n!

Zine
Title:	n!
Publisher:	Gaylen Reiss
Editor(s):
Date(s):	June 1981
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	multimedia
Language:	English
External Links:
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n! is a gen 94-page multifandom anthology with all fiction by Gaylen Reiss.

front cover

back cover

There were 250 copies printed.

The title is a mathematical term: "In mathematics, the factorial of a non-negative integer n, denoted by n!, is the product of all positive integers less than or equal to n."

From the zine: "The Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is revealed by kind permission of the Amalgamated Union of Philosophers, Sages, Luminaries and Other Professional Thinking Persons."

From an ad in Datazine #45: "What kind of zine calls itself "n!"? A zine with a Star Wars adventure from the Falcon's point of view; a zine with The Champions, M*A*S*H, Starsky & Hutch; with photos of each story's main characters; with a special Star Trek section, including a startling manuscript in the original Vulcan (footnotes in Federation Standard); with much much more."

Contents

• Ye Old Editorial (in which the person responsible for this zine lays all blame on a nasty Dragon and offers the Reader a Moral) (2)
• A Few Moments Backstage at the Muppets Show (It's not all tinsel and glitter under the bright lights. Just ask Kermit) The Muppet Show (4)
• 4077th Magic (Hawkeye's medical sleight of hand takes a turn for the magic.) (MASH) (6)
• The Rock (Kirk finds a foundation in an unexpected place.) (Star Trek: TOS) (19)
• A Beach to Walk On (Kirk's wish finally comes true.) (Star Trek: TOS) (22)
• The Good Doctor (a tribute to Dr. McCoy and DeForest Kelley) (Star Trek: TOS) (24)
• Official Star Fleet Memo Board (For all those tedious little messages to fellow officers) (Star Trek: TOS) (26)
• Aie V'fissset Fvruhhm... (A Pre-Reform poem about an alien encounter -- in the original Vulcan!) (Star Trek: TOS) (38)
• Falcon: An Event (Action in the Star Wars universe -- from the ship's computer's point of view) (Star Wars) (44)
• Empirical Limericks (The Good Guys and the Bad Guys are subjected to interesting rhythmic devices.) (Star Wars) (44)
• Or-Con Memories (Mork visits a Star Trek convention -- and Boulder's fandom may never be the same again.) (Mork and Mindy) (45)
• Pt. #1464-L (We saw how the aliens affected Roy Neary and Jillian. But what about others at the 'The Dark Side of the Moon"? (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) (51)
• Spacey Sounds (Suggestions for spaceworthy listening.) (non-fiction) (54)
• Duty Calls (Expect the unexpected for the paramedics of Station 51, it's all in a day's work.) (Emergency!) (57)
• Streetwise (h/c, winner of the Striped Tomato Award for this issue's best -- and only-- Starsky and Hutch fiction) (Starsky and Hutch) (65)
• The Lighter Side of Darkness (Everyone's in the dark at one time or another.) (miscellaneous) (88)
• Inside Job (An Oldie-but-Goodie returns. Craig Stirling, Richard Barrett and Sharron Macready live!) ( (The Champions) (88)
• You are Receiving this Zine... (yo're in a heap of trouble now, son.)
• Dimensional Limit (Where no n! reader has gone before.)

Sample Interior Gallery

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  You are Receiving this Zine...

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Reactions and Reviews

This is a Syndizine-style zine in that it has about ten different fandoms in it, from S&H to The Champions, ST and Swars. The resemblance is slight in most ways, though, since the entire zine is written by the same author/editor. I found the humor generally a notch above the most serious stories, because that similarity of style made it difficult to keep the universe straight. The S&H story seemed to be first-season, though there was mention of The Pits at one point. The plot concerns itself with tracking down a drug dealer who was responsible for killing one of S&H's snitches. Unfortunately, the plot is rather difficult to follow through pages of fast-food complaints from Hutch, thumbnail sketches of street people and confusing dialog -- and S&H manage to solve the case only through a deus-ex-machina of tainted drugs. This story could have been better if it had been developed more fully, or if some of the 'color' had been trimmed to fit the length. There good points -- the beginning of Hutch waking from a noisy dream pulled me into the story, and some of the characterization bits were not bad at all. The ending was effective -- S&H in the style of Supercops, a showdown in a ghetto apartment. All things considered, this zine is largely a matter of taste. I'd suggest reading it through before buying. Overall, it's not bad for a first zine, and 'The Night Before Christmas' in High Vulcan has some memorable puns.