Picocon returns to Imperial College
Annual Science Fiction convention celebrates 2012 with apocalypse theme
The Science Fiction, Fantasy and Gothic Horror Society is preparing for its annual convention, Picocon, due to take place on Saturday 18 February at the Imperial College Union. Picocon has gone from strength to strength since it started in 1984 and this year’s event has all the makings of being one the best ones yet.
Given the theories relating to the end of the world in 2012 the theme this time is “Apocalypses”. Upon arrival guests will be sorted into three teams, each based on a different type of apocalypse – nuclear, zombies, and giant Elder God tentacles from the sky. A scavenger hunt for items such as “a non-euclidean triangle” and “happiness of greater than or equal to 0.1M concentration” will allow people to earn points for their team.
Other planned activities include a quiz, silly games, and the ‘Destruction of Dodgy Merchandise’. The latter is a long held tradition Picocon and often involves liquid nitrogen and large sledgehammers. Guests are encouraged to bring their own contributions to destroyed. In addition, there will be stalls selling books and official Picocon T-shirt as well as all day LAN gaming featuring Unreal Tournament 2003 and the theme-appropriate DEFCON, produced by Introversion – a company set up by former Imperial students.
The Destruction of Dodgy Merchandise
The highlight of the day looks set to be the three guests of honour, who will be giving individual talks as well as participating in a group panel. Adrian Tchaikovsky is a fantasy author well liked for his long running Shadows of the Apt series, set in a world populated by races of people having the characteristics of different insects. Justina Robson is the author of the Quantum Gravity series and the highly acclaimed Natural History, which explores the conflict between normal and genetically engineered humans in the far future. The Guardian has called her “one of the very best of the new British hard SF writers”. Tricia Sullivan writes mainly science fiction, with a fantasy trilogy written under the pseudonym of Valery Leith. Her novel Dreaming in Smoke won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke award – often considered as the science fiction equivalent of the Booker Prize.
All are welcome to attend with entry £8 for students, £5 for society members and £10 for others. Doors open at 10am for what promises to be an exciting day, and not just for fans of fantasy and science fiction. More information can be found at www.icsf.org/picocon.
