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BSFG News 559 April 2018 Brum Group News The Monthly Newsletter of the BIRMINGHAM SCIENCE FICTION GROUP APRIL 2018 Issue 559 Honorary President: CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Committee: Vernon Brown (Chairman); Pat Brown (Treasurer); Dave Corby (publicity Officer); Theresa Derwin (ordinary member); Carol Goodwin (Newsletter Editor); William McCabe (Website); Novacon 48 Chair: Dave hicks website: Email: www.birminghamsfgroup.org.uk/ [email protected] Facebook: Twitter: www.facebook.com/groups/BirminghamSFGroup/ @BirminghamSF MICHAEL CAREY April 13th This month’s guest is script-writer and author, Michael Carey. Mike Carey is a BAFTA-nominated screenwriter, novelist and comic book writer. Born in Liverpool, he worked as a teacher for fifteen years before resigning to write full-time. He wrote the movie adaptation for his post-apocalyptic novel May 11th – SF author and BSFG member, Janet Edwards. THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS, parts of which were filmed around Birmingham. The movie opened the Locarno festival in 2016 and was in competition at Toronto’s Midnight Madness. Mike has worked extensively in the field of comic books, completing long and critically acclaimed runs on Lucifer, Hellblazer and X-Men. His comic book series The Unwritten has featured repeatedly in the New York Times' graphic novel bestseller list. He is currently writing a series for Dynamite Entertainment featuring the sci-fi icon Barbarella. He is also the writer of the Felix Castor novels, and (along with his wife Linda and their daughter Louise) of two fantasy novels, THE CITY OF SILK AND STEEL and THE HOUSE OF WAR AND WITNESS, (published in the UK by Victor Gollancz and in America by Chizine Press). His most recent novel, published in April 2017, is THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE, a stand-alone novel set in the same world as THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. To top it off, instead of our normal raffle, we have an extra- special set of prizes including SF Books, some Cthulhu goodies and more importantly, comics and books signed by Mike himself, including a signed copy of his latest book, THE BOY ON THE BRIDGE. CG The meeting will take place in the conference room on the first floor of The Briar Rose Hotel, Bennetts Hill, off New Street. The doors open at 7.30pm and the meeting will normally commence at 8.00pm so please arrive early, get your drinks from the bar on the ground floor, and be seated in plenty of time. The entrance fee for our January AGM is free and the August and December socials are ticket only events. All other meetings the entrance fee is £3 for members and £4 for non-members. HONORARY PRESIDENT – Christopher Priest. As discussed at the AGM, author and long-time friend to the Birmingham SF Group, Christopher Priest was approached to be our Honorary President. The Committee are pleased to report that he has graciously accepted. His response is printed below. 2 “Dear BSFG Thanks so much for your invitation to become your new President. I feel honoured ... and slightly overcome. I follow in the footsteps of great men. I'm afraid I can never be as erudite as Brian Aldiss, or as funny as Harry Harrison ... nor can I be as amusing as Brian or as wise as Harry. I'm as tall as Brian, though -- that might count for something? Whatever, I will do my best and try not to be overshadowed by my eminent predecessors. Love to you all Chris” RETURN OF ANSIBLE MAILINGS Unfortunately, last year when we had to move to a new print firm for the newsletter, we had to suspend mailing out Ansible due to increased cost. The feedback from some members has been that this is missed and we can happily announce that starting with this issue, Ansible will again be included in the mailing. This has been possible thanks to the kindness of members Ian and Lou Morley who have kindly agreed to sponsor the printing costs. In exchange, we have agreed to advertise their book selling and buying business, Durdles Books (starting from next month). The website address is www.durdlesbooks.com and specialises in SF/Fantasy. Please take the time to look at their extensive stock if you are looking to buy a book. Also, if anyone is interested in selling some of their books, please consider contacting Ian (either at a meeting or via the website) for a no-obligation quote. CG AN AFTERNOON (AND EVENING) WITH BRIAN ALDISS On April 20th Pat and I went to Oxford to attend “An Afternoon with Brian Aldiss”, two events about Brian to be held at the Weston Library Lecture Theatre, part of the Bodleian Library. These were ticketed events; open to the public, but we had also been invited to a reception to be held elsewhere in the same building that evening to celebrate his life and work. 3 Arriving in Oxford just before mid-day we took a taxi to the Weston Library to familiarise ourselves with the layout before finding a nearby pub for lunch. Returning early to the Library for the 2 pm event “A Celebration of the Life and Work of Brian Aldiss” we sat in a good position to hear Chris Priest and others talk of Brian, after an introduction to the afternoon’s events by Samuel Fanous of the Bodleian Library, the repository of the Aldiss papers. Robin Straus, his US agent since the early 1980s, and Chris led the discussions while Brian’s grandson, Thomas Lodge and Petronilla Whitfield, one of his collaborators, read excerpts from some of his stories. To punctuate the session an old television interview with Brian was shown in which he spoke amusingly about a subject not mentioned in polite society, and a message from Michael Moorcock was read. A little later, I don’t remember why, Ella Fitzgerald’s “Cow Cow Boogie” was played. The session lasted just over an hour and it was only later that we realised that we had been so engrossed in it that we had forgotten to take any photographs. After a break the next event “Science Fiction as Literature” began at 4 pm. Although we arrived early others had arrived even earlier so we didn’t get our preferred seats; by the time the event started the theatre was full, as it was for the first one – I believe that both were sold out. This time the panellists were not SF specialists/experts: Claire Armitstead was associate editor on culture for The Guardian; Philip Pullman, a children’s and fantasy author; and Dr Sophie Ratcliffe, an expert in 19th century literature who 4 was also a friend of Brian’s. But they all had a keen interest in his work. The discussion covered many aspects of SF and its possible boundaries. Does it have to be set in space or include aliens or future technology? How plausible must it be and how realistic should an SF book’s cover painting be? Brian’s works were frequently spoken of, as well as his consideration of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein to be the first truly demonstrable SF story. At one point Chris Priest entered the discussion (picture 1) with some interesting observations so all in all enough material for a book on the subject was put forward. It certainly made the audience think – the question & answer session that followed showed how engaged they were in the proceedings. The reception that evening ran from 6 to 8 pm in Blackwell Hall in the Weston Library, a large hall that allowed people to circulate easily. The event was essentially two hours of social conversation with Brian, his work and science fiction at its heart, with a few mini-speeches about Brian by members of his family (picture 2, his daughter Wendy) and friends. Among those present were past Group speakers Andy Sawyer and Dave Lally (picture 3) and Dave Langford. The evening passed smoothly with conversations fuelled by waiters carrying trays of small cocktail savouries and the occasional Cava until suddenly it was time to go. From what was said as people went it was obvious that everyone appreciated how things had gone and I am sure that Brian would have felt the same way. Pat and I tendered our thanks and walked into Oxford to catch a taxi to the station and our train home. In their separate ways the afternoon and evening celebrations of Brian’s life and work had shown how much he was appreciated by those who knew him, worked with him or perhaps only knew him through his works. The day had been a success! VB 5 BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION AWARDS The winners of the BSFA Awards were announced at Follycon (Eastercon) in Harrogate on the 31st March. Best Novel: THE RIFT by Nina Allan (Titan Books) Best Short Fiction: THE ENCLAVE by Anne Charnock (NewCon Press). Best Artwork: Tied Jim Burns for the cover of THE ION RAIDER by Ian Whates (NewCon Press). Victo Ngai for illustration of WAITING ON A BRIGHT MOON by J Y Yang (Tor.com) Best Non-Fiction: IAIN M BANKS by Paul Kincaid (University of Illinois Press) HUGO AWARD NOMINATIONS The finalists for the Hugo Awards and the John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer were announced on 26th April. There was also a Retro Hugos shortlist for 1943. The final nominees for Best Novel are given below. (Full details of all categories are available at www.thehugoawards.org/). BEST NOVEL NOMINEES PROVENANCE by Ann Leckie (Orbit) THE COLLAPSING EMPIRE by John Scalzi (Tor) THE STONE SKY by N K Jemisin (Orbit) NEW YORK 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit) RAVEN STRATEGEM by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris) SIX WAKES by Mur Lafferty (Orbit) BEST 1943 NOVEL NOMINEES THE UNINVITED by Dorothy Macardle (Doubleday) BEYOND THIS HORIZON by Anson MacDonald (Robert Heinlein pseudonym) (Astounding Science-Fiction 4-5/42) DONOVAN’S BRAIN by Curt Siodmak (Black Mask 9-11/42) SECOND STAGE LENSMEN by E E “Doc” Smith (Astounding Science Fiction, 11/41 – 2/42) DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT by Olaf Stapledon (Metheun) ISLANDIA by Austin Tappan Wright (Farrar & Rinehart) 6 NEW CINEMA FILM RELEASES Listings should not be necessarily taken as recommendations.
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