Table of Contents, March 1986
This is the scanned Table of Contents for the issue, embedded as a PDF. It is searchable and includes all of the titles reviewed in the month. These issues are not available digitally yet, but most can be ordered by contacting the Locus offices. Locus-ToC-1986-03
Frank Herbert Dies………………p.1
L. Ron Hubbard Dies……………….1
Uranus and its Moons………………1
Editorial Hatters…………………3
1985 Nebula Awards Nominations……. 4
Nebula Banquet Changes…………….4
British SF Awards Nominees……….. 4
International Publishing Notes……. 4
Hubbard SF Projects to Continue…… 4
British Heilman Benefit……………4
Amazing Gets New Editor……………5
The Data File……………………. 5
People & Publishing……………….7
Agent’s Corner, Richard Curtis……. 9
Moons & Stars & Stuff, Fritz Leiber…9
Small Wonders: Short Fiction Reviews,
Amy Thomson………………… 11
Locus Looks at Books, Faren Miller…13
Locus Looks at More Books,
Debbie Notkin……………….15
Locus Looks at More Books, Dan Chow..17
Report from France, Pascal J. Thomas.20
Int’l Books & Magazines Received…. 22
Tropicon IV……………………..24
Pic the Pros at Chattacon……….. 24
Philcon 1985…………………….25
Los Angeles Authors on the Move:
David Brin: After THE POSTMAN…… 26
Katherine Kurtz: To the Manor Bound.26
Wasn’t It An Amazing Time?:
Howard Browne & Dwight V. Swain.27
Uranus Flyby Reports……………. 30
Locus Letters……………………34
Convention Listings…………….. 34
Magazines Received— January……… 38
Books Received— January…………. 39
British Books, January & February….45
Classified Ads…………………..48
Bestseller Lists…………………52
Obituaries: Robert P Mills, Harry Otto
Fischer & Earl Godwin…………… 54
More Voyager Photos………………59
ISSUE #302 • VOL. 19, NO. 3 • MARCH 1986 Mailing date: February 24,1986
THE NEWSPAPER OF THE SCIENCE FICTION FIELD
ISSN-0047-4959
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
Charles N. Brown
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Faren Miller
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Donna Burriston
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Carolyn F. Cushman
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Richard Curtis
Fritz Leiber
Debbie Notkin
Dan Chow
Locus, ISSN-0047-4959, The Newspaper of the
Science Fiction Field, is published monthly by LOCUS
PUBLICATIONS. Editorial address: 34 Ridgewood
Lane, Oakland, CA 94611; telephone (415) 339-9196.
Please send all mail to Locus Publications, P.O. Box
13305, Oakland, CA 94661.
Individual copies are $2.50. Individual subscriptions in
the U.S. are $24.00 for 12 issues, $45.00 for 24 issues
via second class mail. Individual subscriptions in
Canada are $27.00 for 12 issues, $51.00 for 24 issues
via second class mail. First class individual subscriptions
in the U.S. or Canada are $32.00 for 12 issues,
$61.00 for 24 issues. Individual overseas subscriptions
are $27.00 for 12 issues, $51.00 for 24 issues via
sea mail. Individual subscriptions to Europe or South
America via air mail are $45.00 for 12 issues, $85.00
for 24 issues. Individual subscriptions to Australia,
Asia, or Africa via air mail are $50.00 for 12 issues,
$95.00 for 24 issues. Institutional subscriptions are
$3.00 extra per year. Make all checks payable to
Locus Publications. All subscriptions, including
Canadian, are payable directly in U.S. funds only. When
converting from second class to first class delivery,
please convert all remaining issues on your present
subscription (75c per issue). The number after your
name on the mailing label is that of the last issue on
your present subscription. We do not send notices
when subscriptions are about to expire. If you change
your address, please notify us immediately. Second
class mail is not usually forwarded. It is either returned
or destroyed. We subtract one issue from your subscription
for each returned copy. We keep expired
addresses on file for one year, so tell us if your
subscription is a renewal or completely new.
British Subscription Agent:
Fantast (Medway) Ltd.
P.O. Box 23, Upwell
Wisbech, CAMBS PE14 9BU
Japanese Subscription Agent:
Takumi Shibano
700 Ninomiya Ninomiya-machi
Naka-gun Kanagawa-ken
259-01 Japan
Subscriptions accepted at current exchange rate.
Display advertising rates on request. Contact Donna
Burriston at (415) 339-3182.
Booksellers discounts available.
We take no responsibility for unsolicited submissions.
Contents copyright © 1986 by Locus Publications.
Second class postage paid at Oakland, California.
Postmaster: Send address changes to Locus Publications,
P.O. Box 13305, Oakland, CA 94661.
Ace………………………….. p.23
AuthorServices………………….. 51
Baen…………………… 14,18,19,33
Bantam………………….. 6,28,29,53
Berkley…………………………. 2
Bluejay……………………… 12,56
Bridge…………………………. 16
Button…………………………. 45
DAW……………………………. 44
Del Rey……………………… 40,55
We try to keep events in the non-sf
world out of Locus and don’t usually
expect sf events to spill over into the
outside world. Plans don’t always
work.
I was at JPL for the Uranus flyby on
Saturday, January 25, with dozens of
science fiction authors. It was originally
to be our lead story with a fullcolor
cover. On Sunday, Fred Harris of
AuthorServices called to tell me L. Ron
Hubbard had died. On Tuesday, the
Challenger blew up.
Carolyn Cherryh called about an ad
which was to go into the New York Times
on Sunday, February 16, supporting the
continuance of the space program. It
would cost $36,000 and the backers
wanted $360.00 from 100 sf people for
it. For reasons too complicated to go
into fully, I do not sign any ads (I
think they’re useless except to make
the signers feel good) or join many
organizations or make public statements
about anything outside of sf. I offered
to send money though. Any money
over the $36,000 needed will be going
to a fund for the children of the c h a l l
e n g e r ‘s crew, so you might want to
send contributions to C.J. Cherryh,
1901 Bella Vista, Edmond OK 73034.
If she had called a day later, I
probably would have said yes. The
local newspaper had a column about the
disaster which expressed surprise about
the public outpouring in favor of the
space program, accusing us all of
“growing up on Heinlein and the belief
that technology is always beneficial.”
Here were the two worlds intersecting
again. The column went on with the
usual litany about spending the money
to help the poor and I had the usual
flash thought about Isabella and Ferdinand
feeding the poor of Spain instead
of backing Columbus (we all sometimes
work in well-worn grooves) before
it all trailed off as I stopped reading
and went back to being depressed.
Most of Locus went to the printer on
Monday, February 10. We held back the
cover and first section for the Nebula
Garland………………………… 46
Mayfair Gaines……………………41
MGA Services…………………….42
Andre Norton, Ltd………………..43
Questar………………………… 37
Science Fiction Shop……………. 39
Signet…………………………. 10
St. Martin’s……………………. 47
Tor……………………….. 8,35,60
nominations due a few days later, but
the issue was mainly done and the cover
had been laid out for the nominations.
On Wednesday morning we got the news
that Frank Herbert had died.
I knew that Frank was very ill, and
we had all signed a get well card for
him at JPL during the flyby, but the
reports on the experimental cancer
treatment he was getting were encouraging,
and his sudden death was a shock.
I’m not a true newspaperman. I’ve
never written an obituary in advance,
and we have no file of them on hand. I
know the cover will be redone and there
will be something in this issue (which
must go to press in two days), but I
don’t know yet how much or what else
will have to be delayed. I have to
leave for Boston and New York within a
day and will not see the final issue
until you do. But it’s obvious we will
have to run some sort of appreciation
next issue.
ECONOMICS
I had more reaction than usual to
some of the figures I used in the book
summary about Waldenbooks and B. Dalton.
The easy one was how discounts
hurt. If you invest $3.00 to make
$1.00, you’re doing fine. It’s a 25%
profit. If you have to invest $12.00
to make $1.00, you might as well buy
CDs; they pay better and are safer.
My comment that the chains need 20%
to 30% growth per year invoked several
comments about profiteering. Here are
figures closer to home — the ones I
have to wrestle with every year. Annually,
the print bill for Locus goes up
10% for the same size issues, the labor
cost for help goes up 12%, and postage
and miscellaneous go up 9%. In order
to stay in the same place — never mind
expanding — the gross income has to
cover this. If the circulation (subscriptions
and bookstore sales) goes up
enough, there are no problems. If not,
we have to raise cover price and/or ad
rates. We had a smaller than usual
increase in circulation and felt that
(Continued on page 57)
LOCUS March 1986 / 3
L. Ron Hubbard Dies……………….1
Uranus and its Moons………………1
Editorial Hatters…………………3
1985 Nebula Awards Nominations……. 4
Nebula Banquet Changes…………….4
British SF Awards Nominees……….. 4
International Publishing Notes……. 4
Hubbard SF Projects to Continue…… 4
British Heilman Benefit……………4
Amazing Gets New Editor……………5
The Data File……………………. 5
People & Publishing……………….7
Agent’s Corner, Richard Curtis……. 9
Moons & Stars & Stuff, Fritz Leiber…9
Small Wonders: Short Fiction Reviews,
Amy Thomson………………… 11
Locus Looks at Books, Faren Miller…13
Locus Looks at More Books,
Debbie Notkin……………….15
Locus Looks at More Books, Dan Chow..17
Report from France, Pascal J. Thomas.20
Int’l Books & Magazines Received…. 22
Tropicon IV……………………..24
Pic the Pros at Chattacon……….. 24
Philcon 1985…………………….25
Los Angeles Authors on the Move:
David Brin: After THE POSTMAN…… 26
Katherine Kurtz: To the Manor Bound.26
Wasn’t It An Amazing Time?:
Howard Browne & Dwight V. Swain.27
Uranus Flyby Reports……………. 30
Locus Letters……………………34
Convention Listings…………….. 34
Magazines Received— January……… 38
Books Received— January…………. 39
British Books, January & February….45
Classified Ads…………………..48
Bestseller Lists…………………52
Obituaries: Robert P Mills, Harry Otto
Fischer & Earl Godwin…………… 54
More Voyager Photos………………59
ISSUE #302 • VOL. 19, NO. 3 • MARCH 1986 Mailing date: February 24,1986
THE NEWSPAPER OF THE SCIENCE FICTION FIELD
ISSN-0047-4959
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
Charles N. Brown
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Faren Miller
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Donna Burriston
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Carolyn F. Cushman
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Richard Curtis
Fritz Leiber
Debbie Notkin
Dan Chow
Locus, ISSN-0047-4959, The Newspaper of the
Science Fiction Field, is published monthly by LOCUS
PUBLICATIONS. Editorial address: 34 Ridgewood
Lane, Oakland, CA 94611; telephone (415) 339-9196.
Please send all mail to Locus Publications, P.O. Box
13305, Oakland, CA 94661.
Individual copies are $2.50. Individual subscriptions in
the U.S. are $24.00 for 12 issues, $45.00 for 24 issues
via second class mail. Individual subscriptions in
Canada are $27.00 for 12 issues, $51.00 for 24 issues
via second class mail. First class individual subscriptions
in the U.S. or Canada are $32.00 for 12 issues,
$61.00 for 24 issues. Individual overseas subscriptions
are $27.00 for 12 issues, $51.00 for 24 issues via
sea mail. Individual subscriptions to Europe or South
America via air mail are $45.00 for 12 issues, $85.00
for 24 issues. Individual subscriptions to Australia,
Asia, or Africa via air mail are $50.00 for 12 issues,
$95.00 for 24 issues. Institutional subscriptions are
$3.00 extra per year. Make all checks payable to
Locus Publications. All subscriptions, including
Canadian, are payable directly in U.S. funds only. When
converting from second class to first class delivery,
please convert all remaining issues on your present
subscription (75c per issue). The number after your
name on the mailing label is that of the last issue on
your present subscription. We do not send notices
when subscriptions are about to expire. If you change
your address, please notify us immediately. Second
class mail is not usually forwarded. It is either returned
or destroyed. We subtract one issue from your subscription
for each returned copy. We keep expired
addresses on file for one year, so tell us if your
subscription is a renewal or completely new.
British Subscription Agent:
Fantast (Medway) Ltd.
P.O. Box 23, Upwell
Wisbech, CAMBS PE14 9BU
Japanese Subscription Agent:
Takumi Shibano
700 Ninomiya Ninomiya-machi
Naka-gun Kanagawa-ken
259-01 Japan
Subscriptions accepted at current exchange rate.
Display advertising rates on request. Contact Donna
Burriston at (415) 339-3182.
Booksellers discounts available.
We take no responsibility for unsolicited submissions.
Contents copyright © 1986 by Locus Publications.
Second class postage paid at Oakland, California.
Postmaster: Send address changes to Locus Publications,
P.O. Box 13305, Oakland, CA 94661.
Ace………………………….. p.23
AuthorServices………………….. 51
Baen…………………… 14,18,19,33
Bantam………………….. 6,28,29,53
Berkley…………………………. 2
Bluejay……………………… 12,56
Bridge…………………………. 16
Button…………………………. 45
DAW……………………………. 44
Del Rey……………………… 40,55
We try to keep events in the non-sf
world out of Locus and don’t usually
expect sf events to spill over into the
outside world. Plans don’t always
work.
I was at JPL for the Uranus flyby on
Saturday, January 25, with dozens of
science fiction authors. It was originally
to be our lead story with a fullcolor
cover. On Sunday, Fred Harris of
AuthorServices called to tell me L. Ron
Hubbard had died. On Tuesday, the
Challenger blew up.
Carolyn Cherryh called about an ad
which was to go into the New York Times
on Sunday, February 16, supporting the
continuance of the space program. It
would cost $36,000 and the backers
wanted $360.00 from 100 sf people for
it. For reasons too complicated to go
into fully, I do not sign any ads (I
think they’re useless except to make
the signers feel good) or join many
organizations or make public statements
about anything outside of sf. I offered
to send money though. Any money
over the $36,000 needed will be going
to a fund for the children of the c h a l l
e n g e r ‘s crew, so you might want to
send contributions to C.J. Cherryh,
1901 Bella Vista, Edmond OK 73034.
If she had called a day later, I
probably would have said yes. The
local newspaper had a column about the
disaster which expressed surprise about
the public outpouring in favor of the
space program, accusing us all of
“growing up on Heinlein and the belief
that technology is always beneficial.”
Here were the two worlds intersecting
again. The column went on with the
usual litany about spending the money
to help the poor and I had the usual
flash thought about Isabella and Ferdinand
feeding the poor of Spain instead
of backing Columbus (we all sometimes
work in well-worn grooves) before
it all trailed off as I stopped reading
and went back to being depressed.
Most of Locus went to the printer on
Monday, February 10. We held back the
cover and first section for the Nebula
Garland………………………… 46
Mayfair Gaines……………………41
MGA Services…………………….42
Andre Norton, Ltd………………..43
Questar………………………… 37
Science Fiction Shop……………. 39
Signet…………………………. 10
St. Martin’s……………………. 47
Tor……………………….. 8,35,60
nominations due a few days later, but
the issue was mainly done and the cover
had been laid out for the nominations.
On Wednesday morning we got the news
that Frank Herbert had died.
I knew that Frank was very ill, and
we had all signed a get well card for
him at JPL during the flyby, but the
reports on the experimental cancer
treatment he was getting were encouraging,
and his sudden death was a shock.
I’m not a true newspaperman. I’ve
never written an obituary in advance,
and we have no file of them on hand. I
know the cover will be redone and there
will be something in this issue (which
must go to press in two days), but I
don’t know yet how much or what else
will have to be delayed. I have to
leave for Boston and New York within a
day and will not see the final issue
until you do. But it’s obvious we will
have to run some sort of appreciation
next issue.
ECONOMICS
I had more reaction than usual to
some of the figures I used in the book
summary about Waldenbooks and B. Dalton.
The easy one was how discounts
hurt. If you invest $3.00 to make
$1.00, you’re doing fine. It’s a 25%
profit. If you have to invest $12.00
to make $1.00, you might as well buy
CDs; they pay better and are safer.
My comment that the chains need 20%
to 30% growth per year invoked several
comments about profiteering. Here are
figures closer to home — the ones I
have to wrestle with every year. Annually,
the print bill for Locus goes up
10% for the same size issues, the labor
cost for help goes up 12%, and postage
and miscellaneous go up 9%. In order
to stay in the same place — never mind
expanding — the gross income has to
cover this. If the circulation (subscriptions
and bookstore sales) goes up
enough, there are no problems. If not,
we have to raise cover price and/or ad
rates. We had a smaller than usual
increase in circulation and felt that
(Continued on page 57)
LOCUS March 1986 / 3
