@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society 09/04/26 -- Vol. 45, No. 10, Whole Number 2448
Table of Contents
Money in Time and Space (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
Random notes about money through time and space:
Older Americans (like me) remember when US and Canadian dollars were equal in value and not only could you spend bills relatively freely back and forth (at least when you were close to the border), you could spend coins the same way.
We were on a tour in Europe in 1986 and when we were in the third country or so, the woman in front of me at the cafeteria we had stopped at held out a handful of mixed change from all three countries and asked, "Can I pay with any of this?" The tour bus had previously stopped somewhere for us to change money; this woman just threw everything in the same purse and couldn't be bothered figured out which coins and bills went with which country. (This is somewhere on the level of the two women on our China tour, who always wanted forks but couldn't be bothered to learn how to say that one word in Chinese.)
In 1990 we were in the Amsterdam airport leaving for home, and Mark was looking at a couple of CDs in one of the shops. When we left the shop, I asked why he didn't buy them, and he said he thought we didn't have any Dutch money left. I said no, but we had a credit card, upon which he immediately pivoted back into the store.
Back in the early 1990s, I bought a book from a dealer in Amsterdam. This was before PayPal or even payment online by credit cards, so I paid Helene-Hanff-style, by mailing them a $10 bill. The total was $8, but it would have put the weight of the envelope into the next weight class to send four bills, so I sent them an extra $2 rather than pay it to the USPS. I figured they could always take it to a bank to exchange it, and the extra $2 should cover any fees.
I must remember to take my leftover European money to Montreal for the Worldcon, in case I can spend it in the Dealers Room with European vendors. In Edinburgh in 1995, I bought an alternate history fanzine from a German fan. It was DM8, and since I had some left-over DM from our stop-over on the way to India, I gave him DM10, getting 90p change. Thus is international finance carried out at conventions.
In 1990 the exchange rate in Hong Kong was approximately HKD8 to US$1. At one of the tourist attractions there a woman who was selling a pack of post cards for "a dollar," but when Mark offered her a Hong Kong dollar, it turned out she meant a United States dollar. This hardly seemed reasonable, but I guess she figured Americans couldn't deal with the concept of Hong Kong dollars. We didn't buy the cards.
But this proves that some vendors outside the US take US dollars, or did. This is much less common in (western) Europe. But elsewhere things are different.
For example, in Yugoslavia in 1991, the last thing anyone wanted was Yugoslav dinars. Similarly, in 2012 in Zimbabwe they weren't even dealing in Zimbabwe dollars any more, though they tended to prefer South African rand to US dollars. (If you paid in US dollars, you might still get your change in South African rand, or sometimes in candy or other small items.) And the US dollars had to be 2001 or later, and not torn.
Money in India in 1993 was ... weird. As Mark described it in our log, "Indian money is a trip all by itself. The books say to change a fair amount each time because it takes so long in most banks, but what they don't say is that you end up with a *huge* wad of money. At the current rate, thirty-one rupees is one United States dollar. A rupee is about three cents. The biggest bill you generally see is Rs100. Imagine commerce in the United States if there were no bills worth more than US$3. You don't have to be very rich to sport a wad of bills that would choke a horse. We changed US$500. That means we got a lot of bills. They staple them together in stacks of a hundred about a half an inch thick. Then you have to remove the staples and a torn bill will probably be refused. It is a very big mess removing the staples. It took Evelyn almost a half hour to remove the multiple staples from one batch we got."
And there is the travel hint (sorry, I guess "hack" is the word now) of using your remaining local currency on the last day to pay part of your hotel bill and use your credit card for the rest. This has the advantage of saving standing in line at the airport to change your money back. Just be sure you have a way to pay for the ride back to the airport!
Our other hack when we went with three friends to Southeast Asia in 1990 was that one of us would change out remaining money for the country we were leaving (A) for the one we were going to (B). Since coins are not legal tender outside of their issuing country (though see Canada above) that person would get bills for country B and the leftover in coins for country A. They would hand the coins to the second person in our group, who would add them to their money and change that. And so on. This meant we ended up with very little in coins from country A. (No one was big on collecting souvenir coins for their nephew or whatever.)
And finally, I just noticed that of the new coins for the semiquincentennial, only one has Washington on the front (Revolutionary War). One has two Pilgrims (Mayflower Compact), one has Jefferson (Declaration of Independence), one has Adams (the Constitution), and one has Lincoln (Gettysburg Address). The Mayflower Compact, Revolutionary War, and Gettysburg Address also have, for the first time, the value in digits (25c). The other two still say only "quarter dollar"--I have no idea why. ChatGPT says that the Constitution one has the clock in the tower set to 2:50--but that's not 25, and it later says that represents the semiquincentennial. When pressed further about "25 cents" it claims that no US quarter has the denomination printed in digits--clearly not true. [-ecl]
THE EVERLASTING by Alix E. Harrow (copyright 2025, Macmillan Audio, 13 hours and 41 minutes, narrated by Moira Quirk and Sid Sagar, ASIN: B0F1DSGT76; Tor books, 320 pp., hardcover, ISBN-10: 1250799082, ISBN-13: 978-1250799081) (book review by Joe Karpierz)
Who knew that we needed a semi-Arthurian time travel love story between a soldier turned historian-scholar and a mythical knight who helped forge the country called Dominion? I sure didn't. Alix E. Harrow's THE EVERLASTING quickly informed me that I did indeed need those very things.
Owen Mallory has come home from the war, and decides to try to become a scholar. His specialty will be the study of Sir Una Everlasting, the knight from deep in Dominion's past who, along with Queen Yvanne, built the country that Owen fought for in the war. The Owen that we meet at the beginning of the story has pretty much failed at everything he has tried. He wasn't a very good soldier--although he did have one skill that will turn out to be useful throughout the novel--or scholar. His colleagues ridicule him for his choice of study, as they all believe that there is nothing more to learn about Una, and in fact most of what is known is most likely a myth written to entertain children and convince them they all want to be heroic countrymen. He is even a disappointment to his father, who does not approve of his life choices.
But Mallory plods on, and one day, via a stroke of luck, a copy of a rare book--again thought to be mythical--detailing the death of Una Everlasting shows up on his desk. He's been hoping it would show up, as he wants to expand Una's story and provide depth to the character, ultimately telling the true story of Una. His colleagues think the book is rubbish, that it can't say any more about Una than what is already known. Possession of the book leads him to meet with Vivian Rolfe, Dominion's new Minister of War. And that, really, is where the story really begins.
It is said that one should never meet one's heroes, as this way typically leads to disappointment. What Mallory, and all of Dominion knows, is that Una Everlasting pulled the sword Valiance from a yew tree, used it to slay the last dragon, and recover the lost Grail. The real story, the story that Mallory really wanted to know, is much more involved than that. Oh, those events did happen, but as we find out as the novel progresses, Una is a much deeper and unhappier character than the legends say she is. She is devoted to the Queen, who is ambitious, repressive, and not really the Queen the stories make her out to be. All of this changes with the arrival of Owen in her time. Earlier I did say there would be time travel involved, and a love story, and here we are (and how the time travel works ventures into the realm of spoilers, but I will say that there are revelations throughout the novel about the mechanics of how it works that I found somewhat ingenious and interesting). Owen does not travel back to Una's time just once, but several times, and each time their love for each other grows deeper as they try to change Una's story to something more satisfying. For the mythical book that started this whole thing is entitled "The Death of Una Everlasting", and why wouldn't you want to change that outcome?
So yes, this is indeed a semi-Arthurian (I mean, the sword was pulled from a magical tree and made Una a legendary hero, and the story does take place in an England-like country) time travel (Owen is a man out of time, and he basically has to go back multiple times to get things right. Does that make him a failure for taking so many trips, thus paralleling his failures in his own time?) love story (although I don't think it's too often that one main character meets his hero and falls in love with her) between a scholar and a mythical knight. But it is so much more than that.
It's a tale of just how far someone will go to gain power and hang on to it--forever, it seems. I've listened to Harrow talk about the book on a podcast, and I've read a few things about it, but I never ran across anything that indicated just when it was written. But it sure seems like she saw coming what is happening in today's political climate, not only in the U.S. but all over the world. It's another thing you don't see coming until it finally does hit you over the head with it--over and over and over again. It's also a love story that survives all the tumult of that power grab, a story that transcends time (yeah, I know, we've seen that before, but still). It's a beautifully written story, with wonderful characters that Harrow makes the reader care deeply about. The reader wants to see how it ends, and hopes it ends well. But don't all fairy tales end with "and they lived happily ever after"? After everything that Owen and Una have gone through, you certainly hope they do. I know I did.
I highly recommend THE EVERLASTING, and I can see it winning this year's Hugo Award for Best Novel. In my opinion it's in a tight race with two other of the finalists this year, so it will be interesting to see what happens. [-jak]
[Evelyn notes: It won. See below. -ecl]
Best Novel: THE EVERLASTING by Alix E. Harrow
Best Novella: THE RIVER HAS ROOTS by Amal El-Mohtar
Best Novelette: "Never Eaten Vegetables" by H.H. Pak
(Clarkesworld, Issue 220)
Best Short Story: "In My Country" by Thomas Ha
(Clarkesworld, Issue 223)
Best Series: "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi
Best Graphic Story or Comic: A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA: A GRAPHIC
NOVEL, written by Ursula K. Le Guin,
adapted and art by Fred Fordham
Best Related Work: INVENTING THE RENAISSANCE by Ada Palmer
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: SINNERS
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: MURDERBOT: "All Systems
Red"
Best Game or Interactive Work: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Best Editor Short Form: Neil Clarke
Best Editor Long Form: Diana M. Pho
Best Professional Artist: John Picacio
Best Semiprozine: Uncanny Magazine
Best Fanzine: nerds of a feather, flock together
Best Fancast: Hugo, Girl!
Best Fan Writer: Jason Sanford
Best Fan Artist: Yuumei
Best Poem: "Hex Supply Customer Support Log" by Elis Montgomery
(Strange Horizons, Issue 25 August 2025)
Lodestar Award for Best YA Book: COFFEESHOP IN AN ALTERNATE
UNIVERSE by C.B. Lee
Astounding Award for Best New Writer (sponsored by Must Read Books
Publishing): Antonia Hodgson (1st year of eligibility)
(2492 ballots were cast)
Milk in Tea (comment by Evelyn C. Leeper):
There was an on-line discussion that led to the question of which goes in the cup first: the tea or the milk?
One site says, "However, scientifically speaking, putting the milk in your cup first, allows the fat content of the milk to emulsify differently when the tea is poured over it, which gives the tea a more even and creamier flavour."
Another says, "... pouring milk after hot tea preserves flavor and texture."
And a third explains the (possible) origin:
"The practice of adding milk first is believed to have originated to prevent china cups from cracking due to thermal shock from hot tea. However, this theory is largely considered incorrect today, as modern porcelain is robust enough to handle hot liquids."
The lower class had cheap porcelain cups that would crack, while the upper class had expensive bone china cups that would not. This meant milk first was an lower-class thing, and tea first a upper-class thing.
This showed up in GOSFORD PARK, which was reviewed in the 08/14/26 issue of the MT VOID. In the tea scene, Inspector Thomson starts to pour the milk in first, but Lady Sylvia stops him and says she prefers the tea first. Thomson complies, but notes that his wife prefers the milk first, thereby marking her as lower-class. [-ecl]
Art That Does't Age Well (letters of comment by Richie Bielak and Scott Coltrin):
In response to Evelyn's comments on songs that don't age well in the 08/28/26 issue of the MT VOID, Richie Bielak writes:
Regarding songs that may have different interpretations today: "On the Street Where You Live", from "My Fair Lady", could be by a guy in love, or a stalker. :-) [-rb]
Steve Coltrin gave this example in books:
"On the surface, she was a lovely young woman, certainly as beautiful as Taniquel, but as sexless as a child of seven or eight. Rannirl had said something about ritual virginity--and Elorie was certainly as unconscious of her own beauty and desirability as the youngest, most unaware of children. Or more so; most little girls, by eight or nine, were quite aware of their own femininity and one could see in them the seeds of desirability. Elorie, somehow, seemed entirely unaware of her own womanhood." -Marion Zimmer Bradley, THE BLOODY SUN (quoted material added in the 1979 rewrite)
In 1979? Wut. Today (particularly with what is now more generally known about the author)? *Yeesh!* [-sc]
THE BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, SILENT MOVIE, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and THE PRODUCERS (letters of comment by Lawrence D'Oliveiro, Gary McGath, Scott Dorsey, and Tim Merrigan):
In response to Evelyn's comments on various films in the 08/28/26 issue of the MT VOID, Lawrence D'Oliveiro writes:
[Evelyn writes,] "THE BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN was terrifically influential, being referenced directly in 105 feature films, 57 TV episodes, and 13 TV movies, not counting videos, shorts, and probably ads as well." [-ecl]
... baby pram careening down the Odessa Steps ... [-ldo]
Evelyn adds:
Also the scene with the eyeglasses. [-ecl]
[re SILENT MOVIE]
And it did have one word of actual dialogue ... spoken by, of all people, Marcel Marceau.
(Trivia question: what language was that word in?) [-ldo]
Gary McGath replies:
I don't know. I don't speak French. [-gmg]
Lawrence responds:
Well played. [-ldo]
Scott Dorsey also responded to Gary:
But for my part, 'twas Gr... French to me. [-sd]
Tim Merrigan gives a more straightforward answer:
French: "Non." which, unless one is listening closely, when spoken in a French accent, sounds a whole lot like "no" in English or Spanish. [-tm]
[re YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN]
Another classic, featuring one of the two terrifyingly memorable roles for Cloris Leachman in a Brooks movie. And Marty Feldman, yet. [-ldo]
[re THE PRODUCERS]
In the beginning, there was "The Producers", the movie https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063462/, about the making of the fictional musical "Springtime for Hitler". Then it was made into an actual stage musical. And from there into another movie https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395251/. [-ldo]
John Profumo (letters of comment by Hal Heydt and Paul Dormer):
In response to Evelyn's comments on GIGI in the 08/28/26 issue of the MT VOID, Hal Heydt writes:
[Evelyn writes,] "(For those old enough to remember Christine Keeler, I think that makes her a courtesan.)" [-ecl]
After the [John] Profumo scandal, a joke went around. Unfortunately, it works better verbally because it uses a homonym, but still...
Did you hear that Christine Keeler tried to commit suicide?
She was found lying under a peer/pier. [-hh]
Paul Dormer notes:
I was ten at the time the scandal broke and I kept hearing the name Christine Keeler, but it was about ten years before I found out what it was about. [-pd]
Hal adds:
The other name that goes with the Profumo scandal was Mandy Rice Davies. [-hh]
And Paul adds another name:
As does Stephen Ward.
When I started work in 1973, I shared an office with someone called Stuart Ward. People would occasionally get confused and call him Stephen.
Ward's trial began on my 10th birthday. I don't remember hearing anything about it at the time. It was at that trial Mandy Rice-Davies uttered the famous line "Well he would, wouldn't he?" [-pd]
Evelyn observes: Profumo managed to redeem himself enough to be made a CBE thirteen years later. Mandy Rice-Davies also managed to recover from the scandal, but Christine Keeler did not, accusing someone of assault. He committed suicide before the verdict was given, and then witnesses came forward to testify that Keeler had lied. She served six months in prison, and basically disappeared from public view afterwards. [-ecl]
This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
A BASQUE HISTORY OF THE WORLD by Mark Kurlansky (Penguin, ISBN 978-0-140-29851-2) is more a Basque history of the Basque Country (Euskal Herria) than a history of the world from a Basque perspective. While it does talk about other areas (in particular Spain and France, obviously), these are all in connections with Euskal Herria. For example, China is mentioned only as a place that started manufacturing cheap espadrilles, which affected the Basque economy. It also has a lot of recipes.
Kurlansky claims that "honcho" derives from the Basque word "jauntxo" (a powerful rural landlord). Every other source--including the OED-- claims "honcho" comes from the Japanese "hancho" and was picked up by American soldiers after World War II. This may be an occasion where Kurlansky's enthusiasm for things Basque has gotten away from him.
Also claimed (not by Kurlansky) to be of Basque origin is "bizarre" which came from Italian via French. "Chaparral" does seem to be of Basque origin, coming from "txapar" meaning "little thicket". And "silhouette" comes from the proper name "silhouette", which is believed to have Basque origins. "Anchovy" may be of Greek, Latin, Portuguese, or Basque origin.
(Kurlansky refers to the language as Euskera, but that is the Basque word for it, and seems to me a bit strange, the same as referring to Francais, Deutsch, or Ellinika, instead of French, German, or Greek would be.)
This book covers a piece of history usually ignored in most history books, and is worth reading if you want some history you haven't heard of before. The one problem is that it is twenty-five years old, so gives you no information about the current state of Basque separatism. In particular, it does not cover the end of the fifty-two-year-long Basque Conflict in 2011 (thought the ETA did not formally dissolve until 2016). [-ecl]
Evelyn C. Leeper
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
Quote of the Week:
The first 90% of the code accounts for the first
90% of the development time.
The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other
90% of the development time.
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