Events

Space Coast: Comic Books, Gaming and Anime Show

April 7

Doubletree Hotel

2080 N. Atlantic Avenue

Cocoa Beach, FL 32931

$8 or $6 with a can of food at the door

For more info: spacecoast.cgashows.com/home.php

Miami Hurricon

April 7

University of Miami Campus Coral Gables, Florida

Free

Guests: Marianne Miller (voice actor)

For more info: umanime.comule.com/#hurricon

Khaotic Kon

April 13-15

Double Tree Hotel

4500 Cypress Street,

Tampa, FL 33607

$40 for three days before 3/31 or $45 at the door

Guests: Chris Sabar (voice actor)

Todd Haberkorn (voice actor)

For more info: www.khaotickon.com

North Florida Comic Show

April 15

Volume 24 Number 11 Issue 293 April 2012

OASFiS Event Horizon Vol 24 Issue 293 April 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 $20.00 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 323, Goldenrod, FL 32733-0323. 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.

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

March was a busy month again and that was without

Megacon.

I checked USF’s Vision of the Apocalypse seminar and

got some pictures of that.

I went to the International Conference for the Fantastic

in the Arts (ICFA). I got to spend some more time this year at

the conference. There were some amazing papers. The

luncheon speeches and night discussions were fun. Thanks to

David Hartwell, Mark Wingenfeld, and Joe Berlant, who let me

work at the ICFA bookroom. It was a blast.

Next month, the Hugo nominees, Stoker winners, and I

hope to review one of the Hugo novel nominees.

Ramada Inn Mandrain

3130 Hartley Rd.

Jacksonville, FL. 32257

Free

Guests: T.S. Robinson (writer)

Rachel Pandich (comic book writer)

For more info: northfloridacollectorsshow.webs.com/

Nature Coast: Comic Books, Gaming and Anime Show

April 21

U.S. National Guard Armory

8551 W Venable St.

Crystal River, FL 34429

$8 or $6 with a can of food at the door

For more info: naturecoast.cgashows.com/home.php

Recon

April 26-29

International Palms Resort and Conference Center

1300 N. Atlantic Avenue

Cocoa Beach, FL 32931

$25 pre-reg (non members), $15 pre-reg (members)

For more info: www.hmgs-south.com/hmgs/

Pariah Con

April 27-29

Imperial Swan Hotel & Suites

4141 S. Florida Avenue

Lakeland, FL 33813

$25 pre-reg

Guests: George Lowe (voice actor)

Brett Weaver (voice actor)

Echo Chernik (artist)

For more info:pariahcon.com

Zombiefest

April 28

Oasis Coffee Spot (starting point)

9213 Little Road

New Port Richey, FL 34654

$15 this includes admittance to film after the zombie

walk

For more info: www.zombiefest.net

April OASFiS Calendar

OASFiS Business Meeting Sunday, April 15 1:30 PM, Brick and Fire Pasta and Pizza Parlor (Downtown Orlando, 1621 South Orange Ave Orlando, Florida 32806) Come join us as we discuss the works of L.E. Modesitt Jr. SciFi Light Saturday April 21, 6:00 PM, Restaurant and topic

to be decided. Please check our webpage and Facebook

page for updates. For more info contact Steve Grant.

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

Page two April 2012

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

Awards

The 2011 Stoker Final Ballot has been released:

(source Stoker website)

Winning titles will be announced at the World Horror

Convention in Salt Lake City, UT, March, 31, 2012.

Congratulations to OASIS guests Bruce Boston, Adam-Troy

Castro, and Marge Simon for their nominations

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL A Matrix Of Angels by Christopher Conlon (Creative

Guy Publishing)

Cosmic Forces by Greg Lamberson (Medallion Press)

Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi (Medallion Press /

Thunderstorm Books)

Flesh Eaters by Joe McKinney (Pinnacle Books)

Not Fade Away by Gene O'Neill (Bad Moon Books)

The German by Lee Thomas (Lethe Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A FIRST NOVEL Isis Unbound by Allyson Bird (Dark Regions Press)

Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs (Night Shade

Books)

The Lamplighters by Frazer Lee (Samhain Horror)

The Panama Laugh by Thomas Roche (Night Shade

Books)

That Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley

(JournalStone)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A YOUNG ADULT

NOVEL Ghosts of Coronado Bay, A Maya Blair Mystery by J.

G. Faherty (JournalStone)

The Screaming Season by Nancy Holder (Razorbill)

(Continued on page 3)

March Meeting Minutes

At the Brick and Fire Pizzeria Sunday, March 11th, was

Patricia Wheeler, Juan Sanmiguel, Patty Russle, John Williams,

Peggy Stubblefield, Joe Nimrod, Arthur Dykeman, Dave Ratti,

David Plesic, Robert Dickinson, Judy Dickinson, Kim Darin,

Tom Reed and Ed Anthony. A lively discussion on programming

ideas for our 25th OASIS convention in May brought up good

ones: Peggy's Game Hour (possibly paired with the Chili

Cookoff), Hornblower vs. Harrington (or a Captain's panel), pet

vs. alien intelligence, a panel on shows with fairytale themes, and

one on the ethics of power, were just a few. Juan shared that

artist Jean Giraud aka Moebius died, and gave a brief biography

of Dick Spelman in honor of the life of a long-time SF fan and

club member. Suggestions were taken for who the next Con

guest of honor might be. The Con art is coming along, and Juan

mentioned needing a volunteer for the March 31st UCF

Bookfair. A lively discussion ensued about the books of David

Weber. In other news, OASFiS has a Facebook page (as well as a

new webpage)...so "friend" it! The next OASFiS meeting will be

April 15th at the Brick and Fire Pizzeria, and next Sci Fi Lite on

April 21st (location TBA). Also, we'll see you at the OASFIS

Picnic April 1st 12:30.

Dick Spelman

Longtime OASFiS member and OASIS Fan Guest of

Honor, Dick Spelman died last month. He was very helpful in

club and convention affairs. He had some great insights into the

history of fandom and books in general. He was a true gentle-

man of Harvard.

If you have a chance, checkout the stories he wrote for

Mike Resnick’s Alternate Worldcons and Agaian, Alternate

Worldcons. He will be missed at OASIS and at Worldcon.

Page three April 2012

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A FICTION

COLLECTION Voices: Tales of Horror by Lawrence C. Connolly

(Fantasist Enterprises)

Red Gloves by Christopher Fowler (PS Publishing)

Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlin R.

Kiernan (Volume One) by Caitlin R. Kiernan

(Subterranean)

Monsters of L.A. by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)

The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce

Carol Oates (Mysterious Press)

Multiplex Fandango by Weston Ochse (Dark Regions

Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN AN ANTHOLOGY

(EDITING) NEHW Presents: Epitaphs edited by Tracy L. Carbone

(Shroud Publishing)

Ghosts By Gaslight edited by Jack Dann and Nick

Gevers (Harper Voyager)

Blood And Other Cravings edited by Ellen Datlow (Tor

Books)

Supernatural Noir edited by Ellen Datlow (Dark

Horse)

Tattered Souls 2 edited by Frank J. Hutton (Cutting

Block Press)

Demons: Encounters with the Devil and his Minions,

Fallen Angels and the Possessed edited by John Skipp

(Black Dog and Leventhal)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN NON-FICTION

Halloween Nation: Behind the Scenes of America's

Fright Night by Lesley Pratt Bannatyne (Pelican

Publishing)

Reflections in a Glass Darkly: Essays on J. Sheridan

Le Fanu edited by Gary William Crawford, Jim

Rockhill and Brian J. Showers (Hippocampus Press)

Starve Better by Nick Mamatas (Apex Publications)

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies by Matt Mogk (Gallery Books)

The Gothic Imagination by John C. Tibbetts (Palgrave

Macmillan)

Stephen King: A Literary Companion by Rocky Wood

(McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A POETRY

COLLECTION

How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend

by Linda Addison (Necon Ebooks)

At Louche Ends: Poetry for the Decadent, the Damned

& the Absinthe-Minded by Maria Alexander (Burning

Effigy Press)

Surrealities by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press)

Shroud of Night by G. O. Clark (Dark Regions Press)

The Mad Hattery by Marge Simon (Elektrik Milk Bath

Press)

Unearthly Delights by Marge Simon (Sam's Dot)

Rotters by Daniel Kraus (Delacorte Books for Young

Readers)

Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry (Simon &

Schuster Books for Young Readers)

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (Candlewick / Walker)

This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor

Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel (Simon & Schuster /

David Fickling Books)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A GRAPHIC NOVEL Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol (First Second)

Locke & Key Volume 4 by Joe Hill (IDW Publishing)

Green River Killer by Jeff Jensen (Dark Horse)

Marvel Universe vs. Wolverine by Jonathan Maberry

(Marvel)

Baltimore Volume I: The Plague Ships by Mike

Mignola and Christopher Golden (Dark Horse)

Neonomicon by Alan Moore (Avatar Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN LONG FICTION 7 Brains by Michael Louis Calvillo (Burning Effigy

Press)

"Roots and All" by Brian Hodge (A Book of Horrors)

"The Colliers' Venus (1893)" by Caitlin R. Kiernan

(Naked City: New Tales of Urban Fantasy)

Ursa Major by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)

Rusting Chickens by Gene O'Neill (Dark Regions

Press)

"The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine" by Peter Straub

(Conjunctions: 56)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORT FICTION "Her Husband's Hands" by Adam-Troy Castro

(Lightspeed Magazine, October 2011)

"Herman Wouk Is Still Alive" by Stephen King (The

Atlantic Magazine, May 2011)

"Hypergraphia" by Ken Lillie-Paetz (The Uninvited #1)

"Graffiti Sonata" by Gene O'Neill (Dark Discoveries

#18)

"Home" by George Saunders (The New Yorker

Magazine, June 13, 2011)

"All You Can Do Is Breathe" by Kaaron Warren (Blood

and Other Cravings)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A SCREENPLAY True Blood, episode #44: "Spellbound" by Alan Ball

(HBO)

The Walking Dead, episode #13: "Pretty Much Dead

Already" by Scott M. Gimple (AMC)

The Walking Dead, episode #9: "Save the Last One" by

Scott M. Gimple (AMC)

Priest by Cory Goodman (Screen Gems)

The Adjustment Bureau by George Nolfi (Universal

Pictures)

American Horror Story, episode #12: "Afterbirth" by

Jessica Sharzer (20th Century Fox Television)

Page four April 2012

Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist

(source Locus website)

Hull Zero Three, Greg Bear (Gollancz)

The End Specialist, Drew Magary (Harper

Voyager)

Embassytown, China Miéville (Macmillan)

The Testament of Jessie Lamb, Jane Rogers

(Sandstone Press)

Rule 34, Charles Stross (Orbit)

The Waters Rising, Sheri S. Tepper (Gollancz)

This year’s judges are Juliet E. McKenna and Martin Lewis for

the British Science Fiction Association, Phil Nanson and

Nikkianne Moody for the Science Fiction Foundation, and Rob

Grant for SF-FI-LONDON. Andrew M. Butler is chair of judges.

Tom Hunter is award director.

The winner will receive a £2012 prize and a commemorative

engraved bookend. The winning title will be announced at

the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival, May 2, 2012, in London

expansion of Lantern Corps, I like his version of the Star

Sapphires as the Lantern Corps who draw their power from love.

This film follows the old version of Star Sapphire, which alleges

that it is a jewel which possesses Hal Jordan’s girlfriend, Carol

Ferris. It would be hard to believe that Sinestro, Hal Jordan’s

traditional arch enemy, would work for Savage. I think the film

makers could have used the Black Hand. He has enough power

to challenge Jordan and has recently reappeared as a formidable

foe in the comics.

The audio commentary was interesting, but lacking.

The commentators were DC Chief Creative Officer and writer

Geoff Johns and veteran comic book editor Mike Carlin. They

had a lot of knowledge about the characters, but not much of the

details about the making of the film. It would have been nice to

have the director, voice director, or a producer on the

commentary who could give insights into the development of the

movie.

There are a lot of great action sequences in this film.

Montgomery handles them very well. The action is easy to

follow. The transition from each hero’s story is seamless. There

are some nice wave-like effects for some of the beam weapons.

The story was well-thought-out. The idea of Batman

having plans to immobilize the Justice League and having them

stolen by an enemy is from JLA: Tower of Babel. The second

phase of Savage’s plan is from “Doomsday”, the last episode of

Challenge of the Super Friends. McDuffie sets up the solution

to the problem early in the film. The end of the film examines

Batman’s actions. The League questions whether Batman should

have contingency plan to defeat his teammates. Batman asks

what would happen if the League turned against humanity? The

answers to these questions are more satisfying here than they

were in JLA: Tower of Babel.

One of the extras on the DVD is a documentary on

writer Dwayne McDuffie. It follows his childhood through his

work on the DC Milestone line, and later into his work in

animation. He created Static Shock, an African-American

superhero who did not fall into the old clichés (like a criminal

background) of previous African-American characters. Static

Shock later got his own animated TV series and was incorporated

into main DC Universe. His work on the Justice League series

and DC animated movies was phenomenal. He was able to break

down a 12-issue comic book into an 80-minute screenplay for All

Star Superman and not lose any of the elements which made that

comic special. There are many insights from his family, friends,

and colleagues. This documentary gives us a detailed glimpse

into the mind of an incredibly talented man who died way too

soon.

Justice League: Doom combines a great action story

with a story about trust and responsibility. The Justice League,

as Darwyn Cooke said, are a group of people who can rule the

world, but risk their lives to save it. Batman wants to make sure

they never falter from their duty.

Justice League: Doom

My first glimpse into the DC Universe was Hanna-

Barbera’s Super Friends. Between 1973 and 1986, the major DC

superheroes fought the forces of evil and chaos. One of the more

memorable incarnations was 1978’s Challenge of the Super

Friends. Each week the world’s greatest heroes fought the

world’s greatest villains, assembled as the Legion of Doom. The

stories were limited by the restrictions of violence on Saturday

morning television. This series led me to check out the comics.

In the new DC direct-to-DVD animated feature, Justice League:

Doom, writer Dwayne McDuffie and director Lauren

Montgomery presents a classic battle between a team of heroes

and villains.

The Justice League- Superman (Tim Daly), Batman

(Kevin Conroy), Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg), Flash/Barry

Allen (Michael Rosenbaum), Green Lantern/Hal Jordan (Nathan

Fillion) and the Martian Manhunter (Carl Lumbly)- stop the

Royal Flush Gang from robbing a diamond exchange with the

help of Cyborg (Bumper Robinson). After the battle, Mirror

Master (Alexis Denisof) is able to hide in the Batmobile and steal

data from Batman’s computer. Later, Bane (Carlos Alazraqui),

Cheetah (Caludia Black), Star Sapphire (Olivia d’Abo), Metallo

(Paul Blackthorne), Ma’alefa’ak (Carl Lumbly) and Mirror

Master meet with Vandal Savage (Phil Morris). Savage offers

the villains $100 million to neutralize their opposite number in

the Justice League with a plan he will give them. These plans are

based on information from Batman’s computer files. Using

Savage’s plan, the group gets the Justice League out of the way

so Savage can implement the second part of his plan, which will

eliminate a large portion of the human race and allow Savage and

the others rule the rest. Can the Justice League escape and stop

Savage and his team?

One thing that bothered me was that Star Sapphire was

used as the Green Lantern villain. As a fan of Geoff Johns

Page five April 2012

A discussion at the University of South Florida (Tampa) was held on Visions of the

Apocalypse. The pictures are from the reading on March 20.

Clockwise starting at the top left:

Nancy Kress (award winning author),

Joe Haldeman (OASIS 1,10,20 Guest of Honor and SFWA Grandmaster)

Rick Wilber, Nancy Kress and Joe Haldeman (left to right)

Pictures at Visions of the Apocalypse

Page six April 2012

The Ouroboros Wave by

Jyouji Hayashi

Black holes are awesome. They have the ability to bend

light. One threw the Enterprise into 1969 on the classic show.

Some writers have used them as gateways to other places. Other

writers have used them as weapons. Jyouji Hayashi uses a black

hole to power the next stage of human development, and maybe

help us discover more about the universe.

In the early 22nd century, a small black hole is

accidently discovered on the outskirts of the solar system. It is

about the size of Mars, and regularly emits X-Rays. The black

hole is named Kali. The Artificial Accretion Disk Development

association (AADD) wishes to build an accretion disk around

Kali. The purpose of this disk is to move Kali into a stable orbit

around Uranus and use it as a power source for the whole solar

system. The first stage of the project is Ouroboros, a ring

structure that will surround Kali. This project will take decades

to complete, but when it is done it will power the next stage in

the human exploration of the solar system, and perhaps beyond.

The book is a collection of short stories all related to the

AADD and work involved harvesting Kali’s power. The stories

cover a period of 50 years. Some of the characters appear in

other stories, but there are no central characters. The stories are

hard science fiction which could have easily been published in

Analog. The stories work within the boundaries of physics.

They cover all sorts of territory. The first and title story

is about an apparently-malfunctioning AI which has killed an

AADD scientist on Ouroboros. The rest of AADD team has to

figure out what went wrong before the AI causes more problems.

“The Riddle of Rupushinupurukuru” has an AADD team

investigate why an asteroid, the location of a power relay station,

is unexpectedly rotating. In “Hydra’s Ice”, the Guardians, the

security arm of the AADD, have to prevent an assassination on

Mars. A submersible spaceship looks for life (which could halt

the Kali project) on Europa in “The Dragons of Europa”. A team

of Terrans and AADD researchers on a space station are in

conflict while trying to observe a dwarf galaxy intersecting ours

in “The Voice of Eingana”. The result of an experiment leads a

young scientist on a course of research which will take years to

pan out in “The Wings of Caliban”.

The AADD personal are very different from Earth-born

humans. Most are born in the colonies. They do not follow

traditional hierarchical systems found on Earth. The AADD

work in teams that have a given specialty. These teams work

together when they need to. This allows for a great deal of

academic flexibility and freedom. Earth has become insular, and

feels threatened by power the AADD has accumulated. The

tension between the Earth and AADD is a recurring thread in the

stories.

These stories are great examples of hard science fiction

in the style of Hal Clement. Hayashi got the main idea from a

book on accretion disks. He gives detailed scientific information

without making it boring. There are also diagrams of Ouroboros

and its support station Amphisbaena. This helps getting a

complete picture of the structure. The presentation of the

information makes the ambitious plan to harness Kali plausible.

Hayashi goes big for his story ideas. The assassin in

“Hydra’s Ice” is not just a sniper looking for an opportune

moment. She is very intelligent, and has a complex and feasible

plan which depends on accurate timing. The Guardians have to

follow the assassin’s trail in order to figure out her plan. Most of

the stories hint at the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The last

story brings all the previous threads together. Dr. Agnes makes a

discovery on Kali but cannot follow up on it. Five years later,

she continues her research by constructing interstellar probes.

These probes are made possible by AADD’s efforts to harness

Kali’s energy. Pursuing this line of research is incredibly-

ambitious. Twenty years later manned probes are considered

necessary. Agnes wants to pursue the manned program slowly.

Her protégé Aguri feels that humanity needs to go to the stars as

quickly as possible. She takes action and takes one of the

prototype ships, the Caliban, much to Agnes’ distress. Aguri

still has its pioneering spirit and ambition that Agnes had and

cannot wait for the answers they are both searching for.

Hayshi hopes to continue the story, which would focus

on finding new life. It may take some time, but as The

Ouroboros Wave shows great things take time to achieve.

Clip art from wpclipart.com

Page seven April 2012

Pictures at ICFA

Clockwise starting at the top left:

Guest of Honor China Miéville with Dr. Jeana Jorgenson,PhD

Guest of Honor Kelly Link

Geoffrey Landis giving a talk on the history of spaceships in science fiction

Scholar Guest of Honor Jeffrey Jerome Cohen

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