As of 2/4/2010. This is an almost final schedule. Times, participants and places are subject to change!
Friday
Friday 4:00pm Anime Carlton: Fullmetal Alchemist V.1
Funimation; TV-PG for violence, scary images, approx 90 min.
In a world where alchemy has become the main vehicle for scientific progress, the Elric brothers attempt to do what no alchemist has successfully done before: raise the dead. Cursed in their failed attempt, they get caught up in a vast military conspiracy in search of the Philosopher's Stone, which may be able to heal their wounded bodies and souls. Layered characters, moral dilemmas, and a solid balance between comic relief and harsher emotion will have you hooked!
Friday 5pm Dragonslair: Board Games for Kids—Lowell Gilbert
Friday 5:30pm Anime Carlton: The Big O Episodes 1-4
Bandai; TV-PG for violence, approx 90 min.
Roger Smith is a Negotiator in Paradigm City, a corporate state that has suffered from amnesia for the past 40 years. Alongside his butler Norman and android partner Dorothy, he fights crime and monsters in a giant robot known as a The Big O. Episodic yet with an ongoing mystery bubbling beneath the surface, this darkly styled show is like the Japanese answer to Batman.
Friday 6pm Burroughs: Boston as Setting
The subway line to Cambridge inspired H.P. Lovecraft to visions of subterranean Antarctic horror; Hal Clement drowned Beantown under dozens of feet of water. Why Boston? Who's writing about here lately? What scenic SFnal possibilities does our fair city present? How can you convey its charm to readers who have never felt Boston's balmy February breeze?
Alexander Jablokov (m), Toni L. P. Kelner, Paul G. Tremblay
Friday 6pm Griffin: Reading
Paul Di Filippo
Friday 6pm Harbor 1: Schools for Magicians
A Hogwarts degree isn't the only path from mundanity to magicianhood. Let's consider how writers have portrayed schools, including Roke, Unseen University, Brakebills, and more. Why a school setting (well, besides innate familiarity for both reader and writer, plus a built-in rationale for info-dumps? How do these fantastical academies compare to SF's schools for space cadets. As we look beyond (and before) Harry Potter, we'll examine the continue fascination with such sorcerous scholastic settings.
Bruce Coville, Sarah Beth Durst, Ethan Gilsdorf, Lev Grossman (m), Jane Yolen
Friday 6pm Harbor 2: What's Showing Its Age?
Stories, novels, characters, and writers from our past. At the time, we thought they wre great, but now they seem to be showing their age. And—not everything ages as well as wine or fine cheese. What hasn't survived into out bright modern future—and what's your reasons for impugning these fine old classics of yesteryerar? (People whining about the lack of jet packs and flying cars will be defenestrated.)
Daniel P. Dern, David G. Hartwell (m), Peter Weston
Friday 6pm Harbor 3: The Ethics of First Contact
First Contact between humans and aliens is one of the lasting tropes of SF. "Lasers first" or "We come in Peace"? Sometimes the advanced aliens contact us primitive humans, and sometimes space-faring humans are doing the contacting. But once contact has happened, what is the moral dimension? Should an advanced race always hide itself from markedly less advanced races for fear of stunting their natural growth? Can it ever be moral to leave individuals in primitive poverty simply in hopes that their descendants might one day develop their own culture? Is the Prime Directive nothing but heartless selfishness? Can advanced peoples colonize a planet inhabited by primitives and live in peace with them? Is there any right answer here? Are there any useful object lessons from Terran history?
Walter H. Hunt (m), Paul Levinson, Allen M. Steele, Vernor Vinge
Friday 6pm Independence: Reading
Mary A. Turzillo
Friday 6:30pm Griffin: Reading
David Anthony Durham
Friday 6:30pm Independence: Reading
Lawrence M. Schoen
Friday 7:00pm Voices of a Distant Star
ADV/Section23 Films; PG-13 for violence, 25 min
Two lovers are divided by space and time when one is sent into deep space to fight in a war. They can only communicate through cell phone messages, but when traveling at near-lightspeed, the time it takes for these messages to be received grows longer and longer. Director Makoto Shinkai animated this short film entirely on his home computer; the result is a masterpiece of the digital age.
Friday 7pm Autographing
Andrew Zimmerman Jones, Tom Shippey, Jane Yolen
Friday 7pm Burroughs: Hand Waving and Phlebotinum
Phlebotinum has been defined as "the magical substance that may be rubbed on anything to can an effect needed by the plot." In effect, it's the literary equivalent of a comb-over. Can it ever be made to work? (The public needs to know!) Describe (and give examples of) other (generally bad) writing tricks, and help any aspiring writers avoid kicking the dog, jumping the shark, or (alas!) evoking the spirit of Mary Sue. Examine some better ways for writers to distract readers from potential absurdities (...squirrel...) that might be lurking in their deathless prose.
James D. Macdonald, Resa Nelson, Melinda Snodgrass (m), Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Jo Walton
Friday 7pm Dragonslair: Magic Show
Be amazed! Be amused! And maybe learn some magic feats yourself!
Daniel P. Dern
Friday 7pm Galleria: Why Del Rey? (and Others)—a NESFA Press Book Launch
At Boskone this year, NESFA Press will be publishing several new books: Robots and Magic, the second volume of stories by Lester Del Rey, The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold, Deep Navigation by GoH Alastair Reynolds, and the final two volumes of the Zelazny Project. Join the editors for cake and a celebration of SF small press publishing. (And then, get ready to lurch...)
Steven H Silver
Friday 7pm Griffin: Dan O'Bannon—Forgotten Film Innovator
People tend to credit George Lucas and Steven Spielberg for the strong resurgance of the SF movie since 1977. But we shouldn't overlook Dan O'Bannon, who brought us Dark Star, Alien and Total Recall. A look back at his career.
Bob Devney, Daniel Kimmel, Laurie Mann (m)
Friday 7pm Harbor 1: The Singularity: An Appraisal
Arguably the idea of the Singularity—a period where change happens so quickly that life afterwards is incomprehensible to people who lived before it—is one of the few entirely fresh ideas in SF in the last forty years. Perhaps it is time for an appraisal. Has the idea of the Singularity been a good thing for SF, providing fresh ideas and stimulating great writing or has the notion that the comprehensibility of the future has a sharp (and near-term) limit diminished possibilities? Has it been a good thing for your writing? How about the Singularity in reality—after twenty years does it look more or less plausible that it is lurking in our own real-world future? Discuss the interplay between the idea of the Singularity in SF and actual scientific research. Where are the really exotic ideas coming from?
Alastair Reynolds (m), Karl Schroeder, Charles Stross, Vernor Vinge
Friday 7pm Harbor 2: Seriously, Where do Your Ideas Come From?
We know ideas don't come from a mail box in upstate New York. So, seriously, where do they come from? Do you muse on "what if's"? Are there personal inspirations for your tales? Do you find a particular setting evocative, and just waiting to be detailed in a story?
Darlene Marshall, Lois McMaster Bujold, David Anthony Durham (m), Paul G. Tremblay, Mary A. Turzillo
Friday 7pm Harbor 3: Where Did All the Ghost Stories Go?
...and why aren't very many being written today? While you're at it, take the opportunity to wax nostalgic about the great ghost stories of the past. Will The Graveyard Book change the landscape? Has the new supernatural genre really ignored ghosts, and why? If not, who is doing the writing, and why don't we know about them?
F. Brett Cox (m), Gregory Feeley, Elaine Isaak, Faye Ringel
Friday 7pm Independence: Reading
Shariann Lewitt
Friday 7pm Lewis: FTL: Types and Tradeoffs
Faster-Than-Light travel may (or may not) be impossible—certainly simply accelerating faster and faster and eventually exceeeding lightspeed is. But is that the only way to get to Alpha Centauri in less than four years? What are the possible varities of FTL travel? What is the scientific reality behind hyperspace, wormhole travel, teleportation, warp drives and the like? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each type of drive? Is FTL travel doomed to be the SF equivalent of the Seven League Boots of medieval fairy tales?
Charles Gannon (m), Jordin T. Kare, Geoffrey A. Landis, Ian Tregillis
Friday 7:30 Anime Carlton: Cowboy Bebop V.1
Bandai; TV-14 for violence, language, drugs, sexual themes, approx 115 min
Fifty years after the Earth has been rendered mostly unlivable by a freak lunar accident, humanity thrives in space. A crew of awkward bounty hunters, all running from their pasts, work together on the spaceship Bebop catching crooks for food. Over ten years since its premiere, this beautifully animated, amazingly scored tragicomedy is a modern classic of anime.
Friday 7:30pm Dragonslair: Reading for Kids
Daniel P. Dern
Friday 7:30pm Independence: Reading
John Langan
Friday 8pm Autographing
Bruce Coville, Debra Doyle, James D. Macdonald
Friday 8pm Burroughs: Biblical Themes and Religion in Genre Fiction
OK, the Bible is full of some really fabulous stories, and a lot of people are familiar with it, so there's resonance in the well of souls. What other reasons propel writers back to those tales? And what about the Koran and the Torah—do they not also have fabulous stories. Give example of great SF/Fantasy that have used Biblical and religious themes (Because there are never enough books to read...)
Jeffrey A. Carver (m), Walter H. Hunt, Dani Kollin, Steven Popkes, Margaret Ronald
Friday 8pm Dragonslair: Little Monsters—Turn Yourself into a Zombie (or other monster!)
Friday 8pm Galleria: Zombie Casino
Friday 8pm Griffin: Filk Circle: Mythology
Bring your songs about ancient myths and legends, or just come to listen. Open circle format; anyone can sing!
Mary Crowell
Friday 8pm Harbor 1: The Lord of the Rings Films: 5 Years Later
How are they holding up? Any virtues or themes (or faults) that are clearer nos? Think they'll be popular for decades, watched annually on September 22 (Bilbo's birthday—but you should know that)? If computer graphics imagery keeps improving (see Avatar!), should we redo LOTR every five years? Come join the discussion of what is lost and what is gained when adapting beloved books to the silver screen, and share what your vision of a (non-Peter Jackson?) LOTR 2.0 might look like.
Ethan Gilsdorf, Laurie Mann (m), Tom Shippey, Michael Swanwick, Ann Tonsor Zeddies
Friday 8pm Harbor 2: Paranormal Romance: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Werewolf?
Since paranormal romance surged to popularity in the 1990's, there's been debate over whether to consider it part of that nebulous field we call "the genre." Paranormal romance has deep roots in the Gothic novels that many fans are proud to proclaim as the progentiors of today's speculative fiction, and paranormal romance authors are big draws at science fiction, fantasy , and horror conventions—suggesting plenty of reader overlap. Why, then, has there been so much resistance to welcoming our paranormal cousins into the genre fandom family?
Darlene Marshall, Ginjer Buchanan (m), Rose Fox, Toni L. P. Kelner, Shariann Lewitt
Friday 8pm Harbor 3: How is the Internet Changing What We Read?
With hundreds of genre releases every year, fans are constantly looking for what to read, and sometimes more importantly, what to avoid. How are blogs and discussion forums and yes, even advertising affecting your reading habits? Do the personal opinions and politics of an author cause you to buy their books or avoid them like the swine flu? Does internet popularity and word-of-mouth translate into actual sales?
Scott H. Andrews, Neil Clarke, Justine Graykin (m), James Patrick Kelly, Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Friday 8pm Independence: Reading
Greer Gilman
Friday 8pm Lewis: Absent Artists
It seems like a lot of important artists in our field have died recently. Discuss why they were important, and how they influenced the modern art arena (and, perhaps, your own work).
Bob Eggleton, John Picacio, Joe Siclari (m), Michael Whelan
Friday 8:30pm Independence: Reading
Alexander Jablokov
Friday 9pm Autographing
Bob Eggleton, Jean-Pierre Normand, John Picacio
Friday 9pm Burroughs: The Place of Prediction in SF and Reality
Hugo Gernsback thought the purpose of SF was to educate. Others think the purpose of SF is to predict. What is the place of prediction in SF? Does it have any place at all, or is the occasional good prediction an accidental side- effect of writing stories? Can SF be about the future and not be making predictions? And let's not limit ourselves to technology—if anything, SF may have a more distinguished history of predicting social changes. (Did the publication of 1984 actually help prevent that future?) Can foresight help us face the future? Finally, is SF better or worse in predicting the future than professional futurologists?
Charles Gannon, Glenn Grant (m), Andrew Zimmerman Jones, Karl Schroeder, Allen M. Steele
Friday 9pm Galleria: Zombie Readings
As part of the Zombie Casino, we're having an open reading of (hopefully horrific!) zombie-oriented material, either written or selected by our participants. Bring your own selections and join the hideous hilarity...
F. Brett Cox, Jack M. Haringa, John Langan (m), Paul G. Tremblay
Friday 9pm Griffin: Filking (Begins!)
Friday 9pm Harbor 1: Great Books I Hate
OK, what are they—and why? It's amazingly liberating to admit right out there in public that you hate That Great Novel, and you're very like to find kindred souls. No one will be mocked or laughed at! We'll be mostly concentrating on genre material, but if the mood really grabs you, toss in some of the more recognized classics of great literature (hey, you can always blame your 10th grade English teacher...)
Paul Di Filippo (m), Gregory Feeley, Greer Gilman, Faye Ringel, Christopher Weuve
Friday 9pm Harbor 2: The Problem of Glorfindel—and Other Issues in Tolkien
Tolkien's elves never re-used names (they were immortal, after all) yet a Glorfindel lived and died in the First Age of Middle-Earth and another was a character in The Lord of the Rings six thousand years later—what happened? One of the joys of Tolkien's world is that it is so well-realized that minor anomalies (which in a lesser writer would be assumed to be sloppiness) only make it seem more real, since the history of the real worls also abounds in puzzles. Enjoy a walk through Middle-Earth's lesser-know byways. Who was Eldest: Treebeard or Tom Bombadil? What were orcs, actually, since Morgoth could not create anything new? Why are the wood-elves such jerks in The Hobbit? Whatever happend to Ungoliant? Arwen became mortal, but what happened to the sons of Elrond when he took ship for Valinor? Where did Sauron hide the One Ring when he was taken captive to Numinor? Let's take the time to explore these and other intriguing curiosities of Middle Earth.
Mary Kay Kare, Kate Nepveu, Mark L. Olson (m), Tom Shippey
Friday 9pm Harbor 3: The Way the Future Was (Joint item with Caprikone)
SF is usually set in an imagined future, but, usually, the future we imagine says more about the present than anything else: the 40s saw titanic space battles, the 50s saw Armageddon or, at least, endless conflict with the the Communists. The 70s saw a stagnant, gray, overpopulated future, while the 80s and 90s imagined a future of transcendence, either in space on in the Net. Talk about the changing views of the future, and stories which epitomized one view or another, or one age or another. What do we see today? What does it say about us?
Alastair Reynolds, Charles Stross
Friday 9pm Independence: Reading
Resa Nelson
Friday 9pm Lewis: More on the Business of Writing
Last year we did this program item, and people enjoyed it so much that we're doing it again! Find out what the writer needs to know and do to become (financially) successful (or, at least responsible). It's not all creativity or perspiration, no matter what you've heard before!
S. C. Butler (m), Elaine Isaak, Melinda Snodgrass, Ian Tregillis
Friday 9:30pm Anime Carlton: Gurren Lagann Episodes 1-3
Bandai; TV-14 for violence, suggestive humor, approx 70 min
One day at work in his underground city, Simon the Digger unearths a drill that controls a robot. With the encouragement of his übermacho comrade Kamina, he uses his drill to burst through to the surface, where he will fight in war against the ruling chimera Beastmen and change the destiny of the entire universe. With a striking visual style, extremely over-the-top action scenes, and a cast of hilarious characters, this is a near-perfect tribute to the mecha shows of days past.
Friday 9:30pm Dragonslair: Mini-LARP for Teens Iincludes boffers!)
Friday 9:30pm Independence: Reading
Don D'Ammassa
Friday 10pm Burroughs: Trivia Bowl!
Danger! Danger! [Quick, who said that?] Trivia (and chocolate) fly thick and fast as we challenge you with trivial tropes and topics taken from science fiction, fantasy, and horror books, movies, TV, and comics. So, duck and cover, but keep those answers coming!
Mark L. Olson, Priscilla Olson, Steven H Silver
Friday 10pm Galleria: Art Show Reception
It's open to all! Feast your eyes on the wonders of the Boskone Art Show while enjoying refreshments and refreshing conversation.
Friday 10pm Harbor 1: Why Steampunk Now?
If movements in SF are short-lived, why is Steampunk continuing to grow in popularity? 2009 marked the 30th year of Steampunk novels, but Steampunk parties and fashion shows appear more and more at conventions each year. Now, Steampunk is even becoming a facet of popular culture! What is it about scientific romances that keep calling us back to the Victorian age?
Paul Di Filippo, Lev Grossman, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Everett Soares, Michael Swanwick (m)
Friday 10pm Harbor 2: Bad Books I Love
Choose your favorite piece of mindless mush, and persuade us to look at it a second time. Admit those guilty pleasures! (C'mon, you know you want to!)
S. C. Butler, Kathryn Cramer, Theodora Goss, Paul Levinson (m), Feorag NicBhride
Friday 10pm Harbor 3: Writing For Hollywood
Our experienced screenwriters will consider how, if giants like Joe Haldeman, Orson Scott Card, and George R.R. Martin have been bloodied in that town, a merely mortal scribbler can flourish in Hollyweird. How do you get started? What does it take to keep going? Worst war stories? Best secret tips?
Melinda Snodgrass
Friday 10pm Independence: Reading
Ken Schneyer
Friday 10pm Lewis: Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading
Broad Universe, an organization of women genre writers, celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Come hear several authors read short snippets of their current work. Our readings are like New England weather: don't like what you're hearing—wait a minute and it'll change!
Jennifer Pelland (moderator), Justine Graykin, Elaine Isaak, Shira Lipkin, Suzanne Reynolds- Alpert, Roberta Rogow, Trisha Wooldridge, Phoebe Wray...and others!)
Friday 10:30pm Independence: Reading
Adam Golaski
Friday 10:45pm Anime Carlton: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo Episodes 1-3
Funimation; TV-MA for violence, nudity, sexual themes, approx 70 min
It's Alexandre Dumas' classic serial on drugs and in space, and it works a lot better than you may expect. This adaptation keeps the basic story of revenge and complex character histories, but works from a different perspective (Albert's instead of the Count's) and tells its story nonlinearly (the series starts in the middle of the story). The flashy effects animation is not for the seizure-prone, but most everyone else will find something to appreciate about it.
Friday Midnight Anime Carlton: Baccano V.1
Funimation; TV-MA for violence, language, drugs, scary images, approx 90 min
So, the story takes place on a train from New York to Chicago during the 1930s, and also several hundred years before then. There are twenty main characters in all, including Chicago gangsters, New York thieves, and ancient alchemists who have achieved immortality. If you like crazy nonlinear storylines with complex mysteries and intense violent action, this is probably worth a shot.
Saturday
Saturday 9:30am Independence: Reading
Charles Gannon
Saturday 10am Autographing
Alastair Reynolds, Everett Soares, Michael Swanwick
Saturday 10am Burroughs: Storyboarding the Apocalypse
What's going to happen when civilization as we know it collapses? (Any likely scenarios for collapse will also be gleefully accepted...) Our panelists offer their unique perspectives on what you will have to do immediately/soon after/in the long haul to make it through the (coming?) apocalypse.
John Cohn, John R. Douglas (m), Adam Golaski, James D. Macdonald
Saturday 10am Carlton: Fifty Years of Laser Technology
It's been 50 years since the first laser was made. It was described as "a solution looking for a problem," but since then the laser has come a long way indeed! Laser beams play music and video, send voices and internet data around the worls, remove unwanted tattoos and body hair, cut plastic, treat detached retinas, weld metals, guide bombs to their targets, and much much more. Hear how the technology evolved, and where it's going.
Jeff Hecht
Saturday 10am Dragonslair: Kids' Reading
Bruce Coville
Saturday 10am Galleria Art Demo: The Best (and Worst?) of Doctor Who (#10)
A recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine published the results of a poll, ranking all Doctor Who episodes from best ("The Caves of Androzani" and "Blink" were the top two) to worst ("The Twin Dilemma"). The data were analyzed in a number of ways -- average score by Doctor (Eccleson, Tennant and Tom Baker did best, Colin Baker worst; by demographic (over 35s liked "Blink" best, while under 19s preferred "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End"), and by series (1975/6 and 1976/77 ranked highest, while 1987 ranked last). Discuss the poll, and your own favorites/least favorites, paying particular attention to the most recent Doctor. (Who?)
Jim Mann, Jennifer Pelland
Saturday 10am Galleria: Classical and Historical Fencing Lessons
Dr. Ken Mondschein, Ph.D in history and internationally-certified fencing instructor, will be offering individual and small-group lessons in your choice of foil, dueling sabre, large or small stick, or two-handed sword. Lessons are based on classical pedagogy, tailored to the individual and geared towards performing real actions with a partner—with timing, intent, and speed. Space is limited—so come to the Program Ops table to reserve your slot and choice of weapon. (Classes will continue into the evening.)
Saturday 10am Galleria: The Whelan Retrospective: a Guided Tour
Joe Siclari, Michael Whelan
Saturday 10am Griffin: Morning Yoga
Mary Crowell
Saturday 10am Harbor 1: SF/Mainstream Convergence?
Is SF converging with the mainstream? Just as SF tropes have invaded films and TV, have they also become so much part of our common culture that the genre will simply be absorbed (or absorb) the rest of literature? What will this mean for SF and for us? Is it a Good Thing?
Kathryn Cramer, James Patrick Kelly (m), Steven Popkes, Vandana Singh, Melinda Snodgrass
Saturday 10am Harbor 2: Keynote: Science Fiction—the Vision and the Critics
Our Special Guest looks back on 50 rewarding years of bein a SF fan, and 40 much less rewarding years of being a progressor of English, and asks: what created SF? And what made it so different, and so fascinating? It's no good asking the professors. SF has produced a string of visions, shared and developed by a host of authors, but some of these are now running out of conviction (like NASA). What could give SF a boost? Are we looking at Day Million or The Dying Earth?
Tom Shippey
Saturday 10am Harbor 3: The Suck Fairy, and Other Horrors of Rereading
The Suck Fairy takes old books you used to like and magically makes them, well, suck. Writer Jo Walton heard tell of this creature at last year's Montreal Worldcon; other participants deduced the existence of a Racism Fairy and a Sexism Fairy as well. Let's discuss particularly painful examples of the influence of these dispiriting sprites on our own (formerly) favorite rereads
Daniel P. Dern, Kate Nepveu, Jo Walton (m), Jane Yolen
Saturday 10am Independence: Reading
Sarah Beth Durst
Saturday 10am Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Michael F. Flynn
Saturday 10am Lewis: How to Advertise Yourself!
In the brave new world of the 21st century, few publishing entities seem to have the time or budget to publicize their new writers or books. Learn about the best strategies for publicity. Twitter? Facebook? Which is best for what? Every bit is important—but what should you NOT do?)
Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin
Saturday 10:30am Independence: Reading
Ian Tregillis
Saturday 11am Autographing
Jeffrey A. Carver, Michael J. Daley
Saturday 11am Burroughs: Books Authors Must Read
What books (fiction or non-fiction) do you think an author must read? Why? How will these help aspiring authors improve their work?
John R. Douglas, Rose Fox, Jack M. Haringa, Daniel Hatch (m), Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Saturday 11am Carlton: Slide Show
John Picacio
Saturday 11am Dragonslair: Kids' Concert
Songs for kids, or for the young at heart.
Edward L. Stauff, Mary Ellen Wessels
Saturday 11am Galleria: Boskone Tour!
Laurie Mann
Saturday 11am Galleria Art Demo: The Lost Discussion
One last time...just what the heck is happening now? Any ideas how it might actually end?
Priscilla Olson
Saturday 11am Griffin: How to Read One's Work Aloud
Tips and advice on how to face an audience without flinching, and how to get people's attention and keep it, from a writer who has learned to relax and enjoy it.
Justine Graykin
Saturday 11am Harbor 1: A Greatness in the Con: Exploring the Works of Vernor Vinge
He's written at least two of the best SF adventure novels of all time: A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) and A Deepness in the Sky (1999). He helped invent cyberpunk. He reinvented the future with his conception of the Singularity. Plus he's done plenty for us lately. Let's consider Vernor Vinge's themes, discoveries, storytelling techniques, influences, and influence.
Mark L. Olson, Edie Stern (m), Vernor Vinge
Saturday 11am Harbor 2: What's Special about the Middle Ages?
Forty years ago if a high school student studied the Middle Ages at all, they came away with a vague image of a long gray period between Classical civilization and the Renaisance: nothing much interesting happened, but it was cold and there was a lot of turnips and dung involved—when the knights and the serfs were not slaughtering each other over esoteric points of belief. The Medieval period has since undergone a renaisance of it own. It's interesting! Things happened, technology was developed which far exceeded Rome's, and while the foundations of our modern world were laid, it was much more than just a period of transition. Why can the Medieval period hold its head high as it stands next to the Classical and the Modern? What makes it special and interesting on its own?
Debra Doyle (m), Michael F. Flynn, Eytan Kollin, Tom Shippey
Saturday 11am Harbor 3: Best Fantasy Books—Ever
Challenge I— Make list. Challenge II—Defend it.
Ellen Asher, Don D'Ammassa, Lev Grossman (m), Darrell Schweitzer, Jane Yolen
Saturday 11am Independence: Reading
Beth Bernobich
Saturday 11am Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Lois McMaster Bujold
Saturday 11am Lewis: Going to Sea: a Science Fiction Fan's Perspective
This talk is about what it's like to go to sea with the US Navy, from the point of view of a science fiction fan. It will include both what it's like to live on a ship, and how the Navy actually does it job at sea, focusing on the people on board the ship. If you're interested in reading (or writing) "naval" fiction, this is the item for you!
Christopher Weuve
Saturday 11:30am Independence: Reading
Steven H Silver
Saturday Noon Autographing
Lois McMaster Bujold, Elaine Isaak
Saturday Noon M. J. O'Connor's Pub: Literary Beer
Paul Levinson
Saturday Noon Burroughs: What Will (Should?) Be Zombified Next?
There was Mr. Darcy and now Paul McCartney. And Huck Finn. The list goes on. Who would make a good zombie? (Why?)
Kathryn Cramer, Craig Shaw Gardner, John Langan, Shariann Lewitt, Faye Ringel (m)
Saturday Noon Carlton: Researching Fantasy Novels—Why Bother?
Resa Nelson
Saturday Noon Dragonslair: Arming a Knight (Kids)
Have you ever wondered how a knight got into his armor? It wasn't easy! Come watch as the demonstrators of the Higgins Armory Sword Guild harness a knight for combat and explain how his armor works.
Saturday Noon Galleria: Friendship Bracelet Workshop
This hands-on workshop teaches the two basic knots and other principles of making unique and beautiful friendship bracelets. Plenty of materials will be provided, along with a variety of patterns and information on how to create your own designs. Suitable for nimble-fingered, nearsighted attendess of all ages.
Rose Fox
Saturday Noon Galleria: Artist Demo
Michael Whelan
Saturday Noon Griffin: Worst. Retcon. Ever.
Retcon, a.k.a "retroactive continuity", was a term invented in the 1980s, to describe the phenomenon of deliberately changing previously established facts in a serial story. Most often applied to comics (which panelists should concentrate on, unless they have an overwhelming need to widen the field!), it can also be found in other media: TV series, movies, computer games, etc. We want to know what you think was the worst. (And, why?)
Daniel P. Dern (m), Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Rene Walling
Saturday Noon Harbor 1: Gritty, Often Dark, Sometimes Nasty—the SF of Alastair Reynolds
He's produced impressively grand-scale novels and shorter worked in the Revelation Space universe, plus powerful singletons such as Century Space and the recent House of Suns. Alastair Reynolds once said, "I'm just trying to write a fusion of hard SF and space opera, subservient to Einstein's laws, and also to brin in a bit of Lovecraftian horror." How's he doing so far? How does his work compare to that of writers from Clark and Asimov to Vinge, Banks, and MacLeod? What's the signal -pleasure of reading Reynold? Where might his talent take him? Talk about the SF of Alastair Reynolds: high technology, inimical (and incomprehensible) aliens, mysteries, and an ever-present gritty realism!
Ginjer Buchanan, Vince Docherty, Mark L. Olson (m), Alastair Reynolds
Saturday Noon Harbor 2: Rebooting Star Trek
The 2009 Star Trek movie kept the characters, but created the means to ignore all the historical canon. Did it work? Any particular loves or hates? Was this the best way to bring in new fans, or does it risk turning off those of us who have all that Star Trek history in our DNA? Where does this venerable franchise go from here?
Daniel Kimmel (m), Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, Jennifer Pelland, Melinda Snodgrass
Saturday Noon Harbor 3: Technology T/o/d/a/y Tomorrow!
The eternal city of Diaspar lay on the desert for a billion years as its immortal citizens lived in a technological paradise. But that's not tomorrow's technology (or is there an app for that?) What can we expect to see in the near future (the "near future" being as far as we can reliably extrapolate)? What skiffy things are being developed right now? What do we expect to see coming after? (It's great living in the future, but why can't it come even faster!)
John Cohn, Edie Stern (m), Charles Stross
Saturday Noon Independence: Reading
Vandana Singh
Saturday Noon Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Tom Shippey
Saturday Noon Lewis: What Artists Want
What do artists want?—from publishers, conventions, art shows, the public...? Well, we're not artists—they are! And, (hopefully), they'll tell us.
Alan F. Beck, Bob Eggleton, Jean-Pierre Normand, John Picacio (m)
Saturday 12:30pm Dragonslair: Daggers and Shields and Swords, Oh My!
Have at you! Witness the subtle skills of attack, parry, and grapple as the combat arts of the dagger, the buckler, and the sword are brought to life from forgotten manuals in this presentation by Higgins Armory Sword Guild.
Saturday 12:30pm Independence: Reading
Geoffrey A. Landis
Saturday 1pm Autographing
Lev Grossman, Chad Orzel, Melinda Snodgrass
Saturday 1pm M. J. O'Connor's Pub: Literary Beer
David G. Hartwell
Saturday 1pm Burroughs: Avatar!
Wow...was that cool or what? So...many think"Avatar" changed the face of SF movies. (Or, at least changed the conversation from all that new-mooning over Twilight.) How has Avatar changed the future of SF movies? What would a sequel look like? Have we seen the last of those pesky Earthlings? Do Jake and Neytiri have a four-and-a-half fingered baby? Could the whole awesome sequel take place, like on flyingdragonback?
Bob Devney (m), Bob Eggleton, Ethan Gilsdorf, Geary Gravel, Daniel Kimmel, Michael Swanwick
Saturday 1pm Carlton: Global Events, Local Effects?: Climate Change (Joint item with Capricon)
Climate change is coming, but how much, how soon and how will this affect each of us on a local level? Discuss the realities of climate change (with helpful digressions about the noise generated by the "the sky is falling" folk and the "nothing's gonna happen" people). What do we know and what do we suspect? How will this affect our everyday lives—and how do we know this? What can we do to prevent it, or (at least) to ride it out if (when?) it happens?
Vince Docherty (m), Glenn Grant, Vandana Singh
Saturday 1pm Dragonslair: Storytelling (for Kids)
Bruce Coville, Jane Yolen
Saturday 1pm Galleria: Art Demo
Jean-Pierre Normand
Saturday 1pm Galleria: Long Live the Legion!
...and the team soldiers on. Sort of.
Priscilla Olson
Saturday 1pm Galleria: Higgins Demo: Knightly Armored Combat
See the clash of fully-armored knights as they would have fought in the Middle Ages! Hollywood's images of armored combat rely on made-up moves and special effects. Watch as the Higgins Armory Sword Guild presents the actual techniques that knights used in battle, as described in medievel manuals.
Saturday 1pm Griffin: Reading
Alastair Reynolds
Saturday 1pm Harbor 1: The Banality of the Future
Lots of exciting stuff that was supposed to happen by now...didn't. No interplanetary travel. No rocket packs. Not even any sexbots! What if this kind of thing goes on? What factors make it likely that the coming decades will be really dull? (Frankly, do you really want to live in..."interesting" ...times?)
F. Brett Cox, Charles Gannon, Walter H. Hunt (m), Allen M. Steele, Vernor Vinge
Saturday 1pm Harbor 2: Revamping Asimov's 3 Laws—and why that might be a good/ethical thing
Charles Stross' Saturn's Children showed how Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics applied to an AI was nothing less than slavery of a particularly vile sort, since the chains of that slavery are made intrinsic to the nature of the robots and can naver be shaken off. Do you buy this argument? If so, are there alternatives to the Three Laws which might be less bad? (Remember that the Three Laws were constructed to deal with the Frankenstein Problem of our creations rising against us.) Is it even possible to imagine AIs existing where we neither their slaves nor their masters?
Jeffrey A. Carver (m), Michael F. Flynn, Paul Levinson, Karl Schroeder
Saturday 1pm Harbor 3: Fantasy: Getting Away from the Traditional?
It's not all quests in medieval Europe anymore. What kinds of new and exciting things do we have? What kinds of new things are underdone, or indeed, undone? (If I knew, I wouldn't be asking.) What's being overdone? (Enough with the elves on motorcycles already!) What's the best out there now?
Ellen Asher, Theodora Goss, Jennifer Pelland (m), Faye Ringel, Mary A. Turzillo
Saturday 1pm Independence: Reading
Michael J. Daley
Saturday 1pm Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Jo Walton
Saturday 1pm Lewis: The Market(s) for Short Fiction
Magazines, anthologies, the web? Find out where the short stuff sells, and how to get a piece of the action.
Neil Clarke (m), Elaine Isaak, Alexander Jablokov, James Patrick Kelly
Saturday 1:30pm Galleria: Higgins Demo: Swordplay through the Ages—the Renaissance
The sword was the weapon par excellence for hundreds of years, as well as being the symbol of nobility and might. During that time, its techniques changed dramatically. From the military efficiency of the English backsword to the subtleties of the duellist's rapier, watch the HASG demonstrate authentic swordplay styles, taken from surviving manuals.
Saturday 1:30pm Griffin: Reading
Paul G. Tremblay
Saturday 1:30pm Independence: Reading
Justine Graykin
Saturday 2pm Autographing
David Anthony Durham, Walter H. Hunt, Paul Levinson, Jo Walton
Saturday 2pm M. J. O'Connor's Pub: L/i/t/e/r/a/r/y Fannish Beer: A History of British Fandom?
Tom Shippey, Peter Weston
Saturday 2pm Burroughs: Writer Scams
It is a truth universally acknowledged that in any deal between writer and publisher/editor/agent/marketer etc., the money should always flow from those third parties to the writer. If it goes the other way, something is wrong. Our panel lays down these and other laws designed to protect unwary author, and also distinguises legit print-on-demand services from scam agencies, scam publishers, and other secret masters of scamdom.
Beth Bernobich, Elaine Isaak, James D. Macdonald (m)
Saturday 2pm Carlton: Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks
An exploration and celebration of why we geeks love our fantasy and gaming subcultures. On a quest that begins in his own geeky teenage past and ends in our online gaming future, this former D&D addict crisscrosses America, the world, and other worlds, to educate and enlighten us about this far-reaching phenomenon.
Ethan Gilsdorf
Saturday 2pm Dragonslair: Science for Kids
John Cohn
Saturday 2pm Galleria Art Demo: Aussiecon and Artists
A chance for artists to sit down with representatives from Aussiecon 4, the 2010 Worldcon, and discuss what's needed to help them participate.
Saturday 2pm Galleria: Artist's Demo
Alan F. Beck
Saturday 2pm Galleria: Higgins Demo: Pirate Combat
When pirates took to the sea, they expected to have to fight. They used cannon for ship-to-ship combat, but when it came time to board their targets, hand weapons, especially knives and cutlasses, ruled the decks. See the HASG demonstrate how pirates subdued, defeated,and sometimes killed their victims.
Saturday 2pm Griffin: Saturday Concerts: Stauff/MEW/Sassafrass
Edward L. Stauff, Mary Ellen Wessels
Sassafrass: Rebecca Burstein, Kara Hurvitz, Emily Lewis, Julia Suggs, Ruth Wejksnora
Saturday 2pm Harbor 1: The City and Science Fiction
From the planet-spanning urbs of Trantor or Coruscant to the steamfunkier precincts of New Crobuzon to the vastly vertical Spearpoint of Alastair Reynolds' forthcoming Terminal World— what's your favorite skiffy megalopolis? Would you move there tomorrow? Would it actually work as a technological/societal/economic artifact? In an advanced, post-scarcity society, would people even want to pig-pile together? What will cities be like in the future? (And what would you prefer them to be?)
S. C. Butler, Alexander Jablokov (m), James Patrick Kelly, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Steven H Silver
Saturday 2pm Harbor 2: Space is for Robots?
Is it such a bad thing that we haven't sent people to Mars, when those little rovers can do so much without risking a life? What's the right balance between machines and humans in space exploration and development?
Jordin T. Kare, Geoffrey A. Landis, Karl Schroeder, Allen M. Steele (m)
Saturday 2pm Harbor 3: Generation Issues in SF
Are there any? If so, what? And (if so), should (can?) the community (the literature/fandom/conventions) do something about them?
Paul Di Filippo (m), Glenn Grant, Fred Lerner, Feorag NicBhride, Priscilla Olson
Saturday 2pm Independence: Reading
Toni L. P. Kelner
Saturday 2pm Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
John Langan, Paul G. Tremblay
Saturday 2pm Lewis: Melville and 20th Century SF Literature (1/2 hour)
Neglected in his own century, Herman Melville dominated twentieth-century studies in American literature, and his work remains as engaging as ever to readers and scholars—including those of the fantastic. Such works as Moby Dick, Pierre, and Bartleby the Scrivener partake of a nineteenth century fantastic tradition as much as Poe or Hawthorned, and have exerted a peculiar but undeniable influence upon modern SF, Gothic literature, and "magic realism."
Gregory Feeley
Saturday 2:30pm Galleria: Higgins Demo: Classical and Historical Fencing
Dr. Ken Mondschein, instructor at the Higgins Academy of the Sword, and several of his students will demonstate living and reconstructed traditions of swordmanship from the days when a man's (or woman's) life might depend on skill with a blade. Dr. Mondschein has conducted extensive research, and trained in both history and fencing in order to resurrect the skills of the past. Weapons demonstrated will include the foil, dueling sabre, cane, and great stick of the belle epoque, as well as the Renaissance rapier and two-handed sword.
Saturday 2:30pm Independence: Reading
Jeffrey A. Carver
Saturday 2:30pm Lewis: Why is Lovecraft Still So Popular? (1/2 hour)
He was an obscure, eremitic writer who published in the pulpiest of the pulps. His career lasted only 18 years, but many writers now admit his influence, pastiche his works, and generally keep the love alive. What is the secret of his wide and popular appeal? (And how can I get some?)
Darrell Schweitzer
Saturday 3pm Autographing
Toni L. P. Kelner, Resa Nelson
Saturday 3pm M. J. O'Connor's Pub: Literary Beer
Karl Schroeder
Saturday 3pm Burroughs: The Works of James Blish
James Blish was both a modernist and someone immersed in SF and its traditions. He could talk equally well about the works of James Joyce and the works of many SF writers. This panel discusses Blish's works and contributions to the field, and explores why NESFA Press chose to publish his material.
Gregory Feeley, Jim Mann (m), Tom Shippey, Peter Weston
Saturday 3pm Carlton: The Fermi Failure
The great physicist Enrico Fermi asked "Where are the aliens? Why didn't they get here long ago?" This is a huge puzzle since the universe is so old that it is difficult to understand why they have not already visited Earth or at least made their presence known out in space. This is the Fermi Paradox. Have we made any progress untangling it?
Charles Gannon, Geoffrey A. Landis, Mark L. Olson (m), Ian Tregillis
Saturday 3pm Dragonslair: Card Games for Kids
Walter H. Hunt, Christopher Weuve
Saturday 3pm Galleria Art Demo: Art Demo
Bob Eggleton
Saturday 3pm Galleria: Knitting/Knitalong
Priscilla Olson, Edie Stern
Saturday 3pm Galleria: Classical and Historical Fencing Lessons
(See 10:00 description) Individual and small-group lessons in a variety of weapons continue. Space is limited—so come to the Program Ops table to reserve your slot and choice of weapon. Will continue to 8:30, if enough people are interested!
Saturday 3pm Griffin: Reading
Jane Yolen
Saturday 3pm Harbor 1: Artists Talk!
Our Official Artist John Picacio and NESFA Press Guest Michael Whelan get a chance to interview each other...or maybe just chat about interesting things!
John Picacio, Michael Whelan
Saturday 3pm Harbor 2: The Heroine's Journey
We've got a whole book and academic sub-genre dedicated to the hero's journey and its mythic importance in out culture (thank you, Joseph Campbell!) As usual, they left out the girls. Is the heroine's journey different from that of the hero? If so, in what ways and why? (Is the differentiation embodied in those two terms even germane any longer?)
Lois McMaster Bujold, Greer Gilman, Rosemary Kirstein (m), Margaret Ronald, Jo Walton
Saturday 3pm Harbor 3: Who's Writing the Heinlein Juveniles Now?
...and how do today's juvies differ from those of the 40's and 50's? Why? For that matter, are any of Heinlein's juveniles still good books to hook kids in these days? Which ones? (I always liked The Rolling Stones myself...)
Michael J. Daley, Jack M. Haringa (m), Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Saturday 3pm Independence: Reading
Paul Levinson
Saturday 3pm Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Alastair Reynolds
Saturday 3pm Lewis: Is Fantasy Displacing SF?
Everywhere we turn, fantasy is busting out all over. Of the top 10 highest grossing movies of all time, 8 are fantasy and 1 is SF (The other one is Titanic which is, arguably, fantasy). The subgenres of paranormal fantasy, paranormal romance, and urban fantasy have all taken best seller lists by storm. Six of the last 10 Hugo novel winners have been fantasy. Is fantasy pushing science fiction out of the market place? Why? Is the real world just too science tictional these days for it to appeal to us anymore?
F. Brett Cox, Justine Graykin, David G. Hartwell (m), Daniel Hatch, Mary Kay Kare
Saturday 3:30pm Griffin: Reading
Allen M. Steele
Saturday 4pm Autographing
Paul Di Filippo, Alexander Jablokov, Allen M. Steele
Saturday 4pm M. J. O'Connor's Pub: Literary Beer
Michael Swanwick
Saturday 4pm Burroughs: The Creatures We Don't See
Why is it always cats? Well, maybe cats, dragons, and an occasional talking horse. Where are the meerkats? Flamingoes? Beetles (after all, they're the most diverse group of critters on the planet—give 'em a break!)? What animals are missing from the genre? Should we care?
Ellen Asher, Elaine Isaak, Vandana Singh, Mary A. Turzillo (m)
Saturday 4pm Carlton: Energy Beaming and Space Elevators
A talk about the adventures of the speaker with lasers, LaserMotive, and Otis the Climber. Otis used customized solar cells to convert laser power to electricity and drive a small motor—enabling it to climb a 3300 foot cable in 4 minutes. This feat, accomplished on November 4, 2009 won a $900,000 prize from NASA. This spring, Laser Motive will try to make a similar climb in less than 5 minutes. After that, the sky is quite literally the limit...
Jordin T. Kare
Saturday 4pm Dragonslair: Solar Energy for Kids
Hear solar music—see a solar car go! Kids will work on all of these, learn about a solar house, and read a story of future solar NASCAR racing. Everyone will take home plans to build a solar pizza box oven for cooking smokeless s'mores!
Michael J. Daley
Saturday 4pm Galleria Art Demo: Filk and Education
Can filk music be used as an educational tool? Songs about science can be used as teaching songs, and new lyrics to old tunes can help to teach the craft of writing lyrics. Are there other educational applications of filk?
Mary Crowell, Mary Ellen Wessels
Saturday 4pm Galleria: (Computer?) Art Demo
Boskone's Official Artist works on a drawing for one of his current SF/F jobs, answering questions and discussing problem-solving and approaches toward working as a professional artist in today's book illustration field.
John Picacio
Saturday 4pm Galleria: Longsword Lessons
Medieval combat! Hands-on lessons in the most important Knightly weapon—the Longsword. Learn the basics of attack and defense in the German tradition. All equipment provided, no experience necessary. Limit 12 participants (per hour) -- spectators welcome. Brought to you by Kunstbruder—the Brotherhood of the Art of Defense.
Saturday 4pm Griffin: Reading
Walter H. Hunt
Saturday 4pm Harbor 1: Lit Fic is Just Another Genre
It's not as if the finest works of steampunk, epic fantasy, military SF, or paranormal romance automatically ascent into lit fic. After all, doesn't speculative literary fiction just feel like its own thing—with its own cover art styles and reader expectations? Are its writers as gifted as the best mainstream writers? Whose writing defines the field, and where is it going today?
Kathryn Cramer, Gregory Feeley, Theodora Goss, Fred Lerner (m), Resa Nelson
Saturday 4pm Harbor 2: Virtual Worlds
From World of Warcraft to Second Life, simulated realities are growing ever more detailed. Where will this trend go next? Will virtual worlds displace real life for some people? Might this be an advantage for those who, for physical or other reasons, can't deal effectively with the real world? What are the appeals and dangers of going digital?
Ethan Gilsdorf (m), Charles Stross, Vernor Vinge
Saturday 4pm Harbor 3: Graphic Novels, Film Audio, Web Comics, +!?—Different Ways to Tell the Story
There's more than one way—and more than one media—in which to tell a story, isn't there? Discuss. But—why mix media? Is one picture really worth a thousand words? Can voices convey nuances better than the written word? Than art? What works (and what doesn't)? What's good and what's bad? Recommend some of these unusual and innovative newcomers in the science fiction/fantasy/horror field.
Bruce Coville (m), Steven Popkes, Everett Soares, Rene Walling, Jane Yolen
Saturday 4pm Independence: Reading
Lev Grossman
Saturday 4pm Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin
Saturday 4pm Lewis: Language and Linguistics in Fantasy and Science Fiction
There's more to language than a dictionary and grammar, as these experts will tell you. Whether written, spoken, or signed, languages grow out of specific cultural settings and specific neurologies, and affect those cultures and neurologies. The ways that languages affect minds and societies, and what we can learn from a culture's language are fertile fields for research discussion, and cool ideas. Just look at what it did for Tolkien!
Geary Gravel, Lawrence M. Schoen (m), Tom Shippey
Saturday 4:30pm Griffin: Reading
Debra Doyle, James D. Macdonald
Saturday 5pm Autographing
S. C. Butler, Kathryn Cramer, Rosemary Kirstein, Charles Stross
Saturday 5pm M. J. O'Connor's Pub: Literary Beer
Jeffrey A. Carver
Saturday 5pm Burroughs: The Hugo Awards: Freestyle Discussion
Our annual Boskone Hugo Discussion. Because we think it was a somewhat weak literary year, we're (re-)combining written works with works in other media. Of course, you might disagree with us...and that's why this item is scheduled at the end of the afternoon, so you can keep arguing all through dinner and the evening if you so wish...
Bob Devney (m), Vince Docherty, Daniel Kimmel, Jim Mann
Saturday 5pm Carlton: The Passing of the Modern Ages
Every five hundred years or so, the West goes through a Dark Ages or a Renaissance of some other catastrophe. The world of late antiquity came to an end. The medieval world came to an end. Is the modern world now coming to an end? If so, what are its markers? What were those moderns really like? What distinguisted modern from medieval or from post-modern? Does this really mean a new Dark Age ahead. Or worse?
Michael F. Flynn
Saturday 5pm Dragonslair: Make Your Own Wings—Cyd Brezynski
Saturday 5pm Galleria Art Demo: Surviving The Colony Experience
John Cohn, Priscilla Olson
Saturday 5pm Galleria: Kunstbruder Sword Lessons Continue
Saturday 5pm Griffin: Reading
Lois McMaster Bujold
Saturday 5pm Harbor 1: The Year in Astronomy and Physics
So what happened in astronomy and physics in 2009? Old mysteries solved? New mysteries found? (Seen any Higgs bosons lately?) Join us for the annual panel on the wonders of our universe!
Jeff Hecht, Geoffrey A. Landis, Mark L. Olson (m), Alastair Reynolds
Saturday 5pm Independence: Reading
Scott H. Andrews
Saturday 5pm Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Bruce Coville, Jane Yolen
Saturday 5pm Lewis: On Being a Reviewer
What's it like? Do you ever just read for pleasure anymore? Are you a consumer advocate, a cog in the marketing machine, a polemicist, an entertainer, or a writer who writes about writings? Is there any real difference between being a critic and being a reviewer? What are your standards? Your triumphs? Your disappointments? Have you ever faced pressures, problems, or even personal peril because of your profession? Stories—we want stories!
Don D'Ammassa, Tom Easton (m), Rose Fox, Lev Grossman, Steven H Silver
Saturday 5:30pm Independence: Reading
Elaine Isaak
Saturday 7:30pm Griffin: Hymnal Singing
Group singing of geek songs from the NESFA Hymnals, vol. 1 and 2. Loaner hymnals will be provided. A good way to learn some of the old classics of filk and find your inner geek.
Erwin S. Strauss
Saturday 8:00pm Anime Carlton: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Bandai; PG for language, 98 min.
Mokoto Konno was just a regular high school girl, kind of clumsy and just trying to spend time with her two best friends, until a lab accident suddenly gives her the ability to leap backwards through time. Confused why she can do this, she uses her abilities to work through various everyday situations before ending up in a romance with another time traveler. If this humorous, heartfelt film is any indication, director Mamoru Hosoda may very well be the next great anime auteur.
Saturday 8pm Harbor 2: Featured Filker Concert
Is the winter weather getting you down? Come in for some hot southern-flavored blues and jazz, about mathematics, elves, magic, and dangerous women.
Mary Crowell
Saturday 9pm Griffin: Evening Filking (Begins!)
Saturday 9pm Harbor 2: Saturday Night Award Presentations
Lois McMaster Bujold, Mary Crowell, Bob Eggleton, Jim Mann, John Picacio, Alastair Reynolds, Tom Shippey, Vernor Vinge, Michael Whelan, Jane Yolen
Saturday 9:30pm Harbor 2: Godson—a play
The world premiere of Roger Zelazny's play Godson, with original music by David G. Grubbs, Jerry Sabatini and Debra Lebrun. Zelazny based the play on his short story "Godson," which was based on the Grimm fairy tale "Godfather Death."
David G. Grubbs, Larry Seiler, Peter Olson, Suford Lewis, Tony Lewis, Chip Hitchcock, Pat Lawrence, Chris Kovacs, Bruce Coville, Bruce Coville, Laurie Mann
Saturday 9:45pm Anime Carlton: The Wings of Honneamise
Bandai; PG-13 for violence, language, sexual themes, 125 min
On parallel Earth, a Cold War is heating up. Shiro, a cadet newly motivated by his religious friend Riquinni, is determined to become the first man to reach space amidst a program filled with conspiracy. This film about realizing dreams realized several in reality: this was the first production of Studio GAINAX, a group of anime fans who would later work on such hits as EVA, FLCL, and Gurren Lagann.
Saturday 11:45pm Anime Carlton: Macross Plus
Manga Entertainment; PG-13 for violence, language, drugs, sexual themes, nudity, 115 min
Isamu, Guld, and Myung were friends in high school. Now, the two boys' hatred of each other threatens the success of the U.N.'s space military, while Myung's the manager of an AI idol named Sharon who just so happens to put the U.N.'s operations in peril. This movie, directed by Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe, works fine as a stand-alone experience but is also part of one of Japan's most long-running sci-fi sagas.
Sunday
Sunday 9am Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Sarah Beth Durst
Sunday 9:30am Griffin: Reading
Chad Orzel
Sunday 9:30am Independence: Reading
Margaret Ronald
Sunday 10am Autographing
Sarah Beth Durst, Steven Popkes, Tom Shippey
Sunday 10am Remembering William Tenn
Jim & Laurie Mann, David Hartwell
Sunday 10am Burroughs: The Google Book Settlement
What is it, exactly? How it it affecting the SF/Fantasy/SF field?
Greer Gilman, Jeff Hecht (m), Fred Lerner, Jane Yolen
Sunday 10am Carlton: Sketchbooks and Scratchpads and Napkins—Oh, MY!
How do artists jot down their ideas? Do all of these embryonic artistic endeavors see the light of day? What stages do these works go through? Our panel of artists will show exactly where their ideas come from, and discuss the beginnings of their creative processes. What comes from life and what from the imagination? Do first sketches much resemble finished work? (And, which are better?)
Alan F. Beck, Bob Eggleton, Everett Soares
Sunday 10am Dragonslair: Geeks are Chic (Teens and Kids)
Embrace your inner geeks. Learn how a shy geeky kid who played a lot of D&D and read tons of fantasy came to write a book about his experiences. Learn how being a geek is cool (more than when he was in high school)—and how gaming and fantasy can help you in the real world.
Ethan Gilsdorf
Sunday 10am Galleria: Art Tour
Boskone 47's Official Artist shows and talks about his own works, and those of others (IF YOU WANT).
John Picacio
Sunday 10am Galleria Art Demo: Make a Chain Mail Bracelet
Using classic chainmail techniques, we will learn to make a bracelet in Byzantine weave, a simple but beautiful chain. Experience not necessary. The materials kid includes pre-cut bright aluminum rings and a clasp, and costs $2,50. Pliers will be available to borrow. Maximum 10 students.
Liz Pfeffer
Sunday 10am Galleria: Disasters, and What to Do
Do you know what to do in a fire of a flood? And recently, of course, we've all been reminded by the disaster in Haiti to look to our emergency preparedness. What's useful? What's stupid? How can you take care of yourself and your loved ones when disaster strikes?
James D. Macdonald
Sunday 10am Galleria: Boskone Tour!
Priscilla Olson
Sunday 10am Griffin: Reading
Michael Swanwick
Sunday 10am Harbor 1: Science Talk: In Fact, the Future Really Does Need Us!
Can we engineer our own indispensability? Our Hal Clement Science Speaker will consider several scenarios. They don't all look like Life After People.
Vernor Vinge
Sunday 10am Harbor 2: Twenty Questions (or More) for Alastair Reynolds
For an hour we'll turn our meeting room into a real revelation space. Bring your written questions for our Guest of Honor, and we'll see how many he can answer on the spot.
Vince Docherty (m), Alastair Reynolds
Sunday 10am Harbor 3: 25 Things I Learned from SF
How much of what you know did you get from science fiction? Chromatophores and Kuiper belts, tesseracts and teratogens—what Newton dreamt and how anarchy might work—we've all received numberless infodumps. What are your favorites? Your most exotic. How has science fiction shaped your life, your worldview, and the cool stuff you spout at parties?
Ginjer Buchanan, Neil Clarke, Michael F. Flynn, Lawrence M. Schoen, Steven H Silver (m)
Sunday 10am Independence: Reading
F. Brett Cox
Sunday 10am Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Michael Whelan
Sunday 10:30am Griffin: Reading
Jo Walton
Sunday 10:30am Independence: Reading
Darlene Marshall
Sunday 11am Autographing
Darlene Marshall, John Langan, Lawrence M. Schoen, Mary A. Turzillo
Sunday 11am Burroughs: One More Time—If You Liked That, Read This...
Continued (again!) from last year...Your favorite stories or authors can lead you to others, alike in interesting or unexpected ways. Tell the experts on the panel your likes (and dislikes) and they'll give you recommendations on what to read next!
Debra Doyle (m), David Anthony Durham, Faye Ringel, Edie Stern, Christopher Weuve
Sunday 11am Carlton: 3D Printer Technology and Social Change
Tom Easton, Larry Pfeffer (m)
Sunday 11am Dragonslair: Reading for Kids
Sarah Beth Durst
Sunday 11am Galleria: How to Discuss Race and Racism Without Acting Like a Complete Jerk
So, you're thinking about participating in a discussion of race and racism but you're not sure how—or whether—to go about it. Here are some tips, suggestions, and things to think about that might help.
Kate Nepveu
Sunday 11am Griffin: Reading
Charles Stross
Sunday 11am Harbor 1: The NESFA Bujold Books
In this dialogue, author and editor will reminisce about the production process. The primary players in this particular "mirror dance" will discuss the Bujold book project, and explore some of the ins and outs of working with NESFA Press.
Lois McMaster Bujold, Suford Lewis
Sunday 11am Harbor 2: Bad Science on TV
Give examples. Lots and lots of terrible examples, please!?
Andrew Zimmerman Jones (m), Jordin T. Kare, Chad Orzel
Sunday 11am Harbor 3: Your Big Three
For years, Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke were called "the big three." But, if you had to choose which SF Grandmasters (or those who should have been Grandmasters, but died before that designation was invented), would be your big three? (Why?)
Don D'Ammassa, David G. Hartwell, Jim Mann (m), Darrell Schweitzer, Steven H Silver
Sunday 11am Independence: Reading
S. C. Butler
Sunday 11am Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
John Picacio
Sunday 11am Lewis: SF/F/H Sites to See (Before You Die): E Publishing and Online Media
More on the electronic market for short fiction—but also discusses other on- line resources (for readers, writers, and fans) available on the information superhighway...
Scott H. Andrews (m), Neil Clarke, James Patrick Kelly
Sunday 11:30am Dragonslair: Kid's Reading
Michael J. Daley
Sunday 11:30am Griffin: Reading
Vernor Vinge
Sunday 11:30am Independence: Reading
Theodora Goss
Sunday Noon Autographing
David G. Hartwell, Vernor Vinge
Sunday Noon M. J. O'Connor's Pub: Literary Beer
Charles Stross
Sunday Noon Burroughs: Legal Systems in Worldbuilding
A common criticism of mediocre science fiction and fantasy is that it assumes wildly different worlds in which people behave exactly the way your neighbors do in Kansas. Many SFF authors assume systems of rules or authority that are only superficially different from models in our own human past or present. Yet, real laws typically change to meet economic, social, religious and technical developements , and differences in human (or non-human) behavior are the most wonder and terrible of all. Think outside of the legal box, and consider the possibilities.
Leah Cypess, Glenn Grant, Kate Nepveu, Ken Schneyer (m)
Sunday Noon Carlton: Matters Japanese
Anime...Manga...Sushi!? What is it about some artifacts of Japanese culture that has insinuated itself into the western world. Participants will explore their favorite parts of these exotic invaders, and discuss how, perhaps, they are influencing both the science fiction/fantasy/horror field and American pop culture (and somehow they'll do all of this in just one hour...wow!)
Feorag NicBhride, Timothy P. Szczesuil (m), Rene Walling
Sunday Noon Dragonslair: What's Up In Space?
Although there's been talk about sending people (back) to the moon and to Mars, it hasn't happened. It now looks as if the space program is going through lots of changes. How long will the International Space Station keep orbiting? Will we ever get to another planet? A discussion group for kids about mankind's near- future possibilities in space.
Jeff Hecht
Sunday Noon Galleria: Writing and the Physical Arts
Many writers find they need to balance their sedentary writing lifestyles with physical pursuits, like martial arts, or horseback riding, or dancing. We all know it's important to keep active for your health, but it's also important for your creativity. Come discuss the surprising ways that your physical activities have influenced your writing, and whether they are completely separate (or complimentary) creative outlets for you.
Jennifer Pelland
Sunday Noon Galleria Art Demo: Knitting: Demo and Lessons
Priscilla Olson
Sunday Noon Griffin: Reading
Bruce Coville
Sunday Noon Harbor 1: The Year in Biology/Medicine/Disease
Besides the swine flu (sorry, "H1N1") what else made the news this year? What great things happened that most of us know nothing about—but that just might save our lives one day?
Scott H. Andrews (m), Tom Easton, Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, Ann Tonsor Zeddies
Sunday Noon Harbor 2: Dark Universe
Why does great space opera seldom look on the sunny side?
Mark L. Olson, Alastair Reynolds, Lawrence M. Schoen, Allen M. Steele, Peter Weston (m)
Sunday Noon Harbor 3: When The Magic Goes Away
There is magic and mystery and great beauty. And then the Old Magic slips away from the forests, the gates to Faerie close, and the last ships sail to the west. There is a bittersweet memory, perhaps, of what it was to be more than merely mortal. Explore this theme, and why it is so potent.
David Anthony Durham, Rosemary Kirstein, Tom Shippey (m), Jo Walton, Jane Yolen
Sunday Noon Independence: Reading
Melinda Snodgrass
Sunday Noon Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Debra Doyle, James D. Macdonald
Sunday Noon Lewis: The Proliferation of Weirdboiled Novels
While China Mieville might call this genre "noird," he's not the only one to notice a recent proliferation of noir/crime fiction gone weird. Think of Jedidiah Berry's The Manual of Detection (think noir and Borges), Brian Evenson's Last Days (think noir and Grand Guignol), China Mieville's The City and The City (think noir, and well, Mieville), national book award winner Denis Johnson's Nobody Move (serialized noir), Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice (think noir, and well, Pynchon), Jeff Vandermeer's Finch (think noir and Ambergris) and from Small Beer Press, Vincent McCaffrey's Hound. Why now? Is it an example of publishers trying to capitalize on a built-in market of mystery readers? In this instance, we choose a more optimistic outlook. Is it a sign that writers and readers aren't satisfied with fiction always conforming to genre expectations? That more writers and readers want to mix and mash and muddy it all up?
John R. Douglas (m), Toni L. P. Kelner, Michael Swanwick, Paul G. Tremblay
Sunday 12:30pm Griffin: Reading
James Patrick Kelly
Sunday 12:30pm Independence: Reading
Gregory Feeley
Sunday 1pm Autographing
Michael F. Flynn, Ethan Gilsdorf, Darrell Schweitzer
Sunday 1pm M. J. O'Connor's Pub: Literary Beer
Geoffrey A. Landis
Sunday 1pm Burroughs: Why Adults Love YA
Are grown-ups just trying to recapture their mispent youth, or is there something either more compelling about this kind of fiction? If so, what?
Bruce Coville, Michael J. Daley (m), Sarah Beth Durst, Margaret Ronald, Navah Wolfe
Sunday 1pm Carlton: Who Painted That?—Identifying Art
One of the joys of SF art is seeing the wide range of styles and techniques used. We will show pictures of art from the 40s through the present and the panelists will identify the art, and then explain why they identified it as they did. And then they'll find out if they were correct...
Bob Eggleton, Mark L. Olson (m), John Picacio, Joe Siclari, Michael Whelan
Sunday 1pm Dragonslair: Getting Along with Your Sibling(s)
Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin
Sunday 1pm Galleria Art Demo: EBook Devices: Compare and Contrast
Show and tell. Bring, brag, and (probably?) proseletyze
Sunday 1pm Griffin: Filk Circle: Tolkien
Bring your songs about J. R. R. Tolkien's works and Middle-Earth, sing his own songs, or just come to listen. Open circle format; anyone can sing!
Benjamin Newman
Sunday 1pm Harbor 1: Time Travel in Science and Science Fiction
It's over a century since H. G. Wells wrote The Time Machine and the concept of time travel is today widespread in SF, the popular culture, and even has a degree of scientific respectability. What does physics know about time travel? What does SF write about? Some SF treats the past and the future both as fixed and time travelers as spectators who cannot change what is, while other SF imagines a mutable past where the actions of travelers to the past can change the very future they came from. What can we say about the real world? Does what we know about the physics of time permit good stories to be written?
Andrew Zimmerman Jones, Chad Orzel (m), Ken Schneyer, Ian Tregillis, Vernor Vinge
Sunday 1pm Harbor 2: Believable Relationships
Real people exist in a complex set of relaitonships. Family, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and the kid who just won't get off the lawn. How do authors simulate this kind of complexity without burying the reader in a mess of minor characters? It's really about much more than sex. What makes some relationships sparkle while others fall flat? And why do so many characters start off as friendless orphans? ns in such a way that everything else is incidental?
Darlene Marshall (m), Beth Bernobich, Lois McMaster Bujold, Geary Gravel, Jo Walton
Sunday 1pm Harbor 3: Long Series: What Gives Them Staying Powers?
Is it just the comfort of returning to a familiar place...or something more? Expound.
John R. Douglas (m), Alexander Jablokov, Rosemary Kirstein, Alastair Reynolds
Sunday 1pm Independence: Reading
Jennifer Pelland
Sunday 1pm Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Sunday 1pm Lewis: Where is Horror Now?
An up-to-the-minute look at the field...and where it's going.
F. Brett Cox, Jack M. Haringa (m), John Langan, Paul G. Tremblay
Sunday 2pm Autographing
Lois McMaster Bujold, Alastair Reynolds, Karl Schroeder
Sunday 2pm M. J. O'Connor's Pub: Artistic! Beer
Michael Whelan
Sunday 2pm Burroughs: Sequels I Want to Read
...and why, you ask...? Why haven't they been written, anyway?
Paul Di Filippo, Tom Easton, Teresa Nielsen Hayden (m)
Sunday 2pm Carlton: Mission to the Sun
From Bradbury's "Golden Apples of the Sun" to Brin's Sundiver to last year's Sunshine, science fiction has sent many probes into the sun. Now, NASA is designing a mission to do exactly that: to dive into the outer corona of the sun in order to learn more about how our star works. How do you keep cool when the outside of the spacecraft is glowing white hot? How do you actually sent a mission into the very atmosphere of a star?
Geoffrey A. Landis
Sunday 2pm Griffin: Reading
Michael F. Flynn
Sunday 2pm Harbor 1: Werewolves (and Other Shapeshifters): Finally Getting the Respect They Deserve?
In many ways, werewolves are the antitheses of vampires. Bursting with life (perhaps too much?) and deeply connected to the natural world in ways their dead, generally more elegant, and possibly darker bretheren can't begin to approach, werewolves seem to be beginning to make an impact on fantasy (and horror). True? If so, why is this happening? And—besides wolves—what other animals are shapeshifters simulating?
Bruce Coville, Leah Cypess, Adam Golaski, Steven Popkes (m)
Sunday 2pm Harbor 2: Are Good and Evil Gone from Epic Fantasy?
The world we live in has always been defined by shades of gray, however fantastic fiction has a long tradition of black and white politics, usually complete with a Dark Lord on his sufficiently dark throne. Recent series that have garnered praise such as Martins A Song of Ice and Fire, Lynch's The Gentlemen Bastards, Bakker's The Prince of Nothing, and Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle all feature fallible characters without perfect moral compasses and by extent are more compelling. Are the days of the Dark Lords done in adult fiction?
Beth Bernobich, David Anthony Durham (m), Greer Gilman, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Michael Swanwick
Sunday 2pm Harbor 3: How Do Endings Matter?
How vital is a good ending to a good story? It seems that sometimes endings are vital: a weak ending sours our view of the entire work. At other times, the ending doesn't matter so much: it's the journey that matters, not where we would up. (Huck Finn is a great example of this.) Why is this? What are some examples of each
Debra Doyle, Toni L. P. Kelner, Jim Mann (m), Peter Weston
Sunday 2pm Independence: Reading
Daniel P. Dern
Sunday 2pm Galleria: Kaffeeklatsch
Vernor Vinge
Sunday 2pm Lewis: Pathologies of Fannish Culture
As a fan noted provocatively in one LiveJournal thread: "SF fans are more prone to infection with bad ideas than the average person...They're encouraged to consider possibilities that are way off the path of social functionality, and to have the engineer's affection for simple all-encompassing systems. There's a rich vein of crackpottery at the core of the genre..." Let's see how long it takes our discussion to prove this!
Mary Kay Kare, Laurie Mann (m), Kate Nepveu, Joe Siclari, Rene Walling
Sunday 2:30pm Griffin: Reading
Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin
Sunday 2:30pm Independence: Reading
Darrell Schweitzer
Sunday 3pm Carlton: M.A.S.S.F.I.L.C Meeting
Sunday 3pm Galleria: Dead Dog/Eye of Argon— Another Attempted Reading
Back from last year! ("Why!" we can hear you yell...) It's hilarious (in a particularly horrible way.) If you've never heard of it, you owe it to yourself to check out this amazingly magnificently maladroit manuscript.
Sunday 3pm Griffin: Dead Dog Filking
Need we say more?
Sunday 3pm Lewis: Gripe Session
Your chance to get it out of your system...and hopefully help us improve next year's Boskone! (Once again, we're trying to do something about the climate, but are running into technical glitches...)
Jim Mann, Priscilla Olson