Gambit (US Blake's 7 anthology)

See also Gambit (disambiguation).

Zine
Title:	Gambit
Publisher:	Peacock Press
Editor(s):	Jean Graham
Date(s):	1987-1996
Series?:
Medium:	print zine
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Blake's 7
Language:	English
External Links:
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Gambit is a gen Blake's 7 anthology published in the US.

flyer for the first issue: "We've got 300 (whew!) pages, or thereabouts, of fun-filled (wallow-filled, art-filled, filk-filled, you-name-it-we-got-it) fanzine. Material from the famous and the infamous (er...unfamous?), including Wortham & Rosenthal, Leigh Arnold, Bryn Lantry, Carol Wyke, Deb Walsh, Denise League and a veritable cast of thousands. Well, dozens anyhow. Order your copy now and see: take advantage of our no-fault, money-back guarantee. (There are no faults in this zine [all typos are merely figments of your overactive imagination]; your money is backed by A) the gold standard B) the crown jewels or C) None of the above; and we guarantee 300 pages (or thereabouts), makes an absolutely incomparable doorstop.) So, what are you doing reading this nonsense when you could be ordering a zine full of all that good stuff?????"

the 1987 Gambit t-shirt! -- art by Leah Rosenthal

The Issues

See these subpages for details about individual issues, including quoted opinions and summaries of fannish views on topics current then, and now.

Gambit Issues
Issue 001	Issue 002	Issue 003	Issue 004	Issue 005	Issue 006	Issue 007
Issue 008	Issue 009	Issue 010	Issue 011	Issue 012	Issue 013	Issue 014

General Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

The earlier issues weren't so good, but it has improved greatly over the years (for one thing, the editor has found someone who can write poetry). A good, decent read, and you may be tempted to go and get back-issues to catch up on the occasional serial.

1993

The first two Gambits were lovely. I've been impressed by the quality and variety of stories, art and poetry, as well as the various odds and ends like puzzles and filks. The quite logical way the stories are arranged allows the reader to pick a season at will, which is pleasant. I like the cover for the first issue, Rosenthal's "Decadence." I should have the rest (of the issues) before #10 is out. Getting a package from you is usually enough to make me put aside any chores or homework for several hours. I zip through the whole zine when I first get it, then, a few days later, go through and re-read without that frenzy. You can pick up a lot more on second or third readings that adds to the story.

A mention of [Elaine L], whose letter in the LOC section of Gambit 9 has simply forced me to buy Gambits 1, 2 and 3. Thanks a bunch, Elaine! Having read all of them in a fairly short space of time, I have to confess that my personal overall favourite is #8. I wonder if this is because it was the first one I read or does it just come down to its rather wonderful front cover?!

Thanks also to you, Jean, not only for such lovely work as Mirage, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but also for the effort that you put into furthering the concept of fandom. How you find the time and energy amazes me. I hope you realize that there are a lot of very grateful people out here.

1994

I never read the recently-criticized issue #3, but I have read every issue since #5 and own all but one of them. (I've also contributed to every issue beginning with #9, which obviously I wouldn't do if I didn't consider the zine a high quality product.)

The stories are always nicely laid out by season, the value in terms of cost is possibly the best in the fandom--ditto the reliability and speed with which orders for the zine are filled. The artwork ranges from gorgeous to mediocre (but it's easy to overlook the mediocre when you have the gorgeous). The only thing I've pretty consistently disliked in GAMBIT is the poetry. (But I may eventually take action to partially remedy that by submitting some of my own to a future issue. Jean Graham, take notice: you have been warned :-).)

Since I enjoy discussing fanfic, I thought I'd put my two bars of gold press latinum (oops, wrong universe) into the discussion of zine/story likes and dislikes. In most cases, I'll talk about stories rather than zines (except for zines devoted to a single novel), because I find with few exceptions that I'll like some stories in a zine and dislike others. That's certainly true of GAMBIT, which has come under discussion here. I don't have GAMBIT #3 (I was out of fandom for awhile and picked up with GAMBIT #9), but the GAMBITs I've seen have the usual mix of stories I do enjoy and stories I don't enjoy. As is the case with many zines, Jean could use a couple more good artists, though her cover artist is one of fandom's talents. In recent issues of GAMBIT, I've particularly liked Alice Aldridge's Travis/Jenna stories. I'm not a Travis fan, by any means, but Alice's stories are superior in construction, with lots of plot, action and characterization.... Another positive thing I have to say about GAMBIT. Jean does a fantastic job of keeping her prices down. This issue was nearly 300 pages and cost only $13 before postage. You don't often see a zine that size for that price and I appreciate Jean's...she must have a incredibly reasonable printer. I've been looking at production prices, since I'm thinking of doing another zine myself and I don't really see how she does it. Share your secrets, Jean?

1996

These are very pretty zines. They have sumptuous colour covers by Lucia Casarella Moore. The text is small (and tiny for some long stories) and double columned - it looks professionally typeset until you start to read it, and find the occasional very odd paragraph break. I must stress occasional, though - 99% of the time it is very clear and readable. Gambit also gives you lots to read.

[...]

Art quality ranges from very good to frankly scrappy, and on the whole is not one of this zine's significant strengths. There are also a few puzzles in the mould of the cheaper women's weeklies, the type that take up a fair bit of time without overtaxing the brain and delude you into thinking you've achieved something. I speak as one who won't touch a crossword below Dally Telegraph standard. One day I might even complete one.

[...]

Gambit zines are big, and there's probably something for everyone except the adult/slash-only reader. Gambit is also, necessarily, pricey, and it can't help but make me wonder it the catch-all genzine is the best anthology format. On the one hand, you get plenty of variety. These two issues cover hardtech, hurt/comfort, wallows, off-the-wall, AU, Mary Sue and mainstream, hard-to-classify material. On the other hand, it also means you pay a lot for the fraction you actually like, especially if you're a picky bastard like me.

Bespoke zines, however, have their own problems. How do you classify the proposed content? By subgenre, central character, season, quality of writing (and who would buy a Zine Full Of Not Terribly Well Written Stories)? Wouldn't readers plump for their favourite themes, but still miss out on stuff they would love because it falls into a subgenre they think they're averse" to? I can't see any obvious solution to this problem.

If you like other issues of Gambit, you probably don't need me to suggest you try these. If you haven't, and like a wide range of genfic, I would recommend sampling Gambit on the basis of these two. I was made wary of US-generated fanfic Through the examples in the Horizon zines (one or two authors notably excepted), but the sentimental excesses I found there are not, by and large, reflected in Gambit.