BRUM GROUP July 1992 NEWS Issue 250

The monthly newsletter of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group (Honorary Presidents: Brian W Aldiss & Harry Harrison)

G ro u p C h a ir m a n - T o n y M o r t o n , Se c r e t a r y - Ca r o l M o r t o n , N e w s le t te r Ed it o r - M a r t in T u d o r , T re a s u r e r - R ic h a r d St a n d a g e , Rev ie w s Ed it o r - B e r n ie Ev a n s , P u b l ic it y O fficer - Po s it io n V a c a n t , O r d in a r y M em be r - M ic k Ev a n s , N o v a c o n 22 C h a ir m a n - H e l e n a Bo w l e s . THIS MONTH 'S SPEAKER IS IAN STEWART Friday 17th July 1992, 7.45pm for 8.00pm Admittance: Members 1.25 Visitors 2.25 Ian Stewart is, in his own words, "the author of DOES GOD PLAY DICE? and GAME, SET & MATH. He will talk about his new book FEARFUL SYMMETRY: IS GOD A GEOMETER? (the prequel to DOES GOD?) about pattern formation in nature. The subject matter ranges from why few snails are left-handed to the largest structure in the known universe, and includes a method for making quilt patterns from chaos. Those of you who heard The Pattern of Tiny Feet at Novacon 21 were exposed to a version of Chapter Eight. He publishes sf stories in ANALOG and OMNI at the rate of approximately 13077 per year (exercise: when was the first and how many have been published?). He joined the Brum Group a couple of years ago, and he and Jack Cohen are working on yet another book, which has a godless title but is really number 3 in the God Trilogy. But Jack's already told the Brum Group about that. He also writes the Mathematical Recreations column of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, and a new collection of those columns is soon to appear as ANOTHER FINE MATH YOU'VE GOT ME INTO."

The BSFG meets at 7.45pm on the 3rd Friday o f every month (unless other-wise notified) in the upstairs function room o f the White Lion, corner o f Thorp Street and Horsefair/Bristol Street in Birmingham city centre. The annual subscription rates (which include twelve copies o f this newsletter and reduced price entry to meetings) are nine pounds per person, or twelve pounds for 2 members at the same address. Cheques etc. payable to the Birmingham Science Fiction Group", via the treasurer Richard Standage at meetings or by post c/o B ernie Evans (address below). Book reviews and review copies should be sent to the reviews editor Bernie Evans, 121 Cape Hill, Smethwick, Warley, West Midlands, B66 4SH (tel: 021 558 0997). All other contributions and enquiries regarding the Brum Group New s to Martin Tudor, 845 Alum Rock Road, Birmingham, B8 2 A G (tel: 021 327 3023). FORTHCOMING EVENTS A FEW WORDS

FROM OUR CHAIRMAN 17 JULY 1992: IAN STEWART w ill be addressing the BSFG on Chaos Theory at the White Lion. — Tony Morton 18-26 JULY 1992: MINEHEAD SPACE AGE FESTIVAL. Not actually a convention, but sounds interesting. Being held at the Exhibition Centre, Market House Lane, Minehead. Costs During the year, members have made only £1.00 per day. Expected guests include numerous comments about the social side of Arthur C Clarke, Patrick Moore, John Brunner the Group, their concern being that there and Terry Pratchett. Contact the Town Clerk, i s n ' t one, and what can we do about it ? Town Hall, The Parade, Minehead, TA24 5NB. Well, the Committee decided to have a "free" 8-9 AUG 1992: FAB 1. THUNDERBIRDS con at meeting in June entitled "Does the team think ?", Wolverhampton Civic Hall. Full details from 15 followed by charades, to bring out a more Fullers Court, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4DZ. social/free and easy night. To those who 21 AUG 1992: PAM WELLS TAFF winner and th is attended, I think you enjoyed the evening. To year's Eastercon fan guest of honour will be th ose who d id n 't, you missed some fun. speaking to the BSFG at the White Lion. Specifically to those who complain about lack 29 AUGUST 1992: COMIC MART a t the H otel o f a s o c ia l s id e and didn't turn up - Arcade, Ladywell Walk, Birmingham, B5 4ST. why ? I f you wish to comment about the Doors open 11am, adm ission 50p. F u rth er social side of the Group "dying", why did you details from Mrs P Lennon, 15 Yew Tree Close, not come to "chat w ith o ld acquaintances" and Batchley, Redditch, Worcs., B97 6SO. join in the "silly" games ? 5 SEPTEMBER 1992: COMIC MART in the Library The Group is there to provide items YOU, Exhibition Hall, Paradise Street, Birmingham the members, want to see. I note the author city centre, opens midday. Located next to based meetings are well attended. Do you Central Library ; get a train to New Street want all meetings thus, or separate social Station, or any bus to the town centre, then events - if so try to tell Martin why the take a five-minute walk up New Street. Full Beer Bus trip failed to attract sufficient details from Golden Orbit, 9 Stratford Way, interest, or further back, Vernon's trip to the Huntington, York, Y03 9YW, dramatic presentation of FORBIDDEN PLANET. I 18 SEPTEMBER 1992: BSFG meeting - speaker to am open to p eop le making p o s itiv e comment on be announced. the Group, after all, as Chairman that's my 23 SEPTEMBER - 3 NOVEMBER 1992: DRAGONS OF job, but in the end it's up to you, the THE MIND. "Tolkien and Science Fantasy" - members, to support them. The Birmingham Centre for the Book celebrates The "Annual Challenge" against Birmingham the centenary of JRR Tolkien's birth by using University SF Group w ill soon be on us again. his works as a centrepiece to explore the It is our turn to choose a motion for debate, history of Science Fantasy and how it has so su g g estio n s ASAP to a Committee member developed into one of the most popular genres please. Of course we also need volunteers to read today. The fantasy worlds of British and provide the (winning) team for the Brum American writers will be used to illustrate Group, so please pass your names to a the range of the genre. The Birmingham Committee member as w ell. Centre for the Book, Central Library, Floor 1, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3 3HQ. Call OQDQO (021) 235 4511 for further details. 25 SEPTEMBER 1992: KIM STANLEY ROBINSON w ill The contents of this issue are copyright 1992 be signing at Andromeda Bookshop, call (021) the BSFG, on behalf of the contributors, to 643 1999 fo r d e t a ils o f th is and other whom all rights revert on publication. signing sessions. Personal opinions expressed in this 25 SEPTEMBER 1992: KIM STANLEY ROBINSON w ill publication do not necessarily reflect those be speaking to the BSFG in an extra meeting of the committee or the BSFG. All text by at the White Lion public house. Watch this Martin Tudor except where stated otherwise. space for further details. This publication was printed on the WAVE 16 OCT 1992: IAN WATSON will be speaking to ph otocop ier. Many thanks th is is s u e to BERNIE the BSFG at the White Lion. EVANS, TONY MORTON, DAVE HARDY, STEVE GREEN, 24 OCTOBER 1992: COMIC MART in the Library DAVE HOLMES and TONY BERRY. Exhibition Hall, Paradise Street, Birmingham city centre, opens midday. Located next to WIN £50 Central Library ; get a train to New Street of merchandise Station, or any bus to the town centre, then take a five-minute walk up New Street. Full come dressed as details from Golden Orbit, 9 Stratford Way, •DEATH* Huntington, York, Y03 9YW. 6 -8 NOV 1992: NOVACON 22 the Brum Group's the most mortifying own sf con returns to the Royal Angus hotel in the city centre. Guest of Honour Storm w ill win. Constantine. Attending membership costs £20 until one month before con after which only on the door memberships available at £25. TERRY Details: Bernie Evans, 121 Cape Hill, Smethwick, Warley, West Midlands, B66 4SH. 20 NOV 1992: DEBATE against the Birmingham Uni­ versity SF & Fantasy Society, at White Lion. PRATCHETT 8 -1 2 APR 1993: HELICON '93. 44 th B ritis h national sf con, Hotel de France, St. Helier, The Creator of Jersey. Guests of honour George RR Martin & John Brunner. A tten d in g £20. Su pp ortin g / Family Membership / Children 8-14 are all £10 DISCWORLD each. D e ta ils : 63 Drake Road, C hessington, S u rrey, KT9 1LQ. 12 DECEMBER 1992: COMIC MART in the Library and Exhibition Hall, Paradise Street, Birmingham city centre, opens midday. Located next to Central Library ; get a train to New Street TRUCKERS Station, or any bus to the town centre, then take a five-minute walk up New Street. Full details from Golden Orbit, 9 Stratford Way, will be opening Huntington, York, Y03 9YW, 28-31 MAY 1993: MEXICON V. "Straight" sf con, venue to be announced. Attending £18 until Novacon 22. Details from; Bernie Evans, 121 Cape Hill, Smethwick, Warley, West Midlands, B66 4SH (tel: 558 0997).

THE GEORGE ALEC EFFINGER MEDICAL FUND announces the “WORLDCON-FOR- A-BUCK" RAFFLE. SPECIALISTS WHAT YOU GET: 1). a chance to help defray George Efflnger's medical costs. IN THE 2). a chance to see ConFrancisco. Grand Prize includes airline travel, membership, 4 nights hotel accomodations And meal allowance! 3). a good reeling. FANTASTIC WHAT YOU DO: 1). write your name, address and telephone number on as many index cards or 3"x5" sheets of paper as you like. on 2). drop them in an envelope, enclosing one dollar for each chance, and mail them to: The George AJec Effinger Medical Fund SAT 1st AUGUST do. NFSFA Post Office Box 500, Bridge Station Niagara Falls, NY 14305 at 1Z noon 3). Start packing. HELP US TO HELP GEORGE, AND GET A PHONE FOR DETAILS CRACK AT A FREE WORLDCON BESIDES! BOARD OF TRUSTEES: Harlan Ellison Pat Cadigan Pamela Sargent Nancy Kress Joan D. Vinge George Zebrowski 34 - 36 Rutland Street. Leicester LEI 1RD. Mary Stanton: administrator Joe Maraglino: executor Tel: 0533 518178 Fax: 0533 518179 please make checks payable to: The George Alec Eff inger Medical Fund held in the Gloucester area. Society membership costs £7.00pa, including four issues of the newsletter FACEHUGGER, a 6"x4" co lo u r photo and a p la s t ic membership card. Full details of all activities can be obtained from Post Office Box 11, Liskeard, Cornwall, PL 14 6YL.

Colin Murray has reportedly succeeded John Jarrold as sf and fantasy editor at Macdonald Books. The 53rd Jophan Report B ritis h film d ir e c to r s P e te r W alker and Titan Books continued its line of Robert Fuest, the actress Caroline Munro and o r ig in a l STAR TREK n o v els on 25 June w ith producer Tony Tenser are the special guests Victoria Mitchell's IMBALANCE, in which Captain at the third annual Festival of Fantastic Picard stumbles across a plot to destroy the Films, being held at Manchester's Charterhouse Federation. Hotel on 9-11 October. Mitchell's is the twenty-second Titan The event has been organized by the novel based upon the current tv series. The Society of Fantastic Films, which also holds parallel sequence of spin-offs from the monthly screenings at the city's Mitre Hotel ; original episodes hit volume 54 on 29 May future bills include REPTILICUS and THE GIANT w ith THE DISINHERITED by Robert Greenberger, CLAW (3 July), ISLAND OF THE DAMNED and M ichael Jan Friedman and P e te r David, in which THIRST (7 August), GOG and THE CREATURE WITH Captain Kirk stumbles across a plot to THE ATOM BRAIN (4 September), THE MAN FROM destroy the Federation. PLANET X and MISSION MARS (2 October), THE The BBC may screen all 79 episodes of PLANET OF THE OPERA and THE HOUND OF THE STAR TREK on BBC2 - including the four shows BASKERVILLES (6 November) and THE COMEDY OF banned for more than 20 years. Despite this TERRORS (5 December). apparent re-think, STAR TREK: THE NEXT Convention membership costs £30.00, GENERATION continues to suffer cuts, the payable to Tony Edwards at 95 Meadowgate latest example being the loss of "The High Road, Salford, Manchester, M6 8EN. Society Ground" because it mentioned the IRA. membership is £10.00 p,a., plus £3.00 per m eeting. The BBC has halted its screening of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION with the second The organizers of next March's combined half of "Best of Both Worlds", first episode STAR TREK / RED DWARF convention, Trek Dwarf, of the fourth season. Those unwilling to have announced a tentative guest-list, subject wait for the BBC to recommence airing the to work commitments: Guy Vardeman, ST:TNG series can buy copies of the remaining fourth body double and g rap h ic a r t is t on the season episodes on CIC Video ; the final two American RED DWARF magazine ; Richard cassettes ("The Host" c/w "The Mind's Eye", "In Arnold, Paramount's TREK consultant ; Mike Th eory" c/w "R edem ption") were re le a s e d on 8 Butcher, editor of the British RED DWARF June. But a word o f warning: "Redem ption" a ls o magazine ; Adrian Riglesford, actor and author ends on a cliff hanger, and CIC w ill keep TREK of the forthcoming DOCTOR WHO MONSTER BOOK, fans waiting till September for its whose appearance has been sponsored by the conclusion. Peterborough telefantasy group Peladon. Membership rates rise in July, but local Movie director Jim Wynorski, whose comics shops have been supplied with "£5 off" latest film is 976-EVIL 2: THE ASTRAL FACTOR, vouchers. has bought the screen rights to the comic character Vampirella and is working on a Anne Rice has completed the fourth novel screenplay. in her "Vampire Chronicles", ONCE OUT OF NATURE. An American hardback edition is due The British ALIENS Fan Club has re c e iv e d for October. 20th Century Fox's go-ahead to hold the first Rice recently met with members of the UK convention dedicated to the film series band LA Guns at her home in New O rleans. She and spin-off comics. Final date and location was presented with copies of their three gold has still to be decided, but it is planned for discs in recognition of the inspiration her the middle of November, and is likely to be novels have provided. Lead singer Phil Lewis was quoted in WORLD OF FANDOM: “It's really a Gatiss (August), LOVE AND WAR by Paul Cornell big deal to me because I've been a fan of (O ctob er) and TRANSIT by Ben A aron ovitch hers for such a long time. This is our way (December). This latest thematically-linked of saying thanks." The author herself, whose sequence sees the departure of Ace and the 13 year-old son is a fan of the band, said introduction of new companions for the Time she was "very touched". Lord. Gerry Anderson has signed up with the Fandata has published the 1992-93 BBC for a 13-part sf series entitled SPACE edition of its FANDOM DIRECTORY, with nearly POLICE, which will utilise state of the art 20.000 American fan listings and more than animatronics techniques. It will be his first 2.000 non-US listings ; the 560-page softback major tv show since SPACE: 1999 in the late also includes information on fan clubs, 1970s. specialist stores and fanzines, again with an NBC has reportedly abandoned plans to American emphasis. Full details can be shoot it s own v e rs io n o f RED DWARF a ft e r obtained from Fandata at 7761 Astrella Court, filming the pilot. Robert Llewelyn reprised Springfield, VA 22152-3133, USA. his role as Kryten (the revised plot included him in the show from episode one), but the The third and final volume in Jean-Marc remaining crew were recast with American Lufficier's guide to DR WHO, THE UNIVERSAL actors. DATABANK, will be published by Virgin on 19 Six episodes from the bizarre US tv November. The previous books were THE s e r ie s EERIE, INDIANA, which Channel Four has PROGRAMME GUIDE, a complete episode listing, scheduled for 1993, will be available on and THE TERRESTRIAL INDEX, which explored the rental video from Braveworld on 21 July. future history of Earth as mapped out in the C reated by GREMLINS director Joe Dante, the series ; the new book includes an A-Z of show is a mix o f THE WONDER YEARS, TWIN leading characters and alien lifeforms, as PEAKS and THE TWILIGHT ZONE. well as longer essays on such specific Videas Productions, the Welsh film outfit aspects of the show as time travel. headed by Brian Davies, will release LADY IN Meanwhile, Virgin's series of original DANGER! th is summer, w ith L o rrain e T y r e r in WHO novels continue with NIGHTSHADE by Mark the title role. GLASGOW IN ’95! Glasgow m ‘95. An ideal city tor a great worl dcon. Below a some more Information on our site and hotels But remember. for all of this to hap pen you must VOTE GLASGOW Presupporting memberships are £5 or $J8

Glasgow in ’95 121 Cape Hall Smethwick Warley THE SITE All function areas in the SECC (apart from the suite of small West Midlan ds rooms) are on the ground floor with direct access for wheelchairs. The upper floor has lift access from the m ain B66 4SH UK The facilities we plan to use for the 1995 Worldcon concourse. are the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) and the Moat House Hotel in Central The M oat House Hotel will hold the remainder of our Glasgow. The two buildings are physically convention facilities a n d accom m od ation for those fans connected and stand on their own landscaped site who must be on-site. There ore 14 function rooms in the hotel next to the river Clyde. consequently. all the ranging in seating capacity from 30 to 800 Several of the programme will be held on one site, with no roads rooms can b e sub -divided. to cross. The site is well served with roa d, bus an d tram links (with its the SECC will contain the majority of the convention own station less than 5 minutes from the city centre) w e will programme. It Is the premier con/exhibition facility also arrange a bussing service which will run into the night. The international airport can be reached by car in 15 in Scotland and has played host to a range of national and International events from medical minutes from the site and Loch Lom ond or Edinburgh in an conferences and rock concerts to the 10,000 strong hour. Glasgow in ’95 world Baptist Youth Conference. P.O. Box 15430 There are five major function halts in the SECC plus a THE HOTELS Washington, DC suite of smaller rooms and offices. We intend to have 20003-043W m ain programme (up to 2.000 seats), extravaganzas Apart from the M oat House, (whic h has 300 twin/double (up to 4.000 seats), films, dealers room and art show rooms), the majority of hotels we will be using are in the USA (a total of 4.000 square meters of floor space), centre of Glasgow, approximately a ha lf to one mile from informal programme and a large social spa ce here. the SECC. The SECC already has two permanent fast food We currently have 3500 rooms blocked in hotels in the city. cafes an d two bars. Further temporary bars, 2000 in 3 to 5-star hotels like the Hilton. Holid a y inn. Alba n y (including an English Real Ale bar) and food outlets and C o p thorne and 1500 in budget accom m od ation in CompuServe: 70511,603 will be installed. The main concourse of the SECC w ill addition we expect that there will be bed a n d breakfast have seating a n d also has a range of shops. accom m odation in smaller establishments throughout the GEnie: KjSiegell including a bank, news-stand, and City accom m odation booking service. FANTASY TALES, the veteran British magazine. Regular features Include publishing fic t io n d ig e s t, may be relaunched in a new news, extensive club and convention listings, format if Robinson Publishing can complete Interviews with prominent authors and editors, negotiations with a new retail outlet. video, film and comics reviews, fiction market Company d ir e c to r Nick Robinson was unable to reports, fanzine and small press reviews, confirm when a d e c is io n was lik e ly , but convention reports and theatre reviews. stressed the proposed deal could boost sales CRITICAL WAVE 026, featuring interviews significantly. w ith DAN SIMMONS and JOHN JARROLD (both The magazine was founded in 1977 by recent guests of the Brum Group), is now e d ito rs David Sutton and Stephen Jones, and available for £1.95, or a six Issue relaunched as a twice-yearly paperback by subscription costs only £7.50, cheques payable Robinson in 1988. Issue eight of the new to " C r it ic a l Wave P u b lic a tio n s " sh ou ld be sent series, cover-dated spring 1992, is already to Martin Tudor, 845 Alum Rock Road, Ward overdue, but any new-look FANTASY TALES is End, Birmingham, B8 2AG. certain to revert to number one again.

Pegasus Publishing Ltd, the Birmingham- based company whose stable included ACADEMY, GAMESMAN and SIREN, went into receivership on 9 April, with debts exceeding £909,000. Title r ig h ts to SIREN were transferred to the Hemel REMINISCON 40 Hempstead-based group EPG shortly before the collapse, reportedly as part-payment of a debt, and i t is rumoured EPG may a ls o . To celebrate relaunch ACADEMY under its original title, LIONEL FANTHORPE’s FANTAZIA. The task of receivers Langard Lifford 40th. Anniversary as an Author in print. Hall may be complicated by a break-in at the Pegasus offices in Bradford Street less than Guest speakers: 2 4 hours a ft e r the company was c lo s e d down. Thieves removed four filing cabinets BRIAN ALDISS GUY N. SMITH containing paperwork and two relatively BRIAN STABLEFORD inexpensive personal computers, although 10 or 12 Apple Mac computers - fa r more valuable - were curiously ignored. Video films and readings from Lionel’s novels, The collapse of Pegasus Publishing Ltd short stories, Rennes-le-Chateau and other is the latest in a series of financial true-life mysteries, poetry, plays and musicals. disasters in the genre. Croftward Ltd folded in m id -1990, sin k in g CM magazine. That title's editors moved to Newsfield Ltd to Bookstalls relaunch as GAMESMASTER INTERNATIONAL, but Newsfield itself collapsed with £500,000 debts Chapter Arts Centre in September last year, taking FEAR and it s Market Road, Canton, Cardiff s p in - o ff FRIGHTENERS with it ; Newsfield has since been relaunched as part of the Europress group, but there are no plans to Saturday 5th. September 1992 re-enter genre publishing. Ironically, Pegasus 9.30 a.m. - 5.30 p.m. was the favourite to resurrect FEAR, the rights to which are still held by former Adm ission: £10 e d ito r John G ilb e rt. The most rec en t fa ilu r e was that of Force Ten, which launched TERROR including souvenir booklet and badge. late last year . but has ceased publication after just two issues. Bookings: Patricia Fanthorpe 48 Claude Road, Cardiff CF2 3QA □□□□□ Tel. (0222)498368 Fax: (0222) 496832 Thanks for the news this time goes for the most part to STEVE GREEN and to CRITICAL WAVE, which is s till Europe's only independent sf, fantasy and horror news and reviews NOVACON 22 from Friday 6th November to Sunday 8tn November 1992 at THE ROYAL ANGUS HOTEL in Birmingham city centre. Guest of Honour STORM CONSTANTINE author of the "Wraeththu" trilogy, MONSTROUS REGIMENT, ALEPH, HERMETECH & BURYING THE SHADOW - amongst others. Attending membership twenty pounds until 12th October 1992 or twenty-five pounds on the door, please note that postal applications will NOT be accepted after the 12th of October 1992. Cheques made payable to "NOVACON 22" should be sent to: Bernie Evans, 121 Cape Hill, Smethwick, Warley, West Midlands, B66 4SH. Call Bernie on (021) 558 0997 for further details How to R e v ie w S c ien ce Fiction Due to u n a v o i d a b l e Books Book problems caused by an inconvenient 'flu bug th is newsletter is later I. Reedham than normal, your editor Reviews sends his apologies.

PLUTO IN THE MORNING LIGHT by Robert Sllverberg reader, most assuredly the style of this G rafto n , 396 pp, £5.99, "C" form at p/b humblest of narrators is more gravely Reviewed by Mick Evans. Indebted to THE BANANA SPLITS TV show than to any of the mighty scribes of ancient Arabia. Sub-titled "The Collected Stories of..., this Or maybe flowery phrases Just don't translate collection covers Silverberg in the early to well into the modern English idiom. And I mid-eighties, a period which marked his return haven't even mentioned the constant interr­ to writing after a five-year gap. It is the uptions by various djinn yet. first in a five-volume series. Stylistic peculiarities apart, which you I approached this volume with some may o r may n ot fin d funny, th is is a reason ably trepidation, as I've always preferred his e n te rta in in g book w ith some good humour in earlier work, from the sixties and seventies, places. Some of the best is almost thrown but I was very pleasantly surprised. Unlike away, on other occasions it is overdone, but some collections which either Include every­ it is there. The well-known frame of the thing for the sake of completeness, or else 1001 nights is followed pretty closely for pad out to book len gth w ith weak m a te ria l, the first two-thirds of the book. Thereafter every story within fully deserves to be here, Gardner grafts on an additional frame, just as It's impossible to choose a favourite. Each the pace was starting to flag, and things get has e ith e r won, o r been nom inated fo r , an a bit confused towards the end, with threads award, As Silverberg takes obvious delight in running out unnoticed. All In all a quite telling us during the course of his Intro­ enjoyable read, but I think most people would ductory notes to the tales. These notes also be better off waiting for the paperback. tell the background to, and evolution of, each of the stories, and are in themselves very THE BIRTH OF FLUX AND ANCHOR by Jack L Chalker e n te rta in in g , and in form a tive. RoC, 374 pp, £4.99, p/b Most of the themes have been well-used Reviewed by Carol Morton. in his earlier work, but are given a whole new lease of life here, such as time travel in This is the story of how the world of Flux "Homefarlng", telepathy In "Snake and Ocean, and Anchor was created by scientists as a Ocean and Snake" and fu tu re humans in cure for problems on Earth. Anatole Borelll, "Dancers In the Time Flux" and "Sailing to an Ita lia n s c ie n t is t , had invented a d e vic e Byzantium". There are also some incredibly which, when triggered, would fuse and destroy corny aliens in here, deliberately ? almost any known type of electrical device. Most of the stories first saw the light This meant that the threat of nuclear war was o f day in magazines such as "P la yb oy" and over and countries could follow other lines of "Omni", before featuring in anthologies, so peaceful scientific research. The Japanese you may a lre ad y have some o f them, but it 's (of course) were the first to discover and well-worth buying anyway, for those you may develop artificial Intelligence, but this back­ have missed. fired when a rebellion of these AI computers was only stopped by the triggering of BoreIli's SCHEHERAZADE'S NIGHT OUT by C raig Shaw Gardner device. This in turn plunged half of the H eadlin e, 250 pp, £15.99, h/b Earth Into chaos and famine. Further research Reviewed by A1 Johnston. on AI computers produced a version that needed two humans to in te r fa c e w ith the CPU b e fo re Neatly ensconced In its Josh Kirby cover, this it would function. Is the final instalment of Gardner's "New It was the use o f th ese computers, and Arabian Nights" trilogy. How much this version remote probes, that lead to the discovery of of Scheherazade deviates from the original I Flux, an insubstantial plasma that exists on cannot say, but Oh, most estimable and beloved the edges of our universe. When subjected to an energy field, Flux can replicate objects, so intelligent and capable commander, something It Is used to terraform a series of planets far more dangerous. He is served by the leading out from Earth. Each planet can only Noghri, a race of fanatical assassins. be accessed by passing through "gates*', like Remember the reference to the "Clone moving from one square to the next in a board Wars" in STAR WARS ?, at least one survivor game. The story in the main tells of the remains to trouble the galaxy. Joruus C'baoth problems encountered on New Eden. The disc­ is the evil clone of a Jedl Master. He wants overy that Flux can be manipulated by Leia and her unborn twins as disciples. The sensitives with pslonic talent leads to wars, "ysalamlr" stop the Force from dominating the schisms and the setting up of secret police p lo t too much. They c re a te bubbles around and p r iv a te arm ies and a w eird m atriarch al themselves where the Force does not work, religion. The route to Earth must, at all thus forcing even the Jedi to rely on their costs, be protected ...... physical skills. Chalker had intended to put all the The book builds to a good rousing space in form ation on the c re a tio n o f New Eden in an battle, but very little Is settled. I would appendix to volume three, but it proved too like to read the rest of the trilogy however, long and so this novel was written. It Is a so it has caught my interest. A good fun read. good thing it was, because it clears up a lot of questions and gives a good, stable hard MASTER OF WHITESTORM by Janny Wurts science background to a series that was H arp erC ollln s, 448 pp, £15.99, h/b hovering in the grey area between science Also available in "C" format p/b at £8.99 fic t io n and fa n ta s y . Reviewed by Carol Morton. Terraforming/colonisation stories have not been well served of late, but this goes a This tells of Korendir, who becomes something long way to redress the balance. In spite of o f a la s t r e s o r t when people and kingdoms the wealth of explanation to be found in this face impossible problems. As the tale opens volum e,d o n ' t be tempted to read it first, Korendir is a galley slave on a Murghai warship. th at would s p o il the s e r ie s . Read them in He a ttem p ts, and succeeds w ith, the im p ossib le, order of publication, they are excellent. escape from such a galley. He leads a revolt and frees the other prisoners, but leaves STAR WARS: HEIR TO THE EMPIRE by Timothy Zahn them and the ship behind, taking with him Banta,, 381 pp, £3.99, p/b only one companion, his oar-mate, the former Reviewed by Steve Jones. blacksmith Haldeth. In an effort to gain security and a safe This is the first in a new trilogy set five haven, Korendir undertakes several seemingly years after THE RETURN OF THE JEDI. The New impossible quests. He defeats a sorceress Republic has been proclaimed, with the who, in vengeance for her father, blights a demoralised Empire in full retreat. Cracks whole kingdom and lays it barren. He fights are beginning to appear in the Rebel Alliance, a weather elemental, taking its cliffside and as an internal power struggle begins. This building a castle. He frees a village from may be premature, because the Empire shows the threat of were leopards, and rescues a signs of making a come-back led by Grand princess from slavery. Admiral Thrawn. He is then asked by Ithariel, a sorceress All the old familiar characters are here. of the White Circle - a group of wizards - to They have grown, but in a believable manner. smash her father's evil. To this end he Han Solo has settled down (!) and is recruiting placed a crystal in the cellars of the ducal other smugglers to work for the New Republic. palace in the City of Tir Amindel. The crystal His wife Leia Is setting up a new democratic compels the people of the city into a life of government, and is pregnant with twins who are felicity, but knowing no peace and being already strong in the Force. Lando Calrissian unable to feel real emotions. In addition, has gone back into business as a mine owner. the original inhabitants of the city w ill live Luke has a personal enemy (and possible love forever, or until the crystal is destroyed, interest ?) in the person of the Imperial although any children they bear will die Assassin, Mara. normally. The crystal will also not allow Zhan - whose name i t s e l f sounds as I f anyone who has the blood of the White Circle it belon gs in STAR WARS - has avoided the wizards in their veins to leave the city "bigger is better" syndrome. After defeating alive. Korendir has agreed to help Ithariel the Emperor, a mere Grand Admiral seems a bit not knowing that he himself is the son of of a come-down. Thrawn may not have the Morien, the last elected (and murdered) Force tricks the Emperor had, but he is an Archmage of the White Circle.... This is really a series of short stories of using Josh Kirby covers for so many novels shaped into a full length novel. The tales of of this type. Nothing against Josh's work, the various quests are well told if a little but he has become so linked with Pratchett I overlong in places. Janny Wurts is a gifted feel their use could be misleading. The novel story teller end this excellent book should could even remain unread should a careless swell the ranks of her fans. Pratchett fan have a touch of pique on disco­ vering his/her error. That aside, the story FLYING DUTCH by Tom H olt is superb, so ignore the quibble and buy It. O rb it, 252 pp, £4.50, p/b Reviewed by Carol Morton. MANTIS by K W J eter Pan, 281pp, £4.99, p/b This tale is based loosely, very loosely, on Reviewed by Bernie Evans. THE FLYING DUTCHMAN. The Dutchman is Captain Ju lius Vanderdecker, a s a ilo r who is cursed to This story is told to us in the first person sail the seas for eternity, or until he finds by an unnamed man who is resigned to his a woman who w ill be fa it h fu l to him u n til divorce, has stayed friendly with his ex-wife death. Well that's the opera Richard Wagner and sees his son regularly. He also follows wrote after Vanderdecker told him his life the adventures of Michael, who is slowly story. Tom Holt's version is more prosaic, revealed as a psychopathic sex-killer who and fa r more e n te rta in in g . thinks he Is doing his victims a favour, they Vanderdecker's ship was carrying a cargo are actively seeking out his "services". He of Jute to Cadiz when Francis Drake requisitioned meets up with Rae, a lady who has need of a his cargo. He now has no income and no way man like Michael in order to become aroused. of getting another cargo, so he agrees when Michael is presented to us as the product of offered 5,000 gold pistoles to give passage the unsettled, mind of our unnamed hero, or to England to alchemist Juan de Montalban. A is he ? slight misadventure during the voyage leaves Beautifully crafted, the novel builds to the entire crew, together with Vanderdecker a crescendo of violence as Rae pushes Michael and Montalban, in vu ln erab le and im m ortal. Of further and further to the edge, and beyond. course, there's an unfortunate side-effect, You keep turning the pages as Jeter leads you they all smell so bad that they can only come inexorably to the final scene, all the time ashore for one month, once every seven years. you are hoping that Michael, and Rae, will Before these occurences, Vanderdecker have the ending they deserve. had taken out an insurance policy which paid Beautifully crafted it may be, skilfully out an e x tr a 50% on the fin a l payout fo r written, a masterpiece of language, but it's every year he lived over the age of 75. This also the sickest book I've ever laid eyes on. had seemed like a good deal to the insurance The ideas presented here are an outrage, not company at the time. 400 years on, with the on ly a ga in s t women but by im p lic a tio n a ga in s t extra payments compounded, it behoves them to any weak or vulnerable member of society. do something about it ! Now the National Ideas like this belong on a psychiatrist's Lombard Bank, the company sends accountant couch, not presented as a form of enter­ Jane Dolan (who, incidentally, has a very poor tainment. Jeter's undoubted skill with the sense of smell), to find Vanderdecker. At the written word has been abused, prostituted, same time the Captain is looking for Montalban, turned into something unremittingly evil. If now a nuclear scientist at Dounreay, to do the intention was to sicken and disgust, then something about the smell as he has obviously it succeeded. found a cure. This is the first book I have read by MISTRESS OF THE EMPIRE by Raymond E Feist & Janny Wurts Holt, and it is a wonderfully amusing and H arp erC ollin s, 560 pp, £14.99, h/b subtle yarn. The subject matter does not at Reviewed by Carol Morton. first glance seen to lend itself to a fantasy treatment, but Holt's deft touch renders it This is the third and final volume in the one of the best such tales I have read for a trilogy that runs in parallel with THE RIFTWAR long time. Vanderdecker is so dead-pan and SAGA. One or two characters from that series pragmatic about his situation, I suppose after appear here, but the plots are Independent. 400 years all hysteria is gone, and Montalban Mara, now ru lin g Lady o f the Acoma and is so much the loony professor, that the two Servant of the Empire (an honour only given extremes mesh well together and become the to the Emperor's most favoured adviser), is pivot around which the story swings. happily married to Hokanu, the heir to the I have reservations about the practice Shinzawai. She has two sons, Ayaki from her disastrous first marriage, and Justin, the son grand tour by the present ruler of New Eden. of a now freed Midkemian slave. Mara seems Unfortunately he forgets just who she is, and to a tt r a c t tro u b le, and when Ayaki is murdered invites her to see his latest top secret she swears vengeance on her first husband's scientific project, a flux projector cannibal­ older brother, Jiro Lord of the Anasiti, who ised from the wreckage of the Samish ships. she thinks is the killer. She insults him at This is capable of tapping into the computer Ayaki's funeral, and even the discovery of the grid that flux stands upon, and manipulating real killers comes too late to prevent war and shaping everything and everyone within a between the clans. given area of flux. Mara is forbidden further bloodshed by The outcome of the ruler's forgetfulness the Assembly of Magicians, which stops the is that Suzl, despite her status, h a s to be battle but leaves Mara furious at her own arrested. She escapes, and runs to Matson powerlessness. She decides they have too with the news, but not before her household much power and must be stopped. With no is k ille d and her ch ild ren kidnapped. She co­ hope of allies within the Empire, she goes operates with the kidnappers, a group of outside it, to enlist the help of the insectile women who are the a n tith e s is o f New Eden and Cho-ja. On her way home she is told that the who want to take over, becomes corrupted by Emperor has been murdered and succession w ill the power of the projector, gradually taking devolve through the man who marries his eldest over the group. Matson and his colleagues daughter, as he left no sons. To ensure peace now find themselves in direct opposition to and security for the Empire, Mara must see Suzl, and with only one way to stop her, their the right man on the throne. The ensuing one-time friend ...... power struggle makes her past conflicts as This has been an above average series, nothing by comparison. if a little slow and stodgy in places. The This trilogy has been a fine complement basic story-line is sound, characterisation is to THE RIFTWAR SAGA, and the political manouv- good, especially the omnipotent Matson, and rin g s have made th is an e x c e lle n t i f in v olve d this book fully deserves Its place within the read. Mara stands out as one of the strong­ s e r ie s . est characterisations I have read in a long time, and with such a big - if not epic - RAFT by Stephen B axter saga th at is e s s e n tia l. From DAUGHTER OF THE G rafto n , 251 pp, £3.99, p/b EMPIRE, which was a little slow to start, this Reviewed by Bernie Evans. series has improved greatly and is now an un- put-downable read. This is hard sf in every sense. The basic premise is that in the universe of which CHILDREN OF FLUX AND ANCHOR by Jack L Chalker Baxter writes, the force of gravity is one RoC, 350 pp, £4.99, p/b billion times stronger than on Earth. Humans Reviewed by Carol Morton. have got there as a result of what may have been a navigational error, or just simply by After, for a very good reason, adding a g o in g where no man had gone b e fo r e , many fourth volume to an apparently completed years before the story opens. In order to trilogy, Jack Chalker then found some loose survive a rigid stratified society developed, ends he wanted to tie up, and so along came with the engineers and scientists at the top volume five. But don't worry, this volume of the pile and manual workers at the bottom. isn't a cash-driven after-thought. It's as But things are starting to go wrong, the food strong as the others. machines fill bellies, but not as nutritionally At the end of volume three, MASTER OF as they once did, the sky is getting redder by FLUX AND ANCHOR, the alien Samish have been the day, blue is a concept, not a colour to be d e fe a te d , and World can now s e t t l e down to seen. Why is all this, and what can be done ? something approaching normality. The rulers Baxter's answer is Rees, a miner who of the New Eden section of World decide to escapes to the Raft. He becomes a scientist, hold a carnival to celebrate the end of the extrapolating the true state of things from hostilities, and to prove to the rest of World very minor clues. He overcomes great odds that their way of life - with subservient and survives to develop and put into action a women and dominant men - is the b e s t way fo r plan to escape the u n ive rs e, now known to be World to develop. They held this carnival at dying. It's all internally consistent, but the time of year when the old matriarchal Rees is ju s t too much, alm ost a one dimen­ church used to hold the pairing rite, and sional super-hero. It cries out for better invite Suzl, a one time flux-wife, and several characterisation, this is definitely a case of stringers, Matson included. Suzl is given the the Idea as Hero - but I loved it. The new name in FANTASY

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