On Friday at 5:30, the line snaked through the Hyatt as eager fans waited for a chance to see Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley). From a coveted front row seat, Lauren Monroe said her two-hour wait was absolutely worth it. When all the chairs were full, the doors closed on disappointed faces, but the lucky crowd inside roared cheers of “Neville” and “twins.” At last, the long-awaited stars appeared.

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The Space Track is one of the highlights for science geeks like me. Tucked away in the Forsythe room of the Hilton, the programming is out of this world. Planetary scientist Dr. Kevin R. Grazier began a two-part presentation concerning the red planet on Friday at 2:30 with “The History of Mars.”

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While browsing the Dragon*Con group on LiveJournal, I came across a posting from Tablestar Games. Subsequently, I and my partner-in-crime, Claire Greiner, signed up for the beta testing of new tabletop game Wealth of Nations.

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Holly Black has published three young adult urban fantasy novels, Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside, which reached the New York Times bestseller list. She co-created the Spiderwick Chronicles series with Tony DiTerlizzi, which has been adapted into a movie by Paramount, to be released next year.

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In the Gwinnett room of the Hilton in the difficult 10:00AM Monday timeslot, Scott Westerfeld and a group of librarians discussed books that tackle the topic of Utopias and Dystopias.

Many of the audience members were huge fans of Westerfeld’s Uglies, Pretties, and Specials books—a series set in a future where gasoline-powered engines all exploded decades before, and the new culture requires that teenagers be surgically altered at age sixteen to make them all “pretty.” So strong was one attendee’s love of the books that when Westerfeld warned of spoilers in the third book (which she hadn’t finished reading), she left the room until the discussion finished.

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Why I love Dragon*Con: 67 beautiful women (and one man) onstage in costumes ranging from elaborate to barely existent where, as contestant Athena said, “Attitude is more important than the costume.”

Snapshot impressions of the costumes in the 10th Annual Dawn Look-ALike Contest include “Best Armor” winner Gayle Klar’s carbon dioxide powered wings that opened and flapped at the push of buttons, cleverly concealed in her palm; the Yaya Hahn-designed black feather wings of contest winner Ruby Rocket that floated and swirled in seeming defiance of gravity; a stunning multitude of snaps, velcro, and Goddess magic that allowed Aurora Celeste’s dress to tear away on stage to reveal the Goddess within; as well as Dawn brought to the world of Chinese opera by Jamila Sisco, the forest by Jennifer Ofunne, the speakeasies of Prohibition-era America by Sarah, and a Dawn of the Dead worthy of George Romero by Gayle Grant.

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