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Volume 1, Issue 22 June 2011 2 Editorial: Well, that seemed like a fast month! Maybe it was that I was a week late with the zine last time around. Even still, y’all managed to load us down with some good letters of comment. The calendar is as packed as ever – summer’s a good season for cons in the South. I kicked off my summer last weekend with a trip up to Balticon (my first time there) and enjoyed myself immensely. As we’ve established that for the purposes of this zine, Baltimore is in the South, I’d say that was starting it off right. Balticon had a great mixture of young and old fans, which felt similar to Chattacon. On the way home, Glug and I discovered that Waffle House now offers sausage gravy as a hash brown topping, which led to the realization that we can make Southern-style poutine out of Waffle House hash browns. Look for more on that next ish. I’m continuing my slog through the Hugo fiction, and this ish, we get through the short stories, novelettes, and another of the novels, plus Glug gives us a look at the graphic stories. Finally, we’ll be closing out with another great article from Dr. Jeff! Enjoy, y’all. Contents: Calendar of Events 3 Rebel Yells (Y’all) 11 Reviews: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms 19 Hugo Short Stories 20 Hugo Novelettes 21 Hugo Graphic Stories (Christopher Hensley) 22 Memories of Fanex Past: 1996-2001 (Dr. Jeff Thompson) 25 Art Credits: Jose Sanchez – cover, page 25 Brad Foster – Renovation logo on page 7 Mike Moon – page 21 FenCon logo copyright the Dallas Future Society Colophon: Editor & SFC President: Warren Buff [email protected] (919) 633-4993 8712 Wellsley Way Raleigh, NC 27613 USA All contents copyright their creators. Uncredited work is likely by the editor. This zine is free, either by direct email or www.efanzines.com. A letter of comment or other contribution will get you on my mailing list, as long as I remember to put you there. If I forget, bother me a second time, or however long it takes to add you. I haven’t been printing this one, which leaves me free to use as many pages as I wish, and do things like color. It also lets me use all the contributions I can muster, so fire away! 3 Calendar of Events: June 3-5: ConCarolinas (Charlotte, North Carolina – Charlotte Hilton University Place. One of the fastest growing cons in the region, and hosts of last year’s DSC. Guests of Honor include: Harry Turtledove, John Billingsley, Bonita Frierdericy, Keela & Katkith, Jamie Chambers, Carla Ulbrich, and Justin Chung. Memberships are $40 at the door. www.concarolinas.org) HeroesCon (Charlotte, North Carolina – Charlotte Convention Center. Fan- friendly comics convention. I went once, early in my con-going days, though I haven’t been back since they’ve moved onto ConCarolinas’s traditional weekend. It also tells me I’ve been out of reading comics for a long time that I hardly recognize the names on their guest list anymore. The biggest names I recognize are Mike Mignola and Bernie Wrightson, but the art for the others they’re highlighting looks fantastic, too. Yes, I need to hand in some geek street cred for that remark. $30 for the weekend, $15 for one day. www.heroesonline.com/heroescon/) Seishun-Con (Atlanta, Georgia – Doubletree Hotel Atlanta NW/Marietta. This appears to be a fan-based anime convention. I don’t see any guests listed, though I do see a call for panelists. Registration will be $30 at the door, or $20 for a day pass. http://seishun-con.com) HamaCon 2 (Huntsville, Alabama – Holiday Inn Downtown. These guys list a handful of guests, such as Brina Palencia and Chris Cason. They’re another anime convention, and look to have been founded about the same time as Seishun-Con. Hopefully, they’ll find a way to stagger their weekends, since they’re only two hours away from each other. Pre-registration is $25, with extra food events available. www.hama-con.com) OMGcon (Paducah, Kentucky – Julian Carroll Convention Center and Expo Center. Anime convention with guests including Robert & Emily DeJesus, Greg Ayres, Christopher Ayres, Tavisha, and Eric Stuart. Registration $40 at the door. www.omgcon.com) Bob Con (Winter Springs, Florida – Not much to tell yet, but this gaming event (Legends of the Shining Jewel) will hark back to the old days of Southern conventions, when they largely took place in someone’s home. Limited to 30 players, details forthcoming. http://warhorn.net/bobcon-2011/) June 10-12: Sci Fi Summer Con (Atlanta, Georgia – Crowne Plaza Atlanta NW Perimeter. This looks like it’s either on the relaxacon end of things or really behind schedule. They’ve got some guests listed on their flier, but I don’t recognize any names, and without bios, it’s hard to tell who’d actually get your attention. The website is a disaster. Memberships are $35 at the door. http://sfscon.tripod.com) Rapier (Jacksonville, Florida – Jacksonville Clarion Hotel. Gaming convention that aims to provide a friendly atmosphere. Unfortunately, their website appears giant-sized, but I gather that they’ve got a dual theme of Napoleonics and Fantasy. Registration is $25 at the door. www.rapiercon.com) 4 A-Kon 22 (Dallas, Texas – Sheraton Dallas. Established anime convention. Plenty of voice actors, artists, comics folks, musicians, and writers on the guest list. Actually, the writers list would make for a pretty good SF con all by itself – Elizabeth Moon, Esther Friesner, Phil and Kaja Foglio, Lee Martindale, and then some. Registration is $62 at the door. http://a-kon.com) June 10-11: PariahCon (Lakeland, Florida – Imperial Swan Hotel & Suites. Small anime con, with some decent attention to computer gaming. Weekend passes $25. http://pariahcon.com) Robert E. Howard Days (Cross Plains, Texas – several locations. There’s only one motel in town, the 36 West, and it’s likely to fill up. See the website, which lists the location for each event on the schedule, and gives recommendations for nearby motels. Most are at the library or the museum. Saturday includes a large outdoor Barbarian Festival. Guests of Honor: Dennis McHaney and Damon Sasser. Pre-registration $15. http://www.rehupa.com/?p=2398) June 17-19: Anime Mid-Atlantic 11 (Chesapeake, Virginia – Norfolk Marriott Chesapeake. Established anime convention serving the Tidewater. Guests include Todd Haberkorn, Chris Cason, Charles Dunbar, DJ Asu Rock, and Amy Howard Wilson. Registration is $50 at the door. www.animemidatlantic.com) MetroCon 9 (Tampa, Florida – Tampa Convention Center. Florida’s largest anime con will this year be themed around monsters vs. hunters. Guests include author Max Brooks, voice actors Crispin Freeman and Katie Gray, and a decent slate of artists, cosplayers, and musicians. Weekend passes are $55. www.metroconventions.com) Comic & Anime Con (Knoxville, Tennessee – Holiday Inn Cedar Bluff. Guests include Rosearik Rikki Simons, Mellissa Cowen, Jason Craig, and Dan Jolley. $5 per day. www.knoxvillecomicanimecon.com) Hypericon (Nashville, Tennessee – Holiday Inn Express Airport. Guests of Honor will be Glen Cook and Loren Damewood. Registration is $35. www.hypericononline.com) June 18: ConFederation Celebration (Atlanta, Georgia – See March ish for details.) June 24-26: Apollocon (Houston, Texas – DoubleTree Hotel Houston International Airport. Houston’s own SF convention takes advantage of the obvious space connection in its name. Guests of Honor: Martha Wells, Ann VanderMeer, B.E. Johnson, Jeanne Gomoll. Memberships are $35 for pre-reg, and $40 at the door. www.apollocon.org) Contamination (St. Louis, Missouri – Holiday Inn Viking. Horror, sci-fi, music, and pop culture. Eric Roberts, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, and David Dela Rocco will headline. Weekend passes $30. www.con- tamination.com) Texas Comicon (San Antonio, Texas – San Antonio Event Center. I like that they make a distinction between creators and celebrities in their guest list. The 5 creators include the likes of Allen Bellman (Guest of Honor – he worked on the original Captain America run in the 40s), Steve Engelhart, Dave Hooper, and Chris Roberson. In addition to folks like Brent Spiner, their celebrities list includes Herbie the Love Bug and the General Lee. Weekend tickets $30. www.texascomicon.com) Fal-con (El Paso, Texas – 2501 Mesa Ave (Google Maps thinks that’s Mesa St, and shows it as an address at UTEP). No details about guests, so this may be fan programming. Anime and gaming (Fal stands for ―fellow anime lovers‖). Pre- registration is $30 (they put ―tickets‖ in quotes – I think they find the concept of tickets to a con alien). www.fal-convention.com) Cape Comic Con (Cape Girardeau, Missouri – Osage Center. Guests include Billy Tucci, William Katt, and Jeremy Haun. Plenty of gaming in addition to the comics. Three-day passes are $15. www.cape-con.com) July 1-4: Florida Supercon (Miami, Florida – Miami Airport Convention Center. Media-heavy big tent convention. Full 4-day passes are $50. www.floridasupercon.com) July 1-3: Delta H Con (Houston, Texas – University of Houston campus. Anime convention with Chris Patton and Robert Axelrod as guests. There is a page for registration, but I don’t see anything denoting whether it costs anything or not. http://www.detlahcon.com) July 8-10: Shore Leave 33 (Baltimore, Maryland – Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn. Featuring guests Christopher Judge, Tricia Helfer, Eddie McClintock, John de Lancie, John Grunsfeld, Emilie Ullerup, Gary Lockwood, Sally Kellerman, and Cliff Simon. Fan-run media-centric convention that also boasts a good slate of authors and artists. Pre-reg rate is $80 through June 15th.