SFBC 1997 [First Quarter]
James Nicoll
Contents for anthologies and omnibuses from the Locus Index
to Science Fiction www.locusmag.com/index/
JANUARY
INFINITY'S SHORE by David Brin
A post-brain eater Brin novel. Avoid avoid avoid. _Kiln People_
is quite readable, so there is hope for victims of the BE.
FEET OF CLAY by Terry Pratchett
Another entry into the ongoing saga of Anhk-Moorpork and its
rapidly diversifying ethnic make-up. In this case, the group Pratchett
focuses on is the golems, artificial entities made of clay and motivated
by magic.
I have fond memories of this and yet have never reread it.
STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT by J.M. Dillard (Alternate)
I missed this.
STARSHIELD: SENTINELS by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Alternate)
And this.
THE DRAGON KING by R.A. Salvatore (Alternate)
And this.
BARLOWE'S GUIDE TO FANTASY by Wayne Douglas Barlowe (Alternate)
And this. Not a big fan of Barlowe's art.
FEBRUARY
CHILDREN OF THE MIND by Orson Scott Card
I believe this is one more wack at the expired pony of the Enderverse.
ENDER'S WAR [2-in-1 of ENDER'S GAME and SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD] by
Orson Scott Card (Reactivation)
Once there was a ripping novella about a boy who was trained and
used by a future world government engaged in a lethal conflict with aliens.
Then it was expanded to a less interesting novel. That's _Ender's Game_.
A sequel, set on the planet of the plot-motivating stupid-heads, soon
followed. That's _Speaker for the Dead_.
XENOCIDE by Orson Scott Card (Reactivation)
This includes one beautiful nugget ("Gloriously Bright") surrounded
by rotting tripe. Not only does this end with
SPOILER
The sudden plot-convenient development of an FTL drive after
millennia of starflight without it, but it is a Wishing Makes It So
FTL drive.
ISAAC ASIMOV'S UTOPIA by Roger MacBride Allen
I missed this.
SPIDER-MAN: THE OCTOPUS AGENDA by Diane Duane (Alternate)
And this.
EPIPHANY OF THE LONG SUN [2-in-1 of CALDE OF THE LONG SUN & EXODUS
FROM THE LONG SUN] BY Gene Wolfe (Alternate)
I am too stupid to properly appreciate Wolfe, so I don't even
bother to pick up the books.
BEGGARS RIDE by Nancy Kress (Alternate)
I avoided this.
MAGIC: THE GATHERING(tm) OFFICIAL ENCYCLOPEDIA by Kathryn Haynes
(Alternate)
And this.
DRAGON BURNING by Craig Shaw Gardner (Alternate)
And this.
FAIR PERIL by Nancy Springer (Alternate)
And as far as I know I have never read a Springer, although I think
I have an SFBC selection by her from the 1970s.
GRENDEL TALES: FOUR DEVILS, ONE HELL by James Robinson & Teddy
Kristiansen (Flyer)
Collection of issues from the Grendel comic book? I am monumentally
underwhelmed by this title's violent nihilism.
COLLECTOR'S # 2
Modern Classics of Fantasy ed. Gardner Dozois (St. Martin's
0-312-15173-X, Jan '97 [Dec '96], $35.00, 647pp, hc, cover by
James Gurney);
+ xi o Introduction o Gardner Dozois o in
+ 1 o Trouble with Water o Horace L. Gold o ss Unknown Mar '39
+ 18 o The Gnarly Man o L. Sprague de Camp o nv Unknown Jun '39
This is a short about an immortal neandertal who has the misfortune
to briefy come to the attention of then-modern science. Made the LSdC Best
Of collection in the 1970s.
+ 38 o The Golem o Avram Davidson o ss F&SF Mar '55
+ 44 o Walk Like a Mountain [John] o Manly Wade Wellman o ss
F&SF Jun '55
+ 58 o Extempore ["The Beach Where Time Began"] o Damon Knight
o ss Infinity Science Fiction Aug '56
+ 69 o Space-Time for Springers [Gummitch] o Fritz Leiber o ss
Star Science Fiction Stories #4, ed. Frederik Pohl,
Ballantine, 1958
+ 80 o Scylla's Daughter [Fafhrd & Gray Mouser] o Fritz Leiber
o na Fantastic May '61
+ 131 o The Overworld [Cugel; Dying Earth] o Jack Vance o nv
F&SF Dec '65
+ 155 o The Signaller [Pavane] o Keith Roberts o nv Impulse Mar
'66
+ 182 o The Manor of Roses [John & Stephen] o Thomas Burnett
Swann o na F&SF Nov '66
+ 232 o Death and the Executioner [from Lord of Light] o Roger
Zelazny o ex Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967
+ 266 o Configuration of the North Shore o R. A. Lafferty o ss
Orbit 5, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam's, 1969
+ 278 o Two Sadnesses o George Alec Effinger o ss Bad Moon
Rising, ed. Thomas M. Disch, Harper & Row, 1973
+ 291 o The Tale of Hauk o Poul Anderson o nv Swords Against
Darkness #1, ed. Andrew J. Offutt, Zebra, 1977
+ 309 o Manatee Gal Ain't You Coming Out Tonight [Jack
Limekiller] o Avram Davidson o nv F&SF Apr '77
+ 339 o The Troll o T. H. White o ss Gone To Ground, 1935
+ 349 o The Sleep of Trees o Jane Yolen o ss F&SF Sep '80
+ 359 o God's Hooks! o Howard Waldrop o ss Universe 12, ed.
Terry Carr, Doubleday, 1982
+ 377 o The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule [Griaule] o
Lucius Shepard o nv F&SF Dec '84
+ 401 o A Cabin on the Coast o Gene Wolfe o ss F&SF Feb '84;
first published in German in Zu den Sternen ed. Peter Wilfert
(Munich: Goldmann Verlag, 1981).
+ 412 o Paper Dragons [Paper Dragons] o James P. Blaylock o nv
Imaginary Lands, ed. Robin McKinley, Ace, 1985
+ 427 o Into Gold o Tanith Lee o nv IASFM Mar '86
+ 451 o Flowers of Edo o Bruce Sterling o nv IASFM May '87;
first published in Japanese in Hayakawa's Science Fiction
Magazine.
+ 472 o Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight o Ursula K. Le
Guin o nv Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences, Capra
Press, 1987
+ 497 o A Gift of the People o Robert Sampson o ss Full
Spectrum, ed. Lou Aronica & Shawna McCarthy, Bantam, 1988
+ 513 o Missolonghi 1824 o John Crowley o ss IASFM Mar '90
+ 522 o Bears Discover Fire o Terry Bisson o ss IASFM Aug '90
+ 531 o Blunderbore o Esther M. Friesner o ss IASFM Sep '90
+ 540 o Death and the Lady o Judith Tarr o nv After the King,
ed. Martin H. Greenberg, Tor, 1992
+ 569 o The Changeling's Tale o Michael Swanwick o ss Asimov's
Jan '94
+ 584 o Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros o Peter
S. Beagle o nv Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn, ed. Peter
S. Beagle, Janet Berliner & Martin H. Greenberg, HarperPrism,
1995
+ 602 o Beauty and the Opéra or the Phantom Beast o Suzy McKee
Charnas o nv Asimov's Mar '96
+ 643 o Recommended Reading o Misc. Material o bi
Apparently I am and always have been out of touch with short fiction.
THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert A. Heinlein
Reprint of the tale of a Lunar revolt, told from the POV
of one of the core revolutionaries. Although some of the elements
that later made RAH unreadable for me are present in rudimentary
form, this was still one of my favourite RAHs.
TAU ZERO by Poul Anderson (Alternate)
A Bussard Ramjet (1) en route to another star suffers an
accident that renders it stuck in accelerate mode. Since even
a one gee acceleration will let you cross the universe in a life
time and this ship has a handwavium way of accelerating far faster
than that, a few ship years can add up to an extraordinarily long
time in a rest frame.
I don't think it is standing up especially well but was one
of my favourite Andersons when I was young.
1: A rocket that uses the interstellar medium for energy and reaction
mass. An interesting idea that apparently can't work. Pity.
THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT by Robert J. Sawyer (Alternate)
Various ways of replicating minds leads to a trite murder mystery.
I think this is about the point in his career where Sawyer decided to set
his work in the near future, for marketing reasons.
THE FACES OF FANTASY by Patti Perret (Alternate)
I missed this.
JIREL OF JOIRY by C.L. Moore (Alternate)
I also missed this. I know, it's a classic and I have no good
excuse. As I recall, it's Planet Stories style swashbuckling, with a
*girl* protagonist, written when women were to most SF writers and
readers merely a theoretical possibility. C.L. Moore arguably had an
unfair advantage writing about women, being one, but I can name other
female writers from the period who nevertheless stuck with male heroes.
THE DISCOVERY OF DRAGONS by Graeme Base (Flyer)
No idea.
SOMETHING IN MY EYE by Michael Whelan (Flyer)
Also missed this. Art folio, perhaps?
A DOZEN BLACK ROSES by Nancy A. Collins (Flyer)
Missed this (Bounced off the one Collins I tried).
THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER by Harlan Ellison (Reply Envelope)
I saw the TV episode but didn't read this and will not comment. It's
Star Trek related.
MARCH
DRAGONSEYE by Anne McCaffrey
Missed this.
FIREBIRD by Mercedes Lackey
And this.
MORDRED'S CURSE by Ian McDowell
And this, since I had a terrible allergy to Arthur after 1996.
STAR WARS: THE BLACK FLEET CRISIS [3-in-1 of BEFORE THE STORM,
SHIELD OF LIES and TYRANT'S TEST) by Michael P. Kube-McDowell
(Alternate)
I never read this but I have heard it was competently done.
WORLDWAR: STRIKING THE BALANCE by Harry Turtledove (Alternate)
More bloatware from Turtledove, in this case more Aliens vs
the Allies vs the Axis in an aborted WWII. It's both bad and stupid.
THE WOOD WIFE by Terri Windling (Alternate)
This is in the To Be Read Room.
LORD OF THE VAMPIRES by Jeanne Kalogridis (Alternate)
I missed this.
THE SANDMAN: THE WAKE by Neil Gaiman et al (Flyer)
And I had burned out on Sandman by the time this came out.
--
"The Union Nationale has brought [Quebec] to the edge of an abyss.
With Social Credit you will take one step forward."
Camil Samson
Doom & Gloom Dave
> Lists courtesy of Andrew Wheeler.
>
> Contents for anthologies and omnibuses from the Locus Index
> to Science Fiction www.locusmag.com/index/
>
>
> JANUARY
>
>>
>
>
> I missed this.
>
Based on the movie I'd guess.
>
>
> FEBRUARY
>
>
> CHILDREN OF THE MIND by Orson Scott Card
>
> I believe this is one more wack at the expired pony of the
Enderverse.
>
Ewwwww. Couldn't get more than a chapter into it.
>
> ENDER'S WAR [2-in-1 of ENDER'S GAME and SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD] by
> Orson Scott Card (Reactivation)
>
> Once there was a ripping novella about a boy who was trained and
> used by a future world government engaged in a lethal conflict with
> aliens. Then it was expanded to a less interesting novel. That's
> _Ender's Game_.
> A sequel, set on the planet of the plot-motivating stupid-heads,
soon
> followed. That's _Speaker for the Dead_.
I thought both were great.
>
>
> XENOCIDE by Orson Scott Card (Reactivation)
>
> This includes one beautiful nugget ("Gloriously Bright") surrounded
> by rotting tripe. Not only does this end with
>
> SPOILER
>
>
> The sudden plot-convenient development of an FTL drive after
> millennia of starflight without it, but it is a Wishing Makes It So
> FTL drive.
I hated all of it, Gloriously Bright included.
>
>
> THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert A. Heinlein
>
> Reprint of the tale of a Lunar revolt, told from the POV
> of one of the core revolutionaries. Although some of the elements
> that later made RAH unreadable for me are present in rudimentary
> form, this was still one of my favourite RAHs.
Excellent work. Still a favourite.
>
>
> STAR WARS: THE BLACK FLEET CRISIS [3-in-1 of BEFORE THE STORM,
> SHIELD OF LIES and TYRANT'S TEST) by Michael P. Kube-McDowell
> (Alternate)
>
> I never read this but I have heard it was competently done.
It was. Luke and a babe go off trying to find his mother. That
thread and the "White Current" possibly now retconned by those movies
I've heard tell of.
An evil race, the Yevetha if memory serves cause some problems and
torture Han Solo pretty well.
Chewbacca, Lando and the droids explore an alien ship.
Best use of Chewbacca, Lando and the droids in all of the books
published and the only one where Chewy is anything more than a
babysitter/baggage carrier.
Much better than my 3-liner makes it sound.
>
>
> THE SANDMAN: THE WAKE by Neil Gaiman et al (Flyer)
>
> And I had burned out on Sandman by the time this came out.
It was ok, but not particularly necessary.
Peter Meilinger
> Lists courtesy of Andrew Wheeler.
> FEET OF CLAY by Terry Pratchett
> Another entry into the ongoing saga of Anhk-Moorpork and its
>rapidly diversifying ethnic make-up. In this case, the group Pratchett
>focuses on is the golems, artificial entities made of clay and motivated
>by magic.
> I have fond memories of this and yet have never reread it.
It holds up very well to re-reading, if my experience is any
judge.
>COLLECTOR'S # 2
> Modern Classics of Fantasy ed. Gardner Dozois (St. Martin's
> 0-312-15173-X, Jan '97 [Dec '96], $35.00, 647pp, hc, cover by
> James Gurney);
I have vague memories of several of these stories, but I make
no guarantees of accuracy.
> + 44 o Walk Like a Mountain [John] o Manly Wade Wellman o ss
> F&SF Jun '55
One of Wellman's Silver John stories, and a quick Google search
tells me I remember it correctly. An eight foot, immensely strong
man who can control the weather lives on top of a mountain above
a small village. Some say he's descended from the biblical giants
mentioned in Genesis. He's in love with a very tall woman from the
village and is going to flood the village if she doesn't love
him back. John talks to him and makes him see reason, or close
enough, and if I recall correctly he and the tall women end up
together.
> + 309 o Manatee Gal Ain't You Coming Out Tonight [Jack
> Limekiller] o Avram Davidson o nv F&SF Apr '77
I'm pretty sure I read this one. It's hard to believe there'd
be two stories that would fit that title. Somewhere in the
second or third world, a guy with a guitar sits on a boat
with a local. There might have been some talk of some local
legendary beasties, but maybe not. At some point the guitar
guy starts singing "Buffalo Gals" but subconsciously
substitutes "Manatee Gals." This scares the hell out of
the local. That night, something bad happens, but I sure
can't recall exactly what.
> + 359 o God's Hooks! o Howard Waldrop o ss Universe 12, ed.
> Terry Carr, Doubleday, 1982
Set back in Medieval or Renaissance times, with all the detail
you'd expect from Waldrop. Someone, possibly a priest or other
church official, goes fishing and hooks a big 'un that might
or might not be Leviathan, I can't recall.
> + 377 o The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule [Griaule] o
> Lucius Shepard o nv F&SF Dec '84
You thought my synopses up 'til now were bad? Hoo boy. In some
sort of fantasy land, there's a big dragon which I assume is
named Griaule. Various people in power want to kill said dragon,
but it's way too powerful. Then an artist comes up with an
idea that will appeal to Griaule's vanity. He'll paint the
dragon's entire body, and eventually the poisons in the paint
will kill the beast. I don't know if said poisons were specially
included in the paint or just there in all paint. The dragon
agrees to let this happen, but the artist loses sight of the
plan to kill the dragon and turns the project into his life's
work. A fair amount of other stuff happens along the way, but
I don't remember more.
> SOMETHING IN MY EYE by Michael Whelan (Flyer)
> Also missed this. Art folio, perhaps?
I think so, yeah. I remember a folio-sized book with a
fairly disturbing cover from when I worked at the
book store.
Pete
MPorcius
> FROM THE LONG SUN] BY Gene Wolfe (Alternate)
>
> I am too stupid to properly appreciate Wolfe, so I don't even
>bother to pick up the books.
I'm reading this now. It is more approachable than *Book of the New Sun* but
not nearly as good. I like it, but it seems a little too long, and it isn't
amazing me like *Book of the New Sun* did.
David Cowie
[titles he missed or avoided]
>
>
> MAGIC: THE GATHERING(tm) OFFICIAL ENCYCLOPEDIA by Kathryn Haynes
> (Alternate)
>
> And this.
>
For those of you who don't know, Magic(TM) was a collectible card game.
(Marketing method: there are many different cards, some rare and powerful.
A pack of cards contains a random selection). Some of my friends were very
keen on Magic(TM) in the late 1990's, and described it as "more addictive
than crack cocaine". This was rubbish - they only spent hundreds of pounds
on it, not thousands.
>
> MORDRED'S CURSE by Ian McDowell
>
> And this, since I had a terrible allergy to Arthur after 1996.
>
OK, so what happened with you and Arthur in 1996? Apart from a critical
mass of cruddy novels, of course.
--
David Cowie david_cowie at lineone dot net
Containment Failure + 747:08
James Nicoll
David Cowie <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 13:59:08 -0500, James Nicoll wrote:
>
>[titles he missed or avoided]
>>
>>
>> And this, since I had a terrible allergy to Arthur after 1996.
>>
>OK, so what happened with you and Arthur in 1996? Apart from a critical
>mass of cruddy novels, of course.
I was chief scriptwriter for a musical comedy on the theme of
Arthur, written by a large number of writers. Having binged on the subject
for research, I no longer wanted to read about it.
Mike Kozlowski
James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
> I missed this.
So what's that phrase mean, anyway? "I would have read it, but it
somehow escaped my notice," "I have no interest in ever reading this
book," or just "I had no idea this book even existed"?
> FAIR PERIL by Nancy Springer (Alternate)
>
> And as far as I know I have never read a Springer, although I think
>I have an SFBC selection by her from the 1970s.
That's a terrible, gratingly smug fantasy novel. Booklog review:
http://www.klio.org/weblog/2002_02_archive.html#entry-54
> THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT by Robert J. Sawyer (Alternate)
>
> Various ways of replicating minds leads to a trite murder mystery.
>I think this is about the point in his career where Sawyer decided to set
>his work in the near future, for marketing reasons.
For my own part, I thought this was Sawyer's best novel, with his
subsequent stuff all self-derivative. (That is, I think he went,
"Say, that won me a Nebula! I should do more stuff like that!", but
failed to understand what made _The Terminal Experiment_ interesting,
so instead produced uninteresting knockoffs.)
--
Mike Kozlowski
http://www.klio.org/mlk/
Garrett Wollman
> THE FACES OF FANTASY by Patti Perret (Alternate)
>
> I missed this.
Photographs of fantasy writers in their natural habitat.
> FIREBIRD by Mercedes Lackey
>
> And this.
I have this (and I don't remember why), but have never been desparate
enough to read it.
-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every
wol...@lcs.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own
Opinions not those of| search for greater freedom.
MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. ___ (2003)
James Nicoll
Mike Kozlowski <m...@klio.org> wrote:
>In article <brl09s$nmu$1...@panix1.panix.com>,
>James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>
>> I missed this.
>
>So what's that phrase mean, anyway? "I would have read it, but it
>somehow escaped my notice," "I have no interest in ever reading this
>book," or just "I had no idea this book even existed"?
Mostly the first and the last. Ones I find unlikely to
be worth reading I avoided, as opposed to missed.
David Silberstein
[snippity]
>COLLECTOR'S # 2
>
> Modern Classics of Fantasy ed. Gardner Dozois (St. Martin's
> 0-312-15173-X, Jan '97 [Dec '96], $35.00, 647pp, hc, cover by
> James Gurney);
>
> + xi o Introduction o Gardner Dozois o in
> + 1 o Trouble with Water o Horace L. Gold o ss Unknown Mar '39
> + 18 o The Gnarly Man o L. Sprague de Camp o nv Unknown Jun '39
>
> This is a short about an immortal neandertal who has the misfortune
>to briefy come to the attention of then-modern science. Made the LSdC Best
>Of collection in the 1970s.
>
> + 38 o The Golem o Avram Davidson o ss F&SF Mar '55
So, nu, this android reads too much Frankenstein, and wanders up
to a retired Jewish couple and melodramatically declaims his
intent to war on humanity. Naturally, he is thwarted.
Amusing, if you find that sort of thing amusing.
> + 451 o Flowers of Edo o Bruce Sterling o nv IASFM May '87;
> first published in Japanese in Hayakawa's Science Fiction
> Magazine.
If I am not misremembering, this is the one where a former samurai
(it is during the time of the Meiji restoration, and the samurai
have been stripped of their political power, as I recall) and his
friend confront a fire demon.
I remember liking the cover painting for this one.
> + 472 o Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight o Ursula K. Le
> Guin o nv Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences, Capra
> Press, 1987
Young girl gets lost in the woods with a damaged or missing eye, and
is taken in by animals, who usually act and behave as though they are
the anthropomorphized characters that the First Nations peoples told
stories about. Except when they don't. The girl may be hallucinating.
> + 584 o Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros o Peter
> S. Beagle o nv Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn, ed. Peter
> S. Beagle, Janet Berliner & Martin H. Greenberg, HarperPrism,
> 1995
As so many of Mr. Beagle's stories are, this one is funny and sad by
turns. Is the rhinocerous really a unicorn? Who can say?
>
>
> THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert A. Heinlein
>
> Reprint of the tale of a Lunar revolt, told from the POV
>of one of the core revolutionaries. Although some of the elements
>that later made RAH unreadable for me are present in rudimentary
>form, this was still one of my favourite RAHs.
Considered by many, if not all, to be his best adult work.
>
> SOMETHING IN MY EYE by Michael Whelan (Flyer)
>
> Also missed this. Art folio, perhaps?
Yes. The cover is amusing or gross, depending. A young man
(costumed at the height of punk chic) is shoving a finger into
one eye socket so far that he has pushed the eyeball into the
socket next to it, giving him a vague resemblance to one of
those asymmetrical flounders.
>
>
> THE SANDMAN: THE WAKE by Neil Gaiman et al (Flyer)
>
> And I had burned out on Sandman by the time this came out.
>
After the over-long Kindly Ones arc, this one was pleasantly brief.
And the detailed art by Michael Zulli was beautiful, and also a
pleasant change from Marc Hempel's more abstracted art.
Jon Meltzer
>
> Various ways of replicating minds leads to a trite murder mystery.
> I think this is about the point in his career where Sawyer decided to set
> his work in the near future, for marketing reasons.
Somehow won a Nebula. Aaaagh.
> THE SANDMAN: THE WAKE by Neil Gaiman et al (Flyer)
>
> And I had burned out on Sandman by the time this came out.
Pity. It's one of the better installments.
Htn963
>
> FEET OF CLAY by Terry Pratchett
>
> Another entry into the ongoing saga of Anhk-Moorpork and its
> rapidly diversifying ethnic make-up. In this case, the group Pratchett
> focuses on is the golems, artificial entities made of clay and motivated
> by magic.
>
> I have fond memories of this and yet have never reread it.
Sometimes fond memories are preserved by *not* rereading.
Most of the Pratchett I've read tend to blur into each other --
competent but not particularly memorable -- with only _Small Gods_
standing out.
> EPIPHANY OF THE LONG SUN [2-in-1 of CALDE OF THE LONG SUN & EXODUS
> FROM THE LONG SUN] BY Gene Wolfe (Alternate)
>
> I am too stupid to properly appreciate Wolfe, so I don't even
> bother to pick up the books.
Or perhaps, like some of us, you don't have the patience to sift
through his linguistic wanking to get to the story, which often turns
out to be unreliably narrated by oh-so-subtly devious protagonists. I
enjoyed the previous series, New Sun, despite and not because of
Wolfe's style and precious mannerisms.
> TAU ZERO by Poul Anderson (Alternate)
>
> A Bussard Ramjet (1) en route to another star suffers an
> accident that renders it stuck in accelerate mode. Since even
> a one gee acceleration will let you cross the universe in a life
> time
Even with the light barrier?
> and this ship has a handwavium way of accelerating far faster
> than that, a few ship years can add up to an extraordinarily long
> time in a rest frame.
>
> I don't think it is standing up especially well but was one
> of my favourite Andersons when I was young.
I liked the grand premise and daring plot, but the relationship
subplots were embarrassingly gauche. Anderson is even worse than
Heinlein at writing about "romance" and sex.
--
Ht
James Nicoll
Htn963 <Htn...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
>jdni...@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote in message news:<brl09s$nmu$1...@panix1.panix.com>...
>>
>>
>> A Bussard Ramjet (1) en route to another star suffers an
>> accident that renders it stuck in accelerate mode. Since even
>> a one gee acceleration will let you cross the universe in a life
>> time
>
> Even with the light barrier?
>
works in your favour, as long as you never need to go home.
Richard Horton
wrote:
> EPIPHANY OF THE LONG SUN [2-in-1 of CALDE OF THE LONG SUN & EXODUS
> FROM THE LONG SUN] BY Gene Wolfe (Alternate)
>
> I am too stupid to properly appreciate Wolfe, so I don't even
>bother to pick up the books.
>
I doubt I am smarter than James, but I do appreciate Wolfe. I think
these are very good. They are the final two novels of his Long Sun
tetralogy, about a decaying generation ship arrived at a double planet
system. _Exodus_ in particular is extremely moving.
Not really Wolfe's best, but very good, and essential for Wolfe fans.
--
Rich Horton | Stable Email: mailto://richard...@sff.net
Home Page: http://www.sff.net/people/richard.horton
Also visit SF Site (http://www.sfsite.com) and Tangent Online (http://www.tangentonline.com)
Richard Horton
wrote:
>
Quite a few of these stories are remarkable -- based on a quick look
at the contents it is a great collection. The Leiber (both), Swann,
Davidson, and Roberts at least are brilliant, and many more are at the
least very good.
Mike Schilling
"James Nicoll" <jdni...@panix.com> wrote in message
news:brl09s$nmu$1...@panix1.panix.com...
>
> Modern Classics of Fantasy ed. Gardner Dozois (St. Martin's
> 0-312-15173-X, Jan '97 [Dec '96], $35.00, 647pp, hc, cover by
> James Gurney);
>
> + xi o Introduction o Gardner Dozois o in
> + 1 o Trouble with Water o Horace L. Gold o ss Unknown Mar '39
> + 18 o The Gnarly Man o L. Sprague de Camp o nv Unknown Jun '39
>
> This is a short about an immortal neandertal who has the misfortune
> to briefy come to the attention of then-modern science. Made the LSdC Best
> Of collection in the 1970s.
>
> + 38 o The Golem o Avram Davidson o ss F&SF Mar '55
> + 44 o Walk Like a Mountain [John] o Manly Wade Wellman o ss
> F&SF Jun '55
> + 58 o Extempore ["The Beach Where Time Began"] o Damon Knight
> o ss Infinity Science Fiction Aug '56
> + 69 o Space-Time for Springers [Gummitch] o Fritz Leiber o ss
> Star Science Fiction Stories #4, ed. Frederik Pohl,
> Ballantine, 1958
A cat story even a certified cat-disdainer (to paraphrase Casablanca, I'd
hate them if I gave them that much thought) loves.
> + 80 o Scylla's Daughter [Fafhrd & Gray Mouser] o Fritz Leiber
> o na Fantastic May '61
> + 131 o The Overworld [Cugel; Dying Earth] o Jack Vance o nv
> F&SF Dec '65
Presumably the first bit from _The Eyes of the Overworld_.
> + 155 o The Signaller [Pavane] o Keith Roberts o nv Impulse Mar
> '66
Medieval high technology, inbcluding rudimentary information theory, from an
AH where the reformation never happened.
From the ones I have read "Classics" is for once not an overstatment.
Nancy Lebovitz
>
> INFINITY'S SHORE by David Brin
>
> A post-brain eater Brin novel. Avoid avoid avoid. _Kiln People_
>is quite readable, so there is hope for victims of the BE.
Was that the first of the second set? I made a couple of tries at that
one, and just couldn't get into it. Looks like I escaped an unpleasant
reading experience.
> CHILDREN OF THE MIND by Orson Scott Card
>
I've pretty much quit reading Card. I was too creeped out by the way
I was fascinated by the character torture. IIRC, _Pastwatch_ didn't
have a case of that, but also didn't do its premise justice.
>COLLECTOR'S # 2
>
> Modern Classics of Fantasy ed. Gardner Dozois (St. Martin's
> 0-312-15173-X, Jan '97 [Dec '96], $35.00, 647pp, hc, cover by
> James Gurney);
>
> + xi o Introduction o Gardner Dozois o in
> + 1 o Trouble with Water o Horace L. Gold o ss Unknown Mar '39
A man offends a water gnome, and is cursed by having water avoid him.
> + 18 o The Gnarly Man o L. Sprague de Camp o nv Unknown Jun '39
>
> This is a short about an immortal neandertal who has the misfortune
>to briefy come to the attention of then-modern science. Made the LSdC Best
>Of collection in the 1970s.
>
> + 69 o Space-Time for Springers [Gummitch] o Fritz Leiber o ss
> Star Science Fiction Stories #4, ed. Frederik Pohl,
> Ballantine, 1958
The only cat that never grew up to be a human.
> + 182 o The Manor of Roses [John & Stephen] o Thomas Burnett
> Swann o na F&SF Nov '66
I liked Swann a lot. I need to reread him to see what I think of him now.
> + 522 o Bears Discover Fire o Terry Bisson o ss IASFM Aug '90
Everyone else seems to have liked this one more than I do.
> + 584 o Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros o Peter
> S. Beagle o nv Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn, ed. Peter
> S. Beagle, Janet Berliner & Martin H. Greenberg, HarperPrism,
> 1995
One of my favorites.
> Apparently I am and always have been out of touch with short fiction.
Have you merely not gotten around to it, or do you dislike the form? If it's
the former, there's a *lot* of good stuff you haven't gotten around to.
>
> TAU ZERO by Poul Anderson (Alternate)
>
> A Bussard Ramjet (1) en route to another star suffers an
>accident that renders it stuck in accelerate mode. Since even
>a one gee acceleration will let you cross the universe in a life
>time and this ship has a handwavium way of accelerating far faster
>than that, a few ship years can add up to an extraordinarily long
>time in a rest frame.
>
> I don't think it is standing up especially well but was one
>of my favourite Andersons when I was young.
Me, too. I enjoyed the expanding scope as they had to keep speeding up.
It didn't look as good when I reread it, probably because the people
stuff wasn't well-handled. Perhaps it would have been better as a novella.
> JIREL OF JOIRY by C.L. Moore (Alternate)
>
> I also missed this. I know, it's a classic and I have no good
>excuse. As I recall, it's Planet Stories style swashbuckling, with a
>*girl* protagonist, written when women were to most SF writers and
All true. I don't know about Planet Stories--Jirel is medieval setting
fantasy, and I don't think there was all that much of that.
>readers merely a theoretical possibility. C.L. Moore arguably had an
>unfair advantage writing about women, being one, but I can name other
>female writers from the period who nevertheless stuck with male heroes.
>
--
Nancy Lebovitz na...@netaxs.com www.nancybuttons.com
Now, with bumper stickers
Using your turn signal is not "giving information to the enemy"
David Tate
> INFINITY'S SHORE by David Brin
The bad news is, nothing happens. The good news is, if things had
happened, they would have been the things in HEAVEN'S REACH, which is
a fate worse than demolition.
> COLLECTOR'S # 2
>
> Modern Classics of Fantasy ed. Gardner Dozois (St. Martin's
> 0-312-15173-X, Jan '97 [Dec '96], $35.00, 647pp, hc, cover by
> James Gurney);
> + 38 o The Golem o Avram Davidson o ss F&SF Mar '55
Davidson's first 'real' publication -- a timeless gem about the
encounter between the vengeful golem and Mr. Gumbeiner, glazier
(retired). Available on-line at
http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/davidson3/davidson31.html
> + 309 o Manatee Gal Ain't You Coming Out Tonight [Jack
> Limekiller] o Avram Davidson o nv F&SF Apr '77
A very different Davidson story. This is one of his Limekiller
stories, set in British Hidalgo (which is roughly equivalent to
British Honduras before it became Belize). Limekiller discovers the
truth behind various legends, and it Does Not Make Him Happy.
> + 377 o The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule [Griaule] o
> Lucius Shepard o nv F&SF Dec '84
"Painted the dragon" as in "painted the house", not as in "painted a
portrait". One of my favorites; an extremely evocative and
nonstandard treatment of an old fantasy trope. The characters are so
very believably human, even when engaged in surreal activities like
painting a dragon.
> + 472 o Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight o Ursula K. Le
> Guin o nv Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences, Capra
> Press, 1987
The most forgettable (to me) of the stories in the collection BUFFALO
GALS, AND OTHER ANIMAL PRESENCES. Vague and surreal use of Native
American myth archetypes.
> + 522 o Bears Discover Fire o Terry Bisson o ss IASFM Aug '90
I'm the last person left who hasn't found a copy of this to read.
> THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert A. Heinlein
>
> Reprint of the tale of a Lunar revolt, told from the POV
> of one of the core revolutionaries. Although some of the elements
> that later made RAH unreadable for me are present in rudimentary
> form, this was still one of my favourite RAHs.
One of the things I love about it is that there is no character you
can point at and say "This is the mouthpiece for all of RAH's lectures
about the way things ought to be done". Manny, Prof, Stu, Wyoh,
Mike... none of them are always right, or even always sensical. Much
more realistic than the later RAH mode, and more entertaining.
Still my favorite Heinlein.
> JIREL OF JOIRY by C.L. Moore (Alternate)
I really must find a copy of this someday.
>
> DRAGONSEYE by Anne McCaffrey
>
> Missed this.
Alternate title for RED STAR RISING. My wife accidentally bought
both, not realizing this.
> THE WOOD WIFE by Terri Windling (Alternate)
>
> This is in the To Be Read Room.
Ditto.
David Tate
David Tate
> In article <brl09s$nmu$1...@panix1.panix.com>,
> James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
> >
> >JANUARY
> >
> > INFINITY'S SHORE by David Brin
> >
> > A post-brain eater Brin novel. Avoid avoid avoid. _Kiln People_
> >is quite readable, so there is hope for victims of the BE.
>
> Was that the first of the second set?
No, the second -- the first was BRIGHTNESS REEF.
I can't actual recall with certainty any aspect of INFINITY'S SHORE.
That's partly because I've deliberately expunged it, and partly
because the whole thing is merely ponderous (and tedious) lead-up to
the jaw-dropping silliness that was HEAVEN'S REACH.
David Tate
John M. Gamble
David Tate <dt...@ida.org> wrote:
>jdni...@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote in message
>news:<brl09s$nmu$1...@panix1.panix.com>...
>
>
>
>I'm the last person left who hasn't found a copy of this to read.
>
Second to last. A friend of mine occasionally declaims its wonders.
I suppose i'll have to find a copy some day.
--
-john
February 28 1997: Last day libraries could order catalogue cards
from the Library of Congress.
Damien Neil
>
> A post-brain eater Brin novel. Avoid avoid avoid. _Kiln People_
> is quite readable, so there is hope for victims of the BE.
Is there evidence for Brin getting hit by the brain eater?
_Infinity's Shore_ was completely lacking in direction, and _Heaven's
Reach_ was just plain bad, but two bad books in a series don't
necessarily indicate an overall trend. Other than those two, I think
he's been fairly consistent.
I second the opinion on _Kiln People_, by the way.
- Damien
Damien Neil
> That's partly because I've deliberately expunged it, and partly
> because the whole thing is merely ponderous (and tedious) lead-up to
> the jaw-dropping silliness that was HEAVEN'S REACH.
_Brightness Reef_ was quite good: entertaining characters, a good
setting, and a plot. _Infinity's Shore_ used the same characters and
setting, but had no plot; I think Brin couldn't quite figure out what
he wanted to have his characters do, so he just has them run in circles
for a book. In _Heaven's Reach_, he threw away the characters and
setting and wandered off into cloud-cuckoo land.
A shame; I'd have liked to read the continuation of the adventures
started in _BR_, even if it never resolved any of the questions started
in _Startide Rising_.
- Damien
Steve Coltrin
> Is there evidence for Brin getting hit by the brain eater?
Yes; _Earth_ and _The Transparent Society_. "Author gets tinfoil-hat-level
crackpot idea, incorporates it into fictional works as Obviously Right"
is one of the classic symptoms.
--
Steve Coltrin spco...@omcl.org WWVBF?
Wal*Mart: Your source for cheap plastic crap imported from China!
Brandon
James Nicoll wrote:
>
> TAU ZERO by Poul Anderson (Alternate)
>
> A Bussard Ramjet (1) en route to another star suffers an
> accident that renders it stuck in accelerate mode. Since even
> a one gee acceleration will let you cross the universe in a life
> time and this ship has a handwavium way of accelerating far faster
> than that, a few ship years can add up to an extraordinarily long
> time in a rest frame.
>
> I don't think it is standing up especially well but was one
> of my favourite Andersons when I was young.
I reread it quite recently, and it still quite effectively
evoked my sensawunda. Anderson at the top of his game -- it
may be my favorite of his novels. One line in particular
haunts me: "Marguerite's baby was born in the night." I
realize this doesn't evoke much if you haven't read the
book, but in context, it makes my hair stand on end. Literally.
--
Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable
from malice. -- seen on Usenet, 10/22/03 (with apologies to
Arthur C. Clarke)
Damien Neil
<spco...@omcl.org> wrote:
> begin Damien Neil <ne...@misago.org> writes:
> > Is there evidence for Brin getting hit by the brain eater?
>
> Yes; _Earth_ and _The Transparent Society_. "Author gets tinfoil-hat-level
> crackpot idea, incorporates it into fictional works as Obviously Right"
> is one of the classic symptoms.
I liked _Earth_. You may not care for it, but I don't think it's an
objectively bad work.
I take it you're referring to the idea of lack of privacy being a good
thing as the Obviously Right idea in Earth? It seemed to me that it
received a more balanced view than that--there were occasions when lack
of privacy had extremely negative effects, and it took a deus ex
singularity to rectify the obvious problem of the wealthy and powerful
being able to buy privacy that the rest of the world could not afford.
Overall, it seemed no less inappropriate a concept to hang a story off
of than, for example, the advertising-uber-alles society of _The Space
Merchants_.
- Damien
Steve Coltrin
> In article <87r7z47...@hrothgar.omcl.org>, Steve Coltrin
> <spco...@omcl.org> wrote:
>> begin Damien Neil <ne...@misago.org> writes:
>> > Is there evidence for Brin getting hit by the brain eater?
>>
>> Yes; _Earth_ and _The Transparent Society_. "Author gets tinfoil-hat-level
>> crackpot idea, incorporates it into fictional works as Obviously Right"
>> is one of the classic symptoms.
>
> I liked _Earth_. You may not care for it, but I don't think it's an
> objectively bad work.
I didn't Hate, Hate, *Hate* This Book; in fact, I enjoyed it enough for
at least one re-read. I'm just saying I think that's where the rot set in.
> I take it you're referring to the idea of lack of privacy being a good
> thing as the Obviously Right idea in Earth? [snip]
> Overall, it seemed no less inappropriate a concept to hang a story off
> of than, for example, the advertising-uber-alles society of _The Space
> Merchants_.
Agreed that it's not a bad what-if, but Brin drank the Flavor-Aid -
_The Transparent Society_ is nonfiction.
David E. Siegel
>
> > FIREBIRD by Mercedes Lackey
> >
> > And this.
>
> I have this (and I don't remember why), but have never been desparate
> enough to read it.
>
> -GAWollman
This is a retellign of the russian folk tale/myth of the firebird, the
same story used by stravinsky for the ballet of the same name. (I
first read the story in a collection called _Old Peter's Russina
Tales_ a group of russian folk tales, when I was about 10, and
remember it vividly.) It is a fairly good retelling of the classic
story, if you like ML's prose. Nothing particualrly good or bad about
it, IMO.
-DES
David E. Siegel
> > TAU ZERO by Poul Anderson (Alternate)
> >
> > A Bussard Ramjet (1) en route to another star suffers an
> > accident that renders it stuck in accelerate mode. Since even
> > a one gee acceleration will let you cross the universe in a life
> > time
>
> Even with the light barrier?
That's a life-time as measured bu on-ship, dilated time. It is a very
long time indeed as measured by home-port time. The physics of this is
right, and even the ending cosmology is at worst "possible but
unproven".
>
> > and this ship has a handwavium way of accelerating far faster
> > than that, a few ship years can add up to an extraordinarily long
> > time in a rest frame.
> >
> > I don't think it is standing up especially well but was one
> > of my favourite Andersons when I was young.
>
> I liked the grand premise and daring plot, but the relationship
> subplots were embarrassingly gauche. Anderson is even worse than
> Heinlein at writing about "romance" and sex.
Actually, i didn't think so. These scenes were clumsy but not
implausible IMO. I felt that I was able to see through the prose and
find characters i could belive in and sympathize with hiding behind
it, unlike much late RAH .
-DES
Randy Money
> Lists courtesy of Andrew Wheeler.
>
> Contents for anthologies and omnibuses from the Locus Index
> to Science Fiction www.locusmag.com/index/
[...]
> COLLECTOR'S # 2
>
> Modern Classics of Fantasy ed. Gardner Dozois (St. Martin's
> 0-312-15173-X, Jan '97 [Dec '96], $35.00, 647pp, hc, cover by
> James Gurney);
Yet another collection I haven't read wall to wall, still ...
> + xi o Introduction o Gardner Dozois o in
> + 1 o Trouble with Water o Horace L. Gold o ss Unknown Mar '39
> + 18 o The Gnarly Man o L. Sprague de Camp o nv Unknown Jun '39
>
> This is a short about an immortal neandertal who has the misfortune
> to briefy come to the attention of then-modern science. Made the LSdC Best
> Of collection in the 1970s.
>
> + 38 o The Golem o Avram Davidson o ss F&SF Mar '55
Just to join the chorus proclaiming how funny this one is. It does read
a bit like Catskills shtick, but it's amusing.
> + 339 o The Troll o T. H. White o ss Gone To Ground, 1935
Rather good near-horror story.
> + 513 o Missolonghi 1824 o John Crowley o ss IASFM Mar '90
I remember this as being rather touching in its depiction of Lord Byron.
And that's about it for me.
Randy M.
Jon Meltzer
"Mike Schilling" <mscotts...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:WBxDb.40374$D97....@newssvr29.news.prodigy.com...
>
> "James Nicoll" <jdni...@panix.com> wrote in message
> news:brl09s$nmu$1...@panix1.panix.com...
> >
> > Modern Classics of Fantasy ed. Gardner Dozois (St. Martin's
> > 0-312-15173-X, Jan '97 [Dec '96], $35.00, 647pp, hc, cover by
> > James Gurney);
> >
> > o na Fantastic May '61
It never fails, the girl you lust after turns out to be a rat ...
> > + 232 o Death and the Executioner [from Lord of Light] o Roger
> > Zelazny o ex Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967
"Lord of Light", section 3: Rild vs Sam vs Yama.
> > + 359 o God's Hooks! o Howard Waldrop o ss Universe 12, ed.
> > Terry Carr, Doubleday, 1982
A fish story.
William December Starr
"Jon Meltzer" <jonNOSPA...@mindspring.com> said:
>>> + 80 o Scylla's Daughter [Fafhrd & Gray Mouser] o Fritz Leiber
>>> o na Fantastic May '61
> It never fails, the girl you lust after turns out to be a rat ...
Not always -- remember Bill Murray in Ghostbusters? "Okay, so she's
a dog..."
-- William December Starr <wds...@panix.com>
Damien Neil
<spco...@omcl.org> wrote:
> > I liked _Earth_. You may not care for it, but I don't think it's an
> > objectively bad work.
>
> I didn't Hate, Hate, *Hate* This Book; in fact, I enjoyed it enough for
> at least one re-read. I'm just saying I think that's where the rot set in.
Did it continue past that book, though? _Brightness Reef_ was a good
enough book, I think. While neither of the sequels is particularly
good, their flaws aren't really the same as the flaws in _Earth_.
_Heaven's Reach_ actually reminds me of the last book in Pullman's "His
Dark Materials": the author doesn't seem to know how to resolve the
story he has started, and so resorts to desperate handwaving and shifts
in direction.
I'm not saying that Brin hasn't written some pretty uneven books; I
just don't think there's evidence of a sudden, long-term jump downwards
in quality.
> > I take it you're referring to the idea of lack of privacy being a good
> > thing as the Obviously Right idea in Earth? [snip]
> > Overall, it seemed no less inappropriate a concept to hang a story off
> > of than, for example, the advertising-uber-alles society of _The Space
> > Merchants_.
>
> Agreed that it's not a bad what-if, but Brin drank the Flavor-Aid -
> _The Transparent Society_ is nonfiction.
However crazy the ideas in _The Transparent Society_, however, did they
harm _Earth_? I didn't think so, personally. The post-privacy society
in _Earth_ certainly wasn't presented as a utopian ideal.
- Damien
Adam Canning
says...
> In article <brl09s$nmu$1...@panix1.panix.com>,
> James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>
> > THE FACES OF FANTASY by Patti Perret (Alternate)
> >
> > I missed this.
>
> Photographs of fantasy writers in their natural habitat.
>
> > FIREBIRD by Mercedes Lackey
> >
> > And this.
>
> I have this (and I don't remember why), but have never been desparate
> enough to read it.
IIRC its more a Russian Myth than a standard Mercedes Lackey novel.
--
Adam
Martin Wisse
>
> FAIR PERIL by Nancy Springer (Alternate)
>
> And as far as I know I have never read a Springer, although I think
>I have an SFBC selection by her from the 1970s.
No space-time for Springers?
Martin Wisse
--
The Dutch aren't an advanced form of life. But if I've got to be tied
naked, covered in $100 bills and dropped in the middle of a city, I'd
rather it be Amsterdam than New York.
-William Davis, rasfw
cd skogsberg
> jdni...@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote in message
> news:<brl09s$nmu$1...@panix1.panix.com>...
>> JIREL OF JOIRY by C.L. Moore (Alternate)
> I really must find a copy of this someday.
There's a collection in the Fantasy Masterworks series - _Black Gods
And Scarlet Dreams_ - which collects (I believe) all the Jirel Of
Joiry stories and all the Northwest Smith stories.
/cd
--
Everything will lase if you hit hard enough.