Checkpoint 42

John D. Berry cartoon
C*H*E*C*K*P*O*I*N*T 42

27th October 1973. Checkpoint, the fan newszine, is produced by Peter Roberts, Flat 4, 6 Westbourne Park Villas, London W2. (new address). It's available for news, letters, or 10/50p (UK & Europe).

USA: Charlie & Dena Brown, PO Box 3938, San Francisco, Ca.94119; 4/$1 (air) or 10/$1 (sea).

Aus: Robin Johnson, Box 4039, Melbourne, Vic.3001; 6/$1 (air) or 12/$1 (sea).

RSA: Nick Shears, 52 Garden Way, Northcliff 4, Johannesburg; 5/R1 (air) or 10/R1 (sea).

Restormel Press Publication: 88


NOVACON: Any British fans with poor memories should be reminded that this year's Novacon is at hand: November 2nd-4th at the Imperial Centre Hotel, Birmingham. Booking confirmations were sent out recently, so start worrying if you booked a room at the Imperial and haven't yet had a reply. Guest of Honour is Ken Bulmer; membership is 50p to Stan Eling, 124 Galton Rd, Smethwick, Worcs., BG7 5JS. See you there.

Any overseas visitors to the Novacon might like to note that Thursday, Nov.1st, is the regular monthly Globe night in London (Hatton Gdns) – see you there, too!

HEAR ME TORCON 2 YOU: I claim no responsibility for that line which first saw the light of day in the news-sheet of the last worldcon in Canada. George Wells, however, can be blamed for sending the thing to me (and thanks, George, I'll drink to your health at the Novacon, you fink!) and the list of Hugo winners that went with it. Thanks to Gerald Bishop and Dave Rowe for supplying the latter as well.

The relevant awards are: Best fanzine – Energumen; Best Fan Writer – Terry Carr; Best Fan Artist – Tim Kirk; several awards went to sf stuff as well. Dave Kyle won the First Fandom Hall Award and Clifford Simak the Big Heart Award.

If somebody cares to give me a decent short conrep, I'd be happy to print it. I've only heard word-of-mouth reports so far, plus bare facts like 2700 attendees with 3490 fans registering. Big, eh?

DOWN UNDER FAN FUND: Lesleigh Luttrell writes to say that there'll be a DUFF race in 1974 – it's the same idea as TAFF, but is intended to bring an Australian fan to the worldcon in Washington in '74. Deadline for nominations is November 15th 1973, so that doesn't leave you much time. Funds are being raised and Lesleigh intends writing a report on her DUFF trip to Australia which will then be sold in aid of further trips. Contact Lesleigh for further information: 525 W.Main, Madison, WI.53703, USA.


AUSSIECON '75: Australia won the bidding for the 1975 world convention at TORCON 2, receiving 330 votes to California's 45; the 33rd World Science Fiction Convention will thus be held at the Southern Cross Hotel, Melbourne, on the 14th-17th August, 1975. Good luck to them.

Guest of Honour is Ursula LeGuin; fan guests of honour are Mike and Susan Glicksohn. According to the first Progress Report, received a couple of days ago, there are already 503 registered members; slightly earlier figures forwarded to me by Carey Handfield, the Membership Secretary, show 80 attending memberships and 410 supporting.

You can join the Aussiecon by sending £1.25 (supporting) or £4.25 (full) to me, Peter Roberts; the supporting membership (convertible to full at any time by paying the difference, £3) entitles you to all Progress Reports and the Programme Book, plus nominating and voting ballots for the 1975 Hugo awards. Make cheques payable to me, please. Agents in the U.S. are Jack Chalker and Fred Patten and supporting membership is $3; the same rate applies in Canada where the agent is Richard Labonnte.

BENELUXCON I: Julien Raasveld sent along this short report some time ago: "Beneluxcon I can be considered a success, with 253 attendees. Brian Aldiss was a marvellous GoH (as he always seems to be), Gerd Hallenberger (Fan GoH) talked about sf in popmusic, and as a film we had Rosemary's Baby. Attendees came from as far away as Canada and Turkey and all agreed that Belgian bheer alone is worth coming to a Belgian convention for. Dutch-Italian artist Karel Thole was almost weeping when he said in a radio interview that he'd been to Worldcons and to Eurocon I, but that this convention in Flanders was the one he liked most."

EUROCON II CANCELLED: After the success of the Beneluxcon, it's a pity that the folding of the 1974 Eurocon has to be announced. It was to have been held in Brussels, but after considerable difficulties the remaining active members of the con-committee gave up recently and the convention will therefore (almost certainly) not take place. It's possible that some sort of alternative and rather ad hoc convention may be held; if so, I'll give details later.

UK MILFORD CONFERENCE: Thanks to George Locke, who reports that "it was quite successful, although unfortunately Samuel Delany and John Brunner were forced to drop out at the last moment from pressure of work. Chris Priest also couldn't make it for the same sort of reason and Ken Bulmer unfortunately sustained a back injury immediately before the conference and was unable to attend. Participants, however, included James and Judy Blish, Anne McCaffrey, Jerry Schutz, Pamela Boal, Charlotte Francke, Andrew Stephenson, Peter Tate, Mark Adlard, Peter Nicholls, Josephine Saxton, John Phillifent (Rackham), Bob Parkinson, and myself – I think that's all.

"The conference was held from July 13th to 20th, with a party on the 21st, to which a number of authors, agents and publishers' representatives were invited, concluding the proceedings. It was held in a hotel at Barton-on-Sea, near Milford-on-Sea, Hants. It is planned to hold the next conference in Milford in October, 1974. James Blish, incidentally, was interviewed on Southern TC on Wednesday, July 18th." For those of you in ignorance, perhaps I should note that this new series of Milford conferences is arranged for sf writers in Britain.


SUNDERLAND SF FESTIVAL: Regular readers may be cheered to know that Checkpoint's status is such that I was invited to a press conference a couple of weeks ago! Very nice too, though I had to slow down on the free drinks, since it was held at lunchtime (in the Press Club) and I had to return to work before it finished. It was held in order to publicize "Beyond This Horizon", the month-long sf festival being held in Sunderland from October 23rd to November 25th. I gave some of the details in the last issue of Checkpoint, but I'll expand on them here. Before I do, however, I'll just mention that some 40-50 people turned up to the press conference; mostly reporters and the festival organizers, there was nevertheless a large contingent of sf people – Brian Aldiss, John Brunner, Chris Priest, James Blish, Philip Strick, Mark Adlard, George Hay, Peter Nicholls, Gerald Bishop, George Locke, Malcolm Edwards, and doubtless many others.

"Beyond This Horizon" is part of the Wearmouth 1300 Festival, a fourteen month long series of events commemorating and celebrating the foundation of St.Peter's monastery in Wearmouth in 674 and also the birth of Bede in 673. A booklet of events in the sf festival is available for a stamped, addressed envelope from the Sunderland Arts Centre, 27 Frederick St, Sunderland. Most of the activity is taking place at the weekends, but there are a considerable number of mid-week events and a variety of exhibitions throughout the month. These latter include sf cover art by Karel Thole, Eddie Jones, Josh Kirby, and Helmut Wenskes; astronomical paintings by David Early, Ed Buckley, and Gavin Roberts: photos from Kodak and Hasselblad on space exploration; photos compiled by Eric von Daniken; plus spacecraft models and many other items.

The next weekend event (Nov 2-4th) is largely concerned with science fact, so that fans attending the Novacon will rest easy; there are performances by the Curved Space Theatre Company, lectures and presentations on space and spaceflight, a symposium on UFOs, another on computers, and a forum on life elsewhere. After that (Nov.10-11th), there's a weekend of lectures, films, and discussions on sf, organised by Pete Weston. More news will appear in future Checkpoints.

AND WHAT DO THE GANNETS THINK ABOUT IT? Well, Rob Jackson, just back from Sri Lanka where he spent most of his time chatting to a certain A.C.Clarke, says: "'Beyond This Horizon' sounds great fun for the few, especially us. Highly recommended if you can afford the trip. Chris Carroll has got me well and truly in his clutches – he asked the Gannets in general to organize the symposium of North East writers this Wednesday (31st), and the rest of them just dumped it on me. Ian Maule doesn't think it's fannish and will have nothing to do with it, though he wouldn't mind taking the credit for finding Forties fan, Ron Holmes (who will be there); Harry & Irene Bell are finding out about home life and things; Ian Williams has other priorities; Thom Penman couldn't organize his way out of a paper bag and isn't keen anyway; so here is muggins doing all the WORK... Phil Harbottle and Raymond Drake are the name people, assorted Gannets are in supporting roles, and I'm chairing!"

CoAs:
Keith Walker, 2 Daisy Bank, Quernmore Rd, Lancaster, Lancs.
John D.Berry & Terry Hughes, 827 Walker Rd, Great Falls, Va.22066.
Simon Joukes, Huize "De Oudo Roos", Geleeg 7-8, B-2860 Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver, Belgium.
John Stith, 3632 Garland Ct, Colorado Springs, Co.80910, USA.


HAVE A LAFF WITH TAFF and vote for... Well, I know whom I'd like you to vote for, since a certain fan called Peter Roberts is standing. But the choice is yours, so make up your mind and vote. The ballot is enclosed. Good on you all.

FANS FRAE O'ER THE BORDER: James Campbell, just returned from hitching around North Africa, sent along a xerox copy of an article from Spaceflight by Duncan Lunan, a Glasgow sf writer who has made a name for himself by discovering possible signals from an alien space probe, probably 13000 years old and originating in the Epsilon Boötis system. It's all highly scientific and therefore looks eminently plausible to me; good sense-of-wonder stuff, anyway.

James also sends the following notes from Glasgow fandom: "The sf circle in Glasgow is an offshoot of ASTRA (Scotland's answer to the British Interplanetary Society) and meets once a month on the first Wednesday in the Admiral Bar, Waterloo St. ASTRA itself meets there on the third Wednesday and also every Saturday in Hamilton. We're not very fannish, but have about a dozen active members, including two artists (Ed Buckley and Gavin Roberts) and two sf writers (Chris Boyce and Duncan Lunan). The main ASTRA project over the last three years has been a book, soon to be published, called Man & The Stars, which explores the practicalities of spaceflight (don't yawn, it's good! but then, I'm biased...)."

TYNECON, AND THE FIRST BLITZKRIEG? A progress report of sorts comes from Rob Jackson, once again: "I've been back in England three weeks – weeks spent mostly putting the impetus back into Tynecon that was somewhat lost with Ian Williams's gradual girl- and exam-induced fafia. We are expecting to get Progress Report 2, together with the booking forms, out just before the Novacon. The programme itself is filling up very satisfactorily, with a surprisingly heavy preponderance of sercon items – it will surprise Bram Stokes, anyway (-(Turncoats!)-) It should be a fuller programme than at any recent British con. Ian Maule and I did a blitzkrieg on the Williams residence last night and removed his file so that we could get the films ordered and generally catch up on his unwritten mail for him. Ian is very proud of himself, as he says it's the first blitzkrieg in British fannish history. Is it?" Well, I hate to disappoint Ian (whichever one); but I seem to recall a blitzkrieg undertaken in the mid-sixties to retrieve an OMPA mailing plus official OMPA files which had disappeared together with the AE. (It was the first in a series of crises which ultimately brought OMPA to its knees – a position from which it has never moved). Any more information on this arcane piece of British fan history would be welcome – and any tales of fannish blitzkriegs in general.

THE WORLD OF FANZINES: If they're keeping to their publication schedule, Southern Illinois Univ.Press should be putting out Dr.Fredric Wertham's 208 page The World of Fanzines: A Special Form of Communication this November. It'll cost $10, but should prove interesting, to say the least. Part of the pre-publicity stuff (which included a poster!) talks of Dr.Wertham analyzing the influence of fanzines "as a manifestation of youth subculture". There you are, Terry, now you can tell friends the real purpose of Erg! Seriously, though, I'm looking forward to seeing the book – soon, if possible.


*************** fanzines received ****************************************

*Blunt 1 (63pp:A4:d) Bob & Mary Smith + Dave Rowe, 131 Coxtie Rd, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 5PT. (20p) This is an extremely impressive first issue, the more so since I'd had some doubts about Blunt after Dave Rowe's pre-publicity campaign. It's entirely and commendably fannish, unblemished by as much a book review; I can't say that I liked everything within and the issue tended to break down into lots of small items, rather than uniting into an integrated whole. But these are minor points, particularly in a new fanzine. Contents include a rather confused OMPAcon report, redeemed by splendid and instantly recognizable cartoons of fans by Penny Grant; several pieces by or about local UK fangroups; a neo's view of fandom by Pamela Boal, which should provoke some comment; and various other pieces, such as a look at the Globe in 20005 by Rob Holdstock. Very promising.

*Bweek 17,18,19 (4pp:A4:d) Seth McEvoy, Box 268, E.Lansing, Mi.48823, USA. (5/40¢) UK Agent: Hartley Patterson. For some strange reason I reviewed the final issue, Bweek 20, in the last Checkpoint. Let it be said, then, that this was a regular fanzine of foolishness, chatter and occasional news. The 17th issue contains a photo of the shaggy, bear-like creature that purports to be Seth McEvoy and is thus of particular note. Recommended, but I don't know whether Seth or Hartley will have any spares left.

Degenerate 1 (33pp:A4:d) Jim Kennedy, 1859 E.Fairfield, Mesa, Ariz.85203, USA. (free?) You really appreciate something like Blunt when you see a first issue like this. It's a mess. It really doesn't seem worth while putting out an illegible first fanzine, but so many fans started out that way that I can't single out Jim for criticism. Apart from a printed, but unexciting, cartoon strip, Degenerate is the traditional first issue crud-zine; it appears to be overmuch concerned with comic and horror stuff. I won't promise anything, but good fanzines have had just as terrible first issues. Master the duplicator for the second issue, Jim.

Diaspar 15 (9pp:A4:d) Terry Carr, 11037 Broadway Tce, Oakland, Ca.94611, USA. (free/FAPA) It's a pity this issue is so thin, but nonetheless there is a peculiar, but interesting, article by Claire Beck, a Californian fan from the thirties, entitled 'The Preachers Woods & Others', and a short poem by Carol Carr. It's enjoyable, though I wish there was more from Terry himself.

*Energumen 15 (76pp:A4:d) Mike & Susan Glicksohn, 32 Maynard Av, 205, Toronto, Ontario, M6K 2Z9, Canada. ($1) With this introspective issue, Energumen is folding and a fanzine like Mike & Susan's deserves a fine, stirring funeral oration; sadly, there's no room here – I should have written a loc for the last issue. By that I mean that Energumen 15 is itself a memorial to the fanzine – there were thus, if you like, only fourteen real issues. The fifteenth presents a mass of farewells from Mike, Susan, Rosemary, and virtually all the regular artists and letter-writers. The whole thing is excellent – very indulgent, of course, but if you had followed Energumen through its publishing lifetime, you'd enjoy it too. Every inch a Hugo winner.

Eulogy 2 (24pp:fscp:sd) Phil & Sherry Spencer, 65 Southdown Rd, Portslade, Brighton, BN4 2HL. (free/OMPA) I'm sure Phil could produce rather a good personalzine if he wanted, since his editorial and other oddments (in an anecdotal vein) are well-written and readable. Eulogy, however, contains too much material of little interest – some verse, record reviews, and mcs.

Fanjan 2 (22pp:A4:d) Jan Jansen, L.v.Hullebuschstr.197, 2120 Schoten, Belgium. (free/OMPA) In English, Fanjan is a light personalzine with an article or two, mcs, and locs. Neatly produced and enjoyable.

Fanzine Fanatique 2,3 (7pp:A4:d) Keith Walker, 2 Daisy Bank, Quernmore Rd, Lancaster, Lancs. (6/30p) Keith has the unenviable knack of making all his fanzines look messy and this is no exception – we have learned to live with it, anyway. It's a reviewzine for fanzines – rather a peculiar selection, especially in the second issue, but the reviewing is competent.

Forthcoming Sf Books 15 (7pp:A4:d) Joanne Burger, 55 Blue Bonnet Ct, Lake Jackson, Texas 77566, USA. (2/$1 – airmail) The title speaks for itself – the lists are of US sf books from August to November. Pretty expensive, however, unless you're desperate for advance information.

Gegenschein 11 (24pp:¼o:d) Eric Lindsay, 6 Hillcrest Av, Faulconbridge, NSW 2776, Australia. (50¢) UK Agent: Jim Goddard. Geg never stirs me to much enthusiastic comment, I'm afraid; but it's by no means bad – quite good, in fact, though this issue contains little more than fanzine reviews by Ken Ozanne plus a letter column. Try it and see what you think, anyway.

Girl's Own Fanzine 2 (35pp:A4:d) Sue Smith, ,78 Redgrave Rd, Normanhurst, NSW 2076, Australia. (free?) Once again, the title points to the content and this Aussie fanzine is devoted to feminist fans, this issue being concerned with Women's Lib. The latter subject is, dare I say, rather tedious; but Gough does have an excellent letter column which makes the whole package well worth acquiring – yes, even if you're a bloke.

Haverings 56 (8pp:A4:d) Ethel Lindsay, 6 Langley Av, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6QL. (6/40p) Other reviewzines for fanzines come and go, but Haverings quietly continues; it's interesting and can be useful, but watch out for the rather too numerous mistakes (dangerous when they occur in addresses).

Hell 9 (68pp:¼o:d) Paul Skelton & Brian Robinson, 9 Linwood Grove, Manchester, M12 4QH. (free?) A thick issue, but still of relatively little interest; Hell has settled down to its own circle of readers and seems unlikely to break through that circle. It's fairly fannish, with columns and sundry other items. The letter column, however, is a poor one. It looks fairly good, but I can't find much else of credit. Hell isn't bad, just ho-hummy.

Instant Message 132,133,134 (4-8pp:A4:d) NESFA, PO Box G, MIT Branch Station, Cambridge, Mass.02139, USA. ($4 p.a. – NESFA membership + newsletter & the occasional clubzine, reviewed last issue) A regular newsletter from this large and active New England sf group; it's of predominantly local interest, but some of their projects are more wide-ranging.

Inworlds 9 (6pp:fscp:d) Bill Bowers, PO Box 148, Wadsworth, Ohio 44281, USA. (sub with Outworlds, qv.) I thought Iw had folded, but I seemed to have missed a couple of issues (where's 7 & 8, Bill?). Anyway, it seems to have changed to a fanzine listing, rather than a fanzine reviewzine (though there are a few reviews left) which is a pity. I'm surprised that Bill didn't foresee the effort that would be needed to fulfil his original idea of a fanzine about fanzines. The listing is arranged in the most unhelpful manner I can conceive of, which is another change for the worse. It's still useful and of interest, but doesn't look like lasting much longer, I fear. Keep it going, Bill.

It Comes In The Mail 5 (15pp:A4:d) Ned Brooks, 713 Paul St, Newport News, Virginia 23605, USA. (free?) Another fanzine reviewzine, though strung together as a sort of personalzine, if you can imagine that. I enjoy it (so what happened to my copies of 3 & 4, Ned? Bad as Bowers, sirrah...).

*Kwalhioqua 7 (38pp:A4:d) Ed Cagle, Route 1, Leon, Ks.67074, USA. (money) Though it may not look it, Kwalhioqua is an excellent fanzine containing some of the best fannish writing currently appearing. Ed permeates the production and the benign spirit of John Bangsund flits through the pages; good lettercolumn too – highly recommended & most enjoyable.

*Locus 146,147,148,149 (6-10pp:A4:d) Charlie & Dena Brown, Box 3939, San Francisco, Ca.94119, USA. (18/£3 – airmail; UK Agent: Pete Weston) A well-known and largely serious sf newszine, with book and prozine news, book reviews, obituaries, etc. It also has con reports and other items of more interest. Exceedingly expensive, however, even in the US (18/$6).

Lurk 5 (37pp:¼o:d) Mike & Pat Meara, 61 Borrowash Rd, Spondon, Derby, DE2 7QH. (50p/OMPA) There's an interview from Chessmancon, fmz reviews, mcs, letters, plus a few book reviews and a self-indulgent poll; rather an average fanzine, but not at all bad. An English Gegenschein, perhaps.

Madcap 3 (61pp:¼o:d) Pete Colley & Pete Presford, 10 Dalkeith Rd, South Reddish, Stockport, SK5 7EY.(25p) They're putting a lot more effort into this than they used to, but it seems to be going in the wrong (as far as I'm concerned) direction; there are reviews, verse, fiction, letter column and so on. I couldn't discover anything of interest, however.

Magnus 3 (45pp:A4:d) Eric Batard, Rue Kleber, 37500 Chinon, France. (2f) A large newszine, in French (with an English summary), but mainly interested in comix; some items of interest, however.

Maule's Well 3 (6pp:¼o:d) Ian Maule, 13 Weardale Av, Forest Hall, Newcastle on Tyne, NE12 0HX. (free) A rather ho-hummy weekly personalzine that's already folded.

Muirgheal 3 (50pp:A4:d) Simon Joukes, Huize "De Oude Roos", Geleeg 7-8, B-2860 Onze-Lieve-Vrous-Waver, Belgium. (20f – Bel) In English, French, & Flemish, Muirgheal is largely a letterzine, devoted to conventions in particular; there are other items of interest, however. Pretty good.

Norstrilian News Aug. (4pp:¼o:d) Robin Johnson, GPO Box 4039, Melbourne, Vic.3001, Australia. (8/50p – UK Agent: me) The Australian newszine, with this issue largely concerned with Aussiecon '75 and the 2nd Advention. Good for all Australian fan news, and note that it's now cheaper.

Outworlds 17 (40pp:A4:d) Bill & Joan Bowers, PO Box 148, Wadsworth, Ohio 44281, USA. (75¢) Though it tends to be extremely introspective, particularly in the editorials, Ow has a diversity of contents and varies amazingly from issue to issue in appearance and general make-up. This issue is in a fairly standard fanzine format, and consists of an article on 'The Making of a Fanzine' by Bill, plus the regular columnists (Robert Lowndes, Ted White, and Poul Anderson) talking on a variety of subjects; there's a loc column too. It's always impressive and usually enjoyable. Recommended.

Prehensile 7,8 (54 & 38pp:A4:d) Mike Glyer, 14974 Osceola St, Sylmar, Ca.91342, USA. (35¢) All sorts of items appear in this massive double issue, from reviews to LACon reports, from Aljo Svoboda to Larry niven. It looks as is good, rather in the tradition of the giant genzines which started to appear back in '68 or so but (mostly) died the death soon after. Good letter columns, too, but I think I'll put these aside for a longer review in Vector. Recommended.

A brief note on the reviews: in brackets are 1) the number of pages; 2) the size (¼o = UK; A4 = UK A4 + US & Eur.¼o; fscp = UK foolscap + UK legalsize; and 3) the method of production (d = duplicated (US = mimeo); sd = spirit d. (US = ditto); p = printed; and x = xeroxed (photostat copies)).

Riverside Quarterly 21 (96pp:½A4:p) Leland Sapiro, Box 40, Univ.Station, Regina, Sask., Canada. (4/$2) This issue is somewhat better presented than the previous one, but the contents are still the tired sub-academic articles on trash books, 'The Prudish Prurience of H.R.Haggard & E.R.Burroughs' and so on. Harry Warner has a short column on FAPA, but otherwise I can find nothing of merit, I'm afraid.

Scab 2,3 (4pp:¼o:d) John Brosnan, Flat 1, Elsham Rd, Kensington, London W14. (free) Talking of meritless zines... No, well, it's a gossip fanzine which is much enjoyed by ratfandom and myself, but which may well prove incomprehensible to anyone else. It prints such fabulous one liners as "I married a bit over a year ago" which is remarkably funny and well worth reprinting.

Scottishe 66 (24pp:¼o:d) Ethel Lindsay, 6 Langley Av, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 6QL. (3/40p) Britain's longest-running fanzine, but it's getting mighty thin these days. There's very little outside Jim Linwood's piece on old radio series – a couple of letters, non-descript book reviews, and some Atom cartoons. It can be much better than this when it tries.

*Sf Commentary 34 (43pp:A4:d) Bruce Gillespie, GPO Box 5195AA, Melbourne, Vic.3001, Australia. (9/£1.50 – UK Agent: Malcolm Edwards) This is the second of the John Foyster edited SFCs in which comments on sf are collected together; the final result should be a useful anthology on the subject and it'll be a long one too. This issue covers comments from Budrys to Gernsback (it's being organized alphabetically). I prefer the standard SFC, but I can't deny the worth of this particular project.

*Sf Times 132 (52pp:A4:p) Hans-Joachim Alpers, 2850 Bremerhaven 1, Weissenburger Str.6, Germany. (DM 3.60) A very professional publication, Sf Times has moved into the field of underground magazines whilst retaining its sf basis. It's in German, tends to be radically political (especially in its criticism), and concentrates on news and reviews with occasional articles. Franz Rottensteiner skims through American sf books, Horst Pukallus looks at the New Wave, and Klaus Diedrich considers the Golem. SFT is well worth the serious sf fan's attention.

Siddhartha 3 (24pp:¼o:d) Ian Williams, 6 Greta Tce, Chester Rd, Sunderland, Co.Durham, SR4 7RD. (free) A personalzine and a fairly good one too. Pity it doesn't appear a little more frequently.

Sirruish 11 (44pp:A4:p) Railee Bothman, 1300 W.Adams, Kirkwood, Mo.63122, USA. (50¢) I remember this as a large, but rather dull fanzine from its earlier incarnation when it formed part of the fanzine flood from St.Louis when the group there was bidding for the '69 worldcon. It appears to have been revived, but still isn't very exciting, I'm afraid. There are reviews and a few odd articles, some photos (a good idea), and some bad artwork & good artwork poorly produced (compare the Mike Gilbert stuff here with that which appeared in The Proper Boskonian). Ok, but no more than that.

Son of the WSFA Journal 94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103 (10pp:A4:d) Don Miller, 12315 Judson Rd, Wheaton, Md.20906, USA. (10/80p – UK Agent: Eric Bentcliffe) Its regularity should be obvious, but the content is never particularly exciting – mainly short reviews and notes, with some news. Quite useful, however, though it seems a pity that such energy couldn't be put to a more entertaining purpose.

Starship Tripe 4 (19pp:A4:p) Michael Gorra, 199 Great Neck Rd, Waterford, Ct.06385, USA. (35¢) It lives up to its name – a messy collection of reviews, letters, and oddments. Acceptable if this was the first issue, but...

The Grimling Bosch 1 (6pp:¼o:d) Harry Bell, 9 Eskdale Gdns, Lyndhurst Est, Low Fell, Gateshead, Co.Durham, NE9 6NS. (free) Another Gannet personalzine, marking Harry's welcome reappearance as a faned. Bit thin as yet, but still enjoyable.

The Middle Earthworm 21 (20pp:A4:d) Archie Mercer, 21 Tenethick Parc, Helston, Cornwall, TR13 8LH. (free) A Tolkien-based letterzine, but usually of interest to the rest of us. Regular too.

*The Passing Parade 4 (26pp:A4:d) Milton Stevens, 9849 Tabor St. 3, Los Angeles, Ca.90034, USA. (25¢) First time I've seen this and I was fascinated by a couple of pages of good photos of Los Angeles fans (all from APA L). I can never understand why more fanzines don't make use of photos – must do it again in Egg if I remember. Rest of this zine is fairly interesting too, with fmz reviews, letter column, and so on. Entertaining.

The Penultimate Blimp 2 (6pp:¼o:d) Ron & Sue Clarke, 78 Redgrave Rd, Normanhurst, NSW 2076, Australia. (free) A personalzine from Ron and new wife (congratulations), Sue (see Girl's Own Fnz).

Title 16,17,18 (40,20,& 10pp:A4:d) Donn Brazier, 1455 Fawnvalley Dr, St. Louis, Mo.63131, USA. (25¢) It calls itself a 'monthly scrapbook' which is a pretty accurate description; it's full of – uh – things, with lots of letters and oddments. It could do without the bad illoes, but otherwise it's fine. Rather defies a short review like this, however. Good.

*Vector 65,66 (55 & 44pp:½A4:p) Malcolm Edwards, 19 Ranmoor Gdns, Harrow, Middx. HA1 1UQ. (30p) The BSFA journal continues with amazing regularity and at a better standard than ever before; fairly straightforward sercon stuff, but Malcolm gives it something of a fannish touch at times. 65 has material by Zelazny, Aldiss, Gene Wolfe, Bob Shaw, and myself – I keep good company in Vector, kids. 66 is dominated by Brian Stableford's 'The Robot in Sf' – Mark Adlard and David Compton also appear. Highly recommended if you're interested in science fiction.

*Wooden Nickel 7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17 (2pp:A4:d) Arnie Katz, 59 Livingston St, Apt.6H, Brooklyn, NY.11201, USA. (free) I shouldn't really review this since circulation is very limited, but it's a light, fannish and very enjoyable weekly fanzine. Like it.

*Xenium 1 (22pp:A4:d) Mike & Susan Glicksohn, 32 Maynard Av, Apt.205, Toronto, Ontario, M6K 2Z9, Canada. (free) Another one with a strictly limited circulation; "Not as roomy as Energumen, but nice!" says a silly dragon on the cover – and I'll let that stand as the comment on the new Glicksohn-zine. Fannish and enjoyable.

*Zimri 5 (55pp:A4:d) Lisa Conesa, 54 Manley Rd, Whalley Range, Manchester, M16 8HP. (20p) One of the best of the newer British fanzines and now, thanks to Harry Turner, one of the best-looking as well. Bryn Fortey and Ted Tubb have a couple of good pieces, but I could have done without the poetry – even Brian Aldiss', I'm afraid; letter column could have been handled better too, but nonetheless Zimri's a pretty fine fanzine.


Holy Moly, Roscoe! That's 290 fanzines I've received so far this year, not counting apazines. I've reviewed them all too, though I'm not sure whether that's a creditworthy (or intelligent) move on my part. Anyone got any comments? It would be easier to revert to listings, though I'd feel less happy about it. Keep the fanzines coming, anyway.

An asterisk, by the way, indicates a particular recommendation – and no, Locus borrowed the idea from the early Checkpoints. I merely gave it up because my Newcastle typer lacked an *. This one has an *. And an +. It doesn't have a   , however, and I used to like using the   .


FANZINE PROJECTION: A few new fanzines are promised; I'm not guaranteeing their appearance, but I've been asked to mention them. Ian Butterworth (29 Larkhill Rd, Cheadle Hulme, Cheadle, Ches. SK8 5QW) is looking for fiction, poetry and 'some artwork' for a "fan fiction zine" called Grand Guignol. Hmmm. In mildly better taste is Rob Jackson's Artery, though he's looking for in-depth book reviews (21 Lyndhurst Rd, Benton, Newcastle on Tyne, NE12 9NT). In far worse taste (but much more fannish) is Greg Pickersgill's Tales of the Filing Section – it should be out any decade now. Keep waiting, fans. If you've a long memory, you may recall that Ian Maule promised Maya 6 by the end of February – it's now November he's promising it for ("with my fingers crossed," he says). Pete Weston is apparently busy printing – yes, printing – Speculation; and Malcolm Edwards says the printers are sitting on the next Vector (which won't, incidentally, contain my column, since I missed the deadline a couple of months ago). As for Egg... would anyone believe Before Christmas? No, I thought not. We shall see, anyway.

TALKING OF PROJECTED FANZINES, I'd better note that the next Checkpoint will appear immediately after the Novacon and will contain the three or four pages of news and other oddments that I've had to miss out on this occasion. Keep on writing.

THE PIT: The following will be gently flung into the Pit, unless they renew or write or somesuch: Dave Hendelow, Peter Darling (Aus), & John Stith (US). People with crosses after their names are advised to do something too, since they're at the mercy of editorial whim.

AND THE PENDULUM: This barbarous instrument will allow the following just one further issue unless they too do something: James Goddard, Sonya Porter, Brian Temple, Deirdre Smythe (Eire), John Mansfield (Ger), Sezar Ergin (Turk), Jack Collins (US), Mitchell Kapor (US).

CARTOON BY JOHN D.BERRY – thought I'd forgotten something...


CHECKPOINT 42

from

Peter Roberts
Flat 4
6 Westbourne Park Villas
London W2.

Printed Matter Only

Return Requested, if undeliverable