Betty Boop has arrived on Broadway, nearly a century after she first boop-oop-a-dooped her way onto the big screen. “Boop! The Musical,” like the “Barbie” and “Elf” films that preceded it, imagines a transformational encounter between an anthropomorphic character and the real world (well, a fictional world full of people)….
…Jasmine Amy Rogers, the actress starring as Betty Boop on Broadway, described her as “full of joy” and “unapologetically herself.” “She is sexy, but I don’t think it is merely sex that makes her sexy,” she continued. “I would say it’s the way she carries herself, and her confidence and her unabashed self.”…
Betty, created at the height of the Jazz Age, is obviously modeled on flappers, and her relationship to music history has been a subject of debate and litigation.
Critical Mass will meet at 6:30pm on Wednesday, April 16th at the Minor Works Building, 22 Stamford Court, Adelaide. [If you enter from Sturt Street, there’s an open path between 50 and 52 Sturt Street leading to the community centre] For those who can’t make it in person, they’re welcome to join us via zoom
Murray MacLachlanwrites The meeting is 2 April – Alexandra Pierce on First Contact – Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Shroud” and other great SF novels”
First Contact is one of the great science fiction themes and award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky has outdone himself with Shroud. Published on 25 February, Shroud has been favourably reviewed in Locus by Alexandra Pierce herself and in tonight’s talk she will expand on Tchaikovsky’s achievement in the context of many other impressive First Contact novels.
It’ll be a fine night! Alex will be speaking in person, travelling to our meeting from her home in country Victoria to be with us in person. Of course the Zoom meeting will be part of our meeting as usual, so please join on line if you can’t make it in person.
Other great news – our speaker on 7 May is travelling US author James Cambias who will be here in Melbourne discussing his seventh Baen Books novel, The Miranda Conspiracy, and of his Billion Worlds venue and writing in that “allegedly juveniles, but we know better than that” Robert Heinlein tradition.
Perry Middlemiss will be speaking in July on the novels of award-winning Taswegian author Robbie Arnott.
Nova Mob meeting 2 April 2025 – Alexandra Pierce on First Contact – Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Shroud” and other great SF novels
“The most common Communications scenario in sf – often but not always Linguistic in nature – involves the meeting of humans with Aliens. These are generally called first-contact stories, and perhaps the best known of them is “First Contact” (May 1945 Astounding) by Murray Leinster…” (Langford et al, SF Encyclopedia)
Pan MacMillan Australia tell us about Shroud –
“They looked into darkness. The darkness looked back . . . An utterly gripping story of survival on a hostile planet from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time. A commercial expedition to a distant star system discovers a pitch-black moon alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is deadly to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud. Under no circumstances can a human survive Shroud’s inhospitable surface – but a catastrophic accident forces Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne to make an emergency landing in a barely adequate escape vehicle. Alone, and fighting for survival, the two women embark on a gruelling journey across land, sea and air in search of salvation. But as they travel, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s unnerving alien species. It also begins to understand them. If they escape Shroud, they’ll somehow have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible. That is, if they make it back at all . . .”
“Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, has practised law and now writes full time. He’s also studied stage-fighting, perpetrated amateur dramatics and has a keen interest in entomology and table-top games.
“Adrian is the author of the critically acclaimed Shadows of the Apt series, the Echoes of the Fall series and other novels, novellas and short stories. Children of Time won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award, and Children of Ruin and Shards of Earth both won the British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel. The Tiger and the Wolf won the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel, while And Put Away Childish Things won the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction.”
Alexandra Pierce reviews novels for Locus and edits Speculative Insight magazine and web site, and we strongly recommend all to you.
Please share this invitation to this forthcoming meeting with like-minded friends and fans
Face to face
You are invited to an in-person Nova Mob meeting at: Wednesday 2 April 2025 8.00pm – 9.00 (formal close), first floor Creative Hub. Lift access. Stairs access. Both available.
Zoom meeting closes about 9.20pm or so.
Kensington Town Hall 30 – 34 Bellair St Kensington Melbourne VIC 3031
By Zoom – simulcast
Zoom session opened from the Kensington Town Hall. You are invited to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Wednesday 2 April 2025 8.00pm – 9.30 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney time; 7.30pm – 9.00pm Adelaide time; 6.30pm – 8.00 pm Darwin time; 5.00pm – 6.30 pm Perth time; 9.00am – 10.30am London time; 1.00am – 2.30am PST the night before
Melbourne SF pub meetup. Second Wednesday of every month Next meetup: Wednesday 9 April.
It’s an open invitation to all. The Nixon Hotel, 757 Bourke St, Docklands. https://nixonhotel.au/
Time: 6pm+ Westwards towards the Yarra waters from the north end of Southern Cross Station. Nearest train station: Southern Cross (exit the Bourke Street end and turn left) There is a lift outside and to the right of the Channel 9 building at concourse level, which takes you down to Bourke St level.
Convenor: Perry Middlemiss No RSVP required.
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The Electric State on Netflix
Very expensive and with many negative reviews, yet The Electric State’s sensibility comes through in the look of the feature-length movie just released. Mob members may recall discussion of Simon Stålenhag’s book as one of the short-listed candidates for the 2019 Clarke Award, this was at a meeting co-ordinated by Justin Ackroyd.
A role-playing game has been launched to accompany the Netflix movie. It includes previously unseen art. Even so, we go back to Simon Stålenhag’s generous web site, which has almost all of The Electric State posted on line. It looks glorious, and the images enlarge to high definition.
Chris Flynn was a fine guest at the Nova Mob as his book Mammoth became UQP’s surprise biggest best-seller of 2020. So when the Guardian reported that woolly mice have been created as a step on the path to recreating mammoths, we got in touch.
“Yes, they’ve been inundated with offers to buy them since the announcement. Not for sale, but how long can they resist that potential goldmine? Next thing we’ll see is tusked dogs and horned cats. Hybrid pets will be en vogue in the coming years. SF comes for us all eventually.
“Wait until some muppet creates a shark/octopus or a crocodile/bear. We won’t be laughing then. What could possibly go wrong?
“Best wishes, Chris Flynn”.
James Cambias – 7 May – The Miranda Conspiracy – Baen Books
Jim Cambias writes “I’m making my first visit to Australia in April and May, and I’ll be in Melbourne between May 6 and May 9. I’d love to meet some of Australia’s SF fan community. My seventh novel, The Miranda Conspiracy, just came out.” Jim will be our guest speaker on 7 May!
“Political intrigue on Uranus’s moon Miranda, intertwined mysteries among the super-rich ruling class, and a lost treasure from deep space add up to trouble for Adya, Daslakh, and Zee. Unravel The Miranda Conspiracy, a new Billion Worlds novel now available from Baen Books!”
Friends, out-of-town guests, and new arrivals – you are always welcome and have an open invitation to the Mob’s face-to-face and Zoom meetings. First time arrivals – free. Otherwise a $5 donation for expenses please. Face-to-face meetings are at the Kensington Town Hall: https://activemelbourne.ymca.org.au/venues/kensington-town-hall Face to face, the Kensington Town Hall has ample parking and excellent disability access. Kensington Railway Station is 13 minutes travel from Flinders St Station on the Craigieburn line. Bus routes via Metlink Journey Planner. Please don’t attend if you have symptoms that could be COVID 19 or similar. Our COVID-safe Plan continues to apply and we remain mask-friendly for those who wear them. Murray MacLachlan| Convenor
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is currently in development at Hulu.
Academy Award winning director Chloé Zhao, known for Nomadland and Eternals, is set to direct, while Nora and Lilla Zuckerman will be writing the script. They’ve described the reboot as “the next chapter in the Buffyverse,” and we couldn’t be more ready.
Variety alleges that the series is nearing a pilot order, meaning it shouldn’t be too far away.
Sources suggest that the new Buffy reboot will focus on a younger slayer, and that Buffy Summers will not be the main character.
The show was centred around the premise that only one Slayer could exist at a time. However, the original series ended following “the awakening” of hundreds of potential Slayers, meaning it was left open-ended enough for a new cast to come through.
Janeen Webb is a multiple award winning Melbourne author, editor, and critic who has written or edited a dozen books and over a hundred essays and stories. She is a recipient of the World Fantasy Award, the Peter MacNamara SF Achievement Award, the Australian Aurealis Award and four Ditmar Awards. Her most recent book is The Dragon’s Child (PS Publishing, UK, 2018). Her short story collection, Death at the Blue Elephant, (Ticonderoga, WA) was shortlisted for the 2015 World Fantasy Award. Janeen Webb is joining us in person to launch her new collection of short stories, Scorpion Girl.
We all have our demons. In Scorpion Girl, women of all ages face theirs. From battlefields to bedrooms, in these stories nothing is what it seems: creatures from myth, legend, history and literature rub shoulders with ordinary—and extraordinary—people. From ghosts to scientists, from eco-terrorists to time travellers, these courageous women come face to face with the uncanny, the supernatural and the bizarre. They meet the challenges with whatever they can muster—from the casual bravery of a woman warrior to the stoic endurance of a refugee child. Like all of us, they try to make sense of the unstable, conflicted world in which they find themselves.
Critical Mass will meet at 6:30pm on Wednesday, March 19th at the Minor Works Building, 22 Stamford Court, Adelaide. [If you enter from Sturt Street, there’s an open path between 50 and 52 Sturt Street leading to the community centre] For those who can’t make it in person, they’re welcome to join us via zoom
For March’s meeting our face to face meeting will be in the Creative Hub room at Kensington Town Hall. The meeting however will be a Zoom meeting, led from the Canberra wing of the Nova Mob – thanks Gillian! – and including a guest speaker from Hamburg or London.
Speakers for April and May also are known, both are Nova Mob members which is great to see the Mob tradition continuing.
Next 3 meetings
5 March – “Germans meet Australian Gothic” – Fifty years after “Picnic at Hanging Rock” and the translation into German of Australian Gothic. Gillian Polack/translation project manager or representative/ Mob discussion.
2 April – Alexandra Pierce on First Contact – Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Shroud” and other great SF novels
7 May – Perry Middlemiss – “The Novels of Robbie Arnott”
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Nova Mob meeting 5 March 2025 – Germans meet Australian Gothic
Did you know there’s a project under way to translate Australian Gothic novels and stories and novels into German?
Also that it’s fifty years since the film of Joan Lindsay’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock” was released?
A first step would be to define Australian Gothic. I’m sure the borders are porous but that there are core works. Is Lindsay’s one of them? Also the German understanding of Australian Gothic differs from the Australian version. There is nuance!
From Canberra, Gillian will be interviewing the translation program manager or their representative, prior to Mob general discussion of Picnic at Hanging Rock and other Australian Gothic.
German may be spoken from time to time.
Nova Mob 5 March “Germans meet Australian Gothic”
Face to face
You are invited to an in-person Nova Mob meeting on Wednesday, 5 March 2025 8.00pm – 9.00 Melbourne time, 7:30-8:30pm Adelaide, first floor Creative Hub room.
Zoom meeting closes about 9.20pm or so. Kensington Town Hall 30 – 34 Bellair St Kensington Melbourne VIC 3031
Last time for the pre-refurbishment pre-Mob pub meal in Newmarket
The Quiet Man, 271 Racecourse Road, Kensington, VIC 3031.
On the corner of Rankins Rd and Racecourse Rd. Enjoy it, the pub is closing for a swift refurbishment. The new owners perhaps have decided the Mexican tiled floors don’t go with the Irish pub fittings and fixtures.
Table for 8 booked under the name of the Nova Mob Book Discussion group also Murray, 6.00pm for 6.30, through to 8.00pm.
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Melbourne Fannish Drinks
Melbourne SF pub meetup. Second Wednesday of every month
Next meetup: Wednesday 12 March.
It’s an open invitation to all. The Nixon Hotel, 757 Bourke St, Docklands.
Time: 6pm+. Westwards towards the waters from the north end of Southern Cross Station. Nearest train station: Southern Cross (exit the Bourke Street end and turn left) There is a lift outside to the right of the Channel 9 building at concourse level, which takes you down to Bourke St level. Convenor: Perry Middlemiss
No RSVP required.
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Nova Mob About and Contact Us
Nova Mob on social media: We’re on Mastodon. Click the invite to follow
Face to face, the Kensington Town Hall has ample parking and excellent disability access. Newmarket Railway Station is 15 minutes travel from Flinders St Station on the Craigieburn line. By tram it’s via the Route 57 and by bus it’s the #83. Other bus routes via Metlink Journey Planner.
Please don’t attend if you have symptoms that could be COVID 19 or similar. Our COVID-safe Plan continues to apply and we remain mask-friendly for those who wear them.
Our guest this month is Karen J Carlisle, author of Victorian Steampunk & fantasy novels, including stories about the adventures of Viola Stewart, Homesian mysteries featuring Mrs Hudson, and Adelaide’s Aunt Enid, protector extraordinaire. Karen first fell in love with science fiction when she saw Doctor Who, as a four-year old. Her short stories have featured in the 2016 Adelaide Fringe exhibition, and the ‘A Trail of Tales’, ‘Where’s Holmes?’, ‘Deadsteam’ and ‘Sherlock is a Girl’s Name’ anthologies.
She writes full-time and can often be found plotting fantastical, piratical or airship adventures, and co-writing the occasional musical ditty. Karen has always loved dark chocolate and rarely refuses a cup of tea.
This meeting will feature the launch of the brand new Aunt Enid book, Twixtmas
It’s Twixtmas: the odd, dream-like time between Christmas and New Year when time slows, days blur, and the connections between the Otherworlds and ours are at their thinnest. Anything is possible. And accidents can happen. Join Sally as she’s transported to an Otherworld on a rescue mission – where Protectors are forbidden to tread.
Twixtmas is a portal fantasy with characters from The Aunt Enid Mysteries.
Critical Mass will meet at 6:30pm on Wednesday, February 19th at the Minor Works Building, 22 Stamford Court, Adelaide. [If you enter from Sturt Street, there’s an open path between 50 and 52 Sturt Street leading to the community centre] For those who can’t make it in person, they’re welcome to join us via zoom
A few weeks ago, we asked dozens of authors about the speculative books they considered The Most Iconic SFF Books of the 21st Century. We loved their responses, from modern classics to translated works to graphic novels to hidden gems.
But of course, readers had opinions! What about this book? How could that author not be in the top 10? It’s part of what we love about this community: a group of people who share a love for science fiction, fantasy, and horror from thousands of different angles, and who feel passionate enough about declaring their love for those books to come together to debate them from across the globe. We anticipated that people might want an outlet for these thoughts outside of social media, so we opened a poll asking for your input. And readers, you delivered!
We received well over 500 responses in the short time the poll was open. While the selections below are just a slice of that enthusiasm, we hope they show the diversity and fervor of SFF fans. Maybe you spot some favorites here. Maybe you get a new stack of recommendations for your shelves. Maybe you just take a minute to think about what the word “iconic” means to you. Either way… we hope you enjoy.
The Adelaide Fan Review 
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