Vector 250 landed in my letterbox this afternoon, so hopefully it’s landed in other peoples’ as well. Here’s the lineup, and when you’ve read it, letters of comments should go to the usual address.
Torque Control — editorial
Letter to Vector — by Paul Raven
Behind the Scenes: Origins — Peter Weston on the changing purpose of the BSFA
The View from Vector — past editors remember. Contributions from Rog Peyton, Ken Slater, Doreen Rogers, Malcolm Edwards, Joseph Nicholas, Paul Kincaid, David V. Barrett, Kev McVeigh, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Gary Dalkin, and Andrew M. Butler
The New X: Pattern Recognition — Graham Sleight on the state of the genre
The 2006 Thomas D. Clareson Award — Farah Mendlesohn’s remarks at the presentation of the Award to Paul Kincaid
First Impressions — Book reviews edited by Paul N. Billinger
(Yes, this time the magazine has a colour cover! If you can’t appreciate the full beauty of the Woking Martian from the version above, there’s a larger image here; photo courtesy Peter Young, who also provided the funky photos of books on the back cover and throughout the interior.)
vector-bsfa.com 
Those are some great ‘funky’ book cover photos, thanks for the link.
If I could be allowed to ask a stupid question, where would one go to get a copy of this mag in the U.S.?
DUDE!
No fair! I want to do a color cover!
Carl: to get Vector (and indeed Matrix and Focus), you have to join the BSFA. Despite the name, you can join no matter what continent you’re on …
Gabe: well, you never know. Maybe next time. [g]
The front photograph is nice, but I just love the back cover – it’s just very cool and beautifully photographed.
Nice job on the ocntents too.
Ocntents? Is that where space squids sleep on camping holidays?
Damn! My excuse is that I’m typing from a sickbed – literally (hate chest infection, love wi-fi!)
Martin
Sorry to hear that, Martin — get well soon. (I am starting to think all of British fandom is getting ill at once.)
Dude, don’t say that – I’ve been sneezing a lot today, and I have a job interview on Tuesday … seriously, get well soon, gents.
Top marks for that cover photo, BTW. I’ve never seen that thing before; I’m not sure that it alone is enough to justify a trip to Woking, but I’ll be sure to check it out if I’m in the area.
Niall, if you can only get Vector by joining the BSFA, why does it have a price on the cover?
In my day (says the old man who just turned 42) we produced a few extra Vectors that places like Forbidden Planet sold. We have also sold the odd copy at convention tables. I also seem to remember that we had to have a price for British library regs but maybe I imagined that?
Anyway, V250 looks super, and thanks for the judicious editing to make me sound good.
Tony: if you’re in the UK, and I remember to take copies with me, you can buy the magazines at conventions and suchlike. If you’re in the US, you really do have to join the BSFA. Although I suppose I could ship some to Wiscon …
I have mentioned the idea of single-issue purchases through the website via PayPal before, but nothing’s come of it yet.