All this stuff is Copyright © David Langford, and may not be reproduced or mirrored on other web sites without explicit permission. (You are welcome to link directly to any of these pages without asking, though.) I've kept back a number of longer items included in The Silence of the Langford (1996), Up Through an Empty House of Stars: Reviews and Essays 1980-2002 (2003), Starcombing: columns, essays, reviews and more (2009), All Good Things: The Last SFX Visions (2017) and Beachcombing and Other Oddments (2020), as an incentive to buy the books. Go on, you know you want to.
If you enjoy reading these pieces, feel free to fling a purse of gold at the author.
Recently Added/Updated - The Unpublished "Ansible Link" (2020)
- Nebulous Time at Faancon (March 1977)
- Glimpses of Loncon (2014)
- Twll-Ddu 14 (1978)
- Josh Kirby obituary (2001)
- Twll-Ddu 5 (1976) expanded with Cornish Pieria report
- Thirty Years On (2009)
- Novacon Memories (2010)
- 2010 SFX Reviews
- A Room of One's Own (1981)
- Twll-Ddu 16 and 17 (1979, 1980)
- Back in the Jug Agane (1984)
- Beware Mutations (1981)
- The Siamese Twinge with Kevin Smith (1980)
- 4004 and All That (1980)
- My Secret Life with David & Charles (1979)
- Fanzines in Theory and in Practice by D. West (1983)
- The Sound (If Any) of Music (1977)
- Atropospitality (1977)
- "Round the Clubs" (1979)
- Decadence in Birmingham (1978)
- A Short History of "The Eye of Argon" with Sandra Bond (2010)
- Phil Baker: The Devil is a Gentleman: The Life and Times of Dennis Wheatley (2010)
Stories
Links to work on other sites - "comp.basilisk FAQ" (Nature "Futures", 2 December 1999; collected in Different Kinds of Darkness)
- "New Hope for the Dead" (Nature "Futures", 26 May 2005; collected in Starcombing)
On Science Fiction and Fantasy
- The Unpublished "Ansible Link"
- SFX magazine columns (1995-2016)
- "Random Reading" mini-review features from The New York Review of SF (occasional since 2002)
- F&SF "Curiosities" columns (occasional since 1999)
- Sunday Telegraph magazine review features (2011-2013)
- Alphabetical Index of all reviews on this site
- A Short History of "The Eye of Argon" with Sandra Bond (2010)
- Arthur C Clarke 1917-2008 (2008)
- On James Branch Cabell (written 2004; 2007)
- On John Myers Myers (written 2004; 2007)
- On Thorne Smith (written 2004; 2007)
- Introduction to Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature (2000, revised 2004)
- The History of Mr Wells (2005)
- Torching John Brosnan (2005)
- Josh Kirby obituary (2001)
- Three Faces of Horror (1999)
- SFX Top 20 Feature (May 2001)
- Hal Clement 1922-2003 (2003)
- Tom Holt: Man or Myth? (2002)
- Pierre of the Apes: On Pierre Boulle (2001)
- Maps: Stalking John Sladek (2001)
- Remembering John Sladek – (Fortean Times, 2001)
- Josh Kirby: Biographical Introduction (from A Cosmic Cornucopia, 1999)
- Tolkien: Lord of the Royalties (SFX's Lord of the Rings promotional supplement, 2001)
- David Brin's new Uplift trilogy (Odyssey column, 1998)
- Minneapolis musings (Odyssey column, 1998)
- Appalling secrets of the SF Encyclopedia CD-ROM (Odyssey column, 1998)
- Gene Wolfe and Lexicon Urthus (Odyssey column, 1998)
- George Hay remembered (Odyssey column, 1998)
- James White and Sector General (Odyssey column, 1997)
- Greg Benford's Foundation novel (Odyssey column, 1997)
- A Year of Thog – collected Thog's Masterclass departments from Ansible (1997)
- Wreath of Stars: Bob Shaw remembered (1996)
- Interview with Christopher Priest (mostly about The Prestige) (1995)
- Traveller in Black: John Brunner, 1934-1995 (1995)
- Secrets of Onomatopoeia! – on L.E. Modesitt's sound effects (1995)
- On Alfred Bester (1993, 1987)
- Dinomania (1993)
- Ask Aunty Agonistes (1992) – agony column for SF Nexus
- On Brian Stableford (1991)
- A Very Short Anthology – on Drabbles (1991)
- I Wish I'd Written That (1991)
- Dangerous Thoughts – on Asimov's robots (1990)
- Introduction to G.K. Chesterton's Magic (1987)
- Interview with John Sladek (1982)
- Interview with Ian Watson (1981)
- Fission Fragments – news/gossip columns in Ad Astra (1979-1981)
On Writing in General
- Second Thoughts – on a sacred-cow reference work (1984)
- Beware Mutations – on house-styling and other mucking around (1981)
- The Siamese Twinge with Kevin Smith – on collaboration (1980)
- 4004 and All That – on research, as in getting others to do it (1980)
- My Secret Life with David & Charles – on that first book (1979)
- No, Not Pyorrhoea – on the Pieria writers' group (1976)
SF Fandom (Here Be Esoterica)
- Ansible – the newsletter (est. 1979, currently monthly)
- Cloud Chamber – the Langford APA fanzine
- Glimpses of Loncon (2014)
- Novacon Memories (2010)
- A Year in Fandom: 1976 (2010)
- Thirty Years On (2009)
- Scouting for Fans (2008)
- Dreamtime Guilt – brief memories of Aussiecon 3 in 1999 (PDF format, 2008)
- Thirty Years Ago – memories of Skycon in 1978 (2008)
- Happy Birthday to Philip José Farmer (2008)
- 2007: What I Wrote
- "The Trials of Albert Haddock" – on A.P. Herbert's "Misleading Cases" (2007)
- Another Convention Diary: Torcon 3 (2004)
- Microcon Metamorphoses – convention talk (1999, published 2002)
- Langford Meets Swamp Thing – Tropicon/Fanhistoricon 2000 trip report (2000, expanded 2002)
- Beachcombings – from Beachcomber to Edward Gorey via the depths of fandom (1999)
- Blowing the GUFF – secrets of the Get Up-and-over Fan Fund (1999)
- Minicon Diary – Langford at Minicon 33 (1999)
- On Rog Peyton of Andromeda Bookshop (1999)
- Beta Test Version (?1998)
- Tiny Tale of Terror (1998)
- Four Million Sandfleas – holiday diary (1998)
- Bumper Snufkin Introduction – on Maureen Kincaid Speller (1997)
- Six Day Warp: 1997 Eastercon Report (1997)
- Twenty Years of Uproar – reminiscences of funny bits from UK fanzines (1997, amended 1999-2000)
- Ansible Review of the Year 1996 (Easter 1997)
- First Contact (1995)
- Thirteen Things You Hadn't Thought To Believe In – it's bad luck to read this one while crossing a black cat (1994)
- The Adelphi Coracle – complete run of the 1994 Eastercon newsletter! For fanatics only. (1994)
- Di Ex Machinis – weirdness at Mexicon 5 (1993)
- Cactus Times Volume 4 – complete run of the 1993 Mexicon 5 newsletter. For fanatics only.
- Heliograph – complete run of the 1993 Eastercon newsletter, with notes and glossary! For fanatics only. (1993)
- Conquassation – 1991 UK convention memories (1992)
- Under the Lid – another tiny tale of terror (1991)
- UFOs and Lawsuits – curate's-egg convention speech (1990)
- Sglodion – extracts from a Langford fanzine (1989-1991)
- A Rant About Illiterate Convention Publicity – (1989)
- Contrivance Memories – by one who wasn't there (1989)
- Where Were You During The Eastercon, Daddy? – more cobwebbed fan controversy (1989)
- A Week of Sunday – slice of life (1988)
- Notes towards a Rubicon III report (1988)
- Jetbuff Ltd – Pulp fanzine column (1987-1991)
- On Iain Banks – but not very edifyingly (1987)
- Cuisine Unauthentique – recipes, sort of (1987)
- Strange Vibrations – at Conspiracy '87 (1987)
- Platen Stories – extracts from fanwriting collection (1987)
- Malcolm Edwards appreciation (1986)
- John Jarrold appreciation (1986)
- A Load of Crystal Balls: Great Failures of Prediction, AD 2000-3000 (1985)
- Open Sore (1985) – spoof game reviews
- The Thing from the Slushpile – more game-related nonsense (1985)
- I Was a Worm in the Big Apple – Chapter 8 of TAFF report (1984)
- Back in the Jug Agane – Oxcon memories (1984)
- Fanzines in Theory and in Practice by D. West – review (1983)
- The Cash Register Tolls for Thee (1983)
- Getting Educated – memories of Oxford (1983)
- Yes! We Have Parakeet Diapers – Chapter 7 of TAFF report (1983)
- Is There Life After Worldcon? – Chapter 6 of TAFF report (1982)
- The Day of the Jackpot – Chapter 4 of TAFF report (1982)
- The Novacon Records – long-ago and esoteric convention report (1982)
- Vaster Than Empires and More Slow – Chapter 2 of TAFF report (1981)
- From Pole to Pole – Chapter 2 of TAFF report (1981)
- Running Down – Chapter 5 of TAFF report (1981)
- The Call of Ko-Ad – Lovecraftian silliness on the TAFF trip (1981)
- Group Dynamics of Conventional Assemblies – long-ago and esoteric convention report (1981)
- A Day in the Life Of – Dave Langford (1982 )
- A Room of One's Own – self-interview of sorts (1981)
- This house believes that SF impairs the senses and natural bodily functions – debate speech (1980, published 1981)
- The Fall of the Mouse of Usher – a silly fanzine article of yore. (March 1980)
- The Hole in Reality – the fannish mind tackles car body repairs (1977, published 1979)
- The Horror in the VAT (1979)
- I Ching, Who You? – a long-ago and esoteric fanzine article (1979)
- Results of the 1978-1979 TWLL-DDU Fan Poll (1979)
- It's Smart To Have a Welsh Address – (written 1977, published 1979)
- Unique Aspects of British SF (1979)
- The Young Assassin's Guide (1979)
- LANGFORDCON spoof flyer (1979)
- Matrix "Round the Clubs" column contribution (1979)
- Decadence in Birmingham – Novacon 8 report (1978)
- George the Tortoise – nature study (1978)
- The Sound (If Any) of Music (1977)
- Atropospitality (1977)
- Hidden Shallows (1977)
- Nebulous Time at Faancon (March 1977)
- A Tale of the Jungle – sub-Belloc verse (1975, revised 1980)
- Drilkjis – full contents (almost) of my first fanzine (with Kevin Smith, 1976-1982)
- Twll-Ddu – index of extracts from my first solo fanzine (1976-1983)
Crime & Detection
- A Stout Fellow – on Nero Wolfe (1992)
- Dr Fell – on John Dickson Carr's great detective (1991)
- Ernest Bramah: Crime & Chinoiserie (1991)
- On Anthony Boucher (1984, expanded 1994)
- G.K. Chesterton crime omnibus introduction (1985, previously unpublished)
Weirdness and Forteana
- Skrapbook (The Skeptic, 2005)
- The History of Mr Wells (Fortean Times, 2005)
- "All Your Base ..." – wholly irresponsible contribution to urban myths about Al-Qaeda (Fortean Times, 2002)
- Remembering John Sladek – (Fortean Times, 2001)
- Come and Be Healed – a shocking anecdote (Fortean Times, 2000)
- Albatross! Albatross! – my naughty contribution to UFO lore (Fortean Times, 1996 but mislaid until 2000)
- Me and Hildegard of Bingen – (Fortean Times, 1998)
- Beastly Numbers – on dodgy numerology (Fortean Times, 1998)
- Unspeakable Horrors – on The Necronomicon (Fortean Times, 1997)
- SF Books of the Damned – on Eric Frank Russell's Fortean sf (1996)
- Worms and Tubes – (Fortean Times, 1996)
- Ancient Prophets – on Criswell Predicts! (Fortean Times, 1996)
- Martin Gardner: Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery – review (1996)
- Key Reading – on the writings of Frank Key (1993)
- Two Books on L. Ron Hubbard – (1987, 1988)
- Wu Li = Nonsense? (1980)
Computer Stuff
- Rescuing Crusoe – a true tale of disaster recovery (2008)
- Amstrad PCW computer magazine columns (8000 Plus/PCW Plus, 1986-1996; PCW Today, 1998-2002)
- What if ... the human brain could be hacked into? (T3 magazine, 1999)
- What if ... computers found a use for humanity? (T3 magazine, 1998)
- The Langford "Disinformation" columns from Apricot File magazine, 1985-88.
- Specimen Ansible Information Newsletter (with Chris Priest, 1990)
- Computer Slaying Drama Bid Probe (1989)
- The Hotware Revolution (1989)
- The Pirates of PC-DOS (1989)
- The Home Computer Handbook by Frank Herbert (1982 review)
Some Reviews
- Alphabetical Index of all reviews on this site
- "Random Reading" mini-review features from The New York Review of SF (occasional since 2002)
- F&SF "Curiosities" columns (occasional since 1999)
- 2011 SFX Reviews
- Phil Baker: The Devil is a Gentleman: The Life and Times of Dennis Wheatley (2010)
- 2010 SFX Reviews
- 2009 SFX Reviews
- 2008 SFX Reviews
- 2007 SFX Reviews
- SFX Book Club: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (2007)
- SFX Book Club: The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (2007)
- 2006 SFX Reviews
- 2005 SFX Reviews
- Ken MacLeod: Learning the World (2005)
- 2004 SFX Reviews
- Justina Robson: Natural History (2003)
- 2003 SFX Reviews
- 2002 SFX Reviews
- 2001 SFX Reviews
- Donald Kingsbury: Psychohistorical Crisis (2001)
- Lois McMaster Bujold: A Civil Campaign (2000)
- Frank M. Robinson: Science Fiction of the 20th Century (2000)
- Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter: The Light of Other Days (2000)
- Gene Wolfe: In Green's Jungles (2000)
- Gene Wolfe: On Blue's Waters (1999)
- Stephen Baxter: Time (1999)
- Brian Stableford: Architects of Emortality (1999)
- Peter Watts: Starfish (1999)
- Hal Clement: Trio for Slide Rule and Typewriter (1999)
- Michael Scott Rohan: Castle of the Winds (1999)
- 1998 SFX Reviews
- Elizabeth Hand: Glimmering (1998)
- Harry Turtledove: A World of Difference (1998)
- Frederik Pohl: O Pioneer! (1998)
- Diana Wynne Jones: Deep Secret (1998)
- 1997 SFX Reviews
- Greg Bear: Slant (1997)
- Gene Wolfe: The Book of the Long Sun (1997)
- Tim Powers: Earthquake Weather (1997)
- 1996 SFX Reviews
- Jack Vance: Night Lamp (1996)
- Christopher Priest: The Prestige (1996)
- Martin Gardner: Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery (1996)
- Lots of 1995 SFX Reviews (over 50 in a >100Kb document)
- David Prill: The Unnatural (1995)
- Eric Brown: Engineman (1995)
- James Blaylock: Lord Kelvin's Machine (1994)
- Michael Swanwick: The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1994)
- D. West, Fanzines in Theory and in Practice – (1983)
- On the Bestseller Trail (1982 review feature)
- SF Landmarks (1976 review feature)