WHAT? LonCon 3 is almost OVER? WAAAAAAH. When is LonCon 4? Make the most of the final day by going to everything. Here are my highlights from Day Five at LonCon 3. Includes Lego and Tai Chi, both essential ways to relax after five days of carrying around canvas bags stuffed with books! Scroll down to the bottom of this post to find a competition to win an SFF goodie bag – surely the only way to get over the fact that LonCon3 is over for another year.
Now on to some Monday highlights
Rat’s Monkey’s Ass
Panellists: Pat Cadigan, Gavin Smith, Mihaela Marija Perkovic, Charles Stross
Swearing in science fiction and fantasy is occasionally a minefield of anachronism, but then, there’s often nothing weirder than hearing someone yell “frak”. Or even worse, a teenage character that refuses to curse at all. This panel will explore swear words in the genres. What purpose does swearing have within a society? What purpose does it serve in fiction, and how important, or not, are profanities to the narrative? When are invented curses more (or less) effective than real (contemporary or historical) examples, and why?
How Google Works
Capital Suite 13 (Level 3)
Have you ever wondered how Google ranks things or how Google knows what you are thinking before you do? This session will be a deep dive into the mechanics of how Google works. You’ll learn about the various factors that are assessed when ranking a page and what elements are important.
10am – 11am
Tai Chi
The Green (Level 0)
These tai chi taster sessions are suitable for beginners – come along and enjoy trying a mixture of tai chi activities. A nice gentle start to your day! You can visitwww.taichiinstructors.co.uk to find out more about tai chi generally, or to contact Fiona Anderson who will be running the sessions
11am – 12pm
Fermi Paradox Book Discussion
Capital Suite 14 (Level 3)
Panellists: Ian Whates, Pat Cadigan, David L Clements, Paul Cornell, Adam Roberts, Stephanie Saulter, Adrian Tchaikovsky
A discussion of the science and fiction elements in the stories in the Fermi Paradox anthology from the authors who wrote them.
12pm – 1pm
LEGO Doctor Who and Star Wars
Fan Activity Tent (Level 0)
We’ve got the LEGO and the instructions to build your favourite Doctor Who icons or Star Wars ornaments!
2pm – 2:30pm
Reading: Laura Lam
London Suite 1 (Level 0)
Nicholas Whyte, Charles Stross, Nigel Heffernan, David Nickle, Talis Kimberley, Ruth Coleman Taylor
Is there an Alternative? Increasingly it seems that, no matter which party is elected, they do the same things. Charlie Stross has suggested that no matter who is elected, the Ruling Party, an agglomeration of top level politicians across all parties, always has the controls. Is there any alternative to this? Is this a bad thing? And if it is, what can we do about it?
Closing Ceremony
Second Stage (Level 1)
You laughed, you sang, you might even have squeed along the way. Come on by and say so long and look back over fond memories created over the last five days.
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Win an SFF Goodie Bag! To fill the loss of LonCon 3 we have a bag of top SFF reads from August and September to giveaway. To enter the competition, share with us in the comments below the book that got you into SFF. And here is what you can win:
The post WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO SEE – DAY FIVE AT LONCON 3 AND SFF BOOK GIVEAWAY appeared first on Tor Books.
