Jack Vance named SF Grand Master
ack Vance, whose career writing stylish science fiction spans more than 50 years and 30 novels, was chosen this month to receive the genre's highest honor: the 1997 Grand Master Award of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
With the award, which recognizes lifetime achievement, Vance joins SF luminaries Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. Vance's latest novel, Night Lamp, was published last year to rave reviews.
"I'm extremely pleased that Jack Vance will be receiving the Grand Master this year," said Michael Capobianco, President of SFWA. "Vance is by far the most distinguished living science fiction writer, and has produced a body of work which is never less than engaging and elegant. He is unparalleled as a storyteller and imbues the worlds he creates with a genuine sense of wonder."
Vance, who was born in 1916, is already the holder of Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards. He got his start in the 1940s, contributing stories to the SF pulp magazines, and penned his first novel, The Dying Earth, in 1950.
Since then he has written dozens of novels and many shorter works. His work is widely acknowledged to have influenced a generation of science fiction and fantasy writers.
Vance will collect his Grand Master award at an SFWA ceremony on April 20 in Kansas City, Mo. The SFWA, a non-profit writers organization, represents nearly 1,400 science fiction and fantasy writers, editors and allied professionals.
-- Patrick Lee, U.S. Correspondent
Dalek creator Terry Nation dead at 66
erry Nation, the television writer who created Doctor Who's most nefarious opponents -- The Daleks -- died March 9 at the age of 66.
Nation got his job with Doctor Who by luck, having instructed his agent to turn down the initial offer of work on a children's television series as somewhat beneath him. Luckily the agent adroitly refrained from passing on the refusal, and when Nation subsequently found himself without work, the offer was still on the table.
Although the story goes that Nation arrived at the name "Dalek" by combining letters from the spines of an encyclopaedia set, the anecdote is apparently apocryphal. Nation worked on a number of other cult shows during the '60s and early '70s, such as The Saint and The Avengers, as well as an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel in 1964. But alongside his work on Doctor Who, he is best remembered for the two TV shows he created: The Survivors, telling of the struggle to hold civilization together after a lethal plague outbreak, never sustained a particularly healthy fan base, but Blakes 7 achieved cult status, making up for poor effects with solid space opera heroics by a likeable cast.
Nation had suffered for several years from a lung condition. He is survived by his wife and by a son and a daughter.
-- John Gosling, U.K. Correspondent
Antonio Banderas signs on for The Sparrow
ntonio Banderas has been cast in the lead role of The Sparrow, a new movie being written by Jason Rothenberg (Alias) and directed by Geoffrey Wright (Romper Stomper). The film, based on Mary Doria Russell's bestselling novel of the same name, follows a Jesuit linguist named Emilio Sandoz on a mission to a newly-discovered planet.
When asked about Banderas taking on the pivotal role of Sandoz, Russell said, "I went out and rented a bunch of Banderas videos, and I have to tell you, I think this guy will do the job and do it well."
Hey Mr. Postman, save a show for me
aking a cue from Bjo Trimble's legendary fan effort to revive the Star Trek franchise, savvy cyberfans are increasingly taking to the Internet and plain old ground mail to voice their opinions about the direction of their favorite SF television shows.
First was the as-yet unsuccessful campaign by the irate followers of Fox's long-cancelled Space: Above & Beyond. Now comes word of campaigns on behalf of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and UPN's The Burning Zone.
The Burning Zone fans are organizing a letter and e-mail drive
to protest wholesale changes in their favorite show, including the firing of original series leads Tamlyn Tomita (Dr. Kimberly Shiroma) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Dr. Edward Marcase).
DS9 fans, meanwhile, are organizing to halt the feared cancellation of the Trek spinoff after its sixth season ends. Contact W.L. Swarts at color="#0000FF">be82754@binghamton.edu for more information. -- P.L.
Fox goes "out there" even more
arving out its niche as the TV network for conspiracy buffs, psychokillers and Reticulans, Fox is preparing a new slate of shows on themes similar to those of its breakaway hit The X-Files and its not-so-stellar sister show Millennium, according to Daily Variety.
Coming up this fall from former X scribes Glen Morgan and James Wong (Space: Above & Beyond): The Notorious, a noirish big city crime drama about seven crime families who each represent one of the seven deadly sins.
From Independence Day creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, meanwhile: The Visitor, about a man abducted by aliens and then returned to the human race. -- P.L.
Speaking of Fox conspiracies ...
-Philes, those Web fans of the paranormal FBI drama, are up in arms about a Fox letter sent to one of their own, Rory Swensen, who until recently maintained a popular Web site with audio clips from the Fox show.
As part of the studio's campaign to shut down fan sites with unauthorized images and sounds, Fox attorney Dennis L. Wilson asked Swensen to reform his site, or else. "While Fox tries to support its fans whenever possible, we must respectfully ask that you remove all audio clips and video clips relating to The X-Files from your Web site as soon as possible," Wilson wrote. "If you do not remove these properties, we may be forced to take legal action to have them removed."
The letter, which Swensen dutifully posted online, prompted a hail of irate e-mail to the X-Files mailing list and to Fox itself. For his part, X-Files creator Chris Carter, speaking in Los Angeles, told Phile Monica Vallejo in response to a question about the feud between Fox and the Philes: "I think that situation was really confused. The people at Fox were just doing their jobs." -- P.L.
Bruce Willis mulls more SF projects
ruce Willis, who is already starring in this year's SF thriller The Fifth Element, is in preliminary talks on his next science fiction epic: Armageddon, the story of an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The trade paper quotes "sources" as saying Willis is talking with Walt Disney Co. and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Separately, Willis is also reported to be eyeing a part in The Trail, an outer-space remake of the classic John Ford-John Wayne Western The Searchers. -- P.L.
A Friend heads for Space
t's good-bye young Indiana Jones and hello Joey: Friends star Matt LeBlanc joins the cast of Lost in Space, replacing Sean Patrick Flanery (Powder), only a few days into principal photography on the SF remake's London set, Reuters reports.
The studio, New Line Cinema, takes pains to say the switch doesn't reflect poorly on Flanery, adding that the actor was "extremely gracious" about the change in the casting of astronaut Don West.
For his part, LeBlanc will have a trans-Atlantic commute until he wraps the current season of the NBC sitcom in April. Meanwhile, New Line is said to be contemplating a new Lost in Space television series. -- P.L.
Species 2 set for production
pecies 2, the sequel to the 1995 SF hit, is set for production with director Peter Medak (Romeo Is Bleeding) at the helm and Natasha Henstridge reprising her lead role as the rapacious alien from another planet, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The sequel will presumably pick up where the original story left off. In the first film, a human-alien hybrid named "Sil," designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger (Alien), rampaged through the nightworld of Los Angeles in search of a mate before being incinerated by an intrepid band of alien hunters.
And producers no doubt hope to capture the same audience: Species made more than $63 million domestically and $100 million worldwide. The sequel is set to start shooting in late June. -- P.L.
The Wasp Factory to air on BBC radio
wo years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim."
So begins one of the most peculiar first novels in literary history: SF writer Iain Banks's The Wasp Factory, the twisted tale of 16-year-old Frank Cauldhame.
U.K. readers unfamiliar with the tale can now hear a 10-part abridgment of the book on BBC Radio 4's popular show, The Late Book, starting March 24 at 12:30 a.m. The book will be read by actor Joseph McFadden. -- P.L.
Warner Bros. launches B5 poll
orget that other awards show this week: the real contest is on the Web, where Warner Bros. is conducting its first-ever fan poll for its SF series Babylon 5.
Fans can choose their favorite villain, hero, species, special effect, guest star and episode from B5's four-year run. The results will be used to create a Babylon 5 Salute to the Fans calendar in 1998. -- P.L.
Godzilla Takes Manhattan
odzilla, no longer content to smash up Tokyo, will begin rampaging in New York City next month, according to The Drudge Report.
The city's Commission for Film, Theater and Broadcasting told Drudge that the feature film from Independence Day creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin will begin filming scenes at landmarks such as the World Trade Center, Times Square and Central Park. -- P.L.
Toy Story sequel heads straight to video
ollowing a pattern established with sequels to Aladdin and other films, Walt Disney Co. and Pixar Animation Studios will release a made-for-video sequel to their computer-generated hit Toy Story, according to Mr. Showbiz.
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen have reportedly agreed to reprise their roles as Woody and Buzz Lightyear. No date has been set for a release, though it will hit stores sometime in 1998. -- P.L.
Briefly noted...
- John Rhys-Davies of Sliders fame will play a holodeck simulation of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Borg-laden season finale of Star Trek: Voyager, according to Zentertainment.
- Return of the Jedi: Special Edition, took the top box office ranking in its opening weekend. Jedi pulled in $16.3 million, handily beating its nearest competitor, Jungle 2 Jungle ($11.3 million).
- Harmony Gold has teamed up with Babylon 5 special effects producer Netter Digital Entertainment to create Railrunners, a new SF televison series. Railrunners chronicles the tale of freedom fighters in a mythical world trying to reclaim their homeland. It is tentatively scheduled to debut in 1998.
- The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 has a new Web address. Fans should change their bookmarks to point to http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html.
- The deadline to apply to the Clarion West science fiction writer's workshop is April 1. For more information, visit the Clarion West home page.
- Majel Barrett Roddenberry now has an official Web site, available at http://www.roddenberry.com.
- Motion Picture producer Alexander Salkind -- who produced the first three Superman films -- died March 8 in Paris at the age of 75.
- On May 23 Rhino Home Video will release the next three video titles in its growing Mystery Science Theater 3000 collection. The episodes will be The Unearthly, Manos: The Hands of Fate and Red Zone Cuba, each accompanied by one or more short films.
- Noted SF author Harlan Ellison resigned from the Horror Writers Association earlier this month over a tiff involving the association's Lifetime Achievement Award. Also this month, HWA president Brian Lumely resigned, citing heart trouble.
