Electronic OtherRealms #19 Winter, 1987 Part 1 Table of Contents Part 1 Editor's Notebook Chuq Von Rospach Part 2 Behind the Scenes: The Kindly Ones Melissa Scott Part 3 The Jehovah Contract Rick Holzgrafe Marooned in Real Time Wayne Throop Interview: Jack Chalker Part 4 Bibliography: Jack Chalker Stuff Received Part 5 Scattered Gold Charles de Lint Part 6 Pico Reviews, Part 1 Part 7 Pico Reviews, Part 2 Part 8 Words of Wizdom Chuq Von Rospach Part 9 War Stories Alan Wexelblat Mindplayers Fred Bals Part 10 No Prisoners! Laurie Sefton Much Rejoicing Dan'l Danehy-Oakes Part 11 Letters to OtherRealms, Part 1 J.N Williamson Kevin O'Donnell, Jr. Neil Harris Greg Benford Frank Miller Fred Bals Gene Wolfe Melissa Scott Larry Kaufman Steve VanDevender Michael Kupfer Graham Higgins Part 12 Letters to OtherRealms, Part 2 Susan Shwartz Ted White Michael C. Berch Breaking Strain Danny Low The Masthead & Other Gory Details Editor's Notebook Chuq Von Rospach This issue kicks off a new feature for OtherRealms. Author Melissa Scott talks about how The Kindly Ones (Baen Books) came into being and some of the background and research that went into the creation of the book in our first feature in the Behind the Scenes series. I think it is important not only to review books, but to understand the what and the why of books, and I hope the Behind the Scenes series will contribute to that. I'm looking for future installments of the series -- if you have a book you want to write about, let me know. The readership statistics are in for issue #18. According the the USENET readership reports, OtherRealms was distributed to 7,100 electronic mailboxes. The OtherRealms mailing lists add another 500 to 600 addresses. The printed edition was mailed to about 200 people. You add all of these numbers up, and OtherRealms is now seen by close to 8,000 people (perhaps more if many folks share their copies, but I don't have any idea how many do). That's up by about 60% from when I checked six months ago, and rather mind-boggling. I guess I must be doing something right. As of this issue, I've dropped any pretense of covering the Horror scene. While it's been part of the masthead, the actual amount of Horror coverage has been minimal, and I don't see that improving any time soon. I'm the only regular writer for OtherRealms that seems to have a taste for horror, and I've been unable to find someone willing to do a special Horror column. At the same time, my discussions with readers on the various nets indicates that few of you are reading Horror, and fewer are interested in trying it, my exhortations notwithstanding. Rather than continue a fruitless search for someone to cover the Horror scene, I'm changing the official focus of the magazine to match what it's really covering. You can bet that there'll still be some horror coverage in OtherRealms, but this way people looking for a source of Horror reviews aren't misled into believing that OtherRealms is doing something it really isn't. Maybe, when I can increase pages and find someone to cover Horror, it'll be back. Until that happens, I suggest you take a look at Ed Bryant's book review column in Twilight Zone magazine. He covers more than just horror, and does it well. Contributor Notes Have you seen Brad Foster's comic book? Mechthings is a bimonthly black and white from Renegade Press. Two issues are out, and Renegade has committed to at least six. If you like Brad's art here in OtherRealms, you should track it down -- it's up to his usual high quality and detail. Brad's one of the few artists I can think of that really seems to understand black and white drawing, and it shows. Fred Bals, who has written a number of reviews for OtherRealms, has sold a short story to the original anthology Full Spectrum, due out in 1988. Fred's first published fiction, by the way, was The Ozzie and Harriet, published in OtherRealms #10 before I decided to specialize. He's a good writer, and I'm glad to see him breaking through. Congrats to Fred! On a sadder note, James Brunet has resigned OtherRealms as contributing editor. He's been with me since issue one, and we're going to miss him. Trying to free-lance full time, keep his fiction writing up going and keep to the deadlines I needed didn't leave him enough to polish things as much as he demands of himself. He's putting the time he was spending for me back into his fiction. Publishing News [I've merged publishing news here due to the paucity of material. When it grows large enough, I'll split it back out into a separate section. As always, I'm looking for information about publishing, writing and the people in it. If you know something that should be printed here, drop me a note.] Kevin Anderson sold his second novel, Gamearth, a Fantasy, to Signet through agent Richard Curtis. He has also sold to Full Spectrum. Chuq Von Rospach, editor and publisher of OtherRealms, and Laurie Sefton, associate editor, were wed in a private ceremony on November 14, 1987. The couple honeymooned at Worldcon in Brighton. According to the November Nebula Awards Report, the top ten nominated novels are: The Shore of Women by Pamela Sargent; Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe; The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy (a second novel); Radio Free Albemuth by Philip K. Dick; Vacuum Flowers by Michael Swanwick; .gypt by John Crowley; Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis (a first novel); The Uplift War by David Brin; When Gravity Falls by George Alec Effinger and In Conquest Born by C. S. Friedman(a first novel). Charles de Lint has sold Wolf Moon, a high fantasy, to NAL. He's also sold a three book package to Berkley which includes Svaha, an SF thriller, The Killing Time, a straight Horror, and Drinking Down the Moon, a sequel to Jack the Giant Killer. The Best of 1987 The end of the year is upon us, and it's time to take a look back and see what happened. In trying to come up with lists, it is immediately obvious that there is a lot of good fiction out there -- more than anyone can possibly find time to read, regardless of the type of fiction they prefer. My biggest regret is that I couldn't shove more into my schedule; for every book I read last year, at least two others went by the wayside with a sigh. To me, that says more about the viability of the field than anything. If someone tells you there isn't any good fiction being published anymore, run away -- they simply aren't looking. For me, the highlight of the year has to be the new talent. Again, if someone tells you that new writers aren't published, or they need an "in" you should run away. I've seen at least 25 books cross my desk this year that were first novels. There are many more that I didn't see or didn't catch. When a new talent rises out of the slush pile, it is time for rejoicing. This year, C.S. Friedman's In Conquest Born [DAW] , Emma Bull's War for the Oaks [Ace], and Loren J. MacGregor's The Net [Ace] were the best of a strong set of first novels. For the class of 1987, these are the three I'm watching closest to see where they go next. The old hands were at it this year, too. Robert Heinlein comes up with the best book in years, perhaps one of the best of his career in To Sail Beyond the Sunset [Putnam[. Gene Wolfe continues the wonderful New Sun series with Urth of the New Sun [Tor] and starts a new series with Soldier of the Mist [Tor]. And, non-genre but a sentimental favorite for me, Ray Bradbury publishes his first book in over 20 years with Death is a Lonely Business, a wonderful look at his earlier days. Steven Brust changes gears with Teckla [Ace]. It's not as funny, but the writing is his strongest ever and the emotions run long and deep. It may be his best work ever. Finally, a new media is struggling for legitimacy, and shows signs it may well get it. The Dark Knight Falls [DC], a graphic novel, makes it to the Hugo ballot, and losing partially because it was hopelessly miscategorized and partially because it was up against Brian Aldiss' The Trillion Year Spree. The Watchmen, another graphic novel, stands a good chance of making the final ballot as well. Both show unequivocally that some stories can be told as well with a minimum of words. Comic books take a bad rap as "kid stuff" that needs to be re-examined. No media is inherently good or bad -- it is how the media is used that determines that. Dark Knight and Watchmen prove that comics can tell as good a story as a novel; some stories they tell better. The graphic novel format is where the next evolutions in the field are coming. You should keep an open mind and check it out. The Best from the Rest: Contributing Editor's Look at 1987 Dan'l Danehy-Oakes: Other reviewers hunt for trends. I like to think of each author as a movement unto herself. The authors below moved in directions I found particularly admirable in 1986. If there's one connecting theme, it's that you won't feel you've wasted your money on any of these books: David Belden's The Children of Arable -- a first novel by an extremely interesting and promising voice. Describes the fall of a unisex culture. Ben Bova's The Kinsman Saga -- an all-around tour-de-force of character writing. Consists of revised versions of Kinsman and Millennium. John M. Ford's How much for just the Planet? -- the most thoroughly gigglesome book I've read since I stumbled across The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy. Recommended even if you hate Star Trek. In fact, especially if you hate Star Trek. Leslie Gadallah's Cat's Pawn -- a well-made first novel about a human surviving in an alien culture. Carries some of the seediness of cyberpunk without the by-now-cliche gadgetry. William Gibson's Burning Chrome -- a short story collection, originally from 1986, but out in paperback late this year. This is the Gibson that everyone raves about: clean, incisive, high-tech, low-rent science fiction. Watch that man. Robert A. Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset -- if this were to be Heinlein's farewell, it would be more than satisfactory as such. George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards 3: Joker's Wild-- The most tightly- woven shared world piece I've ever seen; not an anthology, but a genuine multi-author novel. L.E. Modesitt's Dawn for a Distant Earth -- a good adventure story, no minor accomplishment in itself, and very promising as first in a series books go. Connie Willis's Lincoln's Dreams -- probably the best fantasy novel of the year. Do not wait for the paperback. Buy it now. Walter Jon Williams's The Crown Jewels -- a stylish caper novel in the spirit of the lamented Anthony Villiers. Gene Wolfe's The Urth of the New Sun -- Severian journeys again. Flawed, primarily in that it makes explicity much of what was deliciously implied by the original tetralogy, but still some of the most beautiful writing SF has ever had. Laurie Sefton: A Flame in Byzantium, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro: This is the first book about Olivia, the Roman matriarch from the St. Germain series. Yarbro paints sucha a detailed portrait of Byzantine Constantinople that it's sometimes hhard to tell where the history ends and the fiction begins. Intervention, Julian May : Rogatien Remillard is only one of the exquisite characterizations in this bridge between the Pliocene Exile and Galactic Milieu series. May moves the story through current time, and make you hold your breath througout. The Hall of the Moutain King, Judith Tarr: Tarr creates a fantasy world that doesn't need elves, dwarves or magic quests to be magic. The characters are full of life and the story is enthralling. The Throne of Scone, Patricia Kennealy: The best of the Celtic crop, by far. This is the second book of the Keltiad, and mixes the best elements of fantasy and science fiction. Teckla, Steven Brust: The third of this series, Brust takes a turn from the light hearted style that flavored Jhereg and Yendi. This makes for a harder read, but a deeper story. Cycles of Fire, William K. Hartmann & Ron Miller: Subtitled, "Stars Galaxies and the Wonder of Deep Space," this is a magnificent collection of art. The reproductions of the painting depict planets star systems and galaxies, that if they weren't this exciting, we'd wish them to be. Reviewers in Review Last year I wrote the article Reviewers in Review in OtherRealms #9. Since then, lots of things have changed. Science Fiction Review and Fantasy Review are dead. Fantasy&SF is supplementing A.J. Budrys criticisms with a more traditional review column by Orson Scott Card. Card does a good job, and seems to be slanted towards the more obscure books in the field, which I have to applaud. Who needs another review of Asimov? Tom Easton at Analog continues to be my favorite reviewer, with Baird Searles continuing his fine column at Isaac Asimov's. One unfortunate thing to note is that Searles has lost one column a quarter to an essay/criticism by Norman Spinrad. Spinrad's column, unfortunately, is high on personal attacks and emotional content and low on critical material or insight. He remind of nothing less than an angry Harlan Ellison without the facilities of the English language or the ability to make a positive use of the anger. As far as I'm concerned, Spinrad's column is a waste, and I hope Baird is returned to full time status. At the semi-prozine level, Debbie Notkin, my favorite Locus reviewer, has left to become an editor at Tor books. A mixed blessing, for while I miss her reviews, I'm certain that she'll be an asset at what is already one of the best publishing houses there is. Locus is still looking for a permanent replacement, and Tom Whitmore (not so coincidentally a co- partner of Notkin's in Berkeley's Other Change of Hobbit specialty book store) is the strongest candidate they've published yet. Also on the plus side, Dan Chow, who I jumped all over in the original article, has improved steadily and is turning into a solid reviewer. Overall, of the pro and semi- pro magazines, Locus consistently has the most complete and strongest coverage. A semi-prozine that seems to be trying to take the place of Fantasy Review is Thrust. I've only read a couple of issues, so it is to early to make a definitive statement, but my initial feeling is that Thrust is missing a strong focus. There's nothing I can say about it either very positive or negative. My best advice is to get a copy and see for yourself. Another semi- prozine that started within the last year is SF Eye. It's been highly recommended to me by a number of people I trust, but I haven't seen a copy yet. I'm looking forward to it, though. In general, the reviewing field is as good or better than it was a year ago. Even though we lost Fantasy Review, I frankly can't feel too bad about it. By the time it died, it had turned into a weak invalid of a publication, its potential squandered and lost. It's loss can even be considered a plus, because it was almost embarrassing to read some of its articles the last few issues (especially the brutal and completely off-base attack on Card in the second to last issue). With Thrust and SF Eye stepping in to its place, there's a good chance that the small-press review market will improve significantly because of it. OtherRealms in Review Finally, a look at myself. Which is always the most difficult. Working as closely as I do to OR I see the glitches, the typos, the things that got through into the final product that make me wince. It's hard to be objective when you eat, sleep and breathe something like I've done with OtherRealms for the past year. The biggest change to OtherRealms has to be the conversion to quarterly. It's a controversial one, since the reviews are a little less timely, so there has to be a corresponding advantage. Having now put together two quarterly issues, I have to say that I think it should have happened long ago. The change in schedule has definitely helped me -- I have more time for tweaking, for editing, for cleaning up the raw edges. I turn out a better product, I think. More importantly (to me), I have time to do something other than OtherRealms. I'm finally able to focus on other projects a little, take a deep breath, occasionally just goof off for a weekend. This makes OtherRealms a lot more fun and a lot less of a task than it was, which makes it easier to continue publishing. Also, I think the larger format gives me a lot more flexibility, and the ability to use more (and wider varieties of) material makes it a better magazine. I've gotten lots of positive feedback on last issue, which makes me believe I've made a good choice. More importantly, OtherRealms is finally starting to resemble my vision for it. I'm finally publishing the magazine I set out to publish two years ago. Things aren't all perfect, of course. While the magazine itself has prospered, this has implied larger subscriptions, a larger set of correspondence to deal with, more material and information from publishers and sources, and lots of administrative details that I used to be able to handle on the side. No more. Frankly, my filing system is still in the Dark Ages, and it's starting to create glitches. So my current focus is more towards the administrative, cleaning up the subscribers database, building up some of the filing and administrative tools that I need to make my interface with publishers cleaner (one place I'm hopelessly weak in is getting tear sheets back to publishers, which I hope to have fixed permanently by next issue). The subscriber database needs an overhaul, because while I haven't lost anyone (that I know of!) keeping track of them isn't as easy as it should be, either. If subscriptions double in a short period, I'd have some pain getting the current system to cooperate. And, of course, the long promised review index is still on the "hopefully next issue list." On the plus side, however, good progress has been made, primarily because it's tied in very closely to fixing the tear sheet problem, and because it hooks in with the system I'm building to track review copies. All of this is being done with Apple's wonderful HyperCard program for the Macintosh, and when it's done I expect to make the program available to interested parties -- it'll be a database for a book collection, among other things, and for folks who have Macintoshes you'll be able to track down reviews on-line rather than on paper (a paper version of the index will be made available, also). Eventually, I hope, the Book Index stack will become the equivalent to an electronic Books In Print for the SF and Fantasy field. We'll see. I'm still playing a little bit with the layout of OtherRealms, but I expect that to settle down. I love graphic fesign, but there's only so much tweaking I can do before it starts getting in the way. The biggest design change I expect in the next year is a stronger use of art, with more pieces by a wider variety of artists. I also hope to go offset, so I can do the art justice and make OtherRealms a saddlestitched publication. I may also experiment with high resolution scanners to see if I can make use of them. This may be premature, however. I would like to start working with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to save re-typing of non-electronic articles, if I can find a system that works reliably. If anything of note shows up here, I'll pass it along -- wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to hire a data entry person to type in manuscripts, and a proofreader to fix their mistakes? (you would, of course, still need someone to fix the author's mistakes but why complicate your life?) As always, your feedback is welcomed. Let me know how I'm doing, what you think, and what I'm ought to be doing. The things that have made OtherRealms a success are many -- and an important part are all of the other people who have bought into my dream (and obsession) and taken the time to work with me, to comment, to suggest, to join and and be a part. Thanks to you all! OtherRealms #19 Winter, 1987 Copyright 1987 by Chuq Von Rospach All Rights Reserved One time rights have been acquired from the contributors. All rights are hereby assigned to the contributors. OtherRealms may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of Chuq Von Rospach. The electronic edition may be distributed or reproduced in its entirety as long as all copyrights, author and publication information remain intact. No individual article may be reprinted, reproduced or republished in any way without the express permission of the author. OtherRealms is published quarterly (March, June, September and December) by: Chuq Von Rospach 35111-F Newark Blvd. Suite 255 Newark, CA 94560. Usenet: chuq@sun.COM Delphi: CHUQ