Author: Vector editors

Vector #13

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I have said enough, and Rico too much, to show that this soft-centred soldier should have been recommended for a psychiatric report rather than promotion, and that from a Freudian point of view, “Starship Troopers” is a shower of hoarse horse laughter. Rico longs to be humiliated, searches for trouble and a substitute father figure, both of which he finds of course in the M.I. – referred to significantly as a “Paternalistic organisation”.

Evidence shows that this was not the portrait of Rico that Heinlein intended. There is no sign of awareness (as for instance there was in that fine and authentically tough film “End As A Man”) that this sort of military establishment breeds bullies and bastards and toadies; nor could there be, for the whole novel – whilst passing itself off as a semi-documentary by eschewing plot – is too far from reality.

Brian Aldiss

Assuming, first of all, that SF is definable .. which is probable, since we all know what we mean by SF and argue only about the ‘fringe’ items .. assuming so much, it follows, also, that SF can be, and should be, about anything and everything, past, present, or future, here, there and everywhere. Just as in science itself, there are extremely few matters which can’t be treated in a scientific manner, to some extent, and I know of a few authoritative purists who would go so far as to say that everything … literally .. can be so treated. Certainly, there are very few matters of concern to every day life which are immune to scientific study.

So .. SF can be, and should be free to include everything and anything. The taboos which exist, and there are some, are solely the result of editorial choice, preference, and some nebulous idea as to what ‘the reader’ wants.

John Phillifent

Vector #10

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There is no Secretarial Report this time due to pressure of work.

Front matter

I have one serious criticism to make and that came to me almost as soon as I started reading the two to me almost as soon as I started reading the two latest issues of VECTOR. In both there are apologies for lateness of publication, of both the OO and the Newsletter. The reasons given (by Ella) are that the officials are only doing it as a spare time job, that they have lots of private correspondence to attend to and that they have family commitments and social engagements to deal with. Now I submit that this is not the right attitude. If anyone takes on an official job for any organisation, it is their duty to the members to put that job before their own private circumstances (with the exception of illness, of course). There is nothing wrong with an ordinary fanzine being late because the editor usually does not promise his readers a regular schedule and they don’t expect one. But the members of the BSFA have paid their dues and are entitled to a regular OO. This applies especially to those sf readers, not belonging to fandom and living in remote places, to whom theh arrival of BSFA literature must bring a great deal of pleasure.

A more appropriate reason for having a regular schedule, and one I should have put first, is that if the BSFA wishes, as it states, to influence responsible people in the professional sf world, then it won’t be listened to unless it first shows that it or editors were arranged and then one of the officials failed to turn up on the grounds that he/she “had a houseful of fans who had to be shown some hospitality” (as on p.7. V.9). If a person has these other responsibilities then they have no business taking on an office. Unless that is they are prepared to arrange these other things to leave time for their duties.

There is another thing that gives a rather irresponsible air to the magazine and that is the intensely personal atmosphere about it. I notice that all concerned with VECTOR have an implicit attitude that it is on a higher level than a mere fanzine and yet there is a great deal of mentioning of names present at social gatherings, private announcements such as marriage engagements, etc. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this – I am sure many readers enjoy it – I merely suggest that this puts VECTOR on the level of the ordinary fanzine.

Daphne Buckmaster

Vector #5

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Vector #5, edited by Roberta Wild, with the assistance of Mike Moorcock. It has come to our attention that, because blogs do not yet exist, and because of eddies in the temporal ether, the dates of these “blog posts” may not perfectly align with our print editions. They do materialise within a few months of the correct date. All these difficulties aside, we hope to maintain an approximately quarterly publication schedule, so long as this is compatible with consistent causality.

Vector #4

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Happily we are now able to transmit news of the very first B.S.F.A. Convention, which took place over Easter weekend in Birmingham at the Imperial Hotel. It was a great success, with as many as fifty of us in attendance. One heckler was ejected.

Report on the firsts B.S.F.A. Convention, known also as BRUMCON

The fourth issue of Vector does not only contain many brand-new items of interest; it also contains a “time capsule” which reprints Terry Jeeves’s “Last of the Last-Stage Reflectorsman,” which first appeared in the now sadly defunct fanzine Operation Fantast in 1950.

A request for members to nominate historical materials deserving of republication. Within reasonable limits, however: we don’t want to unbalance Vector

This will be the final Vector to be edited by Terry Jeeves. New B.S.F.A. Officers have been elected, and Bobbie Wild is taking over as Publications Officer, to be assisted by Sandra Hall.

Vector #3

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We are already forming links across the world. Perhaps one day there will be a Galactic Science Fiction Association

Greetings once more from VECTOR, the official organ of the British Science Fiction Association, as we have opted to call ourselves.

Yes, there was a little disagreement over the name: not the “British” part or the “Association” part so much as the “Science Fiction” part! At least one of the founding members felt it might attract unwanted opinions from the Press, who have been known to revel in making us look like mugs. But would we rather be mistaken for mugs, or known truly as cowards? It is all settled now.

Vector #1

Hello? Is there anybody out there?

Well, it is a few years till the Internet starts getting invented, so perhaps not!

Nevertheless, by applying a little time travel technology (the formulae were borrowed from the pages of a recent Science-Fiction story; I shan’t say which one), we at the newly founded B.S.F.A. are fortunate enough to be able to broadcast in a medium that does not yet exist.

Vector #1Download

Now, when will someone invent a P.D.F. reader … ?