Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #18 September 2015 | Page 29

More information about Ilves’s very interesting research can be found on her website here: http://
bit.ly/1NousNe
I had my own program items to perform, a talk
about dark fiction and a panel on comics, and the rest
of the Con program was so compelling that it was hard
to fit in time to relax, eat, and explore. But explore we
did. To see the old churches, the parliament and the
many old houses of the island. There were some planning crimes, allowing office blocks to be built in the
gardens of the pretty wooden buildings, but the island
is sleepily pretty.
Marihamn is an outdoor pursuit sort of place,
offering sports fishing, hunting, hiking, and boating,
but we had no time to explore these activities. We did
spend some pleasant time in the sun overlooking the
marina though.
We were leaving early Monday morning so
attended the lighter programming on Sunday, which
was still much better than Sundays at many UK Cons,
and the dead dog party before packing the many books
we’d bought into the suitcases and walking back to the
ferry port. Monday was a day of planes, trains, ferries,
and automobiles to eventually return to the UK. Tired
but very happy.
Archipelacon was extremely well-organised,
full of fun and interesting programming, and with
around 800 fans, a very good place to visit. Not bad
considering the organisers say it started as a drunken
conversation in a bar.
Aland was intriguing, and I’d like to return one
day to explore it more fully. A weekend only whetted
the appetite. Archipelacon was a one-off seemingly,
although if they did organise a second, I’d be back in a
shot. But don’t just take my word for it, have a look at
all these glowing Con reports: http://bit.ly/1Mj2rIi
Some photographs:

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