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BREAKING NEWS: Graydon's Doorstep will soon appear online
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Dorothy J Heydt
Mar 12, 2018, 8:00:03 PM3/12/18
to
Back in the high and palmy days of USENET, Graydon Saunders used
occasionally to refer to something he was writing, which he
called "The Doorstop." It is now, re-titled _The Human Dress,_
available for pre-order on Google Books and on Kobo, and on "a
few more of the Draft2Digital list." It has benefited from the
editing of Jennie Worden and from the better part of twenty years'
experience on Graydon's part, but be prepared: it's not as
accessible as the Commonweal. It's still vintage Graydon, rich
and strange and complex, full of sentences like gripping-beasts
and things that are not what they seemed to be. It is also a
longer work than the Commonweal novels.
It's a fantasy epic, whose backstory is "Once our ancestors were
tiny furry things hiding in the trees, and giants ruled the
world. Their descendants still harry us: most of them want to
eat us, and the rest step on us without noticing." And they have
magic. The human protagonists also have magic of various kinds,
which supplement their otherwise pre-industrial technology. And
they also are not what they seem to be. They live on several
clusters of islands, The main actors in the story -- as
distinguished from the principal characters, who are many -- are
two Kings, a grieving widower, and the only surviving son of a
timber-miller.
Someone, or something, is using magic to demolish human houses,
workshops, and trading ships, pulverizing everyone inside,
inspiring survivors with an insatiable desire for revenge, and
threatening an economy dependent on craft and trade. Magic is
also being used to create "corpse-suckers," undead who cannot be
destroyed by anything short of blowing them into fragments too
small to crawl together and reunite -- and can turn the living
into their own kind by a touch. And no one has any idea as to
what has been doing these things, or who has caused it to do them.
Their first clue arrives in the form of a ship full of raiders
who have assumed too soon that the islands have been laid waste
and there's nothing to do but pick up the pickings. After
eliminating the raiders, the protagonists backtrack them to the
first link in a long chain of discovery and vengeance.
_The Human Dress_ comprises ninety-seven chapters, not all of them
short. Find a long weekend and a supply of your favorite
caffeine-delivery system, and settle in. You will be rewarded.
--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
occasionally to refer to something he was writing, which he
called "The Doorstop." It is now, re-titled _The Human Dress,_
available for pre-order on Google Books and on Kobo, and on "a
few more of the Draft2Digital list." It has benefited from the
editing of Jennie Worden and from the better part of twenty years'
experience on Graydon's part, but be prepared: it's not as
accessible as the Commonweal. It's still vintage Graydon, rich
and strange and complex, full of sentences like gripping-beasts
and things that are not what they seemed to be. It is also a
longer work than the Commonweal novels.
It's a fantasy epic, whose backstory is "Once our ancestors were
tiny furry things hiding in the trees, and giants ruled the
world. Their descendants still harry us: most of them want to
eat us, and the rest step on us without noticing." And they have
magic. The human protagonists also have magic of various kinds,
which supplement their otherwise pre-industrial technology. And
they also are not what they seem to be. They live on several
clusters of islands, The main actors in the story -- as
distinguished from the principal characters, who are many -- are
two Kings, a grieving widower, and the only surviving son of a
timber-miller.
Someone, or something, is using magic to demolish human houses,
workshops, and trading ships, pulverizing everyone inside,
inspiring survivors with an insatiable desire for revenge, and
threatening an economy dependent on craft and trade. Magic is
also being used to create "corpse-suckers," undead who cannot be
destroyed by anything short of blowing them into fragments too
small to crawl together and reunite -- and can turn the living
into their own kind by a touch. And no one has any idea as to
what has been doing these things, or who has caused it to do them.
Their first clue arrives in the form of a ship full of raiders
who have assumed too soon that the islands have been laid waste
and there's nothing to do but pick up the pickings. After
eliminating the raiders, the protagonists backtrack them to the
first link in a long chain of discovery and vengeance.
_The Human Dress_ comprises ninety-seven chapters, not all of them
short. Find a long weekend and a supply of your favorite
caffeine-delivery system, and settle in. You will be rewarded.
--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
BCFD36
Mar 12, 2018, 11:07:34 PM3/12/18
to
On 3/12/18 4:47 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> Back in the high and palmy days of USENET, Graydon Saunders used
[stuff deleted]
> Back in the high and palmy days of USENET, Graydon Saunders used
>
I take it that you liked it.
--
Dave Scruggs
Captain, Boulder Creek Fire (Retired)
Senior Software Engineer - NASA Ames Research Center (Not Retired)
Dorothy J Heydt
Mar 13, 2018, 12:15:15 AM3/13/18
to
In article <p87f9f$1a33$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, BCFD36 <bcf...@cruzio.com> wrote:
>On 3/12/18 4:47 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> Back in the high and palmy days of USENET, Graydon Saunders used
>
>[stuff deleted]
>
>>
>I take it that you liked it.
Oh yeah.
>On 3/12/18 4:47 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> Back in the high and palmy days of USENET, Graydon Saunders used
>
>[stuff deleted]
>
>>
>I take it that you liked it.
larry
Mar 13, 2018, 12:18:30 PM3/13/18
to
On 2018-03-13, Dorothy J Heydt <djh...@kithrup.com> wrote:
> In article <p87f9f$1a33$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, BCFD36 <bcf...@cruzio.com> wrote:
>>On 3/12/18 4:47 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>> Back in the high and palmy days of USENET, Graydon Saunders used
>>
>>[stuff deleted]
>>
>>>
>>I take it that you liked it.
>
> Oh yeah.
>
Sufficient recommendation. I'll add my name to the Kobo waiting list.
> In article <p87f9f$1a33$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, BCFD36 <bcf...@cruzio.com> wrote:
>>On 3/12/18 4:47 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>> Back in the high and palmy days of USENET, Graydon Saunders used
>>
>>[stuff deleted]
>>
>>>
>>I take it that you liked it.
>
> Oh yeah.
>
Thanks.
--
After investigation, believe that which you have yourselves
tested and found reasonable, and which is for your good
and that of others.
Gautama.
Jaimie Vandenbergh
Mar 16, 2018, 3:49:25 PM3/16/18
to
On Mon, 12 Mar 2018 23:47:07 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
wrote:
>be prepared: it's not as
>accessible as the Commonweal.
Ooh 'eck. It took me three tries and much prodding from folks here for
me to get into _The March North_, although Commonweal 2 and 3 are far
easier to work with.
Attempted to pre-order at
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Graydon_Saunders_The_Human_Dress?id=rctMDwAAQBAJ
but it spins pointlessly. I'll have another go later.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
IIS is still popular in the public sector, where the two highest
priorities in IT are unfitness for purpose and high cost.
-- Tony Houghton
wrote:
>be prepared: it's not as
>accessible as the Commonweal.
me to get into _The March North_, although Commonweal 2 and 3 are far
easier to work with.
Attempted to pre-order at
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Graydon_Saunders_The_Human_Dress?id=rctMDwAAQBAJ
but it spins pointlessly. I'll have another go later.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
IIS is still popular in the public sector, where the two highest
priorities in IT are unfitness for purpose and high cost.
-- Tony Houghton
Dorothy J Heydt
Mar 16, 2018, 6:45:06 PM3/16/18
to
In article <aq7oad10ngrv9h4jr...@4ax.com>,
updated that and it worked.
Pre-order closes, and the sale opens, on March 23 IIRC.
Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>On Mon, 12 Mar 2018 23:47:07 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
>wrote:
>
>>be prepared: it's not as
>>accessible as the Commonweal.
>
>Ooh 'eck. It took me three tries and much prodding from folks here for
>me to get into _The March North_, although Commonweal 2 and 3 are far
>easier to work with.
>
>Attempted to pre-order at
>https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Graydon_Saunders_The_Human_Dress?id=rctMDwAAQBAJ
>but it spins pointlessly. I'll have another go later.
It spat at me because it had my old credit card number. I
>On Mon, 12 Mar 2018 23:47:07 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
>wrote:
>
>>be prepared: it's not as
>>accessible as the Commonweal.
>
>Ooh 'eck. It took me three tries and much prodding from folks here for
>me to get into _The March North_, although Commonweal 2 and 3 are far
>easier to work with.
>
>Attempted to pre-order at
>https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Graydon_Saunders_The_Human_Dress?id=rctMDwAAQBAJ
>but it spins pointlessly. I'll have another go later.
updated that and it worked.
Pre-order closes, and the sale opens, on March 23 IIRC.
Jaimie Vandenbergh
Mar 17, 2018, 8:42:55 AM3/17/18
to
On Fri, 16 Mar 2018 22:42:43 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
in Firefox or Safari.
Although I hesitated for a while since I don't really like to use Chrome
with it signed in to my Google account, and had to for the purchase.
That's me ad-tracked forever. Oh well.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
If you can't beat your computer at chess, try kickboxing
wrote:
>In article <aq7oad10ngrv9h4jr...@4ax.com>,
>Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>On Mon, 12 Mar 2018 23:47:07 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
>>wrote:
>>
>>>be prepared: it's not as
>>>accessible as the Commonweal.
>>
>>Ooh 'eck. It took me three tries and much prodding from folks here for
>>me to get into _The March North_, although Commonweal 2 and 3 are far
>>easier to work with.
>>
>>Attempted to pre-order at
>>https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Graydon_Saunders_The_Human_Dress?id=rctMDwAAQBAJ
>>but it spins pointlessly. I'll have another go later.
>
>It spat at me because it had my old credit card number. I
>updated that and it worked.
It worked instantly in Chrome straight after I posted, and hadn't worked
>In article <aq7oad10ngrv9h4jr...@4ax.com>,
>Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>On Mon, 12 Mar 2018 23:47:07 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
>>wrote:
>>
>>>be prepared: it's not as
>>>accessible as the Commonweal.
>>
>>Ooh 'eck. It took me three tries and much prodding from folks here for
>>me to get into _The March North_, although Commonweal 2 and 3 are far
>>easier to work with.
>>
>>Attempted to pre-order at
>>https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Graydon_Saunders_The_Human_Dress?id=rctMDwAAQBAJ
>>but it spins pointlessly. I'll have another go later.
>
>It spat at me because it had my old credit card number. I
>updated that and it worked.
in Firefox or Safari.
Although I hesitated for a while since I don't really like to use Chrome
with it signed in to my Google account, and had to for the purchase.
That's me ad-tracked forever. Oh well.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
If you can't beat your computer at chess, try kickboxing
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