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April 1, 2006
Blinking furiously and rubbing ice crystals from its eyes, the
Runcible column emerges from cryogenic slumber to discover itself
in a weirdly changed future. In this eerie world of April 2006,
the course of history has been warped (though not, frankly, very
much) by the appearance of the
January,
February and
March issues of
Ansible! NOW READ ON....
As Others See Us. Adam Rogers of Wired soaked up
the ambience of a Neil Gaiman signing at the
92nd
Street Y in New York City: 'Whenever Gaiman appears, geeks
of every type turn out in droves: beautiful goth girls with
oil-black hair and cherry-red lips, overweight comics nerds (with
dates), underweight comics nerds (with dates), science fiction
obsessives, manga fanatics.' (Wired,
April)
The 2006 Hugo Nominations appear in full
here.
Let there be no British triumphalism over the MacLeod and Stross
novel nominations, plus various other UK appearances including the
stuffing of Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) with Doctor Who
episodes and 2005 Worldcon performances. Let there be no Infinite
Matrix triumphalism regarding that nice Mr Doctorow's novelette.
Most of all, let us avoid any hint of threefold Langford
triumphalism about [That's quite enough lack of triumphalism,
thank you -- Editrix.]
This year's special innovation, the Hugo for Best Interactive
Video Game, innovatively attracted too little interest and was
thus innovatively dropped.
The traditional magazine/anthology slant of the Professional
Editor category continues: Patrick Nielsen Hayden acquired three
of the five novel finalists for Tor but still didn't make this
shortlist.
Jim Rigney, who writes as Robert Jordan,
told
Locus: 'I have been diagnosed with amyloidosis. That
is a rare blood disease which affects only 8 people out of a
million each year ...' His treatment (drastic bone marrow
replacement) starts this month, and he's determined to beat the
statistics that suggest a median life expectancy of four years.
Alma Alexander (that is, Alma Hromic Deckert) slipped
the surly bonds of Earth: 'I am still reeling in wonder from it --
but NASA chose a fragment of a poem of mine to go on a
commemorative poster about women astronauts in the USA....'
Liz Williams was hospitalized with a fractured rib and
other woes after falling off a horse on 26 March, but is now
recovering nicely at home.
Paul Parsons, editor of the BBC science magazine Focus,
has been much admired for his diligence in devoting no fewer than
ten pages of the April issue to promotion of The Science of
Doctor Who by some chap called Paul Parsons. The book -- not
published by the BBC -- also gets a plug in his editorial, and is
reviewed in the books section by our very own Alastair Reynolds. (Independent,
22 March) If I were a real editor I would surely do this all the
time.
More Awards. British Book Awards: J.K. Rowling's
Whatsisname and the Half-Blood Prince was voted overall
Book of the Year on 29 March, beating various celebrity
autobiographies and cookbooks. The 'popular fiction' winner was
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (BBC)
The
James Tiptree Jr Award for best 'gender-exploring' novel
of 2005 went to Geoff Ryman's Air: Or, Have Not Have,
which is also shortlisted for the BSFA, Clarke and Nebula awards.
T.H. White's birth centenary is on 26 May 2006. His UK
publisher, Voyager, proudly flaunts the ultimate accolade:
'Professor Charles Xavier also frequently cites The Once And
Future King as his favourite book in the X Men, testifying to
the very range and impact of his influence.' [sic]
R.I.P.
- Ronald Anthony Cross (1937-2006), US author whose
first sf story appeared in 1973, died in March. Since 1994 he
had published several volumes of his 'Eternal Guardians' fantasy
series.
- Dan Curtis (1928-2006), Hollywood producer/director
who created the tv series Dark Shadows (1966-1971), died
on 27 March; he was 77.
- Ivor Cutler (1923-2006), surrealist Scots writer and
singer whose eccentric stories often had a flavour of sf, died
on 3 March aged 83. Story collections include Cock-a-doodle-don't,
Gruts and Fremsley. He appeared as Buster
Bloodvessel in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour.
- Nancy A. Dibble (1942-2006), US author and fan who in
the 1970s and 1980s published sf as Ansen Dibell, died on 7
March. She was 63.
- David Feintuch (1944-2006), US author best known for
his popular 'Seafort' series of Hornblower-in-space sf
adventures that began in 1994 with Midshipman's Hope,
died from a heart attack on 16 March. He was 61. The first
Seafort novels won him the 1996 John W. Campbell award for best
new writer.
- Richard Fleischer (1916-2006), Hollywood director
whose first major film was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
(1954), died on 25 March aged 89. His other genre films include
Fantastic Voyage, Dr Dolittle (the 1967
original), and Soylent Green. (Telegraph
obit)
- Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006), not only Poland's greatest
science fiction author but one whose sf greatness was recognized
worldwide, died on 27 March; he was 84. His books sold more than
27 million copies, with translations into over 40 languages. The
twice-filmed Solaris embodied his favourite theme of the
unfathomability of the alien, also explored in The
Invincible, His Master's Voice and others. Lem's
lighter side, dazzlingly rather than dourly intellectual, was
seen in such works as The Cyberiad, The
Futurological Congress and The Star Diaries, whose
extravagant wordplay challenged the translator. Several of his
speculative 'non-fact' essays were worthy of Borges. He gave up
writing sf, and indeed fiction, in 1989. (Guardian;
Washington
Post)
- John Morressy (1930-2006), US academic and author who
published many sf and (latterly) fantasy novels since his 1971
sf debut in F&SF, died on 25 March aged 76.
De Mortuis. The 1976 Stanislaw Lem/SFWA controversy is
noted in some obituaries -- nowhere more blandly than on
the SFWA site,
from which you'd never guess that Lem's unflattering comments on
(most) Western sf caused splenetic internal debate and led to his
being booted out on a technicality: 'Lem was an honorary member of
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America until his work was
published in the United States and he was eligible for regular
membership. He was disappointed with the loss of honorary
membership and felt it was due to the controversial nature of some
of his work.' John Clute puts it differently in the
Independent:
'... he thought British and American science fiction was spoiled,
spineless, frivolous and intellectually void. His expression of
these views in the 1970s caused the withdrawal of an honorary
membership in the Science Fiction Writers of America, a personal
slight and intellectual insult he never forgave.'
As Others See Us II. Early in March, Mariella Frostrup
interviewed Joanne Harris of Chocolat fame on BBC Radio
4's Open Book, about the new Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks
edition of Something Wicked This Way Comes. Jimi Fallows
reports: 'Harris kicked off by expressing regret that SWTWC
was being printed under the fantasy label, as it is much closer in
content to real fiction. Sadly, Mariella Frostrup did not take the
chance here to point out the number of other fine novels that
could almost be called literature in the same imprint. The
fantastical element of Bradbury's work was discussed with much
earnestness to protect his reputation as an author, culminating in
this devastating aside from Frostrup: "Some people even refer
to him as a science fiction author, however erroneous that may be."
It's still available to listen on line, and well worth it for the
particular emphasis of disdain that Mariella lavishes on the sf
word.'
Harry Harrison gloats over his latest criminal act:
'Just sold an option to my short "A Criminal Act" to the
omnibus series Masters of Science Fiction [ABC tv]. It should be
produced this year.'
Publishers and Sinners. Amazing Stories
magazine, launched in 1926 by Hugo Gernsback, has at last been
officially cancelled by its current owner
Paizo Publishing. It had
previously spent 14 months in 'hiatus'.
Paul Kincaid, after eleven years' toil as
Arthur C. Clarke Award
administrator, has resigned -- to take effect after this month's
presentation. According to Paul, this is 'an unmissable
opportunity for me to leave on a high note. It's the 20th
anniversary, with an all-British shortlist and all six authors
will be present at the ceremony.'
As Others See Us III. News of the
Trek Passions on-line
dating service aroused inevitable mirth and rhetoric of great
originality, for example at
Popwatch:
'I'd always assumed Star Trek fans reproduced asexually,
like tribbles, but apparently they find love the way the rest of
us do: on the Internet. If you like candlelit dinners, moonlight
strolls, and debating whether or not Farscape was a better
show than Babylon 5, then Trek Passions is the personals
site for you.'
Fay Wray of King Kong fame is to appear on a
Canadian stamp, part of a 26 May set whose theme is Canadians in
Hollywood.
Miscellany.
SF
Hall of Fame. To be inducted (as they call it) in June
2006: Frank Kelly Freas, Frank Herbert, George Lucas, and Anne
McCaffrey.
Thog's Masterclass.
- Dept of Heat Quanta. '... The temperature in the oval
control chamber started to climb rapidly, at first half a degree
at a time, then in jumps of five and ten degrees ...' (Con
Steffanson [Ron Goulart], The Lion Men of Mongo, 1974)
- Dept of Persistent Engrams. 'Doug fought the memory.
It had happened before he'd been born.' (Ben Bova, Moonwar,
1997)
- Arcane Similarity Dept. 'Daren was as randy as Kero
was discreet. ... We're too much alike.' (Mercedes
Lackey, By the Sword, 1991)
'And now that you have surveyed the futuristic wonders of April
2006,' said our all-wise editrix and mentrix, 'it is time for you
to enter Cold Sleep once more.' 'Oh, all right,' yawned Runcible,
wondering what even more bizarrely transformed world would provide
the backdrop to its next awakening....
Epilogue. Runcible woke --
David
Langford is an author and a gentleman. His newsletter,
Ansible,
is the essential SF-insider sourcebook of wit and incongruity. His
most recent books are The
SEX Column and other misprints, collecting ten years of
columns and essays for SFX magazine (and now shortlisted
for the 2006 Best Related Book Hugo); Different
Kinds of Darkness, a new short-story collection of
horror, SF, and fantasy; Up
Through an Empty House of Stars: Reviews and Essays 1980-2002,
100 pieces of Langfordian genre commentary; and He
Do the Time Police in Different Voices, a short-story
collection that brings together all of Dave's SF parodies and
pastiches. (This is a scary thought. Are you ready to laugh that
hard?)
Dave lives in Reading, England with his wife Hazel, 25,000
books, and a couple of dozen Hugo awards. He continues to add
books and Hugos.
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