creative writers and artists appear in rounter tfjrusit COLLEGE PARK, MD. 20740 50C thrust contents Cover by Steve Hauk.....page 1 Contents page (art by Richard Bryant).page 3 Editorial by Doug Fratz (art by Steve Hauk).page 4 THRUST INTERVIEW: HARLAN ELLISON by Dave Bischoff and Chris Lampton (axt by Steve Hauk)...page 5 Alienated Critic by Doug Fratz (art by Don Dagenais).page 12 Conventions (art by Jim Rehak).page 13 Centerspread art by Richard Bryant.page 14 Harlan Ellison vs. The Spawning Bischii by David F. Bischoff.page 16 Book Reviews by Chris Lampton, Linda Isaacs, Dave Bischoff, Melanie Desmond and Doug Fratz (art by Richard Bryant and Dennis Bailey ).page 21 ADVERTISING: Counter-Thrust Fantasy Magazine...page 2 The Nostalgia Journal.....page 27 Crazy A1 ’ s C omix and Nostalgia Shop....page 28 staff Editor-in-Chief: Computer Layout: LEE MOORE and NATALIE PAYMER Doug Fratz Art Director: Managing Editor: STEVE HAUK Editorial Assistants: Dennis Bailey RON WATSON and BARBARA GOLDFARB Staff Writers: Associate Editor: DAVE BISCHOFF Melanie Desmond EE SEE? EDITORIAL by Doug Fratz I created THRUST SCIENCE FICTION more than find it incredibly interesting reading it over three years ago, and edited and published five for the tenth or twelveth time. Ted Cogswell issues, between February 1973 and May 1974, should take special note. completely from my own funds. When I received In addition, THRUST will have a sister my degree from the University of Maryland, I magazine of sorts, COUNTER-THRUST, to be pub¬ decided to turn THRUST over to other editors. lished yearly, once each summer. It will be Three editors managed to publish a total of a fantasy magazine, and contain fiction as one issue in the last two years. well as reviews, articles and the like. The So I'm back again. first issue is now out, with a nice speech by Much of this issue was assembled by Dennis Roger Zelazny, as well as the usual fantasy Bailey, the last of those three editors men¬ stories and reviews. (See the ad on page 2 for tioned. Dennis was finding himself unable to further information.) complete this issue, due to lack of time, so I THRUST will not be publishing fiction in resumed editorship. the future as it has in the past. The reasons The main purpose of this issue is to build for this are rather obvious. There is simply capital for the future publication of the new no need for for additional markets for sf, and THRUST SCIENCE FICTION. The magazine, start¬ certainly not in limited circulation magazines ing with the Fall I967 issue, will change into such as THRUST. In addition, many of the a slicker semi-pro sf magazine roughly along writers who have contributed fiction to this the lines of Algol and SF Review. A number of magazine in the past are now successfully new features will be added, including Ted writing sf professionally, i.e. Dave Bischoff, White's "My Column", formerly featured in Chris Lampton, Dennis Bailey. They will still Algol. I have every hope that other prominent be with us here, but can get better money for writers and artists in the science fiction their fiction, as well as better circulation, field will also be seen in THRUST SCIENCE elsewhere. FICTION in future issues. I hope that the response to my continuence Future issues will be much larger than of THRUST SCIENCE FICTION will be enthusiastic. this issue is, and the 750 price tag will be I feel that there is room for, and maybe even maintained. Although small, I feel the mater¬ a need for magazines like THRUST in the sf ial this issue gives a very good taste of what field. is to come. The interview with Harlan was See you all next issue. conducted at Discon II by almost a dozen of us, and Harlan responded beautifully. I still can THRUST IntEruiem HARLAN ELLISON “1 Write Because 1 Must!” Interview by DAVID F. BISCHDFF troglydite sort of cave-dwelling human... let’s take, for S. CHRIS. LAMPTON instance, you, David. Your only chance for immortality will be to spawn enormous hoardes of little Bischii to THRUST: Harlan, it’s often been said that you crave leave their webbed footprints in the sands of time. I, on literary immortality. Is this something you’ve always the other hand, will leave behind thousands of stories, desired, or has it developed over the years? which will help to corrupt generations yet to come. That’s the way I feel about it. ELLISON: Well, let me put it this way: I don’t think the word is crave literary immortality; I think the word is THRUST: Then you wish to communicate not only with LUST after literary immortality. people of today, but with people of generations yet to Well, in one form or another, I’ve always had this come? urge to be world famous. It comes from my backround, ELLISON: I like the ring of that, I like the feel, the which I will not go into here, because it is sordid and heft of those words... no, I don’t give a shit about ugly. Nonetheless, it’s not something I gathered over the communicating with anyone. I write to please myself, years, it’s something I focused over the years. I found a you nerd! way to do it. Now, let’s take, for instance, the meanest, most THRUST: But isn’t writing a form of communication? “1 always thought that 1 was Superman- 1 could just go on all the time... You can’t.” ELLISON: How would you know? You don’t write. Do four days— and I sneaked the typewriter into the trunk you believe all myths and legends? Leprechauns, elves, of the car, and in the motels at night on the way up, at gnomes, Ronald Reagan, you believe in all these mythical Big Sur and places like that, when she was asleep I things? would go out, put the typewriter on the trunk of the car, You know why Faulkner said he wrote? Faulkner and I wrote the story that was in Crawdaddy, “Knox”. said, “Writers are congenital liars, otherwise, they would I had it finished over New Year’s and sent it out. never have taken up the job of writing. I write to say I’m an obsessive compulsive. I have to write. no to death.” He said “Writers are people who are So, what happened was that after eighteen years possessed by demons, and most of the time they don’t as a professional, and over many years before that as a even know why they were possessed, and they’re too busy kid working at various things, The old engine just seized to give a goddamn”. That’s my line too. up. It just said no, I have got to get some rest. I write because I must write. I have no choice in I didn’t stop writing completely. I did a few the matter. I write because that is what I must do. I things. I did my column every week. I did a two am a writer. Yeah, I suppose I could ennoble it by thousand and seventy word column every week. I did saying I want to communicate with people, but that’s reviews, I answered ten to twenty thousand words of bullshit. I tell you the absolute frank truth: I write to letters every week. I wrote a short story or two, so write. I write to please myself. that’s more writing than Alfred Bester has done in the last ten years. But it still wasn’t the way I work and the. way I like to write. I cpuldn’t continue any of the THRUST: But the majority of your writing has a social major projects I was involved in, and I went through real message— hell. After about a year, it tapered off, and the next ELLISON: What does that have to do with you. It has six months I came out of it slowly and there I was. entirely to do with me. What it was was just the machinery saying “We’ve got to slow down, we’ve got to phase down and catch our THRUST: But I can learn many things from your breath a little”. I’ve now slowed my pace quite a lot. writing, and it can enrich my life tremendously. It was a difficult lesson to learn. You know, I always thought that I was Superman, I could just go all the ELLISON: Would somebody explain cause and effect to time. You can’t. him? You understand what I’m saying? They are two completely separate things. I’m delighted that people find THRUST: Are there other writers that you don’t get deep and meaningful significance in my stories. I mean, along with? For example, you had a run-in with Ted I am delighted with that, I dig it. But even if they Cogswell— found nothing but spinach there, I would still write, and ELLISON: Ted? I love Ted Cogswell. I really— I would still write it exactly the same way. That is the point: it is all self-generated. It is THRUST: But didn’t you— the world’s greatest ego-trip. You must have a monstrous ego to write to begin with. Even self-effacing ELLISON: Look, Ted Cogswell is the world’s most people like Gordy Dickson, who is the sweetest, gentlest incredible practical joker, and I am the butt of all of his man in the world, and humble and quiet, has an ego practical jokes.