Article 9 of mod.mag.otherrealms: Relay-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site sunybcs.UUCP Path: sunybcs!rocksanne!rochester!seismo!ut-sally!pyramid!decwrl!sun!chuq From: chuq@sun.uucp (Chuq Von Rospach) Newsgroups: mod.mag.otherrealms Subject: Re: OtherRealms V1, #5 (Part 2 of 2) [June 1986] Message-ID: <3811@sun.uucp> Date: 29 May 86 18:27:38 GMT Date-Received: 31 May 86 04:51:58 GMT Distribution: mod Organization: Fictional Reality, uLtd Lines: 823 Approved: chuq@sun.com OtherRealms A Fanzine for the Non-Fan "Where FIJAGH Becomes a Way of Life" Volume 1, Number 5 June, 1986 Part 2: The Columns OtherRealms Pico Reviews for June, 1986 ADVENTURES by Mike Resnick [**+] Signet, 1985, $2.95, 239pp Not really sf, but a spoof of old fashioned African adventure stories in the style of Vance's Cugel the Clever. Dr. Lucifer Jones, an unprincipled clergyman, roams about Africa making himself unpopular, luckily winning fortunes and foolishly losing them. Moderately amusing, probably better in small doses than all at once. -- Peter Reiher reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU ARCHY AND MEHITABEL by don marquis [*****] anchor press, 1973, 189 pages, $4.50 archy and mehitabel is a series of poems written by don marquis as a poet who reincarnated in the body of a cockroach named archy who writes by climbing to the top of the typewriter and jumping down on the keys head first this is why he cant do capital letters or punctuation but the works are fun and a must for anyone interested in the english language as an innovative tool for good storytelling -- chuq von rospach THE BEST OF H.P. LOVECRAFT: BLOODCURDLING TALES OF HORROR AND THE MACABRE by H.P. Lovecraft [*****] Del Rey, 1963, 375 pages, $6.95 trade paper If you like horror, you need to read this book. If you hate horror, read it anyway, since Lovecraft is one of the people who defined the genre, and his views leak into work everywhere. It this stuff doesn't give you nightmares, you're already dead. -- chuq von rospach BROKEDOWN PALACE, by Steven Brust [****] Ace Fantasy, $2.95, 270 pages Legend-like fantasy tale, set as one age ends and another begins, this is the story of a royal family and how each of the four princes deals with change. Kept me anxious to find out what would happen next - quite a good trick for a book that was actually very little "action". -- Mary Anne Espenshade umcp-cs!aplcen!aplvax!mae mae@aplvax.arpa CLAY'S ARK by Octavia Butler [*] This is the kind of book you want to like but can't. A spaceman brings back a terrible disease and ends up in the Arizona desert trying to contain the contagion. The story breaks down into moralizing, cartoon characters, shopworn plot devices, and predictability. Butler has shown promise in her short stories, but not here. Had she spent a little more effort on understanding people rather than the pathology of a fictional disease, it might have succeeded. I'm surprised Michael Crichton ("Andromeda Strain") hasn't sued her for plagiarism. -- Davis Tucker ihnp4!dhuri!dht DAMIANO, by R. A. MacAvoy [****] Bantam, $2.95, 243 pages The story of a medieval Italian alchemist, learning to play the lute from the archangel Raphael and willing to bargain with the Devil to save his town from war. As an early musician in a recorder ensemble, I especially liked the emphasis on music and the development of musical style in all three books of this set. It reads more like a story of medieval life where what we would consider fantasy is accepted fact than like a "fantasy" tale. -- Mary Anne Espenshade umcp-cs!aplcen!aplvax!mae mae@aplvax.arpa DAMIANO'S LUTE, by R. A. MacAvoy [***] Bantam, $2.75, 254 pages The second part of Damiano's story is about his travels as an almost ordinary mortal, devoting himself to his music. This is a much darker tale, about the reality of medieval life with its threat of the plague, with only a few fantasy elements. -- Mary Anne Espenshade umcp-cs!aplcen!aplvax!mae mae@aplvax.arpa THE DARK TIDE by Dennis L. McKiernan [*-] Signet, 1984, $2.95, 303pp The worst 40 pages I've read in years. I couldn't force myself to go further, despite being on an airplane with no other reading material. The feeblest of the Tolkein ripoffs, it makes "The Sword of Shanarra" look like "The Lord of the Rings". Avoid at all costs. -- Peter Reiher reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU DEATHBIRD STORIES by Harlan Ellison [***+] Bluejay books (SFBC edition) 295 pages I disagree with Chuq about this being the best of the best of Ellison. In fact, it's stories like these that earn Ellison his rep as a depressing writer. By all means buy it, but don't read it if you're in a bad mood, and don't read more than one story at a time. --Alan Wexelblat wex@mcc.arpa DOOMSTALKER by Glen Cook [***] Questar, 1985, $2.95, 264pp. I was extremely impressed with Glen Cook's Black Company books. "Doomstalker" isn't nearly as good, but it's acceptable. At first it seems fantasy, but it soon proves to be sf. An intelligent, non-human race keeps a vast portion of its populace in primitive conditions, while psionically powerful members go to the stars. But, in this first volume of a trilogy (what else?), dangerous, disruptive forces are on the move. Cook's fondness for increasingly cataclysmic battles is well displayed (two in this volume, more promised). -- Peter Reiher reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card [**] Very few short stories make good novels, just as very few pencil sketches make good paintings. Card essentially includes the novella that was his first sale and wraps it with more words, and not particularly good ones. A letdown, especially from a writer who stands so far above the crowd. -- Davis Tucker ihnp4!dhuri!dht THE FALLING TORCH by Algis Budrys [****] Written a long time ago, this book is still a fascinating twist on the standard theme of "one man army saves Earth from invaders and becomes leader" story. Budrys is well-known as a reviewer for F&SF, but not so prolific as a writer, which is a shame. His grasp of characterization is firm, and his sympathy for the weak-willed is strong without being pitying. The main surprise in this novel is that he would have written it in such a deliberately non-surprising mode. And yet it is not disappointing as so many novels that begin with the death of the main character are. His portrayal of Michael Wireman, the awkward, gangly adolescent who becomes savior of Earth is first-rate, and certainly not heroic as so many of these kinds of characterizations can be; no one in this novel, not even the invaders, is heroic or unflawed. His description of the society of Earth's government-in-exile, a group of old men who are now waiters, chefs, and tailors, is cutting, precise, and redolent of the society of White Russian emigres in Paris in the '20s. -- Davis Tucker ihnp4!dhuri!dht FANTASY WARGAMING by Galloway et al [***] Stein and Day, 1981, 291 pages Fantasy wargamers and authors will enjoy this book. The book is a series of articles and discussions that go through the mechanics of building a dungeon -- a wargaming universe. A useful tool for anyone who has to put together an entire society from scratch. -- chuq von rospach GALAPAGOS by Kurt Vonnegut [****-] Delacorte, 1985, 184 pages Vonnegut is a very frustrating writing. He intentionally manipulates the English language, forcing you to not only deal with the social satire of his work, but with the structure used to present it. Here, the premise is that humanity's big brains are hindrances to survival. He proves the point by sending some people to the Galapagos Islands (where Darwin came up with evolution) and evolving them. He tells this by talking about future events that haven't yet happened a million years ago, using a narrator that doesn't exist. It works, but it isn't easy for the reader, and the satire is much closer to the sledgehammer of _Slaughterhouse Five_ than the scalpel of _Cat's Cradle_. You'll like it, but you won't enjoy it. -- chuq von rospach GALAXY: THIRTY YEARS OF INNOVATIVE SCIENCE FICTION edited by Fred Pohl et al [***] Playboy Press, 1980, 490 pages including index to entire series of Galaxy magazines An instant remainder book, collecting in one place a lot of stories well worth reading and probably familiar from one of the premier SF magazines of its time. A real addition to SF fans is the index of material from all of the issues of Galaxy. -- chuq von rospach IT CAME FROM SCHENECTADY, by Barry B. Longyear [***] Popular Library, $3.50, 312 pages Schenectady is, of course, where SF writers get their story ideas. The dozen stories in this book don't bear any resemblance at all to Schenectady, but instead tend more towards the cute or bizarre. In these stories, Longyear shows himself to be a master of the cute ending and shows imagination in handling situations that would boggle at least my mind, but usually falls short when it comes to character development and setting. A great book if you are looking for a fast read, but don't expect richness or depth. -- rick floyd rochester!rick IT CAME FROM SCHENECTADY, by Barry B. Longyear [**] Popular Library, $3.50, 312 pages Barry Longyear writes well, but I found myself more interested in his commentary on the stories than the works themselves. None of them are bad, simply none of them really interested me enough to care. He is a writer I guess I just don't click with. -- chuq von rospach THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION -- A 30 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE edited by Edward L. Ferman [***] Doubleday, 1980, 310 pages An "instant remainder" book, this is a collection of some of the best short works to be published in the magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction. Many of these are already familiar to you; the real advantage of this kind of book is that it collects them all in one place until you need them to read or reference. -- chuq von rospach MAGIC KINGDOM FOR SALE: SOLD! by Terry Brooks [*] Del Rey, 1986, 324 pages, $16,95 Terry Brooks' first non-Shannara story. Hopefully his last. Lackluster and underexecuted plot about a rich person who buys himself a kingship in a fairy wonderland where the plumbing doesn't work and the followers don't follow. Very slow to start, since fully a third of the book is simply getting the guy into the kingdom, and at the end (with the obligatory opening for a sequel) the best I could come up with was a hearty "who cares?" I certainly don't. -- chuq von rospach MAGICIAN: APPRENTICE MAGICIAN: MASTER by Raymond E. Feist [*****] Bantam, 1982, 689 pages total, $3.50 each These two books comprise the paperback version of the book _Magician_. They do not stand alone, so read them together. They are the single best piece of Fantasy I have read in many years, and are the first book in a trilogy. These books are on a par with few other works and can hold their heads up to _Lord of the Rings_ with pride. A must read for ANY Fantasy reader. -- chuq von rospach MYTHICAL BEASTIES edited by Asimov et all [***] Signet Fantasy, 1986, 343 pages, $3.50 Number six in Isaac Asimov's Magical World of Fantasy anthology set, it holds a collection of good (but not necessarily great) works involving different fantastic animals. Good light reading. Nothing classic, but nothing rotten, either. -- chuq von rospach NERILKA'S STORY -- A PERN ADVENTURE by Anne McCaffrey [****] Del Rey, 1986, $12.95 This is a rather short (40,000 words) work that takes a closer look at one of the minor characters of _Moreta_. If you haven't read that book, this one will make no sense; it doesn't stand alone, and is much closer to an epilogue than a story of its own. Still, it is a very warm and well written story, it tells a very small part of a very big story in a close and personal way, and it really made me care and like for Nerilka. A very fine addition to the world of Pern, and a good appetizer for the upcoming Dragonrider book. -- chuq von rospach NEUROMANCER by William Gibson [****] Good, maybe even great. Reminds one of the mature John Brunner, without the preachiness, and of the Bester of "The Stars My Destination". Gibson captures that grittiness that made film noir popular, portraying the seamy underside of technological advance in a manner that would make Raymond Chandler proud. But more than that, beyond his obvious talent at writing crackling dialogue and fascinating plots and creating wonderful characters at the drop of a hat, is the ring of utter, terrible truth in his writing. This society takes no effort at all to believe, because it is so wonderfully extrapolated, so well thought out. It's also very depressing, but then so is the real world, often. It is rare in science fiction circles these days to deal with the immediate, forseeable future; Gibson has brought the relevance back. -- Davis Tucker ihnp4!dhuri!dht NEXT OF KIN by Eric Frank Russell [****] "Next of Kin" is the original, novel-length version of a story more commonly known as "Plus X" (and to confuse things further, an expanded version of "Plus X" entitled "The Space Willies" was also published). Our Hero, John Leeming, takes off on a spy mission equipped with: an experimental long-range spaceship; a wrongminded collection of survival supplies (including the most dubious handweapon I've every heard of); an extremely inventive imagination; and absolutely no respect for authority (human or otherwise). When captured, his only chance for escape is to completely bamboozle his captors, and he does a dilly of a job. My fiancee could tell I liked the story: she poked her head into the room every few minutes to find out what I was giggling at. Highly recommended for an evening's light reading! -- Dave Platt Dave-Platt%LADC@CISL-SERVICE-MULTICS.ARPA NORSTRILLA by Cordwainer Smith [**+] Ballatine, 1975, $2.95, 275pp Smith wrote great short stories, but a mediocre novel. Lots of ideas floating around, not too well integrated. The story is only moderately compelling. The prose is ambitious beyond Smith's talent, in places; in others, very standard sf writing. -- Peter Reiher reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU THE POSTMAN, by David Brin [****] Spectra/Bantam, $15.95, 294 pages In my mind, David Brin's best novel to date. The U.S. has degraded into a dark age after a limited nuclear war. One man posing as postman creates a myth of a "Restored United States" and attempts to pull together fragments of civilization. A fast paced, thinking book. My choice for the awards this year. -- Mike Rossow ihnp4!umn-cs!rossow THE PRINCESS BRIDE, by the Immortal S. Morgenstern [****] "abridged" by William Goldman, 1973, Ballantine WHAT HAPPENS when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince in the world -- and he turns out to be a son-of-a-bitch? Fencing (my favoritest fencing scene in all the world is in this book). Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.... A MUST-READ for anyone who enjoys a good yarn -- and loves to chuckle, chortle, guffaw, and belly-laugh. --Barb Jernigan idi!oliveb!olivej!barb RADIX by A. A. Attanasio [NO RATING] A very difficult book. Inconsistent, and his themes are very obtuse and in the final analysis have very little to say about the human condition. But his initial concept is very, very different - that at some point in the not-too-distant future, Earth and the solar system come into the focus of a light source from the center of the galaxy which alters space-time and is also the main highway for all kinds of beings who are creatures consisting of light only. Attanasio has written a post-relativity novel - he really does internally understand, without blinking, the ramifications of quantum theory and relativity on the day-to-day world. He also has quite a flair for the wild, and incorporating the trappings of the existing world in this essentially magical novel. The novel unfortunately spends too much time being "New Age" and preachy about the universality of the All to be highly recommended, but it has some very obvious and definite strengths. -- Davis Tucker ihnp4!dhuri!dht RAPHAEL, by R. A. MacAvoy [****] Bantam, $2.75, 230 pages The third part of Damiano's story includes him in only a small role, concentrating instead on Raphael's battle with Lucifer and the sacrifices he makes for his mortal friends. I liked this one better than Damiano's Lute; though the story contains many negative events, it never gives in to the defeated tone of the second book. -- Mary Anne Espenshade umcp-cs!aplcen!aplvax!mae mae@aplvax.arpa RED AS BLOOD, OR TALES FROM THE SISTER GRIMMER by Tanith Lee [****+] Daw books, 1983, 186 pages A collection of stories that rewrite the traditional fairy tales. Little Red Riding hood with a werewolf for a grandmother? There are all very well thought out and pay homage to the original tale without ruining it. Well worth finding and reading. -- chuq von rospach RETIEF AND THE PANGALACTIC PAGEANT OF PULCHRITUDE by Keith Laumer [*-] Baen Books, 1986, 278 pages, $2.95 Another bad book from Baen, a publishing house rapidly becoming known for works to avoid. This isn't only bad Retief, it isn't even NEW Retief. Most of the book is recycled from _Retief's Ransom_. If you've read much Retief, you've probably read this already. Avoid. -- chuq von rospach SAILING TO BYZANTIUM by Robert Silverberg [****-] Underwood-Miller, 1985, 114 pages. Silverberg demonstrates the value of conciseness. The 114 pages use big type, so the book is only about 40 normal pages. The story is set in the far future, when, for pleasure, the inhabitants of Earth recreate cities of the past. Many authors would produce 300 overstretched pages, Silverberg gives us 40 interesting ones. Well written, good plot, poor value for $12.95, though. Get it from a library. -- Peter Reiher reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU THE SECOND SELF by Sherry Turkle [***+] Simon and Shuster, softbound While not a Science Fiction book (indeed not a fictional book at all!) this is nonetheless quite fascinating reading for people who are interested in how people react to, deal with, and learn to accept computers. Dr. Turkle (of MIT) did extensive research into a number of different areas of computing, including seeing how young children accept and react to computers and computer-based toys (quite fascinating and revealing), how older children use computers as either an outlet for their creativity or desire for social 'ranking', to how college students become "midnight hackers" and the peculiarities of that particular subculture and finally the future directions of computing, specifically AI, and how that will affect our ethical and moral views of life and intelligence. To be honest, it does read a bit slowly at places, but overall it's well worth reading. -- Dave Taylor taylor@hpldat.arpa SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH, by Douglas Adams [*+] Pan, 191 pp, 1.95 UK pounds When Doyle wanted to stop writing Sherlock Holmes stories, he tried killing off Holmes. This did not work. Perhaps Adams is trying another approach to the same problem: he brings back the characters, and the earth (and we meet the girl in the cafe in Rickmansworth), and after that, there is a lot of mostly nothing. There are flashes of the HITCH-HIKER trilogy style that we know and love, but they are too dispersed. -- Mark Brader ihnp4!utzoo!lsuc!msb THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH by Arthur C Clarke ISBN 0-345-33219-9 Not as substantial or inspiring as some of his better books. I found it a bit disappointing. There are several plot features that are just left hanging, and the story would have been just as good had they been omitted. It is a repeat of the meeting of cultures that has occurred in South Pacific and elsewhere, in a new setting. The cultures and characters are believable and interesting, and the writing (vs editing) is good, so enjoy this as light entertainment reading. -- Rob Horn decvax!wanginst!infinet!rhorn Snail: Infinet, 40 High St., North Andover, MA STARQUAKE by Robert L. Forward [*-] Del Rey, 1985, 246 pages A very bad sequel to a very good book, Forward forgets all that made _Dragon's Egg_ a winner and forgoes the hard SF for social commentary. The Cheela build a society with all the faults and foibles of humanity and make all the same mistakes. Unfortunately, I simply couldn't buy it, since the Cheela got too human for my tastes, and put it down without finishing it. Forward should stick to what he is good at -- gadgetry and hard SF, and leave the real characters for the experts. -- chuq von rospach TEA WITH THE BLACK DRAGON, by R. A. MacAvoy [****] Bantam, $2.95, 166 pages Computers, music and eastern mythology wrapped into an adventure, wonderful! A dragon reading Knuth - no wonder this book got such good reviews on the net. MacAvoy's skill is in giving a conventional story a fantasy flavor with almost no traditional "fantasy" elements. As the Damiano books are stories of medieval life with a little fantasy included, this is a present day detective story with the fantasy found only in whether you believe what the main character says about himself. -- Mary Anne Espenshade umcp-cs!aplcen!aplvax!mae mae@aplvax.arpa TIK-TOK by John Sladek [****] I picked this up somewhat randomly, always on the lookout for a book dealing with computers/etc in an intelligent fashion and this turned out to be quite an interesting offering from a new British author! There is a considerable amount of metaphysical rambling hidden in this book in a pleasing, readable form. Tik Tok is a robot that questions his value in society and, amusingly enough, deliberately breaks the "three laws" equivalent to see what it's like.... so we have this bizarre robot wandering around lying, murdering people and generally wreaking havoc all the while thinking about his 'sensations' during the events. It's really highly original and quite recommended!! -- Dave Taylor taylor@hpldat.arpa WITH A TANGLED SKEIN by Piers Anthony [***] Del Rey, 1985, 280 pages The third Incarnation in Immortality book, it looks at Fate and its interactions with Satan and the mortal world. Significantly better than the previous _Bearing an Hourglass_ but not as good as _Riding a Pale Horse_, my biggest gripe is that the latter part of the book tells the same plot as the first book. Once this becomes obvious, a lot of suspense is lost and the ending comes off flat. -- chuq von rospach UNIVERSAL TRANSLATOR, ed. Susan Bridges $2.75/issue, quarterly Universal Translator is an indispensable resource for the zine collector. Nominated for a fanzine Hugo this year, UT is a ~50 page, quarterly listing of internationally available and proposed zines in ~30 SF/media categories. It also lists upcoming conventions, "classified ads" on fannish topics, public statements from zine editors and readers and has a zine review section. Most of the zines listed here primarily print fiction, but there is also a column listing letter/information zines. The current issue is #30, I've been a subscriber since #4. If you're looking for a particular zine or have some fan fiction you want to publish, this is a great place to get information, if you just want to find out what zines are, browsing through an issue will tell you a lot about the variety available. -- Mary Anne Espenshade umcp-cs!aplcen!aplvax!mae mae@aplvax.arpa WRITERS OF THE FUTURE, VOLUME 2 edited by A. J. Budrys [****] Bridge, 1986, 390 pages, $3.95 The second volume of winners from the Writers of the Future contest sponsored by the late L. Ron Hubbard, the stories are just as good as those in the first book and most are very professional works. All of the authors show great promise, and should be watched for in the future. Least successful were the commentary by the famous authors used to spice up the cover -- most were short and trivial, and the space could have been better used by another unknown. -- chuq von rospach Reader's Survey for June, 1986 I'm going to take a break from asking specific questions this month. The standard questions apply as always, though: What do you think was best about the issue, and what was the worst? * * * Reader's Survey Report for May 1) Should OtherRealms publish fiction? 2) If so, what percentage of the magazine should be used for fiction? 3) Assuming that OtherRealms stays the same size, what parts would you remove to make room? 4) Would there be interest in a second magazine for fiction? 5) Should the Pico reviews be split out into a separate magazine to make room for other stuff, or should they be cut back (or left alone)? All of these questions are inter-related, and so I'm going to look at them that way. Almost everyone expressed an interest in seeing fiction. Actually, most people specifically mentioned that they were interested in seeing GOOD fiction. At the same time, few people wanted to see some part of OtherRealms go away to make room for it. Most of the answers were some variation of "Well, if I HAVE to..." The offshoot of all of this is that there is a lot of support for a new OtherRealms fiction magazine. From my point of view, though, I want to wait on a second magazine for a number of reasons. First, and foremost, is the simple fact that I don't know if there is enough publishable fiction to support it. Another reason is that there is a fair amount of work creating and maintaining a zine, and I don't want to go through that until I'm sure that it is worth it (twice, that is. I did it happily on faith with OtherRealms, but I'd rather build on what I have if I can). A final reason is that I believe the prime distribution net for OtherRealms (USENET and the UUCP networks) is quite unstable and about to go through a number of significant changes over the next few months, and I don't want to commit to something that might get washed out by these changes until I see what happens. I am still interested in fiction, though, and I plan to start using fiction in a special section to OtherRealms as soon as I work out the details. Please don't submit fiction yet! I'll let you know when I'm ready for it. I think we are in a position where everyone can win. The new OtherRealms format gives me a setup where I'm not constantly trading everything off each other for space, I can bring in fiction without giving anything else up, and I'm not forced to go through the hassles of a second publication setup. All of this is possible in great part because of the feedback and suggestions I've gotten from people out there -- the readers. Thanks, and keep up the good work. Remember, no matter how good the magazine, the articles and the reviews, without the readers they're nothing. 6) What about OtherRealms on paper? The interest was mixed to negative here -- as I expected the market for a paper version of OtherRealms is a different one from the electronic version. I may well do this anyway (dreams of being the next Locus...) but not for a while. There is still enough to learn about doing a good magazine on the networks that I don't need any new challenges. 7) Anyone interested in an OtherRealms T-Shirt? More Yes votes than I expected, frankly. I may well do one, when I can track down a good idea and a good artist to help out. A piece of obscurity to wear to the next Worldcon! Favorite/Least Favorite articles. There wasn't a clear cut favorite this month, although both the editorial and my delRey piece got a lot of favorable comments. The four Dave Berry reviews were, in retrospect, overkill in a single issue, and a number of readers nicely pointed out that I should have spread them out over a number of issues. With hindsight, I agree, and I should have substituted something else. OtherRealms Lettercol -- June 1986 Chuq, Was the adaptation of Lord of the Rings the BBC one with Ian Holm as Frodo? If not, there's another for you. The BBC have done several enjoyable SF/fantasy productions. The adaptation/reading of Foundation was, for me, more enjoyable than the book. The Hordes of the Things was an amusing spoof of the genre. Earthsearch (somewhat hackneyed, with self-serving computers) had a nice twist at the end that I didn't suspect till the final episode, but then I never identify the murderer in Agatha Christie stories... Stephen Withers, ACSnet: stephenw@murdu UUCP: {seismo,mcvax,ukc,ubc-vision}!munnari!murdu.oz!stephenw ARPA: munnari!murdu.oz!stephenw@seismo.css.gov CSNET: stephenw%murdu@munnari.oz Chuq, Had a chance to chat with Robert Asprin at a recent tiny con here in Austin. He said that he's contracted to do 6 more Myth books, and hinted that the new ones will be quite different. He's grown dissatisfied with Aahz and Skeeve, claiming that they're "dangerously close to being not funny any more." So he's going to switch around to other characters; at least one of the new ones will be told from Gleep's point of view. Personally, I think he can pull it off. The Myth books are short, and the topic is broad. By and large he also manages to avoid the repetition and cuteness that turned me off of Xanth several books back. --Alan Wexelblat wex@mcc.arpa Chuq; Issue 1.4 of OtherRealms contained two pairs of reviews, each covering a book and a sequel to it. In one case, it happens that I have already read both books. Because I have, I know that the second of the pair of reviews contains a major spoiler of the first of the pair of books. I would ask the reviewers to be more careful about such cross-spoilers in the future. I would ask Chuq for a policy statement about spoiler reviews in general. Mark Brader { decvax | ihnp4 | watmath} !utzoo!lsuc!msb [I agree with Mark that spoilers should be avoided whenever possible. They aren't always possible, as my editorial on Callahan's Bar in V1.4 showed -- there was no way to get my points across any other way coherently. Spoiler reviews should be (and will, from now on) marked as such so that those haven't read the books yet can skip them. That is part of my function, and I'll do what I can to make sure that you are warned in the future. In general, I think a review that summarizes plot is a lazy review, and if you find yourself doing that you should take a step back and rethink what you are doing. It doesn't mean it is wrong, just that you have to be aware of what you are doing. I'll be watching for this more carefully in the future, and if I think a review can have the spoilers removed, I'll ask the author for a rewrite. -- chuq] Editorial Notes and Comments on OtherRealms The More Things Change Dept: OtherRealms has mutated again. Between the comments I've gotten from various people and my growing frustration with the enforced 50Kbyte size limitation I've done some re-arranging. OtherRealms now comes in two pieces: the first part contains the articles and other one time editorial material, and the second part the columns. This gives me more room and a lot more flexibility. I can now fit in one or two more articles a month without having to squeeze things. I don't have to worry about Pico Reviews pushing out the rest of the magazine. I can worry more about the information in the issue than the number of bytes I use to send it to you. This also paves the way for other special features. I have a few projects on the burner that would have potentially taken the editorial space of an entire issue before; now I can simply make that a special addition to an existing issue without taking away space from other things. The Pico Review Index will be a special section. I expect OtherRealms will average between 65 and 80,000 bytes for the forseeable future, but some issues may well push 150,000. We now have in place a way to deal with that kind of growth choking OtherRealms. * * * One of my hesitations in doing this before now is the issue of protecting Copyrights and allowing the author to retain control of their work. I now feel confident that a work published in OtherRealms has an enforceable Copyright, and so I'm going to remove the restriction on publishing fiction. * * * Errata: In the last issue, I accidently renamed Carl Gutekunst when attributing his Pico review. My apologies to him and his parents, I think his spelling is much superior to mine. Masthead: The Necessary Administrivia Masthead for OtherRealms Volume 1, Number 5 June, 1986 This issue is Copyright 1986, by Chuq Von Rospach All Rights reserved OtherRealms is edited and Published on a monthly schedule by: Chuq Von Rospach 160 Pasito Terrace #712 Sunnyvale, CA 84086 USENET: {major_node}!sun!plaid!fanzine ARPA: fanzine%plaid@sun.COM Fidonet: 125/84, user chuq vonrospach CompuServe: 73317,635 Submissions: Submissions are welcomed at any of the above addresses. Electronic mail is preferred, Macintosh format disks through U.S. Mail will allow me to publish your work MUCH faster (returned with SASE). Hard copy is accepted but will get keyed into the system when I get time. A writers guide is available. If you want to write for OtherRealms, please ask for a copy. Pico reviews are welcome from everyone. Duplicate the format used in this issue and limit your comments to one paragraph. Multiple Pico reviews for the same work are welcome. If you are on a BBS or other system that does not have access to the above electronic addresses, contact your SYSOP about making arrangements for a submission policy. Letters to the Letter column: should be mailed to the above address. Letters to an author should be mailed directly to the author where possible. If you can't reach an author, I'll do what I can to get the letter forwarded. All letters will be considered for publication unless requested otherwise. Deadline for submissions for the next issue is June 15, 1986. Survey responses will be taken to about June 25, 1986. This magazine is Copyright 1986 by Chuq Von Rospach. One time rights only have been acquired from the signed or credited contributors. All rights are hereby assigned to the contributors. Reproduction rights: Permission is given to reproduce or duplicate OtherRealms in its entirety for non-commercial uses. Re-use, reproduction, reprinting or republication of an individual article in any way or on any media, printed or electronic, is forbidden without permission of the author. Subscriptions: OtherRealms is available through the newsgroup "mod.mag.otherrealms" on the USENET network. For those on the UUCP, ARPANET, BITNET and CSNET computer networks without access to this group, a mailing list subscription is available. Send mail to the appropriate address above to be placed on the mailing list. Subscriptions are not yet available on CompuServe. Please write me for the latest status. OtherRealms is also available through the following bulletin boards: SCI-FIDO, Fidonet number 125/84, (415) 655-0667. The Terraboard, Fidonet number 14/341, (612)721-8967. Other BBS systems or computer networks are welcome to make OtherRealms available on their systems. Either copy it from an available location or contact me to make arrangements. If you do make it available, I would appreciate hearing about where it is being distributed. -- :From the lofty realms of Castle Plaid: Chuq Von Rospach chuq%plaid@sun.COM FidoNet: 125/84 CompuServe: 73317,635 {decwrl,decvax,hplabs,ihnp4,pyramid,seismo,ucbvax}!sun!plaid!chuq The first rule of magic is simple. Don't waste your time waving your hands and hoping when a rock or a club will do -- McCloctnik the Lucid