Category Archives: Worldcon

Rebadging Worldcon Ribbons

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[Introduction: Towards the end of the 2019 Worldcon, I set about modifying a set of the Dublin 2019 ribbons I had been given, and handed some out, writing an article about it in 2020. That piece went to Banana Wings, but long story short it has not yet appeared in print, and Claire and Mark are happy for me to send it to File 770, so here it is with a recent postscript.]

By Alan Stewart: In the Fan Fund auction at Dublin 2019 Julian Warner bought a set of Dublin ribbons and gave them to me. Though purportedly a “complete set”, comparison with a framed set of the ribbons on display in the Exhibits Hall showed that my gifted set was missing Chair, Chair’s Staff and Worldcon Widow, but I had two versions of Volunteer (also VOLUNTEER). It also included Featured Artist which was not amongst the framed set.

After looking through the set I decided it would be a nice idea to suitably modify them and hand some out to people at the convention. Checking that it was okay with James Bacon, who reiterated the message that they were not to be worn at the convention, which he had anecdotally included while auctioning the set, he also agreed that it would be a very fannish thing to do. So I set out on my rebadging project with the help of some stickers provided via the art show staff.

I distributed ribbons on the last afternoon of the con, with the expectation that they would be added to badges later that day, and also at Titancon in Belfast the next weekend.

The modifications were made based on my knowledge of the recipient, maybe something that had happen at Worldcon, or whim. I believe they were received with good grace. A couple were at the suggestion of Karen Babcock.

The following table details the recipients and the modified text of the ribbon presented to them.

RecipientModified ribbon text
Alan StewartPast Worldcon Bid Chair
Andrew TrembleyBrainstorming Champion
Ben YalowFacilities Free in 2021
Brian NesmittHelp I’m At Point Square
Carolina Gomez LagerlöfEurocon Organiser
Cheryl MorganWSFS Business Meeting Widow
Claire BrialeyPast & Present Fan Fund Hero
Craig MacbrideHugo Losers’ Ceremony Guest
Espana SheriffRibbon Facilitation
Geri SullivanAlan Crashed My Literary Beer
Geaeme BathoSpocking Hall Costumer
Ian McDonaldGreat Publications
James BaconDublin’s Finest Worldcon Chair
James J StylesI’d Like Access All Areas
Lawrence HoggFan Tables Staff Hero
Lucy SussexFantastical Ireland Explorer
John CoxonRibbon Dealer
Joseph MeltzerI Could Be A Rocket Scientist
Julian WarnerMr Warner
Karen BabcockEditing McEditface
Kevin RocheOnce More With Houselights Please!
Lori MeltzerSvelte Stage Ninja
Lynelle HowellI Found the Dragon! In NZ
Maree PavletichI Made CoNZealand Happen
Mark PlummerFan Funds’ Superfriend
Matthew PavletichProject Tahiti Via CoNZealand
PRKPeople Superstar!
Robin JohnsonPast Worldcon Guest of Honour
Rose MitchellKaffeeklatsches Are Me
Simon LittenI Was A Retro Hugo Acceptor
SpikeQuiet Please, I Am Analyzing Stuff
Teddy HarviaI Found A Site Selection Ballot
Tom BeckerO’Bleak!
ToriCreators Alley Next Year
  
Chris Garcia[Chair] ‘s Friend *

*             Sticker only, given to James Bacon to add to a spare Chair ribbon and then to be forwarded to Chris.

At the time, expecting to see people at CoNZealand, I made this offer:

If you would like to be added to the project please contact me at [email protected]. Feel free to nominate the original Dublin ribbon (if known, and still available) and the final modified text you would like. Otherwise the choice of ribbon and modification will be up to me. As long as ribbons (67) are still available, I’m happy to post them out or prepare them for delivery at CoNZealand at which time I will declare the project closed (last-minute modification and issue at the con may be possible). An extra distribution table could be published later next year.

Speeding ahead to August 2023, of course that 2020 and CoNZealand interaction never happened. So I’d like to conclude the project by the finish of Glasgow 2024 next year. In the meantime if you contact me about receiving a modified ribbon, maybe you recall a Dublin 2019 one in particular you’d like modified, and supply the details, if it is one of the 67 still available I can do that using the white stickers, nail scissors and a pen which did the work the first time around. (Please see the photo above for one example, and others appended to the end of this article.) Snail mail should be able to deliver a modified ribbon in packaging as a standard airmail letter. Best contact is probably via email [email protected].

Next year I’ll take the last ribbons to Glasgow, and the essential scissors and stickers, and set about finalising the project, by request if people catch up with me, and again at my whim. I’ll record details to prepare a sequel to the table above which might also appear in File 770 next year.

Here’s some more photos from 2019, modified ribbons prepared in my hotel room, ready for distribution. [Click for larger image.]

Glasgow 2024 Publishes Second Full Progress Report

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Glasgow 2024 has published Progress Report 2 which can be downloaded in PDF format from the Glasgow 2024 website here. It is the third of six digital Progress Reports which will be produced during the two-year period leading up to the convention (the first abbreviated report was numbered as Progress Report 0).

The cover for PR#2, “2000 Years Later” is by Chris Baker (a.k.a. Fangorn), Artist Guest of Honour.

The publication of PR2 marks the start of the final year leading up to the convention, with activity ramping up across all Divisions.  PR2 includes news from all areas including:

  • A welcome message from Convention Chair Esther MacCallum-Stewart
  • Continued growth in membership numbers which now total over 3,000
  • Confirmation of the next membership rate increase on 1 October, 2023
  • Travel advice for getting to and around Glasgow
  • News for Artists and Dealers who are interested in taking space at the event
  • Updates from the Programme and Events Divisions including details of how to submit your own ideas to the team
  • Publications information including our Souvenir Book Advertising Rates
  • How to Volunteer, plus updates from our Accessibility and Childcare teams
  • Stories from the Promotions Division who continue to engage existing and new fans with everything from Twitch D&D Adventures to Glasgow 2024 Gin, Tartans and original fabric designs.

PR2 also features a look back at the Brighton Worldcons of 1979 and 1987 in a series exploring the history of British Worldcons, and a behind the scenes look at Iain Clarke’s award winning Glasgow 2024 promotional art.

Progress Report 3 is due to be issued in early 2024.

[Based on a press release.]

60-Day Countdown To 2023 Chengdu Worldcon

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The 2023 Chengdu Worldcon opens in 60 days. The committee recently released several videos about the latest progress of the convention.

2023 Chengdu Worldcon mascot awaits you to name it

The mascot of the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon is an imaginative and futuristic giant panda. This video presents the first projection of the giant panda in three-dimensional space. With a streamlined style and delicate metallic texture, the “Voyager” mecha on the giant panda pays tribute to the spaceship from the classic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The designs of the “Stellar Energy” and “Sunbeam Neurotransmitter” are derived from the venue of the Chengdu Worldcon and the sun bird totem at Jinsha ruins, respectively. The “Sliver Leaf Vascular Technology Knob” on its head, inspired by the ginkgo leaf, is the core controller of the mecha. The “Staff of Creation” held by the giant panda KORMO is inspired by the golden staff artifact and bamboo from the Sanxingdui Museum. The “Stellar Messenger” on the top of the staff is derived from the bronze bird from Sanxingdui.

It is reported that the tentative name of the giant panda is KORMO. At the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon, a series of KORMO derivatives will be launched, including toys, dolls, bags, stationery, etc. Next, the Committee will collect ideas from sci-fi fans through the official social media to decide on the final name for the mascot.

Experience the Three-Body World at the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon

The Three-Body Problem trilogy is a flagship work of Chinese science fiction literature. In 2015, the first installment of The Three-Body Problem (English version) won the Hugo Award for the Best Novel, representing the global recognition for Chinese science fiction literature. In 2018, the Three-Body Universe (Shanghai) Cultural Development Co., LTD was established, officially starting the systematic development and operation of the Three-Body IP.

With the promotion of the Three-Body Universe, the Three-Body is coming into our life in various fresh forms, such as derivative TV series, animations, variety shows, radio dramas, PC games, VR, and immersive exhibitions. The content products developed by the Three-Body Universe cover film, television, music, pan-culture, interactive entertainment, location-based entertainment, etc. The Three-Body Problem has gone from a novel to an inter-generational cultural symbol with global influence.

The 2023 Chengdu Worldcon has specially invited the Three-Body Universe, the exclusive global copyright holder of the content development and commercial derivative of the Three-Body Problem trilogy, as the “2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Special IP Partner”.

With the support of the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon, the Three-Body Universe plans to hold content-rich theme programs and present a large “Waterdrop” themed art installation at the convention site. The design of the installation blends the concepts of Waterdrop, the Dark Forest Theory, and the Museum of Earth Civilization, combining the amazing imagination and profound philosophy of the Three-Body Problem. An exciting Three-Body World is waiting to be explored by sci-fi fans.

Hear from the sci-fi “heavy hitters” on the talk show “Discover X Interview”

To visit the spiritual homes of sci-fi heavy hitters from China and abroad experience and inherit more than 80 years’ heritage of the World Science Fiction Convention culture, the talk show “Discover X Interview” has been launched on the official website and social media platforms of the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon, and the Bilibili website.

In the first episode, Chengdu Worldcon staff Tina Wong hosts a talkshow with Ben Yalow, co-chair of the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon, Dave McCarty, administrator of the Hugo Awards, and Helen Montgomery, chair of the 2022 Chicon 8, who are invited to talk about the Hugo Awards and World Science Fiction Convention from the experts’ point of view.

Next, the “Discover X Interview” will invite honorary guests of the convention, newly nominated Hugo Award finalists, renowned sci-fi film and TV directors, and sci-fi game producers. In the program, you will see “Sci-Fi Veterans” such as Tan Kai, Dong Renwei, He Xi, and Yin Guang, and new sci-fi stars chatting about science fiction. More guests will participate in the program, stay tuned.

They also posted this clip from local television:

[Based on a press release.]

What Works Are Part of Each 2023 Best Series Hugo Finalist?

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The 2023 finalists for the Best Series Hugo are:

  • Children of Time Series, by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Pan Macmillan/Orbit)
  • The Founders Trilogy, by Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey)
  • The Scholomance, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
  • The Locked Tomb, by Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)
  • Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovich (Orion)
  • October Daye, by Seanan McGuire (DAW)

In previous years there were requests for a list of the works considered part of each finalist for Best Series (whether or not those works are included in the voter packet). Since the voter packet doesn’t include one, File 770 reader Joseph came up with this unofficial list of works included in each series.

Three of the series are straightforward, in that they just have novels and not any separately published short fiction to consider.

CHILDREN OF TIME SERIES

Children of Time
Children of Ruin
Children of Memory

THE FOUNDERS TRILOGY

Foundryside
Shorefall
Locklands

THE SCHOLOMANCE

A Deadly Education
The Last Graduate
The Golden Enclaves

THE LOCKED TOMB

The Locked Tomb has three novels and two pieces of short fiction (so far):

Gideon the Ninth
Harrow the Ninth
Nona the Ninth

“The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex” at Tor.com
“As Yet Unsent” at Tor.com

RIVERS OF LONDON

Rivers of London includes nine novels (these are what’s in the voter packet), three novellas (a fourth published in 2023), thirteen pieces of short fiction (collected in Tales from the Folly), and graphic novels (it’s less clear if those count as part of the nomination for the purposes of the rules on Best Series, which specify “works in which the text is the primary form of communication”).

Novels
Rivers of London
Moon over Soho
Whispers Under Ground
Broken Homes
Foxglove Summer
The Hanging Tree
Lies Sleeping
False Value
Amongst Our Weapons

Novellas
The Furthest Station
The October Man
What Abigail Did That Summer

The Wikipedia article Rivers of London (book series) provides an (incomplete) list in internal chronological order, including short fiction and graphic novels.

OCTOBER DAYE

October Daye includes 16 novels and 48 pieces of short fiction published up to the end of 2022 (the voter packet provides NetGalley access to the novels). 

The Wikipedia’s Seanan McGuire bibliography gives lists in publication order. Seanan McGuire has also been posting a list in internal chronological order, including the short fiction (with brief comments and content warnings), on Twitter (starting here) and Bluesky; not sure why the short fiction didn’t end up in the voter packet, given the intent expressed there to include it; it was included in the 2021 voter packet. Neither platform makes it easy to read things without an account at present; see https://twstalker.com/seananmcguire/status/1677027195632619524 or https://blue.amazingca.dev/user/seananmcguire.bsky.social for versions of the thread that can currently be read without an account. I think the following is the internal chronological order for all 64 stories (starting off based on Seanan’s list, followed by my understanding of the order for the remaining stories) – though it’s probably best to read several of the novels before many of the pieces of prequel short fiction that come earlier chronologically:

“Such Dangerous Seas”
“The Fixed Stars”
“Sun Sets Weeping”
“Rat-Catcher”
“Forbid the Sea”
“Stage of Fools”
“The Voice of Lions”
“The Act of Hares”
“Instruments of Darkness”
“With Honest Trifles”
“In Deepest Consequence”
“Jealous In Honor”
“Quick in Quarrel”
“Of Strange Oaths”
“Dreams and Sighs”
“Wishes and Tears”
“Poor Fancy’s Followers”
“Our Trial Patience”
“Earth for Charity”
“Mean and Mighty”
(“Distinction of Place” and “Notes of Sorrow” were released 2023, so not part of the nomination.)
“In Little Stars” (missing in Seanan’s list)
“Heaps of Pearl”
“Shore to Shore”
“Write in Water”
“Live in Brass”
“And Thrice Again”
“The Ambitious Ocean”
“Shine in Pearl”
“These Antique Fables”
“Never Shines the Sun”
“In Sea-Salt Tears”
“Strangers in Court”
Rosemary and Rue
A Local Habitation
An Artificial Night
Late Eclipses
“Through This House”
One Salt Sea
Ashes of Honor
“No Sooner Met”
Chimes at Midnight
“Full of Briars”
The Winter Long
A Red-Rose Chain
Once Broken Faith
“Dreams and Slumbers”
The Brightest Fell
“Of Things Unknown”
Night and Silence
“Suffer a Sea-Change”
The Unkindest Tide
“Hope is Swift”
A Killing Frost
“And Deeps Below”
“Sacrifice Your Tears”
“Into the Sea”
“In Safety Rest”
“Upon Your Honor”
“With Sweet Peace”
“Like a Dream”
“Give Sorrow Words”
When Sorrows Come
“And With Reveling”
Be the Serpent

Chengdu Worldcon Releases First Block of Hugo Voter Packet

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The Chengdu Worldcon committee notified members today that they have released the first block of the 2023 Hugo Voter Packet, a package of finalist works made available to voters by Hugo Award, Lodestar Award, and Astounding Award nominees and their publishers. The contents of the first block are not identified in the press release.

The Voter Packet is only available to WSFS members of the convention.

The committee says this year’s Voter Packet includes all finalists in the four main written fiction categories (Novel, Novella, Novelette, and Short Story). The Packet also includes materials from the majority of finalists in the remaining categories. The Hugo Voter Packet will remain available until the ballot closes on October 1 (Beijing Time).

Eligible members can download and review the packet on the 2023 Hugo Awards Voting Page.

Chengdu Worldcon Opens 2025 Site Selection Voting

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The Chengdu Worldcon is now accepting 2025 Worldcon Site Selection ballots from those who hold WSFS memberships and have purchased 2025 voting rights through their official website.

Full instructions can be found on the 2025 Site Selection web page. Eligible voters using the PDF form (download it here) can vote by email or paper mail.

The committee says this is how the ballots will be handled:

Eligible members can send your completed electronic ballots in PDF format to the email address of the 2025 Site Selection Administrator ([email protected]) before October 7, 2023, 8 am China Standard Time (CST, UTC+8)/October 6, 2023, 5 pm Pacific Standard Time (PST, UTC-7).All the ballots will be printed, folded, sealed, and brought to the convention venue for counting by the Administrator. Members can also vote by mailing your completed paper ballots to the provided address before October 6, 2023, China Standard Time (CST, UTC +8).

Members can also vote in person at the convention:

On-site voting will take place during the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon, from October 18 to October 20, 2023. Eligible members can visit the “Site Selection Voting” booth at the convention, where the staff will verify your membership information. Then members can purchase voting rights by credit cards, WeChat or Alipay, and proceed to cast the votes. If you are unable to attend the convention in person, you can also entrust the ballot to the designated attendee to vote on your behalf.

The only bid on the ballot is for Seattle, Washington (USA). Write-ins are also allowed. In order to win, a write-in bid must file the constitutionally-required paperwork with Chengdu Worldcon before the close of voting.

ONLINE Q&A SESSION. There will be an online Question & Answer session with members of the Seattle in 2025 Bid on Saturday, August 26 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Details on how to join the online session will be sent out closer to the date. The session will be recorded and put on the Chengdu website, if you can’t make it live.

If you have questions you would like the moderator to ask the Bid, please send them to Helen Montgomery, the Site Selection Administrator: [email protected] 

Below are the instructional graphics from the Chengdu Worldcon website.

New Opera by Writer Ken MacLeod and Composer Gary Lloyd to Debut at Glasgow 2024

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Ken MacLeod

Morrow’s Isle, a new opera inspired by the classic H.G. Wells novel The Island of Doctor Moreau, will make its debut next year at the SEC Armadillo as part of Glasgow 2024, a Worldcon for Our Futures. It is being co-created by an award-winning Scottish science fiction novelist and an acclaimed composer.

The opera features a libretto by Glasgow 2024 GoH Ken MacLeod, whose most recent Lightspeed series sees a group of scientists and engineers secretly develop faster-than-light spacecraft near Faslane Naval Base.

The original H.G. Wells Moreau sees a rogue scientist create human-animal hybrids on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean. MacLeod said the new production would shift its setting to Scotland, combining elements of Scottish history and folklore with present-day concerns about humanity’s impact on the environment.

“The story is set on a little isle in the Firth of Clyde, with references to some of the stranger and darker episodes of Scottish history,” he said.

“There’s a strong fantasy tradition in Scotland, a history of interest in witchcraft and the supernatural. But we also look forward into the future, looking at the effects of things like social media, climate change and the treatment of the biosphere and the animal world.”

He added that he had found inspiration for the story in his own exploration of Scotland’s Clyde Coast.

“My wife and I had been on a tour of some of the lesser-visited islands of the west coast, including Little Cumbrae,” he explained.

“It’s a fascinating place, and right next to it is another even smaller island with its own castle. You can walk across to it at low tide. It has a real haunted appearance and has such a strange little history of its own.”

Gary Lloyd

Collaborating with MacLeod is the Canadian-born British composer and producer Gary Lloyd, whose work includes a project with the late Scottish novelist Iain Banks to produce a musical-narrative work based on his 1986 novel The Bridge.

Lloyd said he was excited to be bringing his latest production to Worldcon in Glasgow.

“Science fiction fans are a very open-minded audience,” he said, “and opera can be a really mind-expanding experience, a really emotional experience and something transformative.

“It’s certainly my ambition to put brand new work in front of people who maybe haven’t experienced opera. Just being in the presence of opera singers can shatter your expectations of what it’s going to be.

“It’s exciting, and I’m going to pour everything I can into this. And it’s a Scottish opera, with a Scottish theme, so of course there will be a piper.”

The production will also incorporate elements of dance, with choreography by Lloyd’s wife, the multiple-award-winning Bettina Carpi.

Glasgow 2024 Chair Prof. Esther MacCallum-Stewart said the opera was an important part of the convention’s five-day programme of events and entertainment.

“It’s thrilling to be able to announce this collaboration for Worldcon in Glasgow,” she said.

“We’re privileged to have some astounding creative minds working on this exciting production, with the landscape that inspired it just 30 miles from Glasgow city centre. I’m looking forward to being in the audience when it’s revealed to the world.”

[Based on a press release.]

Glasgow 2024 Worldcon One Year Launch Event

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Glasgow 2024, a Worldcon for Our Futures begins a year from today, and to mark the occasion Chair Esther MacCallum-Stewart announced that one of the convention’s key events will be an opera written by Ken MacLeod and composed by Gary Lloyd.

Statement from Chair – Esther MacCallum-Stewart

“One year out is a big moment for us, as you might expect! I’m absolutely delighted to announce the opera, written by Guest of Honour Ken Macleod and Composer Gary Lloyd. This is an exciting new piece of work and something really rather special. I can’t wait.” See the Chair’s 7-minute video here on Facebook.

Interview with Guest of Honour Ken MacLeod Introducing the Glasgow 2024 Opera

Glasgow 2024 Guest of Honour Ken MacLeod was interviewed recently by Meg MacDonald, in which they discussed the bespoke Opera that Ken and Gary Lloyd have created for Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon For Our Futures. Check out the link below to watch the full interview:

Gary Lloyd Introduces the Glasgow 2024 Opera

Glasgow 2024 is delighted to have composer Gary Lloyd and Guest of Honour Ken MacLeod combining their talents to compose and write an Opera that will be opened for the first time at our Worldcon one year from now! 

In this video, Gary chats about how he started writing science fiction themed operas, why Opera inspires him, along with his hopes for this particular Glasgow 2024 Opera.

Glasgow 2024 Opera Teaser

In this video we get a taste of past Operatic works by Gary Lloyd at Loncon 3 and Dublin 2019, An Irish Worldcon. Now we wait in anticipation for the Glasgow 2024 Opera which will debut one year from today at Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon For Our Futures!

[Based on a press release.]

Glasgow 2024 Worldcon Releases
AI Art Policy

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The Glasgow 2024 Worldcon committee has been studying the AI art issue and today published a statement saying all art presented at their planned Art Show “must have been created by the artist, and not generated.” How that policy will be carried out is detailed in the statement.

AI Art Statement.
Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon for Our Futures.

The use of AI in Art is an issue which has become of key importance to the Fan Community. This statement is a result of consultation with the ASFA (Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists), with artists at Eastercon 2023, Boskone 2023, with Anime Los Angeles and with other organisations within our community who have kindly allowed us to look at their own policies.

Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon for Our Futures will not accept artwork into the Art Show that comprises anything that was created using text to image AI generators, or was created using any compiler or generator that relies on the use of other artists’ images without the express permission of that artist.

All art presented in the Glasgow 2024 Art Show must have been created by the artist, and not generated. We will enforce this to the strictest extent. If any art in the Art Show is found to have been generated rather than created, we will ask the artist to take it down. If the artist refuses to take it down, we will take it down for them, and if there is doubt regarding the origin of a piece of art, we will ask to see the proof of the original.

We have a shared vision of Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon for Our Futures that is caring, inclusive and imaginative, and we want to showcase that in everything that you see in our Art Show.

We welcome you as Artists from any medium, using any media, but when you bring us your work, we do ask that it is your work.

FAQ

1. Does this mean that I can present my work in the Art Show if it digitally enhances another artist’s work at their request?

Yes, but we would need to see the permissions as granted by the original artist.

2. Does this affect art elsewhere in the Convention, for example book jackets or images used in presentations?

Whilst we would prefer that you not include images like this in your work, we understand that this can happen, and that AI work has sometimes been used unintentionally on items like book jackets and merchandise. We would ask that where possible, you do not include these items, but appreciate that this may occur in spite of good intentions.

3. Can I sell AI generated work elsewhere in the Dealer’s Room?

We would strongly prefer that you not do so. Please mark any work that is AI generated as being so. If you are a dealer who is exclusively presenting AI work, we will take this into consideration in the initial allocation of tables and may refuse to give you space.

[Thanks to Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Chair, Glasgow 2024 for the story.]

Chengdu Worldcon Publishes Progress Report #2

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Chengdu Worldcon Progress Report #2 is available as a free download at the link.

The sixty-five page color publication begins with an outline of convention activities. An Opening Ceremony will be held October 18. The multi-day Business Meeting starts on the second day of the convention, October 19. There is a general statement that Site Selection for the 2025 Worldcon will be held but no specific details.

Air and ground transportation is covered. Available hotels are listed, along with some basic booking advice.

The Progress Report contains a multi-page guide about applying for a visa – which advises “Before applying for a visa, please contact the email [email protected] to get an invitation letter, then print 3 copies as it’s needed by customs.”

There are a lot of beautiful pictures of food, and the PR concludes with a large section on tourist attractions.

The convention starts three months from tomorrow, so the beginning of the chairmen’s message “We are now less than half a year away from the Chengdu Worldcon…” resonates with the first time a Foundation leader realizes one of Hari Seldon’s messages is out of synch with what’s happening. They say there will be a Progress Report #3.