SFL Archives Volume 22a readthrough update 02

FL Archives Volume 22b

4.1mb raw text file

100% completion, 434 bookmarks

Movies, television shows referenced: CONTACT, LIAR LIAR, SPECIES 2, METROPOLIS 1927, MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE, EVENT HORIZON, CAPRICORN ONE,  ROSSUM'S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS (PLAY), STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE (tv-series), SLIDERS (tv-series), LEXX (tv-series), 20000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (tv-series), WYRD SISTERS (tv-series), THE SHINING (tv-series), MILLENIUM (tv-series), DARK SKIES (tv-series), INVASION (tv-series), CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, CYBORG 2: GLASS SHADOW, JOHNNY MNEMONIC, HONEY I BLEW UP THE KID, XTRO 1, XTRO 2, TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, SUPERMAN RETURNS, LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY, LOST IN SPACE 1998, MY FAVORITE MARTIAN, NEVERENDING STORY 3, THE FIFTH ELEMENT, STAR TREK: VOYAGER (tv-series), BABYLON 5 (tv-series), THE ODYSSEY (tv-series), BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (tv-series), TWISTOR, THE ARRIVAL, JURASSIC PARK 2, ALIEN NATION (tv-series), RED DWARF (tv-series), HBO'S PERVERSIONS OF SCIENCE (tv-series), STARGATE SG-1 (tv-series), THE COMPANION.

SF&F stories referenced: BEYOND THE BEYOND, TIME BREAKERS, SMALL GODS, JOHNNY AND THE DEAD, LIFEHOUSE, THE SPARROW, A HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN PRAYER, INFINITE JEST,STAR OF THE UNBORN, SOLDIER OF THE MIST, THE DARK SHORE, EXCESSION, AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND, ROSSUM'S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS, WIZARDS FIRST RULE, DEMON RIDER, A CROWN OF SWORDS, WIZARD AND GLASS, STRATA, INTERESTING TIMES, SPARES, IN ENEMY HANDS, THE TIME SHIPS, FOUNDATIONS FEAR, IMMERSION, THE ROSE AND THE SCAPEL, MOVING MARS, 3001: THE FINAL ODYSSEY, CHILDREN OF AMARID, HELIX: GEMINI BLOOD, ASSASSINS QUEST, COUNT GEIGERS BLUES, THE SECRET ASCENSION, SHADOW RISING, REMNANT POPULATION, REDLINE THE STARS, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, PAVANE, SOFTWARE, WIZARD IN RHYME, BRITTLE INNINGS, TRADER, THE KILLING DANCE, KING DAVIDS SPACESHIP, DOGLAND, HOLY FIRE, DEATH GROUND, MENACE OF THE SAUCERS, MINING THE SKY: UNTOLD RICHES FROM THE ASTEROIDS COMETS AND PLANETS, ETERNITY ROAD, OTHERLAND, QUICKER THAN THE EYE, BROKEDOWN PALACE, FALCON, CYTEEN, FINAL ENCYCLOPEDIA, DORSAI!, DISTRESS, DHIAMMARA, PRINCE OF SUNSET, CAGEWORLD 1: SEARCH FOR THE SUN, WHEN THE GODS ARE SILENT, HUNTING THE CORRIGANS BLOOD, HELL ON HIGH, DESTINYS ROAD, WITNESS OF GOR, THE AFFIRMATION, THE MAGEBORN TRAITOR, THE SERPENT GARDEN, MAGE HEART, THE CHILD GARDEN, LADY OF AVALON, MEMORY, QUEEN CITY JAZZ, GALATEA 2.2, RED MARS, BLUE MARS, THE LOST WORLD, CARRION COMFORT, RISE OF ENDYMION, MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA, THE BLABBER, ACORNS, THE ALCHEMICAL MARRIAGE OF ALISTAIR CROMPTON, THE IRON DRAGONS DAUGHTER, A PURSUIT OF MIRACLES, WANDERING STAR, JIPI AND THE PARANOID CHIP, BOOK OF ENCHANTMENTS, ABSOLUTE MAGNITUDE, GLOBALHEAD.

Pop culture references: the 1950's british radio comedy series the Goon Show, the Carry On movie franchise, whatever the hell  "Mark Rothko Clothing Encounter" is, Dogbert, Scott Adams & Harlan Ellison making cameo appearances in Babylon 5.

Technology callbacks: telnet vs GUI internet browsing choices, bringing a notebook laptop to a convention to catch up on usenet in convention downtime.

Death notices: Alexander Salkind, Hollywood movie producer. Samuel Mosokowitz, SFF author & editor. Lou Stathis, High Times editor-in-chief, Vertigo Comics managing director.

SFL requests/discussion topics:

>Re: Tim Powers: is Ashbless real?

>Re: why I don't like Terry Pratchett

>Re: Different versions of Metropolis 1927

>Re: Iain Banks Culture series (SPOILERS)

>Re: Michael Bishop's newest: opinions?

>Re: Names in Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

>Re: David Eddings

>Re: Pavane

>Re: Sliders (why doesn't Quinn go on strike?)

>Re: New Thomas Covenant Trilogy

>Re: Zelazny's Amber

>Re: How is Diamond Age?

>Re: Odo committed Genocide -DS9

>Re: Bujold meets Sayers

>Re: Jack Chalker

>Re: Harlan Ellison: Where to start

>Re: Is Sterling Lanier still around?

>Re: Sequel to Martin's "A Game of Thrones"

>New Gor Novel and Gor Magazine

>Re: Tim Powers Questin

>Re: Dan Simmons

>Re: Vernor Vinge

>Re: Not crazy about Tau Zero

>Who was/is the Youngest Published SF Author?

>Re: Ringworld Engineers, a daft question

>Re: Neal Stephenson SF in Forbes

>Re: A Question about Jack Vance's Work

>Re: Gene Wolfe, certain books any good?

-1997 is when SFLers start feeling safe enough online to start saying that Orson Scott Card, Dan Simmons, and Arthur C Clarke work has all sucked for a while.

-Lee Goldberg, the author of BEYOND THE BEYOND/DEAD SPACE, responds to the huge angry negative review a SFLer posted of his book. Lee Goldberg explains that he is an actual tv screenwriter/tv producer, Star Trek wasn't being parodied, the book is a satire of events he's experienced and that everyone whose real names were used in the book were asked & clued in to the contents of the book before it got published.

(2021 note: The SFL person who posted the huge angry negative review posts almost exclusively about STAR TREK tv series/is a massive Star Trek fan, so that explains their intense anger The SFL reviewer took the corrections from Lee Goldberg in good faith and everyone moved on after a day.)

-More people respond to the "Why I don't like Terry Pratchett" discussion thread offering various Young Adult novels Pratchett wrote. A smaller amount of people respond back that Terry Pratchett fails to land for them too, despite liking classic British humor things like the Carry On movies.

-Another retroactively painful in 2020/2021 comment from way back in 1997 about "It's nice to now SOMEBODY can get away with publishing novels under 250 pages. Painful because TOR Books has been getting away with charging $10-$14 for 120 page or smaller novellas since at least 2016.

(2021 note: The first time book price complaints came up in the SFL Archives was circa 1980/1981 when it was people complain commenting on the price jump from $0.50 to $1.00 for paperback books.)

-One of the first mentions of the Annotated Pratchett File website, which lists and explains more than 1300 references and obscure jokes in Pratchett's book as of 1997.

-Films mentioned in SFL Vol 22a that have been in production hell for years as of 1997: JOHN CARTER, SUPERMAN RETURNS, ENDERS GAME, SPIDERMAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, LORD OF THE RINGS

-More SFLers chime in about really enjoying Terry Goodkind's WIZARDS FIRST RULE series, especially the torture-porn elements in it.

-11 weeks of downtime for the SFL Archives mailing list caused by multiple server hardware failure events and mailing list moderator vacations/moderator sickness leave. SFL Archives Volume 22a covers 26 weeks (Jan 1 - June 30th 1997).

(2021 note: SFL Archives Volume 22a covers 26 weeks (Jan 1 - June 30th 1997). So the SFL Archives was down and unavailable to users and subscribers for roughly 42% of SFL Archives Volume 22a. No idea if outages will happen in the back half of 1997/SFL Archives Volume 22b, but do expect at least one outage event due to the past 7 yrs of SFL Archives history.)

-SFLers start commenting on Gregory Benford's habit of repeatedly whole-sale recycling previously written set-pieces by himself into new stories, and selling everything as new content. SFLer's note that the Benford written FOUNDATIONS FEAR HAS two examples of Benford recycling content: The primitive portion of FF is Benford's IMMERSION with a few name changes, and Benfords THE ROSE AND THE SCAPEL is inserted into large portions of FF with minor name changes as well.

-Philip Pullman's THE GOLDEN COMPASS comes up for discussion again.

-LEXX the SFF tv-movie/tv-series is set to premiere sometime in the back half of 1997 on cable television. 

-The 5TH ELEMENT comes out and seemingly everyone in the SFL Archives writes a glowingly positive review of it.

-BALTICON 1997 Balticon 1997 reviews mostly focus on the age of the hotel, the inconsistent no-smoking policy enforcement throughout the hotel and slightly improved handicapped access; along with convention staff willing to help out handicapped people unable to deal with the weird multi-floor art auction setup Balticon 1997 had.

-Minicon 32 convention report: Notable for a endless drum circle throughout Minicon 32, the 5-20 pounds of  meat falling from the 7th floor that almost brained a hotel guest hanging out in the convention hotel's atrium incident, and gross hygiene at open-food-buffet convention parties.

-Intervention 1997 held in Liverpool England was notable for the "Make Your Own Badge" project that other future conventions hit up for hundreds of free badges, lots of theft running from stealing of money tins from convention stands to literal breaking into and robbery of multiple hotel rooms with fire extinguishers, along with tons of SFF fandom interactions and meetup that Dave Langford's Ansible issue about Intervention 1997 probably covered in detail, and finally for teaching me a new unit of liquid measurement.

(2021 note: That new measurement being "kils/kilderkin". 1 kilderkin equals 18 gallons of liquid, 2 kilderkin equals 36 gallons, etc.

-The 1997 Sci-Fi Collectibles Show Cherry Hill NJ convention report was notable for a in-depth transcript of Gil Gerald giving commentary on his experience on the BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY (tv-series). Gil Gerald preferred the 1st season vs the 2nd season of the show, mentioned his favorite episode of the show, liked Hawk the actor, related how hard it was acting vs colored lighting taking the place of to-be-created-special effects, and noted how production staff kept tweaking set design and ignoring his input on scripts. 

 -Jeff Vogel, the Spiderweb Software game developer returns to the SFL Archives to post on "Re: Harlan Ellison: Where to start" using his official Spiderweb Software email account.

-The person who made a career of posting about naked people on the Internet, Mr Skin, posts about the return of the GOR books and a new GOR magazine, and then later on posts a highly positive review of AMMONITE...but is disappointed that lesbianism wasn't explained or explored more in the book.

-The first casting details for STARGATE SG-1 drop, people have no comments so far.

-Jeri Ryan is announced as joining the next season of STAR TREK: VOYAGER.

-An SFLer brings up the question: "Who was/is the Youngest Published SF Author?" and name-drops Michael Moorcook as creating fanzines at age 11 and being a published professionally at age 18.

(2021 note: This is a discussion thread I hope gets picked up again on in SFL Archives Volume 22b.)

-Neal Stephenson writes a science-fiction story for Forbes Magazine called JIPI AND THE PARANOID CHIP, featuring yet another idea and concept that Neal Stephenson has stolen from the Cypherpunks CYPHERNOMICON.

(2021 note: No-one ever mentions this Neal Stephenson story when discussing Stephenson's work. For people who don't feel like looking it up, Jipi is about AI instances trained to be paranoid, then a Silicon Valley startup decides to use paranoid AI Instances as improved car alarms, then someone has the bright idea to wire explosives to the Paranoid AI car alarms, and everything gets stupider and stupider from that point. 

As I have stated previously, all of Neal Stephenson's ideas and cutting edge scenarios in his stories ultimately come from the CYPHERNOMICON FAQ. The CYPHERNOMICON is a large FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) text file listing the most common topics of discussion and bleeding edge ideas that had come up in the Cypherpunks mailing list as of September 10 1994.)

SFL Archives Volume 21b readthrough

 SFL Archives Volume 21b

4.7 mb raw text file

100% completion, 385 bookmarks

Movies, television shows referenced: INDEPENDENCE DAY, RED DWARF (tv-series), POLTERGEIST THE LEGACY (tv-series), SLIDERS (tv-series), NEVERWHERE (tv-series), OUTER LIMITS (tv-series), PHENOMENON, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR 1996, OSIRIS CHRONICLES, BARB WIRE, MULTIPLICITY, THE FRIGHTENERS, ERASER, THE VISITORS, THE FIFTH ELEMENT, HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME 1996, DARK SKIES (tv-series), WARPED IN SPACE, SWAMP THING (tv-series), XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS, FOREVER KNIGHT (tv-series), HOMEBOYS FROM OUTER SPACE (tv-series), THE ARRIVAL, ESCAPE FROM L.A., ISLAND OF DR MOREAU 1996, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, THE REAL ADVENTURES OF JONNY QUEST (tv-series), BONE CHILLERS (tv-series), MR STITCH, SPACE JAM 1, LOST IN SPACE 1998, THE CAPE 1996 (tv-series), BOGUS, THE CROW 2, THE PRETENDER (tv-series), STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE (tv-series), BABYLON FIVE (tv-series), STAR TREK VOYAGER (tv-series), STAR TREK 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL, STAR TREK FIRST CONTACT, HIGHLANDER THE TV SERIES, THEM, EARLY EDITION (tv-series), PUMPKIN HEAD 2, MILLENNIUM (tv-series), X-FILES (tv-series), ADVENTURES OF SINBAD (tv-series), ALIEN NATION: THE ENEMY WITHIN, STARGATE SG-1 (tv-series), JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT (tv-series), CONTACT, STANLEY KUBRICKS A.I., ODYSSEY (tv-series), ASTEROID, MARS ATTACKS.

SF&F stories referenced: THE DRAGON AND THE UNICORN, TEHANU, WIND FROM A FOREIGN SKY, BLUE MARS, THE FIRE DUKE, MAGE HEART, OTHER DAYS OTHER EYES, SHAPECHANGERS WIFE, RESURRECTION MAN, RELUCTANT VOYAGERS, INFINITE JEST, BUTTERFLY KID, WAR OF THE WORLDS: GLOBAL DISPATCHES, TAMULI, THRESHOLD, GOSPEL OF CORAX, WAY STATION, ARTIFACT, WILD SEED, THE LONG HUNT, DUTCHMAN, ANVIL OF STARS, BRIGHTNESS REEF, FOREIGNER, THE WATERBORN, DRUM WARNING, HIGHER SPACE, RINGWORLD THRONE, AUTOMATED ALICE, RINGSTONES, LURE OF THE BASILISK, SHADE AND SHADOW, ENCOUNTER WITH TIBER, TREKS NOT TAKEN, SQUARES OF THE CITY, THE FORTUNATE FALL, FORTRESS IN THE EYE OF TIME, WHEN GRAVITY FAILS, THE DUBIOUS HILLS, CELESTIAL MATTERS, LIONS OF AL-RASSAN, WIZARD OF THE PIGEONS, MURDER IN THE SOLID STATE, CADRE LUCIFER, THE TEN TON SNAKES, PASSAGE TO DAWN, ZOD WALLOP, HOLY FIRE, CLOUDS END, RAPTOR RED, ONE FOR THE MORNING GLORY, STARTIDE RISING, THE KILLING GAME, THE SUN THE MOON AND THE STARS, PSALMS OF HEROD, GUARDIANS KEY, BOOK OF ENCHANTMENT, THE KILLING STAR, GOOD OMENS, THE TWO GEORGES, STONE AND FLUTE, HEADCRASH, DEAD GIRLS, ARMED MEMORY, SLOW RIVER, DAGGERSPELL, VIRTUAL DEATH, HAPPY POLICEMAN, THE BASTARD PRINCESS VOLUME 2, CAMELOT 30K, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, WINTER TALE, HUMPTY DUMPTY: AN OVAL, REIGNING CATS AND DOGS, DANCING VAC, EARTHFASTS, BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN, SILVERLOCK, THE INTEGRAL TREES, TERMINAL EXPERIMENT, CONVERGENCE, ARCHANGEL, 1945, PATTERN FOR CONQUEST, ETERNAL LIGHT, A BREACH IN THE WATERSHED, ISLAND IN THE SEA OF TIME, DRAKON, BLUE SHIFTING, IN CONQUEST BORN, FALLING ANGEL, STARPLEX, CHRONICLES OF HAWKLAN, THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER, TEN THOUSAND LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME, SHANGRI-LA: RETURN TO THE WORLD OF LOST HORIZON, THE RETURN, ONE MINDS EYE, LIVE FROM GOLGOTHA, THE WEIRD COLONIAL BOY, SHADOWS OF ECSTASY, GORGON CHILD, LEGACY, BEST OF JAMES BLISH, WITCHLIGHT, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, DISTRESS, GLORY SEASON, WALKING THE LABYRINTH, IDORU, WAITING FOR THE GALACTIC BUS, DEATHSTALKER, THE TRUTH MACHINE, THE REALITY DISFUNCTION, QUIET POOLS, BESERKER, RAPTURE, THE WHENABOUTS OF BURR, THE FUTUROLOGICAL CONGRESS, A FIRE UPON THE DEEP, FREE LIVE FREE, FISHERMANS HOPE, GOLDEN WITCHBREED, TRAVELLING WITH THE DEAD, BLADERUNNER 2: THE END OF HUMAN, FAIRYLAND, SPARROW, NIGHT LAMP, GRUNTS, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, THE BAKERS BOY, THE LONG RUN, EMERALD EYES, THE LAST DANCER, GORMENGHAST, ECOTOPIA, CITY OF DIAMOND, TIMEMASTER, COYOTE BLUE, LOVE AND SLEEP, CHAIN OF ATTACK, GOJIRO, A WALK IN THE SUN, BLAMELESS IN ABADDON, HOGFATHER, CALLAHANS LEGACY, ALONGSIDE NIGHT, GANYMEDE CLUB, RISE OF ENDYMION, DIAMOND AGE, MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF, IMMORTAL ENGINES, VOYAGE, AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND, INFINITYS SHORE, LAW OF BECOMING, NANOTECH CHRONICLES, THE BIG U, SNOW CRASH, PARIS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, OTHERLAND, DEATH GATE, FEERSUM ENDJINN, SPOOKER, FACETS, MATHEMAGICS, QUICKER THAN THE EYE, THE HASHISH MAN, KEEPER OF THE KING, THE LAW OF LOVE, A GAME OF THRONES, A GAME OF UNIVERSE, ZOTHIQUE, EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE, DEVILS TOWER, WORLDWAR: STRIKING THE BALANCE, MADOUC, EMPIRE OF THE ATOM, THE MOTION OF LIGHT AND WATER, CRYSTAL EXPRESS, GALACTIC GOURMET.

 Pop culture references: the GWAR concert at Dragon*Con 1996, Samurai Cat paintings by Mark Rogers, Ms. Magazine, Dilbert comic strip, Super Mario Bros, Choose Your Own Adventure books, DC COMICS Vermillion, EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE (Tekumel rpg), Natalie Portman. 

Technology callbacks: WING COMMANDER 4, America Online's Hatrack, July 1996 Rutger University computer network re-org, ELF format, the SFL mailing list moderator going through another round of terrible outcome SF-LOVERS server system upgrades, the CGI in the 1996 movie MARS ATTACKS being cheaper than physical stop-animation puppetry work.

Death notices: Mark Lenard, SFF tv actor. Carl Sagan, American scientist.

SFL requests/discussion topics:

> Re: Lin Carter

> Dragon*Con '19...another successful year

> Re: Foundation series

> Re: Lin Carter

> Re: Van Vogt -spoilers

> Re: Michael Moorcock

> Re: Review RGB Mars (Kim Stanley Robinson MARS trilogy)

> Re: help Saberhagen vampire?

> Re: Illuminati series

> Re: Is Hubbard a respected author?

> Re: U. L. Le Guin, Earthsea stuff

> Re: George R R Marin - any good?

> Nine Princes in Amber influenced by Chandler?

> Re: Sherri S. Tepper and empathy

> Re: Captain Sulu in Voyager

> Re: Dick-Man in the High Castle

> Re: Sector General: what do the letters mean?

> Re: Robert Howard other heroes

> Anime Weekend Atlanta 96 Review

-Ben Aaronovitch, future author of the RIVERS OF LONDON urban fantasy series starts posting to the SFL Archives. Aaronovitch mostly comments on and picks apart things in CJ Cherryh's FOREIGNER series

(2021 note: Ironically, many of the complaints and issues 1996's Ben Aaronovitch is finding with the FOREIGNER series are present in Aaronovitch's RIVERS OF LONDON series)

-SFF Author Lawrence Watt Evans repeatedly tries dunking on/owning SFF fans with his insider knowledge, but fails to connect on any of his "ownage" attempts. SFF author Robert J Sawyer drops off the face of the SFL Archives after winning multiple SFF genre awards in 1996. SFF Jo Walton is becoming extremely fixated on the mil-scifi DRAKA series, especially the DRAKA elements about artificial childbirth/forced impregnation/mind control.

(2021 note: LWE stuff is funny, Jo Walton's fixation on DRAKA and it's many forms of non-consent is memorable for the out-of-nowhere-totally unprompted rant on childbirth/having children Jo Walton delivered to a in-progress SFL Archives discussion on how multiple SFF had independently started using artificial womb tech to avoid writing women characters/patch up plot holes a few SFL Archives Volumes ago)

-A SFLer marvels at how John Brunner incorporated elements of a world series chess match between Russian MI Tchigorin & American W Steinitz, and asks the SFL Archives if anyone has a full transcription of that chess game

(2021 note: Nobody publicly responded back to that SFLer. Mildly curious to see that chess game transcription too.)

-The SFF MAGEWORLDS series is notable mostly because it appears in retrospect to have been the alternate HEIRS TO THE EMPIRE choice if LUCASFILMS hadn't signed a multi-book contract with Timothy Zahn.

-A few SFLers are confused and slightly horny about the growing lesbian overtones in the SFF tv-series XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS

-BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN a SFF murder mystery story about SFF conventions gets mentioned again, and some SFLers are still very notMad about the contents in it. 

-A discussion of PKD's THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE that is so confusing and lit-crit filled I have no idea what anyone is talking about, even after 5+1 attempts at it.

-More SFLer's want to describe out the mechanics of lesbianism and homosexuality left unwritten in David Brins GLORY SEASON

-Much confusion about Ivy Press and who owns the reprinting rights to Jame's L Halperin's THE TRUTH MACHINE

(2021 note: This conversation is interesting because as of 1996 there was at least 3 registered & bonded book publishing brands with variations on the name "Ivy Press")

-Nobody can agree or figure out the ending of Gene Wolfe's first novel FREE LIVE FREE

-SFLers start discussing what Barrayar in Bujolds VORKOSIGIAN series is based on. Early consensus seemed to be Ruritania/PRISONER OF ZENDA before lit-crit SFLers started chiming in

-SFLers are unable to take anything in BABYLON 5 episode 'Grey 17 is Missing' seriously. From the gay bath-house vibes of the hidden males-only religious cult to everything involving Garibaldi and his standoff with the 'perfect predator'. SFLers feel 'Grey 17 is Missing' is one of the worse things J. Michael Straczynski has ever written.

(2021 note: SFLers of 1996 commenting on BABYLON 5 have fallen out of hero-worship mode with J. Michael Straczynski. Too many "well actually" explanations that JMS changed his mind on to retell & present himself in a better light and way too many JMS tantrums when SFLers predicted his plot twists and inspirational sources) 

-More Daniel Keys Moran stupidity. The lies and promised DKM made earlier have failed to play out, so DKM has issued new lies about his CONTINUING TIME stories that will fail to happen. SFLers who really enjoy THE LONG RUN form a DKM-DefenseSquad and start proclaiming how every detractors tune will change once the contract with Del Rey Books is finalized and signed, and two new CONTINUING TIME books drop within months next year.

(2021 note: Seeing a new DefenseSquad form up was amusing, more amusing was knowing it would take an additional 17+ years for DKM to eke out (in serialized form) the 2 CONTINUING TIME books he's being hyping since 1994.) 

-SFLers start publishing copyrighted reviews of STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT. tldr summary, most of them find it stupid as hell, worse than GENERATIONS so far, and find that the suddenly uncontrollable emotions chip in Data 110% gimps his character

-Another SF-LOVERS mailing list moderator mea-culpa trying to explain the latest round of week+ downtime of the SFL Archives mailing list. This time it's the mailing list moderator deciding to upgrade the data format used to store the SFL Archives, then finding out the new data format is NOT supported on the year+ old Linux Kernel the server uses, then the new kernel failing to detect the storage controllers holding the SFL Archives data disks, etc, etc etc.

-A 1996 SFLer asks the question "Who would pay for $5 for a 200 page novel?"

(2021 note: TOR Books currently charges $10-$12 for 170 page novellas)

-Alexei Panshin posts to the SFL Archives giving a very sanitized reason why he has written any new Anthony Villiers stories in 28+ years. Panshin notes that his contract with the publisher paid $1500 for the first edition printings, and then $3000 for the 2nd edition priting, and that he couldn't and still can't support his family on that kind of money. 

-EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE (Tekumel rpg) & it's associated novels come up again in the SFL Archives. This time, SFLers note what Tekumel books and RPG sourcebooks are still in print, M.A.R. Barker's IRL profession and interests, and note the reason why M.A.R. Barker probably uses initials vs his full legal name.

-Harry Knowles review of MARS ATTACK includes the weird details of watching MARS ATTACKS on opening day while sitting next to a total stranger who really enjoyed MARS ATTACKS. And then after the movie was over, Harry Knowles leaving the theater with his family only to encounter that same stranger shot dead in the parking lot.

(2021 note: WTF?)

-Now that the original DOCTOR WHO (tv-series) has been safely dead and buried, Doctor Who actors like Lalla Ward feel safe enough to start relating details of how John Nathan-Turner was a terrible showrunner/executive producer. 

SFL Archives Vol17b readthrough update 01

 100% completion, 173 bookmarks

-Movies & tv-series mentioned: HIGHLANDER THE TV-SERIES, FOREVER KNIGHT, HERMANS HEAD, UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, CETACEAN, MAN FROM ATLANTIS, BATMAN RETURNS, COVINGTON CROSS, FROM BEYOND,  TANK GIRL, HUMAN TARGET (1992 tv-series), TIME TRAX, JURASSIC PARK 1993, DEATH BECOMES HER, PROJECT: SHADOWCHASER, PLAGUE 1978, STAY TUNED, HAWK THE SLAYER, MELROSE PLACE (tv-series), MISFITS OF SCIENCE, QUANTUM LEAP, WOOPS! (tv-series), KUNG FU THE LEGEND CONTINUES, MACGYVER, X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, BRAM STOKERS DRACULA, SOLAR CRISIS, PHANTOM EMPIRE (serial), FLASH GORDON (serial).

-Books & stories mentioned: THE CENTAURI DEVICE, ALEXANDRIA QUARTET, REAPER MAN, SAURONS DEFEAT, WAR DAY, THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS, TALES OF POWER, AT WINTERS END, GRUNTS!, CAPTAIN JACK ZODIAC, THE BIOFAB WAR, THE LAST COIN, GARDEN OF RAMA, WORLDS ENOUGH AND TIME, JURASSIC PARK, THE FOURTH R, THE TURING OPTION, CARVE THE SKY, A REBEL IN TIME, BAD VOLTAGE, THE DEEP 1975, A MILLION OPEN DOORS, RED GENESIS, BLOOD MUSIC, 

-Pop culture references: John Boy from the Waltons, having to set binary mode for FTP downloads, Rick Springfield, tension building moments in James Bond films, Franklin Mint figurines, Spike Lee, the Karate Kid movie series, Red Sonja comics, National Unity debates in Canada, Secret Masters Of Fandom, Blockbuster Video, Brett Easton Ellis, Dan Quayle, NORB comic strip, Dick Wolf & TV Crime Procedurals, Dan Rather's KENNETH encounter, Cyberpunk Library, Back to the Future: The Ride!, CD-I systems, the Bosnian War, Wing Commander 1 (pc-game), SLP to SP modes on VCR tapes,

-SFLer unusual requests:

>Underwater Fantasies

>Post nuclear books

>Post plague fiction

>SF Detectives

>SF writers with consistent themes

>Far, far future stories

>Hong Kong SF movies

>1930's science fiction

>Science Fiction Stage Plays

>What makes a good (SF&F) Con

>Tarot SF and Fantasy

>Bio-Science within Science Fiction

>Linguistic SF

>Musical SF & F

>Characters/Books you hate to love

>SF Books that have become movies

>Rational Time Travel

>SF and Fantasy Alternate Sexuality Listings

>Thief main characters/thief stories

Death notices: Fritz Leiber

-A few more "shit-that-didn't-happen" humblebrags about SFLer's encountering non-SF&F fandom at SF&F conventions. Notable mostly because cosplaying convincingly as Avon from Blakes 7 or Vincent from the Beauty and the Beast tv-series or Sam/Al from Quantum Leap was 130% sure to get you laid at SF&F conventions.

-TSR Inc announces the business plan (50% increase in titles annually) that will have them bankrupt by mid 1994.

-A few SF&F Historians working on their PhD theses about Robert Heinlein & Isaac Asimov show up, trying to crowd-source their research/have people do their homework for them. 

-A MILLION OPEN DOORS by John Barnes is published and most SFLers like it. Meanwhile in real time, the Bosnian War enters a phase that will break John Barnes brain 6 years before 09-11-2001 does similar damage to everyone else in the SF author community.

-Misleading covers in SF&F books & discussion of the most accurate/least embarrassing SF&F artists. 

-David Brin had a insane meltdown in 1992 over Ralph Bakshi. Then had a second more insane rant about Bakshi & Censorship & David Brin always being right. Stein Sigurdsson (steinly@lick.ucsc.edu) seems to be David Brin's sock puppet account.

(2021: Both those David Brin rants have been posted in-full on this blogsite at https://nothing2seeherepleasedisperse.blogspot.com/2021/01/remember-time-david-brin-melted-hell.html ) 

-More GODZILLA & Kaiju genre movie discussion.

-Wizard of Space and Time creator Mike Jittlov posts on the SFL Archives again to complain about more piracy of his film occurring and about his nemesis organizing conspiracies versus him. This time the piracy is a 15 second clip brodcast in Russia under another name

-Marvin Minsky reappears in the SFL Archives after 7 years to promote THE TURING OPTION, a book he cowrote with Harry Harrison. Minsky shares details of what inspired the book/share FTP links to the chapters Minsky wrote that got cut from the final published version. 

-QUANTUM LEAP discussion. Most QL fans are not thrilled how series creator Donald Bellisario is changing up the formula by inserting real-life people/real events into the series. Same thing goes for the reveal of an alternate Quantum Leap program.

-With a REBEL IN TIME Harry Turtledove goes fullbore into the alternate history mil-fiction & mil-scifi stories that he will spend the next 28 yrs/80+ books writing about.

-After almost 10 years as a moderator of the SF-LOVERS mailing list, Saul Jaffe starts to life-blog about his vacations & the various SF&F themed conventions he has attended.

-The passage of the Electronic Fan Writing Hugo Ammendment at WorldCon 1992.

-Security enforcement at conventions/Tips and advice on how established SF&F conventions interact with actual Law Enforcement during conventions. Usage of radios & walkie-talkies at conventions by convention staff & convention attendees.

-More discussion of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED tv series. X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES premieries and almost everyone asks "Who is Morph?"

-HIGHLANDER THE TV SERIES discussion. Differences of the series between the movies, Adrian Paul, new crops of Immortals, Duncan being a pacifist yet happier than Connor, Joan Jett, etc

-WHEEL OF TIME discussion. Lots of detailed theories and guessing as to what plot elements/characters/lore are evolving, none of which I am going to repost here. BTW, some people guessed right.

-COVINGTON CROSS tv-series discussion, and how nothing in it makes sense other than Nigel Terry still looking good while riding horses.

(2021 note: One of Nigel Terry's most famous roles was as King Arthur in EXCALIBUR 1981.)

-THE TAEIS PROJECT:  a co-operative internally realistic shared fictional world

-SFLer's discuss what Steven Spielberg has planned for the upcoming movie JURASSIC PARK 1993. Lots and lots of CGI work is getting teased, and SFLer's start debating the "science" in Crichton's novel JURASSIC PARK.

-Computer data Disaster Recovery procedures "modern" 1992 organizations use or rather should be using. Storage rot and the need for off-site storage of data backup media & the hardware required for that data backup media is discussed.

-Jim Butcher in way at all read THE LAST COIN by James P Blaylock before coming up with his own spin on the Christian Mythos in the DRESDEN FILES. I repeat no way at all.

-Why more Slow Glass style stories never got written or published.

(2021: Someone writing into ANALOG magazine noted that the way Slow Glass worked; chipping or breaking or even erasing a Slow Glass installation would be releasing a nuclear bombs worth of energy all at once.)

-New SF&F shows HIGHLANDER THE TV SERIES, KUNG FU THE LEGEND CONTINUES, and TIME TRAXX all premiere in the fall of 1992.

-A few SFLers are getting tired of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, others are not. 

-Charles Stross randomly popped in to recommend people looking for fun SF&F fiction to check out UK SF&F author Dave Langford

-Daniel Keys Moran randomly appeared to give a status update to his fans and listed out every single story/novel/novella he planned on writing in the CONTINUING TIME series, which was around 13 novels & 20+ short stories/novellas

(2021 note: The status update also contained a very sanitized version of why the editor who worked on his books got fired from Bantam Spectra. DKM slept with his book editor, got his book editor pregnant, married his book editor, then wondered why Bantam Spectra fired his book editor 5 months after she had her(and his) baby.)

-Did you know that in the Dewey Decimal catalogue system that glass manufacture is listed under 666?

(2021 note: No idea if this is true. Deliberately not looking this factoid up until my SFL Archives readthrough project finishes.) 

-Someone posts up a timeline of how George Lucas came up with the STAR WARS setting/a timeline of the various STAR WARS movie screenplays George Lucas wrote. Leigh Brackett's screenwriting on ESB gets mentioned. The CORELLIAN ARCHIVES, a Star Wars fanzine collected started by George Lucas maintained at the Santa Barbara Science Fiction Alliance.

(2021 note: Star Wars historians probably already know about the CORELLIAN ARCHIVES. If they did not, they will after reading this.)

-Larry Niven KNOWN SPACE discussion: what did Niven mean when he described "dial controls" for the teleport disks in his KS stories. A touchpad, a feedback loop phone rotary disk, a spinning disk, etc?

-Charles Stross randomly appears in the SFL Archives 1992 to promote another UK author.

 "...relatively obscure, although he began publishing at the same time as Pratchett, but he's actually a lot closer to the British funny-bone than TP (Terry Pratchett) who has a kind of transatlantic drawl running through his books. I refer of course to Dave Langford".

-Babylon 5 casting information & Info file guides for BABYLON 5'S initial tv-movie THE GATHERING pilot episode 

(2021 note: All these will be written up in a separate post, still find the casting note about not wanting a pretty-boy actor cast for the Sinclair main character funny, given how Bruce Boxleitner was brought in just for that reason in Babylon 5 season 2) 

-AGRIPPA the self-deleting ebook cyberpunk story by William Gibson and Penn Jillette.

-Casting announcement and setting details for STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE are released to the public. SFLer's start commenting on stuff.

-1992 closes out with BOSKONE drama. More specially Boskone art show display drama vs how the rest of the world's conventions handle art show displays. The managment people behind Boskone tried to enforce their way of handling art shows at an upcoming Worldcons. As usual, any negative feedback, and suggested improvements about how Boskone/Boskone management committees handle things are taken as deadly faux pass insults. tldr: The Boskone Defense Squad are assholes in all their responses/rebuttals.

SFL Archives Vol 16b readthrough update 01

100% completion, 149 bookmarks

-Movies & tv series mentioned: TERMINATOR 2, GREYSTOKE, NAKED GUN 2.5, HOOK, STAR TREK 6, ALIEN 3, ADDAMS FAMILY, HIGHLANDER 2, DISNEY BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE FINAL COUNTDOWN, MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN, THE ROCKETEER, CIRCUITRY MAN, SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, THE FISHER KING, EVIL DEAD 2, C.H.U.D., HARDWARE, HELLRAISER 3, CAST A DEADLY SPELL, BATMAN 2, SUPERMAN 4, SAPPHIRE AND STEEL, BLADERUNNER DIRECTORS CUT, THE BLUE LAGOON.

-Stories and books mentioned:  HALO, TEKLORDS, HERALDS OF VALDEMAR, BARDIC VOICES, MARTIAN RAINBOW, TEKLAB, LIFE DURING WARTIME, LOST ART, FOUCAULTS PENDELUM, THE TIME BENDER, THE WORLD SHUFFLER, MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN, KILLDOZER, PIGS IS PIGS, EYE OF ARGON, THE ROCKETEER, LOST CITY OF ZORK, THE GENERAL, BOOK OF EBON BINDINGS, SKYFALL, OUT ON BLUE SIX, DAMAINO, EARTH ABIDES, STAR ROVER, RAISING THE STONES, TRAVELS IN HYPERREALITY, A HISTORY OF SECRET SOCIETIES, THE NEGOTIATOR, GORD THE ROGUE, LUNAR DESCENT, GODEL ESCHER BACH: AN ETERNAL GOLDEN BOND, NEEDFUL THINGS, THE TROUBLE WITH LICHEN, MAN WHO AWOKE, THY NEIGHBOR'S WIFE, IN PURSUIT OF VALIS, HARPY HIGH, CASTLE PERILOUS, RATS AND GARGOYLES.

-Pop culture references: Lily Marlene, Punxsutawny Phil, PostScript, Nanptechnology, Eye of Argon, Hayes 1200 smart-modems, Whole Earth Catalog, the BBC tape library archives purge, C.H.U.D., SKYNET, whoever the "Cabana Boys" are, ROM, SpaceKnight, Captain Jacks Rum, the SciFi Channels initial slate of scheduled programming, Paul Reubens masturbating in that movie theater, Madonna, the American tv series pilot of RED DWARF, the movie book option to 'THY NEIGHBOR'S WIFE"

-Death notices: Gene Roddenberry.

-SFLer's from almost everywhere in the world are popping up. Japan, Australia, Africa, Europe, India, Turkey, Scotland, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Indonesia, navy.milnet, etc. 

-Repeated instances of public sex happening at TimeCon 1991, along with another extreme SF&F convention called EROTICON SIX, tailored to the BDSM enthusiast crowd. Keeping with this trend, discussion of SF Porn, and there is many examples I'm not going to re-transcribe here.

(2020 note: If you are curious to see what was mentioned, word search SFL Archives Volume 16B for "SFPorn".)

-Commentary on George O Smith's THE EARTH ABIDES features the very first time an author is called a Nazi, or an authors work is declared Aryan propaganda in SFL Archives history.

-The forgotten SF works of Jack London. 

-The details finally leak about how Jerry Pournelle lost his ARPANET access forever.

(2020 note: Pournelle lost his ARPANET access back in 1982 or 1983, and I wondered exactly how Pournelle lost his ARPANET access a few times earlier in my SFL Archives readthrough summaries.)

-Discussion of Umberto Eco's published stories, more specifically how to catch all the layered secret society references in Eco's FOUCAULTS PENDELUM.

-Michael Straczynski is noted as having been hired to write the pilot episode for a reboot of the 1980's "V" series.

(2020 note: The description of what happens in the JMS written pilot sounds a lot like what happened in seasons 2 & 3 of BABYLON 5.)

-How various SLFer's would go about designing SKYNET to make it work better and remove any possible pesky time-traveller hijinks.

-The beginning of TERMINATOR movie franchise dueling timelines discussion: Does Terminator 2 invalidate Terminator 1? How did the T-1000 travel back in time? Are the dates off? Does John Connor seem to old/too young for the dates GoodArnie recites to Dyson & Sarah Connor?

(2020 note: Thanks to the SFLers repeatedly mentioning organic sacks, sort of want to see a scene where the T-1000 travelled back in time inside a giant pumpkin. Which if you stretch things might result in a PEANUTS The Great Pumpkin/TERMINATOR franchise mashup that I would pay to see.)

-BLADERUNNER: DIRECTORS CUT discussion vs the original 1982 theatrical release. Various scenes been cut and added. SFLer's claiming it is Ridley Scotts final vision for the film. Mention is made of Mary, the All-American Mother Replicant.

-Everything terrible inside the Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle & Michael Flynn novel FALLEN ANGELS. Cannibal black people, slavery, global warming is fake, hero SF&F fandom saving everyone, evil treehuggers, hard men making hard calls, different versions of slavery, other libertarian things, etc. 

-SFLer's note that H Beam Piper's theft of Robert Heinlein's flat-cats in the H Beam Piper LITTLE FUZZY stories are not theft because according to Heinlein his "flat cats" are just Ellis Parker Butler's "dago pigs" with the serial numbers filed off.

-The before-before times for 1991 SFLers, when Isaac Asimov wasn't so openly pompous about himself in AISFM editorials and hadn't totally iced John W Campbell out on co-creation rights for the THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS. 

-Science Fiction stories of the 1920's, '30s, '40s, '50s being incomprehensible to modern 1990's readers due to dated references to vacuum tubes, physically cutting antennas, toggles, etc. On the same note, SFLer's start debating the merits of 1991 SF&F magazines, and none of the commentary makes sense to a 2020 reader.

(2020 note: Funnily, steampunk & maker communities mean that some of those long-dead technologies mentioned aren't so dead anymore. On the other hand, Analog magazine is dead? Asimov Magazine is dead, Amazing Stories is super-dead, Pulphouse is probably dead, etc.)

-The people of usenet group rec.arts.sf-lovers get tired of seeing messages posted from non-usenet users/the SF-LOVERS mailing list gateway onto rec.arts.sf-lovers, and vote to sever the two-way mirroring. The SFL Archives mailing list-moderator grudgingly disconnects the two-way link after months of delays, then re-enables a one-way gateway link on the down-low for "content/This mailing list moderator position gives me internet power" reasons

-The former co-heads of BOSKONE 25 Jim Mann & Laurie Mann become super-toxic about conventions when discussion about the voting for WorldCon 1994 comes up. Sadly conventions is all that Jim & Laurie Mann ever post about in the SFL Archives. Their toxicity comes from the Mann husband-wife adopting a "I see nothing negative. I hear nothing negative. I know nothing negative." towards their own preferred conventions/friends conventions, but then proceed to drag up dirt regarding competitors conventions.

-A resurgence of Marion Zimmer Bradley discussion.

-STAR TREK 6 went over well with most of the SFL. The main cast of TOS seeming to act out of character, wonky special effects, design spec changes of the Enterprise, those damn gravity boots from ST5 appearing, Kim Cattrall's character not having a standardized Vulcan name, Michael Dorf & Christian Slater cameo appearances, how TNG series canon effects ST6/how ST6 effects TNG series canon, etc. 

 George Takei's 15 minutes of screen-time as Captain of a non-Enterprise spaceship had many vocal SFLer's hoping for the adventures of Captain Sulu (while sidelining or preferably killing Kirk) in a possible Captain Sulu spinoff tv-series.

-Raymond Feist ripping off the TEKUMEL setting comes up again repeatedly. The same person from SFL Archives 1987 & 1990? is back making the same "I have a document with 300 points of similarity between Tekumel & Feist's Riftwar books". Stuff like metal poorness, laquered armors, identically described lizardous subraces, city names, geography, etc. A few SFLer's make the claim that Feist wasn't ripping off Tekumel directly, Feist was merely stealing the setting/characters/plotlines of the homebrew RPG campaign of  a un-named GameMaster that Feist had a character in...and that the un-named GameMaster running the homebrew RPG campaign was the person with the all Tekumel/D&D/Tunnels & Trolls sourcebooks, not Raymond Feist. 

(2020 note: I really don't care what the true background behind Riftwar is. Many SF&F authors have based some of their works off of other authors or sometimes incorporate one or two interesting tidbits from RPG sourcebooks. It's the wholesale copying without acknowledgement that bothers me, especially if Feist ripped off the work of a un-named GM for 10+ books)

-First mention of R.A. Salvatore in the SFL Archives, along with the rumor that Salvatore also writes under a pen-name.

(2020 note: I have no idea, and refuse to look this up. Want to say that R.A. Salvatore has released roughly 40 books since the 1990's, so if he was also writing under a pen-name too, that is impressive output.)

-PRESERVE YOUR SOFTWARE AT ALL COSTS. THE REST IS MEAT. vs PRESERVE YOUR HARDWARE AT ALL COSTS. THE REST IS NOISE. 

-A advertisement for CONFLAGRATION 1992, a convention catered towards SF pornography and so much more.

------------------------------

Date: 10 Aug 91 18:24:32 GMT

From: davep@milton.u.washington.edu (David Ptasnik)

Subject: CONFLAGRATION ChiCon Room Party

Everyone is invited to the CONFLAGRATION room party at ChiCon.  Look for

our signs for the day, time, and room number at the Hyatt!

                                      

       CONFLAGRATION

The Convention Your MAMA Warned You About

  UNDER 21 NOT ADMITTED!

      June 19, 20, 21

   1992

     Alderbrook Resort

     Union, Washington

Guest of Honor

ANDREW J.  OFFUTT

Creator of "Shadowspawn"

Author of "Conan" Novels

Author Guest

VICKI MITCHELL

Star Trek Novel "Enemy Unseen"

Artist Guest

PHIL FOGLIO

Hugo Award Winner

Fan Guest

JOY DAY

Costumer Extraordinaire

Master of Ceremonies

JON GUSTAFSON

Professional SF Art Appraiser & Expert

Special Appearance By

JOHN CLEVE

"Spaceways"and "The Crusader" sagas

JUICY PANELS

JUICIER FILMS

FILTHY FILKING

WEENIE ROAST

MASQUERADE

BONFIRES

DEALERS

GAMING

ARCADE

BhEER

WhINE

ORGAzMS

HOSPITALITY

PARTY COTTAGES

UNCENSORED ART SHOW

SATURDAY NITE ART AUCTION

BEACH SIDE RESORT

OUTDOOR FUN

INDOOR POOL

JACUZZI

TENNIS

FISHING

SAILING

GOLF

No one under 21 will be admitted to the Northwest's ONLY

Adult Science Fiction Convention.

IS THAT A SPACESHIP IN YOUR POCKET,

OR ARE YOU JUST THINKING ABOUT CONFLAGRATION?

For something new and fresh in a Fantasy and Science Fiction Convention, we

cordially invite you to attend CONFLAGRATION in June of '92.  Our

convention will be an SF and Fantasy convention with traditional panel

discussions and activities, famous people to talk to and learn from, and a

whole bunch of outdoor fun at a gorgeous waterfront resort.  CONFLAGRATION

will include adult themes, and will be restricted to adults over 21 (photo

ID at the door, please).  We think you will really enjoy the opportunity of

taking a weekend off at one of the nicest getaway spots in the Northwest.

Plus you will be able to do it in the company of people who understand and

share an important aspect of all of our lives: fandom.  Enjoy every aspect

of SF and Fantasy without having to look over your shoulder for fear of

offending a mundane, or setting off a riot among the kids.  Register early,

we could be sold out before the convention.

Dave and Cindy Ptasnik, co-chairs

HERE ARE THE SORDID DETAILS -

FEEL THE HEAT:

At the Alderbrook Resort on the breathtakingly beautiful Hood Canal.  The

entire resort will be ours!  No kids, no mundanes, no inhibitions.

Sleeping bags and extra towels OK'd by the resort.  For reservations call

1-800-622-9370.

A credit card or personal check will guarantee reservations.

About 1 1/2 hours from Seattle in Union, WA.

About 2 1/2 hours from Portland.

Canadians use those kilometer thingies, and nobody knows how far anything

is from there.  This is a very nice (AAA recommended) facility.  Virtually

every room and cottage has an amazing territorial view of mountains, water,

and forest.  2nd and 3rd floor rooms all have balconies.  Ground floor

rooms are wheelchair accessible.  Some rooms are designed for use by the

differently abled.

SUBMISSIVE BEHAVIOR:

The staff at the Alderbrook Resort has had it's collective passion enflamed

by our coming.  They haven't had this much fun since the transvestite

convention.  Costumes are encouraged in all resort areas, including the

restaurant and lounge.  They even seemed to pant a little at the thought of

well armed virtually naked barbarians.  Small pets (no, a sheep is not a

small pet) are welcome with some conditions (ask the resort).

FOREPLAY:

Registration will be strictly limited to 350 (um) members.  Please register

under your legal name, you may also provide a badge name.  Info:

CONFLAGRATION

12345 Lake City Way

Suite 2001

Seattle, WA  98125

1-800-989-2001

206-527-2001 (Canada and Seattle area)

Please send SASE for return correspondence, there will be progress reports.

PROS:

They do it for money AND satisfaction!

Andrew J. Offutt is the finest, funniest, and downright steamiest author we

have ever encountered at a con.  From his Conan novels to Shadowspawn of

Thieves' World, Uncle Andy is the master of lurid Heroic Fantasy.  His

readings are an absolute must-hear.  The ladies will swoon over his sexy

soft drawl.

Vicki Mitchell is the hottest new best-selling author in the region, and a

true veteran of Star Trek warfare.  Meet this rising star, and learn how to

work with publishers and studios.

Phil Foglio, a recent transplant from the Midwest, is the illustrator of

the M.Y.T.H. Adventure series, and creator of Xenophile (the only explicit

American comic published in Sweden).  Let's give the author of Buck Godot a

warm (maybe even cozy) Northwest welcome.

Joy Day is one of the best costumers and most dedicated fans around.  She

has won countless masquerades nationwide, as well as a major award at a

WorldCon.

Jon Gustafson is the only professional appraiser of SF and Fantasy Art.

His knowledge is encyclopedic, which explains why he wrote the artist

biographies for The Doubleday Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

John Cleve will make a special appearance to discuss sex and science

fiction.  The author of Spaceways (the red hot 19 volume series of Playboy

books) and the positively lustful five volume Crusader epic will light your

fire.

Are you a Pro?

Drop us a line, we would love to have you participate in CONFLAGRATION.

VENUS BUTTERFLY:

Not even the National Endowment for the Arts would fund this Art Show and

Auction.  Libidinous contributions will be solicited from the finest

artists in the nation.  (The sculptures ought to be particularly

interesting.)  Bring your wallets for this one, we are encouraging artists

to send originals.  Even better, we will be holding the Art Auction on

Saturday Night.  If you don't get your first choice at auction, we will

have special Sunday Sale prices to let you fulfill your flaming desire for

the real thing, original art.

Artists: Give it to us straight, we can take it.  Unchain your wildest

fantasies for this uncensored presentation.  Show us how well you are hung.

Call or write for a copy of our art show guidelines.

BAZAAR OF ALL EARTHLY DELIGHTS:

Where Anything may be for sale.  Our dealer room will have a limited

number of tables specially selected for your Every Need or Desire

(Batteries not included).

Dealers:  send a description (or better yet a dirty picture) of your

goodies.  6' x 2.5' tables will be $10 each, membership(s) purchased

separately.  We will give a preference to theme appropriate wares, and

will try to balance our selection of merchants.  If you are not

selected, your money will be promptly refunded.

WATER SPORTS:

Wet and wild.  Sailboats, paddle boats, inner tubes, water ski tows, crab

pots, fishing gear and more will be available on the Resort's 80 foot

(that's a big one) dock.  Salt water swimming in a large roped off area

and beachcombing are free.

TALK DIRTY TO ME:

. . . in the panel rooms.  Try the panel on kissing techniques, or how to

get a bust in the mouth.  After all, that's what you're really after at

these things, right? (Hey you, with the pocket protector, stop that!).

It's guaranteed to get pretty steamy.

THERE'S A VOYEUR IN THE FOYEUR:

If you like to watch, come to the video room.  Flesh Gordon is just the

beginning.  You won't see this stuff on the Disney Channel.

THE WET SPOT:

Don't avoid this one - a HUGE indoor pool in its own building.  There is

even a jacuzzi that sits 22 (or more) friendly people.  The management

requires that something be worn at all times in the pool, like, say, a

wristwatch or earrings.  There will be a special swim for overweight

people, we can be rather shy around you skinny types.  Bring your best for

the Outrageous Inflatable Pool Toy Competition (Now where did we put those

Love Ewes?).

SHOW AND TELL:

Create your wildest costume ever for our red hot Masquerade!  No lip

synching.  No pre-judging.  No censorship.  Let your conscience be your

guide (do whatever it says you shouldn't).  Bribing the judges is

encouraged.  Awards will be given for Hottest of Show, Hottest SF, Hottest

Fantasy, Most Provocative, Most Humorous, and Least (that's right, just

Least).

ORGY CENTRAL:

Gamers do it in groups.  The festivities will be indoors and outdoors (at

last gaming comes out of the closet).  Scandalous Scavenger Hunt (it's not

OK for the ribbed condom to have been used); Clothing Optional Volleyball

(just kidding); Explicit Role-Playing tournament; Jello Snarffuling (it

sounds just as disgusting as it sounds).

GROUP GROPE:

Sex, er, uh, six cottages have been specially set aside for room parties.

If you plan to have such a party, please request one of these cottages when

making your reservation.

CLIMAX ROOM:

Our hospitality cottage will be an ultimate delight of sinful pleasure.

Chips, dips, BhEER, WhINE, PB & J (not on the sheets, please), coffee,

popcorn, candy, cake, soda pop, and munch, munch more.  We'll even have

REAL food.  Join us at our complimentary BONFIRE AND WEENIE ROAST on Friday

Night!  (Talk about oral gratification.)  Oh yeah, and our own signature

drink, The Orgazm.  We hope you will find this the most hospitable offering

on the convention circuit, with longer hours, and more good stuff all the

time.  There will be no "kitty" begging for Hospitality Suite donations.

You've already paid for the food and drink by registering.  Take your

smoking outside, that's for after the climax.

SEE YOU THERE!!!!!!!!!

------------------------------

SFL Archives Vol 15b readthrough 01

 SFL Archives Vol 15b

3.4 mb raw text file

100% completion, 86 bookmarks

-SFL Vol 15b Book mentions: PHULES COMPANY, ZORK CHRONICLES, SEA OF GLASS, THE FACE OF MINE ENEMY, GAMEPLAYERS OF ZAN, WIZARD OF THE PIGEONS, RED STORM RISING, THE LEAKY ESTABLISHMENT, THE LAST WHALES, SPACE BY THE TALE, DHALGREN, TWO PLANETS, MOON PROSPECTOR, THE PUBLIC HATING, THE IRON STAR, DEATHGATE (book  series), BORDERTOWN & BORDERLAND, ISHMAEL, CYTEEN, PARTICOLORED UNICORN, PHOENIX, VAMPIRE$, JURASSIC PARK.

-Pop Culture mentions; the soap opera GUIDING LIGHT,  whatever "ERBitis" is, non-American SFLer's ask "Who is Mr. T?", Multi-User Domains (MUDs), Saddam Hussein, the Watchung Mountains of New Jersey, the EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE rpg, "California-In-Space" syndrome, the re-release of a semi-restored version of METROPOLIS 1927, BARDS TALE 1, the Chewbacca Star Wars Holiday Special, I DAMIANO the cRPG, 

SFL movie & TV series mentions: CHERRY 2000, GHOST 1990, ARANCHNAPHOBIA 1990, WICKER MAN 1973, QUEEN OF BLOOD, FLATLINERS, DARKMAN 1990, Japanese anime LENSMAN, THE FLASH 1990 tv series, the 1980's COSBY show, the SIMPSONS, MONSTERS tv series, PREDATOR 2, METROPOLIS 1927, Chewbacca Star Wars Holiday Special, IT 1990 tv-movie, DARK STAR,  ROBOT JOX, MISERY, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

-SFLer's continue to discuss the terrible and toxic behavior of fans and authors at SF&F conventions. Examples given of terrible, or inciting conduct on both sides. Jerry Pournelle gets revealed as one of the "screaming at fans/constantly drunk" bad conduct SF&F authors at SF&F conventions. 

-Discussion of EE Smith's life and SF writing career during the gold age - post World War 2 pulp SF era, while other SFLers try to explain away the creepier elements in Jack Chalker's stories, and other SFLers start seeing 10 layers of allusion and meta-commentary in Samuel R Delany's DHALGREN.

-More Raymond E Feist series chat, more Steven Brust series chat, more Bujold story chat, more Mercedes Lackey story chat, more Stanislaw Lem story chat, lots of CYTEEN theory-crafting, more gilding of John W Campbell's editorship skills driving SF to it's higher points. 

-The BOSKONE convention in Springfield MA gets downsized again for the 3rd straight year while the totally new convention ARISIA run by the same group doing BOSKONE gets 15 miles closer to the holy land aka Boston MA on year 2.

-SFLers mention the time when Scientologists alleged did a mass harassment campaign vs L Sprague DeCamp after DeCamp debunked some Scientology related concepts and beliefs.

-Paperback book pricing in 1990: $5.95

-TSR pulling a 2020 Disney tactic and deciding to not pay out royalties for any of the DRAGONLANCE sequels written by Margaret Weis & Tracey Hickman, which explains why those two suddenly started producing new not-Dragonlance/not-Star Wars fiction. SFLer's also mention Fizban, uh NABZIF? appearing in the DEATHGATE series books.

-The BBC refuses to schedule DOCTOR WHO for a 27th season in 1990, effectively putting the tv series into a timeless limbo forever.

(2020 note: Yes, I know the 1996 Paul McGann DOCTOR WHO movie happened, and that DOCTOR WHO  eventually got rebooted in 2005, however that was 6 & 15 yrs in the future, respectively.)

-Barbara Hambly grafting the DOCTOR WHO universe onto her STAR TREK novel ISHMAEL, Stephen Donaldson is quoted as mentioned that he is working on a new science-fiction trilogy called the GAP CYCLE, and a essay-introduction by  Kevin J Anderson on writing the GAMEARTH Trilogy gets reposted in full to the SF-LOVERS mailing list.

-1st casting news for THE TERMINATOR 2 comes out, along with rumors of office buildings already being leased out for movie location shooting. 

-"What defines a Cyborg?" chat kicked off by Terminator 2's announcement, which leads to STAR WARS chat, and other fiction that has humanoid robots/body part replacement, body part enhancements like eyeglasses.

-The emergence of more HP Lovecraft scholars, and modern 1980s-1990s fiction embracing the CTHULHU MYTHOS wholesale

-Jean Airey(?) allegedly being ripped off by a book publishing company and issuing a open letter about sending fans a photocopy of the work if they send her a self-address envelope with the correct postage on it.

-STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION discussion. SFLer's were excited with Shelby and had hopes of Shelby taking the 1st officer permanently w/ Riker as the new Captain of the Enterprise 1701-C. StarFleet ships not having bombs slash nuclear missiles. The UK gets the 1st season of ST:TNG as the 4th season of ST:TNG airs in the US, and the UK SFLer reactions to season 1 are interesting reads. Certain episodes of ST:TNG being banned in the UK, like the episode with a throwaway line about Irish reunification.

-The RPG EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE having a extremely hardcore magic system that involved gouging out eyes, bathing in mothers blood, sacrificing dozens of virgins.

-A weird aside about the portraits in the recent Illustrated Guide to AMBER being the IRL people who Roger Zelazny based a bunch of AMBER series characters on....and those IRL people forming a AMBER SOCIETY SCA group and becoming next-level stalker invested in their AMBER counterparts to the point of physically shunning someone who Zelazny killed off in the AMBER stories.

(2020 note: I hope this is just next-level bullshit gossip, but I suspect not.) 

-PREDATOR 2 pre-release and post-release discussion covers lots of ground, including the Aliens vs Predator teaser, Predator hunting rules, who owned that old pistol, why the US Feds were dumb, etc.

-Requests for Vampire Fiction(alien/fantasy/Sime:Gen/future/Anne Rice/etc), Requests for Avianoid fiction, Requests for science-fiction Cosmic String stories, requests for fiction with Stasis Field elements in them, etc.

-Philip K Dick discussion in 4 parts: SFLers claim PKD threw away a financial windfall to write something else, financial windfall rumor gets hard numbers, financial windfall rumor discredited, and Vonda McIntyre closes out the entire discussion by posting a open letter from PKD's final literary agent Russell Galen about PKD's work. 

-Piers Anthony starts their own 800 number, and many of the resident SFL authors are totally cool with that seethe with jealousy.

(2020 note: 800 numbers were a big thing during the 1970s -1990s before social media & texting took away the need to call phone numbers)

-Discussion of ST:TNG spaceship battle tactics in season 3 finale had a weird aside comment about the US Air Forces experiences in Vietnam lead to tactics changes & rebirth of the TOP GUN advanced fighter plane pilot training schools 

-Extended discussion of 2 Fred Saberhagen series (EMPIRE OF THE EAST, BOOKS OF SWORDS) in ways that modern SF&F fandom debate the minutia of the GAME OF THRONES & MALAZAN series. Aka what matchup would win, did X character really die, who is this mysterious masked character, etc.

-1950's pulp SF CITIES IN SPACE series discussion, with SFLer's having fond memories of the technology & the wandering space-Okie gimmick.

-Ever since the Netherlands won the WorldCon 1990 hosting gig, Worldcon 1990 notices about how to register for it/what cool things existed there for 3 yrs.Therefore it was pretty disappointing when only one person(a Worldcon 1990 convention organizer) ended up discussing WorldCon 1990.

-Lloyd Abbey's THE LAST WHALES having "..considerable amounts of  cetacean sex, which should induce a becoming humility in all human readers.."

-ALIEN NATION the tv-series is officially cancelled by FOX, fans of the tv series start a letter writing campaign to get the decision reversed.

(2020 note: The letter writing campaign would be partially successful..two or three ALIEN NATION tv-movies happened due to the letter writing campaign.) 

-EC Tubb's DUMAREST series being brought up, again, as one of the main world-building inspirations for the TRAVELLER RPG.

-SFL reviewer-idiot Mark Leeper completely plagiarizes a newspaper career review of Ray Harryhausen from back when CLASH OF THE TITANS 1981 came out, nobody calls them on their bullshit. Meanwhile Evelyn Leeper was nominated for the 1990 Best Fan Writer Hugo for as recognition for all of her unpaid SF&F media reviewer posts across USENET.

-Return of Tolkienian discussion to the SFL Archives after 2 years of silence. SFLer's debate who delivered the killing blow on the Angmar WitchKing ShadowWraith, what Balrog's canonically look like, the mechanics of elf souls vs mankind souls and where do Tolkien half-elf souls/go when they die?

-The SFWA White Knight Chug Von Rospach was mostly absent from VOL 15B. Vonda McIntyre wiped out alot of his illusionary positionr as a SF&F authority figure when she posted the open letter from PKD's literary agent Russell Galen. However the final insult slash diss to Chuq was probably when someone asked for SF&F fanzine recommendations midway through VOL 15B and no-one, no-one at all mentioned his fanzine, OtherRealms(?).

-SFL VOL 15B closes out with Vonda McIntyre posting the first 3 or 4 pages of her 1990 novel TRANSITION to the SF-LOVERS mailing list. 

SFL Archives Vol 14 readthrough update 02

SFL Archives Vol 14

7.5 mb raw text file

100% completion, 104 book marks

-The 1989 Aprils Fool gimmick for the SFL Archives was that there was SFL Digests sent out the week leading up to  April Fools 1989 and for a few days after. AKA No April Fools jok posts allowed in the SF-LOVERS mailing list for 1989.

1989 technology references: Vacuum welding and the real-world feasiblity of Larry Niven Known Space style mono-molecule weapons/devices.

-STAR TREK 5, BATMAN 1989 & James Cameron's THE ABYSS come out. Batman 1989 & The Abyss break brains across the SFL, while ST5 is mostly discussed for the climbing anti-gravity boots & most of the TOS cast acting out-of-character. Peter Jackson's 1989 movie BAD TASTE also gets briefly discussed.

-BATMAN 1989 breaks SFL brains by being unlike the Adam West tv series, unlike the Frank Miller Dark Knight comic series, and by starring Michael Keaton, and Jack Nicholson. The Batcave and how it exists, the Batmobile and Batplane, the heavily armored Batsuit, Bruce Wayne acting weird, The Joker's murderous gadgets,and Batman being a Ninja.

(2020 note: One SFLer made a series of posts so angry and detailed and emphatic about Batman being a Ninja that I now refer to them as NinjaExpert)

-James Cameron's THE ABYSS breaks brains in a more technical way, every third SFL Digest sent between July 1989 - early August 1989 was dedicated to the ABYSS discussion. SFLer hating the various actors, anger at SEALs not doing that in real life, Inconsistencies between the movie and the novelization, aliens, alien cities, scuba, deep sea O2 breathing mixes, and ASCII flowcharts of how diving regulators work, and a whole bunch more. 

-First mention of Iain M Banks CONSIDER PHLEBAS, then discussion of Iain Banks non SF books like WASP FACTORY, etc.

-First appearance of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION BORG chat.

-Sting the musician-actor's non-DUNE movie acting work.

-One or two SFLer's think John Brunner borrowed the framing device of STAND On ZANZIBAR from John Dos Passos trilogy "USA".

-First rumors of a live action JUDGE DREDD movie, with Sylvester Stallone rumored to be in the Judge Dredd role. 

(2020 note: 1989 SFLer's scoff at that idea, but....yeah. It was real, all of it.)

-Novelization of the Infocom game PLANETFALL gets one positive review.

-The Heinlein Defense Squad tries comparing Robert Anson Heinlein positively to Sir James Burton, but no-one takes the bait.

-The SFWA white knight SFL poster finally and conclusively outs themselves as editor of the fanzine OTHER REALMS, which now explains all the sucking up/worshipful references to SF&F authors, and snitching on any negative to the SFWA/anyone with editorship roles in the SF&F genres. 

-Franchised out SF universes, such as Asimov's Robot City and Roger Zelazny's "Clypsis" series, all of which SFLers are certain will still be discussed/still be published 20 years down the road.

(2020 note: Yeah, that didn't happen. I think 99% of the mentioned franchised out SF universes died out within 18 months of SFL this discussion.)

-A 1989 READERCON flyer describes Samuel R Delany as the "Woody Allen of SF". This comparison aged extremely badly or extremely well depending on how you view Woody Allen & Samuel R Delany.

-A SFLer outs their fetish, TWICE, for Jack Chalker type fantasies where shape changing/physical transformation  and body swapping are key parts of the story.

-SFLer's appreciating when authors put in the work to research the topics they write about in their stories (William R. Forstchen being part of a medieval reenactment catapult crew gets mentioned).

-SFLer's discuss the Penny Farthing bicycle explanation that only happened in the "lost" THE PRISONER episode

-Bad Technology in SF story discussion (Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Niven Known Space, etc).

-News that 1980's TV series BEAUTY & THE BEAST starring Linda Hamilton & Ron Perlman is cancelled/not getting renewed on CBS. Meanwhile the ALIEN NATION tv series & QUANTUM LEAP both premiere to mostly positive SFL reaction, and FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE TV series finally gets discussed as the final episodes of it air.

-WorldCon 1989 happens, all of the extended drama over 1989 Hugo Award illegal vote counting is quickly ignored once the physical awards come out.

-Arthurian Mythos discussion crops up again for 6 or so SFL Digests. More reference materials & lists of Arthurian Mythos works get posted.

-Daniel Keys Moran and his threatened thirty three novel series TALES OF THE CONTINUING TIME discussion.

-The Suicide of a West German Hacker involved in hacking a bunch of US government servers/sites gets a brief mention.

(2020 note: The dead hacker, Karl Koch, was one of "stars" or featured people in Cliff Stohl's mostly non-fictional CUCKOOS EGG which discussed how the hackers were detected and how the hackers were eventually arrested.)

-Portage cost for open parties at the Worldcon 1989 hotels got some SFL outrage. So did the SF-LOVERS mailing list getting a unofficial WorldCon (non-Hugo Award), however the biggest thing was very negative reactions to a female author only award being announced/premiered during the 1989 Hugo Awards ceremony.  

-The Willimantic CT book publisher (Zeiss Press?)  that specialized in Gene Wolfe small press runs moves across country to California in July 1989

-The Denver Post newspaper announces a  new Science Fiction themed cable network television channel, to be called the SCI-FI CHANNEL

-An SFLer with way too much time on their hands did a A-Z index listing for everything in the (as of 1989) 4 book series HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams.

-Another year passes and another solitary SFL question asking if anyone, anyone at all knows if MORIGU: THE DESECRATION by Mark C Perry has a sequel. 

-Dan Simmon's HYPERION, 1st book of William Shatner's TEKWAR series, WAITING FOR THE GALACTIC BUS & it's sequel THE SNAKE OIL WARS, WARDAY, THE ETERNITY BRIGADE, COLD COMFORT FARM, and ACROSS THE COSMOS being supposedly being plagiarized twice by the same person/sold to two different publishers.

-The 1989 version of BACK TO THE FUTURE series discussion focuses on Biff, and the Biff's various timelines, and BACK TO THE FUTURE 3.

-TOR Books doing a total recall & replace on Walter Jon Williams novel ANGEL STATION because of non-existent quality control.

-Fantasy and Science Fiction stories with music or musicians as core pieces of the story.

-Pop Culture Vampire & Werewolf Lore, and how to stop/cause Vampire & Werewolf outbreaks discussion.

-Request for advice on long term storage of Books in a warehouse/self-storage facility.

-1989 version of Matter transportation discussion: What is the Earliest Matter Transportation story in existence?

-A DIANE DUANE identity thief-impersonator-imposter has re-appeared and is active in the U.S.A. after a decade long break/prison time.

-The very first SFL Archives mention of BABYLON 5,the tv series about 2 years before I expected it.

------------------------------

Date: 3 Oct 89 19:56:57 GMT

From: jas@isi.edu (Jeff Sullivan)

Subject: Re: ALIEN NATION - Just another cop series.

J. Michael Straczynski is trying to package a SF series of his called

"Babylon 5."  He says that it will do for SF on TV what Hill Street did for

Cop stories.

We'll see.  He says the financing is almost locked, and it should air next

fall.

Jeffrey A. Sullivan

Senior Systems Programmer

Information Sciences Institute

University of Southern California

jas@venera.isi.edu

jas@isi.edu

------------------------------

SFL Archives Vol 14 readthrough update 01

SFL Archives Vol 14

7.5 mb raw text file

30 % completion, 45 bookmarks.

-Robert Tappan Morris's Internet Worm attack of 1988  gets mentioned as a brief sidenote in the SFL Archives.

(2020 note: This has been one of things I've been waiting to show up since Vol 02 or so of doing this SFL Archives readthrough attempt.) 

-SFLer's ask "What is the earliest historical fiction that you know of?"

-STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION Picard vs STAR TREK: THE ORGINAL SERIES Kirk comparisons start happening. One SFLer uses the 1988 George Bush vs Michael Dukakis presidental election debates as to how they perceive Kirk & Picard.

(2020 note: This is one of the things I thought would happen ASAP in the SF-LOVERS mailing list once Star Trek: TNG aired. That it took midway through season 2 of TNG to happen is gratifying.)

-Constant re-occurring BLADERUNNER 1982 the movie discussion. The oddball replicant count in the movie, differences in the movie vs the book, Replicant memories, and "are the pictures Deckard looks at in the movie holograms?" given how small things move in them/are visible changing up the viewing angle.

-Stephen King book discussion: The Gunslinger book 2: DRAWING OF THE THREE comes out, and minor discussion of a Stephen King short story about matter teleportation (Jaunt?).

-First rumors of turning the WATCHMEN graphic novel into a movie start up, and some SFLer's think it a Watchmen adaptation might work better as tv-series.

(2020 note: Both possibilities happened, eventually, only extremely later than SFLers of 1989 expected.)

-Background details about why the movie BUCKAROO BANZAI 1984 is never getting a sequel. TLDR: 20th Century Fox f*cked themselves over multiple times, especially selling off ALL the videotape rights of Buckaroo Banzai 1984 for a pittance, then watched in impotent anger as the buyer of the videotape rights made a 2000% profit when Buckaroo Banzai went to videotape. 

-An explanation of exactly what roles & duties story/book packagers perform liasioning between literary agents, authors, and publishers; using Byron Preiss as an example.

-Three movies under production in early 1989 all using deep underwater settings/similar sounding plots: DEEPSTAR SIX, THE ABYSS and LEVIATHAN.

-J. Michael Straczynski anecdotes about behind the scenes production problems for the 1980's  revamp of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. SFLer's also note Straczynski's work as story editor for the now mostly forgotten CAPTAIN VIDEO childrens tv series.

-SFLer's start discussing "O LUCKY MAN!", a 1973 UK movie, and everything about it/in it sounds extremely bizarre. 

-Gay characters in SF (and Fantasy) discussion. Lots of interesting examples come up.

-Philip K Dick discussion, 1989 edition: PKD's paranoia about a home invasion, the ongoing changes of how PKD viewed the home invasion as his mental health declined, and one of PKD's "Dark-Haired Girls" comments on her PKD experiences in the early 1970's.

(2020 note: Not sure, but I think this the same Dark-Haired Girl that commented on her experiences with PKD back in Vol 03?/Vol 04/Vol 05? It was deeply fascinating and amazing when the DHG related PKD's plan to confuse/fuck the narcs that were constantly monitoring him.)

-A unofficial "CAN YOU OUT CYBERPROSE WILLIAM GIBSON/other cyberpunk writers?" SF-LOVERS challenge is issued, and as of mid May 1989, no SFLer has responded to the challenge.

(2020 note: Finished reading SFL Archives 1989, and no one rose to the challenge.)

-People managing the Hugo Awards nominations & vote counting process feel compelled to post about the existing procedures multiple times and insist nothing will go wrong for the 1989 Hugo Awards nomination & vote counting process, like what happened at WorldCon 1989.

-PLAGUE style stoy discussion, which seem very on-point from a 2020 perspective, with a resurgence of juvenile focused novels and television entertainment. 

-First SFL Archives mention of the 1989 movie TOTAL RECALL starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

-Julian May's PLIOSCENE COMPANION collection discussion, with special note made of how Julian May had most of the series planned out, and how the entire series setting was inspired by a kickass cosplay outfit Julian May designed/wore at a 1970's sci-fi convention.  

-THE TIDES OF GOD by Ted Reynolds discussion causing minor meltdowns by SFL people regarding religion, free will, and the Dark Ages only being European subcontinent based, not global. 

-Suzette Haden Elgin's OZARK TRILOGY being written as a direct response to all the sexist and dimissive behavior by male Sci-Fi writers towards women at convention panels.

-1989 anecdotes of how Glen Cook composed and wrote most of his stories/novels while working at General Motors, with special note taken of the timing required to perform his assembly line duties and write while on the assembly line

-A poll of what science-fiction tv series SFLer's thought were the worse of all time results in LOST IN SPACE "winning" the poll. A SFLer notes that no recent sci-fi related TV series got mentioned, and listed out a whole bunch of recentish 1980's sci-fi tv shows that had aired on US network television such as SMALL WONDER and OUT OF THIS WORLD. 

-A SFLer who requested stories abut the "introduction of anti-matter in science-fiction" comments on the responses they received from SFLers. 

(2020 note: the hurtful note when mentioning how a SFLer told them to look in the OED Supplement Vol 01 for references to anti-matter are the main reason I bothered mentioning this.)

-One SFLer noted the subgenre of "black vehicle scifi tv series of the 1980's" using AIRWOLF, STREET HAWK, and KNIGHT RIDER that all seemed to revolve around similar plots and setups.

-THE DESERT PEACH -a comic book about "The Desert Fox's pretty brother", based on Dona Barr's large fund of insider stories on the German army.

-Color coded convention badges/how various professional & amateur conventions handled convention security.

(2020 note: All these things will seem extremely quaint for people used to wifi networking & RFID badges at "modern" conventions.)

-Anecdotes of using a Larry Niven style RINGWORLD as Wargamer battle-royale setting. And how everything got derailed when one wargamer had howitzer's on their army list, and the opponent protested to the GM about needing special rules to adjust for the "coriolis forces experienced on a  Ringworld". Years later, allegedly, these two wargamers are still working out a "general set of equations for computing the trajectory of an object launched from the surface of a Ringworld."

-A college aged Jeff Vogel, who would go on to create the GENEFORGE & AVERNUM & EXILE & AVADON series of games posts about the TSR Dragonlance settings and the Dragonlance novels written.

-RED DWARF tv series part two: which covers most of the events/episodes of Red Dwarf series 1.

-Ed Greenwood at GENCON 1988 explains to a SFLer why his Forgotten Realms novel SPELLFIRE was so disjointed. Apparently, Greenwood wanted to make Spellfire mostly about his author-insert Elminster and Elminster's family in a Nine Princes of Amber way, but the TSR book editors said no.

(2020 note: It would take 6 more years for Ed Greenwood to get the first of his many "The Mary Sue adventures of Elminster" published, during the final stages of TSR's "publish everything, we need the quarterly product release statements to look amazing". 1 year later, TSR went bankrupt and got bought by Wizards of the Coast.)

-John Cramer uses the Internet to post a "open letter reply" to comments made about his "hard SF novel TWISTOR".

(2020 note: Authors posting open letter comments were not a common thing on the Internet at this point in 1989, so I felt this was of special archival interest.)

SFL Archives Vol 13 readthrough update 04

 SFL Archives Vol 13

5.9 mb raw text file

100% completion, 198 bookmarks

-A Pacific Bell newsletter reviews William Gibson's NEUROMANCER. The review is ok, however the constant insertions & defensive rebuttal comments by the SFLer reposting the PacBell newsletter review make it a hard read.

-An outright pitch for the San Diego Comic Convention by a SFL convention organizer/convention merchant, which as of 1988 was a strictly non-profit event.

-An SFLer half remembering a Cordwainer Smith aka Paul Linebargers pen-name, and roughly half of the SFL posters chime in to give corrections/clarification/story recommendations on Cordwainer Smith.

(2020 note: Linebarger's work on a Pysops World War 2 manual comes up briefly)

-Fall 1988 twist on matter transportation chat mostly revolves on what happens to the original body, and souls, soul transference in transported entities.

-Lots of discussion about Roger Zelazny's AMBER series, especially the Pattern & the Logrus ability powers.

-1988 being the year of Roddy Piper movies, with HELL COMES TO FROGTOWN and THEY LIVE. Indepth discussion of PHANTASM 2, and behind the scenes leaks on the sets of BATMAN 1989 & STAR TREK 5.

-Science-fiction stories that focused on THE BEATLES the UK Band.

-Lots of buildup for WorldCon 1988 in New Orleans, Louisiana followed up by mostly hushed up talk about how poorly managed everything at WorldCon 1988 was except the Hugo Award.

-Trinary encoding being faster than binary encoding on custom built computer systems....which leaves out the added effort of rewriting code in trinary, then having to support binary & trinary programming, etc etc. 

-A new twist on ALIEN 1979 & ALIENS 1986 discussion: Are the various Alien lifeforms/lifestages sentient or intelligent because they do/do not engage in tool usage? A person who keeps referring to the Space Jockey thing it as a (alien) "mother" leads to inevitable thread confusion due to the Nostromo's AI in Alien 1979 being called "MOTHER" too.

-A SFLer hypothesizes how the Galactic Empire in Isaac Asimov's FOUNDATION series would go about creating planets. Weird things like using only comets for planetary construction, then FTL & notFTL used for moving around comet chunks, and other "uhhh what" stuff. 

-Two instances of HG Wells WAR OF THE WORLDS in 1988. A reboot/decades later mini-series adaptation of WotW, plus a 50 yr aniversary rebroadcasting of the WotW radio drama, with 1988 vocal talent and improved audio special effects.

-The surprisingly deep back catalogue of SCHOLASTIC PRESS.

-The many many issues with Larry Niven's SMOKE RING setting, mostly focused on how that atmosphere stays in place, especially the vast quantity of O2.

-STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION Season 2: Beverly Crusher is out, and fans start a letter writing campaign to bring her back.

-Ed Greenwood, creator of TSR's THE FORGOTTEN REALMS setting gets mentioned for the impossibility of the main character in Greenwood's FR novel SPELLFIRE.

(2020 note: It's never a good sign when the creator of the setting is compelled to create a brand new PnP character class to explain all the bullshit their lead character got away with, which is exactly what Greenwood did for his Spellfire novel.)

-SFLer's bring up the C.S. Lewis story most C.S .Lewis fans wish never existed: THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH.

-Orson Scott Card starts reverting back to Mormon fundamentalism after coming under repeated Latter Day Saints leadership pressure for his SECULAR HUMANIST REVIVALS a few years ago. 

-SFLer Larry Klaes goes through Bjo Trimble's 1969 CONCORDANCE & points out most of the errors in it, like Kirk having two brothers?; which takes up 2.5 dedicated SFL Digests. Bjo Trimble responds positively. Near the end of december 1988, Larry Klaes posts an update with corrections to his original fact-checking review of CONCORDANCE.

-One of the best descriptions of why the YA genre exists, and why it has near universal appeal for readers of all ages.

-Utterly terrible fan behavior at conventions & personal fen-dom gathering f the past 4 years (1984-1988) or recent personal fen-dom gathering, with FANS ARE SLANS being used as a negative meme for bad fen-dom behavior.

-Time machines that only work from the time they were turned on leads to one SFLer throwing out an idea of daisy chaining time machines serially until you find a really really ancient Alien built time machine, then short-cut the entire process.

-Allegations of Hugo Award vote count tampering at WorldCon 1988 happens, with muted silence from people who normally respond immediately to all things Hugo Award related. 

-SFLer's start to map the characters, and houses and organizations of Frank Herbert's DUNE series to real life analogues and it is not pretty. 

(2020 note: Fascism allegations, Nazi allegations, race sciencing, this entire discussion thread is super skippable for a 2020 reader.)

-Eleven posts about Robert Anton Wilson discussion closes out 1988. 

SFL Archives Vol 13 readthrough update 02

 SFL Archives Vol 13

5.9 mb raw text file

30% completion, 59 bookmarks

-1988 technology level: An SFLer is theory-crafting a electronic time capsule with a variable lifespan of 50-200 years, but can't figure out the KISS timing method used to "activate" slash open the time capsule, or the long term power solution for it. A few SFLer's respond with "use radioactively decaying elements for the timer/power elements"....after all the request was for KISS methods not easy or cheap methods

(2020 note: In this case, KISS stands for "Keep It Simple, Stupid", not the 1970's/80's band.)

-BOSKONE 25 happens and it is a massive karmic letdown. The BOSKONE 25 convention was kicked out of Boston after the hijinks of BOSKONE 24, and took place in downtown Springfield MA in two separate locations. The 2 SFLer's who bothered mentioning BOSKONE 25 noted the anemic attendance, lackluster scheduled convention panels, lack of costumes/cosplayers, and a utter lack of enthusiasm everywhere.

(2020 note: There was a staggering amount of drama about what happened at BOSKONE 24 & the revised convention format for BOSKONE 25 in SFL Vol 12a & 12b.)

-Flying car debate lead to discussion of STOL/VTOL aircraft and what take-off and landing requirements they require vs commercial jet aircraft & military planes.

-One of the first mentions of Ted Nelson and their masterwork COMPUTER LIB/DREAM MACHINES

(2020 note: Ted Nelson basically predicted everything about the Internet back in 1974. Yes, seriously.)

-A weird 1960's movie called THE MONITORS, brief discussion of Dean Ing's mormon-assassin survivalist series, THE JUPITER THEFT as the answer to the identify-this-story request that involved planets moving due to relativistic spacecraft speeds, 1988 book publishers doing 2020 style price rip-offs when releasing Samuel Beckett's THE LOST ONES, now long forgotten TV series PROBE and THE HIGHWAYMEN.

 -SFLer's comment on various republished/newly revised editions of Philip K Dick's work, with explanations as to why two conflicting versions of THE UNTELEPORTED MAN exist.

-Belated SFL Archives death notices for Randall Garrett and C.L. Moore.

-First SFL Archives mention of Tim Powers ON STRANGER TIDES, which most people know vis osmosis of Disney Park rides and the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies.

-RED DWARF the tv-series premieres, and most SFLer's do not like it, but seem interested enough in the premise and the episodes to keep watching it.

-1988 SFLer's comment on the fascination scifi & mil-fiction authors having with writing Nazi regime alternate history stories/book series, with various Nazi leaders in the "good-guy" roles. 

(2020 note: this trend would note stop for a while, arguably it's still going on.)

-Chuq Von Rospach, SFWA crusader, highly recommends a David Gerrold YA book. And I'm just going to wholesale quote Rospach's recommendation because it goes places.  

The third book is Gerrold's, and it's LOTS of fun. Imagine a YA book with

cussing, cannibalism, orgies, rape, torture, etc. etc. etc. Better, that

stuff is all written in so that kids probably will never see it -- and it's

one of the most fun books I've ever read from Gerrold. Probably a little

too intense for some kids, frankly, but for adults, I'd call this the

sleeper of the year (good, but generally overlooked). It's a Walker &

Company hardback, by the way, ISBN 0-8027-6688-9 (data from otherrealms

#19).

-Including ISBN codes in SFL Archives book reviews/SFL Archives book recommendations suddenly becomes a thing.

(2020 note: One of the SFLer's half-doxxed themselves as a research librarian back in January 1988, offering their help if other SLFer's needed assistance looking up books/stories/authors. Suspect the ISBN codes are SFLer's using them as a look-up source or realizing the beautiful of ISBN code lookups independently.)

-First SFL Archives mention of Richard Kadrey and their cyberpunk story METROPHAGE

(2020 note: This was fun, for various reasons. Circa 2020, Kadrey has been on the SANDMAN SLIM kick for a while, and finding out Kadrey was once able to write characters that didn't revolve around remembering old monster films/old italian grindhouse movies was amusing and informative.)

-C.S. Lewis & NARNIA discussion does the impossible, and drowns out attempts at reviving Robert Heinlein chat, JRR Tolkien chat, AND Stephen Donaldson chat. Narnia and CS Lewis discussion brings up various things, with the christianity ting and JRR Tolkien maybe converting CS Lewis to Christianity coming up.

-The Vonda McIntyre Internet mentioned in SFL Vol 12 readthrough update 01 happens, and some of Vonda McIntyre's more pertinent replies get requoted. McIntyre wrote a STAR TREK novel that focused on the well-known TOS crew as they gradually moved towards serving together on the NCC-1701 Enterprise. SFL & Star Trek fan reaction to that novel was rough to extremely angry when it came out and got reviewed.

(2020 note: McIntyre revealing in the inteview that she relied exclusively on material from Gene Roddenberry and George Takei when coming up with character backgrounds and character names was very very amusing given the very angry reactions from SFLer's about not using fan-canon first names for TOS cast members.)

-ARTHURIAN MYTHOS chat comes up, without any outside influence such as a recent Arthurian mythos movie, or book. Heavy discussion of Arthurian Mythos characters, modern authors takes on Arthurian Mythos, and lots of sources and reading list recommendations for Arthurian Mythos connected works.

(2020 note: Most of these posts are probably old news for Arthurian Mythos devotees, however some of the posts might contain new material or now-forgotten source material.) 

-A SFLer wants to know how fact-based David Drake's HAMMERS SLAMMERS stories are, especially regarding Iridium as being used as armor/construction material in the Slammers hover-tanks. Various SFLer's response, citing Iridium as plausible, but also taking note of the various IRL issues with the Hammer's Slammers company, and the stacked writing David Drake used in the Hammers Slammers stories. 

-APRIL FOOLS DAY 1988, and the SFL Archives April Fools Day jokes/fake news/posts. A slight "no that was a joke" backlash occurs when the SF-LOVERS mailing list maintainer joins in the fun with a "LAST ISSUE/we're getting shutdown due to the U.S. Government" post.

-An SFLer requests U.S. Civil War science-fiction stories. And gets some feedback, including another SFLer giving U.S. Civil War stories recommendations in a Southern American accent for their entire post, including their name.

(2020 note: Harry Turtledove would  go on to fulfill this request for U.S. Civil War science-fiction stories for at least 2 decades.)