THE FANTASTICON 2018 PROGRAM BOOK - Maleren Knud Larn
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THE FANTASTICON 2018 PROGRAM BOOK
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This is the official Program Book for Fantasticon 2018. It has been sent out electronically to all registered
members of the convention. It forms part of The Membership Packet, also containing the official poster, the
handy folder with the program overview, and the New Nordic Steampunk Anthology - based on the open
writing competition we did in connection with Fantasticon 2018.
Find us here: Homepage: www.fantasticon.dk / Tickets at: www.enkelbillet.dk/fantasticon / Social Media:
www.facebook.com/fantasticonDK / photos, reviews, comments at #fantasticonDK
Indhold
Welcome to the party! ........................................................................................................................................ 3
What is Steampunk? – A short definition by Knud Larn ...................................................................................... 5
Kostumedrama og samfundskritik - Lidt om steampunk af Niels Dalgaard ........................................................ 6
Jules Verne og Dampen – en refleksion af Bjørn Larsen...................................................................................... 9
Buy Books! - By the Guests of Honor! ................................................................................................................ 13
Events not to miss this year! ............................................................................................................................. 14
Titanic! - A short story by our GoH Lavie Tidhar ................................................................................................ 16
Con-committee 2018 - Those who made it happen: ......................................................................................... 20
The steampunk classics – what to read first?.................................................................................................... 21
Steampunk på dansk – en oversigt af Lise Andreasen....................................................................................... 22
Buy MORE Books! – We present SF BOK & Fantask .......................................................................................... 23
Hvorfor skrive Steampunk – et interview med Billy O´Shea .............................................................................. 24
Karl-Johan Norén – our Scandinavian FILK singer! ............................................................................................ 25
What happens at Fantasticon 2018? ................................................................................................................. 28
Den første danske tema-specifikke steampunkantologi!.................................................................................. 31
Filigree and Ice, Ash and Atoms - A short story by Edmund Schluessel ............................................................. 32
Steampunk Film – en gennemgang af Tue Sørensen ........................................................................................ 36
Steampunk Spil – et eksempel af Klaus Æ. Mogensen ...................................................................................... 39
Steam Market - what you may find here… ........................................................................................................ 41
Untitled – An exclusive story excerpt by our GoH Jeannette Ng ....................................................................... 42
The Fantasticon 2018 Code of Conduct ............................................................................................................ 46
The list of members 2018 – as per August 9th 2018 (63 registered members). ................................................ 47
© All Rights Reserved 2018. Version 2/12.08.2018. Please note that this pdf. (aka The Fantasticon 2018 Program Book) is only
intended for registered members of Fantasticon 2018. All contents are copyrighted by the individual authors. When no author
reference is given, assume that the copyright belongs to Fantasticon. No part of this book, or the entire book, may be republished,
stored, or shared in any way outside the members of Fantasticon 2018. Edited by Knud Larn; Front page by Manfred Christiansen.
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Welcome to the party!
It is time - once again - for the yearly Danish Science Fiction / Fantasy /
Horror Convention in Central Copenhagen, Fantasticon 2018. For the 15th
time we will gather fans, makers, writers, artists, and scientists for a three-
day gathering with exhibitions, panels, talks, workshops, and award
ceremonies. As always we strive to present both current developments in
the genre(s), as well as providing targeted insights into the many aspects of
our favorite pastime! This year we want to look closer at Steampunk, one of
the more vibrant children of the Cyberpunk revolution. For the un-initiated,
we give a slight presentation of steampunk basics in these pages. However
there will also be many program items not related to our theme, for
instance will we be looking at several new Danish genre-books published
here in 2018. As we have many foreign guests, and as most Danes read
English-language genre books anyway, about 2/3rds of the program will be
in English, the rest will be in Danish.
This year, due to a generous sponsorship from Science Fiction Cirklen, we have been able to invite two
Guests of Honor:
Lavie Tidhar (IL)
- Winner of the 2012 World Fantasy Award, the 2015 Jerwood Fiction
Prize for Best British Book, and the 2017 John W. Campbell Memorial
Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
We will be talking with him about novels like THE BOOKMAN TRILOGY
(2010, 2011, 2012), OSAMA (2012), THE VIOLENT CENTURY (2013),
CENTRAL STATION (2015), A MAN LAY DREAMING (2017), CANDY
(2018).
In a separate interview, we will talk with him about The APEX WORLD SF Project – a series of anthologies
presenting non-anglocentic genre fiction in English. A fifth volume is currently being published in 2018.
Jeannette Ng (HK)
- Her debut Victorian fantastic novel UNDER THE PENDULUM SUN
(2017) is nominated for this year´s John W. Campbell Award for Best
New Writer. It is that good! We will naturally talk to her about this
exiting novel about missionaries in Africa, magical kingdoms, a
pendulum sun, and Victorianism. As well as what we can expect
from her upcoming work(s). You can read an exclusive preview
elsewhere in this program book!
Jeannette Ng is also an ardent cosplayer, blogger, and twitters a lot about genre fictions. I am sure these
elements will come up during the con. Do Note: Jeannette Ng will lead a workshop of cosplay, from
selecting/making costumes to setting hair, and she will teach the participants easy tricks to set their hair like
a pro. If you are into cosplay, you REALLY should participate in this workshop!
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Special Guest – LUX ARTIS (PL)
Steampunk are many things. The esthetics of steampunk reaches into visual
arts as well. Therefore LUX ARTIS will be our special guest this year. LUX
ARTIS is an art publishing house promoting artists who are into fantastical
and surreal art.
Major Polish fantastic artist Jarosław Jaśnikowski heads the portfolio at LUX
ARTIS, but several other talented painters have joined them as well. LUX
ARTIS will create a sales exhibition at Fantasticon 2018, focusing on
steampunk art.
Other Program Participants
Besides these highlighted guests, that you really should make sure to meet at the con, there are all the other
program participants, more than 30 of them in fact this year! Together they will build a diverse program in
two tracks throughout the con. From writers reading from their current work, over fans presenting in-depth
analysis of our genre, to a scientist presenting the real science in steampunk. As always a diversity of panels
will discuss current topics, like Frankenstein´s 200th Birthday, the writings of the late Ursula K. LeGuin &
Brian Aldiss, how and why to squee, characters in Tamora Pierce´s work, new genre fiction, etc. In our Steam
Market, we have stocked up on publications to buy, gadgets and clothes to wear, Virtual Reality Programs to
test, and all the other stuff that is an integral part of a SFF convention. Do visit the tables. They are here to
meet you!
You, the members!
Finally, we want to thank ALL the members of Fantasticon 2018. Regardless of us in the con-committee, of
the special guests, of all the program participants and their preparations, it is YOU, dear member of
Fantasticon 2018, that made - and make - this yearly convention possible.
We hope you enjoy the party!
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What is Steampunk? – A short definition by Knud Larn
A modern definition of art goes like this: “Art is that which is presented as
art”. Just like art, steampunk is whatever people make it, as long as they (or
others) call it steampunk. To approach a definition is just to limit the space
available for development of the phenomenon. But in order to put words
down for those who want to know the basics – here is a limiting definition:
Steampunk ("steam noise") is a two-part name for a sub genre of speculative
fiction, which emphasizes anachronistic technology, typically from the
Victorian era of England. The subgenre is related to the broader term retro-
futurism and is academically one of several children of cyberpunk.
The technology described often includes steam engines (hence the name),
large airships, complex mechanical calculators and other mechanical
technology from the 19th century. The subgenre can easily deal with modern objects such as computers,
artificial hearts, and limbs - just based on Victorian technology - such as, for example, we see in William
Gibson and Bruce Sterling's The Difference Engine (1990). Microelectronics in modern sense is not found, nor
is combustion engines.
Then, the punk / "noise" element covers a conscious shift of focus from the Victorian era's beautiful
bourgeois facade to cover everything that was just below the surface: the romantic, the gothic, the deviant,
the supernatural. Thus, you'll find strong tea-drinking women heroes in adorable dresses with nice little
umbrellas, well-dressed zombie captains on air ships, delicious werewolves and intriguing vampires at
Buckingham Palace - and of course sex. Unlike cyberpunk, mostly written by men to men, steampunk is
equally written and read by all genders - and the identification markers in the texts are therefore
deliberately directed more widely.
At the beginning of the subgenre´s existence, the authors, regardless of their origin country, held a focus on
London as the model town and on the British Empire’s powerful power mechanisms as the basic structure.
Later, a number of new authors have transposed steampunk both geographically and temporally. Today we
find steampunk stories in all locations (Asia, Africa, even Scandinavia) and in a variety of borrowed clothes
(from popular folk tales, medieval surroundings, taking place in the Bronze Age, or in ancient times). Of
course, steampunk can also take place in completely invented worlds / on other planets, spaceships, etc.
However, continuing with steam machines, clockwork, and put up in a "noisy" context with the reader's
expectations of / experience with the settling. As with all recent subgenres in our fantastic literature,
Steampunk has also proved very well-suited as experimental ground for literary experiments with politics,
gender, religion and other minority and identification agendas.
Steampunk's big and sustained success, unique among cyberpunks many children, is probably linked closely
to the fact that it quickly created an audience that not only read books / comics, but were into cinema / art /
theater, cosplay, and/or came out of the Do-It-Yourself movement. The main ingredients in the classic
steampunk tale now appear to be polished brass, iron, and wood. Gears, handles, springs and other
elements of clockwork are also very widespread. As are Victorian fashion - with corsets, lace edges, etc.
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Kostumedrama og samfundskritik - Lidt om steampunk af Niels Dalgaard
De seneste par år er der så småt begyndt at dukke steampunk op i Danmark, et internationalt fænomen der
har været et stykke tid undervejs. Men nu har også danske læsere fået adgang til en verden med
dampdrevne biler, dampdrevne computere, tandhjul, fjedre, mystiske instrumenter udført i fint messing-
finish, herrer i høje hatte (og ofte med komplicerede monokler), damer i lange kjoler, obskur kemi,
optrækkelige robotter og zeppelinere.
Etiketten ”steampunk” bliver brugt om mange ting, om litteratur, om film, om tegneserier, om cosplay
(udklædning), om mode, om fremstilling af forskellige dimser (noget der foretages af makers) og endda til
dels om en politisk bevægelse.
Begrebet er opstået indenfor litteraturen, og det er efter manges mening stadigvæk den litterære del
af steampunken der er den mest interessante. Den første der satte navn på det, var den amerikanske
forfatter K. W. Jeter, der i et læserbrev til tidsskriftet Locus i april 1987 skrev:
Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come
up with a fitting collective term for [Tim] Powers, [James] Blaylock and myself. Something based
on the appropriate technology of the era; like ”steampunks”, perhaps…
Der er god grund til at tro at der er et element af ironi i Jeters brev. Ikke så meget overfor de ”victorianske
fantasier” han omtaler, men overfor tanken om at en etiket er nødvendig for markedsføring af en
litteraturform – hvilket ofte er tilfældet især på det amerikanske bogmarked. Under alle omstændigheder
skriver han sit brev, mens den strømning der er blevet kendt som cyberpunken var på sit højeste, en
undergenre der blev kendt af en bredere verden gennem William Gibsons roman Neuromancer (1984), og
som dyrkede en feticheret udgave af computernetværker, kunstig intelligens og virtual reality. Ved at foreslå
en term hvor det kybernetiske er skiftet ud med damp, peger Jeter på at der er tale om to forskellige
økonomiske systemer, det ene baseret på data, det andet netop på dampens rå kraft. En anden måde at sige
det på er at det udtrykker forskellen mellem en tidlig industrialisme og en informationsøkonomi – men
sådan som mange forfattere har praktiseret steampunk, er det ikke sikkert at forskellen er så stor under
fortællingernes overflade. Hvilket i nogle tilfælde måske endda er pointen.
Ved at bruge udtrykket ”victorianske fantasier” peger Jeter på et andet gennemgående element i
steampunken, nemlig at den oftest (men ikke altid) udspiller sig i den britiske dronning Victorias regeringstid
(1837-1901). Man kan derfor se det meste af steampunken som en version af den litteraturform der kaldes
alternate history, hvor man forestiller sig en verden der på mange måder ligner vores, men hvor den
historiske udvikling har taget en anden retning. Kritikeren John Clute har skrevet i The Encyclopedia of
Fantasy, at steampunken ofte henter sine forestillinger om det victorianske London fra Charles Dickens.
Samtidig kan man konstatere at det er en litteraturform der især praktiseres af amerikanske forfattere –
hvilket kunne give anledning til at fundere over hvor tæt på deres emne, de egentlig er.
Med hensyn til den politiske bevægelse, udfoldede den sig især omkring tidsskriftet Steampunk
Magazine fra cirka midten af nullerne. Her skriver man om en ”ikke-maskinstormerisk kritik af teknologien”,
hvormed man ser sig i opposition til cyberpunkens ”ultrahippe dystopi”. Man udtrykker også utilfredshed
med det der kaldes ”nostalgisk steampunk”, den ganske udbredte form hvor man på ukritisk vis dyrker
ikonografien fra den victorianske tidsalder uden at se den i sammenhæng med det samfund der frembragte
den – et samfund med mange uheldige egenskaber. Modsat denne idylliserende leg med billeder ønsker den
kritiske steampunk at vise den beskidte underside af det daværende system, og – som det oftest er tilfældet
med science fiction på et vist niveau – derigennem vække til eftertanke om den måde vi har indrettet vores
nuværende system på (og den rolle teknologien spiller i det). Blandt denne form for ”anti-autoritær
litteratur” fremhæves Michael Moorcocks The Warlord of the Air (1871) og William Gibson og Bruce
Sterlings The Difference Engine (1990).
Uanset hvad steampunk som politisk bevægelse gik ud på – og det synes der ikke at herske nogen
større klarhed over – så løb det ud i sandet, og Steampunk Magazine lukkede efter en lille halv snes numre.
Hvad der bliver tilbage, er imidlertid en skelnen mellem steampunk som kostumedrama og steampunk som
en form for science fiction med et særligt kritisk potentiale.
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The Difference Engine var nok det første større værk, som etiketten blev sat på i fuld alvor. De to
forfattere er mest kendt for cyberpunk, og romanen er da også blevet læst og analyseret i forhold til denne
strømning. Ligesom cyberpunken i almindelighed og de to forfatteres kendteste værker i særdeleshed,
handler den nemlig især om informationsteknologien. Den bygger på det litterære greb at omplante
computerrevolutionen til tiden for den industrielle revolution, og lader dermed det victorianske samfund få
dampdrevne computere (og tekstbehandlingsanlæg!), baseret på de idéer som virkelighedens Charles
Babbage fremførte, men ikke nåede at se praktiseret. Navnet på hans ufuldendte maskine, ”differens-
maskinen”, som bogen har taget titel efter, bliver også et udtryk for difference i en anden betydning, nemlig
forskel – både forskellen mellem det virkelige 1800-tals England og den fortalte verden i romanen, og
forskellen mellem magthavere og den brede befolkning. Der er ikke tale om nogen romantiseret opfattelse
af at computerbaseret overvågning ville blive hyggeligere af at foregå i ”de gode gamle dage”.
De tre forfattere, som Jeter nævner i sit brev til Locus, er i virkeligheden ret forskellige, og
steampunken har da også bredt sig i forskellige retninger. Tim Powers skrev (og skriver) især fantasy, mens
Blaylock hovedsagelig laver mere eller mindre vellykkede genrepasticher på victoriansk litteratur og flittigt
betjener sig af ikoner som gale og geniale videnskabsmænd og detektiver, og Jeter selv især beskæftiger sig
med den mere gyser-agtige underside af det victorianske samfund. Og siden har genren bredt sig endnu
mere; da den for alvor blev et kommercielt fænomen i nullerne, kom der talrige steampunk-værker indenfor
såvel fantasy som horror og science fiction.
Som det altid går med den slags strømninger, var og er der en hel del ligegyldigheder imellem. Når
man kan sælge én roman om spændende begivenheder i et alternativt London, er der ingen grund til ikke at
lave den til en serie. Men der skrives også tekster der på forskellig vis prøver, dels at interagere med
historien – og med fiktionens egen historie – og dels at kritisere den victorianske model og dermed de rester
af den der stadig dominerer vores verden.
Der er talrige historier hvor såvel virkelige som fiktive personer optræder, enten som ”gæster” der
passerer i baggrunden, eller som væsentlige aktører. I nogle tilfælde er det ikke så forskelligt fra de mange
der har skrevet nye historier om Sherlock Holmes, men andre historier tager bevidst fat på enten at
omfortolke historiske personer eller bringe intertekstuelle referencer til fiktive personer i spil. Forskellige
udgaver af Jack the Ripper optræder fx hyppigt i horror-enden af steampunken, og såvel en virkelig forfatter
som H. G. Wells – der ofte postuleres rent faktisk at have opfundet den tidsmaskine han skrev om – som
fiktive, ikoniske figurer, fra førnævnte Sherlock Holmes til karakterer fra Dickens’ og Jules Vernes romaner.
Et meget udfoldet eksempel på denne leg med de forskellige figurer kan man se i tegneserien (og filmen)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Denne, ofte ganske komplicerede, intertekstuelle leg betyder at steampunken kan ses som en
postmoderne litteraturform, der i større eller mindre grad bygger på en forventning om at læserne vil forstå
referencerne. Risikoen her er selvfølgelig at man ender med et rent og skært tomt spil, der i sidste ende ikke
fortæller nogen anden historie end at vi alle sammen kender den (populær)kulturelle matrix, vi arbejder i.
Men de bedre historier af denne art handler ikke kun om ikoniske figurer i pudsige sammenhænge; de er
kritiske og revisionistiske overfor det normsæt, disse figurer oftest bevægede sig rundt indenfor.
Der er flere beskedne eksempler indenfor den righoldige strøm af steampunk-noveller der er kommet
de senere år. Et af dem er Molly Browns historie ”The Selene Gardening Company” (1905). Den er oprindelig
skrevet til en antologi med historier i forlængelse af Jules Vernes værker, og lader flere af personerne fra
Rejsen til Månen blive involveret i et nyt fantastisk eventyr, tyve år efter det oprindelige. Det er selvfølgelig
en helt bevidst leg med fiktive karakterer (et fænomen der bestemt ikke er begrænset til science fiction),
men samtidig har denne leg en drejning: Det er ikke de gamle mænd i Baltimores kanonklub, der er den
drivende kraft denne gang; det er en af de kvindelige sammenslutninger, der var en del af i victoriatidens
overklasse og øvre middelklasse. Det er selvfølgelig lidt af en vittighed, at projektet bliver startet fordi en af
de gamle kanonfolk mangler noget at rive i og derfor roder rundt i sin kones have. Ikke desto mindre er det
en pointe at det denne gang er kvinderne der er de aktive, og selv om der næppe er nogen der ville tage
deres projekt alvorligt i dag, giver det mening at forestille sig at det kunne være blevet taget alvorligt
dengang. Projektet, der går ud på at give Månen en atmosfære ved at sende jordisk affald og plantefrø
derop, er ikke mere fjollet end så mange samtidige projekter – og det har en økologisk pointe, der i virke-
ligheden er meget moderne.
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Endnu mere eksplicit kritisk er James Morrows ”Lady Witherspoon’s Solution” (2008), hvor endnu et
kvindeselskab helt konkret arbejder med hævn over voldtægtsmænd og andre former for mandlige
misbrugere, som det victorianske samfund ikke havde nogen mangel på. Titlens ordspil lader sig vanskeligt
oversætte, fordi ”løsning” og ”opløsning” er to forskellige ord på dansk; men den siger ganske meget om
indholdet. Der er også stærke kvinder i en historie som Paul Di Filippos ”Victoria” (1991), der ellers ikke har
samfundskritikken stærkt i fokus – selv om den giver nogle barske billeder af underklassens London, er den
mere optaget af sin leg med historiske personer og begivenheder – men som har stærke kvinder i spidsen for
en bevægelse for social retfærdighed.
På grund af betegnelsen ”steampunk” – og fordi den kom så kort efter cyberpunken – er denne form
for science fiction blevet kaldt for en litterær bevægelse, men det er der ikke meget der tyder på at den er.
Som det er blevet bemærket, er steampunken bagudskuende og fokuserer på den første store udbredelse af
genren i årene omkring forrige århundredskifte. Derfor kan den ikke blive andet end en strømning, en
æstetik og en kunstform. Det kan selvfølgelig også være nok. Men i kraft af dens potentiale for historisk
kritik er det skudt over målet, når science fiction-litteraturhistorikeren Robert Adams (i sin The History of
Science Fiction) frakender den enhver værdi som andet end intellektuel leg. Historier som Morrows og Cory
Doctorows ”Clockwork Fagin” (2011), der ligesom The Difference Engine diskuterer informations-
teknologiens omkostninger, går langt ud over kostumedramaet. Her er referencen til Dickens i øvrigt
eksplicit, titlens Fagin er en ubehagelig person i hans Oliver Twist. Doctorow opdaterer teknologien, men gør
det også tydeligt at den tidlige industrialismes brutalitet koster børnearbejderes liv og førlighed.
Det er distancen mellem forfatteren og den tid, han lader sin historie udspille sig i, der muliggør den
alternative vinkel på tingene. Derfor blev der heller ikke skrevet steampunk i victoriatiden – uanset at
opfindsomme forlæggere kalder både H. G. Wells og Jules Verne (to forfattere der var 40 år imellem!) for
steampunk. De var kolossalt vigtige science fiction-forfattere, men de reflekterede over deres samtid uden
at bruge en historisk distance, som de af gode grunde ikke kunne have. Der er mange grunde til at læse dem
(og man har indtryk af at i al fald visse steampunk-forfattere har ladet sig inspirere af interiører fra visse af
Jules Vernes romaner), men steampunk skrev de ikke.
Har steampunken en fremtid? Det er vanskeligt at sige. Det er indlysende at der kan produceres
kommercielle værker der ligner alle de andre kommercielle værker, men dels er det ikke sikkert at
interessen vil blive ved med at være lige så stor – værker af den type har det med at blegne når den næste
”nye ting” dukker op – og dels forekommer det også en smule ligegyldigt, hvis det bare er gentagelser af ting
der allerede er gjort i forvejen. Hvad der derimod kunne være interessant var, hvis flere forfattere tog
formen op for at gå et lag dybere end alle zeppelinerne og de gale videnskabsmænd. Så ville steampunken
kunne blive et redskab til at undersøge og diskutere hvordan et samfund og et økonomisk system er skruet
sammen, og hvilke interesser der styrer, ikke alene det victorianske England, men også nutidens globale
system. Selvfølgelig gerne med bibeholdelse af de legende elementer – det ville ikke gøre zeppelinerne
mindre charmerende, men mere vedkommende.
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Jules Verne og Dampen – en refleksion af Bjørn Larsen
Jules Verne nævnes ofte i forbindelse med fødslen af Steampunk, f.eks. er han nævnt på 20 af siderne i min
Steampunk Bible, der også har lånt forside fra de gamle førsteudgaver fra forlaget Hetzel, hvor forsiden går
under navnet ”De to elefanter”, her ved siden af romanen, der på dansk blev oversat til Ved Amazonfloden.
Imidlertid beskæftiger Verne sig kun lidt i sit meget store forfatterskab med teknik, og hvor romanerne kan
betegnes som science fiction. Det meste er spændende rejsebeskrivelser. Illustrationerne er dog ofte ren
steampunk. Som eksempel følgende illustrationer til Rejsen til Månen med det indre af måneprojektilet, der
mest ligner et biedermeier-herreværelse. Der er små spændende rum, hvor man kan gemme både våben og
høns, hvilket i Hergés version Månen tur-retur naturligvis bliver til Kaptajn Haddocks skjulte whiskyflasker.
Her også tegnerens vision af fremtidens transportmiddel til månerejser, der jo kan sammenlignes med det
første tog fra København til Roskilde i 1847.
Jules Verne var fra sin tidligste ungdom sikker på, at han ville være forfatter, men vidste ikke af hvad. Han
skrev en række små teaterstykker og en mængde digte og nogle få noveller, men først fra omkring 1863
påbegyndte han den lange række af romaner med fællestitlen Voyages Extraordinaires, der rummer op mod
70 romaner og romanudkast. Ikke alt er oversat til dansk, men Jules Vernes Slskabets sekretær Leif
Rasmussen arbejder ihærdigt sammen med forlaget Det Poetiske Bureau på at få det manglende oversat.
Det er indtil videre blevet til 4 meget interessante bind, og det femte bind Foran Flaget skulle udkomme i
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løbet af efteråret. Forude venter udgivelser af Guldmeteoret og Guldvulkanen. Alle tre bind rummer tekniske
punk-opfindelser, bl.a. en gal videnskabsmand, der opfinder en kikkert, så han kan styre et meteor af guld til
at lande på netop hans ø ved Grønland. Dette komplette oversættelsesprojekt er en kæmpeopgave for et
lille forlag, medens store forlag som Gyldendal ikke har udsendt spændende Verne i over 100 år.
Vernes digte og skuespil fra før han blev berømt er nu udsendt på fransk. Følgende sonet er fra 1847, året
hvor man kunne rejse med jernbanen til Roskilde med den svimlende fart af 50 km/timen.
La vapeur /Dampen
- sonet fra april 1847
Oversat fra fransk af Anne Marie Halgren Eriksen.
Maintenant la vapeur est à l'ordre du jour. Tout Nu er dampen på dagsordenen. Alt bevæger sig ved
marche par son aide ! Est-ce un bien pour le monde ? hjælp af den! Er det et gode for verden? For at kunne
Pour bien choisir sur terre où toute chose abonde, vælge rigtigt på jorden, hvor alt findes til overflod, er
Faut-il donc se hâter, lorsqu'on en fait le tour. det da nødvendigt at skynde sig, når man rejser Jorden
rundt?
On vole désormais sur la terre et sur l'onde ; On fait
sans y penser l'aller et le retour ; On singe le soleil qui, Man iler i fremtiden på jord og på bølge; man rejser ud
lorsqu'il fait sa ronde, Mesure en une nuit le céleste og hjem uden at tænke over det; man efteraber Solen
séjour. som, når den går sin runde, måler på én nat de
himmelske boliger.
Ce ne peut être un bien que dans ces temps de guerre,
Où sont anéantis ces hommes qui naguère Marchaient Det ville ikke være godt i disse krigstider, hvor de
contre la mort sans reproche et sans peur, mænd blev tilintetgjort, som for nylig gik døden i
møde uden dadel og uden frygt,
Si trompant l'ennemi par sa subtile ruse, Refaisant des
guerriers autant que l'on en use, L'amour toutes les hvis man narrende fjenden med en raffineret list, og
nuits marchait à la vapeur ! genskabte lige så mange krigere, som man slider op,
ved at kærligheden hver nat kørte på damp!
Sonettens pointe er ungdommelig fræk, men vel også en form for steampunk? Sonetten viser, at den unge
Jules tidligt var interesseret i teknik og naturvidenskab, om end med en smule ironisk distance. I digtet
sætter Verne 15 år før sit gennembrud spørgsmålstegn ved hele sit senere forfatterskab! Hvorfor farte
rundt om Jorden i 80 dage eller besøge hvert eneste af klodens hjørner? Det er så de ca. 70 romaner et
forsøg på at finde ud af. Dampen drøftes også siden i romanen La maison à vapeur (med den dårlige danske
oversættelse Det rullende Hus (1881); den svenske udgave fra 1880, Ånghuset, er langt bedre).
Elefanten i Det rullende Hus er helt af jern, og et lokomotiv er skjult indeni den. Elefanten trækker to vogne,
og dette ”steam house” er det rullende hus. Indretningen af disse mekaniske giganter er i tidens smag, som
man her se på følgende side fra en tegneserieudgave af En verdensomsejling: der mangler intet af
viktoriatidens luksus.
10Det går dampelefanten ilde, så her har vi en slags svar på spørgsmålet om dampen er et gode for verden.
Inden man overlader elefanten til dens sørgelige skæbne, belaster man maskinens ventiler tungt: Dampen
fik derved en høj spænding, og da stålkæmpen stødte mod en klippevæg forårsagede dampen, der ikke
kunne slippe ud gennem ventilcylinderne at kedlen sprang, og stumperne af den fløj til alle sider. ”Stakkels
kæmpe”, udbrød kaptajn Hod, ”du måtte dø for at frelse os” (1881 udgaven fra Andreas Schous forlag). Det
rullende hus er Vernes bedste bidrag til steampunkens fødsel.
På samme måde går den stolte undervandsbåd Nautilus som bekendt også sin undergang i møde enten i en
malstrøm eller i et vulkanudbrud.
Selvom Verne kun har bidraget lidt til steampunkens fødsel, dyrkes han dog med stor veneration både i film
og videredigtning af især kaptajn Nemos liv og voldsomme virke. Her bør nævnes de ni bind om Det
hemmelighedsfulde selskab og fortsættelsen, der fortæller om diverse klassiske romanfigurer herunder
Kaptajn Nemos datter og den grufulde heks fra Rider Haggards romaner om hun, der må adlydes.
En dametaske, der er et must ved enhver steampunkfest:
I Norge får Verne i disse år en velfortjent genfødsel. Vidarforlaget er med hjælp fra Verneeksperten Per
Johan Moe i fuld gang med at udsende de bedst kendte af romanerne med samtlige originale illustrationer
og grundige noter og efterord af Per Johan. Forsider til andre romaner udnytter denne vernebølge ved at
benytter forsider, der antyder en vis steampunkinteresse.
11I Danmark er det som nævnt kun forlaget Det Poetiske Bureaus forlag der udsender interessant Verne i
små, billige bøger. Her den seneste, hvor dampen udnyttes til at grave kanaler til det indre af Sahara for at
skabe et nyt hav.
Nyeste udgave fra Det Poetiske.
Og så har e-bogs forlaget eBIBLIOTEK1800 udsendt op mod 30 Verneudgaver, hvoraf flere er førsteudgaver.
Så Verne lever måske dybt i steampunkens dunkle og fugtige underbevidsthed med dens stadige puls af
dampmaskiners stempelslag.
12Buy Books! - By the Guests of Honor!
The kind people at Angry Robot Books, a UK small press publisher, have published works by our Guests of
Honor. By kind agreement with them, we have made sure you can buy both Jeannette Ng´s award
nominated book, Under the Pendulum Sun, as well as Lavie Tidhar´s steampunk opus, The Bookman Trilogy
at Fantasticon 2018!
We have added the seminal steampunk trilogy from pioneer K. W. Jeter, Infernal Machines, that we will be
discussing in detail on the Sunday Critic´s Panel, as well as K.W. Jeter´s exiting continuation of H. G. Well´s
The Time Machine called Morlock Nights , that we will be talking about on Saturday.
- Get them all at the Fantasticon registration desk!
www.angryrobotbooks.com
13Events not to miss this year!
The 2018 festival presents a number of events that you really should make
sure not to miss!
Firstly, we have flown in two Guests of Honor to this year´s convention.
They will appear on panels, they will be interviewed, and they will be
available throughout the convention. Go talk to them!
- Lavie Tidhar has written a number of books, which we will talk with him
about extensively in the GoH Interview on Saturday. Hopefully you have
read some of them, or you can jumpstart this by reading the short story
we present in this Program Book! Lavie Tidhar is also a very important
presenter of non-anglocentric fiction through his APEX magazine,
webpage, and anthologies. A second GoH Interview on Sunday with him will focus on this aspect of his
work.
- Jeannette Ng is a writer of an exceptional Victorian novel about magic, Africa, and religion. So exceptional
that this debut novel have nominated her for an award for best new writer! We will talk about this
intriguing novel and her Victorian interest in the GoH Interview. Jeannette Ng is also an ardent cosplayer
and live role-playing enthusiast, and blogs about this. Jeannette Ng brings a bundle of clothes to sell at the
con, and will lead a workshop about cosplaying and setting hair on Saturday afternoon, that you will not
want to miss!
Our Special Guest LUX ARTIS SWEDEN, a gallery offering fantastic art in original and reproduction, will
make an exhibition of steampunk art at Fantasticon 2018. Do remember to find time to look at all the
wonderful paintings. We will interview them Friday about promoting artists and raising awareness of
fantastic art.
Our traditional Saturday Banquet will involve outstanding food & drink as well as speeches, awards, and
entertainment! Our two Guests of Honor will give their talks during the dinner, and we will be singing filk
(fannish folksongs about the genre and its characters) from fannish songbooks that you will wish to take
home with you! Leading up to the con, you can taste real Steam Gin & Tonics in the lounge area!
In 1818, 200 years ago, Mary Shelley published her fantastic novel Frankenstein. We take a look at this
story in a panel set up to celebrate the legacy of her work, both as a story, and the many transformations of
it into different medias.
Speaking of looking at dead people, two of the writers who we have lost in the past year will be re-assessed
in separate panels this year:
- Brian Wilson Aldiss was born in the UK in 1925. He was a highly decorated science fiction author who
achieved the rare feat of acceptance as a writer of real significance by the literary establishment in his
lifetime. As well as his many award-winning novels he has been a hugely important anthologist and editor
in the field. He also wrote the pre-eminent history of the genre, Billion Year Spree (later expanded and
revised as Trillion Year Spree). He died in August 2017, the day after his 92nd birthday.
- Ursula K. Le Guin, born in 1929, was an American author primarily known for her works of speculative
fiction. These include works set in the fictional world of Earthsea, stories in the Hainish Cycle, standalone
novels and short stories. Le Guin came to critical attention with the publication of A Wizard of Earthsea in
1968, and The Left Hand of Darkness in 1969. Her work has received intense critical attention over the
years. LeGuin died in January 2018.
14Our national genre award, The Niels Klim Award, is named after a famous Danish genre novel: Nicolai Klimii
Iter Subterraneum (Latin first edition published in Leipzig 1741; in English: “Niels Klim's Underground
Travels”). In the first year alone, translations into German, English, French, Danish, and Dutch appeared – to
be followed by translations into Swedish (1746), Russian (1762) and Hungarian (1783). It became one of the
most read satirical utopias in its time, and it is a fine early example of a Hollow-Earth story. At Fantasticon
2018, on Sunday, we will present this year´s winners with their awards. There will be awards for best novel,
best story and best translated work.
At the Steam Market you can test out Virtual Reality. If you haven’t done this before, do go by and take a
peak at the future! And you can shop books by the Guests of Honor, as well as a lot of other stuff.
Film buff Tue Sørensen will show a steampunk movie for us: – April and the Extraordinary World (French:
Avril et le Monde Truqué lit. “April and the Fake World”). It is a 2015 French-Belgian-Canadian animated
science fiction adventure film co-directed by Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci, co-written by Ekinci and
Benjamin Legrand, and starring Marion Cotillard. It depicts an alternate steampunk world with a visual style
based on the work of French cartoonist Jacques Tardi.
15Titanic! - A short story by our GoH Lavie Tidhar
10 April 1912
When I come on board the ship I pay little heed to her splendour; nor to the gaily-strewn lines of coloured
electric lights, nor to the polished brass of the crew’s jacket uniforms, nor to the crowds at the dock in
Southampton, waving handkerchiefs and pushing and shoving for a better look; nor to my fellow
passengers. I keep my eyes open only for signs of pursuit; specifically, for signs of the Law.
The ship is named the Titanic. I had purchased a second-class ticket in London the day before. I had
travelled down to Southampton by train. I had packed hurriedly. I do not know how far behind me the
officers are. I know only that they would come. He had made sure of that, in his last excursion. The corpses
he left were a mockery, body parts ripped, exposed ribcages and lungs stretched like Indian rubber, he had
turned murder into a sculpture, a form of grotesque art. The Japanese would call such a thing as he a yōkai,
a monster, otherworldly and weird. Or perhaps a kaiju. I admire the Japanese for their mastery of the
science of monstrosity, of what in our Latin will be called the lusus naturae. I have corresponded with a Dr.
Yamane, of Tokyo, for some time, but have of course destroyed all correspondence when I escaped from
London.
And yet I cannot leave him behind. I had packed hurriedly. A simple change of clothes. I had not dressed
like a gentleman. But I carry, along with my portmanteau, also my doctor’s black medical bag; it defines me
more than I could ever define myself otherwise; it is as much a part of me as my toes, or my navel, or my
eyes; and inside the bag I carry him, all that is left of him: one bottle, that is all, and the rest were all
smashed up to shards back in London, back in the house where the bodies are.
I present my ticket to the steward. There is no suspicion in his eyes. He smiles courteously, professionally,
already not seeing me as he turns to the ones behind me; and then I am on board. Perhaps infected by the
other passengers’ gaiety, perhaps just relieved at my soon to be escape, I stand with them on the deck,
against the railings, shouting and waving at the people we are soon to leave behind. My heart beats faster;
my palms sweat; I am eager for us to depart, for our transatlantic journey to begin. I long for escape.
16At last it happens. The horn sounds and the gangplanks are raised and we are off! I sigh with relief; I had
not realised how tense I had been. But fear had taken its hold on me, in all the long years of living with him;
his presence is my life had made me fearful; the day he would get careless, or go too far, and leave me to
be captured.
No longer!
England is a cesspit of corruption. It is too small, too confining. It looks not to the future, but to the past, it
is rigid and unyielding. It is time for me to look elsewhere, to the New World; where a scientist may work in
peace, where there is space to grow... and where he, too, could roam more freely, for it is a vast land and
people may disappear there more easily; and never be seen again. Yes, he could be controlled, there. But
for now he is dormant within me. He will not emerge on this voyage. Not unless I will it.
A near-accident. Our huge bulk causes waves in the harbour. We nearly drown two smaller ship: The SS City
of New York and the Oceanic. I watch them rise on the waves, thinking of the size and power of the Titanic,
like the power that I, myself, hold within me. It is a power all human beings have; yet I alone have found
the means of liberating it. Only in Japan, perhaps, is there science greater than mine – but that land is far
and their experiments have taken them in a different direction to my own. No, I am confident in my heart,
my potion is unique; and I, a true original.
The passage out goes without a further hitch. The two smaller ship are not harmed, and I feel neither
satisfaction nor disappointment. I stand on the deck and watch the harbour recede from view for a long
time. I watch England grow smaller in the distance. I cannot wait for it to disappear.
11 April 1912
Cork.
How I loathe the Irish!
The docks swarm with these Irishmen and their equally squalid women. They come on board, several
obviously drunk and singing riotously. I stand on the deck and smoke a cigar. A man of middle years and a
somewhat stooped posture engages me in conversation. “You are a doctor?” he says, on noticing my black
bag (I do not dare part with it. These Irishmen may steal a doctor’s bag as easily as they would slit a man’s
throat!). “Yes, yes,” I say, “what is it to you?”
Instead of taking offense he chuckles good-naturedly. “I myself am in the medical profession,” he says. I
say, “Oh?” and roll the cigar in my mouth. “Yes,” he says, “I am a purveyor of the snake oil cure, are you
familiar with that panacea?”
“Enhydris chinensis,” I say. “It is a medicine of the Chinese people, is it not?” I do not tell him I had studied
it intensively, my research has increasingly taken me to study the obscure and arcane sciences of the East.
“Yes,” he says, “it is a marvellous medicine, a cure-all.”
I make a dismissive gesture and his moustache quivers at that. “Do you not agree, Sir?” he says. I tap my
cigar and watch the ash blow in the wind. Will the ship never leave? I am unsafe as long as we are in these
European waters. Have the bodies been found yet? Has Hyde been implicated? He is well known to the
police. “Excuse me,” I say. “I meant no offense.”
17His good humour returns. He gives me his calling card and asks me to call on him once in New York,
promising me a bulk discount on his stock. It is of the utmost benefit to any doctor, he assures me. I am
glad to be rid of him. At long last the ship departs. There are thousands of us on board.
12 April 1912
At last, the open sea!
The ocean is calm. The weather is mild. A sense of wild freedom grips me. The New World beckons! I have
successfully avoided pursuit, capture. In New York I could start again, and the name of Jekyll will be
forgotten. I pat my bag, thinking of the bottle it holds. Already I am craving it. In America I will make more
of the potion. He wants to get out, I can feel him, pushing.
13 April 1912
A cold front. Strong winds and high waves. Nevertheless I brave the deck. I find being confined below
excruciating, the press of people is repulsive to me. I take in the sea air but my attempts to light a cigar
prove futile.
Last night I tossed and turned, the need burning inside me. I could feel Edward leering inside me, pushing
to be let out. I find myself regarding women with Hyde’s eyes, with his hunger. I see men and think of the
blood coursing through them, and of the glint of knives. More than two decades ago when my experiments
had just began he and I were sloppy. Jack, they had called him then. I had less control of the formula then.
The cold air revives me. Anticipation of the New World soothes me. I feel as though I have been given a
second chance.
14 April 1912
The sea is very calm, but there is a chill in the air. It is a fine morning. I have spoken to no one. It is a lonely
life, sometimes. But I have him for company, always. The presence of the bottle in my bag reassures me. It
will not be long now.
14 April 1912
An ungodly crash!
I had just been climbing up to the deck when the entire ship groaned and creaked as if hit by some vast and
monstrous hammer. I fell but found my balance. My black bag was with me and I assured myself the sample
inside was intact. I hurried up stairs, finding the decks in a confusion of people. What could this mean?
“Sir?” I hear an officer speak near me, and I find myself pushed to the front, and realise the man
replenished in magnificent uniform further ahead is the Captain. “Sir? We’ve hit something!”
18“It is an iceberg?” the Captain says, his manner outwardly calm. “No, Sir,” the officer says. “It isn’t an
iceberg. It’s a—”
Someone screams. It is a high pitched scream, but I cannot tell if it is made by a man or a woman. “Look up!
Look at that – that thing!”
As if on cue the ship’s powerful spotlights come on at once, piercing the night, momentarily blinding me. I
hear a terrible sound, a roar as of a thousand engines cranking up to their utmost power and beyond their
breaking point.
“It’s a... it’s a-!”
My God, I think, awed. How could anyone mistake this for an iceberg?
It towers over the ship, and the Titanic looks like a toy in comparison. An enormous, beautiful monstrosity,
like a cross between a gorilla and a whale: it opens its mouth and roars, and a lizard’s giant claws land with
a defeating roar on the deck of the Titanic, splintering wood and cutting deep into the underlying levels. I
hear screams, and see a man’s head explode like a wet red balloon where the monster had crashed it in its
wake.
“It’s a-!”
“It’s a daikaiju,” I say, though they do not hear me. I breathe out. A giant kaiju! The scientist in me is
enthralled. The beast within me is hungry. Hyde responds to the creature like a drunk, he bangs against the
walls of his prison, to be let out. Screams rise into the air. The monster, angered or afraid, lashes again at
the ship. Its powerful tail slams into the side of the ship and the deck tilts alarmingly. Bodies fly through the
air. “Abandon ship! Abandon ship!” Panic takes over the Titanic. “To the life boats!” A press of bodies as
the ones down below attempt to climb up to the open deck, to find escape. People shove and push each
other in their panic. I see a woman trampled underfoot. I, too, try to make my way to the life boats, but the
swell of people is too strong, and I am old; and panic rises in me as I am side-lined, pushed, shoved, hurt,
and all the while the beast roars above our heads, lashing with talons and tale at the Titanic, ripping it
slowly apart.
“To the boats!” and there they go, while, unbelievably, the ship’s orchestra plays on, at least until the
beast, annoyed, perhaps, by the noise, slashes at them with its claws and the music stops abruptly with a
clatter of panicked notes. The ship tilts: we are sinking. I hear the boats dropping into the waters, hear a
gunshot ring as officers attempt to control the manic passengers. “Children and women first!”
And something breaks in me. Something that has no name, no label I could easily affix to it, like to a
specimen bottle, or a beaker of potion. I can escape, I realise, and yet...
“Doctor!” I hear the cry. “We need a doctor! Please, help!”
A woman lying on the deck, holding an injured child in her arms. Her face is panicked. There is blood on the
deck.
I still tightly hold my black medicine bag. Now I open it. All of a doctor’s requirements are there. I could
help them...
I reach inside and find the bottle.
19The potion. My life’s work.
I could help the child, I think. Or I could let out Mr. Hyde.
I stare at the bottle in my hands. To swallow its contents would liberate me, would Hyde me, would allow
me to fight my way to the life boats, and to escape, to live.
I had lived half my life a monster, I realise; and that had led to my eventual ruin, and my disgrace, and
finally my exile.
I look up at that titanic being towering over the ship. It is frightened, I think. Monstrous, yes: but also
beautiful. And I am glad I have lived long enough to see one.
I look at it for a long moment, and then I look at the bottle in my hands.
“Please! Help him!”
I could live, a monster, I realise; or I could die a man.
I stretch my arm as far back as it would go, then back, in one smooth motion, and throw the bottle as hard
and as fast as I can into the roiling sea.
Con-committee 2018 - Those who made it
happen:
Con-committee 2018 is Knud Larn, Lise Andreasen,
Manfred Christiansen, Camilla Brygger, Jesper Rugård
Jensen, Sarah Fürst, Joen Juel Jensen, Bente Riis, Billy
O´Shea, Tue Sørensen, Majbritt Høyrup – and assisted by
Fantasticon Board Members Flemming Rasch & Lars Ahn
Pedersen.
20The steampunk classics – what to read first?
There are two lists on the net regarding what to read in the subgenre of steampunk. One by the critics,
listing important works/works that influence, and one by the fans listing the popular works/works that are
referred to often by readers.
The Critic´s list:
Tim Powers: The Anubis Gates (1983)
K.W Jeter: Infernal Devices (1987)
William Gibson and Bruce Sterling: The Difference Engine (1991)
China Mieville: Perdido Street Station (2000)
Cherie Priest: Boneshaker (2009)
George Mann: The Executioner’s Heart (2013)
Alan Baker: The Martian Ambassdor (2011)
Jonathan L. Howard: Johannes Cabal the Detective (2011)
Mark Hodder: The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man (2011)
Edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer: Steampunk (2008) and Steampunk Re-loaded (2010)
We will be discussing Jeter and Priest on the Sunday morning critic´s panel.
Based on number of times a work has been mentioned on the net in steampunk fan´s discussions, and on
fan´s list, we get this list:
The Fan´s List:
The Difference Engine by William Gibson & Homunculus by James P. Blaylock
Bruce Sterling Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld The Steampunk Trilogy by Paul Di Fillipo
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide… by
The Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock Jeff Vandermeer and S.J. Chambers
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville Dahlquist
Infernal Devices by K.W. Jeter Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Steampunk by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer Anno Dracula by Kim Newman
20.000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne The Scar by China Mieville
Soulless by Gail Carriger The Land Leviathan by Michael Moorcock
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman Mark Hodder
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson The Court of The Air by Stephen Hunt
Mainspring by Jay Lake The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Morlock Night by K. W. Jeter
Moore Extraordinary Engines by Nick Gevers
The Affinity Bridge by George Mann Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
21Steampunk på dansk – en oversigt af Lise Andreasen
Lise Andreasen vil om fredagen præsentere steampunkbøger på dansk for os på Fantasticon. Noget er der
jo kommet på dansk! Men hvad?
- Vi har smugkigget i hendes liste som følger her:
Romaner:
Urmageren i Filigree Street, Natasha Pulley.
Krystalskibet, Benni Bødker.
Transformationsmaskinen, Nikolaj Johansen. 2 bind.
Kaptajn Prometeus, Benni Bødker. 4 bind.
Det Mekaniske Hjerte, Peter Bunzl.
Soulless, Gail Carriger. 3 bind.
Molly Gabe og den snoede pistol, P.H.A. Krogh.
Djævelske mekanismer, Cassandra Clare. 3 bind.
Ritmatikeren, Brandon Sanderson.
Noveller:
Stig W. Jørgensen: “Dronning Margrethe II og jeg, alene i et Luftskib 1500 Meter over Øresund”. De smukke
drømmes palads, SFC.
“Biografiske noter til ‘En afhandling om kausalitetens natur (med luftfartøjer)’ af Benjamin Rosenbaum”.
Start uret, Benjamin Rosenbaum, SFC.
Glen Stihmøe: “Komtessen, opfinderen, direktøren og baronen – og Emma”. De sidste kærester på Månen,
Lige under overfladen 9, SFC.
Flemming R.P. Rasch: “Som et urværk”. Som et urværk, Lige under overfladen 10, SFC.
Glen Stihmøe: “Øverste Tandhjul”. Efter fødslen, Lige under overfladen 12, SFC.
22Buy MORE Books! – We present SF BOK & Fantask
Both while we planned Fantasticon, and running up to the convention, we have had great support from the
two major genre specialty stores in Øresund: Copenhagen´s Fantask and Malmø´s SF Bokhandelen. They
have graciously handed out our postcards to customers, they show our poster, and they present
steampunk books, referring to Fantasticon 2018.
We expect to be selling (some) genre books from them during the convention. Please remember that you
support Fantasticon by shopping your books at the con!
23You can also read
