lffA T14ttle f.. te,vf e111 3t._ 1tA~tf ,._ 0,f,._ ~e,tt ~A,1' ~tt~f.t.. 3A(te, , .. t;e,,se leh,lllfla ~p •._ P,A .. et, J?ev• tlllf, Lt'tte,f, ~,,e 2 Vector 169 Contents Editorial 3 Slipstream Agenda by Kev McVeigh W ell, Here it eventually is. Al1 forty pages of it. I hope the result is to your taste. While I think there is Dispatches - Letters 4 Front Line still room for improvement, I'm quite pleased with the 7 Compass Points result of the changes put in place so far. I hope you will Stephen Baxter on George Zebrowski be too. As always I would be interested to hear from you with 8 Orson Scott Card your opinions and suggestions. I am indebted for a An Appreciation by Ben Jeapes great deal of good advice from Joseph Nicholas, , which I 12 Barbed Wire Kisses Gareth Rees and ~reality guru~ tan Sales considered carefully when designing this issue. These Magazines reviewed by Maureen Speller gentlemen should not, of course, be blamed for any 16 Magic In The Real World shortcomings you notice. /would also be grateful for your patience. This issue has been a considerable Lisa Tuttle interviewed by Catie Cary learning process for me. Using a new OTP package 20 Shock of the New and discovering new ways of doing things; I've had a Reviews edited by Chris Amies lot of fun and I think made great strides, but undoubtedly still have a lot to learn. 28 Between Entropy & Renaissance The changes are not, of course restricted to !he SF in France by Andre Ruard appearance of the magazine. Paperback Inferno joins us this issue under its new title Paperback Graffiti and 30 Paperback Graffiti new editor Stephen Payne. You will find this section al the back of lhe magazine. Stephen is going to have a Cover Photo by Colin Murray tough job in following Andy Sawyer. I wish him the best of luck. Maureen Speller gives us a round-up of the ~Big Six~ Editor Magazines this issue. She tells me that she has been Catie Cary 224 Southway, Park Barn, disppointed by the number of offers to review that she shy, you don't Guildford, Surrey, GU2 6DN has received. Come on People, don't be have to currently read everything on the market be Phone: 0483 502349 to suitable. Maureen is waiting to hear from you. Familiar features have been given new titles. Chris Contributing Editor Amies' Review Section has been retitled Shock of the Kev McVeigh 37 Firs Road, Milnthorpe New to reflect the fact that it concentrates on original Cumbria, LA7 &OF publications in depth rather than exclusively on Phone: 05395 62883 hardback books, as some readers have suggested. The Letters column has been retitled Front Line good at the time. ReviewsEditor Dispatches for reasons that seemed Unfortunately, this was after several beers, and I'm Chris Amies 56 More Close , St Paul's Court blowed if t can remember. If you want to know, ask Ian Gliddon Rd , London W14 9BN Sales; it was his idea. I hope you enjoy the new Vector, I'm looking forward Paperback Reviews Editor to hearing from you. Stephen Payne 24 Malvern Rd , Stoneygate, Leicester, LE2 2BH Contributions: Good articles are always wanted. All MSS should be typed double spaced on one side of the Magazine Reviews Editor page. Submissions may also be accepted in Ascii on Maureen Speller 60 Bournemouth Rd lBM formal disks. Maximum preferred length is 5000 Folkestone, Kent, CT19 5AZ words; exceptions can and will be made. Apreliminary letter is advisable, but not essential. Unsolicited MSS cannot be returned without an SAE. Please note that Editorial Assistant there is no payment for publication. Members who wish Camilla Pomeroy to review books should first write to the appropriate Editor. Production Assistant Alison Sinclair Artists: Cover art, illustrations and filters are always welcome. Printed by PDC Copyprint, 11 Jefferies Th<te.tilhSc,erceRction.....,,,,_oonUd - Co,npanyl..imited t,y Guoir..-•~ No Passage, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 4AP 921500 • ~1- -•-IIOllo.Jmom<><n.lbtd.~. """11.Cf 19 ~ Vf!Ctnr i~ nrint""1 himnnlhtv hv !M BSFA C:<V1vrinh1 1Q!i2 Slipstream Agenda 3 I don't juSI read SF. I know most of you don1 just read SF. Even at its widest definilion, incotporating lantasy and hOfror. we don't just read SF. Amongst Vector Slipstreain ~ribulc;n, I no1e th.al Mcll.J'een Speier reaas clime ficoon, Steve Pamer reads science boob, I read rock music boOks, and we have al read, at times, a motley array al Agenda dassics, modem ~era111e, poa1ry, &IC. t..4011 of this is only reievanl 10 Veclot in !he mos1 peripnaral sense: it a&a1es our own •rdvldua!VMIWPOll'Qwhch"""°"our Set By tastes and cmosm. within SF. 1was offered Norman Spirrad's l..Jttle Heroes 10 """aw becaUM I am deeply interested ,n rock fflU!IC, and 0IMd pcx8nlialy ofter a usefut P8BPBCbV9 on an SF novel abou1 roo • h m""". Ke"\!._ Someoflhisisveryr~10Vec:tor. the wrilrlg al SF Is d8Y8klped lrom< and - McVe1g lakas inspwation from. a urwerse of sources. Theb«I.-SF'Mtingsinciudealh'5IMS bouncSaries, and it-r deserve our anancion, ITIOSI ol us becalJse ii doesnl look Ike SF wirtwl and wrtnou1 thepern: gancn new both because !hey an, by "SF il!Ahors" ..., (tx. oetinll:ety isl) Many of mese books ideas. and re1:•nos o1 ancie,1: tales. Ok1 lortherl'ISSingli.-.Slheymayrevealwithin '#01'11betothelildngolfJQ"l)'Vector memes can be reinvigorated by new pa"Sistert lhematic concerns. ~ there •e many th.al s«ling:s, new themes~ against readers:, P8fl\atl5, all irdviduals, lamilar backgrounds. Sometimes whal is wil be, and as we •e none M orerelevantly, thereareunclusifiable o1 these groups win 011enap erttrely. new is simply unt.mlar. The alien in our auihon; those wno might beat &uce WNch means, I think, lhat Vector oughl to gerwe migtl. be commonplace to ttvWler fans. Sterlng's Sipstream Label mo.st UQ ·s1pstream· thing in a more The ellCitemeni comes trom both the t>eauiy cover comfortably: those whose fictJons ..-e just oetMninedfashion. allhewriting.n:llhethrilallhe new and 100 weird to be conventional, mans1ream I dori'I want to prOduce a long iSt of urd'eamt al. The best writ•s manage this even wiltln the most conse,valive seaors, and ~:"• but most of ttu mnong am blending and "You mix fiction boffOWlng and Sl&a~ng happens at the friction" ""':;.;..";'.., .. edges, for ot:Mous reasons. reality, you get In the 1990s no1 only .ve the bounda'ies Kathleen Brennan •.,~1em,~;, litaratt.re, ye! bear QQually ittle SF EYE #5) but I al SF and Fantasy blurred and meanmgl8S!I, relalioo 10 the heartlands of SF. INiM jusl offer a bul the IT!nges of SF and the so-called Many Vector readers atoacly reacl many ol handlul ol oxamples 10 show you what I'm mainstream and tho interfaces belw&Qn SF these books, informed by wont Of mouth, by talklng aboul, and the scientific fields are equally lndr.ltinct. fleeting mentioos in columns like this, and Jeanette Winterson Vector aims to review an}'lhing that looks recently, by mapazines like Temtorlea. lain Banks like SF~antasy. VKtor also seeks 10 Vector oughl: 10 be covering these 100. NOi MartinMllla- inves!loate and iluminate cenain scuces ol in the sense of presenting a novel and M John Hanison SF insp,ation. Hence. !or eirample, Steve "prO'ling" thal ii is SF, bu1 looking al ii freely LewisShiner Palmer's ln1lghl colurm and Iha P,8VIOUS as almost-SF. pa-a- SFifyoowish, tha1isa1 Ma,yGMle ssiesolarticlesonlheBl.WQ8SSShale least as relevat1 to Vector as some re­ PaulciaGeary maybe !allowed up by pieces relating Chaos hashed Space Opera. SF canno1 MYive in Steve Erickson Theory or Virtual Reaity 10 SF vnoflS of isotation: there ..-e only so many ~ories, Oo,,Wobb the same. Toe. purpose is 110110 ask and ii is in the conminations and Angela Caner whe!her William Gibson gees hrs compu1ar recombinations and jul(lapositions lhal lhe Leigh Kennedy iaas• rigtt, 1M to show how the author's lmagil\ilbOO wor1!s its spell. The "Literature conceils and deYices relate his fiaions to our ol lhe Unknown" must ven11e l"'o lhe Those mostly personal lavot.riles, "'-(andmaybevice...-sa). •e unknown, ii mus1 aoss bOrd8n; and report li:slecl sifll)fr to start things on. ro like 10 badi:on'#halilfinds.Sdenciicborders. start a regutar (though prooabfy !'IOI IMill'Y As rvesattetsewhere, SFisnot1uS1 Ueraryborders.Socialborners. cokrnn looking a1 of these abo!.,ltoencanorFatUSySlfnptyfflaglC.. issue) some n.eaeboolswta::tiaedearlyolirUr911 books, wntten by various people lrom a Iha pas1 Vector has done ttn 10 Vector ,aimers which corcan neithw. In varietyolariglesandinavarielyolsryles. spor;1dcaly. Readers may recal a'bci8s on wants to or has Gary Kilworth"1 Sw.l on Stwnun is a Anybody who wn:e. Thomas Pynchon, RI.ISS8II Hoban, COll8r, or even thinks ils lasanaing book which 1 wotAd have R""8CI suggesied litles to Josephine Saxton and others R~ a 1~Idea . rou know where 10 find us. had I l'IOf know-n the same auihor's SF and have fOI..IM aulhors like Wliam T Volman and I don'! j~ Fartasy. MMyOlhaf"SF authorS" have I don't j~ read SF, acadeol: almost, a novel like wan1 10 read llbolA SF. books WIii Ot.aicle al conventional oern by wt."' KatherineD1.nfsGeefc l.ove.slppeclpas1 consequence of the curvatlJ'e of space-time due 10 the praseoce ot mass-ene,gy.