"Professor Penkirk!"
"He was your squire, for he armed you children with the heart you needed to prevail; he was your nurse, for he comforted you when you re-turned; and one thing more he was—your herald! He went before you into the land of Vidblain, into the Lost Kingdom, and told the animals and dryads of your coming. He was not permitted to strike the blow. That was the task of the Four from This World. His task was to guide, and to advise, and to open the way."
Thomas whispered. “The Key was his! His key is what opened the Way of the Well, and let us through the Hidden Door into Vidblain. The professor left it for me to find. I had always wondered...."
"You are now the Wise. You are now what Cedric was: for he has gone into my Father's realm, and there has other tasks I cannot describe, work of long-abiding joy. They have given him a crown and a robe of white."
"What am I supposed to do, then? Find English schoolchildren and get them in trouble?"
"You will have many roads to walk, and many worlds under your care. There will come a child who leads a Star by the hand, whose voice can still the Lion's rage. It is for him you carry the shards of Angurvadel, the great sword. It is a weapon none can use until he reforges it and makes it himself: such as all weapons of my Father's Kingdom. Now, come! There is a child in a world beyond the Pleiades, considered young for his ancient and supernal race, but, compared to humans, old and wise beyond all reckoning: he is rash and eager, and will come at your word to save this green Earth and all its inhabitants from the Dark Master. In his own land, he is neither prince nor sage, but a humble blacksmith's apprentice: yet Earth would call him magic, for his art is to forge the stars and set them in their constellations. You will find your way with the book you hold and the key you bear. Say farewell to Earth. No one world is your home hereafter, but every place the light of the stars can touch!"
The book, as if to aid him, fell open to the proper chapter. He found the diagrams in an appendix in the back of the volume, images of zones and tropics and belts of constellations, and the Latin was easy enough for him to puzzle out. He spoke the words and used the key, and a shining doorway, surrounded with stars and the music of the stars hung before him, dreamlike, terrifying, and wondrous.
"So I am the Old Wise Man in the story, now,” said Thomas, with great satisfaction. “Will I see you there? In that far world?"
"I am silent when I walk. I shall be with you, but you will see only my traces where I have passed, the print of my paw on the Earth, or the works I have done. As you grow, the trace will be clearer to your eye."
"I still have growing yet to do?"
"As do I, as do we all. This tale will never end until all tales end in glory."
"Shall I truly lose Earth as my home?"
The great cat said, “Hear me. Earth was never your home. Already great esteem and great reward await you in my Father's kingdom, Thomas, for your name has been written in letters of gold in my Father's book, and a place is set for you at his feast-table. Soon you shall join us there, and shall be given new garments to wear, clothing of woven light, pure and without stain. You will walk many worlds for many years, and the years will grow long, and your beard grow white. I shall come for you again, and shall show you the hidden pathway to my country beyond the summer stars; and you shall follow me up and away from this Earth, into glory. But beware; if you cast your gaze back across your shoulder, you may lose sight of me, and miss your path, and go astray."
"When? When does this journey begin?"
"It is forever. You are on the pathway now."
All his questions answered, he stepped forward then through the mystic door.
Light was everywhere.
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Department: F&SF COMPETITION #77: “Found in Translation"
In our previous competition, entrants took the name of a science fiction or fantasy story and translated it into the foreign language of their choice. Then they rewrote the plot to fit the new title. Congratulazioni to the winners.
FIRST PRIZE:
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card = Ender's Spel (Dutch)
A boy genius is recruited into a global spelling bee unaware that he is being duped into phonetically working out the name of an alien race without being given its definition, part of speech, or use in a sentence.
—Matthew Sanborn Smith
Port St. Lucie, FL
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SECOND PRIZE:
"Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov = “Dunkelwerden” (German)
Inspired by alphabet soup, Beenay has invented a donut that won't fall apart in coffee. But when he dunks his donuts into coffee, unlike alphabet soup, the only word he ever sees is “O.” Maybe it's his eyesight. It seems to be getting dark....
—Patrick J. O'Connor
Chicago, IL
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HONORABLE MENTIONS:
The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells = De Eerste Mensen in de Maan (Dutch)
A mad scientist plots her revenge for the gender gap by developing a secret formula that gives males PMS.
—Michael Beda
Lafayette, CO
The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells = El Hombre Invisible (Spanish)
1886. Near the Texas-Mexico border, a lone horse rides into town. Unknown to the townsfolk, it is ridden by the bodiless bandito, El Hombre Invisible, aka The Man with No Frame. The town's evil pistoleros don't stand a chance as El Hombre guns them down with his see-through six-shooter.
—Christopher M. Geeson,
Easingwold, York, UK
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury = Bildunsmann (German)
Racked by existential angst, a man rebuilds himself molecule by molecule, but after all the sturm and drang, finds no relief from his weltschmerz.
A great roman that captures the zeitgeist of the author's wanderjahr.
—Anatoly Belilovsky
Staten Island, NY
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COMPETITION #78: THE SECRET HISTORY OF F&SF
Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, originally titled The Magazine of Fantasy, was founded in 1949 by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas ... or was it? Describe, in fifty words or less, the secret origins of F&SF. Alternate histories, imagined conversations, and science-fictional (or magical) twists on the truth are more than welcome. Another welcomed element: funny.
Example:
Shirley Jackson and Theodore Sturgeon leave a little basket on the doorstep of Anthony Boucher with a tear-stained note: “Please take care of our baby. Raise it as if it were your own."
You have six chances to rewrite history. Please remember to include your telephone number and snail-mail address.
RULES: Send entries to Competition Editor, F&SF, 240 West 73rd St. #1201, New York, NY 10023-2794, or e-mail entries to [email protected]. Be sure to include your contact information. Entries must be received by May 15, 2009. Judges are the editors of F&SF, and their decision is final. All entries become the property of F&SF.
Prizes: First prize will receive a subscription to F&SF good for the next sixty years along with a copy of The Diamond Jubilee. Second prize will receive advance reading copies of three forthcoming novels. Any runners-up will receive one-year subscriptions to F&SF. Results of Competition 78 will appear in the Oct/Nov. 2009 issue.
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Department: FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION MARKET PLACE
BOOKS-MAGAZINES
S-F FANTASY MAGAZINES, pulps, books, fanzines. 96 page catalog. $5.00. Robert Madle, 4406 Bestor Dr., Rockville, MD 20853
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20-time Hugo nominee. The New York Review of Science Fiction. www.nyrsf.com Reviews and essays. $4.00 or $40 for 12 issues, checks only. Dragon Press, PO Box 78, Pleasantville, NY 10570.
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Spiffy, jammy, deluxy, bouncy—subscribe to Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet. $20/4 issues. Small Beer Press, 176 Prospect Ave., Northampton, MA 01060.
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Discover a new s
ci-fi epic!
Constellation Chronicles
www.constellationchronicles.com
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Latest from RAMBLE HOUSE: The Triune Man by Richard A. Lupoff and Automaton, a 1928 essay on robotics. www.ramblehouse.com 318-455-6847
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For a taste of Harvey Jacobs’ new novel, Side Effects, check out www.celadonpress.com. Gahan Wilson's cover art looks a bit like the Mona Lisa's prom date the morning after, and hopefully, what's between the covers lives up its promise! Ask your doctor....
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Weaving a Way Home: A Personal Journey Exploring Place and Story from Univ. of Michigan Press. “No one with a working heart will fail to be moved.” -Patrick Curry
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Do you have Fourth Planet from the Sun yet? Signed hardcover copies are still available. Only $17.95 ppd from F&SF, PO Box 3447, Hoboken, NJ 07030.
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ALL 11 ISSUES OF F&SF FROM 2008: Get the whole year's worth of F&SF in good condition w/o mailing labels for $24 + $4 p&h ($18 to Can., $31 overseas). Same offer for issues from 2007. F&SF, PO Box 3447, Hoboken, NJ 07030.
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SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5, CATTLE 0. The first 58 F&SF contests are collected in Oi, Robot, edited by Edward L. Ferman and illustrated with cartoons. $11.95 postpaid from F&SF, PO Box 3447, Hoboken, NJ 07030.
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MISCELLANEOUS
If stress can change the brain, all experience can change the brain. www.undoingstress.com
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Support the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund. Visit www.carlbrandon.org for more information on how to contribute.
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Classic trading chips of baseball players for sale: Lee, Stromboni, Chan, Mazeroski, more!
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The Jamie Bishop Scholarship in Graphic Arts was established to honor the memory of this artist. Help support it. Send donations to: Advancement Services, LaGrange College, 601 Broad Street, LaGrange, GA 30240
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Space Studies Masters degree. Accredited University program. Campus and distance classes. For details visit www.space.edu.
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Got Stikfas? Articulated, Customizable, Collectable Action Figures. Stop Motion, Artist's Reference, Hobby, Fun! www.orbscube.com
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F&SF classifieds work because the cost is low: only $2.00 per word (minimum of 10 words). 10% discount for 6 consecutive insertions, 15% for 12. You'll reach 100,000 high-income, highly educated readers each of whom spends hundreds of dollars a year on books, magazines, games, collectibles, audio and video tapes. Send copy and remittance to: F&SF Market Place, PO Box 3447, Hoboken, NJ 07030.
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Department: Curiosities: Sambaqui: A Novel of Pre-History by Stella Carr Ribeiro (1987)
Brazilian examples of prehistoric sf are few. This Sambaqui: A novel of Pre-History (published in Brazil in 1975 as O Homem do Sambaqui) is one of them—and probably the very first one. The book had a 1987 U.S. edition from Avon; it's of the few Brazilian sf novels ever translated to English (by Claudia van de Heuvel).
"Sambaqui” is a native Brazilian word for fossil shell-formations that indicates the occupation of a particular coastal spot by a prehistoric people who inhabited Brazil before the arrival of the Indians, and used by these first dwellers of Brazil as burial grounds.
Stella [Maria Whitacker] Carr [Ribeiro] studied with prominent paleontologist Paulo Duarte in the late sixties. By then she was already a published poet, author of Matéria do Abismo (Matter of the Abyss; 1966), a book of sf poetry. In this novel we see a mix of paleoethnological speculation with a poet's willingness for language experimentation, as she conveys the cultural distance of the long-lost man of the Sambaqui by replacing well-known nouns with hyphenized words and clauses. The poet is also there in the way the Sambaqui people innocently gaze at their world.
A bit plotless, the novel has roughly two parts: a presentation of the Sambaqui people and their culture and physical world; and a dramatic account of their cultural and warring clashes with the first Indians. As fit for a female writer looking back in time and trying to see women's role in those societies, much of the struggle is set around the stealing of women—in that solving the riddle of the disappearance of the Sambaqui man: as a people, they would have been bred out of history.
—Roberto de Sousa Causo
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Department: Coming Attractions
In our June/July issue, Albert Cowdrey will take us deep into space with a murder mystery adventure story called “Paradiso Lost.” This tale is vintage Cowdrey, a page-turner that hearkens back to science fiction's golden age.
Back on Earth, we'll have a tale of adolescents and astronauts in Mike O'Driscoll's “The Spaceman” and a story from Eastern Europe in John Kessel's “The Motorman's Coat.” New stories by Ron Goulart, Rand B. Lee, Yoon Ha Lee, and Charles Oberndorf are also in the offing.
Our Sixtieth Anniversary issue is simmering on the back burner, too, with new stories by Elizabeth Hand, Lucius Shepard, and Robert Silverberg in the pot. Go to www.fandsf.com and subscribe now so you won't miss an issue.
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Visit www.fsfmag.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.
FSF, April-May 2009 Page 24