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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 03/08/91 -- Vol. 9, No. 36
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon.
LZ meetings are in LZ 2R-158. MT meetings are in the cafeteria.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
03/13 LZ: TOM SWIFT by Victor Appleton II (Juvenile SF)
04/03 LZ: Book Swap
_D_A_T_E _E_X_T_E_R_N_A_L _M_E_E_T_I_N_G_S/_C_O_N_V_E_N_T_I_O_N_S/_E_T_C.
03/09 SFABC: Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: TBA
(phone 201-933-2724 for details) (Saturday)
03/16 NJSFS: New Jersey Science Fiction Society: TBA
(phone 201-432-5965 for details) (Saturday)
HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 834-1563 hocpa!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell LZ 1B-306 576-6106 mtuxo!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
HO Librarian: Tim Schroeder HO 3B-301 949-4488 hotsc!tps
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 576-3346 mtunq!lfl
MT Librarian: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. One of the advantages of the market economy is that there is
such a mind-boggling array of silly inventions to choose from. No
matter what you like to do there is some new invention intended to
improve the activity but will really end up making you feel like an
idiot doing it. This morning I discovered "Videocycle." This is a
program run on a cable station for people who, like me, who use an
exercycle. The concept is this: There is something much better in
the experience of riding a real bicycle real places than sitting on
an exercycle and staying one place. Videocycle lets you use your
television to make you feel as if you are bicycling someplace real
when you are really just spinning your wheels. Now, when I
exercise, staying in one place is just fine by me. If I wanted to
see someplace real, I would go out and jog. Then I would see New
Jersey and you don't get much realler than New Jersey.
THE MT VOID Page 2
But the idea of Videocycle is that they actually videotape along a
place where you might like to bicycle (the piece I saw was in
Yellowstone Park) with the camera moving at bicycle speed along the
route. Often you get to bicycle in a group, all to the tune of
upbeat bicycle music. Sound like a good idea? Well, if you have
been brought up on television it might. On the other hand, if you
think about it, you can see why this idea is stupid.
First of all, National Parks such as Yellowstone are known for many
fascinating sights, but the roads are just not that much of an
attraction. The scenery is better than New Jersey, but when you
travel at about 25 mph the scenery just doesn't change that fast.
Watching the scenery on television is just like being there--if you
have tunnel vision and a cold preventing you from smelling. Of
course, that assumes you put a fan on yourself. (Fan not
included.) Oh, yes: and assuming you are about twelve feet tall or
have monster tires on your bike, since you actually look down and
see the roofs of passing cars. The videocycle also tagged along
with some unsuspecting sweaty bicyclist they found on the road
until he got disgusted and let the filming truck pass ... at which
point the narrator said, "It looks like Ed's slowing down." How
nice. You can see some slob on television and pretend he's your
bicycling buddy Ed!
The realism of the road is slightly marred when they cut to
commercials, which are almost as dull as the main program. They
told me how I could get 101 Golden Oldies on a record. There also
was an ad for Videocycle where for $29.95 you could get a whole
uninterrupted tape of this boredom. They have a whole library of
the roads of scenic places. About this time I got sick of this and
changed the channel and there I was bicycling through the
U.S. Senate in debate about the aftermath of the Persian. Another
channel click and I was bicycling in Saddam Hussein's underground
bunker. Either place was more interesting than the back roads of
Yellowstone.
2. The Film Forum 2 in New York City is having an anime festival:
ROBOT CARNIVAL 3/15-3/21 (Fri-Thu)
AKIRA 3/22-3/23 (Fri-Sat)
LENSMAN 3/24-3/26 (Sun-Tue)
ROBOTECH: THE MOVIE 3/27-3/28 (Wed-Thu)
TWILIGHT OF THE COCKROACHES 3/29-4/02 (Fri-Tue)
CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO/WARRIORS OF THE WIND 4/30-4/04 (Wed-Thu)
Box office is 212-727-8110; address is 209 West Houston St.
Admission is $7. [-ecl]
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 957-5619
...mtgzy!leeper
If you give me six sentences written by the most innocent of
men, I will find something in them with which to hang him.
-- Armand Jean du Pleiss,
Duc de Richelieu
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1991 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: For those unafraid of subtitled
films, there is a lot to like in the new film production
of _C_y_r_a_n_o _d_e _B_e_r_g_e_r_a_c. The play is excellent and this is
perhaps the best production of the play ever done.
Rating: +3 (-4 to +4).
Over the past twelve months or so we have seen releases of film
versions of three classic stage plays: Brannagh's _H_e_n_r_y _V, Zeffirilli's
_H_a_m_l_e_t, and Jean-Paul Rappeneau's _C_y_r_a_n_o _d_e _B_e_r_g_e_r_a_c. For production
quality and for entertainment value I find it very easy to pick _H_a_m_l_e_t
for third place. Choosing between first and second place is somewhat
harder, but for both production quality and pure entertainment value I
give the edge to _C_y_r_a_n_o. This is likely to remain the best adaptation
of the story to film we will see in our lifetimes and very likely the
most entertaining, even if we include Steve Martin's popular modern
reframing _R_o_x_a_n_n_e.
_C_y_r_a_n_o _d_e _B_e_r_g_e_r_a_c is, of course, an adaptation of Edmond Rostand's
popular play, first presented in 1897. (Rostand took some poetic
liberty, incidentally, but Cyrano was a genuine historic figure who was
soldier, expert swordsman, poet, playwright, philosopher, and even a
science fiction writer. His best-known literary work today is _A _V_o_y_a_g_e
_t_o _t_h_e _M_o_o_n, which is why Rostand put so many references to moon travel
in the play. Cyrano suggested several means of extra-terrestrial
propulsion, mostly absurd, but on one he got lucky. Cyrano de Bergerac
was the man who first suggested that space travel might be possible
using rocket propulsion.) The story is of the noble swordsman who would
like to woo his beautiful cousin but is stigmatized by his own
prodigious nose. When it turns out that an inarticulate but handsome
soldier under Cyrano's command also loves her, Cyrano agrees to help the
soldier. The soldier will provide the good looks and Cyrano will
provide the words. The story packs into a surprisingly small space
comedy, tragedy, drama, action, and adventure.
This production cost seventeen million dollars and, taking into
account modern production costs, that was something of a bargain,
considering the number of detailed sets, costumes, and even battle
scenes. Presumably shooting in Hungary kept prices down. Director
Jean-Paul Rappeneau co-authored the script with Jean-Claude Carriere,
editing down the Rostand and occasionally adding some of their own
lines. The film is in French with English subtitles by novelist Anthony
Burgess, who had previously translated the play. The producers decided
that for each foreign language in which the film would be subtitled,
they would get where possible the best-known translator of the play into
that language to do the subtitles for the film. Gerard Depardieu has a
Cyrano de Bergerac March 3, 1991 Page 2
very natural style as Cyrano that Jose Ferrer lacked in the previously
best-known film version. His nose also looks surprisingly real, thanks
to the contributions of Michele Burke, who receives on-screen credit for
creating the nose. Special notice should be given to a fine score by
Jean-Claude Petit, who produced many very good themes. For action
scenes his score sounds not unlike Danny Elfman's score for _B_a_t_m_a_n, but
Petit also has some very melodic themes for other emotions. _C_y_r_a_n_o _d_e
_B_e_r_g_e_r_a_c is a top-flight production. I give it a +3 on the -4 to +4
scale.
Boskone 28
Con report by Evelyn C. Leeper
Copyright 1991 Evelyn C. Leeper
[Part 2]
Why Doesn't SF Fare Well on the Big Screen?
Saturday, 3 PM
David Kimmel (mod), Chris Claremont, David Harris, Mark R. Leeper
Before starting on why SF doesn't fare well on the big screen (a
question not unlike "have you stopped beating your wife?" in that it
presupposes a previous question and answer), Kimmel put forward his
nominations for best science fiction film of the 1980s: _B_l_a_d_e_r_u_n_n_e_r and
_T_h_e _F_l_y. (I was a bit surprised at the omission of _B_r_a_z_i_l, but never
got a chance to ask about it.) Claremont's response was that
_B_l_a_d_e_r_u_n_n_e_r had "a background to die for and a foreground from hunger."
Rather than argue this for the entire hour, they agreed to disagree.
The basic consensus of why science fiction films are rarely
satisfying (which I think a better way to express the subject of the
panel than the actual title) is that everything in Hollywood is done by
committee these days, or at least by a lot of people: the producer has
his concept; the director has his; the actors have theirs; the set
designer, costume designer, and art director all get their chance to
influence the film; and the editor gets one last shot at it. A science
fiction story, on the other hand, is generally the product of a single
author, possibly with some input from an editor. (If you don't buy the
idea that _e_v_e_r_y_o_n_e has some influence on a film, tell me who put the gay
rights button on Meryl Streep's jacket in _P_o_s_t_c_a_r_d_s _f_r_o_m _t_h_e _E_d_g_e? Was
it Streep, or the costume designer, or the director, or someone else
entirely? Whoever it was did something that helped define the
character.) This whole argument is, of course, just the auteur theory
recycled.
[Spoiler about _T_o_t_a_l _R_e_c_a_l_l in this paragraph.] A debate on _T_o_t_a_l
_R_e_c_a_l_l followed, with Claremont claiming that the whole ending was
scientific garbage, and someone else saying it was all part of the dream
so of course it didn't have to be accurate. In defense of the latter
position, Mark and I pointed out that when the technician removes the
dream from the shelf in the early scene, he says, "Blue sky on Mars?
That's new." So of course there's a blue sky on Mars at the end. The
problem with all this is that you have to see the film several times (or
know what to look or listen for) for the film to make sense, and this is
as bad an idea on the part of the filmmaker as requiring that you read
the book to have the film make sense--unless they issue you a copy of
the book when you buy your ticket to the film. Someone (Harris?) said
this points out another reason why films are less satisfying than books
is that books are read at their own pace while films must be seen at the
director's pace. Even if they aren't quite as convoluted, you still
don't have a chance to say, "Let me hear that again" (especially
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 2
necessary if the person next to you decides to cough at the instant of
critical dialogue) or to stop and think about what you're seeing or
hearing.
Most science fiction films are action films. As Harris said,
though, "It's possible to make a film about ideas--it's called a small
film." And Claremont gave _D_o_c_t_o_r _W_h_o as an example of "really
interesting sci-fi on a budget of, like, five bucks." Someone suggested
Masterpiece Theatre as the place to dramatize science fiction books,
leading Leeper to suggest "I, Atreides." He also pointed out that the
BBC does some very good adaptations as mini-series: _T_h_e _I_n_v_i_s_i_b_l_e _M_a_n
and _T_h_e _D_a_y _o_f _t_h_e _T_r_i_f_f_i_d_s. _L_a_t_h_e _o_f _H_e_a_v_e_n was also recommended, but
that never really caught the public's imagination. Another reason the
title of this panel is inaccurate, by the way, is that it covered
television as well as film, and most televisions are not the "big
screen."
But action films sell. Kimmel quoted the old adage about how it's
called "show business," not "show art" or "show idea." This is also
presumably why they have novelizations of films that were made from
perfectly good novels (or short stories) to begin with--they need
something new (and written at a lower level than the original, one
suspects). So we see novelizations of _T_h_e _M_a_n _W_h_o _W_o_u_l_d _B_e _K_i_n_g, _T_h_e
_I_s_l_a_n_d _o_f _D_r. _M_o_r_e_a_u, _T_o_t_a_l _R_e_c_a_l_l, and _M_o_o_n_r_a_k_e_r (well, the last one
had no connection between the film and the original book except the
title, so I'll forgive them).
And, of course, since Hollywood wants to make money, everyone wants
to be the "first to be second." So of course everyone copies whatever
picture was the latest big success. This explains the current plethora
of sequels, though as Bob Devney volunteered from the audience, "This
never happens in literature ... sequels and such." (In case you
couldn't tell, folks, this is irony, or as Steve Martin said in _R_o_x_a_n_n_e,
"Oh, Irony! We don't get that here. No, the last time we had irony was
'82, when I was the sole practitioner of it and I got tired of being
stared at.")
Only at the end of the panel did people bring up Japanese animated
films ("Japanimation"). Unfortunately there was no time to discuss it,
and it probably will end up getting a panel of its own at a future
Boskone (though I suspect most of the Japanimation fans go to Arisia
instead).
One topic not discussed directly was adapting literature to the
screen versus writing original science fiction for the screen and what
sorts of results one gets in each case. It could be that what works on
paper doesn't work on screen and trying to adapt existing works of
literature is not the optimal way to create good screen science fiction.
Kimmel, by the way, is the Boston correspondent for _V_a_r_i_e_t_y as well
as a science fiction fan, so he brought a new perspective to an
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 3
otherwise over-exposed topic. One thing he mentioned was that whenever
he wrote a review and said "SF" or "science fiction," it would get
changed to "sci-fi." So don't blame him.
The Best SF and Fantasy of the 1980s
Saturday, 5 PM
John R. Douglas (mod), Ellen Asher, Gregory Feeley, Fred Lerner,
Michael Swanwick, Heather Wood
Swanwick began by listing all the first novels of the 1980s (or
rather, authors whose first novels appeared in the 1980s--it was left as
an exercise for the reader to figure out the novel). Included were
Clive Barker, David Brin, Robert L. Forward, John M. Ford, Barbara
Hambly, Kim Stanley Robinson, Rudy Rucker, Lucius Shepard, and several
others whose names I didn't write down fast enough.
Douglas asked the panelists to give their choices for best fantasy
author of the 1980s and best science fiction author of the 1980s. The
nominations were:
_P_a_n_e_l_i_s_t _F_a_n_t_a_s_y _S_F
Asher Robert Holdstock Greg Bear
Douglas Paul Hazel Gene Wolfe
Feeley John Crowley Gene Wolfe
Lerner John Maddox Roberts S. M. Stirling & Janet Kagan
Swanwick Lucius Shepard Gene Wolfe & William Gibson
Wood Terry Pratchett David Brin
It was noted that all but one are male and all but one are American
(and Pratchett was chosen by the one British member of the panel).
"American" in this context seemed to mean "United States"; at least I
don't think any of these authors are Canadian. Other British authors
were mentioned in response: Geoff Ryman and Rachel Pollack in
particular. But their works are much more available in Britain than in
the United States, although Ryman's _C_h_i_l_d _G_a_r_d_e_n was just published in a
United States edition, and Pollack's _U_n_q_u_e_n_c_h_a_b_l_e _F_i_r_e was finally sold
to a United States publisher.
The panelists were then asked for what they considered the most
neglected works or authors of the 1980s (presumably the most
_u_n_d_e_s_e_r_v_e_d_l_y neglected):
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 4
_P_a_n_e_l_i_s_t _R_e_s_p_o_n_s_e
Asher Joan Slonczewski's _D_o_o_r _i_n_t_o _O_c_e_a_n
Feeley Avram Davidson, Howard Waldrop,
Carter Scholz's _P_a_l_i_m_p_s_e_s_t_s
Lerner Barry Hughart, Viido Polikarpus and
Tappan King's _D_o_w_n_t_o_w_n
Swanwick Pat Cadigan, R. A. Lafferty, Paul Park
Wood Emma Bull's _W_a_r _f_o_r _t_h_e _O_a_k_s, David Palmer's _E_m_e_r_g_e_n_c_e
Lerner concurred on Lafferty and Palmer as well. Wood said she
liked only the first edition of _E_m_e_r_g_e_n_c_e; the second had something
tacked on to the end that she thought detracted from the book. Hughart
has just had the third in his Master Li novels published (_E_i_g_h_t _S_k_i_l_l_e_d
_G_e_n_t_l_e_m_e_n).
Inexplicable successes was the next topic. Most panelists found
themselves uncomfortable with this--they didn't like say negative things
about other authors, and also pointed out that they could _e_x_p_l_a_i_n the
success of many of the worst books, at least from a commercial
standpoint. When pressed Asher named L. Ron Hubbard's _M_i_s_s_i_o_n _E_a_r_t_h,
prompting another panelist to suggest the "Dead Authors Book Club."
This is not simply books written by people who are now dead; it is books
written by people _a_f_t_e_r they are dead. To L. Ron Hubbard's dekology we
can add V. C. Andrews's last two books; further suggestions are welcome.
One panelist asked, "But can you get signed editions?"
One member of the panel said he thought John M. Ford was not
exactly an inexplicable success; he thought that Ford tries hard for
failure, but fails at not succeeding. For example, Ford wrote a poem
for his Christmas card one year; it somehow got distributed and won the
World Fantasy Award ("Winter Solstice, Cameron Station"). He writes
"Star Trek" novels, and then they become accepted outside the usual
"Star Trek" readership.
Authors considered to have "re-flowered" in 1980s were Isaac
Asimov, Robert Silverberg, and Frederik Pohl. Feeley took exception to
the latter, saying that Pohl had done twenty books in the 1980s, two
each year like clockwork, but none of them achieved the greatness of his
earlier works.
Mention was also made of Bradley Denton for _W_r_a_c_k _a_n_d _R_o_l_l (though
personally I think he is unlikely to achieve wide popularity). Denton's
second book, _B_u_d_d_y _H_o_l_l_y _I_s _A_l_i_v_e _a_n_d _W_e_l_l _a_n_d _L_i_v_i_n_g _o_n _G_a_n_y_m_e_d_e, is
due out soon.
Dave Bara pointed out from the audience that he was surprised that
no one had mentioned Dan Simmons. Feeley said that was because Simmons
had really emerged in the 90s. This led to a long analysis of when
exactly Simmons's novels came out, with the conclusion that since they
were being voted on last year (1990), they had come out in the year
before that (1989). But the fact that it was so close to the 90s
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 5
probably resulted in the panel's oversight--when the chronology was
straightened out, they seemed to agree he was certainly one of the major
writers to emerge in the 80s.
A brief stop in the Green Room resulted in my picking up the
valuable information that brains should never be eaten with a spoon,
only with a fork. If they can't be eaten with a fork, they're not fresh
enough. (Also that Post-its are a valuable resource in planning out
panels on a wallboard.)
At the Readercon party I found out why the Readercon anthology,
_M_o_n_o_c_h_r_o_m_e, is so much higher priced than NESFA Press offerings:
_M_o_n_o_c_h_r_o_m_e is a commercial venture rather than a non-profit one, and the
publisher is still $1000 in the hole. When the few hundred remaining
copies sell (and there is a continuing sales level at least), he will
eventually break even and maybe even make a little money.
Readercon, in spite of Eric Van's prior assurances to the contrary,
is once again having the Kirk Poland contest. They are also planning a
twenty-questions game about alternate worlds which Sue Anderson dubbed
"What's My Time Line?"
The Turn of the Century: SF and Fantasy
in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century
Saturday, 10 PM
Mark R. Leeper (mod), John Barnes, Hal Clement, Don D'Ammassa, Mark Keller
Mark hadn't realized he was the moderator of this panel (to which
he was a late addition) until we read the sign outside the room.
Luckily the panelists had all done their homework and didn't need a lot
of prepared questions to get going. D'Ammassa even printed out a list
of all his books written before 1925--but then forgot the list at home.
Keller said he got interested in this subject while studying the
history of technology. Clement got interested in the subject because,
although he was born after the period in question, a lot of what he read
while growing up was written then, and some series started in the period
were still in progress. (For purposes of the panel, the period was set
at 1880 to 1914, the start of World War I.) One he listed in particular
was Harry Collingwood's _L_o_g _o_f _t_h_e _F_l_y_i_n_g _F_i_s_h.
So who was writing and what was written during this period? Well,
the obvious authors to note were Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. Another
author, who has not maintained his popularity as well, was John Kendrick
Bangs, whose works (_T_h_e _H_o_u_s_e_b_o_a_t _o_n _t_h_e _S_t_y_x, _R_e_t_u_r_n _o_f _t_h_e _H_o_u_s_e_b_o_a_t)
__________
* Post-it is a registered trademark of the 3M Corporation.
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 6
inspired Philip Jose' Farmer's "Riverworld" books decades later. George
Allan England was cited; one of his books was _T_h_e _A_i_r _T_r_u_s_t, a book
which supposed that a future government would find a way to put a tax on
air. A local author, Edward Bellamy from Chicopee, wrote _L_o_o_k_i_n_g
_B_a_c_k_w_a_r_d: _2_0_0_0-_1_8_8_9. He also wrote a much less well-known sequel,
_E_q_u_a_l_i_t_y, which someone from the audience volunteered was available at
Bryn Mawr Books in Cambridge (?). Lost-race tales began popular when
stories of the discovery of the great cities of Zimbabwe and Machu
Picchu came back. H. Rider Haggard was very active during this period,
with tales of lost races such as _S_h_e and _K_i_n_g _S_o_l_o_m_o_n'_s _M_i_n_e_s. Talbot
Mundy, also discussed, actually wrote after the period under discussion.
John Jacob Astor wrote _A _J_o_u_r_n_e_y _i_n _O_t_h_e_r _W_o_r_l_d_s. Contrary to what
was said at the panel, he _d_i_d go down on the Titanic. Speaking of the
Titanic, someone in the audience mentioned a woman who predicted World
War I and the sinking of the Titanic, or at least a ship very similar to
the Titanic, in a novel called _F_u_t_i_l_i_t_y. Walter Lord in the foreword to
_A _N_i_g_h_t _t_o _R_e_m_e_m_b_e_r lists the many amazing similarities between Morgan
Robertson's ship _T_h_e _T_i_t_a_n and the real _T_i_t_a_n_i_c--even the fact that
Robertson predicted an April sinking, and the real _T_i_t_a_n_i_c sank in April
of 1912. (Well, it's probable that Robertson figured April is warm
enough to start sailing and cold enough still to have icebergs.)
M. P. Shiel wrote _T_h_e _P_u_r_p_l_e _C_l_o_u_d. Robert Chambers's _K_i_n_g _i_n _Y_e_l_l_o_w
with its futuristic city, Edwin L. Arnold's _G_u_l_l_i_v_e_r _o_f _M_a_r_s, William
Hope Hodgson's _H_o_u_s_e _o_n _t_h_e _B_o_r_d_e_r_l_a_n_d, Rudyard Kipling's "Night Mail"
and "Simple as ABC," Erskine Childers's _R_i_d_d_l_e _o_f _t_h_e _S_a_n_d_s, and "The
Bowman" (by some unnamed author) were all recommended.
Also named was George Griffith. Other authors cited whose works
fell slightly after the period included Francis Stevens (a pen name for
Gertrude Barrows Bennett) and Edgar Rice Burroughs. (Someone mentioned
Russ Rocklynne, but he wrote years later.)
Just as today we have "techno-thrillers," they had them during the
turn of the century. Of course, now those "future war" stories are all
alternate histories. (It is actually a matter of debate as to whether
books set in a future relative to their authorship become alternate
histories when the time of their action arrives and the world doesn't
match what is in the book. I will leave it to the reader to make his or
her own decision. I suspect Keller will not be including these in his
bibliography of alternate histories, however.) Famous techno-thrillers
of the period that were mentioned included George Chesney's "Battle of
Dorking," P. G. Wodehouse's "The Swoop," and Wells's own _W_o_r_l_d _S_e_t _F_r_e_e.
A discussion of _W_a_r _o_f _t_h_e _W_o_r_l_d_s revealed that Wells wrote this
after hearing about a European assault on an aboriginal community in
Australia. The parallel of a people attacked by weapons beyond their
understanding is clear.
The claim was made that in general the quality of the plot and
ideas in works written during this period was in inverse proportion to
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 7
the quality of the writing, although of course there were exceptions.
Keller said that there was a lot of what we would call "New Age"
stuff written in the 1890s, by H. P. Blavatsky and others. Of course,
they thought of it as science. There were psychic detectives galore,
the original ghostbusters! Even then, there were two paths: one school
had the menace revealed as fake psychic phenomenon, the other found the
menace to be truly supernatural. William Hope Hodgson straddled the
fence by writing six stories: three with fake supernaturalism, three in
which the supernatural elements are discovered to be real.
This led to mention of the practice of presenting fiction as fact.
Leeper said that some of Jules Verne's works were published in
newspapers as straight travelogues. It was pointed out that even today
authors such as George Adamski and Whitley Strieber seem to be engaging
in this practice. Keller recommended a book entitled _T_r_a_v_e_l _L_i_a_r_s,
published by Dover, which consists of fictional travelogues presented as
fact by con artists and other liars. (Either he got the title wrong, or
it's out of print, as I couldn't find it listed in _B_o_o_k_s _i_n _P_r_i_n_t.)
Barnes said his interest arose because of his interest in the
theater of this period. Having discovered how to do great special
effects, the theater then made sure they had science fiction or fantasy
works to use them in. The Jacob's Ladder was first used in _T_h_e
_V_a_m_p_i_r_e'_s _V_i_c_t_i_m (1887), which in spite of the title was a parody of
_F_r_a_n_k_e_n_s_t_e_i_n.
Dime novels were also popular. Leeper even brought an example
reprinted in a Dover book (_T_h_e _S_t_e_a_m _M_a_n _o_f _t_h_e _P_r_a_i_r_i_e). Other dime
novels were _R_o_u_n_d _T_r_i_p _t_o _t_h_e _Y_e_a_r _2_0_0_0 and _M_a_r_o_o_n_e_d _i_n _1_4_9_2.
The Futurist Movement, primarily an artists' political movement,
produced science fiction, or at least futuristic works, in Italy during
the period of 1910 through 1930, but its influence never was very
strongly felt in the United States. Fantasy was also popular in Italy
at the time. In Germany, Carl May was writing; in Russia, Konstantin
Tsiolkovsky.
What still holds up after all these years? Most of H. G. Wells,
especially _T_h_e _W_a_r _o_f _t_h_e _W_o_r_l_d_s, Hodgson's _H_o_u_s_e _o_n _t_h_e _B_o_r_d_e_r_l_a_n_d, and
Jules Verne's works--assuming one finds a reasonably good modern
translation and eschews the earlier, wretched translations that led to
so much unwarranted criticism being heaped upon him.
Sexual Symbolism in Fandom
Saturday, 11 PM
I arrived late for this (probably no great loss). All of the
clever double-entendres will fall flat on the printed page, so I will
spare you them. To give you some idea of the level of humor, Laurie was
referred to as the "female Mann," and upon seeing someone in the
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 8
audience signaling a question, said, "Someone back there is going to
save my life with their hand." This generated much laughter.
Someone said that the foot was a phallic symbol, because it goes
right into the mouth. In talking about buttons, someone else said they
were a phallic symbol: "See, they have a little prick right here"
(pointing to the back). "No, Harlan's in California," said another
person (who paid me one whole cent not to give their name here).
At one recent convention someone was going around with a peace-
bonded wand--one with a condom over it. This led to discussion of
fan[zine] reproduction, with the observation that corflu was _n_o_t a good
contraceptive.
Laurie said that one reason that the good stories were more recent
is that many years ago, conventions were almost all men, to which
Franklin predictably said, "That's okay."
Then of course there was the questions of why it's called "hard"
and "soft" science fiction (or fantasy), what exactly _i_s a gopher hole,
and why there are no more sleazycons (described by one panelist as a
"high-school make-out party with older, smellier fans").
This panel was concluded by a long (probably false) story about a
big-name author getting in an argument with a fan. When arguing, this
author purportedly has a tendency to lean forward, and some other fan
supposedly came up behind him unseen and pretended to be sodomizing him.
The story goes on to claim that other fans then got in line to take
turns doing this bit of theatre (proof the story must be false--I've
never seen fans able to make an orderly queue for anything!).
Eventually the author turned around, saw what was happening, and got,
not surprisingly, very irate. When the initial offending fan was
pointed out to him, said author made a gun of his fingers, pointed it at
the fan's crotch, and said, "Bang!" to which a passing fan said, "You
killed it, you eat it." (Because I think the entire story belonged in
the panel on fannish urban legends, I will not provide further
identifying details, so don't ask. If you were actually present at the
purported event, I would be curious to know what _r_e_a_l_l_y happened.)
Around the World in 80 (or more) Pages:
How Writers Use Their Real Life Travel
Sunday, 11 AM
Greer Gilman (mod), Delia Sherman, Elyse Guttenberg
For this panel, all three authors were talking more about how they
used travel for their current book (Gilman's _M_o_o_n_w_i_s_e; Guttenberg's
_S_u_n_d_e_r, _E_c_l_i_p_s_e, _a_n_d _S_e_e_d; and Sherman's _T_h_r_o_u_g_h _a _B_r_a_z_e_n _M_i_r_r_o_r) than
about travel and writing in general. All three also used Western
cultures. _M_o_o_n_w_i_s_e was set in an imaginary landscape based somewhat on
Britain. _T_h_r_o_u_g_h _a _B_r_a_z_e_n _M_i_r_r_o_r was set in a landscape "translated"
from a duchy in the French Alps. _S_u_n_d_e_r, _E_c_l_i_p_s_e, _a_n_d _S_e_e_d was set in a
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 9
northern landscape which drew on Alaskan and Canadian regions for
inspiration. And, of course, there is another approach, that of setting
a novel in a historical or real landscape. This is probably more common
in science fiction than in fantasy, though it is certainly possible
there as well.
Though Sherman described her finding of the Alpine village
"serendipity," it was clear that she had set out looking for it. The
panelists on the whole did not address which came first, the idea or the
landscape. They seemed, however, to travel to do research after the
novel was in their minds, not to look at a landscape and say, "What a
great setting for a story!" though Guttenberg allowed as how this
sometimes happens. In general, it seemed to be thought that doing book
research for books got authors interested in traveling rather than the
other way around.
Travel was considered useful for getting all the details not
available in books: settings, accents, and dialects. Sherman thought
that travel would help authors avoid the all-too-common pitfall of
writing "novels set in suburban America with funny clothes." One of the
panelists quoted Brian Aldiss (from _T_h_e _J_o_u_r_n_a_l _o_f _t_h_e _F_a_n_t_a_s_t_i_c _i_n _t_h_e
_A_r_t_s) as accusing fantasy writers of not having traveled and of writing
generic landscapes. I put in a plug for maps in books, both as an aid
to the reader and as a way to make sure the author has a definite
landscape in mind. Gilman said the only problem with this was that in
her book, part of the plot was that the landscape changed for different
people at different times.
As far as book research, cultural anthropology books were
considered the mainstay by all three panelists. Guttenberg (I believe)
particularly mentioned _R_e_i_n_d_e_e_r _M_o_o_n by Elizabeth M. Thomas. Judith
Tarr was cited as someone who not only does her research, but also
includes a postscript telling where she strayed from history, or where
she embellished it.
Guttenberg was asked about the possibility of her writing stories
set more definitely in Alaska and less in a vague "northern climate."
She answered a slightly different question of why she didn't retell
traditional Alaskan stories: because they are "owned" by families, who
also believe that the stories must be told correctly or disaster would
befall them. Someone else brought up the book _T_h_e _B_e_a_n_s _o_f _E_g_y_p_t, _M_a_i_n_e
in which Carolyn Chute poked fun at people in the town where she lived,
and as a result was now _p_e_r_s_o_n_a _n_o_n _g_r_a_t_a in the whole state of Maine.
African Cultures in Science Fiction
Sunday, 12 noon
Shariann Lewitt (mod), Esther Friesner, Evelyn C. Leeper, Mike Resnick
Resnick's qualifications for this panel are clear to anyone who has
read his recent works. Lewitt and Friesner both have studied and
written stories set in the North African and Middle Eastern areas. My
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 10
qualifications, as I told the audience, seemed to consist of the fact
that I took a three-week vacation to Egypt, Kenya, and Tanzania. (But I
didn't let that lack stop me from having opinions, as you might have
guessed.)
Resnick said that much of his Africa-inspired work was based on
alien cultures in contact, an old science fiction idea that one can see
in reality in Africa. He compared the portrayals of how we would
colonize the stars, usually fairly upbeat, with the reality of how we
colonized Africa--not nearly as benign.
I talked about the geography of Africa, and how there really were
three (perhaps even four) distinct areas one could examine. Northern
Africa, with its strong Islamic influence and ages-old contact with
Europe and Asia, is a very different setting than sub-Saharan Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa, in turn, can be subdivided into "middle Africa" and
South Africa, since South Africa is different enough to warrant separate
examination. And even "middle Africa" could be split into East Africa
(with a German and British influence) and West Africa (with a French and
Belgian influence). In this regard I said I frequently found myself at
a loss, since when they were teaching me geography in school, it was
right at the time when every week seemed to bring a name change for a
country in Africa, so they never taught African geography, and my
knowledge was limited to what I culled from my stamp collection. Even
today, I do "double-thinks," translating "Zaire" into "Belgian Congo"
and "Burkina Faso" into "Upper Volta" (assuming I can even remember the
translations).
African settings go back quite a ways in science fiction (and
fantasy), of course. Edgar Rice Burroughs with his Tarzan novels and
H. Rider Haggard found it an excellent locale--vast areas of unexplored
(by Europeans) territory made it the "Dark Continent" and allowed all
sorts of lost-race and adventure stories to be set there. For a long
time, though, Africa languished as a background for science fiction.
The old stereotypes of Africans had fallen into disfavor (deservedly,
one might add), and no one seemed to know what to replace them with.
Egypt remained popular with stories dealing with lost secrets of magic,
even up through Anne Rice's _M_u_m_m_y today. North Africa was used quite
successfully by George Alec Effinger in _W_h_e_n _G_r_a_v_i_t_y _F_a_i_l_s and _F_i_r_e _i_n
_t_h_e _S_u_n. (The third novel, _T_h_e _E_x_i_l_e _K_i_s_s, is due out very soon.)
S. M. Stirling's trilogy of Draka stories (_M_a_r_c_h_i_n_g _T_h_r_o_u_g_h _G_e_o_r_g_i_a,
_U_n_d_e_r _t_h_e _Y_o_k_e, and _S_t_o_n_e _D_o_g_s) fits more into the South Africa
category. The middle Africa category would include Resnick's
"Kirinyaga" stories, "alternate Teddy" (Theodore Roosevelt) stories, and
_I_v_o_r_y; Robert Silverberg's "Lion Time in Timbuctoo"; Howard Waldrop's
"The Lions Are Asleep This Night"; and Mary Aldridge's "Indinkra Cloth."
Another category that probably should be at least mentioned is that
of works set elsewhere but containing strong influences of African
culture. Jorge Amado's works, parts of Umberto Eco's _F_o_u_c_a_u_l_t'_s
_P_e_n_d_u_l_u_m, and some of Octavia Butler's novels would fall into this
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 11
category. (Her _W_i_l_d _S_e_e_d also takes place partially in Africa.) A good
non-fiction background book in this area is _M_a_r_o_o_n _S_o_c_i_e_t_i_e_s: _R_e_b_e_l
_S_l_a_v_e _C_o_m_m_u_n_i_t_i_e_s _i_n _t_h_e _A_m_e_r_i_c_a_s, edited by Richard Price.
There was a lot of discussion of African history and politics,
centering on the tribalism that is one of the main factors in politics,
and one of the most over-looked or under-rated. Tribal languages are
still prevalent, with official languages being either artificial
creations (Swahili was invented by Arab slave traders) or "official" in
name only, and not really used by most people. Resnick recommended the
book Mort Rosenblum and Doug Williamson's _S_q_u_a_n_d_e_r_i_n_g _E_d_e_n: _A_f_r_i_c_a _a_t
_t_h_e _E_d_g_e as the best single source for background on Africa. (As luck
would have it, this book just went out of print. Still, libraries would
be likely have it.) Resnick pointed out that the most stable economy in
Africa today seems to be Zimbabwe's--ironic since this country was under
sanctions for years and could trade only with South Africa. As a result
they had to become self-sufficient and when the sanctions were lifted,
they were in much better economic shape than other countries with no
sanctions. I observed that this threw a bit of a monkey-wrench into the
arguments of those people who said we needed to give sanctions more time
to work against Iraq.
In discussing Stirling's works, I mentioned that I found the first
volume unpleasant and so did not read the second and third. (I also had
some technical nits to pick, but that was not my primary reason.) The
panelists were quick to emphasize that Stirling himself was not saying
that a Draka domination of Africa or of the world was a good thing, and
that one shouldn't attribute to authors the beliefs of their
characters--not that I was doing that, but I had not specifically
disavowed that. Resnick responded that he too found it necessary to
remind people that just because the mundumugu in the story has certain
beliefs does not mean that he (the author) has them as well, and in
fact, that he is writing the stories in part to warn of the danger of
such a philosophy as the mundumugu espouses.
Homophobia in SF
Sunday, 2 PM
Franklin Hummel (mod), Elisabeth Carey, Gottlieb Edison, Delia Sherman
The first thing I wanted to hear was a clarification as to the
subject matter of the panel: was it homophobia as shown by science
fiction authors in their writings, or was it homophobia as shown by
characters in science fiction, or was it homophobia as a theme in
science fiction? It turned out, not unexpectedly, to be the first,
though at one point there was some confusion about whether the phrase "a
homophobic character" meant a character who is homophobic or a character
written in a homophobic manner. The panelists' contention was that
science fiction fandom (including authors) prides itself on being more
open and accepting than society as a whole, but this is not always the
reality. When the subject of lesbian and gay programming came up a few
years ago, this panel topic was suggested and shelved as not a good foot
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 12
to start off on, but the appearance of Orson Scott Card's article in
_S_u_n_s_t_o_n_e was what decided them on actually holding it. (The article is
too long to reproduce here, and copyrighted anyway, but one of his
contentions was that society should keep anti-gay laws on the books to
discourage homosexuality, but that they should only be enforced
selectively. No indication of who decided what laws should be enforced
against whom was given. As a side note, I would mention that Dennis
Prager published an entire issue of _U_l_t_i_m_a_t_e _I_s_s_u_e_s on Judaism and
homosexuality in which he concluded that Judaism condemned
homosexuality, but that he was _o_p_p_o_s_e_d to laws outlawing it, and _i_n
_f_a_v_o_r of laws guaranteeing equal civil rights regardless of sexual
orientation. But I digress.)
Books that set the panelists teeth on edge included several that
had been otherwise widely praised. For example, Sheri Tepper's _G_a_t_e _t_o
_W_o_m_e_n'_s _C_o_u_n_t_r_y has as one of its premises that the tendency toward
homosexuality has been bred out of the society. Card's novels were also
mentioned, in particular _S_o_n_g_m_a_s_t_e_r and _A _P_l_a_n_e_t _C_a_l_l_e_d _T_r_e_a_s_o_n. Many
other novels show the usual cliches and stereotypes. Unfortunately, the
cliches and stereotypes are so strong that even when they are only part
of the character (for example, Baron Harkonnen in _D_u_n_e), that's all that
comes across. On the positive side, Diane Duane's _S_o _Y_o_u _W_a_n_t _t_o _B_e _a
_W_i_z_a_r_d shows a favorable portrayal of two gay characters, though so
subtly that she got them past not only the publishing house, but many
readers.
There is a bibliography of science fiction with gay and lesbian
characters, _U_r_a_n_i_a_n _W_o_r_l_d_s by Eric Garber and Lyn Paleo, now in its
second edition. However, it fails to include at least one author whose
recent works have had gay characters in a rather definite manner:
Hilbert Schenck. His "Steam Bird" has an emphatically homophobic
President and assistant (both, by the way, are clearly portrayed as
morons). (This may be why I ought the panel could as easily be on
homophobia as a theme as on homophobic portrayals.) Schenck's
"Hurricane Claude" there are two gay lovers who are the heroes of the
story, a plane named "Gay Enola," and a raving homophobe who, it turns
out, is really repressing his own homosexual urges and comes around to
right-thinking by the end of the story. And "A Down-Easter Storm" has a
gay lawyer as one of the heroes.
I had to leave this panel early, so there were undoubtedly other
books praised or damned after I left.
By the way, an example of what's wrong with fandom today is that
before the panel started a fan was telling me how elitist NESFA was, and
how they were putting on a convention no one wanted to go to (so why was
he here?), and then when the subject of Card came up, he asked who Orson
Scott Card was. Some people, we don't need.
Boskone 28 Feburary 24, 1991 Page 13
Miscellaneous
As with last year, the membership was under 1000. Attendance was
(presumably) even lower. It seems as if the distance from Boston,
coupled with the emergence of Arisia, has kept the size from increasing,
or even returning to pre-Noreascon III levels.
Next year for Boskone 29 (February 14-16, 1992) the Guest of Honor
is Jane Yolen.
Panel ideas for future Boskones (or other conventions):
- The Influence of Beowulf on Science Fiction
- How to Pick a Reference Book (both literature reference and
media reference)
- Alternate Histories with Zeppelins
- Words That Have No Rhymes--Or Do They? (humorous panel, as if
you couldn't guess)
- Fantasy Opera (or Science Fiction Opera) (the former would
cover Wagner's "Ring"; the latter would include Blomdahl's
_A_n_i_a_r_a and Todd Mackover's _V_a_l_i_s)
THE GLENDOWER CONSPIRACY by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.
Council Oak Books, 1990, ISBN 0-933031-25-4, $14.95.
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Copyright 1991 Evelyn C. Leeper
This is Biggle's second Holmes pastiche, the first being _T_h_e
_Q_u_a_l_l_s_f_o_r_d _I_n_h_e_r_i_t_a_n_c_e (1986). That one was easier to find than this,
since it was published by St. Martin's Press, a major publishing house.
Both are written (Biggle claims) by Edward Porter Jones, a Baker Street
Irregular who eventually rose to become Sherlock Holmes's apprentice.
Both have two strands, one introduced by the Baker Street Irregulars,
one by a client, which eventually join up.
Biggle has, however, dropped the technique of having Jones telling
the reader everything Holmes is doing and why he's doing it. This, as
far as I'm concerned, is a great improvement, letting the theatrical in
Holmes provide the denouement at just the right time instead of giving
everything away beforehand. As for the heavy dose (one might say
overdose) of Welsh background, well, I think Biggle was stuck between a
rock and a hard place. He needed to give all the background so that the
reader could understand the story and the mystery, but it ended up
sounding too much like a travelogue most of the way through. And though
this will seem contradictory, he _s_h_o_u_l_d have included phonetic
transcriptions for the Welsh. If he's going to include so much of it,
and talk about how hard it is to pronounce, at least he could give us a
fighting chance.
On the whole, though, I would recommend _T_h_e _G_l_e_n_d_o_w_e_r _C_o_n_s_p_i_r_a_c_y--
if you can find it. (Badger your library if nothing else.)