SOL Rising
Number 6, November 1990

Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy
Library Report
Building Committee Report
The Starr Chamber
Famous Fantastic Quotations
An Interview With Robert Sawyer
An Interview With Tanya Huff
An Interview With Karen Wehrstein
Elizabeth Pearse
Northern Lights: Canadian Science Fiction News
Canadian Fiction 1989
Awards For 1989 Fiction

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Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy

At the annual meeting of the Friends of The Spaced Out Library in May 1990, the members of The Friends approved a motion recommending to the Toronto Public Library Board that the name of the Library be changed to the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy.

 

The Toronto Public Library Board subsequently accepted the recommendation of The Friends and approved the name change. The new name will become effective on January 1, 1991.

 

The name change issue generated more discussion than any previous single item at an Annual Meeting of The Friends.

 

Larry Hancock, on behalf of the Executive Committee presented the arguments in favour of the name change. However, the recommended name was not that which was discussed in SOL RISING 5 (April 1990).

 

After reading the arguments presented in SOL RISING 5, Judith Merril wrote to The Friends, withdrawing her objections to the use of her name in the name of the Library.

 

Based on other restrictions which Ms. Merril had still asked be taken into consideration, the Executive recommended "Merril Collection of Speculative Literature" to the membership.

 

John Robert Colombo presented the arguments opposing the name change.

 

Following lengthy discussion, a secret ballot was taken. The ballot ended in a dead tie.

 

Having no clear mandate on the issue, the Executive therefore withdrew their motion and turned to the membership for settlement of the matter.

 

To gauge membership support for a name change, a motion was put forward from the floor recommending that the name of the Library be changed, but without specifying a replacement name. This motion was approved with a two-thirds majority.

 

After further discussion and reference to the letter from Ms. Merril, a motion from the floor suggested "Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy". The motion was approved and the recommendation was later forwarded in writing by the Chairman of The Friends to the Toronto Public Library Board.

 

In other business at the Annual Meeting, Loma Toolis, Head of Collections, presented the staff report, Larry Hancock presented the Executive Committee report, John Millard presented the Building Committee report and Doris Bercarich presented the Treasurer's report.

 

Peter Fitting did not stand for re-election as Chairman of The Friends, nor did Keith Soltys as a Member-at-large. For 1990/91 the elected Executive Committee of The Friends will be Chairman: Larry Hancock, Treasurer: Doris Bercarich, Members-at-large: Robert Hadji, Lum Do-Ming and John Millard, Past Chairman: Peter Fitting.

 

In related news, noted Canadian artist, Martin Springett has designed letterhead and a new logo for the Library.

 

The Library is currently in the process of printing new brochures and other materials which will be released January 1, 1991 in coordination with the name change.

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Library Report

by Lorna Toolis, Head Of Collection

New Acquisitions at the Library

The Spaced Out Library has acquired a complete run of New Worlds in very good to fine condition as part of the Library's program to complete the runs of pulp magazines and replace damaged issues. Other noteworthy acquisitions include a set of Hannes Bok prints, known as "The Powers", a signed copy of Clifford Simak's Cosmic Engineers, and a scarce title by Ray Bradbury, Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby, is a Friend of Mine.

 

Orson Scott: Card was kind enough to deposit a photocopy of the manuscript of Xenocide, sequel to the 'Ender Wiggins' books, from which he read as a guest of the Library in November 1989. Mr. Card's courtesy is greatly appreciated by the staff and patrons of the Library.

 

New Staff At The Library

Nancy Soltys took a year's maternity leave; her new son's name is Edward. Until her return Mary Cannings has assumed the responsibilities for catalogue card maintenance. Mary worked in the Metro Library before transferring to TPL, most recently she has been working at the Bloor/Gladstone branch. She has a keen interest in Young Adult fiction as well as fantasy; her favourite author is Andre Norton.

 

Annette Mocek has also taken a year's maternity leave; her new daughter's name is Eva Teresa. Until her return Lisa Shirley is responsible for cataloguing and reference. Lisa comes to the Library from Anaheim Public Library in California. Lisa has read science fiction and fantasy for many years, attends the conventions, and finds employment The Spaced Out Library "a logical step".

 

Joan Flavell has returned to the library after an absence of several years. Formerly of the Palmerston branch, regular visitors to the Library will remember her as the person who re-filed the author/title card catalogue. She works three days a week at the Library, handling periodicals and conservation work on the pulps.

 

News From The Library

The circulating collection holdings are now listed in the TPL system catalogue, greatly increasing the interloans and usage of the Library's 7,000+ volume paperback circulating collection.

 

Cards for the Library's catalogue are now being produced on the Library computer, using the Ultramarc program.

 

The Library gratefully acknowledges the donations of Mr. John Marshall, and Mr. Paul Campbell.

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Building Committee Report

At the September meeting of the Building Committee, the members voted approval of the proposed design for the new building which will be located at 239 College Street. Shortly thereafter it went to the Board of the Toronto Public Library for approval; the Board also approved the design.

 

The Spaced Out Library (or the Merril Collection, as it will be known as of January 1, 1991), will occupy the entire third floor of the new building. The circulating collection will be at the front of the building in a sunny, friendly room; the non-circulating collection will be directly connected to both the circulating section and the workroom, in order to facilitate the retrieval of materials from the temperature and humidity controlled stacks.

 

Staff can hardly wait for the new facilities to be ready; the anticipated moving date is sometime in mid to late 1992.

 

Several members of The Friends of The Spaced Out Library are members of the Building Committee.

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The Starr Chamber

In anticipation of the forthcoming appearance by Lois McMaster Bujold at The Spaced Out Library in March 1991, Jane Starr takes a look at her latest novel.

 

Bujold, Lois McMaster. The Vor Game. New York: Baen Books, 1990. (Note: part of this book was previously published in slightly different form as "The Weatherman" in Analog.)

 

The Vor Game marks the welcome return of Miles Vorkosigan: junior Vor lord, son of Barrayar's most influential man (next to Miles' boyhood chum, the Emperor Gregor), ensign newly graduated from the Imperial Military Academy, and former mercenary commander. A failed assassination attempt on his father before his birth damaged Miles in utero and he was born with serious physical problems. He compensates for this with intelligence, hard work, keen observation and pure natural deviousness.

 

When Miles' first post-grad assignment goes wrong he is sent off-planet on a relatively minor job for Imperial Security, the only arm of the Barrayaran Imperial Service that will still touch him (abeit reluctantly). He runs straight into trouble and the Emperor Gregor, who has skipped out on his handlers to experience "real" life incognito. Miles must regain control of the Dendarii Mercenaries and use them to rescue Gregor, foil a devious plot by a rival mercenary leader, and beat back a Cetagandan invasion. Challenging, even for Miles and the Dendarii.

 

Ms. Bujold provides an exciting adventure in the best sf tradition (yes, I know that's a cliché). The plot is intricate and fast moving, she has a talent for dialogue and a nice wit. Her characters and their societies and worlds are carefully wrought and consistent. Miles of course, stands out. He thinks, learns and grows and he makes mistakes and pays for them. Ms. Bujold has the knack of making even the bit-part characters breathe, without seeming to spend extra words on it. She does the same with their surroundings, providing a clear and quite visual sense of place.

 

Although part of a series, The Vor Game stands on its own, as do all Ms. Bujold's books. They were not published in order, though, a problem which is addressed at the end of The Vor Game in a handy chronology of Miles' life and universe, so that readers who care to can read the series in sequence. The Vor Game is highly recommended.

 

Other books by Lois McMaster Bujold: Shards of Honor, The Warrior's Apprentice, Ethan of Athos, Falling Free, Brothers in Arms, Borders of Infinity.

 

Ms. Bujold has delivered a new novel to her publishers, describing the events taking place on Barrayar shortly before Miles' birth. She won a Nebula for her novel Falling Free and her short story "The Mountains of Mourning" won both the Nebula and Hugo awards.

 

Jane Starr is a librarian at the Alberta Agriculture Library and a regular reviewer for SOL RISING

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Famous Fantastic Quotations

By John Robert Colombo

 

I have been collecting and publishing compilations of Canadian quoted matter since the Centennial year. So from 1967 on, I have spent at least an hour a day clipping and typing and storing and keyboarding and editing and printing out "quotable quotes" made by Canadians about all subjects under the sun and by foreigners about Canada. I now have over 20,000 separate quotes on three-by-five cards, and perhaps 8,000 more in electronic memory.

 

My efforts have not been limited to Canadian quotations. One of my books, for instance, is devoted to Hollywood quips and quotes made both on and off the screen. That book was called Colombo's Hollywood in this country. The title in the United Kingdom was The Wit and Wisdom of the Moviemakers. But in the United States it bore my preferred title: Popcorn in Paradise.

 

Quote-collecting is not particularly taxing, but it is labour-intensive and time-consuming. One day, while filing some quotes manually, it occurred to me that the material I was marshalling all belonged to a given class. What were the characteristics of that class, I mused? Here were real quotes made by real people. Then a notion came into my head. It was not yet an idea, merely a notion. I idly wondered if there existed the inversion of this class: Are there unreal quotes made by unreal people?

 

If that class existed, what would be the characteristics of its members? It then hit me, quite suddenly, that there was, indeed, a category of imaginative quotations and that these were attributed to imaginary beings. Could I think of one? "Up, up and away!" came to mind. These words were attributed by his creators to Superman, as he takes to the air—on the airwaves, in the days of the Superman radio serial, to be sure.

 

I immediately chose three words to describe such quoted matter. Accordingly, I opened a file and marked it "Famous Fantastic Quotations." I did this with a mental nod in the direction of the late Mary Gnaedinger, the wonderful lady who edited that well-loved (and well-thumbed) pulp magazine of my teenage years: Famous Fantastic Mysteries.

 

All this happened more than a dozen years ago. Since then I have been squirreling away, salting away, stowing away, filing away, familiar and characteristic remarks made by superbeings. I now have about five hundred quotes attributed to characters in fantastic literature, comic art, radio, television, film, video, advertising, interactive computer games, etc. Jeff Rovin's encyclopedic books on monsters, superheroes, and supervillains were a big help in collecting such utterances.

 

Even so, I have yet to establish a definition of "superbeing." At this point all I am saying is that the words I am collecting have all been uttered, with some exceptions, by persons or beings "whose powers are not ours" or "whose experiences are extraordinary beside ours." The exceptions are people who associate with such personalities or otherwise share an imaginary and imaginative universe with them.

 

Here are some familiar or characteristic remarks of fantastic characters whose names all begin with the first letter of the alphabet. The last is my all-time favourite fantastic quotation—so far at least!

 

Aelita: "The Earth, the Earth—dear giant, take me to the Earth. l want to see the green hills, the waterfalls, the clouds, the big animals and the giants. I do not want to die." Aelita, the Empress of Mars, falls deeply in love with Los, the engineer from Earth, and expresses her yearning to return with him to his home planet, Earth, in Aelita (1922), a novel written by Alexei Tolstoi and translated from the Russian in 1959 by Lucy Flaxman. Alas, the wish of the delicate, blue-skinned Martian woman does not come to pass. By the end of the novel, she is heard crying out across the reaches of interplanetary space to her lost lover Los: "Where are you, where are you, where are you, Son of the Sky?" Yulia Solntseva played the unhappy Empress of Mars in the film Aelita (Amkino, 1924) directed by Yakova A. Protaz-anov.

 

Alveron: "You know, I feel rather afraid of these people. Suppose they don't like our little Federation? Something tells me they'll be very determined people. We had better be polite to them. After all, we only outnumber them about a thousand million to one." Alveron, alien captain of the starship that attempts to rescue mankind from possible destruction, makes this confession to his deputy Rugon, when they come to the realization that mankind—although the youngest civilization in the universe (less than four hundred thousand years old)—has rescued itself. Arthur C. Clarke ends "Rescue Party" (1946) in The Nine Million Names of God (1967) with the ominous sentence: "Twenty years afterward, the remark didn't seem funny."

 

Andoheb : "Kharis still lives!" Andoheb, the High Priest of Karnak, utters these words, his last, to Mehemet Bey, his successor as the guardian of the mummified Prince Khans. In the movie The Mummy's Tomb (Universal, 1942), George Zucco appeared as Andoheb, Turhan Bey took the role of Mehemet Bey, and Prince Khans was played by Lon Chaney, Jr.

 

Appleton, Jennie:

"Where I come from

Nobody knows;

And where I'm going

Everything goes.

The wind blows,

The sea flows—

And nobody knows."

A young girl named Jennie Appleton half-sings, half-recites these lines of verse, and the appearance of the girl and the sense and sound of the verse haunt the young painter Eben Adams. Jennie unaccountably ages and mysteriously dies at sea, but not before she inspires his finest painting. "I wish you'd wait for me to grow up," she says, in Robert Nathan's novel Portrait of Jennie (1940). Jennifer Jones played Jennie in the movie version of the novel.

 

Asterix the Gaul: "They're crazy, those Romans!" Characteristic and xenophobic remark of the dwarfish, bemoustached Gaul who lives in the village of Armorique (the ancient name of Brittany) which is the last holdout in a country overrun by the Romans in the year 50 B.C. Aided by the stupid giant Obelix, fortified with the drudic brew of Getafix, Asterix travels around the world and even through time fighting lost causes. The popular French comic strip series Asterfx le Gaulois was created by Rend Goscinny and drawn by Albert Uderzo and first appeared in Pilote, the comic weekly, 29 October 1959. Since then Asterix's adventures have been told in countless forms, including two animated feature films.

 

Audrey Two: "Fee-e-e-ed me!" This is the cry of Audrey Two, the cannibalistic flowering giant plant, which is sprouting from seeds from outer space. It grows by leaps and bounds in the little shop owned by Mushnik the Florist. This comes about in Little Shop of Horrors, the Broadway musical, with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken, which premiered in New York. The musical was based on the movie Little Shop of Horrors (1960) directed by Roger Corman. In the movie, the plant was called Audrey Junior. Audrey—retro-nymically named Audrey One—is the hapless heroine, a clerk in the florist shop, who lives in terror of the menacing (and man-eating) plant.

 

Arnot, Lieutenant Paul d': "Fingerprints prove you Greystoke. Congratulations." These words are among the most moving and meaningful in world fantastic literature. The five words comprise the complete message of the terse cablegram sent from Paris, France, by Paul d'Arnot, Lieutenant in the French Navy, to Tarzan of the Apes, then visiting in Boston, Mass. Intrigued with an infant's smudged finger-prints in the diary of John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, d'Arnot has them examined by experts in Paris who prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the prints of John Clayton's infant child match those of the man now known as Tarzan. Thus Tarzan of the Apes comes into his own as heir to the Greystoke title, estate, and fortune in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes (1912).

 

John Robert Colombo, nationally known as the Master Gatherer, edited Other Canadas, Friendly Aliens, Years of Light, and other books in the field of Canadian fantastic literature. All his recent books, like Mysterious Encounters, have dealt with the paranormal.

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An Interview with Robert Sawyer

By David Nickle

 

There are few among us who have not at one time or another held the dream of quitting our day job, dusting off the word processor, and, in a flurry of inspired keystrokes, making our living as freelance writers. And there are fewer still who have actually followed up on that dream and made it into a workable reality. What we tend to forget is that a freelance writer doesn't live by his fiction alone; the days are gone when a writer could begin selling short fiction to pulp magazines and hope to make a subsistent living thereby.

 

Toronto SF author and journalist Robert J. Sawyer has, since 1983, been making decidedly more than a subsistent living writing freelance, but he's done it by doing more than writing speculative fiction. Since he graduated from Ryerson's Radio and Television Arts program, Sawyer has divided his time between business journalism for publications such as The Globe and Mail's Report on Business Magazine, writing corporate and government reports and press releases and, of course, his first love—science fiction. He's also written and narrated two documentary series for CBC Radio's Ideas series, in 1986 and 1990, both on science fictional themes.

 

Sawyer has published short science fiction in Amazing Stories, 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories, Leisure Ways and The Village Voice.

 

In December, his first novel, Golden Fleece, is coming out under Wamer's Questar banner, and he's recently completed his second novel, End of an Era.

 

Golden Fleece is an expansion of a novelette of the same title published as the cover story in the September 1988 Amazing Stories. The story is told from the point of view of JASON, a vast artificial intelligence who at once controls an interstellar ramship voyaging to a nearby star, and desperately tries to keep the secret of the mission's true purpose from the 10,000-odd crewmembers on board.

 

In a recent conversation at Sawyer's Willowdale home, we talked about Golden Fleece, Canadian science fiction in general, and the business of freelance writing.

 

David Nickle: You're managing to make a go of it as a freelance writer completely. It's an enviable position to be in. How do you do it?

 

Robert Sawyer: I've been doing this full-time since 1983, and, yeah, I do make a go of it. Unfortunately the more you want to write something, the less people want to pay you for it. As long as you're willing to write what other people want you to write, there's money to be had. I do corporate work: press releases, brochures, and reports for industry and government. None of that gives me any real pleasure, but it's lucrative. If it wasn't for the corporate work, I probably would not be able to make a living as a writer.

 

I also do a lot of magazine work. That doesn't pay as much as the corporate work, but I enjoy it more: it's for publication, it's bylined, and you get to put a little more of your personality into it.

 

But what I really enjoy is science fiction, and that pays bottom money. So it's always a question of tradeoffs. I would love to be able to write science fiction full-time, but that doesn't seem to be realistic monetarily. So I try to strike a balance between the time I spend on my science fiction and the time I spend on my corporate work. I'm devoting more time to science fiction right now because it's selling. If things dry up there, I'll move back to corporate work and try to find whatever balance it takes to meet the financial obligations of being half of a family.

 

DN: With your first novel out, that split is no doubt going to become a bit more even-sided.

 

RJS: Yeah. It's nice to have a novel coming out and it's nice that it's coming out from a major American publisher. The advance was about average for North American rights for a first novel paperback original. But for six or eight months work, it's very little money. On the other hand, it's encouraging that Brian Thomsen at Warner likes what I'm doing. I've finished a second novel. He's got it now, and I'm waiting anxiously to see if he's going to take it.

 

Indeed, I've almost finished my third novel, Face of God. I'm trying to strike while the iron is hot: there's an editor who's interested in my stuff right now, so I'm trying to keep material going across his desk. In publishing, editors move around, publishing lines change their priorities. Because there's an opportunity here today that might not be here tomorrow, I figure I've got to arrange my life so that I can seize that opportunity. And that means I'm almost exclusively working on SF right now, living off savings and so forth. But I've been trying to plan my financial affairs over the past seven years of freelance writing so that if opportunity were to knock, I would be able to do something about it. It's not turning out to be a hardship. But it would be nice if the advances went up, too.

 

DN: Have you always wanted to write SF?

 

RJS: Yes, absolutely. The very first things I wrote in public school were science fiction stories, and it's always been my main love. I don't know if I'm going to stay exclusively an SF writer, though. I do like science fiction, but I'm also aware of the limitations of SF publishing. As long as you are a category genre author the chances of making a living at writing fiction are really slim. So although I love SF, I think I'm going to want to try my hand within the next five years at writing either a mainstream novel or a mystery novel. But yes, SF is definitely what I enjoy reading and writing the most.

 

DN: You're very much interested in technological, "hard" SF. What's the attraction to that end of the genre?

 

RJS: As a journalist, for the last seven years I've been writing about high technology, computers, and office automation. My clients tend to be high-tech companies or government agencies dealing in technology or telecommunications. My degree is in broadcasting, and for that I studied broadcast technology. So yes, I have a strong personal interest in things technological, and it just seemed natural for me to write what's traditionally called hard SF.

 

Most hard SF is divorced from humanity—very cold, mechanical, puzzle-oriented stuff. Now, there's no doubt that Golden Fleece is a puzzle-oriented story; it's in essence a mystery story. But in the novel-length version, I really enjoyed humanizing what in the novelette had been a very normal hard SF story, a story that emphasized the plot and technology but did not really do much with the characters. I couldn't have written the novelette any shorter and still have covered the plot ground, but I was delighted to be able to expand it by five times and try my hand at more human-oriented stuff. If I can make a contribution to hard SF over the years, I'm hoping it will be to humanize it.

 

DN: That's interesting. The personal problems that Aaron, your novel's hero, has pulled from his past are very contemporary. In particular, the scene in which he recalls being molested by his uncle, is almost show-stoppingly intense. Why did you pick child molestation in this case?

 

RJS: It is very intense, and it was the most difficult thing I've ever written. Why that trauma? I think there are two answers.

 

Dramaturgically, the plot required a character who is so reserved in his demeanour, so non-demonstrative of his emotions, that even under the most rigorous computer monitoring, his inner state of mind could not be perceived. I didn't want my computer, JASON, to be able to read minds directly. But JASON comes very close to being able to do that by monitoring physiological signs, and thus reading emotional states or whether someone is lying.

 

Well, the logical threat to put up against that computer is a person it cannot read. I had people take that on faith in the novelette: here's a guy who's not very demonstrative. In the novel, I had the room to make people understand why this character was the way he was.

 

I could have devised some futuristic trauma, but I think this comes back to what I was saying about humanizing science fiction. I don't think that child molestation is going to go away, as much as we would all like it to. I don't think that broken homes—Aaron comes from a broken home—are going to go away. These are things that have been with us for as long as there have been human beings.

 

There is a school of science fiction, the sanitized Star Trek school, that says we're just about to turn the corner and be done with all those things for all time; we're about to all become self-actualized, and relate—I'm okay, you're okay—and the world will be a bright and sunny place. I'd love to think that was true but I don't see it really being so. The cornerstones of human interaction—good and bad, jealousy, guilt, those who are strong taking advantage of those who are weak, as Aaron's uncle did when Aaron was a child—those things seem universally part of the human experience, and I don't think that they're going to go away.

 

There are other things in Golden Fleece that are contemporary. People still toss Frisbees around for fun in my novel, and there are references to Fred Flintstone and Mickey Mouse. I don't think the 20th century is a passing fad. It's going to be just as much a part of the future as the 19th century and the 18th century have been parts of this century.

 

In the novel, there's also a great deal about Aaron's family life and his religion. Now, there's a tendency for SF writers to portray a secular future. I'm not a religious person, but I do think that religions that have endured for thousands of years aren't on the verge of evaporating. So Aaron is Jewish, he participates in Jewish cultural tradition, and that seems to me to be more realistic, to be a more viable prediction of what life two hundred years down the road is going to be like, than saying, no, we're starting with a clean slate on January 1, 2001, and all the problems and all the culture we had before will disappear. I just don't see it happening that way.

 

DN: Another noteworthy aspect of Golden Fleece came in the copious references to Toronto and Ontario locations. I had to wonder, are you, as a Canadian SF writer, operating from a hidden agenda on this?

 

RJS: (laughs) I think it was a blatant agenda; I don't think it's hidden at all. If you think this book is rabidly Canadian, my second is even mare so. John Robert Colombo called my second book, End of an Era, "Consummately Canadian." He says, "Even I was reeling" at the Canadian content.

 

It's wholly appropriate for a Canadian writer to spotlight things Canadian. I feel very much that Canada has a place on the world stage. If there's any propaganda in Golden Fleece, it's that two hundred years down the road there will be a Canada and it will still work.

 

So, yes, absolutely it's deliberate. I'm not attempting to flaunt things Canadian, but if there's a choice between having a reference that's Canadian and a reference that's American and both serve the dramatic purpose equally well, I'm absolutely going to choose the Canadian reference every time.

 

DN: You may have partially answered this already, but how do you see yourself as an SF writer? Do you see yourself as a Canadian SF writer or an SF writer who happens to come from Canada?

 

RJS: That's an interesting question. I'm a dual citizen; I hold both American and Canadian citizenship. But I consider myself a Canadian first and foremost. I grew up in this country, but my mother is an American who, when I was born, had my birth registered with the U.S. consulate as a foreign birth to an American national.

 

It's tricky. Every writer wants to say there are no limits to what he or she does, but the reality is that I'm writing in a category—science fiction. It's probably not economically advantageous for me to resist categorization at this stage.

 

Throughout my career, I want to be reflective of Canada in whatever I'm doing. I'm very proud to be a Canadian. And, look: no one would bat an eye if an American wrote a book in which all the references were blatantly American and in which the author made clear his or her patriotism.

 

People on both sides of the border look at it with interest: a blatantly Canadian SF writer. So far, though, there has been zero negative reaction. Nobody has said that's a mistake, that I shouldn't be doing that. My editor in New York has no problem with it; my agent, Richard Curtis, also in New York, has no problem with it; and the readers here and in the States seem to have no problem with it.

 

DN: There have been a lot of comparisons made between JASON in Golden Fleece and HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Do you like that or does it bug you?

 

RJS: Who is this HAL people keep mentioning? Seriously, I'm obviously influenced by 2001 and by Clarke. I think Clarke is the best practitioner of broad, sense-of-wonder science fiction. He doesn't do characters worth a damn, but he does the sweep of the universe better than anyone else currently writing.

 

I've seen the movie 2001 twenty-six times. I love the movie; it's a brilliant piece of cinema and it's still the best science fiction film ever made. But Arthur C. Clarke does not own the idea of computer intelligence. He didn't invent it, he wasn't the first to use it, and he won't be the last. There are all kinds of other literary parallels that one could make with JASON besides HAL. And, in fact, if 2001 had been only a book and not a movie, people would be just as likely to compare JASON to Mycroft in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, or HARLIE in When HARLIE Was One, or P-1 in The Adolescence of P-1 by Thomas J. Ryan.

 

But, yes, I knew that everyone was going to leap on 2001, and I went to great pains, I thought, to try to minimize the similarities. Then I thought, okay, we'll just play this down and let the book stand on its own merit. Then Warner's advertising for the book came out and it's full of 2001 references: "For fans of 2001" and "the latest descendant of HAL" and that sort of thing. Who am I to argue with Warner? If this is what's going to sell the book, then fine by me.

 

In any event, HAL came out in 1968. Computers have changed monumentally in 22 years, so it was time for an updating, for another look at the idea of artificial intelligence controlling a spaceship. There are lots of worse things than to be compared favourably to one of the forest films in the genre and to one of the best books by one of the masters of SF. It's a flattering comparison.

 

David Nickle is a journalist employed by the North York Mirror.

 

 

A Robert J. Sawyer Bibliography

 

Novel

  • Golden Fleece, Warner Books/Questar December 1990

 

Short Fiction

·  "If I'm Here, Imagine Where They Sent My Luggage", The Village Voice January 14, 1981

  • "Caught In the Web", White Wall Review 1982
  • "Ours To Discover", Leisure Ways November 1982
  • "The Contest", 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories, Doubleday 1984
  • "Uphill Climb", Amazing Stories March 1987
  • "Golden Fleece", Amazing Stories September 1988
  • "The Good Doctor", Amazing Stories January 1989

 

Criticism (partial list only)

·  Author, Entry on Science Fiction, The Canadian Encydopedia, Hurtig, 1988

  • Writer and Narrator, "What If? An Exploration of Alternative Histories", Ideas series, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, February 1990

·  Writer and Narrator, "Other Worlds, Other Minds", Ideas series, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, January 1986

  • Science Fiction reviewer, Canadian Book Review Annual, 1981 to date

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An Interview With Tanya Huff

By Michael Skeet

 

Tanya Huff is a frank, straight-forward woman with a very straight-forward approach to—and attitude toward—writing. For her, speculative and fantastic writing is a way of "exploring the big questions." But a conversation with her is refreshingly lacking in homilies or mumbo-jumbo. She is comfortable with her craft.

 

Huff's latest novel, The Fire's Stone, appears at the end of September. It's her fourth in the space of less than three years, and she promises to be equally prolific for some time to come. But then, she's always had a good idea of where she was going.

 

Asked when she decided to be a writer, she refers to George Carlin's response to a similar question: "Not in the womb, but shortly after that." She was already writing her first book at the age of eight, and was published (poetry in the local newspaper) at ten; but it wasn't until her first year at university, she says, that she discovered that people actually made a career of writing.

 

"I was studying forestry," she says, "and writing as well. Then I decided that, if I could do this part time, why not do it full time?"

 

For the first few years, she wrote "woman's magazine stuff—essays, poetry. Lots of stream-of-consciousness stuff that didn't mean much to the reader but meant a lot to the writer." She spent part of a year in Hollywood, trying her hand at such pop-culture subjects as The Hardy Boys.

 

Upon returning to Toronto, she discovered science fiction fandom.

 

There's a perception that Huff has "come up through the ranks" of fandom to become a pro writer. It's a misleading perception, though Huff does credit fandom with introducing her to the idea of writing SF and fantasy for a living.

 

"I'd always read science fiction and fantasy," she says. "But I discovered fandom when I was twenty. I' d just come back from California and been accepted at Ryerson in the Radio and Television program. I figured they might not necessarily be able to teach me anything about writing, but they could teach me about writing where the money is."

 

While at Ryerson she discovered Bakka, the Queen Street SF bookstore where she now works. And through Bakka she discovered Ozymandias, a Toronto science fiction convention.

 

"What really got me into fandom was Bill Marks," she says. "We started going out together, going to cons together." And at conventions she met writers, and discovered that she could write the kind of fiction she'd always enjoyed reading. "I didn't start writing fantasy until I met people who wrote it," she says. Her first professional sales were short pieces published (to favourable reviews) in Amazing. She very quickly moved on to novels.

 

"What I like about speculative or fantastic writing," she says, "are the broader internal parameters. Externally the structure is like any other form of literature, but internally you're able to do a lot more." Within her novels, the reader cannot automatically assume that a thing is what it seems, or the way we perceive it in our own world. She enjoys the process of detailing a world "where a car isn't necessarily a car as we know it."

 

Fantasy's appeal for her goes deeper, though, than the building of fictional worlds from the ground up. "One of the reasons I write fantasy," she says, "is that fantasy is almost the last stand of writing about things like honour, duty, self-sacrifice. There isn't a lot of that in mainstream fiction these days. I don't want to try to identify with how people feel after their fourth divorce. Fantasy allows me to write about the broader emotions, as opposed to the specific."

 

Where the emotions are broad, so are the concepts. Evil, for instance. Huff's last novel, Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light, is a fantasy set in contemporary Toronto, but its discussion of evil is timeless. Given this, why the contemporary setting? "I don't really decide to do anything," she says when asked if she had set out from the start to write a contemporary fantasy. "I just think of a story and I tell it. (Gate) is based on the perception that simple people are god's children. I asked myself: what if this were true?

 

"Part of it was that with this novel I had some things I wanted to say about the contemporary world—about the treatment of the retarded, about the nature of evil." The contemporary nature of the story allowed her to place evil in a context to which readers could more easily relate: "It's easier for someone to understand landlords who rent out sleazy apartments with no plumbing—especially for readers in Toronto." The novel was well-received, and Huff says it actually drew readers back to her first two novels.

 

Those novels—Child of the Grove and The Last Wizard—were fantasies of a more mythic type, a type that has become virtually the default mode for modern fantasy. Huff admits that she's a little worried about the way fantasy has developed recently. There's a tendency, she says, "for it to be a formula. That's not always the writer's fault. Television has conditioned people to want the same thing, time after time."

 

She's feeling pressure in that regard herself. Her agent, she says, tells her that she has got to have a "focus"—to be known for producing a certain type of work. It's something with which she's not comfortable. She'd much rather write the stories that are important to her while she's writing them; the alternative means a risk of finding herself forced into a creative box. "As much as I'd like the money," she says, "I'd hate to be David Eddings right now. He's gotten into a situation where he's forced to write nothing but The Belgeriad. "

 

Huff's latest novel, The Fire's Stone, is a heroic fantasy "about growing up and finding out who you are as an adult." Then it's back to contemporary fantasy, the first of four books she intends to write over the next couple of years (negotiations for the series are currently under way). She insists that she will not be trapped into an open-ended series.

 

It might be considered intimidating, knowing that you're on the verge of committing yourself to delivering that many books in that short a time. Huff is unconcerned—almost. "It bothers me a little that two years of my life are tied up in this," she says. "But I'm not worried about being committed to them, because the novels are outlined already." She recently made a list, she says, of all the novels she'd write if she had the time. There are seventeen of them.

 

At her current pace, Huff finishes a novel every nine months—writing part-time. She starts work at Bakka at eleven in the morning, so she tries to be out of bed by seven. "If I'm at my computer by seven-thirty, I can be guaranteed two or three hours of solid writing" every day. She's never suffered writer's block, she says—once she gets started. Getting started is the hard part. "I have a lot more trouble with 'I don't want to' than with 'I can't.' I pretty much have to walk straight to the computer or I'm lost. If I stop to pick up a book or something, the morning's shot."

 

She works better with a contract; knowing you're staring at a deadline is a great incentive to type that first sentence every day. She admits, though, that some of the pleasure has gone out of writing now that she does it for a living. She'd like to put some of that fun back in by writing full-time.

 

"In a couple of years, my partner, Fiona, and I are planning on moving to the country. If my backlist stays in print I'll be able to afford a country lifestyle—I certainly couldn't afford to live in Toronto, but in the country I could write full-time. One of the reasons writing the way I do it now is less than fun is that it's hard to really get into a character when you only have an hour or two at a time. Writing full-time might put some of the fun back in."

 

Michael Skeet is the former editor of MLR, a prominent Canadian fanzine.

 

 

A Tanya Huff Bibliography

 

Novels

  • Child of the Grove, DAW May 1988
  • The Last Wizard, DAW March 1989
  • Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light, DAW November 1989
  • The Fire's Stone, DAW October 1990
  • Blood Price, DAW May 1991

 

Short Fiction

  • "What Little Girls Are Made Of", Magic in Ithkar 3, TOR October 1986
  • "Third Time Lucky", Amazing Stories November 1986
  • "And Who is Joah?", Amazing Stories November 1987
  • "The Chase Is On", Amazing Stories July 1989
  • "The Last Lesson", Amazing Stories September 1989
  • "Be It Ever So Humble", Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, Winter 1991

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An Interview With Karen Wehrstein

By Robert Hadji

 

Robert Hadji: Before plunging into my notes and queries, allow me to congratulate you on your forthcoming novel, Lion's Heart. I'd like to start off by examining the development of this, your first novel, because it's been a fairly long process and the book has gone through many permutations over the years.

 

Karen Wehrstein: Fairly long is an under-statement. I'm been working on various forms of this project for sixteen years, which is more than half of my life. I was thirteen when I had the initial idea for the character. I thought it was going to be a short story, but it got longer, and it got longer, and it got longer. And as I grew up and changed, it changed. Over the past few years I've managed to work it into something that, to my delight, I've found marketable.

 

RH: Now I recall your saying that it spontaneously grew into the form of a trilogy, which was unusual in that this wasn't a marketing device, but rather a natural development.

 

KW: Yes. As far as I was concerned, at the time there were, and still are, three natural breaks. I was originally planning to write it as three, or four, books. I sent Baen the first book, and the outline, and they wanted me to jam it all into one book, as they felt at the time that this was the only way they could market it. So I did. But the final page count in print would have been 782 pages, so they split it in two. That's better than asking me to cut a third, which is what I was afraid of. It was a matter of having to write it to prove that it was enough of a story to be more than one book.

 

RH: What is the publishing schedule?

 

KW: Lion's Heart is going to come out next March. The second book, Lion's Soul, will be released in July or thereabouts.

 

RH: Now here's a tough question. Given that this is a fairly complex introspective work, yet is also being published as heroic fantasy, how would you describe your book, succinctly?

 

KW: (Laughter) It's the life story of a character named Chevenga who is very instrumental in the history of his world, which is a fantasy world with science fiction overtones in the sense that there is thought given to technology, thought given to realistic world building, as opposed to purely symbolic work, or allegorical fantasy. It goes from his birth to his death, and all the neat stuff that happens in between.

 

RH: My impression of your work-in-progress is that it's a fantasy with a very realistic texture, evident in the depth of characterization and the tactile detail of the world you're describing. There is an immediacy...

 

KW: Well, in terms of realism, I've always had a particular drive to make things, even though they are in fantasy, realistic and true to life as best I could. I have a mother who can't stand fantasy. Except my own, and that may be because she's my mother. I think to a great degree, my background with her wanting me to ... or implanting the notion that one should do things true to life, without simply ignoring implications, or glossing over things that don't make sense... I guess I've sort of got to give Mom credit for that. That's a family kind of a thing. I should maybe put this world into context, because it's not just my world anymore. I merged my fictional setting with Steve's and Shirley's.

 

RH: Steve being S.M. Stirling and Shirley being Shirley Meier.

 

KW: Right. Because while we each have distinct visions of our fantasy worlds, we all realized that the three of them fit conveniently together. That was, in part, a social thing, and also probably a marketing thing, to Baen's advantage as much as to ours.

 

RH: And a more recent development, relative to the long ...

 

KW: Well, I didn't know Steve and Shirley when I was thirteen. (Laughter)

 

RH: This is perfectly true. The original version of Lion's Heart, originally called The Sword of Saint Mother, would have been well developed by that time ...

 

KW: Yes, yes. It was for that reason that our worlds had to fit together fairly well in concept and in technological development, or we wouldn't have done it. Steve and Shirley had already joined theirs when they did The Sharpest Edge ...

 

RH: The sequel to Steve's novel Snowbrother.

 

KW: Yes. We were originally going to call this whole milieu the "World of the Earned Fire", but Baen prefers "Fifth Millennium". That logo is going to appear on future books in the series.

 

RH: This seems a good point to discuss the project you are currently working on.

 

KW: Well, that's Shadow's Son, which is a sequel to Steve and Shirley's The Cage. It's a triple collaboration which will come out sometime in 1991. It involves Megan and Shkai'ra, the lead characters from The Cage and Chevenga from Lion's Heart, among other things. Chevenga doesn't have that big a part, but he is in there.

 

RH: The Cage was a sequel to Sharpest Edge, which is in the process of being revised and reissued under a new title...

 

Shirley Meier: We haven't decided on a title yet. Steve wants "Sabre and Knife" because he likes the sound of it, I want "Sabre and Claws".

 

KW: That one will hopefully have the Fifth Millennium logo on it.

 

RH: Back to Shadow's Son. What is the actual collaborative process?

 

KW: Well, basically you lock the three writers and three computers in an isolated cottage up north and do nothing but split wood, swim and write until it's done. We have a kind of division of labour. Steve, of course, does Shkai'ra's scenes, lines and things, Shirley does Megan, I've taken over Sova, if anyone remembers her from The Cage, and I'm doing Matthas who is the secret agent, and Chevenga of course. We get Steve to do descriptions because he likes doing them—and battle scenes, because he likes doing them even better.

 

We copy all the files around on three computers and we try not to overwrite anything more recent by somebody else. It's actually quite difficult to organize.

 

RH: Maintaining consistencies of plot and characterization, certainly, but also cultural details and such ...

 

KW: Oh yes. For instance, we maintain the Fifth Millennium Supplemental Dictionary as an authoritative source for the foreign language words when we spellcheck. We basically use the published works for reference ‑ Lion's Heart, Lion's Soul, The Cage, and The Sharpest Edge.

RH: And Snowbrother?

 

KW: Well, Snowbrother is kind of ancient history when it comes to Shadow's Son. Aside from the character, and that's Steve's responsibility and he takes care of it.

 

SM: What I like about this—we've talked about this before ...

 

KW: —the advantages and disadvantages of collaboration. One of the advantages in this case, with three people who have very different ideas, is that you do get the inconsistencies, the richness, the scope. Particularly in characterizations, but I guess it's true in more respects than that. Three heads are better than one.

 

It's great. We have arguments. A couple of times somebody has come to somebody else and said, look, I'm really frustrated. My character disagrees with another character, or feels bad about something, frustrated, and I've said, take what you feel about the character, make the character feel it and put it in the book.

 

And that's how it goes.

 

RH: Whereas solo work ...

 

KW: Lion's Heart—very simple process: one person sits down at a computer and cranks it out. I had the story so set in my head, having worked with it for sixteen years, though it changed all over the place, so that I didn't write it in order. I wrote it scene by scene, whatever scene I felt like writing that day.

 

RH: Are you essentially satisfied with the finished product?

 

KW: I think so. I originally would have written it longer, but I'm not sure it isn't a better book ... I'm not sure that the length wasn't a fault in the sense of my over-obsession with the work and the character. Right now, what I've got is very dense. I think you get a sense that there's a lot more going on than meets the eye, in the world of the character.

 

RH: Are there more books waiting to emerge from that world?

 

KW: Not with Chevenga as narrator, I don't think. But he's going to weave in and out as a character in other books. Sometimes as a major character, sometimes as a minor character. Shadow's Son, for instance. We've got plans for all kinds of stuff. And there's another thing about point of view here. The final version of Lion's Heart was written all from Chevenga's point of view, but there are other things I want to say about him, that I can only say from other narrative points of view. So hopefully, I'll get the opportunity.

 

RH: With other characters in other stories.

 

KW: In other books, yes.

 

RH: Let's discuss the origins of Chevenga...

 

KW: Sure. The first story of Chevenga started out with me drawing a picture. That's how it started, a very nebulous sort of thing. I wrote stuff about his father first. Then I got more interested in the son. Back then, the most interesting thing about him to me was that he has foreknowledge that he's going to die before he is thirty, and I got very fascinated with that.

 

RH: The death premonition.

 

KW: Yes. And it grew from there. Adventures and romance. Chevenga was almost like the tool to deal with these things. He's the character through which I see the world. And it's actually in that sense going to be a bit difficult to let go of him, if I ever do. Though I never will completely. Chevenga grew up with me.

 

RH: And you grew up with him.

 

KW: Yes. He was very much at first based on certain classical heroes, certain conceptions. Then he grew beyond that. For instance, when I came to understand feminism and its concerns, I changed the whole way the society worked, because originally it was patriarchal and I didn't like that. I wanted to write something that was different. God! What an admission! (Laughter) I don't even admit that in con suites, and here I am admitting it in SOL RISING.

 

RH: Something I'd like to explore now is the shaping process of your training as a writer, in effect, that which enabled you to render this personal vision into prose, hence into a publishable novel.

 

KW: If you want to go right back to the beginning, when I was a child I thought that I was going to be an artist, because I drew obsessively until I was about twelve or thirteen. I realize, looking back on the artwork that I did then and more recently, that they are all illustrations to stories. I was trying to express stories through drawings, because I didn't know how to write yet.

 

At thirteen or so, I got good enough at writing to satisfy myself somewhat. And then I started writing in earnest. By fourteen, fifteen, I had a rather long novel, about Chevenga. I went on through high school, working on it, taking creative writing courses. I had a creative writing teacher there called Natalie Walker and she predicted that I' d be in print someday, and she was right! So I'm going to send her a copy first. This was the time when I was very closed about my writing. When I first started out, it was like, hide it under a pillow when my parents came in the room. That's how I felt about it.

 

RH: A very private thing. An inner world satisfying inner needs.

 

KW: Oh yes, very much so. And coming out was a gradual process.

 

RH: That's interesting. This began as an inner world, a personal vision; yet gradually you moved from telling this story for, and to, yourself, to wanting to tell it, to share it, with others.

 

KW: Yes. I showed it to that teacher, Natalie. An excerpt, from what's now Lion's Soul, and she loved it. She gave me a wonderful mark, encouraged me. So that kept me going.

 

RH: Now, I'm aware that you chose to study journalism at Ryerson Polytech. Do you feel this was beneficial?

 

KW: Oh, absolutely. I think it improved my stuff. I tore my style all down to nothing, and built it all back up again, using the good stuff from before and the good stuff from journalism. And the result is somewhere in between. I think that having those two things has enabled me to be versatile with style. I don't have one style. I use several different ones. There's the style in which I wrote Lion's Heart; that's not my style, that's Chevenga's style. When I'm writing Chevenga, I'm roleplaying—I'm pretending that I'm him telling his story. Other stories mean other styles, though there'll always be a similarity.

 

RH: Your "post‑graduate studies" have been pursued in a local writer's workshop, "The Bunch of Seven" . Do You feel this has supplemented your formal training?

 

KW: If anything, I would say the Bunch was my best training ground in writing fiction—fantasy fiction. Every member offers critiques of works-in-progress, and we constantly give each other encouragement, which is every bet as important.

 

RH: What is the basic format of this workshop?

 

KW: We meet somewhere between every three weeks and monthly. We bring in submissions—a chapter, a short story. We used to read them aloud at meetings, now we exchange manuscripts, either over the Bunch of Seven BBS or hand to hand. We realized that what was written to be read by the eye maybe should be critiqued that way.

 

RH: The Bunch has also used less conventional techniques, at least for a writer's workshop.

 

KW: You're thinking of roleplaying?

 

RH: Yes. l believe you use this to block out physical action, say, in fight scenes. But you also use this to explore emotional states of characters. Somewhat like "method" acting exercises, to make things more real.

 

KW: Yes. We do both, and all of the above. The nice thing about roleplaying is that you end up with things that have a more plausible feel to them and that have a broader scope. Sometimes I've written scenes verbatim from roleplaying. More often, they get modified. As far as roleplaying collaborations go, sometimes it doesn't work that way. Steve, Shirley and I, for Shadow's Son, aren't roleplaying at all. We're just writing, and discussing.

 

RH: What would you consider formative influences on your writing?

 

KW: When I was about thirteen, I saw this book on my mother's shelf that I knew was going to change my life. It was The King Must Die by Mary Renault, about Theseus, one of my favourite heroes in Greek Mythology. I got very fascinated with Greek Mythology when I was a kid. And Mary Renault is the number one influence.

 

RH: What impresses you most about Renault's work, and what have you gained from it as a writer?

 

KW: When I was a teenager, I decided that I was going to teach myself to write by shamelessly aping her, in every conceivable way: style, character. Even though I wasn't writing ancient Greek myths. I already had my own ideas.

 

RH: There are actually very famous writers and critics who have said that one of the best ways to teach yourself to write well is to choose a master and study them.

 

KW: Oh yes, it was great. I mean I studied hard. Back then, if I wrote something, I knew how good it was if it sounded like Mary Renault.

 

RH: Yes. You chose her to be your teacher. What about other writers?

 

KW: Gene Wolfe. I discovered The Book of the New Sun back in, oh, 1980. I was incredibly impressed by his style and his command of language. Oh yes, and his delightful strangeness. James Joyce is in there somewhere ... Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

 

RH: And within the genre, other than Gene Wolfe?

 

KW: Ursula K. Leguin, for style, content, treatment of cultures, all of the above. I have a particular weakness for The Left Hand of Darkness. And Kurt Vonnegut. I've always liked him for his absurdity, his contemporary weirdness.

 

RH: Tell me about upcoming solo projects.

 

KW: The next solo work I'm going to submit is a novel called "Kal", which is sort of an urban fantasy. And what it is, which I didn't think it was going to be, is humour. I wasn't trying to write something funny, it just happened that way.

 

RH: The situation?

 

KW: A post-technological person, who is kind of a wise-ass, gets flipped through time into a contemporary person's bathroom. We did a bunch of roleplays on what happens. There's two and a half chapters so far.

 

RH: What response did you get when you were workshopping it?

 

KW: People laughed. They laughed a lot.

 

RH: That's good.

 

KW: I'm trying to be versatile. I'm trying to take, and succeed at, whatever comes along. Which reminds me of Shivers ...

 

RH: You did a ghost story.

 

KW: I did a ghost story and it's in an anthology, Shivers, published by Seal Books in May 1990. It's selling quite well. The first edition sold out so they're going to do a second printing. There's another thing. Whenever Baen goes ahead with their Bolo Project anthology, which is based on a Keith Laumer world, I might be able to talk my way into that. I've already got a story idea that they like.

 

RH: So you might be contributing to this ...

 

KW: I don't think people expect me to write hard science fiction ...

 

RH: But you'd like a shot at it.

 

KW: Yes. I'd like the opportunity. I'd like to bring a certain grace to writing hard science fiction. And I'd like my Bolo story to be more human, not overwhelmed by technology.

 

Robert Hadji has collected fantastic literature for over 27 years, worked as a specialist dealer/consultant in the field, and had articles published in The Penguin Encyclopedia and the Supernatural, Horror: 100 Best Books, Twilight Zone Magazine, and American Fantasy. He also edited the Canadian dark fantasy magazine Borderland and contributed articles to its forerunner, Myriad.

 

 

A Karen Wehrsteln Bibliography

Novels

·         Lion's Heart, Baen March 1991

·         Lion's Soul, Baen July 1991

  • Shadow’s Son, with S.M. Stirling and Shirley Wier, Baen forthcoming 1991

 

Short Fiction

  • "O.R. 3", Shivers, Seal Books May 1990

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Elizabeth Pearse

On Sunday May 20, 1990, the science fiction community lost a special friend when Elizabeth Pearse died as a result of a massive cardiac arrest in Columbus, Ohio while participating in the Marcon Convention. A longstanding member of Toronto science fiction fandom, Elizabeth had a far reaching effect wherever she chose to apply her many abilities and gifts. Through her interest in astronomical art, she became a founding member and director of the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, recently completing a term as a member-at-large.

 

While participating in various art shows and winning a substantial number of awards for her art work, she became acutely aware of a need for proper organization in the operation of art show at conventions and in 1982 founded The Team. Eh?.

 

The Team, Eh? became responsible for running the Ad Astra regional convention art show as well as many others across Canada and the United States, including Chicon IV, World Fantasycon 84 (Ottawa) and Nolacon '88.

 

The Team, Eh? continues under the supervision of Elizabeth's associate, Suzanne Robinson, and sponsors the Elizabeth Pearse Award for Best New Artist at all art shows conducted by The Team, Eh. There is a monetary component to this award and anyone wishing to contribute to the fund for this prize may make cheques payable to The Team, Eh? c/o 90 Eastdale Ave., Suite 2201, Toronto, Ontario.

 

Elizabeth had many components to her life, other than science fiction. She was a wife, a mother, a business woman, a grandmother and even a great grandmother. She was a gardener, a seamstress and a fiercely loyal friend who tried and often succeeded in bringing out the best in others. While her passing is a loss to all who knew her, her life was a celebration of growth and achievement and we may count ourselves lucky to have been participants with her.

 

‑ Sharon Reine

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Northern Lights: Canadian Science Fiction News

Ry Robert J. Sawyer

 

Canadian science fiction and fantasy continues to boom. With this regular column, I'll try to keep you up-to-date on what's happening.

 

The Tenth Annual Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards were presented July 22. Winners in the professional categories were: Dave Duncan, West of January, Del Rey, for Best Long Work in English; Eileen Kernaghan, "Carpe Diem," On Spec, Fall 1989, for Best Short Work in English; On Spec magazine, for Best Work in English (Other); Jacques Brossard, L'Oiseau de feu (Tome 1), Lemeac, pour Meilleur Livre en Français; Élisabeth Vonarburg, "Cogito," dans Imagine, pour Meilleure Novelle en Français; et Solaris (Luc Pomerleau, ed.) pour Meilleure Ouvrage (Autre). The name of the award has been changed from the Casper to the Aurora. Page 7 of the September 1990 Locus: The Newspaper of the Science Fiction Field has a picture of this year's winners.

 

Lynne Armstrong-Jones of London, Ontario, had stories in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Domains of Darkover and Sword and Sorceress VI. She has stories upcoming in Free Amazons of Darkover and Sword and Sorceress VII, as well as two short-shorts in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine and poetry in Weird Tales.

 

J. Brian Clarke's "Flaw on Serendip," an Expediter tale, was the cover story in the November 1989 Analog. His non-Expediter story "Return of the Alphanauts" is forthcoming in that magazine. Clarke lives in Calgary.

 

John Robert Colombo of Toronto gave a talk on Canadian fantastic literature in July at the annual meeting of the Science Fiction Research Association, held this year in California.

 

Charles de Lint of Ottawa has sold two horror novels to Berkley, Angel of Darkness and Niki. They will be published under the pseudonym Samuel Key.

 

Candas Jane Dorsey will be writer-in-residence at the Edmonton Public Library from September to December, 1990.

 

Dave Duncan of Calgary has sold an SF novel called Hero! to Del Rey.

 

James Alan Gardner of Waterloo was a recent $1,000 first-place quarterly winner in the "Writers of the Future" contest for his story "The Children of Crirche," which was published in Writers of the Future, Vol. VI in May 1990. He gave a reading of his winning story at the Banff School of Fine Arts last Thanksgiving weekend. Ms "Muffin Explains Teleology to the World at Large" was in the April 1990 On Spec. He gave a talk on SF writing to his local chapter of the Canadian Authors Association on April 2. At the American Booksellers Association convention in Las Vegas in June, Gardner was named Grand Prize Writers of the Future winner, pocketing another $4,000 and acquiring himself an agent. He has a story coming up in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

 

Penguin Books published the hardcover Scroll of Saqqara in September by Alberta's Pauline Gedge.

 

Catherine Girczyc of Edmonton has sold a script to CBC Radio's Vanishing Point series. She's writing a series about SF for The Edmonton Bullet and recently gave a public reading at Café Le Gare in Edmonton.

 

H. A. Hargreaves's translation of Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle's Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds, first published in 1668 A.D., was released in August by the University of California press.

 

Tanya Huff's The Fire's Stone (DAW) was available at Bakka, Toronto's SF specialty store, September 30 and will be in bookstores across Canada in November (nice having connections, eh?). Her vampire novel Blood Price will be released by DAW next spring. A late fall issue of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine will contain Tanya's latest Magdelene story, "Be It Ever So Humble". She lives in Toronto.

 

Monica Hughes of Edmonton had her novel The Promise published by Methuen and Stoddart last year. Her Invitation to the Game will be released by Upton Collins in October. She has a short story in the Methuen anthology Get Your Knee Off My Heart, available now in England.

 

In May, the anthology Shivers: Canadian Tales of the Supernatural, edited by Greg Ioannou and Lynne Missen, was published. Among the included authors: Robertson Davies, Gar and Judy Reeves-Stevens, and Karen Wehrstein.

 

"Cinderella Caper" by Sansoucy Kathenor of Greely, Ontario, is being taught as part of a class on creativity and archetypes offered by a university in Virginia.

 

Guy Gavriel Kay's new hardcover, Tigana, from Viking/Penguin/Roc was launched with a reception at The Spaced Out Library on September 6. He will be Master of Ceremonies at the 51st World SF Convention, San Francisco, 1993.

 

Eileen Kernaghan of Burnaby, B.C., recently profiled Michael Coney for Canadian Author & Bookman.

 

Eileen Kernaghan and Jonathan Kay have delivered Walkup After Midnight, non-fiction about near-death experiences, to Berkley.

 

Crawford Killian has finished a new novel called Green Magic.

 

Shirley Meier of Toronto recently turned in the novel Shadow's Daughter to Baen Books. Shirley, Karen Wehrstein, and S. M. Stirling are under contract to Baen for a collaborative novel to be called Shadow's Son. Baen will be packaging books set in the universe created by the three under the series title Fifth Millennium.

 

Popular Library of New York has begun re-issuing the early horror novels by ex-Torontonian Garfield Reeves-Stevens, previously only published in Canada. First out is Bloodshift. His novel Dark Matter will be published by Doubleday in October.

 

"The Dictionary" by Gustav A. Richar, of Pointe-au-Baril, Ontario, was recently published in a literary magazine.

 

Robert J. Sawyer will be guest of honor critic in the CompuServe Online Science Fiction Writers Workshop in November and December. In September, he conducted professional development seminars on SF for librarians in Port Hope, Cambridge, and Chatham, Ontario. His CBC Radio Ideas programs on Alternative Histories were repeated September 13 and 20 across Canada.

 

Under the Yoke by Toronto's S. M. Stirling is a nominee for the 1990 Prometheus Award given by the Libertarian Futurist Society. Man-Kzin Wars III, to which he is a contributor, was released by Baen in July. Also published in July: The Stone Dogs, third in Stirling's Draka series.

 

On April 10, 1990, the "Pause for Thought" on the Broadcast News teletext news crawl, shown by many cable television companies across Canada, was a quote from the late Toronto SF writer Edward Llewellyn-Thomas: "To block technology will replace the possibility of a bang with the certainty of a whimper."

 

Toronto's Taral Wayne was a nominee for the 1990 Best Fan Artist Hugo Award (the winner was Stu Shiffman).

 

Andrew Weiner has a short story, "Eternity, Baby," upcoming in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Orson Scott Card, reviewing Weiner's short-story collection Distant Signals in the September Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction says: "Distant Signals is a wonderful collection of some of the most beautiful, intelligent, moving stories you're likely to read before you die and see what D. H. Lawrence and Robert Penn Warren have been writing lately."

 

Karen Wehrstein has turned in Lion's Heart to Baen Books. She is chairperson of next year's Ad Astra Toronto regional SF convention.

 

Lyle Weis of Edmonton has sold a story called "The Promethean Project" to Tales of Cruachan, to be published next January.

 

TVOntario's Prisoners of Gravity has been renewed for a second season; principal broadcast will be Thursday evenings at 7:30.

 

Quill & Quire: The Canadian Book News Monthly has been reviewing a fair bit of indigenous SF. In the July issue, Gordon Graham of Montreal called Robert J. Sawyer's forthcoming Golden Fleece "a well-paced page-turner replete with hard science." In the August issue of Q&Q, Graham says Garfield Reeves-Stevens's Dark Matter is "a well-crafted cross-over that combines the essentials of three distinct genres—horror, science fiction, and mystery—without skimping on any." Tanya Huff sums up Pauline Gedge's Scroll of Saqqara with: "Laid over a complex plot, well-crafted characters, and the shining splendour that was Egypt, Scroll of Saqqara is a simple and heart-rending story of human frailty." Michelle Sagara, manager of Toronto's Bakka SF Bookstore, declares Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana "masterful in both conception and execution, and a highly satisfying read."

 

The Speculative Writers Association of Canada has sent letters to various federal government officials requesting that books be exempted from the proposed Goods and Services Tax. Toronto SFWA member Robin Rowland has been active in this protest for well over a year now, and spearheaded the SWAC action. Toronto Hydra: An Association of Science Fiction Professionals sent letters to various government officials requesting that the profession of fiction writing in general and SF writing in particular be exempted from the GST.

 

Some Canadian SF conventions to note: WilfCon Vll, Saturday, June 1, 1991, Waterloo, Ontario, with Guest of Honour Robert J. Sawyer; ConText'91, the Canadian National convention, June 7-9, 1991, Edmonton; Ad Astral 11, July 5-7, 1991, Toronto; Rhino 1, July 12-14, 1991, London, Ontario.

 

Note to pros: I'm doing this column for SOL Rising on a regular basis. Please send me written notices about your sales, works in progress, award nominations, publications—whatever. You can reach me on CompuServe at 76702,747; on GEnie at RLSAWYER; by fax at (416) 229-2372; or by regular mail at Robert J. Sawyer, 300 Finch Avenue West, Apartment 301, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada M2R lN1.

 

Note to everyone: I've recently completed a "Checklist of Canadian Science Fiction Professionals," listing names and cities for all Canadian members of the Science Fiction Writers of America, the Science Fiction Research Association, Toronto Hydra, and the Speculative Writers Association of Canada. If you'd like a copy, drop me a line.

 

This column was prepared 3 September 1990.

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Canadian fiction 1989

The following is a listing of the science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction published by Canadians in 1989. This list has been derived from the nominations list for the 1990 Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy (CASPER) Awards. We welcome any additions or corrections. We welcome all authors, publishers, and other knowledgeable individuals to keep us informed of works in the sf field by all Canadians so that we may publish as complete and comprehensive a list as possible each year.

 

1989

 

Novels and collections - English language

 

  • Allen, Charlotte Vale, Night Magic, Doubleday
  • Bedard, Michael, The Lightning Bolt, Oxford University Press
  • Bell, William, Five Days of the Ghost, STO
  • Brin, Connie, King Arthur: Tales of the Young King, HAY
  • Coney, Michael Greatrex, King of the Scepter'd Isle, NAL
  • Czernecki, Stefan & Rhodes, Timothy, The Time Before Dreams, HYP
  • Davies, Robertson, The Lyre of Orpheus, Viking
  • Day, David, Swan Children, Doubleday
  • De Lint Charles, Svaha, Ace
  • De Lint, Charles, Philip José Farmer's The Dungeon 3: The Valley of Thunder, Bantam Spectra
  • Duncan, Dave, West of January, Ballantine/Del Rey
  • Forest, Susan, The Dragon Prince, GAG
  • Gadallah, Leslie, The Loremasters, Ballantine/ Del Rey
  • Gotlieb, Phyllis, Heart of Red Iron, St. Martin's Press
  • Huff, Tanya, Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light, DAW

·         Huff, Tanya, The Last Wizard, DAW

·         Huigin, Sean O., Monsters, He Mumbled, BLM

·         Kernaghan, Eileen, The Sarasen Witch, Ace

·         Kilian, Crawford, Gryphon, Ballantine/Del Rey

·         Pippy, John H.C., Beware the Fugitora, BRE

·         Pitch, Rosemary, Twizella, The Airsick Witch, FWH

·         Price, Moe & Eyolfson, Norman, The Incredible Mungwort Quest, MCC

·         Reeves-Stevens, Garfield, Nighteyes, Doubleday/Foundation

·         Robinson, Spider, Callahan's Lady, Ace

·         Shrive, Norman, Kryptic: The Little Space Guy, HAY

·         Stirling, Steve M., Under the Yoke, Baen

·         Stirling, Steve M. and Meier, Shirley, The Cage, Baen

·         Weiner, Andrew, Distant Signals and Other Stories, Porcepic/Tesseract

  • Wilson, Robert Charles, Gypsies, Bantam/Spectra

 

 

Short work - English language

 

  • Bell, E.C., "Wagner's Magic", On Spec, Fall 1989
  • Clarke, J. Brian, "Flaw on Serendip", Analog, November 1989
  • De Lint, Charles, Westlin Wind, Axolotl Press/Pulphouse Publishing
  • Dresen, Drake, "Spring Death", On Spec, Fall 1989
  • Duncan, Dave, "Boy at Heart", On Spec, Spring 1989
  • Gadallah, Leslie, "The Fairy Ring", On Spec, Fall 1989
  • Hargreaves, H.A., "Fore-Eight-Sixteen", On Spec, Spring 1989
  • Huff, Tanya, "The Chase is On", Amazing Stories, July 1989
  • Huff, Tanya, "The Last Lesson", Amazing Stories, September 1989
  • Johanson, Paula, "If You Go Out in the Woods", On Spec, Fall 1989
  • Kernaghan, Eileen, "Carpe Diem", On Spec, Fall 1989
  • McBride, Sally, "Her Eyes As Bright As Unsheath'd Swords", On Spec, Spring 1989
  • Murphy, Trevor, "In Zarephath", On Spec, Fall 1989
  • Rich, Célie, "Fertile Mind", On Spec, Fall 1989
  • Rose, Rhea, "Duty Free, On Spec, Spring 1989
  • Runte, Robert, "The Luch of Charles Harcourt", On Spec, Spring 1989
  • Sawyer, Robert J., "The Good Doctor", Amazing Stories, January 1989
  • Sinclair, Kathryn, "Honour", On Spec, Spring 1989
  • Snyder, Jena, "The Stonecaster", On Spec, Spring 1989
  • Stewart, Ron, "Looking Glass", On Spec, Spring 1989
  • Stirling, S.M. (with Pournelle, Jerry), "The Children's Hour", Man-Kzin Wars II, Baen
  • Weiner, Andrew, "Inspiration", Distant Signals and Other Stories, Porcepic/Tesseract

·         Weiner, Andrew, "Leaving the Planet", Distant Signals and Other Stories, Porcepic/Tesseract

  • Weis, Lyle, "A Helping Hand", On Spec, Spring 1989

 

 

Novels and collections - French language

 

  • April, Jean-Pierre, Berlin-Bangkok, Logiques
  • Boisjoli,13, rue de Buci, XYZ Editeur
  • Brossard, Jacques, L'Oiseau de feu, (Tome 1), Leméac
  • Chaveau, Philippe, Robots et robots inc., Boréal
  • Chevette, Christiane/Cossette, Danielle, Camille et Dominique en péril dans l'isle, Fides
  • Côté, Denis, L'Idole des Inactifs, La Courte Echelle
  • Côté, Denis, Le Voyage dans le temps, La Courte Echelle
  • De Sève, André, Les Conquérants de Shaddaï, Louise Courteau
  • Désy, Jean, Dernier cadeau pour Cornélia, XYZ Editeur
  • Dufour, Michel, Circuit Fermé, L'instant même
  • Dutrisac, Billy Bob, Kafka Kalmar, Québec/Amérique
  • Fortin, Réal, Le Secret du 7e fils, Coïncidence
  • Faunier, Maurice, La Maison du diable, Beffroi
  • Gravel, François, Corneilles, Boréal
  • Lazure, Jacques, Le Domaine des sans yeux, Québec/Amérique
  • Lebugle, André, Les Portes secrètes du rêve, Fides
  • Lemelin, Roger, Abraki, Abraka, Abrakam, Beffroi
  • Marcotte, Gilles, La Vie réelle, Boréal
  • Marillac, Alain, La Pyramide de l' immatériel, HMH
  • Ménard, Guy, Jamadhlavie, Boréal
  • Mondoloni, Roger, L'Aube du temps qui vient, Peirre Tisseyre
  • Paré, Marc-André, Chassés-croisés sur vert plancton, Triptyque
  • Pelletier, Francine, Le Crime de l'enchanteresse, Paulines
  • Pigeon, Pierre, Cauchemar au pays d'Onyx, Coïncidence
  • Pigeon, Pierre, L'Homme du lac, Coïncidence
  • Pouliot, Pierre, Le Croissant de cristal, Barré & Dayez
  • Renaud, Jacques, L'Espace du diable, Guérin
  • Sanschagrin, Joceline, La Fille aux cheveux rouges, La Courte Echelle
  • Sauriol, Louise-Michelle, Monde 008 sur la pointe clarie, HMH
  • Sernine, Daniel, La Nef dans les nuages, Paulines
  • Somain, Jean-François, Dernier départ, Pierre Tisseyre
  • Somain, Jean-François, Vivre en beauté, Logiques

 

 

Short work - French language

 

  • Allen, Michelle, "Ligne de vie", Solaris 84
  • April, Jean-Pierre, "Mémère Thibodeau monte au ciel", Solaris 81
  • April, Jean-Pierre/Côté, Denis, "La Musique du silence", L'Année de la science-fiction et du fantastique québécois 1988, Le Passeur
  • April, Jean-Pierre, "Le Mémoribond et le neurobot", imagine... 46
  • Bélil, Michel, "La Perle de caverne", imagine... 46
  • Bélil, Michel, "La sauvagesse au paraneige percé", Le Sabord 24
  • Ber, André, "Le Passage", imagine... 48
  • Bergerson, Alain, "Les Amis d'Agnel", Solaris 85
  • Bergeron, Bertrand, "Bellamy, par exemple", Solaris 82
  • Bertrand, Claudine, "Minuit lunaire". Arcade 18
  • Blondesu, Dominique, "La Parque", Arcade 18
  • Boivin, Rollande, "Lettre à Mariette", Arcade 18
  • Bouchard, Guy, "Andropolis", imagine... 48
  • Champetier, Joël, "Le Jour-de-trop", Solaris 37
  • Champetier, Joël, "Karyotype 47, XX, +21 ", Sous des soleils étrangers, Publications Ianus
  • Chouinard, Jeannoël, "La foire hollandaise ou d4-f5", Les enfants d'Enéides, Phénix
  • Corriveau, Hughes, "Le Rendez-vous du jardin des morts", XYZ 18
  • Couzier, Name, "Rencontre blanche", Arcade 18
  • Dallaire, Michel, "Dans ma grande maison folle", Liaison 50
  • Dandurand, Anne, "Le Vol de Jacques Braise", Nyx 8
  • Dandurand, Anne/Dé, Claire, "Un journal de spore", L'Année de la science fiction et du fantastique québécois 1988, Le Passeur
  • D'Astous, Claude, "Les Granules corticaux!", imagine... 47
  • D'Astous, Claude, " La Médecine du bonheur", imagine... 46
  • Daviau, Diane-Monique, "Les inséparables", Aérographies, XYZ Editeur
  • De Gonzague Pelletier, Louise, "La Mort impossible", Arcade 18
  • Dé, Claire, "Maîtresse", Le désir comme catastrophe naturelle, L'Etincelle
  • Delcourt, Denyse, "La Maison", Solaris 86
  • Désy, Jean, "La Fleur qu tu m'avais jetée", L'Hourreur est humaine, Le Palindrome
  • Désy, Jean, "Histoire de pêche", L'Hourreur est humaine, Le Palindrome
  • Désy, Jean, "Dernier cadeau pour Cornélia", Stop 114
  • Dion, Jean, "L'Evangile des animaux", Sour des soleils étranger, Publications Ianus
  • Dion, Jean, "Au dieu marteau", C.I.N.Q., Logiques
  • Dorsey, Candas Jane, "Ici, des dragons", Solaris 88

·         Escalmel, François, "Lorimask inc.", Solaris 86

  • Escomel, Gloria, "Le Ruban de Moebius", Arcade 18
  • Frigério, Victor, "Douceurs d'ailleurs", Les Enfants d’Enéïdes, Phénix
  • Frigério, Victor, "Le citoyen du monde", Solaris 88
  • Frigério, Victor, "Les Derrières heures (1)", imagine... 48
  • Frigério, Victor, "Les Derrières heures (2)", imagine... 49
  • Godel, Françoise, "A Chacun selan ses mérites", Stop, 113
  • Jolin, Dominque, "Mon frères est un voleur de rêves", Lurelu, Hiver 89
  • Lahaie, Christiane, "Alive ou le labyrinthe", L'Hourreur est humaine, Le Palindrome
  • Lahaie, Christiane, "L'Etemel enfant", L'Ecrit primal 7
  • Lahaie, Christiane, "Mes amis d'Angleterre", L'Hourreur est humaine, Le Palindrome
  • Lamontagne, Michel, "Contagion", Solaris 83
  • Langevin, Pierre, "Boutique Madame Oméga", Solaris 84
  • Langlois, Stéphane, "Contrôle total", Solaris 85
  • Langlois, Stéphane, "Le Troisième oeil", Solaris 86
  • Larin, Robert, "Rapport du lieutenant-explorateur Brime", Lurelu Vol 12-2
  • Laroche, Marc-Raoul, "Sûrement le dernier pacte avec Dieu", Les Enfants d’Enéïdes, Phénix
  • Le Blanc-Le Pestipon, "Mirages pour gisants", Arcade 18
  • Lefrançois, Jacques, "L'Invitation", Le Sabord 22
  • Lemaire, Marie-Claire, "La cure", Les Enfants d’Enéïdes, Phénix
  • Marchand, Suzanne, "Ah! La jalousie", Arcade 18
  • Martin, Michel, "La Saison du miraclé", Solaris 87
  • Martin, Michel, "La tortue sur le trottoir", C.I.N.Q., Logiques
  • McAllister, Laurent, "Les Protocoles du désir", L'Année de la science-fiction et du fantastique québécois 1988, Le Passeur
  • Meynard, Yves, "Antarctica", Solaris 87
  • Meynard, Yves, "Les Hommes-Escailles", Sous des soleils étrangers, Publications lanus
  • Meynard, Yves, "Le Réalisateur", Solaris 84
  • Michaud, Nando, "Coupures budgétaires", Bambou 13
  • Nowak, Mercédes, "Le Croyant", imagine... 47
  • Péan, Stanley, "Le Cabinet du Docteur K", L'Hourreur est humaine, Le Palindrome
  • Péan, Stanley, "La Faim justifie les moyens", L'Hourreur est humaine, Le Palindrome
  • Péan, Stanley, "Heartbreak Hotel", Stop 113
  • Péan, Stanley, "Idée noire", XYZ 17
  • Péan, Stanley, "Invitation à souper", Bambou 13
  • Péan, Stanley, "Une derrière bouffée de rêve", Les Enfants d’Enéïdes, Phénix
  • Paré, Marc-André, "Pieds gelés dans une cabine téléphonique", Stop 113
  • Pellerin, Gilles, "East Glouster, Mass.", Solaris 82
  • Pellerin, Gilles, "La Vérité de Nicolé", XYZ 18
  • Pelletier, Francine, "Derrière phrase", Arcade 18
  • Pelletier, Francine, "Eaux mortes, eaux vives", Solaris 87
  • Pelletier, Francine, "Les Noms de l'oubli", Sous des soleils étrangers, Publications Ianus
  • Pelletier, Francine, "La Petite", imagine... 46
  • Pelletier, Francine, "Tu verras", imagine... 48
  • Pelletier, Francine, "Le tiers de l'avenir", C.I.N.Q., Logiques
  • Perrot-bishop, Annick, "Naissance", Arcade 18
  • Pettigrew, Jean, "L'Etmage cas de Nef Matunale", Sous des soleils étrangers, Publications Ianus
  • Pettigrew, Jean, "Naissance de la 4e-Tofurolocie",imagine... 46
  • Pettigrew, Jean, "Passez donc par l'entrée service", L'Hourreur est humaine, Le Palindrome
  • Pettigrew, Jean, "Pauvrez Jack!", L'Hourreur est humaine, Le Palindrome
  • Poirier, Lucie, "Translucide", Arcade 18
  • Prévost, Claude-Michel, "Akimento", Solaris 87
  • Prévost, Claude-Michel, "Le Radeau des âmes jaunes", imagine... 47
  • Prévost, Claude-Michel, "Pas de dum-dum pour Mister Klaus", C.I.N.Q., Logiques
  • Prévost, Marie-France, "La dompteusé", XYZ 19
  • Raymond, Richard, "La Mariée n' attend personne", L'Express de Toronto, 20 juin-3 juillet 1989
  • Rochon, Esther, "Mourir uné fois pour toutes", Sous des soleils étrangers, Publications Ianus
  • Rochon, Esther, "Le Musée de Psal", imagine... 46
  • Roger, Danielle, "Voyage au-dessus d'un miroir", Arcade 18
  • Rodriquez, Jérôme, "La bouteille", Stop 113
  • Semine, Daniel, "Des nouvells de la planète", XYZ 18
  • Sernine, Daniel, "Métal qui songe", imagine... 46
  • Sernine, Daniel, "Sur la jetée", Aérographies, XYZ Editeur
  • Sernine, Daniel, "Sa Fleur de lune", Sous des soleils étrangers, Publications Ianus
  • Sernine, Daniel/Bédard, Valérie, "Nuits blanches", Solaris 81
  • Sévigny, Marie, "Comme un veilleur dans la nuit", Arcade 18
  • Sormany, Pierre, "Je me souvins très bier", imagine... 46
  • Thériault, Marie José, "La joute du Sarrasin ', XYZ 20
  • Trûdel, Jen-Louis, "L'Envers des étoiles", imagine... 46
  • Vanasse, André, "Le grand trou blanc", Aérographies, XYZ Editeur
  • Verreault, Sabine/Vonarburg, Élisabeth, "Mourir, un peu", Sous des soleils étrangers, Publications Ianus
  • Vonarburg, Élisabeth, "Cogito", imagine... 46
  • Vonarburg, Élisabeth, "Transhumance", Arcade 18
  • Yorre, Alice, "L'Oeuvre au rouge", Solaris 86

 

 

Additions to 1988 Canadian Fiction List

 

The following additions to the Canadian Fiction (1988) list, as published in SOL Rising 3 (June 1989) were also obtained from the 1990 CASPER nominations list.

 

Novels and collections - English language

 

  • Brett, Brian, The Fungus Garden, Thistledown
  • Choyce, Lesley, December Six/The Halifax Solution, Pottersfield
  • Major, Alice, The Chinese Mirror, Irwin
  • Reeves-Stevens, Garfield & Judith, Memory Prime, Pocket Books

 

 

Novels and collections - French language

 

  • Arnau, Yves E., Le Fils du soleil, Pierre Tisseyre
  • Côté, Denis, Les Prisonniers du zoo, La Courte Echelle
  • Gaudreault-Labrecque, Madeleine, La Dame de Pique, L'Hexagone

·         Pallaseio-Morin, Ernest, La Route de Champigny, Louise Courteau

  • Parent, Nathalie, J'ai des petites nouvellses pour toi, Tryptique
  • Pratte, François, Le Secret d'Awa, La Courte Echelle

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Awards For 1989 Fiction

1990 CASPER AWARDs

 

The 1990 Casper Awards for the best Canadian science fiction and fantasy of 1989, were awarded at CANVENTION 10 in Calgary as follows:

 

Best Long-form Work in English

  • West of January, Dave Duncan

Other Nominees

  • Barking Dogs, Terrence Green
  • Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light, Tanya Huff
  • The Sarasen Witch, Eileen Kernaghan
  • Rogue Emperor, Crawford Kilian
  • Gypsies, Robert C. Wilson

 

Best Short Form Work in English

  • "Carpe Diem", Eileen Kernaghan

Other Nominees

  • "Flaw on Serendip", Brian J. Clarke
  • "If You Go Out in the Woods", Paula Johanson
  • "A Fertile Mind", Célie Rich
  • "Duty Free", Rhea Rose

 

Meilleur Livre en Français

  • L'Oiseau de feu (Tome 1), Jacques Brossard

Other Nominees

  • Berlin-Bangkok, Jean-Pierre April
  • L’Idole des Inactifs, Denis Côte
  • Le Domiane des sans yeux, Jacques Lazure

 

Meilleure Nouvelle en Français

  • "Cogito", Élisabeth Vonarburg

Other Nominees

  • "La tortue sur la trottoir", Michel Martin
  • "Akimento", Claude-Michel Prévost
  • "Pas de dum-dum pour Mister Klaus", Claude-Michel Prévost

 

 

1989 NEBULA AWARDS

 

Recipients of the 1989 Nebula Awards for the best science fiction of 1989, as awarded by the Science Fiction Writers of America, are:

 

Best Novel

  • The Healer's War, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

Other Nominees

  • The Boat of a Million Years, Poul Anderson
  • Prentice Alvin, Orson Scott Card
  • Good News From Outer Space, John Kessel
  • Ivory, Mike Resnik
  • Sister Light, Sister Dark, Jane Yolen

 

Best Novella

  • "The Mountains of Mourning", Lois McMaster Bujold

Other Nominees

  • "Great Work of Time", John Crowley
  • "Marid Changes His Mind", George Alec Effinger
  • "A Touch of Lavender", Megan Lindholm
  • "Tiny Tango", Judith Moffett
  • A Dozen Tough Jobs, Howard Waldrop

 

Best Novelette

  • "At the Rialto", Connie Willis

Other Nominees

  • "Sisters", Greg Bear
  • "Silver Lady and The Fortyish Man", Megan Lindholm
  • "For I Have Touched the Sky", Mike Resnick
  • "Fast Cars", Kristine Kathryn Rusch
  • "Enter a Soldier. Later. Enter Another", Robert Silverberg

 

Best Short Story

  • "Ripples in the Dirac Sea", Geoffrey A. Landis

Other Nominees

  • "The Adinkra Club", Mary C. Aldridge
  • "The Ommatidium Miniatures", Michael Bishop
  • "Lost Boys", Orson Scott Card
  • "Boobs", Suzy McKee Charnas
  • "Dori Bangs", Bruce Sterling

 

 

1990 HUGO AWARDS

 

The 1990 Hugo Awards, presented by the members of ConFiction, the World Science Fiction Convention held in The Hague, for the best science fiction of 1989, were awarded as follows:

 

Best Novel

  • Hyperion, Dan Simmons

Other Nominees

  • The Boat of A Million Years, Poul Anderson
  • Prentice Alvin, Orson Scott Card
  • A Fire in the Sun, George Alec Effinger
  • Grass, Sheri Tepper

 

Best Novella

  • "The Mountains of Mourning", Lois McMaster Bujold

Other Nominees

  • "A Touch of Lavender", Megan Lindholm
  • "Tiny Tango", Judith Moffett
  • "The Father Of Stones", Lucius Shepard
  • "Time-Out", Connie Willis

 

Best Novelette

  • "Enter a Soldier. Later. Enter Another", Robert Silverberg

Other Nominees

  • "Dogwalker", Orson Scott Card
  • "Everything But Honor", George Alec Effinger
  • "The Price of Oranges", Nancy Kress
  • "For I Have Touched the Sky", Mike Resnick
  • "At the Rialto", Connie Willis

 

Best Short Story

  • "Boobs", Suzy McKee Charnas

Other Nominees

  • "Lost Boys", Orson Scott Card
  • "Computer Friendly", Eileen Gunn
  • "The Return of William Proxmire", Larry Niven
  • "Dori Bangs", Bruce Sterling
  • "The Edge of the World",Michael Swanwick

 

 

1990 WORLD FANTASY AWARDS

 

The 1990 World Fantasy Awards for the best fantasy of 1989 as presented at the World Fantasy Convention held in Chicago, are:

 

Best Novel

  • Madouc, Jack Vance

Other Nominees

  • A Child Across the Sky, Jonathan Carroll
  • In a Dark Dream, Charles L. Grant
  • The Stress of Her Regard, Tim Powers
  • Carrion Comfort, Dan Simmons
  • Soldier of Arete, Gene Wolfe

 

Best Novella

  • "Great Work of Time", John Crowley

Other Nominees

  • "Apartheid, Superstrings and Mordecai Thubana", Michael Bishop
  • "On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks", Joe R. Lansdale
  • "The Father of Stones", Lucius Shepard
  • "A Dozen Tough Jobs", Howard Waldrop

 

Best Short Fiction

  • "The Illusionist", Stephen Millhauser

Other Nominees

  • "Varicose Worms", Scott Baker
  • "A Last Sad Love at the Diner of the Damned", Ed Bryant
  • "Mr. Fiddlehead", Jonathan Miller
  • "Edge of the World", Michael Swanwick
  • "Yore Skin's Jes's a Soft 'N Purty…He Said", Chet Williamson

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