Conference noted::sf

872.0. "Future Boston" by LUGGER::REDFORD (John Redford) Thu May 17 1990 01:02

    At last year's Readercon out in Lowell MA, I heard a great panel discussion 
    called "Sox Win Sixth Straight World Series".  It was a panel of local
    writers talking about their shared-world scenario, Future Boston.
    This traced the history of the city for the next two hundred years
    or so.  The main driver for their history is that Boston starts to sink.
    Every year it drops a little further and the ocean line rises a little
    higher.   Cambridge goes under except for the walled enclaves of MIT and
    Harvard.  The Back Bay has a Venetian period.  Seaside towns like Hull are
    drowned completely.   Fenway Park goes under, but not before the Red Sox
    finally manage to take a Series.  

    The writers on the panel were having a lot of fun with it,  and now I'm
    starting to see stories set there. The latest is "Projects" by Geoffery
    Landis in the June '90 issue of IASFM.   It's about a trio of MIT students,
    each with an obsessive project.  One is looking for aliens in coherent
    light emissions from stars, another is going over the geology of eastern
    Massachusetts, and the third is fascinated by giant buildings and domes. 
    Each achieves their goal, but not in the way they think.  

    The other story that I've seen is "Dying in Hull" by D. Alexander Smith. 
    It appeared in the Dozois's Sixth Annual Best SF of the Year collection,
    where he mentioned that it was the first story Smith had ever sold.  It's
    about an old lady who is hanging on to her house even as the water comes up
    over the first story and the teenage boat gangs become ever more dangerous. 
    Smith seems to be the founder of the project, which is curious since his
    daytime job is being a real estate agent.

    So, have people seen other stories in this milieu?  I'd be interested in
    tracking them down before they're anthologized.

    /jlr

    You have made my day.
    
    I am a member of said group that is working on the project. The project
    is largely done and is looking for a home. The current publication
    list (from memory so the dates and stuff are not accurate) is:
    
    Dying in Hull		Asimov's, 1988 		D. A. Smith
    Projects			Asimov's, (soon)	A. Jablokov
    The Egg			Asimov's, 1989		S. Popkes
    				Best SF 1989
    Three Boston Artists	Asimov's, (soon)	S. Smith
    The Last Out at Fenway 	Anthology/Jane Yolen	D. A. Smith
    	Park						R. Nelson
    
    and a few others that slip my mind. If you want a full list I'll rack
    my brains and get them.
    
    If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them. We had a lot of
    fun with the project.
    
    steve p
    
    

    "The Egg" by our very own Steven Popkes also made it into "The 
    Year's Best Science Fiction" edited by Gardner Dozois.  Way to 
    go Steve!  He's in there with some big names like Varley, 
    Benford, and Silverberg.  I recommend the story, and the 
    anthology as a whole.  It's a great way to see the year's best novellas 
    as well as short stories.  /jlr

    I am working my way through Dozios anthology right now.  Good stuff. 
    Some pretty original concepts.