Evelyn C. Leeper's Home Page: Books, Travel, and More

Last updated 05 Mar 2021

This week's MT VOID contents :


Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction (pointer from Denise Moy)
The Better Films I Saw in 2020 (film comments by Mark R. Leeper)
THE ELEVENTH GATE by Nancy Kress (audio book review by Joe Karpierz)
THE VIGIL, M. C. ESCHER: JOURNEY TO INFINITY, THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE, 
     THE GREAT GATSBY, and the MT VOID  (letter of comment by Guy Lillian III)
This Week's Reading (WHAT TO THINK ABOUT MACHINES THAT THINK, STATION ELEVEN, 
     JORGE LUIS BORGES: SOURCES AND ILLUMINATION) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Quote of the Week

More issues here

Featured articles, trip logs, and convention reports:

Older articles may be found here.

Mark and I were Fan Guests of Honor for Windycon XXIX, November 8-10, 2002. Here are:

My convention report
A brief co-biography written for the Program Book by friend and seven-time Hugo nominee Bob Devney
Further information on Windycon

What I do:

I was for twenty years one of the judges for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History.
- Click here for "AH 101," a quick introduction to alternate history.
- Click here for a list of Jewish-themed alternate histories.
I read books and write book reviews.
I travel and write travelogues and science fiction convention reports.
I maintain various lists and pages:
- NJ Bookstores
- Western Massachusetts Bookstores
- Magical Realism page of discussion and links
- Recommended DVD commentaries
I have stopped updating and posting all the other bookstore lists because:
- They were increasingly hard to keep up-to-date.
- There are many other resources (e.g., Yelp) that are more up-to-date.
- In particular, COVID-19 has caused so much churn in the new and used book-selling business as to make any information I have useless for the near future, and questionable in the long run.
I have been doing these lists since the 1980s, and after about thirty-five years, it's time to call it quits.

If you want to get some idea of my philosophy, check out my .sig quotes.

[rocket]
I have been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer twelve times, most recently in 2001.

The MT VOID is a publication of the Mt. Holz science fiction club.

To subscribe, send mail to mtvoid-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtvoid/.

03/05/21, Vol. 39, No. 35: Link to "Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction"; comments on Mark's recommendations for films of 2020; book review of The Eleventh Gate; letters of comment on The Vigil, M. C. Escher--Journey to Infinity, The Oppenheimer Alternative, The Great Gatsby, and the MT VOID; and comments on books (What to Think about Machines THat Think, Station Eleven, and Jorge Luis Borges: Sources and Illumination).
02/26/21, Vol. 39, No. 34: Announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in March; film review of The Vigil; letters of comment on Westerns, The Oppenheimer Alternative and The Making of the Atomic Bomb, and Reality Is Not What It Seems and Einstein and the Quantum; and comments on books and movies (The Martian and "Birth of the Modern Mind").
02/19/21, Vol. 39, No. 33: Film reviews of The Call of the Wild (2020), Greyhound, and Nomadland; comments on Titanic and the public domain; book reviews of The Oppenheimer Alternative and Reality Is Not What It Seems; letters of comment on Westerns and heroes; and comments on books (Ministry for the Future).
02/12/21, Vol. 39, No. 32: Film reviews of News of the World, True History of the Kelly Gang, and A Ghost Waits; book reviews of "Across the Green Grass Fields" and Sword and Scimitar; comments on the NASA Perseverance Project; letters of comments on heroes and on the Oxford English Dictionary; and comments on books and movies (The Prestige).
02/05/21, Vol. 39, No. 31: Comments on Crawford Hill, film reviews of The Elephant Queen, Fireball--Visitors from Darker Worlds, Spaceship Earth, Scream, Queen!: My Nightmare on Elm Street, and M. C. Escher: Journey to Infinity; book review of "To Be Taught, If Fortunate"; letters of comments on Leap of Faith--William Friedkin on "The Exorcist", The Rook, Slay the Dragon, Totally Under Control, monoliths, stelae, precision, and heroes; and comments on books (I, Robot).
01/29/21, Vol. 39, No. 30: Announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in February and on Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov; announcement of Online Film Critics Society movie awards; book review of "The Ballad of Black Tom"; and comments on books (The Malacia Tapestry and The Great Gatsby).
01/22/21, Vol. 39, No. 29: Film reviews of The Trip to Greece, Made in Italy, The Grizzlies, and To the Ends of the Earth; comments on ethnicity in The War of the Worlds (1953); book review of The Saints of Salvation; and comments on books (W. Somerset Maugham's Collected Stories (Volume 2)).
01/15/21, Vol. 39, No. 28: Film reviews of The Lodge, Totally Under Control, Slay the Dragon, and Feels Good Man; book review of Interlibrary Loan; letters of comment on biopics, Radioactive, The Aeronauts, on weather in Texas, on incorrect dates, and on Solar Pons; and comments on books (W. Somerset Maugham's Collected Stories (Volume 2)).
01/08/21, Vol. 39, No. 27: Apologies for the bad date on the last issue; film reviews of Radioactive, Ammonite, Tesla; letters of comment on Friday mailings, on Bruce Sterling, and on The Professor and the Madman; and comments on books (The Further Encounters of Sherlock Holmes).
01/01/21, Vol. 39, No. 26: Apologies for bad subject line, and for delay in Mark's "Top Ten Films" list; film reviews of Da 5 Bloods, The Banker, Antebellum, and Miss Juneteenth; comments on the year of the animals; book review of Robot Artists & Black Swans; letters of comment on (The Professor and the Madman, on Time's 100 Best Fantasy Books, on the 50-Foot Woman; and comments on books (Jorge Luis Borges's Obras completas).
12/25/20, Vol. 39, No. 25: Announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in January; letter of comment on World Without End, on Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, on Time's 100 Best Fantasy Books, on Galileo and the Science Deniers, on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, on convicts and television, nd The Men Who United the States; and comments on books and films (The Professor and the Madman).
12/18/20, Vol. 39, No. 24: Film reviews of David Attenborough--A Life on Our Planet, Leap of Faith--William Friedkin on The Exorcist, and Camp Crip); television review of The Rook; book review of The Future of Humanity; letters of comment on science fiction of Rudyard Kipling, and on Alan Dean Foster; and comments on books (Solar Pons books).
12/11/20, Vol. 39, No. 23: Comments on Alan Dean Foster and Star Wars; letters of comment on The Day the Earth Stood Still; and comments on books (science fiction of Rudyard Kipling).
12/04/20, Vol. 39, No. 22: Comments on speed; film retrospective of The Day the Earth Stood Still; film review of Beyond the Visible--Hilma af Klint; letters of comment on the Utah Monolith, and on Edward Gibbon and China; and comments on books (The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902).
11/27/20, Vol. 39, No. 22: Announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in December on animals, and on the Utah Monolith; book review of Network Effect; letters of comment on Leigh Brackett, and on Stargirl; and comments on books (Edward Gibbon's Memoirs of My Life and Writings).
11/20/20, Vol. 39, No. 21: Film retrospective of Them!; comments on The Lord of the Rings life lessons; book review of Nucleation; letters of comment on The Long Goodbye, and on Replay; and comments on books (The Dark Is Rising, Akata Witch, and The Ten Thousand Doors of January).
11/13/20, Vol. 39, No. 20: Film retrospective of Attack of the 50-Foot Woman; comments on fictional starship size comparisons; book review of The Order of Time; letters of comment on The Arabian Nights, on freaky animal stories, on snuff mulls, and on Una O'Connor; and comments on books (The Long Goodbye).
11/06/20, Vol. 39, No. 19: Comments on Una O'Connor, and on entropy; letters of comment on freaky animal stories, and on Ed Bishop; and comments on books (Time Magazine's Best 100 Fantasy Books, Ozma of Oz, and Five Children and It).
10/30/20, Vol. 39, No. 18: Announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in November, and an announcement of changes to these listings; letters of comment on Raymond Chandler, on From Hell It Came, on musical accompaniment to silent films, and on Arthur Conan Doyle and offensive attitudes; and comments on books (A Memory Called Empire).
10/23/20, Vol. 39, No. 17: Film retrospective of From Hell It Came; book reviews of The Last Emperox and Galileo and the Science Deniers; letters of comment on Seven of Infinities, and on musical accompaniment to silent films; and comments on books (comfort reading).
10/16/20, Vol. 39, No. 16: Comments on corn mazes, and on lobsters; book review of Seven of Inifnities; letters of comment on Nosferatu, on plastic-eating bugs, on cruel and unusual punishment, on deep time and radioactivity, on translation, and on the Erie Canal; and comments on books (Last and First Men).
10/09/20, Vol. 39, No. 15: Comments on cruel and unusual punishment; television review of Biohackers; book review of The Men Who United the States; letters of comment on plastic-eating bugs, on translation, on "The Speckled Band", and on Nosferatu; and comments on books (Deep Time).
10/02/20, Vol. 39, No. 14: Comments on "The Speckled Band"; letters of comment on Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), on the MT VOID, and on translation; and comments on books (The Invisible Life of Addie Larue).
09/25/20, Vol. 39, No. 13: Announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in October, and a gender-reveal update; book review of Machine; letters of comment on "Tarzan" movies, on Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), on Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) (1946), and on translations; and comments on books (The Haunting of H. G. Wells, Sherlock Holmes: The Spirit Box).
09/18/20, Vol. 39, No. 12: Correction; retrospective of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954); comments on Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) (1946); letters of comment on infomercials, and on A Canterbury Tale; and comments on books (A Study in Brimstone, The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles, and My Grave Ritual).
09/11/20, Vol. 39, No. 11: Apology and reminder; comments on thirty-minute commercials, and on The African Queen; con report of NASFiC 2020; letters of comment on NASFiC 2020 and virtual conventions; and comments on books and film (The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales).
09/04/20, Vol. 39, No. 10: Comments on eighty miles, and on the virtual NASFiC; book review of Birdmen; letters of comment on absentee voting, on Classics Illustrated comics, and on The Three Musketeers (1974); and comments on books (A Murder Is Announced and The House of Silk).
08/28/20, Vol. 39, No. 9: Announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on SF story classification, on absentee voting, and on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in September; letters of comment on Classics Illustrated comics, and on loos; and comments on books (Lost Horizon).
08/21/20, Vol. 39, No. 8: Comments on hazards, first on the moon; film review of All Hail the Popcorn King; letters of comment on restrooms, on Americans and guns, and on hot food; and comments on books (Classics Illustrated comics).
08/14/20, Vol. 39, No. 7: Comments on NASFiC 2020 Columbus, and on kosher food; letters of comment on opera and on unisex restrooms; and comments on books (Shakespeare's Lives and Clipper of the Clouds).
08/07/20, Vol. 39, No. 6: Comments on fear and loathing; book review of Dispersion; television review of Dark; letters of comment on dog expressions and on opera; and comments on books (Hugo and Retro Hugo Award winners).
07/31/20, Vol. 39, No. 5: Announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on dog talk, and on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in August; book reviews of The City in the Middle of the Night and Brief Answers to the Big Questions; television comparison of Bitten, Wolfblood, Hannah, and Daredevil; and comments on books (Up in the Old Hotel).
07/24/20, Vol. 39, No. 4: Comments on understanding; book review of The Accursed Tower; letters of comment on La Traviata and other operas, on the Fanac Fan History project, on Quatermass and the Pit, and on The Decameron; and comments on books (The Decameron, Bright Ideas, and What to Think About Machines That Think).
07/17/20, Vol. 39, No. 3: Comments on "Lan's Lantern", on an apology, and on LA TRAVIATA; letters of comment on The Decameron, on AI sentencing, and on BBC series and serials; and comments on books (The Decameron [Day 3]).
07/10/20, Vol. 39, No. 2: Comments on computerized sentencing; letters of comment on Quatermass and the Pit, on entanglement, on art show tours, on the Hugo voters packet, on sagacity, on alcohol, and on "messeems"; and comments on books (Author in Chief).
07/03/20, Vol. 39, No. 1: Comments on volume numbers, on Bell Works drive-in movies, on Locus Award winners, on 1960s films of the fantastic, and on Ben-Hur (1925); letters of comment on hot food, and on The Martian and books into movies; and comments on books (The Nose and Other Stories).
06/26/20, Vol. 38, No. 52: Announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in July; book review of A Memory Called Empire; letters of comment on hot food, and on At The Mountains of Madness; and comments on books and films (The Martian, Beyond Thirty, and William Morris).
06/19/20, Vol. 38, No. 51: Comments on Ray Harryhausen's 100th birthday anniversary, on Jalapeño peppers, and on the end of the world; television review of Stargirl; book review of Receptor; letters of comment on trucks, on The Wizard of Oz, and on Beowulf; and comments on books (The Decameron [Day 2]).
06/12/20, Vol. 38, No. 50: Comments on trucks and on The Wizard of Oz; letters of comment on books, on "The Changeling", and on "Trog"; and comments on books (Are We Rome, The Storm Before the Storm, and Alaric the Goth).
06/05/20, Vol. 38, No. 49: List of Nebula Award winners; comments on books; letters of comment on Marco Polo, on bats, on the Retro-Hugo Awards, and on scary movies; and comments on books (A Journal of the Plague Year).
05/29/20, Vol. 38, No. 48: Pointers to lists of good adventure and SF books; announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in June, and on Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker; letters of comment on alcohol, and on the Uncertainty Principle; and comments on books (Retro Hugo Award novella and series finalists).
05/22/20, Vol. 38, No. 47: Comments on alcohol; book review of The Light Brigade; letters of comment on scary movies and on cattle; and comments on books (Retro Hugo Award short story and novelette finalists).
05/15/20, Vol. 38, No. 46: Comments on cows and bull, and on Retro Hugo finalists in various categories; letters of comment on scary movies and television shows, and on polenta and eggs; and comments on movies (Retro Hugo Award dramatic presentation finalists).
05/08/20, Vol. 38, No. 45: Comments on eggs and on animals; and comments on books (Retro Hugo Award novel finalists).
05/01/20, Vol. 38, No. 44: Comments on signs of our times, and on the horror film; letters of comment on recent reviews; and comments on books (Hugo Award short story finalists).
04/24/20, Vol. 38, No. 43: Correction on COVID-19; announcement of science fiction discussion groups; comments on Mark's picks for Turner Classic Movies in May; book review of Driftwood; letters of comment on non-fantasy "Twilight Zone" episodes, on The Wind on the Moon, on the "Prix Hugo" speech, on social distancing, on the zombie apocalypse, on Outbreak, on Moby-Dick, and on great American novels; and comments on books (The Decameron [Introduction and Day 1]).
04/17/20, Vol. 38, No. 42: Comments on The Twilight Zone, on feel-good highs, and on animals; film review of Contagion; book review of The Player of Games; letters of comment on hippos, on Foundation and Earth amd on COVID-19; and comments on books (Hugo and Retro Hugo nominees).
04/10/20, Vol. 38, No. 41: List of Hugo, Retro Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards Finalists; comments on interpreting science; book review of At the Mountains of Madness; letters of comment on dogs and cats, the Day of the Animals, and the current apocalypse; and comments on books (The Decameron, What Does It All Mean?, Foundation's Triumph, Europe in Autumn, and True History).
04/03/20, Vol. 38, No. 40: Comments on the "Day of the Animals"; letters of comment on Corflu, Harriet, dogs and cats, and the current apocalypse; and comments on books (Foundation and Earth and The Daughter of Time).
Older back issues are available here and at fanac.org.
"Enveloped in a common mist, we seem to walk in clearness ourselves, and behold only the mist that enshrouds others." --George Eliot, "Leaves from a Note-Book"

Here are some links to sites of interest:
Evelyn C. Leeper
(eleeper@optonline.net)

Evelyn C. Leeper's Home Page: Books, Travel, and More

Table of Contents