Christmas Games
by David Langford
Kindle Store • Fictionwise
This story could have happened in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 8 as an illustrative “this is why holodecks should not be on starships” scenario. Star ship staffers take a yearly Christmas VR trip where they roleplay a murder story—the same one, apparently, every year, like clockwork—except this time the detective’s died from an aneurysm, and the program has decided to take everybody hostage.
One of those “lie back and think of Monty Python” stories, and if you think I’m mixing my metaphors, that’s exactly what it’s like.
S∂’s full 2008 Advent Calendar.
My first steps in exploring the world of science fiction were the direct result of reading John Scalzi’s Whatever blog. I’m not totally sure why, but it probably has something to do with the way he presented science fiction—not as just an extension of himself and his books, but also as a presentation of the smorgasbord of the genre.
This is what a fan writer does.
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Tags:
alison scott,
andy cox,
ansible,
argentus,
awards,
challenger fanzine,
charles n. brown,
chris garcia,
david hartwell,
david langford,
drink tank,
file 770,
guy lillian III,
helix,
interzone,
kathryn cramer,
keven j. maroney,
kirsten gong-wong,
kristine dikeman,
lawrence watt-evans,
liza groen trombi,
locus,
mike glyer,
mike scott,
new york review of science fiction,
plotka,
steve davies,
steven h. silver,
william sanders
Science fiction zines have always been the bread and butter of SF aficionados, because as geeks we all love to read about the stuff we’re reading and watching, and talk bout the stuff we’re reading and watching. The readership can be very meta at times.
This entry covers both the semiprozine and the fanzine Hugo nominees. A fanzine is what it sounds like—a non-professional regular publication. The semiprozine bridges the gap between the fanzine and the professional magazine. A more complete definition of “semiprozine” is available on Wikipedia.
Note: Helix entry updated on 7/11. And again on 7/14. And once more on 7/15. The Helix train wreck just does not stop.
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