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OtherRealms Issue 04
OtherRealms
A Fanzine for the Non-Fan
"Where FIJAGH Becomes a Way of Life"
Volume 1, Number 4
May, 1986
Table of Contents
Editorial: Callahan's Barred?
by Chuq Von Rospach
Review: Damiano
by Dave Berry
Review: Damiano's Lute
by Dave Berry
Awards: 1986 Hugo Nominations
Translation Review: Les Chroniques de Thomas l'Incredule
by George Walker
An Appreciation of Judy-Lynn del Rey (1943-1986)
by Chuq Von Rospach
Review: Gateway
by Dave Berry
Review: Beyond the Blue Event Horizon
by Dave Berry
Readers Survey: The Monthly Question to Our Readers
Pico Reviews
by Our Readers
Letters to OtherRealms
by Our Readers
Editorial: Callahan's Barred?
by
Chuq Von Rospach
Editor of OtherRealms
Copyright 1986 by Chuq Von Rospach
[This editorial contains discussions of plot elements of the
story "The Mick of Time" by Spider Robinson in the May, 1986
Analog. Readers who don't like reading material that spoils
things that they haven't read yet might want to this article]
Spider Robinson has written his last Callahan's Bar story. Spider
broke into the SF field in 1974 with "The Guy with the Eyes" and
quickly established himself as one of the strongest people oriented
writers in the genre. Over the last 12 years, Callahan's Bar has
generated two books ("Callahan's Crosstime Saloon" and "Time Traveler's
Pay Cash"), endless numbers of terrible puns, and a legion of diehard fans.
Many series lose their edge over the years, and I think Callahan's is
no exception -- time between stories grow, and many of the plots over
the last few years seem to be missing much of the freshness and
intensity of the early days. Both are warning signs of impending
series senility, and a good author heeds them and goes on.
So why am I so blasted mad at Spider? Not because he ended the series,
but because of the way he ended it. "The Mick of Time" in the May,
1986 issue of Analog is an extremely unsatisfying story. Robinson gets
into some last minute psychiatric soul searching that, at least for me,
invalidates the entire series. Finally, he really didn't END the
series at all. Like Sherlock Holmes at Reichenbach Falls, it only
awaits the whim of the author and the fell swoop of a convenient safety
net to bring it back to the land of the living. At the last moment,
when Robinson could have let go of his baby and let it die a natural
death, he wimps out, leaving himself open to the obligatory sequels.
Maybe I just expect too much from Robinson. Anyone who has listened to
me rave for a while knows that I'm a serious fan of his work. For once
I feel I've been let down.
Here are some points on why I think this story fails. Robinson tried
to bring back all of his old characters for the finale. All well and
good, but most of them get cameo appearances and few of the cameos move
the story forward, leaving the tale bloated and confused.
There is one significant technical problem. Early in the story, Mickey
Finn announces that he has successfully disabled the entire nuclear
capability of all the nations of the world. When it is discovered his
alien master is approaching, he is put to sleep to keep him from
answering his programming. A good portion of the crisis being built is
caused by the alien approach and the inability to use nuclear weapons,
since with Mickey asleep there is no way to re- enable them. At the
crisis point, though, a convenient small nuclear device is exploded,
destroying the alien and saving humanity. Never mind how they got that
device there; stranger things have happened at Callahan's. How did they
get the disabled device to explode? I've read the story a number of
times, and I can come to only two possible conclusions: either Mickey
Finn is lying or Spider simply missed a major hole in his plot. The
improbable has happened regularly at Callahan's, but this is the first
time the impossible has -- through an act of God on the authors part,
as far as I can tell.
Which brings me to the wimp out. Spider, as part of destroying the
alien, also takes Callahan's Bar with it. Using a tactical nuclear
device to destroy the symbol of the series is a strong statement on the
part of the author, and I can't see him doing something like that
accidentally. Callahan and family are unmasked (surprise! surprise!)
as time travelling aliens here to keep earth nice and happy.
Callahan's is reduced to component atoms, and Mike and kin go riding
off into the sunset. End of story? No, the Gang talk about going off
and opening up their own version of Callahan's. Robinson should have
either killed off the story or left it living -- instead its in limbo,
where he can write about it if it strikes him to but he isn't committed
to the series. This leaves those of us who look forward to these
stories stuck in limbo, too, and I resent that.
It's my feeling that the death of the series was premature. True, it
had started to pale out somewhat the last few years, but in the next to
last story (The Blacksmith's Tale" Analog, December 1985) we meet
Callahan's daughter and get the first glimmer of a new dimension to his
personality -- Papa Mike has a wife and kid. Who cares if the wife
runs the best brothel in the county; should that really surprise you?
All of this I could have accepted but Robinson plays a nasty trick on
Jake, the narrator, that I simply cannot forgive. Jake first came to
Callahan's after a car accident killed his wife and child. The
accident was caused by the failure of the brakes he had just worked on,
and Jake was carrying a major load of guilt for surviving the crash.
Many of the stories about the bar have been about Jake learning to deal
with and put behind this guilt; learning to accept himself again and
restart his life. His problems, and the struggles made to deal with
them, were one of the things that held the stories together; the thing
that made all of the stories real.
And at the end of this story, Robinson tells all of us that this guilt,
the gut-wrenching pain and sorrow we all lived through with Jake over
the years, all of it, was a sham. He is told that the accident wasn't
his fault, that he can forget all about it and become a normal human
being again, and please stop worrying about it. And, by the way, we
knew this years ago but couldn't tell you because you were important to
the destruction of this alien.
Callahan's just broke the first law of Callahan. No person has ever
walked into Callahan's and walked out unhealed if it was within their
power. Except Jake, whom they could have healed and didn't -because
they needed him for something else. He was used, he was played with,
and they stole 12 years from his life. No matter that the fate of the
Earth was in the balance; that never stopped Callahan before (starting
with the first story, when the 'easy' answer would have been to simply
kill Mickey Finn). That makes Callahan a sham, and all he stood for a
sham, and it leaves a musty taste in my mouth about the whole series.
If Mike Callahan had REALLY meant what the series said he meant, they
would have fixed up Jake years ago and still found a way to save the Earth.
Jake was raped, and the series and readers got taken along for a ride.
Those few final paragraphs where Robinson tries to absolve Jake
backfires. What they really do is show Callahan as no better than
anyone else, and they retroactively remove most of the validity of the
series in its entirety. With this one story, Spider has made me lose a
lot of respect for ALL of Callahan's bar. It was a great series -- I
felt a lot reading the stories, it helped me grow and it taught me a
lot about people. Now, a lot of the memories are tarnished.
That's why I'm mad.
Review: Damiano
by R. A. MacAvoy
Bantam, 1985, 243 pp.
Reviewed by Dave Berry
mcvax!cstvax.ed.ac.uk!db
Copyright 1986 by Dave Berry
Mary Whitehouse and her ilk would like all children to experience the
Victorian ideal of childhood innocence (of course, this never applied
to Victorian working class children, who had to work like everyone
else). Having experienced such a childhood, and having been greatly
harmed by it, I think this is a bad idea.
However, it does have some compensations. Like being able to be made
blissfully happy reading a book of innocence and warmth like this one.
It's not that the author is innocent - that would make unbearable
writing - but the main character is. MacAvoy writes like Orson Scott
Card (especially his "Songmaster") in that she is able to create a
feeling of 'rightness', of everything being right with the world,
despite its evident shittyness. It's interesting that both authors use
music as an image for conveying that 'rightness'.
I suspect that on re-reading Damiano I will find it naive, unrealistic
and irrelevant. However, there are some times when an escape to a
simple world, where characters can overcome adversity - not to be
triumphant, but to be happy - is an escape well worth taking.
The story is set in Italy during the renaissance. Damiano is a witch,
befriended by the archangel Raphael and a talking dog, out to set his
city free from a tyrant. He wishes to use his powers only for good,
but finds that impossible, and ends up being tempted by the devil
himself. So the story becomes a morality play, but an interesting
one. Some of the encounters and characters are quite novel; others,
such as being saved from an arrow by a book under one's jacket are old
ones, strangely out of place.
The link I suggested with childhood is strengthened by Damiano's
virginity, despite his 23 years. This is ostensibly because he's a
witch, though towards the end of the book it seems as if sex wouldn't
actually affect his magic. Childhood is also suggested by the strong
mother image of Raphael, who is beautiful, a teacher, and a comfort to
Damiano. Overall: wonderful if you like simplicity and magical
fantasy. If not, you'll probably hate it. [*****]
Review: Damiano's Lute
by R. A. MacAvoy
Bantam, 1985, 243 pp.
Reviewed by Dave Berry
mcvax!cstvax.ed.ac.uk!db
Copyright 1986 by Dave Berry
This is a sequel to Damiano. In fact it's billed as no. 2 of a
trilogy. Unfortunately, 'sequel' comes closer.
I regard a trilogy as a three volume story, or three independent
stories linked by character, setting or theme. Either way, it has some
internal consistency. A sequel is a follow-up, an afterthought; often
a means of cashing in on an earlier success. Sequels tend to be pale
imitations of their originals, a continuation of the story and
characters with no intrinsic merit.
'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The 1st Chronicles of Thomas Covenant' are
examples of trilogies under this definition; the 'Heechee trilogy' and
'The 2nd Chronicles of Thomas Covenant' are examples of sequels.
The third book of MacAvoy's 'trilogy' looks like being even more of a
sequel, since it features the black dragon from her first novel, 'Tea
with the black dragon'. It also looks like she's running out of ideas.
Briefly, Damiano's Lute continues the story of Damiano as he wanders
around Provence, unhappy, finding solace only in his music. For want
of a plot, Damiano and his companion, Gaspare, are searching for
Gaspare's sister. They get mixed up in the plague and in papal politics,
and Damiano has a chance to help someone for a change. A romance looms
with Sara, another witch from the first book, and this predictably occurs.
The ending isn't so predictable, but it isn't very good either.
What is really annoying about this book is that Damiano seemed to
finish the first book content, but the second book finds him unhappy,
and still wanting to do something Good, with a capital G. Ordinary
life is still not good enough for him. This clashes with the first
book, and with the mood of 'Tea with the Black Dragon' too.
Not worth the effort. [**]
1986 Hugo Award Nominations
(borrowed from the CompuServe Sci-Fi SIG)
[editor's comments are in brackets]
Best Novel
Blood Music, Greg Bear
The Postman, David Brin
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Cuckoo's Egg, C. J. Cherryh
Footfall, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
[I am proven out! Footfall IS a good book. I am not alone! Not good
enough to win, however. A very good field this year, but my vote goes
to "Blood Music", with runner-up to Ender's Game]
Best Novella
The Scapegoat, C. J. Cherryh
Green Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
Sailing to Byzantium, Robert Silverberg
The Only Neat Thing To Do, James Tiptree, Jr.
24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai, Roger Zelazny
[Scapegoat and Green Mars are very good works. 24 Views is horribly
overrated in my view, and the other two I didn't read or they didn't
leave a vestigal memory. I'm going with "Green Mars"]
Best Novelette
A Gift from the Graylanders, Michael Bishop
The Fringe, Orson Scott Card
Palladin of the Lost Hour, Harlan Ellison
Portraits of His Children, George R. R. Martin
Dogfight, Michael Swanwick and William Gibson
[A reasonably good set of stories, with the nod to Bishop]
Best Non-Fiction
The Pale Shadow of Science, Brian Aldiss
Benchmarks: Galaxy Bookshelf, Algis Budrys
The John W. Campbell Letters, Vol 1, Perry Chapdelain _et al_ eds.
An Edge in My Voice, Harlan Ellison
Science Made Stupid, Tom Weller
Faces of Fear: Encounters with the Creators of Modern Horror,
Douglas E. Winter
[Edge in my Voice is a killer book, and normally would have gotten my
vote hands down. Science Made Stupid, though, runs away with my vote,
will run away with the award, and will run away with your sanity when
you read it. If you haven't, you should. I'm just starting to read
the Campbell Letters, but it looks like a critical work for those
interested in the history of SF]
Best Semi-Pro Magazine
Fantasy Review, Robert Collins, Ed.
Interzone, Dunlsey & Pringle, Eds.
Locus, Charles N. Brown, Ed.
SF Chronicle, Andrew Porter, Ed.
SF Review, Richard E., Geis, Ed.
[Locus will win, Porter will bitch, and Geis will deserve it. So what
else is new? (This is not a put down of Locus, but Brown is going to
need to build a new wing for awards one of these days...]
Best Dramatic Presentation
Back to the Future
Brazil
Cocoon
Enemy Mine
Ladyhawke
[I'm not a big media person, but I'll bet that Brazil wins, since it
seems to appeal to the serious SFner while BttF would appeal to the
mass movie goer. Enemy Mine and Ladyhawke don't deserve nominations.
They don't deserve to be on the film program]
Best Professional Editor
Terry Carr
Judy-Lynn del Rey
Edward L. Ferman
Shawna McCarthy
Stanley Schmidt
[Judy-Lynn wins. The nomination and award are posthumous, unfortunately,
and somewhat out of sympathy for the loss, but deserving none the
less. Carr and McCarthy are popular nominations, but neither has done
anything to really deserve it. Schmidt probably shouldn't be there,
either. My choice would have been George Schithers for keeping Amazing
alive this long, but he got canned, too (I thought it was a tradition
to give awards to people who got fired for doing a good job...)]
Best Professional Artist
Frank Kelly Freas
Don Maitz
Rowena Morrill
Barclay Shaw
Michael Whelan
[No real preference, except that Whelan always leaves me cold for
some reason. Technically he's good, but his paintings are too static.]
Best Fanzine
Anvil (Charlotte Proctor)
GCFCG Newsletter (Bobby Gear)
(Costmers Guild Newsletter)
Holier Than Thou (Marty & Robbie Cantor)
Lan's Lantern (George Laskowski)
Universal Translator (Susan Bridges)
Best Fan Writer
Don D'Amassa
Richard E. Geis
Mike Glyer
Arthur Hlavaty
Dave Langford
Patrick Neilsen-Hayden
Best Fan Artist
Brad Foster
Steven Fox
Joan Hanke-Woods
William Rotsler
Stu Shiffman
John W. Campbell Award
(* == second year of eligibility)
Karen Joy Fowler
Guy Gavriel Kay *
Carl Sagan
Melissa Scott *
Tad Williams
David Zindell
[Carl Sagan. Are they serious? Any you thought my liking Footfall was
crocked? That alone deserves a No Award vote, but both Fowler and
Williams have written stuff that has caught my eye. I think I leave
towards Fowler for now]
Review: Les Chroniques de Thomas l'Incredule
(really Lord Foul's Bane)
by Stephen R. Donaldson
translated from American to French by Iawa Tate
88FF, Flamme, ISBN2-277-02113-X
Reviewed by George Walker
tektronix!tekig4!georgew
Copyright 1986 by George Walker
This isn't a book review, it's a translation review. I'm reviewing it
not because I expect OtherRealms readers to go out and buy it, but
because this is a classic example of a bad translation. Often when we
read a book originally written in another language, we take for granted
that we're reading the "same thing" as the original. This isn't
necessarily so. In this case, French readers must be baffled by
Donaldson's popularity over here.
I read "Lord Foul's Bane" in 1977, when it first came out. The
translation didn't come out until eight years later, so French
publishers weren't exactly falling over each other trying to get the
book out. The publisher has given the title of the entire series to
the first book, a deceptive tactic that caught me years ago, when I
bought the French edition of Blish's "Cities in Flight" and found I
still had to buy three more books.
The cover art on this edition is mediocre, and the blurb misleading,
but that's common over here too, so I can't complain. On opening the
book, the first things that bothered me were some names on the map, and
the fact that this text is 25% shorter than the original.
Let me provide some examples of names: "Revelstone" (where the lords
hang out) becomes "The Stone that Laughs." "Foul's Creche" (where the
foe hangs out) becomes "Gehenna" (a biblical place, often a synonym for
Hell). The first name provides a somewhat literal translation of one of
Mr. Donaldson's made-up words, but it personifies the place in a way
that I find jarring. "Gehenna" is adequate; the meaning is different,
but it fits Donaldson's style better than the literal "Foul's Manger"
would have. Some people's names in the book are odd, too. "Saltheart
Foamfollower" becomes (roughly) "Saltheart the Pirate". That simply
doesn't fit the character.
Now, what happened to that 25%? Some critics say Donaldson is too
verbose, so maybe this was an improvement? Wrong. This is not a
"Reader's Digest" condensation, where non-critical paragraphs and
chapters are excised, but a condensation by paraphrasing. All the plot
is there, but the style is gone. Sentences and paragraphs that were
separate in the original have been run together, spoiling the dramatic
effect. Tense dialogue becomes monotonously dull. There are a number
of inconsistencies that indicate the translator didn't fully understand
the original.
When I was in junior high school, my Latin teacher let me translate
just like Iawa Tate. But this isn't junior high, it's a multi-million
dollar business with no room for lazy translators. As a translation, I
rate this a [*].
Judy-Lynn (Benjamin) del Rey
(1943-1986)
An appreciation by
Chuq Von Rospach
Editor of OtherRealms
Judy-Lynn del Rey, 43, died February 20, 1986 at Bellevue Hospital in
New York City. On October 16, 1985, she suffered a brain hemorrhage
and fell into a coma. She never regained consciousness.
Judy-Lynn joined the staff of Galaxy magazine in 1965 under editor Fred
Pohl. She became associate editor in 1966, managing editor in 1969 and
went to work for Betty Ballantine in 1973. When the Ballantines left
the line in 1974, she hired her husband, Lester, as Fantasy editor and
took over full responsibility for Ballantine Books.
I never met Judy. I now grieve the fact that I never will. She
single-handedly transformed Science Fiction from a second rate ghetto
in the publishing world to a major player on the lists of booksellers
nationwide. She did so quietly, so quietly that she never won a major
award, never was even nominated for a Hugo, was never a Guest of Honor
at a Worldcon. And now she's gone.
Judy published the first fantasy book to make the New York Times
Bestseller list -- "The Sword of Shannara" by Terry Brooks. If a
Science Fiction book hit that list, chances are it was one of hers,
either under the Ballantine label or her own Del Rey booklist. Pulling
books at random from my library makes me realize just how important her
work was for the field; from Arthur C. Clarke ("Rendevous with Rama",
"2010") and Robert A. Heinlein ("Friday", "Job: A Comedy of Justice")
to Isaac Asimov ("Robots of Dawn") and Larry Niven ("Footfall", "The
Integral Trees" and all the Known Space series). She has published
many of the most successful series in Science Fiction: the Pern books
by Anne McCaffrey; the Pliestocene Exile series by Julian May; the
Belgariad by David Eddings and the Sector General series by James
White. She published "Dragon's Egg" by Robert Forward, the book that
ushered in the recent resurgence in "Hard" SF. She published Hugo and
Nebula winner "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman, "Starburst" by Fred
Pohl, "The Shockwave Rider" by John Brunner.
Judy was also instrumental in making sure that the classics stayed in
print. Important works in the genre such as "A Case of Conscience" by
James Blish or the Sub-Sea Academy works by Pohl and Jack Williamson.
She brought together George Smith's "Venus Equilateral" works from
Astounding in the 1940's with "The Complete Venus Equilateral." Last,
and far from least, she committed herself to bringing back into print
all of the works of OZ with the original illustrations -- thereby
reviving a classic wasting away on the bookshelves of nowhere and
bringing it to the grasp of new generations.
All the appreciations won't correct the fact that we never got around
to telling her all of this to her face. What she did, she did so well
that everybody took it for granted. It wasn't until our words were
beyond her hearing that her importance to the field was felt. I only
wish she COULD hear it, and I wish I'd said it sooner. No single person,
including the almost deified John Campbell, has done more for the field.
I hope that someone remembers to set her a place at the Worldcon
banquet this year, for she will be with us. I hope that someone
decides to name an award after her, to help us better remember her
memory. I hope most of all that celebrate her memories and
accomplishments as they should have been celebrated long ago.
She was taken from us long before her time. I grieve for her husband,
Lester, and her family -- Dr. Zachary Benjamin, her father; her brother
Leonard Benjamin; her sister Randi Benjamin, and all of her friends and
loved ones. I also grieve for Science Fiction, and for all of the
friends and loved ones (like myself) she hadn't met yet.
Review: Gateway
by Fred Pohl
Orbit (MacDonald & co.), 1985 (copyright 1976),
313pp, 2.50 pounds.
Reviewed by Dave Berry
mcvax!cstvax.ed.ac.uk!db
Copyright 1986 by Dave Berry
This book approaches excellence, but doesn't quite make it. The story
is of one Robinette Broadhead, ex-explorer and psychiatric patient.
The background, both of the book and its main character, is an
over-populated world with most people struggling to produce enough to
survive. Exploration of other planets has just started, and traces of
alien life has been discovered on Venus. This has led to the
discovery of Gateway.
Gateway is so-called because it is humanity's gateway to the stars, and
a person's gateway to riches, or death. It is an asteroid used by the
aliens (called Heechee) as a staging post for their interstellar
ships. There are lots of ships. Trouble is, no-one knows how to
control where they end up. So gateway pilots try them more or less at
random. Some never come back. Some come back dead. Some come back
with new Heechee artifacts - which make a lot of money.
Broadhead was successful. But somewhere along the line he fucked up
his head - something he did gave him a massive guilt complex, and he
won't admit what it is. The storyline mixes his analysis by a computer
psychiatrist with flashbacks of his life on Gateway; his romances (he
only seems to relate to women), his procrastination, his fears. This
creates a great deal of tension.
Overall the psychoanalysis is presented well, particularly the way
Broadhead evades the point (and wilfully misunderstands the
psychiatrist into the bargain). One good thing is that the resolution
of his condition is not final. Pohl doesn't fall for the liberal myth
of "once it's talked about, you'll be alright". Broadhead knows he
has more work to do.
There are two major flaws to the book.
1) At some time Broadhead obtains a password that allows him to see the
computer's records of OTHER patients, but to have no other power.
This is first used to give him some feeling of control, and also when
he finally faces the subject of his guilt.
My objection is that such a password would never exist. If it did, his
knowledge of its existence would make him wonder who could see HIM;
given his general paranoia this would not be conducive to the trust
needed in this sort of therapy. It is not necessary to the plot; any
minor password could have allowed him a measure of control, and the
final resolution doesn't need a technological gimmick. What is of
interest (& it IS interesting) is what goes on in his head.
2) At one point Broadhead hits his girlfriend. He believes this to be
a natural reaction. This is understandable given his character (he
isn't very pleasant), but the book doesn't undermine this view in any
way. In fact she comes back to him; given that she is economically
independent this seems highly unlikely. It is conceivable, but it
requires more explanation than is given. Her return also serves to
make an interesting change of plot into a bit of a gimmick.
There are also a couple of minor points:
1) As the book approaches its climax Broadhead is forced to recognize
his own bisexuality. This is most encouraging (it's nice when people
recognize our existence). Broadhead contrives some far-fetched excuse
to explain it: When he was young, his mother never so much as held him,
except when he was ill and she had to take his temperature by sticking
a thermometer up his bum! From this, Broadhead finds buggery a sign
of affection, and assumes this explains his attraction to men! I found
it quite believable that Broadhead would accept this, since he isn't
exactly in touch with most of his emotions. Unfortunately it isn't
clear whether POHL realizes it is an excuse. Since this is not the
major thrust of the analysis, it's left hanging, which is a pity.
Some indication that Pohl knew what he was talking about would have
made this more interesting.
2) The last line of the book has the computer envying Broadhead's flesh
& blood life. This could have been calculated analysis. On the other
hand, it could be kitsch.
Overall, probably worth reading. [***+]
Review: Beyond the Blue Event Horizon
by Fred Pohl
Orbit (MacDonald & co.), 1985 (copyright 1985),
327 pp, 2.50 pounds.
Reviewed by Dave Berry
mcvax!cstvax.ed.ac.uk!db
Copyright 1986 by Dave Berry
This is billed as the second in the "Heechee" trilogy, and a sequel to
"Gateway". It is set in the same universe, and features the same main
character, Robinette Broadhead, but I can't think of it as a sequel.
It continues the exploring exploits, but it doesn't continue the same
themes.
The focus is a Heechee "food factory" in the Oorf cloud. One boy
survives on the factory from an earlier exploratory mission, hiding
from it's occupants and talking to the computer-recorded explorers.
Four more explorers arrive. The previous explorers have never been able
to get their Heechee designed craft to return, so the newcomers use
more traditional rockets. The newcomers are relations; this is
apparently because families are more compatible on long space journeys
(not if they're like mine, they aren't). Actually it's a plot device
to get a young & horny girl arriving on the factory to meet the young &
horny boy.
The other travellers are husband, wife & father, the latter an elderly
German gentleman with hope of fame & fortune before his heart gives
out. He also remembers his days in the Hitler Youth with fondness (is
this a caricature I see before me?).
While they're all enjoying themselves out there, Robinette is coping
with law suits of various kinds back on Earth. It is he who arranged
the expedition, using his wealth from book 1. He is now happily
married, except that he wonders occasionally if his interest in finding
new Heechee technology isn't really a hope to rescue his long-lost
love, stuck beyond the blue event horizon of a black hole. (This
sounds distinctly fishy physics to me, but I'm not an expert).
This hang-up is handled about as subtly as Hiroshima was pacified.
The book reaches its low point when Robinette's wife realizes his
worries, and tells him that when he rescues Klara, saying he'd give his
life for her (Klara), she (Klara) will no doubt believe him. I can't
imagine anyone saying that to their spouse, given that their relation
is a) monogamous & b) stable; I also can't imagine that Klara would
believe such an idiotic statement, given that he has left her to die
there in the first place!
The adventure story is quite fun, with a nice twist at the end (makes a
change from all the twists at the end people seem to put in because
they think they have to) but the characterization is pathetic. The
husband on the expedition is written in the first person for the first
chapter, and the third person once Robinette appears and takes over
that privilege! Mind you, it's an understandable mix-up, since their
characters are pretty much the same.
The poor characterisation in this book leads me to believe that the
complaints I have with "Gateway" are failings of the author rather than
intentional but poorly explained facets to the characterisation there.
Overall: not very good. [**]
Reader's Survey for May, 1986
A change of pace this month. I'm starting to think about where
OtherRealms ought to go over the next few months, and I thought I'd get
some feedback on the ideas I'm playing with. Feel free to write in
your comments -- I plan to excerpt these answers rather than simply
total them, and I'm interested in your thoughts.
1) Should OtherRealms publish fiction?
2) If so, what percentage of the magazine should be used for fiction?
3)Assuming that OtherRealms stays about the same size, what parts of
OtherRealms would you remove to make way for fiction?
4) Would there be interest in a second magazine (say, quarterly or
something like that) for fiction as opposed to putting it in OtherRealms?
5) Should the Pico Reviews be split out into a separate magazine to
make more room for other stuff? Or should Pico Reviews be cut back? Or
should I leave them alone?
6) What about OtherRealms on paper? Would you be interested in
subscribing to a version of OtherRealms that comes through traditional
mail? (I would not be replacing electronic OtherRealms, but putting
out a (probably) quarterly beast with some stuff from the Electronic
version and some new stuff. This would give me a chance to start
publishing SF/Fantasy Art, among other things). If so, how much an
issue would you be willing to pay?
7) Anyone interested in an OtherRealms T-Shirt? If so, how much are you
willing to pay? (the latter is not to set price, by the way, but to see
if the cost of putting one together would be low enough to break even on)
Please feel free to drop your comments on any or all of these
questions, or questions that you think I forgot to ask about where to
take OtherRealms.
Finally, please drop me a note with what you think was best in this
issue of OtherRealms, and what you thought was worst. The author with
the most positive votes will get a hearty hurrah in the next issue in
lieu of anything more useful to give them.
* * *
Reader's Survey Report for April
Last month I asked for the works you would use to teach an introductory
Fantasy class. I only got six responses, which isn't completely
surprising considering fewer people seem to read Fantasy than SF.
[Rhetorical question: What is Fantasy, and how do you tell? Rhetorical
question 2: Is Julian May's Pleistocene Exile series SF or Fantasy?
Why? Think about your answers, and maybe write into the Lettercol with them]
Author Title Votes
====== ===== =====
Anderson Broken Sword 1
Midsummer's Nights Tempest 1
Three Hearts and Three Lions 1
Beagle Last Unicorn, The 1
Bellairs Face in the Frost, The 1
Boyer Fantastic Imagination I 1
Fantastic Imagination II 1
Phoenix Tree 1
Bradley Mists of Avalon, The 1
Brust To Reign in Hell 1
Carroll Alice in Wonderland 2
Alice through the looking glass 1
Cerf Famous ghost Stories 1
Dante Inferno 1
Davidson Peregine Primos 1
de Camp & Pratt Compleat Enchanter, the 1
Dinensen Winter's Tales 1
Eddison Worm Ouroboros, the 1
Gallico Man who was magic, The 1
LeGuin Wizard of Earthsea, A 1
Lewis Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The 1
Lord Dunsany King of Elfland's Daughter, The 1
MacDonald Princess and the Goblin, The 1
Mallory Le Morte d' Arthur 1
Marquez One Hundred Years of Solitude 1
McCaffrey Dragonsong 1
Morris Well at the World's End 1
National Lampoon Bored of the Rings 1
Niven/Pournelle Inferno 1
Rabkin Fantastic in Literature, The 1
Shakespeare Tempest 1
Shelley Frankenstein 2
Stewart Crystal Cave 1
Tolkien Hobbit, The 2
Lord of the rings 3
White Sword in the Stone 1
Zelazny Nine Princes in Amber 1
Editorial Observations: I'm surprised at the dearth of horror here,
since horror is simply an offshoot of Fantasy. If I were putting
together the list, I would consider including "Dracula" by Bram Stoker,
for instance. Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"
would be another choice. If I had space, I'd also include some Poe, a
taste of Lovecraft, and Randall Garrett's "Murder and Magic" (astute
readers of OtherRealms will realize this also made my SF list, but I
think it reads just as well as a Fantasy as SF, so why not?).]
OtherRealms Pico Reviews for May, 1986
[+++ denotes first book by an author]
DEATHBIRD STORIES by Harlan Ellison [*****]
Bluejay books (SFBC edition) 295 pages
The best of the best of Ellison. This book is a book that cannot be
reviewed. It must be read to be appreciated. Go buy it, go read it.
-- chuq von rospach
THE DRAWING OF THE DARK by Tim Powers [*****]
Del Rey (Ballantine), 1979, 328pp, 2.50 dollars.
A mixture of myths, some fine humor; a man who alone can save the
west, but doesn't want to. Reasonably good characterisation, weakening
only near the end. Fine pacing, and the battle of Ragnarok too.
Bloody good fun.
-- Dave Berry
<mcvax!cstvax.ed.ac.uk!db
THE ELEMENTS OF EDITING: A MODERN GUIDE FOR EDITORS
AND JOURNALISTS by Arthur Plotnik [****]
Collier Books, $4.95, 156 pages with index
Everything you ever wanted to know about putting a magazine together,
but didn't know enough to ask. Lots of practical help for prospective
writers, authors, and people silly enough to try to put out fanzines.
If you're serious about writing, read this.
-- chuq von rospach
THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by William Strunk Jr and E.B. White [*****]
MacMillan, $2.95, 92 pages with index
Short, sweet, the one book every author must own. A concise and
correct guide to the vagaries of the English language, as close to a
Bible as a writer will ever find.
-- chuq von rospach
ENDER'S GAME, by Orson Scott Card [***]
1985, Tor, $3.50
Though I distrust the quality of story expansions, I bought this book
on the strength of its novelette beginnings [published in the August
1977 Analog]. The book maintains the high quality I remember. A
unique premise -- mankind locked in a deadly war with a deadly
insectoid race that refuses to communicate at all, let alone
negotiate. Desperate, the world wide government has set up a training
program for future military commanders -- a school of specially
selected children, who sleep, eat and breathe tactics. Game follows
one such youngster, nicknamed Ender. Very thought provoking.
--Russ Jernigan
oliveb!olivej!barb
+++FLIGHT TO THLASSA MEY, by Dennis McCarty [**]
Del Rey, $2.95
FLIGHT is the first book by Dennis McCarty. The plot is standard
fantasy: Princess held hostage by a rival kingdom enlists the aid of a
down-at-the-heels knight to escape and return home. After the escape,
they and their companions evade recapture by heading into the
unexplored regions, discovering strange and wonderful things as they
go. It is the characterization that makes FLIGHT interesting, full of
internal conflicts demanding resolution. It wasn't until after I
finished the book that my mind started harping on the rather simple
plot. A creditable first effort -- I'm eagerly looking forward to his
next book, when the writing style should have matured a bit.
--Russ Jernigan
oliveb!olivej!barb
FOOTFALL, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle [*]
$17.95, 495 pages, Del Rey
Like cotton candy, you eagerly keep consuming it until you're finished,
but even in the process you were hungry for something more
substantial. Such is FOOTFALL. A cast large enough to make Cecil B.
DeMille happy; three or four of the characters are interesting though
none are memorable -- no Speaker-to-Animals, Nessus, Louis Wu, Beowulf
Shaeffer here. A space opera plot -- an improved version on LUCIFER'S
HAMMER -- with enough mild soap-opera sex- and-power intrigues to help
appeal to the mainstream bestseller audience. Yawn.
-- Jim Brunet
hao!ico!ism780!ism780b!jimb
THE MAGIC MAY RETURN edited by Larry Niven [*]
Ace, $2.95, 253 pages.
Larry Niven's foray into Fantasy (the novel "The Magic Goes Away") was
so well done that it demanded a sequel. Alas, this book is a
collection of stories vaguely in the same universe, but by different
authors. Most of the authors collected are Hard SF authors writing
Fantasy, and it shows -- most of the stories are poor to fair at best,
and the Ing work "Manaspell" spends all of its time building scientific
explanations for magic. The only story worth reading is "Strength" by
Poul Anderson and Mildred Downey Broxson. It alone isn't worth the
cover price, so pass this one by.
-- chuq von rospach
MORE MAGIC edited by Larry Niven [**+]
Berkley Fantasy, $6.95, 197 pages
This second collection of magic stories includes only four works -- one
by Niven with a second co-authored with Dian Girard; also works by Bob
Shaw and Roger Zelazny. All of the works are much better than in
"Magic May Return" but all of the authors are more firmly grounded in
the arts of Fantasy. The Zelazny story "Mana from Heaven" is
especially good, weaving Hard SF elements into a Fantasy story in a way
only a Fantasy author can do.
-- chuq von rospach
THE NORBY CHRONICLES by Janet and Isaac Asimov [*]
Ace, $2.95. 185 pages.
This book is actually two novellas about Norby, a R2 robot that has had
some special modifications done to it. The stories are formula juvenile
daydreams and are clearly intended for children. In each story the
fourteen year old hero, Jeff Wells, becomes involved in a dangerous
adventure. He gets into a variety of trouble but is always saved by
Norby who always seem to have just the right special ability to save
Jeff. The characters and story situations are very childish. A twelve
year child might enjoy this book but an adult would find it all too childish.
-- Danny Low
hplabs!hpccc!dlow
THE PROTEUS OPERATION by James P. Hogan, Bantam [**1/2]
SF Book Club
Typical Hogan: bland and contrived plot with 2-dimensional characters,
but an interesting physical premise and exacting attention to details.
WW II fans may enjoy his interpretation of events leading up to the
war. More action and more irony than usual for Hogan. Good mellow
reading after a hard day, although a bit long.
-- Carl Gutekanst
pyramid!csg
RETIEF AND THE PANGALACTIC PAGEANT OF PULCHRITUDE
by Keith Laumer [**+]
Baen Books, $2.95, 278 pages
This latest in the series of Retief books contains the title story and
"Retief's Ransom" (publ. 1971). The first story is typical Retief
complete with some new diplomatic "looks." It deals with an
intergalactic beauty pageant featuring entries from each planet, Earth
hoping to score Galaxy-wide notoriety by winning. I was surprised by
the twist in the ending (I thought I had Laumer figured out). "Retief's
Ransom" is an older story, but certainly not dated. It concerns an
alien race whose bodies break down into component parts.
--Rick Heli
ucbvax!ucdavis!ccrrick
STARSHIP & HAIKU by Somtow Sucharitkul [***]
Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster), 1981, 207pp, 2.95 dollars
A young boy with unknown psychic powers in a post-holocaust Earth - but
despite this cliche, a strange and novel book. Much involved with
whales and the Japanese mentality (if there is such a thing). Requires
a massive suspension of disbelief, but it's just about worth it. I
don't know how accurate the portrayal of the Japanese is; this book
might be racist - then again, it may not.
-- Dave Berry
mcvax!cstvax.ed.ac.uk!db
STAR TREK II; THE WRATH OF KHAN, by Vonda N. McIntyre [***]
1982, Pocket Science Fiction, $2.50 (also SF Book Club)
So often a book from a movie is just so much fire fodder. This is a
glad exception, completing rather than competing with the movie. The
nicest touch, McIntyre focuses more on the 'second string' characters:
Saavik, Peter Preston, Joachim (Khan's right arm), the staff of Space
Lab (computer folks will love the pair of game hackers -- and their
strange quark nomenclature). Two drawbacks -- McIntyre can't quite
decide if Kirk is Kirk or Jim, switching off between the two -- and,
since the novel was written during production, the best one-liners from
the movie do not appear. If you enjoyed the movie, by all means read
this book.
-- Barb Jernigan
oliveb!olivej!barb
THIEVES' WORLD #1 by Robert Aspirin and Lynn Abbey [***+]
Art by Tim Sale, Starblaze Graphics, $3.95
The Thieves' World universe continues to expand, this time to the
graphic novel format. This is the first issue of a quarterly black and
white glossy magazine format. The story is condensed out of the first
TW book, and the art is well done. Overall a well balanced and
interesting approach to the story. TW fans should find it, but
newcomers to the series should start with the books.
-- chuq von rospach
WITH FATE CONSPIRE by Mike Shupp [*]
Del Rey, $2.95
The cover reads "Book One of The Destiny Makers"; the plot involves a
Vietnam vet. who, perhaps unintentionally, is "kidnapped" 900 centuries
into the future. My overall impression of this book was that it was
rather odd. The action was very slow and strange events went by
totally unremarked by the characters. I suspect that this book merely
serves to set up the story line for the rest of the forthcoming
series. The writing itself was fairly good, so I'm willing to try the
second book, recently released, MORNING OF CREATION.
--Russ Jernigan
oliveb!olivej!barb
OtherRealms Lettercol -- May 1986
Dear Editor:
This letter is a response to Barbara Jernigan's article on the
Smithsonian magazine. I have been a subscriber to the magazine for
many years and strongly recommend it as well. The Smithsonian
membership that comes with the magazine is more than just an incidental
benefit. If you visit the Smithsonian in Washington DC, there is a
significant benefit that comes with being a member of the Smithsonian.
Except for the restaurants in the National Portrait Gallery building,
all of the public eating places in the Mall are absolutely terrible.
The ones in the Air and Space Museum are the worst of the lot. The
best place to eat in the Mall is the private restaurant, the Associates
Court, for Smithsonian members in the Natural History building. I once
spent a week just visiting the museums in the Mall and being able to
eat in the Associates Court was a real life saver. The food there is
good but not terrific. It is superior to any other nearby place and
the price is very reasonable. Most important of all, eat
Danny Low hplabs!hpccc!dlow
Dear Chuq,
Is a Science Fiction fanzine really the place for a review of
Smithsonian Magazine and the music of an obscure folk group? I think
not. Barbara Jernigan states (restates?) that we should look beyond
the 'genre ghetto' to discuss other topics. I agree with the premise
but not the implementation.
Let's look at the phrase 'genre ghetto'. I take that phrase to mean
conventional SF and Fantasy. So what is beyond this in concept
without going so far as to alienate the intended audience? Perhaps
Horror (a genre I have no interest in personally), Gothic (Arthurian
Fantasies, etc.), SF & Fantasy poems, and perhaps music that stretches
'convention'. Of course this is just a suggested list and will not
make sense to everyone who has an opinion. As a matter of fact, I
would probably not be interested in some of the categories. The point
is though that they all have SOME tie to SF and/or Fantasy. Like all
writing, the writing in this fanzine should have a target audience. In
my opinion the Editor must make a decision what that target will be
and, to the best of his/her ability, strive to bring pleasure and
enlightenment to that audience.
My other point, that magazine reviews in general are silly is backed up
rather easily: If I am interested in a subject I will probably know of
all MASS marketed magazines relating to that subject. Since most
magazines are cheap and/or easily browsed through, I would think it a
simple matter to arrive at a decision on ones own time. Reviews of
magazines that are NOT generally available would, perhaps, be another
story.
On to the review of Golden Bough. I have not heard this particular
group before but have heard many different folk groups at various
festivals in and around Indiana. If I am way off base criticizing the
review without hearing the album first, let me know! I don't think
that folk music should be reviewed in the fanzine for the simple reason
that it has NO ties to SF or Fantasy. There are appropriate mailing
lists where this kind of music is discussed and anyone who has been to
festivals such as I have mentioned can easily be signed up for said
lists.
Matt Verner
...!ihnp4!inuxc!verner
[A reply from Barb Jernigan, who wrote the articles in question]
Matt,
To defend Golden Bough, I very much *do* think it has a place in this
particular magazine. Golden Bough is audio fantasy -- in fact, I have
tentative plans (with the song writer's permission) to turn _Witch of
the Westmerlands_ (on the FLIGHT OF _FANTASY_ album) into an
illustrated story. This song *is* a fantasy tale, tighter than most
that ever reach paper, and versed in a much longer _oral_ tradition.
Golden Bough is obscure -- which is why I wrote the review. They
deserve to be well known. And Kicking Mule Records , the label the
albums are printed by, is national. I am also told that Golden Bough's
albums may be purchased at Tower Records.
Barb Jernigan
idi!oliveb!olivej!barb
[I published those articles was because I wanted to know whether or not
the readers were interested in them. The feedback has been favorable
so I would consider publishing more of that stuff in the future. One
thing I want to be able to do is work with an much of the Universe as I
can within OtherRealms, but I also want to limit that to the things
that the readers want. Please remember that I can't read minds. The
only way I find out what readers like is try things. The only ways I
know of for them to tell me what they think are (1) answering my
surveys, (2) writing me letters, and (3) canceling their subscriptions.
I consider (3) rather drastic, so please try the others first!
The other reason I published it was because I felt it does relate to SF
and Fantasy. You make the comment that things like Horror relate to SF
peripherally, but you also have to remember that SF relates to other
things, especially things in the areas of Science and Technology. It
is my belief, and this is backed up by talking to published and
successful SF authors, that to really understand SF, you have to also
understand the background used to build the stories. I find magazines
such as Smithsonian, National Geographic, and Scientific American very
useful in getting broad understandings of topics of interest -- topics
that show up later in SF stories.
Secondarily, a good percentage of the readers of OtherRealms want to
become writers. Magazines such as Smithsonian are critical resources
for writers, since it gives them a significant base of information on
lots of topics that they can then decide to use in their stories. This
means, in the long run, better and more accurate stories.
The folk group article is harder to justify on these grounds, of
course, but I thought that the readers would be interested in it. I
don't ever plan to make these kinds of 'eclectic' articles a mainstay
of OtherRealms. I DO plan to publish them once in a while, simply
because I feel it is important for people to look at new things and
grow a bit. How much of it I publish will depend upon things like (1)
how much other stuff I get that needs publishing, (2) how much positive
and negative feedback I get on the published articles and (3) how well
the articles I get are written.
chuq]
Chuq,
I felt you should know that there are actually four albums. Their
first album, called simply "The Golden Bough", is available only on
tape.
It is not a good recording, but has some good songs including one by
Paul called "The Wizard".
Pat McEvoy
sun!swagman
Masthead: The Necessary Administrivia
Masthead for OtherRealms
Volume 1, Number 4
May, 1986
This issue is Copyright 1986, by Chuq Von Rospach
All Rights reserved
OtherRealms is edited and Published on a monthly schedule by:
Chuq Von Rospach
160 Pasito Terrace #712
Sunnyvale, CA 84087
USENET: {major_node}!sun!plaid!fanzine
ARPA: fanzine%plaid@sun.ARPA
Fidonet: 125/84, user chuq vonrospach
CompuServe: 73317,635
Submissions: Submissions are welcomed at any of the above addresses.
Electronic mail is preferred, Macintosh format disks through U.S. Mail
will allow me to publish your work MUCH faster (returned with SASE).
Hard copy is accepted but will get keyed into the system when I get time.
A writers guide is available. If you want to write for OtherRealms,
please ask for a copy. Pico reviews are welcome from everyone.
Duplicate the format used in this issue and please limit your comments
to one paragraph. Multiple Pico reviews for the same work are welcome.
If you are on a BBS or other system that does not have access to the
above electronic addresses, contact your SYSOP about making
arrangements for a submission policy.
Letters to the Letter column: should be mailed to the above address.
Letters to an author should be mailed directly to the author where
possible. If you can't reach an author, I'll do what I can to get the
letter forwarded. All letters will be considered for publication
unless requested otherwise.
Deadline for submissions for the next issue is May 20, 1986.
This magazine is Copyright 1986 by Chuq Von Rospach. One time rights
only have been acquired from the signed or credited contributors. All
rights are hereby assigned to the contributors.
Reproduction rights: Permission is given to reproduce or duplicate
OtherRealms in its entirety for non-commercial uses if all associated
copyright notices and bylines are left intact. Re-use, reproduction,
reprinting or republication of an individual article in any way or on
any media, printed or electronic, is forbidden without permission of
the author or rights holder. Reproduction of subsets of an issue of
OtherRealms is permitted only if all bylines, copyright notices and the
masthead and table of contents areas are included in the reproduction.
Subscriptions: OtherRealms is available through the newsgroup
"mod.mag.otherrealms" on the USENET network. For those on the UUCP,
ARPANET, BITNET and CSNET computer networks without access to this
group, a mailing list subscription is available. Send mail to the
appropriate address above to be placed on the mailing list.
Subscriptions are not yet available on CompuServe. Please write me for
latest status.
OtherRealms is also available through the following bulletin boards:
SCI-FIDO, Fidonet number 125/84, (415) 655-0667.
The Terraboard, Fidonet number 14/341, (612)721-8967.
Other BBS systems or computer networks are welcome to make OtherRealms
available on their systems. Either copy it from an available location
or contact me to make arrangements. If you do make it available, I
would appreciate hearing about where it is being distributed.
Coming attractions
o The long promised Vampire Article got bumped by the Hugos, so it
makes it back into the coming attractions, threatening to
become a permanent running joke.
o An article on keeping a Journal on the road to becoming a writer as
Barb Jernigan returns to our pages.
o Pico Reviews and all the normal stuff.
o The Pico Review summary should show up next month as well,
summarizing the views of all Pico Review writers for the
previous few months.
o Tell us who should win the Hugo's! Send us Pico reviews or letters;
the Pico Review column will expand to accept comments on nominees from
all categories!
[Editor's note: If you wish to comment on Judy-Lynn del Rey, drop them
to me. I'll be publishing other appreciations next month, and I'll
make sure they get forwarded to Lester del Rey as well.]
