74th World Science Fiction Convention
The 74th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as MidAmeriCon II, was held on 17–21 August 2016 at the Bartle Hall Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The convention's name, by established Worldcon tradition, follows after the first MidAmeriCon, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Kansas City in 1976. The convention was organized by Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc., and was chaired by Ruth Lichtwardt and co-chaired by Diane Lacey. Participants Guests of Honor * artist Kinuko Y. Craft * author Tamora Pierce * author Michael Swanwick * editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden * editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden * Pat Cadigan (toastmaster) Programming and events Masquerade The MidAmeriCon II Masquerade ball, masquerade was held on Friday, 19 August, with 34 entrants. Gregory de Danann was the Masquerade Director and the master of ceremonies was John Hertz. The judges were Tanglewyst de Holloway, Karen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Worldcon 74 MidAmericonII Logo
Worldcon, officially the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during World War II). The members of each Worldcon are the members of WSFS, and vote both to select the site of the Worldcon two years later, and to select the winners of the annual Hugo Awards, which are presented at each convention. Activities Activities and events at the convention typically include: * Activities to fund fan and external charities (Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, fan funds auctions, blood donation, blood drives, etc.) * Art shows presenting paintings, drawings, sculpture and other work, primarily concerning science fiction and fantasy themes * Autographing sessions, literary beer or coffee meetings, "Walks with the Stars", and other chances to meet favorite science fiction and fantasy professionals *Awards ceremonies: **Hugo Awards, Ast ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fairy Tail
''Fairy Tail'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from August 2006 to July 2017, with the individual chapters collected and published into 63 volumes. The story follows the adventures of Natsu Dragneel, a member of the popular wizard guild Fairy Tail, as he searches the fictional world of Earth-land for the dragon List of Fairy Tail characters#Igneel, Igneel. The manga has been adapted into an anime series by A-1 Pictures, Dentsu Inc., Satelight, Bridge (studio), Bridge, and CloverWorks which was broadcast in Japan on TV Tokyo from October 2009 to March 2013. A second series was broadcast from April 2014 to March 2016. A third and final series was aired from October 2018 to September 2019. The series has also inspired numerous Spin-off (media), spin-off manga, including a prequel by Mashima, ''Fairy Tail Zero'', and a sequel storyboarded by him, titled ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hugo Award For Best Novella
The Hugo Award for Best Novella is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novella award is available for works of fiction of between 17,500 and 40,000 words; awards are also given out in the Hugo Award for Best Short Story, short story, Hugo Award for Best Novelette, novelette and Hugo Award for Best Novel, novel categories. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing". The Hugo Award for Best Novella has been awarded annually since 1968. In addition to the regular Hugo Awards, beginning in 1996 Retrospective Hugo Awards, or "Retro Hugos", have been available to be awarded for years 50, 75, or 100 years prior in which no awards were given. Retro Hugos may only be awarded for years after 1939 in which no awards were originally given. To date, Retro Hugo awards have been ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Fifth Season (novel)
''The Fifth Season'' is a 2015 science fantasy novel by American writer N. K. Jemisin. It was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2016. It is the first volume in the '' Broken Earth'' series and is followed by '' The Obelisk Gate'' and '' The Stone Sky''. Setting ''The Fifth Season'' takes place on a planet with a single supercontinent called the Stillness. Every few centuries, its inhabitants endure what they call a "Fifth Season" of catastrophic climate change. Society The society of the Stillness is broken up into many "comms", "use-castes", ethnicities and species. * Orogenes: People with the ability to control energy, particularly that of the ground (directly) and temperature (indirectly). They can cause and prevent earthquakes, and when angered can unintentionally kill living things in their "torus", or area of influence, by extracting the heat from their bodies to use as energy to manipulate the ground. When this occurs, a visible circle of frost appears around t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hugo Award For Best Novel
The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year by the World Science Fiction Society for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,000 words or more; awards are also given out in the Hugo Award for Best Short Story, short story, Hugo Award for Best Novelette, novelette, and Hugo Award for Best Novella, novella categories. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction", and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing". The Hugo Award for Best Novel has been awarded annually by the World Science Fiction Society since 1953, except in 1954 and 1957. In addition, beginning in 1996, Retrospective Hugo Awards or "Retro-Hugos" have been available for works published 50, 75, or 100 years prior. Retro-Hugos may only be awarded for years after 1939 in which no awards were originally given. Retro-H ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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3rd World Science Fiction Convention
The 3rd World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Denvention I, was held on 4–6 July 1941 at the Shirley-Savoy Hotel in Denver, Colorado, United States. Guest of Honor * Robert A. Heinlein, who gave a speech entitled "The Discovery of the Future" Participants The convention was chaired by Olon F. Wiggins. Attendance was 90. This was the last Worldcon before a five-year break in the annual tradition due to World War II. The next one was held in 1946. Venue The Shirley-Savoy Hotel. Savoy Hotel opened in 1904; Shirley Hotel opened in 1903; Hotels joined in 1919; Hotels razed in 1970. See also * Hugo Award * Science fiction * Speculative fiction * World Science Fiction Society * Worldcon Worldcon, officially the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during Wor ... Reference ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Retro-Hugo
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by the Worldcon#World Science Fiction Society, World Science Fiction Society. It is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine ''Amazing Stories''. Hugos were first given in 1953, at the 11th World Science Fiction Convention, and have been awarded every year since 1955. In 2010, Wired (magazine), ''Wired'' called the Hugo "the premier award in the science fiction genre", while ''The Guardian'' has called it the most important science fiction award alongside the Nebula Award. The awards originally covered seven categories, but have expanded to seventeen categories of written and dramatic works over the years. The winners receive a trophy consisting of a stylized rocket ship on a base. The design of the tro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sharknado
''Sharknado'' is a 2013 American made-for-television science fiction comedy disaster film directed by Anthony C. Ferrante. It tells about a waterspout that lifts sharks out of the ocean and deposits them in Los Angeles. It is the first installment in the ''Sharknado'' film series. The movie first aired on the Syfy channel on July 11, 2013, and stars Tara Reid, Ian Ziering, and John Heard. It was also given a one-night-only special midnight theatrical screening via Regal Cinemas and Fathom Events, where it earned $200,000 from 200 screenings. The over-the-top premise and theatrics of the film quickly earned it a cult following. The film spawned a franchise of the same name; five sequels have been produced ('' Sharknado 2: The Second One'', '' Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!'', '' Sharknado: The 4th Awakens'', '' Sharknado 5: Global Swarming'', and '' The Last Sharknado: It's About Time''), as well as three spin-off films ('' Lavalantula'', ''Sharknado: Heart of Sharkness'', and ' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The Cybermen are a species of space-faring cyborgs who often forcefully and painfully convert human beings (or other similar species) into more Cybermen in order to populate their ranks while also removing their emotions and personalities. They were conceived by writer Kit Pedler (who was also the unofficial scientific advisor to the series) and story editor Gerry Davis, and first appeared in the 1966 ''Doctor Who'' serial '' The Tenth Planet''. The Cybermen have seen many redesigns and costume changes over ''Doctor Who''s long run, as well as a number of varying origin stories. In their first appearance, '' The Tenth Planet'' (1966), they are humans from Earth's nearly identical "twin planet" of Mondas who upgraded themselves into cyborgs in a bid for self-preservation. Forty years later, the two-part story, " Rise of the Cybermen" and " ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adventure strip. Creation The ''Buck Rogers'' comic strip had been commercially very successful, spawning novelizations and children's toys, and King Features Syndicate decided to create its own science-fiction comic strip to compete with it. At first, King Features tried to purchase the rights to the '' John Carter of Mars'' stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but the syndicate was unable to reach an agreement with Burroughs. King Features then turned to Alex Raymond, one of their staff artists, to create the story. One source for Flash Gordon was the Philip Wylie novel '' When Worlds Collide'' (1933). The book's themes of an approaching planet threatening the Earth, and an athletic hero, his girlfriend, and a scientist traveling to the ne ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before Mozart's death. It was Mozart's last opera. It was an outstanding success from its first performances, and remains a staple of the opera repertory. In the opera the Queen of the Night persuades Prince Tamino to rescue her daughter Pamina from captivity under the high priest Sarastro; instead, he learns the high ideals of Sarastro's community and seeks to join it. Separately, then together, Tamino and Pamina undergo severe trials of initiation, which end in triumph, with the Queen and her cohorts vanquished. The earthy Papageno, who accompanies Tamino on his quest, fails the trials completely but is rewarded anyway with the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alice In Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic creatures. It is seen as an example of the literary nonsense genre. The artist John Tenniel provided 42 wood-engraved illustrations for the book. It received positive reviews upon release and is now one of the best-known works of Victorian literature; its narrative, structure, characters and imagery have had a widespread influence on popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre. It is credited as helping end an era of didacticism in children's literature, inaugurating an era in which writing for children aimed to "delight or entertain". The tale plays with logic, giving th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |