Ambrov Zeor!

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Zine
Title: Ambrov Zeor! (The zine dropped the "!" after issue 3)
Publisher: Anne Pinzow (Golar) (1976-1982), then Kerry Schaefer (later known as Kerry Lindemann Schaefer) (1982-1996)
Editor(s): complicated! see each issue
Date(s): 1976-1996
Series?:
Medium: print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom: Sime~Gen
Language: English
External Links: Lichtenberg's House of Zeor website and sample articles and stories can be found online here and here
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.
from a 1977 flyer, the creator illustrates the symbiotic relationship of Kraith, Star Trek, and Sime~Gen

Ambrov Zeor! (simply Ambrov Zeov after the third issue) is a gen anthology of fan fiction, articles, letters, and interviews based on the pro fiction of Jacqueline Lichtenberg's Sime~Gen universe, a world inhabited by people dealing with a biological reality not unlike that of the Alpha/Beta/Omega trope.

It began as a letterzine, but quickly became more encompassing.

flyer printed in Probe #12

"Ambrov Zeor" was published until 1996, after which it went online. Its sister fanzine, A Companion to Zeor, was still actively accepting submissions up until 2014.[1]

About the Logo and the Zine Covers

The exclamation point was left off of the cover title after the third issue.

P.S. Nim's logo design, the symbol of the House of Zeor, as printed in The Sime/Gen Concordance

The "Ambrov Zeor" logo was created by Signe Landon and used on issues #5-#12. In 1976, Lichtenberg wrote about the logo in Ambrov Zeor #5:

The Ambrov Zeor logo on the cover of each issue of AZ after #3, Signe Landon's design which won the logo contest, is not, repeat not, the House of Zeor symbol. And the House of Zeor symbol is not the starred-cross. P.S. Nim's logo design is the House of Zeor symbol. The starred-cross is something else. I invented the starred cross while writing House of Zeor, and although it is not described in HoZ, Idid have aspecific design in mind. Much to my surprise, as I learned more of occult and esoteric theory, I found that the starred-cross symbol I had in mind is perfect for the Sime series.

About Sime~Gen

Ambrov Zeor is a fanzine based on the House of Zeor series by Jacqueline Lichtenberg. The series details a dystopian [sic] future for the human race, the Sime-Gen universe, in which predatory Simes feed on a substance called selyn from the Gens who produce it. The fanzine, copyrighted by Jacqueline Lichtenberg herself, expands upon the Sime-Gen universe by featuring correspondance [sic] with Lichtenberg, parodies and stories of the work, and sharing knowledge of the universe through definitions and images.

The Sime-Gen dichotomy, closely resembling a predator-prey relationship, expresses fears of power distance post-war. Simes kill Gens for survival. In the universe, adolescents experience changeover, determining whether they become Simes or Gens. Simes are characterized by predatory impulses, unless they are "channels," or Simes that can extract the selyn necessary to their survival without killing the Gens. RenSimes must kill Gens in order to take their selyn.

With an entirely female staff and a largely female readership, Ambrov Zeor sheds light to the evolution of feminism in post-war America. They call themselves channels because they bridge the gap between Simes and Gens with an appreciation for both the hunter and the hunted. They hope to expose and discuss the dangers of unmitigated aggression, a major theme of the Cold War era. We also speculate that the Sime-Gen relationship relates to the gender roles of the time (male-dominant versus female-submissive), which Jacqueline Lichtenberg seeks to overcome throughout the Zeor series.[2]

See Sime~Gen for much more.

A Lot of Cross-Marketing and Mentions of Other Fandoms

Lichtenberg was relentless in her mentions and plugs for Darkover, Star Trek, and her own created universe, Kraith.

The Darkover and Marion Zimmer Bradley Connection

Marion Zimmer Bradley, creator of Darkover, contributed stories to zines in this universe.

From Ambrov Zeor #6:

A FAMILIARITY WITH JACQUELINE'S MAJOR SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY'S DARKOVER SERIES, SHOULD ADD MUCH TO THE SIME FAN'S ENJOYMENT. AND MANY ST FANS FIND DARKOVER A HOME AWAY FROM HOME AS WELL.

The professional, and perhaps other relationships, between Marion Zimmer Bradley and Lichtenberg appears to have cooled off somewhere between 1981-1983. Lichtenberg stops talking about Bradley in "Ambrov Zeor" in about 1981. Bradley, likewise, stops having Lichtenberg's comments in Darkover Newsletter around 1982/1983.

The Star Trek Connection

From Ambrov Zeor #6:

SINCE JEAN LORRAH AND JACQUELINE LICTENBERG ARE COLLABORATING ON TIE SIME NOVEL, FIRST CHANNEL, IT IS EXPECTED THAT A FAMILIARITY WITH BOTH JEAN'S STAR TREK STORIES AND JACQUELINE'S STAR TREK STORIES, THE KRAITH SERIES, (for info. S.A.S.E. Carol Lynn [address redacted]) WILL ENRICH THE SIME FAN'S ENJOYMENT OF FIRST CHANNEL.

In 1981, a fan questioned the Star Trek connection:

[Beth]: ... one thing bugged me [in Ambrov Zeor #11]: I am not, nor have I ever been, or do I indeed ever plan to be, a Star Trek fan. Therefore, I don't think Trek-related material has any place in a Sine zine. I know it sounds petty, but I find it annoying. Also, a question — what impels a fan to write material in another author's universe? I have myself at least five universes of my own in various stages of development, and I knew I would never be able to write things in a world of someone else's creation. And yet many people apparently can and do, very happily. I don't really understand it. Can you?

Answer from Anne Golar [editor of Ambrov Zeor]: Gee, a Sime fan who is not a Trek fan. I have not encountered very many of those. I guess one of the reasons that Trek is in our zine is because most of the people who are into the zine got into science fiction through Trek, like me, or got into Trek through science fiction. And, Jacqueline is one of the co-authors of Star Trek Lives! and has written her own Star Trek universe stories, the Kraith series. It would be very hard to separate Trek from Simes when even Jacqueline has written the Sime series in such a way that she states that if you like Star Trek, you'll like her books. But, you see, we are not only Star Trek and Sime/Gen fans. We are dragon fans and Darkover fans and Amber fans and I know I don't speak only for myself when I say that we are Heinlein fans and Asimov fans and Clement fans and on and on. Now as for what impels a fan to write material in another author's universe. Jacqueline and Marion Zimmer Bradley and even a lot of Trek fan writers have been asked this question and the answer came down to this. The writers are more the discoverers of the universes. The universes are not the personal property of the authors and when a fan has waited months upon months, and in the case of Trek, years, without any fresh material in that universe, they become desperate. In fact they become so desperate to visit more with Hugh and Klyd, or Regis Hastur or Spock that they have to make up more stories. I myself also carry a few universes in my head, but I think that I would be a lot poorer person if I could not make room for the universes of others. [3]

Origins of the Zine Series

From a 2012 interview with Lichtenberg:

I first encountered Jean's writing during the compilation of STAR TREK LIVES! Jean had co-authored a STAR TREK story which we wanted to include in a center section of STAR TREK LIVES featuring fan fiction -- no fan fiction devoted to any TV, film or book series had ever been professionally published, aired, or discussed in professional journalistic media of any kind at that time.

It turned out that the fanfiction section would make the book too long, (and yes, they were against the concept of fanfic, and there were nasty copyright issues with Paramount which owned Star Trek at that time). So it wasn't included.

However, to their utter astonishment STAR TREK LIVES! was a best seller and went 8 printings -- we blew the lid on Star Trek fandom! So Sondra Marshak took on another partner, Myrna Culbreth and did the anthology STAR TREK: THE NEW VOYAGES (and some sequels, plus some original Trek novels) while I went on developing Sime~Gen.

[...]

Jean Lorrah, however, was not so much a Spock fan as a Surak fan.

So HOUSE OF ZEOR both worked and didn't work for her. She wrote a review in a fanzine titled Vampire In Muddy Boots calling House of Zeor a novel that was flawed in the way of typical first novels. She was a professional writer at that time, but hadn't sold a novel, and didn't know the "flaws" evident in first novels are there not because the author can't do any better, but because publishing houses would BUY a novel that was a first novel that did not have those "flaws." Catch-22.

Very soon after the publication of House of Zeor, my mailbox exploded with mail. I couldn't handle it all and found myself writing the same thing again and again. So I started making as many carbon copies as I could and putting them out in circulating lists (asking each person to forward it to another on the list).

That didn't work well, and before I knew it, Betty Herr had taken over creating a mimeographed fanzine Ambrov Zeor.

For the first issue, we wanted to publish Jean Lorrah's insightful review, so I wrote to her and asked permission. Within months she'd sent in several fanzine stories set in Sime~Gen -- and soon after that we met at a Star Trek/Media convention where she showed me the outline for a longer story.[4]

Suing, and Using, and a "Living" Universe

First off, you probably noticed that Jacqueline Lichtenberg owns the legal copyright to AMBROV ZEOR. This means that she owns all material not previously copyrighted printed in these pages, even if it's your own pet theory. We arranged things this way for all-around legal protection, as we don't want anyone to get sued.

Jacqueline can't sue you for writing about her Simes and Gens, and if she likes your ideas so much that they end up in a pro Sime story, you can't sue her either. But the nice thing is that the Sime universe is a living one, subject to change, and through AZ you readers will be able to affect Jacqueline's view of it and her writing.[5]

About Those Letters

From issue #2:

All letters received by either Jacqueline or Elisabeth will be considered as potentially publishable material, and the editor will treat them as such, unless the writer specifically requests that he or she not be quoted.

This statement was standard procedure for letterzines.

Copyright

The zine's copyright owner was listed as Lichtenberg.

From issue #2: "Copyright 1976 by Jacqueline Lichtenberg. All rights reserved to Mrs. Lichtenberg, except where otherwise noted, and arranged by prior agreement. All original artwork remains the property of its creator."

Also from issue #2:

Now for further explanation of the copyright. I didn't realise until people started screaming how the last explanation sounded. Jacqueline holds the copyright because (1) Simes are her creation, (b) most of the material in the first issue was her work anyway, and (c) it's easier that way. What we neglected to mention in our first editorial is that Jacqueline will assign back to the author the rights of an article if the author wishes it. For example, Paula Smith's parody, "Hows of Zero," is copyrighted under Jacqueline's name along with the rest of this issue, but the rights to it belong to Paula. Is everybody thoroughly confused now?

From issue #11:

Must a story written for a Sime fanzine be copyright, or what? ((JL: Yes, it definitely must. AZ/CZ Forum have worked out a system to try to get the new copyright law to do what the old law did automatically. Our lawyers and consultants agree our system is the best way to protect on everyone involved. When you submit an item for publication you will get a form back to sign that will (we hope) explain in simple language and take care of the whole matter for you.)) ((Ed: The copyright is registered in Jacqueline's name, and we take care of both registration forms and fees. The author will receive one copy of each magazine in which the contribution appears and can obtain reprint rights upon written request made five years after date of original publication. This system covers fan stories, poems, songs, and speculative articles, and is necessary to protect the professional and financial interests of JL and her heirs. Professional quality material is handled in another way.))

Note: despite the many similarities between Marion Zimmer Bradley and Lichtenberg regarding the encouragement of their fans to write content for their zines, as well as personal interaction, there is no mention of the uproar in 1992 regarding the Marion Zimmer Bradley Fanfiction Controversy in the pages of "Ambrov Zeor." The zine itself only outlived this controversy by two issues, but that could just as likely be due to falling fan interest, as the zine had been struggling to remain in print for years.

Pretty Much Jacqueline Lichtenberg's Zine

Much like Marion Zimmer Bradley's ownership and strong hand in the Darkover zines, Lichtenberg was apparently the final say in "Ambrov Zeor's" content.

In 1978, there was an exchange between a fan, and Anne Golar, the zine's publisher. The fan commented:

I enjoy AZ, except for the overdoing on JL's part sometimes of autoegoboo. (That's something I should take up with JL myself, you can cut this from the letter if you print it.)

Anne Golar's response:

About autoegoboo. I went through #6 page by page and I don't see your point.
page 3. The letter from Virginia was to me but JL has more impact when she writes and it came out better from her typewriter than it did from mine. This is a Sime/Gen zine and since JL is the creator we feel justified in telling about her doings.
page 12. This is promo for other people.
page 14. We have to find this info before we go to press.

All other material that was done by JL was done as a member of AZ staff but without credit. Star Trek zines tell what is going on with that camp of celebrities and we tell what is going on with JL. If it were not for her, there would be no Sime series and hence no AZ.

Frankly, except for her articles and the promo she does for others' projects, JL does not write more in the zine than any other staff member except me. But that's 'cause I'm lazy.

From a 2012 interview with Lichtenberg:

I drew a bead (aimed) directly at that nerve that Spock's character twanged in those writers, and they responded to Sime~Gen the same way they responded to Trek -- the reached out their hands, grabbed the wet clay of my universe, and remolded it.

And that's how Marion Zimmer Bradley taught me -- molding my words with her hands, running my words through her typewriter, kneading them as you knead bread.

The Star Trek fan writers sent me Sime~Gen stories they'd written.

When you've got a tiger by the tail, there's nothing to do but swarm aboard and ride it. So I sent the stories to the editor of Ambrov Zeor (which was various people at various times) and she published them.

OK, it wasn't quite that simple. Before I would allow anything to be published in Ambrov Zeor, I had to make sure it met the highest professional standards of craftsmanship I knew how to meet. So often a fan written Sime~Gen story would go through 3-5 rewrites before it went to the editor and copyediting (and more little tweaks and twiddles) -- the exact same process any professional publishing house uses.

By doing this, we trained a lot of writers in the craft, and several editors, two of whom are working professionally now on the basis of what they learned then. I can think of two of the writers who have sold professionally, also. But many fan writers just don't want to write professionally -- not that they don't want to turn out high precision craftsmanship, but that their subject matter isn't geared to the commercial markets.

That squeezes a lot of material into the fanfic market which is now online with all kinds of fanfic spun off from TV shows. Many of our writers still write in those venues.[6]

Complicated Speculations

There were MANY letters to this zine, and most certainly other places, from fans discussing and speculating in great detail and with great length the complexities of Sime~Gen culture and biology. Even "Ambrov Zeor's" editor, Anne Golan, admitted:

This an awful thing to say for the publisher of AZ, but I don't understand enough of what JL writes to argue about it. I get the gist but I am far behind in the intellectual development of Star Trek and Science Fiction Fandom since I only started in it about two years ago.

Regarding "Sime Surgeon"

Sime Surgeon is a Sime~Gen story by Jacqueline Lichtenberg.

This is the story that became the pro book Unto Zeor, Forever.

"Sime Surgeon" was originally published in four parts in the zine series Ambrov Zeor (issues #8, #9, #11, and #12) beginning in 1978. An introduction and some letters about the saga appeared "Ambrov Zeor" #7.

From the story online:

Sime Surgeon is a "Doctor Novel" with the plot-structure of that subgenre of Romance. It does not even vaguely resemble the commercial genre known as science fiction in structure, though it has a pure science fiction content. The juxtaposition of these two elements makes this an "unpublishable" novel. So regard it as a fan novel and have fun reading. [7]

From a fan in "Ambrov Zeor" #8:

I was utterly, overwhelmingly crushed, disappointed to tears of frustration, shenned to the limits of endurance by the difference between the drafts you allowed me to read and the final version (of UNTO, Ed.) What happened to Dane's Qualification? Or Digen's Testing that so nearly killed him? (Jacqueline Lichtenberg responded: Sharon Jarvis would NOT let me publish that version of the book and for various reasons, I feel she was, right. Yet we did lose something very important to fans of the series, and so AZ is publishing the second draft [SIME SURGEON)... JL).

For more see Sime Surgeon.

"Charter Members of the Tecton"

In issue #2, there was a roster titled "Charter Members of the Tecton." It was a list of names and rankings.

There were "Channels" which were "staff." These were divided in to "QN-1," QN-2," and "QN-3" which were sub-rankings. There were fourteen members of this section, with Lichtenberg at the top. Marion Zimmer Bradley was listed second (as an "honourary" member).

The second section were "Companions." These were eleven names on this section, and it represented writers, contributors, and artists.

The last section was "RenSimes." These were seventy names of the zine's subscribers.

Many of the the fans listed were active in the Star Trek fandom, including many BNFs.

Issue 123 Reprint

Ambrov Zeor! 123 Reprint was published in 1984 and contains 80 pages. It is a re-issue of the first three zines.

It says the managing editor was Anne Pinzow Golar, editor was Jean Airey, and proofreader was Judy Segal, which doesn't match the information on the first three issues.

  • cover of reprint issue, one that utilizes the illos on the covers of issue #1, #2, and #3

Issue 1

Ambrov Zeor! 1 was published in June 1976 (first printing: 500 copies) and contains 28 pages. It was edited by Betty Herr and Elisabeth Waters.

cover of issue #1, Theresa Holmes

It is online here, along with some brief descriptions: Issue 1 : Fanzines Archive, Archived version.

The fans who typed and collated issue #1: Linda Deneroff, Anne Golar, Winston Howlett, Weldon Howlett, Cynthia Levine, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Elan Jane Litt, Pat O'Neill, Joyce Yasner, and Frances Zawacky.

The editorial talks about copyrights and permissions; Lichtenberg generously wants fans to write, generously doesn't want them to be sued, and generously reserves the right to use their characters in her own books without compensation. Plus, she'd like to sell fans some autographed books.

Dear Friends and Naztehr,

[...]

First off, you probably noticed that Jacqueline Lichtenberg owns the legal copyright to AMBROV ZEOR. This means that she owns all material not previously copyrighted printed in these pages, even if it's your own pet theory. We arranged things this way for all-around legal protection, as we don't want anyone to get sued.

Jacqueline can't sue you for writing about her Simes and Gens, and if she likes your ideas so much that they end up in a pro Sime story, you can't sue her either. But the nice thing is that the Sime universe is a living one, subject to change, and through AZ you readers will be able to affect Jacqueline's view of it and her writing.

Our general policy in AZ will be to present Sime-oriented letters and comments and to stimulate discussion on these and other related ST and SF topics. (Is there any topic in the universe not related to the Simes? JL) We'll also try to answer special questions and provide more information on whatever about HOZ or Unto Zeor, Forever may be bugging you. We would be interested in seeing any Sime fanfiction, poetry or artwork you would care to submit. Our main emphasis, we hope, will be letters from you. Please write them; the more you write, the less you have to read our stuff. You might know that Jacqueline is terrifically busy with Unto and lots more, so it might be better if you wrote to one of us. If you want to do artwork for us, it would be a good idea to write to Lisa Waters for diagrams of Sime arms so that the tentacles will be fairly consistent throughout.

[...]

AMBROV ZEOR could use some volunteers out there for various projects we have in mind. We need typists and artists. More important, we'd be interested if some of you out there would write fuller biographies of some of the various people in the Sime universe. (See "The Succession in Zeor" and "Unto Zeor, Forever" in this issue.) And Stella Nemeth's letter, among others, has raised the question of what Gens need Slmes for. Well, some Gens produce so much selyn that they suffer from a condition called "underdraw", a condition which plays an important part in Unto, and they must donate often or be poisoned by their own selyn. But that's rare. Does anyone have any other ideas to share?

Our next edition should be out sometime in the fall, maybe October, and will Include more on Unto, probably more on Simelan, and an article on donor proficiency ratings. We are also thinking, if there is enough interest, of putting out a one-shot volume of fiction. Send a SASE to Lisa if you think that this would be a good idea. Publication will depend on what kind of reaction we get and what you'd be willing to pay for such a volume, not to mention how many people we can get to help type.

  • Editorial by Betty Herr (2)
  • The House of Zeor and Star Trek by Betty Herr (6)
  • Male Chauvinism in "House of Zeor", a series of four letters, an exchange of letters between Jean Lorrah and Jacqueline Lichtenberg (7)
  • The Succession in Zeor by Betty Herr and Jacqueline Lichtenberg (11)
  • Prenatal Selyn Drain, or Can Somebody Please Explain Why Yenava Had to Die? by Betty Herr (12)
  • Moment of Decision, poem by Betty Herr (14)
  • To Strike a Spark, to Light a Flame, fiction by Jacqueline Lichtenberg ("The first words of Sime fiction ever written") (15)
  • Notes on the Simelan Language by Elisabeth Waters and Betty Herr (including a Simelan glossary) (17)
  • Unto Zeor, Forever ("Jacqueline Lichtenber's new novel, a synopsis and character list") (21)
  • Charter Members of the Tecton, list of names and addresses, includes 42 "Donors" (24)
  • Out Territory, a very short review column of other 'zines (26)
  • Selyn Transfer, letter column, contains two fan letters, and one letter by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (27)
  • art by Theresa Holmes (cover, interior), Mike Salvatore

"Charter Members of the Tecton" were listed in this issue, both names and street addresses. They were:

  • from issue #1

  • from issue #1

  • from issue #1

  • from issue #1

Issue 1: Reactions and Reviews

This is the very first fanzine that has ever been concerned with Sime and the Gen universe of Jacqueline Lichtenberg's House of Zeor (and soon to be published, 'Unto Zeor, Forever'). Quite frankly, unless you have avidly read the Zeor book, the zine would be as incomprehensible as the average Trekzine is to a Mongolian fisherman; the contents are, naturally enough, about Simes and Gens, but such titles as 'Prenatal Selyn Drain' or 'Can Somebody Please Explain Why Yenava Had to Die?' and so forth are not even nominally footnoted in the ensuing articles. This is unfortunate, since discussion of Zeor often deal with Trekkish topics. Even if you did read HoZ, chances are you didn't read it YESTERDAY; a definite effort should be made to indicate who certain characters are. Good vocabulary basics are provided in a mini-dictionary, and the first two chapters of the first Sime fiction ever written are also reproduced. If you're interested in the Zeor sub-cult, this is for you; even then, complain about the price. Suggestions on layout are apparently needed; blank page sections abound, and there is no reason for the cover of an offset, or very well xeroxed zine to be MIMEO. Quite a lot of promise if the layout shapes up and the conservationary methods employed; as is, for the avid only.[8]

Ambrov Zeor is a zine that deals expressly with Jacqueline Lichtenberg's new pro-SF Sime series. It is intended as a letterzine like Halkan Council, but the first issue features several interesting articles and a short story "To Strike a Spark, To Light a Flame" by Jacqueline Lichtenberg. The story is about Digen Farris as a child and an important episode in his life. The articles with aspects of Gen/Sime life as portrayed in House of Zeor, and in her upcoming book, Unto Zeor, Forever, a comparison/analysis of ST and HoZ, and a plot synopsis of UZ,F, along with a character list. The art, save for two pieces by T. N. Holmes, is not outstanding. If you're one of the thousands of people captivated by HoZ, then this zine is for you.[9]

Issue 2

Ambrov Zeor! 2 was published in September 1976 (first printing: 200 copies) and contains 22 pages. There was a second printing in June 1977 of 200 copies. Art by Mary Ellen Matyi (cover) and Julie Anne Waters.

It was edited by Elisabeth Waters and Betty Herr, though this was Herr's last issue. From a note on the table of contents page: "Betty has resigned as editor, effective September 1, 1976. Please address all comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc. to Elisabeth."

It is online here, along with some brief descriptions: Issue 2 : Fanzines Archive, Archived version.

cover of issue #2, Mary Ellen Matyi -- note: some do not have #2 in the lower corner of the cover
  • Editorial (Thanks Winston Howlett for finding a printer and taking this zine to it, apologizes for leaving a fan's name off the member list and for misspelling another's name, says Lichtenberg's novel Lortuen as a standalone issue, says there is a contest to design Sime~Gen buttons, and addresses copyright.) (2)
  • In Defense of Next Tuesday by Jean Lorrah (an article speculating on the age of chaos) (3)
  • Farris Family Tree (6)
  • More Simelan Vocabulary (7)
  • Hows of Zero, a parody by Susann Kohinoor and Paula Smith (9)
  • Charter Members of the Tecton (16)
  • Out-Territory (17)
  • Selyn Transfer, letters of comment, seven were printed, and there were also the names of eleven WAHF (18)

Issue 2: Comments from Letters

I think the main impression (or overall) I get [of House of Zeor] is incompleteness. I feel like I've just read the first 3 chapters of a novel and I'm expecting it to keep going. The ending is too abrupt. I get the impression the book ended because it was running over a quota of words and not because it was really over. ((JL: Exactly. I hope not to do this again.))

I was very interested and somewhat surprised to learn that "many people are either taking for granted a homosexual relationship between Kirk and Spock, or carefully writing stories detailing such a relationship." STAR TREK was, of course, determinedly heterosexual on the air. (Indeed, third season semes to me heterosexually maniacal -- unkind thoughts about F. Freiberger.) But if no one was revolted or nauseated because Zefram Cochrane "turned on" the Companion, I can't see anyone being upset by the sex of someone else's lover. Very bad taste, I'm sure.

As for a homosexual relationship between Kirk and Spock, I'd concluded that that would "be highly unlikely. I'd have thought that a homosexual Post-Reform Vulcan would be as rare as a one-hundred-per-cent efficient engine. In any case, no matter how Captain Kirk feels about it, Mr. Spock has seemed quite a "proper" Vulcan. On the air, at least, he seemed to have trouble enough with heterosexuality, which Vulcans must necessarily endorse, without taking on bisexuality.

I'm not qualified to offer an opinion as to whether or not the introduction of the homosexual Narvoon [in HoZ] is extreme, but it is interesting. Klyd's statement that Yenava would be amused by Hugh's fear is a neutral remark. It could mean, "Don't worry; I'm not going to try to make you go against your Gen Territory conditioning in that respect," or it could mean, "Don't worry; although juncts consider me a pervert in one sense, I'm not a pervert in the sexual sense." The introduction of Narvoon tells us that the general Sime opinion concerning homosexuals is very similar to the general Gen opinion.

Simes and Gens would live near each other, maybe intermarrying, certainly in close friendships; if you save a guy's life every month, there has to be some feeling between you and him. Such a pair might live interdependently, the Sime bringing home the "bacon, and the Gen providing comfort--ahem. Some Gens wouldn't be happy staying home and painting pictures. An adolescent who had his eye on a career as a surgeon ((Eds: !!!)) or lumberjack would realize his chances of getting a job like that are pretty slim unless he sprouts tentacles. Yessirree, now I see why Jacqueline said the split was like that between the sexes.

This forces every kid to deal with the fact that he might grow up as "the weaker sex," who can make life pleasant or miserable for the Sime companion, but who is outcompeted in most other careers. It also gives every kid the chance of being "the stronger sex," the Simes. But, while our sexes have fifteen years or so to get used to "being male or female before the fact becomes too important, the Sime/Gen kids wouldn't. And a Gen kid could "be very stable, yet envious as hell of his tentacled friends. Envy, and resentment of the better jobs, would bring on friction; and I suspect that "Amazon" communities would arise—no Simes allowed-~and their presence would remind Gens that they got along pretty well without the Simes.

Issue 2: Sample Interior

  • from issue #2, a grim genealogy: many of the 17 children meet dreadful ends

  • from issue #2, from "Hows of Zero"

  • from issue #2, from "Hows of Zero"

  • from issue #2, members

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 2

AMBROV ZEOR is devoted to the sime-gen stories of Jacqueline Lichtenberg (from the professionally printed book HOUSE OF ZEOR, and forthcoming books in the series).

This 'zine critiques Jackie's ideas and provides a round-robin discussion/debate format for the subscribers, and is "obviously aimed at the truly dedicated ZEOR fans."

Jackie has some fiction in some of the issues, as does Jean Lorrah. The 'zine also ' contains notices of other fanzines, poetry, and generally undistinguished artwork.

I'm a subscriber, and I enjoy the issues. [10]

Issue 3

Ambrov Zeor! 3 was published in December 1976 (first printing: 150 copies) and contains 51 pages. The original editor of this issue was Cynthia Levine, who had taken over this duty on September 1, 1976 directly after Betty Herr resigned. Levine also edited the fourth issue. Levine, however, stepped down, and the subsequent printing of this issue was then printed by Elisabeth Waters, who refers to Cynthia Levine as her "former co-editor." These subsequent printings had Levine's original editorial removed and replaced with one written by Waters.

The art is by Mary Ellen Matyi, Theresa Holmes, and Nancy Sargentini.

It has fiction by Jean Lorrah, Rebecca Carlson and an interview with Jacqueline Lichtenberg, and 'Donation' by Jean Lorrah along with a short story starring Risa Tigue.

front cover of issue #3, Mary Ellen Matyi

This issue was collated as an activity for a Darkover Council: In January 1977, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, always eager for some cross-marketing, wrote:

[ Keeper's Tower is] "Local" in the strange sense of including those who seem to pass through my house regularly, ranging from Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Members to date, Anne Golar, Joan Winston, Beverly Graifman, Elisabeth Waters, Frances Zawacky, Linda Deneroff, Cynthia Levine. That list of names may sound familiar to some of you. They are primarily involved in my Kraith series and in Ambrov Zeor. In fact, on December 19th, we had our first joint meeting with the New Jersey based Valeron Council, at the Ambrov Zeor collating party.[11]

It is online here, along with some brief descriptions: Issue 3 (second printing, with editorial by Elisabeth Waters) : Fanzines Archive, Archived version.

From the editorial of the first printing:

My name is Cynthia Levine and as of 1 September 1976, I am the new editor of this zine. (For those of you who thought Lisa was, you're wrong...she's the publisher although her editorial hand is still in evidence...) Due to the fact that I am new and Lisa has stated many times that she can't write (and I suspect that she's kidding herself a bit), the job of writing the editorial has fallen on my typewriter. (I guess this job is one of the pitfalls of being new in the editing business — everyone who has had any experience passes this on to the new guy in town. Besides, doesn't the editor write the editorial?)

Anyway, there are a few items I wish to cover, so I may as well jump in with both feet....

If you recall, Lisa mentioned a contest to design a button for Ambrov Zeor. Well, we've expanded the idea. What we are really locking for is a logo for AZ. Therefore, the contest is designed to pick the best logo — which will then become the only permanent feature of each and every cover of the zine (and will also be used on the buttons). So all of you creative geniuses out there, start creating! The deadline for submissions has been extended to 15 February 1977. (Making it 20 November as per editorial in issue #2 is a bit ridiculous considering the publication date of this announcement is 20 December!) We've already received several submissions and I can tell it's going to be a difficult decision.

We are, with this issue, instituting a shift in editorial policy. This zine started out to be a letter zine. After the first issue, we realized that this wouldn't work as it had originally been planned. (Letters, of course, will be published in Selyn Transfer.) So, we are shifting to a fiction-oriented zine. Any and all contributions will be gratefully accepted for consideration. That includes art work, too. (All submissions should be sent to me: [address redacted]) So, right now, go to your typewriters (or pens and pads) and start writing. We would like to be in a position where we, the week before this has to be delivered to the printer, have to tear our hair out trying to cull down what we have to fit the size of the zine we have planned. In other words, while we're planning issue #4, we'd like to have enough material to plan ahead to issue #7 or #8? (or is that wishful thinking on the part of a naive editor?)

For those of you who wish to correspond with us; questions regarding the zine itself (i.e. availability, prices, orders, etc.) should be directed to Lisa. Questions regarding Jackie's Sime/Gen universe in general should be directed to me. I will do my best to answer your questions as soon as possible. (by the way, please send SASE — the Post Awful is getting to be the biggest rip-off in history — but then I'm not telling you anything new.)

I would like to extend our sincerest and deepest appreciation to some people: first of all, to Winston Hewlett for again driving us to and from the printer for issue #2. Winston, we don't know what we'd do without you but I have the feeling your car would like to find out! And to Frances Zawacky and Linda Deneroff, not enough can be said. Without them, Lisa and I would have been off the wall a long time ago.

On behalf of Jacqueline Lichtenberg, a special thanks to Don Ulicny for the photo of a round painting displayed at Bi-Centennial 10 depicting a Sime/Gen contact in which the tentacles are drawn ALMOST correctly. Susan Armstrong, please contact me!

We have one additional request from you folks: to help defer those ridiculous printing costs, when sending SASE for future issues, please enclose $1.00 to reserve your copy. In this manner, we'll have a more accurate copy count and will not waste money over-printing. Your help in this matter will be greatly appreciated — especially by our pocketbooks!

[...]

Enough for this ish...

In closing, (and it looks like it's about time), I'd like to say that Lisa and I are doing this zine for you fen. We can't do it alone, so we need your

HELP!!!!!

UZF, Cynthia

From the shaming editorial by Elisabeth Waters of the second printing:

There are cases where the rule of "If you want something done right, do it yourself" does not apply. Our first printing of this issue was one of them. This should not be taken to mean that I did not appreciate the efforts of my former co-editor, Cynthia Levine, who printed the zine herself in her office, and stayed there 'til all hours for Ghu only knows how many nights to do it. I greatly appreciate her hard work, and I regret her resignation as editor shortly thereafter. (I understand it, but I regret it.) But we wound up with 150 copies of AZ#3 printed on only one side of the paper, which doubled both our paper costs and our postage bills. Now, although we have run out of copies, there is still a demand for them, ergo, we are reprinting — and this time, the zine goes to the printer! I would like to re-extend my appreciation to a few people, without whom I would have been committed long ago: Winston Howlett, who found us a printer for issues #1 and #2 and transported the zine to and from said printer and has provided considerable help and encouragement generally, and Frances Zawacky and Linda Deneroff, who, along with Cynthia, typed, wrote, edited, and collated. I could never have produced any issues of AZ without their help, and I am truly grateful for all the time and work they put in.

From "A Modest Proposal":

The time has finally come. House of Zeor is going to be a movie! At least, that's what I'm going to try and do, gang! Jacqueline has given me her permission to attempt this wondrous feat and Doubleday has said that I can try it, so long as I realize that I do not have exclusive film rights. The reason: I couldn't afford them. As to why I'm telling you all this is because I'd like some advice. Wot on how to write it. I know how to write a script, believe me. I've been aiming in the direction of film/tv for over a year now. While I haven't actually sold anything yet, my agent believes that I will have no trouble making it in the field and the rejection letters that I've received from various producers all said that they "found much to admire" but that my story lines didn't quite fit their series. I don't say this to sound like Harlan, honest. It's just to let you know that I'm quite serious about all this and believe that I can do it. Now for the help part. How do you feel that HoZ will look on film? When I first mentioned it to Jackie, she said that she didn't think it would have the same impact as the book. I disagree. I think it will have at least the same impact, if not more. What do you feel are the main points of the book, in visual terms? By that I mean, what portions of the book do you think should be emphasized visually and which do you think will look best, when emphasized visually?

  • Sime-Line, editorial (first printing it was by Cynthia Levine, subsequent printings it was by Elisabeth Waters) (1)
  • Golden Yo-Yo Award (3)
  • Donation, fiction by Jean Lorrah (4)
  • Puzzle by Jean Lorrah and Betty Herr (23)
  • First Changeover, Archived version vignette by Rebecca Carlson (25)
  • What Do Gens Need Simes For?, comic drawn by Theresa Holmes from an idea by Jean Lorrah (26)
  • A 'Con-ing We Won't Go, a very detailed report of a harrowing trip to Disclave (includes nothing about the con itself) by Samantha Worchester (28)
  • A Sime~Gen Interview with Jacqueline Lichtenberg, conducted by Linda Deneroff (32) (It was conducted on June 18, 1976 at the collating session for the first issue of "Ambrov Zeor.")
  • A Modest Proposal by Joel Davis (43)
  • a list of the "Charter Members of the Tecton" (many fan's names and club roles) (44)
  • ads for Star Trek zines (46)
  • Selyn Transfer, LOCS, topics include speculation about Sime~Gen biology and medical issues and evolution, there is a letter by Marion Zimmer Bradley that disagrees about aspects of Sime~Gen language development and Jacqueline Lichtenberg answers this letter in a lengthy fashion (48)

Issue 3: Sample Interior

  • from issue #3, illo by Theresa Holmes

  • from issue #3, letter by Marion Zimmer Bradley

  • from issue #3, sample text and illo

  • from issue #3, comic by Theresa Holmes

Issue 4

Ambrov Zeor 4 (note: the exclamation point was dropped from the title from this issue onward) was published in April 1977 (first printing 200 copies), revised printing July 1978 (200 copies) and contains 72 pages. It was edited by Cynthia Levine who writes that she "survived my second issue," and that after this issue, she is resigning as editor. Elisabeth Waters adds that during the the course of this zine, two editors had resigned in the space of four issues.

The Sime~Gen website notes that issue four has fiction called The Channel's Exemption by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (originally published in "Galileo" #4), but this story does not appear in the print zine, even in the revised edition. So, a mystery.

cover of issue #4
  • Sime-Line by Cynthia Levine (2)
inside page from issue #4, first page of "Lortuen"
  • Introduction to Lortuen by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (3) (This introduction shows the cross-pollination of writers, (and relentless name-dropping!) in Sime~Gen fandom and Star Trek fandom during this time:
    By the time UNTO was finished, Melody faded into nonexistence. I had learned how to tailor the secondary characters in a story to the main character's karma. I had also learned various techniques for conveying information to the reader without long conversations between characters. So I started over with a vastly matured Digen and generated a whole new world for him to live and learn in. I suggest that readers approach Lortuen as much as you would approach Kraith or any other STAR TREK fanzine story - as alternate universe to the "official" universe.... How did LORTUEN evolve to become UNTO ZEOR, forever? By the time I had finished STAR TREK LIVES! and was looking around for something to do next, Debbie Goldstein, Carol Lynn, and Marion Zimmer Bradley had all read a faded, tattered carbon of LORTUEN and had been terribly stricken with the changeover scene in it. That was the most powerful scene, one of my primary reasons for writing the story, and I was inordinately pleased that Debbie had said she "went through changeover" in the scene herself. MZB and others had had similar experiences. I couldn't leave all my friends in need like that. I tackled LORTUEN. And I had about a six-inch stack of notes on what I wanted to do with the novel. Steve Goldin had read it and commented that "there's a novel hidden in here somewhere" and I believed him. Turned out, he was right. By August, 197S, I had 12 inches of notes. MZB stayed over one night on a flying trip to NYC - an autograph party on the publication of HERITAGE OF HASTUR - and, as I say in the intro to UNTO, she forced me to define the sharper edges of the book I had actually started drafting.

  • Lortuen, fiction by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (4)
  • Three for Zeor, poem by Carrie Brennan (37)
  • Easy as Hop, Skip, and Jump, fiction by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (40)
  • Charter Members of the Tecton (club member listing) (69)
  • Out-Territory, Star Trek zine ads by Linda Deneroff (71)
  • art by Jim Passmore, Rebecca Carlson (cover), Signe Landon (cover logo), Mary Ellen Matyi, Veronica Grabowski, Patrick O'Neill

Issue 4: Sample Interior

  • from issue #4

  • from issue #4

  • from issue #4

  • from issue #4

Issue 5

Ambrov Zeor 5 was published in August 1977 (500 copies) and has 68 pages. It was edited by Elisabeth Waters who says she is "without a co-editor again."

The art is by Rebecca Carlson (front cover), Miriam Amos, Susan Armstrong, Amy Harlib, P.S. Nim.

NOTE: The Sime~Gen website says The Only Good Sime . . . by Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer and Jacqueline Lichtenberg is in the zine, but it does not appear in at least the August 1977 edition. Perhaps a later edition?

cover of issue #5
  • Some-Line, editorial by Elisabeth Waters (She bemoans being the only editor.) (2)
  • Commitment, fiction by Jean Lorrah (2)
  • Yenava, poem by Barbara Grassmick (50)
  • Golden Yo-Yo Award by Anne Golar (A long and detailed account of a drive to Long Island, New York.) (52)
  • The Starred Cross, article by Jacqueline Lichtneberg (55)
  • Zeo Goes to Hollywood by Joel Davis (The trials and tribulations on translating the fiction into a screenplay—one big problem: the tentacles!) (59)
  • Farris Family Tree by Digen Farris and Jacqueline Lichtenberg (60)
  • Tigue Family Tree by Jean Lorrah (61)
  • Selyn Transfer, letters of comment, including this one:
    I found the letters [12] regarding In-Territory attitudes toward homosexuality interesting, but some of the arguments seemed incomplete or inadequate. What may be described as the problem of Narvoon's existence is obviously related to the fact, frequently emphasized and reiterated, that transfer does not relate to sex: Gens are animals, not people. People (Simes) who mate with Gens to produce Companions, etc. are perverts. There is no reason to assume that In-Territory juncts would approve of or engage in the rape of Gens. (Hugh assumed that the Runzi had raped the Gen girl, but he was still influenced by his Gen background and associations with the "Kiss." Also, the Runzi were an extreme group in junct society.) It is quite possible that if Narvoon had restricted his attentions to the other (Sime) denizens of the local gay bars rather than forcing sexual contact on Gen victims, his neighbors would have considered him much less "perverted" than the Tecton Simes, who did mate, voluntarily, with Gens.

  • Puzzle Answers (62)
  • Out-Territory, Star Trek zine ads (65)

Issue 5: Sample Interior

  • from issue #5, Susan Armstrong for "Commitment"

  • from issue #5, Susan Armstrong for "Commitment"

  • from issue #5, Susan Armstrong for "Commitment"

  • from issue #5, Susan Armstrong for "Commitment"

  • from issue #5, Kirk and Spock, and tentacles

  • from issue #5, Amy Harlib

  • from issue #5, P.S. Nim

  • from issue #5, P.S. Nim

Issue 6

Ambrov Zeor 6 was published in January 1978 (first printing, 500 copies) and contains 33 pages.

cover of issue #6, by Signe Landon

The cover logo is by Signe Landon. The art is by Amy Harlib and Chesha.

It was edited by Jan McCrossen. Anne Golar was the publisher and the "Controller" was Elisabeth Waters. "Orders should be sent to Anne. Submissions should be sent to Jan. News of absolute disasters should be sent to Elisabeth." One of them mentions that the last editor had quit: this would be Cynthia.

The zine has this note: "AZ#6 is not reduced to 67% as our flier promised. Due to stupidity technical problems with our format, the print is much smaller than intended. AZ will gladly refund your $$ on any unread copy of AZ#6 with our deepest apologies if it's too small for you to read. AZ#7 will be more legible thanks to our new Controller."

This issue has an update of Lichtenberg's professional successes and activities, including "writing a Darkover novel with Marion Zimmer Bradley... also some Darkover fanfic, is still trying to get to the writing of Kraith VI, is continuing as a reviewer for Media Spotlight which will be changing its name and emphasizing sf more than ST."

This issue has a lot of plugs for other zines by Lorrah, and for Darkover merchandise and clubs. This blurb for the upcoming Spock: The Archetype that Would Not Die (by Walter Breen) is one example: "Ho-hum, another ST article by an outsider? Don't kid yourself, this one is going to be very special. Walter is the compiler of the Darkover Concordance, author of The Gemini Problem, an analysis of the Darkover Series I use in the Sime Series, and in my opinion one of the most incisive observers of our time. He is an eminent and versatile scholar whose keen analytical mind adds excitement to what he analyses." And Lichtenberg also has another ping: "... on the level of the Tailored Effects (see Star Trek Lives! by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, and Joan Winston, Bantam, '75) we are dealing with about the same material [in Sime~Gen] as both Star Trek and Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover Series... hence my own personal involvement in both (Darkover is the strongest influence on my writing, dating from way before ST) has become deeper every year."

From the editorial by Lichtenberg:

Well, the hysterical environmentalists are the type who would do the forcing. Their GOALS are the same as ours -a nice planet to live on. But they tend to select the wrong method because they make an emotional commitment before achieving intellectual understanding. Ecology is a complex science which describes the nature of interelationships which are nonlinear (in a mathematical sense). My studies indicate to me, personally, that a bold thrust into space is the only way this planet can continue to support a technological civilization, and the Sime Series postulates what will happen if we don't make it into space in time. The Sime Series "optimism effect" is embodied in the idea that mankind will survive even this and make it into space next time (the truly last chance) around. We still have a chance though t make it this time, and the space program should, in my opinion, be given priority - not OVER the environment, but FOR the environment. Space technology will help us clean up this mess. Everything possible should be done to induce industry to run "clean" operations, because no animal can live in its own waste. But no animal can live without PRODUCING waste -and that seems to be the fact the "hysterical environmentalists" overlook. Elsewhere in this issue you will find information on a group Joan Winston is promoting and which I am supporting - High Frontiers. (Christine Bunt, the world's record holder in consecutive HoZ readings, and Don Ulicny, are also involved.) Join if you can - spread the word if you can't afford to join. We still have a chance to survive the milennium, but it's going to be nip-and-tuck.

Also from the editorial:

Elsewhere in this issue, there are numerous references to Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover Series. The fans of that series have their own newsletter, from which the following is lifted.

The Publisher's Weekly review of FORBIDDEN TOWER coined the word psychogynecology to cover the science pertaining to the basic plot problem of that story. It is the study of the interelationship between the psychic faculties and the female reproductive system.

At an informal meeting of Thendara House Council, Marion Zimmer Bradley's family and local friends, during a moment of total hilarity, it was suggested both seriously and facetiously, that Ambrov Zeor should incorporate a "Department of Studies in Psychogynecology," to investigate the problems of the Farris women in the Sime Series. It is a well known fact, among Sime fans, that Farris women tend to die in childbirth. There are special risks involved for a Farris woman bearing the child of a Farris, even if he is not related by family to her.

In fact, any woman bearing a child of a Farris man takes special risks with her life and health. These, however, are mostly related to the Farris (dominant) fetus's pre-natal selyn draw (though blood fraction problems may arise).

The problems of the Farris women, however, are even less well understood and should indeed be studied. The only additional fact available is that the first fully developed esper on record is Ercy Farris - both a Farris channel and a Farris female. She has one child and dies young, (see OPERATION HIGH TIME, thish.)

Since there are so few facts available, the staff of AZ invites you to speculate on the psychogynecology of the Farris women. A thorough reading of FORBIDDEN TOWER should leave you as prepared for this task as any of us are.

Geneticists Alert: When statistics are cited which say that "one third" or "thirty percent" of the children of two Simes are Gen, and of two Gens are Sime, the statistics refer to "children surviving to maturity" not to zygotes fertilized. In the early years of the mutation, the child death rate is enormous. The death rate in changeover is even higher. The mutation rate (both among disease germs and higher animals) is still measurable, and the genetics are not following patterns you learn, even in graduate school. Independent thinking is required here. Many die simply because their sub-mutation is nonviable.

Referring to Marcia Ristow's story - there is much here that can't be explained by what is already known of channels. The Sectuib's behaviour, likewise, is odd to say the least. What does he know that we don't know? Who is she, really? What will be her special skills? Why does she seem to go through changeover so rapidly? What are the properties of her submutation? Most interesting of all, of course: If she is a new mutation, what will be her psychogynecological additions to the problems of channels? We already have the Farris women, and the sex-linked Tigue mutation (all Tigue channels are women/all Tigue Gens are male); what else might we find?

  • You are Receiving this Zine Because by David David Lomazoff (two possibilities "You thought this was a Star Trek zine," and "You wanted something besides a Star Trek zine to read..." (1)
  • editorial by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, addresses a comment by Virginia Heinlein (wife of Robert), which was a plea for Star Trek fans to get started with another one of their letter campaigns, this time to stop the "So. Calif. 'environmentalists' who are trying to put a stop to the testing of the space shuttle." Lichtenberg says she believes that the reference to "environmentalists" is to the "hysterical kind and the sane kind." (2)
  • Operation High Time..., fiction by Jacqueline Lichtenberg ("Copyright 1969 by Galaxy Publishing Corporation. Used by Permission." "This is the first story I ever sold, bought by Fred Pohl for "IF MAGAZINE," who also bought [[Star Trek Lives! (book)|Star Trek Lives!.") (4)
  • four page insert of the 1977 Hugo Award nomination form, to be sent to IguanaCon (unnumbered pages)
  • a one page dense flyer for Jean Lorrah's zines and for info for Darkover fans (clubs and zines) (unnumbered page)
  • a proposal for a World Star Trek Convention, by World Star Trek Society, proposed by Rich Kolker (12)
  • Two Kinds of Men... original song by April Valentine and Kathy Burns ("[April] and Kathy] are part of the Omicron Ceti Three. If their first album sells well, there is every chance "TWO KINDS OF MAN" (inspired by "HOUSE OF ZEOR") will be recorded on their second. This is not a filksong. It has original music that doesn't leave a dry eye (or lateral) in the house! We hope to bring you this music transcribed in a future issue [of "Ambrov Zeor].") (14)
  • a introduction, plea for feedback, and letters about Sime Surgeon by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (15)
  • First Transfer by Jean Lorrah and Jacqueline Lichtenberg (17)
  • Egobliss by Beth Madison ("Ego-bliss: the indescribable thrill experienced by a juct sime in taking selyn from -- and killing -- a terror-filed, defiant gen.") (17)
  • a reprinted letter by the High Frontiers Foundation asking for help to "rekindle awareness by the general populace of the necessity for continued space exploration." (18)
  • What's an Iggycon? by Cathy Filipowicz (a long description and plug for Iggycon, formally Iguanacon, the 36th World Science Fiction Convention)
  • The Starred-Cross as a Symbol of the Age of Capricorn, article by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (21)
  • Journey of Suffering, Journey of Joy by Marcia Ristow (23)
  • Selyn Transfer, eight letters of comment (In fact, the creators of this zine mention that they are looking for someone to produce this section in later issues, someone who would collect, edit and collate the letters specifically about Darkover, Sime~Gen, Star Trek, and Kraith—that person would have to "have access to a selectric, shrewd editorial ability, and a location near Jan in Albany, NY." This fan would receive his their name on the staff list and a free issue of each zine they worked on. ) (28)
  • Out Territory (31)

Issue 6: Comments from Letters

...I bought the New Voyages. Fantastic. I was shocked at how really excellent they were. I've bought books by best selling authors that were much worse than these. It gives me courage to think about writing myself. I've always wanted to but would never try. Too afraid of failure I guess. (AZ is just the zine for you. You can watch a selling author take prattfalls others keep secret from you, and you can take heart in the idea that failure is a necessary prelude to any kind of success - and it can even be fun to share your failures with your friends. Do read Carlos Castaneda's books - JL)

...I really enjoyed STAR TREK LIVES! and I've been getting more into ST as a result. I feel the really main reason ST is so loved is the love between the people. The really unique relationships, for me anyway. In this day and age people just don't relate to each other anymore. We don't know our neighbors' names, our children's playmates, our co-workers' feelings. We never touch another person. That is an unthinkable intimacy. I think people feel isolated and don't realize it. Witness the success of ST and the way people feel about it and at each evidence of love. I cry every time Spock tells Jim to "Forget - Forget." and "Jim, Jim, you're alive! I didn't kill you!" We all love McCoy because we know, although Spock exasperates him beyond measure, that he loves him. At least these are my feelings. I can look back at the very few TV shows I really liked and they had these personal relationships. "I Spy" didn't really have any redeeming social values but I always liked it. The evidences of affection between the two men, the desperation when one or the other was in danger. The same with "Mod Squad." Not a particularly innovative show, except for the relationship between Pete, Linc, and Julie. Our society is so fearful of homosexuality that they are afraid to even touch a member of the same sex on the arm, much less have a loving, caring friendship with them. (I loved FORBIDDEN TOWER and the relationship between Damon and Andrew.) As for a friendship, without sexual overtones, between members of the opposite sex, it is unheard of. I repeat - I think people are lonely and isolated. Our emotions are frozen, trapped inside, and we don't know how to thaw out anymore. So we solace our loneliness with shows like ST and MASH and KOJAK, where people really care and show it. The same way so many men solace their desire for adventure and acclaim by watching football and empathize with them. The same way housewives solace their desire to get away from their dull routine lives by watching soap operas. At least it exercises their emotions.

Dear me, this seems to have turned into a dissertation. Pardon, (no, we thank you, ed.) I merely wanted to tell you I enjoyed STL! and that it presented me with some new thoughts and ideas. The chapter on fan fiction was particularly intriguing. Also the tantalizing references to Kraith....

I met you last November in San Antonio at the Con and you asked me to write to you after I had finished reading "House of Zeor."

I found it fascinating to say the least and am now most anxiously awaiting the release of "Unto Zeor, Forever". I have added you to my list of "Buy anything she writes" authors and hope you will prove as prolific as Andre Norton.

The only part of Zeor which I did not like was the ending. You stopped much too soon. I have read it twice, once in haste because I couldn't put it down and once at leisure to savor it, and on but I suppose I am being unrealistic because it had to end somewhere... (nothing like hard criticism, JL) (seriously, folks, we love to get this kind of praise, but it doesn't really point the way to further growth or to continuing to please you - for you would soon become bored with the same thing over and over. When HoZ strikes you this way, the key question I want to see you answer is, "What do you think should have come after the ending?" Or, a specific analysis of each character, what you thought about them, and what you liked and didn't like about them. Or, very specifically, exactly what caused the book to seem so outstanding to you? What makes it different from some other book that has gained prominence but does not strike you so strongly? We are very demanding of our fans here at AZ...which does, after all mean "dedicated to excellence".)

...I can't tell you how much I enjoyed your talks during the Con. You were the highlight of the whole thing for me. I did enjoy the convention, although even in my blissfull state, I could see that it wasn't especially well run. It was nice to meet some of the stars of the show and to buy all the things for sale but your talks were what I enjoyed most. (*blush* JL)

....I started reading the Darkover books a mere three months ago, on your recommendation. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and congratulate you on your good taste! 1AM now hooked on Darkover and on STAR TREK, which brings me right along to the Fan Fiction series, Kraith, about which I have only one question, WHERE CAN I GET IT??! I (address is in OUT-TERRITORY [the ad section of this zine]; be patient as they often get 200 letters a week, and KC is a fanzine. Ed.) ... I would also like to compliment you on your excellent novel, HOUSE OF ZEOR. It was more than just an interesting story, it was an experience. It is one of my absolute all-time favorites, which is why I went straight up the wall and did a nail-hang when I heard about the Sime Series, which I had been missing....

Issue 6: Sample Interior

  • from issue #6, Chesha, comparing some aspects of Sime~Gen biology with menopause

  • from issue #6, Chesha

  • from issue #6, Chesha

  • from issue #6, Amy Harlib

  • from issue #6

Issue 7

Ambrov Zeor 7 was published in July 1978 (500 copies) and contains 60 pages. Art by Miriam Pittman. and Jim Passmore.

cover of issue #7, Miriam J. Pittman, logo by Signe Landon

This issue does not list an "editor," but includes "publisher: Anne Golar, controller: Elisabeth Waters, and householding psychologist: Frances Zawacky."

The cover is by Miriam J. Pittman. Inside art by Pittman, Jim Passmore, and Diane Chapman.

It contains part one of "Sime Surgeon" which is the rough draft of "Unto Zeor, Forever."

  • Sime Surgeon, part one, fiction, an early draft of Unto Zeor, Forever by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, see Sime Surgeon (3)
  • Sime-Line, editorial by Anne Golar and Elisabeth Waters (51)
  • Selyn Transfer, letters of comment (There are twenty-two letters, printed, and sixteen names are listed as We Also Heard From) (52)
  • Out Territory, Star Trek zine ads (61)

Issue 7: Comments from Letters

Excerpts from the many letters, including one from a fan who says she enjoys Lichtenberg's zine Ambrov Zeor "except for the overdoing on JL's part sometimes of autoegoboo." The rest of the letters deal with comments on "House of Zeor," the similarities among Kraith, Star Trek, and Sime~Gen, including one that addresses Marion Zimmer Bradley and the intense tangle of the BNFs in this universe:

I don't know just how you've done it, but you've converted one hard-core disliker of sci-fic into a lifelong lover of it, one who is grovelling, waiting for your future books! Come to think of it, I do know how you converted me. The excellent narrative style you employed in your novel, and your incredible literary talents could do nothing else. ((JL: It's just the way all good SF if written. My style is common.)) ((Ed: There is nothing common about you, Jacqueline...)) ((AG: ditto...))

The one thing has nothing whatever to do with your books, but I don't know where to write to Marion Zimmer Bradley, and I figure you know her, since she dedicated HERITAGE OF HASTUR to you.... I love the books, but one thing has been driving me crazy. I happen to be a Kipling freak, and was at first thrilled that MZB had used Kipling quotes—or rather a Kipling quote in her books THE PLANET SAVERS and ENDLESS VOYAGE. I was thrilled, until I discovered she had misquoted the poem. The poem she's quoting is "The Explorer," published 1898, and, according to the DEFINITIVE EDITION OF RUDYARD KIPLING'S VERSE, Doubleday, the lines read, "Something lost behind the ranges..." NOT "Something lost beyond the ranges." This is trivial, I know, but remember I'm also a trivia nut. Please, ask her, if she quotes it again, to get it right: Also, in passing, if, in ENDLESS VOYAGE, that last poem Is supposed to be "Bali Hai," SOUTH PACIFIC, it's misquoted, too. Sorry to write to YOU about HER books, but I thought I'd have a better chance of her receiving the information.

I'm certainly glad I read STL and A3 SI before I read HoZ; otherwise I would have thought the similarities between ST and HoZ which I spotted were due to an overdose of ST tines instead of due to your intended use of the "tailored effects". For me, (I don't know how it appeared to anyone else) the similarity seemed moat profound in the scene where Klyd is in his cell in extreme need. When X saw his actions at that time, I said to myself, "Key, wait a minute: that sounds like a Vulcan in Pon Farr, maybe going into linger death." Then I realized that this was one of the "tailored effects" — the "superhuman" species which is stronger, faster, more resistent than so called "ordinary" humans, but who has a need, which, if it is not met, can lead gradually to madness or finally death.

...After my second reading of HoZ, I reread all my AMBROV ZEORS (much easier to understand after reading HoZ.) I was struck by one aspect discussed by Jean Lorrah and yourself. The two of you were discussing Hugh's feeling that he should be a Sime, and the possibility of his later undergoing changeover. I admit the same thought crossed my mind before I reread your arguments. The two of you may have been considering some aspect of the situation which didn't occur to me, but I don't think such possible.

Issue 7: Sample Interior

  • from issue #7

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Issue 8

Ambrov Zeor 8 was published in January 1979 (500 copies) and contains 62 pages. Another editor (Lisa Waters) "has bit the dust" and gafiated, leaving only Anne Golar.

It has cover art by Miriam Pittman. Other art is by Diane Chapman, Amy Harlib, and Patricia Munson.

cover of issue #8, Miriam Pittman

This issue contains letters from fans questioning and pushing back against Lichtenberg's treatment of homosexuality and the Sime~Gen universe. Some of this discussion was compiled in a later fanwork: The Great Gay Channel Controversy (an discussion in the 1985 zine Post-Syndrome: Considerations on Sexuality in the Sime/Gen Universe.

  • Table of Contents (2)
  • Sime Line, editorial by Anne Golar (3)
  • Cartoon by Amy Harlib, idea by Anne Golar (4)
  • Battle of Leander, non-fiction exposition by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (4)
  • Sime Surgeon, part two, fiction by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (7)
  • Comparative Horoscope cast by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, drawn by Marcia Ristow (44)
  • Selyn Transfer, letters of comment (47)
  • Out Territory, zine ads (59)

Issue 8: Comments from Letters

Jean Lorrah (Lichtenberg's friend and professional and fannish collaborator) wrote in response to a fan's comments about characters in the Sime~Gen universe, and addressed a comment by a fan in the previous issue who did not care for Lichtenberg's excessive "autoegoboo":

Are Farrises self-centered? Yes, exactly the way Jacqueline Lichtenberg is self-centered. If a neo stumbles across Jacqueline when she is saying she can do the new Trek movie better than Gene Roddenberry, and then encounters her discussing how she plans to change the course of science fiction, then runs into her assertions about copyright and trade marks, and finally sees Jacqueline directing her personal gofers, that neo would undoubtedly decide that Jacqueline is the most self-centered person in the world. Yet Jacqueline is the same person who delayed publication of UNTO [her own book, Unto Zeor Forever] to sell Joan Winston's book to Doubleday; who founded the Star Trek Welcommittee; who gave Kraith to fan writers as a kind of giant writing laboratory; who sold my idea for FIRST CHANNEL to her editor. Self-centered? No, she is the embodiment of Chaucer's clerk, the ideal teacher: "Gladly wolde he lerne and gladly teche."...The reason Jacqueline seems so alien to so many people is that she is a non-junct in a junct world.

[Betty Herr, the first editor of "Ambrov Zeor"]:

I was utterly, overwhelmingly crushed, disappointed to tears of frustration, shenned to the limits of endurance by the difference between the drafts you allowed me to read and the final version [of UNTO]. What happened to Dane's Qualification? Or Digen's Testing that so nearly killed him? ((JL: Sharon Jarvis would NOT let me publish that version of the book and for various reasons, I feel she was, right. Yet we did lose something very important to fans of the series, and so RZ is publishing the second draft [of Sime Surgion.]))

If one of the main points of the book was that the Tecton was a necessary evil in that it protected those cripples who did not deserve death in punishment for a handicap they couldn't help, wouldn't Dane have been a shining example? Yes, you had Digen—a super-capable channel incapacitated by his famous lateral scar. Yes, you had Joel—with all the will in the world to Donate, but all but selyn-null. Dane? He had both the capacity and the desire to Donate, even to become one of the best, but psychologically crippled by having been burned, as Joel was. For Joel, nothing could be done—yet. For Dane, the Tecton in the person of Hayashi could help, and was trying to do so, and the Tecton protected him meanwhile, through Digen's testing and Jesse's suicide-abort. It was not all that clear, unless one had read the drafts, that Dane needed that protection. ((JL: Correct, but to understand Dane's problem, you had to be fan enough to be willing to learn a new science, transfer math!!! That is why it had to go from the commercial version of the book. Most readers are not fans, or so they insist.))

Issue 8: Sample Interior

  • from issue #8, Amy Harlib

  • from issue #8, sample text

  • from issue #8, Patricia Munson

Issue 9

cover of issue #9, illo by Theresa Newton Holmes

Ambrov Zeor 9 was published in May 1979 (500 copies) and contains 60 pages. Publisher: Anne (Pinzow) Golar, letter column editor: Katie Filipowicz, assistant editor: Jean Airey, proofreader: Judy Segal, editorial assistants: Mary Jo DiBella and Linda Roberts.

It has art by Patrica Munson, Penny Zigler, and Diane Chapman.

This issue has the disclaimer: "All fiction and artwork published by Ambrov Zeor takes place in an alternate Sime/Gen universe."

Many of the letters of comment deal with homosexuality and its place and origin in the Sime~Gen universe. There were twenty-one letters printed and forty-seven names listed in We Also Heard From. many of these letters were by fans questioning and pushing back against Lichtenberg's treatment of homosexuality and the Sime~Gen universe. Some of this discussion was compiled in a later fanwork: The Great Gay Channel Controversy (an discussion in the 1985 zine Post-Syndrome: Considerations on Sexuality in the Sime/Gen Universe.

  • Table of Contents (2)
  • Sime Line by Anne (Pinwow) Golar (2)
  • Channels Chuckles from all over (4)
  • Manuscript Format by George Scrithers (reprinted from "Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine," article on how to use editing symbols and a standard format for submitting materials to publishers) (5)
  • Sime Surgeon, part three, fiction by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (7)
  • Selyn Transfer, letters of comment (49)
  • Out Territory, zine ads (59)

Issue 9: Comments from Letters

Contains one by Marion Zimmer Bradley that includes her comments on homosexuality and krilian photography:

I wonder perhaps if some difference in electromagnetic fields might cast light on homosexuality? I remember that we were discussing the "why" of homosexuality, the myth that homosexual men cannot function with women, etc., and it occurred to me that the normal reaction of a strongly conditioned heterosexual male to the approach of another male is revulsion; whether this is a cultural or biological pattern, physical or sociological, is moot even among psychiatrists, but I would really like to see kirlian photographs made of ordinary heterosexual men and women touched by the opposite sex and then their own, and then attempt to get similar photographs made of homosexuals reacting to their own and opposite sex. Who knows, perhaps what makes a homosexual is something in his personal electromagnetic field which is capable of attracting rather than repelling? Maybe some day we will test for sexual compatibility to see if the chemistry or electricity between two individuals works, instead of with psychological profiles and subjective ideas about what people THINK they want...

Another LoC is by Jacqueline Lichtenberg and is addressed to Jean Lorrah—an excerpt:

I laughed hysterically over your speculations about gay Simes. No, I don't want to delete the static effect of the orhuen — honestly I don't. It does exist — what it implies, God alone knows and he ain't tellin'. Actually it's not a "static" effect (since that means a stationary charge). It's more of a magnetodynamic effect, something like the repulsion of two inductance coils wound in opposite directions. Walter Breen would probably know better than anyone how and why this repulsion in orhuen operates. I think he once asked if anyone had researched the ida/pingala directions in homosexuals — I never got an answer to that question, but when the time comes I suppose I will run across some book or other that will answer the question. If a homosexual (of either sex) does have reversed ida/pingala current directions, then obviously, the orhuen would not have the static-repulsion post effect and would include a sexual attraction effect (provided one partner were the reverse of the other)—in other words you would, by definition, have a LORTUEN between two people of the SAME SEX—not an orhuen at all. By definition!... Regarding homosexuals—it's a very complex issue. Homosexuality, I have decided for the present, is a SYMPTOM, not a cause. Like a stuffy nose-it can be anything from a mild allergy to pneumonia, or simply the result of crying, perfectly natural and not pathological at all. For the most part, I consider the existence of gay people as a paean to the human spirit — for despite crushing psychological conditions, they are still able to reach out for contact with another human being. But there are also gay people who are as sane or saner than anyone else, whose gayness is not an affliction — probably the result of taking incarnations of opposite sexuality too close together for the reversal to be complete — and the soul no doubt has good reasons for doing this. The ideal human state is the nonsexual balance — but of course that brings all dynamism to a halt. But there are many people around whose sexuality is dual, tipping as easily in one direction as the other. Question: do their ida/pingala currents reverse? Or what?

Some fans are beginning to ask about setting up "Householding" and changing their names, using the model of Darkover and its guildhouses—one fan writes:

Respect to Zeor: Dragonhyrst sends greetings to its mother-house. We thought it only proper that you should be among the first to know of the actual physical establishment of the Householdlng - First, the matter of names. Many fans are finding their true homes and their true names to go along with them. I was fortunate enough to find mine some time ago, thanks to Jacqueline and Kraith. Let it be known, then, that: [Marcia R] no longer exists. That person has become AMBRIA MATILE RIDENOW. Also, [Sherry K] (sometimes known as "[Sherry S]") no longer exists. That person has become SHARRIE N'HA veranA, HOUSEHOLDING DRAGONHYRST (DRAGONHYRST TOWER) appears to mundane eyes (and the Terran Post Awful, if we are fortunate) to be a green, suburban tract house at the address given above. In fan reality, however, it is a Tower on Darkover occupied by: Ambria (Keeper and Channel): Sharrie, Renunciate, Matrix Technician and companion; and T'Pat, Kataytikhe Vulcan, former Star Trek Officer (USS PEGASUS], Matrix Technician and Companion. All three of us were a little surprised ourselves when this happened. It was not something we consciously planned. It just happened. Neither Jacqueline nor MZB disowned us when we told them about it, in fact they acknowledged our existence as both a Tower and a Householding. (We wonder, though, what the Tecton, Comyn Council and Starfleet Command would have to say about all this.) At any rate, we would all three like to thank Jacqueline and Marion again, in print this time, for showing us what could be. YES, IT REALLY WORKS.

A fan writes:

I enjoyed House of Zeor enormously. So did my mother, who subsequently worked up quite a vivid imitation of a Sime extending her tentacles and pursing her lips. One day at the local shopping center Mom hid behind a post, and did the imitation right in my face when I walked by — only, unfortunately, it was not I who walked by, but a total stranger, who jumped about a foot. Mother said, in tones of gravest courtesy, "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were someone I knew." The woman made a hasty exit. I am eagerly awaiting your second book, but I have not yet decided whether or not to loan it to my mother.

Issue 9: Sample Interior

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Issue 10

Ambrov Zeor 10 was published in April 1980 (500 copies) and contains 60 pages. The cover art by Patricia Munson, interior art by J. Trautuelus.

cover of issue #10: "AZ 10. Now that's a stunning cover. Did Pat Munson use any particular models? I'd swear the Sime looks something like Paul Newman." [13]

The majority of this issue is 1977 Bachelor of Arts thesis by Mary V.T. McCoy on S~G genetics and sociology.

The managing editor was Anne Pinzow Golar, letter column editor was Katie Filipowicz, editor was Jean Airey, proofreader was Judy Segal.

This issue has this statement: "Publication does not constitute endorsement by the staff of the 'zine. All fiction and artwork published by Ambrov Zeor takes place in an alternate Sime/Gen universe."

The editorial contains personal info regarding many physical moves, gafiation, divorce, and various job changes.

The editorial also explains about the content of this issue:

And now a word on this special and late and long awaited issue of Ambrov Zeor. Mary McCoy read "House of Zeor," and, on the strength of reading this first science fiction novel of J.L.'s (we might add that she was at least taken by it as we and everybody else we know has been), she wrote her Bachelor's thesis on the genetics and social structure of Sime/Gen society."

When we announced this issue, many people did not order [it] for various reasons. Not the least among them was that it is appearing in the middle of the serialized AZ version of Sime Surgeon, and that is "shen" to say the least. Many people, too, did not want to read what they might think of as a very intellectualized study of what so many have been theorizing about, just for fun, in the round robins and letter columns and arguing about with such enthusiasm at conventions.

This is not the last word on Sime/Gen genetics by any means. We are looking forward (we are?, yes we are) to hearing and receiving all the arguments (either for, against, or ambivelent [sic]) on what you think of this presentation, including your views on whether we should or should not have run this thesis. And to be the very first arugmentor (I get to, 'cause I'm writing this) I don't understand a word of it, but I love it anyway.

For all of you who love discrepencies [sic], we are hoping that you will be eager to let us know about them. There are bound to be quite a few, because Mary based her thesis on "House Of Zeor" and not on any of the later books or even on articles, fanzines, short stories etc. So let's hear it -- and loudly -- in Ambrov Zeor fashion. We are running out of material for future issues, hint over the head with a club.

  • Table of Contents (2)
  • Sime Line (2)
  • A Sociocultural and Genetic Study of Civilization at the Time of "House of Zeor" by Mary McCoy (3)
  • Selyn Transfer, 21 letters of comment, all on the topic of mutations and genetic/anthropological topics (40)
  • Out Territory, zine ads (52)

Issue 10: Sample Interior

  • chapter titles of the dissertation

  • chapter titles of the dissertation

  • chapter titles of the dissertation

  • dissertation introduction

Issue 11

Ambrov Zeor 11 was published in April 1980 (first printing: 500 copies) and contains 62 pages.

cover of issue #11
interior art from issue #11, portrays Kirk and Spock, camping, in the Sime~Gen universe, accompanies the poem by Mary Christine Arens: "In the Cave of the New Beginnings."
the poem which accompanies the Star Trek/Sime~Gen illo: "In the Cave of the New Beginnings" -- an excerpt: "Yes, Spock survived, changed, now even more alien, and less. Spock with tentacles and now -- a strange need fills me with -- fear? But I can not let you die."

The art is by Pat Munson (cover, interior), Coleen Winters, Janet Trautvetter, R. Merrill Bollerud, and P.S. Nim.

Other staff: "Managing (barely) editor: Anne Golar, Letter Column Editor: Katie Filipowicz, Assistant Editor: Jean Airy, Proofreader: Judy Segal, Editorial Assistant=t: Linda Roberts."

"PLEASE NOTE: Don't wait for AZ at conventions. Please keep a SASE on file at all times and remember, due to the erratic idiosyncrasies of the staff, Ambrov Zeor can not be had by subscription."

The editor says that the Starsky & Hutch/Sime~Gen story mentioned in the previous issue is actually very good and that this zine would print it when they got the entire fic.

  • Table of Contents (2)
  • Sime Line, editorial (2)
  • Summer Afternoon, America, 1978 by Jean Lorrah (NOTE: the title of this fic is "1978" in the html address as well as in the print zine, but called "Summer Afternoon, America 1980" online.) (3)
  • the fourth part of Sime Surgeon by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (5)
  • poem by Renee Hartley (5)
  • In the Cave of the New Beginnings by Mary Christine Arens, accompanies an illo by R. Merrill Bollerud called "James Ambrov Vulceon" (41)
  • Second Growth, fiction by Marion Zimmer Bradley (42)
  • Selyn Transfer, letters of comment, there are 23 of them (49)
  • Letter Found On The Desk of The Sectiub by Mary Jo DiBella (54)
  • Out Territory, ads (57)

Issue 11: Comments from Letters

"Sime Surgeon" fascinates me because I find my own reactions to it changing constantly. I do like the way it is written, but this tine I was able to see very plainly that it is a draft and not a finished product. I am struggling to produce some sort of decent writing myself and it was only recently that I was able to show and not tell in my own works. I still can only write a few pages at a time without reverting back to the old habit. In "Sime Surgeon" JL goes show and not tell, but I think that is very natural in a draft. Itiat gives it a less intense, and a more laid back feeling which I enjoy reading. At the same time I am beginning to appreciate the virtues of the most tightly finished product such as HoZ and UNTO. I am glad that t-here are zines like AZ in which the less "finished" versions of stories are published.

In the lettercolumn I was fascinated by JL's comment (in response to a reader) that she skips reading descriptions of characters and so doesn't tend to include them when she writes. I, too, hate to read desriptions of what people look like because I make up my own mind from their actions and dialog. In that way each reader can get a mental image for himself—and each reader will have a different image. Unfortunately, I have talked to a lot of "average" people (meaning readers who are not writers) and they all like description. I wonder if that is because people are not used to using their own imaginations, and want to be told everything. ((JL: The TV generation as opposed to the radio generation?))

By the way, I think the whole problem of Sime need and Gen donating leads to much of the same dominance-dependency problems that men and women face in relating to each other romantically. The Sime/Gen problem compounded by the male/female problem produces some very interesting situations.

First, about "Sime Surgeon": like everyone else, I've been struck by the immense difference in pacing, as well as content, between SS and UNTO. I can't begin to comprehend the magnitude of the rewrite job it had to have taken to turn the first into the second. It leaves me more in awe of JL than ever, and that's saying a lot! So far, though, I still like UNTO more than SS, because (like Pat Marx commented in A2 #9) it's so tightly constructed. Every scene in UNTO feels necessary, everything focuses on the main conflict, giving the effect of a laser scalpel cutting deeper and deeper in to the heart of the story. I guess I just have an impatient nature — the rapid pacing of UNTO is just what I like in a book.

I read with fascination all the different comments in # 8 and 9 on homosexuality in the Sime/Gen universe. When I read JL's letter in #8, I was surprised to recognize myself! I read the definition of lortuen/torluen/orhuen the same way she said she wrote it—with sex as a part of the first two, but excluded from the third. My basic assumption about the people I meet in stories is that they're "straight", unless I'm told specifically that they're not. I understand completely the possibility of emotional intimacy without sex; it's a component of the "psychological visibility" that two people can share, which JL describes in Star Trek Lives! (I re-read it recently.) What's odd about my reaction— not "believing" in gays—is that I've found I'm just as attracted to feminine beauty as I am to masculine handsomeness. Perhaps I'm emotionally androgynous? I'll have to take it up with my analyst— when I get one! (And at the rate the Sime/Gen world is driving me crazy, that will be very soon now.) Maybe then I'll get cured of the persistent notion that I can sense fields.

Penny Ziegler's letter (in #9) struck a very responsive chord in me. Lately I have been very consumed by the "Demanding Fantasy" created in me by the Sime/Gen universe. But for me it has been an anchor to reality, a life-line I can cling to when things get to be too much. I spend too much time on it, sure—time I should be spending on "house-wifely duties", but if I don't watch out for my own mental health, who will? This "fantasy" has been very good for me, so I decided if I need it, I need it. (And that's "need" in the Sime sense of the word.)

Can you tell me what Jacqueline's position currently is about the gay channel controversy? I've read the various letters, etc. but I'm still not sure. To me it seems a ridiculous question in the first place. There' s no more reason a channel couldn't be gay than there is that she/he couldn't be black, female, short, tall, ugly, pretty, nasty, nice, or just about anything else. I don't understand the controversy over this. Whatever happened to our joy in the infinite diversity of the universe and all its possible combinations? ((Ed Katie: It is possible to set up an sf universe in which combinations that are perfectly viable here-and-now become unhealthy or nonviable or even impossible. It's JL's position that gay channels don't exist, or if they do, they don't live very long. She says she knows this is so, the doesn't have the words to explain it, and probably won't until the results come in on MZB's described in AZ #9 (sidebar, p. 52). Readers might find an answer in comparing the scientific and esoteric theories of sex and of the channel submutation — except, of course, that much of this has been written! And Kerry, you can address your questions directly to Jacqueline rather than through intermediary, no matter how "delicate" you think they are.))

Must a story written for a Sime fanzine be copyright, or what? ((JL: Yes, it definitely must. AZ/CZ/Forum have worked out a system to try to get the new copyright law to do what the old law did automatically. Our lawyers and consultants agree our system is the best way to protect on everyone involved. When you submit an item for publication you will get a form back to sign that will (we hope) explain in simple language and take care of the whole matter for you.) ((Eds: The copyright is registered in Jacqueline's name, and we take care of both registration forms and fees. The author will receive one copy of each magazine in which the contribution appears and can obtain reprint rights upon written request made five years after date of original publication. This system covers fan stories, poems, songs, and speculative articles, and is necessary to protect the professional and financial interests of JL and her heirs. Professional quality material is handled in another way.))

Issue 11: Sample Interior

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Issue 11: Reactions and Reviews

I was pleased to see Marion's name on the cover and her story is quite believable, but to be honest it is also typical. I got a remarkable sense of deja vu from reading "Second Growth." It's not easy for a writer who's used to thinking in terms of her own universe to switch to someone else's. The contrary is also true, I find. Fan writing can be an addiction that makes thinking in terms of your own work very difficult indeed. ((JL: I haven't found that to be the case with Kraith. I used some of MZB's concept in SS and UNTO for Rizdel's background.))[14]

"Second Growth," p. 42. A clear picture of how things could have been in the years immediately following the troubles. But it reads unfinished. ((JL: It is.)) Will Rann meet Bart again? I was going to congratulate the author, when I took a second look at the name. Shen! No wonder it was so well put together! But, I must confess it aroused no strong feelings either for or against in me. [15]

Issue 12

Ambrov Zeor 12 was published in February 1981 and contains 60 pages.

cover of issue #12, Janet Trautvetter
the single illo from issue #12, Jean Lorrah
  • Table of Contents (2)
  • Sime-Line, editorial (2)
  • Sime Surgeon Part 5, the conclusion (3)
  • Selyn Transfer (LoCs) (47)
  • Out Territory (57)
  • Order forms and information (59)

Issue 12: Comments from Letters

Poor Jacqueline! I see her consternation quite clearly on the subject of mle/female and Sime/Gen comparisons. I can very honestly say that when I first read HoZ it never crossed my mind that she might be making a statement about male/female relationships. I thought that here was a new kind of relationship— never seen before. A relationship that could transcend the rigid male/female love stigma. It appeared to me that a person could show his love or need for anybody—male, female, or otherwise without it being considered a social no-no. This need could also cut across other social barriers—racial, ethnic, or social class. I also thought it could be a basis for true equality between the sexes.

In the case of Sime/Gen relationships, the need can be supplied by more than just one person and it can be given via male/female, female/female, male/male, or female/male transfers. Although there appears to be a hierarchy of Gen and Sime types—i.e., who can donate to whom—there is the possibility of a unifying force here if some psychological barriers are dropped.

[...]

This leads us to the male/female relationship. This is the relationship that everyone is most familiar with. It is all around us and is a foremost topic of discussion and dissension worldwide.

Therefore it would seem quite natural to shove our Simes and Gens into one role model or the other. In this case though I feel this is wrong. We should try to free our minds from these mental patterns and try out new ones. As I said before, I believe this is a new relationship and though we may compare and contrast, let's try to remember that it is not the same. [16]

It seems clear to me that [Leslie W] is right—both times. Simes are feminine in some traits and masculine in others. Gens are similarly androgynous. That's why fans can present both viewpoints so persuasively. What matters is the social roles created by the Tecton and Distect. Social roles distort human beings so that only the desired traits are emphasized. The purpose of the Tecton is to protect Gens. That is basically paternalistic. The protectors are dominant and will impose restrictions on the protected for their own good. I noted that Gens aren’t allowed to drive in the Tecton because they might injure themselves. ((JL: It's not so much that they might injure themselves, but that they might injure themselves in the presence of Simes.)) I wouldn't be surprised if Gens aren't permitted to travel alone at night because they might be attacked. ((JL: Nonsense. Night has nothing to do with it. Untrained Gens are always a problem.)) I also wouldn't be surprised if there were a list of jobs too dangerous for Gens. ((JL: Yes, and a list too dangerous for Simes, too.)) The pattern begins to form. Aren't these like patriarchal limitations on women? ((JL: NO.)) The nature of Gens is beside the point. The Tecton is set up as a Sime dominant society which means that they will exhibit the "masculine" traits.

The Distect Gen has an entirely different orientation. It's as if the Distect were saying to Simes, "Don't worry your heads about a thing. We'll take care of you." And so they do. The Distect has dominant, "masculine" and aggressive Gens. Roshi was a poor leader because in the Distect Simes aren't meant to lead and are conditioned to be passive and irresponsible. Passivity is unhealthy, but then so is the macho mystique. The artificial role divisions in both Tecton and Distect are destructive to all concerned.

[...]

SS Part IV: To take a transfer "left-handedly" indicates a handedness prejudice. I myself am left-handed. Pro right-handedness is endemic to all of Western culture, but the left handed aren’t evil, lazy, or inattentive as prejudice seems to indicate. Many highly creative individuals are left-handed.

It has been discovered that the brain functions differently according to handedness which may be inborn. I wish JL would be more careful with her adverbs. Simes illustrate that difference isn't inferior. ((JL: Unfair!! It did not appear in UNTO, but in an "unpublished" early version. But I probably will continue to use "left handedly" to mean subordinately [sic]. How could I say "right handedly" and still get the point across?))

In UNTO we see why Simes require the practice of surgery, but there's no indication (or very little) of why surgery has to have Simes. That's a significant point. Yet do you suppose that some Simes will oppose Digen's practice of surgery even though he's successful at it out of sheer conservatism? ((JL: No, sheer terror.)) Conservatism seems to be a major force in the Tecton—particularly among bureaucrats. We see in SS the reluctance of conservative physicians to trust Digen's insight, but I think Digen may feel worse about setbacks due to Sime attitudes.

Naturally, as a Trek fan, I was pleased to see "In the Cave of New Beginnings" and James ambrov Vulceon. Next — Sime and Gen dragons. Would you believe Sime and Gen Deryni? Would you advise transfer while standing on a transfer portal? Hm... No, I think not. That would be rather painful. Darkover — the Ridenow would make good Simes, but watch out for that berserker Bard di Asturien!

I was pleased to see Marion's name on the cover and her story is quite believable, but to be honest it is also typical. I got a remarkable sense of deja vu from reading "Second Growth." It's not easy for a writer who's used to thinking in terms of her own universe to switch to someone else's. The contrary is also true, I find. Fan writing can be an addiction that makes thinking in terms of your own work very difficult indeed. ((JL: I haven't found that to be the case with Kraith. I used some of MZB's concept in SS and UNTO for Rizdel's background.))[17]

Part 4 of "Sime Surgeon” is too long. It doesn't advance the story enough for its length. Up to page 12, it goes slew. With Digen transferring with Ilyana it should be dynamite. It isn't; the transfer is better done in UNTO. Page 12 and 13, Digen's first operation is interesting, but after that, all those others are redundant. There's just too much hospital in Part 4. I get the feeling I'm reading the same scene over and over.

New we come to Ditana Amanso. This is a tragedy. But by this time I'm so dam tired of dull hospital scenes (with Digen not allowed to use his healing powers) that I'm just glad when it's over.

What makes it a tragedy is, Dita has confidence enough in Digen to consider Gen doctors. Then she doesn't listen to him when he tells her she shouldn't do it. [Dita's death] demonstrates that Digen hasn't convinced anyone but Dr. Qnhardt that he is a full-fledged doctor. And he knows what he's talking about when it comes to Donors. This episode would have been much more effective if it had been shorter.

The incident that follows, where Digen scares Hogan so bad he moves out. This just makes Digen out to be stupid. He knows Hogan's trouble, and Hogan's a friend. I just can't imagine Digen not foreseeing the operation would have some bad effect on him, and arranging for a TN to wait for him in his room. Of course I haven't read the last part of it yet. So this incident with Hogan might have sate far-reaching purpose behind it. But it is not too convincing as it stands.

Digen's operation to save Rin was routine. It should have had more inpact but it didn't. Again UNTO did it better and more effectively.

Now we come back to Akim and his Distect law. I was shocked when he signed it. It was only after thinking it over for sane days that I realized what he wanted to do with it. Akim was trying to force Digen out of surgery and into politics. Question is, did he know he was playing right into Mickland's hands? Does he really know how much Mickland hates Digen? I'm disappointed in Akim, I'm angry with him, and I don't like him at all. He made such a favorable first impression. I don't like him because I expected more from him than Mickland. He is using an unworthy tool.

I think the important points of this part are: (1) Digen learns he doesn't want to be a surgeon, he wants to use surgery to aid his own healing powers. (2) He learns he will not be re-rated. (3) He learns that he can overestimate himself (scaring Hogan). (4) That he can operate on a Sime and both can survive. But these four points could have been shown in a shorter and perhaps more effective way. [18]

The letters held one very interesting new fact about Simes — a logical explanation of why Simes don't eat meat. DON'T not CAN'T. I've always wondered but was too busy with other things to ask. I never really thought it would poison them. Tell me, if a Sime has all the selyn needed, and was stuck in a place where there was no other food at all—if the meat was already killed, could he eat it to live if he had to? ((JL: No, not any more than you could survive on animal blood transfusions, But this analogy doesn't really hold.))[19]

You mentioned "Sime Surgeon” as one of your favorite Sime stories and asked if I had read it. I received Parts 1, 2 and 3 a couple weeks ago. It doesn't have the focus on one point that UNTO does, but I liked the background detail on Digen's world it provided. SS made me really see Ilyana's desperate need; it also didn't show her as only a constantly hysterical shrew (not someone I could really feel sorry for... Until she and Digen returned to Rior, UNTO's Ilyana was never calm; was that only the underdraw?) ((JL: Yes, coupled with culture shock and incipient (resisted) lortuen. She was foolish enough to volunteer to he one of my characters!)). I also wouldn't have missed reading Skip's changeover; it was so joyous. (I knew it was almost identical to Phil Washer's changeover in "Lortuen,” but they were both good.) I can see why JL didn't include it, though; there could be no way for Skip to be tortured by the Tecton's techniques, and eventually driven to Rior (and Joel). Hayashi's story loses most of its power without Rin being the tragic (again, the book is all tragic figures) outcast and his forcing Digen to accept his pledge on what was almost his deathbed. Finding out just what Dane Rizdel's problem was was also better than hearing that "he has a complex history which causes him to abort transfers." Last, but not least, Madhur Sharma shouldn't have been dropped. I keep reading that channels work as adults as soon as they get out of First Year camp (which means there are a lot of 13, 14, and 15 year old channels working), but it never really sank in until I read about Madder. The only kids you really see in the Sime Series are the ones going through changeover, and that's all you see of them!)[20]

I read “Sime Surgeon". Since I haven't yet read UNTO, I took this as an exercise in reviewing; hopefully you don't mind my practicing on your work. But what distresses me is that I can't really decide what was so "wrong" with this draft that made you put it aside and write the whole thing over again, and I feel like I should be able to figure it out. But here's an attempt at a reaction.

The thing is slew getting started. The first 100-150 ((manuscript)) pages were curiously flat; I couldn't get involved with Digen. He seemed to float from incident to incident (or get batted from incident to incident), never influencing anything and only having things happen TO him. I realize from a later line in the story that you had this in mind. But it was ineffective in getting the reader to identify with the main character. Also, it took a good many pages before Digen developed a real personal relationship with anybody. The there of Tecton/Distect conflict and Digen's resulting internal conflict was therefore slew to develop, since the people being affected at first meant little to Digen personally and even less to the reader. But I love the way you pointed up the problems of both Tecton and Distect, shewing very clearly how each philosophy is in its own way inhuman to a different group. You very much leave the impression that the solution, if any, is not to be found in this time period. Also, the ending seems as if Digen is once again powerless; it's Ilyana's action that forces him to make a move, not his own. For a supposedly very powerful Sectuib in Zeor, it seems as if he can't accomplish much. Any reforms in the Tecton will have to be carried out by Hayashi. Perhaps this is a true portrait of the way things had to be. But it wasn't satisfying to me. If Hayashi could accomplish something, then something could be accomplished — and why couldn't Digen manage to accomplish it?

Knowing somewhat hew the third draft differs ((the third draft being yet another early version of UNTO—SS was second draft)), I can see one more thing that I don't knew if I would have otherwise. Ilyana seems too good to be true. Where does she get her supreme control, her ability to go for a year using Tecton methods that are repugnant to her? Digen, so proud of his control, has more trouble avoiding Distect methods, even deciding he wants than. Ilyana strikes me as the strongest person in the whole book..[21]

I must say that I found the idea of Simes and Gens interesting before, but I find the whole concept greatly exciting new. It's quite a project, and it gives a lot of material to "relate" to.

I also want you to know, Jacqueline, that your books have done something to my mind, and it's ALL YOUR FAULT! At work this morning, when I was suffering from cramps, I thought to myself, "Well,

I'll probably feel better tomorrow when my selyn production goes down." THEN I remembered I don't HAVE selyn production! And, this evening, while I was cooking dinner, there was a commercial recommending that you bring your tires to your local tire dealer for "winter changeover." "But that doesn't make sense," I thought, "tires can't become Simes." (And besides, as far as I understand, changeover can occur any time of year.) All I can add to that, Jacqueline, is that if I begin suffering from underdraw, I expect you to send me a channel immediately! [22]

I finally managed to read House of Zeor. Lest that sound somewhat negative, let me explain, because I really have to pay tribute to your writing and storytelling skills. At the beginning (including the cover most especially) those tentacles turned my off! Tentacles awaken primal fears in me (does that make me like an unreconstructed Gen?): the terrifying tentacled octopus and, by childhood extension, spiders—the nightmare creatures of my early years. But I was determined to read your books, even though it took me almost two years to get past the first few pages of House of Zeor. Once I did get past that hurdle, however, I found it a most absorbing story; and by the time I'd passed the halfway point, I was so gripped that I could hardly put the book down. Tentacles still turn me off, but for the sake of reading more about Zeor, I seen to have cane to seme sort of terms with them. New, too, I can look into getting the Zeor fanzines. [23]

The more of "Sime Surgeon" I read, the more of it I want. I’m not sure whether I’m more happy because there's so much of it yet to come, or more frustrated because it comes so very slowly.

Right now, SS has got me reading textbooks on electricity and magnetism, all because of those paragraphs on p. 25, AZ 9: you knew, the section beginning, "In the living Gen, there is an inductance—" That's exactly the sort of detail that makes SS better than UNTO, for me, but probably also what makes it wrong for the general (or should I say Gen-eral?) market.

Anyway, what I really meant, and am therefore prepared to write myself, is a Transfer Math textbook. I mean it: I want one, and you are of course too busy to produce it for me. (I can't figure out how you channels cope with your workloads as it is...you're just lucky the Tecton can't figure a way to get work out of you while you're asleep!) I can write, sort of, and I want to learn about the subject anyway. Wouldn't the Tecton publish sone such text in English for the IN classes? It would be something along the lines of that Darkovan costume book I got from the Friends—a supposedly serious reference book (albeit on a somewhat elementary level in this case) from the universe involved. Anyway, I'd like to try it, even if you don't think there'll be a market for it, but I do think there'll be one. It's very hard for some of us, who want to write stories in your universe, but who aren't even sure whether our story ideas will work or not.

((JL: If you can write even a cursory, popularized (for the millions) transfer math text, go ahead. Surely one of the zines will print it, depending on how long it is and how difficult it is to read. As for writing stories in the series—FIRST write the story, then wefll figure out a way to make it fit the technical background. Never let your imagination be hampered by facts. Nothing is impossible.))[24]

I just finished reading the books House of Zeor and Unto Zeor Forever that you sent me. I enjoyed then very, very much. They do create "Demanding Fantasy" as much or more than Star Trek. I didn't think I would enjoy anything besides Treklit. Boy, was I wrong. I am a loyal fan of Star Trek but new I am also a loyal fan of Zeor.[25]

I enjoyed the zines very much — especially the two Jean Lorrah stories. Just one thing bugged me: I am not, nor have I ever been, or do I indeed ever plan to be, a Star Trek fan. Therefore, I don't think Trek-related material has any place in a Sine zine. I know it sounds petty, but I find it annoying.

Also, a question — what impels a fan to write material in another author's universe? I have myself at least five universes of my own in various stages of development, and I knew I would never be able to write things in a world of someone else's creation. And yet many people apparently can and do, very happily. I don't really understand it. Can you? ((Anne Golar: Gee, a Sime fan who is not a Trek fan. I have not encountered very many of those. I guess one of the reasons that Trek is in our zine is because most of the people who are into the zine got into science fiction through Trek, like me, or got into Trek through science fiction. And, Jacqueline is one of the co-authors of Star Trek Lives! and has written her own Star Trek universe stories, the Kraith series. It would be very hard to separate Trek from Simes when even Jacqueline has written the Sime series in such a way that she states that if you like Star Trek, you'll like her books. But, you see, we are not only Star Trek and Sime/Gen fans. We are dragon fans and Darkover fans and Amber fans and I know I don't speak only for myself when I say that we are Heinlein fans and Asimov fans and Clement fans and on and on. Now as for what impels a fan to write material in another author's universe. Jacqueline and Marion Zimmer Bradley and even a lot of Trek fan writers have been asked this question and the answer came down to this. The writers are more the discoverers of the universes. The universes are not the personal property of the authors and when a fan has waited months upon months, and in the case of Trek, years, without any fresh material in that universe, they become desperate. In fact they become so desperate to visit more with Hugh and Klyd, or Regis Hastur or Spock that they have to make up more stories. I myself also carry a few universes in my head, but I think that I would be a lot poorer person if I could not make room for the universes of others.)

I have never been able to figure out the Trekkie phenomenon. Sure, I watched the shows, read some of the books until they began to sicken me, and I've seen some of the fan stuff, too. All I can say is that I have found them basically uninspired and uninspiring. Nothing personal intended to anyone—I guess it's just a matter of taste.

As for other fandoms, I too am a dragon, Darkover, Deryni, Lord Darcy, and Amber fan. Plus SCA plus various others miscellaneously. (Do you knew of anyone who had read Dorothy Dunnett's very excellent historical novels? I am told such people exist, but I have never yet met one.) I understand hew readers become desperate to discover what happened next. But it has seemed to me that, at least among the Friends of Darkover, most of the fannish material is much inferior to that of the author. (Not all of it, of course, but a great proportion, in conceotion and execution both.) One reason for this is, of course, that there is an original to adhere to and be compared to. Every author has his own way of stringing words and actions together, and the fan, besides not knowing anything that hasn't been printed about the world but is nonetheless important (the sort of thing that is in the notes, like who the hero's great-grandmother's sister married, and why she left him), just can't recreate the original's style and tone. Therefore, my question probably should have been phrased, why don't all these devoted fans pick themselves up and create their cwn worlds to share? They should try to express themselves in their own voices, as I see it, as well as love and admire the worlds that JL and MZB etc. have given us.

I would, if I had the discipline and a couple extra hours each day. There's nothing wrong with writing stuff in someone else's universe—but there are so many others waiting to be discovered![26]

Issue 13

Ambrov Zeor 13 was published in 1982 and contains 62 pages. It was edited by Jean Airey.

cover of issue #13
  • other fiction by Mary Frances Zambreno
  • My Life, My Trust by Kerry Lindemann_Schaefer (36 pages)
  • Epiphany (6 pages)
  • Selyn Transfer (LoCs) (10 pages)
  • other unknown content

Issue 14

Ambrov Zeor 14 was published in March 1986 (500 copies) and contains 62 pages.

front cover (photocopy) by Michael J. Walsh

The managing editor was Anne Pinzow, editor was Kerry Schaefer , and the typists were Jean Airey, and Kerry Schafer.

Interior art is by Beth Ann Wempe, Chris Soto, Cathy Brown, Ken Helfrich, Wahaba Heartsun, Malu Block, and Michaela Duncan.

"All fiction and artwork published in Ambrov Zeor takes place in an alternate Sime/Gen universe."

From the editorial:

Well, I sure never thought I'd be doing this. AZ has changed hands once again and I'm now your new Editor. I can't take full credit for this issue, however. It was about half finished when Jean Airey turned over the files to me, so much of it is her doing. Several things she meant to include had to be left out, since it was no longer possible to print. Nevertheless, my job was made our thanks, and our best wishes as she moves on to other projects. You'll notice a variety of typefaces and sizes in the zine. Most notably, the longer stories have been photoreduced in order to save on cost. In addition, some of the typing was done by Jean and some by me, using different typewriters. Hopefully, the next issue will be more uniform.

You'll also notice a special Sponsors' Page, listing the names of all those who made printing this issue possible. We owe them a vote of thanks. Without their generous contributions, you would not be reading this. (Anyone willing to help Sponsor the next issue, please drop me a line and I'll send you details.)

Meanwhile, I'm looking for more material for AZ15. My goal is to publish at least one issue a year. But I can't do it alone, we need stories/ both long and short, articles, poems, illos, etc., dealing with S/G, Kren, and Dushau. If your material is published, you'll receive a complimentary copy of the zine. But, more than that, you'll be involved in helping Jacqueline create and expand her various universes. C'mon, all you talented fans out there, let's see some feedback! It doesn't work without you.

  • Sime Line, editorial by Kerry Schaefer (1)
  • Sponsor's Page (15 fan names in one column, 28 fan names in the "4+" column) (3)
  • To My Transfer Mate, poem by Catherine ambrov Alro (4)
  • Shades of Grey by Deborah J. Laymon (5)
  • Invocation: Ilyana to Digen, poem by Jill Stone (16)
  • Excerpt from an early draft of MAHOGANY TRINROSE by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (17)
  • Proficiency Rating Formula by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (20)
  • The New Channel to His Companion, poem by Katherine Kurtz (21)
  • Everything You Always Wanted to Know About S/G edited by Kerry Schafer (readers ask questions about Sime~Gen, get answers) (22)
  • As Good a Place as Any, poem by Sherry Kramer (28)
  • Out-Territory, Waiting, poem by Jill Stone (28)
  • Registry of Householdings by Pat Munson-Stiler (26 Householdings, lists owner, house colors, addresses, mottos, business (weaving, ceramics, writing, needlework, helping the Welcommittee, education) (29)
  • Corrections and Update: Dashau and Kren by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (three erratas for Questar's published book) (31)
  • A Time for Letting Go by Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer (32)
  • Sime-Gen Sayings by Barbara T (48)
  • Star-Crossed Matchmates by Leigh Motooka (appears to be some sort of a mock of badfic, includes an example) (49)
  • Selyn Transfer, nineteen letters of comment, including one from Andre Norton (50)
  • Fancraft Listing by Barbara T (ceramics, art, jewelry, paintings, rings...) (60)

Issue 14: Comments from Letters

[Andre Norton]:

I shall be looking forward eagerly to the rest of the books in this series (DASHAU) as you have created some fascinating characters and I want to know very much what has happened or will happen to them. It seems to me that this series seems to have an even wider appeal to readers than the Sime stories have and I think you wi11 widen your followers field very much indeed. The strange civilization you are building up seems to be real and this is true history you are writing.

I feel greatly honored indeed that you wish to mention my name in your foreword .of acknowledgements and you are most kind in what you say about my writing. My stories have never pretended to be more than entertainment, and I have always been surprised that they are seemingly well liked by so many different divisions of the public.

RENSIME is beautiful ... It takes juncts seriously. It portrays Gens as capable and intelligent, with independent desires and goals. It shows Simes having trouble finding appropriate transfer partners, instead of having a perfect matchmate appear automatically at each channel's changeover. It shows Gens having trouble handling Simes, without blaming them for cowardice or malice. It sheds light on the interrelationship between need and sex, and moves in the direction of a comprehensible explanation of killbliss and egobliss. The chemistry was a bit beyond me, but it advanced the concept of the moondrop potion from the status of a magical deus ex machina to a believable plot element.

I couldn't get very involved in MT. To me, it seemed like a long short story. What it was was a story about a girl growing up. The far-stretching, world-wide implications seemed somehow removed. And all Ercy's transfers (except the first) were routine. This, plus the fact that Hal's background is so mysterious, made it hard for me to see Hal as a real person. His character was as ghostly as his nager.((JL: Now, that's quite a compliment. Thank you!)) ((KS: Which I guess means that's exactly the way Jacqueline wanted him to come across.))

And I didn't really recognize Im and Digen. They didn't seem like the same people I met in UNTO. I suppose twenty years and a different POV made the difference. Still, it seems that JL could have gone into their story a bit more. I mean, Digen's been living on the edge of death for twenty years, and poor Im (of all people!) has to give him junct transfers. They deserve to have more of their story told.

You know, MT is a lot like an MZB story. It could almost have taken place on Darkover. It's not about transfer—unlike UNTO, HoZ, and FCh. Let's see, substitute kireseth for mahogany trinroses, make Ercy an Empire girl (perhaps half Darkovan), give her a Darkovan doppelganger (to take the place of the reincarnation sequences). Hal, of course, would have to be a Comyn telepath travel ling off-world.

Strange, most people I've talked to tend to compare Simehood to maleness and Genhood to femaleness. But it's really the other way around, isn't it? I mean, in terms of polarity the male pole should have and give energy, where the female should need and take it. Female animals, with an instinct for motherhood and species preservation, have a need, and are given sperm eel Is by males, the "spark of life" to fill that need. Simes have an even more pressing, personal need which is filled in an even more direct manner, by donations of literal energy.

Further, it is the function of a female-polarity force to stabilize, as Binah with ChoKmah. Simes, when their instincts are not perverted by junctness, are constantly obsessed with Gens' safety and well-being. The Tecton seems like a group of over-protective mothers sometimes, and so do the people who must have drafted Klairon's beloved Principles of Action.

I know I'll get a lot of flak from Companion-types who, although Gen, are professional cherishers and stabilizers. But it's the function of humans to be complicated, and wives require support from their husbands as well as vice versa. If a wife had a profession as arduous and draining as channelling, she'd require Companion-class support, as can be seen by looking at a woman suddenly left alone to try to raise a bunch of kids. What wouldn't that woman give for Im'ran?!

Issue 14: Sample Interior

  • from issue #14, the excerpt from the badfic story

  • from issue #14, Chris Soto

  • from issue #14, Chris Soto

  • from issue #14, Wahaba Heartsun

  • from issue #14, Beth Ann Wempe

  • from issue #14, Ken Helfrich

  • from issue #14, Chris Soto

  • from issue #14, Beth Ann Wempe

Issue 14: Reactions and Reviews

I read and was very impressed with AZ14. The zine is beautifully done, artwork, graphics, etc. I liked it very much. I don't know why (unless it was because I read S/G sayings first) but I giggled all the way through it. I couldn't even take "Shades of Grey" seriously, and 1 know that story has a serious point.

That was first reading. The second and subsequent times around were quite different. "Shades of Grey" actually makes me cry. ((JL: Me, too.)) And I generally don't get such an extreme emotional reaction to any fan fiction. But this story really got to me. I can really empathize with Kara. To lose one's lover, Sectuib, and House all at once to an evil like the Tecton must be very devastating. No nits either. It really is a very beautiful story.

Now on to Frevven. He's cute. I like Kerry's nearsighted channel. Can't say I feel the same way about V'lissia. ((KS: Neither do I. I find her quite annoying at times.)) How did she get to be a high order Companion-sorry, Donor-without learning that you can't manipulate channels and that romance and being a Companion are not the same thing? Initially she reminds me of Kitty in "Dream Tower" in Zeor Forum. The one by Katie Filipowicz? Idealistic, supremely confident, in love with the idea of having a channel of her own. Oh sure, she loves Frewen, or thinks she does, but the idealism, the dream is the same.[27]

Issue 15

Ambrov Zeor 15 was published in March 1987 (500 copies) and contains 70 pages.

cover of issue #15

The publisher and editor was Kerry Schaefer, as Anne is stepping down. The lettercolumn editor was Ruth Sacksteder.

The typists were Kier Neustaeder, Torun Almer, and Kerry Schaefer.

The art is by Beth Ann Wempe, Ken Helfrich, Octabeve Epps, Wahaba Heartsun, Michaela Duncan, Marianne G. Petrino, Cathy Brown, and Donell (Daisy) Meadows.

  • Sponsor's Page (28 "4+" names, 8 regular, 3 late) (2)
  • Sime Line, editorial (3)
  • Variations on a Theme, an "impromptu poetry round robin by Phyllis Randall, Kerry Schaefer, Rita H. Palmer (5)
  • A Trip to Dalton Bookstore by Octavene Eppes (6)
  • To Find a Place by Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer (7)
  • Everything You Always Wanted to Know About S/G, and Weren't Afraid to Ask, fan questiosn and asnwers, compiled by Kerry Schafer (20)
  • Excerpt from an early draft of "Unto, Zeor, Forever" by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (23)
  • Oath of Firsts by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (41)
  • Family Tree of the Sectruib Farris Family of Zeor by Katie Filipowicz (42)
  • Farris (Gen(e)s, poem by lenda collins (44)
  • Operation High Time, Revisited by Mary Lou Mendum (This is a "re-writing" of the original story by Jacqueline Lichtenberg that had appeared in the magazine "Genesis") (45)
  • A Week with Frevven, or Kareen's Report to the Tecton by Kareen Ambrov Channel (Marge Robbins in the table of contents.) ("Editor's note: This is an account of Marge Robbins' recent visit with me, as seen through the eyes of our S/G personnas. It's basically a true story.") (53)
  • Zelerod's Doom: Does the Concept work? by Round Robin, a series of letters between Lichtenberg and fans regarding the populations statistics needed to make this shared universe work (55)
  • Ashes of Roses, poem by Leigh Motooka (60)
  • A Freeband Raider to His Prey, poem by Adriana Pena (61)
  • Householding Registry Update (62)
  • Selyn Transfer, 21 letters of comment (63)
  • Fancraft Listing, by Barbara T (69)

Issue 15: Sample Interior

  • from issue #15

  • from issue #15

  • from issue #15

  • from issue #15

  • from issue #15

  • from issue #15

Issue 16

Ambrov Zeor 16 was published in April 1988 (500 copies) and contains 56 pages.

cover of issue #16, Marianne G. Petrino (photocopy)

Kerry Lindemann-Schaefter is the editor and publisher, the assistant editor (poetry and non-fiction) was Kier Neustaedter. Lettercolumn editor was Ruth Sacksteader.

The art is by Marianne G. Petrino (cover, interior), Malu Nay Block, James Bryson, Donell (Daisy) Meadows, Wahaba Heartsun and Linda Whitten.

The there is a note that this "zine was partially laid out on a Macintosh SE, using Microsoft Word 3.01, Fontastic and Mac - The Knife fonts. It was typeset on a LaserWriter+."

The editor says that her supply of S/G art has dried up, and that is issue is shorter due to printing costs.

  • Sponsor's Page (14 "4+" sponsors, 2 regular sponsors) 2)
  • Sime Line, editorial (3)
  • Any Day Now, poem by Lisa Calhoun (4)
  • In Memory, poem by Jill Stone (5)
  • Organized Religion in the S/G Universe, a Round Robin Based on a Poem (5)
  • Of Simes, Gens, and Warfare by Carol Lynn (12)
  • Simes in Space, cartoon strip by Daisy Meadows (15)
  • Controller's Dilemma by Marjorie Robbins and Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer (19)
  • Men Fans in S/G Fandom: Round Robin (30)
  • Eggs?! by Kerry Lindeman-Schaefer (34)
  • Reunion by Linda Harter (35)
  • Why Writers Choose to Write Stories Exploring Wild Talents by Jacqueline Linchtenberg (40)
  • ChangEDover, poem by Mark Kadey (41)
  • Blue Wind, poem by Lisa Calhoun (42)
  • DUSHAU Round Robin (43)
  • The Tower Circle and the Oliat by Linda Frankel (reprinted from The Eighth Domain #5) (47)
  • Linked, poem by Mark Kadey (48)
  • Selyn Transfer, lettercolumn, 19 letters (49)
  • Fancraft Listing (54)

Issue 16: Sample Interior

  • from issue #16

  • from issue #16

  • from issue #16

  • from issue #16

Issue 17

Ambrov Zeor 17 was published in May 1989 (200 copies) and contains 70 pages.

cover of issue #17, James Bryson (photocopy)

The art is by James Bryson, Donell (Daisy) Meadows, Beth Ann Wempe, Mariane Petrino, Ken Helfrich, Linda Whitten, and Kathryn Andersen.

The editor says they have been printing the zine at a photo offset press with a print run of 500 copies, but that cost is pretty high, especially as the zine isn't selling fast enough to justify this expense. There for, the zine will now be copied at a store that has "xerox machines." One bonus to this change is that "collating is normally included as part of the printing process, so I will no longer have to struggle through that tedious job myself. (Hooray!)... We hope this change will make it possible to keep AZ going in these days of tightening budgets."

  • Sime Line, editorial by Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer (1)
  • Back Door into Zeor, editorial by Kier Neustaedter, the focus is a detailed account of using computers and software (2)
  • Sponsor's Page (3)
  • Roots of Zeor, part one by Marge Robbins ("It has been my privilege to sort through several years of correspondence between Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Jean Lorrah and put together this article on the evolution of First Channel.... For the most part I left the letters more or less in chronological order, and unedited. However, due to space considerations, I was forced to limit the discussions in this article to major issues, so most of it will be about Rimon and Kadi. I hope you get as much pleasure out of reading this and watching two great minds at work as I did completing it." The letters cover the dates January–May 1977. All of them are between Jean Lorrah and Jacqueline Lichtenberg, with one addressed to Cynthia Levine and Lisa Waters. (4)
  • The Way to Zeor, fiction by Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer (18)
  • V'lissia and Frevven, poem by Kier Neustaedter (36)
  • S/G Geography & History, interview with Jacqueline Lichtenberg by Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer (37)
  • Esoterica and Sime/Gen Fandom, a Round Robin started by Jacqueline Lichtenberg ("This will be printed with responses from different people in" Householding Chanel Inquirer #2 and Companion in Zeor #10) (4)
  • One Personal Journey in Association with Jacqueline: A Reply to "Esoterica and Sime/Gen Fandom"—a very personal psychological essay by Katie Filipowica (47)
  • Pagar el Precio (To Pay the Price), fiction by Kier Neustaedter (50)
  • Role-Playing Reports by Donell Meadows, Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer, (57)
  • "New Fan Householding Seeks Members," -- "House of Shaeldor was originally created by Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer for use in her Frevven stories. However, it is now accepting members as a fan Householding also...In the S/G universe, Shaeldor's business is nautical development and trade, but in the mundane world, it will have a special connection to the ocean and all its flora and fauna. Anyone wishing to pledge must commit themselves to take action to help the ocean on a regular basis... Householding activities will include role-playing, round robins, or whatever members want." (60)
  • Selyn Transfer, lettercolumn, 14 letters, most dealing with comments and criticisms of the Zeor books (61)
  • Notices and Fancraft Listing (67)

Issue 17: Sample Interior

  • from issue #17

  • from issue #17

Issue 17: Reactions and Reviews

I enjoyed reading AZ17. Other than reading Jacqueline's and Jean's novels, I have never been involved in S/G fandom before this. As a matter of fact, AZ17 was the first fanzine I have read in over ten years...

"Roots of Zeor" was very interesting. It is always a treat to get a behind-the-scenes look at something and see how it developed. At first, I was somewhat surprised to think that all of this correspondence had been saved, but then I remembered my own packrat nature. I enjoyed "The Way to Zeor" very much. Even as a first time reader, it was obvious that these were fully developed characters that have a rich history. The only problem I had as a first time reader was fitting the story into the overall S/G timeline. ((RS: Kerry has Frevven stories in previous zines. Hope you'll get a chance to read them also.)) I was very intrigued by "Esoterica and S/G Fandom", but not because of the philosophical questions it raised concerning "esoterica"...

What interested me were the more basic questions of why fans partake of (generate?) fandom and what responsibility the objects of such affection have to the fans. [28]

AZ17 is the second S/G zine that I have seen (the first being HCI2) and I am impressed. The stories are good quality, the articles give an interesting insight into the background, and the round robin and letters of comment give stimulating food for thought. . . The double-column, small- point type packs a lot in. It took me a while to read it all!... It was great to see a story set somewhere other than the USA for once ("Pagar el Precio") even if it was only as far away as Mexico. How about Australia? Oh, crumbs, I guess that would be up to me...

That "Esoterica" RR came at me like a thrown gauntlet. "I dare you to question — so there!" So I am going to question back! But since I have already responded to the original article, because it was in HCI2, ... I will limit my response to the responses, and not the article this time. [29]

Just thought I'd drop you a short note about how much I enjoyed AZ17. Each issue is better than the last, but I suspect the AZ staff is just getting warmed up! For me, the surprise was Kier's story. It had such a unique flavor to it, and if she doesn't do more, I will surely die!

You already know how fond I am of your Frewen stories. I'll never get enough of them *SIGH* The rest of the zine was also splendid. I felt honored to illustrate ROOTS. Ruth mentioned S/G dreams in the last issue. I have had several S/G dreams and one vampire dream. While in most of them, I am Gen, in the first one, I was Sime. I was watching a colorful light ramble over a hilly green field. Naturally, I approached the light and immersed my arms in it. The light flowed into my arms and filled my body — and, suddenly, I realized I was nose to nose with a grinning Companion.

In another dream, I was with a group of young out-Territory Gens. We went to a Householding one night, where we were led into a room and seated on a couch. Some Simes were to entertain us. One lady, about 15, with long, light brown hair came out holding a small box in her hands. Each of her ventral tentacles held a tiny mallet. She proceeded to play the stringed instrument with the mallets and to sing in Simelan. She was holding it close to her, so it was hard to see her tentacles, as she had her hair draped around them. For some reason, maybe it was never having seen a Sime do such a cute thing as this, I started to giggle. She grinned at me, and I curled up on the couch, snicJcering as she played a snappy melody on the thin wires. I woke up laughing....

I have seen Jacqueline in my dreams, and, yes, she does have tentacles. [30]

Issue 18

Ambrov Zeor 18 was published in April 1990 and contains 57 pages. The front cover by Sherlock and is about Unicon #1.

The art is by Sherlock (Sherry Lynn Watson), R. Laurraine Tutihasi, Marianne Petrino-Schaad, and Daisy (Donell) Meadows.

From the editorial:

Along with Jacqueline and many of the other S/G fans I know, I've gotten hooked on ALIEN NATION. (I even bought a TV and VCR just so I could watch it!) Of course, the first thing I do when I get interested in something is begin writing stories about it. If all goes as planned, I will be putting out an AN fanzine sometime in the next year or so. Contact me if you want further information about this project, or if you have something you'd like to contribute. (Don't worry, I will continue to publish AZ also. I'm not quitting S/G, just adding one more universe to all the other imaginary worlds I live in.)

A proposal to fans about Jacqueline Lichtenberg:

Jacqueline is looking for people with IBM-compatible computers who would be willing to work on an ambitious, long-term typing project. She'd like to input her S/G novels when they go out-of-print, so that they can be run off and copied on an as- needed basis for new readers — sort of like we now do with the oop fanzines. You need not have a fancy printer for this. As long as Jacqueline's computer can read your disks, that's all that's necessary. As things stand now, HOUSE OF ZEOR, FIRST CHANNEL, CHANNEL'S DESTINY, MAHOGANY TRINROSE, and RENSIME are all in short supply. Any volunteers?

From the role-playing contribution:

Since there have been a number of role-playing reports in recent issues of the S/G zines, as well as in this issue, I guess I'd better provide a brief explanation for those of you who haven't encountered this phenomenon before.

S/G role-playing increased considerably when the Welcommittee began its role-playing department. A number of fans, myself included, have taken advantage of the opportunity to play at being our S/G alter egos. While this is mostly done by mail, there have been occasions when the role-players have visited each other's homes, or gotten together at conventions (primarily Darkover Grand Council, which draws a lot of S/G people). When Marge Robbins came to visit me several years ago, she thought it might be fun to attempt to describe the mundane events of the visit as if they had happened to our S/G personnas. Thus began a series of reports on various encounters.

Just to make things more confusing, some fans have developed more than one personna, usually to fit into scenarios being run at different times during S/G history, but sometimes simply because they want to put themselves into the place of both Sime and Gen characters. The format followed in the reports is that names and other explanations of real-life persons, events, locations, etc. are enclosed in double parentheses. People who do not have personnas are simply mentioned by name. Everything else is written from the point of view of the character.

  • Sime Line, editorial by Karry Lindemann-Schaefer (1)
  • Out of Death, fiction by Shoshanna (2)
  • Sponsors' Page (the names of 13 fans who gave money to this zine) (5)
  • Pre-Junctedess as a Rational for Peaceful S/G Coexistence Prior to the Wars, essay by Claire Maier ("Editor's Note: The following article is by Claire Maier. It is a paper prepared by her S/G character, Margot Champion. Perhaps there are other "historians" amongst our readership who would like to submit papers discussing this or other topics? Reprinted from Ancient and Pre-Territorial History Review, Vol. 34, No. 4, April, 310. Dr. Champion is a General Class Donor and the Assistant Director of the Division of Medico-Historical Research at Westfield Medical Center.") (6)
  • Announcements (7)
  • Recompense, fiction by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (first published in "Galileo" #2)
  • Roots of Zeor, conclusion, edited by Marge Robbins ("(Editors' note: This is the second half of an extremely long article Marge compiled from a file of correspondence between JL and Jean Lorrah from the time they were working on First Channel, along with some excerpts from an early draft of tat novel. Part I ended with an excerpt dealing with Rimon and Kadi's first transfer. We now return to the discussion between JL and Jem.) Double parentheses indicate added comments. Initials are as follows: MR — Marge Robbins, Jean — Jean Lorah, and JL — Jacqueline Lichtenberg.") (15)
  • Unicon 1 by Tracy Ann Murray (a con report written as meta fiction) (26)
  • Not Into Temptation by Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer (30)
  • Role-Playing Reports ("Introduction to Role-Playing Reports and Letters for Those Folks Who May Not Know What They Are") by Donell Meadows (46)
  • Text of Faith Day Ceremony (48)
  • Selyn Transfer, letter column (50)
  • letters exchanged between Jean Lorrah and Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Issue 18: Sample Interior

  • from issue #18, Daisy (Donell) Meadows

  • from issue #18, Sherlock

  • from issue #18, Daisy (Donell) Meadows

Issue 19

Ambrov Zeor 19 was published in November 1990 and contains 72 pages. 100 copies were printed.

cover (photocopy) of issue #19, by Daisy Meadows: "Nilsa Farris" -- in the next issue, it is mentioned that "Nilsa Farris" is one "of the alter egos of Linda Whitten, our Welcommittee head."

The art was by Donell (Daisy) Meadows, Beth Ann Wempe, Tracy Ann Murray, James Bryson, Linda Whitten, and borders by Kathryn Andersen.

  • Some Line and Announcements (1)
  • The Starred Cross, short article by Cindy Coffman (2)
  • Sponsor's Page (There are ten names listed. These are fans who gave cash to the zine.) (3)
  • and my children by Kerry Lindimann-Schaefer (4)
  • Chosen Chain, poem by Morgan Gold (33)
  • Afraid of the Dark, poem by Tracy Ann Murray (34)
  • A Change of Mind and Heart by Mary Lou Mendum (35)
  • Selyn Transfer, letter column edited by Ruth Sacksteder (there are eleven of them, they focus on opinions about Lichtenberg's books, and speculate on the origins of the Same~Gen mutation) (60)


Issue 20

Ambrov Zeor 20 was published in March 1991 and contains 58 pages. 100 copies were printed.

cover (photocopy) of issue #20, by Donell (Daisy) Meadows

The art was by Daisy Meadows and Linda Whitten.

Ruth Sacksteader is no longer the letter column editor.

There is announcement that Bill Hupe has taken over publishing the Kraith zines.

John Shimwell is now working on a S/G Concordance.[31] This means that the one Katie Filipowicz had been working on is no longer viable.

From "The Mirror Oliat":

You will probably find this hard to believe, but I have found a book with the equivalent of a totally inverted Oliat. I'm not just talking about committing one inverted act. I mean that the purpose of this Oliat-equivalent is the direct opposite of a Dushau Oliat's purpose. It's as if the author were writing in an alternate mirror universe, like the one in Trek. The pseudo-Oliat under discussion is in THE ALCHEMISTS by Geary Gravel, which appeared in 1984 from Ballantine Books, before the Dushau novels. I don't believe that either JL or Geary Gravel are aware of this extraordinary inverted parallel that links their work. This is clearly a result of synchronicity — a further proof that all minds are linked on some level.

  • Sime Line and Announcements (1)
  • Zelerod's Doom, poem by Morgan Gold (2)
  • Sponsor's Page (there are 14 sponsors) (3)
  • Dawning Light, fiction by Lisa Calhoun (4)
  • The Mirror Oliat, A Comparison of Two Universes by Linda Frankel (16)
  • Pun-GEN-t Puns by John Shimwell (18)
  • The Vanillamint Tapestry, non-Sime/Gen fic by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (First published in "Cassandra Rising" in 1978, by Doubleday, editor was Alice Laurance.) (19)
  • Kraken Book Ads, parody by Dani Sweig (45)
  • Selyn Transfer, letter column (there are ten of them) (45)

Issue 21

Ambrov Zeor 21 was published in January 1992 and contains 60 pages. 100 copies were printed.

cover (photocopy) of issue #21, Cindy Coffman
from issue #21, You are Receiving this Zine Because

Tracy Ann Murray has taken over editing the letter column. The art is by Cindy Coffman, Donell (Daisy) Meadows, Amy Hartzog, Linda Whitten, Tracy Ann Murray, and Janice St. Clair.

The editor writes:

I'd like to announce the return of our Question & Answer section -- if I get any questions. It was discontinued when the Householding Chanel Inquirer came out as a Q&A zine, but now that the HCI is no longer publishing, I plan to start that feature up again. Send me your questions, one to a sheet of paper. I'll answer them myself if I can, or send them on to JL for answers if stumped.

Lichtenberg replies to a fan who has written her a long letter on genetics and how they don't ring true in her Time~Gen books. Part of that reply:

I read your letter with considerable absorption and not a little glee.

This kind of letter is, of course, just exactly the reason sf writers WRITE! It shows there is Intelligent Life out there, and it's flattering because it shows that Somebody actually read the book. However, it's also disheartening. That you saw the puzzle we left you is wondrous indeed, but that you failed to solve it is sad.

I don't know if you've ever encountered him at an sf con, but Hal Clement does a neat schtick where he'll take a glaring Impossibility off of Star Trek or the latest sf movie or whatever, and carefully show the audience-sometimes with instructional slides and sometimes with slides of his own paintings or with examples from the novels he's published over the years—just how in the real-world science we all have to live with, the author's postulate is simply impossible. Ridiculous. Absurd.

About halfway through the presentation, he'll have the audience in the palm of his hand, utterly convinced that the author of the goof made a HUGE mistake and really didn't do their homework. Then he says, "However ..." and you get this sinking feeling that you've been had. Half an hour later, you see clearly that of course the author had it right all along.

Harry calls this "playing the game." The "game" is the sf plausibility game, and he's been playing it since before I was born. He's First Fandom, thai elite group that started sf back in the thirties, and I didn't get involved until the fifties!

Harry (Stubbs = Hal Clement) taught me the game as I did panels with him at ST cons in the '70's. He critiqued my first novel. And we've been friends ever since. And I guess I've picked up some of his "high school teacher" sryie in my sf thinking.

[snipped]

And if all this intrigues you, you will probably want a copy of Ambrov Zeor #10, which is a Bachelor's Thesis on S/G (at that time only HoZ was extant) universe background and includes an entire section on genetics. We published it because it's a great example of The Game.

You're not the only one who's playing S/G genetics. The fanzines may put you in touch with others who'd enjoy your input on the puzzles that gnaw at them. And I look forward to hearing from you again, perhaps with something we can publish in addition to this first letter.

Oh, I do intend to pass your letter on to the editor of Ambrov Zeor, and eventually it will go to Jean Lorrah -who invented the Tigue mutation. Jean invented the Tigues using the principles of Literature—they are the perfect "foil" for the Harrises and thus create dramatic tension that lets us tell a whopping good story. Alter that, we worked out how we could include such a mutation in the universe premise, and from that we worked out a bundle of characteristics the Tigues had to have to be what they are.

So Jean may have something to say in "the game.* It was only after we started developing Tigue characters that we discovered how they fit perfectly into the universe premise, and make it much more like the real world than it was before Jean "discovered" Tigues.

  • You Have Recieved This Zine by Amy Hartzog (inside front cover)
  • Some Line (1)
  • Announcements (2)
  • Sponsor's Page (there are 17 patrons) (3)
  • The Tecton Star, a S/G [[APA, guidelines and info (4)
  • Round Robin on the Tigue Mutation (6)
  • What Must I Do?, fiction by Cheryl Wolverton (11)
  • Panel on Some-Gen Fandom: Past, Present, and Future, presented at Darkover Grand Council, 1989, transcribed and edited by Kerry Lindemann-Schafer (This is a long, long discussion among Katie Filipowicz, Anne Pinzow, Linda Whitten, Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer, and Karen Litman. It is an extensive history of the minutia of zine publishing, along with much promotional chat by Lichtenberg.) (24)
  • The Case of the Stalking Time, fiction by Tracy Ann Murray (32)
  • Need to Live, poem by William Long (48)
  • Selyn Transfer, letter column (there are 7) (49)

Issue 22

Ambrov Zeor 22 was published in May 1993 and contains 95 pages. 100 copies were printed.

cover (photocopy) of issue #22, Donell (Daisy) Meadows: "Sectuib Ishkin ambrov Shaeldor and his shiltpron"

The art is by Donell (Daisy) Meadows, Janice St. Clair, Mary Lou Mendum.

Lichtenberg, who had discussed her frustration at her older books being controlled by different publishers and with business dealings regarding B. Dalton and Walden Books, has a new project. The editor of this zine writes:

Congratulations and many thanks to Donna Bruce, the first Out-of-Print Books Project volunteer to complete the typing of her assigned novel - HoZ will soon be available to new fans in the form of a computer printout, available from Jacqueline. Some half dozen other volunteers are working on the other OOP novels, so someday we will have them all. Donna will get a complimentary copy of this issue of AZ as thanks for all her hard work. We still need a couple more typists, so if you're up to typing an entire novel, get in touch with me.

If you read the inside front cover, you will have noticed that Cindy Coffman joins the AZ staff as assistant editor with this issue. She has been a valuable part of our story network for some time now, so I figured we should make it official. As any of you who have submitted stories to AZ know, most of these stories go through many drafts before finally appearing in print. They are critiqued extensively by JL, me, and, in recent months, Cindy. The final draft is invariably much improved as a result of all this input and our fledgling writers generally learn a lot about the craft of writing. I say this not to detract from their accomplishments in any way, but in order to acknowledge all the work that goes into what you, the reader, now see before you. Cindy has been helping with this process, while simultaneously, struggling to produce a story of her own, which is slated to appear in AZ 23 . Welcome aboard , Cindy!

If you've read the inside front cover, you've also noticed the steep jump in price for this issue. Sorry about that, but the zine ended up being substantially longer than most issues, so I had to price it accordingly. [$9.50]

The poem "Sime/Gen Union":

You say as Sime you are the best
Of all that's meant to be.
But I am Gen and smile with truth:
I know your need of me.
I am the one who'll light your soul.
Who'll feed your aching need.
I am the one who'll touch the sky:
Come ride the winds with me.
Come unto me and fill may need
To give and share your dream.
Ah yes, you're Some. I've need of that
To complete the Gen in me.
  • Some Line by Kerry (1)
  • Sime/Gen Union, poem by Debra K. O'Brien (2)
  • Sponsors' Page (there are 19) (3)
  • Information for Would-be S/G Writers, compiled by Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer (4)
  • The "Kill/Need" Convention by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (6)
  • A Legacy of Trust by Mary Lou Mendum (8)
  • Everything You Wanted to Know About S/G, and Weren't Afraid to Ask, compiled by Kerry Lindemann-Schaefer (62)
  • Sectuib Ishkin ambrov Shaeldor Learns to Play the Shiltpron, cartoon feature by Donell Meados (65)
  • Recommended Books: A Proposal for a New Genre Name by Jacqueline Lichtenberg (68)
  • Selyn Transfer, letter column edited by Tracy Ann Murray (79)
  • Announcements (93)

By Lichtenberg, from "The 'Kill/Need' Convention":

"kill": to cause a Gen to die by taking too much selyn or taking the Gen's selyn too fast.

"need": the sensation a Sime feels at and after half his/her selyn is gone. Need is the physiological imperative to replenish selyn—i.e., to avoid death. It hits in direct proportion to the fear of death, and in inverse proportion to the Sime's level of compassion for Gens.

Judging from the stories submitted to Ambrov Zeor and the other.wG zines, I have come to suspect that most readers have missed one of the subtle conventions I use in the S/G novels, namely that "kill" and "need" are words reserved to the unique experiences of Simes.

The fault may be partly mine. I am fairly sure that the convention is violated several times in the published novels, however hard I tried to enforce it. Avoiding the ordinary English usage of "kill" and "need" creates many awkward English sentences, and the books are, face it, written in English.

I, however, think in Simelan when writing from the point of view of a Sime character who is either a native speaker or learned the language during First Year (which is exactly equivalent to being a native speaker because of the condition of the brain and muscles during First Year).

Even when writing from an out-T Gen's point of view, "kill" and "need" may be used incorrectly only when the incorrect usage is men pointed out in the next line of text— as a child's bad grammar, as a non-native speaker's mistake, or as one of the bizarre twists of the Gen's language.

[snipped]

To illuminate the nonhumanness of Simes and Gens, I have incorporated the "kill"/"need" convention into the bedrock of S/G. Despite the fact that so many of our writers have missed conscious awareness of this technique, I do believe that it has worked its magic. From the beginning of Ambrov Zeor, fans have been discussing in the letter columns whether they identify more with Simes or with Gens. Many fans have reported experiencing "changeover." And many people have been able to create themselves a "persona" in the S/G universe.

Taken collectively, all my subtle techniques have worked to open that window into another reality where the laws of the universe proclaim a lack of compassion to be a capital offense, a sentence that is carried out instantaneously and without due process. In that alternate reality, compassionless souls are recycled very rapidly, so the karmic progress of humanity in the department of compassion and its flip-side, fear, is spurred into a blinding pace.

Since I consider the purpose of writing and reading in the S/G universe to be opening this window into another reality, I do get adamant about these little seemingly trivial linguistic conventions.

If you find it annoying, I apologize, but I intend to stick to it as I have stuck to the other things that have annoyed people—i.e., that there are no gay channels, and that no Gen can ever master Simelan.

These, too, are premises that define the S/G universe as a place that is beyond the comprehension of a 20th century earth native human being. To remove any of the three premises, the "kill'"/"need" convention, the gay channel convention," or the Simelan convention, would be to remove some of the sf from S/G, tending to make S/G the same as any mundane literature in any other field, something I would no longer be interested in writing.

Issue 23

Ambrov Zeor 23

  • fiction by Cindy Coffman & Cheryl Wolverton
  • other unknown content

Issue 24

Ambrov Zeor 24

References

  1. ^ "Rimon's Library". Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  2. ^ About · Ambrov Zeor. Issues 1-3 : Fanzines Archive, Archived version
  3. ^ from a letter of comment in Ambrov Zeor #12
  4. ^ ... Jacqueline Lichtenberg ... ... on Sime~Gen, vampires in SF garment and German editions, Archived version (2012)
  5. ^ from the editorial in the first issue
  6. ^ ... Jacqueline Lichtenberg ... ... on Sime~Gen, vampires in SF garment and German editions, Archived version (2012)
  7. ^ from the novel online here
  8. ^ from The Halkan Council #22 (September 1976)
  9. ^ by Randy Ash from Sehlat's Roar #3
  10. ^ from Fanzine Review 'Zine #2
  11. ^ from Darkover Newsletter #3
  12. ^ It is unclear what letters these were. Issue #3 did not mention homosexuality, and issue #4 had no LoCs. Perhaps this discussion was in #1 and #2? Perhaps the fan is referring in some way to A Sime~Gen Interview with Jacqueline Lichtenberg.
  13. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  14. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  15. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  16. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  17. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  18. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  19. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  20. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  21. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  22. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  23. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  24. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  25. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  26. ^ from a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #12
  27. ^ from an LoC in "Ambrov Zeor" #15
  28. ^ a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #18
  29. ^ a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #18
  30. ^ a letter of comment in "Ambrov Zeor" #18
  31. ^ Shimwell passed away on December 21, 1991.
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