K28


K28, a APAzine for Pieces of Eight, Oct. '92, from A. Vincent Clarke, 16 Wendover Way, Welling, Kent, DA16 2BN "Story by Aurthur C. Clark inside" (Cover of BESTSELLER magazine)


UPDATE

Various things been happening – to other people – this month. Always a comfort. We (the London fans) tried the Hamilton at the entrance to Liverpool Street station as a possible venue when They decided to turn part of The Wellington into a wine bar. Apparently, the management of the new pub were intrigued by the influx of innocent fannish faces, made enquiries, and offered reserved accomodation for the October meeting. One definite plus is no juke box – tho' that may be because its strains would be lost in the vast spaces of the Hamilton. We'll see.


Derek Pickles is coming down to visit me over the First Thursday period of October, so you may get Bradfordian reactions too. Meanwhile, wanting to meet him in town, I did a small reconnaissance in Town to find out the exact location where he'd alight from his coach (over 30 years since I'd been at the terminus), and came across an unadvertised oddity. You may be interested to know that London Bridge station now has a full-blown memorabilia market on the concourse Saturday mornings. Thousands of postcards, football programmes, medals, stamps, comics and other collectable items. Alas, no sf zines.


Dave Wood wrote in. Dave is the guy who invented the term BAFF – Born Again Fifties Fan – and is one himself, as those of you who've seen XYSTER will know. He's putting out a genzine (he hopes) with a partner, and has come up with a booksy game. Imagine titles and opening paragraphs produced by collaboration between sf authors and writers from the literary world.

Dave has produced, amongst others, a first paragraph of A NYMPHET OF MARS, by Nabakov & ERB: "Dejah Thoris, light of my life, fire of my loins, My sin, my soul. De-jah-Tho-ris: the tip of my tongue taking a trip of four steps down the palate to tap, at four, on the teeth. De. Jah. Tho. Ris".

He's got an entry from John Brunner – THE WHALES OF STEEL by Melville/Asimov: "Call me Lije Bailey".

I came up with some including PRIDE AND THE GRAY LENSMAN by Jane Austen/E.E. Smith: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man should enter the Galactic Patrol".

Anyone wanting to join in (Dave is asking for contributors) should write to 1 Friary Close, Marine Hill, Clevedon, Avon, BS21 7QA.


The quote in the logo above advertised a reprint of ACC's The Star in the Sept. '92 issue, the one about the nova which was the star of Bethlehem. They spelt his name right inside.


Picked up a leaflet advertising ENCOUNTERS, which someone mentioned to me recently – was it in PoE ?. "A new club for a different kind of reader" they blurb. Funny, I used to belong to an ENCOUNTERS in about '80 which also offered sf and fantasy books. Maybe they're taking the long view?

I gave up my ENCOUNTERS because I was reduced to getting such as FANTASY ROLE PLAYING GAMES and similar items of minimal interest. You had to buy so many books per year. The nearly-free offer in this present incarnation includes 4 Star Trek books, 3 Mervyn Peake, 2 Stephen King, etc. The only one I'd be interested in would be Terry Pratchett's WITCHES ABROAD, and that'll be out in PB form shortly anyway.


Letter from Steve Sneyd, whom I've been trying to persuade to join PoE, and who's been receiving spare 'K's. He still hasn't time, but comments on the JDR-butterfly query that he remembers a story by Philip K. Dick "the time machine brings 'em back from the future by mistake, and they wipe out current society – can't remember title, tho', one of his early ones".

I sent most of my PKDick to Tommy Ferguson when he was a PoE member, but Steve's description certainly doesn't ring any bells. Neither does it seem to tally with the one I half-remember, which was a good deal more sinister.

More sinister than wiping out society?

Oh, you know what I mean – atmospheric instead of slam-bang action. There's also the odd but not significant butterfly in Lindsay Gutteridge's COLD WAR IN A COUNTRY GARDEN trilogy, and Steve also says they (butterflies) come into an Aldiss short story, which I'm prepared to believe, having just read HOTHOUSE for the umpteenth time.

But there's still an unscratched itch. Tho' I suppose, sez he thoughtfully, I can blame the stoppage of many activities, from LoCs to painting house, to being distracted by JDR's nasty little conundrum. Anything for an out.


BOOK REVIEWS

Oddly enough, I recently read two books in the meta-fiction mode mentioned by Paul Kincaid in August. One was EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES by Tom Robbins ('76) which is one long author-intrusion. One of the blurbs says "funny like Vonnegut" and I'm afraid I'm forced to agree. The other was, coincidentally, by Vonnegut himself. The title? I disposed of it in a couple of days and can't remember the thing.

N-SPACE by Larry Niven (Orbit '92) is a sort of 600-odd page retrospective of Niven's writings. Three-quarters of it is quite familiar, and if one were a newcomer to Niven I'd recommend, say, NEUTRON STAR, rather than these extracts.

I may possibly go to THE 2ND VINTAGE PAPERBACK AND PULP BOOKFAIR (Grosvenor Hotel nr. Victoria Station, on the 10th. October. I expect there'll be some familiar faces, inc-luding Andy Porter, old-time fan and editor of the SF CHRONICLE of the US. Interested?


COMMENTS ON THE SEPTEMBER MAILING

THROUGH THE SPEAKING TRUMPET – JDR

Interesting to see the added skill month by month, ie. the different typefaces used for titles. Smooth as usual.

By the way, anyone wanting to extend their knowledge of those gallant freebooters of the sea – pirates to you – should note that there's two full size replicas of sailing ships at 1-2 Tobacco Dock, London, E.1 One is showing an exhibition of the history of piracy, the other the story of Stevenson's Treasure Island, from Tuesday to Sunday 10.30-17.00. No, I don't know how they manage the latter – I'm just repeating info. in the London Transport Guide 'How to Get There'.

LITTLE BITS OF ZERO – Carol Ann Green

Canary Wharf on the Moon? Difficult to see what would happen if a large complex suddenly went bankrupt Out There. I suppose the story would have to consist of some miraculous alien discovery in the foundations...surely I've read that before somewhere? Oh yes – 2001.

Interesting about Hull being divided by a river, tho' it's an East/West split rather than a North/South one as London. I feel very isolated here in the South East, especially relying as I do on public transport or the rusty bicycle. All the bright lights (and the fans) are North of the Thames, mostly due to the ever-handy Tube, which shuns us. On the other hand, there's compensation inasmuch as one can roam boot fairs and charity shops without much competition.

I envy your courage in leave a secure job to go to the Poly.

Starting stories (or for that matter, articles). I'm a great believer in the maxim that if the first sentence is right, the rest will follow. What's always fascinated me is something I've mentioned in 'K' before, I think; when an accomplished writer continues with a story after an interval, there's a practice of starting a couple of pages before the break so that you're writing at speed when the break comes and the thing f-l-o-w-s easier.

I think 'defenestration' is a regular word, tho' I have doubts as to Humanocentricism, which I presume will mean preferring us to those BEMs from Betelgeuse. A good word, but before its time.

Interesting (LBoZ is full of interesting bits) about Spurn Point. One never hears of the West Coast being washed away, in spite of the Atlantic. Something geologic one supposes – in a few thousand years will the Welsh peaks and the Pennines be all that's left?

THE ONE PER CENT FREE – Darroll Pardoe

Yes, I remember Bakelite. (Sounds like a popular song – "Yes, I remember Bakelite/Where I fell in love one night/The moon was bright and I was tight/Didn't know my left from right/When I awoke she'd gone from sight/In Bakelite. Oh lay."). Horrible smell when burning, which is why it was (and may still be) used for electric fittings. I seem to remember table-tennis balls were made of some plastic too – which makes me wonder what they were made of before plastics were discovered. Ivory? Oh no, that was billiards balls.

Remaindering. I once worked for a couple who wanted to corner the remainder market. They bought hard-cover books at the cost of waste-paper, and sold them as bargains. In those days the publishers just wanted to get rid of them. Nowadays, the price has spiralled, and even PBs go at over a pound. I don't know who's responsible, publishers or the middle men, but I suspect that it's led to a lot more speculation amongst the publishers, because a failure can at least earn more than its waste paper value and possibly even break even.

Agree with you on copyright law, but then I'm not the widow of an author.

SHREDS OF CANVAS etc. – Eunice Pearson

Glad you've picked up on Terry Pratchett – he helps in a small way to make the world a pleasanter place. I still think his early STRATA, which is outside the Disc World series tho' in a way allied to it (it's more or less a spoof on Niven's RINGWORLD) is one of his best. The other early opus, THE DARK SIDE OF THE SUN, is also amazingly inventive but lacks the firm touch – footnotes, etc. – of the Discworld series.

You say that the pile of ads. for the Chronicle had been getting smaller, which of course is a result of the depression. Times are hard. One of the local freebie papers has thought up an interesting fund-raising gimmick – two full pages of 'lonely heart' ads. which can be only answered through the paper's box numbers. There's about 300 in the last issue, and the insertion's free, but you have to pay for the privilege of answering each box number – £4 per time (£3.50 each for three or more).They're now also advertising the facility to listen to lonely heart advertisers on tape – on an 0891 number.

GALANTY – Derek Pickles

Me old friend Derek has, I think, broken all sorts of records in coming back to fandom. My 20 years gafiation/fafiation has gone out of the window, and I don't know any US fans either who've actually been absent for 35 years (apart from the little toe-dipping).

Yes, it was in 1948 that I first tried to see around Derek, and there's not too many of those original 51 at the first post-war Con left.

Welcome!

The mention of the ASTOUNDING and UNKNOWN collection marks one out, of course. Up to the outbreak of sf publishing just after the war you could tell a fan from his collection of sf pulp magazines. It was very nearly all we had and they were treasured.

In fact, when the late Bill Temple did a series of articles for a pre-war fan magazine (the 1st. properly distributed British one), NOVAE TERRAE, where he interviewed fans of the day in their own homes, much play was made of their hoarded stores of magazines and sometimes books.

Yes, we can now paraphrase that old quip – "We have seen the future – and are smothered in sf and fantasy trilogies". Who ever dreamed that the Buck Rogers stuff would take off like that?

THE ARACHNO FILE – John D. Rickett

Did I ever show you an immortal nursery rhyme I wrote in the '50s?

Little Miss Muffett, relaxed in the buffet,
Of a Martian Canal cafeteria
A Venusian spider sat down beside her,
And frightened her into hysteria.

Just thought, in view of your opening, that you'd like to know. Ah, I had genius in those days. No? Oh. Er – Mademoiselle Muffett?

RYCT Kench on superior education. Not having had the benefit of such I don't miss the odd foreign language, but the training – which may only come in passing – of the ability to think and express oneself clearly.

Re. the hacksaw melting – yes, a similar thing happened to yours truly. It was an antiquated system which should have had a di-pole switch but instead had two fuses, one five feet away from the other. I found one. When the overhead lights flickered as I cut through the wire....oh boy! Luckily, I had a handkerchief wrapped around the all-metal hacksaw handle.

Nice cartoon by the way – looks like the same artist who does the Ozzard of Wiz or whatever it's called.

* * * * * * * * *

Matter of fact, having left this for an hour to do some shopping, I face the mailing again with a sinking feeling. How can I do justice to JDR and Theo – not to mention myself – in the time remaining before the last post? I'd like to comment on virtually every sentence. Oh, well.

* * * * * * * * *

RYCT Darroll; I'd agree with you on spongers were it not for the weird extravagances of our lords and masters. What with the Poll Tax muddle and 'propping up the pound' for 48hrs or however long it was and the Civil List etc etc. I'd rather see money spent on those who need it.

Nice crack on page-finding in your comment to Carol. But racing cycles? I've been a cyclist since my RAF days, when firewatchers were issued with bikes to get to a residence a couple of miles away for which the RAF had responsibility. I'd never been on anything bigger than a child's tricycle before. I only went into one hedge (several times). But as for watching it...Oh no, John, no.

RYCT Sue and teaching children to swim. Daughter was telling me (last Sunday) that at the age of 16 months her kid had to be brought back from a valiant effort to swim the length of the pool. When I think thatmy mother wouldn't allow me near a swimming pool (or a bicycle) I realise again what 'smothering' means.

Earmarked for future quotation: "How weird that you can hang out your knickers with abandon".

THE STRUTHIAN PERSPECTIVE – Theo Ross

I asked in the last K what SCHEHEREZADE was. A week later one arrived in a batch of fanzines. Small Press, neatly done, no discernable nom-de-plume of our Author, but then it may not have been current – not a whisper of a clue inside as to month or even year.

Mention of Dennis Wheatley, who was the pre-war man's Stephen King, reminds me that on a rare excursion into the attic (Beware Spiders) I found a couple of pocket books by S. Fowler Wright, another even more overlooked author than Wheatley. And there was mention of him in the minutes of the SF Foundation lately – some relative has offered the use of a house about 2 miles from here to house it.

Sydney Fowler Wright was an eccentric who wrote what passed for hard cover sf in pre-war days. He wrote of a DELUGE sweeping the country, followed by a sequel DAWN. He wrote of BEYOND THE RIM where modern explorers find a colony in the Antartic which had been isolated for 300-odd years ("Master Arden, not being shipwrecked, nor driven by stress of wind, why came ye to these parts?"), and the usual worlds-end scenarios. He had his biggest triumph with THE WORLD BELOW (originally published in two books) – see right. The hero is precipitated half-a-million years ahead and joins a small band on a Quest. ("You are a strange animal, and as ignorant as you are dirty" say the heroine to the hero).

I really must get down to re-reading the yarns (a number came out in Cherry Tree Books which was a strong rival to Penguin for some time) and find out why they've been out-moded and forgotten. I seem to remember that SFW dropped in the odd gobbet of preaching now and again (he was against lawyers {sorry Ian}, Communists, abortion, judges, vivisectionists...I have a cloudy recollection of a list that goes on and on). And, unusually for those days, he had some strong female characters.

I wonder what that swear-word is in that comment to Carol Ann that has only three asterisks?

That's quite a clever comment on the "anyone who desires power shouldn't be allowed to have it". Back to aristocracy and royalty? But from history, anyone who's born into power immediately loses credence. If you're born rich you can't understand poverty. And probably vice versa. You've got to accentuate the random element. A huge lottery involving everyone, where if you're picked you have to serve as an MP for 4 years?

RYCT John: You're not in much danger of melting glass in a telescope eyepiece unless you've a 200 inch object glass. Unless you include the eyepiece you won't get a picture of the sun and sun-spots on white paper. I was doing this when I was 14, but alas in that same Boots diary where I'd pasted the results of the experiments (you circle around the sun image and fill in sun-spots with a pencil) I entered my finding of my first sf magazine and was lost to decent society.

But what's a big No No is to look through a telescope or field glasses at the sun. Don't even think about it.

A. VINCENT CLARKE

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Vince Clarke's APAzines
Contents

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Notes and Queries
K1
K2
K3
K4
K5
K6
K7
K8
K9
K10
K11
K12
K13
K14
K15
K16
K17
K18
K19
K20
K21
K22
K23
K24
K25
K26
K27
K28
K29
K30
K31
K32
K33
K34
K35
K36
K37
K38
K39
K40
K41
K42
K43
K44
K45
K46
K47
K48
K49
K50
K51
K52
K53
K54
K55
K56
K57
K58 to K69
K70
Books About SF Continued
From K??
Vincentian 1
Vincentian 2
Vincentian 3