It's only science fiction...

... and only for geeks and saddo's. Well, possibly, but it's also a genre of thinkers and future-gazers.

It's not often I agree with the Daily Torygraph, but a bloody good article.

"Does anyone read short horror stories any more?"

Received the latest edition of PS Publishing's Postscripts magazine (which, to be fair, shouldn't really be considered a magazine since it's got an ISBN and is, well, a book but that's splitting hairs to the point of stupidity).

Anyway, #10 is just sublime - Crowther and Gevers have really done themselves proud, not to mention the interior artwork: a special hardcover edition, to coincide with Michael Marshall Smith and Peter Crowther's appearance at World Horror last April. I've only read a couple of the short stories within - Thomas Tessier's and MMS' tale about an obsessive-compulsive's obsession with feng-shui.

This post, though, has nothing to do with them but rather Stephen "Steve" Jones' editorial, which in many ways I agree with, but I have to bring to his attention the fact that he gives not one mention to a UK indie publisher (except PS) but goes onto name-check six American companies.

Yes, it sounds like xenophobia and sour grapes on my part, but to write an editorial about short fiction and not mention Elastic Press is like writing an article about romance and neglecting to mention, erm, Mills & Boon. Admittedly none of the UK indies have the same distribution as Nightshade or Subterreanean, et al, and Elastic doesn't necessarily publish horror per se, but it's still pretty much a kick in the teeth to see a UK editor pontificating upon short fiction and not mention a fellow countryman.

(Mind you, the less said about his mis-pronounciation of Rice Hughes during the World Horror raffle...)

I did say that I agreed with most of what Steve wrote, mainly that short fiction though still popular has some way to reach the heights it had in the '60s and '70s (not that I was old enough to read back then); that mainstream publisher's should be curtailing as fast as bloody possible their infatuation with "celebrity" biographies, that cost a fortune and yet sell fuck-all; and short fiction is quite possibly the perfect antidote to our hectic modern life-style, where "free-time" is already populated with a plethora of gadgets and entertainment devices to occupy.

Instead of browsing the 'net on your lunch-hour, buy an anthology and enjoy a story whilst you eat your sandwich. It is much more intellectually stimulating.

Anyway, if you haven't got your copy yet then for [insert your own deity]'s sake click on Postscript's link above and buy issue ten.

Go on, you know you want to. ;-)

(And if you like what you read, then I'm sure Pete will like you to buy a subscription...)

1984

For many years, I've read about the much fabled 1954 BBC adaptation of Orwell's 1984, written for the then fledgling medium of television by Nigel Kneale.

I've seen the 1984 film version, starring John Hurt and an obviously very ill Richard Burton (who died not long after) and found it a very faithful adaptation with superb performances from the two leads, yet the inclusion of tracks by the Eurythmics just detracted too much from the story, which was a pity really...

Anyway, with thanks to Mark Samuels who sent me the link, you can now watch the original TV version on Youtube. Extremely primitive, technically speaking by today's standards, yet the fact it was produced live is just awe-inspiring.

I first read the novel when I was 21, more or less at the start of my working life - prior, I was still in full-time education - and to say it was a politically life-changing experience would be an under-statement; prior, I was a typical Valleys boy, who voted Labour because your family always voted Labour, and that Thatcher and the Tories were evil, but I read the novel then Animal Farm; Huxley's Brave New World and We (not to mention Philip K Dick and William Gibson), and realised quite easily that it's not the political leanings of a party, but rather the level of power a Government has over it's populace.

Any political ideology, taken to extremes, whether it be Communism or Capitalism, is wrong, and will always mean a handful of people subjugating the majority.

The perfect Government should contain elements of both right and left thinking, but as we all know, is there such a thing has a perfect Government?

(Hmm, 9:30am and discussing politics...)