University of South Florida Scholar Commons Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications 6-1-2005 SFRA ewN sletter 272 Science Fiction Research Association Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/scifistud_pub Part of the Fiction Commons Scholar Commons Citation Science Fiction Research Association, "SFRA eN wsletter 272 " (2005). Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications. Paper 87. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/scifistud_pub/87 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. #~T~ Apr.! IIa,1 June ~OO§ • Editor: Chr.st.ne Ma.ns Kanaging Editor: lan.ce M. Boastad Nonfiction Reriews: Ed McKn.aht Science Fiction Research fiction Reriews: Association Ph."pSnyder SFIUI Re"ie", The SFRAReview (ISSN 1068-395X) is published four times a year by the Science Rction ResearchAs­ I ..... HIS ISSUE: sodation (SFRA) and distributed to SFRA members. Individual issues are not for sale; however, starting with issue SFRA Business #256, all issues will be published to SFRA's website no less than 10 weeks Editor's Message 2 after paper publication. For information President's Message 2 about the SFRA and its benefits, see the desaiption at the back of this issue. For a membership application, contact SFRA Non Fiction Reviews Treasurer Donald M. Hassler or get one Ray Bradbury 3 from the SFRA website: <www.sfra.org>. Gene Wolfe 4 SFRA would like to thank the Univer­ sity of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for its as­ Inquiry Into the Purposes 8 sistance in produdng the SFRAReview. Projections 0 Cult Television I I SUBMISSIONS The SFRAReviewencourages all submis­ More Matrix and Philosophy 12 sions, including essays. review essays that Fantastic Literature 14 cover several related texts, and inter­ Polesls and Possible Worlds I 5 views. If you would like to review non­ The Cherryh Odyssey I CS fiction or fiction, please contact the respective editor. Fiction Reviews Christine Mains, Editor Box 66024 Destroyer (I) 10 Calgary.AB T2N I N4 Destroyer (2) 20 <[email protected]> Trltcheon Hash 21 Janice M. Bogstad, Managing Editor Tales 22 239 Broadway St. Mlndscan 23 Eau Claire WI 54703-5553 <[email protected]> Od Magic 24 Ed McKnight, Nonfiction Editor 113 Cannon Lane Approaches to Teachinr ... Taylors SC 29687 Silverberg'S The World Inside 25 <[email protected]> Philip Snyder, Rction Editor 109 Northumberland Road Rochester NY 14618 <[email protected]> SFRA BUSINESS ) Edtc:or's ..essaae Christine Mains News Items: Oh dear. I'm going to sound like a broken record, aren't I? But yes, once Science Fiction and Fantasy Female again, my editorial message can be summed up in four words: Get those reviews Writers (SF-FFW) has announced in. Oh, wait, five: Get those reviews in, please. the creation of the Roots of Writ­ TIlls time around, the delay in receiving reviews has affected our ability to ing Award, recognizing seven influ­ get the SFRA Review out on time. We're about a month late, which means it's likely ential women in the field of science that this issue won't reach you before you're on your way to Las Vegas. We'd really fiction and fantasy: Betty Ballantine, hate to make a habit of this, but there's not much we can do without the content, Madeleine L'Engle, Anne McCaffrey, and for that, we need you. Ursula K. Le Guin, Kate Wilhelm, In addition to the reviews, we have a couple of special features in this issue. Joanna Russ, and Andre Norton. First up is a group of reviews on CJ. Cherryh: a nonfiction review of Ed Carmien's anthology The Cherryh 04Jssry followed by two fiction reviews of Cherryh's De­ The 2005 Arthur C. Clarke Award strr!]er. We also have a brief excerpt from a study guide to Robert Silverberg's The was awarded to China Mieville for WorM Inside, provided by Rich Erlich. Due to space considerations, we've included Iron Council. only part of this extensive guide, and we've had to do some reformatting, but we'd like to thank Rich for contributing to our attempt to revive the feature '~pproaches This is a partial list of nominees for to Teaching." In the last issue, Margaret McBride provided a similar guide to Ursula the Locus Awards, to be presented Le Guin's Lathe 0/ Heaven. We very much appreciate receiving these guides, and atWestercon in Calgary July 1-4. Best would like to encourage other SFRA members to go through their files and see Science Fiction Novel: The Algebraist, what they have to share in regards to teaching SF texts. lain M. Banks; Eastern Standard Tribe, Cory Doctorow; Forty Signs of Rain, SFRA BUSINESS Kim Stanley Robinson; The Baroque Pres~dent's ..essaae Cycle: The Confusion; The System of Dave Mead the World, Neal Stephenson; Iron Sun­ rise, Charles Stross. Best Fantasy The Annual Meeting of the SFRA is coming up soon (I write this in early Novel: The Dark Tower: Song of April) and as Co-Chair of this gathering, with Peter Lowentrout, it is much on my Susannah, Stephen King; Iron Council, mind. China Mieville; Going Postal, Terry We will have a wonderful guest-list in Las Vegas. For the first time in Pratchett; The Family Trade, Charles many years, our long-time member and Pilgrim Award winner Ursula K Le Guin Stross; The Wizard Knight, Gene will attend. She has generously volunteered to participate in a number of panels, Wolfe. Best First Novel: Jonathan readings, and discussions, although she declines to make any formal presentation Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna or speech. While Ms. Le Guin is our Distinguished Author Guest, a number of Clarke; The Coyote Kings of the Space­ other distinguished authors will be joining us also. Not only will John Barnes, Kij Age Bachelor Pad, Minister Faust; Trash Johnson, and Tim Powers participate, but recently we have learned that Joan Sex Magic,Jennifer Stevenson; The Year Slonczewski, Elizabeth Bear, and Stephen Brust will also participate. It should be of Our War, Steph Swainston; City of a wonderful three days, and a great opportunity to learn from and about our guest Pearl, Karen Traviss. Best Non-Fiction: writers. The Gernsback Days: A Study of the We are also very pleased that the annual awards banquet will honor a Evolution of Modern Science Fiction number of very worthy scholar-teachers. Our Pilgrim Award recipient is the distin­ from 1911 to 1936, Mike Ashley & guished French scholar-critic-author Gerard Klein. We are all hoping that Mr. Klein RobertA.W. Lowndes; Ray Bradbury: will be present to receive his award in person. Lisa Yaszek will receive the Pioneer The Ufe of Fiction, Jonathan R. Eller & Award, Bruce Beatie will receive the Mary Kay Bray Award, and my dear friend and William ETouponce; The Wave in the mentor Muriel Becker will be honored with the Thomas D. Clareson Award. It Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, should be a great evening. the Reader, and the Imagination, Ursula Peter and I have been planning/hoping for about a hundred registrants. K. Le Guin; The Annotated Brothers The program is developing nicely, although there is always room for a few last­ Grimm, Maria Tatar, ed.; Dancing Na­ minute additions. Of course, we are eager to have lots of papers about all our Iced: The Unexpurgated William Tenn, guests. William Tenn. Long-time member Ron Larson - of Red Dragon Books in San Fran- ( ) cisco - will be running the book room. He is working to make sure that there are ( lots of both new and used books by our guests available for purchase, as well as an array of scholarly works and used classics. We have not gone out of our way to arrange special entertairunent for this The South Eastern Science Fiction meeting, figuring that Las Vegas will provide that for us, more or less free of Association, presented to authors charge. However, one particular attraction that may appeal to our members is the with connections to the Southern Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton, easily accessible via the new monorail United States, has announced the system which has a stop at the Imperial Palace, our conference hotel. During the nominees for this year's SESFA conference, there will be a conference suite, where the elite may meet and greet And Award. All members of the organi­ perhaps drink and eat. We're still working on that. zation (which may be joined at I hope to see you at the annual meeting. It should be a very interesting, www.sesfacom) may vote for the win­ informative and entertaining event. ner through June 30. Best Novel: Be­ yond Infinity by Gregory Benford; Cam­ NONFICTION REVIEW ouflage by Joe Haldeman; Coyote Ris­ Ray Bradbury ing by Allen Steele; Aviator by Lucius Neil Barron Shepard. Eller, Jonathan R. and William F. Touponce. Rqy Bradbury: The life 0 The NebulaAwards were presented Fiction. Kent State, 2004. 320 pages, hardbound, $34.00. ISBN 0873387791. in Chicago, Illinois on April 30. Neil Gaiman was toastmaster. Anne Aggelis, Steven L. (ed). Conversations with Rqy Bradbury. Mississippi, 2004. McCaffrey received the Damon xxxvi + 208 pages, hardbound, $48.00, ISBN 1578066409; trade paper, $20, ISBN Knight Grand Master Award and 1578066417. Kevin O'Donnell, Jr. received the Service to SFWAAward. Best Novel: If a representative poll were taken of book readers asking them to name SF Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster authors, it's likely that Ray Bradbury (1920- ) would be, if not the most frequently Bujold; Best Novella: "The Green mentioned, certainly among the top three.