Steam Engine Time 9 IN THIS ISSUE: Stephen Campbell Cy Chauvin Ditmar Brad Foster Bruce Gillespie Rob Latham Gillian Polack David Russell Darrell Schweitzer Jan Stinson Frank Weissenborn George Zebrowski and many others DECEMBER 2008 Steam Engine Time Steam Engine Time No 9, December 2008, was edited by Janine Stinson use only, and copyrights belong to the contributors. (tropicsf at earthlink.net), PO Box 248, Eastlake, MI 49626-0248 USA and Bruce Next editorial deadline: 1 January 2009. Gillespie (gandc at pacific.net.au), 5 Howard St., Greensborough VIC 3088, Australia, and published at Illustrations: Ditmar (Dick Jenssen) (front cover, p. 3); Stephen Campbell http://efanzines.com/SFC/SteamEngineTime/SET09.pdf. Members fwa. (back cover); Brad Foster (pp. 59, 60, 62); David Russell (pp. 64, 66, 70, 72, Website: GillespieCochrane.com.au. 73). Print edition only available by negotiation with the editors; first edition and Photographs: Lawrie Brown (pp. 6, 11); Leigh Blackmore (p. 7); Jean Weber primary publication is electronic. A thrice-yearly publishing schedule (at mini- (p. 8); Locus (p. 19); Reeve (p. 37); unknown (p. 40); Foyster collection (p. 50); mum) is intended. All material in this publication was contributed for one-time Alan Stewart (p. 55); Gian Paolo Cossato (pp. 76, 78). Contents 4 EDITORIALS 55 Two ordinary families, with children Jan Stinson Cy Chauvin Fun in Canberra Bruce Gillespie 58 LETTERS OF COMMENT Andrew Darlington :: Steve Sneyd :: E. D. Webber :: Sheryl Birkhead :: TRIBUTES David Lake :: Yvonne Rousseau :: Andy Sawyer :: Fred Lerner :: Cy Chauvin 13 Standing up for science fiction: Stanislaw Lem (1921–2006) :: Paul Voermans :: Lloyd Penney :: Rick Kennett :: Alan Sandercock :: George Zebrowski Robert Elordieta :: Kim Stanley Robinson :: Lyn McConchie :: Darrell 16 Daniel F. Galouye (1920–1976) Schweitzer :: Simon Brown :: David Russell :: Gian Paolo Cossato :: Jerry George Zebrowski Kaufman :: Greg Pickersgill :: Ray Wood :: Doug Barbour :: Tom Whalen 18 A true original: Thomas M. Disch (1940–2008) :: WAHF Bruce Gillespie (with help from Tony Thomas) REVIEW ARTICLES ARTICLES 83 Geoff Ryman’s realities 28 The amazing adventures of Michael Chabon Gillian Polack Bruce Gillespie 86 Michael Moorcock’s multiverse: 35 New Worlds and the New Wave in fandom: The Second Ether Trilogy Fan culture and the reshaping of science fiction in the sixties Frank Weissenborn Rob Latham 94 Going to hell with slide rule in hand: Hard science theology: 49 J. G. Ballard and the New Wave: An Australian viewpoint Some thoughts on Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s Inferno Bruce Gillespie Darrell Schweitzer 2 The cover: ‘First Contact’ Australia in 1951 was a time of paucity for a fledging science fiction fan, especially if one was a schoolboy given a very minuscule amount of pocket money. Oh, there were comics, and Saturday afternoon movie serials, and some truly abysmal publications such as Thrills Incorporated, but the real stuff was, for such a person — and I mean myself — virtually unknown and out of reach. So when my friend Race Mathews told me that the school library had a copy of Groff Conklin’s anthology The Best of Science Fiction it was as though the gates of paradise had swung open. Gates which have yet to close, though I suspect that when I am gathered they will, indeed, slam shut. Looking at the contents of that book — just pulled down from my shelves — I am reminded of many stories which made the burden of the quotidian somewhat bearable, even if they would now not be as highly regarded as they were once. But some remain classics. for example, Heinlein’s ‘Universe’, and Murray Lein- ster’s ‘First Contact’ — two stories which I have read many times in the intervening years. It has become platitudinous to claim that SF of the 30s and 40s had characters which at best were two-dimensional, that motivation and emotion were non-existent or ludicrously unreal, and that it was the ideas which were of primary importance. Well, the ideas were wonder-full in Leinster’s yarn: the concept of a journey ‘Unusual Suspects (Bruce)’ (Ditmar). to the Crab Nebula over a few months’ time, photographing the nebula as the spaceship, the Llanvabon, spiraled into it, and so generating a kind of time machine of the visual evolution of the nebula over four thousand years, was one Meteor Inc. which has never left me. One, indeed, which may have, along with many, many other SF stories, forced my choice of career into physics and science. But Leinster added the meeting of the Earth ship and an alien vessel which was also engaged Meteor Incorporated was established in August 2007 to accumulate cash in the scientific investigation of the nebula. It was this contact, and the problems donations and bequests until enough funds are available to: involved which needed to be solved, that were the main thrust of the story. And G preserve and manage a collection of science fiction and fantasy memorabilia here the lie is given to the myth of cardboard characters. The protagonist, Tommy (books, magazines, fanzines, and electronic media) by acquiring premises and Dort, was utterly believable, and his behavior was logical and understandable: hiring qualified librarians/custodians; and the dilemma faced by the captains of both ships was of immense significance for G provide a resource for research into science fiction and fantasy literature and the future of both civilisations. culture. The cover image, then, is my very belated tribute to ‘First Contact’. Like all my graphics, it is not intended to illustrate the story, but is inspired by it. In the This is a long-term project requiring ongoing cash donations from SF fans. Hollywood sense of that word, this implies that the connection between the cover and the story is so tenuous that it might exist only in the imagination. But one To contribute, or simply learn more about Meteor Incorporated, please visit our could perhaps identify the foreground vessel as the Llanvabon and the distant website at http://www.meteor.org.au, or one as the alien ship. At least the background is the Crab Nebula. Write to: Secretary, Meteor Inc: Telephone: +61 3 9534 0163 — Ditmar (Dick Jenssen), 2008 PO Box 260, Flinders Lane PO VIC 8000. Email: [email protected] 3 Editorials that made me realise I needed help again as well. Mental illness still Jan Stinson carries a stigma in many people’s minds, but I’ve never viewed it that way; while such illnesses are perhaps less responsive to treatment than other ailments, one has only to watch a few episodes of House to see Battling the beast that other types of illness can be just as intractable. I’m fortunate to have an experienced and caring therapist, family support, and doctors who understand what I’m experiencing. The last several months, I’ve been at war with myself. I’m happy to So, we’re on the road back to balance, once again. I feel more interested report, however, that I’ve won. in writing, so perhaps some articles will result for future issues of SET. I In a nutshell, a combination of grief and depression got its mitts on me make no promises. for a very long time, and it was my son’s request to go back to therapy Today, as in 1981, I can’t afford to go to interstate conventions unless Bruce Gillespie somebody pays me, so my gratitude to the Conflux committee is immense. They paid my fare, accommodation and convention fee. Whee! Thursday, 2 October 2008 Fun in Canberra Bill Wright and I happened to be on the same plane when we travelled to Canberra. Phil Berrie, until then a stranger to both of us, picked us up from Canberra Airport. We both liked Phil a lot, but I didn’t get to talk to Some people believe that Bruce Gillespie cannot have fun. Others believe him until the last night of the convention. that Australians cannot have fun in Canberra. I have disproved both assertions. Phil gave us the whirlwind tour of Canberra, which is like a vast park with Very Famous Buildings poking up from the greenery. There’s the National In mid 2008, members of the Conflux committee asked me to be Fan Library, fellers. And there’s the National Museum. The War Museum’s Guest of Honour at Conflux 5, the annual convention held in Canberra, over there. And we’re just passing all the embassies, at least one of which Australia’s federal capital. This was the first time I had been asked to be (the Chinese) is as big as a small city. Lake Burley Griffin! Great to see a guest at an interstate convention since 1981, when I was a guest it at last. And the Carillion, sitting in the middle of the lake. Both Houses speaker at the Canberra SF Conference, held by Colin Steele at the of Parliament, all part of a gigantic triangle that includes the War Museum Australian National University. During that visit, all I saw of Canberra at one apex. During our ride with Phil, I made a mental list of Places to was the airport, and ANU’s buildings and rolling lawns. See. 4 What nobody had told me about Canberra is its most attractive feature: I have ambiguous feelings about war, peace and Australian history, so I the absence of buildings more than four storeys high. The height limit decided to see the War Museum for myself. It must be Australia’s makes it seem a much more civilised place than any other major best-funded museum, founded in the 1920s as a memorial to those killed Australian city I’ve visited.