Programme booklet octocon 2017

Programme Book FRI 18 - 22 SAT 10 - 22 SUN 10 -18

CODE OF CONDUCT

Rules of Octocon

These rules are in addition to the laws of Ireland, and the rules of the Camden Court Hotel.

Breaches of these rules may lead to the removal of your Octocon badge and banning from future Octocons.

Badges

Octocon is a membership-only event. All members must wear their membership badges at all times. A badge is valid only for the person to whom it was issued; badges may not be shared under any circumstances.

Octocon requires that any children 13 or older have a purchased membership for the convention.

Octocon also requires that children under the age of 12 be registered, and be in the company of a guardian.

We cannot take responsibility for minors.

General Rating of the Convention

All convention areas are open to members of all ages, with the exception of events or exhibits that are specifically noted to be inappropriate for minors and access to which is controlled.

Respect for Others

Octocon wants all of its members to enjoy themselves at its events. As such, we ask that you respect each other. All Octocon events should be a space where everyone feels welcomed and comfortable.

Discrimination is not tolerated. Harassment of any kind is not tolerated. If someone tells you “no” or asks you to leave them alone, your business with them is done.

If you feel that you are being discriminated against or harassed, or if you notice anyone behaving inappropriately (such as violating hotel or convention policies), we respectfully suggest the following: 1. If you feel comfortable doing so, point out the inappropriate behaviour to the person(s) involved. Often this will solve the problem immediately.

2. If you do not feel comfortable talking with the person(s) involved, or if talking to them does not resolve the issue, please report the situation immediately to any Octocon Committee Member, or Designated Staff.

Privacy, Photographs, and Recording Electronic Information Octocon event attendees and members should be aware that photography and video and/or audio recordings are frequently made by Octocon during events and that their likenesses may appear in those recordings. If you’d rather not be filmed or photographed, please let the recorder/photographer know at the time.

Personal Photography / Recordings:

Please be polite and ask before taking photographs or recordings of attendees and members whenever possible. Photography for personal archival use only is generally acceptable, unless individuals make it clear that they do not wish to be photographed, in which case taking any photographs of them is expressly forbidden.

Cosplay is not Consent.

In general, please request permission from a panellist before taking photographs.

Video and Audio recording of panels by members is not allowed.

Weapons

No actual weapon or any item that can be mistaken for one may be carried either openly or concealed at any time on properties being used for Octocon, regardless of any government permits which you may possess, unless it has been peace bonded by Registration.

Sales of Merchandise

The offering for sale of any merchandise at the convention may be undertaken only in designated spaces with permission from the convention.

Non-convention Guests/General Public:

Please remember that the convention is held in an area where we will come into contact with non-fans. Please try and be respectful of the hotel’s other guests and use common sense, especially in the public areas of the hotel.

The full Octocon code of conduct can be found here: http://2017.octocon.com/about-us/ code-of-conduct/

WORDS FROM THE CHAIR Thank you for coming along to be part of Octocon 2017. It has been a excellent experience working with the patient and talented people who are this years committee.

A few years ago, I was asked what would ‘my’ Octocon look like if I ever got to be chair and I said I would want Dan & Nik Abnett as my Guests of Honour, for there to be singing and to celebrate my love of all things Dune and this years committee didn’t stop me! Indeed they indulged, aided and abetted.

Thank you to them, our guests, Dan and Nik as our guests of honour, the Maker, our traders and sponsors, and the many diverse communities and fandoms who play a part in making each Octocon happen.

Hope you enjoy the weekend!

Many thanks to the Friends of Octocon, for the extra support they have given us.

Cheryl Harding * Gerard Cunningham * Miroslaw Baran * Marguerite Smith Nathalie Boisard-Beudin * S. C. Flynn * Claudia Oniboni * Arthur Green

OCTOCON 2017 COMMITTEE Janet O’Sullivan Pat Maher Joanna Schaffalitzky Catherine Sharp James Shields Cat Fionna O’Sullivan Kath O'Meara Raissa Perez Danielle James Brophy Pat Fanning Martin Hoare Seamus Butler

Convention Chair Operations Manager Treasurer Guest Liaison IT and Registration System Front Desk Coordinator Membership Secretary Dealers Room Manager Programme Director Programme Officer Design and Publications Golden Blasters Co-ordinator Technical Manager Volunteer Coordinator

DAN ABNETT G UE ST O F H O N O U R Dan Abnett is a seven-time New York Times bestselling author and an awardwinning comic book writer. He has written over fifty novels, including the acclaimed Gaunt’s Ghosts series, the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies, volumes of the million-selling Horus Heresy series. In these books he has helped bring the Warhammer 40,000 and 30,000 universes to life, creating characters who endure the grim dark future, drawing us in as they move through it, making us care about them, their comrades and the Empire of Man. Dan's other novels include The Silent Stars Go By (Doctor Who), Rocket Raccoon and Groot: Steal the Galaxy, The Avengers: Everybody Wants To Rule The World, The Wield, Triumff: Her Majesty’s Hero, and Embedded.

In comics, he is known for his work on The Legion of Super-Heroes, Hercules, Earth 2, Nova, Wild’s End, and The New Deadwardians.

His 2008 run on The Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel formed the

inspiration for the blockbuster movie.

A regular contributor to the UK’s longrunning 2000AD, Dan is the creator of many series including Brink in which humanity has had to leave Earth and try survive in orbital station, Lawless which is set in an outpost were the Marshall does her best to apply the law and see justice done when these two things can be in conflict, Kingdom where created dog warriors do their best to stay loyal to their masters, and the classic Sinister Dexter hitmen duo, as well writing some of the the best loved runs of Durham Red. He has also written extensively for the games industry, including Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Alien:Isolation.

His is currently the writer on Aquaman and The Titans for DC Comics, and has written a massive Aliens, Predator and Prometheus crossover called Life and Death for Dark Horse Comics.

Dan lives and works in the UK.

NIK VINCENT-ABNETT G UE ST OF H O N O U R Nik Vincent was born in the depths of winter in a tiny seaside village. She began working as a freelance editor, and has published work in a number of media, including advertising, training manuals, comics and short stories.

She has worked as a ghost writer, and regularly collaborates with her partner, Dan Abnett, in writing novels and in the games industry.

Their works include Fiefdom (based on Dan’s Kingdom series from 2000 AD), Square Enix’s Tomb Raider: The 10,000 Immortals (providing lore and setting for the recently rebooted Tomb Raider universe), and Black Library’s Gilead's Blood (a Warhammer novel).

Nik has also written short stories set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe with Gaunt’s Ghosts,

and it was attending Games Day which resulted in her love of writing serious shooty death-kill.

Nik’s first solo, independent novel, Savant, is available now. Savant looks at the relationship between an Active Tobe and his support worker Metoo and how they must save the Shield and the Earth.

Nik writes under the name of Vincent for tie-in fiction, uses Abnett for her own independent works, and blogs under Vincent-Abnett. She is currently working on the next novel in the Savant universe.

She lives and works in Maidstone, Kent, where she cooks and decorates, and shares her keen sense of style via her fashion blog, as well as her joyous feminist snark.

GUESTS

Edmond Barrett

Edmond Barrett, originally from the North-West of England (though he moved to Ireland before Brexit made it fashionable) is the author of the military science fiction series The Nameless War, and urban fantasy novella The Job Offer. A civil servant by profession as well as an amateur student of history, wargamer, avid reader and a devotee of low tech science fiction, Edmond has happily found a way to combined most of these together. He has spent the last several years working on a time travel novel and now tends to wince when he hears the word ‘causality’.

Michael Carroll

Michael Carroll is the author of Judge Dredd: Every Empire Falls (the #1 best-selling cult graphic novel on Amazon.co.uk) and loads of other comics, thirtyish books including the internationally acclaimed New Heroes series of young adult superhero novels, and the screenplay for the award-winning short film Judge Minty.

In the past he has dabbled in both horror and romance, as well as writing in those fields. He has won numerous awards for his fiction, though tragically he has, as yet, never won anything for writing his own convention bios. In fact, no one ever even mentions them.

Michael and his wife Leonia used to live in Dublin, Ireland, and they still do. They own the world’s largest collection of things that they don’t know where they are, but they swear they saw them around here just the other day

Diane Duane

We are deligted to have Diane Duane join us again for Octocon 2017, after being a Guest of Honour at Octocon 2016.

Diane Duane has been a science fiction and fantasy writer for nearly forty years. Her best known works include her long-running (since 1983) “Young Wizards” series — its tenth novel, Games Wizards Play, having been published in February of this year — and the nine bestselling Star Trek novels for which, among many other works, she was recently awarded the Grand Master / lifetime achievement award of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.

Her TV and film writing has included characters ranging from Jean-Luc Picard to Batman and from Siegfried the Volsung to Scooby-Doo. Her most recent such accomplishment is running Sean Bean around a postapocalyptic New York landscape in tight leather pants, in the SyFy miniseries The Lost Future. (She tried to leave Sean alive at the end, she really did...)

In her spare time Diane gardens, cooks, hangs out on Twitter and Tumblr, and studies astronomy, food history, and cat memes.

RB Kelly

RB Kelly’s first novel, The Edge of Heaven, was a winner of the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair Competition and was published in 2016. Her short fiction and non-fiction articles have appeared in magazines and journals around the world, and her short story Blumelena, was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2012. She is currently writing her second novel and developing a feature-length science fiction screenplay with a local production company

Ruth Francis Long

Ruth Frances Long writes dark young adult fantasy, often about scary fairies, such as The Treachery of Beautiful Things, A Crack in Everything, A Hollow in the Hills and A Darkness at the End. (O’Brien Press, 2016). As R. F. Long, she also writes fantasy and paranormal romance.

She lives in Wicklow and works in a specialized library of rare, unusual & occasionally crazy books. But they don’t talk to her that often.

In 2015 she won the European Science Fiction Society Spirit of Dedication Award for Best Author of Children’s Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Oisín McGann

Oisín McGann lives in Ireland and works full time as an author and illustrator. He has written and illustrated numerous books for young children, including the Mad Grandad series, the Forbidden Files series, and two short retellings of Irish legends, The Goblin of Tara and The Evil Eye. He has also produced eleven novels, including The Gods And Their Machines, The Harvest Tide Project, Small-Minded Giants, and The Wildenstern Saga.

His most recent novels are Rat-Runners and two books, War’s Harvest and Cruel Salvation, set in the

GUESTS

world of the MMO game Kings of the Realm.

Maura McHugh

Maura McHugh lives in Galway, and writes prose, comic books, poetry, plays, and non-fiction.

Her collections are Twisted Fairy Tales and Twisted Myths, and most recently she’s written a monograph on David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

Peter Morwood

Peter Morwood left pilot training in the RAF and a job in the UK civil service that he’s not allowed to talk about to become a full time SF and fantasy writer in 1986.

Beside The Book of Years, Clan Wars and Tales of Old Russia epic fantasy series (currently being re-released as new, revised ebook editions from Venture Press in the UK) he’s added screen work ranging from animated series like Gargoyles and Batman: The Animated Series to the award-winning SyFy miniseries Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King, which he co-wrote with Diane.

From their cottage in the wilds of County Wicklow, Peter consults extensively on modern militaria and medieval European weapons, and handles half the cooking and all the photography for his and Diane’s foodblogging website EuropeanCuisines.com. (“Food temperatures are easy, colour temperatures are hard.”)

C.E. Murphy

C.E. Murphy is the Alaskan-born, Ireland-dwelling author of some 25 books (The Walker Papers series, The Negotiator Trilogy, The Inheritor’s Cycle, The Strongbox Chronicles), comics (Take a Chance), and short stories. Catie is a crowdsourcing funding pioneer, having run a number of highly successful Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Patreon campaigns in recent years.

Peadar Ó Guilín

Peadar is the author of four YA novels, including The Call, which is a bit like a Harry Potter book where everybody dies. He has also published dozens of short-stories. You can find him at peadar.org, or on Twitter as @TheCallYA.

Nigel Quinlan

Nigel Quinlan is an Irish writer born in Limerick in 1970. He has worked in libraries and bookshops all over Ireland before washing up in the midlands village of Cloughjordan with his wife and his two children. He writes stories for local festivals and acts with the local drama group. His first novel, The Maloneys’ Magical Weatherbox is a middle grade fantasy based on a short story he wrote as a teenager while minding his parents’ petrol pumps.

Lynda E. Rucker

Lynda E. Rucker grew up in a house in the woods in the southeastern United States full of books, cats, and typewriters, so naturally she had little choice but to become a writer. She has sold more than three dozen short stories to various magazines and anthologies including F&SF, Nightmare Magazine, The Year’s Best Horror, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, The Year’s Best Horror and Dark Fantasy, Supernatural Tales, and Postscripts among others and has had a short play produced as part of an anthology of horror plays on London’s West End. Lynda won the 2015 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Short Story, collaborated on a short comic that appears in the horror anthology Outside, and is a regular columnist for UK horror magazine Black Static. Her first collection, The Moon Will Look Strange, was released in 2013 from Karoshi Books and her second, You’ll Know When You Get There, was published by Swan River Press in 2016.

Dave Rudden

Dave Rudden has worked in the Dublin theatre, spoken word and storytelling scene since 2010.

He has won the Fantasy Book Review Short Story Prize in 2013 and was short-listed for both the Hennessey New Writing Award and the Bath Short Story Prize.

Dave is the author of the award-winning trilogy for teenagers, KNIGHTS OF THE BORROWED DARK. He enjoys cats, theatre and being cruel to fictional children.

GUESTS

Paul Anthony Shortt

Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.

Paul’s work includes the Memory Wars Trilogy and the Lady Raven Series. His short fiction has appeared in the Amazon #1 bestselling anthology, Sojourn Volume 2.

Russell A Smith

Author. Adventurer. Gamer.

Russell has enjoyed an eclectic career so far, including time as an editor, a historical live interpreter and occasional, time traveller. He is also a guest presenter on the Brave New Words podcast. Russell is generally London-based, much like most of his Grenshall Manor Chronicles urban fantasy series.

Dr Allen Stroud

Allen Stroud is a university lecturer and Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer from Bedfordshire, England. He worked on the computer game Elite: Dangerous with David Braben and Frontier Developments as both a concept writer and official author, publishing Elite: Lave Revolution in 2014.

In 2017, he won a short story competition to appear in the Clarke Award anthology with Clarke Award winners and nominees that will be published in December to commemorate one hundred years since Arthur C. Clarke’s birth. In 2016, Allen published Dreams of Chaos and Chaos Reborn: The Loremaster’s Guide.

Allen’s new book is The Forever Man, to be launched at Fantasycon in October 2017. He writes reviews for The British Fantasy Society, SFBook.com and Concatenation.org and is the editor of the British Fantasy Society Journal. His is the Chair of Fantasycon for 2017 and 2018. http://www.allenstroud.com/ Twitter: @AllenJStroud

John Vaughan

John Vaughan is an award-winning screenwriter and film maker, and a devotee of genre cinema. He will watch anything once (and if its bad enough he'll make sure everyone else watches it once too!).

John wrote and directed Victory, an alien invasion drama pilot which aired on RTE’s Storyland website in Spring 2012. He founded the Golden Blaster Awards (entering its seventh year and continuing to grow), dedicated to the art of the short film in the genres of sci fi, horror and fantasy.

Anthea West

Anthea West is a freelance sequential artist and cartoonist living in Dublin, Ireland. Having always loved to tell stories, both verbally and in a written/drawn medium, she also loves to share those stories. Being able to make someone laugh or captivate them with the twist and turns of a good laid out story has always been quite satisfying. Anthea has been making comics since 2009 like her self-published graphic novel The Earthbound God, which was awarded a spot in the Irish Comic News Hall of Fame. Anthea also has a bachelor degree in Animation and an ongoing webcomic, Fate. She also frequently sells at conventions and comic events all over Ireland.

Anthea loves cats, dogs and finds writing in the third person odd. dustbunny-studios.com

Frank Whelan

Writer of the Diary of the Wolf series (Diary of the Wolf, A Tale of Hunters and Shadows in the Dark currently available in the wild.) When not writing about Dublin werewolves, Frank has been known to lurk in the realms of journalism, game development and wannabe rock star.

Currently finishing off his third full-length novel, a tale of fairies, foxes and the Irish banking crisis.

Jo Zebedee

in July 2017.

Jo writes sf and fantasy, either in her space opera world of Abendau or on the streets of her native Northern Ireland. Her fifth book, Waters and the Wild, a fairy-fuelled road trip through the Antrim glens was published

Attending membership £70 (early bird rate till 30 November 2017). Join online at www. follycon.org.uk or by cheque (payable to Eastercon 2018) to Follycon, 19 Uphall Road, Cambridge, CB1 3HX

The 2018 Eastercon, 30 March to 2 April 2018 www.follycon.org.uk

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This year Octocon is yet again proud to host the Irish Science Fiction Film Awards - now in it's 8th year!

The festival has taken submissions from all over the world for the short film and script competitions.

The Golden Blaster for Best Script is judged in the run-up to the big night, and the award is presented along with the two film categories.

The Golden Blaster for Best Film is deliberated on by our panel of experts, who will be watching the films for the first time alongside our audience.

The Silver Blaster Audience Award is voted for by the attendees. Come along and help decide which of these excellent nominations wins!

The final awards are presented at the Octocon Closing Ceremony, so make sure you're there to congratulate the winners, or follow along on social media as the results are announced: @GoldenBlasters facebook.com/goldenblasters

THIS YEAR'S NOMINEES ARE...

FILMS Einstein-Rosen

Dead Air

by Olga Osorio

Directed By Emmet O Brien Written by Niall Duggan

Amercon

After We Have Left Our Homes

by Michael Wright

The Onlookers

by Marc Adamson

by Jason Albury

They're Made Out Of Meat

BIOMASS

by Tim Mcgill

by James Seyer

Eddie

By John Lynch

SCRIPTS My Stardust

by J.J. Hillard

Sredni Vashtar

by Patrick Cormack

Dakota Caves - 2 Miles

by Robert J. Rogers

Zombie Corp

by Montgomery Burt

Costume Drama

by Marion McDowell

Madam Caraveil's Caravan of Curiosities

by Amanda Keener

Balance

by Ryan Hayes

Case #5367B

by Robert Keane

Ray in Space

by John Celona

Fear Factory

by Sarah Polhaus

FutureHealth

by Sarah Polhaus

The Den

by Dwayne Douglas

PROGRAMME ITEMS A Good War Story

Some war stories are born of sport and camaraderie and the myth of a good fight, some are born of painful experience.

John Vaughan, Edmond Barrett, Diane Duane, Kris Taylor (M)

Adventure House

Check out Octocon's own Adventure house and see if you can solve the puzzles while trying to beat the clock.

Seamus Butler

Author Readings

Octocon guest authors read from their new, favourite, and even unpublished works.

Russell A Smith, Dave Rudden, CE Murphy, Lynda E Rucker , Gerald M Kilby, Catherine Sharp (M)

Beasts and Bad Boys

Why are fictional heroines so often attracted to the beasts and bad boys? Does this reflect reality, or is it wish fulfillment? And is there anything wrong with wanting to go to the dark side?

RB Kelly, Paul Anthony Shortt, Melanie Boylan, CE Murphy, Ruth Frances Long (M)

Beyond the Hellmouth

What makes a convincing fictional hell? Is it the uptempo singing or dancing or must it be personal and bespoke? Should moral relivitism define your eternity and isn't it possible to get used to anything eventually?

Lynda E Rucker, Peadar Ó Guilín, Dr Allen Stroud, Dr Liz Bourke, Fionnuala Murphy (M)

Book Launch: Out of Era by Edmond Barrett

The writer of the best selling Nameless War Trilogy, Edmond Barrett, brings us his new time travel tale <em>Out of Era</em>. Launching exclusively at Octocon 2017!

Edmond Barrett, John Vaughan (M)

Civilizations in Decline

The numbers are dwindling, the magic is failing, the prophesized has come to pass.The Kryptonians have launched their last son, the elves are going into the west, the Andals have left their monuments, and in Morrowind one last dwarf is hanging about. What do civilizations in decline tell us about ourselves?

Oisín McGann, Peadar Ó Guilín, Dr Allen Stroud, S.C. Flynn, Virginia Preston (M)

Closing Ceremony

And how can this be? For it is the convention end! It's time to say goodbye to Octocon for another year...

But don't despair, you can sign up for 2018 straight away!

Janet O'Sullivan, Dan Abnett, Nik Vincent-Abnett

Cosplay 101 and Skills Share

Are you interested in Cosplay but never knew where to start? If so this is the talk for you. We'll be going

through all the basics.

Tendai Muzwizwa

Cryptozoology vs Xenobiology

Monsters vs Aliens! Which are your favourite and least liked monsters and aliens? Why and how do they work (if they do)? Which genre has the best creatures?

Frank E Whelan, Dr Allen Stroud, Gerry McEvoy, Jo Zebedee, James Shields (M)

David Lynch Panel

Arrakis, Damn fine desert and hot. Whether you love him or you're deeply confused by him, the creator of Dune, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway and many more weird tales is the topic of this hour. erad uoy fi su nioJ Maura McHugh, RB Kelly, Lynda E Rucker, Phil Dyson (M)

Deadlines Will Keep Us Together: Couples Who Collaborate

The things that bring us together are manifold: romance, common interests, that deadline whooshing in fast. When your other half is also your creative collaborator, how is your work enhanced by the fusion of your imaginations?

Dan Abnett, Diane Duane, Peter Morwood, Nik Vincent-Abnett, Paul Anthony Shortt (M)

Fan Chat: 20 Years of Harry Potter

It's been 20 years since Harry Potter and the Philisopher's stone was published. Join us as we reminisce our favourite moments from the books and movies.

Sakura Perez

Fan Chat: Cartoon Network

The Powerpuff Girls, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, OK K.O.!, Ben 10, and more, show that Cartoon Network are leading the way for animation in this new Golden Age. Let's have chats about what we love, what we're looking forward to, and most importantly: FEEELS Anthea West, Daniella Bella (M)

Fan Chat: Diane Duane and Peter Morwood

Your chance to chat with the multi-talented authors and TV/film writers, Diane Duane and Peter Morwood. Bring along a drink! Limited places available.

Diane Duane, Peter Morwood

Fan Chat: Doctor Who

As Peter Capaldi prepares to bow out as The Doctor and Jodie Whittaker steps into his shoes, fans of the long-running series get together to celebrate their love of the Time Lord's adventures!

Fan Chat: Nigel Quinlan and Oisin McGann

Your chance to chat with Irish children's/YA authors Nigel Quinlan and Oisin McGann. Bring along a drink of your choice! Limited places available.

Nigel Quinlan, Oisín McGann

PROGRAMME ITEMS Fan Chat: Peadar Ó Guilín

Your chance to chat with Irish YA author Peadar Ó Guilín. Bring along a drink, maybe some cake (as long as it's vegan). Limited places available.

Peadar Ó Guilín

Fan Chat: Rick and Morty [16+] I am in great pain. Please help me.

Jack

Fan Chat: Ruth Frances Long and Dave Rudden Your chance to chat with Irish YA authors, Ruth Frances Long and Dave Rudden. Bring along a drink, maybe some cake! Limited places available.

Ruth Frances Long, Dave Rudden

Fan Chat: Star Wars

For 40 years Star Wars has been an enduring favourite among fans. Come and join in an open chat on what you love and hate about it. Has Disney been a positive influence? Are we looking forward to The Last Jedi? Are we happy with JJ Abrams or should George Lucas direct Episode IX?

Further, Faster: To the Stars

We may already be warping space. Ion-drives are a reality. We're planning to send sensors to another solar system using lasers. Space has never been more accessible, so let's go!

Edmond Barrett, Dr Allen Stroud, Jo Zebedee, Lynn Moran, Phil Dyson (M)

Future Conventions

After such a good time at Octocon, where will you be able to get your next conventon fix? Upcoming conventions in Ireland and beyond.

Carol Connolly

Future Fashions

Running gear laced with bacteria that opens vents as you sweat, Tattoos that tell you your insulin levels, Make up to evade facial recognition, Pockets. In. EVERYTHING! Wild futures are arriving soon. Find out what you will be wearing and how much it will know about you.

Nik Vincent-Abnett, Cheryl Harding, Gerry McEvoy, Nigel Quinlan (M)

Golden Blasters

The Golden Blasters (The National Irish Science Fiction Film Awards) is a film festival dedicated to short science fiction, fantasy and horror stories. We aim to bring the best speculative fiction around and expose more people to the wonderful art of the short film.

Come see and vote on this year's entries!

John Vaughan

tles often reflect the problems of the time the show or film was created. What sort of heroes are we going to need now and in the near future, and what battles will they be fighting?

Diane Duane, Paul Anthony Shortt, Russell A Smith, Frank E Whelan, Carol Connolly (M)

Horror In Contrast

Fear. Isolation. Goosebumps. Anxiety. How does a comic book frighten you without jump scares? How does a game disturb you when you're in control?

How can a book scare you with just words? Our panelists delve into the psychological tricks which do and do not translate between horror media.

RB Kelly, Frank E Whelan, Lynda E Rucker, Paul Anthony Shortt, James Brophy (M)

How Far We'll Go

Can humanity really spread itself across the stars?

Should it? What might drive us on - and what might stop us? Which fictional representations best reflect what you think might be the reality?

Jo Zebedee, Peter Morwood, Dr Edmund Schluessel, Gerald M Kilby, Catherine Sharp (M)

How To Run Your Own Adventure House

Have you ever wanted to run your own Adventure house? Come join us as we tell you how to set up and run a puzzle adventure for kids, and talk about the challenges it presents and how to overcome them.

Seamus Butler, Mairt Hanley

Ice Breaker

Get to know your fellow con members with fun and games! An interactive panel for newbies and oldies alike!

Cat (M)

Irish Mythology Told and Retold Around the World

Stories travel with us. Dragon Age and The Wicked & Divine both reference The Morrigan as a major character. The headless horseman of America was originally the gender neutral Dullahan, which became the headless sexy motorcylist, Celty in Durarara!!. Come and find out the strange twists that irish legends have taken after emmigrating from our shores.

Ruth Frances Long, Oisín McGann, Nigel Quinlan, Deirdre Thornton, Sakura Perez (M)

John and James' Sunday Service

Dan Abnett, Nik Vincent-Abnett, Janet O'Sullivan (M)

It's Sunday, and we're all still recovering from the delights and horrors of Saturday night. John Vaughn has seen so many bad films this year they won't fit into the vault and he needs to share his pain, while James Brophy can't wait to enthuse about all the television he's enjoyed.

John Vaughan, James Brophy

Heroes For Our Times

LARP: Dune - Point of Balance

Guests of Honour Interview

Every generation grows up with heroes - Wonder Woman, RoboCop, Buffy, Harry Potter - whose bat-

"Arrakis. Dune. Eighty years ago, it was considered the poorest Fief in the galaxy. Many laughed when

PROGRAMME ITEMS House Harkonnen was forced to take control of the desolate world. Then the secret of the spice melange, hidden for so many centuries, was revealed to the public, and the galaxy changed forever…"

Dav Waldron, written by Gar Ryder-Hanrahan

Learn to Draw Monsters with Anthea West

Anthea West returns to Octocon with her popular drawing workshop.

Learn how to create your very own monster!

Sign-up required. Paper and pens provided, or bring your own.

Anthea West

LEGO® Workshop

We've got LEGO! Come and build a science fiction inspired model - the only limit is your imagination!

Aimed at younger attendees, but kids of any size are welcome. LEGO® is a registered trademark of the LEGO Group, who do not authorise, sponsor or endorse this event.

James Shields

Michael Carroll's Secret Panel

We do not know its contents. We do know its quality. Michael Carroll returns with another of his secret panels. We seriously have no idea what this is about but based on past experience you won't want to miss it.

Michael Carroll

Octocon's Monster Ball

Celebrate sucessfully navigating over half of this year's Octocon by getting down on the dance floor.

Octocon's Next Top Monster

Come Romp and Roar through our cardboard city!

Show us what you've got and strut your most monstrous self. Points will be awarded for Style, Name, Costume and Performance.

Opening Ceremony

A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then that it is the year 2017. The known universe is ruled over

by Janet O'Sullivan, the Chair. The convention is the National Irish Science Fiction Convention, also known as Dune... Sorry, Octocon!

Dan Abnett, Nik Vincent-Abnett, Janet O'Sullivan

Our House is Your House

What are fan funds, what happens when you win a delegation, and can you remember anything that happened while you were on your trip? Past delegates plus this year's NoFF delegate talk about their experiences and why you should support the funds.

James Shields, James Bacon, Fia Karlsson, Tobes Valois, Fionna O'Sullivan (M)

Photoshoot

Octocon is delighted to once more offer a Photoshoot, with a free 6x8 glossy print included with weekend or day membership. (Extra prints can be purchased.) This year our photoshoot is sponsored

by Image Creation Supplies.

Physics of Single Biome Worlds

How would native life be supported on Arrakis? What is the orbit of Hoth like to have a breathable atmosphere and permanent snow cover? Find out how a world built of a single climate might make more sense then you think.

C E Murphy, Lynn Moran, Gerry McEvoy, James Shields (M)

Plug In to Fear

The writers of games such as Shadow of Mordor and Alien: Isolation join a discussion about the fears that games are uniquely able to instill in their players: the fear of the unknown and the fear of those who know you only too well and want revenge.

Nik Vincent-Abnett, Frank E Whelan, Dan Abnett, Maura McHugh, Esther MacCallum-Stewart (M)

Psychics, Psykers, and Bene Gesserit

Think of a number. How are those with psychic powers treated in fiction? Are the powers and their practitioners a boon or a bane to stories and their storytellers? From Counsellor Troi's tense viewscreen negotiations to Matilda feeding herself with cereal and Eleven busting out of another world, the landscape of the mind continues to provide rich plot opportunities and character moments. (The number was 7. How did we know? OooOO!) Dan Abnett, Nik Vincent-Abnett, Dave Rudden, Gerry McEvoy, Janet O'Sullivan (M)

Russell's RPG

Russell had one of those dangerous conversations with his friends. The ones which end up leaving silly ideas that kind of have to happen. Well, this time, it's a tabletop RPG set in the...well, here's the thing the conversation was about. The John Wick universe happens to work perfectly well with the universe of The Transporter. And probably Taken, The Raid, District 13, or most of those other action movies you've seen. So the game is going to be an action adventure, knowing that much at least. Up to five players welcome!

Russell A Smith (M)

Shapes of Family & Relationships In Genre

What would be the shape of a "traditional" family off the surface of this planet? How do relationships work on a spaceship or during early planetary colonisation? What would be the economic incentives shaping family life in space? From Heinlein’s line marriages, the alien / human sexual partnership in "A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet", multi-parent families in for example The Expanse, how have these questions been explored and how have the ideas stood the test of time.

C E Murphy, Paul Anthony Shortt, Russell A Smith, Dr Liz Bourke, Fionna O'Sullivan (M)

PROGRAMME ITEMS Steven Universe Sing-A-Long at Octocon

Come sing along with your fellow Steven Universe fans at Octocon this October! We'll listen to your favourite chart-topping hits from the series, talk about the show, and have fun! Sing loudly! Sing badly! Sing quietly! Mouth the words! Bring instruments if you like! Let's do this!

Daniella Bella (M)

The Art of Shipping (Free Shipping With Every Order Of The Phoenix) [18+]

From characters on tv shows to countries to fast food restaurants to Kirk and Spock, everything seems to have ships now a days. Why are fangirls / is everyone obsessed with shipping?

C E Murphy, Diane Duane, Dr Liz Bourke, Wendy C Fries, Sakura Perez (M)

The Audience/Creator Relationship in Comics

The high exposure of the relatively small number of people who produce a comic book can lead to very personal relationships with readers, online and at cons. How does this unique relationship affect the output of creators?

Michael Carroll, Dan Abnett, Anthea West, Daniella Bella (M)

The Legalities and Ethics of Colonizing Mars

Mars is not our back up planet. It's going to be a tough life for those who go; if it can ever be terraformed. When all of our nations are forbidden from taking ownership, does this leave it to the private sector to reap the benefits of colonisation?

Edmond Barrett, C E Murphy, Gerald M Kilby, Carol Connolly, Tendai Muzwizwa (M)

The Octocon Book Club

At the inaugural Octocon Book Club, we will be discussing "Wild Seed" by Octavia Butler. Come along and let us know what you thought of it!

Fionna O'Sullivan (M)

The Proofing of Armour

Following on from last year's Anatomy of a Sword, Octocon brings back its experts on personal warfare both medieval and beyond to tell us about armour from tactical and cultural perspectives.

Peter Morwood, Neil Byrne, Russell A Smith, Suzy Cantrell, Nigel Quinlan (M)

The Robot Will See You Now

With diagnosis being less important than palliative care and maintenance for an aging population, will we eventually become prisoners of our A.I. robot carers?

Cheryl Harding, Oisín McGann, Carol Connolly, Julian West, Gerry McEvoy (M)

The Vault of Horror

Beware, the Vault is back! Be prepared as John Vaughan presents a carefully curated selection of hor-

rifyingly bad films. No genre is spared - and neither is the audience - from the moans and groans which can be heard when the Vault opens.

John Vaughan

Who Guards the Galaxy?

Tasked with bringing back the Guardians of the Galaxy comic, Dan Abnett was given a choice of a massive array of Marvel comics characters to choose from. We find out how and why he selected the final team of Guardians who would go on to become the A-holes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Dan Abnett, Michael Carroll (M)

Writes of Passage: Fear in Young Adult Fiction

Do readers of the Young Adult genre demand more frightening material to prepare them for a world they don't yet know or are they just chasing the next comfortably uncomfortable tickle in their brain. Join us as we discover why scary and disturbing topics are important in YA. Peadar Ó Guilín, Dee Sullivan, Claire Hennessy, Ruth Frances Long, Fionnuala Murphy (M)

Writing for 2000AD

Octocon is pleased to present two leading 2000 AD writers in conversation on their time in The Mighty Tharg's tender loving grasp. From Judge Dredd to Sinister Dexter, we've got you covered for all the inside gossip. Free Space Spinner With Purchase!

Michael Carroll, Dan Abnett, Janet O'Sullivan (M)

Writing Workshop with Dave Rudden

Award-winning YA author Dave Rudden presents a workshop on writing and editing for ages and all ability levels from 8yrs to adult.

Sign-up required. Paper and pens provided, or bring your own.

Dave Rudden

You Don't Scare Me Anymore

The Ring novels end up as science fiction, Pan's Labyrinth becomes a children's fantasy, the Alien franchise become action movies.How much explanation is too much for horror? Does knowing the reason for the circumstances lessen the impact?

Maura McHugh, Frank E Whelan, Lynda E Rucker, Paul Anthony Shortt (M)

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MAP OF LOCAL RESTAURANTS Burritos and Blues

There are a lot of burrito places in Dublin, and each has their best points. Come here for the excellent quesadillas and pico de gallo http://www.burritos.ie/

Bunsen Burgers

Tiny unassuming burger place that takes great pride in the quality of their burgers. http://www.bunsen.ie/

Against the Grain

Good bar food, great craft beer, and a very decent selection of whisky. http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com

Bobos

Fun neighbourhood diner-style burger place, with a traditional Irish breakfast menu (everything, plus black pudding) http://www.bobos.ie/

Sova Vegan Butcher

Described as the only fancy-pants vegan restaurant in Dublin, Sova focuses on providing a satifying eating experience in a fully vegan environment. Try the steak! V @SovaVeganButcher

McGuinness Traditional Takeaway

The only chipper in Dublin with a dedicated vegan menu! V

Neon neon17.ie

The only thing that could improve this asian street food experience with quick service and rich tasty food would be self-service ice cream.

Helpfull, they have just that! http://www.neon17.ie/

Green 19

Green 19 is the perfect place for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The food is delicious and varied, from a full Irish in the morning to lavender glazed duck in the evening. Opening hours are 12 to 4, and 5 to 10pm. http://green19.ie/

V Deliberately vegan!

The Cake Café

Tucked away behind the Daintree paper shop on Camden Street. A hidden treasure of a café.

This is definitely the place for an afternoon treat. Open on Saturday 9am - 6 pm. http://www.thecakecafe.ie/

Camden Rotisserie

Specialising in Rotisserie chicken freshly cooked, but with a fine selection of ways to serve it and some excellent side dishes. http://camdenrotisserie.ie/

Tolteca

The best carnitas (marinaded pork) in town.

Round off your meal with a Jarritos mexican soda.

Zaytoon

The classic favourite eat-in (or takeaway) kebab restaurant, freshly made, tasty and filling. http://zaytoon.ie/

Brother Hubbard South

A place for tasty brunch and fabulous lunch.

The menu here has everything from Turkish eggs to Atlantic salmon, not to mention the Baklava French Toast. Opening hours on the weekend are 10am to 5pm. http://brotherhubbard.ie/

The Bernard Shaw

This pub is an ever-changing epicentre of food options, as well as one of the hippest bars in Dublin serving craft beer, cocktails and hosting live DJ sets.

Eatyard: Home to many of the most innovative street food stalls in Dublin, Eatyard is a constantly changing destination featuring upwards of ten outlets running a gamut of cuisines. From burgers to chicken wings, south American grill and Indian dishes, whether you're a committed carnivore, vegetarian or vegan you're sure to find something exciting here. V Coffee To Get Her: Separately, for one of the best lunch cafés in Dublin, pop into the Shaw on Friday or Saturday from 8am-4pm where the space is taken over by the family run Coffee To Get Her. Come here for all your proper home cooked Italian food. The arrosticini are a must.

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Tivoli-Yeats

Portobello Committee Room

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Map of the Convention Areas

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