THE MT VOID
01/05/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 27, Whole Number 2309

Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
Sending Address: evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
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Topics:
Correction
Mini Reviews, Part 15 (A TOURIST'S GUIDE TO LOVE,
INFINITY POOL) (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper
and Evelyn C. Leeper)
Will Science Fiction Conventions Ever Be the Same?
(letter of comment by Joe Karpierz)
Raspberry Pi (letter of comment by Hal Heydt)
This Week's Reading (FROM DUST, A FLAME; THE GHOSTS
OF ROSE HILL; THE INQUISITOR'S APPRENTICE)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

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TOPIC: Correction

In Gary McGath's letter of comment on BLIND WILLOW SLEEPING WOMAN
in the 12/29/23, I accidentally credited Kip Williams as the author
(cut-and-paste error). The TOPIC line and initials at the end were
correct, though. [-ecl]

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TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 15 (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper and
Evelyn C. Leeper)

This is the fifteenth batch of mini-reviews, films about travel.

A TOURIST'S GUIDE TO LOVE (2023): A TOURIST'S GUIDE TO LOVE is a
rom-com set in Vietnam, but more than that it's about a tourist and
a tour in Vietnam. As such it had a lot of appeal to us, since we
have been tourists in Vietnam, once on our own and once in a tour
group. This film shows a third approach, which is a tour hat
doesn't hit all the expected places in expected ways.

However, its notion of "off the beaten path" is odd. The claim is
that the My Son Sanctuary is off the beaten path and not in the
guidebooks, yet it is a UNESCO site, and we visited it on our
independent tour, so it must have been in *some* guidebook.

The plot is a bit predictable--okay it's a lot predictable. We
weren't watching it for the plot, though. It also glosses over
some of the facts about Vietnam--such as that it's very hot. And
on every tour we have taken, there has always been at least one
person who was "difficult"; this group is full of only wonderful
people.

I can't really give this a strong recommendation. We watched it
for the same reason we watched LARA CROFT--TOMB RAIDER--as a way of
remembering a fascinating trip. [-ecl]

Released streaming 21 April 2023. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4), or 7/10.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20115096/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_tourists_guide_to_love>

INFINITY POOL (2023): INFINITY POOL starts at a Club Med sort of
resort (the Pa Qlpa Pearl Princess) in a poverty-stricken country
where tourists never leave the resort. James and Em are tempted
out by Gabi and Alban, and then bad things ensue.

SPOILER: James kills someone in a car accident. Under Li Tolqa
law, he is supposed to be killed by his victim's oldest son, but
there is an alternative: he can have himself cloned (which is
expensive), and his clone will be killed instead. Gradually more
levels of complication and strangeness are added on to this,
raising some interesting philosophical questions, but more and more
artificial at the same time.

[Of course, there is a problem with this system, and it's the same
problem that led Steve Jobs to always park in the handicapped
spaces.]

["Li Tolqa" and "Pa Qlpa" seem to come from the same language
family as China Mieville's "Ul Qoma".]

[-ecl]

Released theatrically 27 January 2023. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4), or
6/10.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10365998/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/infinity_pool_2023>

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TOPIC: Will Science Fiction Conventions Ever Be the Same? (letter
of comment by Joe Karpierz)

In response to Evelyn's comments on science fiction conventions in
the 12/29/23 issue of the MT VOID, Joe Karpierz writes:

I think that science fiction conventions need to change, adapt, and
evolve in the post-pandemic world. I'm not sure that hybrid
conventions--that is, conventions where a portion of the
programming or other activities is offered online via technologies
like Zoom--will take over. Hybrid conventions are expensive to
run, and there is a need for volunteers to have the technical
know-how to put on a hybrid convention. Additionally, it's one
thing for a Worldcon to be either fully online (like the recent New
Zealand Worldcon) or hybrid (like the recent D.C. Worldcon), and
quite another for a local convention to try it.

With regard to the travel costs for Worldcon, well, you're not
wrong. However, I would submit that some fans go their entire
lives without attending a Worldcon. Fans can get their fix by
attending conventions that are local to them. Cost has long been a
factor in attending Worldcons, whether we're talking today's costs
or those of 40 years ago, when I started attending them. There are
plenty of local conventions where fans can see their friends every
year without traveling long distances.

Local conventions took a big hit from COVID. Capricon, the Chicago
convention for which I am a con com member, took a massive hit in
attendance. We went from 1200 a year or two before the pandemic to
somewhere between 400 and 500 the first year we became an in-person
convention post-pandemic in 2022 (we were fully online in 2021).
Conventions also routinely still have COVID policies--Capricon is
one example. While we no longer require proof of vaccination, we
do require that attendees wear masks in convention spaces, which
makes things like the con suites a different kind of social space
than it has been in the past. Alas, you can't make everyone happy,
so the masking policy will cause some people to stay away, while it
will attract others. But Capricon's attendance was up to in the
neighborhood of about 650 in 2023, and we're shooting for 750 in
2024, just a month from now. So it appears to be on the mend.

With regard to the "graying of fandom", well, you're not wrong
about that either. Capricon is making a concerted effort to
attract younger fans, both to the con com and as regular attendees.
And it does appear to be working for us. The thing that I see
that is different from when we old fogeys came into fandom is that
it doesn't appear to me that the young fans are as well read as we
were. That doesn't mean they need to have read the writers of our
day, but I'd like to see evidence of them reading the writers of
the modern day. I'm not sure that's happening. I hope I'm wrong,
but I don't think I am.

No, science fiction conventions will never be the same, but I don't
think they should be. That way lies stagnation and the dying of
conventions. An entire issue or nine of the Void could be
dedicated to the future of the Worldcon. Go to
<https://www.worldcon.org/category/worldcon-bids/> and you'll see
that there is currently no bid listed for 2027, and the voting for
that Worldcon is in less than two years. But that's a rabbit hole
for another day. [-jak]

Evelyn responds:

I will admit I was thinking mostly of Worldcons in this article,
rather than regional or local conventions. Obviously local
conventions have a much lower transportation cost (and hotel cost,
if you're commuting). [-ecl]

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TOPIC: Raspberry Pi (letter of comment by Hal Heydt)

In response to Evelyn's comments on Raspberry Pi (when she
mentioned she had no idea what a Raspberry Pi was) in the
12/22/23 issue of the MT VOID, Hal Heydt writes:

Where have you been for the last 12 years? Raspberry Pi is a
line of Single Board Computers (SBCs). The most expensive one is
the current (Pi5) 8GB model that sells for $80. Granted, you
need a power supply ($12 for the official one) and a microSD card
(around $5), plus the usual cables and such.

Pis have been very successful. Since the launch at the end of
Feb. 2012, around 50 million of them have been sold. See
raspberrypi.org. [-hh]

Evelyn responds:

Well, I have no idea what a Single Board Computer is either. I am
not a hardware person, and certainly not one to keep up with the
latest trends. Yes, twelve years is a long time, but I'm still
using my HP 200LX which I got over twenty-five years ago. [-ecl]

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