Just-released TAFFWorld #5 has fresh get-acquainted write-ups by Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund candidates Anna Raftery and Wolf von Witting.
Download your copy here.
The voting deadline is March 29 at 23:59 (UK time).
Monthly Archives: March 2016
Gnurrs That Jingle, Jangle, Jingle
By John Hertz: Marty Helgesen, who I think one of our better fanwriters and who I wish would resume publishing Radio Free Thulcandra, inspired me to find that there is a Website SpaceWesterns.com. How active this enterprise is I’m not sure; I saw nothing more recent than 2010, but what do I know? It seems to have Keith R.A. DeCandido in it.
There was a 2007 Space Western Limerick Contest, and a 2008 Space Western Senryû Contest. I’ll guess you know limericks; the senryû (I put a circumflex over the u to indicate the Japanese long vowel; I don’t have a macron available, but that’s also used; some write senryuh or senryuu), after the pen name of a 1718-1790 poet who compiled books of them, is a 5-7-5-syllable satirical cousin of the haiku. I offer one of each.
The humanoids served and obeyed.
Their sheriff was never afraid.
Taking up all our guns —
And our knives — and our fun —
He was pleased with the quiet he’d made.
Git along, dogies;
It’s your misfortune, not mine,
On through that wormhole.
In J. Williamson’s classic “With Folded Hands” (1947), humanoids from off-planet under the slogan “We Serve and Obey, and Guard Men from Harm” first knock androids out of the market by being neater, smarter, and defter, then make customers happy by doing all the unpleasant work, then take over everything dangerous, then eventually remove everything that might be risky, a peaceful but stultifying life.
In justice to Reginald Bretnor’s 1950 story “The Gnurrs Come from the Voodvork Out” I concede that gnurrs can’t abide the smell of horses and are eventually conquered by calling in the cavalry, so my own title above isn’t much good either.
[Illustration by Alan White.]
Rare SF on the Block at Heritage Auction 4/6
I’ve been previewing Heritage Auction’s Rare Book Signature Auction scheduled for April 6, where endless numbers of intriguing sf/f/h works will go under the hammer.
Here is a series of clippings from HA’s promotional articles about the genre material.
- The Science Fiction and Fantasy portion of the auction was assembled by Lloyd W. Currey, who has brought together a large offering of classic titles in excellent collectible condition. From a stellar copy of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy (Lot 45002) to Donald Wondrei’s copy of the first Arkham House book, Lovecraft’s The Outsider (Lot 45113), a collection of stories collected and edited by August Derleth and Wandrei himself. And from Franklin V. Spellman’s large collection of Lord Dunsany (Lot 45064) to Bradbury collector and friend Bob O’Malley’s excellent set of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series (Lot 45103), inscribed in the first volume by King and illustrator Michael Whelan. Many excellent copies of Bradbury works with personal inscriptions to Bob O’Malley are also present here, such as Dark Carnival (Lot 45014), Fahrenheit 451 (Lot 45016), The Martian Chronicles (Lot 45021) and The October Country (Lot 45024).
- For lovers of H.P. Lovecraft, there are many lots of special interest, aside from the outstanding copy of The Outsider mentioned earlier: One being ten autograph letters signed totaling forty-six pages in Lovecraft’s hand (Lot 45111) and another is an original typescript for The Festival (Lot 45112) one of the first Cthulhu Mythos stories.
- Additional standouts include excellent copies of titles by Edward “Doc” Smith, Robert A. Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, and Frank Herbert among many others, so please look through the auction to see if there are any treasures for your collection.
- There are so many special lots of interest, but a few favorites include a unique hand-made manuscript book by Margaret Atwood titled Paper Boat (Lot 45203) that was made as part of an initiative by Solutionaries, a climate change education project for young people;
- a wonderful group of five Curious George titles, each with an original drawing of George and inscribed by H.A. Rey (Lot 45296);
- a finely-bound set of C.S. Lewis The Narnia Chronicles (Lot 45288);
- Sea Kissed by Robert Bloch, a first printing of the author’s first book, an unauthorized forty-page booklet collecting four short stories first published in Weird Tales (one in collaboration with Henry Kuttner), which was published in England in February 1945, a few months before The Opener of the Way, his first book published in America. A signed contract between Edgar Rice Burroughs and A. C. McClurg and Company for Tarzan and the Ant Men 1924, signed by Burroughs and others. A unique copy Again, Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison, the major original SF anthology of the 1970s, with a 2-page “Idea for a story” handwritten by Ellison on the verso of the front free endpaper and the recto of the credits leaf. In addition, Ellison has annotated the title page as follows: “Save this story idea / for the new book / Harlan Ellison / 3 Jan 79“, and written a full page of ruminations on writing on the dedication page.
- Metropolis by Thea von Harbou, the 1926 first edition in dust jacket of this anti-utopia set in a gigantic mechanized city in the year 2000. It was the basis for the brilliant film by Fritz Lang, an adaptation with a mythic scale that would not be challenged, “The Shape of Things to Come” aside, for decades to come. A rare 1880 3-volume first edition of J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s The Purcell Papers, a posthumously published collection of twelve early stories by one of the most important and innovative figures in the development of the ghost story. A typewritten manuscript of H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Festival,” a circulating carbon copy, undated, but circa late 1933, of a short story first published in Weird Tales in January 1925, titled and signed by Lovecraft on a cover sheet accompanying the 10-page typescript of the story. A stunning like new copy of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider and Others, from the estate of Donald Wandrei, cofounder (with August Derleth) of Arkham House, the book’s publisher. A rare paperbound advance copy of The Moon Pool, A. Merritt’s first book, with the Joseph Clement Coll frontispiece illustration reproduced on the front cover. Oliver Onions’s own copy of the first printing of Widdershins, a landmark book in the history of supernatural fiction, with his signature and address at the top edge of the front free endpaper, below which he has inscribed the book to Percy H. Muir (1894-1979), a prominent twentieth-century antiquarian bookseller, book collector, and bibliographer.
- A first edition of Clark Ashton Smith’s The Dark Chateau and Other Poems with a signed inscription by Smith to friend and fellow writer E. Hoffmann Price. Out of Space and Time by Clark Ashton Smith, a contemporary presentation copy of the first edition with signed inscription by Smith to Samuel Loveman on the front free endpaper A 12-line Autograph Letter written by Bram Stoker to Charles E. Potts, on Tour 1887 — 1888 Lyceum Company letterhead, thanking him for sending pictures and clippings and in return, sending Potts a copy of his lecture on America.
- The 1902 Doubleday, Page first printing of Bram Stoker’s The Mystery of the Sea, a presentation copy with signed inscription by Stoker dated 22 March 1902, a week before the book’s official publication date. Theodore Sturgeon’s It, a single story printed in advance of his first book, Without Sorcery, a collection of his short fiction in which “It” would appear. About fifty copies of the story were printed on proofing paper and distributed at the 1948 World Science Fiction Convention to promote the book. Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, an advance copy of the first edition, one of an estimated twenty-five to thirty copies bound using the dust jacket as a wrapper and sent to reviewers prior to publication. Stanley G. Weinbaum’s Dawn of the Flame and Other Stories, the author’s posthumously published first book, one of the five copies with the uncredited introduction by Raymond A. Palmer, which was suppressed by Weinbaum’s widow who considered it to be “too personal.”
- Also represented is Stanley Kubrick, including a signed typed letter asking to look at a moon model that hints at his pre-production plan for his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, and first editions of books likeThe Shining and A Clockwork Orange which served as the source material for his works. Unlike his predecessor Hitchcock, Kubrick’s approach to the psychological drama was one that involved an exploration of genre and just a pinch of dark comedy.
Pixel Scroll 3/23/16 You’re on Canid Camera
(1) SUPERGIRLS. Carrie Goldman writes “An Open Letter To Supergirl Stars Melissa Benoist and Chyler Leigh, From An Adoptive Mom” in Chicago Now.
Her relationship with her younger sisters is complicated. They are our biological daughters, and this creates deep and unavoidable conflict for her. No matter how much we reassure her that we love her the same as the younger girls, she tests us.
During the scenes in Supergirl where Alex and Kara explore the painful aspects of their relationship as sisters through adoption, our whole family absorbs every word, every expression, because seeing this dynamic on mainstream television makes our family feel less alone. The fact that both Alex and Kara are kickass, strong, smart, flawed, beautiful women who work hard, cry, laugh, yell, fight, and make mistakes has been an incredible model for all of our girls.
(2) READING RESOURCES. The 1000 Black Girl Books Resource Guide database includes several sf/f titles.
[From Marley’s Welcome.] Welcome to the #1000blackgirlbooks Resource Guide. I started this campaign because I wanted to read more books where black girls are the main characters. With your help we have collected over 4000 books; many of them are have the same title, but we do have lots of unique ones as well. This guide includes 700 of those books and more is coming.
I believe black girl books are really important because when you are young you want to read lots of books, but you especially like to read books with people that look like you. While I have books at home about black girls, the books at school were not diverse. Children do most of their reading in schools or because of schools. Teachers assign books that you must read. If those books are not diverse and do not show different people’s experiences then kids are going to believe that there is only one type of experience that matters. Also, if books are not diverse then kids will not learn about the experiences of other members in their community.
(3) BELGIUM CALLING. Nicholas Whyte checks in from Brussels, in “Losers” at From the Heart of Europe.
I finally made it to the office at 1022, those last two kilometres having taken me 90 minutes to drive, to find most of my colleagues gathered ashen-faced in the lobby, greeting me tearfully – I was the only person who was unaccounted for, due to my phone being out of order – and giving me the headlines of what had happened. It’s nice to feel appreciated, still more so when I logged on and saw many concerned messages from friends and family, and even more so when people responded to my posts confirming that I was safe. One of the great things about the interconnectedness of today’s world is that we can often catch up with our friends quickly – Facebook’s check-in system in particular is a source of reassurance.
The horror has hit very close to home. I have flown out of Brussels airport in the morning five times this year, and was originally due to do so again on Friday to go to Eastercon in Manchester (in fact my plans have changed and I’ll take the Eurostar to London for work tomorrow and travel on up by train). My wife was flew out on Monday for a funeral in England and was due to fly back last night; her flight was cancelled and she will now return by Eurostar this evening. Maelbeek metro station (the four-pointed star on my map) is in the heart of the EU quarter, and I go past it almost every day and through it several times a month; a former colleague was actually on the train that was bombed, but fortunately escaped without injury; another former staffer (from before my time) was in the departure hall of the airport, and is recovering well from minor injuries.
… This happened because they [the terror movement] are losing. Less than a week ago, a major figure in the terror movement was arrested in Brussels; perhaps yesterday was revenge for his arrest, perhaps it was rushed into because they were afraid he would start talking (or knew that he already had). On the ground, their allies and sponsors are losing territory and resources in Syria and Iraq. I wrote a week ago about violence as story-telling, in the Irish context. This is an attempt to write a story about the weakness of our interconnected world, attacking places where people travel and meet, where many nationalities and cultures join together and build together.
It is a narrative that must not and will not win…
(4) MIND MELD. SF Signal’s current Mind Meld, curated by Andrea Johnson, asks —
Q: What non-mainstream Scifi/fantasy Graphic Novels do you recommend?
The answers come from: Matthew Ciarvella, Sharlene Tan, Taneka Stotts (Full Circle), Stacey Filak, Carl Doherty, Myisha Haynes (The Substitutes), Pipedreamergrey, Christa Seeley (Women Write About Comics), Martin Cahill, Larry Gent, and Jacob Stokes.
(5) VERICON. Ann Leckie has captioned a set of photos of Ancillary cosplayers from Vericon.
It’s obvious what’s going on here, right? That’s Hamilton/Breq in the middle, and she’s recruited Agent Carter, Lieutenant Peepsarwat, and Translator Zeiat in her search for the Presger gun. That case Agent Carter is carrying?
(6) INHUMAN PASSENGERS. “More ancient viruses lurk in our DNA than we thought” reports Phys Org.
Think your DNA is all human? Think again. And a new discovery suggests it’s even less human than scientists previously thought.
Nineteen new pieces of non-human DNA—left by viruses that first infected our ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago—have just been found, lurking between our own genes.
And one stretch of newfound DNA, found in about 50 of the 2,500 people studied, contains an intact, full genetic recipe for an entire virus, say the scientists who published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Whether or not it can replicate, or reproduce, it isn’t yet known. But other studies of ancient virus DNA have shown it can affect the humans who carry it.
In addition to finding these new stretches, the scientists also confirmed 17 other pieces of virus DNA found in human genomes by other scientists in recent years…
(7) LUNAR POLE DANCING. “Earth’s Moon wandered off axis billions of years ago, study finds” at Phys Org.
A new study published today in Nature reports discovery of a rare event—that Earth’s moon slowly moved from its original axis roughly 3 billion years ago.
Planetary scientist Matt Siegler at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, and colleagues made the discovery while examining NASA data known to indicate lunar polar hydrogen. The hydrogen, detected by orbital instruments, is presumed to be in the form of ice hidden from the sun in craters surrounding the moon’s north and south poles. Exposure to direct sunlight causes ice to boil off into space, so this ice—perhaps billions of years old—is a very sensitive marker of the moon’s past orientation….
“The moon has a single region of the crust, a large basaltic plain called Procellarum, where radioactive elements ended up as the moon was forming,” Siegler said. “This radioactive crust acted like an oven broiler heating the mantle below.”
Some of the material melted, forming the dark patches we see at night, which are ancient lava, he said.
“This giant blob of hot mantle was lighter than cold mantle elsewhere,” Siegler said. “This change in mass caused Procellarum—and the whole moon—to move.”
The moon likely relocated its axis starting about 3 billion years ago or more, slowly moving over the course of a billion years, Siegler said, etching a path in its ice.
(8) INDICATION OF TOR. John C. Wright still has one last book on the way from Tor – The Vindication of Man. Rather a dim-looking cover on the preorder page. The release date for the hardcover is November 22.
(9) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY BOY
- Born March 23, 1952 — Kim Stanley Robinson. The other great sf writer born in Waukegan!
(10) HE WRITES ABOUT THEY. Although John Scalzi’s post about gender-neutral pronouns is interesting, I found his personal demonstration in the comments even more so:
Also, for the record, my stance on pronouns, as they regard me:
He/him/his: My preferred set. Please use them in all things involving me.
They/them/their: Not my preferred set, but I don’t mind them being used for me.
It/it/its: This is a non-gender construction but generally isn’t used for individual humans (excepting, from time to time, infants), and is mostly used for animals and objects. Please don’t use them for me; if you do I’ll wonder why you are, and also wonder if you see me as an object, which would make me wonder if you’re a sociopath of some sort.
She/her/her: Not my gender! Be aware that in my experience when someone uses these for me, they’re usually trying to insult me in one way or another. So unless you want my default impression of you to be that you’re a sexist twit, please don’t use this set for me.
Other constructions: Really, no. “He” or “They” is fine. Thanks.
(11) DO YOU FEEL LUCKY? Claire Rousseau’s series of tweets ends on a rather optimistic note, considering the 2016 Hugo ballot isn’t out yet.
The Sad Puppies are way less threatening now that we've avoided the nuclear arms race of everyone making slates. (13/?)
— Claire Rousseau (@ClaireRousseau) March 23, 2016
(12) GEOMETRIC LOGIC.
lol – B/C being called worse than Nazis is apparently worse than actually being called a Nazi. #caring https://t.co/pjW2SGb4iZ
— finger chomper (@sadrbtpuppies) March 23, 2016
(13) A SELECTED QUOTE. Sarah A. Hoyt takes time out from moving to post at Mad Genius Club.
And after being selectively quoted by Jim Hines who pretended I was calling anyone not with the puppies worse than those who abetted the holocaust and the holodomor, by cutting out the part where I addressed those who destroy lives and reputations for a plastic rocket, we have at least established what Jim Hines is. He’s not duped by those destroying reputations and lives. He’s one of the principals. I have only one question for him: But for Wales, Jim?
(14) PUPPYING WITHOUT UMLAUTS. Some of Declan Finn’s days are better than others. “The Evil of the Puppy Kickers” at A Pius Geek.
But last time I checked, Vox Day has really never dismissed his enemies as being subhuman. Nor has he suggested murdering any of them. Not even NK Jemisen, who has her own little war with Vox going that stretches back at least two years. He’ll still debate, or reason, or scream right back at her, but he’ll at least reply to whatever is thrown his way.
You may not like what he says, but he at least acknowledges that she’s someone worth having a fight with.
Can’t say that for the Puppy Kickers. They like being the ubermensch of their own little Reich, and it’s getting tiresome, really. The ones who are really in charge rarely, if ever, acknowledge any argument outside of their own little echo chamber.
(15) KEEP BANGING ON. Michael Bane, the producer of Outdoor Channel’s Gun Stories hosted by Joe Mantegna, announced Larry Correia will appear in an episode.
Did I mention that the MAIN MONSTER HUNTER HIMSELF, LARRY CORREIA, will be joining us on GUN STORIES WITH JOE MANTEGNA this season? The MONSTER HUNTER books are modern classics. I just finished reading SON OF THE BLACK SWORD, the first book in his newest series, and it was excellent.
(16) CROWDFUNDED CON. The Museum of Science Fiction in Washington, DC is running a Kickstarter appeal to fund guests for Escape Velocity, a convention it plans to hold July 1-3. At this writing, people have pledged $14,348 toward the $18,000 goal.
Something special is coming to National Harbor, Maryland – a science fiction convention on a mission. This July 1st to 3rd, the Museum of Science Fiction will be launching ESCAPE VELOCITY, a micro futuristic world’s fair where STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics) and science fiction will collide to create a geeky-fun, educational, and above all, fascinating spectacle for kids and adults alike!
A couple of the guests they expect to have are —
Rod Roddenberry, recently announced executive producer for the new Star Trek TV series for 2017 will make a keynote presentation to celebrate Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary and discuss his work with the Roddenberry Foundation.
Adam Nimoy, son of Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock on Star Trek, is coming to Escape Velocity to discuss his father’s legacy and his new documentary film, For the Love of Spock.
In addition to screening parts of the documentary, Nimoy will join Rod Roddenberry on an Escape Velocity discussion panel moderated by screenwriter and Museum of Science Fiction advisory board member, Morgan Gendel, who wrote the Hugo Award-winning Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “The Inner Light.” “I’ve known both Adam and Rod for years and it’s fascinating to see how each has found a way to celebrate the work of their famous fathers,” said Gendel. “I expect the panel to be a very insightful look into the lives and legacies of two Trek icons.”
(17) BALLARD REMEMBERED. Malcolm Edwards will guest on The Guardian’s live webchat about JG Ballard on March 25 at noon (UK time).
Malcolm Edwards was JG Ballard’s editor for several years and worked with him on Empire of The Sun, among other classics. He should be able to give invaluable insights into Ballard’s working methods and the wonderful books he produced – and so is uniquely placed to talk about this month’s Reading Group choice, High-Rise, not to mention the recently released film.
(18) NOT WORTH THE PAPER THEY’RE NOT WRITTEN ON? Max Florschutz takes a deep dive into the value of ebooks at Unusual Things.
You don’t see articles from music sites talking about how MP3 downloads are worthless and shouldn’t cost more than ten cents. You don’t see game review sites asking how dare Steam or Origin have a digital game on launch day cost the same as its physical compatriots.
So why in the book industry is this such a problem? Why is it that a person will look at a digital MP3 download from their favorite artist and buy it without a second of remorse, but then look at a digital book from their favorite author and send them an angry message about how that ebook shouldn’t be more than a dollar?
I don’t actually have an answer to this question. All I have are theories based on what I’m reading and hearing from other people around the internet. Maybe you’ll agree with some of these, maybe you won’t. But all of these are things I’ve heard expressed in one way or another….
1A- Physical books have physical difficulties that imply value to their purchasers. Yes, this much is true. While the story inside the pages remains the same, the trick with an ebook is that it’s hard to compete with an observation of value when looking at one. A physical book? Well, for one, you can pick it up and feel the weight of it, which, to most people, does imply a value. But you can also flip through it, jostle it, check a few pages, see how long it is.
You know what’s interesting? We can do all these things with an ebook. You can flip through it and read a sample. You can see how many pages there are. You can even check reviews—something you can’t do at a bookstore.
And yet … people don’t value that either. And why? Because it’s easy. It’s fast.
(19) GOTHIC INSPIRATION. Paul Cornell starts watching all the Hammer movies in order: “My Hammer Journey #1”.
The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
The first thing that strikes one is how much of a Val Guest movie this is, and how much, therefore, as a director, Val Guest establishes the Hammer ethos. Guest’s forte is a kind of poetic modernist postwar British craft, a deceptive air of understated hard work that nevertheless not only gets everything right, but elevates, through the little details, the whole thing into art. (Again, that reminds one of the best years of Hammer all in all.) ….
(20) FURY FURIOUS. This was new to me, although it has been making the rounds for several years…
[Thanks to James H. Burns, DMS, Mark-kitteh, Andrew Porter, Michael J. Walsh, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Will R.]
All Bradbury
(1) Bradbury is the centerpiece of another Big Read in Kansas City. Biographer Sam Weller helps launch the event in ‘Fahrenheit 451’ forever: a literary classic’s uncanny cultural longevity.
In 1953, a little-known 33-year-old writer named Ray Bradbury wrote his first novel.
Sixty-two years later, “Fahrenheit 451” is a bona fide international classic.
The masterwork about a dystopian society where books are contraband is a staple of school curricula. It has been translated into more than 30 languages around the world and is, today, one of the most selected titles in community reading programs across the nation (along with Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”).
The Kansas City area this week joins the list of community celebrants. The Mid-Continent Public Library system has kicked off a series of events surrounding the book in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts “Big Read” initiative. Having worked closely with Ray Bradbury for over a decade as his authorized biographer, I am thrilled to participate.
“Fahrenheit 451” is one of those rare books that transcend time and generations. But why? Why does this short 50,000-word novel continue to have such cultural relevance?
Even Ray Bradbury was somewhat vexed by the waxing success of his novel over the decades.
“I was just writing an adventure novel,” he told me on multiple occasions. Bradbury described his book as “a fugitive chase disguised as literature,” in reference to the plotline of a fireman who burns books for a living and one-day decides to take one home to see what all the fuss is about. When Guy Montag discovers the magic, wonder, philosophy and poetry inside books, he leaves his life as a book burner behind and becomes a bibliophilic fugitive in a society where books are illegal.
(2) Adrienne Martini reviews Blythe Woolston’s MARTians at Locus Online.
Like Bradbury, whose work Woolston honors both in the title and as a running theme, this author has a knack for finding just the right details to flesh-out a world without bogging down the action in reams of description. Take, for example, this nugget: ‘‘I won’t have a vote to sell until my eighteenth birthday, and that’s 619 days away.’’ Not only do you learn Zoë’s age but you also learn reams about the world that surrounds her. MARTians is a marvel of linguistic economy.
(3) Bidding is open and lively for the strongest rare book auction Heritage has offered to date, Auction #6155.
Many excellent copies of Bradbury works with personal inscriptions to Bob O’Malley are also present here, such as Dark Carnival (Lot 45014), Fahrenheit 451 (Lot 45016; minimum $1250), The Martian Chronicles (Lot 45021; minimum $1250) and The October Country (Lot 45024; minimum bid $500).
(4) Brigadier Mick Ryan on “Why Reading Science Fiction is Good For Military Officers” at Grounded Curiosity.
And it informs us about bad potential futures. Reading science fiction allows one to think about a range of bad potential futures. The dystopian future genre, particularly for younger readers, has been popular of late. But this is not new. Whether it is King’s The Stand, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Matteson’s I am Legend, or Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, science fiction has always dealt with futures where society breaks down or must deal with a far more pessimistic view of the future. Some even deal with the end of the world, with a recent example being Stephenson’s Seven Eve’s. It is good that military officers should read such descriptions of alternate futures; it is the first step in us ensuring that they do not come to pass.
More Fantasy Beers
File 770 has covered a lot of Lovecraft-related beers. But if you’re a Tolkien fan, where is the beer for you?
Well, Massachusetts’s Night Shift Brewing has come out with Second Breakfast, a Baltic porter. They then barrel aged that beer in brandy casks and came up with Elevensies, a very limited edition.
Or if you’re a George R.R. Martin fan, Ommegang has a new release in their Game of Thrones line: Seven Kingdoms Hoppy Wheat Ale, which was released this month to coincide with Season 6.
Seven Kingdoms follows the re-release of the first two Game of Thrones-inspired beers, Iron Throne Blonde Ale and Take the Black Stout (fall 2015 and spring/fall 2013), Three-Eyed Raven Dark Saison (spring 2015), Valar Morghulis (fall 2014), and Fire and Blood Red Ale (spring 2014). Due to the popularity of this series of beers, Seven Kingdoms will be brewed at 3.5 times the volume of the first beer released in spring 2013. It will be available nationally in March 2016 on draft and in 750ml bottles for the suggested retail price $9.99 per bottle.
[Thanks to Martin Morse Wooster for the story.]
Pixel Scroll 3/22/16 The Scrolls Are Alive With The Sound of Pixels
(1) MEDIA CON INFLATION. Rob Salkowitz at ICv2 says “As The 2016 Con Season Begins, Seams Are Starting To Show”.
Competition for big names is getting crazy. Every show wants the top names to draw fans, but the bidding war for A-list talent is starting to sound unsustainable. I’ve heard reliable reports that the appearance fees for the Wizard World Show in Philadelphia in June, which lists Chris Evans, Chris Helmsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie and the stars of Back to the Future, top $1 million in guaranteed money.
Well sure. Those are all the stars of what seems likely to be 2016’s biggest movie, all in one place.
But this is having a trickle-down effect. Because this is Star Trek’s 50th anniversary, the surviving original cast members and just about everyone associated with all versions of the show, are in unusually high demand. Competition to get these names on the marquee has reportedly led to cancelled contracts, bidding wars, waivers of exclusives, a shift from guaranteed revenues for autograph sales to straight appearance fees, and other cutthroat tactics.
Cons need to make that money back somewhere, and it’s coming from three places: fans, exhibitors and sponsors.
Costs are rising for attendees. Badges for 3- and 4-day events are starting to crack the $100 level, and that’s just the start. More and more events are not only adding VIP packages, which start around $195 and can go as high as $800-900, but are also requiring fans to pre-pay for celebrity photo ops and celebrity autographs in advance. SVCC even experimented with charging a $10 surcharge for admission to the Back to the Future Panel in its big room on Saturday afternoon, only to oversell the event and not have room for prepaid customers.
(2) PATHFINDER. Marion Deeds has an excellent report on FOGCon 2016 at Fantasy Literature.
Is 72 Letters Enough? In Search of the Perfect Language
I consider a panel “good” if I come away with new book titles to track down, or lots of ideas. By those two measurements, this panel was the best panel of the convention. Panelists included Ted Chiang, who took his inspiration from the Umberto Eco book In Search of the Perfect Language (The Making of Europe). The other panelists were Cathy Hindersinn and Steven Schwartz, with Michelle Cox moderating. There was another panelist but I don’t remember her name and it doesn’t appear in the program. Hindersinn studied linguistics before making a lateral move and becoming a computer programmer. Schwartz is part of the FOGCon committee and writes speculative fiction and epic poetry. He loves language and he loves to talk about language. Cox has an MA in Church History and theology and is a technical writer.
Chiang is scary-smart, articulate if a bit abstract at times, and serious, but he has a great wit, which was on display during the panel. This panel was held in the large room and, as near as I could tell, there was one empty chair. Several people were standing. The panelists were opinionated, and in some cases their passion outstripped their knowledge; the audience was the same way. It was brilliant.
Chiang used the Eco book as a jumping off point for a discussion and critique of the conceit of a “perfect” language; one that existed in the past, in humanity’s “golden age;” a language that all humans could speak and understand. There are two parts to that idea: universalism; the idea that there is one language every human on the planet can communicate in, (perhaps as a second language); and then a language that has the smallest possible divide between the signifier and the thing signified.
(3) STRANGE PUBLISHING TREND. The New Republic reports “The Mass-Market Edition of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Is Dead”.
We may never know what Lee’s will stipulates, but the estate’s first action in the wake of Lee’s death is both bold and somewhat baffling: The New Republic has obtained an email from Hachette Book Group, sent on Friday, March 4 to booksellers across the country, revealing that Lee’s estate will no longer allow publication of the mass-market paperback edition of To Kill a Mockingbird…..
That said, mass-market paperbacks have been on a precipitous decline lately, though TKAM’s success, particularly in the education market, makes it a notable exception. But many publishers are moving away from the format. Pressed for further comment, a HarperCollins spokesperson informed me that “Like many American classics, To Kill A Mockingbird’s primary paperback format will be the trade paperback edition.” That’s an important distinction: The general trend in publishing has been against the mass-market and toward more expensive (and durable) editions—many American classics, including The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath no longer have mass-market editions.
(4) THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. Murray Leinster’s warning is just waiting for tech to catch up. “A Logic Named Joe: The 1946 sci-fi short that nailed modern tech. 70 years later, Murray Leinster’s disaster scenario is the internet you know and love.”
The story goes on to tell how “Joe,” a rogue logic with a slight manufacturing defect, becomes self-aware and resolves to provide his owners and all other “logic” users with whatever information they require. Leinster says of Joe:
Joe ain’t vicious, you understand. He ain’t like one of those ambitious robots you read about that make up their minds the human race is inefficient and has got to be wiped out an’ replaced by thinkin’ machines. Joe’s just got ambition. If you were a machine you’d wanna work right, wouldn’t you? That’s Joe. He wants to work right. And he’s a logic, an’ logics can do a lotta things that ain’t been found out yet.
This, in turn, leads to logics around the city providing tips on everything from poisoning spouses to covering up drinking binges and robbing banks. Only when Joe is taken offline is that information hidden away from humanity and order restored.
(5) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY BOY
- Born March 22, 1931 – William Shatner. The whole internet is barely big enough to contain everything there is to know about his show biz career. Google revealed to me that Shatner was on the old What’s My Line? game show in January 1965.
He was there to plug the premiere episode of his (then) new lawyer drama series For The People — which fortunately for all concerned failed in time for him to be cast in Star Trek.
(6) TODAY’S OTHER BIRTHDAY BOY
- Born March 22, 2233 – James Tiberius Kirk. You could look it up!
(7) RECORD STRAIGHTENER. Larry Correia has been unfairly charged with abandoning the battlefield, as he explains in “The Guardian’s Village Idiot Declares Another Career Ruined”.
I wasn’t going to write anything about SP, but it has come to my attention that a new narrative has arisen amongst the mushy headed dope punditry of fandom, because they are always scrambling for something to get their collective panties in a bunch over. This time it is that Brad and I are cowards—and are probably misogynistic women haters too—because we abandoned poor female Kate to their mighty wrath.
Well, you’ll have to forgive Brad’s cowardice, because he has been deployed by the US Army to the Middle East for the last year, supporting missions against terrorists, but that’s nothing compared to the courage it takes to have a good fandom slapfight. (And really? Scared of what? There are only so many ways you guys can send out a press release alleging that somebody is a racist).
And you’ll have to forgive me too, because I thought I had made my point in 2014 that the system was biased, and I was done. Only Brad asked me to come back to help in 2015, so I did, and after the CHORFs proved my point for me far better than I ever could—wooden assholes and No Awarding the most deserving editor in the business—I said at the end of that I was done.
Why am I out? Mostly because it was a giant time suck, and I’ve got stuff to do. Unlike most of my detractors, I actually write books for a living. I wrote a novella worth of posts on SP in public, and another one worth of emails on the topic behind the scenes. Then there is the joy of spending an hour on the phone with reporters, so that they can quote one sentence from you, and then quote paragraphs from some dolt who knows jack about the topic but belongs to the right clique.
Honestly, in the time I spent on Sad Puppies, I probably could have gotten another book out the door. Plus in 2016 I’ve got my European research trip, I have a new business venture I’ve not talked about at all, I bought a big chunk of property, and mountain fortress compounds don’t build themselves. All that’s in addition to the three novels that are coming out this year, the short fiction collection I have to put together, and the MHI anthology I have to edit.
So I could either try to prove again the point that I’ve already proven, or I can get paid more. Hmmm…. Tough call.
(8) A PUPPY SURPRISE. Apparently Jeffro Johnson was the last person on Earth to realize this was the game plan from Day 1. “Comments on Sad Puppies IV and Rabid Puppies II” at Jeffro’s Space Gaming Blog.
You know, I have to say… making the Puppies lists for Best Related Work was a real shock for me. That’s just not something that ever even occurred to me as being a possibility. Maybe it’s a bit ironic, but it’s actually humbling to have even a modest number of people think that well of me. I honestly don’t know what else to say, but “thank you.” So: thank you!
(9) HONORED. Cheah Kai Wai (Benjamin Cheah) is also pleased to be included. See “Rabid Puppies Recommended”.
I am greatly honoured to accept such praise, and am deeply humbled by the fact that there are people who believe I am worthy of standing beside such luminaries as Stephen King and Andy Weir. Looking at the rest of the Rapid Puppies recommendations, I am fully confident that the recommendations will live up to the Rapid Puppies’ mission of making the Hugos great again.
Further, I am especially pleased by Vox Day’s inclusion of Space Raptor Butt Invasion. Science fiction is the literature of ideas, allowing radical concepts to be explored in great detail. This story is indubitably a masterwork that skilfully portrays interspecies non-heterosexual relations within a vividly-created science fictional universe, and would surely be a shoo-in for the Hugos among certain quarters.
(10) REMOVAL REQUEST. In revolutionary Boston the tea had to be thrown overboard. This time it jumped.
Emma Newman speaks “Regarding Tea and Jeopardy being included on a certain list”.
All I know is that I would like Tea and Jeopardy to be removed from this latest list. I don’t want something that Pete and I spend a hell of a lot of time and energy creating to be associated with anything like this. Our podcast has made it to the nominations shortlist two years in a row on its own merit and if we are lucky enough to be shortlisted for a third time, I want it to be because people listen to the show and are moved to nominate it. Nothing more.
Sadly, it seems that requests to be removed for the Sad Puppies 4 list are being ignored. Whilst part of me agrees that people can put whatever they like into a list on their own website, the part that values courtesy disagrees with the refusal to respect a creator’s requests to remove something from it. I’m sorry if this hurts the feelings of the people involved, but no matter what the intentions are this year, no matter the reasons why our podcast made it onto that list, I personally do not want my work to be associated with it.
(11) SECOND CUP. Peter Newman affirms the request in “Tea and Jeopardy, Hugo nominations and Sad Puppies”.
To be clear, I have never solicited the attention of this group, nor do I endorse it. I was not asked if Tea & Jeopardy could be included and I am told that requests to be taken off the list will be ignored. That said, I’d like Tea & Jeopardy to be taken off the Sad Puppies 4 list.
(12) SCHMIDT ASKS OUT. Bryan Thomas Schmidt tells Facebook readers he’s unhappy to find himself on the Rabid Puppies slate.
So apparently the abominable Vox Day put me on his Hugo list this year. First I heard if it. I have paid NO attention this year to lists, etc. I would demand removal but he clearly cares not what people think and states flat out he will not entertain removal requests. I “No Awarded” him last year and would again. I do not approve of this and see it as his attempt to do me further harm. Just going to ignore.
He’s also got an asterisk next to his name on the Sad Puppies 4 List now, too.
In fact, Schmidt says he would rather not be considered for the Hugo at all.
Although I am flattered when friends say they nominated me for the Hugo, please do not waste votes on me this year. I do not want to participate in this broken, biased process, at least until perhaps people of all creeds and levels can be fairly considered without politics ruling the day. I would decline a nomination if offered, though I highly suspect there will be no need. Instead, please consider MISSION: TOMORROW for the Locus Awards. Thanks.
(13) LIMITING DAMAGE. David D. Levine also got his short story “Damage” asterisked by asking to be removed from the Sad Puppies 4 List in a comment.
(14) SUPPORT FOR KATE PAULK. Amanda S. Green in “Cranky Writer is, well, cranky” said —
As for those who don’t want to be associated with SP4, I suggest you go back and look at what Kate has done throughout the year. The list is not something she pulled out of thin air. This is a list that is based solely on recommendations made by anyone who wanted to take part. By telling Kate you don’t want to be associated with the list, you are basically telling your readers — your fans and the people who buy your work — that you don’t value their support. You are letting fear of what a few in the industry might think of you override what should be important: keeping your fans happy. Unless, of course, you don’t give a flip what your fans think and you like slapping them in the face for daring to support your work and recommend it for what has been one of the most prestigious prizes in the industry.
(15) BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARDSHELL. Alexandra Erin brings back the field’s most insightful reviewer, John Z. Upjohn, USMC (Aspired) – “Sad Puppies Review Books: Yertle the Turtle”.
The villain of the piece is a turtle named Mack who is so dissatisfied with his place in the world that rather than climbing the ladder and making something of himself, he instead blames society for such petty things as the pain in his back and his lack of food. Not content to merely complain, he uses his extraordinary power and privilege to impose his will upon all other turtles. Lacking the gumption and will to raise himself up, he instead only tears down, and will not be satisfied until all other turtles have been brought down to his level.
(16) DELVING. Alexandra Erin’s “Nineteen Puppy Four” contains her opinion of the Sad Puppy worldview and motivations.
Well, so much for the notion that this year’s litter of Sad Puppies were kinder, gentler, or even more moderate than last year’s. Over the past weekend, when the initial reactions to their new list were still more initial, Sarah Hoyt posted a response that was… well, we’ll say “typically hyperbolic”, but also quite telling.
A lot of it follows the “BUT MOM, I’m NOT Touching Him!” school of legalism that sprouts up whenever reactionaries try to argue with or by what they think is progressive logic, but as she goes on, she eventually compares Puppy critics to such nuanced things as German citizens whipped into a frenzy of anti-Semitism by the Nazi party, only “worse” because those who disagree with the Pups are doing it of our own free will. In the same piece, she refers to those who dissent from her party line as being slaves bound in chains.
(17) NOT THE DOG IN THE NIGHT. Paul Cornell can still hear them.
https://twitter.com/Paul_Cornell/status/712270507727572992
(18) AND NOW ABOUT SOME BOOKS. Book Smugglers Publishing thinks you will be interested in Superheroes in Space.
Broken by Susan Jane Bigelow has earned a Starred Review by Publishers Weekly, a super great review by Foz Meadows over at Hugo Award winner A Dribble of Ink and has sold TV rights. Broken is Book Smugglers Publishing’s first novel and the opening act in The Extrahuman Union Series….
Introducing readers to Susan Jane Bigelow’s sprawling series in which Extrahumans will fight wars, overthrow governments, fall in and out of love, have life-changing adventures and travel the stars in search of a home—and their promised freedom—Broken is out now and is available as a trade paperback and ebook (EPUB & MOBI) from all major retailers online. The print book contains the novel, two illustrations from Kirbi Fagan, and a sneak peek at Sky Ranger, the second book in the series (published this June). The ebook edition also contains a prequel short story, Crimson Cadet, as well as an essay from the author and a Q&A with the artist.
(19) ET TU PENTAWERE? Scanners do not live in vain when it comes to extracting secrets from the mummies of Pharoahs.
The New Kingdom Pharaoh Ramesses III was assassinated by multiple assailants — and given postmortem cosmetic surgery to improve his mummy’s appearance.
Those are some of the new tidbits on ancient Egyptian royalty detailed in a new book by Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and Cairo University radiologist Sahar Saleem, “Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies” (American University in Cairo Press, 2016).
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Darren Garrison, and James H. Burns for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Peace Is My Middle Name.]
Langford Essay Collection Reissued as Ebook
David Langford’s Ansible Editions has published his nonfiction collection Up Through an Empty House of Stars: Reviews and Essays 1980-2002 as an ebook for the first time.
The collection originally appeared in 2003. The ebook has all of that content, plus five additional pieces from the 1980-2002 period, and the expanded, improved 2004 version of Langford’s humorous introduction from Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature. The book contains over 137,000 words.
Adam Roberts’ review of the 2003 edition said:
Some statistics: I read this collection right through in one [1] go. I nodded sagely in agreement eighty-four [84] times. I shook my head in disagreement five [5] times. I laughed out loud forty four [44] times, and smiled or smirked scores [20s] of times more. I took off my hat once [1], at the end, in tribute to Langford’s excellence as a critic. Actually, I’m making these figures up; but they give a ball-park sense of my response. This is a marvellous book. No reader of sf should miss it.
The Table of Contents follows the jump.
Aimee Ogden Wins 2016 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award
The winner and runners-up for the 2016 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award have been announced.
GRAND PRIZE
- “Dear Ammi” by Aimee Ogden
SECOND PLACE
- “To Lose the Stars” by Jennifer Brozek
THIRD PLACE
- “Cylinders” by Ronald D. Ferguson
Aimee Ogden is from Madison, Wisconsin, Jennifer Brozek from Bothell, Washington, and Ronald D. Ferguson from San Antonio, Texas.
Judges for the award were the editors of Baen Books and special guest judge author David Drake. Stories were judged anonymously. The Jim Baen Memorial Award will be presented at a ceremony during the annual International Space Development Conference held May 18-22, 2016 in Puerto Rico. The winner receives a trophy and her story will be published June 2016 at the Baen.com web site, where new fiction is featured each month.
“The National Space Society and Baen Books applaud the role that science fiction plays in advancing real science and have teamed up to sponsor this short fiction contest in memory of Jim Baen, Baen Books’ founder,” said William Ledbetter, contest administrator. “We believe — and strive to show with these imaginative stories — that humanity has a bright and exciting future beyond the bounds of Earth. We want to see Moon bases, Mars colonies, orbital habitats, space elevators, asteroid mining, realistic spacecraft, heroics, sacrifice, and adventure. This year’s winning stories deliver just that.”
Peggy Ranson (1948-2016)
Peggy Ranson. Photo by Vincent Mariano.
Peggy Ranson, a very popular fanartist in the 1990s, passed away March 16 from cancer. The family’s obituary is here.
She grew up in Memphis, and attended Memphis State University. While living in New Orleans she worked as a commercial artist for D.H. Holmes and the Times Picayune.
Ranson was employed as an ad illustrator when she volunteered to help with the 1988 New Orleans Worldcon. Guy H. Lillian III remembers, “She co-edited the Nolacon II program book with me, did scads of inimitable and exquisite fan art, and graced every moment we spent with her.” Lillian writes that this piece was her first fan art.
She was an L. Ron Hubbard Illustrator of the Future contest finalist in 1990, and attended the awards ceremonies (see photo).
Illustrator of the Future 1990. Peggy Ranson is fourth from right. (Kelly Freas is fourth from left.)
Ranson was a Best Fan Artist Hugo nominee every year from 1991-1998, winning in 1993. Lillian liked to say she was only the second fan from Louisiana (adopted) to win a Hugo (the first was Camille Cazedessus, publisher of ERB-dom.)
She did countless pieces of art for conventions, bids, and fanzines, and for charitable publications like the Charlie Card Fund’s 1991 Fantasy Art Calendar. Her work won Best in Show at the 1991 Worldcon art show (Chicon V).
There’s a small gallery of her black-and-white art at Fanac.org.
Ranson was a guest of honor at DeepSouthCon 34 in 1996, and Armadillocon 20 in 1998, and other small cons across the South.
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005 she fled to Memphis. Afterwards she wrote a long account of her escape and what it was like to return to the heavily damaged city in Challenger 23.
Although she did some cover art for professional publications, she does not seem to have pursued that as a vocation, for many of her assignments were for books by writers or small press publisers she knew well. This includes her covers for The NESFA Index to Short Science Fiction for 1989 (1992), Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordperson: The Complete Stories (1993) a paperback of George Alec Effinger stories from Swan Press, Girls for the Slime God (1997) a collection of stories edited by Mike Resnick, and Birthright: The Book of Man (1997) by Mike Resnick. She also did interiors for magazines, including Algis Budrys’ Tomorrow Speculative Fiction.
Ranson is survived by a sister and two brothers (one of them her twin), and several nieces and nephews.