The New York Review of Science Fiction

Issue #280 December 2011 Editorial

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute

    As we sent the last issue, 279, to our printer, intending for it to ship as usual within the month of publication, we were suddenly informed that our printer had been sold to a larger outfit in Pennsylvania and was closing down its New Hampshire facilities at the end of October. Then one of their machines broke, delaying the issue another week, into very late October. Then they ran out of paper (since they were closing, they could order no more) and had to send the issue to Pennsylvania to print and ship. The end of the story is that it shipped in early November from Pennsylvania. We hope you have it—we haven’t seen it yet, as I write in mid-November. Obviously we were being prevented from easy communication with our old rep during October, who we can gather was leaving the company somewhat abruptly. This issue, 280, is the first one printed and shipped entirely from the new operation in Pennsylvania, and we hope for a return to smooth operation and a happier experience all the way around. Even though we are late.

    The World Fantasy Convention in San Diego and Capclave in Maryland happened in October, and Albacon did not, so pictures this time (pages 3 and 23) are all from World Fantasy, plus one from a visit to Cindy Lee Berryhill and Alexander Berryhill Williams before the convention started.

    The publishing industry continues its grinding changes month by month, and Amazon keeps many buyers happy and enthusiastic by continuing to sell (or lend) things to read below cost. Just as the Great Recession is moving the middle class lower, leaving only the wealthy rising, so publishing is depressing the midlist and cutting from the bottom of the list, in an attempt to leave only the most successful. Publishing is also trying very hard to release ebooks, as many and as fast as possible, to take advantage of the device-driven sales that ought to take place before and after the Christmas holidays, as well as when any new of updated device is marketed. It remains to be seen whether the average published writer will benefit significantly in terms of income. Than again, the whole world economy is readjusting in significant and mostly unpredictable ways in the winter of 2011–12.

    Dragon Press is still attempting to weather the economic storms by selling our back issues inexpensively in bulk (see prior editorials, or email us and ask). And by encouraging you to renew your subscriptions. Climate change is giving us some challenges, not the least the unexpected foot of snow here on Halloween weekend. But most of all, the challenge of putting out more issues is very real. We are discussing various electronic strategies for promotion and publication, and we encourage you to take a look at, and tell your friends about, the newly updated <www.nyrsf.com>. 

—David G. Hartwell

& the editors

 

Issue #281 January 2012 Table of Contents

ISSUE #281 January 2012

Volume 24, No. 5 ISSN #1052-9438

ESSAYS

Andrew Ferguson: Unpublished Lafferty: 1

Patrick L. McGuire: Lukyanenko’s Genom: Breezes through the Reopened Window on the West: 12

Deji Olukotun: How to Create Your Own Jurassic Park: 17

Michael Andre-Driussi: A Roadside Picnic Triptych: 20

REVIEWS

Xenophilia, based on the works of James Tiptree, Jr., and Connie Converse, reviewed by Jen Gunnels: 1

Robert Charles Wilson’s Vortex, reviewed by David Mead: 6

Michael Dirda’s On Conan Doyle, or: The Whole Art of Storytelling, reviewed by Darrell Schweitzer: 7

Chilling Tales: Evil Did I Dwell; Lewd I Did Live, edited by Michael Kelly, reviewed by Ursula Pflug: 21

David Anthony Durham’s The Sacred Band, reviewed by Paul Witcover: 22

PLUS

The eternal, infernal pubic hair (15); Verne in other hands (19); Whither Canada? (23); and a major announcement (24).

Samuel R. Delany, Contributing Editor; Kris Dikeman and Avram Grumer, Associate Managing Editors.

David G. Hartwell, Reviews and Features Editor; Kevin J. Maroney, Managing Editor.

Staff: Ann Crimmins, Alex Donald, Jen Gunnels, Heather Masri, M’jit Raindancer-Stahl, Eugene Reynolds, and Anne Zanoni.

Weekly Crew: Lisa Padol and Christine Quiñones.

Special thanks to Arthur D. Hlavaty and Eugene Surowitz.

 

Issue #280 December 2011 Table of Contents

ISSUE #280 December 2011

Volume 24, No. 4 ISSN #1052-9438

ESSAYS

Tom Vaine: Inner Space, the Final Frontier: Exploring the Evolution of the SF Genre in The Atrocity Exhibition: 1

Christopher S. Kovacs: Fallen Books and Other Subtle Clues in Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October: 1

Victoria Balloon: Conversations Overheard: An Interview with Dr. Thomas D. Clareson: 12

Brian Aldiss: On William Golding: 15

Ron Drummond: Getting to Joanna: 16

Michael Swanwick: Will Jenkins’s Greatest Invention: 20

REVIEWS

Adrian Jevicki’s The Deep, reviewed by Jen Gunnels: 6

Dean Spanley, directed by Toa Fraser, screenplay by Alan Sharp, reviewed by Darrell Schweitzer: 11

Steve Rasnic Tem’s Deadfall Hotel, reviewed by Peter Rawlik: 14

Greg Egan’s Zendegi, reviewed by Edward James: 19

Eclipse Four: New Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Jonathan Strahan, reviewed by Edward James: 19

David Weber’s A Beautiful Friendship, reviewed by Dan’l Danehy-Oakes: 22

PLUS

Angélica Gorodischer accepts (11); swatches of history (17); and an editorial (24).

Samuel R. Delany, Contributing Editor; Kris Dikeman and Avram Grumer, Associate Managing Editors.

David G. Hartwell, Reviews and Features Editor; Kevin J. Maroney, Managing Editor; Alex Donald, web site editor.

Staff: Ambrose, Ann Crimmins, Jen Gunnels, Heather Masri, M’jit Raindancer-Stahl, and Anne Zanoni.

Weekly Crew: Lisa Padol and Christine Quiñones.

Special thanks to Arthur D. Hlavaty and Eugene Surowitz.

 

Issue #278 October 2011 Editorial

In the Storm 

    One of the best things about the last month is that there was no substantial damage to either of our headquarters in Westport and Pleasantville New York from the very real hurricanes that hit hard in this area. Lots of nearby flooding, lots of nearby power losses, road closings, many, many trees down. But we are relatively unscathed. Another best thing was the Worldcon in Reno, at which I took a large number of photos, some of which are on pages 3 and 20–23. In Reno, Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden and I got to visit our friend and former NYRSF writer Susan Palwick and her husband Gary at their home. 

    One of the worst things was the number of people who got sick or even died. Bill Trojan passed away in his hotel room at Reno, Bill Patterson became ill and had to have an amputation just after the convention, Lee Modesitt’s wife Carolanne became ill on the first day and required surgery the next week, still in Reno. And Bella Pagan, the new editor at Tor UK, had an ailment that put her in the same elevator as Lee Modesitt very late at night in the con hotel, coming back heavily medicated from the same local emergency room. 

    Bracketing Reno, I had a fine time as GoH at Diversicon in St. Paul, before, and at Context in sunny Columbus, Ohio the week after (while Hurricane Irene was closing roads for my return trip). But I sure felt like I needed my week of vacation in Westport after that. 

    With all that travel, this issue is being produced a week late, while I am recovering from a week of emergency dental work and then four yellow jacket stings while mowing my lawn and trying to catch up on editing and other work. And the next issue will have to be produced two weeks from now to get us back on schedule. Fortunately we had a helpful visit from our former Managing Editor, Ariel Haméon, and a new volunteer staffer, Heather Masri, to help us over the hump this weekend. And Jen Gunnels brought wasp spray.

    Also at Reno the amended rules for the Semiprozine Hugo were adopted, so the Hugo category in which we are eligible persists. Maybe next year we will be nominated again. The new rules will have to be ratified by vote at the Business Meeting of the Chicago Worldcon next August, but we hope for the best. We welcome your continued support and participation.

—David G. Hartwell & the editors. 

Issue #278 October 2011 Table of Contents

ISSUE #278 October 2011

Volume 24, No. 2 ISSN #1052-9438

ESSAYS

Thomas F. Bertonneau: Stanley Weinbaum’s “Martian Odyssey,” Gift Giving, and Ancient Astronaut Theory: 1

Michael Andre-Driussi: The Anime Renaissance: 1986 to 2010: 10

Patrick L. McGuire: Did Soviet Authors Write the First Branching-Timeline SF Novel?: 16

REVIEWS

Hope Mirrlees’s Paris, a Poem, reviewed by Michael Swanwick: 1

Joan Slonczewski’s The Highest Frontier, reviewed by Michael Levy: 9

Wilum H. Pugmire’s The Tangled Muse, reviewed by Peter Rawlik: 13

Savage Radio Plays, cocreated and directed by Daniel Patrick Fay and Andrew Livingston, reviewed by Jen Gunnels: 14

Kameron Hurley’s God’s War, reviewed by Greg L Johnson: 18

The Second H. P. Lovecraft Festival: Reanimator/The Call of Cthulhu, adapted by Dan Bianchi, reviewed by Jen Gunnels: 19

PLUS

Worldcon 2011 in pictures (3, 20–23) and an editorial (24).

Samuel R. Delany, Contributing Editor; Kris Dikeman and Avram Grumer, Associate Managing Editors.

David G. Hartwell, Reviews and Features Editor; Kevin J. Maroney, Managing Editor.

Staff: Ann Crimmins, Alex Donald, Jen Gunnels, Ariel Haméon, Heather Masri, M’jit Raindancer-Stahl, and Anne Zanoni.

Weekly Crew: Lisa Padol and Christine Quiñones.

Special thanks to Arthur D. Hlavaty and Eugene Surowitz.

 

Issue #281 Editorial

Note: This editorial contains important information for subscribers.

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute

    We are at a moment of decision in the publishing of NYRSF, and here is what we see in our future: We will continue to publish print issues through the end of the current volume in July 2012. It does not appear that we will continue in print past then but will switch to PDFs of entire issues. These may be emailed to subscribers, or we may decide not to have subscribers and just make each issue available online, either for a nominal charge or for free. We will almost certainly also offer a print-on-demand option as well.

    What has brought us to this moment is that our long-time printer, Odyssey Press, was sold in October, after we had sent the November issue to them. Odyssey did not print it, because by the time it was prepared they had run entirely out of paper, and so they sent the job to the new owner in Pennsylvania. They did ultimately print it, late in November, but did not mail it until December 2. Thus we missed a calendar month for the first time in our 23-year history. We have only now received our first printing bill from them and have sent our December issue to them today, two weeks late, because we were not confident that they could remain our printer until they actually printed and mailed an issue at the agreed price. It has been an anxious six weeks. We do not know how it will play out over the coming months.

    Many of you know that we have offered a PDF subscription to overseas and non-US subscribers for the last couple of years, but we are now, this minute, offering this option to all subscribers. If it is time for you to renew your subscription, we want you to know that you can switch immediately to all-electronic for the reduced price of $3.00/issue. We recommend it to you as the best option, since the process is already in place. And that price is good worldwide.

    For now, we are not accepting subscriptions past July until we have decided on our future course. For those of you who have recently renewed, contact us directly about subscription extension and conversion to PDF if you wish to convert now. A year from now we may well not be offering a print option. 

—David G. Hartwell, Kevin J. Maroney,

& the editors

 

Issue #279 November 2011 Table of Contents

Issue #279 November 2011

Volume 24, No. 3 ISSN #1052-9438

ESSAYS

Jeanne Beckwith: Opportunity of a Lifetime (An Excerpt): 1

Mike Barrett: “Law and Justice for the Stars”: John Morressy’s Worlds of the Future: 1

Geoff Sutton: The Forever War: Haldeman’s Lessons for Contemporary Wars: 17

REVIEWS

Todd Riemer’s Inferno, reviewed by Peter Rawlik: 6

Opportunity of a Lifetime, written by Jeanne Beckwith, directed by Monica Callan, reviewed by Jen Gunnels: 8

M. M. Buckner’s The Gravity Pilot, reviewed by Michael Levy: 20

Frankenstein with Mary Shelley, adapted by Virginia Bartholomew, reviewed by Jen Gunnels: 22

PLUS

An editorial (24).

Samuel R. Delany, Contributing Editor; Kris Dikeman and Avram Grumer, Associate Managing Editors.

David G. Hartwell, Reviews and Features Editor; Kevin J. Maroney, Managing Editor.

Staff: Ann Crimmins, Alex Donald, Jen Gunnels, Heather Masri, M’jit Raindancer-Stahl, and Anne Zanoni.

Weekly Crew: Lisa Padol and Christine Quiñones.

Special thanks to Arthur D. Hlavaty and Eugene Surowitz.

 

Issue #279 November 2011 Cover

Issue #279 November 2011 Editorial

   Waking the Dragon

    With the changing of the seasons, Dragon Press has escalated to a new level of activity at our Westport, New York bookstore. During the summer we opened every weekend, and during the fall, not only are we open weekends, but we have launched our events program, planned to be an ongoing series. See <www.dragonpress.com> for news and schedules as we develop the programs. During October, and already past by the time you read this, we began on Columbus Day weekend with readings and discussions with Michael Swanwick, Jeanne Beckwith, and F. Brett Cox.

The event had a very packed schedule:

Saturday Oct 8:

2 p.m.: Reception/meet the authors Michael Swanwick, Jeanne Beckwith, and F. Brett Cox, including a short but fascinating dramatic presentation of Michael Swanwick’s Cigar-Box Faust

3 p.m.: Introduction and Michael Swanwick reading

4 p.m.: Discussion with Brett Cox, Kathryn Cramer, Michael Swanwick

8 p.m.: Reception in honor of out of town guests (this means you)

Sunday October 9:

1 p.m.: Discussion with Michael Swanwick and David G. Hartwell, followed by Michael Swanwick signing

2 p.m.: Jeanne Beckwith reading from her prize-winning play Opportunity of a Lifetime (see Act I in this issue)

3 p.m.: F. Brett Cox reading

4 p.m.: Reception with authors

    On the same weekend, at the height of fall foliage in the Adirondacks, the Arts Council for the Northern Adirondacks sponsored the Boquet Valley Studio Tour (made possible, in part, with a Developing Community Arts Grant with public funds from The New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program) Friday through Sunday, in which local artists opened their studios to visitors. You might still want to come up for the next event, or the one after.

    If you decide to come up for a future event, by car or Amtrack, the directions and local contacts are listed on our Web site. And we will even throw a party. We will have events that are not directly related to sf and fantasy, sometimes tied into the local cultural scene in Essex County.

    We traveled to Montreal in mid-September for Jo Walton’s Farthing Party (see pictures on page three). And the next week I paid an overdue visit to Arrowhead, home of the Virginia Kidd Agency (and formerly home of James Blish and Virginia Kidd and their family) in legendary Milford, Pennsylvania, recently reopened after the floods from Hurricane Claire. The picture here is of the living room/office, with agent Vaughne Hansen. *

—David G. Hartwell

& the editors

 

ISSUE #249 May 2009

ISSUE #249 May 2009

Volume 21, No. 9 ISSN #1052-9438

ESSAYS

Amy J. Ransom: WorldCon 2009 in Montréal: How the Other Half Lives; or, SFQ: More than Just a Hobby: 1

Eric A. Johnson: My London Time-Slip: 1

Tom Purdom: When I Was Writing: Installment Five: 11

Chuck Gannon: A “Dear John” Letter to a Fallen Giant: Revisiting Updike’s Marginalization of SF: 18

Darrell Schweitzer: Robert Bloch and the Death of Science Fiction—1951: 19

REVIEWS

Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster’s TH.2058, reviewed by Michael Swanwick: 9

Kage Baker’s The House of the Stag, reviewed by Jenny Blackford: 10

C. J. Henderson’s Tales of Inspector Legrasse, reviewed by Peter Rawlik: 13

Cory Doctorow’s Content: Selected Essays, reviewed by Robert Bee: 21

Brenda Cooper’s Reading the Wind, reviewed by David Mead: 23

PLUS

David Langford’s Random Reading (14) and an editorial (24).

 

Kathryn Cramer, Art and Web Site Editor; Samuel R. Delany, Contributing Editor; Kris Dikeman, Associate Managing Editor.

David G. Hartwell, Reviews and Features Editor; Kevin J. Maroney, Managing Editor.

Staff: Ann Crimmins, Alex Donald, Jen Gunnels, Eugene Reynolds, and Anne Zanoni.

Weekly Crew: Avram Grumer, Aubrey Lynch, Lisa Padol, and Christine Quiñones.

Special thanks to Arthur D. Hlavaty and Eugene Surowitz.

Published monthly by Dragon Press, P.O. Box 78, Pleasantville, NY 10570.

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