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Science Fiction Review 54
SCIENCE FICTION SPRING T)T7"\ / | IjlTIT NUMBER 54 1985 XXEj V J. JL VV $2.50 interview L. NEIL SMITH ALEXIS GILLILAND DAMON KNIGHT HANNAH SHAPERO DARRELL SCHWEITZER GENEDEWEESE ELTON ELLIOTT RICHARD FOSTE: GEIS BRAD SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW (ISSN: 0036-8377) P.O. BOX 11408 PORTLAND, OR 97211 FEBRUARY, 1985 - VOL. 14, NO. 1 PHONE (503) 282-0381 WHOLE NUMBER 54 RICHARD E. GEIS—editor & publisher ALIEN THOUGHTS.A PAULETTE MINARE', ASSOCIATE EDITOR BY RICHARD E. GE1S ALIEN THOUGHTS.4 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY RICHARD E, GEIS FEB., MAY, AUG., NOV. interview: L. NEIL SMITH.8 SINGLE COPY - $2.50 CONDUCTED BY NEAL WILGUS THE VIVISECT0R.50 BY DARRELL SCHWEITZER NOISE LEVEL.16 A COLUMN BY JOUV BRUNNER NOT NECESSARILY REVIEWS.54 SUBSCRIPTIONS BY RICHARD E. GEIS SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW ONCE OVER LIGHTLY.18 P.O. BOX 11408 BOOK REVIEWS BY GENE DEWEESE LETTERS I NEVER ANSWERED.57 PORTLAND, OR 97211 BY DAMON KNIGHT LETTERS.20 FOR ONE YEAR AND FOR MAXIMUM 7-ISSUE FORREST J. ACKERMAN SUBSCRIPTIONS AT FOUR-ISSUES-PER- TEN YEARS AGO IN SF- YEAR SCHEDULE. FINAL ISSUE: IYOV■186. BUZZ DIXON WINTER, 1974.57 BUZ BUSBY BY ROBERT SABELLA UNITED STATES: $9.00 One Year DARRELL SCHWEITZER $15.75 Seven Issues KERRY E. DAVIS SMALL PRESS NOTES.58 RONALD L, LAMBERT BY RICHARD E. GEIS ALL FOREIGN: US$9.50 One Year ALAN DEAN FOSTER US$15.75 Seven Issues PETER PINTO RAISING HACKLES.60 NEAL WILGUS BY ELTON T. ELLIOTT All foreign subscriptions must be ROBERT A.Wi LOWNDES paid in US$ cheques or money orders, ROBERT BLOCH except to designated agents below: GENE WOLFE UK: Wm. -
Matrix September / October 1996 £1.25
The News Magazine of the British Science Fiction Association Issue 121 matrix September / October 1996 £1.25 David Pringle ADecade of Clarkes • on Colin Greenland ~~z.~ Steve Jeffery Gwyneth Jones Mary Gentle John Jarrold Paul Kincaid remember Paul J. McAuley Richard Evans Rachel Pollack Geoff Ryman on the Chris Terran ~ Editor 9 Beechwood Court Back Beechwood Grove leeds, UK lS42HS John Ashbrook ~ Media Dave Mooring ~ Cover Hexaped Paul Hood ~ Photography Roger Robinson Chris Terran Chris Terran ~ Design, Production Friday 1 November 1996 ~ NeX1 Deadline BSFA Me.mt..,skip go COS1SCI81*~i1r!orUK,.~sC12!or ........ageo Ul.memDerslllpClllO 0ver56ilsrill.s ElII'ope[23SO elsewne,.E23SO$lllTilctmil,1 [:J:lumail Cheques~~iIblfloBSFALld .... IIOII'USrnemDerlhip(~u.fI.S, go PilulEllllinl/fi ~iIts,iidG'esldlilnges,lItIW~ 82Kelw'1ROiId,NtwCubllooglonlliinWlglonSpii memblts WatWI.$.. CV327TO ({J 01926335564 US Averc .:. ~1~~~.entuPClle.net nts AJUS~.014248Wilrtdsa-""Dtln:lIl,AI-'3213,U.SA issue 121 $.351Ull_.S45 .... PiIyiill1l1kl seplOClI996 CyCllllrM(E1SFA) BSFAA.......~ ""_,__ 060~Roiicl.FClIlI.eskNlW'll,CT19W ({J 013032529:5 News to- 03 -+ the happening world * ab.J!kf<'.s,CQaplIl!lIk.<:O.lIk BSFAj,_~_,_ Mailbox r-I 06 -i is anybody out there? o 82K.... Roiid.NtwCuttwlglan,l.NnwIgIanSpii. WiIIWb CV327TO BSFANewsr- 07 -i read me first ({J 01926335584 * b.ll.n<j'etfentetprISe,lIft Recent And Forthcoming Books to- 08 -i turn over a new leaf Om.... go CafolAnn(k.., Richard Evans Remembered r- 11 -i mary gentle and Tht8SFAlwnllng~oup$ ~ Flal3141I'nnotsA..,..,..fUHU5JDl john jarrold ({J 014324!l4045 taphorfenterprllf.net * .... ADecade Of Clarkes to- 12 -i colin greenland Awil'ds go Key McVelgtl Ten years of the steve Jeffery ~ 3iFnRoiid,/4In1hotpe,Cumb'liI,LAiiOF Arthur C. -
A Publication of the Science Fiction Research Association in This Issue
294 Fall 2010 Editors Karen Hellekson SFRA 16 Rolling Rdg. A publication of the Science Fiction Research Association Jay, ME 04239 Review [email protected] [email protected] Craig Jacobsen English Department Mesa Community College 1833 West Southern Ave. Mesa, AZ 85202 [email protected] In This Issue [email protected] SFRA Review Business Managing Editor Out With the Old, In With the New 2 Janice M. Bogstad SFRA Business McIntyre Library-CD University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Thanks and Congratulations 2 105 Garfield Ave. 101s and Features Now Available on Website 3 Eau Claire, WI 54702-5010 SFRA Election Results 4 [email protected] SFRA 2011: Poland 4 Nonfiction Editor Features Ed McKnight Feminist SF 101 4 113 Cannon Lane Research Trip to Georgia Tech’s SF Collection 8 Taylors, SC 29687 [email protected] Nonfiction Reviews The Business of $cience Fiction 9 Fiction Editor Selected Letters of Philip K. Dick 9 Edward Carmien Fiction Reviews 29 Sterling Rd. Directive 51 10 Princeton, NJ 08540 Omnitopia Dawn 11 [email protected] The Passage: A Novel 12 Media Editor Dust 14 Ritch Calvin Gateways 14 16A Erland Rd. The Stainless Steel Rat Returns 15 Stony Brook, NY 11790-1114 [email protected] Media Reviews The SFRA Review (ISSN 1068- I’m Here 16 395X) is published four times a year by Alice 17 the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), and distributed to SFRA members. Splice 18 Individual issues are not for sale; however, Star Trek: The Key Collection 19 all issues after 256 are published to SFRA’s Website (http://www.sfra.org/) no fewer than The Trial 20 10 weeks after paper publication. -
The Politics of the Contemporary Alternate History Novel
What Almost Was 63 What Almost Was: The Politics of the Contemporary Alternate History Novel Matthew Schneider-Mayerson Between August of 1995 and July of 1996, Speaker of the House of Rep- resentatives Newt Gingrich published two books. One, To Renew America, a folksy Republican polemic cobbled together from Gingrich’s speeches, served as a sequel to Contract with America, the blueprint of the conservative movement that assumed control of Congress in 1995.1 The other was 1945, coauthored with William R. Forstchen, a novel set in an alternate universe.2 In 1945’s divergent timeline, Germany does not declare war on the United States, the Soviet Union is split into fragments, and the United States and Germany have settled into a cold war. Nazi soldiers parachute into the United States to a capture a nuclear facility in Tennessee, but posses of arms-bearing American veterans successfully defend their country. 1945 was representative of the flourishing genre of alternate history novels in all but two ways: an author’s celebrity and its media exposure. Due to Gingrich’s status as the public leader of the conservative renaissance of the mid-1990s, 1945 was widely reviewed in mainstream publications. Treated as a curiosity and ridiculed for its poor literary quality, very few reviewers noted the libertarian themes in 1945, and even fewer placed it in the context of an inchoate literary genre.3 1995 can be considered the birth year of the alternate history novel as a genre. As a conceptual category, the counterfactual, as historians term their what-if narratives, has been pursued in print since classical Greece, if not earlier. -
THE MENTOR 83 Australian Science Fiction
THE MENTOR 83 Australian Science Fiction 30th ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JULY 1994 CONTENTS ARTICLES: DEPARTMENTS 14: AUSTRALIAN FAN HISTORY by Vol Molesworth. 2: THE EDITORIAL SLANT 26: THE R&R DEPT COLUMNISTS: 41: REVIEWS 8: IN DEPTH #10 by Bill Congreve POETRY: 15: ENCYCLOPEDIAS II by James Verran 7 & 10: POETRY by J. C. Hartley 11: I REMEMBER... MERCURY by Andrew Darlington Cecelia Drewer Trent Jamieson FICTION: Julie Vaux 3: STAR RISE OVER HADES by Andrew Sullivan ART: Cover by Steve Fox Backcover by J. Passfield & T. Walden 11. WAVECAVE by Brent Lillie 19, 45: Jozef Szekeres 20: Rod Williams 20: SENTINELS by Pauline Scarf 25: Julie Vaux 40: Tonia Walden THE MENTOR 83, July 1994. ISSN 0727-8462. Edited, printed and published by Ron Clarke, PO Box K940, Haymarket, NSW 2000, Australia. THE MENTOR is published at intervals of roughly three months. It is available for published contribution (Australian fiction [science fiction or fantasy]), poetry, article, or letter of comment on a previous issue. It is now available for subscription: A$12 or US$10 (cash) for 4 issues. A sample issue is available by request. Contributions, if over 3 pages, preferred to be on an IBM 51/4" or 31/2" disc (DD or HD) otherwise typed, single or double spaced, preferably a good photocopy (and if you want it returned, please type your name and address) and include an SSAE! This doesn't refer to LoCs. Contributions are not paid; however they receive a free copy of the issue their contribution is in, and any future issues containing comments on their contribution. -
Feminist Science Fiction Ritch Calvin
Feminist Science Fiction Ritch Calvin The fantastist, whether he uses the ancient archetypes of myth and legend or the younger ones of science and technology, may be talking as seriously as any sociologist – and a good deal more directly – about human life as it is lived, and as it might be lived, and as it ought to be lived. For after all, as great scientists have said and as all children know, it is above all by the im- agination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope. Ursula K. Le Guin, "National Books Award Acceptance Speech" I would like to begin by thanking the editor for the invitation and for the oppor- tunity to be part of the Virtual Science Fiction project. I am truly honored to be included in the company of these great scholars who have defined science fic- tion scholarship over the last years. It is, of course, only too fitting that this pro- ject takes place by means of what would have once been considered in the realm of science fiction. When science fiction writers imagine and/or predict future technologies and future sociological developments, one of the things we have discovered is that they are more often than not too conservative in their predictions. That is to say that the changes they envision often appear sooner than they predict. However, historically, science fiction writers have been particularly behind the curve in terms of sex, gender, race and sexuality. At the risk of committing an act of hubris, I would like to begin rather as Virginia Woolf does at the beginning of her book, A Room of One's Own (1929). -
The Unnatural History of Tolkien's Orcs
The Unnatural History of Tolkien’s Orcs An overview of the Middle-Earth facts about the orcs envisioned by J.R.R. Tolkien, from their quotidian side (what they eat, how they reproduce) to more existential issues of orcs in the Middle-Earth cosmology. By Tyellas Editorial Acknowledgements To: Aayesha, Nekron’s Lovesong, and Sharka “There are elves, dwarves, trolls, dragons, princes and princesses, wizards and, inevitably, those most maligned of fictional creatures, orcs, the despised proletariat of conservative fantasy….” The Socialist Reviewi “They Know What An Orc Is” This essay examines Tolkien’s orcs as Tolkien would have them. Before this, it is important to distinguish between Tolkien’s orcs and their wider adaptation in fantasy writing. The fiction written by J.R.R. Tolkien has had a huge influence on the genre of fantasy writing. The character archetypes and plot devices Tolkien used in his main novel, The Lord of the Rings, have been adapted by dozens of other fantasists, in more or less creative ways. Of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth concepts, the idea of orcs stands out as being frequently adapted with minimal change.ii This has reached the point where a fantasy critic, Terence Casey, has stated in advice to aspiring fantasy writers: “Someone who's familiar with fantasy isn't generally going to have a problem with "orcs" being in a novel or game — they know what an orc is and are used to it. If you start making up your own monsters instead of drawing from "generic fantasy", however, the mere newness of them can make it harder for people to suspend their disbelief.”iii This statement is stunning because Tolkien, in the creation of orcs, was very literally making up his own monsters. -
The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More Information
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information the cambridge companion to fantasy literature Fantasy is a creation of the Enlightenment, and the recognition that excitement and wonder can be found in imagining impossible things. From the ghost stories of the Gothic to the zombies and vampires of twenty-first-century popular lit- erature, from Mrs Radcliffe to Ms Rowling, the fantastic has been popular with readers. Since Tolkien and his many imitators, however, it has become a major publishing phenomenon. In this volume, critics and authors of fantasy look at its history since the Enlightenment, introduce readers to some of the different codes for the reading and understanding of fantasy, and exam- ine some of the many varieties and subgenres of fantasy; from magical realism at the more literary end of the genre, to paranormal romance at the more pop- ular end. The book is edited by the same pair who produced The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (winner of a Hugo Award in 2005). A complete list of books in the series is at the back of the book © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-42959-7 - The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy -
The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction
This page intentionally left blank The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction Science fiction is at the intersection of numerous fields. It is a literature which draws on popular culture, and which engages in speculation about science, history and all types of social relations. This volume brings together essays by scholars and practitioners of science fiction, which look at the genre from these different angles. After an introduction to the nature of science fiction, historical chapters trace science fiction from Thomas More to the present day, including a chapter on film and television. The second section introduces four important critical approaches to science fiction drawing their theoretical inspi- ration from Marxism, postmodernism, feminism and queer theory. The final and largest section of the book looks at various themes and sub-genres of science fiction. A number of well-known science fiction writers contribute to this volume, including Gwyneth Jones, Ken MacLeod, Brian Stableford, Andy Duncan, James Gunn, Joan Slonczewski and Damien Broderick. THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO SCIENCE FICTION EDITED BY EDWARD JAMES AND FARAH MENDLESOHN Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge , United Kingdom Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521816267 © Cambridge University Press 2003 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the -
The British Boom: What Boom? Whose Boom?
The British Boom: What boom? Whose boom? Thirteen ways of looking at the British Boom Andrew M. Butler Andrew Butler, ‘the greatest SF critic [First published in Science Fiction what, with the clarity of hindsight and the galaxy has ever known’ (Cheryl Studies, No 91, November 2003. the demand for narrative convenience, Morgan, Emerald City) is ‘a pipe- Reprinted by permission of the author we do with Romanticism and Modern- and Dr Arthur Evans, editor of SFS. ism. What this article sets out to do is to smoking, vaguely sarcastic Andrew and the SET editors have survey the terrain from a variety of per- academic’ who has a PhD in the attempted to preserve the style of the spectives, in the hope that this will help works of Philip K. Dick, and has pub- original as far as possible, including the to give some indication of the phenome- lished books on Philip K. Dick, use of American spelling.] non’s scope and characteristics. The Cyberpunk, Terry Pratchett, Film Boom contains cyberpunk, post- Studies, and Postmodernism, co- 1. ‘There certainly seems to be something cyberpunk, cyberpunk-flavored fiction, edited books on Terry Pratchett and of a boom. To a certain extent these things steampunk, splatterpunk, space opera, hard sf, soft sf, feminist sf, utopias, Ken MacLeod, and has been fea- are always artefacts — there’s no objec- dystopias, anti-utopias, apocalypses, tures editor on Vector since 1995. tive criteria by which one can judge “boom-ness” (boomitude? Boomosity?) cosy catastrophes, uncomfortable catas- The following article on the British — so the fact that everyone’s talking trophes, Bildungsromans, New Wave- Boom, described by the leading Brit- about it is to a certain extent definitional style writing, planetary romances, ish SF magazine Interzone as ‘a of the fact that something’s going on’ alternate histories, big dumb objects, farrago’, won the 2004 Pioneer (China Miéville in Butler, ‘Beyond’ 7). -
Science Fiction Quotations
1 of 487 SCIENCE FICTION QUOTATIONS 7327 Westfahl / SCIENCE FICTION QUOTATIONS / sheet Tseng 2005.6.3 07:21 Tseng 2005.6.3 07:21 7327 Westfahl / SCIENCE FICTION QUOTATIONS / sheet 2 of 487 3 of 487 SCIENCE FICTION QUOTATIONS 7327 Westfahl / SCIENCE FICTION QUOTATIONS / sheet From the Inner Mind to the Outer Limits edited by Gary Westfahl With a foreword by Arthur C. Clarke Yale University Press / New Haven and London Tseng 2005.6.3 07:21 4 of 487 Copyright © 2005 by Yale University. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Designed by Mary Valencia Set in Minion type by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. 7327 Westfahl / SCIENCE FICTION QUOTATIONS / sheet Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Science fiction quotations : from the inner mind to the outer limits / edited by GaryWestfahl;withaforewordbyArthurC.Clarke. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-300-10800-1 (paperback : alk. paper) 1. Science fiction—Quotations, maxims, etc. I. Westfahl, Gary. PN6084.S34S35 2005 808.83'876—dc22 2005003195 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. 10987654321 Tseng 2005.6.3 07:21 5 of 487 CONTENTS Foreword by Arthur C. -
VECTOR the Critical Journal of the BSFA 75 P VECTOR the Critical Journal of the BSFA
VECTOR The Critical Journal of the BSFA 75 p VECTOR The Critical Journal of the BSFA EDITOR : KEVIN 94ITH 10 Cleves Court, St Mark's Hill, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 4PS REVIEWS EDITOR : JOSEPH NICHOLAS Room 9, 94 St George's Square, Pimlico, London, SW1Y 3QY FEATURES EDITOR: PAUL KINCAID 114 Guildhall Street, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1ES Vector is published bi-monthly by The British Science Fiction Association Ltd ADVERTISING RATES Back cover £40 Copy should be A4 or division thereof Interior - full page £30 for reduction to A5, black on white, - half page £20 camera ready. Quotes will be given - qtr. page £10 for special processing requirements. All advertising correspondence should be addressed to the editor. PRINTING by the BSFA Printing Service. Many thanks to John and Eve Harvey, who do all the printing work. The BSFA Printing Service is available to all BSFA members. Please contact John and Eve for details and quotations. John & Eve Harvey, 43 Harrow Road, Carshalton, Surrey BACK ISSUES of Vector and Focus are looked after by — Roy Macinski, 2 Frogmill Cottages, Hurley, Nr. Maidenhead, Berks, SL6 5NH membership of The British Science Fiction Association costs £6.00 per year. For this trivial sun you receive six mailings per year, containing Matrix Paperback Inferno and Vector. Matrix contains news and views of the BSFA and the science fiction world) Paperback Inferno reviews the newly published paperback booksi and you can discover for yourself the contents of Vector by the simple expedient of reading the next page. Membership also gives you access to too many BSFA services to mention.