HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: keroche@unix1.tcd.ie (Faust II)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: David Eddings
Date: 15 Apr 92 14:12:43 GMT
Organization: Trinity College, Dublin

In <ogorman.703337359@unix1.tcd.ie> ogorman@unix1.tcd.ie (Lucifuge) writes:

>In <910252m.4.703270604@ace.acadiau.ca> 910252m@ace.acadiau.ca (DWAYNE ALLAN MAC KINNON) writes:

>>IMHO, David Eddings is a great author, and both his series are well worth 
>>waiting for. I'm just glad he came out with the Elenium, because it made the 
>>wait for books of the Malloreon a little less painful.

>Are you being sarcastic?

>The Belgariad is an enjoyable light read until it dies at about book
>three. The other two are rehashes of the Belgariad with near identical

I have to agree with you there. The Belgariad was pretty good (I liked
the whole series) but the Mallorean was more or less the same thing 
again. (Eddings even makes a point of it in the series. Something about
reliving the previous encounter between the Child of Light and the
Child of Darkness). Cashing in about sums it up. 

>characters. Doesn't anyone think 13 books with out an original idea is
>just *slightly* dodgy?

>To quote: 'It should not be cast aside lightly, it should be flung with
>great force across the room.'
They still make good bedtime reading...around two in the morning.
BTW Does anyone find the bit 'about the author' where it says smth
like "He turned to fantasy to try out certain philosophical ideas"
a bit over the top? Does anybody even read it ?

Faust II
From: tdober@llnl.gov
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: David Palmer: Threshold
Date: 16 Apr 92 22:55:25 GMT
            <1992Apr14.222331.14990@hsv3.uucp>
            <92106.134020AUDMH@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Distribution: na
Organization: LLNL

In article <92106.134020AUDMH@ASUACAD.BITNET>, AUDMH@ASUACAD.BITNET writes:
> 
> Actually, I have a minor quibble with _Emergence_.  When the AAs are getting
> ready to send up their shuttle, they are all bummed out because while they can
> get robots to do the individual actions, they can't get a robot that will do
> them all and still fit the size requirements.
>
> [stuff deleted]
>
> David Hungerford AUDMH@ASUACAD.BITNET  Opinions?  Mine, all mine!!


Hmmmm. My take on this was that they couldn't design a robot that would
be able to perform the sequence of movements required to defuse the
bomb and still be able to fit through the series of passages to get at
the thing. Remember, it was necessary first to pull the wires (in the
correct sequence, of course), which requires both good visual acuity
and fine motor control, and then to twist and pull *hard* to remove
the core, snake the core out through the passages, and dump it. I had
the impression that the problem was in designing a robot that was small
enough to get at the core and strong enough to do the twist and pull
operation once it got there. I think it was the combination of two
different movements and the need for strength in a small package that
had them stumped.

TDO
From: barring@fiji.cs.umass.edu (David Mix Barrington)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Lampoon article
Date: 10 Apr 92 15:14:36 GMT
Reply-To: barring@fiji.cs.umass.edu ()
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst

I also remember the National Lampoon alternate
history of the 1960's hypothesizing that JFK
survived the assassination attempt.  As I recall
it was a mixture of serious alternate history and
pure spoof.  "Facts" I remember:

1) Jackie Kennedy was killed by the assassin.
2) JFK married Christina Onnassis.
3) Cassius Clay was the last US serviceman killed in Vietnam.
4) Sonny Liston (I think) remained heavyweight boxing champ
   throughout the 60's despite his extreme age.
5) (As mentioned) The US becomes embroiled in the Northern
   Irish conflict on the Catholic side.

I'm sure, given the Lampoon, that there was a lot of good
speculation about the effect on rock music, etc.

I think this was during the Ford administration, because
I've never read the Lampoon much and I also recall a Star
Trek Parody with Ford as Kirk and Kissinger as Spock, commanding
the starship "Free Enterprise".

David Mix Barrington
CS, UMass, Amherst MA USA
From: klaus@diku.dk (Klaus Ole Kristiansen)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: humorous science fiction
Date: 7 Apr 92 09:06:06 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen

jc@crosfield.co.uk (jerry cullingford) writes:

>You could try "The Flying Sorcerers" by Niven (I think?).
                                         ^^^^^
>Local Shaman versus visiting astronaut...sort of. I liked it, anyway :-)

David Gerrold and Larry Niven. Very, very funny.

Klaus O K
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: kasprj@vccsouth03.its.rpi.edu (Jim Kasprzak)
Subject: Re: Poetry in Lem's Cyberiad
Reply-To: kasprj@rpi.edu
Organization: The Big Wedge
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 06:43:37 GMT

In article <1992Apr10.021643.3429@alchemy.ithaca.ny.us>, cpf@alchemy.ithaca.ny.us (Courtenay Footman) writes:
    [example of poetry from _The Cyberiad_]
|>     Which is pretty impressive. However,  what is fascinating is the fact that
|> Lem wrote in Polish, and that the book is translated by Michael Kandel.  Were
|> the poems originally in English, or was this masterpiece written by Kandel?
|> If so, what did Lem originally write?
 
 Fortunately, Kandel's been making appearances at cons these days, so I got 
the opportunity to ask him this very question. Kandel said that there was a 
poem in the Polish original which had every word beginning with the same letter,
but it wasn't about Samson (and the letter wasn't "s"). Since I don't know 
Polish I figured it wouldn't do me much good to ask for more details.
 
 I also asked him how long it took him to translate _The Cyberiad_. He said 
it took him "four or five months". I was pretty stunned; I'd have thought 
something like that would take years to translate. Maybe I've been 
underestimating Kandel's talents.
 
 Also, speaking of Kandel and _The Cyberiad_, someone has made an animated 
video of the book (or at least parts of it), and Kandel has a tape with a 
copy of "Trurl's Machine" on it. Someone who's on a con committee please 
take note, and if Kandel comes, ask him to bring the tape so it can be run
in the video room schedule.
------------------------------------------------------------------
     __  Live from Capitaland, heart of the Empire State...
 ___/  | Jim Kasprzak, computer operator @ RPI, Troy, NY, USA
/____ *| Why can't people stop taking things so seriously? 
     \_| "All I want is to have my peace of mind" - Boston   
      ====  e-mail: kasprj@rpi.edu or kasprzak@mts.rpi.edu
From: Peter_L_Zavon.Wbst843@XEROX.COM
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Asimov Dies
Date: 6 Apr 92 12:43:36 GMT
Reply-To: plz.wbst843@xerox.com

At 8:30 this morning, National Publik Radio was reporting that Isaac Asimov
died today.  I didn't catch the rest of the short announcement.

Peter Zavon
Xerox Corporation
Webster, NY
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: jon@cyclone.MITRE.org (J. E. Shum)
Subject: In Memorium
Originator: jon@cyclone
Organization: The MITRE Corp. McLean Va.
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 22:44:36 GMT


Isaac Asimov 1920-1992

Ike, I miss you already.
-- 

<jon@mitre.org>
-- 

<jon@mitre.org>
From: h236_011@ccvax.ucd.ie
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Irish/Celtic Fantasy
Date: 13 Apr 92 18:12:02 GMT
Organization: University College Dublin

A few other books of interest. Julian Mays saga of the exiles is
strongly based on celtic myth. It isn't faithful but gives a flavour.
The books are
	The Many Coloured Land
	The Golden Torc
	The Non Born King
	The Advesary


Really faithful reproductions of Celtic/Irish myth can be found in 
Jim Fitzpatricks "The Book of Conquests" and " The Silver Arm", which
are the traditional stories as told to him as a child. He's primarly
an artist so they're beautifully illustrated.

Another good one is "The Tain", (Tain Bo Cuilighne== Cattle Raid of Cooley)
which is an Epic Irish story. Translated in all of its gore. I can't 
remember who translated it. Possibly someone else can help ? Its
also well illustrated by Louis Le Brocquay.

Hope this helps.
Dermot



I won't include Intervention (published as two books in the US) as it 
Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.written:5571 rec.arts.books:7687
From: nikolay@husc10.harvard.edu (Philip Nikolayev)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Why Do People Read Horror?
Date: 8 Apr 92 22:57:18 GMT
Organization: Harvard Arts and Sciences Computer Services, Cambridge, MA
In-reply-to: dani@netcom.com's message of 2 Apr 92 04:06:07 GMT


In article <mqjj_n-.dani@netcom.com>, dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) writes:


> I can't understand the attraction of Horror.  I recently gave it another
> go when I found myself in a small room with little on my hands but time
> and the 1989 Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthology.  I enjoyed the
> more intellectualized (e.g., Lovecraftian) horror, but for most of the
> rest, the emotional climax of the stories consisted of rape, castration,
> cannibalism, dismemberment, or combinations thereof.  

Horrors! Solitary confinement with nothing but your 
term and a book of horror stories on your hands - 
boy, that's my idea of hell! I wonder: has any horrorist 
described it yet?

> Dani Zweig

Philip Nikolayev at nikolay@husc.harvard.edu
From: klaus@diku.dk (Klaus Ole Kristiansen)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Anderson fantasy (was: humorous science fiction)
Date: 10 Apr 92 13:18:57 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen

dant@logos.wr.tek.com (Dan Tilque) writes:

>3H&3L is a good example of high fantasy with absolutely no Tolkien
>influence.  Anderson wrote it back in the 50s and obviously had not
>read LotR before writing it.

Don't forget about The Broken Sword. This story was written about the
same time. In it, Anderson mixes a lot of the ingredients used by
Tolkien (such as elves, trolls, and obviously a broken sword), but
the result is a very different cocktail.

>Tilque's observation:  It's vitually impossible for anyone to mention
>one of _The High Crusade_ or _Three Hearts and Three Lions_ on the net
>(or in fannish conversation anywhere) without mentioning the other.  If
>someone fails to mention both, it's inevitable that someone else will
>followup and say "don't forget about <whichever one wasn't mentioned>".

That's odd. They are not very much alike. The High Crusade is straight
SF, no magic or the like. 3H&3L is pure fantasy.

Klaus O K
From: peterco@eff.org (Peter A. Cohen)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Jurassic Park
Date: 7 Apr 92 14:02:18 GMT
Organization: ON Technology, Inc.

In article <1992Apr7.005955.755@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> maxson@cerl.uiuc.edu (K R
Maxson) writes:

>_Jurassic Park_ is packed full of egregious errors in its genetics.  It
>frightens me to think that many people will basically glean everything
>they will ever know about genetics, molecular biology and evolution from
>this book.

Jurassic Park is also a work of science fiction, with emphasis on the word
_fiction._  Crichton would be the last person to deny this...

The fact that many people will glean everything they know about genetics from
this book says more about human nature than anything...

>Chaos theory is real, and quite interesting.  You should have no trouble
>finding books abou it for the layman in your local library.

Indeed.  Most bookstores have softcover editions of books like "Chaos" (I can't
remember who wrote it...anyone is welcome to help me here).  Chaos theory,
fractal mathematics, etc.  Fascinating stuff, and fairly popular.  Go patronize
your local B. Dalton today!

- Peter
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: pwh@bradley.bradley.edu (Pete Hartman)
Subject: Re: Review: PRACTICAL DEMONKEEPING, by Christopher Moore
Organization: Bradley University
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 92 16:47:33 GMT

In <1992Apr13.192413.3048@raven.alaska.edu> djdaneh@pbhyc.pacbell.com (Dan'l DanehyOakes) writes:
>PRACTICAL DEMONKEEPING, by Christopher Moore
>Review copyright (c) 1991 Dan'l Danehy-Oakes
[ lots deleted ]
>All in all, a good enough first novel that I shall be looking forward to the
>second.  

I would say much better than "good enough", myself.

>(What?  The review's over?  And here I haven't even mentioned the King of 
>the Djinns, or The Breeze, or. . . well.  Go read the book yourself.)

An excellent recommendation that I would second.

I had just finished _Good Omens_ by Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett
not long before getting this book, and though I liked _Good Omens_,
I *loved* _Practical Demonkeeping_.  _Good Omens_ bears a great deal
more resemblance to Douglas Adams' work, being a silly funny story
about the end of the world.  But the plotline frays thin from the
abundance of silliness sometimes.  On the other hand, _Practical
Demonkeeping_ has a plot tight as a drum, and moves very cleanly,
while keeping a similar level of humor.
-- 
Pete Hartman		       Bradley University	pwh@bradley.bradley.edu
   and it seems your eternal reward is to hang out in heaven eternally bored
From: WFL4468@tntech.BITNET (PALE BLUE SCOTTISH PERSON)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Moorcock's reference to Harlequin
Date: 11 Apr 92 14:40:00 GMT


>rose@acf9.nyu.edu (David Rose) writes:
>>  In a couple or so of his stories, Michael Moorcock alludes to an 18th or
>>19th century story of Harlequin and Poirot.  I believe he does this in one
>>of the "Dancers at the End of Time" series as well as "A Brothel in
>>Rosenstrauss" (which is a period piece, and not fantasy/sci-fi).
M. Nadel writes..
>Surely you mean Pierrot, not Poirot?  Harlequin and Pierrot, among others,
>are classic characters of commedia dell'arte.  (Poirot, however, is a
>pompous Belgian detective written about by Agatha Christie.  Christie did
>also create Harley Quinn, but I don't recall the two of them getting
>together.)
>
>Commedia dell'arte was a form of theatre that originated in Italy in the
>16th century.  It had probably died out as popular entertainment by the
>mid-18th century.  There weren't actual stories, but improvisations based
>on set characters.  In addition to Harlequin and Pierrot, these include
>Pierrette, Columbine and Pantaloon.  These characters have been worked into
>later literature and art forms, particularly dance.  August Bournonville,
>the Danish choreographer and ballet theorist, made extensive use of the
>commedia dell'arte traditions (sans the sleeve gestures that passed for
>emoting), for example.

I've only read "An Alien Heat", and that was years ago, but as I recall,
Moorcock was playing with things from "ancient history".  The particular
reference I recall was a mucked-up version of the song "John Henry".  I imagine
that the reference Poirot/Pierrot - Harlequin/Harley Quinn was intended to be a
sort of malopropism of the two, in keeping with the trend established in "An
Alien Heat".

Bill Langston
wfl4468@tntech
From: gwangung@milton.u.washington.edu (Just another theatre geek.....)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Critics
Date: 7 Apr 92 15:50:11 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In article <ku29n7INNrri@stanley.cis.Brown.EDU> cgy@cs.brown.edu (Curtis Yarvin) writes:
>In article <1992Apr6.151732.6712@u.washington.edu> gwangung@milton.u.washington.edu (Just another theatre geek.....) writes:
>Much of modern art is still healthy.  By my standards, for example, the
>photographs of Mapplethorpe and Serrano are beautiful. I'd pay money to see
>them.  Artists are, by and large, decent folk, with a greater tendency to
>honesty than sugar magnates and other recipients of Federal pork.  But any
>system that turns them into amateur bureacrats who spend their time looking
>for bigger and better nipples on the Federal Tit, instead of honest crafters
>trying to please their customers, is a perversion of nature.

	But the problem is that, under ANY system, artists are going to have
spend time being amateur bureaucrats.

	The idea of lone artists, spending time in solitude, honing their
craft to the exclusion of all else, is an utterly false idealization of
the business end of things. If it isn't running after government grants,
it's running after corporate and foundation grants. If it isn't running
after grants, it's cultivating private donors.  If it isn't cultivating
donors, it's spending time marketing, promoting and publicizing.

	The point is, an arts group is going to be "perverting nature"
no matter WHAT the system is.



>I've spent enough time haranguing against those who'd like to forcibly bend
>society to fit their intellectual ideals. 

	Physician, heal thyself.




-- 
Roger Tang gwangung@milton.u.washington.edu
Executive Producer Emeritus, Asian Theatre at the UW;
	The definition of having balls is a non-singer who goes karaoke singing 
with the cast of a musical revue.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: cs635124@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs635124)
Subject: Asimov's Ghost?
Organization: University of Maryland Baltimore Campus, Academic Computing Services
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 04:04:47 GMT

   I heard about the Good Doctor's death Monday morning driving to work.
(This must have been only a few hours after he died.)  When I got to work and
logged on for the day, my fortune was:

   "I do not fear computers; I fear the lack of them."
                            -- Isaac Asimov

Silly, but I had to tell someone....

Goodbye, Doctor A.  >snif<  Thanks for all the wonderful stories.

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: puckett@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov (Jim Puckett)
Subject: Re: Introductions
Organization: NASA/MSFC
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 19:38:29 GMT


>	Are there introductions which are particularly amusing,
>ironic, or apt or are they just ways to pad the page count? I
>plunk for the first, and wonder what the best examples are.
>						James Nicoll

Spider robinson's Rah Rah R.A.H. - intro to a serialization of some of
Expanded_Universe

I always liked the Good Doctor's 'Devilishly Handsome' intro to Hugo_Winners
_II, myself.

jim p.


-- 
Jim Puckett    NTI    puckett@freedom.msfc.nasa.gov     
Huntsville,AL (205)544-8457

*****!Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty!*****
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: gwangung@milton.u.washington.edu (Just another theatre geek.....)
Subject: Re: Critics
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 15:17:32 GMT

In article <6nljy9p.doug@netcom.com> doug@netcom.com (Doug Merritt) writes:
>In article <1992Apr3.082514.4502@grebyn.com> lojbab@grebyn.com (Logical Language Group) writes:
>>I realize this is extreme, but the art
>>community seems to forget who is paying the bills.  It is those masses
>>you complain about, and the masses want their money (and taxes - not
>>that I want to start a political argument) to go for art that THEY want
>>and appreciate.

	Pardon me, but I think it's those who are bashing the "arts
community" who seem to be forgetting and are out of touch with who
they bash. I doubt that any of the bashers have even bothered to go to a
decent sampling of the arts they profess they hate to fund.

	I hate to say it, but the masses often DON'T know what they want
or appreciate.  That is, they don't know it until they tried it. And for
an artist/arts group to survive until that happens, they need the funding
the NEA provides.

	Look, I'm with an arts group with NEA funding. An Asian American
theatre. I know from experience that most people wouldn't choose to see
us; fer crissakes, they think we speak in Asian, not English.

	But if you plunk somebody by force (and with some couples, it
pretty much works out that way for one of the two...) into one of our
shows, theya re gonna be mesmerized, entranced, and, oh, yeah, ENTERTAINED
by what we do.


>(3) The taxes that go to the National Endowment for the Arts (and no,
>I don't want to get political either, but this is factual:) have never
>been intended to support popular art, Jesse Helms notwithstanding.

Amen.

>And note that the reasoning behind this is that great art is not always
>popular art, and thus art which does not happen to be currently wildly
>popular may still deserve funding for other reasons.

	Amen, again.

	Sorry for the soapbox, but being a fundraiser for the arts can
get frustrating...

-- 
Roger Tang gwangung@milton.u.washington.edu
Executive Producer Emeritus, Asian Theatre at the UW;
	The definition of having balls is a non-singer who goes karaoke singing 
with the cast of a musical revue.
From: khazel@is.rice.edu (Kathleen DeAnn Hazelton)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: humorous science fiction
Date: 5 Apr 1992 20:40:28 GMT
Organization: Dead Chemists Society

There's also DeChancie's (?) Castle Perilous series.  4 in all I believe.
They were light, and fairly funny.
-- 
Kathy Hazelton                  "Hey Laslo, wanna see a demonstration of 
khazel@owlnet.rice.edu            gravity?" - Chris Knight, Real Genius
From: dplatt@ntg.com (Dave Platt)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Looking for Information on Diane Duane's "The Door into Fire" series
Date: 16 Apr 92 18:41:07 GMT
Organization: New Technologies Group, Inc.  Palo Alto CA

>Yep!  Real nice books, too....waiting for the sequels, sigh.

An utterly unfounded rumor suggests that she's planning a fifth book in
the series.   Tentative title, "The Door into Godot".  >grin<

>>     I know Duane planned two sequels (and the first two are newly
>>     in print again...) both with "Door" in the title.  Anybody
>>     know anything about these books?
>
>Zip.

"The Door into Sunset" is scheduled to be published in hardcover by
Corgi, in the U.K., in May of this year.  You can probably special-order
a copy through a good bookstore... it'll be expensive, though.  [I don't
know _how_ expensive, as that will depend on the dollar/pound exchange
rate at the time.  I didn't ask price when I ordered a copy... some
things, you just _do_!]

According to Gwen at Future Fantasy here in Palo Alto, it's not in the
"upcoming books" list from any U.S. publisher at this time... hence, it
may not show up in a U.S. domestic edition at all this year.

I haven't heard any information at all as to the publishing date of "The
Door into Starlight" (the proposed title for the fourth book in the
series).  I'm hoping it arrives prior to the beginning of the next
millenium, but I'm not about to hold my breath... like a good wine, Door
novels seem to take quite a few years to ripen.

It will be very interesting to see whether Corgi is still in business in
a couple of years (those of you who have followed the Door series since
its inception will understand my concern ;-)


-- 
Dave Platt                                                VOICE: (415) 813-8917
              Domain: dplatt@ntg.com      UUCP: ...netcomsv!ntg!dplatt
 USNAIL: New Technologies Group Inc. 2468 Embarcardero Way, Palo Alto CA 94303
From: h236_011@ccvax.ucd.ie
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re : _Postman_ Movie
Date: 13 Apr 92 17:58:56 GMT
Organization: University College Dublin


>> What I found depressing was that none of Brin's other books ranked 
>> anywhere near The Postman in terms of quality. JIMHOOC

>FLAME ON:
>What?  You didn't like _Practice Effect_?  Best silly SF in quite a while.
>You didn't like _Startide Rising_ or _Uplift War_?
>FLAME OFF:

>What I want to know is why haven't we seen ANYTHING from him since Postman
>except for the short story "Dr. Pak's Preschool"?

He wrote *** Earth **** . Its much better than the Postman (in my not so 
humble opinion), if not quite as good as Startide Rising.

Dermot Casey