Chronicles Annual

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Zine
Title: The Chronicles Annual
Publisher: Clarke & Keating Ink
Editor(s): Susan Clarke
Date(s): 1981-2006
Series?:
Medium: print
Size:
Genre: gen
Fandom: Blake's 7
Language: English
External Links:
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Chronicles Annual is a gen Blake's 7 anthology and an annual of The Chronicles.

Issue 1986

Chronicles Annual 1986 contains 180 pages.

cover of 1986, Tricia Ostwald
back cover of 1986, Tricia Ostwald
flyer for Chronicles 1986 from the back of Southern Seven #1, click to read some excerpts

The art is by Tricia Ostwald, Elsie Sager, Lana Brown, Rosemary Woodhouse, Kerrie Hanlon, Kathryn Andersen, Megan Ellem, Fiona Ellem, Robert Jan, Michael McGann, Shayne McCormack, Michelle Kavazos, and Gayle Rogers.

From the editorial:

Why did we do it? Well, we're asking ourselves the same question. We felt pangs of guilt when people had to wait over a year to see their contributions in print because of their length and because there was awaiting list on the shorter pieces. Now, we're looking at an almost empty Chronicles artwork.

[...]

There are two long stories in this issue - both very different. We were sitting here bemoaning the fact that we had nothing by Moira Dahlberg and the postman arrived -with low and behold - a story by Moira. We couldn't forget her (what a surprise, Moira, I haven't even had achance to answer your letter about the story yet. I haven't answered a letter for a month because of the three zine I've done this month... forgive me, folks). This story has some interesting characters and some nice twists too. The other, "Death of a Way-side Flower", is one of the Vila's childhood stories by Rosemary Woodhouse, but totally different from the last one that most of you have read (This Way There Be Dragons) — it shows a harsh reality of life in the Delta levels of Dome City and the events of family life that helped form his character. You have to assume understanding of some of the events and characters since all the stories are interwoven and are not necessarily explained in each.

  • Editorial (5)
  • Writer's Pawn, poem by Yvonne S. Hintz (7)
  • Little Brothers, fiction by xBryn Lantry (S3) (9)
  • Logic Problem by Sheila Tracy (12)
  • Long May He Reign, fiction by Sheila Tracy (S5) (13)
  • Full Circle, fiction by Sue Bursztynski (Gemini series; S5) (15)
  • Vila Comes Out on Top, fiction by Robert Jan (S1 or S2; humor) (37)
  • Old Enemies, poem by xBryn Lantry (S3) (39)
  • Image on My Soul, fiction by Linda Terrell and Ginny Mila (S3-4) (41)
  • Betrayal, poem by Sue Bursztynski (S4) (47)
  • Some Day, One Day, Maybe, fiction by Moira Dahlberg (S2) (49)
  • Waiting for God, poem by xBryn Lantry (97)
  • Interview with Michael Keating, by Rosemary Woodhouse (99)
  • Down and Safe, poem by Ruth Waters (104)
  • Oh No!, fiction by Yvonne S. Hintz (S3; humor) (105)
  • Avon's Expertise, essay by Kathryn Andersen (110)
  • Strange to Relate, fiction by Sheila Tracy (S4; humor) (113)
  • Death of a Wayside Flower, fiction by Rosemary Woodhouse (S0) (127)

Reactions and Reviews: 1986

5 good stories, one of which "Strange To Relate" is just hilarious. [1]

Chronicles Annual 1986 First Issue Edited by Susan Clarke and Joanne Keating Card cover Comb binding 180pp. Australian genzine containing eleven stories, poems, an interview with Michael Keating and various drawings. There are two long stories. "Someday, One Day, Maybe" by Moira Dahlberg uses a Terra Nostra background, an old friend (female) of Jenna's, and a malevolent entity. The story is cogent enough, but its focus is what happens between the non-Blake's 7 regulars so I never felt very involved in it. "Death of a Wayside Flower" is about Vila's life as a young child. I'm not very keen on B7 childhood stories and didn't enjoy this one, though some of the individual sequences are quite moving. It aims to show the trials of life in the Delta domes but lays it on much, much too thickly. There are also some breaks in continuity which are noticeable enough to suggest some paragraphs got chopped by accident. "Full Circle" is part of an ongoing serial featuring clones of Blake, Avon and Cally and has also appeared in Interface 11. Whether you like it probably depends on whether you can relate to the cloned characters. There is a superb story by xBryn Lantry, "Little Brothers" only two pages but every word tells. It has Avon talking to Tarrant after Deeta's death, about his own and Blake's brother and why he and Tarrant do not get on. "Strange to Relate ~ or Relatively Speaking" does a comic hatchet job on stories in which everybody is someone else's long dead brother/sister/clone/parent/child/partner or any combination thereof. It probably goes on a little too long to be entirely effective, but the writer has my full support. [2]

Issue 1987

Chronicles Annual 1987 is 180 pages long. The word "Nemesis' is on the cover.

front cover of 1987 by Tricia Ostwald. A fan in 2016 said: "I don’t know what’s happening in this cover. There is no story titled “Nemesis” in the ‘zine, so it’s not about that. I don’t know why Travis is fondling a little statue of what appears to be Athena or a similar goddess. From his face, Blake has no clue either. That’s a, “guys, do you see this? What the hell?” look if I’m any judge. Meanwhile, Travis sort of looks like someone just caught him playing with his dolls again, and is frantically trying to think of an excuse.... #Blake also appears to be a ghost on this cover#considering how the lines go through Travis' shoulder#I just have so many questions about this piece." A fan replied: "Travis won the Oscar for Vengeance?" Another fan replied: "i would guess it’s the goddess nemesis…" [3]
back cover of 1987, Tricia Ostwald

The art is by Leah Rosenthal, Tricia Ostwald (front cover), Linda Cox Chan, Yvonne Hintz, Tracy Hamilton, Kathryn Andersen, Bernice Cuffe, Nola Frame, Minds-i-View, and Monica Mitchell.

From the editorial:

Dear Folks. Here we've done it again. We put out a once-only zine - an Annual last year - just to clear the backlog of really long stories so that the authors wouldn't have to wait a whole year to see their stuff in print. And what happened? Well, you've got the second volume of the Annual in your hot little nands right now. And then we didn't get everything in that we had planned to use. Sue Bursztynski's last Gemini story and Rosemary Woodhouse's young Vila story from her series just didn't get in so that we are going to have to put out some special issues. But, please, dear reader, it's Not Done to put two Annuals in one year, and when you're talking about the postage being four or five times the cost of the zine... well...

[...]

It was extremely hard to decide on the contents. In here we have a few pieces of fiction that, I think, are destined to become Classics of B7 fiction. You'll read them and understand what I mean. I couldn't even begin to enumerate the good points. But we're both looking forward to the LoCs on this though. Boy, are you going to enjoy them.

Issue 1988

Chronicles Annual 1988 contains 160 pages.

front cover of 1988 issue, Bernice Russell
back cover of the 1988 issue, Minds-i-View
flyer for the 1988 issue

The art is by Kathryn Andersen, Bernice Cuffe, Bernice Russell, Tracy Hamilton, and Minds-i-View.

From the editorial:

Welcome to the Chronicles Annual for 1988, and before we go any further, yes, we know it's very late, but we're not really worried about it... at least it is finally out... so please, save your stamps, don't write and ask us what happened. It is along and complicated story and we didn't say in any of the fine print that the 1988 Annual hadto come out in 1988.

Sound belligerent enough? Well, we learnt this fairly recently: you don't get anywhere by trying to be nice and apologetic and twisting yourself into knots, straining resources that are already strained, to put out a zine. We do that with Chronicles in any case. At least your occasional letters let us know that we're being appreciated in putting out something of a consistent quality on a regular basis. Keep them coming in. Financially, at least, it's never been a rewarding proposition. Emotionally, we appreciate the few kudos that come our way.

  • Editorial (1)
  • Space Dreams, poem by Bryn Lantry (4)
  • Friends & Foes by Vennessa Kelly (5)
  • Gravity Trap, poem by Bryn Lantry (35)
  • Kyri Adena by Moira Dahlberg (37)
  • Ramblings, poem by Teresa Ward (65)
  • Point of View, poem by Teresa Ward (67)
  • Travis, poem by Ruth Waters (68)
  • Final Chapter by Sue Bursztynski ("[The last part] of the Gemini series which has appeared over the last few years in Chronicles.") (69)
  • This Land, poem by Ruth Waters
  • Dreams & Schemes and Fairy Tales by Moira Dahlberg (101)
  • Gan, poem by Ruth Waters (151)
  • Final Word by Sheila Tracy & Cathy Lynn Goodwin (153)
  • The Bill by Sue Bursztynski (156)
  • Ads (159)

Issue 1989

Chronicles Annual 1989 contains 162 pages. The art is by <=minds-i-view=> (front cover, inside back cover), Kathryn Andersen, and Rosemary Woodhouse.

cover of 1989 issue by <=minds-i-view=>
  • Editorial (3)
  • Family Ties, fiction by Rosemary Woodhouse ("Another installment in the delightful Young Vila series." S0; V) (5)
  • Shadows of the Past, fiction by minds-i-view (A-V) ("Why is Avon back on Earth, and apparently living in luxury?") (39)
  • Shattered, fiction by Cindy Rancourt ("What if there never had been a successful alien invasion after Star One?" (alt-S2) (also in Magnificent Seven #8) (73)
  • The Final Steps, fiction by Venessa Kelly (The final (large) installment in the Royle series. A's brother) (101)

  • from the 1989 issue

  • from the 1989 issue

References

  1. ^ Katspace, reviewed by Kathryn A in 1996, Archived version
  2. ^ reviewed by Chris Blenkarn in AltaZine #2, summer 1996; the review can also be read at Knightwriter
  3. ^ bruinhilda.tumblr, June 12, 2016
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