SSSITHITHITH FFFACTS 2017 A “M R. G RINCH LIKES THE COLD ” D ECEMBER ISSUE nology: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil de- Grasse Tyson (42,173 votes), Graphic Novels & Comics: Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen (26,647 votes), Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (71,165 votes), and Middle Grade & Children's: The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan (34,516 votes). Goodreads reports 3.88 million total votes cast. 2017 WORLD FANTASY WINNERS ANNOUNCED ATWOOD RECEIVES FRANZ KAFKA PRIZE The World Fantasy Awards winners for works pub- Margaret Atwood received the Franz Kafka Prize, lished in 2016 were announced during the World Fantasy given by the Franz Kafka Society and the city of Prague, Convention, held November 2-5, 2017, in San Antonio, on October 17, 2017, in Prague, Czech Republic. Atwood TX. The Lifetime Achievement Awards, presented annu- was chosen as the 17th laureate of the prize by an interna- ally to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding tional jury on May 22, 2017. service to the fantasy field, went to Terry Brooks and Ma- The award, which includes a statue of Kafka and a rina Warner. $10,000 cash prize, is given for “exceptional literary crea- The World Fantasy Awards winners are: tion of contemporary authors whose work addresses the BEST NOVEL : The Sudden Appearance of Hope by readers regardless of their origin, nationality and culture.” Claire North ( Roadsouls by NM's Betsy James also was nominated), BEST LONG FICTION : The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson, BEST SHORT FICTION : “Das ROBINSON WINS IMAGINATION Steingeschöpf” by G.V. Anderson, BEST ANTHOLOGY : Dreaming in the Dark edited by Jack Dann, BEST COL- IN SERVICE TO SOCIETY AWARD LECTION : A Natural History of Hell by Jeffrey Ford, BEST ARTIST : Jeffrey Alan Love, SPECIAL AWARD , P ROFES- Kim Stanley Robinson won the Arthur C. Clarke SIONAL : Michael Levy & Farah Mendlesohn, for Chil- Foundation’s Imagination in Service to Society Award, dren’s Fantasy Literature: An Introduction , and SPECIAL Locus Online announced late November. He will be rec- AWARD , N ON -PROFESSIONAL : Neile Graham, for foster- ognized at a ceremony during the Unleash Imagination – ing excellence in the genre through her role as Workshop Shape the Future conference on Saturday, December 9, at Director, Clarion West. George Washington University in Washington DC. GOODREADS NAMES BEST OF 2017 UPCOMING ASFS M EETINGS • Tonight: Comedic holiday film shorts, plus the 13th Winners of the 2017 Goodreads Choice awards for ASFS Dessert Cook-Off. Prizes! Mirth! Lovecraft ! the “best books of 2017,” as chosen by users of the site, • January 12, 2018: Group Book Discussion! What were announced December 5. There are several categories did you read in 2017 & would recommend? of genre interest: • February 9: A talk from a scientist or author, we Science Fiction: Artemis by Andy Weir (33,957 hope. Plus ASFacts (Deadline Mon, Feb 5). votes), Fantasy: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find • March 9: The Annual Club Auction with Bob Varde- Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling (92,611 man & Patricia Rogers as your auctioneers. Start votes), Horror: Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and looking for stuff to donate - and save up your $$$... Owen King (50,519 votes), History & Biography: The • April 13: Unknown program. And ASFacts for Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining spring (deadline Mon, April 9). Women by Kate Moore (24,696 votes), Science & Tech- • May 11: Again, unknown. Possibly film previews. Darth Vader, guest editor. Craig Chrissinger, normal editor. Send Correspondence to — PO Box 37257, Albuquerque, NM 87176-7257. Darth Vader’s Phone: c/o (505) 266-8905. E-mail: [email protected]. SITH FACTS printed each Decem- ber. ASFACTS published February, April, July & October for the Albuq SF Society. NEXT DEADLINE : Mon, Feb. 5, 2018. Club Officers: Jessica Coyle & Craig Chrissinger, co-Zec Secs (505) 266-8905. Kevin Zander, Moderator. Mike McCommas, alternator. Kris Kringle & Rudolph the Reindeer, Holiday Hosts. Bubonicon Co-Chairs: Caci Cooper & Craig Chrissinger. Prior Arthur C. Clarke award recipients include au- meets January 15, 2018, to talk about The Word Exchange thors Margaret Atwood, Larry Niven, Ursula K. Le Guin, by Alena Graedon (at Jason’s Deli again). and Sir Kenneth Robinson, as well as scientists and lead- Meetings of D&D are open to all readers on the 3rd ers of industry. Monday of each month. Books for discussion are chosen two months in advance, and group members receive a 20% discount on them at Page One Books. For more info: BINARY STAR SYSTEM MAY BE Leah at [email protected] or Craig at 266-8905. PAIR OF ORBITING BLACK HOLES JULIAN MAY DIES by Ryan F. Mandelbaum, io9.com, 12/1/17 Oops! Andromeda, our closest galactic neighbor, sits Author Julian May died October 17, reports Locus a measly 2.5 million light years away from Earth. Like the Online. She was 86 years old. Milky Way, it’s a spiral galaxy packed with stars. Some May’s first SF story was “Dune Roller” in December of those stars orbit one another. That’s all good – but sci- 1951’s Astounding , later filmed as The Cremators (1972). entists have come to the realization that a particular light During the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s she mostly moved away source, one assumed to be binary star system in Andro- from science fiction, writing in numerous genres and un- meda, may actually be something far stranger. Like a pair der many pseudonyms, including Bob Cunningham, Lee of orbiting super-massive black holes a thousand times N. Falconer, John Feilen, Matthew G. Grant, Jean Wright further away. Thorne, Ian Thorne, and George Zanderbergen. In all she “J0045+41,” the strange source, “is an exciting and wrote nearly 300 books, including monster movie tie-ins unique object,” the scientists from the University of and non-fiction for children, teens, and adults. Washington write in their paper, accepted by the Astro- She returned to SF writing in the late ’70s. Her best- physical Journal. known work in the genre is the Saga of the Pliocene Ex- A team of Spanish scientists first identified the ile: Hugo and Nebula Award finalist The Many-Colored source, J0045+41, back in 2006. More specifically, they Land in 1981, The Golden Torc, The Nonborn King , and were looking for binary star systems that could be used to The Adversary , plus non-fiction The Pliocene Compan- better determine astronomical distances. Others cata- ion . The related Galactic Milieu sequence includes Inter- logued it as a potential cluster of stars. vention in 1987, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask , and And then researchers from the University of Wash- Magnificat . The Rampart Worlds series is Perseus Spur, ington combined data on the object’s light using the Gem- Orion Arm , and Sagittarius Whorl . The Boreal Moon Tale ini Multi-Object Spectrograph and NASA’s Chandra X- fantasies are Conqueror’s Moon, Ironcrown Moon , and Ray Telescope to experience their “that’s no moon” mo- Sorcerer’s Moon . She wrote Black Trillium with Marion ment. The data instead implied that J0045+41 was an ac- Zimmer Bradley & Andre Norton, and sequels Blood Tril- tive galactic nuclei, an incredibly bright galactic center lium , and Sky Trillium ; Norton and Bradley also contrib- with a super-massive black hole at the core, 2.5 billion uted volumes to the sequence. light years away. Julian Clare May was born July 10, 1931, in Chicago, The scientists did detect some evidence of this light IL, and grew up in Elmwood Park, IL. May was active in source dimming and brightening regularly. But this regu- fandom early on, publishing fanzine Interim Newsletter as lar flashing looked almost exactly how the laws of phys- a teen, contributing letters to SF magazines, and chairing ics would predict super-massive black holes orbiting one the 1952 Worldcon. She married T.E. Dikty in 1953; they another would look. had three children, and he predeceased her in 1991. The Ultimately, the researchers hope to take better data pair founded Publication Associates in 1957. May was using the upcoming Zwicky Transient Facility survey, a inducted into the First Fandom Hall of Fame in 2015. next-generation camera that’s just started detecting weird things in space. And if these were really super-massive black holes orbiting one another, perhaps one day re- JENKINS GIVES GLIMPSE AT searchers will be able to detect their gravitational waves. WONDER WOMAN 2 PLANS SF B OOK GROUP READS ON by Beth Elderkin, io9.com, 11/30/17 Wonder Woman 2 isn’t coming out until November The Droids & Dragons SF Book Group meets 7:30 2019, but director Patty Jenkins is already starting to put pm Monday, December 18, at Jason’s Deli (northwest the pieces into place. She’s sharing a few new details on corner of Louisiana & America’s Parkway NE – across what to expect in the upcoming film, as well as how the the street from Bubonicon’s Marriott Hotel) to discuss theme of love will carry over from the last film. Hint: It’s The Punch Escrow by Tal M. Klein. The group then a person. Page 2 SITH FACTS , December 2017 In an interview with Variety, Jenkins talked a bit launch, but the series garnered 18 Emmy nominations last about her plans and vision for Wonder Woman 2 . She im- year (taking home five). But it’s still great to have the plied that, much like the first film, it will co-exist with the next season set in stone, even if we know very little about other DC Cinematic Universe films but won’t be directly where it’s headed.