Down and Unsafe #3

Mini Review By Sarah Thompson

"Sanctuary" in #s 2 and 3 is one of my favorite Avon gen stories. Lovely suffering, especially in the second part. This story was recommended to me by a friend who claimed that she just didn't understand hc-- but then she said in passing, "You'll probably like this." How right she was!

Mary Moulden's "Changeling" series, beginning in #3, is the all- time strangest explanation for why the 4th-series Avon seemed a bit odd. He was really an Andromedan, you see, who had taken the place of the original Avon. A very different idea.

Review By Julia Jones

A5 digest zine, readable but not wonderful print quality. The print quality is better than in my copy of issue 2. This one's largely fiction and art/cartoons, but there's also a quiz, a few pages of poetry, and an interview with three of the actors.

Note that the longest story (48 of the 93 non-editorial pages) is part 2 of 2, so you'll need to have Volume 2 to fully enjoy around half the page count of this volume. I gather from the editorial that letters of complaint persuaded the editor to put novellas in their own stand-alone zine for future issues:-) This is the only story where you'll have to buy more than one volume of this zine series. It's well worth it.

The further adventures of Mary Sue - Helen Pitt

I think the author had just read one too many Mary Sue stories... Amusing look at how Avon and Vila might really react to a Mary Sue trying to involve herself with them.

The 4th season - the shows - Kathy Hanson

Cartoons reinterpreting some of the episodes. I particularly liked Dorian's creature getting sniffy about being expected to merge with a bunch of thieves and murderers:-)

Promises - Sheila Paulson

Brief look at Blake immediately after Star One, and why he's decided not to go back to the Liberator.

Sanctuary - Kathy Hanson (Part 2 in this issue, part 1 in issue 2.)

Excellent novella with the second series crew having to deal with a group of desperate people who are trying to hide their colony from the Federation - and who are determined to have Avon's help in protecting themselves, regardless of his opinion on the subject. This is a thoughtful story looking at both sides of the dilemma. Lovely characterisation, and the h/c fans will enjoy this one, especially part 2. The second part includes a half page summary of part 1, but I'd strongly recommend getting both parts together, as some of the impact is lost if you haven't read the first part.

The 4th season - behind the scenes - Kathy Hanson

Selection of cartoons about what Vere Lorrimer had to deal with as producer of series 4. Some nice giggles.

Intruder - Helen Pitt

Third season story in which Vile is woken up by mysterious noises on the flight deck. He very bravely goes to investigate, but finds nothing. The noise he makes wakes up the others, who are cruel to him. The last line of the story tells us what the noise actually is. Interesting idea, tedious and implausible in the execution.

The Scorpio interview - Stone/Hanson

Interview at the Scorpio 2 con, with Brian Croucher, Paul Darrow and Michael Keating. Lots of fun, some interesting titbits, and well worth reading.

Changeling - Mary Moulden

Very short, very well written, piece from the point of view of an Andromedan who survived the battle at Star One and ended up in a life capsule on a planet called Terminal, desperately looking for a local intelligent lifeform it can replace. I don't think you actually need any more explanation for Avon's series 4 behaviour than what we see happening to him on screen, but this is an excellent suggestion as to why his behaviour changed after Terminal. There are more stories in this series in later issues of Down and Out, and the Andromedan changeling is a very sympathetic character.

Contents

Editor/publisher: Kathy Hanson (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Date: [1985?]

Fiction:
Helen Pitt, "The Further Adventures of Mary Sue" (S3; A-V-ocf; humor)
Sheila Paulson, "Promises" (S3; B)
Kathy Hanson, "Sanctuary, Part Two" (S2; post-Voice; A-hc)
Helen Pitt, "Intruder" (S3; V)
Mary Moulden, "Changeling" (S4; Rescue; Changeling series #1; A-oc)

Nonfiction:
Kathy Hanson, "D & U Looks at the 4th Season, Part 1: The Shows" (cartoons)
Kathy Hanson, "D & U Looks at the 4th Season, Part 2: Behind the Scenes" (cartoons)
Kathy Hanson, "The Quiz"
Joanne Stone and Kathy Hanson, "The Scorpio Interview"
(interview with Brian Croucher, Paul Darrow, and Michael Keating, at Scorpio 2)
"Meet the Contributors"
Kathy Hanson, "Enditorial"

Poetry:
Denise Habel, "Reflections in Starlight"
Helen Pitt, "Trialogue"

Art:
Harvey Kong Tin front c. Liberator
p. 90 Liberator
p. 97 Liberator
Kathy Hanson p. 1 pursuit ship
p. 2 A,V,ocf; illo for "Further"
p. 6 ocf; illo for "Further"
pp. 7-12 "4th Season" cartoons
p. 13 B; illo for "Promises"
p. 17 A,ocs; illo for "Sanctuary"
p. 36 A, oc; illo for "Sanctuary"
p. 47 B; illo for "Sanctuary"
p. 57 B; illo for "Sanctuary"
p. 59 A; illo for "Sanctuary"
p. 65 A
pp. 67-72 "4th Season" cartoons
p. 73 V
p. 80 MK, PD, BC
p. 89 cartoons
p. 91 Zen
p. 92 Orac
p. 93 spiral galaxy
back c. V

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