Ansible® 468, July 2026
From David Langford, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Logo: Dan Steffan. Cartoon: Teddy Harvia. Available for SAE, or full confession of who did it – who took the strawberry jam?
The White Terror
Douglas Adams’s famous quip has been adapted into an eternal truth about fandoms: ‘In the beginning, Doctor Who was created. This has made a lot of Doctor Who fans very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.’ (Bluesky, 10 June) [GB] The BBC cancellation of the promised Christmas special and decision to ‘put Doctor Who out to competitive tender this year’, along with the departure of the showrunner and producer, inevitably generated much heated discussion. (BBC, 10 June)
Mel Brooks celebrated his 100th birthday on 28 June, provoking fond memories of his early comic routine as The 2000 Year Old Man.
Helen Mirren, whose many noted acting credits include such sf roles as the voice of Deep Thought in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), was made a Companion of Honour for services to drama in the UK Birthday Honours. Malorie Blackman (Noughts & Crosses) and Julia Donaldson (The Gruffalo) became Dames; Peter Lord and David Sproxton of Aardman Animations were knighted; John Wagner, long-time 2000 AD writer and co-creator of Judge Dredd, is now an MBE.
Michael Whelan is used to plagiarism of his artwork, but stealing his actual face for a pinball machine design seemed a bit much. After decades of wondering whether this was a false-memory hallucination, he tracked down the machine, a famous one called Time Warp that has its own Wikipedia page. And there – image perhaps lifted from his photo in the 1978 art book Sorcerers – he was. (Michael Whelan, Substack, 7 June) [AIP]
Concettism
Click here for longlist • London • Overseas
2-5 Jul • MetropolCon (Eurocon), ‘silent green’ Kulturquartier, Berlin. €95 reg; reduced €75; under-12s €5. See www.metropolcon.eu.
11 Jul • Frances Hardinge symposium, King’s College, London. 9:30am-5pm. Tickets £50 or £35 concessions, with lunch; £25 without lunch. See tinyurl.com/5aabu9d2.
16-17 Jul • Current Research in Speculative Fiction (conference), University of Liverpool. See crsfhome.home.blog.
SOLD OUT 17-19 Jul • Fantasy Forest (cosplay), Sudely Castle, Cheltenham, with camping options. More at fantasyforest.co.uk.
18-19 Jul • Weird Worcester (film), U of Worcester Arena. £37; £47 early entry. See www.treasuredfilms.co.uk/weirdworcester.
24-27 Jul • Continuum (RPG), Cranfield University CMDC . Tickets £75 or £25 per day (under-17s free) from continuumconvention.co.uk.
25 Jul • Small Press Day, various events throughout the UK and Ireland, and online. See smallpressday.co.uk.
1 Aug • Northern Horizon (Blake’s 7), Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle. 10am-4pm. £25; ‘VIP’ £80. See nufcmatters.co.uk/shop/.
1 Aug • Rebel Base North East (Star Wars), Newcastle upon Tyne. 10am-4pm. £20; ‘VIP’ £75. Same hotel and website as the above.
SOLD OUT 7-10 Aug • Discworld Convention, Leonardo Hotel, Hinckley Island, Leicestershire. There is a waiting list at dwcon.org.
4-6 Sep • Fantasy Forest (cosplay), Hatfield House, Hatfield, with camping options. More at fantasyforest.co.uk.
1 Nov • Comic Con, Mercure Hotel, St Helens, Merseyside. 10am-10:30pm. Adults £5.89. More at www.ljeventsentertainment.com.
21 Nov • Tolkien’s Invented Languages (Tolkien Society seminar), online. Free. See www.tolkiensociety.org/events/seminar-2026/.
4-6 Jun 2027 • UK Games Expo, Birmingham NEC. Tickets go on sale in December 2026 at www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk.
24-26 Sep 2027 • Fantasycon, Birmingham. Details ‘coming soon’ at tinyurl.com/fcon27 (Facebook), or perhaps www.hwsevents.co.uk or a dedicated website. There is no 2027 World Fantasy Convention, and the World Fantasy Awards will be presented at this Fantasycon.
15-18 Oct 2027 • Irish Discworld Convention, Cork International Hotel, Cork. €120 reg; concessions €70; under-18s €30; under-7s free. Membership limited to 300. Further details at idwcon.org.
Rumblings. Norncon (Belfast) was reportedly a success in May 2026 and will return in 2027: dates etc. are awaited at norncon.org.
• Eurocon 2029: the Polish sf club Avangarda has announced a bid to hold Eurocon in their home city Warsaw. See eurocon.ava.waw.pl.
• BSFA bid for Eastercon/Eurocon 2030 (19-22 April, Birmingham): see their Facebook page at tinyurl.com/bsfa2030 with a link to the proposal, including the fallback positions of holding a non-Eurocon Eastercon or vice versa.
Infinitely Improbable
As We See Us. Tim Allen, voice of Buzz Lightyear, on Toy Story 5: ‘I think this is honest art. Like Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov on some sombre, wonderful level.’ (Guardian, 11 June) [PE]
Awards. Lambda (LGBTQ+) sf category: Beings by Ilana Masad.
• Nebulas: NOVEL The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. NOVELLA The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar. NOVELETTE ‘Uncertain Sons’ by Thomas Ha (Uncertain Sons). SHORT ‘Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything’ by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots). MIDDLE GRADE/YA Into the Wild Magic by Michelle Knudsen. GAME WRITING Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by Guillaume Broche & Jennifer Svedberg-Yen. DRAMATIC Murderbot Season One. COMIC Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone by Jessica Maison. POEM ‘The World To Come’ by Jennifer Hudak (Strange Horizons). Also: GRAND MASTER N.K. Jemisin. SOLSTICE David Langford. SERVICE TO SFWA Gay Haldeman. INFINITY Roger Zelazny.
• Stoker: ANTHOLOGY Silk & Sinew ed. Kristy Park Kulski. COLLECTION Lost in the Dark by John Langan. FIRST NOVEL The October Film Haunt by Michael Wehunt. GRAPHIC NOVEL Bowling With Corpses by Mike Mignola. LONG FICTION (tie) Cathedral of the Drowned by Nathan Ballingrud; ‘Wolf Moon, Antler Moon’ by A.C. Wise (Reactor). LONG NON-FICTION Why I Love Horror ed. Becky Siegel Spratford. MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL Ride or Die by Delilah S. Dawson. NOVEL The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. POETRY Everything Endless by Linda D. Addison & Jamal Hodge. SCREENPLAY Sinners by Ryan Coogler. SHORT ‘Inheritance’ by RJ Joseph (Full Throttle). SHORT NONFICTION ‘My Long Road to Horror’ by Tananarive Due (Why I Love Horror). YA NOVEL Shiny Happy People by Clay McLeod Chapman.
Scientific Units. ‘He got it up to one three five or so on the Richter scale, miles per hour, on that service.’ (John McEnroe, TNT Sports) [PE]
Publishers and Sinners. Stephen Gallagher was also worried about the demise of the SF Gateway ebook site (see A467), and unlike me had a reply: ‘This was done with the intention to bring the Gateway authors in line with the rest of Gollancz/Orion on the main site.’ He and his ebooks can now be found by a search at www.orionbooks.co.uk – though not at store.gollancz.co.uk, to which sfgateway.com now redirects! Many other Gateway authors have been moved to Orion, but not all: ‘No results found for Fanthorpe.’ Presumably migration slowly continues. Stephen: ‘It’ll be a Good Thing when they get it right – the Gateway site was cranky and dated and had begun to feel like a bit of an Old Folks’ Home.’
The Gernsback Future Is Here. The US Waymo LLC withdrew over 3,800 driverless ‘robotaxis’ owing to their AI-powered habit of whizzing past ‘ramp closed’ signs into roadworks sites and between the rows of cones marking closed-off lanes. (The Register, 19 June)
R.I.P. Dafydd ab Hugh (1960-2026), US author of Heroing: or, How He Wound Down the World (1987) plus various Star Trek and (with Brad Linaweaver) Doom novelizations, has reportedly died aged 65. [AT-C]
• John Blanche (1948-2026), prolific UK fantasy artist best known for decades of work on Games Workshop’s Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, died on 1 June aged 77. [MG] His first art collection was Ratspike (1989) with Ian Miller.
• Ann Blyth (1927-2026), US actress who co-starred in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), died on 24 June aged 98. [SJ]
• Michael Byrne (1943-2026), UK actor in The Medusa Touch (1978), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Blood: The Last Vampire (2009) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (2010), died on 20 June aged 82. [AIP]
• Daveigh Chase (1990-2026), US actress in Donnie Darko (2001), Spirited Away (2001), Lilo & Stitch (2002) and The Ring (2002), died on 16 June aged 35. [AT-C]
• Lyudmila Chursina (1941-2026), Russian actress whose films include the Yefremov-based Tumannost’ Andromedy (The Andromeda Nebula, 1967), the fantasy Taynaya sila (Hidden Force, 2002) and the dystopian Babushka Ada (Grandma Ada, 2007), died on 10 June aged 84. [AM]
• David Daker (1935-2026), UK actor in Time Bandits (1981), Britannia Hospital (1982), The Woman in Black (1989), I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle (1990) and genre tv series including Doctor Who (1973-1979), died on 30 April aged 90. [SG]
• Tom Dreesen (1939-2026), US comedian and actor in Spaceballs (1987), died on 17 June aged 86.
• Patrick Godfrey (1933-2026), UK actor in The Girl in a Swing (1988), Ever After (1998), The Miracle Maker (1999), Dimensions (2011) and genre tv series, died on 4 June aged 93. [SJ]
• David Greenslade (1943-2026), UK composer and keyboard player whose genre work included The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony (1979) with Patrick Woodroffe and From the Discworld (1994), plus tv scores for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1980) and Artemis 81 (1981), died in June aged 83. [CM]
• Anthony Guidera (1960-2026), US actor in Species (1995), The Postman (1997) , Armageddon (1998) and genre tv series, died on 6 June aged 65. [AIP]
• Andy Halliday (1953-2026), US actor who co-starred in the long-running off-Broadway cult comedy Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (1984-1989), died on 5 May aged 73. [AIP]
• James Handy (1945-2026), US actor in Arachnophobia (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Jumanji (1995), Unbreakable (2000), Logan (2017) and others, died on 3 June aged 81. [SJ]
• Anthony Head (1954-2026), UK actor in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (121 episodes 1997-2003), The Adventures of Merlin (43 episodes 2008-2012), Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011) and others, died on 5 June aged 72. [SJ]
• Linnette Horne (1955-2025), New Zealand fan who published Cry Havoc and was the 1999 FFANZ delegate to Aussiecon 3, died on 28 August 2025 (only recently announced) aged 69. [NR]
• Brian Johnson (Brian R. Johncock, 1939-2026), UK special effects artist who worked on 1950s Hammer films, Thunderbirds (1965-1966) and other Anderson puppet series, Space: 1999 (1975-1977), and many more films including Alien (1979) – for which he shared an effects Oscar – The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Dragonslayer (1981), The Neverending Story (1984) and Aliens (1986), died on 16 June aged 86. [SJ]
• Penelope Keith (1940-2026), noted UK actress whose genre credits include Ghost Story (1974), Aladdin (1992), Beauty and the Beast (1992) and Tales of the Tooth Fairies (1992), died on 29 June aged 86.
• Margaret Kerry (1929-2026), US actress and dancer who was the live-motion model for Tinker Bell in Disney’s Peter Pan (1953) and co-starred in Space Angel (52 episodes 1962-1964), died on 11 June aged 97. [F770]
• Russell Kirkpatrick (1961-2026), New Zealand author and map-maker whose fantasy includes the trilogies ‘Fires of Heaven’ (2004-2005) and ‘Husk/Broken Man’ (2007-2009), died on 26 June. [SJ]
• Max Kleven (1933-2026), US actor/stuntman/stunt arranger in Billy the Kid versus Dracula (1966), Rollerball (1975), Omen II: Damien (1978), My Science Project (1985) and others, died on 3 June aged 92. [SJ]
• John A. Lent (1936-2026), US academic and comics scholar who wrote or edited 91 books on his subject and was editor of International Journal of Comic Art since its founding in 1999, died on 16 May aged 89. [AIP]
• Denis Lobanov (1971-2026), CEO of the Russian sf/f publisher Knizhnyi Klub Fantastika (‘Fantastic Book Club’) died on 23 June. [AM]
• Richard Mettler, US film editor for The Curse (aka Eight for Silver, 2021) and I.S.S. (2023), died on 1 June aged 56. [AIP]
• Giorgia Moll (1938-2026), Italian actress who co-starred in The Thief of Baghdad (1961), died on 2 June aged 88. [SJ]
• Luis De La Rosa Obregón (1991-2026), Mexican animator whose credits include Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), died on 24 June aged 34. [AIP]
• Jeff Olson, US visual effects artist for Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Back to the Future III (1990), Star Trek: Generations (1994), The Phantom Menace (1999), Signs (2002) and others, died on 21 June aged 77.
• Anne Schedeen (1949-2026), US actress in Embryo (1976), Exo-Man (1977) and genre tv series – in particular ALF (103 episodes 1986-2004) – died on 14 June aged 77. [SJ]
• Ronnie Schell (1931-2026), US actor in Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (39 episodes 1977-1980), Battle of the Planets (85 episodes 1978-1980), The Cat from Outer Space (1978) and others, died on 12 June aged 94. [F770]
• William Smithers (1927-2026), US Dallas actor in The Shadow (1954), Deathsport (1978) and genre tv series, died on 26 May aged 98. [LP]
• Robin Postal White (1946-2026), US fan active since the 1960s, a member of the NY Fanoclasts group and married to the late Ted White from 1966 to circa 1976, died on 3 June aged 79. [CP]
• Jane Yolen (1939-2026), much loved and hugely prolific (her 450th book appeared this year) author of sf, poems, fantasy and especially fairytales, died on 11 June aged 87. [LP] Her many awards include Mythopoeic, Nebula and World Fantasy awards for specific works, and multiple career honours: Skylark (1990), World Fantasy Life Achievement (2009), SF&F Poetry Association Grand Master (2010) and SFWA Grand Master (2017). She was a guest of honour at the 1984 World Fantasy Convention and 2005 Worldcon. It was always a pleasure to meet Jane and (in allusion to a Fantasy Encyclopedia entry) have her dance satanically around me while calling me the Devil’s Dandy Dog.
More Downsizing. Romesh Ranganathan: ‘At the Last Supper, the disciple Judas betrayed Jesus for how many pieces of silver?’ Contestant: ‘One.’ (BBC1, The Weakest Link) [PE]
Awards in Progress. Clarke Award shortlist: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami, Luminous by Silvia Park, There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm, When There Are Wolves Again by E.J. Swift and The Salt Oracle by Lorraine Wilson.
• Mythopoeic adult fiction shortlist: ‘The Charlatan Duology’ (Book of Night and Thief of Night) by Holly Black, Audition for the Fox by Martin Cahill, The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman, Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher, The West Passage by Jared Pechacek, Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao and The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. For the other four Mythopoeic categories see www.mythsoc.org/news/news-2026-06-02.htm.
• Sidewise (alt-history) novel shortlist: Pagans by James Alistair Henry, Tobacco Republic: What If The 13 Colonies Never United? by R.A. Moss and Ten Incarnations of Rebellion by Vaishnavi Patel. Short fiction list at www.uchronia.net/sidewise.
Sign of the Times. Several readers have remarked that in the 2026 Titan edition of Stephen Jones’s much-reprinted anthology Shadows over Innsmouth – which lists star contributors on the front cover, with a fuller roster on the back – one included author usually given front-cover billing does not appear in either place. Iä! Iä! I dare write no more....
Editorial. I am still gobsmacked by the Solstice Award. Thanks again to SFWA and to Gay Haldeman, who accepted for me and steeled herself to read this: ‘There’s a famous story about a perpetual motion machine exhibited to awestruck crowds in New York in 1813. Unfortunately, one visitor was an engineer who noticed that the great wheel that turned forever seemed a little bit jerky in its motion. He started removing bits of woodwork, to reveal that the miracle of science was driven by an endless belt leading to a back attic, where an old man with a long beard was found turning a crank. Speaking as the cranky old guy in the back room of the SF Encyclopedia, I must say I’m thrilled to be exposed and outed like this. It’s a huge and unexpected honour to join the ranks of past Solstice winners. I even have connections with a few of them. My small press has published lots of uncollected criticism by Algis Budrys, who was remembered in this award’s first year. I was beta reader for many Discworld novels by my friend Terry Pratchett. Another old friend, John Clute, is co-editor of the Encyclopedia and patiently puts up with the jerky motions of the crank in the back room. Thank you all very much!’
Publishers and Sinners II. Subterranean Press will close down permanently in late 2027 or early 2028. [L]
• Profile Books is taking over Rebellion Publishing’s genre imprint Solaris: ebooks from 1 July, physical books from 1 September, with some Solaris staff also transferring. [L]
The Dead Past. 30 Years Ago, your editor was utterly thoggled: ‘Sarah Lefanu’s slim but sensible Writing Fantasy Fiction (A&C Black, £8.99) makes publishing history: the first writers’ guide to recommend regular study of Thog’s Masterclass!’ (Ansible 108, July 1996)
• 10 Years Ago, a familiar attitude persisted. ‘A.B. Yehoshua, eminent Israeli novelist, explains: “I deeply respect literature and expect to gain insight from a book and to identify emotionally with its characters. I therefore avoid reading suspense novels or science fiction.”’ (Ansible 348, July 2016)
Random Fandom. 2026 WSFS Business Meeting Agenda: 109 pages of fannish fun at tinyurl.com/ymtmnh92. Items include legitimization of virtual business meetings previously held in defiance of the constitution, ratification of the new poetry Hugo (which will need to be re-ratified in 2029), and a proposal to limit the number of Hugo finalist co-creators listed on the Hugo ballot to eight. Virtual meetings on 17 & 26 July, 1 & 9 August.
• Garth Spencer is recruiting for the monthly electronic ‘e-APA’. Read all about it at efanzines.com/eapa/, which includes sign-up details.
Magazine Scene. Locus warns of phishing emails trying to sell promotions in its name, using @proton.me addresses (which Locus doesn’t).
• The media-oriented Starlog (1976-2009 in print) is to be relaunched in November as an annual printed magazine and weekly email newsletter under the aegis of Fangoria, with Annalee Newitz as editor-in-chief. [L]
Thog’s Masterclass. Neat Tricks. ‘I felt my skin go slightly green as I glanced up ...’ (Katherine Neville, The Eight, 1988) [BA]
• Food Fads. ‘... the women were like cheeseburgers – they were either trophies or dessert.’ (Sharyn McCrumb, Zombies of the Gene Pool, 1992) [BA]
• Velikovsky, Thou Shouldst Be Living At This Hour. ‘Jupiter’s spin is now so slow it may crash into Earth at any minute or may stay in the same position – right over England. If it does, we shall never see the Sun again unless we journey to lands that aren’t overshadowed.’ Six months later: ‘Jupiter was still hovering a few thousand miles up and looked like remaining there forever.’ (Desmond Wilcox, Into Existence, 1941)
Geeks’ Corner
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Convention and Event LinksS
• British Isles – https://news.ansible.uk
• London – https://news.ansible.uk/london.html
• Overseas – https://news.ansible.uk/conlisti.html [no longer updated]
Endnotes
PayPal Tip Jar Thingy. Donate to support Ansible, cover website costs and keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.
https://ansible.uk/paypal.html
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Group Theory.
• 16 July 2026, 6pm to late: London Zoom meeting, third Thursday of each month. ‘Please share this with people who you know typically come to the Bishop’s Finger, but aren’t on Facebook.’
https://bohemiancoast.medium.com/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f
R.I.P. – Late and Last-Minute Reports. William J. (Bill) Earls (1942-2025), US author of several stories in sf magazines 1969-1986 and the novel The Gladiator (1981), died on 21 February 2025 aged 83. [AM]
M.C. Escher. The Exhibition is currently running in Somerset House, London, and continues to 6 September. 10am-7pm Monday to Saturday; 10am-6pm Sunday. Adult ticket £24.50; concessions £20.50; under-13s £15.50. ‘Due to high demand, weekends can be very busy’.
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/mc-escher-the-exhibition
Fanfundery. TAFF Library: the latest title is still the Charles Platt/David Langford Micromania, a retro-tech oddity whose reception surprised us both with over 500 downloads in the first few days after release. See taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=Micromania. Meanwhile, Rob Hansen is coming up from another deep dive into fannish history....
Some Links from the Ansible home page.
• 2026 WSFS Business Meeting Agenda
https://www.lacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026businessmeetingagenda.pdf
• BSFA Eastercon/Eurocon 2030 proposal
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zTApv0K_c-C847rwwYfAurrXuMKwCgy3/view
• Ursula K. Le Guin Prize shortlist
https://www.ursulakleguin.com/prize26
• Sturgeon Award (short story) shortlist
https://file770.com/2026-theodore-a-sturgeon-memorial-award-finalists/
Thog’s Golden Oldies from Ansible 228, July 2006. Eyeballs in the Sky. ‘His eyes ran like weasels over the faces of the other players ...’ (Philip José Farmer, ‘Attitudes’, F&SF 10/53)
• Spung! ‘Even through two layers of combat armour, I felt her nipples brush against my back ...’ (Karl Hansen, War Games, 1981)
• Close Shave Dept. ‘Moonlight ran up her cheek like a knife.’ (Nancy Kress, Beggars in Spain, 1991)
• Dept of Submersion. ‘The impact rattled his bones, and he dog-paddled furiously before he realized that the flood was only waist-deep at the bottom, instead of wholly submerged as it would have been in the real world.’ (James Stoddard, The High House, 1998)
• Neat Tricks. ‘The Thiefmaker tried to let a vaguely sincere expression scurry onto his face, where it froze in evident discomfort.’ (Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora, 2006)
Ansible® 468 © David Langford, 2026. Thanks to Brian Ameringen, Gary Brannan, BSFA, Adam-Troy Castro, File 770, Marc Gascoigne, Steve Green, Steve Jones, Locus, Andrey Meshavkin, Christopher Moore, Lawrence Person, Curt Phillips, Andrew I. Porter, Private Eye, Nigel Rowe, SFWA, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group) and SCIS/Prophecy. 1 July 2026