Discworld and Member Articles
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A Sci-Fi Event From Out of This World City Hosts Space Oddities
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Written by terrypratchettbooks.org
Friday, 05 August 2005 |
From The Herald, Glasgow (UK):
A SHORT time ago in a galaxy not that far away thousands of human- like creatures came to pay homage to something which is not of this world, not of this time.
Yes, the World Science Fiction Convention, humbly billed as (this) planet's largest such event, opened in Glasgow. For the next five days, the strangely strange will chew the fat with the oddly normal at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
Yesterday, the dress code was smart but casual. No Trekkie costumes, no Star Wars outfits.
Instead, a collection of very loud Hawaiian shirts, more combat camouflage fatigues than the US Marine Corps, some of the longest beards this side of ZZ Top, and an awful, awful lot of black.
To be fair, the vast majority appeared perfectly normal.
Like Mark Hagerman from Des Moines, Iowa. Dressed in a simple black T-shirt and light chinos, he jokes: "I might look normal but I'm just as strange as everyone else on the inside."
Moments later, we have a close encounter of the friendly kind with Edinburgh-based science fiction author Charles Stross, celebrating the publication of his third UK novel, Accelerando. We hesitate to ask, but what the hell, we ask anyway: "What's it about?"
"It's a dysfunctional family saga set in the late twenty-first or early twenty-second century, told from the point of view of the family's robot pet cat."
In the main exhibition hall, dozens of stallholders set out sci- fi wares - stacks of comics, New Age cloaks and jewellery and, er, a galaxy of books.
Here we discover that, sadly, the net is closing in on the traditional science fiction bookseller.
Erik Arthur, the 60-year-old proprietor of the Fantasy Centre, a book shop in Holloway Road, London, explains times are becoming increasingly hard.
His shop, he says proudly, is "the oldest second hand science fiction dealer in the world". And just about the last.
"The others have all died away. Over the last five years the market over the internet has grown hugely, " he says.
Kathy Sands has come all the way from Baltimore, Maryland, with four huge suitcases of music. That'll be the Tornados' Telstar and Bowie's Space Oddity, then. "No, " she explains, "it's science fiction filk music."
"Filk music?" we ask.
"Yes. There was a misspelling on the very first science fiction folk music hymnal and 'filk' has kind of stuck ever since then, " she says.
We browse her collection.
Filk Songs for Solar Sailors by Leslie Fish, Castle Transylvania (a sci-fi version of the Eagles' Hotel California) by the Bogue Knights, and, of course, Aliens Ate My Homework.
The World Science Fiction Convention last met in Glasgow 10 years ago. This year's event, the 39th, is expected to attract 4000 delegates, and organisers say the event will bring a [pounds]4m boost to the local economy.
Guests at the event include writers Jane Yolen and Christopher Priest. Also attending is Terry Pratchett, Discworld author, and Scottish writers, including Ken MacLeod, Charles Stross, Richard Morgan and Alastair Reynolds.
Alan Lee, the artist and illustrator who received an Oscar for his work on The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, and Dr David Southwood, science director of the European Space Agency, will also appear.
Highlights will include discussion panels with invited guests and sci-fi's answer to the Oscars - the Hugo Awards.
Props from shows such as the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Stargate and Dr Who will also be on display.
The convention was opened with a screening of new fantasy film gamerZ, a Scottish movie with a fantasy twist and which stars a host of young Scots actors.
David Stewart, spokesman for the event said it was a sci-fi lover's dream. "Worldcon is the longest-running general science fiction convention in the world, " he said.
"We have a lot of panel sessions ranging from the philosophy of science fiction to discussing the works of authors and the future of science fiction publishing.
"We also have a hard science programme stream, and we'll have key speakers talking about space exploration.
"And on Sunday night we will have the Hugo Awards."
But shrugging off the genre's nerd image, he said: "There is a stereotype surrounding sci-fi fans, but it's not like that at all.
We have teachers, journalists, lawyers, office workers . . .
there's no such thing as a typical sci-fi fan."
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