Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8760
Posted: Tue Oct 12 02:35:02 1982
Received: Sun Oct 17 03:19:35 1982

>From SFL@SRI-CSL Sun Oct 10 22:48:16 1982

SF-LOVERS Digest          10-Oct-82	       Volume 6 : Issue 42

Today's Topics:

  SF-LOVERS is back after a *long* delay.
  Beastmaster, evaluating authors, Revenge of the Jedi, E.E. Smith works, 
  Christine Chapel, Lem, HHGttG, superconductor, here's the plot

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

Note from moderator:

  Due to some unforseen problems, there has been a reshuffling of moderators.
  The moderator of SF-LOVERS is Stuart Cracraft (mclure@sri-unix). Jim
  Mcgrath, the former moderator, has retired. Since I have never handled
  digests before, expect some oddities in the first few digests. Feel
  free to send suggestions about the digest format. As always, submissions
  should be sent to SF-LOVERS@SRI-CSL and requests should be sent to 
  SF-LOVERS-REQUEST@SRI-CSL. Note that it will be faster sending to the
  latter of these for requests rather than sending to my personal mailbox.

					Stuart

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

Date: 29 Aug 1982 at 1628-CDT
From: hjjh at UTEXAS-11 
Subject: Beastmaster provenience
To: sf-lovers at sri-csl

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ WHAT'S/WHOSE "BEASTMASTER"? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Somewhere, recently, I ran across a reference to a couple writers 
doing a screenplay of Andre Norton's BEASTMASTER.  (I've checked here
in SF-L, in LOCUS, and in STARLOG, but haven't been able to find it
again.)

I thought, "Hey, that's great!"  BEASTMASTER is classic Norton, and as
I thought about it, seemed to be likely to be readily adaptable to
cinematic presentation.  I expected that if ever such a project really
got underway, there'd be mention of it by our knowledgeable SF-LOVERS
cinemaddicts.

Suddenly I see in the local paper an advertisement for a movie called
BEASTMASTER.  The picture in the ad looks Conanesque: a blond-ish,
well-thewed hero brandishing a sword, accompanied by a near-nekkid,
cringeing, barbarian-looking damsel.

BEASTMASTER?!?  Could \this/ be Norton's BEASTMASTER?  There is no
reference to Norton among the credits.  Her hero, Hosteen Storm, is
Amerindian, not a blond.  The book is SF, not sword-and-sorcery,
and the only female is an elderly Amerindian woman "walk-on" right
at the end.  In short, no mighty thews, no swords, no barbarians,
no damsels.

I called the theatre to get the name of the character, too small and
blurred to read in the ad, played by John Amos.  I was told it was
"Seth" (couldn't find and "Seth" in flipping thru the book) and that
his part was of the king's guardsman.  The book has neither kings nor
guardsmen.

What the book does have are 4 animal companions of the hero-- a large
feline, an eagle, and a pair of meerkats.  The picture in the ad
shows the hero accompanied by 4 animals in addition to the cringeing
damsel-- a large feline, an eagle, and a pair of what I can only
presume to be meerkats.

Can anybody explicate the book-movie relationship?  I've got a sick
feeling that it IS "from Norton", very, very f-a-r from, and that 
it's definitely NOT "Ya-tah-hay"!

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

Date: 27 Aug 1982 1117-MDT
From: Henderson at UTAH-20 ( Tom Henderson)
Subject: Evaluating Authors
To: SF-LOVERS at MIT-AI


Some major authors missing from the evaluation lists include:


** Olaf Stapledon 
   
        Last and First Men, Last Men in London ,etc.

** Rene Barjavel

        Ravage, Le Diable L'Emporte, Le Grand Secret, etc.
        (sorry, I have the French versions and don't know the English titles.)

** Herbert W. Franke

        Zarathustra kehrt zurueck, Ypsilon minus, etc. (ditto/German above)

** Zenna Henderson (no relation)

        The People, etc.

** Gore Vidal  (I've always wondered whether or not a writer is disqualified
                from being labeled a "science fiction" writer once the quality
                of the writing exceeds a certain level!)

        Myra Breckinridge, Messiahs, etc.


These are just some of the science fiction writers of major import missing from
the reports.  Also, I've seen it said in SFL that science fiction is in some
sense an *American* genre;  unfortunately, I believe that *pulp peurile SF* is
the American contribution.  Science fiction has been around quite a while in 
various forms: Americans have merely banalized it!


Tom Henderson (HENDERSON@UTAH-20)
 
--------------------

Date: 29 Aug 1982 1601-CDT
From: Greg Elder  
Subject: Revenge of the Jedi
To: sf-lovers at MIT-AI

The October issue of Epic Illustrated shows a couple of production paintings
from RotJ.  The magazine also states that the movie is scheduled to be released
on Friday, 27 May 83.

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

Date: 24 August 1982  21:48-EDT (Tuesday)
From: David Dyer-Bennet 
Subject: SF Lovers submission
To: young at market


( Subject: SF-LOVERS Digest   V6 #40 )

(Tim Shimeall ) Spacehounds of IPC has no apparent
connection to other works.  The tone is closer to Skylark than to the
Lensman universe, but there is no evidence of any connection.

The Family D'Alembert series is published by Pyramid as by E.E. "Doc"
Smith with Stephen Goldin.  I have only  4 volumes of it; my last,
Getaway World, carries a 1977 copyright date.  I have seen them in
stores much more recently than that, in fact within the last year.

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

Date: 24 Aug 1982 2356-EDT
From: DD-B 
To: YOUNG at MARKET
Reply-to: DYER-BENNET at KL2137
DTN: 231-4076
Mailstop: MRO1-2/L14
Subject: SF Lovers submission
Message-ID: <"MS10(2066)+GLXLIB1(1056)" 11850524677.46.253.7808 at KL2137>

More on Doc Smith's Family D'Alembert series:  Having checked my book
shelves in better light, I see that I have 6 in the series.  The first
4 are from Pyramid, as I reported earlier.  The fifth is from HBJ, and
the sixth is from Berkeley.  The copyright on the fifth is 1980.

The Best of E. E. "Doc" Smith (HBJ paper, 1979, copyright 1975) contains
a story called "The Imperial Stars", which is the first part of the book
Imperial Stars.  No publication history is given in either place (curse
Pyramid and HBJ), but one of the forwards of Best Of dates the piece in
1964.  ... Ah ha!  The bibliography in The Universes of E. E. Smith
(Ron Ellik and Bill Evans; Advent, 1968) credits that to Worlds of IF,
May 1964.

Then, of course, there is the Lord Tedric series, and Masters of Space....

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

Date: 29 August 1982  22:10-EDT (Sunday)
Sender: LECIN at RU-GREEN
From: Mijjil (Matthew Jody Lecin) 
To:   Sf-Lovers at MIT-AI
cc:   Lecin at RUTGERS
Subject: Star Trek (random trivia point)

    But did  anyone  besides me  ever   wonder why  they  named  her
Christine Chapel?

The pun on Sistine Chapel has always amused me.

>Mijjil

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

Date: 30 Aug 1982 1139-PDT
From: KRIEGER 
Subject: More Lem
To: sf-lovers at SRI-CSL

Well, some people must think I have a one-track mind, but since some
others seem this way to me, I don't feel so bad. I have just finished
a recent Lem acquisition which has been out since the early seventies.
It is translated from German translated from Polish, but it seems to
have survived pretty well. The book is THE INVINCIBLE; it could be
classified in the genre of "realistic SF," which to some people is a
contradiction in terms. Anyway, the story concerns the cruiser
INVINCIBLE as it touches down on planet REGIS III to investigate the
disappearance of the cruiser CONDOR several years earlier. The CONDOR
is found is somewhat battered condition, and the crew members that are
found are dead. The crew of the INVINCIBLE is at a loss to explain how
this could have happened, and in the process of investigation, they
uncover mysterious clues about insect-like "flies." Strong magnetic
fields also seem to play an important part in the mystery, as does the
inexplicable circumstance of several people having part or all of
their memory erased.

I won't give away further details of the story for those who might be
interested in reading it; I thought it was very good, myself. Once
again, Lem has involved his interest in artificial intelligence in his
writing, which makes for a novel idea and interesting reading. Another
theme which gets introduced later in the book is the purpose and
morality (maybe there's a better word) of man's trying to colonize and
conquer things which may be beyond both his mental and physical reach.
This book is good reading for people who enjoy a mystery that is
solved slowly. It deals quite a bit with the thoughts of a few of the
characters, and it's quite possible some people might find it boring
for lack of action, since it has few intense battles or whatever some
people need to keep their interest.  It is quite like SOLARIS in that
it involves the psychology of men in space who almost seem to wage war
with the planet they land on, somehow knowing deep down that they
can't win. This is NOT a lighthearted book, and readers familiar with
Lem's playfulness in works such as the CYBERIAD and MORTAL ENGINES
will find none of that here. THE INVINCIBLE is similar in form to some
of Lem's TALES OF PIRX THE PILOT; thus, people who have found those
boring will probably find this equally entertaining. For people
interested in seeing a different side of Lem, THE INVINCIBLE is a good
place to look.

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

Date: 30 Aug 1982 1541-PDT
From: Tom Wadlow 
Subject: Vol III of HHGttG  
To:   sf-lovers at MIT-AI   

Copies of the British paperback edition of Douglas Adams' "Life, The
Universe, and Everything" (the third volume of the Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy), are available at the Green Apple bookstore on Clement
St. in San Francisco.  Be warned: the imported edition is $4.50!!!
But if you're desperate (I certainly did not feel *that* desperate)

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

Date: 29 August 1982  18:17-PDT (Sunday)
From: GANESHA at OFFICE-1
To: SF-LOVERS at MIT-MC
Reply-to: GANESHA at OFFICE-1
Cc: GANESHA at OFFICE-1
Subject: References for superconducter

	What impressed me was the room-temperature superconducting "wire" they
	possessed.  This material has since become reality: last year in
	ELECTRONICS magazine a researcher at Wright-Patterson AFB announced
	that an experiment to produce ductile crystals resulted in a material
	exhibiting ALL properties expected of a superconductor AT ROOM
	TEMPERATURE....Can anybody provide more information on this subject?
					K.Karl at SU-LOTS

  The articles were in Electronics of October 9, 1980, page 41 and
September 22, 1981, page 12.  Vahldick won't discuss the nitty-gritty
details of the process until his patent is granted, which he expects
sometime this year.  He says the largest crystals he has made so far
are 12 to 14 millimeters in the superconducting direction and 2 to 4
mm in the other axes (the stuff is a crystal), but that the limiting
factor is his home [!] laboratory.  The process starts with titanium
bromide (TiB2).  If anyone is interested, I would be happy to
summarize further, but a different list would probably be more
appropriate.  (Any suggestions?)
					Ganesha


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

Date:  1 Sep 1982 1625-EDT
From: LEWIN at CMU-20C
Subject: Here's the plot...(t.v.)
To: sfl at SRI-CSL

I'm trying to remember the name of an old t.v. science fiction series
from the '50s or possibly very early '60s. The hero was a Commander
Buzz (?) Correy, who has a faster-than-light spaceship which doubled
as a time machine. 

Among the adventures I remember were plots involving intelligent crystalline 
life-forms, visiting Salem (Mass.) during the witchcraft trials, and a visit
to contemporary (ie-1950s) America to halt a bomb test. Correy's companions
included the standard kid, girl, goofy sidekick and dithering scientist,
but the plots and science fiction ideas were generally superior.

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

Date: 31 Aug 82 19:43-PDT
From: mclure at SRI-UNIX
To: sf-lovers at Sri-Csl
Subject: Jedi update

a280  1928  31 Aug 82
AM-ENT--Jedi, Adv 09,570
$Adv 09
For Release AMs Thurs Sept 9
''Jedi'' A Box-Office Bonanza for 1983
By BOB THOMAS
Associated Press Writer
    HOLLYWOOD (AP) - With ''Star Wars'' earning more millions five years
after its original release, the nation's theater owners can look
forward to another bonanza next summer: ''The Revenge of the Jedi.''
    It's the third of George Lucas's space trilogy, part of a saga that
may expand to a total of nine films. ''Jedi'' has completed principal
photography: 12 weeks in huge stages at EMI Elstree studios near
London, two months of locations in the desert of Yuma, Ariz., and the
redwood forests near Crescent City, Calif.
    Now the film is in the hands of the wizards at the Lucas
subsidiaries, Industrial Light and Magic and Sprocket Systems, at San
Mateo in northern California. Howard Kasanjian gave a progress report
by telephone from production headquarters.
    ''We're in the post-production stage now, and the special effects
are a mammoth undertaking,'' reported the producer. ''Everything is on
schedule, but we'll probably finish two hours before the final prints
have to be shipped, as with 'Star Wars' and 'The Empire Strikes
Back.'''
    Like Lucas, Kasanjian is a graduate of the University of Southern
California film school. He joined the Directors Guild training program
in l965 and worked as assistant director for Francis Coppola, Sam
Peckinpah, Elia Kazan, Billy Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock.
    Kasanjian hooked up with Lucas to produce ''More American
Grafitti,'' was executive co-producer on ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''
and producer of ''The Revenge of the Jedi.''
    ''The new film is as big if not bigger than the first two,'' said
Kasanjian, 40. ''A lot of action, a lot of excitement. As the
conclusion of the trilogy, it answers a lot of questions: Is Vader
really Luke's father? Who gets the Princess? Does she live? Will the
robots stay together? Will they be melted down? Audiences will learn
more about the characters, where they came from, how they became what
they are.
    ''It's a super film - though I never want to get hyped up about any
picture. Even though I knew we had an excellent script with
'Raiders,' I didn't say anything about it. A week before it was
released, nobody knew what it was about.''
    ''The Revenge of the Jedi'' brings back the principals of the two
earlier films: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec
Guinness, Billy Dee Williams, Frank Oz, etc. The director is Richard
Marquand of Great Britain. Cost of the new film reflects its expanded
scope, as well the the inroads of inflation. Kasanjian cited these
figures:
    ''Star Wars'' - $10.5 million.
    ''The Empire Strikes Back'' - $25 million.
    ''The Revenge of the Jedi'' - $32.5 million.
    ''If we made 'Star Wars' today it would cost $22 million,''
Kasanjian remarked. Labor in Great Britain ''has risen 33 per cent
since 'Empire' three years ago. The cost of living allowance for
Americans has risen 49 per cent.''
    The producer remarked that Lucas has a story outline for the next
three films of the saga. The scripts may be written at the same time,
with the first two being filmed simultaneously - ''so we can release
one every two years instead of every three years,'' said Kasanjian,
adding cautiously: ''Whether we go ahead depends on the reaction to
'Jedi'.''
    Meanwhile the money machine grinds on. Lucas and Steven Spielberg
have a finished script for the ''Raiders'' sequel, tentatively called
''Indy 2,'' and filming is scheduled to begin next spring.
    End Adv AMs Thurs Sept 9
    
ap-ny-08-31 2228EDT
**********

End of SF-LOVERS Digest
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