SFBC 1997 (Third Quarter)
James Nicoll
Contents for anthologies and omnibuses from the Locus Index
to Science Fiction www.locusmag.com/index/
JULY
FREEDOM'S CHOICE by Anne McCaffrey
I missed this.
INTERESTING TIMES by Terry Pratchett
Although this is a Rincewind book and I generally hate Rincewind
books, I liked this. In this we learn what happened to the tourist from
the first Diskworld book after we went home to his quasi-China [1]-like home-
land.
1: There is almost certainly a word I want here that means a fictional
nation emulating the stereotypical elements of a real world one. A Texas
where everyone owns a gun, a pickup and an open container of raw alcohol,
a BC where corrupt politicians fumble the ball amid a miasma of pot smoke,
or a Trinidad populated entirely by irresistable sirens.
NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman
I know I read this but nothing stuck.
DISTRESS by Greg Egan (Alternate)
A Theory of Everything turns out to have unexpected side-effects
in the theorists.
I need to reread this. It's pre-Terranesia, so quite readable.
FRAMESHIFT by Robert J. Sawyer (Alternate)
I didn't read this.
THE DARK SHORE by Adam Lee (Alternate)
Or this.
THE EMPTY CROWN [3-in-1 of THE SWORD OF MAIDEN'S TEARS, THE CUP OF
MORNING SHADOWS and THE CLOAK OF NIGHT AND DAGGERS] by Rosemary
Edghill
Or any of these, although I have read books by Edghill I liked.
AUGUST
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourteenth Annual Collection ed.
Gardner Dozois
+ ix o Summation: 1996 o Gardner Dozois o ar
+ 1 o Immersion o Gregory Benford o na Science Fiction Age Mar
'96
+ 47 o The Dead o Michael Swanwick o ss Starlight 1, ed.
Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Tor, 1996
+ 56 o The Flowers of Aulit Prison o Nancy Kress o nv Asimov's
Oct/Nov '96
+ 82 o A Dry, Quiet War o Tony Daniel o nv Asimov's Jun '96
+ 99 o Thirteen Phantasms o James P. Blaylock o ss Omni Online
Oct '96
+ 109 o Primrose and Thorn [Primrose] o Bud Sparhawk o na
Analog May '96
+ 142 o The Miracle of Ivar Avenue [Hollywood] o John Kessel o
nv Intersections, ed. John Kessel, Mark L. Van Name & Richard
Butner, Tor, 1996
+ 167 o The Last Homosexual o Paul Park o ss Asimov's Jun '96
+ 178 o Recording Angel o Ian McDonald o ss Interzone Feb '96
+ 188 o Death Do Us Part o Robert Silverberg o nv Omni Online
Dec '96
+ 203 o The Spade of Reason o Jim Cowan o ss Century #4 '96
+ 218 o The Cost to Be Wise o Maureen F. McHugh o na Starlight
1, ed. Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Tor, 1996
+ 254 o Bicycle Repairman [Chattanooga] o Bruce Sterling o nv
Intersections, ed. John Kessel, Mark L. Van Name & Richard
Butner, Tor, 1996
+ 279 o The Weighing of Ayre o Gregory Feeley o nv Starlight 1,
ed. Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Tor, 1996
+ 311 o The Longer Voyage o Michael Cassutt o nv F&SF Jul '96
+ 330 o The Land of Nod [Koriba (Kirinyaga)] o Mike Resnick o
nv Asimov's Jun '96
+ 350 o Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland o Gwyneth Jones o
ss Off-Limits, ed. Ellen Datlow, St. Martin's, 1996
+ 362 o The Lady Vanishes o Charles Sheffield o ss Science
Fiction Age Nov '96
+ 373 o Chrysalis o Robert Reed o na Asimov's Sep '96
+ 407 o The Wind Over the World o Steven Utley o nv Asimov's
Oct/Nov '96
+ 430 o Changes o William Barton o ss Aboriginal SF Sum '96
+ 445 o Counting Cats in Zanzibar o Gene Wolfe o ss Asimov's
Aug '96
+ 457 o How We Got in Town and out Again o Jonathan Lethem o nv
Asimov's Sep '96
+ 475 o Dr. Tilmann's Consultant: A Scientific Romance o Cherry
Wilder o nv Omni Online Nov '96
+ 492 o Schrödinger's Dog o Damien Broderick o nv Eidolon Spr
'96
+ 518 o Foreign Devils o Walter Jon Williams o nv Asimov's Jan
'96
+ 535 o In the MSOB o Stephen Baxter o ss Interzone Mar '96
+ 539 o The Robot's Twilight Companion o Tony Daniel o na
Asimov's Aug '96
+ 590 o Honorable Mentions: 1996 o Misc. Material o bi
More examples of how out of touch I am with modern short SF. The
WJW is good, I recall.
I read last year's entry into this series and was quite impressed.
EXPENDABLE by James Alan Gardner
Thanks to apparently benevolent aliens, humans have spread to the
stars. The aliens have very strict rules about what sort of human is allowed
to travel between star systems and murderers, for a particular definition
of murderer, are right out. This makes exploration even riskier because
even self-defense killings of sentients can get you on the Kill At The
Heliopause list. Since it depresses crews when beloved crew members are
killed, the solution is to stock the Explorer Corps with people nobody
will miss when they are gone: the ugly, the socially maladapted and
although I can't recall this coming up, it's probably not a good idea to
be a member of despised ethnic, religious or political group if you
want to avoid being stuck in the Expendibles.
In this novel, the unfortunate Ramos is sent to escort an
inconvenient officer to a planet of No Return, from which she is
presumably not expected to return. Hijinks ensue.
This features the charming character of Oar, a transparent
woman who has very little trouble with self-doubt. Recommended.
STAR WARS(r) TALES [3-in-1 of TALES FROM THE MOS EISLEY CANTINA,
TALES OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS and TALES FROM JABBA'S PALACE] edited
by Kevin J. Anderson (Alternate)
Never read it.
INVASION by Robin Cook (Alternate)
Nor this. I thought Robin Cook only did medical thrillers?
RECKONING INFINITY by John Stith (Alternate)
I missed this.
BLACK SWAN, WHITE RAVEN edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
RED UNICORN by Tanith Lee (Alternate)
I missed this.
THE EAGLE AND THE SWORD by A.A. Attanasio (Alternate)
And this.
COLLECTOR'S # 1
LITTLE, BIG by John Crowley
And while I read this, very little stuck.
Apparently this sells better for Another Change of Hobbit at $100.00
a pop than in MMPK. They didn't seem to think much of my suggestion that
they just mark all the MMPKs up to $100.00.
STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein
A young man finds purpose in life when he joins the Mobile
Infantry. Other people, often those of other species that he meets,
merely find a grisly death.
This is one of those books that can't be discussed without a
flamewar but I will say that the restricted voting system in here, written
at a time when regions within the US were experimenting with systems more
restricted than are in use now, is entirely in keeping with the tendency
in Heinlein fiction to prefer a non/less democratic solution to governance.
THE FOREVER WAR by Joe Haldeman
While sharing some props with SST, this tale of interstellar
warfare is told from the point of view of a draftee rather than a
volunteer and is quite distinct (If you want an overt reply to SST,
look for a book called _Naked to the Stars_ by Gordon Dickson). I
have very fond memories of this.
MOLDIES & MEATBOPS: THREE *WARES NOVELS [3-in-1 of SOFTWARE, WETWARE
and FREEWARE] by Rudy Rucker (Alternate)
I have only read the first two which feature AIs evolved thanks
to a form of natural selection, into at least two broad strategies for
survival. I need to reread them as I have come to suspect they were much
smarter than I thought at the time.
HIS SHARE OF GLORY by C.M. Kornbluth (Alternate)
BATMAN & ROBIN by Michael Jan Friedman (Alternate)
Novelization of the horrid movie, I am guessing.
THE STAR WARS(r) TRILOGY [novelizations of first three movie,
attributed to a long list of names] (Alternate)
Never read these.
THE NEW ARTHURIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA by Norris J. Lacey (Alternate)
Nor this.
CORUM: THE COMING OF CHAOS by Michael Moorock (Alternate)
And Moorcock is a thick level in the to be read room.
BLACK ORCHID by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean (Flyer)
Collection of a limited comic book series written by Gaiman
with art by McKean. At the risk of being labelled a philastine, I
thought it fell apart into tree-hugging silliness at the end, although
part of that was I think due to abilities the plant-woman had that became
more explicit in her unlimited series (Pheromones). Very pretty, though.
SEPTEMBER
FINITY'S END by C.J. Cherryh
Didn't read it.
MERLIN'S GIFT by Ian McDowell
Nor this.
STAR TREK: AVENGER by William Shatner (Alternate)
Nor this. Who really wrote it?
Year's Best SF 2 ed. David G. Hartwell (HarperPrism 0-06-105746-0, Jun
'97 [May '97], $5.99, 445pp, pb, cover by Bob Eggleton);
+ xi o Introduction o David G. Hartwell o in
+ 1 o After a Lean Winter o Dave Wolverton o nv F&SF Mar '96
+ 31 o In the Upper Room o Terry Bisson o ss Playboy Apr '96
+ 59 o Thinkertoy o John Brunner o ss The Williamson Effect,
ed. Roger Zelazny, Tor, 1996
+ 77 o Zoomers o Gregory Benford o ss Future Net, ed. Martin H.
Greenberg & Larry Segriff, DAW, 1996
+ 91 o Out of the Mouths [Lingster] o Sheila Finch o nv F&SF
Dec '96
+ 125 o Breakaway, Backdown o James Patrick Kelly o ss Asimov's
Jun '96
+ 137 o Tobacco Words o Yves Meynard o nv Tomorrow Feb '96
+ 175 o Invasion o Joanna Russ o ss Asimov's Jan '96
+ 185 o The House of Mourning o Brian Stableford o ss
Off-Limits, ed. Ellen Datlow, St. Martin's, 1996
+ 207 o Life Edit o Damon Knight o vi Science Fiction Age Sep
'96
+ 213 o First Tuesday o Robert Reed o ss F&SF Feb '96
+ 237 o The Spear of the Sun [Father Brown] o David Langford o
ss Interzone Oct '96
+ 247 o Counting Cats in Zanzibar o Gene Wolfe o ss Asimov's
Aug '96
+ 269 o Bicycle Repairman [Chattanooga] o Bruce Sterling o nv
Intersections, ed. John Kessel, Mark L. Van Name & Richard
Butner, Tor, 1996
+ 313 o Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland o Gwyneth Jones o
ss Off-Limits, ed. Ellen Datlow, St. Martin's, 1996
+ 335 o Doblin's Lecture o Allen Steele o ss Pirate Writings
#10 '96
+ 351 o The Bride of Elvis o Kathleen Ann Goonan o ss Science
Fiction Age May '96
+ 375 o Forget Luck [Tony Manetti] o Kate Wilhelm o ss F&SF Apr
'96
+ 393 o Nonstop to Portales o Connie Willis o nv The Williamson
Effect, ed. Roger Zelazny, Tor, 1996
+ 423 o Columbiad o Stephen Baxter o ss Science Fiction Age May
'96
Comments, anyone?
LEGACY OF THE DARKSWORD by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Alternate)
I could have sworn this was much earlier. Huh. Didn't read it in
any case.
ACORNA: THE UNICORN GIRL by Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball
Nor this.
MAGIC: THE GATHERING CALENDAR
Anyone know if the art on this was any good?
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION 1998 CALENDAR
STAR TREK: STARDATE 1998 CALENDAR
More calendars I never saw.
--
"The Union Nationale has brought [Quebec] to the edge of an abyss.
With Social Credit you will take one step forward."
Camil Samson
Mike Schilling
"James Nicoll" <jdni...@panix.com> wrote in message
news:brq3oc$e9g$1...@panix1.panix.com...
>
> HIS SHARE OF GLORY by C.M. Kornbluth (Alternate)
title story, Gomez, The Words of Guru, The Last Man at the Bar, etc. etc.)
Highly recommended.
>
>
>
> STAR TREK: AVENGER by William Shatner (Alternate)
>
> Nor this. Who really wrote it?
Spider Robinson, from a detailed outline by Lenoard Nimoy.
Jon Meltzer
news:mL0Eb.72304$Dp6....@newssvr25.news.prodigy.com...
>
> > STAR TREK: AVENGER by William Shatner (Alternate)
> >
> > Nor this. Who really wrote it?
>
> Spider Robinson, from a detailed outline by Lenoard Nimoy.
with technical input from Gentry Lee
Doom & Gloom Dave
> Lists courtesy of Andrew Wheeler.
>
> Contents for anthologies and omnibuses from the Locus Index
> to Science Fiction www.locusmag.com/index/
>
>
> I know I read this but nothing stuck.
>
Urban fantasy in the London Underground more or less. I enjoyed it.
Apparently the novelization of his screenplay for a BBC mini-series.
>
>
> STAR WARS(r) TALES [3-in-1 of TALES FROM THE MOS EISLEY CANTINA,
> TALES OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS and TALES FROM JABBA'S PALACE] edited
> by Kevin J. Anderson (Alternate)
>
> Never read it.
>
Cantina: A short story about virtually every denizen on the Star
Wars cantina and how the visit of Luke and Obi-Wan affects their life.
Surprisingly good. KJA apparently edits better than he writes.
Bounty Hunters: Similar idea but 4 or 5 longer works about the
bounty hunters Vader hires to find Han Solo in Empire Strikes Back.
Mediocre at best.
Jabba's Palace: Like the first one, but dealing with the inhabitants
we saw in Jabba's place in Return of the Jedi. Better than TotBH but
not as good as TftMEC.
>
> STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein
>
> A young man finds purpose in life when he joins the Mobile
> Infantry. Other people, often those of other species that he meets,
> merely find a grisly death.
>
> This is one of those books that can't be discussed without a
> flamewar but I will say that the restricted voting system in here,
> written at a time when regions within the US were experimenting with
> systems more restricted than are in use now, is entirely in keeping
> with the tendency
> in Heinlein fiction to prefer a non/less democratic solution to
> governance.
>
>
I'll just say I loved it, still one of my favourites.
> THE FOREVER WAR by Joe Haldeman
>
> While sharing some props with SST, this tale of interstellar
> warfare is told from the point of view of a draftee rather than a
> volunteer and is quite distinct (If you want an overt reply to SST,
> look for a book called _Naked to the Stars_ by Gordon Dickson). I
> have very fond memories of this.
>
I really enjoyed this too. Reread it several times. The other
Freedom's aren't so good though.
>
> MOLDIES & MEATBOPS: THREE *WARES NOVELS [3-in-1 of SOFTWARE, WETWARE
> and FREEWARE] by Rudy Rucker (Alternate)
>
> I have only read the first two which feature AIs evolved thanks
> to a form of natural selection, into at least two broad strategies
for
> survival. I need to reread them as I have come to suspect they were
> much smarter than I thought at the time.
>
>
I read all three, I was quite underwhelmed. Rucker is a little too
strange for my tastes I guess.
> HIS SHARE OF GLORY by C.M. Kornbluth (Alternate)
>
This is great. As someone else mentioned a collection of his short
fiction.
>
>
> THE STAR WARS(r) TRILOGY [novelizations of first three movie,
> attributed to a long list of names] (Alternate)
>
> Never read these.
>
What you'd expect.
>
> CORUM: THE COMING OF CHAOS by Michael Moorock (Alternate)
>
> And Moorcock is a thick level in the to be read room.
>
Quick, enjoyable lightweight romps. Britons in animal helmets war
with the protagonists Germany if I recall correctly. The usual
Law-Chaos eternal champion type thing. I believe they offer Corum:
Silver Hand soon in the future past.
Richard Todd
>
> STAR TREK: AVENGER by William Shatner (Alternate)
>
> Nor this. Who really wrote it?
It's my understanding that the "Shatner" novels are actually written
by Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens, with possibly some input given by
Shatner and the Hairpiece that Ate Cincinatti. Which implies that they
might actually be fairly good; certainly the Reeves-Stevenses have
done good ST novels under their own name (_Prime Directive_, _Federation_,
and wasn't _Memory Prime_ theirs as well?).
Konrad Gaertner
>
> 1: There is almost certainly a word I want here that means a fictional
> nation emulating the stereotypical elements of a real world one. A Texas
> where everyone owns a gun, a pickup and an open container of raw alcohol,
> a BC where corrupt politicians fumble the ball amid a miasma of pot smoke,
> or a Trinidad populated entirely by irresistable sirens.
Hollywoodian?
--KG
John F. Carr
>inconvenient officer to a planet of No Return, from which she is
>presumably not expected to return. Hijinks ensue.
>
> This features the charming character of Oar, a transparent
>woman who has very little trouble with self-doubt. Recommended.
Recommended.
How many authors who have published more than two books have had all
their novels published by SFBC? James Alan Gardner and Joe Clifford
Faust come to mind. There are lots of authors who have everything new
published or who have a big total count, but who haven't been completely
covered by SFBC. (Robert Jordan comes to mind. Eddings, who has
written non-SF, might be another.)
--
John Carr (j...@mit.edu)
Paul D
<dwh...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> CORUM: THE COMING OF CHAOS by Michael Moorock (Alternate)
>>
>> And Moorcock is a thick level in the to be read room.
>>
>
> Quick, enjoyable lightweight romps. Britons in animal helmets war
>with the protagonists Germany if I recall correctly. The usual
>Law-Chaos eternal champion type thing. I believe they offer Corum:
>Silver Hand soon in the future past.
>
>
Isn't that the Hawkmoon books? I think Corum was about the two
dying races fighting each other while ignoring the humans... By
the second series Corum starts to travel through the multiverse
and meet other versions of himself.
Paul D
Craig Richardson
wrote:
>1: There is almost certainly a word I want here that means a fictional
>nation emulating the stereotypical elements of a real world one. A Texas
>where everyone owns a gun, a pickup and an open container of raw alcohol,
>a BC where corrupt politicians fumble the ball amid a miasma of pot smoke,
>or a Trinidad populated entirely by irresistable sirens.
And a close cousin, extrapolating the application of a single
stereotype to an entire people, and what happens to their consequent
social and political organization. As in Dave Duncan's "Man Of His
Word" and "Handful Of Men" series. Or the Vulcans on (classic) ST.
--Craig
--
I start to wish Bob Melvin would walk out to the mound, ask Freddy if he
was injured, and then kick him in the balls so he can call in an
emergency replacement from the bullpen --Derek Zumsteg in BP, 5/13/2003
John F. Eldredge
Hash: SHA1
Actually, that is a Tribble left over from the original series that
is on top of William Shatner's head.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGPfreeware 7.0.3 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com>
iQA/AwUBP+EKcTMYPge5L34aEQISlgCeMwV/GsfeTSUa9/2+qbMjQ/8g9q0An0sq
QMttMXr0WahXifYO7tBWfdeB
=HYL7
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
--
John F. Eldredge -- jo...@jfeldredge.com
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria
David Johnston
wrote:
> Lists courtesy of Andrew Wheeler.
>
> Contents for anthologies and omnibuses from the Locus Index
>to Science Fiction www.locusmag.com/index/
>
>JULY
>
> FREEDOM'S CHOICE by Anne McCaffrey
>
> I missed this.
>
>
> INTERESTING TIMES by Terry Pratchett
>
> Although this is a Rincewind book and I generally hate Rincewind
>books, I liked this. In this we learn what happened to the tourist from
>the first Diskworld book after we went home to his quasi-China [1]-like home-
>land.
>
>1: There is almost certainly a word I want here that means a fictional
>nation emulating the stereotypical elements of a real world one. A Texas
>where everyone owns a gun, a pickup and an open container of raw alcohol,
>a BC where corrupt politicians fumble the ball amid a miasma of pot smoke,
>or a Trinidad populated entirely by irresistable sirens.
Ersatz?
>
> BATMAN & ROBIN by Michael Jan Friedman (Alternate)
>
> Novelization of the horrid movie, I am guessing.
I seem to recall a collection of Batman short stories based on
various versions of the character. Some of them were good.
> LEGACY OF THE DARKSWORD by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Alternate)
>
> I could have sworn this was much earlier. Huh. Didn't read it in
>any case.
It was...pretty awful. Imagine a roleplaying game worse than D&D,
then imagine a novelisation of it.
Nancy Lebovitz
>
> A young man finds purpose in life when he joins the Mobile
>Infantry. Other people, often those of other species that he meets,
>merely find a grisly death.
>
> This is one of those books that can't be discussed without a
>flamewar but I will say that the restricted voting system in here, written
>at a time when regions within the US were experimenting with systems more
>restricted than are in use now, is entirely in keeping with the tendency
>in Heinlein fiction to prefer a non/less democratic solution to governance.
>
> HIS SHARE OF GLORY by C.M. Kornbluth (Alternate)
I'll nth the other recommendations for this. It's a spectacular collection.
>
--
Nancy Lebovitz na...@netaxs.com www.nancybuttons.com
Now, with bumper stickers
Using your turn signal is not "giving information to the enemy"
Doom & Gloom Dave
It could be. I wouldn't wager anything on my remembrances of Corum
and Hawkmoon, other than enjoying them and reading them quickly.
Andrew Gray
Schilling wrote:
>
>> HIS SHARE OF GLORY by C.M. Kornbluth (Alternate)
>
> This is from NESFA, the complete short stories of CMK. Many classics (the
> title story, Gomez, The Words of Guru, The Last Man at the Bar, etc. etc.)
> Highly recommended.
I saw this in Denver last year, and I'm still kicking myself for not
buying it. Anyone know if it got a UK release?
--
-Andrew Gray
shim...@bigfoot.com
James Nicoll
Nancy Lebovitz <na...@unix5.netaxs.com> wrote:
>In article <brq3oc$e9g$1...@panix1.panix.com>,
>James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>>
>> STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein
>>
>> A young man finds purpose in life when he joins the Mobile
>>Infantry. Other people, often those of other species that he meets,
>>merely find a grisly death.
>>
>> This is one of those books that can't be discussed without a
>>flamewar but I will say that the restricted voting system in here, written
>>at a time when regions within the US were experimenting with systems more
>>restricted than are in use now, is entirely in keeping with the tendency
>>in Heinlein fiction to prefer a non/less democratic solution to governance.
>>
>Are you including government (at least temporary) by conspiracy in this?
Yes, from the outright fraud used in _Double Star_ to the
behind the stage manipulations of Mr. Kiku.
Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
wrote on 17 Dec 2003 12:28:44 -0500:
> The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourteenth Annual Collection ed.
> Gardner Dozois
I know I've read this one all the way through, but I don't recall most
of the stories. That's been the case with most of the Dozois YBSF since
#10 or so, though, Dozois likes too much "litrachur" that doesn't go
anywhere or do anything. Hartwell's tastes are more in line with mine.
Then again, it's also been 6+ years since it came out, so maybe it's
just my code-addled brain.
> + ix o Summation: 1996 o Gardner Dozois o ar
> + 1 o Immersion o Gregory Benford o na Science Fiction Age Mar
> '96
> + 47 o The Dead o Michael Swanwick o ss Starlight 1, ed.
> Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Tor, 1996
> + 56 o The Flowers of Aulit Prison o Nancy Kress o nv Asimov's
> Oct/Nov '96
> + 82 o A Dry, Quiet War o Tony Daniel o nv Asimov's Jun '96
> + 99 o Thirteen Phantasms o James P. Blaylock o ss Omni Online
> Oct '96
> + 109 o Primrose and Thorn [Primrose] o Bud Sparhawk o na
> Analog May '96
> + 142 o The Miracle of Ivar Avenue [Hollywood] o John Kessel o
> nv Intersections, ed. John Kessel, Mark L. Van Name & Richard
> Butner, Tor, 1996
> + 167 o The Last Homosexual o Paul Park o ss Asimov's Jun '96
> + 178 o Recording Angel o Ian McDonald o ss Interzone Feb '96
If this is the one I think, it's one of the Chaga stories, about an
alien ecosystem invading Earth. This is, unfortunately, mostly a
standing-around-talking-about-it story.
> + 188 o Death Do Us Part o Robert Silverberg o nv Omni Online
> Dec '96
> + 203 o The Spade of Reason o Jim Cowan o ss Century #4 '96
> + 218 o The Cost to Be Wise o Maureen F. McHugh o na Starlight
> 1, ed. Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Tor, 1996
> + 254 o Bicycle Repairman [Chattanooga] o Bruce Sterling o nv
> Intersections, ed. John Kessel, Mark L. Van Name & Richard
> Butner, Tor, 1996
A grubby but satisfying future, and eponymous has an interesting
solution to the problems of dating. It's a very Egan-esque Sterling
story.
> + 279 o The Weighing of Ayre o Gregory Feeley o nv Starlight 1,
> ed. Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Tor, 1996
> + 311 o The Longer Voyage o Michael Cassutt o nv F&SF Jul '96
> + 330 o The Land of Nod [Koriba (Kirinyaga)] o Mike Resnick o
> nv Asimov's Jun '96
> + 350 o Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland o Gwyneth Jones o
> ss Off-Limits, ed. Ellen Datlow, St. Martin's, 1996
> + 362 o The Lady Vanishes o Charles Sheffield o ss Science
> Fiction Age Nov '96
> + 373 o Chrysalis o Robert Reed o na Asimov's Sep '96
> + 407 o The Wind Over the World o Steven Utley o nv Asimov's
> Oct/Nov '96
> + 430 o Changes o William Barton o ss Aboriginal SF Sum '96
> + 445 o Counting Cats in Zanzibar o Gene Wolfe o ss Asimov's
> Aug '96
> + 457 o How We Got in Town and out Again o Jonathan Lethem o nv
> Asimov's Sep '96
> + 475 o Dr. Tilmann's Consultant: A Scientific Romance o Cherry
> Wilder o nv Omni Online Nov '96
> + 492 o Schrödinger's Dog o Damien Broderick o nv Eidolon Spr
> '96
> + 518 o Foreign Devils o Walter Jon Williams o nv Asimov's Jan
> '96
This is from the _Global Dispatches_ collection, where H.G. Wells'
martians dropped asteroids all over the Earth, and various famous people
deal with them. In this one, it's the court of the Chinese Emperor that
has to deal with it. A very slight Williams, but that still means it's
better than most other writers will ever hope to write.
> + 535 o In the MSOB o Stephen Baxter o ss Interzone Mar '96
> + 539 o The Robot's Twilight Companion o Tony Daniel o na
> Asimov's Aug '96
> + 590 o Honorable Mentions: 1996 o Misc. Material o bi
> More examples of how out of touch I am with modern short SF. The
> WJW is good, I recall.
> I read last year's entry into this series and was quite impressed.
> INVASION by Robin Cook (Alternate)
> Nor this. I thought Robin Cook only did medical thrillers?
Some of them are at least semi-SFnal. I tried reading one Robin Cook
novel, and will never waste my time on that author again.
> STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein
I'm still very fond of this book. Like the characters themselves say,
they don't know that their system is the best way, but it seems to work
for them.
> THE FOREVER WAR by Joe Haldeman
> While sharing some props with SST, this tale of interstellar
> warfare is told from the point of view of a draftee rather than a
> volunteer and is quite distinct
The war and the massive technological and cultural changes that happen
around the protagonist during relativistic interstellar travel are
handled well. The ending was crap. The first sequel was unbelievably
bad, and I avoided the second.
>(If you want an overt reply to SST,
> look for a book called _Naked to the Stars_ by Gordon Dickson). I
> have very fond memories of this.
John Steakley's _Armor_ is somewhere in between. His message is that
fighting in wars screws you up forever, and makes you unfit company for
the decent people you were fighting to protect, but sometimes it has to
be done. _Vampire$_ has the same message, but with vampire hunters
instead of powered armor troopers.
> MOLDIES & MEATBOPS: THREE *WARES NOVELS [3-in-1 of SOFTWARE, WETWARE
> and FREEWARE] by Rudy Rucker (Alternate)
> I have only read the first two which feature AIs evolved thanks
> to a form of natural selection, into at least two broad strategies for
> survival. I need to reread them as I have come to suspect they were much
> smarter than I thought at the time.
I consider these some of the best hard SF ever written, some of the
only computer-related SF that really works and makes sense, and his
writing inherits from William Burroughs and P.K. Dick.
I was less fond of _RealWare_ than the first three, but he made up for
it with _Saucer Wisdom_, which explores a similar future in better
detail.
> Year's Best SF 2 ed. David G. Hartwell (HarperPrism 0-06-105746-0, Jun
> '97 [May '97], $5.99, 445pp, pb, cover by Bob Eggleton);
> + xi o Introduction o David G. Hartwell o in
> + 1 o After a Lean Winter o Dave Wolverton o nv F&SF Mar '96
Another story from _Global Dispatches_. This is the really impressive
story from that collection, written about, and in the style of, Jack
London. Everyone should read this.
> + 31 o In the Upper Room o Terry Bisson o ss Playboy Apr '96
A VR junkie explores an environment based on Victoria's Secret
catalogs. Seriously strange, and probably the best thing I've read by
Bisson.
> + 59 o Thinkertoy o John Brunner o ss The Williamson Effect,
> ed. Roger Zelazny, Tor, 1996
Some kind of "kids who hate their parents" thing. John Brunner's last
story, I believe.
> + 77 o Zoomers o Gregory Benford o ss Future Net, ed. Martin H.
> Greenberg & Larry Segriff, DAW, 1996
Future day-traders, with a twist to the partnership/competition
aspect.
> + 91 o Out of the Mouths [Lingster] o Sheila Finch o nv F&SF
> Dec '96
> + 125 o Breakaway, Backdown o James Patrick Kelly o ss Asimov's
> Jun '96
> + 137 o Tobacco Words o Yves Meynard o nv Tomorrow Feb '96
> + 175 o Invasion o Joanna Russ o ss Asimov's Jan '96
> + 185 o The House of Mourning o Brian Stableford o ss
> Off-Limits, ed. Ellen Datlow, St. Martin's, 1996
> + 207 o Life Edit o Damon Knight o vi Science Fiction Age Sep
> '96
> + 213 o First Tuesday o Robert Reed o ss F&SF Feb '96
> + 237 o The Spear of the Sun [Father Brown] o David Langford o
> ss Interzone Oct '96
> + 247 o Counting Cats in Zanzibar o Gene Wolfe o ss Asimov's
> Aug '96
> + 269 o Bicycle Repairman [Chattanooga] o Bruce Sterling o nv
> Intersections, ed. John Kessel, Mark L. Van Name & Richard
> Butner, Tor, 1996
See above.
> + 313 o Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland o Gwyneth Jones o
> ss Off-Limits, ed. Ellen Datlow, St. Martin's, 1996
> + 335 o Doblin's Lecture o Allen Steele o ss Pirate Writings
> #10 '96
> + 351 o The Bride of Elvis o Kathleen Ann Goonan o ss Science
> Fiction Age May '96
> + 375 o Forget Luck [Tony Manetti] o Kate Wilhelm o ss F&SF Apr
> '96
> + 393 o Nonstop to Portales o Connie Willis o nv The Williamson
> Effect, ed. Roger Zelazny, Tor, 1996
A tribute to Jack Williamson, with time-travelling tourists.
> + 423 o Columbiad o Stephen Baxter o ss Science Fiction Age May
> '96
> Comments, anyone?
I have vague happy feelings about most of the stories I didn't comment
on in this collection, but can't recall enough to summarize them.
> LEGACY OF THE DARKSWORD by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Alternate)
> I could have sworn this was much earlier. Huh. Didn't read it in
> any case.
The actual series came out in 1988. This was a bad RPG-in-a-paperback
and sourcebook add-on. I liked the original series, it's the
anti-cliche fantasy. The hero is non-magical in a world where everyone
does magic (yes, like Xanth, but no, it's not like Xanth), and uses his
anti-magical sword (very badly, as he has no training) to try to seize
his birthright position... And fails miserably. Then stuff happens.
Like all of Weis & Hickman's non-D+D fantasy work, amusing pulp
action-adventure with a creative setting. Don't go looking for high
art.
> ACORNA: THE UNICORN GIRL by Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball
> Nor this.
Neither have I, but magical horsey porn from Anne McCaffrey and some
cow-riter? Say it ain't so!
--
<a href="http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/"> Mark Hughes </a>
"God, I think. God. He doesn't answer, and I'd be justifiably scared--but not
in a panic!--if he did, since I would know it really was Resuna, or a tiny
brain tumor, or some boo-boo in my mix of neurotransmitters." -John Barnes
David E. Siegel
<snip>
> >1: There is almost certainly a word I want here that means a fictional
> >nation emulating the stereotypical elements of a real world one. A Texas
> >where everyone owns a gun, a pickup and an open container of raw alcohol,
> >a BC where corrupt politicians fumble the ball amid a miasma of pot smoke,
> >or a Trinidad populated entirely by irresistable sirens.
>
> Ersatz?
>
AFAIK that means "imitation" or "fake" and implies a poor quality
fake, but does not imply the specific quality of takeing a sterotype
of a single elemet to logical (or illogical) extreme. Galaxy published
a number of SF stories in the 50s of this "take the trend to its
limits" type, notably _The Space Merchants_ and _Gladiator at Law_,
but ther were many others of the breed, some well written, some not.
I can't think of a single word that carries your meaning other than
"sterotypical" and that isn't specific enough.
-DES
<snip>
David E. Siegel
> Lists courtesy of Andrew Wheeler.
>
> Contents for anthologies and omnibuses from the Locus Index
> to Science Fiction www.locusmag.com/index/
>
> SEPTEMBER
>
> FINITY'S END by C.J. Cherryh
>
> Didn't read it.
>
>
A book in the Union/alliance series, showing how one of the major
alliance merchanters adapts to the changed conditions after the end of
the company wars. I liked it, but probably not the best place to start
on this universe: read at least _Merchanter's Luck_ and perferably
_Downbelow Station_ first. Has most of the virtues and flaws of CJC's
other non-fantasy writing, IMO, if you liked, say, _Rimrunners_ or
_Heavy Time_/_Hellburner_ you'll probably like this too , and if not,
quite possibly not.
-DES
Konrad Gaertner
>
> On 17 Dec 2003 12:28:44 -0500, jdni...@panix.com (James Nicoll)
> wrote:
>
> >1: There is almost certainly a word I want here that means a fictional
> >nation emulating the stereotypical elements of a real world one. A Texas
> >where everyone owns a gun, a pickup and an open container of raw alcohol,
> >a BC where corrupt politicians fumble the ball amid a miasma of pot smoke,
> >or a Trinidad populated entirely by irresistable sirens.
>
> And a close cousin, extrapolating the application of a single
> stereotype to an entire people, and what happens to their consequent
> social and political organization. As in Dave Duncan's "Man Of His
> Word" and "Handful Of Men" series. Or the Vulcans on (classic) ST.
ObSF: "I'm generalizing from one example here, but everyone
generalizes from one example." Vlad Taltos in _Issola_
--KG
Joseph Nebus
>1: There is almost certainly a word I want here that means a fictional
>nation emulating the stereotypical elements of a real world one. A Texas
>where everyone owns a gun, a pickup and an open container of raw alcohol,
>a BC where corrupt politicians fumble the ball amid a miasma of pot smoke,
>or a Trinidad populated entirely by irresistable sirens.
``Ah, he's from Movie Brooklyn.'' -- Tom Servo.
There should be a good word for it, but I can't identify one.
I have a similar problem with the phenomenon of encountering something
for the first time in your life, then seeing it a dozen times over the
next couple days.
> DISTRESS by Greg Egan (Alternate)
> A Theory of Everything turns out to have unexpected side-effects
>in the theorists.
> I need to reread this. It's pre-Terranesia, so quite readable.
I keep meaning to read more Egan, as I've got fond memories of
his stuff, but when I'm actually in the bookstore looking at real texts
it seems less appealing or necessary somehow.
> EXPENDABLE by James Alan Gardner
[ ... ]
> This features the charming character of Oar, a transparent
>woman who has very little trouble with self-doubt. Recommended.
You mean transparent in the ``Hi, I'm Bob Evil'' sense, or
transparent in the ``Made of living perspex'' sense? Some science
fiction makes sense either way...
Joseph Nebus
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James Nicoll
>
> [ ... ]
>> This features the charming character of Oar, a transparent
>>woman who has very little trouble with self-doubt. Recommended.
>
> You mean transparent in the ``Hi, I'm Bob Evil'' sense, or
>transparent in the ``Made of living perspex'' sense? Some science
>fiction makes sense either way...
Yes and yes, actually. She is quite frank about her views
and plans while being mostly see-through as well.
David T. Bilek
>
> [ ... ]
>> This features the charming character of Oar, a transparent
>>woman who has very little trouble with self-doubt. Recommended.
>
> You mean transparent in the ``Hi, I'm Bob Evil'' sense, or
>transparent in the ``Made of living perspex'' sense? Some science
>fiction makes sense either way...
>
The latter. She is, literally, transparent.
-David
J.B. Moreno
> Nancy Lebovitz <na...@unix5.netaxs.com> wrote:
> >James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein
-snip-
> >> This is one of those books that can't be discussed without a
> >>flamewar but I will say that the restricted voting system in here, written
> >>at a time when regions within the US were experimenting with systems more
> >>restricted than are in use now, is entirely in keeping with the tendency
> >>in Heinlein fiction to prefer a non/less democratic solution to governance.
> >>
> >Are you including government (at least temporary) by conspiracy in this?
>
> Yes, from the outright fraud used in _Double Star_ to the
> behind the stage manipulations of Mr. Kiku.
I'm not sure how much of fraud there was in _Double Star_ -- of course
it starts out as a fraud, but just how long does it remain that way?
When do you consider that the people might be voting for the guy that
was in a high office a decade ago, as opposed to the guy that was in a
lower office 3 decades ago?
--
JBM
"Everything is futile." -- Marvin of Borg
Michael S. Schiffer
news:1g65zd4.7lp6et1sb4qzN%pl...@newsreaders.com:
> James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>
>> Nancy Lebovitz <na...@unix5.netaxs.com> wrote:
>...
>> >Are you including government (at least temporary) by
>> >conspiracy in this?
>> Yes, from the outright fraud used in _Double Star_ to the
>> behind the stage manipulations of Mr. Kiku.
> I'm not sure how much of fraud there was in _Double Star_ -- of
> course it starts out as a fraud, but just how long does it
> remain that way?
> When do you consider that the people might be voting for the guy
> that was in a high office a decade ago, as opposed to the guy
> that was in a lower office 3 decades ago?
One possible answer would be: "When he can reveal the truth to
them, and they reelect him anyway." Even if they're voting for the
policies of the last two terms, they're also probably implicitly
voting for someone who hasn't been running a large-scale scam on
them. If it that really doesn't matter, then it shouldn't be
necessary to keep it a secret anymore, should it?
Arguably, Lorenzo's position is a variant on the SF trope of the
visionary billionaire and the fantasy/historical trope of the wise
and good lord, not to mention marrying or being adopted into an
aristocracy or other power a la Cordelia Naismith or Thorby. Not
that any of these is impossible, but they're also attractive
literary conceits because they offer the possibility of getting a
leadership role without having to do the dirty work usually
involved in acquiring it from scratch. (The visionary billionaire
often has some nonspecific dirty laundry in his past, but his sins
are generally pretty venial once he's on stage.)
Mike
--
Michael S. Schiffer, LHN, FCS
msch...@condor.depaul.edu
raymond larsson
'Kamikaze' Hughes says...
>
> > ACORNA: THE UNICORN GIRL by Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball
> > Nor this.
>
> Neither have I, but magical horsey porn from Anne McCaffrey and some
> cow-riter? Say it ain't so!
Cover art on the editions I have seen show a girl with a nub of a spiral
horn on her forehead.
Since there were no exploding unicorns on the cover I have not read it.
Nancy Lebovitz
>
> [ ... ]
>> This features the charming character of Oar, a transparent
>>woman who has very little trouble with self-doubt. Recommended.
>
> You mean transparent in the ``Hi, I'm Bob Evil'' sense, or
>transparent in the ``Made of living perspex'' sense? Some science
>fiction makes sense either way...
Delany got some literary theory out of the fact that there are statements
like "Suddenly, his world exploded" which can only be metaphorical in
mainstream fiction but which may be literal in sf.
As I'm writing this, I realize that his other example, "She turned on
her left side", has similarly different meanings, but *not* because
of metaphor.
And I'm also left with the question of how sf writers manage to signal
it when they intend statements to be taken metaphorically.
J.B. Moreno
> pl...@newsreaders.com (J.B. Moreno) wrote in
-snip _Double Star_
> > the people might be voting for the guy at was in a high office a decade
> > thago, as opposed to the guy at was in a lower office 3 decades ago?
>
> One possible answer would be: "When he can reveal the truth to
> them, and they reelect him anyway." Even if they're voting for the
> policies of the last two terms, they're also probably implicitly
> voting for someone who hasn't been running a large-scale scam on
> them. If it that really doesn't matter, then it shouldn't be
> necessary to keep it a secret anymore, should it?
I didn't say it didn't matter, but how far does that go? Say someone
has been having a long term affair, or hiding their sexual preference,
or had a bastard daughter -- these might have been sufficient to keep
them out of the public's favor and hence "matter", but they don't
necessarily effect the persons ability to do the job they were elected
to do.
Katherine Inskip
I read this from a library many years ago, and it really isn't as bad
as the title, cover art and the cheesy name would suggest.
Three jaded miners discover an abandoned baby in space. Over the space
of a few years and several fortunate escapes from Bad Circumstances,
they discover that she's not all she seems to be. Oh, and there are
nasty eeevil aliens bent on the utter desctruction of Acorna's race.
Compared with McCaffrey's other output over the same time period, it's
actually very good (not saying much, I know) - a passable read. But
I think readers should refuse to buy books with such crappy
titles, on principle. Borrow it from a library, and keep a large
brown paper bag with you to hide it in...
David Allsopp
<na...@unix5.netaxs.com> writes
>Delany got some literary theory out of the fact that there are statements
>like "Suddenly, his world exploded" which can only be metaphorical in
>mainstream fiction but which may be literal in sf.
>
>As I'm writing this, I realize that his other example, "She turned on
>her left side", has similarly different meanings, but *not* because
>of metaphor.
>
>And I'm also left with the question of how sf writers manage to signal
>it when they intend statements to be taken metaphorically.
They don't always manage it. See Thog's cuttings in Ansible for
extensive evidence...
--
David Allsopp Houston, this is Tranquillity Base.
Remove SPAM to email me The Eagle has landed.
Michael S. Schiffer
The extent to which politicians' private behavior affects their
desirability as a public official is a matter on which there's some
disagreement, to put it mildly, as is where the line between
private and public life is drawn. But the means by which the
politician achieved public office doesn't seem likely to be
regarded as private by many people's definition.
This would, in the limited case of John Joseph Bonforte, deprive
the state of a good and qualified leader, but as a general rule
it's probably not unreasonable for the electorate to want to know
the actual identity of the candidate they're voting for. If they
wanted a system in which they voted for policy statements and
voting records instead of individual people, they could have set
that up in their constitution.
Nancy Lebovitz
David Allsopp <d...@tqSPAMbase.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <%PxEb.1238$MY.9...@monger.newsread.com>, Nancy Lebovitz
><na...@unix5.netaxs.com> writes
>>Delany got some literary theory out of the fact that there are statements
>>like "Suddenly, his world exploded" which can only be metaphorical in
>>mainstream fiction but which may be literal in sf.
>>
>>As I'm writing this, I realize that his other example, "She turned on
>>her left side", has similarly different meanings, but *not* because
>>of metaphor.
>>
>>And I'm also left with the question of how sf writers manage to signal
>>it when they intend statements to be taken metaphorically.
>
>They don't always manage it. See Thog's cuttings in Ansible for
>extensive evidence...
IIRC, that's a different problem though--metaphors which are intended
as metaphors, but which are really stupid if taken literally. They aren't
statements which make literal sense in the story, but which are easy
to mistake for bad metaphors.
OBSF: Brunner's _Timescoop!_, in which an Elizabethan(?) poet mulls over
how unsatisfactory the standard metaphors about women are--frex, hair
that's actually made of gold wouldn't be a good idea for sex.
IIRC, there's a Connie Willis novel in which people have removable
eyeballs (they're computerized or included tv cameras or something)
and she has some fun with metaphors.
James Nicoll
J.B. Moreno <pl...@newsreaders.com> wrote:
>James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>
>> Nancy Lebovitz <na...@unix5.netaxs.com> wrote:
>> >James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein
>-snip-
>> >> This is one of those books that can't be discussed without a
>> >>flamewar but I will say that the restricted voting system in here, written
>> >>at a time when regions within the US were experimenting with systems more
>> >>restricted than are in use now, is entirely in keeping with the tendency
>> >>in Heinlein fiction to prefer a non/less democratic solution to governance.
>> >>
>> >Are you including government (at least temporary) by conspiracy in this?
>>
>> Yes, from the outright fraud used in _Double Star_ to the
>> behind the stage manipulations of Mr. Kiku.
>
>I'm not sure how much of fraud there was in _Double Star_ -- of course
>it starts out as a fraud, but just how long does it remain that way?
My suspicion, from watching train wrecks like Watergate or the
Cambridge spies, is that each level of cover-up will require more cover-ups
as people begin to find out or suspect the Truth, so by the end of the book
a very large ball of lies may have accreted around the original one. Or
admittedly not, but I think it is at least arguable that the fact that
they were willing to pull off One Big Lie means more Big Lies are not
out of the question. It might even get easier, lie to lie.
>When do you consider that the people might be voting for the guy that
>was in a high office a decade ago, as opposed to the guy that was in a
>lower office 3 decades ago?
That initial lie is enough of a killer to cause a lot of havoc
if it is ever revealed. The Martians, for example, are unlikely to be
forgiving.
Mike Schilling
"J.B. Moreno" <pl...@newsreaders.com> wrote in message
news:1g670ub.m5efr11nuldxjN%pl...@newsreaders.com...
Say, the bastard half-black daughter of a militant segregationist?
J.B. Moreno
> pl...@newsreaders.com (J.B. Moreno) wrote in
>
> > Michael S. Schiffer <msch...@condor.depaul.edu> wrote:
> >
> >> pl...@newsreaders.com (J.B. Moreno) wrote in
> > -snip _Double Star_
> >> > the people might be voting for the guy at was in a high
> >> > office a decade ago, as opposed to the guy at was in a
> >> > lower office 3 decades ago?
>
> >> One possible answer would be: "When he can reveal the truth to
> >> them, and they reelect him anyway." [..]
>
> > I didn't say it didn't matter, but how far does that go? Say
> > someone has been having a long term affair, or hiding their
> > sexual preference, or had a bastard daughter [...]
>
> The extent to which politicians' private behavior affects their
> desirability as a public official is a matter on which there's some
> disagreement, to put it mildly, as is where the line between
> private and public life is drawn. But the means by which the
> politician achieved public office doesn't seem likely to be
> regarded as private by many people's definition.
Well, yes and no -- it's undoubtably a case of defrauding the public the
*first* time he takes office, but when *he* is elected, it's not
necessarily fruad: he's just changed his name and is lying a bit about
his past and qualifications, nothing unusual about that.
> This would, in the limited case of John Joseph Bonforte, deprive
> the state of a good and qualified leader, but as a general rule
> it's probably not unreasonable for the electorate to want to know
> the actual identity of the candidate they're voting for. If they
> wanted a system in which they voted for policy statements and
> voting records instead of individual people, they could have set
> that up in their constitution.
My point is that upon each subsequent election, he's hiding less of his
history, particularly of the history that is actually relelvant. And
arguably for relection campaign's, they are voting on what he did with
the post the last time. Lot's of reelection compaign's have focused on
what a good (or bad) job the candidate did while in office, with very
little attention given to how they did in college or whether they made a
good assistant dog catcher when they first held office.
J.B. Moreno
> J.B. Moreno <pl...@newsreaders.com> wrote:
> >James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Nancy Lebovitz <na...@unix5.netaxs.com> wrote:
> >> >James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
> >> >>entirely in keeping with the tendency in Heinlein fiction to prefer a
> >> >>non/less democratic solution to governance.
> >> >>
> >> >Are you including government (at least temporary) by conspiracy in this?
> >>
> >> Yes, from the outright fraud used in _Double Star_ to the
> >> behind the stage manipulations of Mr. Kiku.
> >
> >I'm not sure how much of fraud there was in _Double Star_ -- of course
> >it starts out as a fraud, but just how long does it remain that way?
>
> My suspicion, from watching train wrecks like Watergate or the
> Cambridge spies, is that each level of cover-up will require more cover-ups
> as people begin to find out or suspect the Truth, so by the end of the book
> a very large ball of lies may have accreted around the original one. Or
> admittedly not, but I think it is at least arguable that the fact that
> they were willing to pull off One Big Lie means more Big Lies are not
> out of the question. It might even get easier, lie to lie.
There was a *very* limited number of people that knew about it, unless
they blabbed, it's unlikely that they needed to keep covering it up. As
for other Lies, possibly.
> >When do you consider that the people might be voting for the guy that
> >was in a high office a decade ago, as opposed to the guy that was in a
> >lower office 3 decades ago?
>
> That initial lie is enough of a killer to cause a lot of havoc
> if it is ever revealed. The Martians, for example, are unlikely to be
> forgiving.
Uhm, I don't think the Martians would care -- in fact, I think just the
opposite, that they would have been upset about the "real" guy
pretending to have become part of their family, when it was actually the
fake that was a member.
J.B. Moreno
> "J.B. Moreno" <pl...@newsreaders.com> wrote in message
> > Michael S. Schiffer <msch...@condor.depaul.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > pl...@newsreaders.com (J.B. Moreno) wrote in
> > -snip _Double Star_
> > > > the people might be voting for the guy at was in a high office a
> > > > decade ago, as opposed to the guy at was in a lower office 3
> > > > thdecades ago?
> > >
> > > One possible answer would be: "When he can reveal the truth to
> > > them, and they reelect him anyway." Even if they're voting for the
> > > policies of the last two terms, they're also probably implicitly
> > > voting for someone who hasn't been running a large-scale scam on
> > > them. If it that really doesn't matter, then it shouldn't be
> > > necessary to keep it a secret anymore, should it?
> >
> > I didn't say it didn't matter, but how far does that go? Say someone
> > has been having a long term affair, or hiding their sexual preference,
> > or had a bastard daughter -- these might have been sufficient to keep
> > them out of the public's favor and hence "matter", but they don't
> > necessarily effect the persons ability to do the job they were elected
> > to do.
>
> Say, the bastard half-black daughter of a militant segregationist?
Yeah, :)
James Nicoll
J.B. Moreno <pl...@newsreaders.com> wrote:
>James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>
>> J.B. Moreno <pl...@newsreaders.com> wrote:
>> >James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Nancy Lebovitz <na...@unix5.netaxs.com> wrote:
>> >> >James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>> >> >>entirely in keeping with the tendency in Heinlein fiction to prefer a
>> >> >>non/less democratic solution to governance.
>> >> >>
>> >> >Are you including government (at least temporary) by conspiracy in this?
>> >>
>> >> Yes, from the outright fraud used in _Double Star_ to the
>> >> behind the stage manipulations of Mr. Kiku.
>> >
>> >I'm not sure how much of fraud there was in _Double Star_ -- of course
>> >it starts out as a fraud, but just how long does it remain that way?
>>
>> My suspicion, from watching train wrecks like Watergate or the
>> Cambridge spies, is that each level of cover-up will require more cover-ups
>> as people begin to find out or suspect the Truth, so by the end of the book
>> a very large ball of lies may have accreted around the original one. Or
>> admittedly not, but I think it is at least arguable that the fact that
>> they were willing to pull off One Big Lie means more Big Lies are not
>> out of the question. It might even get easier, lie to lie.
>
>There was a *very* limited number of people that knew about it, unless
>they blabbed, it's unlikely that they needed to keep covering it up. As
>for other Lies, possibly.
All it takes is one obsessive comparing photographs of the
two Bonafortes for things to unravel. The two men can't be exactly
identical...
ObItWillGetMentioned: Oliver Stone in _Dave_.
Michael S. Schiffer
> Michael S. Schiffer <msch...@condor.depaul.edu> wrote:
>...
>> The extent to which politicians' private behavior affects their
>> desirability as a public official is a matter on which there's
>> some disagreement, to put it mildly, as is where the line
>> between private and public life is drawn. But the means by
>> which the politician achieved public office doesn't seem likely
>> to be regarded as private by many people's definition.
> Well, yes and no -- it's undoubtably a case of defrauding the
> public the *first* time he takes office, but when *he* is
> elected, it's not necessarily fruad: he's just changed his name
> and is lying a bit about his past and qualifications, nothing
> unusual about that.
The scale is fairly unusual in this case. And learning about less
extensive lies does sometimes rock political careers. It's
possible to survive the scandal, but the reaction of the public
generally isn't overwhelmingly "So what?"
>> This would, in the limited case of John Joseph Bonforte,
>> deprive the state of a good and qualified leader, but as a
>> general rule it's probably not unreasonable for the electorate
>> to want to know the actual identity of the candidate they're
>> voting for. If they wanted a system in which they voted for
>> policy statements and voting records instead of individual
>> people, they could have set that up in their constitution.
> My point is that upon each subsequent election, he's hiding less
> of his history, particularly of the history that is actually
> relelvant. And arguably for relection campaign's, they are
> voting on what he did with the post the last time. Lot's of
> reelection compaign's have focused on what a good (or bad) job
> the candidate did while in office, with very little attention
> given to how they did in college or whether they made a good
> assistant dog catcher when they first held office.
If it were revealed that he misallocated funds as assistant dog
catcher to fund his first campaign for the legislature, that might
have an effect. Or it might not, but in a democracy the issue
would be in the hands of the electorate when the embezzlement was
revealed (assuming that it was too late to press criminal charges).
If it were revealed that the candidate hadn't *gone* to the college
they listed in their resume, that might also have an effect, not
because their education changes anything they've done in their
political career thus far, but because people react badly to fraud
(not least because one fraud revealed after decades suggests the
possibility of other frauds not yet uncovered).
The choice to keep the secret is tacit acknowledgment that the
electorate probably would be outraged by the choice and might throw
the Expansionists out over it, and is therefore a decision to
continue committing fraud. The Expansionists, of course, feel that
the electorate doesn't need to know, since the substitution of
Smythe for Bonforte is an irrelevant detail as far as what they're
offering politically goes, but the electorate is not expected to
agree with them. (And the electorate was likewise not expected to
accept Dak or Penny or any of the other inner circle members as
Bonforte's successor, even though they could promise to do as good
a job maintaining Bonforte's legacy as Smythe.) That's subverting
democracy, not operating normally within it.
By comparison, suppose that the Humanity Party's scheme had worked:
the Martians are disgusted with Bonforte, who then shows up the
victim of a kidnapping (and possibly murder) that can't be proved
connected to the HP leadership. The Humanity Party goes on to
dominate politics for a few decades. The voters are voting for HP
candidates without knowing that the leadership used kidnap and
murder to advance itself, but the party leader and his staff were
the planners and direct beneficiaries. Are the voters being served
any worse, or voting with adequate information about the
candidates, when they re-elect the Humanity Party governments?
Michael S. Schiffer
> James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>...
>> My suspicion, from watching train wrecks like Watergate
>> or the
>> Cambridge spies, is that each level of cover-up will require
>> more cover-ups as people begin to find out or suspect the
>> Truth, so by the end of the book a very large ball of lies may
>> have accreted around the original one.
>...
> There was a *very* limited number of people that knew about it,
> unless they blabbed, it's unlikely that they needed to keep
> covering it up.
At least one of those people tried to blab and was humiliated. He
may be deterred from trying again by the experience, or he may
continue looking for a way to vindicate himself. There are also
Humanity Party operatives who know exactly what happened to the
real John Joseph Bonforte, and therefore can figure that either
Bill's story or something like it is the truth. They may not be
able to figure out a way to reveal the imposture without
implicating themselves, but there's always the risk that they'll
figure out a way-- or that someone will wind up sufficiently
alienated that he decides to throw both parties into turmoil at a
stroke.
Smythe is very lucky that DNA testing doesn't exist in his world.
While his people could have substituted records as they did with
fingerprints, there'd be a significant danger of someone gathering
up samples from his relatives and Smythe's-- exhume Smythe's
father's body, maybe?-- and show that "Bonforte" looks a lot more
closely related to the latter than the former. It might still be
possible to do that if Smythe is unlucky in his blood type vis a
vis Bonforte. (Again, his medical records may have been subbed,
but if it happens that Bonforte's mother was AB- and Smythe is
O+...)
>...
> Uhm, I don't think the Martians would care -- in fact, I think
> just the opposite, that they would have been upset about the
> "real" guy pretending to have become part of their family, when
> it was actually the fake that was a member.
The Martians didn't invite Lorenzo Smythe to be adopted. John
Joseph Bonforte would be persona non grata unless the Expansionists
could fake up evidence that he had been dead before the ceremony
(the only acceptable excuse). Lorenzo's status at that point is
unknown-- they might be stuck with him (a la the Leah-Jacob
marriage in Genesis) or they might be able to annul the adoption.
Or he might still be a member of the nest, but guilty of a sin
against propriety that only death could expiate. (Which might well
mean war when Smythe refused to submit.) Given the extremely
delicate negotiations and the fact that it took years for Bonforte
to wangle the invitation, I find it hard to believe that Martian
propriety would take the position "No harm, no foul."
J.B. Moreno
> pl...@newsreaders.com (J.B. Moreno) wrote in
> > Uhm, I don't think the Martians would care -- in fact, I think
> > just the opposite, that they would have been upset about the
> > "real" guy pretending to have become part of their family, when
> > it was actually the fake that was a member.
>
> The Martians didn't invite Lorenzo Smythe to be adopted. John
> Joseph Bonforte would be persona non grata unless the Expansionists
> could fake up evidence that he had been dead before the ceremony
> (the only acceptable excuse). Lorenzo's status at that point is
> unknown-- they might be stuck with him (a la the Leah-Jacob
> marriage in Genesis) or they might be able to annul the adoption.
> Or he might still be a member of the nest, but guilty of a sin
> against propriety that only death could expiate. (Which might well
> mean war when Smythe refused to submit.) Given the extremely
> delicate negotiations and the fact that it took years for Bonforte
> to wangle the invitation, I find it hard to believe that Martian
> propriety would take the position "No harm, no foul."
I think they would have been vastly pissed at the idea of the
substitution and intended fraud, but it seemed to me that they'd think
they were stuck with him.
Given that nothing short of death would have been an excuse, it seems
likely that once the adoption is done, he's family and nothing changes
that. Not quite no harm, no foul, but in this instance close to it.
Michael S. Schiffer
> Michael S. Schiffer <msch...@condor.depaul.edu> wrote:
>...
>> The Martians didn't invite Lorenzo Smythe to be adopted. John
>> Joseph Bonforte would be persona non grata unless the
>> Expansionists could fake up evidence that he had been dead
>> before the ceremony (the only acceptable excuse). Lorenzo's
>> status at that point is unknown-- they might be stuck with him
>> (a la the Leah-Jacob marriage in Genesis) or they might be able
>> to annul the adoption. Or he might still be a member of the
>> nest, but guilty of a sin against propriety that only death
>> could expiate. (Which might well mean war when Smythe refused
>> to submit.) Given the extremely delicate negotiations and the
>> fact that it took years for Bonforte to wangle the invitation,
>> I find it hard to believe that Martian propriety would take the
>> position "No harm, no foul."
> I think they would have been vastly pissed at the idea of the
> substitution and intended fraud, but it seemed to me that they'd
> think they were stuck with him.
> Given that nothing short of death would have been an excuse, it
> seems likely that once the adoption is done, he's family and
> nothing changes that. Not quite no harm, no foul, but in this
> instance close to it.
In the one example of Martian propriety we have, being family was
no defense against the obligation to die rather than violate it.
(The opposite, if anything.) It may well be a situation where if
Bonforte kills himself immediately, then he's an honored family
member, and if not then he's clearly an alien interloper with no
sense of what's proper. But maybe not-- we just don't have enough
details on Martian culture to judge for sure either way.
I wonder if Smythe would, by that point, allow himself to be
executed if it were necessary to prevent Bonforte's life work from
going for nought.
John F. Carr
But there are telepathic cats! Who can resist telepathic cats?
The SFBC description of _Acorna's Rebels_ (#6) forms the seed of my
embryonic "uninspiring book ads" web page. I have met only one person
who can listen to it without laughing, and we think that's because he
is simply incapable of laughter.
--
John Carr (j...@mit.edu)
Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
URL?
--
<a href="http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/"> Mark Hughes </a>
"God, I think. God. He doesn't answer, and I'd be justifiably scared--but not
in a panic!--if he did, since I would know it really was Resuna, or a tiny
brain tumor, or some boo-boo in my mix of neurotransmitters." -John Barnes
David E. Siegel
I thought it was utterly dire. All AM's worst vices, and none of her
virtures. But it seems to be popular, at least several sequels have
been publised. i haven't read any.
_DES
David E. Siegel
The fake accepted the adoption inviatation under false pretenses.They
might well object strongly to this. Or not, we aren't shown enough of
their rather different albiet strict system of ethics and protocall to
be sure.
-DES
Dana Blackwell
> IIRC, that's a different problem though--metaphors which are intended
> as metaphors, but which are really stupid if taken literally. They
> aren't statements which make literal sense in the story, but which
> are easy to mistake for bad metaphors.
This thread prompted a Google for an piece I read when I was a
teenager -- "The Straining Your Eyes Through the Viewscreen Blues". The
title has always stuck with me and I remember the article as being very
funny, but I also "remembered" the author being Joanna Russ.
Google/ISFDB tells me that it was Vonda N. McIntyre. I must track this
down and re-read.
--
Dana
David Goldfarb
Nancy Lebovitz <na...@unix5.netaxs.com> wrote:
>IIRC, there's a Connie Willis novel in which people have removable
>eyeballs (they're computerized or included tv cameras or something)
>and she has some fun with metaphors.
Not Connie Willis, Pat Cadigan. _Mindplayers_.
(I think I've just set a personal record for number of consecutive
capitalized words there.)
--
David Goldfarb <*>| "All love is unrequited."
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu |
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu | -- Babylon 5, "Rising Star"
Stewart Robert Hinsley
>
>>1: There is almost certainly a word I want here that means a fictional
>>nation emulating the stereotypical elements of a real world one. A Texas
>>where everyone owns a gun, a pickup and an open container of raw alcohol,
>>a BC where corrupt politicians fumble the ball amid a miasma of pot smoke,
>>or a Trinidad populated entirely by irresistable sirens.
>
> ``Ah, he's from Movie Brooklyn.'' -- Tom Servo.
>
> There should be a good word for it, but I can't identify one.
How close is "archetypical"?
>I have a similar problem with the phenomenon of encountering something
>for the first time in your life, then seeing it a dozen times over the
>next couple days.
>
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley
David E. Siegel
> In article <nebusj.1...@vcmr-86.server.rpi.edu>, Joseph Nebus
> <neb...@rpi.edu> writes
> >
> >>1: There is almost certainly a word I want here that means a fictional
> >>nation emulating the stereotypical elements of a real world one. A Texas
> >>where everyone owns a gun, a pickup and an open container of raw alcohol,
> >>a BC where corrupt politicians fumble the ball amid a miasma of pot smoke,
> >>or a Trinidad populated entirely by irresistable sirens.
> >
> > ``Ah, he's from Movie Brooklyn.'' -- Tom Servo.
> >
> > There should be a good word for it, but I can't identify one.
>
> How close is "archetypical"?
To my mind an archetype ought to be a generally accurate summery of
the essential aspects of a thing or category. What is being discussed
here is an instance that puts together all the classic but inaccruate
sterotypes related to a category, instead. I don't think there is a
better word than "sterotypical" but that doesn't fully expres the
concept. One might I suppsoe say "an archetypical sterotype" or
soemthing of the sort, but most people will find that confusing enough
that you need to defien it, and thus haven't gained anythign by using
the term.
>
> >I have a similar problem with the phenomenon of encountering something
> >for the first time in your life, then seeing it a dozen times over the
> >next couple days.
> >
I've heard this called "The flux", but again that only works if you
first define it.
-DES
William December Starr
sie...@acm.org (David E. Siegel) said:
> To my mind an archetype ought to be a generally accurate summery of
> the essential aspects of a thing or category. What is being
> discussed here is an instance that puts together all the classic
> but inaccruate sterotypes related to a category, instead. I don't
> think there is a better word than "sterotypical" but that doesn't
> fully expres the concept. One might I suppsoe say "an archetypical
> sterotype" or soemthing of the sort, but most people will find that
> confusing enough that you need to defien it, and thus haven't
> gained anythign by using the term.
"Archstereotype?" Wait a minute: that'd probably look a lot less
off-putting with a hyphen: arch-stereotype.
-- William December Starr <wds...@panix.com>
Andrew Wheeler
I still like the suggestion (somewhere above, lost in the mists) of
"Hollywood <name of place>".
Hollywood London. Hollywood Paris. Hollywood New York. Hollywood
Provence. They all conjure the usual images, right?
--
Andrew Wheeler
--
Education: NONE
Skills: NONE
Merits: NONE
Recommendations: NONE
William December Starr
acwh...@optonline.com said:
> I still like the suggestion (somewhere above, lost in the mists) of
> "Hollywood <name of place>".
>
> Hollywood London. Hollywood Paris. Hollywood New York. Hollywood
> Provence. They all conjure the usual images, right?
ObSF: Lawrence Miles' excellent DEAD ROMANCE, in which a young woman
living in London in the very early 1970s compares and contrasts the
London that she knows with the swinging LONDON! of late 60s/early 70s
lore.
Martin Wisse
'Kamikaze' Hughes) wrote:
>James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com>
>wrote on 17 Dec 2003 12:28:44 -0500:
>> The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourteenth Annual Collection ed.
>> Gardner Dozois
>
> I know I've read this one all the way through, but I don't recall most
>of the stories. That's been the case with most of the Dozois YBSF since
>#10 or so, though, Dozois likes too much "litrachur" that doesn't go
>anywhere or do anything. Hartwell's tastes are more in line with mine.
>Then again, it's also been 6+ years since it came out, so maybe it's
>just my code-addled brain.
I don't think Dozois is "litrachur" obsessed. If I had to make any guess
to where his preferences in science fiction lie based on his anthologies
it's with broad canvas hardish science fiction. But I don't really think
you can tell much of his preferences from them, as he tends to include
everything good which can even remotely be considered science fiction.
Which is an approach I like. Hartwell's anthologies are much less
interesting (and some are downright bad).
Martin Wisse
--
The Dutch aren't an advanced form of life. But if I've got to be tied
naked, covered in $100 bills and dropped in the middle of a city, I'd
rather it be Amsterdam than New York.
-William Davis, rasfw
Danny Sichel
>> EXPENDABLE by James Alan Gardner
>> In this novel, the unfortunate Ramos is sent to escort an
>> inconvenient officer to a planet of No Return, from which she is
>> presumably not expected to return. Hijinks ensue.
>> This features the charming character of Oar, a transparent
>>woman who has very little trouble with self-doubt. Recommended.
Oh, and read _Ascending_, in which Oar is the *narrator*.
> Recommended.
*Strongly* recommended.
"My name is Festina Ramos, and I have a positive attitude about my
appearance."
"Again."
"My name is Festina Ramos, and I have a positive attitude about my
appearance."
"Again."
"My name is Festina Ramos, and I have a positive attitude about my
appearance."
"Again."
Gardner is *almost* on my buy-on-sight list (the majority of his work is
set in that universe; the rest got dubious reviews).
This summer, I was unfortunate enough to find a single copy of his
_Trapped_ (which has the absolute BEST take on psi-as-science I have
EVER seen) at the same time that I finally found a single copy of
_Issola_ - and only had enough cash for one.
(I came back the next day and picked up the other.)
(The next week, I found _Issola_ in a used bookstore - half-off, and I
had store coupons. Oh well.)
James Nicoll
Danny Sichel <dsi...@canada.com> wrote:
>
>Gardner is *almost* on my buy-on-sight list (the majority of his work is
>set in that universe; the rest got dubious reviews).
I believe all of his novels published thus far as in that
universe. The Earthian bits are a bit more grubby since Earth fell
into poverty thanks to the loss offworld of a good chunk of its
population more or less overnight (and Northern Ontario is, I think,
a particularly backward part of a backward world) but there're clear
connections to the other books, I think.
John F. Carr
>majority of his work is set in that universe; the rest got dubious
>reviews).
Four books, told from different points of view, involve Festina Ramos.
The others, _Commitment Hour_ and _Trapped_, are in the same "League of
Peoples" universe but have independent plots.
--
John Carr (j...@mit.edu)
Danny Sichel
>>[James Alan] Gardner is *almost* on my buy-on-sight list (the
>>majority of his work is set in that universe; the rest got dubious
>>reviews).
> Four books, told from different points of view, involve Festina Ramos.
> The others, _Commitment Hour_ and _Trapped_, are in the same "League of
> Peoples" universe but have independent plots.
I was uncertain as to whether _CH_ took place in that universe, and it's
the one that got dubious reviews.
Nancy Lebovitz
James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>
> I believe all of his novels published thus far as in that
>universe. The Earthian bits are a bit more grubby since Earth fell
>into poverty thanks to the loss offworld of a good chunk of its
>population more or less overnight (and Northern Ontario is, I think,
I haven't read those, but I bet it's not just losing people--it's
losing the less violent people.
>a particularly backward part of a backward world) but there're clear
>connections to the other books, I think.
--
Nancy Lebovitz na...@netaxs.com www.nancybuttons.com
Now, with bumper stickers
Using your turn signal is not "giving information to the enemy"
John Schilling
> NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman
> I know I read this but nothing stuck.
It's a travelogue of the urban fantasy version of the London subway
system, with all those quaintly named stations having more or less
literal manifestations. Gaiman as always does first-rate worldbuilding,
and provides an equally interesting supporting cast, but this time
there's not much of a story - the protagonist is stuck accompanying
someone else's quest, does nothing of importance, and is there only
to provide the audience with a viewpoint for the atmospherics.
Which did stick with me; I just would have preferred more story.
> FINITY'S END by C.J. Cherryh
> Didn't read it.
Remember the "Thorby voyages with the Free Traders" section of
_Citizen in the Galaxy_?
This is the Cherryh version of same. "Finity" is the merchant
starship seen in background throughout the Alliance/Union tales,
run by the Neihart family that is a Big Name among the merchant
community. Backstory is that the merchants are not *completely*
bound to the "we take our families with us no matter what" bit,
and when Finity goes off to war in Downbelow Station, actual
pregnant women are disembarked for the duration.
Which turns out to be about seventeen years, and when time comes
to reassemble the family, there's a kid with nothing but a legal
and genetic connection to said family. But one doesn't say "no"
to the Neiharts.
If the kid and the family were Heinlein heroes, this would be
one kind of story - either the kid grows up and embraces his
destiny, or he grows up and tells them what he thinks of the
idea of being torn away from the life he's built for himself
to be a cog in their machine. But these are Cherryh protagonists
rather than Heinlein, so there's much more in the way of just
muddling through.
--
*John Schilling * "Anything worth doing, *
*Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP * is worth doing for money" *
*Chief Scientist & General Partner * -13th Rule of Acquisition *
*White Elephant Research, LLC * "There is no substitute *
*schi...@spock.usc.edu * for success" *
*661-951-9107 or 661-275-6795 * -58th Rule of Acquisition *