• Ansible 450 -- January 2025

    From David Langford@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jan 2 20:35:58 2025
    XPost: uk.people.sf-fans

    ANSIBLE(R) 450
    JANUARY 2025

    From DAVID LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Available for SAE
    or first editions of _Hire and Salary_ or _The Spider Bites Back_.

    [NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a450.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a450.pdf for a printable PDF. Mailing list subscribe/unsubscribe information appears below -- please don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]


    ### THE SPONGY HELICON ###

    CATHERINE BUTLER, author of _Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in
    the Children's Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne
    Jones, and Susan Cooper_ (2006), 'can't recommend ChatGPT for literary research'. Its eight answers to 'Who wrote _Four British Fantasists_?'
    were: R.A. Gilbert in 1979, Roger Lancelyn Green in 1962, R.B. Outhwaite in 1991, Farah Mendlesohn in 2009, R.J. (Roger) Reilly in 2009, David R. Haase
    in 1997, R.L. Firth with no date, and Michael Moorcock in 1969. As for the
    four authors in the subtitle, Dunsany, Eddison, C.S. Lewis and Tolkien were frequently cited; the best reply got two right; others named M. John
    Harrison and Dorothy L. Sayers. (Facebook, 9 December)

    SIR KAZUO ISHIGURO became a Companion of Honour in the UK New Year honours; Dame Jacqueline Wilson, who has written children's fantasy, was upgraded
    from DBE to Grand Cross. Honorees with media genre credits include Stephen
    Fry, now a Knight Bachelor; OBEs Anne-Marie Duff, Eddie Marsan and Anne
    Reid; and Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor) MBE.

    RICHARD MORGAN of _Altered Carbon_ and Clarke Award fame was on the winning team -- Queens' College, Cambridge -- of Christmas University Challenge, displaying _inter alia_ his profound knowledge of _The Texas Chainsaw Massacre_. (BBC2, 30 December) [SF2C]

    EBENEZER SCROOGE's gravestone -- a prop left behind in a Shrewsbury church graveyard after the filming of _A Christmas Carol_ in 1984 -- was
    inexplicably smashed to fragments in November. (BBC, 25 November)


    ### CONALBUMIN ###

    POSTPONED to 9 Jan [] LONDON PUB MEETING, The Bishop's Finger, West
    Smithfield. All welcome. The pub won't be open for the traditional 'First Thursday' on 2 January. See news.ansible.uk/london.html.

    28 Jan [] VAMPIRES: FROM MONSTER TO MISTER (Fortean Society), The Bell,
    London, 7:30 for 8pm. GBP5. See forteanlondon.blogspot.com.

    7-9 Feb [] CONTABILE 35 (filk), Wensum Valley Hotel, Norwich. GBP43 reg;
    GBP33 concessions. More details at c35.contabile.org.uk.

    7-10 Feb [] SCOTIACON (furry), Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow. 'Magical
    Mayhem' theme. GBP100 reg; day GBP45. See www.scotiacon.org.uk.

    21-23 Feb [] UK GHOST STORY FESTIVAL, Museum of Making, Derby. In-person tickets GBP75 plus fee. Also online 14-16 February, GBP50 plus fee. See www.ukghoststoryfestival.co.uk.

    22-23 Feb [] SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL, Stoneleigh, Epsom. See bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials.

    1 Mar [] PICOCON 42, Imperial College, London. Further details and web
    presence awaited.

    20-23 Mar [] CAMP SFW, Vauxhall Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth. Weekend pass currently GBP95 at www.scifiweekender.com.

    8 Apr - 30 Sep [] CATS! (exhibition), Cartoon Museum, London. More at www.cartoonmuseum.org/whats-on-exhibitions/cats.

    18-21 Apr [] RECONNECT (Eastercon), Hilton Lanyon Place Hotel and ICC,
    Belfast. GBP100 reg, _rising to GBP120 at the door_; Eastercon first-timers
    and fans living in Ireland GBP70; under-18s and concessions GBP40; GBP25 supporting. See easterconbelfast.org.

    19-20 Apr [] HORRORFIED (horror), Farnborough International Exhibition
    Centre. Tickets GBP49; day rate GBP29. See horrorfied.co.uk.

    23-26 May [] JODIWORLD (Jodi Taylor), Doubletree by Hilton, Coventry.
    GBP100 reg; GBP30 supporting; under-13s free. Online registration is now
    open at the new website jodiworld.co.uk (no longer .org).

    24-25 May [] LAWLESS (UK comics), Hilton Doubletree, Bristol. Weekend
    ticket GBP70 plus fees; trader GBP80; day ticket GBP35. Under-14s free.
    Ticket sales from 27 January at lawlesscomiccon.co.uk.

    24 or 25 May [] PETER CUSHING CELEBRATION, Whitstable. GBP65 for either day
    -- same programme both days. See renownfilms.co.uk.

    19-22 Jun [] SCI-FI LONDON (film), Picturehouse Cinema, Finsbury Park,
    London. Ticket sales awaited at sci-fi-london.com.

    25-26 Oct [] BRISTOLCON, Hilton DoubleTree Hotel, Bristol. Rates and online registration awaited at www.bristolcon.org.

    RUMBLINGS. _Worldcon Bids Update_ from Smofcon: the 2027 Israel bid is
    moving to a later year, leaving Montreal in 2027 unopposed. Bids are
    planned for Texas in 2031 and Maastricht, Netherlands, in 2032. [F770]
    _Middle-earth Festival_ is returning this year with a new UK field
    venue ('rough camping' available). The official website is well out of
    date; news appears at www.facebook.com/MiddleEarthFestival/ (login
    required).


    ### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

    YET ANOTHER PORTENT OF DOOM. 'Britain has seen an alarming rise in poetry
    sales ...' (_The Economist_, 2024) [SB]

    AWARDS. _Prometheus Hall of Fame_ (libertarian) shortlist: _Orion Shall
    Rise_ (1983) by Poul Anderson, 'As Easy as A.B.C.' (1912) by Rudyard
    Kipling, 'The Trees' (1978 song) by Rush and _Singularity Sky_ (2003) by Charles Stross. This is the Kipling story's seventeenth nomination.

    ASTROGATION MASTERCLASS. From the W.J. Stuart (Philip MacDonald)
    novelization of _Forbidden Planet_ (1956): 'ALTAIR 4 was in sight! They had traveled billions of light years through dark, treacherous space ...' to a
    star a mere 16.7 light years from Earth.

    R.I.P. _Christel Bodenstein_ (1938-2024), German actress in _The Singing Ringing Tree_ (1957) and _The Little Prince_ (1966), died on 5 December
    aged 86. [SJ]
    _Marshall Brickman_ (1939-2024), Oscar-winning US filmmaker who co-scripted Woody Allen's _Sleeper_ (1973) and wrote and directed _Simon_ (1980), _Lovesick_ (1983) and _The Manhattan Project_ (1986), died on 29 November aged 85. [SJ]
    _Maurizio Centini_, Italian cinematographer for _Naked Exorcism_
    (1975), _SS Experiment Love Camp_ (1976) and other exploitation films, died
    on 27 December aged 84. [SJ]
    _Mikhail Chekalin_ (1959-2024), Russian experimental musician and
    composer who scored the Strugatsky-based teleplay _Malysh_ (1987) and
    episodes of the children's sf tv show _Etot Fantasticheskiy Mir_ (_This Fantastic World_, 1987-1990), died on 28 December aged 65. [AM]
    _Thom Christopher_ (1940-2024), US actor in _Buck Rogers in the 25th Century_ (1981), _Space Raiders_ (1983), _Deathstalker and the Warriors
    from Hell_ (1988) and others, died on 6 December aged 84. [LP]
    _Es (Esther) Cole_ (1924-2024), long-time US fan who with her husband
    Les (1926-2019) was in the legendary sf club The Elves', Gnomes' and Little Men's Science Fiction, Chowder, and Marching Society(founded 1949) and
    worked on the 1954 Worldcon -- he as co-chair, she as treasurer -- died in December 2024 aged 100. [RL/F770] She entered the First Fandom Hall of Fame
    in 2017.
    _Michael Cole_ (1940-2024), US _Mod Squad_ actor in _The Bubble_
    (1966), _The Last Child_ (1971) and genre tv series, died on 10 December
    aged 84. [SJ]
    _Diane Delano_ (1957-2024), US actress in _Miracle Mile_ (1988) and
    _The Wicker Man_ (2006), plus many voice roles in genre tv series and videogames, died on 13 December aged 67. [LP]
    _Geoffrey Deuel_ (1943-2024), US actor in _Terminal Island_ (1973) and genre tv series, died on 22 December aged 81. [LP]
    _Mircea Diaconu_ (1949-2024), Romanian actor who starred in _Secretul armei... secrete!_ (_The Secret of the Secret Weapon_, 1988), died on 14 December aged 74. [AM]
    _Barrie Ellis-Jones_, an important figure in the European film
    industry who also wrote the ghost story _The Walker After Death_ (1980),
    died in November aged 84. [AIP]
    _Art Evans_ (1942-2024), US actor in _Fright Night_ (1985), _Alien
    Rising_ (2013) and genre tv series, died on 21 December aged 82.
    _Katinka Farago_ (1936-2024), Austrian-born script supervisor for many Ingmar Bergman films including _The Seventh Seal_ (1957), died on 26
    November aged 87. [SJ]
    _George Folsey Jr._ (1939-2024), US producer of _An American Werewolf
    in London_ (1981), _Michael Jackson: Thriller_ (1983) and others, died on
    29 December aged 85. [SJ]
    _Dayle Haddon_ (1948-2024), Canadian actress in _Spermula_ (1976), _Cyborg_ (1989) and genre tv series, died on 27 December aged 76. [SJ]
    _Hannelore Hoger_ (1942-2024), German actress in _Der grosse Verhau_
    (_The Big Mess_, 1971), _Super_ (1984) and _Hamlet_X_ (2003), died on 21 December aged 82. [SHS]
    _Olivia Hussey_ (1951-2024), UK actress whose genre work includes
    _Quest of the Delta Knights_ (1993), _The Lord Protector_ (1996), tv series episodes and _Star Wars_ videogames, died on 27 September aged 73. [LP]
    _Leonid Ionin_ (1945-2024), Russian sociologist who wrote the
    near-future political thriller _Russky apokalipsis_ (_Russian Apocalypse_, 1999) died on 12 December. [AM]
    _Jill Jacobson_, US actress in _Nurse Sherri_ (title role, 1977), _Restless Souls_ (1998), _House of Usher_ (2008) and genre tv series, died
    on 8 December aged 70. [SJ]
    _T. Jackson King_ (1948-2024), prolific US author whose debut novel
    was the sf _Retread Shop_ (1988) and who also wrote fantasies and
    nonfantastic adventures, died on 3 December aged 76. [JC]
    _'The Amazing' Kreskin_ (1935-2024), well-known US mentalist whose
    genre credits include _The New Misadventures of Ichabod Crane_ (1979),
    _Horror_ (2003) and _Wake-Up Callz_ (2008), died on 10 December aged 89.
    [GVG]
    _Ney Latorraca_ (1944-2024), Brazilian actor who co-starred in the vampire-themed 'telenovela' _Vamp_ (178 episodes 1991-1992), died on 26 December aged 80.
    _Linda Lavin_ (1937-2024), Tony-winning US actress in _Damn Yankees!_ (1967), _The Muppets Take Manhattan_ (1984) and genre tv including _Courage
    the Cowardly Dog_ (13 episodes 2002), died on 29 December aged 87. [SJ]
    _Hal Lindsey_ (1929-2024), US evangelical prophet of doom whose bestselling 'nonfiction' _The Late, Great Planet Earth_ (1970) predicted imminent Biblical apocalypse and was followed by many more in similar vein, died on 25 November aged 95. [AIP]
    _Angus MacInnes_ (1947-2024), Canadian actor in _Star Wars_ (1977),
    _Judge Dredd_ (1995), _Space Island One_ (1998 as co-star), _Hellboy_
    (2004), _Rogue One_ (2016) and many more, died on 23 December aged 77. [SJ]
    _David A. McIntee_ (1968-2024), UK fan, convention worker and author
    of many _Doctor Who_ spinoff novels beginning with _White Darkness_ (1993, based on his own unproduced script), died on 15 December aged 55.
    _Barry N. Malzberg_ (1939-2024), noted US author and critic whose
    bitter and controversial black-comedy sf novels appeared 1968-1975 -- with _Beyond Apollo_ (1973) winning the inaugural John W. Campbell Award -- died
    on 19 December aged 85. Other work included many short stories, many anthologies beginning with the ambitious _Final Stage_ (1974 with Edward L. Ferman), and the critical collection _The Engines of the Night_ (1982; much expanded as _Breakfast in the Ruins_ 2007), both of whose editions won
    _Locus_ awards. In later life he contributed his wisdom to the Fictionmags email list. He is much missed. [EM]
    _John Marsden_ (1950-2024), Australian author of children's/YA sf and fantasy, best known for the seven-book sf sequence opening with _Tomorrow,
    When the War Began_ (1993), died on 18 December aged 74.
    _Vanessa May_, UK fan and convention-runner who worked on multiple Worldcons and Eastercons, co-chairing Eastercon 2020 (cancelled owing to
    Covid) and chairing Eastercon 2021, died on 5 December. [FD]
    _Tony Meadows_ (1948-2024), UK fan and celluloid-film collector who
    until the late 2000s was a stalwart of the Festival of Fantastic Films and
    also showed his sf films at Eastercons, died on 21 October. [SF2C]
    _Marisa Paredes_ (1946-2024), Spanish actress in _The Awful Dr. Orlof_ (1962), the anthology horror film _Pastel de sangre_ (1971), _The Devil's Backbone_ (2001) and _The Skin I Live In_ (2011), died on 17 December aged
    78.
    _Nadezhda Podyapolskaya_ (1941-2024), Russian voice actress heard in
    dubs of _Rosemary's Baby_ (1968), _Hook_ (1991), _Black Panther_ (2018),
    _Dune_ (2021) and many more, died on 28 December aged 83. [AM]
    _Shafoat Rahmatullayeva_ (1941-2024), Uzbek actress who starred in the
    sf comedy film _Sevginator_ (2007 plus sequel) and the children's fantasy _Sehrli qalpoqcha 2_ (_Magic Cap 2_, 2014), died on 24 December aged 83.
    [AM]
    _Gene (Eugene P.) Rizzardi_ (1952-2024), Emmy-winning US special
    effects artist and model-maker whose films include _Demolition Man_ (1993), _Alien Resurrection_ (1997), _Godzilla_ (1998) and _Star Trek_ (2009), died
    on 25 December aged 72. [BE]
    _Anatoly Romov_ (1935-2024), US-naturalized Russian detective-fiction author whose sf novel is _Goluboy ksill_ (_Blue Xill_, 1984), died on 10 December. [AM]
    _Hans-Erik Saks_, Danish producer, director and screenwriter best
    known for the tv fantasy series _The Julekalender_ (_Christmas Calendar_, 1991), died on 10 December aged 68. [OC]
    _Maria Socas_ (1959-2024), Argentine actress who co-starred in the
    Roger Corman films _The Warrior and the Sorceress_ (1984), _Wizards of the
    Lost Kingdom_ (1995) and _Deathstalker II_ (1987), died on 10 December aged
    65. [SJ]
    _Craig Smith_, US fan artist active since the 1980s and member of the
    2000 Corflu committee, died in October. [ES]
    _Julie Stevens_ (1936-2024), UK actress who was the first regular
    female lead in _The Avengers_ (1962-1963) and sang in the multi-genre children's anthology series _Look and Read_ (1981), died on 5 December aged
    87. [SJ]
    _Anand Vaidya_ (1976-2024), US philosopher who in 2022 co-founded the Science Fiction and Philosophy Society, died on 11 October aged 48. [L]
    _David Weatherley_ (1939-2024), UK-born NZ actor in _My Grandpa Is a Vampire_ (1991), _The Fellowship of the Ring_ (2001) and two _Power
    Rangers_ franchise series (both 2007), died on 12 December aged 85. [SJ]
    _Arnold Yarrow_ (1920-2024), UK actor in _Doomsday for Dyson_ (1958),
    _The Andromeda Breakthrough_ (1962) and _Doctor Who_ ('Death to the
    Daleks', 1974), died on 9 December aged 104.
    _George Zebrowski_ (1945-2024), Austrian-born US author and
    anthologist active since 1970, whose best known works include the trilogy
    whose first published novel was _The Omega Point_ (1972), the ambitious standalone _Macrolife_ (1979) and the John W. Campbell Award-winning _Brute Orbits_ (1998), died on 20 December aged 78. He is survived by his
    long-time partner and collaborator Pamela Sargent. [DP]
    _Trent Zelazny_ (1976-2024), US author -- Roger Zelazny's son --
    active since 1999, whose first collection was _The Day the Leash Gave Way_ (2009), died in late November aged 48. [PDF]

    THE WEAKEST LINK. _Alex Scott:_ 'In the films _Frankenstein_ and _Bride of Frankenstein_, which Boris played Frankenstein's monster?' _Contestant:_
    'Boris Johnson.' (BBC1, _The Tournament_) [PE]

    PUBLISHERS AND SINNERS. The US Science Fiction Book Club, now owned by Bookspan, is apparently shutting down. A December notice on the SFBC
    website warned that orders will no longer be processed after 2 January
    2025, with the strong implication that subscribers' accumulated 'Member Credits' would vanish if not used by then. [F770]

    THE DEAD PAST. _80 Years Ago_, a UK wartime convention was reported by J. Michael Rosenblum: '1944-45 NORCON held in Leeds England. Delegates _[there were fourteen]_ stayed at Golden Lion Hotel. Informal sessions held at Rosenblum's.' (_Fanewscard Weekly_ #101, 14 January 1945)
    _60 Years Ago_, crowdfunding was so different: 'The Birmingham SF
    Group is looking for a clubroom and would like interested parties to take
    out a 5/- per year subscription, which will be used to finance the
    clubroom.' (_Skyrack_ 74, January 1965)
    _50 Years Ago,_ the British SF Association had gone astray: 'LOST: ONE BSFA. LAST SEEN IN NEWCASTLE, EASTER 1974. It hasn't turned up again yet,
    but Keith Walker has sent some information on his proposed "Operation SF".
    It appears that this is not so much a rival organization to the BSFA as a ginger group to stir up some action in the BSFA itself.' (_Checkpoint_ 58, January 1975)
    _10 Years Ago_, a blurb for _Dickens' Secret Lover_: 'In 1857, Charles Dickens was probably the most famous and beloved Englishman alive -- a
    cross between J.K. Rowling and Princess Diana.' (_Ansible_ 330, January
    2015)

    CORRIGENDUM. _Ken MacLeod_ is mortified that his typo of 2004 for 2024
    shifted the Lucy Lawless quote in _A449_ from its rightful place in 'As
    Others See Us' to the dusty recesses of 'The Dead Past / 20 Years Ago'.

    FANFUNDERY. _TransAtlantic Fan Fund._ Nominations for the TAFF race to the
    2025 Seattle Worldcon closed on 20 December, and three candidates have
    stepped forward: Zi Graves (UK), Mikolaj Kowalewski (Polish, living in
    Denmark) and Jan Vanek jr. (Czech). Voting opened on 1 January and
    continues until shortly after the Belfast Eastercon, where European administrator Sandra Bond will have a dealers'-room table. See taff.org.uk
    for the official newsletter _Taffluorescence_ 7 announcing this race, the ballot with candidates' platforms, and the online voting form.

    RANDOM FANDOM. _Corflu 42_ (Newbury, April) members will pick the event's Fanzine of Honour from this list: _Apparatchik_, _Attitude_, _Australian SF Review_, _Empties_, _Energumen_, _Fouler_, _Khatru_, _Mota_, _Plokta_,
    _Pulp_, _SF Commentary_, _Shipyard Blues_ and _Trap Door_. See PR3 at corflu.org.
    _Rotsler Award (2024)_ for achievement in fanzine art: Espana Sheriff.

    EDITORIAL. AWE Aldermaston, the former Atomic Weapons Research
    Establishment that John Brunner famously used to march against, has a 75th anniversary exhibition at the West Berkshire Museum in Newbury, now open Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-4pm, until 7 December 2025. 'Free -- Drop in only',
    i.e. no advance booking. See tinyurl.com/awe-show. The sf connection? I
    confess to being thoroughly boggled when the organizers asked to include a
    copy of _The Leaky Establishment_ and quote Terry Pratchett's introduction
    as well as my own tongue-in-cheek author's note.

    LOADSAMONEY. In that Christie's auction of sf memorabilia, one surprise
    came from John Harris's cover painting for _Ender's Game_ (Tor 1985), which
    was expected to bring GBP30-GBP50,000 and sold for GBP504,000.

    THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Precision Gesticulation._ 'Cesar responded with a
    gesture that was half-solicitous, half-impotent, a small sign of
    magnanimous and futile solidarity, of a love conscious of its limitations,
    the kind of elegant, excessive gesture an eighteenth-century courtier might make to a lady whom he worships at the precise moment that he sees, at the
    end of the street along which both are being carried in a funeral cart, the shadow of the guillotine.' (Arturo Perez-Reverte, _The Flanders Panel_,
    1990; trans 1995) [BA]
    _A Way With Words._ 'The man was so handsome that he seemed faintly phosphorescent.' 'The idyll of the past week was the rennet that had
    congealed a resolve that had been curdling since her betrayal ...' 'She
    turned her head but Matias's tongue drilled into her ear like a corkscrew.' '... her thighs were a forge, they were shears; her thighs were sandstone,
    they were the sandstone buttresses of a cathedral, they were silk or
    cobwebs.' '... she had the sex of rain forests, the ibis and the scarab;
    she had the sex of mirrors and candles ...' 'The bristly mound of her pubes buzzed and hummed like a shaken hornet's nest.' (Ron Miller, _Silk and
    Steel_, 1992) [BA]


    ### GEEKS' CORNER ###

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    CONVENTION AND EVENT LINKS
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    London -- https://news.ansible.uk/london.html
    Overseas -- https://news.ansible.uk/conlisti.html [no longer updated]


    ### ENDNOTES ###

    PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Donate to support _Ansible_, cover website costs and keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.
    https://ansible.uk/paypal.html
    https://ae.ansible.uk/
    https://ansible.uk/books/index.html

    GROUP THEORY.
    16 January 2025, evening: London Zoom meeting, third Thursday of each month. 'Please share this with people who you know typically come to the Bishop's Finger, but aren't on Facebook.' https://bohemiancoast.medium.com/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f

    PUBLISHERS AND SINNERS II. 'Sending love out to every author who learned
    that their publisher's marketing plan for their new book was to have an
    intern visit a remote woodland in winter, dig a hole in the frozen earth,
    and whisper their book's title once, 'neath the crescent moon.' (Steve
    Lieber, Bluesky, 29 December)

    EDITORIAL. Work in progress at Ansible Editions includes a hoped collection
    of GUFF trip report chapters and fragments by past winners who never
    finished their reports. The TAFF equivalent appeared several years ago: https://taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=TAFFanth

    SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
    Langford looks back on his working year
    https://ansible.uk/#20241224
    Novelist on a Deadline: Barry Malzberg, 1939-2024 (_The Nation_) https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/barry-malzberg-obituary-science-fiction/
    George Zebrowski obituary (_Times Union_) https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/grondahl-george-zebrowski-prolific-sci-fi-20008416.php

    THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 210, January 2005. _That's Easy For You
    To Say:_ 'Kelric opened his mouth to speak but then fell silent.' (Lyndon Hardy, _Master of the Five Magics_, 1986)
    _Dept of Repair, or Impalement._ 'Binabik fixed Simon with his brows.' (Tad Williams, _Stone of Farewell_, 1990) Your editor remembers that Wizard Longbrows in _Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain_ can actually do this.
    _The Noisy Dead._ 'It caught a man between neck and shoulder, and the
    dead man went down shrieking ...' (David Weber, _Oath of Swords_, 1995)


    _Ansible_(R) 450 (C) David Langford, 2025. Thanks to Brian Ameringen,
    Sandra Bond, Olav M.J. Christiansen, John Clute, Paul Di Filippo, Fran
    Dowd, Bob Eggleton, _File 770_, Steve Jones, _Locus_, Rich Lynch, Erika Malzberg, Andrey Meshavkin, Lawrence Person, Andrew I. Porter, David
    Pringle, _Private Eye_, Andy Richards, _SF2 Concatenation_, Steven H
    Silver, Erik Smith, Gordon Van Gelder, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy and Alan Stewart (Australia). A Happy New Year to all readers.

    2 January 2025
    --
    David Langford | http://ansible.uk/ | http://news.ansible.uk/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)