Griffith, Dann, Rogers, Friesner
earn 1996 Nebula Awards
or the second year in a row Esther Friesner kicked off the Nebula Awards presentation by taking home the coveted Lucite trophy for Best Short Story. That was almost anticlimactic compared to a surprise gift she received earlier in the evening: a generous helping of champagne and Godiva chocolate served by a male exotic dancer wearing a hard hat, boots and little else.
Pictured from the left in the background: Nicola Griffith, Bruce Holland Rogers and Esther Friesner. Pictured in the foreground: Jack Vance.
When it came time for the Best Novel award, Nicola Griffith seemed somewhat surprised that she won for her novel Slow River, which scared off her first agent because of its lesbian protagonist. Bruce Holland Rogers gave an emotional acceptance speech as he took the podium to accept his award for Best Novelette, and while Australian author Jack Dann couldn't attend the ceremony, it didn't stop him from winning a Nebula for best Novella.
Additionally, Jack Vance received the Grand Master Award, which is given to a living author for a lifetime's achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy. Excerpts from their acceptance speeches follow:
- Best Novel: Nicola Griffith, Slow River
- "I couldn't conceive that a novel about sewage would win," said an apparently surprised Nicola Griffith upon accepting her Nebula Award. She called Slow River "the little book that could" and thanked her agent Shawna McCarthy and her publisher Del Rey Books.
- Best Novella: Jack Dann, "Da Vinci Rising"
- "On the off chance that everybody suddenly gets a weird attack of dyslexia and checks off my story on the Nebula ballot, maybe you should tell them that I'm really pleased and would like to thank you (Dozois) and Sheila Williams, for publishing this story," Dann said via a letter read by Gardner Dozois. "And my thanks to Jennifer Hershey, Lou Aronica, Tom Dupree, Pat Lobrutto and Mark James for all the wonderful work they did on my novel The Memory Cathedral."
- Best Novelette: Bruce Holland Rogers, "Lifeboat on a Burning Sea"
- "Oh boy. It really is true that your mind goes blank. I want to thank Kris Rusch, for acquiring this novelette for Fantasy and Science Fiction, and to thank Ed Ferman for publishing it and also for acquiring my first science fiction story 15 years ago."
- Rogers went on to thank his wife Holly Arrows and his mother. He said his mother, who died in November 1996, had introduced him to SF, and he was grateful to her for giving him a literature so close to his heart. "I really wish she could have been here."
- Best Short Story: Esther Friesner, "A Birthday"
- "I want to thank you all very much for having honored me with this. I want to thank Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who was at the time the editor of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and I want to thank Ed Ferman (the publisher of F&SF)."
- She took a moment to speak of her father, who died in August 1996: "He and my mother both imbued me with a love of reading. So part of my thanks and all of the dedication of this I would like to be for my father's memory."
- She finished by thanking her entire family.
- SFWA Grand Master Award: Jack Vance
- Vance thanked his wife Norma "who I couldn't get by without" and his mother, who gave him fantasy books to read when he was a young boy. This reading gave him an early "turn on" to SF, he said, and he cited the Roy Rockwood books as particularly influential, as well as those by Verne, Wells and Burroughs. Vance added that he felt his career would "keep on tottering" for a number of years, much to the delight of the audience.
This year's awards ceremony was held on April 19 in Kansas City, Mo., a metropolis with more fountains than Rome and more avenues than Paris, or so the locals say. About 190 members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America were present.
The Nebulas are awarded annually to the best science fiction novel, novella, novelette and short story published in the previous year, as voted on by the active members of the SFWA. Nominations for the grand master award are made by the president of the SFWA and approved by the SFWA officers. This year author Judith Merril was named SFWA Author Emeritus, and Sheila Finch received the Service to SFWA Award. Neither were able to attend the ceremony.
Note: A transcript of the on-line Nebula coverage provided by Science Fiction Weekly and The Dominion can be found at http://www.scifi.com/transcripts.
-- Craig E. Engler, Curt Wohleber, Brooks Peck
Breaking news...
he 1997 Hugo Award nominees were announced on Monday, April 21, by LoneStarCon 2, the 1997 World Science Fiction Convention. A complete list of nominees is available on the LoneStarCon 2 Web site. Science Fiction Weekly will carry the full story on the nominees in our next issue.
Alien Resurrection pushed pack to November,
Fox opens "digizine" Web site
lien fans will have to wait a few more months for the next installment of the big screen series as Fox has announced it's pushing back the release date of Alien Resurrection to November. That will put the fourth Alien saga in direct contention with another SF blockbuster hitting theaters in November, Starship Troopers.
Meanwhile, Fox has opened its Alien Resurrection Digizine to keep fans pumped about the movie. Currently the site features stills from the new film, interviews with cast and crew members, and a calendar of upcoming events. It promises that by June it will be "the most comprehensive online theatrical experience ever, featuring multimedia, games, screensavers and a completely immersive experience." -- B.P.
The X-Files movie is finally out there
etails of the much-anticipated feature film version of Fox's paranormal hit series The X-Files are emerging from the dark, according to reports in the Hollywood trade press.
Daily Variety reports that David Duchovny, who plays FBI
Special Agent Fox Mulder, has agreed to reprise his TV role for a salary of around $4 million, but is still nailing down any profit-sharing deal with the studio. Costar Gillian Anderson (Special Agent Dana Scully) is
reportedly still in talks.
Though the story of the film remains a mystery, X-Files creator and executive producer Chris Carter will write the film's screenplay and will also act as producer, The Hollywood Reporter said. Rumor has it that Carter will take full advantage of the film's expected "R" rating. Longtime Files director Rob Bowman, meanwhile, is in final talks to helm the movie, the Reporter said.
-- Patrick Lee, U.S. Correspondent.
Star Trek 9 on track for 1998 launch
he next generation of the Star Trek: The Next Generation feature films, slated for a fall 1998 release, is already coming together, with veteran ST:TNG writer/producer Michael Piller on board to pen the script, Daily Variety reports.
Mum's the word on the plot of the as-yet untitled movie, but the film
will bring back the cast of the popular Next Generation series and the hit films Star Trek: Generations and Star Trek: First Contact.
Piller will develop the story with the film's producer, Rick Berman, with whom he created the Star Trek spinoff television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Piller remains a creative consultant on both shows.
-- P.L.
Ringworld coming to the big screen
ingworld, the popular SF adventure trilogy by Larry Niven, is being developed into a feature film by QDE Entertainment, the production company of music producer Quincy Jones, Daily Variety reports.
The Ringworld books tell the story of a massive artificial ring, as large as the Earth's orbit around the sun, discovered in deep space by a band of alien and human adventurers, and the efforts of the discoverers to unravel the mystery of the ring's builders.
The film should have a built-in audience: the Ringworld
trilogy has more than 7 million copies in print.
-- P.L.
Putting the stars in Star Wars
n a sign that George Lucas won't be gambling with a cast of unknowns in his new Star Wars trilogy, reports are rife that box-office heavy hitters Liam Neeson (Schindler's List) and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), and critical darling Natalie Portman (The Professional, Beautiful Girls), are up for the prequels' much coveted roles.
Sixteen-year-old Portman, who was last seen as the First Daughter in
Mars Attacks!, is in talks for the role of the Queen mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. Jackson, meanwhile, is up for a smaller role.
As reported earlier, Neeson is the front-runner for the lead role in the prequels' as-yet unnamed first film, taking on the new role of a master Jedi Knight and mentor to the young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The plot of the first film, to start filming on London's Leavesden
Studios with George Lucas directing his own script, is being kept a closely guarded secret. But ZENtertainment passes on these snippets of plot: a new character called "Banior" will be introduced, and notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett, from the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, gets much fuller treatment this time around.
-- P.L.
Wizards of the Coast to acquire TSR
izards of the Coast Inc., publishers of the
best-selling collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, said it had signed a letter of intent to acquire TSR Inc., publisher of the original fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons. Terms were not disclosed; the transaction is scheduled to close next month.
Founded in 1975, Wisconsin-based TSR Inc. rose to a market leadership
position with the introduction of Dungeons & Dragons.
Wizards of the Coast, based in Seattle, Wash., is a leading developer and publisher of entertainment products, including the trading card game BattleTech and the soon-to-be-released card game Corporate Shuffle, based on the popular comic character Dilbert.
-- P.L.
SF goes south of the border
merican, French and Spanish-language SF films will kick off the inaugural Science Fiction & Fantasy Film Fest in Mexico City starting later this month, Daily Variety reports.
Twelve features will be in competition, and the festival will include a short film showcase and a retrospective of Mexican fantasy and horror pictures since the 1930s. Films in competition include the U.S.'s Space Truckers and Tromeo and Juliet, France's The City of Lost Children, Argentina's Moebius and the Spanish-British co-production The Killer Tongue.
The festival will coincide with the annual SF and fantasy trade fair,
MECYF '97, taking place at Mexico City's World Trade Center.
-- P.L.
Marvelous films on the way
arvel Entertainment's new film studio, run by Spider-Man creator Stan Lee, is formalizing plans for films based on several characters from Marvel's stable of comic heroes, Daily Variety reports.
Director Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff) is reportedly in
talks to make a movie based on Prince Namor, better known by the sobriquet, the Sub-Mariner (Anyone remember Waterworld?).
Fox, meanwhile, has five potential Marvel franchises based on the
Silver Surfer, the Fantastic Four, The X-Men, Daredevil and Ironman.
Universal is developing films based on The Incredible Hulk, and New Line is in production on a feature version of Blade: Vampire Hunter. Columbia will produce a Dr. Strange movie.
And what about Marvel's most famous creation? Spider-Man has James Cameron attached and will be made by MGM.
-- P.L.
Superman to get Dark Knight treatment
ire-haired director Tim Burton, who did much to transform
Batman from camp buffoon to Dark Knight, may be in the works to do the same to that All-American icon, Superman, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Burton (Ed Wood) is reportedly in talks to take the helm of
Superman Reborn, a new, darker take on the story of Our Man
from Krypton. Nicolas Cage (The Rock) is expected to don the Man of Steel's new tights (no cape this time around).
Evean as word of Burton's involvement came out, the film's writer Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy, Clerks) was quoted blasting the film's studio, Warner Bros., in a story in Buzz Weekly. Smith later said he didn't recall making the comments to Buzz, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "When I say 'anxious motherf---kers,' it doesn't mean I don't like the guys," he told the trade paper. "They were nice enough to tap me to write."
Burton -- reportedly unsatisfied with Smith's script -- has already approached at least two major screenwriters, Akiva Goldsman and David Koepp (Jurassic Park), to submit new versions, according to the trade paper.
-- P.L.
NBC puts the thrill back in "thrillogy"
BC is picking up one-third of its hyped Saturday evening "thrillogy,"
renewing the millenarian detective show Profiler for a second season, Daily Variety reports. Profiler, which averaged a 7.4 Nielsen rating and 14 share in households in its 10 p.m. slot, was the most successful of the evening's three SF-tinged shows, which included The Pretender and the X-Files-ish Dark Skies.
But NBC has yet to make a decision on the fate of the other two shows,
though the buzz is that the low-rated and critically drubbed UFO conspiracy series Dark Skies is a longshot for renewal.
-- P.L.
Briefly noted...
- Legendary SF fan Sam Moskowitz, who co-organized the original Worldcon and who was the field's first and greatest historian, died Tuesday, April 15. Please see our next issue for a complete obituary notice.
- SF writer Frank Herbert is currently the subject of a vote on whether a new Usenet group (rec.arts.sf.written.frank-herbert) should be created for fans to discuss his works that aren't related to the epic Dune series (which are already the subject of their own group, alt.fan.dune). People interested in voting procedures should consult the official call for votes posted in news.announce.newgroups.
- Friends star Matthew Perry and Monty Python alum John Cleese are reportedly in talks to play the lead roles in a feature film version of the 1960s TV series My Favorite Martian.
- The Science Fiction Association, Singapore announced the creation of a Web site and mailing list. Further information on the SFAS can be found at http://www.sfas.org.sg/. To receive information about the SFAS mailing list, send a blank e-mail message to info@sfas.org.sg.
- Ex-Doctor Who Colin Baker has been appointed chairman of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths. Baker has been closely involved with the FSID since his baby son, Jack, died in 1983.
- The re-release of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial has been pushed back to 2002, according to Premiere Magazine. The re-release will feature five scenes cut from the original but will not have any new footage.
- Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe Series Soundtrack CD will be released in the United Kingdom on May 5, according to composer/producer Alan Hawkshaw.
- Bill Paxton (Twister) is in talks to play the lead in a Walt Disney remake of the gorilla thriller Mighty Joe Young, Daily Variety reports.
Makers of the film -- a remake of the 1949 classic movie about a 15-foot gorilla brought from the jungles of Africa to Los Angeles -- are also talking with bombshell Charlize Theron (2 Days in the Valley) to play the ape's only other human friend.
- Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy, Chain
Reaction) is talking about playing the president of the United States in the upcoming asteroid disaster movie Deep Impact, Daily Variety quotes "sources" as saying.
- SF author Frederik Pohl is recovering from heart surgery, according to Internet postings by his wife Betty Hull. Pohl had undergone operations to replace an aorta and to repair a chronic hernia.
- Rhino Home Video has pushed back the release of its next batch of Mystery Science Theater 3000 tapes due to reported copyright problems with some of the titles. Rhino says the next three videos are tentatively scheduled to ship in June.
- Superman actor Christopher Reeve, paralyzed two years ago in a horseback riding accident, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame early this month. He told the 500 fans in attendance that he hoped some day to walk again.
- Janice Murray was named the winner of the 1997 Down Under Fan Fund, which is sending a fan from North America to Australasia to attend the Australian National Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne in September.
- The latest release of the Fannish E-Mail Directory is now available at http://www.teleport.com/~osfci/fannish.net.txt, according to list maintainer John Lorentz. The list is also available by e-mail. Requests and changes can be sent to john_lorentz@planar.com.
