This issue was to be out in December. A freak, unseasonable hail storm
broke all my skylights and did other damage at home on Wednesday 11
December, so I lost several days to cleaning up and chasing repairers
and insurance companies. Due to a heavy party schedule during the lead
up to Xmas, I didn't return home until the Friday, somewhat after
midnight. Removing waterlogged rugs was not the most pleasant task at
that time. I did unfortunately lose some fanzines to water damage. I
just (Friday 20th) took delivery of replacement skylight tiles, and
hope that the holes in the roof will finally be sealed with something
better than plastic by Sunday 22nd.
Having a 4:30 a.m. alarm isn't the greatest start to the day. Jean
helpfully drove me to the airport for Qantas flight 405 to Melbourne at
6:30. Unfortunately I had to change in Melbourne for flight 495 to
continue across the continent to Perth. Thanks to the time zones, I
would arrive somewhat after breakfast time, all going well. Mind you,
Qantas thoughtfully provided bacon, omelet and baked beans on the flight.
Melbourne airport was crowded, unlike the flight there. Not surprising,
as I'd not been able to obtain a flight on a later time or day. I
imagine the whole plane will be full. And so it was, except that the
seat next to mine remained empty during much of the flight. Another
breakfast, a different variety of egg dish, with hash browns. I ate it
anyway. The flight was smooth, and I was able to sit comfortably typing
these notes on my palmtop computer, insulated from cabin noise,
listening to classic music from the plane system on my NoiseBuster
headphones.
My concept of arriving just after breakfast was rudely shattered by the
four hour flight from Melbourne to Perth. With a late take off, fairly
lengthy wait for luggage, and a scenic but not very direct hotel bus, I
didn't get to my room Miss Maud's and collapse until almost three my
time, nearly one Perth time.
I went out to scout out some supplies, and made my usual Perth mistakes.
Forgot to eat lunch, on the basis that I'd breakfasted twice. If you go
one direction, you find vast numbers of stores, none of which have what
you want. If you go the other direction, you find a nice little
collection of essentials on the same block as the hotel. By the time I
discovered this I was grumpy, tired and not at all happy.
A couple of stiff drinks and a half hour of rest restored my spirits (as
it were), and I had a much more successful second wander about. I
found the nearby snacks, and some cheap coke (the sort where the bubbles
get up your nose, not the other sort). I found two different types of
presents for Jean. If they survive the rigours of the journey home in
my luggage, they will appear as Xmas or birthday presents over the next
year. I found an expensive book on OS/2 Warp (I'm not sure whether that
should be scored as positive or negative). And I found Supernova Books,
and failed to resist the lure of another scifi book (to be fair, I did
have it on my "wanted" list). I was pretty tired of walking by the time
that was all complete.
Back at Miss Maud's, I was able to phone Gigi Boudville, who told me the
convention hotel wouldn't allow the planned ice cream social to promote
the Australia in 1999 Worldcon bid. Typical hotel behaviour, of course,
and you never find out until alternate plans are too late. Gigi now
planned a mass distribution of Easter Eggs instead. Luckily my flyers
and other supplies will fit either plan.
I talked with Don Griffith, whose wife Ann recently had a child. Don
assures me they will be at the con in any case. Dave Luckett resisted
the lure of the Internet and the prospect of a Web Page, as a
progressive sf author should. I have hopes of talking him around during
the convention. He told me that the convention was not making any
provision for child memberships, which given the ageing audience for
written sf, is a distressing bit of news. Sally arranged to meet me for
lunch the following day, so I'll ask if she can help with a web page for
Dave.
After collapsing for a while I revived enough to seek an unsatisfactory
salad sandwich, and so to bed, as Samuel Peyps put it.
I did watch an X Files episode on TV, and decided that it
was still crap. In deference to various fans who believe I hate all
visual media material, I hasten to add that I am certainly not saying
that every X Files episode is crap ... only all the ones I have
seen so far. Maybe you need to watch a lot of them?
Walked far away, to Altronics, in the hope of finding interesting
electronics. I was disappointed. Located the various technical
bookshops in town, and was tempted by them, but resisted. Back to the
hotel after nearly a three hour walk. After a rest, I checked Kings,
the convention hotel, and found a few people waiting to bring goods into
the huckster's room. No sign of committee.
Finding Sally's work place was slightly complicated by failing to spot a
major landmark, but street addresses still worked. The building seemed
a maze, and we emerged from a totally different entrance to the one I'd
found. Knowing locals helps get good cheap food, and we were able to
catch up on fannish business while waiting for the food.
Back at Kings, Barb De La Hunty was unloading so I helped. A convention
doesn't seem real to me until I have helped some huckster I know unload
a car. I put out my Australia in 1999 flyers. Soon Neil Murray
arrived, and we decided to seek the bar. After all, the fans should get
there early. They hadn't. After a few cooling ales, we headed out, and
came upon Perry Middlemiss heading for the bar, so we returned. Some
time later we checked the entrance way, and found a large number of
potential convention attendees were present. I put up a bunch of the
laminated A3 size Australia in 1999 posters I'd produced. Luckily all
my bid material did not rely upon hotels co-operating (of course, this is
the result of long experience rather than any specific knowledge).
The opening ceremony was late. Tara Smith unilaterally opened the door
to the ballroom, so people had a place to sit. Afterwards a bunch of us
headed back to the bar, which was a good place for conversation.
Miss Maud's breakfast. Got up to six courses this time. This is
unbelievable for a light eater like me.
We had a small Ain99 panel at 4, and got a number of pre-supporters and
LACon memberships. Giving out Gigi's easter eggs probably helped keep
the audience. It was a pity Gigi and Cheryl Morgan's ambitious plans
for an ice cream social were wrecked on the shoals of a recalcitrant
hotel, but perhaps enough people saw the posters and flyers I'd brought
as a backup. The Perth fans have always been very supportive of the
Worldcon bid.
Slow Glass owner Justin Ackroyd & company did the fan auction starting
at 8:30 in the evening, and continued through midnight. Despite the
undoubted entertainment value of people like Justin, I find most auctions
overlong. This might be a reaction to organising the "behind the scenes"
part of the first Aussiecon auction.
Valma Brown joined us at Miss Maud's for breakfast, and managed to walk
out without paying. All of us were amused at her horrified reaction
upon realising.
The book launch was a reasonable excuse for champagne (sorry, "sparkling
white wine", the French insist we don't call it by one of their names.)
I'd already bought the book (Simon Brown's Privateer) from
Justin, so I was able to go straight to the autograph table. Had to
provide a pen for the autographing, since Simon had not so been supplied
- this amused me. It is wonderful that sufficient books are appearing
in Australia that nearly all conventions now include a book launch.
The masquerade was far too noisy for an old phart like me, due to a DJ
and some exceedingly large loudspeakers. I brought out my anti-noise
headphones, and was therefore able to enter the room. The masquerade
enforced a costume or mask for entry, and included a cash bar. Apart
from the noise, I thought that it worked better than a straight "sit
down and watch" masquerade. I would hope that some sort of large
scale social mingling event can be arranged at Aussiecon Three, although
I must admit that the style of rooms seem to push the masquerade itself
towards the "sit down and watch" event. Lots of people tried the sound
absorbing headphones. Hey, if you have gadgets, flaunt them, or what
is a science fiction future for?
Up late talking with Ian Nichols, who keeps saying he wants to do
programming for Ain99. He would be perfect, and it would be perfect, he
assures me. Several people seem of the same opinion; only the names
and the jobs changed.
Tess Williams wanted to know about women gohs at Ain99. This is a
considerable problem. Now that Worldcons are increasingly expected to
honour people with several decades of contributions to the field, many
splendid women writers would be excluded from consideration.
For example, Ursula leGuin, GoH at Aussiecon in 1975, had her first
novel published in 1966, and her first genre story in Fantastic
in 1962. Under the current expected "25 year rule", she would have been
excluded from consideration. Obviously her four Nebula and five Hugo
awards show her importance to the field. In particular, her concluding
novel in the Hainish sequence, The Dispossessed, An Ambiguous
Utopia, appeared the year before Aussiecon, and won both the Hugo
and Nebula. In short, she was an inspired choice. One argument for the
"25 year rule" is that, as authors age, we may not have the opportunity
to honour some of them, unless we take some steps to take age into
account. There were a lot fewer women SF writers (and probably readers)
30 years ago, so this leads to unequal representation on guest lists
now, relative to the number of women authors (and readers) now active.
I certainly can't see any general solution to this dilemma. One thing
that might help would be to have (yet another) fan fund, designed to
bring out an author to help run a writer's workshop. Just as fan fund
winners are considered guests of a Worldcon, so too would the recipient
of such a fund. The Tucker Bag brought Bob Tucker out for Aussiecon,
for example.
Tess mentioned later that she and several other women writers were to
attend Wiscon. Jean came back with very enthusiastic reports of this
long standing and well organised feminist sf oriented convention. The
organising of the Wiscon pocket program is the finest such item I have
seen (so I got all the details from the people who designed it). Anyone
with interests in the area of feminist sf should check Wiscon.
I staggered out to Miss Maud's for breakfast at eight, and was soon
joined by Justin Ackroyd. Having filled a small table, we were then
joined by Perry Middlemiss. A little later Robin Johnson and Mark
Bivins came along. I think I managed to return to the greasy egg and
bacon three times. Cholesterol city.
The business meeting voted 8 to 6 to make Basicon in Melbourne the 1997
Australian National Science Fiction Literary convention (it was already
the media convention). The opposition was Thylacon in Hobart. Much was
made of changing the constitution to rejoin the two sets of awards. Such
drama; such high interest. It seemed almost a pity not to be able to
include a bid from Seattle! It would have been just like old times. Eight
votes! I've packed votes much larger that that!
In the hucksters room I bought a copy of the first two The
Prisoner shows on video, but am told the rest never appeared on
video. Vast numbers of bad videos abounded, but good ones seem scarce.
I'd love a copy of Forbidden Planet, or The Shape of Things
to Come, or even Destination Moon (well, ok, I may be
overstating things to consider the last of those "good", but it does
have historical interest). After spending too much money, I collapsed
back at the room, reading about Warp and eating bad things.
I'm not familiar with the work of Neil Gaimen, but he gave a very funny
GoH speech, and also a most effective reading from his latest work.
The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth, a debate that finally turned upon
whether the geeks would inherit, or merely take. You had to be there.
I thought Swancon worked well, as a con. However it did seem to me that
the committee were often overworked, and often had insufficient
volunteers to help. Maybe the fannish culture is changing, or maybe it
was always like that.
I'd have liked more Ain99 publicity at the convention, and the failure
to have an ice cream social was disappointing (also, I think that fans
would have enjoyed it). However since I never expected to win on
Australian votes, I didn't see it worth putting every possible effort
into Australian publicity (especially when someone else had already
volunteered to do that publicity). The voting figures for Aussiecon
Three (fewer than 70 Australian votes, about 900 US votes) show that was
the correct decision. It is a real pity that non-voters in Australia
now have to pay high membership fees if they want to attend. However we
did try to warn people that might happen, even before we exactly knew
the likely site costs.
Environmental disaster dystopia revisited. A supertanker releasing its
oil in San Francisco Bay prompts a multinational oil company to attempt
to deal with it, unwisely releasing an untested designer microbe that
eats oil.
Unfortunately, it turns out to be propagated by air also, and eats oil
everywhere. Does this remind any Australians of a recent test of a
a rabbit killer?
It also eats synthetic fabrics, plastics and much else. Reminds me
somewhat of Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters,
however this one has perhaps a larger cast of characters and is more set
up as a film treatment.
Good treatment of the complexity and inter-relatedness of
technological civilisation (although E M Forster's sole SF story, the
memorable The Machine Stops (1909) covered the essentials first
in that attack on Wells' A Modern Utopia).
A conspiracy is plotting the death of Joshua Ali Quare. He awakens
on Mars in 2109, in a youthful body, with few memories except of a
childhood that makes him 140 years old. He has computer records of the
turbulent 21st Century, and the part he has played in shaping it.
The collapse of the nation state, mutant AIDs, war, always war, machine
intelligence. The hypertext records partly explain the virus provided
by a secret group, a virus that robs him of memory every fifteen years,
but leaves his body ten years younger.
This was a fine fast paced look at a dark view of the coming century.
Good adventure story as well.
Authorised by the estate of H G Wells, this sequel and tribute on
the hundredth anniversary of The Time Machine follows the
continued adventures of the Time Traveller. Setting out a second time to
rescue the Eloi Weena from the brutish Morlocks, he finds himself in a
different future.
A more highly evolved Morlock is encountered, together with tributes
to other novels by Wells. However there are an infinity of possible
futures, and an infinity of pasts. Or will time itself end? And what
might some strange race do to change even that event.
A wonderful long and absorbing read, very much along the lines of the
original, but with new wonders.
Sixth and final of the Galactic Center novels. A combination of the
junk sequences of the genetic structure of three generations of Bishops
carry embedded an ancient weapon. Emplanted in the mechs billions of
years before, when they were first devised, the trigger to the weapon
has been passed through unknowing generations of many species.
The Mantis, artistic collector of Bishops over generations, seeks the
secret of the weapon. Yet the weapon kills mechs by invoking pleasure,
an unknown item to mech brains. Could the Mantis resist sampling
this final experience?
The novel is set in the strange byways of the esty, the compressed
space-time hideaway near the galactic center. However why is Nigel
Walmsley still there, still alive, and is he agent of the Highers?
A splendid conclusion to the sequence of novels. But just how do you
show events beyond our understanding?
Terry Pratchett writes some funny dialog, and a lot is still included in
this two hour play. There are some helpful hints for amateur
production, and a prop list. I'm not certain how many people would buy
a play, but I'd certainly encourage some fan group to try to stage this
one at a convention.
Like Mort the Play, includes much of Terry Pratchett's dialog, and is
suited to a two hour production. Macbeth (on which the original is
based) is too black. This is a lot more fun.
Space piracy, with privateers like Captain Aruzel Kidron and his ship
Magpie raiding the alien Calethar, somewhat in advance of an actual war.
A rousing space adventure, reminding me somewhat of English privateers
and sailing ships and the not yet declared war with Spain like in the
old Classics Illustrated Westward Ho. I intend this as praise.
I think this is the first novel by this Australian author. It has some
great alien characters, however it does not really seem to show some of
the qualities seen in his short stories. I found myself wondering
whether it was an earlier novel, now sold, or written to order in some
haste. It is done by an obviously competent author, and I enjoyed it,
but I believe we will see even better stories in the future.
Great space combat cover by Greg Bridges, in a detailed and busy Chris
Foss style. I hope they use his covers again. (Nitpick - with a sunlit
planet below, the highly visible stars of the painting would be washed
out - I found lack of visible stars one of the great disappointments of
the space program.)
The 22 year old Miles Vorkosigan and cousin Ivan are on Cetaganda
showing the diplomatic flag (and learning diplomatic polish), however
nothing is ever simple for Miles. The Cetaganda empress dies (of
natural causes), her attendant dies (of un-natural causes), and
Miles turns detective. Of course, this is after the attack in their
diplomatic quarters, the lost relic, falling in love with the
unattainably beautiful haut-woman ...
The Bujold books are really only marginally science fiction, as the
characters could exist in any area with a range of widely different
cultures. However, they have a lot to say about facing adversity,
and the characters are well done and develop from story to story.
I enjoy them a lot. Awards indicate so do lots of other fans.
Two ships approach an alien world. A world shattered by conflict with
its own nearby lunar colony, and by plague that may have been the final
weapon of that war. One ship, slowing down from lightspeed, is an Earth
slow freighter, carrying on board a matter transmitter. As in the
previous Arrow From Earth, anything can be transmitted via a matter
transmitter, including crews. The trip is instantaneous ... but two
years always passes in the outside universe.
Captain Sam Gowdy of the Roamer must stop an alien war, uncover and
defeat a human criminal intent on taking over the matter transmitter and
the new solar system, and stop a mutiny lead by his lover. Well, you
can't say the author doesn't like complicating up a plot.
Second in The Chaos Chronicles series, a SF version of the overlong
fantasy quest style of novel. John Bandicott awakes in a gigantic
Shipworld containing numerous alien biospheres. With two new alien
friends, he and they are manipulated into touring various areas,
defending the Shipworld against an entity that is disrupting the entire
structure.
Bandicott still contains the symbiotic life form that set him on this
strange life. It `died' saving Earth, but now fragments of its memories
and personality are returning. This was entertaining high tech adventure,
but I'm not convinced it is going anywhere. I'll probably try the third
volume, on the basis of past writing.
Subtitled "A Secret History of Leonardo da Vinci" this fine entertaining
historical novel throws us into Leonardo's life and loves and
speculations. When his personality is fully explored, an alternate
history scenario unfolds. What if Leonardo's weapons of war were
actually to be created and used in anger, in the Middle East. Dann
imagines Leonardo travelling, during a few missing years from our
knowledge of his life, and having just such events on his conscience.
While not really science fiction, this is a fine thoughtful novel,
about a different time, and a different sort of life. Many SF fans
would enjoy it. I thought the atmospherics of the first half the
best part of it, while the battle tactics near the end seemed overlong and
boring (but I don't like military sf either). It included more
coincidences than a Star Wars movie.
Amusing lightweight tale of underdog humans taking on galactic diplomats
and winning fame and fortune, despite adversity. Reads like something
Campbell might have commissioned. Denny Lien sent it direct, nicely
inscribed to me by Gordy, so there is absolutely no way I could have read
it previously. However all through reading it I keep feeling I had
somehow read it before - I wish I could figure out why.
Excellent collection of classic stories on the idea of hackers.
As you would expect, some are about computer crackers, rather than
the more honourable original meaning of hackers. Some rightly extend
to biological systems. Authors include William Gibson, Tom Maddox,
Greg Egan, Pat Cadigan, Robert Silverberg, Alexander Jablokov, Bruce
Sterling, Greg Bear, Paul J McAuley, Neal Stephenson. It is good to
have such a collection on hand.
Volume Two of The Axis Trilogy. Lengthy fantasy by Australian author
with all of the traditional elements, and some horrifying scenes.
The viewpoint character is an investigative journalist in a nanotech
future. Opening with a powerful scene of (temporarily) reviving a dead
body, the journalist fails to accept what appears to be an important
possible contract, in favour of covering a scientific conference on an
embargoed artificial island created by anarchists. A theory of everything
may mean that the first person to hold all the concepts together in their
head also becomes the person who created the Universe. And some groups
are about to make sure that never happens.
A roller coaster ride of intrigue and philosophical speculation. If
only all science fiction were this imaginative and this powerful. It is
this sort of story that makes sf worth more than just a piece of escapist
entertainment competing only for your beer money,
Out in the Kuiper Belt, at a cool 30K, an alien civilisation is found.
Multiple independent cities, rather medieval. Riding a cable catapult
capsule from Earth, four scientists land a cramped vessel to study this
strange new civilisation.
As is often the case with Forward, his alien characters are more
interesting than the humans. Just when you have them pegged as
transplanted middle ages, something weird turns up. The technology
of the conclusion is really strange, even for something Forward would
propose.
I didn't think this was up to his best, but I'll take hard SF when I can
get it.
A strange one. Eric Frank Russell wrote a bunch of stories like Wasp,
in which a smart human defeats a large number of very dumb aliens. I
always assumed they were written to fit into the buying patterns of
John Campbell's Analog. Russell's stories had the great merit
of usually being funny. A sort of cocktail party conversation in which
the hero always gets all the best lines.
Foster has reproduced this well, at novel length. I think it a
mite overlong, but it is well done, if you like smartass monologues.
Avast there, me swabs, here there be space opera. Well, make that sea
shanties, and sailing ships, and Sargassos of Space, and hand cannons, and
ship rigging. No, make that fantasy.
The year 1968, seen through the eyes of Spider and Beverly. He enjoyed
science fiction, but didn't enjoy being drafted and sent to Vietnam.
She did volunteer work for radical political causes, and someone replaced
Spider in her affections, but she didn't want to tell him. If you were
alive in 1968, you might want to see how much resonance this all too
realistic novel provides. Like Joe Haldeman's first book, War
Year, it arises from his year (1968) in Vietnam. Maybe it also
lays to rest some ghosts from that time.
"Obsession, deceit and dangerous love" according to the blurb on this
Australian authors' second novel. Starts with finding a body near a
country town. Very descriptive and atmospheric start. Not science
fiction.
Fourth and final volume in The Chronicles of Tenebrak by this Australian
author. In previous volumes we have had an interfering xeno
anthropologist, a stagnant 20,000 year old sisterhood, a lengthy quest,
an evil sorcerous discord spreading war through the land. All the
elements of fantasy are here. Fine if you like more of the same, and
someone must be buying them.
Ancient haunted site, where a girl was murdered, unearthed by a new
prison to be built. New Australian author. Horror, not science
fiction.
A novel based on a graphics adventure game, for whom the author and
Roger Zelazny were writers. Maybe it loses a lot in translation, but
this collection of artificially related stories were pretty pedestrian.
Maybe you need to play the game instead?
It is a tough life at the bottom when you can't buy your way into a
better education and a better future at the top. Eddie is a tough kid,
coping pretty well with his life in a crowded future cave of steel.
Until the wizard dropped in.
A gentle and pleasant story, despite the tough neighbourhood and the
adventures and difficulties. It seemed to me well suited to the intended
children audience, being both a good read, and inspirational.
As usual, a well written, relatively slow paced adventure with a female
protagonist in what is the first in a series. Bunches of humans and
others are dumped on a planet by invaders, to survive if they can.
However the planet is obviously a food world for another unknown but
distant empire. Lots of boy scout handbook survival stuff (all too
easy in execution), various romantic scenes.
Two hundred or so years after the landing on Pern, the dragons are
established, as are the Weyrs. However the old Earth technology
is failing, and a Lord Holder does not believe Thread will fall
again. Tells some of the transition to the world of Pern beloved
by so many readers of the earliest Pern novels. Teaching in
transition, the struggles of an artist, the struggle against a
greedy and unscrupulous Lord Holder, trying to find ways to ensure
the inhabitants of Pern keep watching the skies. Seems to me to be
written with as much style and skill as any of the earliest Pern
novels. Pern enthusiasts should enjoy this novel.
Pacifica values past traditions. After his superstar father suicides,
John Henry escapes his home, and makes a meagre living playing a toy
flute in the marketplace. However his talent brings him better
conditions, and entrepreneurs all too ready to exploit his talent.
Set in a strange '60's feeling future, this is a collision between
talent and exploitation. Strange and different.
It is 1941, and daffy Mrs Tachyon is dragging her shopping trolley full
of black plastic bags over the debris from an unexploded bomb. It is
the present, and Johnny Maxwell and his young friends find the
familiar Mrs Tachyon, but this time she is semi-conscious in an alley,
so they help her.
Of course, when you help someone, you end up with responsibilities.
Something like winning the lottery, except that somehow you lose.
Also, why is the richest man in the world heading for his hamburger
bar in Johnny's town?
A great children's story, with many a twist in time.
Surreal and to my mind apparently pointless meandering, dropping trivial
mentions of pop culture heros of the past few decades. I believe it is
intended to be funny. I could easily live without ever seeing anything
ever written by this author.
Set before Cold As Ice, children Spook and Lola are put on one of the
last spacecraft to escape Earth, just before the Great War. Some
years later, established as a therapist on Ganymede, Lola finds a
patient who "remembers" things he could not possibly remember,
including his death. The young Spook enlists the aid of his
games opponent, the almost equally young Rustum Battachariya, in
solving the mystery. They do not expect to become involved in an
almost alien threat that puts all of them at risk.
Excellent hard science fiction, with a good nod at a teenage audience,
and strong colourful characters. Not as strong as Cold As Ice,
but Sheffield rarely disappoints.
A spoilt young man, killing himself with drugs, grows to accept some
responsibility for his life. The background is a mid 21st Century US,
parts now Tornado Alley and almost abandoned after drastic climatic
changes. The hackers from Storm Troupe are obsessed with tracking and
measuring a possible super tornado, a self sustaining storm that could
keep going for an indefinite time. Driven by a charismatic mathematical
genius, they use military surplus vehicles and equipment in their
dangerous quest.
A fine future novel, both of gadgets and of people.
No one knows what happened to the Emperor's children, only that their
starship had disappeared. Colin the First has a few problems of his own,
like a traitor attempting to blow his planet apart.
The children escape their starship moments before it is destroyed, and
find the only nearby world regressed to a medieval technology. However
something is still keeping part of the Fourth Empire defences active. They
can only hope to sneak in, take over the defences, and make a communication
system to call home.
However when they land, the church declare them demons, and rouse the
armies of half a world against children. The church is in deep trouble with
that move.
Good fast paced military space opera, no other redeeming features.
Listed as a science fiction thriller, this is aimed rather nicely at
the US market. It is set in the city of Kennedy, which walled itself
off from the rest of the USA after a nuclear war forty years ago.
Despite some decline, the city attempts to keep functioning as a modern
technology, despite shortages and maintenance failures.
Investigator Phil Roads attempts to find a political assassin, and who
is stealing data, against a deadline set by the approach of the
Reunited States, taking over the old scattered city states.
Nice dark thriller, with plenty of tech trappings. Jonathan Straham
called it "future-noir", and that is a great description.
Third of the novels of the adventures of Drake Maijstral, the highest
ranked Permitted Burglar. All Drake wants is a pleasant holiday on
Earth, admiring artwork (rather than stealing them). However someone
is planting stolen artwork in his room, the police want him, the
media want him, various deadly serious people want him to fight a duel,
and various delightful women want to marry him. Furthermore, his
dead father is senile, and someone has stolen the cryocrypt containing
the corpsicle. I'm not sure about the Elvis impersonators.
Broad fast paced and witty comedy, at times almost descending to farce.
I enjoyed it.
A wonderful funny book of chaotic (in every sense) incidents as
researchers try to avoid the latest idiotic management fad, study
the reason for fads (if you can predict them, you can make money
from them) in human populations, get their research funding applications
placed in time (despite the assistant from Hell) and survive corporate
attempts at increasing esprit d'corp that involve every longer
requisitions for paper clips. Anyone who has worked for a large
organisation with a research department will be rolling in the aisles
while reading this (or maybe crying). Highly recommended. Connie
Willis is a Hugo and Nebula award winner.
More background of nasty politics on Earth, and cynical manipulation
of the characters on Babylon 5. Sheridan has to execute an
alien refugee who no longer has any knowledge of the crime for which
they are being judged. Dr Franklin is horrified by the prospect of
murdering an innocent alien for political reasons. This book was much
better than the earlier three, but is still very lightweight SF.
The Laser Books of the '90's. It appears that the Lucas organisation
have contracted with Bantam Spectra to have established SF authors
produce these books. Being by established authors, they all easily meet
reasonable standards of readability. I am also sure that they pay the
authors a lot better than the average SF novel. After all, even in the
preliminaries of the publicity buildup to new Star Wars films, the audience
is larger.
Nineteen stories based on different participants views of the events
surrounding the conflict between Jabba and Luke on Tatooine regarding
the freeing of the frozen body of Han Solo. The participants are all
minor characters from the original films. A dancer, Jabba's chef, the
Rancor keeper (A Boy and his Monster), a member of the band, the bounty
hunter Boba Fett, Mara Jade, and so on.
Some show considerable imagination, and a fine sense of the dramatic.
Some are humourous, and alas, after reading so many views of the same
events, some are merely tedious. I'd advise spacing out the reading,
perhaps by regarding this as the sort of book to keep by the loo. This
is not intended as a comment on the quality - I thought the book was a
good idea. Within the time spanned by the Star Wars films, minor
characters are more likely to suffer real events, real triumphs and real
dangers than are the main characters, all of whom must be intact at the
end of a book.
The authors include Barbara Hambley, Esther Friesner, Timothy Zahn,
and George Alec Effinger.
Set in the period between the capture of Han Solo and his rescue from
Jabba, this novel concentrates on the conflict for Emperor Palpatine's
favour between Darth Vader and the reptilian Prince Xizor.
Xizor is a cunning, diabolical, criminal genius, lord of the galaxy wide
Black Sun organisation (hmm, didn't we see this in Doc Smith back in the
'30's?) One of his plots, to find and kill Luke, one of his tools, to
trap Leia, who is seeking to intercept Boba Fett and rescue Han before
Jabba obtains him.
Some nice battles, with Wedge Antiles and Rogue Squadron taking part,
plus most of the other characters from the films turning up in support.
Introduce a bunch of hot pilots, re-establish Wedge Antiles' Rogue
Squadron, run through training, follow it through its first few
missions, set up an implacable Empire enemy, and then do a whole heap of
sequels, and by the Force how the money rolls in.
One wonders just why so many of these missions involve flying through
narrow canyons, just like the ones on the Death Star. Maybe the author
writes video games ... he does? What a surprise.
Have you ever noticed that dogfights in space take place exclusively at
(slow) aircraft speeds, with lasers at half a kilometer? This idiocy
continues throughout this book, as do many other pieces of fantasy
physics. We have fighters that can travel across substantial pieces of
a solar system, yet don't have an airlock, and with cockpits so small
that pilots typically don't wear pressure suits. The fighters also
don't have food or toilet facilities, so the implied flight time is at
most days. Indeed, one incident involved a pilot running out of air
within three days. So we can easily see they have enormous delta vee
capability. But not sufficient fuel for a long dogfight at low speed.
Like all Hollywood film people, some of these authors need to take a
physics course.
More action packed ground combat and less silly space fight scenes this
time. This one is the story of how Rogue Squadron lead the attack on
Coruscant, the Imperial Center. Full of deceit and betrayal, and far
more coincidence than is reasonable. Reads a bit better than the first
in the series.
Leia's children have been kidnapped on a planet in which political
kidnapping of royal children is almost an expected tactic.
Unfortunately, the kidnapping is yet another plot by yet another remnant
of empire. Meanwhile Luke and Han are on holidays and out of touch with
Leia. Much of the story reads from the viewpoint of the children, and
the entire novel feels like a children's story. Given the level at
which the Star Wars films are pitched this is not unreasonable, however
as a result it does not fit as well with others in the series.
Book 1 of The Black Fleet Crisis. With peace established, Leia is
continuing diplomatic efforts to encourage more planets to join the New
Republic. One nearby star group is stalling, behind all the diplomatic
niceties. Meanwhile, an obscure intelligence analyst working on new
data from the Empire's past discovers an alarming number of capital
ships unaccounted for. Luke is in seclusion, attempting to learn how a
Jedi can keep the passion needed to be a warrior, while still exploring
the Force. A visitor to his hidden retreat offers the hope of learning
about his mother. Nicely set up for the following novels.
Book 2 of The Black Fleet Crisis. Leia now sees evidence of the
fierceness and brutality of Yevetha, however deploying a fleet against
their captive planets proves ineffective. Lando, the cyborg Lobot
and R2D2 and C3P0 enter the elusive crewless alien spaceship, only to
have it escape the capture ships taking them with it. With air and
power running short, they try to solve the mystery of its controls.
Luke finds an alternative to the Force, while attempting to find the
nature of his mothers' people. Han takes a spy ship into Yevetha
territory, unaware of betrayal in the New Republic senate.
I don't know how Michael is going to tie all this together in the next
book, given the restrictions set by the Lucas organisation, but you
can't complain about a lack of plot elements.
What I find amusing in these two issues is ... your statement in #73 re:
R C Wilson's book Mysterium.
"Freedom includes putting up with mean spirited sons of bitches trying to
convince us that some groups of people are inferior ..."
then in #74 re: the 99 bid, putting down all groups of fans who don't
fit your own parameters of what defines the Science Fiction Fan.
Does this mean you regard yourself as a mean spirited SOB, perhaps?
I wouldn't have a clue why Boskone is so called; likewise, Arisia. I
don't know anyone who does, so i guess, by your definition, I've never met
a genuine Science Fiction Fan. Anything else i could write on this
subject would obviously be a waste of time and a repetition of remarks
published elsewhere. At least you've convinced me that to support 99
would be to support a group of mean spirited SOBs.
Suggest you remove me from your mailing list and send it to one of those
SOBs. A pity, as I really enjoy your zine.
{{ What I apparently failed to convey is that Worldcon is a multi theme
convention, however relatively few of those themes make up an entire
program stream by itself. If you only have an interest in a single
specialised area, a specialised convention might be more to your liking.
This applies regardless of whether your interest is Dr Who, or fanzines,
or pulps (all examples I mentioned). However, traditionally Worldcon
has paid much more attention to literary SF than anything else. This
tradition will doubtless continue at Aussiecon Three. Therefore, a fan
primarily interested in written science fiction only is more likely to
find something to do throughout the entire convention.
{{ The primary reason for this emphasis is that traditionally, many
SF authors, editors and publishers attend Worldcon. Therefore, they are
the people we have available for our panels, and panels relating to
their interests are what we can present. Current Australian Customs
rules make life easier for overseas book dealers, and much harder for
several other types of dealer, so I expect more book dealers and fewer
other dealers. All our guests are heavily involved on the literary side
of science fiction, and for the writers, hard science fiction at that.
We have good reason to anticipate several other writers of similar
material and similar strength also attending.
{{ There will be other areas in which we have a lot of strength.
Most of the Board are involved with publishing fanzines, and a majority
are involved with the Fanhistorica mailing list. Guest Bruce Gillespie
is being honoured for his fanzine work, however our other two guests
both often appear in fanzines. So I anticipate and hope we will have a
relatively strong roll up of fanzine fans, and thus a strong program for
such fans, but even in a strong area like that I wouldn't expect someone
who only does fanzines to find enough material to attend "only" fanzine
items.
{{ A more typical program strand, in terms of time and resources,
would be filksinging. Songs relating to F&SF, songs used in SF, and
maybe just songs. The filkers need a room from about 9 p.m. until dawn,
far enough away from sleeping rooms to avoid noise complaints. Probably
a few panel items also. However, there isn't likely to be enough
material to suit someone whose only interest is filk. I've got a bunch
of material about it on our web site. I've been chasing permissions to
produce a filk song manual. But I don't expect to get enough time to
attend the filk singing, so if there weren't someone taking over, then
there would be few arrangements made for filking.
{{ This is precisely what applies to every other area. The
convention is run entirely by unpaid volunteers. We will be covering
our interests first, and only including other material if we have lots
of time (unlikely). If people volunteer and help, there is much more
chance of their own interests being included, especially if the
incremental costs are minimal. Organising a panel about an item doesn't
cost us much. Hiring extra rooms, or union technical staff, does.
{{ E E "Doc" Smith made his name as the "Father of Space Opera",
starting in 1928 with the Skylark stories. His Lensman series - the
History of Civilisation - pits the Arisians against the evil
extra-universal Eddorians. Working on a galactic scale, across millions
of years, through layer after layer of intermediary, the Arisians
secretly encourage the emergence of psionic powers in several races, so
as to create the Galactic Patrol, and the Lensmen. These Lensmen take
on the evil power of Boskone, the intermediatory of the Eddorians,
generation after generation. I believe you can trace a direct line of
influence from Smith's stories, through Forbidden Planet to
Star Trek, and more directly to Star Wars. I really
think that anyone interested in media SF would find the path from
space opera to our present TV shows and films very direct. EL}} Instead of offering to hold Dick Smith's coat, you should have been
reaching for your camera. Dick punching out a mundane would have made a
great action shot in your photo spread.
I think many of the problems fans have with hotels can be traced back
to the poverty induced scarcity of tips. When my disposable income
increased, I was amazed at the friendliness and tolerance a few bucks in
the right hands could buy.
Jean must have made a splash at Wiscon. Both Jeanne Mealy and Buck
Coulson mentioned her specifically in correspondence. Reading your
fast paced trip report wore me out.
{{ I had a lot of success with Medventions by tossing a little money at
hotel problems. My (unofficial) spreadsheet for Aussiecon Three
includes a largish item currently labelled "bribes", which I'm pretty sure
our treasurer hasn't approved. I'll rename it to the same as the equivalent
item on the LACon III spreadsheet, so as to be slightly less controversial.
However, whether considered as gratuities or tips or whatever, such an item
will be an essential part of hotel liaison. Australians, including me,
have a lot of problems with the concept of tipping, as the custom is not
widespread here, despite the efforts of certain snotty restaurants. EL}}
Thanks for the Gegs. As Jean may have mentioned I am in the middle of
one of those machine/owner/manufacturer sagas. Back in October of 1994 I
purchased a WP145ODS Brother. It broke down just before last Christmas,
the problem turning out to be a blown board due to power fluctuation
accumulations. $65 to fix and I was quite happy about that. But then
major breakdown in Early March. It was sent down to the Wellington shop
to be fixed and the trouble started. They claimed it was major trouble
and would cost around half the new cost of the machine to repair. No
mention of WHAT the problem was but at that cost the shop here said it
must come under the two year guarantee.
They insisted the manufacturer fix the trouble free and this went back
and forth for two months while I was WPless. Finally the Brother people
agreed to fix it free (or so I gather) and the shop THEN went to bat for
me insisting that since Brother were now saying the machine couldn't be
fixed for at least another month (part to come from overseas) Brother
must provide me with a loan machine to continue my writing. This they
have - very reluctantly - done along with a page of orders and
instructions about it. By this time (2 1/2 months) I had so much I
needed to print out stacked up waiting that I now feel like some kind of
mad synthesizer player. I have the WP printing like crazy all morning,
and beside it on a small extra table my old electric typewriter on which
I type letters pausing every three minutes to change printer pages in
the WP.
The electric typer has a problem too which I've never succeeded in
fixing permanently. It has spells of taking the heads of lettering for
days then righting itself for no apparent reason. Any comment on the
above trouble would be appreciated as from one who knows to one who
knows to one who is a technoilliterate.
{{If your letter was done on the electric typewriter, it appears that
the ribbon is riding too low. I can see an impression on the paper
where the character has struck, but no ribbon was in the way. Does the
manual suggest an adjustment to ribbon or type position is possible? EL}}
I am of course insanely jealous of the fact that you could make two
trips to the USA in 1994, particularly as I remember reading in an
earlier issue of Gegenschein (earlier than numbers 73/74 which arrived
today) how you did a sort of general breakdown of the costs/budgeting
for such visits. I recall thinking as I read that "Shit a Brick! If
our US visits were as expensive we'd never be able to go." Unlike you
though we freeload shamelessly with friends and fannish acquaintances (I
think on our first US visit we actually paid for one night in a hotel
over the entire six week holiday) and assuage any potential guilt by
being ready and willing to return any and all such guestings ... and of
course we actually `returned' many in advance of our visit, and would
have done more were it not for the fact that relatively few fans see
Stockport as any sort of `Mecca'.
My jealousy is of course exacerbated by the fact that this was supposed
to be the Year of our triennial US/Canada jaunt, but our daughter
Bethany's wedding (three weeks in the past as I type) wrote a resounding
financial `finis' to that particular schema. Fortunately by way of
compensation Mike Glicksohn & Susan Manchester will be visiting with us
for a week early in July, so we won't miss quite all the friends with
whom we would otherwise have touched base.
Alyson Abramowitz too wrote that she was likely to be over here again
in the not-too-distant future, but others you mentioned will be sadly
missed, particularly those in the Midwest (and I was particularly
saddened to read that Bill Bowers' health is no better, and may even
have deteriorated since our 1993 visit. There ought to be a rule that
only good things can happen to nice people. Sadly, even if there were
I'm sure Bill would somehow manage to be exempted from it on some Cosmic
technicality).
I can only echo your remarks about `good US ribs' being a real favourite
(particularly Rib King in Cinsy). I consider the lack of same to be one
of the major disadvantages to not living in the US. I don't know if
there's more than one Ruby Tuesday's in Cincinnati, but presume if you
went there with Bill Bowers, Dave Locke & Roger Sims it was probably
the one at the mall of which we too have fond memories (despite the fact
that Cas came down with serious lurgi the day after she actually ate
anything there (on previous visits she'd simply abandoned us to it's
tender mercies and strolled off to exercise her credit card - see us
shot at the bar there on page 62 of AW volume 2).
Surely that's one of the great delights of fandom, this sharing of
Cinsy USA memories between people from NSW Australia, and Cheshire
England - and it could have so easily been Chicago memories, or Palo Alto,
or innumerable other places, because the memories are associated with
people and so many of the friendships and acquaintances are shared. God
but we had some good times over there in 1990 and 1993. And you've been
back there twice since our last visit. My insane jealousy is not
getting any easier to bear. But thanks for refreshing the memories.
{{And to make your jealousy worse, last issue contained yet another trip
report ... and next issue will contain another! EL}}
Usually my "Once upon a Time" apazine Pooka is too
specialized to use as a tradezine, but I thought I'd send you a copy of
the current issue, with thanks for the two recent Gegenscheins, as its
contents are more general and not so much apa-specific.
Sad news locally is the death of L.A. Taylor (combination of cancer
and side effects of a difficult operation trying to get at the cancer).
She had her first fantasy novel, Catspaw, published only recently (in
previous years, she'd published also one sf novel, several murder
mysteries, and a book of poetry), and it's sad that the other books
she'd completed or had been working on haven't come out. She'd been
moving into self-publishing, and had brought out a paperback edition of
one of her mysteries, and a collection of some of her sf short stories
(Women's Work), and was planning to bring out a particularly fine novel,
The Godfather Experiment, which had been inexplicably turned
down by the commercial publishers. I think her husband, Allen Sparer,
will complete that project, however. It used to be a conventional piece
of publishers' wisdom (?) that there were no really good unpublished
novels running around loose - if they were really any good, someone
would have bought them. I don't know if that line was ever true, but
Taylor was one of the most notable examples of its falsity in today's
market, with the publishers too afraid of what computers will do to
their industry and too burdened by the debts incurred in being bought up
by one another to take on much of anything new except likely
best-sellers. Of course, publishers have to some extent always confused
"best selling" with good. The two are sometimes the same, but there is
no necessary connection.
Thanks for Gegenschein 73 and 74.
It's depressing that of all the books you review in #73, I've read only
three (though I own several others); mind you, those do include your two
longest reviews. (And I did considerably better on the list in #74.)
I do not work for a computer company.
I don't have much opportunity for Web-surfing, so I'll have to hope for
getting the paper version of your zines for a while yet.
Your essay on Worldcons in #74 was certainly interesting, and I'm going
to call it to the attention of the Boston in 2001 committee (especially
the bit about Boskone and Arisia!)
Actually, most of Gary Farber's convention going was in the days before
e-mail (I have shared a room with him, lo, these many years ago). I
think this year's Boskone was his first con since the '90 Corflu.
Thank you so much for Geg 73 and 74. I find the account of your travels
particularly interesting and I'm always grateful for reviews.
You deserve more than this brief thank you note but alas I am at home
here for roughly two days in each six weeks and have a minimum of twenty
letters to write each time. To add to the fun my venerable Amstrad
CPC6128 is now given to tantrums, especially the disc drive, which may
or may nor accept my various programmes and saved to disc headings etc.
Strike the alas from the above paragraph, the reasons for my being away
from home so much are entirely happy ones for me. For Derek and myself
retirement should be renamed rejuvinationment. The opportunity to live
on the river from April till October is a new lease of life. When we do
come away from the river it is for happy events such as family
gatherings or as recently a gathering of anglo american pen friends. My
only reservation is the fear that as I am becoming such a poor
correspondent friends will think I don't care about them and faneds will
think I do not appreciate their zines. I do, I do!
Two Gegs to comment on. Convention membership of under 100 is
reminiscent of one of the Indiana cons, Confabulation. Attendance
somewhere around 100 or a bit over; their all-time high was 140.
Pleasant though small. On the other hand, Marcon in Columbus, OH this
year had over 2000 people. Very profitable for us, but not what you'd
call easy-going. Came back exhausted.
I doubled my George Turner collecting at Wiscon by buying Beloved
Son, Vaneglory and Yesterday's Men. Didn't care
much for the first one but each book in the trilogy was an improvement
over the previous one.
Cordial is a fairly common term. in the US, though I hope a flavor was
appended. (I like some of the odd ones, like blackberry, but on the
whole it's not one of my favorite drinks.)
I haven't seen Lloyd Eshbach in years, or Bill Bowers, either. Down to
corresponding with Dave Locke. But I won't go to a Midwestcon to see
them.
Those of us whose interest is huckstering (and partying and filking)
enjoy the larger cons. {{Speaking of filking, I need to gather some
filk song books for Aussiecon Three, and obtain rights to reprint
some filk. Any suggestions? EL}}
Of course the Wolverine Motel allows dogs; they have to feed the
wolverines somehow .... Presumably Anne Laurie wasn't on the
menu; have you heard from her since? {{No EL}}
Have read few of the books you review, since I'm still not really back
into reading stf since the end of my reviewing. But I'm working on it.
I'm enjoying the Turtledove series; the third book, Upsetting the
Balance, is out in hardcovers and it ought to be in pb soon.
I'm not sure why Adrienne Losin says that "Even" in films and tv there
are logical inconsistencies; on the whole, there are a lot more
inconsistencies on tv than in print, though usually the action is fast
enough that most of the audience never notices them.
Quite an Australian representation at Wiscon. I finally got to meet
Jean, though we didn't say much beyond hello; she seemed to be pretty
busy with the Australian party on whichever night it was held. (Friday?
Saturday? All these things blur with time, not to mention the pouring
rain on the way home.) I picked up a trade pb of Alien Shores
at the con -- mostly because it had a story by Yvonne Rousseau in it --
and got the autographs of Lucy Sussex and Rosaleen Love for their
stories. (Lucy recognized me and said hello; Rosaleen didn't have an
idea who I was, I think. And vice versa; I'd heard the name, but knew
nothing about her.)
{{ I'm putting web pages up about all the Australian SF authors I
can get material about. I'd be happy to include copies of web pages
with fanzines if anyone wants details of a particular author - or fans
with web access can grab you copies. EL}}
Hm. I could have got all this into an aerogramme; have to think of more
to say in order to justify the extra postage of a regular airmail
letter.
Well, lessee, one person I was happy to see at Wiscon was Betsy Curtis.
We have been exchanging Christmas cards every year, but Juanita and I
hadn't seen her for probably 30 years or more. She had a few stories in
the pulps, and is the mother of Maggie Thompson, who is a fairly close
friend. Maggie was also there, gloating on having acquired enough of a
staff at Comics Buyer's Guide that she can afford to get away
from it now and then.
Last weekend we were back in Columbus, OH for a visit with Bruce and
family. They're mostly into club fandom; Bruce is publishing the Marcon
Committee newsletter (and, being his father's son, poking a few of the
members to see how they react.) There were several fans over in the
evenings, rehashing the convention operations, making remarks about the
committee members who weren't there, and providing the usual fannish
talk.
Today it didn't rain, so I mowed the grass. The midwest had a bad
winter and a horrible spring. Juanita and I have still not mowed our
entire lawn for the first time, though we might finish tomorrow if the
weather remains clear. Our last previous mowing was June 6, and since
it started to rain about the time I finished -- a few minutes before I
finished, in fact -- I didn't clean out the grass wadded up under
the mower housings. (I used both mowers; emptied the gas in one and
without waiting to let that one cool, took the second one to finish.
The two days have had rain off and on, so I didn't mow. The
mowers have been in the garage on a nice dry floor and out of the
rain all this time. And when I started to clean out the grass before
mowing today, it was still wet. Sitting in a dry garage for 6 days,
and it hadn't dried out. That's been our weather all spring. Nothing
dries out. That's been our weather ever since the last freeze.
Meanwhile the grass grows; on the June 6 mowing I picked a grass stem
out of the stuff I was mowing and measured it; it was 42 inches tall. The
parts we mowed first badly need mowing again, but I intend to get all
the way around first.
Somewhat more serious, the last figures we saw in the paper, perhaps 10
or 12 days ago, mentioned that only 20% of Indiana farmland had been
planted this year, because the ground has been too wet. Farmers are
going to be hurting - and so are consumers, by the end of the year. Lots
of flooding in southern Indiana; water standing in the fields up here
but it's not counted as a flood. Reading about flooding in
Yesterday's Men, I felt right at home.
Friday we'll be going down to the Wilbur Wright Memorial in
south-central Indiana, so Juanita can get some more Wilbur Wright caps.
She has one, but wants some in different colors. Then Saturday is MY
50th highschool reunion. My 40th was sort of interesting, so I'll try
it again, though it's hardly likely that my third-grade teacher, who was
present at the 40th, is still in shape to make this one. My school was
so small that the reunions are for everyone who ever graduated from the
school. (And since the school was consolidated with several others in
1967, the reunions will gradually become smaller until eventually every
graduate is dead. But since it continued for 20 years after I
graduated, I won't see the end of them.) I'm just hoping that I'll see
somebody that I liked; I wasn't exactly the most popular kid in school.
Elli the dog continues to regain courage slowly. Actually barked at a
couple of bicyclists on the road the other day, though I'm not sure she
realized they were human -- just something strange and therefore to be
barked at. Almost totally comfortable with Juanita and I, though
she still cringes when I go out to see what she's barking at. Somebody
really did a job on her when she was a puppy. Taking her with us to
see Bruce and family was traumatic for her, but she survived -- and
was much happier on the way home. Very suspicious and afraid of
anything new and different.
It is nice to have some time to answer zines. I received G 73 & 74
yesterday in the mail. As with most of us in the real world, I shall
have to be satisfied with the paper version of your zine.
Good luck with your bread making machine. I'm thinking of getting
one for myself. It would be the best of all worlds if the machine has
both 50 & 60Hz systems. So that it would be portable if one travels. I
guess the assumption is that one will give away everything and buy new
stuff if one were to move. It is great for electronics industry.
To a great extent I agree with what you say about the purpose and
function of the Worldcon. Yes, it is a literary directed con. However,
while I don't think it should go out of its way for other aspects of SF,
it should NOT exclude them. One of the reasons Boskone fell on
hard times is its exclusion of all aspects of costuming, plus an
attitude which turned off a lot of potential con going fans. It seem to
have realized that it has gone overboard in its attitude. However, I
rather doubt if you'll see a masquerade at Boskone.
Albacon 96 is oriented towards the literary ends of things,
tho we are providing a place for other areas of SF. However, we are not
going out of our way, hence, since we are not doing it their way, the
local ST, SW & gamers are ignoring us. I feel it is their loss.
Yes, LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT! I enjoyed your trip reports in both
issues. It may be a long time before I get back to the West Coast of
the US. Being back in school takes time and money. Being retired means
that while I MAY have the time, I sure don't have the money.
I shall be out there for LACon, will I see you or Jean
there? I get in on the 28th; I'll be staying at the Marriott. I have
driven to a number of cons this past Spring and have the luck to split a
room with a chap I traveled with last summer when the gang of 4, plus
sleeping beauty, did the Loch Ness trip on the way to Glasgow. This
helped. After school was out (I did ok, getting 2 A's in my courses.) I
headed up to Nova Scotia. I had a free membership in Wolfcon. I stayed
with the Longyear's on the way up. They are neat folk. I may try and
get up there in DEC or JAN for some skiing with Barry. They also hosted
a Barbie, using me as an excuse to get some fannish types together. The
con was neat. I ended up being sort of a guest. I knew no one except
for 2 of the guests, and no one knew me, tho a few folk had heard of me.
It was a little bit different from the usual state of things. Ego
control situation. They were most kind and treated me well. I was put
on a lot of programming; I had offered to do things. However, due to
the locale and scarcity of pros, all the guests were up there by
themselves. It was the program participant and the audience. I did
drag CJ Cherryh in to help on one panel. The con was loosely, but
fairly well organized. There were no major screw ups. However, I did
meet with a number of masochistic psychopaths. They want to bring a
Worldcon to Halifax. I tried to dissuade them, but I don't think I
succeeded. Sigh! We'll see if they will host a party at LACON. On the
way back I stayed with the Eastons, who also live in Maine. On the way
home the next day I visited with a Dutch mystery writer who lives in
Maine. We had a very nice chat.
If all goes well and I manage to dump my house up in Watertown, I'll
probably be in the market for a computer towards the end of the year. I
expect to get more than I need. Hey, it is my toy. What I get depends
upon several factors, including whether or not I'll be in Oz for most of
98. If so, I'll be looking for a top of the line laptop to run the
other stuff here, but will be able to take it with to Oz. Your
suggestions on what to look for will be appreciated. I hear Intel just
came out with a 200HR Pentium. It could be fast enough.
The rest of the summer is both hectic and quiet. I'll be driving up to
see The Place when my tenants move out at the end of June. The
following weekend I'm down to the Philly area for a friends wedding
handfasting. At the beginning of August I'm back in the Philly area for
a relaxacon & to twist arms to buy memberships in Albacon 96. The
following weekend I'll be in Louisville for Rivercon. Some time before
or after I'll also be dropping by the Saturn plant in TN. Besides it
being just for the hell of it, I want to see if they can help get me
into a GM/Holden dealership for my internship in Oz. I want to be
Service Manager at the first Saturn dealership in Oz: SATURN OF THE
OUTBACK! Serious about the internship part, joking about the rest. I
will during the trip head over to Norfolk and finally meet in person
Noel Jackson. He will be starting PhD studies at Old Dominion Un. We've
been writing for some time now. So the first couple of weeks in August
will be crazy. 3 days after school begins I'll be off to LA.
This weekend I may well drive down to Rhinebeck, NY, to visit the
airdrome there. They fly WWI vintage planes and do an airshow. I think
one can get rides in them as well. The heat and humidity are supposed
to break. It has been in the low 30's with humidity in the 150 to 200%
range, well it feels like that.
I enjoyed the book reviews. I'll have to look for a couple of the ones
you mentioned which I have missed. The local library is quite good at
getting and having books.
Aw come on, just who was the dweeb (or sook?) who led the bid for the
Brisbane NatCon. Is the truth subject to lawsuits in Oz. And I thought
WE had a screwed up legal system. I believe that Dennis Stocks was
cheated a little bit by the twit. Now there is a chap who deserves a
little bit of recognition for his work in fandom, even tho he no longer
does a whole lot.
One problem for Oz seems to be that tho there are a goodly number of
fans, they are clumped in the major cities which just happen to be quite
a distance from one another. This makes it somewhat difficult to get
them together. How expensive are buses, trains or planes in getting
around?
Lucy Schmeidler just sent me a copy of her articles in Eidolon. I
haven't had the chance to read them yet. Just got here. She was a big
help in getting the Lunarians to send out an Albacon 96 flyer
with their mailings - We need all the publicity we can get - ( We now
have 100 pre-reg, including dealers - each table comes with one
membership. We need about 100 more to come close to break even - If we
get the 300 we want, we will do very well. Of course, we hope that not
all show up at the door. We have about 15+ pros coming. By the way do
check out our web page. Leave a note. Holders of Aussie passports get
in free!)
I must 2nd your comments on Harlan. I have met him very briefly from
time to time. My dealings have all been quite positive with him. It was
interesting to note that one con I saw him and approached him to
say how much I liked his story just published. When I mentioned I had
recently read the story, he was quite defensive and somewhat edgy. It
was as if he expected me to attack him. When I said that I really liked
it, he was effusive with his thanx and appeared quite relieved. It
really pisses me off to think that a lot of people think the way to
approach a writer, especially Harlan, is to try and put them down.
Darn, I was looking for the ego-boo of appearing in G! However, no
word was made of our meeting at the 94 Westercon. Sigh! Being dissed
hurts.
Alan Stewart, please pass on my invite to any Aussies making their
way to our fair NE. Weekends are best as I'm in school. My only caveat
is that my home is a non-smoking zone. Perpetrators will be violated! I
would love to play host. Oh yes, no firewood needs be stacked! However,
saying nice things about my Saturn are appreciated.
Looking forward to getting back to Rivercon. There are a
number of folk I haven't seen for years. It was the first American SF
con I ever went to. That was back in 76. I freaked out the folk at
registration. When they demanded an ID, I pulled out my passport. After
all, for the past 5 years whenever I got on a plane for a con or to
travel I always carried it with me. It was part of me travelling. Hmm,
I may just do it again. It has been 20 years. Ghod!
I just finished deconstructing my 2nd Upfield novel. It is slow
reading to do each word and know you still miss something. I have to
now do a synopsis of the two novels I have done. I'm learning that in
doing a compendium, there are more things than just "Persons, Places &
Things."
In reading the novels this closely, there are comments in there that
make me cringe. Yet, it would be interesting, and I hope to do it, go
thru the reviews of his novels at the time and see if there were ANY
comments by Aborigines on the books. I'm also hoping to see if I can
find detailed maps of the story locales from the time he wrote the
novels. It would be interesting to compare them to the maps I have from
NRMA published in the 80's.
As I noted I my be over in 98. Part of the program in Auto tech is
working in a live lab, i.e., real cars, or with a dealership. It took
me a while, but I realized that I WAS A STUDENT AGAIN! I could apply
for Overseas Study programs. Of course, no one had the slightest idea
of how to deal with my request so I had to research it myself. I am in
touch with TAFE, but they seem very confused as well. The Australian
Education Office in DC sent my name to Colorado State Uni's AustraLearn.
They do set up internships. I called and they seemed to think they
could do exactly what I want to do. I want to do my internship with a
dealer, but in some outback city/town in Oz. I would spend 32 weeks
working full-time in the service department. I would have a checklist
of things I would have to do in order to satisfy the course
requirements. This all takes time, not to mention the visas and my
advisor hears 98 and thinks all the time in the world. I'm gong to keep
after him. I want to get the ball rolling by the end of the summer. The
group in Oz which sets up the internships is called Global Education
Designs and is in, I think, Sydney. I finish my last major course in
auto tech in DEC 97. So I would like to begin the program in JAN of 98.
(No fool I, summer is winding down by the time I get there to someplace
like Coober Pedy or Alice Springs. Yeah, it is still hot, but DRY!!!) I
would like to get most things in place by the end of THIS year. There
are a lot of things I have to take care of if I am gong to make the
trip. I also have to see about getting a tourist visa for the time
after my internships I want to spend the Spring wandering about
visiting. folk, before heading back Up Over. I'll get a
motorhome and spend 6 months doing part of my GTIO. You want to come
with? Remember my rules before you say yes.
I enjoying my summer vacation so far.
Well, I've nattered on enough. Drop a line if the urge gets
overwhelming. Say hi to Jean for me . Chuck will pass on e-mail messages
to me. It may take a day or two, but faster and cheaper. Plus you can
tell me about for the Aussie Presence at LACON? I'm looking forward to
helping out a little bit. Ciao & teggeddizzi! May the Ghreat Wombat
smile on you!
Please put me on the e-mail notification list for the next
issue of Gegenschein and have Jean delete me from your paper
copy mailing list. The only drawback for you is that if you
enjoy my postcards, you will probably receive fewer of them.
I will send you e-mail messages of comment (emocs) however.
I have added "Eric's Science Fiction Page" to my hot
buttons in Netscape. For a good time, surf over to
http://www/geocities.com/Athens/4159/ to have a look at
the "Teddy Harvia Art Gallery".
Beast wishes, Teddy Harvia
I was putting my office in order this past weekend and came across my
copy of Issue 72 of Gegenschein, and thought I'd drop a quick
note to let you know what's been happening.
I'm nearing the end of what seems like the most breathtakingly intense
sixteen months of my life. In that span, Gwen and I have moved 100 truck
feet of Stuff from an apartment into a house and welcomed two children
(Amanda, born last March, and Gavin, born this May) into the family; in
my professional life, I've written two and two-thirds novels, seen one
of them (BEFORE THE STORM) spend three weeks on the NYTimes and
Publishers Weekly best-seller lists, celebrated the release of The Black
Book Band's live album (FIRST CONTACT), and signed a contract
to collaborate on a novel (TRIGGER) with Arthur C. Clarke.
It's been an exciting but exhausting run down this particular set of
rapids, and I'm looking forward to having some time to devote to other
pursuits -- like finishing the job of unpacking, making some music,
visiting with friends, reading a book for pleasure, and, most of all,
taking an afternoon or a weekend off now and again to just _play_,
without guilt. There's nothing like not having time to have fun to make
a fellow feel prematurely old--
Fans cannot resist the temptations of the future. A few balked at the
transition from mimeo to photocopy, from typewriter to desktop
publishing. But most fan editors move to where the audiences are. I
think web sites and e-mail will eventually take over fandom. Imagine the
thrill of reaching hundreds of readers without the drudgery and expense
of mailing labels, postage, and envelopes.
What I like best about cyberspace is the speed of responses. Downloading
large files is another matter. I must buy more ram.
Beast wishes, Teddy
Gegenschein 73 and 74 arrived yesterday, June 10. The
mailing label records my street address as 37 Manly Street, instead of
the correct 377 Manly Street. A copy of Sacred Trust I mailed to Harry
Warner Jr. came back to me from Hagerstown because I shortened his
street address number. I would hate a Gegenschein to be
returned to your side of the planet because of an
almost-but-not-quite-right street address.
And remember, if your practice is to send all Gegenscheins through
FAPA, I will get them through FAPA, having joined as of the February
mailing.
My comments about the contents of GEGs 73 and 74 will
follow. {{I wonder when? EL}}
My interest was piqued by your mention of the T-shirt with the "You are
here ... Your luggage is there" imprint. My significant other had his
first flight on Northwest, and they temporarily lost his luggage. It
was finally delivered to his destination in the wee hours of the
morning. I told him about the shirt, and he is definitely interested in
getting one. If Scott Dennis still sells them, he will have two more
customers.
I think "jam" and "jelly" are used pretty much interchangeably over here.
"Jello" is what we call your "jelly."
I didn't consider Control C when I had problems getting my floppy disk
to recognize that I'd changed floppies. That happened when my current
computer was new. I had to swap out mother boards due to the clock not
working on the first one. The replacement was a different kind and
didn't like the arrangement of the floppy connections and controllers.
Eventually, I ended up getting all that replaced.
I hadn't heard of Rib King in Cincinnati. We went to the Boat House for
ribs.
You misspelled my name twice in your report; but since you got it right
at least once, I think you just need to proof read.
Thanks for the book reviews. Once in a while, you review a book that
piques my interest. The plot sounds similar to an idea I had but never
managed fully to develop.
Thanks for WeberWoman's Wrevenge 48 and Gegenschein
72 (as I combine two locs into one to save postage). Interesting
material throughout both zines, though I don't have a whole lot to say
about either.
I mentioned at Ditto, my letter in WWW (dated "9 December
1995") seems to have been sent through a time warp. Stranger still, it
actually was 9 December 1995 when I finally finished reading this issue
...
Hey, I belong to the Society for Technical Communication (though
I've never gotten to a conference). And I therefore read the
newsletter that Ron Salomon's Lori has been managing
editing. Strange: I live a few miles from Ron, but for years
I've encountered him only in the pages of fanzines ...
I see you're both enthusiastic about Permutation City, which
I've just read myself. Count me as another who eagerly seeks out all
the Greg Egan works I can find.
Somehow I doubt that I'll ever get to Tasmania. *sigh*
And lest I forget, the Aussiecon Memory Book is great!
Many thanks for two copies of Geqenschein 72. One came in
the mail, and the other came with the Ain99 flyers. I will save a copy
for a fanzine table somewhere down the road, and loc the other one ...
It may have been your turn to get to Midwestcon in 1994, but
Yvonne and I did get to it in 1995. We did feel a little left out, and
it was a strenuous trip for Yvonne (our only driver), so as fannish as
that event is, I don't think we'll be goinq back soon. Perhaps later
on, when we've outlasted most of the other fans in this area, and the
newer fans look down on us.
A huge number of book reviews here ... I wish I could say I've read
most of them, but I can't. However, I have read some, and can
readily agree with general comments. I get very tired of the
ultra-military and super-fascist SF that came from many pens, in
the 1980s, and now that the Soviet Union has dried up and blown
away, the new target is much more generalized (if it isn't a
Saddam Hussain type character). I've read a little, of David
Feintuch's work, and I am reminded of the worst of the Pournelle -
Drake school of SF writing.
With so many reviews, there's not much for me to comment on, so I
will wish that you and Jean (didn't say this in her loc) had the
very best of the holiday, and that you're ready to keep slugging
through a hot summer. (I'll mail you both a snowball.) Take care,
and See you next Issue.
To have you describe my trip report as detailed, compared with the
minute detail of your own reports, is, I hope, a compliment and not
irony. Mind you, the names I could have dropped would have been from
the arachnological community, and instantly unrecognisable to any of the
people to whom I was writing. On the other hand, I neglected to mention
that the excursion held during the arachnological congress was to le Parc
du Jurassique. (The congress programme had a note 'Dinosaurs not
expected")
Your assumption that anybody with access to the internet will have full
access to the various web pages is not necessarily correct. NSW
Agriculture's access to the World Wide Web is via a program called lynx,
running under Unix, which is text only, and not a GUI. Given the growth
of web pages, including catalogues of scientific equipment and chemical
supply firms, this is a definite irritation.
{{The web version of Gegenschein (and all my pages) should be readable
with Lynx and similar text only browsers. I try to check it for HTML
2.0 compatibility, which is handled correctly by Lynx. EL}}
I bought one of those frozen food defrosting plates through a mail-order
firm, which made it sound as though it sucked heat out of the ambient
environment, which it doesn't - you have to add heat to it, once at the
beginning and then again halfway through the process. Had I noticed
that it was also for sale in a couple of local shops I would not have
bought it at all.
Your claim that Worldcon can't be the biggest and best in every single
area has a certain amount of truth. On the other hand, to then say
that, by implication, people who don't know the origin of Boskone and
Arisia are not truefen is unreasonable. Given the huge amount of
science fiction now available, not all new fen will have had the
opportunity to read the Doc Smith books, in much the same way I haven't
read many of the more recent books.
{{Given Doc Smith's status as "Father of Space Opera", and the way SF
films and TV series have drawn upon the concepts of that era, it is a
real pity that fans now tend to lack the opportunity to read the stories
that started it all. The Thor Power Tools ruling, and the takeover of
publishing priorities by feral accountants, are very likely to cause us
to lose our SF history. EL}}
Actually I don't remember beggars as such in LAX, although there was one
person collecting for a local charity. I don't see why you complain
about beggars. They are only conducting their own private enterprise.
As to your other complaints about LAX, I didn't find it too large, too
crowded, or too noisy, nor do I recall any real difficulty finding the
terminal for my Delta Airlines flight. Perhaps they renovated the place
in the intervening nine months.
I think that the reason for much of the bad science in science fiction
is that the people who write it are non-technical people. This is
probably why the amount of fantasy is rising. On the other hand, how
much good science fiction is written by technical people?
Gegenscheins 73 and 74 arrived in the same envelope and it was
delightful to again have news of you. How you manage to publish such
wonderful fanzines in addition to travelling and handling a job and
reading so many books is beyond my understanding. I've been retired for
over thirty years and I cannot accomplish all the things I should do,
let alone the things I wish to do.
A friend of mine died and willed his huge science fiction
collection (about 27,000 items) to the University of Winnipeg,
whose librarians asked me to estimate the value of it. I knew
Bob Stimpson for twenty years, and am familiar with his habits
of collecting, and I sold him over $11,000 worth of stuff over
that period of time, but my best guess was "hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars, possibly approaching a million" at today's
values. It is taking the library three days to move the stuff
from the house to the storage space it will occupy, so I am now
expecting a report from David Blair, a fellow member of First
Fandom, who will try to organize the collection.
I'll let you know what happens.
Having quit collecting three years ago, your reviews are
unlikely to prompt me to purchase anything, but you do write
concisely and perceptively.
I never attend conventions, not even the Worldcon held in
Winnipeg two years ago, and although David expects to go to Los
Angeles this year, and went to Glasgow last year, he is only 73
years old and knows personally many famous authors; conventions
mean much more to him than to me.
I have two recent letters from Buck Coulson to answer, so
must do a little research.
Perth SwanCon Trip Easter 1996
Wednesday 3rd April 1996
Thursday 4th April 1996
Friday 5th April 1996
Saturday 6th April 1996
Sunday 7th April 1996
New Books
Ill Wind by Kevin J Anderson and Doug Beason
Tor, May 1996, 563pp, US$6.99
Kaleidoscope Century by John Barnes
Millenium Phoenix, 1996, 252pp, E5.99
The Time Ships, by Stephen Baxter
Voyager, 1995, 629pp, P4.99 A$12.95
Sailing Bright Eternity by Gregory Benford
Bantam, October 1996, 445pp, US$5.99
Terry Pratchett's Mort, the Play by Stephen Briggs
Corgi, August 1996, 168pp, A$11.95
Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters, the Play by Stephen Briggs
Corgi, August 1996, 168pp, A$11.95
Privateer by Simon Brown
Harper Collins, 1996, 294pp, A$12.95
Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
Baen, October 1996, 302pp, US$5.99
The Triad Worlds by F M Busby
AvoNova, June 1996, 374pp, US$5.99
Strange Attractors by Jeffrey A Carver
Tor, April 1996, 338pp, US$5.99
The Memory Cathedral by Jack Dann
Bantam, December 1995, 486pp, US$22.95
The Magnificent Wilf by Gordon R Dickson
Baen, 1995, 292pp, US$21 HC
Hackers by Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois
Ace, October 1996, 239pp, US$5.50
Enchanter by Sara Douglass
Harper Collins, February 1996, 706pp, A$13.95
Distress by Greg Egan
Millennium London, 1995, 342pp, TPB A$19.95
Camelot 30K by Robert L Forward
Tor, August 1996, 308pp, US$5.99
Design for Great-Day by Alan Dean Foster and Eric Frank Russell
Tor, 1996, 255pp, US$5.99
Requiem Of Stars by Tracy Hickman
Bantam Spectra, June 1996, 376pp, US$5.99 A$12.95
1968 by Joe Haldeman
Morrow, 1995, 338pp,
Somebody's Watching by Anne Hilton-Bruce
Pan Macmillan, 1996, 418pp, A$12.95
The Price of Wisdom by Shannah Jay
Pan Macmillan, August 1996, 539pp, A$14.95
The Site by J Radford Keir
Pan Macmillan, 1996, 423pp, A$12.95
Chronomaster by Jane Lindskold
Prima (Macmillan), November 1996, 348pp, US$5.99 A$11.95
The Wizard and Me by Dave Luckett
Omnibooks Shorts, 1996, 64pp
Freedom's Landing by Anne McCaffrey
Corgi (Transworld), August 1996, 384pp, A$12.95
Red Star Rising by Anne McCaffrey
Bantam (Transworld), October 1996, 335pp, A$29.95
Virtual Zen by Ray Nelson
AvoNova, August 1996, 220pp, US$5.50
Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett
Doubleday, July 1996, 206pp, A$19.95 HC
A Dog Called Demolition, by Robert Rankin
Doubleday (Transworld), July 1996, 251pp, A$29.95
The Garden of Unearthly Delight, by Robert Rankin
Corgi (Transworld), July 1996, 318pp, A$12.95
The Ganymede Club by Charles Sheffield
Tor, October 1996, 342pp, US$6.99
Heavy Weather by Bruce Sterling
Bantam, January 1996, 310pp, US$5.99
Heirs of Empire by David Weber
Baen, March 1996, 533pp, US$5.99
Metal Fatigue by Sean Williams
Harper Collins, 1996, 458pp, A$12.95
Rock of Ages by Walter Jon Williams
Tor, September 1996, 287pp, US$5.99
Bellwether by Connie Willis
Bantam, April 1996, 247pp, US$11.95 TPB
Babylon 5 - Book 4 Clark's Law by Jim Mortimore
Dell (Transworld), August 1996, 270pp, US$5.50 A$9.95
Star Wars
Star Wars - Tales From Jabba's Palace, edited by Kevin J Anderson
Bantam (Transworld), January 1996, 427pp, US$5.99 A$10.95
Star Wars - Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry
Bantam (Transworld), May 1996, 340pp, US$22.95 A$29.95
Star Wars - X-Wing Rogue Squadron by Michael A Stackpole
Bantam (Transworld), Feb 1996, 388pp, US$5.99 A$10.95
Star Wars - X-Wing Wedge's Gamble by Michael A Stackpole
Bantam (Transworld), August 1996, 357pp, US$5.99 A$10.95
Star Wars - The Crystal Star, by Vonda N McIntyre
Bantam (Transworld), Dec 1995, 413pp, US$5.99 A$10.95
Star Wars - Before the Storm, by Michael P Kube-McDowell
Bantam (Transworld), April 1996, 309pp, US$5.99 A$10.95
Star Wars - Shield of Lies, by Michael P Kube-McDowell
Bantam (Transworld), November 1996, 340pp, A$10.95
Letters
John Tipper
PO Box 487,
Strathfield NSW 2135
17th April 1996
Teddy Harvia
701 Regency Drive
Hurst TX 76054-2907 USA
6th June 1996
Lyn McConchie
Farside Farm,
R.D. Norsewood
New Zealand.
Ph. (NZ) 06 3740 711.
24th May 1996.
Paul Skelton
25 Bowland Close
Offerton, Stockport
Cheshire, SK2 5NW
England
18th. May 1996
Ruth Berman
2809 Drew Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416
June 3, 1996
George Flynn
PO Box 1069, Kendall Sq. Stn.
Cambridge MA 02142 USA
30 May 1996
Leanne Frahm
272 Slade Point Rd
Slade Point Qld 4740
OH CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Oh Captain! My Captain! The awful deed is done.
The cheque is gone
To LA Con-
The voting has begun.
Oh Captain! My Captain! The counting is at hand.
We hear tis close,
Betwixt it flows
Croatia and Our Land.
Oh Captain! My Captain! The baleful war is done.
The foe's returned
And rightly spurned,
Australia has it won!
Oh Captain! My Captain! There's dancing in the streets.
In every town
A victor's crown
Applauds Down Under's feats.
But what is this? My Captain lies there cold and grey.
His Printer Programme ate his Net in riotous disarray.
The mighty Bytes were overworked, and closed the VGA,
No more the OS/2 will heed the calling of the day.
Oh Captain! My Captain!
The enemy is defeated-
But my Captain does not hear,
Alas, he's been deleted ...
Pamela Boal
4 Westfield Way
Charlton Heights
Wantage
Oxon OX12 7EW UK
4 June 1996
Buck Coulson
2677W-500N, Hartford City,
IN 47348 USA
12 June 96
jan howard finder
164 Williamsburg Court
Albany, NY 12203 USA
12 Jun 96
David Thayer
eushar@exu.ericsson.se
Thu, 6 Jun 1996
Michael Kube-McDowell
73740.15@CompuServe.COM
11 Jun 96
K-Mac
---] Michael Paul McDowell, writing as Michael P. Kube-McDowell [---
---] Author of EMPRISE, ALTERNITIES, THE QUIET POOLS, and EXILE [---
---] For more info: http://www.greyware.com/authors/K-Mac [---
---] or http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/KubeMcDowell [---
David Thayer
eushar@exu.ericsson.se
Tue, 11 Jun 1996
Murray Moore
377 Manly Street, Midland
Ontario L4R 3E2 Canada
murray.moore@encode.com
Tue, 11 Jun 1996
R Laurraine Tutihasi
71613.1227@CompuServe.COM
12 Jun 96
George Flynn
P.O. Box 1069, Kendall Sq. Stn.
Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
Dec 13, 1995
Lloyd Penney
412-4 Lisa St.
Brampton, ON
CANADA 1,6T 4136
December 27, 1995
Richard J. Faulder
P.O. Box 136
Yanco NSW 2703
Australia
emai1:faulder@agric.nsw.gov.eu
3rd March 1996
Chester D. Cuthbert
1104 Mulvey Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3M 1J5
June 12, 1996
Janice Murray for DUFF
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