Joseph T. Major
In addition to a large assortments of book reviews, Alexiad 4 opens
with a brief bit of news, a commentary by Lisa on the 2002 Triple Crown
(betraying the issue's Kentucky origin?) followed by a description of the novel The
Black Stallion. There is a brief article by C.T. Fluhr on "The
Fluhr Effect" which traces many of the country's economic woes to himself.
Michael and Nomi Burstein
This is the premiere issue of a fanzine from Campbell Award winning author
and Boston area conrunner Michael Burstein and his wife, Nomi. Michael
writes the opening editorial and Nomi rounds out the issue with a closing
article dictating the theme of the second issue. In between are articles
by Mike Resnick on his favorite musicals (apparently based on seeing the stage
productions, although it isn't always clear which production Resnick is
describing). Bob Devney provides an half-dozen haikus about science
fiction fandom/prodom. Dan Kimmel discusses living on the border between
being a professional film reviewer and being a science fiction fan and dealing
with expectations from both sides. Rich Lynch, who has recently announced
the approaching end of his fanzine, gives Michael, Nomi
and other faneds advice for filling those blank pages. Dr. Solomon
Davidoff gives advice to struggling authors which will help them to struggle
even harder. The issue is only 25 pages long, but filled with quality
articles.
Guy H. Lillian III
Distilling over 100 pages of fanzine down to a brief summary: Guy opens
with an in memoriam piece about R.A. Lafferty followed by a speech
Lafferty presented at DeepSouthCon in 1979. Later in the ish, Lillian
prints a review of Lafferty's Past Master by Fred Chappell. More
memorial pieces by John Guidry, Dan Knight, and Sobert Whitaker Sirignano.
The issue ends with another look at Lafferty, although not before Guy dedicates
some space to George Alec Effinger, another author who died recently. Alan
White explains how he created the eye-catching cover to Challenger 15
using PhotoshopTM. Gregory Benford
describes a meeting with Stephen Hawking in Cambridge. Richard Dengrove
delves into the 18th century version of flying saucers. Mike Resnick, who
has been writing recently about his Favorite Africa films (Argentus 1)
and musicals (Burstzine 1) looks at his favorite museums here. Joseph T.
Major lampoons the practice of having modern authors rewrite or add to the works
of dead authors with his new look at The Lord of the Rings.
Occasioned by the Andrea Yates case, Lillian looks at the insanity plea.
The 'Zine Dump is the lengthy look at 'zines received, followed by the letter
column.
LASFS Newsletter
Th LASFS Newsletter includes the standard minutes from the
meetings held in May, but is most noteworthy as the Bruce Pelz Memorial issue.
Memories of Bruce are provided by Marty Cantor, Mike Glyer, Ed Green,
Karl Lembke, Bill Ellern, Rick Foss, Tadao Tomomatsu, Mike Donahue, Chaz Boston
Baden, and a poem by Len Moffatt. While
I only recall having met Bruce once (he recalled at least one earlier meeting
and I’ll bow to his memory), I am glad I had the chance to meet him and wish I
could have known him better. In
addition, LASFS runs Ted White’s review of Quasiquote #4.
LASFS Newsletter
Minutes of LASFS meetings in June and Ted White's review of
John D. Teehan's Sleight of Hand
#1.
LASFS Newsletter
Minutes of LASFS meetings in June and Ted White's review of
Rich & Nicki Lynch's Mimosa 28.
Arthur D. Hlavaty
Hlavaty opens with a brief editorial on last year’s
terrorist attacks in which he attributes much of what has happened since
September 11 to opportunism rather than actual malevolence aforethought.
The remainder of the issue is taken up with three con reports, of Lunacon,
ICFA, and Minicon, the last of which invited Hlavaty as its fan guest of honor.
The issue is completed with a brief memorial to some of the too many
people, fans, authors, and others, who have died in recent months. Of the books Hlavaty recommends, I would strongly second his
suggestion of Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair.
Bob Devney
A collection of quotes and observations from this year's
Readercon, although no movie reviews this time around.
A. Langley Searles
[More to come]
Mike Glyer
The full color semi-gloss cover announces the important
news of the issue, that Mike and Diana have adopted a daughter, named Sierra
Grace Joanna Tinuviel Rose Glyer. The
ish opens with the obligatory news followed by Ted White’s report on this
year’s Corflu in Annapolis. Tom
Veal weighs in with a selection of websites which he feels are worthy of the
special Hugo category being awarded at ConJosé.
His list is longer than the five spots allowed on the nominating ballot
and he does not, alas, discuss what criteria he feels should go into nominating
a site, perhaps the biggest problem with the category.
This year’s organizational problems at ConJosé are discussed, and
although Glyer doesn’t reprint the letter from “A Concerned SMOF,” he
provides a detailed description of its contents.
A lengthy obituary section appeared, although it was published prior to
the horrible weeks in April that saw so many more names added to the list.
Glyer looks at the fannish, or at least his group’s, reaction to the
release of “The Lord of the Rings” and there are several more con reports
and a look at the Fan Art display from MilPhil.
Tim Lane
With issue 205, Tim Lane and Elizabeth Garrett announce
that due to financial considerations, Fosfax will be going on a, perhaps,
permanent hiatus. While I disagree with many of the political stands Lane takes,
Fosfax is more than just politics, with trip reports, book reviews, and a
hodge podge of other topics which are of interest to the editors. It is a
'zine which was guarenteed to raise the ire of anyone to the left of Attila the
Hun, but it also provided a basis of discussion within the community.
[More to come]
Henry Welch
Welch opens with his editorial in which he discusses the
joys and tribulations of remodeling a kitchen. This is followed by a short
trip report of a business trip to South Korea by Henry's brother, John, complete
with a nifty listing of observations on this different culture. Welch includes a
reprint book review column from Yngvi is a Louse as well as a review by
Janine Stinson. The last article/column in this issue, before the tremendous
InterLOCutions, is by Rodney Leighton (see below),
who discusses fanzine reviews in general, as well as his own reasoning for
ceasing fanac, although he notes that his cessation has its own definition.
Henry Welch
Welch is still working on remodeling his house.
Funny, it looks so easy on "Trading Spaces." He got away for a
while with a camping trip to Ontario, which naturally leads to observations
about the West Nile Virus. While ish 94 included an article on South
Korea, 95 has an article aabout a road trip to Milwaukee for the Bead and Button
Show by Al and Megan Bouchard. Continuing reprints from Yngvi is a Louse,
Welch provides Charlotte Proctor's look at dates which will live in infamy
(Pearl Harbor, Kennedy Assassination, World Trade Center Collapse). Rodney
Leighton talks about deciding which zines to review, but doesn't really review
any of them. He does point out some similarities between different zines
in their current issues. Just before the massive InterLOCutions is a page
on cryptarithms by Bill Legate.
Rodney Leighton
Rodney Leighton's zine-cum-letter is filled mostly
with short reviews of a wide variety of zines, ranging from the personal notes
of a teenage girl, Sabrina to the science fictional musings of Challenger.
Apart from the reviews, which are a wonderful introduction to varied zines,
Leighton discussing his distribution system for Leighton Look and also
examines whether it is a 'zine or a letter, based in part, apparently, on
comments made by Dale Speirs.
Jerry Kaufman & Suzanne
Tompkins
The first issue of a new 'zine by veteran zine editor Jerry Kaufman includes
Moshe Feder's Corflu Fan GoH speech from Corflu 19 (February 17, 2002 in
Annapolis, MD). Andy Hooper provides a column of 'zine reviews in which he
discusses Plokta 25, Wabe 5, Quasiquote 4, and Rune
86. The majority of the ish is taken up with Jerry's "Bewitched,
Bothered and Bemildered," which is a rambling look at television and
generally Jerry's personal observations on life.
Fred Lerner
It seems to be the year of Italy. Recently my parents
visited Italy, as did my sister's family. A few weeks before that, my
in-laws spent some time there on their return from Israel. In Lofgeornost
68, I learn that Fred Lerner also spent time in Italy this year as the majority
of the issue is a trip report of his meanderings around the country. My
own Italian adventure being confined to Venice in 1987, much of what Lerner
describes of his Tuscany vacation is new, but does have a hint of the familiar
about it. Since my various family members just got back from Tuscany, I
have a wide assortment of illustrations to go along with Lerner's descriptions.
Nicki & Rich Lynch
After announcing that Mimosa 30 will be the final
issue of this Hugo-Award winning fanzine, editors Nicki and Rich Lynch are
devoting the 28th and 29th issues to a fanthological
retrospective of the ‘zione, reprinting selected items from each issue.
Issue 28 covers articles and illustrations from issues 1-16.
Authors represented include Jeff Duntemann, Lon Atkins, Bob Shaw, Ron Lee, Meg
Stull, Pat Molloy, both Lynches, Dal Coger, Harry Warner, Jr., Bobs Bloch and
Tucker, Dave Kyle, Richard Brandt, Dave Luckett, Vincent Clarke, Bruno Ogorelec,
Terry Jeeves, Steve Stiles, John Berry, David Thayer, Dave Langford, Mike Glyer,
Sharon Farber, Howard Devore, Andy Hooper, Walt Willis, Esther Cole, Forrest J
Ackerman and Mike Resnick. In addition, Rich and Nicki provide a brief
history of Mimosa.
Lawrence Person
The centerpiece of this issue are interviews by Chris
Nakashima-Brown and Fiona Kelleghan, both with Paul Di Filipppo. In
addition, Kelleghan reviews Di Filippo's Golden Gryphon collection, Strange
Trades. Bruce Sterling provides a featured review of four books by Serbian
author Zoran Zivkovic, who has published numerous stories in Interzone,
but is, perhaps, less well known in North American science fiction
circles. Australian fan Bruce Gillespie takes a look at Avram Davidson's
short stories. Despite a resurgence of books collecting Davidson's short
stories, he still isn't as well known as he, by rights, ought to be.
Editor Lawrence Person notes that he is considering winding down the print
version of Nova Express after issue 24, but it may retain a life on the
web as an on-line book review site.
John Thiel
John Thiel's fanzine publishes fiction, including Lawrence
R. Dagstine's "Mission to Gibraltar" and "Suspicion," by Jim
Sullivan. The issue also contains a variety of short reviews and comments
on various books and scientific topics.
Jan Stinson
The first annish of Peregrine Nations, Jan Stinson
begins with a collection of LoCs. The first article discusses Earl Kemp's
brothers in Smith, revealing the importance of "Doc" Smith and his
writing to a generations of fans. The 'zine continues with notes on
fanzines received, an obituary of Cherry Wilder and a note on how to win free
books from Jan. Will Hogarth reviews some of the major writers on the
graphic novel scene and John Teehan, who has recently exploded onto the scene,
presents his conrep of his first con: MilPhil. Finally, thish ends
with a personal note from Jan which details the creation of thish and other
projects she is working on.
Eloise Beltz-Decker
A discussion of things to come in RoCB4 followed by
thoughts about July 20, 1969. A perzine, Beltz-Decker continues with her
personal history and a recipe for wharf rat.
John Teehan
This is Teehan’s first fanzine and, as another newcomer,
I’d like to welcome him to the club. Sleight
of Hand includes articles by Anne K.G. Murphy, rich brown, Dave Langford,
Mike Resnick, Christopher Pierson and Janis Ian as well as Teehan’s own brief
introduction and a few short notes on several books. He is definitely the editor of this ‘zine rather than a
contributor. The centerpiece of Sleight
of Hand is Resnick’s “Tales of the Prozines,” heavily illustrated with
cover art from the magazines Resnick describes. Many of the articles have a fanhistorical bent, such as
Murphy’s disucssion of the continuation of the Science Fiction Oral History
Association, Langford’s presentation of Paul Barnett’s Microcon Guest of
Honor speech or the aforementioned Resnick article.
Grammy Award-winner Janis Ian describes MilPhil, the first science
fiction convention she attended. The
two items which seem outside the general theme of the ‘zine are rich brown’s
recollections of seeing Diana Rigg appear on stage naked and Christopher
Pierson’s musings on the insidious time wasters that modern computers provide. While the cover looks good on-line, when printed out, the
artwork is faded and from any distance only the title can be made out.
Because Teehan posted a web page to discuss the creation of the ‘zine,
he is able to include the text of those discussions in this first issue, further
providing an historical context for the 'zine.
Julie Wall
According to editor Julie Wall, this is her last issue
as editor. It includes listings of
the Hugo nominees and Nebula winners, a brief necrology of those who have been
lost since the last issue, Tom Feller’s convention reports on (big surprise)
mostly Southern conventions and a listing of Fanzines (note to self, send Tom a
copy of Argentus). In its
convention bid section, it interestingly lists the moribund Dallas in 06 bid,
but fails to mention the active KC in 06 bid.
It also mentions the 2010 Chicago bid as a fact, when it is still in the
discussion stage.
Max
Apparently a one-off by recent Faan Award-winner Max, who
explains (as seems de rigueur) why he is publishing it in an
opening editorial. Max follows with a description of finding a dead
hedgehog. A con report on Plokta.con 2.0 and finally the discovery of a
radio station entitled Z104, which was strange since when I took music classes
in college, they had a Z prefix.
Alan Stewart
Opens with a lengthy news section, including a recap of
numerous 2001 awards. Stewart interviews author Cameron Rogers. Rose
Mitchell provides a con report on the Millennium Freecon, held in Sydney.
A lengthy calendar and convention list followed by Australian SF News (dated
July 2001). The issue ends with several pages of book reviews.
E.B. Frohvet
In addition to the various readers comments, reviews and
miscellany, Twink26 contains three articles. The first is by editor E.B. Frohvet and provides a look into
the frequent appearance of caves and caverns in science fiction and fantasy,
although an overarching thesis would have helped make the piece more cohesive.
Gene Stewart looks reading (and film-going) as an escapist activity and
finds that it is lacking. I wonder at the labeling of science fiction as escapism since
that seems like buying into the idea of simply reading that Buck Rogers stuff.
The final article is by Lyn McConchie, who describes how a project to
write a children’s book about a troll, linking the Scandinavian region of New
Zealand in which she lived to his mythical roots, blossomed into a tourist
industry in the town of Norsewood.
John Hertz
As always, the vast majority of each two-page issue of Vanamonde
consists of comments on other ‘zines which appeared in APA-L.
For readers who do not receive APA-L, these are generally enigmatic.
The remainder of the issues are taken up with random quotes and thoughts
by John Hertz, including reading notes, remembrances of the Queen Mother and
Milton Berle, a description of the Ray Bradbury Hollywood Walk of Fame Star
dedication, a look at the Getty Museum’s “Italy on the Grand Tour”
exhibition and a collection of notes from various other fan writers.
Robert Sabella
Two
volumes, called The Passing Scene and Wondrous Stories. The
former volume opens with a discussion of what science fiction is. Next
comes a journal of life in the Sabella household in April, May and June of
2002. The last couple of pages are short jokes in the manner of The
Reader's Digest. The latter volume includes Steve Carper's look at
J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson's approaches to Middle Earth. This is
followed by a look at Spring in the science fiction world in 1972, 1982 and
1992. This is followed by a series of reviews of novels and anthologies,
some old (The Tombs of Atuan) and some new (Redshift). The
volume ends with a listing of fanzines received.
