Kubrick Collaborator Interrogated in front of a live audience

[Ian Whates]

Just a quick note to alert anyone with easy access to London that this Wednesday (the 26th), I shall be putting as many awkward questions as I can think of to author Ian Watson at the regular BSFA meeting (open to all).

For anyone not familiar with Ian's work, he's responsible for more than 40 books and some 250 published short stories.

He also spent a year working with legendary film producer Stanley Kubrick, producing the screen story for Kubrick's next intended project AI: Artificial Intelligence.

Following Kubrick's death, Steven Spielberg bought the screen story from Ian and produced the film accordingly.

As well as award-winning novels such as The Embedding, The Jonah Kit and The Whores of Babylon, Ian was also the first author to write novels in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and the now bannned Space Marines remains one of the most valuable and sought-after works in that canon.

For anyone who fancies a few beers while listening to one of the most fascinating and amusing people in British SF being interviewed, full details are here The BSFA > Home - August BSFA Monthly London Meeting - Ian Watson Interview

 

[Patrick Mahon]

Thanks, Ian - I'm sorry I couldn't make it, due to work commitments. How did the evening go?

One specific question - I'm very intrigued by the phrase "the now banned Space Marines" - who banned it, and why?!

 

[Ian Whates]

Thanks, Ian - I'm sorry I couldn't make it, due to work commitments. How did the evening go?

One specific question - I'm very intrigued by the phrase "the now banned Space Marines" - who banned it, and why?!

Ah, Patrick, if you'd been there last night you would have heard the answer...!

Okay, in a nut shell (and yes, perhaps 'banned' is a little overstating the situation), this was the very first book ever written to feature War Hammer's Space Marines, so Ian took some licence with the universe (after reading the voluminous encyclopedia of rules and ensuring he stayed within them as stated). For example, including a posterior-branding ceremony for new recruits. The Games Workshop people were none too impressed and asked for a number of 'controversial' scenes to be cut. However, at this point, the publishing company was taken over, and Ian conveniently forgot to mention the request for edits to the new owners, so the book was published as he'd written it.

Once this was realised, Games Workshop refused to reprint the book and have resisted all efforts to to have it reissued since, making Space Marines one of their most sought after titles -- in the infancy of ebay, a 2nd hand copy (and remember there has only ever been the one paperback edition) sold for some £130.00.

So yes, banned... by the book's publishers.