Monthly Archives: April 2017

Television

New Star Trek coins from Canadian Mint

Last year the Canadian Mint issued several beautiful coloured coins in honour of Star Trek’s anniversary. This year, they have added two more to the series: Five Captains, and The Borg.

GLOWS IN THE DARK! In daylight, colour over engraving recreates the portraits of the legendary captains; when viewed in the dark, your coin reveals a glowing image of U.S.S. Enterprise in flight, along with the iconic Delta Shield Insignia. Click here to see both images.
The field includes an outstanding amount of detailed engraving that provides a rare close-up of the exterior of a Borg cube vessel. Against this engraved background, a colourful scene finds a Borg cube locking onto the U.S.S. Enterprise with its green tractor beam.   Click here for more detailed image and more information.
MonSFFA Website

Fanzines are pouring in!

Something to read on the bus!

 Fornax is a fanzine devoted to history, science fiction & gaming as well as other areas where the editor’s curiosity goes. It is edited/published by Charles Rector. In the grand tradition of fanzines, it is mostly written by the editor. This is the April 2017 issue.

This issue of The National Fantasy Fan was sent to you by the National Fantasy Fan Federation, founded 1941 http://N3F.org.

From Felicity Walker, BCSFAzine 521, clubzine for British Columbia Science Fiction Association.

We have also received, via TNFF, 4 issues of Mount Void and 6 issues of the Revenge of Hump Day.

MT VOID 1954

MT VOID 1955

MT VOID 1956

MT VOID 1957

Revenge of Hump Day 2017-02-08

Revenge of Hump Day 2017-02-22

Revenge of Hump Day 2017-03-01

Revenge of Hump Day 2017-03-08

Revenge of Hump Day 2017-03-29

Revenge of Hump Day 2017-04-05

 

Movies

Pandora opens May 27 at Walt Disney World in Florida.

It may seem strange for an Avatar-themed park to be opening in 2017, but the Avatar franchise is far from over. Last April, Fox confirmed Cameron would direct Avatar 2, Avatar 3, Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 over the course of the next six years, with the final movie expected to be released around Christmas 2023. Avatar 2, the sequel to Cameron’s box office-breaking 2009 film, will be released around Christmas 2018.

 

 

Awards

New trophy for the World Fantasy Association

Most beautiful trophy ever?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copied from:  http://www.arctera.com/wfa/wfadmin-award-announcement.htm

The Awards Administration wanted something representational that would reflect the depth and breadth of the fantasy field, from horror to high fantasy and all stops in between. Trees—good trees, evil trees, prophetic trees, harboring trees, forests full of demons, forests of sanctuary—turn up throughout art and literature from the very beginning. They represent life, strength, nature, endurance, wisdom, rebirth, protection; they symbolize the link between heaven and earth. In Christian mythology, mankind starts with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In Norse mythology, the entire structure of the universe is dependent on the giant ash Yggdrasill, the World Tree, which many Eastern European countries see as a home to the spirits of the dead. Indian mythology has the cosmic tree Asvattha, and there are plenty of fantastical trees in Greek and Roman mythology too, including dryads, the nymphs who inhabit trees, the Dodona grove of prophetic trees, and Argo, Jason’s ship, which maintained the magical properties of the tree which provided its wood.

The Green Man is a magical figure in many countries; druids are tied to the oak and the ash; some oak trees were thought to be oracular. Yews guard the entrance to the underworld, rowan keeps witches away. In Native American myth the hero Gluskap created humans by shooting an arrow into the heart of a birch. In Persia, the tree which grew from the decomposing corpse of the first human split into a man and woman, and the fruit became the other races of mankind. Buddha reached enlightenment under a Bodhi tree, which in turn inspired Robert Jordan’s Chora trees.

Trees bestride fantasy literature, from Roger Zelazny’s The Chronicles of Amber to Robert Holdstock’s WFA-winning Mythago Wood cycle, C.S. Lewis’ Narnia chronicles to Michael Sullivan’s Age of Myth cycle, the godswoods of Westeros in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Ents and Enid Blyton’s Magical Faraway Tree.

But not all trees are nurturing: it’s the treatment of a Chora sapling which begins a bloody war in Jordan’s books. Tolkien’s Mirkwood is as evil as its denizens and Weasels and Stoats rampage around Kenneth Grahame’s Wild Wood; J.K. Rowling’s Whomping Willow has terrified millions, while Patrick Rothfuss’ Cthaeh, lurk unseen in the branches of a giant tree in the fae realm. There’s the baobab tree in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince, Ray Bradbury’s The October Tree, the apple tree in The Wizard of Oz, and many more.

Vincent Villafranca has encapsulated the worlds of fantasy in the branches of our new award, and we thank him.

Awards

2017 Chesley Award Final Nomination List (for 2016 Works)

Later this year, MonSFFA is planning a discussion of SF/F art and artists. The Chesley Awards are for the best art in the previous year, and are presented in a ceremony at the World Con, this year in Helsinki.

Take time to see the images, they’re awe inspiring!

Cathy

 

2017 Chesley Award Final Nomination List (for 2016 Works)

This is the official final nomination list for the 32nd annual ASFA awards, the Chesleys. The Chesley, named for the great astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell, started in 1985 as a means for the SF & Fantasy art community to recognize individual works and achievements in a given year. This year’s awards are for works and achievements in the period from January 1st to December 31st 2016.

Best Cover Illustration: Hardcover

Album https://goo.gl/photos/Ms1RqFpsTQp6Pdpy6

Dan dos Santos  Fables: Cubs in Toyland by Bill Willingham  Vertigo, September 2016

Todd Lockwood Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood DAW, May 2016

Tran Nguyen Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey Subterranean Press, October 2016

Cliff Nielsen Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare McElderry Books, March 2016

David Palumbo Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson Tor, November 2016

John Picacio In the House of the Worm by George R.R. Martin Baltimore Science Fiction Society, May 2016

Best Cover Illustration: Paperback or Ebook

Album https://goo.gl/photos/n7rLm6WRQx8oE56h6

Tommy Arnold  A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson Tor.com Publishing, October 2016

Julie Dillon Beyond the Stars: At Galaxy’s Edge by Assorted Authors Astral books Amazon Digital Services, August 2016

Sarah Anne Langton Central Station by Lavie Tidhar Tachyon Publications, May 2016

Gene Mollica Breath of Earth by Beth Cato Harper Voyager, August 2016

Victo Ngai Forest of Memory by Mary Robinette Kowal Tor, March 2016

Best Cover Illustration: Magazine

Album https://goo.gl/photos/eTTAWtG7V4f8TLY68

Galen Dara Uncanny Issue 10, May/June 2016

Elizabeth Leggett  LIGHTSPEED #69, February 2016

David Palumbo Swallowed Whole, Aliens – Life and Death #1 Dark Horse, September 2016

Paolo Rivera Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1953 Dark Horse, February 2016

Jeremy Wilson Chimera Brigade #1 By Serge Lehman and Fabrice Colin  Titan Comics, October 2016

Best Interior Illustration

Album https://goo.gl/photos/7vJkVu63StdPWVqEA

Rovina Cai “Tom, Thom” by K.M. Ferebee Tor.com, February 2016

Kari Christensen Gethsemoni, Court of the Dead: Chronicle of the Underworld by Tom Gilliland Sideshow Collectibles 2016

Tran Nguyen Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey Subterranean Press 2016

Greg Ruth “Freedom is Space for the Spirit” by Glen Hirshberg Tor.com, April 2016

Ivica Stevanovic The Bestiary edited by Ann Vandermeer Centipede Press, March 2016

Best Gaming Related Illustration

Album https://goo.gl/photos/1VqM4odHaXVHEmTt6

Mauricio Calle Encounter at Stygeon Prime- Star Wars: The Card Game Fantasy Flight Games 2016

Cliff Childs Long-Finned Skywhale Kaladesh card set WotC, Sept. 2016

Ryan Pancoast Inventor’s Apprentice Kaladesh card set  WotC, Sept. 2016

Matthew Stewart Mastertrinketeer Kaladesh card set WotC, Sept. 2016

Ryan Yee Die Young Kaladesh card set WotC, Sept. 2016

Best Product Illustration

Album https://goo.gl/photos/DkxYUiB5ASL4fnQy9

Donato Giancola  Portal Promotional art for Illuxcon

Clark Huggins Advertisement for RECKLESS DECK Imagine FX, February 2016

John Picacio La Corona (The Crown) Loteria Lone Boy

Cynthia Sheppard 2017 Llewellyn’s Astrological Calendar

Greg Spalenka banner art to promote Roxana Illuminated Perfume 2016

Best Color Work: Unpublished

Album https://goo.gl/photos/1wF16zG6GU9EE61P9

John Harris The Ark, Oil

Vanessa Lemen Holding On and Letting Go, Oil on canvas

Miranda Meeks December, Digital

Shreya Shetty The Dragon Charmer, Digital

Michael Whelan In a World of Her Own, Acrylic

Best Monochrome Work: Unpublished

Album https://goo.gl/photos/VVrMNjUUgdFwRKtZ8

Marcela Bolivar White Crown, Photoshop

Jana Heidersdorf Darkness  Acrylics, pencil and digital

Travis Lewis Soul Engine, Graphite

Ruth Sanderson Luna, Scratchboard

Allen Williams The Fall of Night, Pencil

Best Three Dimensional Art

Album  https://goo.gl/photos/tVmpAewdX2bLbTS26

Akihito Ikeda Nephila, Mixed media

Thomas Kuebler Medusa, Mixed media

Forest Rogers La Belle Crustace, premier air-dry clay & washi paper

Virginie Ropars The Evil Eye, Mixed media

Lee Shamel “The Scepter of the Crystal Flame”, Mixed media

Best Art Director

Neil Clarke Clarkesworld Magazine

Irene Gallo Tor/tor.com

Sheila Gilbert & Betsy Wollheim DAW Books

Lauren Panepinto Orbit Books

Cynthia Sheppard Wizards of the Coast

Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award

Iain McCaig

Greg Manchess

Hayao Miyazaki

Wendy Pini

Drew Struzan

Berni Wrightson

 

Upcoming meeting

MonSFFA Field Trip, May 14

Attention MonSFFen!

Mark Sunday, May 14, on your calendars, for with the Who’s familiar guitar riff ringing in our ears, we’re headed to the Montreal Science Centre at the Old Port to take in CSI: The Experience!

Based on the popular, long-running American television franchise, this “interactive learning adventure,” so described, will allow us to play forensic detective as we investigate a “crime scene,” collecting and analyzing “blood splatter, DNA,” and other evidence in order to solve a case of criminal nefariousness!

We’ll meet no later than 12:30PM in front of the ticket booth in the Science Centre’s lobby. Our plan is to have everyone purchase tickets for a 1:00PM or 1:15PM entry, so that we may all access the exhibit area at the same time.

So don’t be late!

MonSFFen will be responsible for their own admission. Adult admittance is listed at $23, with discounts available for children and seniors. A family rate is also offered, and we are given to understand that Canadian residents will benefit from a further rebate as part of the cross-country celebrations of Canada’s 150th birthday this year!

Arrive a bit early if you wish to scoff a quick bite beforehand. You may pack a lunch, or purchase food and drink at the snack bar on site; a dining area is open to all.

The Montreal Science Centre is located on the King Edward Pier, Old Port of Montreal—that’s at the intersection of St-Laurent Boulevard and de la Commune Street, an approximately 10- to 15-minute walk from either the Place d’Armes or Champs-de-Mars Metro stations.

Street parking is available in the area for those travelling by car, but we caution that it can be difficult to find a spot. Alternately, paid parking is available in a lot adjacent the Science Centre (access via King Edward Pier entrance).

This outing will take place in lieu of a club meeting this month. Note that our next MonSFFA meeting is scheduled for June 4.

Visit the Science Centre’s Web site for more information on CSI: The Experience: www.montrealsciencecentre.com

Fanzines

More fanzines to share!

The fanzines are pouring in!

  • Interesting Times
  • Three Issues of Mt Void: 19541, 19551, 19561
  • Vibrator 38

INTERESTING TIMES 6
Garth Spencer asks: What is the difference between primary resource companies and kindergarten pupils?  Answer: Kindergarten children clean up after themselves. To which I have to respond: Only when threatened with missing recess…so really not all that different;  just a different threat required, such as one that bites them in the pocket.

Contents
Strange Fictions’ New Zine ………………………………… 1
Not for Print #2 ………………………………………………… 2
Missing Persons ……………………………………………….. 2
Letters…………………………………………………………….. 3
It Approaches (BC election) …………………………………. 4
Blast from the Past ……………………………………………. 4
How to Skin a Beaver (T. Wayne) …………………………. 6
Classifieds ……………………………………………………….. 7
Book Review (Fragment, by Craig Russel) ………………. 7
Calendar …………………………………………………………. 7
Freedom of the Press ……………………………………….. 10

IONISPHERE 4 Official Publication of the National Fantasy Fan Federation. Highlights:  Author interviews, including Robert Sawyer, and a valuable list of links to interesting sites on the Internet.

 MT VOID 19541

  • Old Bridge (NJ) Comic Con
  • A Word of Advice (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
    Selecting Words and Counting Ideas (comments by Mark R.  Leeper)
  • KONG: SKULL ISLAND (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
  • TICKLING GIANTS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
  • Malaya and Talented Minority Syndrome (letter of comment
    by Philip Chee)
  • Superman vs. the KKK (letter of comment by Tim Bateman)
  • Greg Benford, Reading, HIDDEN FIGURES, ANDROMEDA NEBULA, and MEDUSA’S WEB (letter of comment by John Hertz)
  • This Week’s Reading (THE LIFE AND GROWTH OF LANGUAGE) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
  • Quote of the Week

     MT VOID 19551   
  • What Is CRISPR, and Why Is It Scaring Some People? (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
  • DIG TWO GRAVES (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
  • Selecting Words (letters of comment by Lee Beaumont & Philip   Chee)
  • THE LIFE AND GROWTH OF LANGUAGE and Chinese (letters of comment by Philip Chee, Steve Coltrin, and Radovan Garabik)
  • This Week’s Reading (THE MAN FROM MARS) (book comments
    by Evelyn C. Leeper)
  • Quote of the Week

     MT VOID 19561

  • Tomorrow (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
  • Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films, Lectures,
    etc. (NJ)
  • Video of Mars (comments by Greg Frederick)
  • BETHANY (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
  • THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
  • BOKEH (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
  • INTO THE FIRE: SAMANTHA KANE #1, by Patrick Hester
    (book review by Joe Karpierz)
  • THE MAN FROM MARS (letters of comment by Allan Maurer
    and Tim Bateman)
  • Selecting Words (letters of comment by Peter Trei and David Goldfarb)
  • This Week’s Reading (DOWN HERE IN THE DREAM QUARTER)
    (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
  • Quote of the Week

VIBRATOR 38  :  Ooo La La it’s your latest fix of fandom’s most regular fanzine, Vibrator 38 Torn from the massive mountain of personal experience and chiselled down to a few shards which tantalizingly hint at its final meeting. Like Arrival it is a fanzine to be deciphered and savoured and then forgotten. Discard it on the junk pile of history but first of all be sure to write a loc. It may be your last chance for fannish immortality. This issue is dedicated to Cas Skeleton’s westie called Bestie, because he is seriously ill and desevres to get better. Open this file now and prepare to be amazed. Well, amused.     — Graham Charnock

 

 

 

AKA bhere, Beer

Craft Brewers Genre News

Posted on File 770,

By Martin Morse Wooster: Here is some news I unearthed while attending the Craft Brewers Conference.

I know fans will enjoy the many fine products of Canada’s Great Lakes Brewery in their Take Ten series.  This is the brewery that dares to produce Harry Porter, Harry Porter and the Bourbon Soaked Vanilla Bean, Robohop, and Octopus Wants to Fight IPA.  I bet they’d be sued if they produced beers with these names in the US (and with Harry Porter, they write, “Please don’t sue us”) but they’re Canadian, so presumably Hollywood doesn’t care.

I stopped by Geeks Who Drink, a nationwide pub trivia company.  Once I established my geek cred by telling them, “I once won a tossup round against Roger Craig” (which for Jeopardy! fans is the equivalent of saying, “I once hit a single off of Greg Maddux”) they told me everything, including that their annual Geek Bowl tournament was so geeky that they got Jim Parsons AND Wil Wheaton to pose questions.  If you visit their site you will find they are holding a national Star Wars trivia tournament on May 4.

Are you one with the force? Is the force one with you? Does your partner still hate you for insisting on answering “I know” every time they tell you that they love you? Then join us on May 4th, as Geeks Who Drink returns to a galaxy far, far away for our third iteration of Let the Wookiee Win: A Star Wars Quiz.

Listen up, because we’re going to kill a TON of Bothans to bring you this quiz. Our questions will cover the five, good theatrical Star Wars films and (pretty much) only those movies. That means you can expect a healthy dose of Episodes IV through VII and Rogue One and just a smattering of Extended Universe references to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Study like a thorough padawan; they may never say the names of those bounty hunters Vader sends after the Millennium Falcon, but we consider that fair game.

Reading

Library Book Sale 2017

More than 100,000 books and periodicals for $3 or less

Open to the public
from Saturday, May 20th to Sunday, May 28th, 2017

Click here for more information and map.
ATTENTION, NEW LOCATION FOR 2017!

This year, our Annual Book Sale will be held at:
l’Aréna Martin-Brodeur,
5300, boulevard Robert, Montréal (St-Léonard)
(next to St-Léonard library)

The bulk of the books and magazines on sale come from Montréal public libraries. Most documents on sale are in French, but we usually showcase between 12,000 and 15,000 English books. We may also have foreign language books, and a few audio tapes, CDs, CD-ROMs, and DVDs.