And now onto yet more newsletters from the prolific team headed by John Coxon (found on various social media sites as, shockingly, John Coxon), this isn’t the last of them:

The Voice Lashings of Ginger Beer (Sunday Afternoon)

The Voice Ball on the Pavillion Roof! (Sunday Evening)

The Voices Number Pi (Sunday Late)

The Voice Number Two (Friday Evening)

The Voice The Magic Number (Saturday Noon)

The Voice Two Plus Two (Saturday Evening)

The programme item on Monday at 11am in the Hawthorn room should in fact be “The Search for Dark Matter at Boulby Mine“.

Dr. Sean Paling of Sheffield University will talk about how UK astrophysicists are searching for the missing mass in the Universe at the bottom of Boulby mine. Dr. Paling will give an easy introduction to astronomy, the Universe and the search for Dark Matter followed by a virtual tour of the experiments currently underway over 1km underground at Boulby.

On Saturday evening at 8pm, the National Festival Orchestra will perform classical works inspired by fantasy and mythology. The concert will include such works as ‘Dance Macabre’, music composed for SF&F films and TV shows such as Star Wars and Star Trek, and classical works which have been famously used by film-makers such as ‘The Blue Danube’ by Strauss (used in Kubrick’s ‘2001 a Space Odyssey’) and Beethoven’s Symphony No.6 ‘Pastorale’ (used in Disney’s ‘Fantasia’). The concert will be compered by Vince Docherty, LX’s music programme lead.

Experience fantastic, inspirational music at its best - live!

The National Festival Orchestra

The National Festival Orchestra is dedicated to exciting, high-quality performance of a range of musical styles. Based in the North of England with members drawn from all over the UK, the musicians combine a breadth of professional experience that ranges from symphonic and opera orchestras to West End and Broadway shows.

The orchestra regularly plays to sell-out audiences at the best UK concert venues including the Bridgewater Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall and The Sage Gateshead as the adopted orchestra of the outstandingly successful company ‘Sing Live UK’.

The NFO has built a national reputation through television broadcasts and BBC Radio, including a tribute concert to film composer John Barry and its fine performances as the resident orchestra for the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton since the festival’s inception in 1994. The orchestra has joined Leslie Garrett live in concert, and enjoys links with
some excellent choral societies in the North of England.

A performance at the first Edward German Festival led to an invitation to record the composers operetta ‘Tom Jones’ on the Naxos label, completed in September and due for release in August 2009.

Download the entire ReadMe (which includes all of the pages below):

Download the ReadMe

Or just download the relevant programme pages:

Friday - Programme Schedule - Friday - Programme Items
Saturday - Programme Schedule - Saturday - Programme Items
Sunday - Programme Schedule - Sunday - Programme Items
Monday - Programme Schedule - Monday - Programme Items

• David Barnett
• Stephen Baxter
• Chaz Brenchley
• Stephanie Burgis
• Ramsey Campbell
• Mike Carey
• John Clute
• Eoin Colfer
• Stephen Deas
• David Devereux
• Cory Doctorow
• Jaine Fenn
• Toby Frost
• Marc Gascoigne
• Paul McAuley
• Oisín McGann
• Suzanne McLeod
• Kim Newman
• Ricardo Pinto
• Alastair Reynolds
• Sam Stone
• Freda Warrington
• Ian Watson
• Neil Williamson

We hope to have the programme online a week before Eastercon so you’ll be able to find out who’s doing what, when. We’ve also got many artists, editors and other industry professionals contributing to our programme so look out for a list of them later this week!

Please check that all the details on that letter are what you expect them to be!

If you are having trouble with the e-mail address given on the letter please try alice@altair-4.co.uk. And if that doesn’t work you can always use info@lx2009.com and your message will be passed to Alice.

If you don’t have a letter by next week but think you have booked a hotel room via LX, please get in touch!

Wrath of the Lemming-men by Toby Frost at The Steampunk Tea Party

Wrath of the Lemming-men is the third novel of Toby Frost’s fabulously steampunk Chronicles of Isambard Smith so what better place to show it off than at Eastercon LX’s Steampunk Tea Party. Ed from publisher, Myrmidon Books, had this to say on the subject:

We’re dead chuffed to be sponsoring the Steampunk Tea Party at this year’s Eastercon. First off, we didn’t know what ’steampunk’ was until we got on board with Toby Frost’s superbly silly Isambard Smith series- and then I realised that there was a whole genre of fascinating and imaginative material that combined technological fantasy with historical heroics, both of which have long since been enduring obsessions.

The other appeal is tea and cucumber sandwiches. My Dad passed on a passion for cucumber sandwiches when I was a kid. They always taste like summer to me because, then, that was the only time you could get ‘em. Always eaten at our house (peel off to be civilised - so they don’t ‘fetch up’ on you afterwards) with lashings of salt and vinegar on them. I try to pass this fetish on to my own kids (it worries me that they don’t get enough salt or enough beatings when they’re at school).

God Killers by Liam Sharp

A man who cannot count his years moves between worlds living the lives of other men.
A soul-less ebony giantess seeks freedom in warfare but cannot escape the tragedy buried in her forgotten past.
An aging mercenary and non-believer may be the unwitting saviour of his - and all - times.
A blinded war-hero barters for a mythical stone in the hope that it may restore his former glory.
An undead God seeks an end to his torment by bringing about an end to all things.

MACHIVARIUS POINT stands at the centre of the city of Duhn - a phallic monstrosity in bronze. Ancient and defunct, shit-speckled and crumbling, it’s many-headed effigies bear witness to all that transpires below.

Mr. Sharp has an impressive list of comics to his name and now we get to see his first novel launched at Eastercon:

“God Killers” features my first novel “Machivarius Point”, four related shorter works that exist within that universe, and finally a collection of unrelated short stories mostly centering around my home city of Derby, but encompassing similar themes of horror, fantasy, new weird and science fiction. There’s also a gallery online which illustrates much of the world and its denizens, and also features a map of Orn. The book launches at Eastercon officially, which I’m extremely excited about - and not a little terrified!

As you’d expect from a fantastic artist, there’s some great artwork for God Killers - you can admire it here, and download readings and other goodies whilst you’re there.

NewCon Press Bucks Fizz Book Launch

NewCon Press will be launching not one, not two, but three books at LX! Ian Whates, Ian Watson, Roberto Quaglia, Eric Brown and Tony Ballantyne will all be attending making it a star-studded party complete with free drinks! There will also be special discounts available on their three titles:

The Beloved of My Beloved by Ian Watson and Roberto Quaglia

Tattooed on a woman-sized tumour, these tales, told to it as bedtime stories, are by turns surreal, satiric, erotic, obscene, ingenious, hilarious, and quite, quite brilliant. Together, they combine to create a weird and wonderful love story, unlike anything told before.

500 Bridget Bardot clones take their duties as ambassadors for the WWF to extremes and bring about the extinction of the human race.
Google gains self-awareness as Godoogle and proceeds to generate what ought to exist rather than merely searching for what already does…

This, and much, much more…

The Gift of Joy by Ian Whates, Introduction by Ian Watson

Eighteen stories; five originals plus thirteen that have appeared previously in various venues, including both from the science journal Nature and the BSFA Award shortlisted title story. Intelligent science fiction and quirky fantasy, packed with excitement, surprises, humour, and warmth.

“Darkly funny tales of the unexpected, with a deft science-fictional turn of the knife.”
- Ken MacLeod

“Ian Whates has a way with words, a storyteller’s sensibility and is rapidly developing the writing skills to match. Definitely one to watch.”
- Jon Courtenay Grimwood.

Starship Fall by Eric Brown, Introduction by Tony Ballantyne

David Conway leads a quiet life on the colony world of Chalcedony. Nothing much has happened for five years, but all that changes when Conway meets mysterious holo star Carlotta Chakravorti-Luna, and his Ashentay friend Kee heads inland to take part in an alien ritual with potentially fatal consequences. What follows is a convoluted and poignant tragedy which entangles Conway and his friends.

In Starship Fall, Eric Brown has crafted a powerful, moving novella about love, friendship, and the consequences of learning one’s destiny. Traditional SF in style, yet wholly original in concept.

Play ROCK BAND 2 – before its EU release!

We have a huge range of fantastic prizes, plus loads of freebies and giveaways to be snapped up. Every participant will also get an FP flash-code, redeemable for 10% off any purchase from forbiddenplanet.com - but you’ll have to be quick as the code’s only hot for a couple of days!

The awesome Harmonix Music have kindly supplied the full four-player Rock Band set-up for PS3 (vocals, guitar, bass guitar, and drums) plus the classic AC/DC track pack – all you rockers will need to bring is yourself, your mates and your beer. And you can rock out solo too!

Thanks to Sony we’ll have full audio/visual rebroadcast set-up in the Rowan Room so everyone can see Rock Band 2’s wicked animation and top sound effects – whatever your band, you’re sure to look good!

Ready to Rock?

Sign forms will be available at convention registration (that’s where you pick up your name badge at the con) – or from Forbidden Planet’s Danacea. The event takes place in the Rowan Room at 10:00pm Sunday night.

Full details of how to participate will come in the Eastercon README (which you get with your name badge) or you can contact me, Danie Ware, for details:

Tel: 020 7803 1890
Mob: 07730 532 632
Email: danie.ware@forbiddenplanet.com

Writers are invited to submit up to 5,000 words of a novel opening or short story in any speculative fiction genre for the workshop. Critique will be given by T-Party members and guests, and will include agented authors, professionally published short story writers and a BFS award winning editor.

There are still some places available but the deadline for writers wishing to attend is midnight Sat 21st March so you’ll need to act quickly!

How to Take Part

Writers should send up 5,000 words of their short story or novel opening to Martin.Owton@virgin.net as a .rtf file attachment with the subject line: LX Workshop. Please include a short biography that details your level of experience and whether you have participated in a face-to-face critique group before.

Note: If you do not hear back from the organisers within 5 days your entry was not received. Please do not show up at the workshop with
your manuscript unless you’ve had confirmation that you have been accepted.