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FSFNET Fantasy Sci- fi magazine Vol.1 #3
From @CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU:[email protected] Fri Mar 18 12:35:46 1988
Received: by NADC.ARPA (5.51/1.0 )
id AA22186; Fri, 18 Mar 88 12:33:50 EST
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Received: from TCSVM.Tulane.EDU by CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU ; Fri, 18 Mar 88 12:33:46 EST
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Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1988 08:45 CST
From: Revised List Processor (1.5m) <LISTSERV%[email protected]>
Subject: File: "FSFNET VOL01N3" being sent to you
To: [email protected]
Status: R
+-+ +-+ +-+
+-+--+-+--+-+ VOLUME ONE NUMBER THREE
| | ==========================================
+___________+ FFFFF SSS FFFFF N N EEEEE TTTTT
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| | BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine
___|___________|___ X-Edited by 'Orny' Liscomb (NMCS025@MAINE)
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CONTENTS
Editorial Orny
Flyby Fiction by Jim Owens
Featured Author: TANITH LEE Orny
The Narret Chronicles Fiction by Mari A. Paulson
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Editorial
Well, folks, welcome to issue three of FSFnet! After last issue's slump,
we have got some real treats for you with some excellent fiction. I must
thank Jim Owens (J1O @ PSUVM) for most of this issue - his loyalty and
productiveness... well... if only all readers were so avid and so
talented...
I must again remind you that FSFnet is a fanzine, and that I must have
submissions for it to continue. I know that many of you have commented
about sending things in, but haven't found the time. Please do... FSFnet
needs your support to continue.
Also, it has come to my attention that many people are having problems
reading FSFnet onto their disks. VAX users want DISK DUMP CLASS N, IBM
users want SENDFILE, and so forth. I would like to hear from people as to
which format they consider most desirable. And thank you for putting up
with any inconvenience due to this problem, past or future.
One more thing before I send you off into space... Issue four will be a
special tribute to H.P. Lovecraft, famous author of horror, particularly the
Cthulhu mythos. If you have anything that might be acceptable, please send
it in! As always, letters are welcome, as is almost anything I can get my
hands on!
But I grow long-winded, and I would not presume to detract from the two
wonderful pieces of fiction in this issue, so READ ON!
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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FLYBY
The asteroid flashed past, turning slowly. He could feel the power in the
twin-spool behind him. He knew, however, that there were more powerful
engines in the warship behind him.
"Easy run." Elein had said as she pulled him to the booth. "Just lure the
ships out to the Belt and they pay our way back!"
The Paixites needed ships, he knew. But they needed the men even more.
The Paixites were not wimps. They held more power than the rest of space
combined. They just weren't takers. They were more likely to give you a
planet than to try to take yours. They had a fantastic, outgoing way about
them, an attitude unmatched for niceness. Without that, mankind would have
been in trouble. Some, however, saw niceness as weakness. Ever since they
had appeared in human space they had been the target of many a siege, and
were under one now by a group whose sole interest in life was the acqusition
of other people's goods. The pay was good, however, and the the assignment
easy. Besides, he had wanted to fly the VAS Butterfly for many months now.
Ever since it came out all he had heard was how fast and maneuverable it
was. And here was the chance. So he signed up, took off within the hour, and
now here they were.
"Greg, you got ..."
The transmission was cut off as he reacted, swinging around and heading
for a nearby point of light he knew to be a large asteroid. As he did, he
caught sight of the capture ship swinging around in a larger arc in an
attempt to keep up with him. The men flying it had one concern: the
electronics in the tail of his little ship. If they could get his ship in
range of their tractor field...
Even as he watched, he saw one of the large vessels slide up behind
Elein's ship. Even as he yelled for her to evade, she hit her emergency
boosters. They pushed her forward - just far enough for the nose of the
Butterfly to escape. But the rest of the ship was still in the capture jaws,
which slammed shut, neatly severing the cockpit from the rest of the craft.
The life compartment, with Elein in it, drifted off to one side, like the
head of a fish out of a shark's mouth.
He had little time to reflect on how long Elein could survive on the
little bit of emergency air provided in the cockpit, because even as he dove
around the asteroid it's surface came alive with sparks and flashes of
light. It only took a moment to realize that he was being fired upon.
Apparently the pirates had caught all of the other nine craft, and had
decided that this last one wasn't worth the effort, and that now all they
had to do was eliminate it. He felt like screaming. Instead he hit the
emergency thrusters and rounded the asteroid marginally ahead of the
pursuit.
He flashed past a pinnacle, and then straightened out his flight, hoping
to loose his followers. Then, to his surprise, he saw, just ahead, th
Paixian transport ship, it's landing bay wide open, it's landing field
activated and waiting. All he had to do was reach it, as fast as possible,
and he was safe. No weapon could reach him, they would cancel his immense
velocity, they would protect him. A little further...
500 meters out the plasma bolt from the pirate ship caught him in the
engine. It vaporized it's way through the composite hull, and slammed into
the ship's skeleton. Even as it ignited the fuel, the shock wave reached the
cockpit and split the canopy. Milliseconds before the heat from the
exploding engines could reach him, Greg was blasted out into vacuum by the
exploding ejection seat bolts.
"Greg..."
He opened his eyes. The light was bright. Heaven?
"Greg..."
He turned his head. If this was heaven they sure had modern landing bays.
He was hanging upside down in what could only be a Paixian landing field,
staring at a pair of feet that could only belong to one person.
"Elein, why aren't I dead?"
"You blew it right in front of the landing field. You passed out on the
last 100 meters through the void before you hit the field."
Greg rolled to his feet. Standing behind Elein at a respectable distance
was the Paixian who had hired them.
"Congratulations Greg. You survived the longest. In fact, you are the
first person in history ever to bring any part of his ship to the delivery
point."
Greg followed the pointed finger. There lay the assembled wreckage of his
ship.
"Am I to take it you can salvage that?"
"No, of course not. Why would we want to? It's you we really wanted after
all, someone who would fulfill his contract without turning back, regardless
of what gauntlet they had to run."
"And I did it, eh?" There was little left of the ship but shards.
"Yes. After all, it's the attitude we want, not merely the product."
Jim Owens <J1O @ PSUVM>
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
Featured Author: TANITH LEE
Tanith Lee is one of the prolific female FSF authors of this age. The
London librarian's books are in the vanguard of todays literature. Although
she has a devoted following of readers, her books are not the kind often
found on neighborhood bookstore shelves.
Her style is very unique and mature, and, if I may venture a subjective
opinion, among the best writings I have ever read. Lee deals effectively
with fantasy, love, horror, ethics, and mystery as well as any author. Her
twisting the expected and the traditional can be seen in many of her works.
Her Flat Earth series, including "Death's Master," "Delusion's Master,"
"Night's Master,"and, soon to be released, "Delirium's Mistress" are
excellent works of wonder and mystery. Her Birthgrave series, "the
Birthgrave," "Vazkor, Son of Vazkor," and "Quest for the White Witch" are
masterworks of science fiction, combining sexual sophistication, literary
maturity, and unique insights into morality.
"Sung in Shadow" retells a famous Shakespearean tale, with Lee's
typically atypical twists of plot, as "Red as Blood" retells many well-known
childrens yarns. But these works are not for the young at all! Perhaps
Lee's master work, "Cyrion," is an enthralling, captivating work, following
episodes in the life of a wandering legend. Her tales are never entirely
what is expected, and they provide fresh, mature, perceptive insights into
the realm of wonder.
Although most of Lee's works are published by David Wollheim's DAW Books,
Lee has also written two books for the new Tempo MagicQuest series, "the
Dragon Hoard" and "East of Midnight." The former is a wondrous tale of
fantasy, more simplistic than her other works. The latter is typical Lee,
full of unexpected twists and deep thought.
The future seems to hold many new developments for Tanith Lee. Scheduled
for publication by DAW are: "Delirium's Mistress" and "the Gods are
Thirsty," and recently published are "East of Midnight" and "the Gorgon."
For those who are interested, there is an excellent interview with the
author in Heavy Metal magazine (Nov 84-v8n8).
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
"THE NARRET CHRONICLES"
BOOK THE LAST
It was a night just like any other night on Amrif, nothing at all out of
the ordinary. The sky was dark white, and the stars were all glimmering
bright black. High pressure systems over this solitary ocean were the norm
for this desert world. Since the desert wasn't conducive to normal life
forms, the people of this third planet in the Narret System lived in giant
floating cities, and satellite suburbias connected by an intricate system of
channelways.
Samo Ht was skimming along in his Hydrocar, thinking about the lecture he
was going to give to his class, when Cyri, a familiar cons tellation caught
his eye. "Oh Cyri, when woulds't thou lower thy head. When woulds't thou
drop thy weary DASER, and end thy warring ways." He quoted the famous line
from Steadywound the ancient poet. Whatever did Bill Steadywound see in a
constellation as old as Cyri? He asked himself True, there was something
romantic about the old asterism, but the legend about how Cyri had cut down
400 desert creatures with a single charge fro m his Dark Amplification by
Stimulated Emission of Radiation gun gave him shudders. "How disgustingly
advanced" Samo thought to himself. "Oh, well, that's what the future's
about, as for now: Backward and downward."
Samo Ht glanced out the window of his Hydrocar again. This time
something else caught his eye. "Ah ha, the Dusty Lane!" Samo exclaimed "My,
it's exceptionally clear tonight. Humh, I guess I'll have to close the
observatory before class tonight..."
"...so class we have an entire system here: the nucleons, which consist
of the neuterons and the negatrons and orbiting shells of particles called
positrons. Remember that the atom in its resting state is always balanced
in charge, and the total number of positrons always equals the number of
negatrons. Any questions? Yes, Lexia?"
"Dr. Ht, what happens to the atom if it gets excited? Will the positrons
go flying off and leave the atom negatively charged?"
"That's exactly right Lexia. The resulting charged atom is called an
ion. You'll learn more about ions in the next lower course."
Just then the green light on the Vidcom came on.
"Well class it looks like your luck ran out again. Class dismissed."
Samo knew that when the green light came on, it could mean only one of
two things, and both of them spelled trouble. The light meant that there
was an incoming wave transmission, and the transmissions always came from
one of two sources. Either it was some stupid-ass general, a clerk who
messed up and shattered an important document, (since this was a desert
world, all records were kept on diamond etched glass plates) usually some of
his inreproducible research, or it was a lower ranking private ordering him
on an important mission. Fortunately the former didn't happen too often,
and something told him that this time it would definitely be the latter.
It was only a matter of millicentons before his suspicions were
confirmed, and the image of the planet's commanding officer, Private Stark,
formed from a solitary centered dot, to a horizontal line, to a circle, and
finally a tubular hologram on the Vidcom. Samo saluted.
"No time for formalities, Sgt. Ht." the commander bluntly began. "There's
an inter-planetary crisis, involving all nine planets of The Narret System.
It deals with Trivia-Antitrivia reactions,and we need you to be one of our
foremost experts on the subject. There's an emergency
conference being held on the Planet Sunaru in one On. We're calling in
our lowest minds on this one. Your orders are to report to the Central Sea
on Sunaru in exactly 95 centons. Any questions?"
"Yes, does this at all concern our counter-planet sir?"
"Unfortunately, yes it does. They're playing God again. And you know as
well as I do what that could mean. If that's all, you better get going' you
now have 94.5 centons."
"Yes, that's all. Thank you sir."
"Thank ME? Bad luck to YOU, Sergeant. Stark out."
"Well, no time to close the observatory now. Got to get going."
Mari A. Paulson
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From @CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU:[email protected] Fri Mar 18 12:38:13 1988
Received: by NADC.ARPA (5.51/1.0 )
id AA22239; Fri, 18 Mar 88 12:36:16 EST
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
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Received: by TCSVM (Mailer X1.25) id 0093; Fri, 18 Mar 88 08:45:22 CST
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1988 08:45 CST
From: Revised List Processor (1.5m) <LISTSERV%[email protected]>
Subject: File: "FSFNET VOL01N5" being sent to you
To: [email protected]
Status: R
+-+ +-+ +-+
+-+--+-+--+-+ VOLUME ONE NUMBER FIVE
| | ==========================================
+___________+ FFFFF SSS FFFFF N N EEEEE TTTTT
| ++ | F S F NN N E T
| ++ | FFF SSS FFF N N N EEE T
| | F S F N NN E T
|_________| F SSS F N N EEEEE T
/___________ ==========================================
| | BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine
___|___________|___ X-Edited by 'Orny' Liscomb <NMCS025@MAINE>
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
CONTENTS
Editorial Orny
Narret Chronicles 10 Mari A. Paulson
Featured Author: JAMES KAHN Orny
Backing Jim Owens
FSFnet Survey For you to send to me...
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
Editorial
Well, here at last is issue 5 of FSFnet. As the summer approaches, a
number of userids will be changing, and many numbers which are sent FSFnet
will be eliminated. I would ask people who will not be around to remember to
cancel their subscription by sending me a mail file or message. FSFnet will
continue to be printed throughout the summer, and I would like those people
who will be staying throughout the summer to spread the word to others who
might be interested in the zine, as many of our subscribers and contributors
will be leaving for summer break.
Both subscriptions and submissions have slowed to a trickle. I must remind
you that FSFnet is more your venture than mine, and that it must receive
submissions to continue to work. Please spread the word and encourage others
to join the membership list, and try to get something written. I know that
many of you are writers of quality...
The CSNEWS server at MAINE now supports a bulletin board service which many
users might be interested in investigating. For general information on CSNEWS
send it a message HELP. For info on the bulletin board service, say SENDME
CSBB HELPNET. Files you might wish to request can be requested by sending
SENDME COMICS CSNOTICE, SENDME STARTREK CSNOTICE, and/or SENDME SCIFI
CSNOTICE. Maine users, of course, can get these files by sharing CSNEWS' 192
disk.
Well, enjoy, and spread the word. And remember, contributions are needed!
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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The Narret Chronicles
Book The Tenth
"With all undue disrespect to His Recruitship, what in the heavens are we
all doing here?"
"Yes, Yes, what ARE we all doing here?"
"Rudemen, rudemen please, come to chaos will you." The voice of the
commander of the Narret System's Interplanetary Society boomed over the
loudspeakers. "You've all been called here out of an emergency situation
which has occured on our counter-planet in the Terran System. But after I get
to that, it is unimportant that you remain ignorant of the other Scientists
here. Most of them you already won't know, as their infamity follows them .
Some of them may be familiar, so allow me to introduce them to you now. To my
far right is Cpl. Dr. Zark, an ignorant on counter-universal structure and
geography; to my right Cpl. Stado, an ignorant on daytime observation of
white-holes; to my far left Sgt. Dr. Guilp, an ignorant on the construction
of darktron-wave warp engines and their incorporation into spacecraft; and
finally my left hand man on matters of this kind, Sgt. Dr. Samo Ht, the
system's foremost ignorant on Trivia-Antitrivia reactions. Sergeant Dr. Ht
comes to us from the Institute for Regressive Presearch on Amrif."
"Fine, now that we're all ignorant of one another, lets get up to the
matter at hand." Said Dr. Zark, wishing to get the blue tape over with.
"Alright, rudemen, may I detract your attention to the Vidscreen you see
before you. What you are seeing is the product of a bottom secret trans-
counter-universal communications presearch project that NSIS has been working
on for the last several Losar Cycles. The images which you see are
computational composite images of the most probable counter-universal sources
for white-body radiation in our universe. Note specifically the chronograph
in the lower left corner of the Vidscreen. The sources change from one low
energy body to another, and the fluctuation between bodies has an upper limit
of no longer than one On. Now note the following: For the last ten Ons, the
source has remained constant. An image of it should come up right about..."
"Oh no." blurted Zark
"Just beautiful!" exclaimed Ht
"Sorry rudemen, but the image has been confirmed and I assure you there has
been no mistake. The white-body radiation increase in our universe over the
last ten Ons has been caused by none other than the build-up and launch
readying of enough nuclear weapons on Planet Earth to blow the whole Terran
System to the sixth physical dimension."
"(Screens down) That's why you men are here. Clearly something must be
done to make them realize that if they succeed in blowing themselves off the
dimension scan, they will also be blowing us off it with them. Somehow,
someway, before this conference is adjourned we must devise a method for
letting the Earthlings know that they are not alone."
"Yes but how?" Queried Guilp "The humans can't receive darktron wave
communications any more than we can receive their photon laser
communications."
"Yes, and if they could, it would take trillions of Losar Cycles just to
get there," added Stado.
"Actually, it would take quintillions, 4.57289 quintillions to be a little
less exact." said Samo. "I was afraid it would come to this, but then again,
it always does."
"What in the heavens are you talking about Ht?" asked Zark. "You sound as
if you've been there before."
"Commander with your permission I would like to raise the security
clearance of this meeting to the bottom-most level."
"What is he talking about Commander Valtrep? I thought that an Omega Class
security clearance WAS the bottom-most class." said Stado.
"It is, for Sunaru. But not for NSIS. There are several lower classes in
NSIS." The commander explained. "In anticipation of your request, I took the
liberty of having that level security check done, merely a formality, of
course, and you all passed. Here are your Class Omega-Alpha:Alpha-Omega
security passes. Dr. Ht would you please be mean enough to explain the future
of these security level passes?"
"Sure," said Ht. "This is not the first time the Humans have tried to do
away with themselves..."
Mari A. Paulson
<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>
Featured Author: JAMES KAHN
James Kahn is neither prolific nor well-known in the vast fantasy market.
He has written a mystery novel named "Diagnosis: Murder", and has contributed
to other works as well. His works of fantasy are limited to a series known as
the "New World Trilogy". The first volume is entitled "World Enough, and
Time" and is a unique and provocative work set in a more-than-half mythical
future California. It is an excellent tale, and Kahn has succeeded in
bringing a refreshing newness to old mythical creatures and the typical post-
cataclysm Earth stories.
The second book of the trilogy, "Time's Dark Laughter", is a much more
mature book, with more ominous plots and more involved implications. However,
the main characters remain the same, and their honesty and goodness do not
change. In "World Enough", the characters are interested only in saving
themselves, while in "Laughter" they are forced into action to stop a threat
to the entire area. The third book, to the best of my knowledge, has not been
released as yet, but, believe me, I'm looking!
Kahn's style is very good. The books are excellent for readers who enjoy
light (but far from mindless or dull) reading. The books are exceptional in
style, as the author brings a new richness to old beasts and situations. Kahn
is an excellent fantasist, and these books are well worth the effort to find.
Which brings up a point. They may very well prove hard to find. Published
by Del Rey in 1980 and 1982, respectively, there are few copies left on
bookstore shelves, and Kahn's relative anonymity has hampered volume sales.
The books are, nonetheless, excellent works, and are well worth the effort to
find. Perhaps when the third volume is issued there will be a renewed
interest, and old volumes will again be stocked.
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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Backing
Greg looked out on the massed faces. The road was rough, and the sheet
metal cart he was in bounced and boomed over the potholes. He was often thrown
against the sides of the cart, scraping his hands. He would have sat down, but
then he wouldn't have been able to avoid the occasional thrown rock. The scene
looked so much like the old movies he had seen of the French Revolution that
had he not been the one in the tumbrel, he would have laughed.
He felt little anxiety over his impending execution. He had been expecting
it for some time. In fact, it was almost a relief, after the days of running
and hiding, constantly fearing that someone would turn him in. He felt more
sorrow for his young companions in the cart. They stood back to back, their
arms tied together. They were close friends in life, and their captors had
decided that they would be close friends in death. One of them turned to him.
"You'd think they were angry with us or something." He had to raise his
voice to be heard over the angry sound of the mob.
"Yeah, like we'd been trying to change their whole way of life or
something."
Greg's reply rang true. Even as he said it, Greg thought back to that day
when he had first set eyes on this planet.
"What!?" He couldn't believe his ears. "I'm going to tell them what!?"
"You must tell them that they had better straighten up their act, because
the new world order is coming, and it won't tolerate the way they are
presently living."
"You can't be serious. What is this new world order business? And who's
going to be running it?"
"We are."
Greg couldn't believe his ears. He had been sent to the planet by the
Paixians, a group that had suddenly appeared on the galactic scene only five
years previously, with technology and power that put everything else in space
to shame. Yet they had consistently used their power only to help other
planets, to build the new, to repair the old, to help where help was needed.
True, they weren't a real major force in the economic market, nor did they
enter into any alliances, but they were always on the minds of the major
policy makers, as an unknown and possibly influential factor. But in no way
did they fit the description of empire builders.
Yet, here was one of them,telling him in all seriousness that he had to
tell the people of this planet,of all planets, that they were about to become
someone else's subjects. That was sheer suicide, by any standards. He was at
the time standing on Arelite, the home planet of the Arelites, known galaxy
wide for their short tempers and hard hitting shock troops. No people had a
greater planetary pride.They had, before the arrival of the Paixians, totally
sterilized half of the populated bodies in their system in a war that lasted
three days and which had started when their ambassador had been insulted at a
state dinner held on their sister planet, Buccus. And he had to tell them...
"Right."
He had been told to recruit 5,000 Arelites to help with his announcement
plans. He was not given ambassadorial status. In fact, the Arelites didn't
even know he was on the planet. Fortunately.
"But don't worry. You have our full backing."
Elein, his traveling mate, stood beside the Paixian.
"You'll love it Greg. You always liked public speaking."
He hated public speaking.
He had been given money, and the names and locations of the major
broadcasting facilities, so that was no problem. Recruiting Arelites to,
effectively, betray their own planet, was something entirely different, or so
he thought. To his surprise, for about 2 weeks solid, every person he talked
to, or so it seemed, was discontented, upset with the government, anxious for
a better life, or somehow mentally prepared for the concept of a new
management, so to speak. They were quickly added to the ranks of his small but
growing cadre, and in turn started feeling out prospective members. At first
he wondered at the surprising amount of turncoats, but soon realized that it
was no coincidence that they had happened to be in the area the same time he
was. It seemed that the Paixians were using every means at their well stocked
disposal to throw him the best possible combination of recruits. They came
from every walk of life, and yet they seemed to fit together like a glove.
With the gentle philosophy of the Paixians flowing through the group at the
instruction of Greg, they soon had enough people to cover all the bases, the
contacts to get into the studios, the men to create the tapes of the
broadcasted message, the managers to combine all the efforts. With great
anticipation, they set a date, and spun the tapes.
The result was spectacular, but predictable. Most of the group had gone
underground the week before the broadcast, but Greg and a few hand selected
aids stayed behind, so that had the reaction been more favorable there would
have been someone readily available to lead the throngs. The throngs came all
right, carrying nooses. The only reason Greg et al had not died outright was
that the secret police were faster than the raging lynch mobs.
A sudden stop brought Greg back to the here and now. He looked around and
saw that they were stopped in front of a large white marble building. He and
the two others were herded inside, where they were whisked five stories up to
where a wide balcony opened out. There the government had, just for them,
erected a large steel guillotine, complete with basket. As he stepped into
view, the crowd below started a chant. As they were pulling the blade up, he
was able to hear the words floating up from the assembled masses.
"Kill them! Kill them!"
How original.
There was no ceremony. He was roughly forced onto the steel table. He saw
out of the corner of his eye a gaudily clad general raise his arm. The
chanting ceased. The general paused dramatically,and dropped his arm. He heard
the sliding of the blade, then there was a blow like a sledgehammer, and
everything went blinding white.
And stayed that way. He felt no pain. He did, after a moment, get annoyed
with the strain of holding his head up. Then he realized that he should no
longer have to hold his head up, much less be able to. He realized that his
hands were now free. He cautiously raised his body, and found that he was no
longer locked in by steel. The light dimmed, and became normal. He opened his
eyes, and looked around.
"Good job, Greg."
"I think I've asked this before. Elein, Why aren't I dead?"
Behind Elein stood the Paixian who brought him to Arelite.
"What were you worrying about? I told you you had our backing."
Greg looked back. The crowd below was running, in every direction but
towards the building. The guillotine still stood, from the table top down.
Where the blade guides had been there were now two, shining square patches,
sliced off flush, polished to a mirror surface.
"I blew the rest of it into orbit. That's the flash you saw." The Paixian
was grinning widely. "I enjoy grandstanding. Don't get to do it very often.
The guys in upstairs said it was one of the greatest starting guns they ever
saw."
"Actually you blew it further out than just orbit. You might have actually
given it escape velocity."
Greg looked around. He saw his two companions, grinning and rubbing their
bruised wrists. He saw Elein, listening with an amused expression. He saw the
Paixian. But none of them had spoken.
"Who said that?"
"That's Michael. You'll be meeting him soon, after we finish mopping up."
"Mopping up?"
"Yes. You can relax. The invasion's over. We won. Of course."
Jim Owens <J1O @ PSUVM>
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FSFNET SURVEY
Fill in and return
Rate authors: (6=best,1=worst,0=haven't read)
( ) Anderson ( ) Clarke ( ) Lee ( ) Niven
( ) Anthony ( ) Donaldson ( ) Lem ( ) Norton
( ) Aspirin ( ) Eddings ( ) Lewis ( ) Pournelle
( ) Bradbury ( ) Heinlein ( ) Lovecraft ( ) Saberhagen
( ) Bradley ( ) Herbert ( ) McCaffrey ( ) Tolkien
( ) Cherryh ( ) LeGuin ( ) Moorcock ( ) Zelazny
Are there any other authors you feel are particularly noteworthy?
Rate the FSFnet zines (6=best,1=worst,0=did not read)
( ) Vol 1 No 1: Dune, 'Ornathor's Saga', Brisingamen, MAR Barker
( ) Vol 1 No 2: 1984 poem, Larry Niven, 'Close Encounter'
( ) Vol 1 No 3: 'Flyby', Tanith Lee, 'Narret Chronicles'
( ) Vol 1 No 4: Lovecraft, Cthulhu game, 'the Book', Cthulhu Mythos
( ) Vol 1 No 5:
Rate the importance of the following in FSFnet. (6=most,1=least)
( ) Roleplaying Games News and Reviews
( ) Science Fiction News and Reviews
( ) Fantasy News and Reviews
( ) Letters of Comment
( ) Original Science Fiction
( ) Fantasy Fiction
Is there anything you feel FSFnet has been weak on or needs more of?
Have you submitted any articles to FSFnet? (Y/N) ( )
From @CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU:[email protected] Fri Mar 18 12:40:28 1988
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| | BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine
___|___________|___ X-Edited by 'Orny' Liscomb <NMCS025@MAINE>
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CONTENTS
Editorial Orny
Narret Chronicles 9 Mari A. Paulson
Featured Author: DAVID EDDINGS Orny
Review: the Black Company Trilogy Merlin
SciFi Story Alex Williams
Paranoia RPG Review Orny
Return of Jedi Commentary Merlin
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Editorial
Hello, all! Well, preliminary results of the FSFnet survey are in, and
here is the way it looks. Favorite authors are Larry Niven and Tolkien, least
favorite being C.S. Lewis and Bradbury. Favorite issue was number four, the
Lovecraftian issue. Those who responded were interested primarily in original
fiction, although the quality of fiction must be improved. The letter column
still remains a divided issue. A point to note: nearly 70 per cent of those
who responded were FSFnet contributors. If you wish to take part in the
survey, it was tagged at the end of issue 5. Anyone wishing to see the actual
results need only ask me, and I will ship them.
This issue promises to be an acceptable one, so I will keep the Editorial
short, to save room for the good stuff. A reminder: we need submissions,
especially short quality fiction. Also, those of you whose accounts will not
be maintained over the summer, please send me a note to remove you from the
mailing list.
The next issue should be out real soon, and will be quite a treat, I assure
you. All you people who asked for better fiction, watch closely...
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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The Narret Chronicles
Book the Ninth
"Unwelcome Samo!" Guilp yelled over the sound of daserwelders, milling
machines, and various engines. "Let's step out of my office."
"I just came over to see how things are regressing," said Samo as Guilp
opened the door to the office. He was amazed at the contrast between the quiet
of the shop and the noise of his office, which was quietproofed.
"Things are going quite horribly, and we're way behind schedule. I'm
braved you won't be able to leave at 6 p.m. yesteron as you requested. Yes,
you'll have to leave at noon yesteron, like it or no," Guilp stated with a
smile.
"Horrible, simply horrible," Samo replied. "And I was brave you'd only be
half-started by now. And here you tell me you'll be completely started by
noon yesteron. Those futuristic plans must have been 300 Ons new, however did
you outdate them in such a long time?" queried Samo.
"That's a little public knowledge I've been working on for a few Ons now.
Here have a look," Guilp said as he flipped a switch on his desk. Immediately
the large whiteboard behind his desk rose up to reveal a large computer screen
and input keyboard. "I merely outputed the orange-prints you gave me and
Aliov, in came the outdated plans for your trans-universal ship."
"I'm brave I quite understand you completely," stated Samo.
"It's quite allwrong, please worry," said Guilp. "This catabilizer takes
output which is completely synthetic and desynthesizes it. Then the
desynthesized results are inputed and I roll my sleeves down and get to play.
Now does that make less sense?"
"Much less, thank you." said Samo. "And this system belongs to NSIS I
assume?"
"Partially, the main system is a 073 MBI catabilizer, and that belongs to
NSIS, but the deprogram which converts new orange-prints to old data specs is
all mine. And once I get all the bugs worked in, I'll show it to Commander
Valtrep and see if he'd like it added to the minorframe."
"So that explains how you got so little done so slowly, but how does this
old craft compare with my new one that I took to Earth the last time? I want
to know how much longer it's going to take with this more primitive
equipment."
"Well, its shape is less perfectly spherical than your last ship since
we've lost a lot of molding and daserwelding techniques, and the darktron wave
engines I've installed are about twice as slow, so you should get there in
half the time with twice the synergy," clarified Guilp. "Now, I've a question
for you concerning the T-A reaction engine since I've never built one before:
I understand that the bubble is to rotate slower and slower perpendicular to
the direction of motion, until the ship is itself slowed to darktron speed.
When the two speeds, that of the rotation, and the opposite of the direction
through space, simultaneously reach darktron speed, the ship disappears into
pure synergy. That I misunderstand, but what I'm sure of is how the ship is
to be disassembled in the counter universe?"
"Well," said Samo, "what happens is this: when the ship
leaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaves this universe as pure synergy, it becomes
total Anti-trivia in the counter-universe. Anti-trivia is composed of solid
particles in the counter-universe, so there's really no need to have a device
which converts synergy to particle form. Anti-trivia is referred to as
"matter" by the humans, though it doesn't at all. Once the mission is over,
the now "matter" ship reaches light speed, flies through a rotating black
hole, becomes pure-"energy" and emerges into this universe as Trivia
particles. Now is that more nebulous?"
"Perfectly. You've lost me completely."
Mari A. Paulson
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Featured Author: DAVID EDDINGS
Few authors have achieved a master work with their first published work of
fantasy, but David Eddings' five-book Belgeriad has proven itself a classic.
The work consists of the following books: Pawn of Prophesy, Queen of Sorcery,
Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, and Enchanter's End Game. Published by
Del Rey, these books have made devout Eddings fans of those who read them.
Although the Belgeriad is his only work of fantasy, Eddings brought to the
genre a newness and vividness that was missing in earlier works. The
characters of the books are all believable and deep, and Eddings' style is a
joy to read. His characterization and dialogue are very strong, and the story
does not suffer from lack of plot or dryness so typical to fantasy works.
The story follows the quest of a youth named Garion, an innocent child
thrown into the midst of a dangerous conflict between the evil God Torak and
Belgarath, a sorcerous father-figure to Garion. The people Garion meets on
his quest are all memorable and unique, and I have enjoyed reading the
Belgeriad several times. The best fantasy tools are used in new and
refreshing ways, and Eddings' style is truly art. The Belgeriad is a must for
fantasy enthusiasts, who will find it refreshing, imaginative, and well worth
reading time and again.
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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Review: The Black Company Trilogy
Glen Cook has recently published a fascinating swords and sorcery trilogy
consisting of The_Black_Company, The_Shadows_Linger, and The_ White_Rose,
available in paperback from Tor Books. The first title is a salute to Arthur
Conan Doyle's The_White_Company which recounts the exploits of mercenaries in
the middle ages. Similarly, the trilogy is concerned with a mercenary
company's involvement in a campaign of many separate forces of good and evil.
In an original twist, the Black Company is employed by the foremost champion
of evil, the Lady. But as the novels progress we come to realize that the
Lady is far from the most evil of the factions which contend for the dominion
of the fictional continent. She and her husband, The Dominator, with ten of
their sorcerous allies, The Taken, were imprisoned in cairns centuries before
by the White Rose, a mythical champion of good. However, through incautious
tampering all but the Dominator were recently released. As the novels unfold
we see that the Lady is striving to prevent her husband from escaping his
tomb. Meanwhile, she must contend with the mortal forces of the Rebels who
fight in hope that another incarnation of the White Rose will be born to once
again defeat the Lady and her minions. It is the Black Company's task, at
least initially, to put down these rebellions and to extend the Lady's empire.
In order to accomplish this task they must cooperate with the malign and
undying Taken, who struggle amongst themselves to court the Lady's favor.
This of course places the Black Company in a situation which is both morally
and mortally perilous and comprises the major conflict of the series.
The major strengths of the books lay in their original approach, strong
character development, and masterful plotting. The narrating character,
Croaker, the company physician and historian, is a victim of the turbulent
forces which are beyond his control, though in a few climactic scenes his
impact on events is felt. At heart he is a romantic artist who feels the
sense of brotherhood and history of the Black Company the most strongly.
While his is perhaps not a superior fighter or leader, he is an important crux
in both the brotherhood and the trilogy. Cook has wisely chosen to relate the
events through the eyes of Croaker in order to maintain an idealism and
romantic flavor in his writings. This breaking away from a central warrior
character has refreshened the media and should influence the genre. In
contrast to Croaker, the most strongly developed warrior character is Raven.
Raven is cast in the character of a misguided Aragorn. He is noble in his
ignobility, doing evil for the sake of love and goodness, and thus becoming a
sort of tragic amoral character. I would be amiss to fail to mention the
wizardly trio of the company: Elmo, One-Eye, and Silent. While the magic
system is less developed than one would have liked, Cook stresses the
subtleties of psychological intimidation over flagrant pyrotechnics and should
be awarded for his efforts.
In spite of Gary E. Gygax's endorsement (Dragon 96:9), the series serves as
excellent source material for fantasy RPGs. Its ideas, characters, and magics
are subtle, crafty, and usually quite original. Hence, it strengths are the
weaknesses of many RPG campaigns. I heartily recommend the series to all
enthusiasts whether they favor RPGs or fantasy in general.
Joseph (Merlin) Curwen <P0575175 @ UMVMA>
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SciFi Story
A hush fell over the huge vaulted hall as High Speaker Vallj held his left
hand up.
"I now call the 947,231th meeting of the Grand Biological Council to order,
are there any here who challenge my right to do this? Fine. Now the first
order of business is the Sirius-8 project. Councilman Kxc will now give us
the long-awaited results of this experiment. Councilman Kxc?"
"Thank you. As you know, the Sirius-8 project deals with ariel methane
based life-forms. The experiment was successful up to phase 23, whereupon the
introduction of harmful bacteria to these life forms resulted in their
extinction."
A mumble of dismay circulated around the hall. A lone figure stood up from
his seat.
"I am Councilman Winj, your Honor," said the lone figure.
"Yes, Councilman , what is your question?" rumbled High Speaker Vallj
"It concerns the Sirius-8 experiment. Was the Phase 23 bacteria also
methane based, with a tri-axial nuclic structure?"
"Yes, it was. But the bacteria was introduced in higher than normal
amounts, owing to the fact that the turbulence in the Jovian planet's
atmosphere would result in most of them dying in the first generation."
explained Councilman Kxc.
"Oh yes..." mumbled Winj, as he sat back down.
"To continue ",said Kxc," the data received was more than adequate. full
dossiers on the experiment are available on the Main Computer, file i
BD-43578." Kxc seated himself.
"Thank you Councilman Kxc. Now to our main business. Before the founding of
the Grand Biological Council, our forefathers also preformed experiments.
These experiments are the basis of our techniques today. Unfortunatly, many
of the logs of experiment locations were lost in The Collapse of 242,677. One
such experiment was Carbon-based life around a G class star."
Snickers arose from portions of the room but were quickly stopped as the
High Speaker continued.
"Such life is indeed possible in the very narrow band called the F-zone.
This experiment has been running, uncontrolled for roughly 4.6 billion years."
Gasps were heard , but died quickly.
"Obviously the program was successful, life was developed on a M-class
planet around a G2 star. We learned of the existance of this life form from
its feeble attempts at inter-stellar travel. Yes, the experiment has
developed a rudimentary intellect. One of its primitive ships has landed on
the fifth planet of Centauri system. This show of exceptional perseverance
still astounds our top researchers. Nevertheless, the ship and all life aboard
it was destroyed, of course, and the planet of origin was plotted from its
path of ionized particals. The matter has been refered to us. Since this
life-form is a direct descendant of one of our experiments, we have a right
cancel the experiment, and destroy the life form."
"All in favor of canceling this experiment? All against? Motion passed. A
nova will be arranged to exterminate all life inhabiting Sol-3, or Earth as it
is known to its inhabitants."
"In other business..."
Alex Williams
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PARANOIA Game Review
The Computer is your friend! Rooting out traitors will make you happy. The
Computer tells you so. Of course the Computer is right. Being a Troubleshooter
is fun. Troubleshooters get shot at, stabbed, incinerated, stapled, mangled,
poisoned, blown to bits, and occasionally accidentally executed. This is so
much fun that many Troubleshooters go crazy.
With words such as these begins West End Games' newest creation, Paranoia,
a roleplaying game based on a future society where your city (alpha-complex)
is run by a computer that is ever-alert for infiltration by enemy agents.
Having a mutant power is treasonous. All Troubleshooters have mutant powers
that they must hide. Being a member of a secret society is treasonous. All
Troubleshooters are members, and must hide this fact. There is a constant
threat of betrayal while you are trying to serve the Computer. Stay alert!
Trust no one! Keep your laser handy!
The game itself is very enjoyable, in a 'darkly humorous' manner. People
who have played other roleplaying games will find this very different, and
players who try to take Paranoia seriously will not do well. Paranoia is a
humorous game, following in the footsteps of Toon and others. Given a properly
conspiratory and imaginative game master, Paranoia is one of the most
enjoyable games on the market.
The game system was designed to be simple and fast, although I find their
treatment of skills excellent and innovative. Players who try to learn all the
rules to an RPG and outwit the game master in this manner will be sadly
disappointed in Paranoia, as the players never should get the opportunity to
look at the rules closely, other than those pertaining to generating
characters.
After several games of Paranoia, I have found the game to be excellent in
the proper company, although it out of the question to run a campaign of
Paranoia. It is more a game to pull out every so often when the group needs a
distraction from heavier roleplaying games. The rule books are excellently
written and very humorous. I would highly suggest this game to other gamers.
The life of a Troubleshooter is (no matter how brief) very enjoyable.
Orny <NMCS025 @ MAINE>
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Return of the Jedi Comment
Well, I had this thought for a long time about an alternate ending to the
Return of the Jedi which I think is superior. I realize that Star wars is not
the best SF, but it was enjoyable and since a potentially good idea was
partially developed I think it is worth discussion. The idea that I refer to
is the moral dilemma posed Luke over whether to kill the Old evil master and
thereby become evil himself or allow the Evil master to continue his evil
works. Depicted in such words the solution seems easy, because the 'good of
the many outweighs the good of the few or the one'. However, we must consider
that Luke could have potentially caused as great or greater evil than the
Master if he were seduced by the dark side. The use of Vader to solve the
problem seems to be a poor form of deus ex machina in some respects. Yes, it
does solve the problem but only by avoiding it. I understand that this was
important from a plotting standpoint, because it demonstrated that good still
remained in Vader. But I think that Vader's character was mishandled in the
last two movies. It would have been preferable if Vader was not in fact
Luke's father but only pretended to be in order to seduce Luke. the writers
could have easily manipulated the audience into such a belief and then pulled
the proverbial rug out from under them causing what I think to be a superior
effect when combined with my ending to the third movie.
Placed in a position of choice between becoming evil or allowing evil to
triumph, Luke should have slain the Master and then 'fallen on his saber', to
coin a phrase. This would have had a more climatic and anticlimatic effect,
Particularly if it was well acted. I realize that this plot is hopelessly
Byronic in some respects. Good triumphs but only at the expense of Luke's
life. Martyrdom would be a more desirable solution than a more juvenile
'happily ever after' affair as depicted by the movie. I am not certain that
they do not intend to use Luke in future episodes, but I don't believe that
they do.
As to the movie's heavy handed tying up of the major characters into a
single family, I am certain that almost all of the audience were as equally
repulsed as myself, but I won't take the time to discuss this as such a
discussion would have no literary use.
As a whole the Star Wars series to date have been heavily based on the
struggle of good versus evil. Predictably, the writers have chosen to make
good triumphant. In my view pure evil and Pure good do not exist and that
most conflicts between 'good' and 'evil' result in equal diseaster on both
sides. Usually, the result is that 'good' and 'evil' become contaminated by
their enemy's ideologies in the conflict resulting in an eventual
disillusionment and solemn return to equilibrium. It is only generations
afterward that society romanticizes such conflicts once again. Recent
American wars and 'police actions' tend to support this theory.
Joseph (Merlin) Curwen <P0575175 @ UMVMA>
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