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■Activities keep fantasy, sci-fi club growing
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The emoers:
Earner Johnson was presioeni, ana Rochelle
Dvorak, Ann Goering ami Tudor Lewis were
nembers.
Today, two and a half years later, the Lin
coln Fantasy and Science Fiction club has
grown to the point that it’s sponsoring it's first
convention — Maelstrom — in September.
As a University of Nebraska-Lincoln stu
dent organization, the club has access to both
student unions and other campus facilities.
They also charge no dues, no fees, and no
admission to most of their club functions.
“I’d say we offer our events 90 to 95 percent
free,” Johnson said.
There will be, however, a $20 fee for Mael
strom at the door, he said. But the fee is five
dollars less for those who register before
! Wednesday, September 1. /
Johnson said the club offers opportunities to
“socialize with people,,,v interested and
like the same things.”
The club’s meeting which serves as a
forum on science fiction and fantasy books,
films and comics—meets on Wednesdays at 7
p.m.
A writer’s group meets biweekly on Thurs
days. It offers a workshop for those interested
in writing horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
Role-playing games are offered in coruunc
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days.
And premiering tonight at 7:30 is “Radio
Active Badger Theatre, a weekly showing of
episodes of “Dr. Who,” “Blake’s 7,” and the
bizarre “Mystery Science Theater3000” which
is currently unavailable in the Lincoln area.
The group is probably best known for offer
ing mini Japanese animation festivals one Sun
day a month and occasionally previewing up
coming science-fiction television shows and
series episodes.
The previews are made available by mem
Travis Haying/DN
Gamer Johnson, a graduate student In military history and the president of the Lincoln Fantasy and Science Fiction chib,
atonic in tent of a collection of Me favorite science fiction honks . . : ..__ ^ ^ ^ ^
ben with satellite hookups who receive satel
lite feed transmissions intended for local sta
tions.
Showing the feed transmissions is legal be
cause it’s free, Johnson said.
“The cable companies know that we do it,”
he said. “And really what happens is that people
will watch (the shows) twice.”
Johnson said many will watch the shows at
the preview and then again later when the show
premieres.
Fan networks supply much of the animation
ami films that the club shows, working within
the may areas of the law.
“The fans are pretty good at policing them
selves,” Johnson said. “The distribution com
panies are also very helpful.”
But once the rights are purchased by an
American distributing company, the fan boot
legs disappear, he said.
Basically, he said, the method allows fans
and distributors to work together to create a
wider market for the films.
Johnson said club members also maintain a
great interest in American science-fiction and
fantasy authors. The monthly newsletter car
ries regular interviews with well known writ
ers, including upcoming articles with Larry
Niven and Roger Zelazny.
A host of writers will also be guests at
Maelstrom, including Robert Reed of Lincoln,
Mickey Zucker Reichert—whose latest novel, ,
“Last of the Renshai” is just out—and Richard
Knaak, whose new novel, “King of the Gray,"
is due in October.
‘TheClient’ has privilege,
but doesn’t retain chance
of being Grisham’s best
John Grisham
“The Client”
Doubleday
John Grisham’s latest novel of murder
and intrigue debuted at No. 1 on the bestseller
lists and filming for the motion picture has
begun.
The book is good anyway.
“The Client is a departure for Grisham
in the respect that the protagonist is not a
lawyer or a law student. He’san 11-year-old
boy.
Mark Sway is sneaking a smoke with his
little brother Ricky in the woods near the
trailer park where they live with their moth
er. They become embroiled in a crooked
lawyer’s suicide attempt and then witness
his last, successful try.
Mark tries to keep their experience a
secret, but when Ricky goes into extended
shock, Mark has no choice but to get help.
Unfortunately, the police are of little assis
tance.
It seemed the suicide victim was repre
senting a young Mafioso accused of murder
ing a U.S. senator. The police, the F.B.I. and
a pompous district attorney are convinced
Mark knows the details of the crime.
He does, but he’s not telling. And he hires
an attorney to make sure he doesn’t have to
spill the beans. His representation is one
Reggie Love, a 52-year-old divorcee and
child’s rights activist.
The story rolls from one escapade to
another, involving bumbling F.B.I. agents
and vengeful Mafia hitmen. Grisham makes
Mark a very savvy little boy but it's not too
contrived, especially as Grisham gives
glimpses into the boy’s troubled life.
The book gets a little too sentimental in
some places but reads at a fast pace despite
playing the heartstrings so often. “The Cli
ent" is not quite as good as Grisham’s previ
ous novels—“A Time to Kill," “The Firm”
or “The Pelican Brief,” but it’s still an
entertaining way to whittle away the hours.
—Anne Steyer
‘Exile’ explores quest to reveal
truth in rigidly controlled society
Michael P. Kube-McDowell
“Exile"
Ace Science Fiction
A light appears in the sky over the world of
Ana, and a voice tells the people it is from
another planet, their home planet, and they are
a colony.
The leaders of the world, stricken with fear
at the challenge to their rule, destroy the space
craft. The witnesses to the event are massacred,
or exiled, because they demanded to know the
truth about the incident.
This is the intriguing premise of Michael P.
Kube-McDowell’s “Exile.”
This twist on fust-contact stories picks up 15
years later, when Meer Faschen receives a
message that his friend, Kendar Nanchen, has
died while in exile. Nanchen wished to be
returned to the city of Ana upon his death.
Faschen is painfully reminded by the request
that he himself sent Nanchen into exile, in an
effort to save himself from the executioner’s
blade.
Despite violent opposition, Faschen travels
to Epa-Daun, the city of exiles.
Tnere he finds his friend stiU quite alive, but
unable to live with himself. It seems he can no
longer suppress the truth of the fateful encoun
ter so many years before.
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D«wd Badders/DN
The two become determined to return from
exile, and tell the truth. But it’s no easy task in
a rigidly controlled society such as Ana.
Nanchen dies of exhaustion before the two
can reach their destination, leaving Faschen to
carry on, and eventually break the silence.
“Exile” is the sixth novel from Kube
McDowell, and follows his growing tradition
of excellence, marked by meticulously crafted
and believable settings. His first novel,
“Emprise” (1985), was a Philip K. Dick Award
finalist. His fifth book, “The Quiet Pools”
(1991), was a Hugo Award finalist. “Altemities”
(1988) is one of the best alternate-universe tales
ever published. “Exile” is highly recommend
ed reading, from an author almost certain to win
a Hugo or Nebula before the decade is out.
—Sam Kepfield