathfinder landing site.

(16) VIDEO OF THE DAY. Black Nerd Problems tees up the Studio Ghibli Fest for 2024.

Studio Ghibli Fest is back in theaters in its biggest year yet! Now, coming off the triumphant Oscar® win for Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature The Boy and the Heron, celebrate this iconic studio with an all-new selection of fan favorites and iconic titles alike.

This year’s lineup highlights the works of studio co-founders Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, as well as directors Yoshifumi Kondo, Hiroyuki Morita, and Hiromasa Yonebayashi. In celebration of Hayao Miyazaki’s recent Oscar win, Studio Ghibli Fest 2024 kicks off with the acclaimed director’s previous Academy Award-winning feature, Spirited Away, which took home the Oscar in 2001.

The lineup also includes special celebrations for the Howl’s Moving Castle 20th Anniversary, Kiki’s Delivery Service 25th Anniversary, and Pom Poko 30th Anniversary.

[Thanks to SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Steven French, Mike Kennedy, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kathy Sullivan, Jennifer Hawthorne, JJ, Doctor Science, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, and Cat Eldridge for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Mark.]

Chinese Science Fiction Database Recommended List 2023

Report by: Arthur Liu, Sanfeng Zhang and Shaoyan Hu (translator): Recently, the Chinese Science Fiction Database (CSFDB) released its annual science fiction & fantasy recommendation list for 2023.

The list is divided into 7 categories: Domestic/Translated Novels, Domestic/Translated Stories, Anthologies, Collections, and Related Works. A total of 59 entries are selected, covering 11 countries/regions. Hopefully some of these could get translated into English.

The complete list in bilingual form is as follows:

DOMESTIC NOVELS

  • We Live in Nanjing, by Tian Rui Shuo Fu (CITIC Press, January 2023)
  • The City in the Well, by Liu Yang (People’s Literature Publishing House, January 2023)
  • Ban’s Cat, by Lu Ban (Chongqing Publishing House, August 2023)

TRANSLATED NOVELS

  • Qualityland, by Marc-Uwe Kling, translated by Wang Bingyi (Sichuan Literature & Art Publishing House, January 2023)
  • Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace, translated by Yu Bingxia (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, April 2023)
  • Mockingbird, by Walter Tevis, translated by Gen Hui (People’s Literature Publishing House, May 2023)
  • Latium, by Romain Lucazeau, translated by Zhu Qianlan, Yu Ning, Wang Shaoxiong, Xue Simin, Suo Yuankai (Zhejiang Literature & Art Publishing House, March 2023)
  • Dying Inside, by Robert Silverberg, translated by Feng Xinyi (Sichuan Science & Technology Publishing House, September 2023)
  • Babel, by R.F. Kuang (CITIC Press, October 2023)
  • Revelation Space, by Alastair Reynolds, translated by He Rui (Hunan Literature & Art Publishing House, September 2023)

DOMESTIC STORIES

  • Sailing in the Sea of Whales, by Ge Ling Lan (Science Fiction World magazine, January 2023)
  • In Death, We Seek Companionship, by Han Song (Non-Existent SFF; January 22, 2023)
  • The Corrector, by Wang Xiaohai (Non-Existent SFF, February 27-28, 2023)
  • Degradation, by Zhou Yuyang (Fiction World magazine, March 2023)
  • Cao Yue, by Tan Que (Non-Existent SFF, April 4, 2023)
  • Abundance of Meat, by Cai Jianfeng (Non-Existent SFF, May 22-23, 2023)
  • The Palette of Stars, by Jiang Yitan (Original Fiction Monthly magazine, June 2023)
  • Calamity of Mountains and Seas, by Lin Shuo (Non-Existent SFF, July 24-26, 2023)
  • The Inverted Tower of Babel, by Wang Zhenzhen (Galaxy’s Edge Vol.15: The Inverted Tower of Babel, edited by Yang Feng, New Star Press, September 2023)
  • Flight on the Land, by Bai Shu (Literature Port magazine, September-October, 2023)
  • The Chant of Water Dragon, by Bai Fen (Young Writers magazine, October 2023)
  • “Burning Poems”, by Liu Tianyi, Wang Zhenzhen (Non-Existent SFF, November 13, 2023)

TRANSLATED STORIES

  • Petra, by Greg Bear, translated by Zhang Yi (Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology edited by Bruce Sterling, Beijing Times Chinese Press, April 2023)
  • Memories of the Future, by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, translated by Wang Yixiao, Feng Dong (Memories of the Future, Guangxi Science & Technology Publishing House, January 2023)
  • Oceanic, by Greg Egan, translated by Zhang Han (Oceanic: The Best of Greg Egan, Vol.1, New Star Press, January 2023)
  • Inside Job, by Connie Willis, translated by Chen Jie (The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories, Sichuan Science & Technology Publishing House, November 2023)
  • Hélicéenne, by Tristan Garcia, translated by Wang Meng (World Literature magazine, February 2023)
  • A Letter to Sylvia Plath: Soul of Dolphin (Died 2003, Iraq), by Ceridwen Dovey, translated by Liu Zhigang (World Literature magazine, October 2023)
  • Dunnage for the Soul, by Robert Reed, translated by Qin Hongwei (Science Fiction World: Translations magazine, September 2023)
  • Love in the Time of Immuno-Sharing, by Andy Dudak, translated by Gao Qipeng (World Literature magazine, June 2023)
  • Albedo Season, by Ray Nayler, translated by Liu Ruixin (Science Fiction World: Translations magazine, January 2023)
  • The Beast Adjoins, by Ted Kosmatka, translated by Xu Yan (Science Fiction World: Translations magazine, September 2023)
  • Masquerade Season, by Pemi Aguda, translated by Renne (Science Fiction World: Translations magazine, August 2023)
  • Timekeepers’ Symphony, by Ken Liu, translated by Geng Hui (IWC Wechat Public Account, December 20, 2022 – January 12, 2023)

ANTHOLOGIES

  • Adventures in Space: New Short Stories by Chinese and English Science Fiction Writers edited by Yao Haijun & Patrick Parrinder, translated by Lu Nan, Xiong Yuejian, Chen Yongrong, Liu Weimin (People’s Literature Publishing House, January 2023)
  • Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology edited by Bruce Sterling, translated by Zhang Yi (Beijing Times Chinese Press, April 2023)
  • First Time (はじめての) edited by Suirinsha (水鈴社), translated by Ju Su (Sichuan People’s Publishing House, June 2023)
  • The Decameron Project: 29 New Stories from the Pandemic, edited by New York Times, translated by Lu Dongxu (Hunan Literature & Art Publishing House, July 2023)
  • The Songs of Space Engineers edited by Liu Cixin (New Star Press, October 2023)

COLLECTIONS

  • The Best of Greg Egan (3 vols) by Greg Egan, translated by Zhang Han, A Gu, Xiao Aoran, Liu Wenyuan, Lu Dongxu, Chen Yan, Yu Baichuan, Yu Xiyun, Chen Yang (New Star Press, January 2023)
  • Memories of the Future, by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, translated by Wang Yixiao, Fengdong (Guangxi Science & Technology Publishing House, January 2023)
  • The Serpentine Band, by Congyun “Muming” Gu (Shanghai Literature & Art Publishing House, February 2023)
  • Weird Words from Nowhere, by Clark Ashton Smith, translated by Ghost Trumpeter (Anhui Literature & Art Publishing House, July 2023)
  • City, by Clifford D. Simak, translated by Chen Yunru (Sichuan Science & Technology Publishing House, September 2023)
  • Unwitting Street, by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, translated by Wang Yixiao, Fengdong (Guangxi Science & Technology Publishing House, October 2023)
  • A Collapse of Horses, by Brian Evenson, translated by Fu Jingying (Writer Publishing House, December 2023)
  • The Complete Stories, Vol. 1, by Isaac Asimov, translated by Lao Guang (Jiangsu Phoenix Literature & Art Publishing Ltd., December 2023)
  • The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson, by Kim Stanley Robinson, translated by Cui Gong Rong Xiu, Liang Shuang, Xiao Lei (Sichuan Science & Technology Publishing House, December 2023)

RELATED WORKS

  • The Anime Machine, by Thomas Lamarre, translated by Zhang Chang (Shanghai Jiao Tong University Publishing House, January 2023)
  • The Nature of Tomorrow: A History of the Environmental Future, by Michael Rawson, translated by Song Guangrong (China Translation & Publishing House, January 2023)
  • The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon, by John Tresch, translated by Liu Huining, Shi Jixin (China Science & Technology Publishing House, January 2023)
  • Chinese Science Fiction: An Oral History, Vol.1-Vol.3, edited by Yang Feng (Chengdu Times Publishing House, Vol.1: February 2023; Vol.2-3: November, 2023)
  • Words Are My Matter, by Ursula K. Le Guin, translated by Xia Jia (Henan Literature & Art Publishing House, April 2023)
  • The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science, by John Tresch, translated by Li Yongxue (China Translation & Publishing House, July 2023)
  • The SF Spirit: Komatsu Sakyo Autobiography (SF), by Komatsu Sakyo (Sichuan Science & Technology Publishing House, August 2023)
  • Father of the Galactic Railroad (銀河鉄道の父), by Kadoi Yoshinobu, translated by Li Oulin (People’s Literature Publishing House, August 2023)
  • The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan, by Tom Shone, translated by Li Sixue (Democracy & Construction Press, September 2023)
  • Album Calvino, edited by Luca Baranelli & Ernesto Ferrero, translated by Bi Yanhong (Yilin Press, October 2023)
  • Unlocking the Future: Urban Visions in Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction, by Luo Xiaomin (Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, November 2023; Routledge, April 2023)
  • Zero Gravity, Vol.12 – 13 (World Science Fiction special issue) edited by Riverflow, proofread by Riverflow & Ling Shizhen

本土长篇小说

  • 天瑞说符《我们生活在南京》(中信出版社,2023年1月)
  • 刘洋《井中之城》(人民文学出版社,2023年1月)
  • 鲁般《班的猫》(重庆出版社,2023年8月)

海外长篇小说

  • [] 马克·乌韦·克林《未来之城》,王柄熠 译(四川文艺出版社,2023年1月)
  • [] 大卫·福斯特·华莱士《无尽的玩笑》,俞冰夏 译(上海人民出版社,2023年4月)
  • [] 罗曼·吕卡佐《拉丁姆》,朱倩兰、余宁、王少雄、薛思敏、索元楷 译(浙江文艺出版社,2023年5月)
  • [] 沃尔特·特维斯《知更鸟》,耿辉 译(人民文学出版社,2023年5月)
  • [] 罗伯特·西尔弗伯格《内心垂死》,冯新仪 译(四川科学技术出版社,2023年9月)
  • [] 匡灵秀《巴别塔》,陈阳 译(中信出版社,2023年10月)
  • [] 阿拉斯泰尔·雷诺兹《天启空间》,何锐 译(湖南文艺出版社,2023年10月)

本土中短篇小说

  • 格陵兰《鲸海浮舟》(《科幻世界》2023年01期)
  • 韩松《人死时是需要陪伴的》(“不存在科幻”公众号,2023年1月22日)
  • 汪小海《修正者》(“不存在科幻”公众号,2023年3月27-28日连载)
  • 周于旸《退化论》(《小说界》2023年02期)
  • 谈雀《草月》(“不存在科幻”公众号,2023年4月10日)
  • 蔡建峰《大肉》(“不存在科幻”公众号,2023年5月22-23日连载)
  • 蒋一谈《星星的调色盘》(《小说月报·原创版》2023年06期)
  • 林烁《山海劫》(“不存在科幻”公众号,2023年7月24-26日连载)
  • 王真祯《倒悬的巴别塔》(收录于《银河边缘015:倒悬的巴别塔》,新星出版社,2023年9月)
  • 白树《陆上飞行》(《文学港》2023年09-10期连载)
  • 白贲《水龙吟》(《青年作家》2023年10期)
  • 刘天一,王真祯《焚诗记》(“不存在科幻”公众号,2023年11月13日)

海外中短篇小说

  • [] 格雷格·贝尔《彼得拉》,张羿 译([美] 布鲁斯·斯特林 编《镜影:赛博朋克文学选》,北京时代华文书局,2023年4月)
  • [] 西吉茨蒙德·科尔扎诺夫斯基《未来记忆》,王一笑、冯冬 译(《未来记忆》,广西科学技术出版社,2023年1月)
  • [] 格雷格·伊根《祈祷之海》,张涵 译(《祈祷之海:格雷格·伊根经典科幻三重奏》,新星出版社,2023年1月)
  • [] 康妮·威利斯《内贼难防》,陈捷 译(《烈火长空:康妮·威利斯杰作选》,四川科学技术出版社,2023年11月)
  • [] 特里斯坦·加西亚《爱丽司安》,王猛 译(《世界文学》2023年01期)
  • [] 瑟立文·达维《致西尔维娅·普拉斯的一封信:海豚魂(死于2003年,伊拉克)》,刘志刚 译(《世界文学》2023年05期)
  • [] 罗伯特·里德《灵魂的垫料》,秦宏伟 译(《科幻世界·译文版》2023年09期)
  • [] 安迪·杜达克《爱在免疫共享时》,高麒鹏 译(《世界文学》2023年03期)
  • [] ·内勒《反照季》,刘瑞新 译(《科幻世界·译文版》2023年01期)
  • [] 特德·科斯玛特卡《与兽同行》,许言 译(《科幻世界·译文版》2023年09期)
  • [尼日利亚] 佩米·阿古达《假面时节》,Renne 译(《科幻世界·译文版》2023年08期)
  • [] 刘宇昆《计时器交响曲》,耿辉 译(“IWC万国表”公众号,2022年12月20日-2023年1月12日连载)

多人小说选集

  • 姚海军、[] 帕特里克·帕林德 《潮166:光年之外》,鲁南、陈雍容、熊月剑、刘为民 英译中,[美] 亚里克斯·伍德恩德 中译英(人民文学出版社,2023年1月)
  • [] 布鲁斯·斯特林 《镜影:赛博朋克文学选》,张羿 译(北京时代华文书局,2023年4月)
  • [] 水铃社 《第一次》,鞠素 译(四川人民出版社,2023年6月)
  • [] 纽约时报杂志 主编 《十日谈:新冠时期故事集》,鲁冬旭 译(湖南文艺出版社,2023年7月)
  • 刘慈欣 《宇宙工程师之歌:中国工程师硬核科幻精选集》(新星出版社,2023年10月)

个人小说选集

  • [] 格雷格·伊根《祈祷之海》《快乐的理由》《三进数世界》,阿古、陈阳、鲁冬旭、刘文元、萧傲然、张涵、陈岩、于佰川、余曦赟 译(新星出版社,2023年1月)
  • [] 西吉茨蒙德·科尔扎诺夫斯基《未来记忆》,王一笑、冯冬 译(广西科学技术出版社,2023年1月)
  • 慕明《宛转环》(上海文艺出版社,2023年2月)
  • [] C.A.史密斯《虚境奇谭:C.A.史密斯克苏鲁神话佳作集》,无形的吹奏者 译(安徽文艺出版社,2023年7月)
  • [] 克利福德·西马克《荒城》,陈韵如 译(四川科学技术出版社,2023年8月)
  • [] 西吉茨蒙德·科尔扎诺夫斯基《不知情大街》,王一笑、冯冬 译(广西科学技术出版社,2023年10月)
  • [] 布莱恩·埃文森《瘫倒的马:埃文森黑暗故事集》,傅婧瑛 译(作家出版社,2023年12月)
  • [] 艾萨克·阿西莫夫《阿西莫夫科幻短篇全集1:最后的问题》,老光 译(江苏凤凰文艺出版社,2023年12月)
  • [] ·斯坦利·罗宾逊《金·斯坦利·罗宾逊短篇集》,崔龚荣秀、梁爽、小酹 译(四川科学技术出版社,2023年12月)

相关作品

  • [] 托马斯·拉马尔《动画机器:动画的媒体理论》,张长 译(上海交通大学出版社,2022年12月)
  • [] 迈克尔·罗森《未来叙事:明日环境史》,宋广蓉 译(中译出版社,2022年12月)
  • [] 约翰·特雷希《浪漫机器:拿破仑之后的乌托邦科学与技术》,刘慧宁、石稷馨 译(中国科学技术出版社,2023年1月)
  • 杨枫 主编 《中国科幻口述史》(成都时代出版社,第1卷 2023年2月;第2-3卷 2023年11月)
  • [] 厄休拉·勒古恩《我以文字为业》,夏笳 译(河南文艺出版社,2023年4月)
  • [] 约翰·特雷什《爱伦·坡传:点亮美国科学体系的暗夜灯塔》,李永学 译(中译出版社,2023年7月)
  • [] 小松左京《SF魂:小松左京自传》,孟庆枢 译(四川科学技术出版社,2023年8月)
  • [] 门井庆喜《银河铁道之父》,李讴琳 译(人民文学出版社,2023年8月)
  • [] 汤姆·肖恩《诺兰变奏曲》,李思雪 译(民主与建设出版社,2023年9月)
  • [] 卢卡·巴拉内利 / 埃内斯托·费里罗《生活在树上:卡尔维诺传》,毕艳红 译(译林出版社,2023年10月)
  • 罗小茗《解锁未来:当代中国科幻小说中的城市想象》(上海书店出版社,2023年11月)
  • 《零重力报》第12-13期:世界科幻特辑,河流 主编,河流、零始真 编辑审校(2023年10月)

Emails From Lake Woe-Is-Me — Fit the Hundred & Ninth

[Introduction: Melanie Stormm continues her humorous series of posts about the misdirected emails she’s been getting. Stormm is a multiracial writer who writes fiction, poetry, and audio theatre. Her novella, Last Poet of Wyrld’s End is available through Candlemark & Gleam. She is currently the editor at the SPECk, a monthly publication on speculative poetry by the SFPA.]

AN AUDIENCE OF ONE

Hello, All! Melanie here.

The roads for an up-and-coming writer and an up-and-coming musical act are similar. The highways are abundant with highs and lows, and all its drainage ditches overflow with uncertainty and cast off dreams.

At the start of the year, Tryxy and Writer X wished to succeed in their respective artistic pursuits, and X also hoped to shed a few pounds. Since then, X has been gung ho about getting Tryxy a steady stream of gigs, however humble. But Tryxy has grappled with the herculean task of writing enough original music to fill an entire set.

When last we left Writer X, the demon Tryxy, #bestkitten, and X’s boyfriend Tod Boadkins, Tryxy and #bestkitten’s band, DemonKitty, had a gig at a bus stop. With just five songs, DemonKitty couldn’t fill the hour they had been booked for.

As fate would have it, their set was unexpectedly interrupted by a lost A & R man from a renowned music label in Boston. Yes, A & R reps still play a crucial role in today’s direct-to-audience music industry, much like acquisition editors in the publishing world. This unexpected encounter could potentially change the course of Tryxy and Writer X’s journey.

DemonKitty was invited to Boston this week to play for the A & R rep (named Arnold Rolfson because—according to X—that’s what “A & R” stands for.)

Whatever wariness I have about music labels, I’m excited for DemonKitty. Of the hundreds of thousands of bands out there dreaming of the big time, few will ever get so lucky a break. But there’s also a danger to getting your lucky break before you’re ready for it.

Without further ado…


Subject: Cat-urday Comfort Fest!!!!!!!

Dear Gladys,

I’m writing to cordially invite you to our Comfort Fest this Saturday. I’ll just need you to bring a few things which I’ll detail later so that you don’t forget.

We are on our way back from Boston. My boyfriend, award nominated fantasy writer Tod Boadkins, is driving and Tryxy and #bestkitten are in a ramen coma in the back seat so I’m free to write you.

I am very proud of Tryxy. It has been a big week for him and that’s the most important thing. Today we all learned that playing music is pretty much the same thing as writing SFF except that they are completely different.

It all started on our way down to Boston when we entered gridlocked traffic as soon as we crossed the boundary of New Hampshire into Masshole-landia. It’s incredible how different the two states are!!!!!! On the New Hampshire side of the border, its sprawling highways, pine trees, mooses, and sasquatches, but the second you cross into Massachusetts, BAM! the roads shrink, pot holes mouths open and devour cars at random, spitting out shocks and suspension all over the place, and storm clouds roll in with eldritch horrors flinging madness from the skies.

While waiting for the DOT to clear a misplaced Shoggoth from I-93, Tryxy started fretting again about the fact that he only has five songs and what if that isn’t enough for Arnold Rolfson and he completely blows it??? To make matters worse, he was EXTREMELY NERVOUS about having to play a show for just one person.

It was so bad, we had to let him out of the car several times to upchuck his hot cheetos in a drainage ditch full of natty ice cans, cynicism and broken dreams. 

That’s when my boyfriend, award nominated fantasy writer Tod Boadkins, decided to give Tryxy a little advice.

“You know, an audience of one isn’t a bad thing, Tryxy,” he said. “In fact, an audience of one is all you need to write a story. Maybe that can be true for playing a show, too! When I’m getting ready to write, I pick one person—just one person—that I’m going to write this story for and then I tell the story in the way I think they would like it. And sometimes that one person you’re writing for can be you.”

“Ohhhhhh, why did you have to bring up writing??????” Tryxy wailed and tumbled out of the car again to make another deposit in the wildlife.

You see, Galdsy, not only has Tryxy been nervous about performing for Arnold Rolfson, he’s also had a bad case of writer’s block. Every time he thinks about writing another song as good as “Ninevah Burns In My Soul” or “Meow” or “Meow Meow,” he gets nauseous.

However, I couldn’t let my boyfriend’s silly advice be the last thing Tryxy heard!!!!

I vehemently disagree with writing to an audience of one!!!!

I mean, if all you ever want to be is an award nominated fantasy writer, maybe writing to an audience of one is enough for you, but if you want to be the next big epic fantasy writer of all time LIKE ME!!!!! you have to write stories that are all things to all people!!!!!!!!

“Tryxy, what you need to do is play for the whole world!!!” I said as soon as he got back in the car and rinsed the bile from his teeth.

“I only have five songs,” he moaned. “I can’t even play longer than twenty minutes.” And he dumped his head in his lap.

“What if you just play the five songs really really really slow?” asked my boyfriend.

We all thought that might be a plan.

Seven hours later, we had crossed twenty miles and finally reached Boston where we drove around in endless loops of one way streets until we found our destination: a squalid little warehouse pitched on some desolate corner of Mass Ave.

Arnold Rolfson greeted us at the door with a freshly waxed handlebar mustache and a cloud of weed. He bowed ostentatiously and told Tryxy how excited he was for DemonKitty to come down and play for him and how his music label could take them places they’d never dream of going—like playing Arkham or Miskatonic University!

“Hey! I go to Miskatonic University!” cried Tryxy.

But Arnold Rolfson wasn’t listening. He was texting someone on his phone. He waved a hand at us for us to follow and we awkwardly shuffled after him carrying Tryxy’s drums and #bestkitten’s microphone. Tryxy tried asking Arnodl who else played at Miskatonic U but Arnold just waved him away and kept texting. Tryxy gave me a round-eyed look of uncertainty.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” I whispered.

Arnold Rolfson waved us into a little black room with a tiny stage where Tryxy and #bestkitten set up. Then Arnold said, “Just give me a half hour of your best stuff. No need to play too long.”

And Tryxy gave me another round-eyed look and his face covered with a pale sheen of sweat. I was afraid he’d let go of some more hot cheetos!!!!!

But I had nothing to worry about Gladys!!!!!! Because DEMONKITTY PLAYED THEIR HEARTS OUT FOR NINETEEN WHOLE MINUTES!!!!!!!! I’ve never seen them play so good!!!!!! THEY WERE AMAZING!!!!!! Tryxy really took my advice to heart and played for THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!!

But in the end, I wasn’t sure Arnold Rolfson even saw it, he was so busy looking down at his phone, the reflection of blue light shimmering on his waxy mustache.

“What’s your next song?” asked Arnold.

“T-that’s a-all o-of t-them?” mewed Tryxy.

Arnold pulled his mouth and his mustache into a frown. “That wasn’t even twenty minutes and I didn’t hear a single.”

Tryxy was crestfallen.

And then Arnold Rolfson lit up like lightning struck his brains. “HEY! How about this? Tell you what I’ll do. I have a bunch of original material I’VE written on Garage Band. Excellent stuff. All of it slaps. How about DemonKitty switches out and plays MY music? That could be a good deal for you. But I keep the publishing.”

I’m not sure what Tryxy said in return because I had unconsciously picked up a folding chair and was preparing to bring it down soundly on Arnold Rolfson’s head when my boyfriend, award nominated fantasy writer Tod Boadkins, wrestled it from my grasp and secured me in a half nelson.

Needless to say, the only way to end that kind of day was to drown our disappointments in all the ramen and boba tea we could get our hands on!!!!! Sometimes, it’s just not fair that people don’t get what you’re doing or that they pretend to care but they don’t. But like Tryxy and #bestkitten said after our fifteenth ramen egg, “At least I’m doing it with my friends.”

And that’s when Cat-urday Comfort Fest was born!!!!!!!! It starts at 11:00 a.m. this Saturday and goes to whenever feels nice. It’s taking place on my couch. The whole idea is that we all dress in sweatpants and onesies and pile onto a big couch with our favorite cats and watch movies until the cows come home!!!!!!

Bring a cat, Galdsy!!!!!! And whoever else you want to come!!!!

Pages next week!!!

xox,

X

P.S. Uh oh. I can’t believe this. Arnold Rolfson just texted me and asked if I could get DemonKitty to open for an up-and-coming Boston band called the Womp Rats!!!! I don’t trust that Arnold Rolfson!!! What do I do?????

WE DID

PLAY

REALLY WELL.

BUT THAT’S

BECAUSE

WE PLAYED

FOR AN

AUDIENCE

OF ONE:

OUR

BIGGEST

FAN,

WRITER

X. <3

COME TO

CATURDAY

COMFORT

FEST IF

YOU CAN.

THERE’S

ROOM.

Journey Planet Workers’ Rights Edition – Call for Submissions

By Olav Rokne and Amanda Wakaruk: If science fiction has siblings, one of them would be the labour union movement. Both are children of the industrial revolution, when technological progress was creating new types of work and new types of workers, forcing people to confront what that meant. Both are focused on the impacts of change and how we adapt.

From William Morris’ News From Nowhere to Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, the genre has played with what work means and how humans collaborate in times of change.

We invite people to explore the (sometimes troubled) relationship between labour and science fiction in an upcoming edition of Journey Planet.

We are interested in a range of topics in various formats, from broad issues such as the depiction of the management class in space opera, to more narrowly focused analysis such as how Star Trek: Deep Space Nine can offer a model for collective action, as well as the real-world practicalities of exploitative labour practices in fandom-related employment. Reviews, short essays, fiction, art — it’s all welcome.

With an anticipated publication date set for American Labour Day (September 2, 2024), we need to have your proposals submitted by May 30, with final copy to the editors due by July 15.

Yours in solidarity,

Olav & Amanda 

Contact us at [email protected]

Olav Rokne and Amanda Wakaruk.

SERAPH 2024 Winners

The winners of the 2024 SERAPH awards for German fantasy were announced March 22 at the Leipzig Book Fair.

SERAPH 2024 AWARDS

BEST DEBUT

  • Fast verschwundene Fabelwesen: Die sagenhafte Expedition des Konstantin O. Boldt, Florian Schäfer & Elif Siebenpfeiffer (arsEdition)

BEST BOOK

  • A Breath of Winter, Carina Schnell (Knaur)

BEST INDEPENDENT TITLE

  • Draußen, Mary Stormhouse

The winners in the categories of Best Novel and Best Independent Title receive 5,500 euros, while the prize money for the Best Debut this year is 7,000 euros.

BBC Audio Drama Awards 2024

The BBC Audio Drama Awards were presented on March 24. There was one winner of genre interest, Best Supporting Performance by Mark Heap in Kafka’s Dick.

Also, many readers will be interested that Benny and Hitch, about “The explosive relationship between Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock brought to life by Andrew McCaldon”, was honored with The Society of Authors  Imison Award, which celebrates the best in new writing for the medium of audio drama and is worth £3,000.

The complete list of winners follows the jump.


BEST ORIGINAL SINGLE DRAMA

  • WINNER: Dear Harry Kane by James Fritz, producer Sally Avens, BBC Audio Drama London

 BEST ADAPTATION

  • WINNER: Bess Loves Porgy by Edwin DuBose Heyward, adapted by Roy Williams, producer Gill Parry, feral inc

COMMENDATION: If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino, adapted by Tim Crouch and Toby Jones, producer Nadia Molinari, BBC Audio Drama North

COMMENDATION: Beowulf Retold based on the version by Seamus Heaney, producer Pauline Harris, BBC Audio Drama London

 BEST ORIGINAL SERIES OR SERIAL

  • WINNER: Trust by Jonathan Hall, producer Gary Brown, BBC Audio Drama North

COMMENDATION: There’s Something I Need to Tell You by John Scott Dryden and Misha Kawnel, producer Emma Hearn, Goldhawk Productions

 BEST ACTOR

  • WINNER: Hiran Abeysekera, Dear Harry Kane, director Sally Avens, BBC Audio Drama London

COMMENDATION: Lorn Macdonald, Confessions of a Justified Sinner, director Kirsty Williams, BBC Scotland

 BEST ACTRESS

  • WINNER: Rosamund Pike, People Who Knew Me, director Daniella Isaacs, Merman

 BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

  • WINNER: Mark Heap, Kafka’s Dick, directors Polly Thomas and Dermot Daly, Naked Productions
Mark Heap

THE MARC BEEBY AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT PERFORMANCE

  • WINNER: Rosalind Eleazar, Hindsight, director Gaynor Macfarlane, BBC Scotland

COMMENDATION: Jadie Rose Hobson, Exposure, director Anne Isger, BBC Audio Drama London

COMMENDATION: Dan Parr, The Test Batter Can’t Breathe, director Tracey Neale, BBC Audio Drama London

 BEST SIT COM OR COMEDY DRAMA

  • WINNER: Where to, Mate? devised by Jo Enright, Peter Slater, Abdullah Afzal, Nina Gilligan, Andy Salthouse, Keith Carter, Jason Wingard, producer Carl Cooper, BBC Studios Audio

 BEST STAND UP COMEDY

  • WINNER: Sarah Keyworth: Are You a Boy or a Girl by by Sarah Keyworth, additional material Ruby Clyde, producer Georgia Keating, BBC Studios Audio

COMMENDATION: Janey Godley: the C Bomb by Janey Godley, producers Julia Sutherland and Richard Melvin, Dabster Productions

 BEST USE OF SOUND

  • WINNER: Hamlet Noir, sound by David Chilton, Lucinda Mason Brown, Weronika Andersen, producers Charlotte Melén, Carl Prekopp and Saskia Black, Almost Tangible

 BEST PODCAST AUDIO DRAMA

  • WINNER: Badger and the Blitz by Richard Turley and Darren Francis, producer Richard Turley, ROXO

 BEST EUROPEAN DRAMA

  • WINNER: This Word by Marta Rebzda, producer Waldemar Modestowicz, Polish Radio Theatre

 IMISON AWARD 2024

  • WINNER: Benny and Hitch by Andrew McCaldon, producers Neil Varley and Tracey Neale, BBC Audio Drama London

COMMENDATION: In Moderation by Katie Bonna, producer Sally Avens, BBC Audio Drama London

TINNISWOOD AWARD 2024

  • WINNER: Cracking by Shôn Dale-Jones, producer John Norton, BBC Cymru Wales

 OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION

  • Oliver Emanuel, presented by Dan Rebellato.

 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

  • Graham Garden, presented by Charlotte Moore.

Pixel Scroll 3/24/24 When Pixels Run in Titles, It’s A Very, Very, Scroll World

(1) NORTHUMBERLAND HEATH SF HAD ITS MONTHLY MEET. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] No big deal in itself but the meet saw Nicki receive a copy of her father’s collected fan writings: A Vince Clarke Treasury

Vince, of course, being a long-standing BritCit fan from the days of Ken Bulmer, Tedd Tubb and — no relation – Arthur C. Clarke. Vince was GoH at the 1995 Glasgow Worldcon, Intersection. Here’s Vince’s conreport. (Click for larger image.)

(2) O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN. “William Shatner: ‘Good science fiction is humanity, moved into a different milieu’” – so he tells a Guardian interviewer.

…In the case of his time on Star Trek, for instance, an inevitable subject of discussion with the former Captain Kirk: “It was three years of my life, you know?” It gladdens him to see how much joy the series has brought its many fans, but the richest rewards came in his introduction to science fiction, which activated and nurtured a lifelong curiosity about our species. He reminisces about meeting the great writers of the genre fondly yet frankly, honest enough to sort Ray Bradbury into “the category right below friend, I think”. He devoured their novels and developed a fascination with the principle of defamiliarization, that concepts taken for granted can be understood anew when viewed through the vantage of a stranger in a strange land. “Good science fiction is humanity, moved into a different milieu,” he says. “Great stories are great stories. You put human beings on a spaceship or a deserted planet, and we’ve got another way to see ourselves.”…

(3) KAIJU AROUND THE CLOCK. Collider tells where you can “Celebrate Godzilla’s 70th Birthday Party with a 24-Hour Franchise Marathon”.

…  the Music Box Theatre in Chicago is hosting a 24-hour Godzilla marathon in June as a part of an almost week-long event.

From June 7 to June 13, 2024, the Music Box Theatre has partnered with the Japanese Art Foundation to host a slew of events in honor of Godzilla’s historic reign. Opening night (June 7) will be a double feature of the last two Toho Godzilla films, Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One. This is followed by a panel discussion entitled “Godzilla: The Atomic Age Anti-Hero” led by Saira Chambers of the Japanese Culture Center/Japanese Arts Foundation and Dr.Yuki Miyamoto of DePaul Humanities Center. June 8 is when the 24-hour Godzilla marathon will be taking place. This will feature 15 films from the character’s Showa-era. Then, June 9, a rare I.B. Technicolor 35mm print screening of the underrated Godzilla (1998) starring Matthew Broderick will be shown. Other screenings that will be shown throughout this monstrous event will include the original Godzilla from 1954, The Return of Godzilla, and Godzilla vs Biollante.

(4) 2024 WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE. “Botanical fairytale set in Kew Gardens wins the Waterstones children’s book prize” reports The Guardian.

Kew Gardens features a hidden magical door in the winning book for this year’s £5,000 Waterstoneschildren’s book prize.

Greenwild: The World Behind the Door by Pari Thomson was voted the winner by Waterstones booksellers. The book “is a spellbinding triumph that will make children fall in love with the world they are reading about, and with reading itself,” said Bea Carvalho, head of books at Waterstones.

The book follows Daisy as she searches for her missing mother and discovers another world behind a hidden doorway in Kew Gardens. She soon learns that the new realm, filled with plants and magic, is under threat, and she bands together with a botanical expert, a boy who can talk to animals and a cat to save the green paradise.

Thomson lives near Kew Gardens – a place “full of sparkling glasshouses and carnivorous plants and lily pads big enough to take a nap on”, she said. “I have always felt that nature was a little bit magic – and Kew made me ask, what if it was true? What if the natural world all around us was brimming with magic? Greenwild is the answer to that question.”…

(5) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

Born March 24, 1930 Steve McQueen. (Died 1980.) I know that Steve McQueen had but one SF role as Steve Andrews in The Blob. He received three thousand dollars in the late Fifties for that his first starring role, now thirty thousand if it was adjusted for inflation.

He had turned down a first offer for a  much smaller up-front fee in return for a ten percent share of profits, thinking the film would never make money, a reasonable assumption on his part. 

As later biographies noted, he needed this money immediately to pay for food and rent. However, this film ended up being a major hit, grossing four million at the box office after costing just one hundred and ten thousand to make, ten thousand under budget. 

I’ve seen it and he was quite excellent in it. Certainly I think he did better than the reviews of the time indicated such as the New York Times which said “the acting is pretty terrible” and or the Variety that proclaimed, “Neither the acting nor direction is particularly creditable.” Humph.

So one genre film, right? Now let’s look at what else that I like that he was in.

Two years later, he’d be in The Magnificent Seven. Yes, it’s a remake of a Japanese film but it feels all American. And the cast, oh my — other performers included Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn and James Coburn. It’s considered one of the greatest films of the Western genre and deservedly so. 

The Thomas Crown Affair, released a decade later, was a most extraordinary heist film that he headed with Faye Dunaway. The perfect crime takes place. And then again and possibly deadly consequences. Oh it’s wonderful. He’s definitely a much better performer here, not surprising really. 

Now let’s see… Anything else?  Yes, one last film worth, in my opinion to note.

He’s the lead in The Great Escape as Captain Virgil Hilts which tells the story of the escape by British prisoners of war from German POW camp Stalag Luft III. Well, a highly fictional version of course. 

(6) COMICS SECTION.

  • Candorville explains once again that sf jokes are hard.
  • Tom Gauld presents a double feature.

(7) GENTLEBEINGS, BE SEATED. At Sci-Fi World Museum in Santa Monica, CA, “The restored Star Trek Enterprise-D bridge goes on display in May”Ars Technica has the story.

More than a decade has gone by since three Star Trek: The Next Generation fans first decided to restore the bridge from the Enterprise-D. Plans for the restored bridge morphed from opening it up to non-commercial uses like weddings or educational events into a fully fledged museum, and now that museum is almost ready to open. Backers of the project on Kickstarter have been notified that Sci-Fi World Museum will open to them in Santa Monica, California, on May 27, with general admission beginning in June.

It’s not actually the original set from TNG, as that was destroyed while filming Star Trek: Generations, when the saucer section crash-lands on Veridian III. But three replicas were made, overseen by Michael Okuda and Herman Zimmerman, the show’s set designers. Two of those welcomed Trekkies at Star Trek: The Experience, an attraction in Las Vegas until it closed in 2008.

The third spent time in Hollywood, then traveled to Europe and Asia for Star Trek: World Tour before it ended up languishing in a warehouse in Long Beach. It’s this third globe-trotting Enterprise-D bridge that—like the grit that gets an oyster to create a pearl—now finds a science-fiction museum accreted around it. Well, mostly—the chairs used by Riker, Troi, Data, and some other bits were salvaged from the Las Vegas exhibit….

(8) TWO THUMBS. Collider remembers “The Time Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel Stood Up For Star Wars”.

…[John] Simon’s opinion is highly unusual, as most critics who have reviewed the original Star Wars films are generally complimentary of the visual effects, which are often praised as being extremely convincing and for blending practical techniques with computer-generated work. For example, in his original review of Return of the Jedi for The Chicago Tribune, Siskel remarked that, “for the professional moviegoers, it is particularly enjoyable to watch every facet of filmmaking at its best.” In their response to Simon, Ebert disagreed with the idea of the prominence of the special effects being indicative of poor quality, saying, “I think all movies are special effects. Movies are not real. They are two-dimensional. It’s a dream. It’s an imagination,” alluding to the idea that since all films are brought to life with a combination of effects, what matters is whether said effects work in convincing ways and immerse viewers in a given story….

(9) BANG THE GAVEL SLOWLY. Then in the present, Judge John Hodgman has been called on to remedy a genre-related dispute: “My 60-Year-Old Brother has Never Seen ‘Star Wars.’ Help!” in the New York Times. Here’s the problem – see the answer at the link.

Erin writes: My brother Joel is 60, and I’m 52. But despite growing up in the ’70s, Joel never saw the original “Star Wars.” Now he refuses to, because “sci-fi is dumb.” Please order that he watch it with me on his next visit. I will even provide the gummies if needed!…

(10) BURRRP! [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] Nature has a cover with a decidedly SFnal theme about stars that destroy worlds.  ‘Death Stars’ if you will….

The cover shows an artist’s impression of a planet being captured and ingested by one of the stars in co-moving pairs of stars. In this week’s issue, Fan Liu and colleagues present evidence suggesting about 1 in 12 stars might have ingested a planet. The chemical composition of a star can change when it engulfs a planet, so the researchers looked at binary star systems in which the two stars were born at the same time. By comparing the spectral signatures of the stellar twins, they were able to identify instances in which one of the stars had ingested a planet. They identified 91 pairs of close ‘co-natal’ stars and found evidence of planetary ingestion in about 8% of them.

(11) HORSES FOR COURSES? HANDICAPPING THE ECLIPSE. Atlas Obscura tells how “Eclipse Maps Entered a Golden Age Thanks to Edmond Halley”.

In 1715, Edmond Halley published a map predicting the time and path of a coming solar eclipse. Today the astronomer is most famous for understanding the behavior of the comet now named for him, but in his lifetime he was a hotshot academic, elected to the Royal Society at age 22 and appointed the second Astronomer Royal in 1720. He was fascinated with the movements of celestial bodies, and he wanted to show the public that the coming event was not a portent of doom, but a natural wonder….

… With each eclipse to pass over the British Isles, publishers became more savvy about promoting the event to the public. In 1737, mathematician and astronomer George Smith published a predictive eclipse map in The Gentleman’s Magazine, which is thought to be the first eclipse map published in a popular publication (as opposed to as a stand-alone broadside). By 1764, wrote historian Alice N. Walters in a 1999 paper published in History of Science, “so many eclipse maps were on the market—each with a different prediction—that one commentator likened the competition between them and their producers to an event quite familiar to the English public: a horse race.”…

(12) A DAYTIME VISIBLE NOVA. Another predictable but even rarer celestial event is coming up soon: “Stellar explosion: What to know about T Coronae Borealis nova” at Yahoo!

…It’s not exactly new but there will be an extra star in the sky that will be visible to the naked eye in the coming months in Northern California. T Coronae Borealis is a binary star system comprised of a cool red giant and a hot white dwarf star 3,000 light years away. The smaller white dwarf has been stealing matter from the red giant and appears to be getting ready to emit a burst of energy which will make it visible for at least a few days. It is known as a recurring nova where matter, mostly hydrogen, is collected by the white dwarf until enough mass is reached, creating a fusion reaction. That will then emits a burst of energy, which includes visible light. This process has been going on for a long time and occurs about every 80 years in this system….

(13) AS THE WORM TURNS. And one more reason to keep watching the skies – “Here’s how to see the upcoming worm moon lunar eclipse”

A glowing worm moon will light up the sky on Monday with a celestial performance in store for people venturing out in the early morning hours — a penumbral lunar eclipse.

March’s full moon, referred to as the worm moon by the Farmers’ Almanac due to its proximity to the spring equinox, will be at its fullest at 3 a.m. ET.

A few hours earlier, starting at 12:53 a.m. ET, according to EarthSky, the moon will be almost perfectly aligned with the sun and Earth, causing the outer edge of Earth’s shadow, known as the penumbra, to be cast onto the glowing orb.

The greatest eclipse will be at 3:12 a.m. ET, when the moon will appear to be slightly darker than usual, said Dr. Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University….

[Thanks to Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, and Chris Barkley for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Soon Lee.]

Pixel Scroll 3/23/24 Please Be Aware That The Closest Pixel Might Be Behind You

(0) The Saturday Scroll will be a short one. I am on my way to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday — which will feel a bit incongruous because I’m still shocked and saddened by this first piece of news:

(1) DEB GEISLER, FN (1957-2024). Dr. Deborah M. Geisler (Deb), chair of Noreascon 4, the 2004 Worldcon, died today at the age of 66.

Her husband, Mike Benveniste, announced on Facebook that she passed at home while resting comfortably under hospice care after a long battle with lung and heart disease.  He added:

Deb was, at her core, a teacher.  As a professor of Communication and Journalism at Suffolk University, she touched the lives of students for over 30 years.  Deb never stopped caring profoundly about her students and the material she taught.  She was also a science fiction fan, fellow of NESFA, and conrunner and made many friendships in that community. 

She was chair of Noreascon 4, a Boskone, the 2004 Worldcon, and volunteered her time, experience, and snark to many other conventions. She was also the love of my life — we would have been married 33 years this October.

Deb is survived by her sister Libby and brother Doug as well as her extended family.  I will post arrangements for a wake and a memorial in the future once I know them.

Deb Geisler in 2015. Photo by Michael Benveniste.

(2) FRANK R. PAUL AWARDS DEADLINE. The submission window for the Frank R. Paul Awards closes March 31. The relaunched award will be presented at the 2024 NASFiC in Buffalo. Award administrator Frank Wu reminds artists:

Frank R. Paul was the first great science fiction magazine artist; he did the covers for the first few years of Amazing Stories, and Ray Bradbury, Forry Ackerman and Arthur C. Clarke were enticed into this field by his art. The FRP awards for best book cover and magazine cover art offer a $500 honorarium for each. Any artist, author, editor or publisher can submit up to 5 of their own works from 2023; the awards are open to everyone, including pro, semi-pro, fan or indie. Reprinted works are fine, as long as the art is new for 2023. The award winners will be determined by a panel of judges, and Frank R. Paul’s grandson Bill Engle is a member of the award committee. 

For more information, please see the award website or contact the chief awards administrator, Frank Wu, at [email protected].

The Frank R. Paul Awards were last run in 1996 by Kubla-Khan and the Nashville SF Association. Frank Wu is funding the first year’s award. For subsequent years they will be setting up a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and taking donations. 

(3) COIN OF THE REALM. “Coming to a Galaxy Near You – The Royal Mint Launches New Star Wars™ Range”.

The Millennium Falcon today (Monday 18th March) landed onto an official UK coin, as The Royal Mint unveils its latest collectable Star Wars™ coins and bullion bars.

Following the success of its first Star Wars coin series, Series 2 is dedicated to the franchise’s iconic vehicles. Designed by Ffion Gwillim, the first coin is the series depicts the infamous Millennium Falcon, one of the most recognised and celebrated vehicles in the Star Wars galaxy. Collectors and fans will enjoy the coin’s unique lenticular feature, depicting a silhouette of the Millennium Falcon and the Rebel Alliance ‘Starbird’ symbol.

Combining traditional minting techniques with modern technology, The Royal Mint’s craftspeople have faithfully reproduced the Star Wars vehicles for the first time on official UK coins. The lenticular feature, which tilts in the light to reveal symbols, is favourited by coin collectors, and demonstrates The Royal Mint’s specialised striking techniques. An advanced picosecond laser was used to imprint the intricate designs onto coin making tools to ensure exquisite accuracy.

Other coins launching in 2024 will showcase a TIE FighterX-Wing, and Death Star II.

(4) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

Born March 23, 1952 Kim Stanley Robinson, 72. If the Mars trilogy was the only work that Kim Stanley Robinson had written, he’d rank among the best genre writers ever. So let’s talk about it. The trilogy consists of Red MarsGreen Mars and Blue Mars plus The Martians collection of short stories which I’ve not read because I didn’t know it existed until now. 

(He wrote another Mars set novel prior to this, Icehenge, but it is not related to this continuity however it shares much of its themes.)

Kim Stanley Robinson reading at Boskone 57 in 2020. Photo by Daniel Dern.

The trilogy with its colonizing and terraforming of Mars told through many narratives is quite fascinating. The use of multiple narratives isn’t by any means my favorite approach to telling a story but works perfectly here and I can’t imagine a more traditional approach working here. 

Red Mars won a BSFA and Nebula. Green Mars and Blue Mars won Hugos.

Then he went and wrote the outstanding Three Californias Trilogy. The novels that make up the trilogy are The Wild ShoreThe Gold Coast and Pacific Edge. I’ve only spent brief periods of time there, though I lived in both states north of there, but I found his creation of three possible future Californias rather interesting. 

May I note that the Science in the Capital series (Forty Signs of RainFifty Degrees Below, Sixty Days and Counting) is one perhaps that I can’t judge fairly as I didn’t like the first novel so I stopped there. 

His best one-off novels I think are without argument (ha!) The Years of Rice and Salt and New York 2140.  Now I’ll admit that’s based at, in part, on the fact that he’s written a lot of novel outside of the series I’ve read such as The Ministry for the Future with future generations being vested now which sounds interesting and  and Red Moonwell. 

He’s won way, way too many Awards to go into in detail, but I’ll will note that he won both the Robert A. Heinlein Award for everything that he done to that date, and the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in service to society. 

(5) VIDEO OF THE DAY. The Season 1 trailer for the new Doctor Who has dropped.

[Thanks to Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Frank Wu, Steven French, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Peer.]