Shaman (Blake's 7 zine)
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Shaman |
| Publisher: | Space Rat Press |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Joe Nazzarro |
| Cover Artist(s): | Karen River |
| Illustrator(s): | Karen River |
| Date(s): | July 1990 |
| Medium: | print zine, fanfic |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Blake’s 7 |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Shaman is a 60-page Blake's 7 zine. It contains four linked stories by Joe Nazzarro.
The art is by Karen River. Vere Lorrimer, one of the show's producers, wrote the introduction.
The fiction is about the early life of the Blake's 7 characters before the episode "The Way Back."
Contents
- untitled story
- Gauntlet
- Nemesis
- Requiem
Introduction by Vere Lorrimer
A non-believer once asked me in puzzlement why Blake's 7 has endured for so long, why Blake's 7 continues to be published years after its TV showings. "Good heavens," he added, "even the space machines weren't as good as Star Wars." "No," I replied- "That's part of their charm. They're actually rather endearing, like vintage cars."
In his eyes, I could see the dawn of understanding. Looking back to the future ...
Hell has its heroes, and never were heroes more needed than in that black era following the Galactic Wars when the Federation imposed its tyranny. But no dictatorship lasts forever, however cruelly its citizens are held in subjugation. One man will arise to inspire a handful of dissidents. That was Blake. Could this be the secret of Blake's 7's enduring appeal: that it's not science fiction, but science fact?
In recent years, as tales of the third millennium grow in complexity, the accent invariably falls on increasingly wondrous gadgetry. in Blake's 7, the emphasis falls on people. In the characters of the Liberator guerillas, Terry Nation captures the essence of man's humanity: courage, decency and idealism in Blake; aggression, deviousness and opportunism in Avon; cowardice, fear of pain, the dark and just about everything in Vila. They become the symbol of ourselves in a technically threatening world. It's people that matter, says Nation.
Some viewers have likened Blake's 7 to Robin Hood in Space, and there is indeed some connotation with Robin and his Merry Men. Like King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, they too are the stuff of legend. Did these ancient fighters exist? Does it matter? Well, no, for Legend is truer than True, and legends live on, a fact attested to by the eternal demands made on the BBC to replay the series. But to return to the theme of Blake's 7 as science fact ...
I like to think of Bleriot making that first crossing of the English Channel, of Lindbergh piloting his "box kite" across the Atlantic, of that incredibly brave American rocket crew who blasted into the unknown en route to the moon. All these pioneers were real people, they flew space machines, all faced terrible odds, yet with man's indomitable spirit, they made nuts and bolts reach goal.
Before these heroes achieved success, few believed their dreams would become reality. Few have believed that Roj Blake, Kerr Avon and Vila Restal would become reality. But they will. Sometime in the next millennium, they will.
Sample Interior
sample text, a page from the prologue
Karen River (Gan)
Karen River (Roj Blake)
Karen River (Vila Restal)
