DC Comics is changing what Superman stands for. The company released a new mission statement for the 83-year-old icon who famously fought for “Truth, Justice and the American Way.”
Now Clark Kent’s Man of Steel is about “Truth, Justice and a Better Tomorrow.” “To better reflect the storylines that we are telling across DC and to honor Superman’s incredible legacy of over 80 years of building a better world, Superman’s motto is evolving,” announced DC Chief Creative Officer and Publisher Jim Lee at the company’s DC FanDome fan event on Saturday. “Superman has long been a symbol of hope who inspires people, and it is that optimism and hope that powers him forward with this new mission statement.”
“I’m tired of having my actions construed as instruments of U.S. policy. ‘Truth, Justice and the American Way’ — it’s not enough anymore. The world’s too small. Too connected.”
Superman, In the 900th issue of Action Comics, when he renounced his U.S. citizenship (2011)
Murray notes: As our lockdown continues and Victoria opens up on the modelling that it’ll be a 50/50 coin-toss whether or not our hospitals get overwhelmed, I’m hoping that your spirits are well and you and your friends and family are reaching out to each other with care and fun.
Here’s some fun! Paul Voermans is our guest at the Nova Mob on Wednesday 6 October!
Paul will be telling us about his latest novel, 2020’s The White Library. It is highly likely that byways and tangents of sfnal, surrealist and fannish interest may be pointed at, explored, and poked with sticks.
“the novel is a joy to read, brimming with wild ideas, vibrant characters and a cinematic, sense-of-wonder denouement” — Ian Mond, in Locus
Paul says, “I’ve attended a few Nova Mobs in my day, but I assume that this one will not include attending a restaurant in Richmond! I suspect that dates me….”
In truth it dates all of us because that was pre-pandemic. Our meeting will be by Zoom, invitation below, but first the calendar:
Calendar
Sep 28 – Nova Mob Special 1-hour meeting: Clarke Awards announcement.
Oct 6 – Paul Voermans on The White Library.
Oct 27 – Critical Mass Adelaide – Online SF Magazines Lightspeed, Escape Pod, Uncanny.
Oct 29 – Australian Science Fiction Foundation Awards Night with Nova Mob party room.
Nov 3 – Ian Mond – 2021’s ten best books of SF interest not branded as SF.
Nov 27 – Critical Mass Adelaide – Roman Orszanski on Empires, Galactic and Magic.
Dec 1 – Iain McIntyre – Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985 by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre.
Dec 18 – end of year Nova Mob lunch hopefully face to face. To be confirmed, it’s subject to pandemic restrictions and requirements.
💥 💥 💥
Meeting: Paul Voermans on The White Library (2020)
You are invited to a scheduled Zoom meeting of the Nova Mob.
Date and Time: Oct 6, 2021 8:00pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, 7:30pm Adelaide
Paul speaks from about 8.10pm to around 9.00pm followed by questions and discussions. Formal close after discussions, say 9.20pm, and final close for those who wish to linger and chat will be at or before 10pm.
Melbourne’s State Library is the setting for Paul Voerman’s third full-length published novel, The White Library.
What’s the weirdest thing you could imagine going on in a national library?
Dropout physics student Angela Donohoe is about to discover just that. Release it. Become it. All in a world where colonial history did not quite turn out like ours, where the global power is the Federated Kingdom of Mendana and David Bowie was an astronaut, The White Library is a surreal escapade of library friends and enemies, love—and a remarkable woman.
It’s also a slightly sideways sequel-by-association to Paul’s The Weird Colonial Boy. Says Paul:
“Unlike the faithful, who have ordered copies and even circulated them among poverty-stricken friends, I’m not expecting people to have forked out for a hardcover at about $65 including delivery from the UK and we are still working on the Australian distribution, so the link to the very reasonable e-book is https://www.pspublishing.co.uk/the-white-library-ebook-by-paul-voermans-5316-p.asp Only GBP 2.99! Please feel free to forward this to anybody you think might like a foolish SF novel set in the State Library of Victoria.”
[I’ve bought the e-book and it worked out at AU$5.89 — I received the email link within five minutes and had a choice of mobi or epub ]
NPR (National Public Radio) announced “Your 50 Favorite Sci-Fi And Fantasy Books of the Past Decade”, a list with a top 50 selected by Amal El-Mohtar, Ann Leckie, Fonda Lee, and Tochi Onyebuchi. Titles are separated into categories, such as “Worlds To Get Lost In” and “Will Mess With Your Head”, and include a range of subgenres and interests.
What is it about space opera that makes us love it so much? The action, the exotic settings, the colorful characters, the alien species? The promise of countless adventures in the face of the great unknown? The excitement of imagining what humanity may someday become and accomplish in the vast reaches of the final frontier?
Whatever your reason for loving the genre, this bundle has it in abundance. The ten books I’ve selected (one of them a five-book set, actually) are jam-packed with space opera goodness that will propel you out to the furthest reaches of the universe and give you all the best feels while provoking plenty of deep thoughts along the way. – Robert Jeschonek
For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you’re feeling generous), you’ll get the basic bundle of four books in any ebook format—WORLDWIDE.
Star Smuggler by T.S. Snow
Space: 1975 edited by Robert Jeschonek
Maelstrom by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The Earth Concurrence by Julia Huni
If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all four of the regular books, plus six more books (including two StoryBundl exclusives), for a total of 10!
Project Charon 1: Re-Entry by Patty Jansen
Galactic Capers of the Amazing Conroy by Lawrence M. Schoen
Ardent Redux Saga Boxed Set – Complete First Season by J.L. Stowers
Ball of Confusion by Dean Wesley Smith (StoryBundle Exclusive)
Krimson Run by Craig Martelle and Julia Huni
Encounter at Vilahana by Blaze Ward (StoryBundle Exclusive)
J. Michael Straczynski told Facebook readers August 12th that The Last Dangerous Visions has been finished.
THE LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS has at last been completed. The final draft went off to the agency that will be handling the sale about fifteen minutes ago. This has been a massive effort…112,000 words…tracking down the estates of the original writers to be included in the book, and nailing down some newer A List writers; fans of Harlan’s who wanted to be a part of TLDV. (And for the record, Harlan continued to buy stories for the anthology right through the 90s, and stopped only due to illness. He saw TLDV as a living document, and fought to keep it relevant when some stories became less timely or were supplanted by real world events.)
I will have more to say about the contents at a later date, but suffice to say that they include some of the most visionary writers in the science fiction genre over the last 48 years.
Dear Nova Mob and friends, our guest at the forthcoming Nova Mob is the witty, erudite, compelling, and encyclopaedic John Clute, science fiction’s foremost critic!
Frankly I’m just gobsmacked, colour me purple, tickle me pink, and over the moon. Delighted, yes definitely delighted. But expect no such cliches from our guest! Our time together will be a fireside chat, and I do recommend “some research required” for your questions to be put to John.
Already I’ve enquired gently of John about book storage problems, reflections on where the Encyclopaedias came from and where they are going, and whether the phrase “the Gene Wolfe of SF criticism” would be a good fit. With some poise he has replied:
Gene Wolfe — I can certainly say in our conversation why that’s interesting, but also (stature aside) I’d distinguish between us. I can do questions about Fantastika; memories of Peter Nicholls; the theory of archive as applied to Collections
Fantastika has considerable appeal; the concept solves many of the field’s definitional problems. It acknowledges that the English-speaking world has taken up some ill-wrought terms to describe science fiction, fantasy, and horror, to the point where the term “Fantastic” as used by Suvin and many others cannot comfortably be applied directly to American, UK, and other English-language criticism of the field. “Fantastika” has the ring of truth to it, please dive in, it’s worth it. (The first four items steadily get more sophisticated and nuanced)
Fantastika; or, The Sacred Grove. Article, Fantastika Journal. Volume 1. Issue 1. April 2017. John Clute. Start at page 13, and describes the eight or so dimensions contained in the concept of Fantastika
“Clute has dedicated his life work to the field of SF, fantasy and horror — to Fantastika — and all of us in the field should be profoundly grateful that he has done so.”
The 2021 Sir Julius Vogel Award finalists have been announced. The awards recognize excellence in science fiction, fantasy, or horror works created by New Zealanders and New Zealand residents.
Best Novel
Gad’s Army by Drew Bryenton (Sci Fi Cafe)
The Stone Weta by Octavia Cade (Paper Road Press)
Transference by B.T. Keaton (Ingleside Avenue Press)
The Court of Mortals by A.J. Lancaster (Camberion Press)
Blood of the Sun by Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
While we’re talking about variants on the Holmes canon, let me recommend Enola Holmes, a delightful film based on a novel The Missing Marquess. I was smitten by the opening scenes on the bicycle! An excellent film.
The Adelaide Fan Review 
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