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The Review of paperback SF PDF Free Download

The Review of paperback SF PDF free Download. Think more deeply and widely.

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poc-s

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Fiction

Association

magazine

PAPERBACK

INFERNO

CONTENTS

Ccr1triMi()1S of

a:Ner

art

arx:l

interior

art

are especially

welcane.

Please a:rrt<rt the editorial a1jress

REVIEWERS

n·ns

ISSJE:

Graha'n~,

Chris

Bailey,

K.V.

Bailey,

Colin Bird, Lyrre

Bi~,

Terry Broore,

Geoff

Coolie,

B.S.

Cullun,

Alan

Fraser, L.J. ttJrst,

Tan

A• .b1es,

Paul

Kincaid, J(gJ

Lake,

Venm

Leig"

Nik

Mortoo,

.till

Newsirger,

"'aJreen

Porter, lan sales,

kdy

5awyer,

Steve T

el,

sue

Ttmascrl,

Nea

ckery,

Ja1

IIace.

AAn«R<:

Colin

Davies:

Cover

&lo;p.

Steve

Bruce:

p.3; p.14.

Kevin

Cullen; p.S.

p.2

p.3

p.S

p.14

EDITCRIAL

{Pap:!rback

Purgatory}

CLCEER

EKXl.M"ERS:

Prorotioos

<n1

fere1iscm:es

REVIEWS

"lJ'(}j

n£

RJlCK

PRINT":

t>\3gazines

reviews fron

EQ./ard

James

arx:l

kdy

Mills

Ap.Jblicatioo of the

british

SCience

Fictioo Associatioo,

edited

kdy

5awyer.

ISSN

0260

0595.

**************************

.********

....

••

***************

July

7th.

for

all

cootriMioos

PI85

is:

AAAAAA"'***

••

DEADLINE

Saturday,

*******

cmtents

cq:>yrigTt

{c}

BSFA

Ltd.

1~.

lrx:liviclJal

cq:>yrigrt.s

are the

prqJerty of the autrors

arx:l

artists.

EDITORIAL

ADDRESS:

The

Flaxyard

Itxxlf

all

Lane

Little

restm

5aIth Wirral

Cheshire

L64

48T

{Tel.

051-336-3355}

tt.t

•••••

,A"A

PAPERBACK

INFERNO

need

new

production

assistant

Phil

Nichols

has

started

new

job

different

part

the

country.

I'm

looking

for

someone

with

word-processing

facilities

who

will

take

the

job

typing

reviews

ready

for

paste-up.

Anyone

willing

help,

please

contact

the

editorial

address.

You

don't

have

have a

particular

machine,

just

one which

will

give

clear

and

readable

typeface

after

reproduct-

ion.

H[lP

WANl[O

* . *

•••••

A _

British

SCience

Fictioo Associatioo Ltd.

Corpany

no.

921500.

Registered

Englarx:l.

Registered

A1:1ress

6aJmera.Ith

Rd.,

Folkestooe,

Kent

CT19

Limited

GJarantee.

Printed

POC

Co;Jyprint,

.Mfries

Passage, GJildford,

SUrrey,

GJl

PrOOuct

i00

Ass

istant,

chard

ttm.

f"aTtlership

of the

BSFA

costs

112

per year

arx:l

available fron

RAINE,

Tromville Imd, hartlep:x>I,

Clevelarx:l

SEW.

All

qJinioos

this

Iffigazine

are the

views

of the

irx:liviclJal

cootriM-

ors

arx:l

ITUSt

not

taken

represent the

views

of the editor or the

BSFA

except

Io>tere

expl

ici

tly

stated.

Paperback

Purgatory

N()

llAfi

ll1T

that

librarian's

date-stifTp

erx:brsed

ooce

again

for

failure

produce

index

with the

last

issue of PI. This

was

rut

uncoonected

with the

canpl

icatioos over

deadl

ines for

arx:l

the

arri

al of the advert for Pan's

new

line.

Ch:e

again,

idex

that

issue

avai

lable

anycre

..00

serx:ls

s.a.e

~Icgies.

apllogies

Jessica Yates,

..rose

reviel of

David

Eddings'

IDm

LCffi

KAIWDA

Iinflicted

with

granl ins

(PI

82,

12). Jessica

wrote

of the

MJlloreoo

Brpire,

"Its

capital,

MJI

Zeth,

enomws

city

Iotlich

ranirx:ls

[~ssia

without the

totalitarian

ideolcgy,

arx:l

there

are

TUTOJrs

of]

Gardahar,

rro.:lelled

00 oor

Irx:lia."

drcwing the

\>(lrds

inside the bracket for

reaS()lS

ooly

kraol1

peqJle trying

type

CqJy

last

thing

night, created a

~rfully

meaningless sartence. I

have

taken M

arx:l

shot.

Ah,

Mthe great attractioo of editing

any

sort

Iffigazine

the

OWJrtunity

gives

make

arigTt royal prat of yoorself.

the

same

issue of

¥tiich

the

index

originally

was

sq..oee.zed

M{#79l, I

frothed

great IErgth

ato.It.

the habit

rw-fantasy writers

over-

use

the

\>(lrd

"rraw",

especially

meaning

"jaws".

"Do

these peqJle not

possess dictiooaries or thesauri?" Iraved.

Try

saying

that

the

Eliz~than

Moretm

family of

Little

Moretoo

Hall, Cheshire,

..oose

crest

fron

least the

16th

century featured atypically

alful

iz~than

iXlI'1

picturing the qJen

jaws

of a

\>(llf

arx:l

9Tl311

barrel.

(''Maw''

"Tun"

=''M:lretm'', geddit?)

Abashed,

arx:l

still

reeling, I

checked

the

O.E.D.

arx:l

~Id,

although the

primary

definitioo of the

\>(lrd

"stanach",

does

also

mean

"the throat,

gullet;

I"lJl'I

chiefly the

jaws-

rrwth {of avoracioos

l11ilITITI'll

or fish)".

I'd

still

love

read

afantasy

novel

in ¥tiich the

\>(lrd

doesn't

awea

though

...

positive things. I

mentiooed

the

New

All

iance

last

iss-

ue,

arx:l

Isee

that

they

have

new

catalogue

arx:l

new

issues

associated

magazines,

Dave

ftJ11es'/kdy Stewart's

WllKS

arx:l

re-

viewer

Nik

Mortoo's

~IES.

Check

recent issues of PTaiil"/or

Matrix

for

editorial

nlresses,~

of Slbscriptioos,

etc.

arx:l

Iffig-

azines are

~ing

plamed over the

year -the

latest

INTERZlJ£

carries

ads

for

least

three. I

can't

resist

plug

for

ooe

Iffig

¥tiich shares a

I1cJre

with

favoorite

oos

barKl

R.E.M.,

that

is.

The

first

issue of

this

clJe

any

time

1nl:

can

run

areviel

this

issue I

will.

MearW1ile,

it's

~lished

ArthJr Straker,

5arx:lrirY,jlam

Ibad, Willesden,

Loodoo

rt/2

SE?

..00

Ibel ieve

Icd<ing

for

ICJYJ?r

stories of

arx:l

"hard~"

fantasy.

Pa)1TB1t

rates are

CQ'!Parable

INTERlCJ'£

arx:l

the

first

issue

{12.50

p&p

£9.00 for 4issues} will feature

stories

fron

Sirrm

Ings, Eric

BI"'M1

arx:l

Keith

Brcxic.e,

amoog

others,

arx:l

artw:>rk

fron

5'>IS

arx:l

'l()Ssname

-thingy -

yaJ

I<rni;

the

guy

l'tose cover

this

issue of

Pr".

fact,

the

ccrrectioo

~ing

quite gratifying.

Perhaps

should

rewrite

INTERlCJ'£

editorial stressing

all

the t.p-ard-caning

names

yaJ

see in trese pages,

because

yet another of the forthcaning

mag-

azines

c:crrect:83"Wfth

reviewer lan

sales.

n£

LYRE,

¥tiich lan

co-€diting with Nictolas

Malrrey

launched

year's

Eastercoo. Slbnissi()1S

{SF

preferred} received

~ore

Jan. 31st will

eligible

for the

"LaUlch

Canpetitioo" ¥tiich offers

1100

the

story.

Pa)1TB1t

fron

l1p

per

\>(lrd;

preferred IErgths are

1500

7500

\>(lrds.

Further

details

can

prOOably

OOtained

fron

ran

5aIthwe11

Ibad East, Mansfield, Netts

ClEW.

Yoo'll see scrre..tere in

this

issue

that

I've

had

reslXJlse

re-

quest for help

the pnxiJctioo side, M

anycre

else

willing

help Mplease

drq>

aline -see the ad.

aoove.

ItqJe

that

over the

~Ie

issues the

prOOuctioo

problans -

arx:l

sore

the typoes,

¥ti

everyooe

..00

has

C01TT'S1ted

the

Iffigaz

ine

has

too

rx:l

mentioo!

-will

have

irooed

But

Ithiri<

I've

said

that

~ore

•..

Anyway,

yaJ

have

index

this

time!

PAPERBACK

INFERNO

LaM)'

Niven

Steven

Barres - - M

BARSlXM

PmJECT

(Pan,

1'JJJ,

34lW,

£7.99

)

fot!lanie

Raw1

- -

STAASCJUL

(Pan,

1'JJJ,

589pp,

£7.99)

Chris Clareroot - -

FIRST

FLIGrr

(Pan,

1'JJJ,24:W, 13.99)

fot!lanie

Raw1

- -

ffi<lG}l

PRINCE

(Pan,

19S0,

574w,

£4.50)

I[)an

t.tGi

- -

JASrn

a:oo

(

Pan,

1'JJJ, 22{W, 13.99)

Step'a1 Jores &Clarence Paget (Eds,) - -

VOICES

(Pan,

1'JJJ,

34iW,

13.99)

(Rev

e..ed

Andy

5awyer)

S P R I NG •

••

lltel a

IJ,blistB"'

fcn::y

tJ..rns

~ms.

TI«l

that

have

passed

this

way

recently

have

been

Titan's "Best of

Bri

tish" grdlilic rovel praroti(JI (of

which

IlDre

later) ard the ldlllch

of Pan's

rew

tripartite

venture into

SF,

Fantasy

ard fbrror

With

dlrl<y

little

spire

s}1ltxlls

ard blockbustirg

tOO<.s.

has

been

said else..toere,

the

launch

titles

have

been

chJsm for

their

camerciality,

which

is a

sa..rd IlDYe

terms

rrek

irg

irrpact, ard

when

the

Pan-ga

Iactic

twr

arri

ved

Eastert:al

(JI

ftpril

14th

(loved the sweat-shirts!) the floor

seered

packed.

I'm

writirg

this

after

~irg

Maureen

Porter's survey of the ldlllch

tOO<.s

Critical

Wave

ard

I'OJld

rreke

for

IlDre

scintillatirg

joomal-

ism

I..ere to disagree violently. litf'ortlnately for fans of

blood

'n'

guts reviewirg IIlDre

less agree with f'laureen's analysis, ard

differ

regardirg particular

tOO<.s

it's

Qt.eSti(JI

<iagree

rather than

furdarental

Icertainly find

LaM)'

ven

Steven

Barres'

l}£

BARSlXM

PmJECT

(tra

paperbaclc.,

£7.99) less of apage-turrer, IlDre of aflal:tly

exercise

crnp:lSite

marl<etirg

tectrliques (desi91ed to aweal

garers,

thriller

fans, follov.ers of the authJrs'

o..n

hard

ard

E.R.

Bul'TClJ;jls

fans

(JI

the strergth of the

title

t:toJ;jl

...oat

that

has

th the rest

the plot I

have

idea).

Even

IlDre

disposaIi'l"eis

fot!lanie

Raw1'

STAA-

SCIUl. the other 'lead' hardlack again also available

ytWieback

yoo

want

save

afiver.

This

IlUCh

the stereotype dr(l(JJl-based fan-

tasy rovel for the

Ame

r-t:Laffrey

marKet

that IforgJt

authJr

ard

title

c(JIversati(JI

with

three

~le

within ten minutes.

TI«l

..ere the

smior

ficti(JI editor ard

~licity

manager

for

Pan

tOO<.s.

Cl1

dear.

Rath-

confusirgly,

this

is the

sequel

PRINCE,

\oilich

was

jlillisl'ed

last

year

hardJack.

SidJ:wick &

JackSCJ1

ard

1'"01

awears

mass-ll'c1rK-

paperback

frun

Pan.

Sti

11,

these

shift

-ard there's a

ht.ge

market

for

RPG-SF

ard dragn-fantasy -then

that

breeds soccess for the

rew

lires

and

lerg

there's

sore

good

material awearirg

the future -ard

there is -

I'm

hawy that

Pan

have

chasm

this

way

of spreadirg

their

nare

thrw,toJt

the

&FreiKErship.

Lackirg

the

elM

of 'lead

hardJack.'

status M

all

the better for

FIRST

FLIGrr,

the

deOOt

rovel frun canics writer Chris Clareroot.

This

is standard

spac~ratic

fonrula

with

brilliant

yoorg

space

pilot

with

tendercy

screw

(JI

her

first

voy~.

Rescuirg

ship

(JIly

fall

into apirate trap,

she

erds

with the

rest

of her

crew

driftirg

Mof the solar systan••• Mwait! ...oat's

this

tri<n:w1

ship headirg to-

wards

thEm?

asense,

this

rrekes

rre

feel

IlDre

charitable to./ards

l}£

BARSlXM

PmJECT

ard

STAASCIU1.:

maybe

just

this

slb;jenre better

than the others.

f'laybe,

FIRST

FLIGrr

also c(]ltnnes acti(JI ard sensa-

I<otInda

with

the maturirg of the

main

character. Clareroot's

main

use

of his

freedan frun the

irrp:JSed

aTDti(J1d1

immturity of

X-M:!n

conics

to allGl

his characters

say

"fock"

every

often M

may

pretent-

ious

rre

say

so)

reeds

this

kind

of readable lTPretentious

CCJ1st-

ard

uIXJatino

oTTts roots.

iJan

fotGirt's

JASrn

a:oo

has

-Xlsh

Kirby

cover ard

set

(JI

adisc-

I«lr

Id.

There

are foor

reaSCJlable

cj(es

in the

tOO<.

cne

\oil

reOOs

Iike aPratchett

M-take.

That's aquid per joke.

VOICES

is aselecti(JI frun the past

years of

l}£

PIlN

1nl<

STCRIES,

with

each

story intro1Jced

''lrr:xEm

master"

of the

genre. Alto;jether there are

stories, inclLdirg

Aickrran's

'Ring-

irg the O1arges'. Step'a1 Kirg's

'The

f'langler'

ard

George

Largelaan's

'The

Fly'

((JI

which

the films ..ere

based:

David

Crc.retlerg,

...ro

made

the re-

make,

here intnxiJces

it).

Later

iSSleS

of the

Pan

Book

seered to

fall

in-

to arut, but

this

collecti(JI ard

cU9JI'S

..ell for future ed-

(JIS.

All

types of hJrror, frun the

suspense

to the supernatural, are

inc

1LK1ed

,ard

its

aweal

widerl!d

the inclusi(JI of several stories

which

yoo

I'OJlcil't

thirl<

recessari

belCJY,)ed

ahJrror anthJlrgy -

Mthey ..ere, cbvioosly. originally

inclLK1ed,

ard they

00,

they

•••

thirl<

aboot

J::rn

Lern:n's

'No

Flies

(JI

Frari<',

HaM)'

HarriSCJ1's

'The

Streets of

Asl"kel(JI',

ard

Ian

t-tEwan'

'PotTOTdIilY'.

vt1at's the verdict? Aset of

tOO<.s

with

sanethirg for everycne; a

good

collecti(JI rather than agreat cne,

flil'tEd

the

ilTpressi(JI

that

fantasy is a

genre

for lJl1iscriminatirg readers of

whatever

has

the I«lrd

"dragrl"

the

title

or a

Josh

Kirby

cover, M

which

has

potential for

grGlth.

Later

tOO<.s

scheduled

inclLK1e

yoo'll

have

read,

K.W.

Jeter's

l}£

NIGrr

WIN,

Pat

t1JT'I11Y's

Tl-IE

CITY,

t'{)T

LINJ

flfTER,

ard Brian Stableford's

11-£

EWIRE

FEAR,

aforrrer

ClarKe

award

naninati(JI.

The

horror/darK

fantasy

list

lcxi<s

intriguirg,

with

I«lrKS

Charles

Lint ard British

rewccrrer

Grahcm

Joyce,

troojI

Ishall

lcxi<irg

forward

to Eric

Bl'U\fl's

collecti(JI

l}£

TIt>£-U\PSED

WIN

special interest, not

just

because

he's

occasi(JIal

contriMor

reviews

this

magazire

because

cne

of the

IlDst

interestirg ard effective of

what

for

want

of abetter

term

yoo

coold

call the "Interzcne"

groJP

rew

yoorg

British

writers.

nail,

seems

that

Pan

have

put together astrorg

list

for the year,

ard with

any

justice

they

stmld

..ell

(JI

it.

And

1'"01

..e turn

the

rrediun

of the

post-literate

("post",

Alan

MxJre

says

interpreted

Paul

Dawsal,

follGlirg, ad1irg to

literacy"

rather than leavirg

behind

Today,

conics are Art!

The

grdlilic

rrediun

canes

did five, ten, fifteen years

..•

but

this

tirre "grdlilic novels" are

ICJlger

arovelty, Mare

becanirg a

maSS-ll'c1rKet

soccess.

Titan

Books

are largely instrurental

this

charge frun the famish

bype

of a

few

enthusiasts to a

IlDre

general

attElTpt

escape frun "cult"

status (tlnJgh smaller -ard mainstrean -

fXjblishers

are prcxiJcirg sore

excitirg ventures) ard

have

crested the

wave

this

sprirg

with

their

"Best

Bri

tish" prumti(JI.

This

airred

increase awareress of the ..ealth of specifically British

materiaI

the grdlilic

rove

fie

CJT'OO;j

the

tOO<.

buyi

fXjb

Iic ard the

tOO<.

trade

itself.

TI«l

cbzen

titles

..ere specifically

chJsen.

for.

prumti(JI

to highl

i<trt

the

I«lrK

writers/artists

such

Alan

MxJre,

Dave

GibbCJ1s,

Grant

MJrriSCJ1,

Steve

Yeov.ell,

Neal

Gaiman,

J::rn

Wag-er

ard

Alan

Grant,

Pat Mills,

••• ard

many,

many

IlDre.

The

oo-nmth

lerg praroti(JI feat-

ured

acmpetiti(JI

tOO<.srq,s

offerirg the

locky

winrer a

trip

San

Dieg>

"to witness

first

hand

the British invasi(JI of the krerican

mar-

ket".

Titan ..ere also

Co-Sp(Jlsors

of "Strip search",

exhibiti(JI of canic

art

old ard

rew

presmted

February

ard

f'larch

this

year

the

L(JI-

dCJ1

florwj'l of

CcmIen

~iss

Cottage

Library,

...ro

..ere launchirg

their

rew

collecti(JI of grdlilic rovels.

This

turred M

massive

soccess:

"prOOably

the best exhibiti(JI ever" accordirg

the florwj'l's

Visual

Arts

Officer,

Paul

Collett.

The

exhibiti(JI featured original

art

ard printed

matter frun

~rt

ard [)an

Dare

to'ffis "lJ'XJergranj" conics,

2CXXWl,

canics

Japan, the

"rew

breed", etc.

Over

600

ccpies of the

catalCX}Je

..ere sold•.14lirg frun

this

catal()}JE!

which

is a

superb

I«lrK

itself;

less a

catalCX}Je

for

exhibiti(JI ard IlDre

essential readers'

guide

conics

with

bibiogrdlilY, I

ist

of (Lcnh1) stockists, ard

A-Z

iID-

lishers ,ard essays

exhibiti(JI organiser

Paul

Gravett of

Escape

mag-

azire ard

Paul

Dawsal,

...ro

teaches

acoorse

(JI

"the

Grdlilic

~at

Man-

chester University -the soccess

was

deserved.

John

Wilkins

CcmIen

Libraries

camE!nted

(JI

the

htJ;je

nurtJer

yoorg

~le

who

atterm.:1

the

exhibiti(JI.

,Apparently,

hJped that "Strip search" will awear

other parts of the cWltry:

rreanwhile,

yoo

can

track.

00..0

copy

the

catalCX}Je

(no

price is

ven

(JI

mire:

prOOably

best to

cCJ1tact

CifTl-

den

Leisure

~rtrrent

~iss

Cottage

Library regardirg availability)

yoo'll

have

superb

ard useful

fXjbli

cat

i(JI.

The

enthusiasm

which

greeted "Strip search" apparently extended to

the "best of British" praroti(JI.

Accordirg

Paul

Barrett of Titan, the

prarotien

has

resulted in rrore take-up frun

libraries

ard major

tro.

chains such as

W.H.

Snith's,

brirgirg

grap'lic rovels

the

attentien

rrore than

the

specialist

tro.-store

market.

The

~titien

has also

had

g:xxl

resp;J1se -

not

surprisirgly

Iot1el

the

prize

also

lp:s

the

tro.-

seller's

lotlich

the winner picked

the entry

form.

loIlat

with

this

year's

Conic

Art

Co1ventien havirg tak61 place in the

official

City of Culture

(Gla~,

that

is)

ard

least

cne

other

taJrirg

exhibitien -

se61

Yoor

Editor

Prestcn Library ard

featurirg

the

'toOrks

Leo

Baxe1dale ard Grant fotJrriscn,

arrorg

others -c;pirg the

ran!s

1'ro

seems

the

Year

of the Grap'lic ttJvel.

***

BeIG¥,

.ktn

lB6i"P",

regular

revie...er

lotlo

has

also writt61

cOllics

for

Libertarian E<iJcatien, exffilines foor

the

tro.s

featured in

Titan's

"Best

BritISh" prarotien, ard

\<UKlers

there

really

has

bee1

"COllics

revolutien".

Sirron

Geller, Steve

f"aranus

ard Steve Oillen - -

mJE

TlUPER

OCO<

(Titan,

1~7,

£4.95)

Pete Milligan,

Brett

Ewins

ard

Jim

Mccarthy

- -

IW)

awA'IY

OCO<

(Titan,

1~,

£4.50)

Grant fotJrriscn ard Steve

Yeonell

- -

ZENITH

OCO<

1(Titan,

1~,

£4.95)

Jamie Delam ard J:tin

Ridgeway

- -

HEL1..BlJ\ZER

OCO<

1(Titan,

1~,

£6.50)

Has

there

bee1

British

COllics

revolutien?

PrOOably

not,

there

have

certainly

bee1

imx>rtant develq:rrent.s

that

deserve

attentien.

The

titles

has

exparded, the

slbjects

covered

have

beca1T2

rrore adventuroJs,

the

~Ie

still

readirg

COllics

has

crept

up,

the

rtJTter of spec-

ialist

COllics

slq)s

has increased.

the

day

the

grap'lic rovel

has

arr-

ived, ard

there

are

artJTter of

British

writers

ard

artists

lotlo

have

be-

COlle

"names",

lotlose

'toOrk

attracts

readers both here ard in m-erica because

their

rep.rt.atiens ard past achievarents.

Iotlat

have

here, ro.ever,

can perhaps

best

characterised as a

boOll

rather

than arevolutien,

al-

tlrogh

there

have

bee1

"revoluticnary"

initiatives

within

the

ccrrt:.ext

this

boOll.

These

initiatives

over exploratiens in

COllic

fOlTTlilt

the per-

scnal,

the

absurd ard

the

pol i

tical,

exploratiens

that

sustained might

well ev61tually

amoont

arevolutien.

the

cuttirg

ed;Je,

wittaJt

any

da.ibt,

Fleetway's

Crisis

COllic

ard in

particular

the

'Third I«Jrld

War'

strip,

writte"l

Pat"""ffi1TS

ard

Alan

Mitchell ard set in anear future

crisis-torn

Britain.

here

have

aferocioosly

anti-racist,

anti-I~r

ialist,

anti-establishTeTt

storyline

that

has

bni<61

carpletely

fBoI

grun:l

far

British

mainstream

COllics

are

ccncerned.

not

enly portrays

injustice

ard

abJse

Mrrore imx>rtantly celebrates

resistance,

vital

task

in these tirres! Clearly

there

are

interestirg

develq:rrent.s

takirg

place.

\oI1ere

then

these foor grap'lic rovels,

all

the

'toOrl<

British

writers

ard

artists,

fit

in?

Three of the foor

are

reprints

frun

the

OOys'

sci61Ce

fictien

COllic

200)/\[)

lotlich

perhaps a

fair

indicatien

its

irrJX)rtance

far

BritIsh

COllics

are

ccncerned. Created

Pat Mills in

March

1977,

200)/\[)

many

ways

prepared the gron:J

for

rrore recent develcpTB1ts.

Thn:iJjiiif

the

late

1970s

ard

the

1~s

its

regular

.Jud]e

Dredd

strip

provided

essential

camaltary

ard

critique

law

ara

ol'diir authoritariani911,

ard

served as

the

Ya"licle

for

ootstardirg

COllic

tro.

'toOrl<

such as

Alan

M:ore's

Halo.mes

ard

~inch

stories,

Pat

lls'

G¥n

Slaine ard

NelTesis

storIes

ard a

others.

here

have

three of tJieCiUi:!rs:

m!~

ilUPER,

[W()

awftHY

ard

ZENITH,

reprinted in

the

presti~

Titan

fOlTTlilt

as grap'lic rovels.

has

borne in

mind

that

these

strips

were

writte"l ard

driW1

primarily

for

male

tealage

audi61ce altlnJcjl

the

fact

that

they

have

been

reprinted

Titan cbvioosly

shows

that

they

are

also of

interest

older

ard rrore well-heeled

cli61tele

as well.

First

mJE

TIDYER

OCO<

6. Essentially

lotlat

have

here

all-

actien future

war

story

that

decorated with rrore than

the

usual

amoont

of anti-war

rhetoric.

is,

of coorse,

the

last

the

~tic

infant-

ry~,

artificial

man

created

the

perfect

fightirg

machine

in a

war

wittaJt

end.

this

volurre

61listed

in a

plot

assasinate a

nl.ntJer

ta~

lot1ose

eliminatien

will,

told,

brirg

the

war

end. i'()t very

inspirirg

stuff

ard

for

rrmey

Steve Oillen

cne

the

weakest

artists

'toOrk

the

strip.

has never

bee1

cne

favwrites

has

certainly

bee1

better

than

this.

IW)

CIWftHY

PAPERBACK

INFERNO

OCO<

another

war

strip,

~irg

explore "both

the

battlefields

war

ard

the

battlefields

the

swl".

ttJt

really

successful altlnJcjl

Ewins

ard rn:Carthy's

manic

arOOrk

always weirdly

fascinatirg.

Wlich

brirgs

ZENITH

OCO<

1, writt61

Grant fotJrriscn ard

driW1

Steve Yeonell. This

the

real

thirg.

fotJrriscn's

diffident

yt:UY,J

~rhero,

Ifil

;o,wld

rather

have

record

the

charts than save

the

I'oOrld

has

h.m3n

qui

rkiness ard

cheek.

that

marks

him

0Jt.

Marvelloos

stuff.

W10

fotJrTiscn

\oWld

have

ex-hippy

s~rhero

transform into a

Tory

lotlo

usirg

his

telepathic

powers

dissident

backb61Chers

SlJI+Ort

the

Poll

Tax?

Incidently, fotJrriscn also writes

cne

the

best

hrerican mainstream

COllics,

DC's

The

Do011

Patrol,

lotlich

well

'toOrth

hav-

irg

100<.

at,

ard

also

writirg

thE!

fBoI

oan

Dare

strip

for

Fleetway!

This

brirgs

another of

the

best MErlCan

COllics,

DC's

tJellblazer

writte"l ard

driW1

Brits

JcFes

delam

ard

.xm

Ridgeway.

Titan

have

far

reprinted three volurres of

this

ootstardirg

rorror

COllic.

this

first

volurre

the hero,

.xm

Crostantine, confrrnts

the

famine darm

M1eroth,

darm

)'lWies,

ard a

ITB1tler

the

Dilmatien

Armj.

O'x:e

again

this

marvellous

stuff.

Crostantine

aut.hentic character ard

the

rorrors

tackles

are

all

the

rrore potent because they

are

sh:w1

'toOrk

in a

I'oOrld

that

reccgJisably oor CWl. Ridgeway's ariWJrk

ex-

cellent

ard

anythirg

lOO<.s

better

the

black ard lotlite Titan

editien

than

did in coloor in

the

original

COllic.

This

also well

'toOrth

100<.

at.

Wlat

have

then

might

not

arevolutien,

cultural

other-

Wise,

altlnJcjl

cne

lives

There

are,

ro.ever

increasirg rtJTter

COllics

ard grap'lic rovels

aran!

that

repay readirg. Dcn't miss

0Jt

tIm.

SUN

N Y S I D E U P

Ksl

L.aIe

lOO<.s

Nmt.R

Q.NI:E'S autobiograp'ly,

ASTlIJI)INi

D\YS

(Gollancz,

1'ro,

224w,

£4.99)

This

rrost

q:>inicnated, tl.nptioos,

self-irdJlgelt,

ramblirg

tro.

also

absolutely

essential

for

every

fan.

IW;11ly

tl.n;j

partial

ard idiosyncratic survey

the

plots ard

flaws

of a

wide

stories

lliJIished in Asta.n:lirg frun

1911

1971,

also diSOJsses

the

auttxJrs

tlanselves,

thE!

edItors,

the prog-

ress

sci61ce ard

teelmlogy

-ard

creative

imaginatien, mankind's

greatest

gift

-in

brief

chapters, each

takirg

different

issues of

the

magazine.

But

thatIS

just

the

begimirg.

Clarke's

TIBT'Ories

brirg

sni~s

frun

his

CWl

life

ard

\>Orl<s,

reprints

his

G¥n

spoof

article

'The

ltlrd Processor' ard

his

CWl

letters

the

editor,

ard

rocrns

back

ard

forth

with

infuriatirg

lack of

any

systaretic

awroach

thrcujl

mill61nia of sci61Ce ard

OO1sci61Ce.

Ard

that's

Iilere

the

real

interest

ies.

<l>vioosly

rruch

the

"prq1lecy" faJ1d in Sf COlles frun

intellig61t

anticipatien,

the

extrapolatien of informatien perhaps krn.n enly

the

autror

tirre of

wri

tirg.

EV61

these

startlirg

foresights prov-

ide

scq:Je

for

oor

mids

txqjle

-MClarke also prqx>ses cases of

9=RJine

prE!CO}1itien,

thirgs

lotlich

~red

Iot1el

there

was

c:m:eivable

way

the

Cllthor could

have

had

any

iric.lirg of

the

facts.

Perhaps

the

rrost

strikirg

his

revelatien

that

Fraric.

Paul's

cover

for

the

ItJvaTtJer

1928

issue of lmazirg

Stories

depicts aclose-

view

.l.piter

COllPlete

with

the

pattern

JcqJS

and

lotlorls in

the

clew

bards

aran!

the

le!

S!XJt,

SOTEthirg

were

not

able

see

lITtil

the

Voy~

space-probe

sent

back

its

~irg

pictures

al-

rrost

If a century 1

ater!

1911

Ray

Currnirgs

featured

lotlat

was

the

face

was

001-

S61se

-usirg gravity

assist

speed aspacecraft

its

way

-as well

g<rT1l'O-ray

detectors

for

locatirg

sam:es

of ll.flar radioacti

vity

frun

orbit,

lotlich

was

first

cb1e

~llo

1975.

Also in

1911

the

maga-

zine

lTB1tions

the

use of radar

for

blind

lardirgs

aircraft,

ard

FIOO

clear

fog -both

first

used

1941

Iot1el

Clarke

was

the

RAF.

Ard

1934

J:tri

~ll

forecast usirg

the

[Xwler

effect

radio

waves

rreasure the velocity of arocket -

this

was

first

1944

-lotlile

Ra]mJ1d

Gallun described

la~

rrercury mirrors

for

tel~,

at.ech-

ni~

enly

nG¥

beirg

tested.

fls

Clarl<e

lXlints

cm,

there's alot

there that

>.e

sti

have

discover,

re cites averse frun a

IXE'll

(autror

l.JlI<ro"n)

that adnirab-

SLlTlS

rrarkiOO's

srortcanirgs:

1'000

hears

rre

taw

Tre

five-sensed

cane

miOO

A'nid

sLdl

greater glories

That

\o()rr..e

than

bliOO.

J'mn;J

these literary

gElTIS

>.e

fiOO

sLdl

facts

Oliver heaviside

(yes

re of the

Heaviside

layer)

had

derived the equatien

E~'

Icng

1!ro!

that the great

Newta1,

Iootm

>.e

all

led

with

dIE,

spent the

latter

part of his

life

arcane

stu:lies of

treolo:JY,

al<:he!T!t

evm

magic!

revealirg

scrre

of the s1:lpidities,

acts of

92f1ius,

of early

writers,

Clarl<e

arroyirgly

v.tleels

that cliere

">.e

shall

meet

rrean

that re will

intl"CXixe

the writer's

Mre

afuture chapter -

uses

many

tirres

drove

rre

near to

screcJl1irg

lXlint.

revels in

blO;/irg

his

0;In

t~,

stuXlirg his text

with

self-adJlatory p'lrases

''rro/

old sparrirg-part:rer

C.S.Lewis"

refererces to organisatiens

p~cJllmes

bearirg his

0;In

Mre.

Yet

re is

not

too

prcu1

to adnit,

the fcur-chapter

Epi

ICXJ,e,

that "I

seen

have

teal

the me

1'000

has

not

had

his wits

al:OJt

him

tOOay,"

tells

hO;I

"cculd

have

SIo()m"

had

saved

that chapter to disk

c~ied

not

cn:e

twice

-enly to

fiOO

that "all versiens

tla<fVai1isred

into

lirrtxJ"

despite the activit-

ies of a

carp.rt.er

maVEfl

still

had

to recreate

it,

"dredgirg the

depth

ITo/

0;In

randan

access

prot.eplagnic

rrarory

to retrieve the vanisred

bytes." .

Writte1

1~7,

CI'lEll:i!d

lCUl

~Iisred

lc:m,

this

txx:k

reed correctirg

again

cur

YJnlled;)e

advances,

Clar1<e

OCes

not

fail to

make

the

illlXlrtant

lXlint

that

whi

le tedmlo:JY

may

cp:n

new

vistas, awlied tedmlo:JY ofte1 retreats:

1934,

Harry

Bates' story

Matter

of Size'

has

asix-inch-hig,

man,

faced

with

the task

crossirg the

I'oOOle

New

Yorl<

City, mailirg

hiJl'5elf

PAPERBACK

INFEmlO

cardOOard

txlx

teirg deli

vera:!

safe

SOJrd

few

hoors

later.

fls

Clarl<e

says,

"That

alme sets the story finnly

bad<.

the

1930s.

TcxJay

re'd

dead

marrival -of starvatien."

~irg

that re

was

txlm

hoose

nared

"Slmyside", me

~rs

wrether

cast a

terJ2volent

infllJe'Ce

UJ))n

the

man;

readirg of his int-

rcx1uctien

SF,

fflCe

tedm

ogy

the

CIl'QZ

irg

lie

ani

1'000

lived

nearby,

me is

almost

forre! to

wrether

this

saninal in-

fllJe'Ce

was

"planted" to create the

KJ::.

>.e

krnI

love

>.ere

they

really aliffls, or time-travellers?

Clarl<e's

intn::xiJctory

notes

infonn

that flstardirg frun

1930

can

ct>tained

Microfiere frun

Micro

IllfonnatIen

Ccncepts

Dallas

al:OJt

six

small

plastic

txlxes

acost awarently

arcm:1

$750,

which,

re says, is

al:OJt

issU!, far less

than

the

moolderirg

original

~lps

Io()Uld

cost

yoo

tOOay.

praises

Mike

Ashley's

original full-size

Tl-E

awLETE

nux

ASTaIDItG/N-W..CXJ

(Rl:'OOrt

\Ein-

terg Publicatiens,

15145

Oxford

drive,

Oak

Forest

6(4452),

gives a

>.ell-eamed

plug

to Peter Nicl'olls'

OCYCL<PEDIA

Cl'

SCIOCE

FICTICN,

which

is of coorse everycne's tedside

txx:k.

His

historical

biblio-

grap'lical footrotes are astorelnJse of useful infonnatien -MI

was

stn:ked to

fiOO

nothirg

than

abrief reference to the

IXlI)il1dth

;cientific

92f1ius

Nicola

Tesla

-for

share!

0;In

recollectiens of yooth

>.ere

stirred

Clarl<e's

rrentien

of his

invitatien,

v.t1en

was

chainnan

of the British Interplanetary Society,

Dlaf

Stapled:Jl to

address

to the

BIS.

Clarl<e

dates this

1950,

must

have

teal

the years

1945/46:

Iattmled that lecture,

St Martin's Sclml of

Art

Charirg

Cross

lbad,

have

to ccnfess

that

the

unaccustored

reat of the

roon

fell

asleep twice, gainirg

nothirg

CffIsoricus

than

understardirg

smi

le frun

Clarl<e

brief

grimace

frun Phil Cleator!

fls

Clarl<e

recalls, Stapled:Jl

knew

noth-

irg of

v.t1en

re wrote his

LAST

FIRST

!'fN

which,

H.G.

\Ells

flstardi

was

sani

nal

llJe'Ce

ITo/

0;In

SFnal

deve

qnart

the forties, a

decooe

after

Clarl<e

had

blazed

the

trai

not,

yoo

are gairg to

have

reOO,

keep,

this

txx:k.

Itlat apity that I

have

to ccnfess that

fails

totally

its

aim

providirg

any

kiOO

of real

guide

its

many

subjects: there

irdex!

Ben

Bova

Alfred

Bester

--------------EXTRO

(Mandarin.

1989.

218pp.

£3.50)

-----------

-GOLEM

100

(Mandarin.

1989.

383pp.

£3.99)

(Reviewed

L.J.

Hurst)

EXTRO

marked

Bester's

return

writing

after

fifteen

year

break.

reflects

everything

that

was

associated

with

his

two

classic

novels

high

speed

action.

mystery.

the

social

exploration

technical

developments.

the

degeneration

moral

standards.

and

the

division

the

classes

and

social

groups

into

worlds

far

separate.

the

other

hand.

Bester

thought

that

was

flawed

novel

'There

something

vitally

wrong

with

that

book.

and

knew

when

finished

it.

and

couldn't

patch

then',

said

1979.

had

great

difficulty

following

the

plot,

even

though

summarised

the

cover.

The

reason.

think,

that

ideas.

characters

and

settings

are

flung

about

with

abandon.

and

not

necessarily

included

for

the

benefit

the

story.

So,

Guig.

the

hero

gets

himself

young

squaw

wife

Indian

reservation.

and

goes

out

the

asteroid

belt.

and

immortal.

It's

strange

combination

for

novel

about

battle

against

cosmic

computer.

GOLEM

100,

written

five

years

later.

much

whole,

even

while

contains

Bester's

pages

typographical

experiments

representing

mind

states.

Set

North

America

the

same

universe

EXTRO,

this

much

detective

story

the

hunting

malevolent

spirit

turned

psycho-

path.

is.

though.

only

detective

story

part

also

about

the

social

lives

group

elite

female

friends.

about

the

commercial

pressures

multinational

corporations.

about

freaks.

about

drugs.

even

partly

novel

gore

and

splatter.

other

words.

all

good

work

greater

than

its

parts,

but

can

read

for

its

parts.

Bester

one

those

people

who

were

there

first:

cyberpunk.

splatter

only

repeat

what

has

been

included

part

the

earlier

works

men

and

women

him.

- - - - -PEACEKEEPERS

(Mandarin.

1989.

337pp,

£3.50)

(Reviewed

K.V.

Bailey)

the

twenty-first

century

there

formed

international

peace-keeping

force

and

also

free-lance

vendetta-motivated

anti-terrorist

squad.

Between

them

they

make

progress

towards

ridding

the

earth

nukes,

drug

barons

and

PAPERBACK

INFERNO

nationalism.

This

narrated

through

sequence

engagements

Bond-like

implausibility

and

ingenuity.

loosely

linked

the

record

first-person

archivist.

Predictably.

the

good

have

names

Jonathan

Wilson

Hazard

and

Harold

Red

Eagle:

the

bad

names

such

Jabal

Shamar

and

Qumar-al-RaYYid.

(ambivalent)

Russian

hero

has

ballet

dancer's

lean

ascetic

face';

(wounded)

English

hero

speaks

with

languid.

almost

bored

Oxford

accent';

while

the

Comanche

super-hero's

voice

resembles

'the

suppressed

growl

restless

volcano'

The

pluses

the

novel

lie

its

somewhat

naively

idealistic

geopolitical

slant.

fast

action.

and

spectacular

globe-

faring.

undercover

agents

assume

tourist

guises.

find

ourselves

such

pleasant

curious

spots

Sao

Vicente.

Lake

Como.

Dakar.

the

Moon;

and

learn

how

Madeira

came

deforested

and

how

the

Saharan

aquifer

was

formed.

Extrapolated

technology

abounds

though

the

luxuriously

fitted

out

flying-boat

which

the

anti-terrorist

boss

ferries

his

elite

corps

from

continent

seems

owe

much

Jules

Verne

the

future.

Adrian

Cole

- - - - - -

-THIEF

DREAMS

(Unwin.

1989.

366pp.

£6.99)

Creation.

Now

much

realistic.

These

stories

acknowledge

the

fundamental

hostility

the

Universe.

Nothing

here

safe.

nothing

here

commonplace.

The

Chemical

Wars.

Generations

after.

the

words

could

bring

tremor

fear

child

who

could

neither

imagine

what

they

had

meant.

nor

the

world

which

had

preceded

them.

J.D.

Gresham.

'The

New

Mapper'

These

stories

are

the

dark

side

SF.

J.D.

Gl'esham's

'The

New

Mapper'

set

after

The

Chemical

Wars;

Ian

McDonald's

'Rainmaker

Cometh'

looks

mistrust.

myth

and

bigotry;

the

characters

Keith

Brooke's

'Passion

Play'

are

non-human

primitives

with

culture

built

upon

the

ruins

our

own.

punches

are

pulled.

nothing

withheld

pretty

things

uP.

make

this

'acceptable'.

came

eagerly

forward

meet

the

Hunter's

knife

and

while

died

each

took

our

sip

from

the

cup.

The

ground

receded.

rose.

flew.

and

watched

the

boy's

blood

soak

into

the

earth

below.

Gill

Alderman.

'Country

Matters'

(Reviewed

L.J.

Hurst)

(Reviewed

K.V.

Bailey)

Isaac

Asimov

- - - - - -

PRELUDE

FOUNDATION

(Grafton.

1989.

460pp.

£3.99)

The

stories

this

collection

are

well

written.

but

the

depressing

tone

may

not

everyone's

taste.

- - - - - - A

TALENT

FOR

WAR

(Sphere.

1989.

310pp.

£3.50)

Jack

McDevitt

The

early

life

Hari

Seldon.

the

man

whose

theories

changed

universe.

when

Karl

Marx

only

managed

change

world.

ought

have

been

one

great

interest.

The

portrayal

ought

have

been

great

challenge.

The

explanation

that

mind's

workings

require

great

understanding.

Unfortunately

this

book

provides

none

them:

weak

both

invention

and

explanation.

Hari

Seldon

idiot

alleged

great

mathematician.

never

talks

mathematics;

alleged

have

developed

theory

future

history.

ignorant

history.

The

facts

are

given

fail

support

any

belief

what

does.

The

book

begins

just

after

Seldon

has

delivered

lecture

outlining

the

mathematical

principles

that

allow

the

future

known.

This

leads

his

being

hounded

through

the

rest

the

novel

until

finally

finds

protection.

takes

sanctuary

three

different

societies

his

underground

life.

and

eventually

abandons

his

attempt

know

what

has

happened

planets

throughout

the

past.

Trantor.

decides.

can

supply

all

the

data

needs

develop

his

theory.

What

events

show

that

Seldon

produced

his

work

out

nothing:

was

not

produced

analysis

the

past.

about

which

knows

nothing.

Indeed.

never

even

seems

know

the

maths

either.

Presumably.

Seldon

should

Asimov's

equal

not

greater.

yet

what

Asimov

gives

something

much

less.

This

book

that

does

not

explain

the

foundation

the

Foundation.

military

mystery;

space

epic;

kind

treasure-hunt:

the

mystery

(archaeo-

technological)

nebula

enshrouded;

the

epic

occasions

the

mystery;

the

hunt

achieves

its

solution.

There

human

mystery.

also.

Christopher

Evans

Robert

Holdstock

(eds.)

----OTHER

EDENS

III

(Unwin.

1989.

237pp.

£4.50)

This

the

third

volume

stories

imaginative

fiction

authors

writing

the

that

Holdstock

and

Evans

have

collected.

there

was

any

doubt

that

there

'British

SF'.

distinct

from

its

transatlantic

cousin.

then

these

stories

would

dispel

that

doubt.

They

range

from

fantasy.

Keith

Roberts'

'The

Grey

Wethers'.

hard-edged

SF.

Chris

Morgan's

'Losing

Control'.

touching

most

bases

between.

growing

up.

Once

was

safe.

COSy

literature

where

Mankind.

having

survived

all

the

nasty

things

that

are

doing

ourselves

now.

Out

There

great

silver

ships

take

our

rightful

place

Masters

(Reviewed

Jon

Wallace)

(Reviewed

Terry

Broome)

Second

volume

the

ineptly

titled

Star

Requiem

saga.

which

the

various

antagonists

the

alien

Csendook.

the

psychotic

Zellorian

and

incarnate

evil

battle

each

other

and

the

righteous

test

brawn

stage-managed

'the

Mother'.

goddess

Innasmorn.

parallel

world

where

magic

rules

and

elementals

exist.

The

Csendook

are

'huge'.

'armoured

black

scales'

and

have

eradicated

the

equally

ruthless

human

race

from

Zellorian's

universe.

somehow

making

the

former

inherently

Evil

and

humanity

inherently

Good.

otherwise

they

are

interchangeable.

The

lack

difference

between

humans

and

Innasmornians

only

explained

the

end

when

also

revealed

'the

Mother'

arranged

the

extermination

hundreds

humans

and

Csendook

the

latter

can

enter

Innasmorn

and

become

nasty

force

combat

the

volume.

The

groups

are

all

ineffectual.

despite

(abitrarily

fluctuating)

super-powers.

especially

the

'highly

evolved'

elementals

who

act

brainless

children.

Rabbits

are

pulled

from

hats

overcome

obstacles

and

the

scant

description

occasionally

in-

appropriate

places

called

'mazes'

for

obvious

reason

and

gold

chains

that

improbably

'tinkle

bells'.

very

muddled.

obnoxious.

cliched

fantasy

with

little

distinguish

one

individual.

group

race

from

another.

clued

headstone

far

wintry

planet.

Much

the

novel,

particularly

the

holo

simulated

re-fighting

long-ago

waged

war

and

the

'contemporary'

climactic

skirmish.

lively

'star

wars'

stuff,

where

all

aliens

are

'sons

bitches'

and

their

battle

cruisers

'goddam

monsters'.

But

the

novel

has

larger

dimension.

specific

allusion

and

overt

analogy

are

made

aware

that

are

experiencing

replay

classical

themes

uneasy

alliances

and

stubborn

resistances

echoed

from

the

Persian

and

Peloponnesian

Wars;

and

that

such

military

and

moral

factors

were

involved

Thermopylae

are

here

centrally

and

motivationally

significant.

Yet

this

naive

hi-jacking

ancient

wars

provide

ready-made

framework:

rather

incorporates

quite

sophisticated

exercise

comparative

histories

one

actual,

one

science-fictional.

The

analogic

thread

lifts

the

narrative

out

the

The Review of paperback SF PDF Free Download

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poc-s

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;1'

Fiction

Association

magazine

PAPERBACK

INFERNO

CONTENTS

Ccr1triMi()1S of

a:Ner

art

arx:l

interior

art

are especially

welcane.

Please a:rrt<rt the editorial a1jress

REVIEWERS

n·ns

ISSJE:

Graha'n~,

Chris

Bailey,

K.V.

Bailey,

Colin Bird, Lyrre

Bi~,

Terry Broore,

Geoff

Coolie,

B.S.

Cullun,

Alan

Fraser, L.J. ttJrst,

Tan

A• .b1es,

Paul

Kincaid, J(gJ

Lake,

Venm

Leig"

Nik

Mortoo,

.till

Newsirger,

"'aJreen

Porter, lan sales,

kdy

5awyer,

Steve T

el,

sue

Ttmascrl,

Nea

ckery,

Ja1

IIace.

AAn«R<:

Colin

Davies:

Cover

&lo;p.

Steve

Bruce:

p.3; p.14.

Kevin

Cullen; p.S.

p.2

p.3

p.S

p.14

EDITCRIAL

{Pap:!rback

Purgatory}

CLCEER

EKXl.M"ERS:

Prorotioos

<n1

fere1iscm:es

REVIEWS

"lJ'(}j

n£

RJlCK

PRINT":

t>\3gazines

reviews fron

EQ./ard

James

arx:l

kdy

Mills

Ap.Jblicatioo of the

british

SCience

Fictioo Associatioo,

edited

kdy

5awyer.

ISSN

0260

0595.

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7th.

for

all

cootriMioos

PI85

is:

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cmtents

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1~.

lrx:liviclJal

cq:>yrigrt.s

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prqJerty of the autrors

arx:l

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EDITORIAL

ADDRESS:

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Lane

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,A"A

PAPERBACK

INFERNO

need

new

production

assistant

Phil

Nichols

has

started

new

job

different

part

the

country.

I'm

looking

for

someone

with

word-processing

facilities

who

will

take

the

job

typing

reviews

ready

for

paste-up.

Anyone

willing

help,

please

contact

the

editorial

address.

You

don't

have

have a

particular

machine,

just

one which

will

give

clear

and

readable

typeface

after

reproduct-

ion.

H[lP

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All

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this

Iffigazine

are the

views

of the

irx:liviclJal

cootriM-

ors

arx:l

ITUSt

not

taken

represent the

views

of the editor or the

BSFA

except

Io>tere

expl

ici

tly

stated.

Paperback

Purgatory

N()

llAfi

ll1T

that

librarian's

date-stifTp

erx:brsed

ooce

again

for

failure

produce

index

with the

last

issue of PI. This

was

rut

uncoonected

with the

canpl

icatioos over

deadl

ines for

arx:l

the

arri

al of the advert for Pan's

new

line.

Ch:e

again,

idex

that

issue

avai

lable

anycre

..00

serx:ls

s.a.e

~Icgies.

apllogies

Jessica Yates,

..rose

reviel of

David

Eddings'

IDm

LCffi

KAIWDA

Iinflicted

with

granl ins

(PI

82,

12). Jessica

wrote

of the

MJlloreoo

Brpire,

"Its

capital,

MJI

Zeth,

enomws

city

Iotlich

ranirx:ls

[~ssia

without the

totalitarian

ideolcgy,

arx:l

there

are

TUTOJrs

of]

Gardahar,

rro.:lelled

00 oor

Irx:lia."

drcwing the

\>(lrds

inside the bracket for

reaS()lS

ooly

kraol1

peqJle trying

type

CqJy

last

thing

night, created a

~rfully

meaningless sartence. I

have

taken M

arx:l

shot.

Ah,

Mthe great attractioo of editing

any

sort

Iffigazine

the

OWJrtunity

gives

make

arigTt royal prat of yoorself.

the

same

issue of

¥tiich

the

index

originally

was

sq..oee.zed

M{#79l, I

frothed

great IErgth

ato.It.

the habit

rw-fantasy writers

over-

use

the

\>(lrd

"rraw",

especially

meaning

"jaws".

"Do

these peqJle not

possess dictiooaries or thesauri?" Iraved.

Try

saying

that

the

Eliz~than

Moretm

family of

Little

Moretoo

Hall, Cheshire,

..oose

crest

fron

least the

16th

century featured atypically

alful

iz~than

iXlI'1

picturing the qJen

jaws

of a

\>(llf

arx:l

9Tl311

barrel.

(''Maw''

"Tun"

=''M:lretm'', geddit?)

Abashed,

arx:l

still

reeling, I

checked

the

O.E.D.

arx:l

~Id,

although the

primary

definitioo of the

\>(lrd

"stanach",

does

also

mean

"the throat,

gullet;

I"lJl'I

chiefly the

jaws-

rrwth {of avoracioos

l11ilITITI'll

or fish)".

I'd

still

love

read

afantasy

novel

in ¥tiich the

\>(lrd

doesn't

awea

though

...

positive things. I

mentiooed

the

New

All

iance

last

iss-

ue,

arx:l

Isee

that

they

have

new

catalogue

arx:l

new

issues

associated

magazines,

Dave

ftJ11es'/kdy Stewart's

WllKS

arx:l

re-

viewer

Nik

Mortoo's

~IES.

Check

recent issues of PTaiil"/or

Matrix

for

editorial

nlresses,~

of Slbscriptioos,

etc.

arx:l

Iffig-

azines are

~ing

plamed over the

year -the

latest

INTERZlJ£

carries

ads

for

least

three. I

can't

resist

plug

for

ooe

Iffig

¥tiich shares a

I1cJre

with

favoorite

oos

barKl

R.E.M.,

that

is.

The

first

issue of

this

clJe

any

time

1nl:

can

run

areviel

this

issue I

will.

MearW1ile,

it's

~lished

ArthJr Straker,

5arx:lrirY,jlam

Ibad, Willesden,

Loodoo

rt/2

SE?

..00

Ibel ieve

Icd<ing

for

ICJYJ?r

stories of

arx:l

"hard~"

fantasy.

Pa)1TB1t

rates are

CQ'!Parable

INTERlCJ'£

arx:l

the

first

issue

{12.50

p&p

£9.00 for 4issues} will feature

stories

fron

Sirrm

Ings, Eric

BI"'M1

arx:l

Keith

Brcxic.e,

amoog

others,

arx:l

artw:>rk

fron

5'>IS

arx:l

'l()Ssname

-thingy -

yaJ

I<rni;

the

guy

l'tose cover

this

issue of

Pr".

fact,

the

ccrrectioo

~ing

quite gratifying.

Perhaps

should

rewrite

INTERlCJ'£

editorial stressing

all

the t.p-ard-caning

names

yaJ

see in trese pages,

because

yet another of the forthcaning

mag-

azines

c:crrect:83"Wfth

reviewer lan

sales.

n£

LYRE,

¥tiich lan

co-€diting with Nictolas

Malrrey

launched

year's

Eastercoo. Slbnissi()1S

{SF

preferred} received

~ore

Jan. 31st will

eligible

for the

"LaUlch

Canpetitioo" ¥tiich offers

1100

the

story.

Pa)1TB1t

fron

l1p

per

\>(lrd;

preferred IErgths are

1500

7500

\>(lrds.

Further

details

can

prOOably

OOtained

fron

ran

5aIthwe11

Ibad East, Mansfield, Netts

ClEW.

Yoo'll see scrre..tere in

this

issue

that

I've

had

reslXJlse

re-

quest for help

the pnxiJctioo side, M

anycre

else

willing

help Mplease

drq>

aline -see the ad.

aoove.

ItqJe

that

over the

~Ie

issues the

prOOuctioo

problans -

arx:l

sore

the typoes,

¥ti

everyooe

..00

has

C01TT'S1ted

the

Iffigaz

ine

has

too

rx:l

mentioo!

-will

have

irooed

But

Ithiri<

I've

said

that

~ore

•..

Anyway,

yaJ

have

index

this

time!

PAPERBACK

INFERNO

LaM)'

Niven

Steven

Barres - - M

BARSlXM

PmJECT

(Pan,

1'JJJ,

34lW,

£7.99

)

fot!lanie

Raw1

- -

STAASCJUL

(Pan,

1'JJJ,

589pp,

£7.99)

Chris Clareroot - -

FIRST

FLIGrr

(Pan,

1'JJJ,24:W, 13.99)

fot!lanie

Raw1

- -

ffi<lG}l

PRINCE

(Pan,

19S0,

574w,

£4.50)

I[)an

t.tGi

- -

JASrn

a:oo

(

Pan,

1'JJJ, 22{W, 13.99)

Step'a1 Jores &Clarence Paget (Eds,) - -

VOICES

(Pan,

1'JJJ,

34iW,

13.99)

(Rev

e..ed

Andy

5awyer)

S P R I NG •

••

lltel a

IJ,blistB"'

fcn::y

tJ..rns

~ms.

TI«l

that

have

passed

this

way

recently

have

been

Titan's "Best of

Bri

tish" grdlilic rovel praroti(JI (of

which

IlDre

later) ard the ldlllch

of Pan's

rew

tripartite

venture into

SF,

Fantasy

ard fbrror

With

dlrl<y

little

spire

s}1ltxlls

ard blockbustirg

tOO<.s.

has

been

said else..toere,

the

launch

titles

have

been

chJsm for

their

camerciality,

which

is a

sa..rd IlDYe

terms

rrek

irg

irrpact, ard

when

the

Pan-ga

Iactic

twr

arri

ved

Eastert:al

(JI

ftpril

14th

(loved the sweat-shirts!) the floor

seered

packed.

I'm

writirg

this

after

~irg

Maureen

Porter's survey of the ldlllch

tOO<.s

Critical

Wave

ard

I'OJld

rreke

for

IlDre

scintillatirg

joomal-

ism

I..ere to disagree violently. litf'ortlnately for fans of

blood

'n'

guts reviewirg IIlDre

less agree with f'laureen's analysis, ard

differ

regardirg particular

tOO<.s

it's

Qt.eSti(JI

<iagree

rather than

furdarental

Icertainly find

LaM)'

ven

Steven

Barres'

l}£

BARSlXM

PmJECT

(tra

paperbaclc.,

£7.99) less of apage-turrer, IlDre of aflal:tly

exercise

crnp:lSite

marl<etirg

tectrliques (desi91ed to aweal

garers,

thriller

fans, follov.ers of the authJrs'

o..n

hard

ard

E.R.

Bul'TClJ;jls

fans

(JI

the strergth of the

title

t:toJ;jl

...oat

that

has

th the rest

the plot I

have

idea).

Even

IlDre

disposaIi'l"eis

fot!lanie

Raw1'

STAA-

SCIUl. the other 'lead' hardlack again also available

ytWieback

yoo

want

save

afiver.

This

IlUCh

the stereotype dr(l(JJl-based fan-

tasy rovel for the

Ame

r-t:Laffrey

marKet

that IforgJt

authJr

ard

title

c(JIversati(JI

with

three

~le

within ten minutes.

TI«l

..ere the

smior

ficti(JI editor ard

~licity

manager

for

Pan

tOO<.s.

Cl1

dear.

Rath-

confusirgly,

this

is the

sequel

PRINCE,

\oilich

was

jlillisl'ed

last

year

hardJack.

SidJ:wick &

JackSCJ1

ard

1'"01

awears

mass-ll'c1rK-

paperback

frun

Pan.

Sti

11,

these

shift

-ard there's a

ht.ge

market

for

RPG-SF

ard dragn-fantasy -then

that

breeds soccess for the

rew

lires

and

lerg

there's

sore

good

material awearirg

the future -ard

there is -

I'm

hawy that

Pan

have

chasm

this

way

of spreadirg

their

nare

thrw,toJt

the

&FreiKErship.

Lackirg

the

elM

of 'lead

hardJack.'

status M

all

the better for

FIRST

FLIGrr,

the

deOOt

rovel frun canics writer Chris Clareroot.

This

is standard

spac~ratic

fonrula

with

brilliant

yoorg

space

pilot

with

tendercy

screw

(JI

her

first

voy~.

Rescuirg

ship

(JIly

fall

into apirate trap,

she

erds

with the

rest

of her

crew

driftirg

Mof the solar systan••• Mwait! ...oat's

this

tri<n:w1

ship headirg to-

wards

thEm?

asense,

this

rrekes

rre

feel

IlDre

charitable to./ards

l}£

BARSlXM

PmJECT

ard

STAASCIU1.:

maybe

just

this

slb;jenre better

than the others.

f'laybe,

FIRST

FLIGrr

also c(]ltnnes acti(JI ard sensa-

I<otInda

with

the maturirg of the

main

character. Clareroot's

main

use

of his

freedan frun the

irrp:JSed

aTDti(J1d1

immturity of

X-M:!n

conics

to allGl

his characters

say

"fock"

every

often M

may

pretent-

ious

rre

say

so)

reeds

this

kind

of readable lTPretentious

CCJ1st-

ard

uIXJatino

oTTts roots.

iJan

fotGirt's

JASrn

a:oo

has

-Xlsh

Kirby

cover ard

set

(JI

adisc-

I«lr

Id.

There

are foor

reaSCJlable

cj(es

in the

tOO<.

cne

\oil

reOOs

Iike aPratchett

M-take.

That's aquid per joke.

VOICES

is aselecti(JI frun the past

years of

l}£

PIlN

1nl<

STCRIES,

with

each

story intro1Jced

''lrr:xEm

master"

of the

genre. Alto;jether there are

stories, inclLdirg

Aickrran's

'Ring-

irg the O1arges'. Step'a1 Kirg's

'The

f'langler'

ard

George

Largelaan's

'The

Fly'

((JI

which

the films ..ere

based:

David

Crc.retlerg,

...ro

made

the re-

make,

here intnxiJces

it).

Later

iSSleS

of the

Pan

Book

seered to

fall

in-

to arut, but

this

collecti(JI ard

cU9JI'S

..ell for future ed-

(JIS.

All

types of hJrror, frun the

suspense

to the supernatural, are

inc

1LK1ed

,ard

its

aweal

widerl!d

the inclusi(JI of several stories

which

yoo

I'OJlcil't

thirl<

recessari

belCJY,)ed

ahJrror anthJlrgy -

Mthey ..ere, cbvioosly. originally

inclLK1ed,

ard they

00,

they

•••

thirl<

aboot

J::rn

Lern:n's

'No

Flies

(JI

Frari<',

HaM)'

HarriSCJ1's

'The

Streets of

Asl"kel(JI',

ard

Ian

t-tEwan'

'PotTOTdIilY'.

vt1at's the verdict? Aset of

tOO<.s

with

sanethirg for everycne; a

good

collecti(JI rather than agreat cne,

flil'tEd

the

ilTpressi(JI

that

fantasy is a

genre

for lJl1iscriminatirg readers of

whatever

has

the I«lrd

"dragrl"

the

title

or a

Josh

Kirby

cover, M

which

has

potential for

grGlth.

Later

tOO<.s

scheduled

inclLK1e

yoo'll

have

read,

K.W.

Jeter's

l}£

NIGrr

WIN,

Pat

t1JT'I11Y's

Tl-IE

CITY,

t'{)T

LINJ

flfTER,

ard Brian Stableford's

11-£

EWIRE

FEAR,

aforrrer

ClarKe

award

naninati(JI.

The

horror/darK

fantasy

list

lcxi<s

intriguirg,

with

I«lrKS

Charles

Lint ard British

rewccrrer

Grahcm

Joyce,

troojI

Ishall

lcxi<irg

forward

to Eric

Bl'U\fl's

collecti(JI

l}£

TIt>£-U\PSED

WIN

special interest, not

just

because

he's

occasi(JIal

contriMor

reviews

this

magazire

because

cne

of the

IlDst

interestirg ard effective of

what

for

want

of abetter

term

yoo

coold

call the "Interzcne"

groJP

rew

yoorg

British

writers.

nail,

seems

that

Pan

have

put together astrorg

list

for the year,

ard with

any

justice

they

stmld

..ell

(JI

it.

And

1'"01

..e turn

the

rrediun

of the

post-literate

("post",

Alan

MxJre

says

interpreted

Paul

Dawsal,

follGlirg, ad1irg to

literacy"

rather than leavirg

behind

Today,

conics are Art!

The

grdlilic

rrediun

canes

did five, ten, fifteen years

..•

but

this

tirre "grdlilic novels" are

ICJlger

arovelty, Mare

becanirg a

maSS-ll'c1rKet

soccess.

Titan

Books

are largely instrurental

this

charge frun the famish

bype

of a

few

enthusiasts to a

IlDre

general

attElTpt

escape frun "cult"

status (tlnJgh smaller -ard mainstrean -

fXjblishers

are prcxiJcirg sore

excitirg ventures) ard

have

crested the

wave

this

sprirg

with

their

"Best

Bri

tish" prumti(JI.

This

airred

increase awareress of the ..ealth of specifically British

materiaI

the grdlilic

rove

fie

CJT'OO;j

the

tOO<.

buyi

fXjb

Iic ard the

tOO<.

trade

itself.

TI«l

cbzen

titles

..ere specifically

chJsen.

for.

prumti(JI

to highl

i<trt

the

I«lrK

writers/artists

such

Alan

MxJre,

Dave

GibbCJ1s,

Grant

MJrriSCJ1,

Steve

Yeov.ell,

Neal

Gaiman,

J::rn

Wag-er

ard

Alan

Grant,

Pat Mills,

••• ard

many,

many

IlDre.

The

oo-nmth

lerg praroti(JI feat-

ured

acmpetiti(JI

tOO<.srq,s

offerirg the

locky

winrer a

trip

San

Dieg>

"to witness

first

hand

the British invasi(JI of the krerican

mar-

ket".

Titan ..ere also

Co-Sp(Jlsors

of "Strip search",

exhibiti(JI of canic

art

old ard

rew

presmted

February

ard

f'larch

this

year

the

L(JI-

dCJ1

florwj'l of

CcmIen

~iss

Cottage

Library,

...ro

..ere launchirg

their

rew

collecti(JI of grdlilic rovels.

This

turred M

massive

soccess:

"prOOably

the best exhibiti(JI ever" accordirg

the florwj'l's

Visual

Arts

Officer,

Paul

Collett.

The

exhibiti(JI featured original

art

ard printed

matter frun

~rt

ard [)an

Dare

to'ffis "lJ'XJergranj" conics,

2CXXWl,

canics

Japan, the

"rew

breed", etc.

Over

600

ccpies of the

catalCX}Je

..ere sold•.14lirg frun

this

catal()}JE!

which

is a

superb

I«lrK

itself;

less a

catalCX}Je

for

exhibiti(JI ard IlDre

essential readers'

guide

conics

with

bibiogrdlilY, I

ist

of (Lcnh1) stockists, ard

A-Z

iID-

lishers ,ard essays

exhibiti(JI organiser

Paul

Gravett of

Escape

mag-

azire ard

Paul

Dawsal,

...ro

teaches

acoorse

(JI

"the

Grdlilic

~at

Man-

chester University -the soccess

was

deserved.

John

Wilkins

CcmIen

Libraries

camE!nted

(JI

the

htJ;je

nurtJer

yoorg

~le

who

atterm.:1

the

exhibiti(JI.

,Apparently,

hJped that "Strip search" will awear

other parts of the cWltry:

rreanwhile,

yoo

can

track.

00..0

copy

the

catalCX}Je

(no

price is

ven

(JI

mire:

prOOably

best to

cCJ1tact

CifTl-

den

Leisure

~rtrrent

~iss

Cottage

Library regardirg availability)

yoo'll

have

superb

ard useful

fXjbli

cat

i(JI.

The

enthusiasm

which

greeted "Strip search" apparently extended to

the "best of British" praroti(JI.

Accordirg

Paul

Barrett of Titan, the

prarotien

has

resulted in rrore take-up frun

libraries

ard major

tro.

chains such as

W.H.

Snith's,

brirgirg

grap'lic rovels

the

attentien

rrore than

the

specialist

tro.-store

market.

The

~titien

has also

had

g:xxl

resp;J1se -

not

surprisirgly

Iot1el

the

prize

also

lp:s

the

tro.-

seller's

lotlich

the winner picked

the entry

form.

loIlat

with

this

year's

Conic

Art

Co1ventien havirg tak61 place in the

official

City of Culture

(Gla~,

that

is)

ard

least

cne

other

taJrirg

exhibitien -

se61

Yoor

Editor

Prestcn Library ard

featurirg

the

'toOrks

Leo

Baxe1dale ard Grant fotJrriscn,

arrorg

others -c;pirg the

ran!s

1'ro

seems

the

Year

of the Grap'lic ttJvel.

***

BeIG¥,

.ktn

lB6i"P",

regular

revie...er

lotlo

has

also writt61

cOllics

for

Libertarian E<iJcatien, exffilines foor

the

tro.s

featured in

Titan's

"Best

BritISh" prarotien, ard

\<UKlers

there

really

has

bee1

"COllics

revolutien".

Sirron

Geller, Steve

f"aranus

ard Steve Oillen - -

mJE

TlUPER

OCO<

(Titan,

1~7,

£4.95)

Pete Milligan,

Brett

Ewins

ard

Jim

Mccarthy

- -

IW)

awA'IY

OCO<

(Titan,

1~,

£4.50)

Grant fotJrriscn ard Steve

Yeonell

- -

ZENITH

OCO<

1(Titan,

1~,

£4.95)

Jamie Delam ard J:tin

Ridgeway

- -

HEL1..BlJ\ZER

OCO<

1(Titan,

1~,

£6.50)

Has

there

bee1

British

COllics

revolutien?

PrOOably

not,

there

have

certainly

bee1

imx>rtant develq:rrent.s

that

deserve

attentien.

The

titles

has

exparded, the

slbjects

covered

have

beca1T2

rrore adventuroJs,

the

~Ie

still

readirg

COllics

has

crept

up,

the

rtJTter of spec-

ialist

COllics

slq)s

has increased.

the

day

the

grap'lic rovel

has

arr-

ived, ard

there

are

artJTter of

British

writers

ard

artists

lotlo

have

be-

COlle

"names",

lotlose

'toOrk

attracts

readers both here ard in m-erica because

their

rep.rt.atiens ard past achievarents.

Iotlat

have

here, ro.ever,

can perhaps

best

characterised as a

boOll

rather

than arevolutien,

al-

tlrogh

there

have

bee1

"revoluticnary"

initiatives

within

the

ccrrt:.ext

this

boOll.

These

initiatives

over exploratiens in

COllic

fOlTTlilt

the per-

scnal,

the

absurd ard

the

pol i

tical,

exploratiens

that

sustained might

well ev61tually

amoont

arevolutien.

the

cuttirg

ed;Je,

wittaJt

any

da.ibt,

Fleetway's

Crisis

COllic

ard in

particular

the

'Third I«Jrld

War'

strip,

writte"l

Pat"""ffi1TS

ard

Alan

Mitchell ard set in anear future

crisis-torn

Britain.

here

have

aferocioosly

anti-racist,

anti-I~r

ialist,

anti-establishTeTt

storyline

that

has

bni<61

carpletely

fBoI

grun:l

far

British

mainstream

COllics

are

ccncerned.

not

enly portrays

injustice

ard

abJse

Mrrore imx>rtantly celebrates

resistance,

vital

task

in these tirres! Clearly

there

are

interestirg

develq:rrent.s

takirg

place.

\oI1ere

then

these foor grap'lic rovels,

all

the

'toOrl<

British

writers

ard

artists,

fit

in?

Three of the foor

are

reprints

frun

the

OOys'

sci61Ce

fictien

COllic

200)/\[)

lotlich

perhaps a

fair

indicatien

its

irrJX)rtance

far

BritIsh

COllics

are

ccncerned. Created

Pat Mills in

March

1977,

200)/\[)

many

ways

prepared the gron:J

for

rrore recent develcpTB1ts.

Thn:iJjiiif

the

late

1970s

ard

the

1~s

its

regular

.Jud]e

Dredd

strip

provided

essential

camaltary

ard

critique

law

ara

ol'diir authoritariani911,

ard

served as

the

Ya"licle

for

ootstardirg

COllic

tro.

'toOrl<

such as

Alan

M:ore's

Halo.mes

ard

~inch

stories,

Pat

lls'

G¥n

Slaine ard

NelTesis

storIes

ard a

others.

here

have

three of tJieCiUi:!rs:

m!~

ilUPER,

[W()

awftHY

ard

ZENITH,

reprinted in

the

presti~

Titan

fOlTTlilt

as grap'lic rovels.

has

borne in

mind

that

these

strips

were

writte"l ard

driW1

primarily

for

male

tealage

audi61ce altlnJcjl

the

fact

that

they

have

been

reprinted

Titan cbvioosly

shows

that

they

are

also of

interest

older

ard rrore well-heeled

cli61tele

as well.

First

mJE

TIDYER

OCO<

6. Essentially

lotlat

have

here

all-

actien future

war

story

that

decorated with rrore than

the

usual

amoont

of anti-war

rhetoric.

is,

of coorse,

the

last

the

~tic

infant-

ry~,

artificial

man

created

the

perfect

fightirg

machine

in a

war

wittaJt

end.

this

volurre

61listed

in a

plot

assasinate a

nl.ntJer

ta~

lot1ose

eliminatien

will,

told,

brirg

the

war

end. i'()t very

inspirirg

stuff

ard

for

rrmey

Steve Oillen

cne

the

weakest

artists

'toOrk

the

strip.

has never

bee1

cne

favwrites

has

certainly

bee1

better

than

this.

IW)

CIWftHY

PAPERBACK

INFERNO

OCO<

another

war

strip,

~irg

explore "both

the

battlefields

war

ard

the

battlefields

the

swl".

ttJt

really

successful altlnJcjl

Ewins

ard rn:Carthy's

manic

arOOrk

always weirdly

fascinatirg.

Wlich

brirgs

ZENITH

OCO<

1, writt61

Grant fotJrriscn ard

driW1

Steve Yeonell. This

the

real

thirg.

fotJrriscn's

diffident

yt:UY,J

~rhero,

Ifil

;o,wld

rather

have

record

the

charts than save

the

I'oOrld

has

h.m3n

qui

rkiness ard

cheek.

that

marks

him

0Jt.

Marvelloos

stuff.

W10

fotJrTiscn

\oWld

have

ex-hippy

s~rhero

transform into a

Tory

lotlo

usirg

his

telepathic

powers

dissident

backb61Chers

SlJI+Ort

the

Poll

Tax?

Incidently, fotJrriscn also writes

cne

the

best

hrerican mainstream

COllics,

DC's

The

Do011

Patrol,

lotlich

well

'toOrth

hav-

irg

100<.

at,

ard

also

writirg

thE!

fBoI

oan

Dare

strip

for

Fleetway!

This

brirgs

another of

the

best MErlCan

COllics,

DC's

tJellblazer

writte"l ard

driW1

Brits

JcFes

delam

ard

.xm

Ridgeway.

Titan

have

far

reprinted three volurres of

this

ootstardirg

rorror

COllic.

this

first

volurre

the hero,

.xm

Crostantine, confrrnts

the

famine darm

M1eroth,

darm

)'lWies,

ard a

ITB1tler

the

Dilmatien

Armj.

O'x:e

again

this

marvellous

stuff.

Crostantine

aut.hentic character ard

the

rorrors

tackles

are

all

the

rrore potent because they

are

sh:w1

'toOrk

in a

I'oOrld

that

reccgJisably oor CWl. Ridgeway's ariWJrk

ex-

cellent

ard

anythirg

lOO<.s

better

the

black ard lotlite Titan

editien

than

did in coloor in

the

original

COllic.

This

also well

'toOrth

100<.

at.

Wlat

have

then

might

not

arevolutien,

cultural

other-

Wise,

altlnJcjl

cne

lives

There

are,

ro.ever

increasirg rtJTter

COllics

ard grap'lic rovels

aran!

that

repay readirg. Dcn't miss

0Jt

tIm.

SUN

N Y S I D E U P

Ksl

L.aIe

lOO<.s

Nmt.R

Q.NI:E'S autobiograp'ly,

ASTlIJI)INi

D\YS

(Gollancz,

1'ro,

224w,

£4.99)

This

rrost

q:>inicnated, tl.nptioos,

self-irdJlgelt,

ramblirg

tro.

also

absolutely

essential

for

every

fan.

IW;11ly

tl.n;j

partial

ard idiosyncratic survey

the

plots ard

flaws

of a

wide

stories

lliJIished in Asta.n:lirg frun

1911

1971,

also diSOJsses

the

auttxJrs

tlanselves,

thE!

edItors,

the prog-

ress

sci61ce ard

teelmlogy

-ard

creative

imaginatien, mankind's

greatest

gift

-in

brief

chapters, each

takirg

different

issues of

the

magazine.

But

thatIS

just

the

begimirg.

Clarke's

TIBT'Ories

brirg

sni~s

frun

his

CWl

life

ard

\>Orl<s,

reprints

his

G¥n

spoof

article

'The

ltlrd Processor' ard

his

CWl

letters

the

editor,

ard

rocrns

back

ard

forth

with

infuriatirg

lack of

any

systaretic

awroach

thrcujl

mill61nia of sci61Ce ard

OO1sci61Ce.

Ard

that's

Iilere

the

real

interest

ies.

<l>vioosly

rruch

the

"prq1lecy" faJ1d in Sf COlles frun

intellig61t

anticipatien,

the

extrapolatien of informatien perhaps krn.n enly

the

autror

tirre of

wri

tirg.

EV61

these

startlirg

foresights prov-

ide

scq:Je

for

oor

mids

txqjle

-MClarke also prqx>ses cases of

9=RJine

prE!CO}1itien,

thirgs

lotlich

~red

Iot1el

there

was

c:m:eivable

way

the

Cllthor could

have

had

any

iric.lirg of

the

facts.

Perhaps

the

rrost

strikirg

his

revelatien

that

Fraric.

Paul's

cover

for

the

ItJvaTtJer

1928

issue of lmazirg

Stories

depicts aclose-

view

.l.piter

COllPlete

with

the

pattern

JcqJS

and

lotlorls in

the

clew

bards

aran!

the

le!

S!XJt,

SOTEthirg

were

not

able

see

lITtil

the

Voy~

space-probe

sent

back

its

~irg

pictures

al-

rrost

If a century 1

ater!

1911

Ray

Currnirgs

featured

lotlat

was

the

face

was

001-

S61se

-usirg gravity

assist

speed aspacecraft

its

way

-as well

g<rT1l'O-ray

detectors

for

locatirg

sam:es

of ll.flar radioacti

vity

frun

orbit,

lotlich

was

first

cb1e

~llo

1975.

Also in

1911

the

maga-

zine

lTB1tions

the

use of radar

for

blind

lardirgs

aircraft,

ard

FIOO

clear

fog -both

first

used

1941

Iot1el

Clarke

was

the

RAF.

Ard

1934

J:tri

~ll

forecast usirg

the

[Xwler

effect

radio

waves

rreasure the velocity of arocket -

this

was

first

1944

-lotlile

Ra]mJ1d

Gallun described

la~

rrercury mirrors

for

tel~,

at.ech-

ni~

enly

nG¥

beirg

tested.

fls

Clarl<e

lXlints

cm,

there's alot

there that

>.e

sti

have

discover,

re cites averse frun a

IXE'll

(autror

l.JlI<ro"n)

that adnirab-

SLlTlS

rrarkiOO's

srortcanirgs:

1'000

hears

rre

taw

Tre

five-sensed

cane

miOO

A'nid

sLdl

greater glories

That

\o()rr..e

than

bliOO.

J'mn;J

these literary

gElTIS

>.e

fiOO

sLdl

facts

Oliver heaviside

(yes

re of the

Heaviside

layer)

had

derived the equatien

E~'

Icng

1!ro!

that the great

Newta1,

Iootm

>.e

all

led

with

dIE,

spent the

latter

part of his

life

arcane

stu:lies of

treolo:JY,

al<:he!T!t

evm

magic!

revealirg

scrre

of the s1:lpidities,

acts of

92f1ius,

of early

writers,

Clarl<e

arroyirgly

v.tleels

that cliere

">.e

shall

meet

rrean

that re will

intl"CXixe

the writer's

Mre

afuture chapter -

uses

many

tirres

drove

rre

near to

screcJl1irg

lXlint.

revels in

blO;/irg

his

0;In

t~,

stuXlirg his text

with

self-adJlatory p'lrases

''rro/

old sparrirg-part:rer

C.S.Lewis"

refererces to organisatiens

p~cJllmes

bearirg his

0;In

Mre.

Yet

re is

not

too

prcu1

to adnit,

the fcur-chapter

Epi

ICXJ,e,

that "I

seen

have

teal

the me

1'000

has

not

had

his wits

al:OJt

him

tOOay,"

tells

hO;I

"cculd

have

SIo()m"

had

saved

that chapter to disk

c~ied

not

cn:e

twice

-enly to

fiOO

that "all versiens

tla<fVai1isred

into

lirrtxJ"

despite the activit-

ies of a

carp.rt.er

maVEfl

still

had

to recreate

it,

"dredgirg the

depth

ITo/

0;In

randan

access

prot.eplagnic

rrarory

to retrieve the vanisred

bytes." .

Writte1

1~7,

CI'lEll:i!d

lCUl

~Iisred

lc:m,

this

txx:k

reed correctirg

again

cur

YJnlled;)e

advances,

Clar1<e

OCes

not

fail to

make

the

illlXlrtant

lXlint

that

whi

le tedmlo:JY

may

cp:n

new

vistas, awlied tedmlo:JY ofte1 retreats:

1934,

Harry

Bates' story

Matter

of Size'

has

asix-inch-hig,

man,

faced

with

the task

crossirg the

I'oOOle

New

Yorl<

City, mailirg

hiJl'5elf

PAPERBACK

INFEmlO

cardOOard

txlx

teirg deli

vera:!

safe

SOJrd

few

hoors

later.

fls

Clarl<e

says,

"That

alme sets the story finnly

bad<.

the

1930s.

TcxJay

re'd

dead

marrival -of starvatien."

~irg

that re

was

txlm

hoose

nared

"Slmyside", me

~rs

wrether

cast a

terJ2volent

infllJe'Ce

UJ))n

the

man;

readirg of his int-

rcx1uctien

SF,

fflCe

tedm

ogy

the

CIl'QZ

irg

lie

ani

1'000

lived

nearby,

me is

almost

forre! to

wrether

this

saninal in-

fllJe'Ce

was

"planted" to create the

KJ::.

>.e

krnI

love

>.ere

they

really aliffls, or time-travellers?

Clarl<e's

intn::xiJctory

notes

infonn

that flstardirg frun

1930

can

ct>tained

Microfiere frun

Micro

IllfonnatIen

Ccncepts

Dallas

al:OJt

six

small

plastic

txlxes

acost awarently

arcm:1

$750,

which,

re says, is

al:OJt

issU!, far less

than

the

moolderirg

original

~lps

Io()Uld

cost

yoo

tOOay.

praises

Mike

Ashley's

original full-size

Tl-E

awLETE

nux

ASTaIDItG/N-W..CXJ

(Rl:'OOrt

\Ein-

terg Publicatiens,

15145

Oxford

drive,

Oak

Forest

6(4452),

gives a

>.ell-eamed

plug

to Peter Nicl'olls'

OCYCL<PEDIA

Cl'

SCIOCE

FICTICN,

which

is of coorse everycne's tedside

txx:k.

His

historical

biblio-

grap'lical footrotes are astorelnJse of useful infonnatien -MI

was

stn:ked to

fiOO

nothirg

than

abrief reference to the

IXlI)il1dth

;cientific

92f1ius

Nicola

Tesla

-for

share!

0;In

recollectiens of yooth

>.ere

stirred

Clarl<e's

rrentien

of his

invitatien,

v.t1en

was

chainnan

of the British Interplanetary Society,

Dlaf

Stapled:Jl to

address

to the

BIS.

Clarl<e

dates this

1950,

must

have

teal

the years

1945/46:

Iattmled that lecture,

St Martin's Sclml of

Art

Charirg

Cross

lbad,

have

to ccnfess

that

the

unaccustored

reat of the

roon

fell

asleep twice, gainirg

nothirg

CffIsoricus

than

understardirg

smi

le frun

Clarl<e

brief

grimace

frun Phil Cleator!

fls

Clarl<e

recalls, Stapled:Jl

knew

noth-

irg of

v.t1en

re wrote his

LAST

FIRST

!'fN

which,

H.G.

\Ells

flstardi

was

sani

nal

llJe'Ce

ITo/

0;In

SFnal

deve

qnart

the forties, a

decooe

after

Clarl<e

had

blazed

the

trai

not,

yoo

are gairg to

have

reOO,

keep,

this

txx:k.

Itlat apity that I

have

to ccnfess that

fails

totally

its

aim

providirg

any

kiOO

of real

guide

its

many

subjects: there

irdex!

Ben

Bova

Alfred

Bester

--------------EXTRO

(Mandarin.

1989.

218pp.

£3.50)

-----------

-GOLEM

100

(Mandarin.

1989.

383pp.

£3.99)

(Reviewed

L.J.

Hurst)

EXTRO

marked

Bester's

return

writing

after

fifteen

year

break.

reflects

everything

that

was

associated

with

his

two

classic

novels

high

speed

action.

mystery.

the

social

exploration

technical

developments.

the

degeneration

moral

standards.

and

the

division

the

classes

and

social

groups

into

worlds

far

separate.

the

other

hand.

Bester

thought

that

was

flawed

novel

'There

something

vitally

wrong

with

that

book.

and

knew

when

finished

it.

and

couldn't

patch

then',

said

1979.

had

great

difficulty

following

the

plot,

even

though

summarised

the

cover.

The

reason.

think,

that

ideas.

characters

and

settings

are

flung

about

with

abandon.

and

not

necessarily

included

for

the

benefit

the

story.

So,

Guig.

the

hero

gets

himself

young

squaw

wife

Indian

reservation.

and

goes

out

the

asteroid

belt.

and

immortal.

It's

strange

combination

for

novel

about

battle

against

cosmic

computer.

GOLEM

100,

written

five

years

later.

much

whole,

even

while

contains

Bester's

pages

typographical

experiments

representing

mind

states.

Set

North

America

the

same

universe

EXTRO,

this

much

detective

story

the

hunting

malevolent

spirit

turned

psycho-

path.

is.

though.

only

detective

story

part

also

about

the

social

lives

group

elite

female

friends.

about

the

commercial

pressures

multinational

corporations.

about

freaks.

about

drugs.

even

partly

novel

gore

and

splatter.

other

words.

all

good

work

greater

than

its

parts,

but

can

read

for

its

parts.

Bester

one

those

people

who

were

there

first:

cyberpunk.

splatter

only

repeat

what

has

been

included

part

the

earlier

works

men

and

women

him.

- - - - -PEACEKEEPERS

(Mandarin.

1989.

337pp,

£3.50)

(Reviewed

K.V.

Bailey)

the

twenty-first

century

there

formed

international

peace-keeping

force

and

also

free-lance

vendetta-motivated

anti-terrorist

squad.

Between

them

they

make

progress

towards

ridding

the

earth

nukes,

drug

barons

and

PAPERBACK

INFERNO

nationalism.

This

narrated

through

sequence

engagements

Bond-like

implausibility

and

ingenuity.

loosely

linked

the

record

first-person

archivist.

Predictably.

the

good

have

names

Jonathan

Wilson

Hazard

and

Harold

Red

Eagle:

the

bad

names

such

Jabal

Shamar

and

Qumar-al-RaYYid.

(ambivalent)

Russian

hero

has

ballet

dancer's

lean

ascetic

face';

(wounded)

English

hero

speaks

with

languid.

almost

bored

Oxford

accent';

while

the

Comanche

super-hero's

voice

resembles

'the

suppressed

growl

restless

volcano'

The

pluses

the

novel

lie

its

somewhat

naively

idealistic

geopolitical

slant.

fast

action.

and

spectacular

globe-

faring.

undercover

agents

assume

tourist

guises.

find

ourselves

such

pleasant

curious

spots

Sao

Vicente.

Lake

Como.

Dakar.

the

Moon;

and

learn

how

Madeira

came

deforested

and

how

the

Saharan

aquifer

was

formed.

Extrapolated

technology

abounds

though

the

luxuriously

fitted

out

flying-boat

which

the

anti-terrorist

boss

ferries

his

elite

corps

from

continent

seems

owe

much

Jules

Verne

the

future.

Adrian

Cole

- - - - - -

-THIEF

DREAMS

(Unwin.

1989.

366pp.

£6.99)

Creation.

Now

much

realistic.

These

stories

acknowledge

the

fundamental

hostility

the

Universe.

Nothing

here

safe.

nothing

here

commonplace.

The

Chemical

Wars.

Generations

after.

the

words

could

bring

tremor

fear

child

who

could

neither

imagine

what

they

had

meant.

nor

the

world

which

had

preceded

them.

J.D.

Gresham.

'The

New

Mapper'

These

stories

are

the

dark

side

SF.

J.D.

Gl'esham's

'The

New

Mapper'

set

after

The

Chemical

Wars;

Ian

McDonald's

'Rainmaker

Cometh'

looks

mistrust.

myth

and

bigotry;

the

characters

Keith

Brooke's

'Passion

Play'

are

non-human

primitives

with

culture

built

upon

the

ruins

our

own.

punches

are

pulled.

nothing

withheld

pretty

things

uP.

make

this

'acceptable'.

came

eagerly

forward

meet

the

Hunter's

knife

and

while

died

each

took

our

sip

from

the

cup.

The

ground

receded.

rose.

flew.

and

watched

the

boy's

blood

soak

into

the

earth

below.

Gill

Alderman.

'Country

Matters'

(Reviewed

L.J.

Hurst)

(Reviewed

K.V.

Bailey)

Isaac

Asimov

- - - - - -

PRELUDE

FOUNDATION

(Grafton.

1989.

460pp.

£3.99)

The

stories

this

collection

are

well

written.

but

the

depressing

tone

may

not

everyone's

taste.

- - - - - - A

TALENT

FOR

WAR

(Sphere.

1989.

310pp.

£3.50)

Jack

McDevitt

The

early

life

Hari

Seldon.

the

man

whose

theories

changed

universe.

when

Karl

Marx

only

managed

change

world.

ought

have

been

one

great

interest.

The

portrayal

ought

have

been

great

challenge.

The

explanation

that

mind's

workings

require

great

understanding.

Unfortunately

this

book

provides

none

them:

weak

both

invention

and

explanation.

Hari

Seldon

idiot

alleged

great

mathematician.

never

talks

mathematics;

alleged

have

developed

theory

future

history.

ignorant

history.

The

facts

are

given

fail

support

any

belief

what

does.

The

book

begins

just

after

Seldon

has

delivered

lecture

outlining

the

mathematical

principles

that

allow

the

future

known.

This

leads

his

being

hounded

through

the

rest

the

novel

until

finally

finds

protection.

takes

sanctuary

three

different

societies

his

underground

life.

and

eventually

abandons

his

attempt

know

what

has

happened

planets

throughout

the

past.

Trantor.

decides.

can

supply

all

the

data

needs

develop

his

theory.

What

events

show

that

Seldon

produced

his

work

out

nothing:

was

not

produced

analysis

the

past.

about

which

knows

nothing.

Indeed.

never

even

seems

know

the

maths

either.

Presumably.

Seldon

should

Asimov's

equal

not

greater.

yet

what

Asimov

gives

something

much

less.

This

book

that

does

not

explain

the

foundation

the

Foundation.

military

mystery;

space

epic;

kind

treasure-hunt:

the

mystery

(archaeo-

technological)

nebula

enshrouded;

the

epic

occasions

the

mystery;

the

hunt

achieves

its

solution.

There

human

mystery.

also.

Christopher

Evans

Robert

Holdstock

(eds.)

----OTHER

EDENS

III

(Unwin.

1989.

237pp.

£4.50)

This

the

third

volume

stories

imaginative

fiction

authors

writing

the

that

Holdstock

and

Evans

have

collected.

there

was

any

doubt

that

there

'British

SF'.

distinct

from

its

transatlantic

cousin.

then

these

stories

would

dispel

that

doubt.

They

range

from

fantasy.

Keith

Roberts'

'The

Grey

Wethers'.

hard-edged

SF.

Chris

Morgan's

'Losing

Control'.

touching

most

bases

between.

growing

up.

Once

was

safe.

COSy

literature

where

Mankind.

having

survived

all

the

nasty

things

that

are

doing

ourselves

now.

Out

There

great

silver

ships

take

our

rightful

place

Masters

(Reviewed

Jon

Wallace)

(Reviewed

Terry

Broome)

Second

volume

the

ineptly

titled

Star

Requiem

saga.

which

the

various

antagonists

the

alien

Csendook.

the

psychotic

Zellorian

and

incarnate

evil

battle

each

other

and

the

righteous

test

brawn

stage-managed

'the

Mother'.

goddess

Innasmorn.

parallel

world

where

magic

rules

and

elementals

exist.

The

Csendook

are

'huge'.

'armoured

black

scales'

and

have

eradicated

the

equally

ruthless

human

race

from

Zellorian's

universe.

somehow

making

the

former

inherently

Evil

and

humanity

inherently

Good.

otherwise

they

are

interchangeable.

The

lack

difference

between

humans

and

Innasmornians

only

explained

the

end

when

also

revealed

'the

Mother'

arranged

the

extermination

hundreds

humans

and

Csendook

the

latter

can

enter

Innasmorn

and

become

nasty

force

combat

the

volume.

The

groups

are

all

ineffectual.

despite

(abitrarily

fluctuating)

super-powers.

especially

the

'highly

evolved'

elementals

who

act

brainless

children.

Rabbits

are

pulled

from

hats

overcome

obstacles

and

the

scant

description

occasionally

in-

appropriate

places

called

'mazes'

for

obvious

reason

and

gold

chains

that

improbably

'tinkle

bells'.

very

muddled.

obnoxious.

cliched

fantasy

with

little

distinguish

one

individual.

group

race

from

another.

clued

headstone

far

wintry

planet.

Much

the

novel,

particularly

the

holo

simulated

re-fighting

long-ago

waged

war

and

the

'contemporary'

climactic

skirmish.

lively

'star

wars'

stuff,

where

all

aliens

are

'sons

bitches'

and

their

battle

cruisers

'goddam

monsters'.

But

the

novel

has

larger

dimension.

specific

allusion

and

overt

analogy

are

made

aware

that

are

experiencing

replay

classical

themes

uneasy

alliances

and

stubborn

resistances

echoed

from

the

Persian

and

Peloponnesian

Wars;

and

that

such

military

and

moral

factors

were

involved

Thermopylae

are

here

centrally

and

motivationally

significant.

Yet

this

naive

hi-jacking

ancient

wars

provide

ready-made

framework:

rather

incorporates

quite

sophisticated

exercise

comparative

histories

one

actual,

one

science-fictional.

The

analogic

thread

lifts

the

narrative

out

the

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