News of the Week

Harlan Ellison recovering from emergency surgery after suffering apparent heart attack

cclaimed writer Harlan Ellison underwent a successful quadruple-bypass operation on Sunday, April 14, after reportedly suffering a heart attack two days earlier. Ellison's wife, Susan, reports that Ellison is recovering well after the emergency surgery and may be released from the hospital as early as Saturday.

No further details were available.

Rick Wyatt, who runs the Ellison Webderland Web page, has set up a comments board for anyone wishing to send Ellison a get-well message. Wyatt will collect all comments and fax them to the Ellisons when they return home from the hospital.

Read our special report on Ellison by Rick Wyatt. Wyatt spoke with Ellison by phone on Monday, April 22, and found out how the author was recovering.

"To be" or "Qapla'"?

n a lighter note, The Klingon Language Institute has released Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (The Restored Klingon Version) as a limited-edition, hardbound book. The "original" Klingon is presented side-by-side with an English "translation" taken from the Riverside folios.

One thousand copies of the book have been printed and are available individually for $20 in the United States or for $23 in all other countries. For more information, contact lawrence@kli.org.

Photo used with permission from The Klingon Language Institute

Tiptree, Clarke, Ditmar awards announced

t's already been a busy year for science fiction awards, and this month was no exception. Winners of the James Tiptree, the Arthur C. Clarke and the Ditmar Awards were all announced:

The James Tiptree Award is given annually for the best work of fantasy and science fiction dealing with gender. This year's award will be presented at WisCon 20 in Madison, Wis. The co-winners are Elizabeth Hand for Waking the Moon and Theodore Roszak for The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein.

The Arthur C. Clarke Award is given annually for the best science fiction novel published in Britain during the previous year. The 1996 award was given to Paul J. McAuley for his novel, Fairyland.

The Ditmars are the Australian Science Fiction Achievement Awards presented at the Festival of Imagination in Perth. This year's awards are listed below by category:

Best Long Fiction

Mirrorsun Rising, by Sean McMullen
.

Best Short Fiction

Schrodinger's Fridge, by Ian Gunn
.

Best Publication/Fanzine

Eidolon
.

Best Artwork

Eidolon 19 (Cover), by Shaun Tan
.

Best Non-Professional/Fan Writer

Ian Gunn
.

Best Non-Professional/Fan Artist

Ian Gunn
.

William Atheling Jr. Award

The Hunt for Australian Horror Fiction, by Sean McMullen and Steven Paulsen
.

Forever Knight finds a home on the Sci-Fi Channel

orever Knight is back on the air again thanks to a new deal with the Sci-Fi Channel. Like its protagonist -- a vampire cop named Nick Knight -- this show seems to have a penchant for coming back from the dead.

Forever Knight originally aired as part of CBS's late-night "Crime Time" lineup but never seemed to find a permanent timeslot. Sporadic ratings have driven the show from network to network, with its most recent stint coming on USA Networks. However, USA dropped the show midway through season three, a move which drew a large, organized protest from fans.

Earlier this month the Sci-Fi Channel announced it had picked up the show, and fans are hopeful that Forever Knight has found a final resting place. The Sci-Fi Channel will initially carry the remaining season-three episodes on Monday nights at 8 p.m. EST with a rebroadcast at 12 a.m EST. At some point after the end of the third season, the Sci-Fi Channel will rerun seasons one and two.

Los Angeles company announces new sci-fi network

igital Technologies, Inc., announced the formation of Starbase Earth Online, a new online service that will focus on science fiction, science fact and fantasy. The CEO of Digital's new online division, Jeff Levi, said the new service will use a graphical interface to provide e-mail, newsgroups, public and private chat rooms, bulletin board areas and a trading post with secure transacations.

Starbase Earth will reportedly be up and running by the third quarter of 1996. Digital Technologies is based in Los Angeles, Calif., and can be reached at strbsearth@aol.com.

New set of Babylon 5 cards on the way

ccording to unofficial reports from Fleer/Skybox, a new set of Babylon 5 trading cards is under development for release in mid August. The new set will reportedly contain 80 cards with three chase sets of three, five and 12 cards apiece.

The episodic cards will pick up where the previous set left off, beginning with the episode Divided Loyalties. Images of Bester, Morden and the new Babylon 5 uniforms will reportedly be included, as will the popular CGI of Londo in the window of a Centauri warship during the bombing of the Narn homeworld.

Move over Godzilla, here comes Monster Island

mazing Fantasy Entertainment will produce a new line of giant monster movies through its Monster Island Entertainment label. The first movie, Zarkorr! The Invader is scheduled for a video release on April 30 (see our review, this issue).

Monster Island will follow Zarkorr! with the release of Kraa! The Sea Monster later this year.

Previous In the News | Next In the News