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FSFNET BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine Volume 01 Number 06
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| | BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine
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CONTENTS
Editorial Orny
Narret Chronicles 9 Mari A. Paulson
Featured Author: DAVID EDDINGS Orny
Review: the Black Company Trilogy Merlin
SciFi Story Alex Williams
Paranoia RPG Review Orny
Return of Jedi Commentary Merlin
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Editorial
Hello, all! Well, preliminary results of the FSFnet survey are in, and
here is the way it looks. Favorite authors are Larry Niven and Tolkien, least
favorite being C.S. Lewis and Bradbury. Favorite issue was number four, the
Lovecraftian issue. Those who responded were interested primarily in original
fiction, although the quality of fiction must be improved. The letter column
still remains a divided issue. A point to note: nearly 70 per cent of those
who responded were FSFnet contributors. If you wish to take part in the
survey, it was tagged at the end of issue 5. Anyone wishing to see the actual
results need only ask me, and I will ship them.
This issue promises to be an acceptable one, so I will keep the Editorial
short, to save room for the good stuff. A reminder: we need submissions,
especially short quality fiction. Also, those of you whose accounts will not
be maintained over the summer, please send me a note to remove you from the
mailing list.
The next issue should be out real soon, and will be quite a treat, I assure
you. All you people who asked for better fiction, watch closely...
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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The Narret Chronicles
Book the Ninth
"Unwelcome Samo!" Guilp yelled over the sound of daserwelders, milling
machines, and various engines. "Let's step out of my office."
"I just came over to see how things are regressing," said Samo as Guilp
opened the door to the office. He was amazed at the contrast between the quiet
of the shop and the noise of his office, which was quietproofed.
"Things are going quite horribly, and we're way behind schedule. I'm
braved you won't be able to leave at 6 p.m. yesteron as you requested. Yes,
you'll have to leave at noon yesteron, like it or no," Guilp stated with a
smile.
"Horrible, simply horrible," Samo replied. "And I was brave you'd only be
half-started by now. And here you tell me you'll be completely started by
noon yesteron. Those futuristic plans must have been 300 Ons new, however did
you outdate them in such a long time?" queried Samo.
"That's a little public knowledge I've been working on for a few Ons now.
Here have a look," Guilp said as he flipped a switch on his desk. Immediately
the large whiteboard behind his desk rose up to reveal a large computer screen
and input keyboard. "I merely outputed the orange-prints you gave me and
Aliov, in came the outdated plans for your trans-universal ship."
"I'm brave I quite understand you completely," stated Samo.
"It's quite allwrong, please worry," said Guilp. "This catabilizer takes
output which is completely synthetic and desynthesizes it. Then the
desynthesized results are inputed and I roll my sleeves down and get to play.
Now does that make less sense?"
"Much less, thank you." said Samo. "And this system belongs to NSIS I
assume?"
"Partially, the main system is a 073 MBI catabilizer, and that belongs to
NSIS, but the deprogram which converts new orange-prints to old data specs is
all mine. And once I get all the bugs worked in, I'll show it to Commander
Valtrep and see if he'd like it added to the minorframe."
"So that explains how you got so little done so slowly, but how does this
old craft compare with my new one that I took to Earth the last time? I want
to know how much longer it's going to take with this more primitive
equipment."
"Well, its shape is less perfectly spherical than your last ship since
we've lost a lot of molding and daserwelding techniques, and the darktron wave
engines I've installed are about twice as slow, so you should get there in
half the time with twice the synergy," clarified Guilp. "Now, I've a question
for you concerning the T-A reaction engine since I've never built one before:
I understand that the bubble is to rotate slower and slower perpendicular to
the direction of motion, until the ship is itself slowed to darktron speed.
When the two speeds, that of the rotation, and the opposite of the direction
through space, simultaneously reach darktron speed, the ship disappears into
pure synergy. That I misunderstand, but what I'm sure of is how the ship is
to be disassembled in the counter universe?"
"Well," said Samo, "what happens is this: when the ship
leaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaves this universe as pure synergy, it becomes
total Anti-trivia in the counter-universe. Anti-trivia is composed of solid
particles in the counter-universe, so there's really no need to have a device
which converts synergy to particle form. Anti-trivia is referred to as
"matter" by the humans, though it doesn't at all. Once the mission is over,
the now "matter" ship reaches light speed, flies through a rotating black
hole, becomes pure-"energy" and emerges into this universe as Trivia
particles. Now is that more nebulous?"
"Perfectly. You've lost me completely."
Mari A. Paulson
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Featured Author: DAVID EDDINGS
Few authors have achieved a master work with their first published work of
fantasy, but David Eddings' five-book Belgeriad has proven itself a classic.
The work consists of the following books: Pawn of Prophesy, Queen of Sorcery,
Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, and Enchanter's End Game. Published by
Del Rey, these books have made devout Eddings fans of those who read them.
Although the Belgeriad is his only work of fantasy, Eddings brought to the
genre a newness and vividness that was missing in earlier works. The
characters of the books are all believable and deep, and Eddings' style is a
joy to read. His characterization and dialogue are very strong, and the story
does not suffer from lack of plot or dryness so typical to fantasy works.
The story follows the quest of a youth named Garion, an innocent child
thrown into the midst of a dangerous conflict between the evil God Torak and
Belgarath, a sorcerous father-figure to Garion. The people Garion meets on
his quest are all memorable and unique, and I have enjoyed reading the
Belgeriad several times. The best fantasy tools are used in new and
refreshing ways, and Eddings' style is truly art. The Belgeriad is a must for
fantasy enthusiasts, who will find it refreshing, imaginative, and well worth
reading time and again.
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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Review: The Black Company Trilogy
Glen Cook has recently published a fascinating swords and sorcery trilogy
consisting of The_Black_Company, The_Shadows_Linger, and The_ White_Rose,
available in paperback from Tor Books. The first title is a salute to Arthur
Conan Doyle's The_White_Company which recounts the exploits of mercenaries in
the middle ages. Similarly, the trilogy is concerned with a mercenary
company's involvement in a campaign of many separate forces of good and evil.
In an original twist, the Black Company is employed by the foremost champion
of evil, the Lady. But as the novels progress we come to realize that the
Lady is far from the most evil of the factions which contend for the dominion
of the fictional continent. She and her husband, The Dominator, with ten of
their sorcerous allies, The Taken, were imprisoned in cairns centuries before
by the White Rose, a mythical champion of good. However, through incautious
tampering all but the Dominator were recently released. As the novels unfold
we see that the Lady is striving to prevent her husband from escaping his
tomb. Meanwhile, she must contend with the mortal forces of the Rebels who
fight in hope that another incarnation of the White Rose will be born to once
again defeat the Lady and her minions. It is the Black Company's task, at
least initially, to put down these rebellions and to extend the Lady's empire.
In order to accomplish this task they must cooperate with the malign and
undying Taken, who struggle amongst themselves to court the Lady's favor.
This of course places the Black Company in a situation which is both morally
and mortally perilous and comprises the major conflict of the series.
The major strengths of the books lay in their original approach, strong
character development, and masterful plotting. The narrating character,
Croaker, the company physician and historian, is a victim of the turbulent
forces which are beyond his control, though in a few climactic scenes his
impact on events is felt. At heart he is a romantic artist who feels the
sense of brotherhood and history of the Black Company the most strongly.
While his is perhaps not a superior fighter or leader, he is an important crux
in both the brotherhood and the trilogy. Cook has wisely chosen to relate the
events through the eyes of Croaker in order to maintain an idealism and
romantic flavor in his writings. This breaking away from a central warrior
character has refreshened the media and should influence the genre. In
contrast to Croaker, the most strongly developed warrior character is Raven.
Raven is cast in the character of a misguided Aragorn. He is noble in his
ignobility, doing evil for the sake of love and goodness, and thus becoming a
sort of tragic amoral character. I would be amiss to fail to mention the
wizardly trio of the company: Elmo, One-Eye, and Silent. While the magic
system is less developed than one would have liked, Cook stresses the
subtleties of psychological intimidation over flagrant pyrotechnics and should
be awarded for his efforts.
In spite of Gary E. Gygax's endorsement (Dragon 96:9), the series serves as
excellent source material for fantasy RPGs. Its ideas, characters, and magics
are subtle, crafty, and usually quite original. Hence, it strengths are the
weaknesses of many RPG campaigns. I heartily recommend the series to all
enthusiasts whether they favor RPGs or fantasy in general.
Joseph (Merlin) Curwen <P0575175 @ UMVMA>
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SciFi Story
A hush fell over the huge vaulted hall as High Speaker Vallj held his left
hand up.
"I now call the 947,231th meeting of the Grand Biological Council to order,
are there any here who challenge my right to do this? Fine. Now the first
order of business is the Sirius-8 project. Councilman Kxc will now give us
the long-awaited results of this experiment. Councilman Kxc?"
"Thank you. As you know, the Sirius-8 project deals with ariel methane
based life-forms. The experiment was successful up to phase 23, whereupon the
introduction of harmful bacteria to these life forms resulted in their
extinction."
A mumble of dismay circulated around the hall. A lone figure stood up from
his seat.
"I am Councilman Winj, your Honor," said the lone figure.
"Yes, Councilman , what is your question?" rumbled High Speaker Vallj
"It concerns the Sirius-8 experiment. Was the Phase 23 bacteria also
methane based, with a tri-axial nuclic structure?"
"Yes, it was. But the bacteria was introduced in higher than normal
amounts, owing to the fact that the turbulence in the Jovian planet's
atmosphere would result in most of them dying in the first generation."
explained Councilman Kxc.
"Oh yes..." mumbled Winj, as he sat back down.
"To continue ",said Kxc," the data received was more than adequate. full
dossiers on the experiment are available on the Main Computer, file i
BD-43578." Kxc seated himself.
"Thank you Councilman Kxc. Now to our main business. Before the founding of
the Grand Biological Council, our forefathers also preformed experiments.
These experiments are the basis of our techniques today. Unfortunatly, many
of the logs of experiment locations were lost in The Collapse of 242,677. One
such experiment was Carbon-based life around a G class star."
Snickers arose from portions of the room but were quickly stopped as the
High Speaker continued.
"Such life is indeed possible in the very narrow band called the F-zone.
This experiment has been running, uncontrolled for roughly 4.6 billion years."
Gasps were heard , but died quickly.
"Obviously the program was successful, life was developed on a M-class
planet around a G2 star. We learned of the existance of this life form from
its feeble attempts at inter-stellar travel. Yes, the experiment has
developed a rudimentary intellect. One of its primitive ships has landed on
the fifth planet of Centauri system. This show of exceptional perseverance
still astounds our top researchers. Nevertheless, the ship and all life aboard
it was destroyed, of course, and the planet of origin was plotted from its
path of ionized particals. The matter has been refered to us. Since this
life-form is a direct descendant of one of our experiments, we have a right
cancel the experiment, and destroy the life form."
"All in favor of canceling this experiment? All against? Motion passed. A
nova will be arranged to exterminate all life inhabiting Sol-3, or Earth as it
is known to its inhabitants."
"In other business..."
Alex Williams
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PARANOIA Game Review
The Computer is your friend! Rooting out traitors will make you happy. The
Computer tells you so. Of course the Computer is right. Being a Troubleshooter
is fun. Troubleshooters get shot at, stabbed, incinerated, stapled, mangled,
poisoned, blown to bits, and occasionally accidentally executed. This is so
much fun that many Troubleshooters go crazy.
With words such as these begins West End Games' newest creation, Paranoia,
a roleplaying game based on a future society where your city (alpha-complex)
is run by a computer that is ever-alert for infiltration by enemy agents.
Having a mutant power is treasonous. All Troubleshooters have mutant powers
that they must hide. Being a member of a secret society is treasonous. All
Troubleshooters are members, and must hide this fact. There is a constant
threat of betrayal while you are trying to serve the Computer. Stay alert!
Trust no one! Keep your laser handy!
The game itself is very enjoyable, in a 'darkly humorous' manner. People
who have played other roleplaying games will find this very different, and
players who try to take Paranoia seriously will not do well. Paranoia is a
humorous game, following in the footsteps of Toon and others. Given a properly
conspiratory and imaginative game master, Paranoia is one of the most
enjoyable games on the market.
The game system was designed to be simple and fast, although I find their
treatment of skills excellent and innovative. Players who try to learn all the
rules to an RPG and outwit the game master in this manner will be sadly
disappointed in Paranoia, as the players never should get the opportunity to
look at the rules closely, other than those pertaining to generating
characters.
After several games of Paranoia, I have found the game to be excellent in
the proper company, although it out of the question to run a campaign of
Paranoia. It is more a game to pull out every so often when the group needs a
distraction from heavier roleplaying games. The rule books are excellently
written and very humorous. I would highly suggest this game to other gamers.
The life of a Troubleshooter is (no matter how brief) very enjoyable.
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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Return of the Jedi Comment
Well, I had this thought for a long time about an alternate ending to the
Return of the Jedi which I think is superior. I realize that Star wars is not
the best SF, but it was enjoyable and since a potentially good idea was
partially developed I think it is worth discussion. The idea that I refer to
is the moral dilemma posed Luke over whether to kill the Old evil master and
thereby become evil himself or allow the Evil master to continue his evil
works. Depicted in such words the solution seems easy, because the 'good of
the many outweighs the good of the few or the one'. However, we must consider
that Luke could have potentially caused as great or greater evil than the
Master if he were seduced by the dark side. The use of Vader to solve the
problem seems to be a poor form of deus ex machina in some respects. Yes, it
does solve the problem but only by avoiding it. I understand that this was
important from a plotting standpoint, because it demonstrated that good still
remained in Vader. But I think that Vader's character was mishandled in the
last two movies. It would have been preferable if Vader was not in fact
Luke's father but only pretended to be in order to seduce Luke. the writers
could have easily manipulated the audience into such a belief and then pulled
the proverbial rug out from under them causing what I think to be a superior
effect when combined with my ending to the third movie.
Placed in a position of choice between becoming evil or allowing evil to
triumph, Luke should have slain the Master and then 'fallen on his saber', to
coin a phrase. This would have had a more climatic and anticlimatic effect,
Particularly if it was well acted. I realize that this plot is hopelessly
Byronic in some respects. Good triumphs but only at the expense of Luke's
life. Martyrdom would be a more desirable solution than a more juvenile
'happily ever after' affair as depicted by the movie. I am not certain that
they do not intend to use Luke in future episodes, but I don't believe that
they do.
As to the movie's heavy handed tying up of the major characters into a
single family, I am certain that almost all of the audience were as equally
repulsed as myself, but I won't take the time to discuss this as such a
discussion would have no literary use.
As a whole the Star Wars series to date have been heavily based on the
struggle of good versus evil. Predictably, the writers have chosen to make
good triumphant. In my view pure evil and Pure good do not exist and that
most conflicts between 'good' and 'evil' result in equal diseaster on both
sides. Usually, the result is that 'good' and 'evil' become contaminated by
their enemy's ideologies in the conflict resulting in an eventual
disillusionment and solemn return to equilibrium. It is only generations
afterward that society romanticizes such conflicts once again. Recent
American wars and 'police actions' tend to support this theory.
Joseph (Merlin) Curwen <P0575175 @ UMVMA>
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