Volume 23 Number 10 Issue 280 March 2011

OASFiS Event Horizon Vol 23, Issue 280, March 2011. Published Monthly by the Orlando Area Science Fiction Society (OASFiS). All rights reserved by original Authors and Artists. Editor: Juan Sanmiguel, 1421 Pon Pon Court, Orlando, FL 32825. Subscriptions are $12.00 per year and entitle the subscriber to membership in the Society. Attending Memberships are $25.00 per year. Extra memberships to family members are $6.00 per year when only one newsletter is sent to the household. To subscribe or join OASFiS, send a check or money order to: OASFiS, PO Box 592905, Orlando, FL 32859-2905. To submit Articles, Artwork or Letters of Comment to the Event Horizon, send them to the Editor's address above or sanmiguel@earthlink.net. For additional information, call our Voice Mail at (407) 823-8715. OASFiS is a state chartered not for profit corporation whose goal is the promotion of Science Fiction in all its forms. All opinions expressed herein are solely those of the Author(s) and in no way represent the opinions of the Society or its members as a whole.

Events

Megacon

March 25-27

Orange County Convention Center

3-Day-$56.45(pre) $60(at door) ,

1-Day $23.96 (pre) $25 (at door)

Guests: Stan Morrison (OASIS artist),

Paul Vincenti(OASIS artist),

William Shatner(James Kirk, Star Trek)

Stan Lee (comic creator, Marvel)

Geoff Johns(DC Chief Creative Officer)

George Perez (comic artist),

Darwyn Cooke (comic artist)

Denny O‟Neill (comic writer, Batman)

Terry Moore (writer/artist Strangers in

Paradise and Echo)

Bruce Boxlietner (Babylon5 and Tron)

Mira Furlan (Babylon 5 and Lost)

Michael Dorn (Worf, Star Trek:The

Next Generation)

Jonathan Frakes (Riker,Star Trek:The

Next Generation)

Marina Sirtis (Troi,Star Trek:The

Next Generation)

and many more

www.megaconvention.com

ICFA 32 (professional conference)

March 16-20

Orlando Airport Marriott, Orlando, Florida

Guest of Honor: Connie Willis

Guest of Honor: Terry Bisson

Guest Scholar: Andrea Hairston

Special Guest Emeritus : Brain Aldiss

www.iafa.org

The 2010 Nebula Awards nominees

(source Locus website)

Winners will be announced at the Nebula Awards Banquet on

May 21, 2011, during the Nebula Awards Weekend (May 19-22,

2011) at the Washington Hilton, Washington DC.

Congratulations to OASIS guests Connie Willis, Jack McDevitt

and Adam-Troy Castro for their nominations.

Novel The Native Star, M.K. Hobson (Spectra)

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin

(Orbit UK; Orbit US)

Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal

(Tor)

Echo, Jack McDevitt (Ace)

Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)

Blackout/All Clear, Connie Willis (Spectra)

Novella The Alchemist, Paolo Bacigalupi

(Audible; Subterranean)

„„Iron Shoes‟‟, J. Kathleen Cheney (Alembical 2)

The Lifecycle of Software Objects, Ted Chiang

(Subterranean)

„„The Sultan of the Clouds‟‟, Geoffrey A. Landis

(Asimov’s 9/10)

„„Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance‟‟, Paul Park

(F&SF 1-2/10)

„„The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the

(Continued on page 2)

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

Vulcan was fun. I got see some people I really respect

and admire. I got to tell Peter David how much I like his work on

Aquaman and Fallen Angel.

Next month, some pictures from ICFA and Megacon. I

will not have a Megacon review read for April. I will do a book

March OASFiS Calendar

OASFiS Business Meeting Sunday, March 13, 1:30 PM, , 1:30 PM, Orange Public Library (Downtown Orlando, 101 E. Central Blvd., Orlando, FL 32801,407-835-7323). Come join us as we discuss Sandman Slim by Richard Kardey SciFi Light Saturday March 19, 6 PM, Tasty Thai (3806 Curry

Ford Road Orlando, FL 32806-2701). Come join us and

discuss the works of Connie Wills. For more info contact

Steve Grant

To contact for more info: OASFiS Business Meeting 407-823-8715

Page two March 2011

OASFiS People

Steve Cole 407-275-5211 stevepcole@hotmail.com Susan Cole 407-275-5211 sacole@mindspring.com Arthur Dykeman 407-328-9565 adykeman@bellsouth.net Steve Grant 352 241 0670 stevegrant@embarqmail.com Mike Pilletere mike-sf@webbedfeet.com David Ratti 407-282-2468 dratti@eudoramail.com Juan Sanmiguel 407-823-8715 sanmiguel@earthlink.net Patricia Wheeler 407-832-1428 pwheeler11@cfl.rr.com Any of these people can give readers information about the club and its functions. To be included in the list call Juan.

William Davies, Dean DeBlois, &

Chris Sanders (screenplay)

(DreamWorks Animation)

Inception, Christopher Nolan (director),

Christopher Nolan (screenplay) (Warner)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Edgar Wright (director),

Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright (screenplay)

(Universal)

Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich (director),

Michael Arndt (screenplay),

John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, &

Lee Unkrich (story) (Pixar/Disney)

Andre Norton Award Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown)

White Cat, Holly Black (McElderry)

Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins

(Scholastic Press; Scholastic UK)

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword,

Barry Deutsch (Amulet)

The Boy from Ilysies, Pearl North (Tor Teen)

I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett

(Gollancz; Harper)

A Conspiracy of Kings, Megan Whalen Turner

(Greenwillow)

Behemoth, Scott Westerfeld

(Simon Pulse; Simon & Schuster UK)

Queen‟s Window‟‟, Rachel Swirsky

(Subterranean Summer ‟10)

Novelette „„Map of Seventeen‟‟, Christopher Barzak

(The Beastly Bride)

„„The Jaguar House, in Shadow‟‟, Aliette de Bodard

(Asimov’s 7/10)

„„The Fortuitous Meeting of Gerard van Oost and

Oludara‟‟, Christopher Kastensmidt

(Realms of Fantasy 4/10)

„„Plus or Minus‟‟, James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s 12/10)

„„Pishaach‟‟, Shweta Narayan (The Beastly Bride)

„„That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made‟‟,

Eric James Stone (Analog 9/10)

„„Stone Wall Truth‟‟, Caroline M. Yoachim

(Asimov’s 2/10)

Short Story „„Arvies‟‟, Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed 8/10)

„„How Interesting: A Tiny Man‟‟, Harlan Ellison®

(Realms of Fantasy 2/10)

„„Ponies‟‟, Kij Johnson (Tor.com 1/17/10)

„„I‟m Alive, I Love You, I‟ll See You in Reno‟‟,

Vylar Kaftan (Lightspeed 6/10)

„„The Green Book‟‟, Amal El-Mohtar (Apex 11/1/10)

„„Ghosts of New York‟‟, Jennifer Pelland (Dark Faith)

„„Conditional Love‟‟, Felicity Shoulders

(Asimov’s 1/10)

Ray Bradbury Award Despicable Me, Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud

(directors), Ken Daurio & Cinco Paul

(screenplay), Sergio Pablos (story)

(Illumination Entertainment)

Doctor Who: „„Vincent and the Doctor‟‟,

Richard Curtis (writer),

Jonny Campbell (director)

How to Train Your Dragon,

Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders (directors),

Page three March 2011

Science Fiction Winners at the Academy Awards:

Animated Feature

Toy Story 3

Art Direction

Inception, Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design),

Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (Set Decoration)

Achievement in Cinematography

Inception, Wally Pfister

Achievement in Costume Design

Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood

Achievement in Makeup

The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original

Song)

”We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3, Music and

Lyric by Randy Newman

Best Animated Short Film

The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

Achievement in Sound Editing

Inception, Richard King

Achievement in Sound Mixing

Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed

Novick

Achievement in Visual Effects

Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew

Lockley, and Peter Bebb

so, he has overloaded his cells with solar energy and he is dying.

This is all part of a plan orchestrated by Lex Luthor. Superman

decides to make the most of the time he has left while keeping

his impending death a secret. He reveals his true identity to Lois

Lane and gives her a special birthday present. As Clark Kent, he

interviews Lex Luthor on death row. Superman leaves Earth for

several weeks in order to resettle the inhabitants of the

miniaturized city of Kandor. When Superman returns, he

confronts two Kryptonian astronauts who have taken his place.

They do not share his admiration of mankind. Luthor escapes

from prison and wreaks havoc on Metropolis. Despite his

deteriorating condition, Superman goes to confront Luthor.

It is an incredible adaptation. McDuffie took a 12 issue

mini-series and was able to fit it into 76 minutes. He made the

right choices in what to put on screen. He was able to focus on

the important parts of the story: Superman‟s relationship to Lois

Lane, his love of humanity, and his conflict with Luthor.

It is too bad that some of the sequences could not make

it in the film. It would have been nice to see Superman visiting a

children‟s hospital and preventing a teen suicide. Those

sequences show that Superman sees the small parts of the big

picture. Superman is about helping people and not just fighting

villains and monsters.

McDuffie makes an improvement to the story. In the

book , the reader saw Luthor defeated. In the film, the defeated

Luthor reforms at the end. If the worst thing evil can do is to

corrupt good, the best thing good can do is to reform evil. This is

perhaps Superman‟s greatest triumph.

Some say it is hard to write for Superman since he is too

powerful for any conflict to have any meaning. Morrison saw

that Superman can have an emotional struggle. Superman here

finds out that he is running out of time. We all have to face the

inevitable, but when one‟s end is fixed by disease, the clock ticks

get louder. Superman decides to go on with his duty and spend

time with his loved ones.

The original story and the film is about what Superman

is about. Superman is one of the most powerful beings ever and

all he wants to be is humanity‟s friend. He is a character free of

cynicism. This is why he is the moral compass of the DC

Universe.

The romance here is fun. Lois is still her sassy self.

There are some really nice scenes of quiet intimacy between the

two. There are some real heart-breaking scenes too. The writing

and the voice actors‟ performances make one believe in the love

of this mortal woman and this super-being.

The film may have a version of Luthor that has been

rarely seen on screen. Luthor‟s motivations in the past have been

revenge or greed. Here he wants to destroy Superman, because

he feels human endeavor is overshadowed by Superman.

Defeating Superman restores mankind‟s and Luthor‟s grandeur.

This idea is being played out in the current run of Action Comics

by Paul Cornell. It has also been seen at in Smallville.

Sam Liu‟s direction is incredible. He was able to

duplicate Quitely‟s art style, which is breath-taking in a subdued

sort of way. It reminds one of the art seen in Heavy Metal

magazine. The action is easy to follow.

I recommend the Blu-Ray version of the DVD. It

contains several extras: a commentary by producer Bruce Timm

and Grant Morrison, two documentaries with Grant Morriosn

(Continued on page 4)

All Star Superman

**WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS**

This is the tenth direct-to-DVD movie in the DC

Universe Animated Movie series. The film was written by

Justice League and Justice League Unlimted veteran Dwayne

McDuffie, based on the comic mini-series by Grant Morrison

(writer) and Frank Quitely (artist). Sam Liu (Justice League:

Crisis on Two Earths) directed the film. Andrea Romano was

the voice director.

Superman saves a manned probe to the sun. In doing

Page four March 2011

Hull Zero Three

By

Greg Bear

A man wakes up. He does not who he is and where he

is. He meets a young girl who calls him Teacher. He is on a

space ship. The ship is divided into three hulls using a giant ball

of ice as fuel. Teacher finds himself on Hull Zero One. Nothing

seems to be working properly. As he moves into through the

ship he finds others and slowly finds out about the ship. The

Teacher discovers that there have been other copies of himself

who have gone on the same quest. All were never heard from

again. Those copies are survived by the notebooks they left

behind. Something happened between the Ship Control and

Destination Guidance. Can the Teacher and his companions get

to Hull Zero Three which may have the answers they are looking

for?

This novel reminded me of the television show Lost,

where there are characters who are trying to survive and learn

about the nature of island. In Hull Zero Three, the characters are

trying to survive and find out the nature of the ship they are on.

There are alot of dangers and wonders on the ship.

It is also a very scary situation. Waking up in an

unknown situation. No clue to your identity. Being completely

dependent on others you barely know. Something trying to kill

you for reasons you do not know. This is a first person point of

view book. The reader only knows what the Teacher knows and

goes on the journey of discovery with him.

The science is very solid. The ship does not use magic

gravity. Parts of hulls have gravity, created by centrifugal force.

The presence and absence of gravity is just another obstacle for

the characters to deal with.

The ship is also slower than light. This is part of the

ethical problem that rises at the end of the book. A journey in a

slower-than-light ship will take centuries to get to the nearby

stars. There may not be a lot of information about the final

destination. What do you do if the conditions are not optimal?

You cannot simply go back, your resources may not permit that.

This is a problem that confronts Hull Zero Three.

Hull Zero Three presents an interesting situation and a

problem that is uniquely science fiction. The workings of the

ship are very believable and invoke a sense of wonder.

Solomon Grundy

Solomon Grundy is a 7 issue mini-series by DC

Comics. It was written and drawn by Scott Kolins (The Flash,

Final Crisis: Rogue’s Revenge). Geoff Johns (Green Lantern

and The Flash) co-wrote the prologue with Kolins. The original

series came out in 2009 and was collected as a trade paperback in

2010.

Solomon Grundy first appeared in All American Comics

in 1944, where he confronted the Golden Age Green Lantern.

He is a zombie who has been plaguing the DC Universe for

decades. Grundy‟s visibility increased when he was a member of

the Legion of Doom in Hanna-Barbera‟s Challenge of the

Superfriends (1978). He was a recurring villain on the Justice

League shows, The Batman and Batman: The Brave and the

Bold.

The series focus on the origins of Grundy. Cyrus Gold

was a wealthy merchant in the late 1800s. He is killed by

someone in Slaughter Swamp near Gotham City. Gold‟s body is

resurrected by a mysterious force. This zombie got its name

from an old nursery rhyme “Solomon Grundy born on a

Monday”. Grundy finds himself back in Slaughter Swamp. This

time he is in human form as Cyrus Gold during the day and

Grundy at night. The Phantom Stranger, one of the DC

Universe‟s heavy hitters in mystical world, offers Gold a deal.

Gold can free himself of the curse of Grundy and find peace if he

can find out who killed him originally. Alan Scott, the Golden

Age Green Lantern and Grundy‟s old nemesis, will protect the

innocents as Gold goes on his quest. Gold‟s past is revealed and

Grundy meets Killer Croc, Bizarro, Poison Ivy, and Etrigan (aka

The Demon) during the course of the story.

Kolins sets the mood with the art. The book has the

look of a nightmare. It is usually very dark. Grundy is shown as

being very muscular and with veins bulging all over his body.

Grundy looks powerful and horrific. Most of the surfaces have

rough textures. It is all very gritty.

We learn about the history of Cyrus Gold. He had a

cruel childhood and learned harsh lessons in the streets of

Gotham. He then claws his way up the Gotham underworld and

kills anyone in his way. He sold his soul for more power. He

had a lot to answer for before he even became Grundy. His

salvation hangs on a thread. One does not know until the end if

he can achieve it.

It is a compelling comic. One wants to learn the history

of Grundy and if Gold can save himself. The answers are

disturbing.

discussing the original comic, and a digital copy of the original

comic.

The only bad thing that can be said about this film is

that it is the last work of a great writer. On the day this film was

released, writer Dwayne McDuffie died during surgery.

McDuffie had worked in the comic industry and would work in

animation. His creation Static Shock, an African American teen

superhero, was made into an animated series. He would become

a writer, story editor and producer of the enormously successful

Justice League and Justice league Unlimited. He would also

work on Teen Titans, Ben 10 and What’s New Scooby Doo.

He also wrote last years DC Animated film Crisis on Two

Earths. His work in the DC Animated Universe showed a

genuine love for the characters. It is fitting that his last work is

an incredible comic adaptation.

Tor‟s Top Ten SFF novels of the Decade (2001-2010)

(source http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/03/best-sff-novels-of-the-

decade-readers-poll-results)

1. Old Man’s War by John Scalzi -

2. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

3. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

4. Blindsight by Peter Watts

5. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey

6. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

7. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

8. Anathem by Neal Stephenson

9. Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

10. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Page five March 2011

Pictures Clockwise starting upper right:

Mirror Universe Crewperson-Hall Costumer,

OASIS 22 Guest of Honor Peter David,

Vulcan Staff Member John Humphett as a Ghostbuster,

Vulcan Guests of Honor J.G. Hertzler (standing) and

Robert O‟Rilley (sitting)

Vulcan 2011

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