@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @
@ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @
@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 05/28/93 -- Vol. 11, No. 48
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are in Holmdel 4N-509
Wednesdays at noon.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
06/02 RED MARS by Kim Stanley Robinson
(Politics in Space Colonization)
06/23 CHINA MOUNTAIN ZHANG by Maureen McHugh
(Non-European Futures)
07/14 SIGHT OF PROTEUS by Charles Sheffield (Human Metamorphosis)
08/04 Hugo Short Story Nominees
08/25 CONSIDER PHLEBAS by Iain Banks
(Space Opera with a Knife Twist)
09/15 WORLD AT THE END OF TIME by Frederik Pohl
(Modern Stapledonian Fiction)
Outside events:
07/31 Deadline for Hugo Ballots to be postmarked
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the second
Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call 201-933-2724 for
details. The New Jersey Science Fiction Society meets on the third
Saturday of every month in Belleville; call 201-432-5965 for details.
HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 908-834-1563 holly!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1C-523 908-834-1267 holly!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 homxc!11366ns
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 908-576-3346 quartet!lfl
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 mtgpfs1!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. The next book for discussion is Kim Stanley Robinson's _R_e_d _M_a_r_s
In this book, Robinson has taken a big subject--one might almost
say sprawling--the colonization and terraforming of Mars. It is so
big that it needs three books, of which this is the first. But
this book is independent enough to stand on its own.
THE MT VOID Page 2
Robinson's works often derive from history or historical trends,
and so one isn't surprised to see that outlook brought to this
book. Yes, it is a book about its characters, but it is about them
as shaping (and being shaped by) history. Robinson also assumes
his characters know their history--discussions of terraforming Mars
are not the totally technical and scientific discussions one has
come to expect, but include references to projects and events which
affected Earth's environment. _R_e_d _M_a_r_s is an adventure story,
true, but it is not a simple-minded one and there is much to chew
on. [-ecl]
2. I have been writing in the last few issues about requests for
money through the mail. I promised you that this week I would
include a real case history. This piece actually came. There was
a business-size envelope with three cellophane windows: one with
our name and address, one saying it was from my niece, Grade 2,
Sandpiper Elementary School, in another state, and one saying,
"P.S. I miss you a lot." Now, immediately I "smelled a rat." It
was like those letters from prisoners of war that have funny
phrasings, like "it is nice to be writing you." Nobody writes that
way unless somebody is twisting their arm. My niece would never
say she missed Evelyn or me. It may well be that she does, but I
have never heard her express any sentiment remotely like that. If
she had said, "I am unhappy here," _t_h_a_t would be like my niece. I
opened it up and found the message:
Dear Aunt Evelyn, Uncle Mark,
My school needs more computers for our classrooms.
You can help by ordering some new magazines or extending
your current subscriptions at this time.
You'll save money with the special school prices and
your magazine orders help provide more "hands on"
computer training for me. If two orders arrive by the
prize deadline, I get a free _S_c_h_o_o_l _S_p_i_r_i_t _S_h_i_r_t.
Please help me if you can.
P.S. I miss you a lot.
It was, of course, a form letter, but my niece wrote the "Aunt
Evelyn, Uncle Mark" and the "I miss you a lot."
Now, where should I begin? Is this an urban school strapped for
funds? No, it is actually a fairly well-endowered suburban school
in a fairly fancy neighborhood. I have been in the neighborhood
and, to put it politely, it is one in which they can easily
generate tax money if they wanted to. Take that estimate with a
grain of salt, however, since these are people who also are likely
to know how to avoid paying taxes. And perhaps this is one such
strategy. But what really curdles my cottage cheese is what this
school defines as "school spirit." If you can find two relatives
to tap for funds for the school, then you have school spirit.
Admittedly, I never had much school spirit. I made it a point of
THE MT VOID Page 3
giving the football team all the enthusiasm and support they gave
the math team. I leave it to your imagination how much that was,
but let's say I didn't get any school spirit T-shirts myself. But
even then I was sure "school spirit" was something else. But it
_m_u_s_t have been something different than putting some insincere
inscription on a form letter. Even in my most cynical days I
thought it was something more noble than that.
3. Hugo Factoid of the Week: Poul Anderson has the most Hugo wins
in the fiction categories, with 7 Hugos. Runners-up are Harlan
Ellison, Fritz Leiber, and Roger Zelazny, with 6 each. Ellison
also has one in the "Dramatic Presentation" category, for "The City
on the Edge of Forever." (Asimov and Heinlein have 4 each, and
Clarke has 3.) [-ecl]
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
...mtgzfs3!leeper
There are few minds to which tyranny is not delightful.
-- Samuel Johnson
THE WALL AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Jim Aikin
Ace, ISBN 0-441-87140-2, 1993, $4.99.
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Copyright 1993 Evelyn C. Leeper
In the world of the future, in a society of telepaths,
conformity is more than the norm--it's required. Periodic
Cleansings make sure that no one who deviates can contaminate the
society. Denlo Ree accepts this, until he has to come to terms with
what this means. His struggle takes him outside the Wall, into the
supposedly barren outlands which he discovers are not so barren
after all. He meets Linnie, who comes from a very different society
and they must learn to communicate with and understand each other.
In its picture of a restrictive, ordered society, _T_h_e _W_a_l_l _a_t
_t_h_e _E_n_d _o_f _t_h_e _W_o_r_l_d has been compared to Ursula LeGuin's
_D_i_s_p_o_s_s_e_s_s_e_d, but I found the resemblance deceptive. LeGuin is
contrasting two supposedly different societies. While Aikin does
this to some extent, he is more concerned with looking at how
societies come about (or are built) and how people communicate with
each other. The politics are important, but they are driven by
communication: telepathy (or its lack) between people who share a
common language and between people who don't, communication between
of the same social level and between people of different levels
(though they may disagree on who is the higher).
_T_h_e _W_a_l_l _a_t _t_h_e _E_n_d _o_f _t_h_e _W_o_r_l_d is not a perfect book, but its
flaws are minor. (I found myself spending what was probably too
much time trying to figure out where all the modified place names
came from (e.g., Missopy from Mississippi), but that's probably just
me. If you're looking for a good, solid, socio-political novel, I
recommend _T_h_e _W_a_l_l _a_t _t_h_e _E_n_d _o_f _t_h_e _W_o_r_l_d. (Do not read the _L_o_c_u_s
review until you've read the novel--it gives too much away.)