Reviews: Neil Barron
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#250 Jan./Feb. 2001 Coeditors: Barbara Lucas Shelley Rodrigo Blanchard Nonfiction Reviews: Neil Barron Fiction Reviews: Shelley Rodrigo Blanchard IN THIS ISSUE: The SFRAReview (ISSN 1068- 395X) is published six times a year by the Science Fiction Research As- sociation (SFRA)NONNON and distributed to SFRA members. Individual issues are not for sale. For information about PRESIDENT’S REPORT the SFRA and its benefits, see the INCOMING PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2 description at the back of this issue. For a membership application, con- tact SFRA Treasurer Michael M. Levy SFRA BUSINESS or get one from the SFRA website: SFRA ANNUAL T REASURER’S REPORT 2 <www.sfra.org>. APPROACHING VISIONS OF WONDER SUBMISSIONS A BRIEF USER’S GUIDE TO VISIONS OF W ONDER 4 The SFRAReview editors encourage ON T EACHING VISIONS OF W ONDER 8 submissions, including essays, review essays that cover several related texts, THEORY AND BEYOND and interviews. Please send submis- BORDERLANDS T HEORY AND S CIENCE F ICTION10 sions or queries to both coeditors. If you would like to review nonfiction NONFICTION REVIEWS or fiction, please contact the respec- MARTIN GARDINER 13 tive editor. The general editorial ad- OUT OF TIME 14 dress for the SFRAReview is: SCIENCE F ICTION, CRITICAL F RONTIERS 15 <[email protected]>. BEYOND DRACULA 16 CAULDRON OF CHANGE 16 Barbara Lucas, Coeditor 1353 Fox Run Drive, Suite 206 MARY SHELLEY 17 Willoughby, OH 44094 THE D REAM OF SPACEFLIGHT 18 [email protected] GEORGE T URNER 19 J.R.R. TOLKIEN 20 Shelley Rodrigo Blanchard, OZ 21 Coeditor & Fiction Reviews Editor TITANS 21 6842 S. 40th Place RAY BRADBURY 22 Phoenix, AZ 85040 THE NAKED AND THE UNDEAD 22 <[email protected]> EDWARD GORY 23 Neil Barron, Nonfiction Reviews FICTION REVIEWS Editor 1149 Lime Place ATOM 24 Vista, CA 92083-7428 <[email protected]> Visit Us At: www.sfra.org PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE 2 INCOMING PRESIDENT’S REPORT Mike Levy SFRA ELECTS NEW SLATE OF OFFICERS I’ve never had to write a President’s Message before. It wasn’t required As those of you who are on the last time I was president of something, the third floor of Blaisdell Residence Hall at the University of Illinois in Urbana back in 1971. Actually, as I write this, the listserv may already know, the I’m looking over my shoulder, acutely aware of the materials piled up for the final results of the SFRA election have Treasurer’s Report that I should probably have written before beginning this been finalized. The new slate of piece. In any case, though, I want to start out by thanking four groups of people. officers are: First, there are the SFRA officers I’ve been privileged to serve with over the past President: Mike Levy four years: Joe Sanders, Joan Gordon, Alan Elms, Elizabeth Cummins, Carolyn Vice-President: Peter Brigg Wendell, and Adam Frisch. Then there are the incoming officers: Alan as past Secretary: Wendy Bousfield president, Peter Brigg as vice president, Wendy Bousfield as secretary, and Dave Treasurer: Dave Mead Mead (who should know better) as treasurer, with whom I will be serving for the Thanks to everyone who next two years. Also, there are the people who have worked so hard on the SFRA voted, in spite of the mail prob- Review and our WWW site over the years: Amy Sisson, Karen Hellekson, Craig lems, and special thanks to all who Jacobsen, Peter Sands, and the new crew, Shelley Rodrigo and Barbara Lucas. Finally, there are the other candidates who didn’t get elected this year, but who ran for office for showing your will- might next time, Batya Weinbaum, Kenneth Andrews, Jake Jakaitis, and Bruce ingness to help SFRA. Beattie. I feel an urge at this point to list all of the SFRA’s other past officers, candidates for office, editors, award winners, committee members, and so on, but A REMINDER ABOUT will restrain myself. An organization is only as strong as the people who are MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS willing to commit time to it, and this is as fine a bunch of people as has ever Dave Mead would like to re- walked the planet. mind renewing members to send I would also like to encourage all of you to make plans to attend our their dues to him at the following upcoming conferences. SFRA 2001, under the direction of jan howard finder in address: Schenectady, NY, will feature one of my personal favorites, C.J. Cherryh, author of David Mead Cyteen, Downbelow Station, and Foreigner, not to mention, award-winning fantasy College of Arts and Humanities writer Jane Yolen, popular novelist David Weber, and acclaimed space artist Vincent di Fate. With Cherryh, Weber, and di Fate attending, papers on space opera would Texas A&M University-Corpus seem to be particularly welcome. SFRA 2002, directed by Farah Mendelson, will be Christi our first European conference. Set in the beautifully reconstructed 19th century Corpus Christi, TX 78412 utopian community (and entirely up-to-date conference center) of New Lanark, Scotland, and easily accessible from Glasgow International Airport, SFRA 2002 PILGRIM AWARD COMMIT- will feature an all-star line up including award-winning hard-sf writers Ken TEE ANNOUNCEMENT MacLeod, Pat Cadigan, and Paul J. McAuley. Although we aren’t listing him as a John Clute has agreed to join guest of honor, Iain Banks has also promised to make an appearance. More Elizabeth Davidson (chair) and details on both conferences can be found elsewhere in this issue of the Review. Adam Frisch on the 2001 Pil- So, now to tackle that treasurer’s report and then send the 20-pound grim Award committee. He will, of carton of materials off to Dave Mead. course, also serve in 2002, and TREASURER’S REPROT become chair in 2003. SFRA ANNUAL T REASURER’S REPORT Mike Levy, outgoing treasurer AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT Congratulations to the winner December 31, 2000 of the award for the best student The key issue of 2000, so far as the treasurer’s report is concerned, is a paper presented at SFRA’s Con- troubling drop in membership, which was down by fifteen this year. Some of ference 2000: Sonja FritzscheFritzsche, our loses were older, retired members who are no longer involved in the field. for “Out of the Western Box: Re- Some were tangential members who had never been very active or who had only thinking Popular Cultural Catego- been in the SFRA for a year or two. There were a couple of deaths and one ries from the Perspective of East Pilgrim Award winner, Pierre Versins, was removed from the rolls because we German Science Fiction.” Sonja is haven’t been able to contact him in several years. The loses among longer-term, a PhD candidate in the Depart- formerly active members are still significant, however, and worrisome. Without ment of German, Scandinavian, the substantial number of new members, mostly younger faculty and graduate and Dutch at the University of Min- students, who have joined within the last few years, we would be in 3 serious trouble. I’d like to suggest that our new vice president, Peter Brigg, among whose jobs is recruitment, make a point of trying to win some of these lost members back to the fold in 2001. Our new treasurer, David Mead, can nesota. provide him with a list of last known snail mail and electronic addresses for these people. THE MARY KAY BRAY Another, less serious but chronic problem involves the Scholar AWARD Support Fund. Traditionally we’ve supported several kinds of people with this The Mary Kay Bray Award money, mostly scholars from countries like China, Russia, and Poland, but also is named after a distinguished the occasional overseas graduate student or postdoc living on a shoestring, or a former member of the Science Fic- worthy but financially precarious professional SF writer. Sometimes these tion Research Association who people are nominated by SFRA members. Sometimes they request support on died in 1999 and is endowed by their own. The problem for me as Treasurer has always involved renewals of her friend and former colleague support. I’ve never been entirely sure if I should ask the scholars we’re support- William L. Andrewsws. It will be ing whether or not they wish to continue, if I should automatically assume that awarded for the first time at the they will continue to receive support from year to year, or if I should expect 2002 SFRA Conference in New them or their sponsors to request renewal. Clarification from the membership Lanark, Scotland. A three-judge or the board on how they feel this should be handled would be appreciated. panel will be asked to choose the A few other topics are worth mentioning. The Pilgrim Awards volume outstanding contribution to the is at long last making progress and should be available soon. With new on- SFRA Review in the preceding cal- demand printing techniques, the book has actually cost a good bit less than was endar year. originally expected and provided for. Royalties continue to come in from our The award will consist of a cer- anthologies at a small but steady rate. Our cash situation is good because the tificate and a check for $100. Board has worked hard to control costs, and for the past several years our Current editors of the Review, of- Income has run slightly ahead of our Expenditures. We need to regain lost ficers of the organization, and mem- membership, however, or this may well change. bers of the judging panel will not be eligible for the award. Mem- Expenditures Projected 01 00 Budget Projected 00 99 Budget Projected 99 bership on the judges’ panel will Extrapolation 4100.00 4026.00 4000.00 3945.00 4400.00 SF Studies 4400.00 4211.50 4400.00 4339.50 4400.00 be for three years.