Westwind #34 January 1980
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WESTWIND
January 1980 No. 34
3RD ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
[Art by Jay Mullins of an astronaut standing on a moon looking at a gas giant planet rising over the horizon.]
NORWESCON 3 PROGRESS REPORT
WESTWIND - the newszine of the Northwest Science Fiction Society. No. 34, January 1980 Editor: Kipy Poyser, [REDACTED], Olympia, Washington 98501
Contributing Editor: Greg Bennett, [REDACTED], Houston, TX 77058
Layout: Kipy Poyser Printing: Michael Brocha Mailing: Cliff Wind
Computer Support: Tony Pepin Production: Olympia Chapter, NWSFS
Contributors to this issue: Steve Bard, Janice Murray, Kipy Poyser, Jon Gustafson, Dennis Pernaa, Frank Rabinovitch and Lauraine Miranda. Art: Cover by Jay Mullins Interior by Steve Perry p.4 & 8; Ralph Silverton p.7; and Steve Adams p.11.
Contents copyright (c) 1979 by Gregory R. Bennett, for the contributors. WESTWIND is mailed monthly to all members of the Northwest Science Fiction Society. Annual dues in the Society are $7.00. Send to: NWSFS, P.O. Box [REDACTED], Seattle, WA 98124.
ADVERTISING: Must be received, camera-ready, by the first day of the month of issue. Send to [REDACTED], Olympia, WA 98501. Rates: Page $15 (7 1/2x10), 1/2-page $8 (7 1/2x5), 1/4-page $5 (3 1/2x5), 1/8-page $3 (3 1/2x2 1/2). ADVERTISING IN NORWESCON III PROGRAM BOOK: Tentative deadline: Mid-February. Rates: Page (8 1/2x11) $50, 1/2-pg $35, 1/4-pg $20, 1/8-pg $10. Back cover: outside $70, inside $60. Write for quote on color work.
MEETINGS…
JAN. 17–19: SCIENCE FICTION FAIRE. To be held at the North & Central campuses of the Seattle Community College, this second annual symposium features authors John Varley, Elizabeth Lynn, Peter S. Beagle, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro & Ed Bryant. Panels, readings & films starting at 1 pm Thurs. & Fri., 9 am Sat. Cost is $5. for non-students. For more info call Frank Denton @ [REDACTED].
JAN. 19: Olympia Chapter NWSFS. Kipy Poyser’s house at 7:30 pm. [REDACTED].
JAN. 19: Organizational meeting for D&D and games functions at Norwescon III. 4 pm, at [REDACTED], Bellevue; Jim Cox [REDACTED].
JAN. 26: NWSFS MONTHLY SOCIAL. At the SF Expo Sat. evening. Drop by the NWSFS/Norwescon table to find out precise time and place.
FEB. 15–17: RAIN TOO. A science fiction weekend. Rembrandt Hotel, Vancouver, BC Relaxacon, with 1979 Hugo winner John Varley as Special Party Guest. $6 (til 2/12) and $7 at the door. Rooms $28 & $32. PO Box [REDACTED] Bentall Centre, Vancouver, BC [REDACTED]
FEB. 23: NWSFS MONTHLY SOCIAL. At Linda Hoffer’s, [REDACTED], Seattle.
MAR. 28–30: NORWESCON III. Airport Hyatt House. GoH: Alfred Bester. Fan GoH: Fred Pohl. Toastmaster: Theodore Sturgeon. Membership $8, $7 NWSFS members 'til 2/14. Volunteers contact Shelley Dutton @ [REDACTED] NE Seattle 98107.
MAR. 29: NWSFS MONTHLY SOCIAL. At Norwescon III.
S. F. EXPO
The 5th annual Science Fiction Expo will happen on January 25, 26 & 27 at the Seattle Center in the Center House Building (Food Circus).
Produced by the One-Reel Vaudeville Show and featuring this year’s installment of their play ''Rocky Jones and the Space Polka Patrol", the SF Expo is more a large scale entertainment event than a skiffy convention. Like unto a con, it has dealer tables, a large art show, a film program and an assortment of lectures and panels. Unlike a convention, however, admission is free to the public and about 30,000 per day turn out for the event. Even though you won’t find the intimacy of a convention, you can utilize the NWSFS/Norwescon information table on the Center House balcony (among the dealer tables) to find your friends and other fans.
Jules Verne is the theme of this year’s expo, and an assortment of Verne scholars will participate. Noteworthy guests include authors Poul Anderson and Joanna Russ; director Robert Wise, Star Trek’s George Takei and a transcontinental hot-air balloonist.
The first major event of the expo will be “The Bug-Eyed Monster Ball”, a costume dance with two live bands at 8pm Friday night. By the time things wind down on Sunday evening you’ll have had lots of fun, providing you didn’t expect the expo to be something that it wasn’t.
For further information on the expo, contact the One-Reel Vaudeville Show at [REDACTED].
P.S. Don’t forget to visit the Pacific Science Center and the Laserium show sometime during the weekend.
NORWESCON 3 PROGRESS REPORT
MEET THE PROS
If there is one thing that especially sets Norwescon apart from all other conventions it has to be our special emphasis on pros, as evidenced by the considerable number of these folks who attend and participate… and then come back the next year. For instance, we currently project that approximately 50 professional authors, editors and artists will attend Norwescon III.
People (not to mention other concoms) often ask what our secret is for acquiring such august personages in such great profusion. I have a number of snappy answers for this one, but I finally admit: “”“I, uh, well, I invite them”. Other conventions are apparently so awestruck by the elegant simplicity of this idea that they forget to try it. Of course, Norwescon also dedicates space in the program book to photographs and bibliographical blurbs for all attending pros, plus we host a very special autograph party and various other pro-oriented programming. (And we offer free memberships.)
Coming from all over the U.S. and even from Australia and Mexico, the following pros have, as of January 5th, confirmed that they will attend Norwescon III:
Guest of Honor: Alfred Bester
His novel, The Stars My Destination is considered by many authors, editors and fans to be the best science fiction novel ever written; this and other of his works of the 1950s influenced many of the new writers that emerged during the 1960s.
Fan Guest of Honor: Frederik Pohl
One of the original Futurians, Fred Pohl’s stature as a fan has been thoroughly eclipsed by his considerable accomplishments as editor, agent and author. (Please read his book, The Way the Future Was.)
Toastmaster: Theodore Sturgeon
According to Samuel R. Delany: “Theodore Sturgeon is the American short-story writer”.
[Photo of Alfred Bester]
Other Distinguished Guests
Vonda N. McIntyre
A. Bertram Chandler
Stephen R. Donaldson
H. Warner Munn
Elizabeth A. Lynn
Jerry Pournelle
Alex Schomburg
Mildred Downey Broxon
Jesse Bone
Bill Rotsler
George Guthridge
Richard Purtill
Jessica Salmonson
Susan Petrey
Steve Perry Mack Reynolds
Joanna Russ
Dean Ing
John Varley
M.A. Foster
Alicia Austin
F.M. Busby
Andy Porter
Wilmar Shiras
Wendy Rose
George Harper
Jody Scott
Robert Wilson
Kevin Johnson
Another 15 or so well known authors have said that they hope to attend, but cannot yet confirm, and we have yet to hear back from many others who may come.
COME EARLY, STAY LATE!
If the truth be known, Norwescon III actually starts on Thursday evening with our gala “practice party” in the hospitality suite. On Friday there will be various scheduled activities happening during the day, but you will probably want to know that the “really-important-stuff-that-you-won’t-wanna- miss” commences at about 5 pm Friday… And runs non-stop through 11 pm on Sunday night. Yes, that’s right; there will be formal programming on Sunday afternoon and evening, including panels, trivia finals, and the reading of the dreaded chain-story.
On Monday morning there will be an informal “survivors brunch” in the coffee shop at 10:30.
Actually, you will find that we haven’t allowed you much time for either eating or sleeping between Friday night and Monday morn, but there are priorities. Besides, you can catch up on mundane activities like eating & sleeping after the con.
It always seems a great shame to me that people will often travel considerable distances to attend a convention only to arrive very late Friday night and leave Sunday before noon. At Norwescon you will literally miss half of the convention with this mad strategy. In order to properly savor both the convention’s first eager blush and the final passionate throes, you must arrive Friday afternoon and stay through the dead sasquatch party Sunday night (besides, you probably won’t be of much use at work Monday morning, anyway).
Those of you coming from afar who have never before experienced Seattle should add a minimum of two extra days to your stay in order to take in the “must” sightseeing.
SEATTLE
Seattle is a clean, friendly, unpolluted modern city where spicy Douglas Firs and startlingly blue lakes are interspersed with mirrored skyscrapers. No fewer than six major magazine surveys have accused Seattle of being the most livable city in America, to which we must plead guilty, and 1200 association executives rate it as one of the best convention cities in the U.S.
Within the city you can tour historic Pioneer Square, taking time off from browsing through turn-of-the-century shoppes, art galleries, the Pioneer Square Wax Museum and the incredible 19th Century Underground Tour to enjoy a cup of espresso and a plate of steaming butter clams at a sidewalk cafe. Two blocks away, at the waterfront, you can choose from a variety of seafood restaurants and import shops, drinking sweet salt air while you toss morsels of food for the seagulls to quibble over.
And be sure to visit the Seattle Center, site of the 1962 World’s Fair, and explore the 74 acres of parks, fountains and amusements. (The free summer concerts are a must … everything from rock to Rachmaninoff!) Here, too, you will find the Pacific Science Center, but plan to spend at least one full afternoon there if you want to see a significant percentage of the exhibits, displays and “hands-on” science toys.
And, naturally, there is dining atop Seattle 's monument to science fiction…the 600 foot Space Needle. The view is as good as the food!
HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
You will find enclosed in this progress report a reservation card which you should fill out and return to the hotel as soon as possible.
While our convention rates for sleeping rooms at the Hyatt House may seem a bit high ($38 single, $48 double), there is no charge for triple or greater occupancy (unless you want a roll-away bed). These convention rates are considerably below their regular rates which start at $46 single and $58 double. Moreover, all of the sleeping rooms have been extensively remodeled since last year.
The hotel will definitely allow for a limited number of late check-outs on Sunday afternoon. Be sure to specify your requirements on the card. The hotel will honor these requests on a first-come first- served basis. You can also have the hotel hold your baggage in a secure place beyond check-out time on Sunday (at no charge).
If you require a suite, or have any other special requirements or questions, call the Hyatt House at [REDACTED].
[Cartoon of a flat blob with angry eyes saying ‘damned gravity!’]
PROGRAMMING
Because we anticipate a Norwescon III attendance of over 1000, we will spread out traffic patterns by utilizing all Hyatt House meeting space this year, and by moving the hucksters up to the large Satellite Room (where the banquet was last year). Video, computers and wargaming all have conference rooms of their own, and a third track programming room will be available for special interest groups (contact us ASAP).
Norwescon registration will initially be available at the Thursday evening practice party and will officially open in the convention lobby at 10 am Friday morning. The video room and our hospitality suite will be open throughout the day on Friday.
Norwescon’s Friday night festivities will commence with a guest of honor interview at 8 pm, followed by live entertainment and the Norwescone ice cream social/dance/party.
On Saturday, the registration desk awakens at 8 am, with the huckster room, film room and programming rooms opening at 9 am, followed by the art show at 10 am. Double and sometimes triple track programming throughout the weekend will have a predominantly professional or hard science slant.
The meet-the-pros autograph party will begin Saturday evening at 7:30 pm, followed by the masquerade at 9:00, and the customary Seattle in 1981 bidding party thereafter.
On Sunday the dealer room opens at 9:00 am, and the art show at 10 am. Programming will start at 10 am and will feature the banquet, speeches and awards at 1 pm, followed by various panels and discussions leading up to the closing ceremonies and chain story reading beginning at 8 pm. The dead sasquatch party will end it all.
Again, this year, many of our attending authors will take one-hour shifts at a typewriter during the con to collaborate on the dreaded chain story. In addition to some traditional (but unique) ''panels" and “lectures” we will definitely have some strange innovations with which we intend to surprise you.
SHORT FICTION WORKSHOP
Norwescon III solicits short works of science fiction or fantasy to be critically dismembered by a panel of famous authors and/oreditors during the convention. Entries should be 3,000 words or less, typed doublespaced and unpublished. Entrants will be “beginners” which we shall here and now arbitrarily define as having no more than two stories published. The best three stories submitted will be critiqued during the panel, where copies will also be distributed to the audience. Entries should be mailed to Norwescon III Short Fiction Workshop, [REDACTED], Seattle WA 98124 and must be received no later than March 1st. There is no entry fee, but a tacky award will be given to the author of the winning story. Our workshop entrants will remain anonymous throughout the judging process (until the end of the panel), so when you submit your story, please put your name on a cover sheet and not on the manuscript.
ART SHOW
Thirty-seven artists exhibited 223 pieces at last year’s Norwescon and we expect an even greater turnout this year. Alicia Austin and Wendy Rose are coming from California, C. Lee Healy will send some work (her “best of show” winner at Westercon 32 is on the cover of the latest Starship), and Olympia illustrators Kevin Johnson and Victoria Poyser will also attend.
We have an experienced staff, plenty of space and lots of art buyers in the area. If you’re interested in exhibiting, write to me early for entry forms and art show rules.
Jane Hawkins [REDACTED] Seattle WA 98103
Fees: Artist entry fee - free to Norwescon members; $2 for non-members.
Five percent commission on all sales. Sketch table: 10¢ per item; 25¢ per set of prints. Sales by flat price. Regular art show: Minimum fee 50¢ Sales by written bid or auction.
Hanging art: 1/4 panel (2 1/2 x 2 1/2) = $1.50
1/2 panel (2 1/2 x 5') = $3.00
1 panel (5' x 5') = $6.00
Standing art: 50¢ per sq. ft. of table space.
Deadlines: March 28, 5 pm - Art show registration opens
March 29, 9 am - Registration closes. Art accepted later by prior arrangement.
March 30, 4 pm - Unsold art removed.
Auctions: The first auction will be at 11:30 am prior to the Sunday banquet, and the second will follow the banquet at 4:30 to 6:30.
DEALER ROOM
This year’s huckster room will be bigger and better than ever, with over 50 tables available for dealers. Bookmongers will be in attendance from all over the western U.S. and Canada with new books hot-off-the-press as well as used books, and a rare tome or librum for that special niche in your collection. Space is still available at $25 which includes full convention membership and other accoutrements, including complete security against sasquatches, deo- dands, and other denizens known to rove these parts. For reservations or more information contact Frank Rabinovitch c/o Norwescon.
BANQUET
Why is it that people invariably complain about convention banquets regardless of whether the food is palatable or not? Is it just that we resent the reality/irony of paying more for the privilege of gnawing rubber chicken than we do for our membership to the entire convention? Perhaps. Or is it something a little more subtle - like a latent mass masochistic tendency within fandom?
Actually, this is probably one of those inscrutable truths that “man was not meant to know”, a forbidden knowledge too horrible to behold. As a thunderclap has just resounded outside my window, I guess we’ll just slip “banquet” quietly back into the file marked Great Mysteries of the Universe and leave it at that, O.K.?
In any case, in exchange for your $9.50 (ouch) the Norwescon III banquet will feature something that at least sounds slightly elegant, like Quiche Lorraine with Greek salad and chocolate mousse. And since no matter what we serve some of you would complain, we have conspired this year to alter the very mood of the event. Loook into my eyes… you begin to feel relaxed…drowsy… sleepy… when the toastmaster utters the word “welcome” you will feel that you have gotten more for your money than food.
Actually, we do have something special planned during the meal to preface our outspoken toastmaster and guests of honor (and to atone somewhat for our “tacky awards”).
The banquet will be held in the Phoenix Rooms this year, which limits banquet tickets to 180 and drastically restricts the extra seating for those who skulk in after the meal for just the speeches. Since convention attendance will be up significantly this year we recommend you buy your banquet tickets in advance.
MASQUERADE
The masquerade on Saturday evening will be a costume parade featuring cash awards, and will be judged in two separate categories: “prefabricated” and “impromptu”.
The former category is the usual kind, and the latter is especially for those of you who never seem to get around to constructing that perfect costume, but are veritably bubbling over with creativity. We will turn you loose in a room full of such raw materials as tinfoil, tape, plastic wrap, body paint, glue, colored paper, yarn, glitter, etc., etc., for a 1 1/2 hour orgy of creativity just prior to the masquerade. You will only be allowed to use the materials provided in the room, plus your own skin, hair, and any piece or set of normal/mundane clothing (i.e. you might choose to start with a swimsuit or Danskin if you plan something revealing).
You may have a friend help paint/ wrap/sprinkle/coiffure/whatever you. “Impromptu” contestants will parade across the stage during the masquerade just like those who have built their costumes in advance, however, they will be judged in a separate category based on ingenuity under pressure. All masquerade contestants must pre-register at the registration desk.
FILMS & VIDEO
Our 24 hour-a-day videotape program, featuring a large selection of science fiction and fantasy feature films, can be seen on a projection television in the video room, and also on a dedicated channel on the T.V. set in your sleeping room. Another channel on your television will bring you live color coverage of programming in the main rooms, author interviews, etc.
Since we will be showing so many fine feature films via videotape, the Norwescon film program will emphasize various oddities that have not yet rendered themselves accessable to tape. We are attempting to aquire such masterpieces as The Bed Sitting Room, Creation of the Humanoids, Planet of the Vampires and Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe And Find True Happiness?
PROGRAM BOOK ADVERTISING
The Norwescon III program book will be 40 pages, offset-printed with 2 color covers. We expect an attendance of about 1,000, so advertising in the program book will be an ideal means of reaching many science fiction fans and readers in the Pacific Northwest.
Rates and Mechanical Requirements
| width | height | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 page | 7 1/2 X | 10 | $50 |
| 1/2 page, vertical | 3 1/2 X | 10 | $35 |
| 1/2 page, horiz. | 7 1/2 X | 5 | $35 |
| 1/4 page, vertical | 3 1/2 X | 5 | $20 |
| 1/4 page, horiz. | 7 1/2 X | 2 1/2 | $20 |
| one-eighth page | 3 1/2 X | 2 1/2 | $10 |
| Covers | |||
| Front, inside | 8 1/2 X | 11 | $65 |
| Back, outside | 8 1/2 X | 11 | $70 |
| Back, inside | 8 1/2 X | 11 | $60 |
Deadline: February 15, 1980. Must be cameraready, payment must accompany ad copy. Write or call for quote on color work. (Kipy Poyser [REDACTED], Olympia WA 98501 [REDACTED])
GETTING THERE
The Norwescon committee has again this year arranged to have the Hyatt House conveniently located on Highway 99 (Pacific Highway South), right in front of the Seattle- Tacoma International Airport.
Those of you arriving via great metal bird can either take the free 2-minute shuttlebus from the airport to the hotel, or spend hours discovering there is no pedestrian throughfare connecting the airport with any of the hotels surrounding it.
Northerners driving south on I-5 should take the exit on your right marked “Burien- Southcenter Boulevard” and follow the lefthand fork (Burien) onto Highway 518 and on up the hill until you see the Highway 99 exit. Travel southbound on 99 until you arrive at the hotel, on your right just after you cross 170th.
For those migrating from the land of the rising sun on I-405, just follow it straight on through as it turns into Highway 518 atthe Southcenter Shopping Mall, and from there go the same way as the northern folks.
For those approaching from the south on I-5, we recommend the lovely and scenic exit onto 188th Street, which you follow until it hits Highway 99. Hanging a right onto 99, follow it past all the other hotels until you reach the Hyatt at the end of the hotel strip.
HELP WANTED (Please!)
Norwescon has immediate openings for slave labor. No experience necessary! On the job training! Great fringe benefits!
The pay is lousy (egobucks and other intangibles), but there is plenty of room for advancement to a position that will eat up all your spare time for half the year instead of just during the convention.
So, if you would like to be a part of the on-going convention planning and preparation, or if you would rather just work a shift at registration, gofer, security, operations, projectionist, or dungeonmaster during the con, please feel free to volunteer via a note to Norwescon, [REDACTED], Seattle WA 98124or phone the appropriate person on the enclosed phone list.
And remember, Norwescon is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, species, federation alliances, temporal displacement or physical dimensions.
[Cartoon of a figure looking at something that cannot be determined due to poor quality reproduction.]
IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS
Below is a list of phone numbers for specific information about Norwescon III. If you would like to volunteer, please contact the person in charge of the department directly.
Programming & Author Liaison: Steve Bard (Chairman)
Art Show: Jane Hawkins [REDACTED]
Film Program: Gordon Erickson [REDACTED]
Registration: Lauraine Miranda [REDACTED]
Publications & Program Book: Tom Walls [REDACTED] (Renton), and Kipy Poyser [REDACTED] (Olympia)
Public Relations: Linda Hoffer [REDACTED]
Hucksters: Frank Rabinovitch [REDACTED]
Operations, Stage Management: FutureLove Productions - Shelley Dutton [REDACTED]
Hospitality: Cliff Wind [REDACTED]
Security: Pat Mallinson [REDACTED]
Gofers: Judy Lorent [REDACTED]
Computers: Tony Pepin [REDACTED]
Video Programming: Dennis Pernaa [REDACTED]
Wargaming: Jim Cox [REDACTED]
Airport Hyatt House [REDACTED]
| MEMBERSHIP RATES | NWSFS MEMBERS | NONMEMBERS |
|---|---|---|
| OCT 21 THRU FEB 14, 1980 | $7 | $8 |
| FEB 15 THRU MARCH 27, 1980 | $8 | $9 |
| AT THE DOOR | $9 | $10 |
| SINGLE DAY | $6 | $7 |
| Children 8 or Under FREE | ||
BANQUET TICKETS (SUNDAY LUNCHEON) : $9.50
DEALER TABLES (INCLUDES ONE MEMBERSHIP) : $25
HOTEL ROOMS : $38 SINGLE, $48 DOUBLE (Conv. rates!)
NOTE: Make room reservations directly with Hotel
MAIL ALL MEMBERSHIPS AND INQUIRIES TO:
NORWESCON 3
SEATTLE. WASHINGTON, 98124
[Accessibility logo.]
Name(s) Phone
Address
City State Zip
NORWESCON 3 Memberships @ $ Each = $
Banquet Tickets © $9.50 Each = $
Northwest Science Fiction Society Memberships @ $7 Each Per Year = $
TOTAL ENCLOSED = $
Note: Make checks payable (in U.S. funds) to NORWESCON
[Cartoon of a balloon labeled Mars Probe 1 with a blobby creature riding it up.]
From Lauraine’s membership department New NWSFS members:
Paul Abelkis
Glenn Anderson
Florence Marie Bennett
Anna Doehle
Anne Fahnestalk
Dave Grimes
The Helena SF Club
Joe Hartman
Larry Johnson
James Keith
Bill Lewis
Walt Matson
Cindy Murata
Michael Scanlon
Ken Slauson
Deborah Tatarek
Susan Taubeneck
Bill Trojan
Roger Wells
WOOPSFA of Port Orchard
A NWSFS member who has incurred my wrath by moving and not telling me first!
Len Adams - was in Seattle
PorSFiS has a Change of Address - [REDACTED], Portland OR 97214
MORE HELP WANTED
As NWSFS grows, so should the Westwind. We need reporters, editors, typists and artists in our effort to revamp our dear little monthly rag. If you wish to volunteer your talent, real or imaginary, please drop us a line, even if it’s just a name & number, to our P.O. Box [REDACTED], Seattle 98124 or call [REDACTED] days.
Serpent’s Tooth
Jon Gustafson
Many readers of science fiction can trace the cause of their interest (or addiction in my case) to one book or author, and one of the authors mentioned prominently by many fans is Jules Verne. This French author is the subject of The Jules Verne Companion ($6.95, Baronet) edited by Peter Haining. This is a fascinating book, primarily because some of the sections were written by people who had known or met him, including Marie Belloc and the noted British journalist Robert H. Sherard. Also included are tributes to, orarticles about Verne by George Orwell, H.G. Wells, William Golding and others, plus an article about Edgar Allan Poe, a speech, and two short fiction pieces by Verne. The cover says “fully illustrated”, and it is! Besides many illustrations from the original editions of Verne’s books by artists like Bayard, Roux, De Neuville, Bognet and Riou, there are many photographs from the many movies made from Verne’s novels (including some very rare ones). This is an excellent book for Verne fans, to be sure, but it is more than that; it is a fresh, unique look at one of the giants of science fiction that any student of the field should be sure to pick up. I highly recommend it.
I love books that have a lot of art in them (as opposed to “art books”), and a particularly fascinating example is one I received as a Christmas present: it’s called Space Wars, Worlds and Weapons (Crescent Books, price uncertain but I believe it costs $6.95 - check your local bookstore) and is written by Steven Eisler, with a foreword by the well-known British illustrator, Chris Foss. Eisler has written a book on the various aspects of sf literature, suchas vehicles used in various stories and novels, some of the wars and weapons described, creatures and other things in the field. He has used dozens of paintings by British and American illustrators to make this a lavish production, indeed; the artists credits are almost a Who’s Who in the field, including such brilliant artists as Frank Kelly Freas, Chris Foss, Rodney Matthews, Tony Roberts, Jim Burns, Patrick Woodroffe, Paul Lehr and many others. The reproduction is, on the whole, excellent - several paintings seemed to be somewhat out of focus, but nothing major. My one complaint (which really isn’t very serious) is of a literary incongruity: while the text of the book is a fairly comprehensive and well researched (as near as I can tell) description of certain aspects of sf, the captions to each of the paintings read as though they were actual representations of existing or to-be-existing machines, places and other things which, of course, they’re not. Interesting, but rather distracting. I recommend that you at least find and take a look at this book… I think you’ll want it after doing so. I hope you all got the books you wanted for Christmas, and I hope the ensuing New Year will see you getting the rest of 'em.
[Ad: Heritage Bookshop
OVER 1200 SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY TITLES IN STOCK
RENTON SHOPPING CENTER IN THE MALL
RENTON, WASHINGTON 98055]
Cinemaa
by Dennis Pernaa
Star Trek - The Motion Picture
At Equicon '74, D.C. Fontana stepped up to the podium to announce Gene Roddenberry and hinted that he had a fabulous surprise for us. The surprise was, of course, that Star Trek was coming back. Well, five years and 7 1/2 months later, it really did come back… to theaters packed to the brim with devoted fans.
But this was not the Star Trek of the sixties, for what Gene Roddenberry has attempted to do is nothing less than the combination of the elements of the television version of Star Trek with several of those from Star Wars and Space: 1999, even 2001: A Space Odyssey into one spectacular, feature length film, but it is a fusion that is not entirely successful. One change was even a radical departure from the old series - Klingons were redesigned to give them a more alien appearance, and they spoke their own language. Even Vulcans spoke their own language, but they still called Spock “''”Spock"; it seems even they can’t pronounce his true Vulcan name.
There was the expected applause for the apperances of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley. And everyone gleefully watched all the old cast being reunited and combined with the newcomers Stephen Collins and Persis Khambatta. While Kirk was his usual overbearing and commanding self, most of the other characters did not translate well to the big screen; they had little or nothing to do. And Dekker never looked competent enough to command the Enterprise, despite several initial token skirmishes with Kirk.
Gene Roddenberry once remarked that one of the strengths of the series was that there always seemed to be much more going on in an episode than there actually was, but in the case of the film version there never seemed to be quite enough happening to balance out all the special effects and awesome scenics. The basic plot was hardly more than a simple-minded television plot (complete with trick ending) done in a single-minded fashion similar to Space: 1999, but without that series' intense characterizations. The special effects were obviously intended to outdo Star Wars, but they were too separate and overwhelmingly intense, unlike Star Wars that were mostly part of the action or relegated to the background. All that spectacle might have been more interesting if the musical soundtrack had not been so abysmally boring.
Alien 2
The creature comes to Earth next year. Now guess who can become the victim.
The Final Countdown
It’s not like anything else in history, for on December 7, 1980 the USS Nimitz sails through a time warp to December 7, 1941. Starring Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen and Kathrine Ross.
Nosferatu, Der Phantom Der Nacht
This movie features excellent cinematography, an unexceptional, slow-moving plot, and extremely intense characterizations. This is not a typical horror movie, but then, no movie by Herzog can ever be called typical. This movie is much better than Dracula, but it lacks the inventiveness of Love At First Bite; it does not break any new ground. And it is never really made clear just what power this Dracula possesses, nor why his victims do not seem to be able to escape him.
Two scenes in this movie are exceptionally well done. Dracula’s gloomy, austere castle in the Carpathian mountains is probably the best ever in this type of movie. When Dracula first confronts Lucy in her bathroom, it is a chilling scene where only his shadow shows in her mirror.
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The Black Hole
Walt Disney Enterprises has come far closer than anyone else toward capturing the elusive Star Wars magic; they must have done their homework. While this movie is not entirely flawless, it is nevertheless a superbly mounted adventure with spectacular (but not overwhelming) special effects, good acting, and believable characterizations, and a taut action filled plot.
Saneness and absurdity are finely balanced as the crew of the ship Palomino confront the semi-mad scientist, Dr. Reinhart, who has kept his ship (the Cygnus) in stasis near a black hole for twenty years, while making preparations for an epic plunge throughthe thing. To do his bidding and ensnare the crew in his schemes, he has a large red robot named Maximillian (who speaks not, but reeks of evil) and an entourage of lethal robot guards.
On the side of the crew is V.I.N.CENT, their loquacious and precocious Vital Information computer robot, who cleverly helps them through many scrapes. While V.I.N.CENT is possibly too cute and cartoonish, he is a logical synthesis of all the robots that have preceeded him.
The action-packed climax is not entirely satisfactory. The closer the Cygnus gets to the black hole, the more poetic license is taken with the laws of physics, such as the effects of explosive decompression. The ending also borrows heavily from 2001: A Space Odyssey by depicting strings of images that are not, or cannot be explained.
The evil Maximillian apparently ends up on a mountain in Hell, in a scene that was obviously taken from an Elmer Fudd cartoon that satirized Wagner.
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