Transreal Fiction

Last night was the first film in the first Math Cubed film festival at the Filmhouse. The event is being put on by Filmhouse and ICMS and the opening film was Flatland the Movie, which has never been shown in the UK before.

Transreal Fiction was sponsoring the event by providing a copy of the book to everybody attending the screening and a bag to put it in! (Other free stuff was also provided by ICMS and Filmhouse.)

The event was sold out, and there was also a little queue of disappointed people hoping there’d be some returns or no-shows, but they were disappointed… The film seemed to go down well with the audience (although I know it’s had mixed reviews) and I appreciated it more on the big screen than I did a month or two ago when I saw the dvd on a tv screen.

Most people left after it finished but around 20% stayed for a discussion session about it, and any maths questions raised. (There was a couple of fairly high-powered mathematicians, and a couple of people who knew the film and the book as well). Sadly, this had to be slightly truncated, as the previous film had run late and we had to begin a little late…

But definitely a success!

The other films in the mini-festival are Pi, which is being screened on Tuesday, and Cube, which is on Thursday next week…

Sorry about the picture; it was pretty crowded… maybe get one or two more up shortly…

in hardback:

S. M. Stirling - In the Courts of the Crimson Kings the sequel to The Sky People. Robert Fripp does not appear.
Greg Egan - Dark Integers and other stories 5 (quite long) short stories… from Subterranean Press
Tim Lebbon - After the War - two tales of Noreela also from Subterranean Press. Signed

in large format:

Christopher Golden - The Lost Ones final part of The Veil trilogy. I’ve enjoyed the first 2 parts…
Mario Acevedo - The Undead Kama Sutra 3rd in the fast moving series that started with X-Rated Bloodsuckers!
Saje Williams - Tales from the Magitech Lounge the first book in the Infinity: Empire series
Kate Elliott - Shadow Gate sequel to Spirit Gate

in ‘B’ format:

Tara Bray Smith - Betwixt fantasy
Conrad Williams - The Unblemished horror
J. R. R. Tolkien - The Children of Hurin illustrated by Alan Lee; edited by Christopher Tolkien…

Terry Brooks - Dark Wraith of Shannara b&w graphic novel!

Warhammer - Vampire Wars the Von Carstein Trilogy by Steven Savile

Alan Weisman - The World Without Us serious book about how the world would adapt and change if humanity disappeared…

in paperback:

Trudi Canavan - Voice of the Gods part 3 of the Age of Fire
Karen Miller - Empress part 1 of the Godspeaker series…
Elizabeth Moon - Victory Conditions 5th & final part of Vatta’s War
Eric Flint & Andrew Dennis - 1635: The Cannon Law the latest novel in the Ring of Fire/1632 series…
John Ringo - Unto the Breach the 4th in his mercenary Ghost series…
David D. Friedman - Harald militaristic fantasy
H. Rider Haggard - The People of the Mist 1894 ‘lost world’ adventure…

Karen Chance - Embrace the Night the 3rd Cassie Palmer adventure

Warhammer - A Time of Legends - Heldenhammer part 1 of The Legend of Sigmur trilogy

art, etc:

Out of Picture volume 1 - subtitled art from the outside looking in an anthology of short illustrated stories; some of it looks great!
Luis Scafati - Dracula an illustrated rendition of the novel; somewhat in the style of Gerald Scarfe

magazines:

Locus the March issue, with Charlie Stross on the cover…
Hi-Fructose vol 7 of the ‘under the counter culture’ art magazine
Piq issue 1 of the new Anime magazine…

toys, etc:

Lenore pvc figure set. More Roman Dirge figures - this set includes Lenore, Taxidermy & Spam Witch …

I still have my 1970 paperback edition of The City and the Stars on my shelves at home. When I bought the book I just knew it would be special - it had a wonderful cover that intrigued me every time I looked at it - and I wasn’t mistaken. I re-read it again fairly recently* and the sense of wonder was definitely still there!

Since that first encounter (although I may well have read some stories from the library without knowing they were his) I’ve read most of his major works - and some of his others - although I’ve not read much of his more recent output. And I’ll get around to Fountains of Paradise yet!

He was a huge figure in sf and a key figure in making it more ‘respectable’ with idea-driven books which appealed to more than the sf crowd, and, of course, the hip recognition he gained from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Along with Heinlein and Asimov, he was regarded as one of the ‘big three’ sf authors, and, while I’ve enjoyed work by all three of them, Clarke is the one I’ve enjoyed the most - and the only one I still own any books by!

And when I heard of his death last night I put on VDGG’s anthemic (Childlike Faith in) Childhood’s End and cranked it up…

My copy from 1970, published by Corgi in the UK

____

edit:

my comments from September 2006:

I’m currently re-reading The City and the Stars, which was one of my favourite books when I was discovering sf&f. I’m pretty sure I read it in 1970 - quite some time ago, now!

I checked the copyright date and realised it’s 50 years old this year! It still stands up well (so far; Alvin’s only just reached Lys) and the immersive multi-player adventures, the databases, the constant tracking of everybody (for no particular purpose; they just can, so the computers do), the personal e-mail addresses, the screen art, all combine to make it feel very prescient of Clarke, although the story is set in the extremely far future… Other ideas are still to be achieved; the peristaltic roads and paths, the instant furniture, etc. but, hey, it is science fiction!
Anyway, definitely recommended if you’ve not read it, and maybe worth a re-read if you have!
____

in hardback:

James Morrow - The Philosopher’s Apprentice a philosopher is asked to re-educate an amnesiac on a paradise island…
Jack O’Connell - The Resurrectionist a man’s son is in a coma and the solution to his revival may lie in a fantasy comic book world the son was enchanted by… I didn’t reralise this was the same author who wrote Box Nine!
L. E. Modesitt, jr. - Viewpoints Critical short story collection
in large format:

Joe Abercrombie - Last Argument of Kings the 3rd volume of The First Law
John Meaney - Dark Blood the sequel to Bone Song
Adam Roberts - Swiftly while the British Empire grows rich on Lilliputian-run microtech, the French regiments of Brobdignagians have devastated London…

William Jones (editor) - Frontier Cthulhu an anthology of ‘ancient horrors in the New World’ from Chaosium’s Callof Cthulhu fiction line

in ‘B’ format:

Jan Potocki - Tales from the Saragossa manuscript the brief Dedalus edition of this weird classic

in paperback:

Kevin Dockery & Douglas Niles - Operation Orion the second Starstrike adventure, after Task Force Mars, which is also back in stock…
Chaz Brenchley - River of the World the second in the Selling Water by the River set. The first was Bridge of Dreams
Robert Buettner - Orphan’s Journey the third of the Orphanage books…
Juliet Marillier - The Well of Shades part 3 of her Bridei Chronicles, which began with The Dark Mirror

Conn Igueldon - Ghengis: Birth of an Empire the early years…

Alex Archer - Provenance the 11th in the Rogue Angel series…

Charlaine Harris - All Together Dead the 7th Sookie Stachhouse novel
T. A. Pratt - Poison Sleep the sequel to the recent Blood Engines, both featuring Marla Mason
Nina Harper - Succubus in the City can a P.I. and a girl from hell find true love?

Star Trek - Terok Nor a Star Trek Lost Era adventure…

art, etc:

Dale Chihuly - 365 Days a photo for every day (except it’s a leap year!) of some amazing glasswork creations…

in hardback:

Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough - Deluge book 3 of The Twins of Pataybee vol 2 is recently out in paperback…
S. M. Stirling - Ice, Iron and Gold collection which includes an Emberverse* novella and also a Nantucket story…

in large format:

Glen Cook - The Dragon Never Sleeps space opera, originally published 1n 1988
Jo Graham - Black Ships historical fantasy, set in the aftermath of the Trojan War…
J. F. Lewis - Staked a vampire with serious memory problems…

in ‘B’ format:

Adam Roberts - Land of the Headless far future humour…
George R. R. Martin - Dreamsongs - a retrospective; book one the first of 2 volumes collecting his best short fiction. The hardback and ‘C’ format softcover edition have been split into two halves for paperback publication…
Terry Pratchett - The Colour of Magic an omnibus of the first 2 Discworld novels, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic

J. R. R. Tolkien The History of the Hobbit part one - Mr. Baggins and The History of the Hobbit part two - Return to bag-End two volumes by John D. Ratcliffe exploring the evolution and writing of the Hobbit

in paperback:

Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough - Maelstrom book 2 of The Twins of Pataybee UK edition
Matthew Spange - Shadowmage book 1 of The Twilight of Kerberos, also a Lucius Kane adventure!
L. E. Modesitt, jr. - The Elysium Commission a scientist creates a pocket universe…
Gordon R. Dickson & David W. Wixon - The Antagonist a Dorsai novel, also the final book in Dickson’s Childe Cycle, completed on his death by his assistant
John C. Wright - Titans of Chaos final part of the Chronicles of Chaos trilogy
Dave Duncan - Mother of Lies a sequel to Children of Chaos, which was the 1st of the Dodee Books

Kaitlin Kittredge - Night Life the first Nocturne City adventure. A policewoman who’s also a werewolf…

art, etc:

Mike Hoffman - Secrets of Drawing subtitled Tricks, Tips & Techniques in b&w
Mitch Byrd - Scribbles and Sketches b&w sketches

magazines:

Interzone - #215, cover date April. Includes fiction by Greg Egan and Rudy Rucker…

toys & models:

Stonehenge build your own ancient artifact!
Frank Kozik - Dr Bomb: Blue Gid Magic and also Dr Bomb: Pink Gid soft vinyl designer elephant figures

* emberverse - the setting for the series that began with Dies the Fire

I’ve just discovered that Ken Slater died recently.

I didn’t know him well, but he was an early source for various aging pulp magazines I used to try to track down. I’d send him a list of what I was after, and in due course we’d both be at the same convention and I’d get a small pile of Startling Stories, or Astounding, etc.

And then I’d be reading one of them and find it had a letter from him in the letters column!

He dated back way before me - he had just turned 91 - and was a link to the early days of sf in the UK… He ran Fantast (Medway) Ltd for decades, importing and selling books and magazines right up until his death; his daughter helped him latterly; maybe she’ll carry on the business…

3 - 4 weeks on, and I’m now told that the work directly outside the shop should be completed in a couple of weeks… They didn’t, however, guarantee Mr.Wood’s Fossils next door that it would definitely be all clear for one of their major deliveries (basically a pretty large crate full of rock) at the end of March…

in hardback:

David Drake - When the Tide Rises the 6th book in the RCN or Lt.Leary series of sf adventures
Mike Brotherton - Spider Star new large-scale sf
Adam Stemple - Steward of Song sequel to Singer of Souls, which are both set in Edinburgh

Torchwood the latest 3 hardbacks - Something in the Water, Trace Memory and The Twilight Streets…

in large format:

Misty Massey - Mad Kestrel fantasy pirate novel
Steve Rasnic Tem & Melanie Tem - The Man on the Ceiling an expansion of the novella…
David Henderson - Tomorrow’s World detective story in a computer-controlled world…
Maria V. Snyder - Fire Study 3rd in the series

in ‘B’ format:

David Bilsborough - The Wanderer’s Tale volume 1 of The Annals of Lyndormyn
Tad Williams - Shadowplay UK edition of the sequel to Shadowmarch

in paperback:

Ken MacLeod - The Execution Channel
Mercedes Lackey & Roberta Gellis - By Slanderous Tongues follows on from This Sceptr’d Isle and Ill Met by Moonlight
James P. Hogan - Echoes of an Alien Sky
Anne Bishop - Belladonna the sequel to Sebastian, and the 2nd in the Ephemera series
David Gunn - Death’s Head 1st in a new series featuring Sven, who’s only 98.2% human…
Jim C. Hines - Goblin War 3rd in the series
Adam-Troy Castro - Emissaries from the Dead far-future sf on a giant alien habitat

Mel Odom - Goetia the 2nd Hellgate: London novel
Kelly Armstrong - No Humans Involved 7th in the series; the UK edition
Charlaine Harris - Three Bedrooms, One Corpse the 3rd Aurora Teagarden mystery…

No Rest for the Witches four romantic horror novellas by Maryjanice Davidson, Lori Handeland, Cheyanne McCray and Christine Warren

C. J. Cherryh - Alliance Space omnibus containing Merchanteer’s Luck (1982) & 40,000 in Gehenna (1983)

Martin H. Greenberg & Sarah J. Hoyt (editors) - Something Magic This Way Comes original anthology

Star Trek - Vulcan’s Soul III - Epiphany

Forgotten Realms - The Haunted Lands #2 - Undead by Richard Lee Byers