HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: stevena@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Steven Alexander)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: "slow glass": story reference sought
Date: 27 Jul 92 01:24:11 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of California, at Berkeley

The story I'm looking for concerns "slow glass" which transmits
light orders of magnitude more slowly than ordinary glass (but
light emerges at the ordinary rate).  Thus, it could be placed
in a scenic locale for a while, then rented out as a pseudo
scenic window, providing realistic -- or real -- views.  This
glass, or access to the scenic places, comes to be sold for dear
prices to the poor, who at first got to enjoy their cramped flats
more than before the discovery or invention of slow glass.

I read this story in some collection well over 15 years ago.

I had thought the story's name was "Through a Glass, Darkly"
and found a Zenna Henderson story called "Through a Glass -
Darkly" but that wasn't it.

Thanks for any help.  Of course, email would be best, with summaries
if enough others are interested.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Steven Alexander
Comp Sci grad student                           stevena@cs.berkeley.edu
& non-practicing lawyer extraordinaire
{I'm really wonderful at not practicing}
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: novak@wri.com (John M. Novak)
Subject: Re: space opera:  definition
Organization: Wolfram Research, Inc.
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 13:58:37 GMT

When I think of space opera, the main feature that comes to my mind is that of
*scope*.  The adventures and their impact span the galaxy (galaxies, universe,
etc.)  Events in the stories impact many world, many civilizations (though we
may be following only a small group of characters, the rest of the universe is
out there.)

There are (at least) two kinds of space opera - what I think of as 'mindless'
and 'thoughtful'.  Of the 'mindless' class, E.E. 'Doc' Smith's "Lensman" series
is the best example.  (Mind you, I'm not putting down 'mindless' entertainment;
I love the Lensman series.)  Of the 'thoughtful' sort, Brin's "Startide Rising"
and the rest of the Uplift books, and Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep" are good
examples.  (Both of these, by the way, I would highly recommend to anyone.)

So, though the term may have originated out of what some might name tripe, I
think it covers in practice a wider class of stories...
--John N.
--------------------------------------------------
John M. Novak							novak@wri.com
My opinions are my own - licensing available at reasonable cost! :-)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: mesora@leland.Stanford.EDU (Rose Adams)
Subject: Re: _Jaran_ by Kate Elliott
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 16:41:22 GMT

In article <02Ct02Yf1bzg01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com> branwen@cerebus.ccc.amdahl.com (Karen Williams) writes:

			[much deleted]
>
>Of course, it helps that I'm halfway through the sequel, "Sword of Heaven,"
>which is an even better book, and in which the science fiction setting is
>much more important. ("Sword of Heaven" will be out in March '93.)

Okay, I'll ask (I tried to send this through netmail, but it bounced)

	Who is Kate Elliot and how did you acquire a prepub copy of the 
sequel to "Jaran"?

Inquiring minds need to know...


-- 
Rose M. Adams 				mesora@leland.stanford.edu
---<--<--<{@				A rose is a rose is rose
					(except when it is spelled backwards).
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: darknite@camelot.bradley.edu (John S. Novak III)
Subject: Re: The Moat around God's Eye
Organization: Bradley University
Date: 21 Jul 92 04:48:39 GMT

Rob Carriere writes:

>That's the key.  According to Niven's explanation in
>_Playgrounds_of_the_Mind_, the Alderson Drive operates between equipotential
>points in the field of a hypothetical fifth force generated in the presence of
>nuclear fusion.  The critical additional requirement is that there must be a
>`tramline' between the two equipotential points, ie the points must be joined
>by a ridge in the fieldstrength.  With a small star like the Mote right next
>to a big star like Murcheson's Eye, this is not going to happen.  So, the only
>ways out for the Moties is to either move the Mote, or blow up the Eye
>(Afterwards the lower fusion rate will presumably allow tramlines to form.  Of
>course, they'd better make sure they're gone before the radiation hits the
>Mote system...)

Umm.
How fast does this hypothetical 'fifth force' travel?
If its like the EM forces and gravity, it travels at light speed.
If it travels at light speed, tramlines will form at that rate,
too.  I think.

Which oughta give the Imperials about fifteen minutes of warning
with a neutrino surge, if I remember my astro-physics correctly
(ie, I'm SWAGging again...)
>SR
>---
--
"If you're not winning, you're not cheating effectively."
          -Steve Gutschlag, 10-08-91
John S. Novak, III		darknite@camelot.bradley.edu
From: stas@soda.berkeley.edu (Stan Malyshev)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: awful fantasy alert
Date: 29 Jul 1992 08:40:43 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley, CS Undergraduate Association
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: soda.berkeley.edu


I'd just put down the grim creation of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
called _Dragon Wing_ of the Death Gate Cycle series, after reading about 20
pages.

Their style of writing is that of an average high-schooler;  I was surprised
to see this in published form.

This is the the reader's view of their writing methods:
1)  Write a few sentences describing the foreground, the immediate present.
2)  Remember to add random detail
3)  Pick some world-specific nouns from these sentences, and write a
	few sentences describing their history/purpose, completely
	mangling the scene in the meantime
4)  Tell us things we would not know by observation or deliberation, and
	tell this while writing 1).
5)  Have the characters change mood dramatically between sentences.

The authors tend to explain, instead of describing, everything, losing
all pretense of flow and balance.


Stan
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stan Malyshev		|    Open up the windows and let the fresh air out,
stas@soda.berkeley.edu	|    said the television to the shackled children..
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: "milan rezac" <milan.rezac@canrem.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: tolkien list
Date: 29 Jul 92 11:29:00 EST
Reply-To: "milan rezac" <milan.rezac@canrem.com>
Distribution: rec
Organization: Canada Remote Systems

Hi all,

  I've just found out that my BBS doesn't support list mailing.  Soooo, I
  was wondering if anyone who subscribes to the Tolkien Discussion List
  could mail it to me as a series of E-mail messages (the BBS should have no
  problem with that).  Of course, any other suggestions are welcome.  Thank
  you for reading.

Milan Rezac
---
  DeLuxe 5.60 #7817  Windows:  from the folks who brought you EDLIN!
--
Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario/Detroit, MI
World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044
From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: _Jaran_ by Kate Elliott
Date: 26 Jul 92 18:24:00 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

paul@econ.yale.edu (Paul McGuire):
>>-- Ilya's Cossackish Horde is about to burn civilization to the ground.
>And our heroine seems remarkably unconcerned that her brother and the people
>she grew up with are going to be raped and pillaged, but she _has_ found
>true love.  Nor does anyone find a planet full of non-earth humans with
>Russian names (her note at the beginning feels added) a compelling mystery.

To be fair, these aren't issues.  You weren't paying attention.  The
author tells us at the outset that she Russified the names for atmosphere.
And there is a scene where the planting of these humans on this planet is
discussed.  And no, this isn't her home planet.  Her brother and the people
she grew up with are on the next planet to the left.  Besides, they're not
going to be raped, just killed.

-----
Dani Zweig
dani@netcom.com

   It was mentioned on CNN that the new prime number discovered
   recently is four times bigger then the previous record.
				-- John Blasik
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: nickh@CS.CMU.EDU (Nick Haines)
Subject: Re: BOOKS BY DAVID EDDINGS
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 16:26:21 GMT
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
	<10726446.78.711694821@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au>
	<1992Jul21.130813.16021@walter.bellcore.com>
Originator: nickh@VOILA.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU

In article <1992Jul21.130813.16021@walter.bellcore.com> tedk@jpl.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Ted Ko) writes:

   In article <10726446.78.711694821@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au>, 10726446@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (LAU WAI KUEN) writes:
   |>     Very good.  I find that sums up all the books Mr Eddings has written 
   |> extremely well.  Do you want to comment on the crap he vomits up too?

   Let's put an IMO on that there statement, eh?  Eddings original
   Belgariad (IMHO) is one of the all time classics of fantasy.  True
   that everything since then has been much weaker, but that's due in
   a large part to his style repetition which can get old after a
   series or two.

IMHO (since you insist), the Belgariad is ghastly. So bad that I
didn't even bother with the others.

What would you say are the interesting, original, or worthwhile points
to the Belgariad?

Nick Haines nickh@cs.cmu.edu
From: jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com (Jim Mann)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Great SF Shorts
Date: 22 Jul 92 12:19:06 GMT
Reply-To: jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com

In article <1992Jul22.035722.27881@math.ucla.edu>  
dstein@rhea.math.ucla.edu (David Stein) writes:
> In article <9207211604.AA02251@rutgers.edu>, D.GEISLER@ACAD.SUFFOLK.EDU  
writes:
> |> I will be teaching a course in the Fall semester on science fiction,
> |> and I would like some help in choosing good examples of short  
fiction
> |> to have my students read.
> 
>    There is a handy collection of short stories put together by the  
SFWA
>    (SF Writers of America).  I do not remember the title, but the SFWA
>    should be a part of it.

Hmm, this description sounds like The Science Fiction Hall of Fame,
the stories in which were voted on by SFWA. The criteria was "best
stories from the pre-Nebula days."  However, this volume doesn't
contain the stories you mention below, so there must be another one.
> 
>    It contains about 20 stories (mostly pure sf) starting with H.G.  
Wells
>    (_Country of the Blind_) and ending with the recent _Options_ (J.  
Varley)
>    and _Bloodchild_ (O. Butler).  In between are many classics by  
authors
>    like Bradbury, Zelazny, Delany, Blish, Clarke, etc.  Even stories  
that 
>    I consider failed (like _Nightfall_ or _The Cold Equations_) provide  
an
>    excellent subject for a debate on SF themes, techniques, and  
patterns.
> 
It sounds like a good collection. If you track down the name of it,
please let us know.


--
Jim Mann       jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com  Stratus Computer
From: jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com (Jim Mann)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: "Buffalo" is SF?  /Hugo nominated/ SF?!
Date: 28 Jul 92 12:30:45 GMT
Reply-To: jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com

In article <1992Jul27.222111.2292@organpipe.uug.arizona.edu>  
dave@cs.arizona.edu (Dave Schaumann) writes:
> Thinking back, I have read and enjoyed stories centered on unlikeable
> characters that come to a less than happy ending (Benford's Nigel  
Walmsly (sp?)
> from _In the Ocean of Night_ and _Across the Sea of Suns_ is who I am
> thinking of).  I can't say precisely why I can sympathize with Nigel,  
but
> not with Kessel's Wells, but I think that part of it is that there is
> nothing left in this Wells to admire with.  As you say, he's a bitter  
old
> man who doesn't understand his lover, the political world around him,  
or
> even the value of his own stories.

I don't think you're supposed to sympathize with Wells. In fact, I think
one thing the story was doing was poking a hole in the traditional
SF fan's view of Wells. "Wrote SF, bright man, met the president,
saw the workers' point of view, must have been great."  The sympathetic
character is Kessel's father, who is trying hard to better himself,
but is stuck in a bad (but unfortunately rather typical) situation.
> 
> Ultimately, reading a story either puts you in the head of the main
> character(s), or at least lets you watch over thier shoulder.  And I  
can't
> imagine that anyone wants to spend time being that close to someone  
(even
> a fictional someone) that they can't find a single redeeming quality  
in.

I guess it would be hard not to find a "single redeeming quality" in
anyone, fictional or otherwise.   Hitler was probably nice to
puppies. But I've read many books about characters I couldn't sympathize
with, or who I found more bad than good. That doesn't mean I didn't
enjoy the book.   

--
Jim Mann       jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com  Stratus Computer
From: 10726446@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (LAU WAI KUEN)
Subject: Re: BOOKS BY DAVID EDDINGS
Organization: Faculty of Engineering, Monash University 
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 01:30:53 GMT

In article <1992Jul21.130813.16021@walter.bellcore.com> tedk@jpl.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Ted Ko) writes:
>From: tedk@jpl.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Ted Ko)
>Subject: Re: BOOKS BY DAVID EDDINGS
>Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 13:08:13 GMT

>In article <10726446.78.711694821@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au>, 10726446@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (LAU WAI KUEN) writes:
>|> In article <920720153956.4340081f@bigvax.alfred.edu> BANKERR@BIGVAX.ALFRED.EDU writes:
>|> >From: BANKERR@BIGVAX.ALFRED.EDU
>|> >Subject: BOOKS BY DAVID EDDINGS
>|> >Date: 20 Jul 92 19:39:56 GMT
>|> 
>|> 
>|> 
>|>     Very good.  I find that sums up all the books Mr Eddings has written 
>|> extremely well.  Do you want to comment on the crap he vomits up too?
>|> 
>|> Halcyon

>Let's put an IMO on that there statement, eh?  Eddings original Belgariad
>(IMHO) is one of the all time classics of fantasy.  True that everything since
>then has been much weaker, but that's due in a large part to his style repetition which can get old after a series or two.

><--The-Dark-Elf-<<<

 Very well, _IMHO_, this is an utterly pathetic series.  Anyone who does not 
throw up after reading the series must have a stronger stomach, and far less 
taste, than I do.

Nudd
From: matt@physics2.berkeley.edu (Matt Austern)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Brain size
Date: 27 Jul 92 10:28:25
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (Theoretical Physics Group)
Reply-To: matt@physics.berkeley.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: physics2.berkeley.edu


I am posting this for N. J. Taber (m14686@mwvm.mitre.org), who is 
unable to post.  Please respond to her, and not to me.

In article <burt.711946518@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca>
burt@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca (Burt Voorhees) writes:
>   The differences in math are in the area of mathematical reasoning and
> in the best studies I know of they are hugh.  E.g., with a sample
> population of something like 60,000 mathematically gifted 13 year olds
> given the math part of the SAT's boys outnumberded girls in the over
> 700 score group by 13 to 1.  There is the question of how much of this
> is cultural bias, but one doubts that it all is.

Unfortunately, this study is an example of what can happen when the
subjects are self-selected.  An overview of all studies on math aptitude
show that the higher the selection for math skills (for example, those
already identified as "gifted"), the larger the disparity between the
AVERAGE performance of the two genders.  But even in the most extreme
cases, the DISTRIBUTIONS (by gender) of performance overlap so much that
merely knowing the gender of a given individual is of no use in predicting
their performance.  And for truly random populations, no statistically
significant differences in performance were found between the two genders.

For more info on studies of gender differences in mathematics, please see
the excellent publications by the Mathematical Association of America
(MAA) and the Association of Women in Mathematics (AWM).

N. J. Taber (coincidently both female and mathematically-apt, especially
in 3-D visualization)
Internet address:  njtaber@mitre.org

p.s.  I'd reply to rec.arts.sf.written, but haven't been able to get
through from here.

--
Matthew Austern              I dreamt I was being followed by a roving band of
(510) 644-2618               of young Republicans, all wearing the same suit,
matt@physics.berkeley.edu    taunting me and shouting, "Politically correct
austern@theorm.lbl.gov       multiculturist scum!"... They were going to make
austern@lbl.bitnet	     me kiss Jesse Helms's picture when I woke up.
From: tegan@cup.portal.com (Terry Michael Egan)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Have Niven&Pournelle described Alderson drive anywhere?
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 13:43:49 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: usa


	I recall overhearing somewhere ( a con maybe ?? ) that the
authors of 'A Mote in Gods Eye' figured out the so-called
Alderson Drive and wrote it down in one of their books. Does anybody
know the title of this book? Has rec.arts.sf.written analyzed this drive?
Thanks.

Terry ( tegan@cup.portal.com )
From: davidba@carmel.technion.ac.il (David Ben_Ami)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Michael Moorcock's Swords Trilogy
Date: 21 Jul 92 17:03:55 GMT
Organization: Technion, Israel Inst. of Technology

Hello Netters,

  I just finished reading Michael Moorcock's "The Swords' Trilogy".
  The books are really good and they certainly thrilling and not 
  monotonous. It gets a little chaotic in the third book "The King
  of the Swords". especially with the Chapters in Medieval England 
  which were really a good surprise.

  Some Questions:
  ---------------

  1. How is Vadhagh and Nadhragh supposed to be pronounced? and how
     does Kwll (the ultimate Deus Ex Machina IMHO :-)?
     I think Moorcock throws in to many h's and w's into his names
     it does the effect of seeming more "fantastic" but it's a little
     disturbing when you don't know how to pronounce them :-)


  2. What was "The land of Tall Stones"? I thought it reffered to 
     modern-day skyscrapers. I wish Corum and Jhary would have their
     antics in our society instead of 18th century Cornwall!

  3. Is our World one of the "Million Spheres" that are in conjunction
     and there are therefore Millions like it? is every Sphere a
     planet? a universe?

  4. Why are the "Chaos Deities" (The knight, queen and king) are
     called "The Sword Rulers"? apart from being standard Fantasy
     buzzword I can't see any relationship between them and a Sword.

  5. Any other books by M. Moorcock?

Thanks for any information and ilumination,
  
    David Ben-Ami

=============================================================================
  David Ben-Ami (irc: bigdav)      |   "I can resist anything but Temptation"
  s2780369@Techst02.Technion.Ac.Il |       Oscar Wilde
  davidba@Carmel.Technion.Ac.Il    |
  davidba@Moav.Techniona.Ac.Il     |   "Heisenberg MAY have slept here".
=============================================================================
   
  

-- 
=============================================================================
  David Ben-Ami (irc: bigdav)      |   "I can resist anything but Temptation"
  s2780369@Techst02.Technion.Ac.Il |       Oscar Wilde
  davidba@Carmel.Technion.Ac.Il  davidba@Moav.Techniona.Ac.Il
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: schwartz@roke.cs.psu.edu (Scott Schwartz)
Subject: Re: BOOKS BY DAVID EDDINGS
	<NICKH.92Jul21112621@VOILA.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU>
	<1992Jul21.173253.22701@walter.bellcore.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 19:09:55 GMT

tedk@jpl.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Ted Ko) writes:
   It's difficult to describe why you enjoy a book when if you try to
   dissect it, it becomes that much less enjoyable.

In other words, paying attention to what you just read makes it seem
unpleasant?  Hey, you do agree with Nick after all!

   The Belgariad has gotta have something going for it or it wouldn't
   be so incredibly popular...

Sure, it's totally shallow and saccharine.  People love stuff like that.
From: flee@cs.psu.edu (Felix Lee)
Subject: Re: Paratwa Saga
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 01:59:16 GMT

I read the third book in the Paratwa Saga recently, and found it
somewhat disappointing.  While it did conclude the trilogy reasonably
well, it seemed drawn out and tired in execution.

(Spoilers alert.)

The second book, _Ash Ock_, suffered from middle-of-a-sequel-itis.
The character development was fine, but the story suffered.  _Ash Ock_
didn't come to any sort of ending.  It merely set up a number of
situations whose resolution is amply foreshadowed.

The third book does resolve these things in the way you'd expect, but
much of the book is devoted to carefully setting up a "secret
history", where you learn that everything you've been told about in
the previous books is merely a cover story.

The careful setup is necessary, because very little of the secret
history is foreshadowed in the earlier books, and it has the potential
of becoming an arbitrary plot twist pulled out of thin air.  This was
done fairly well, but somehow, the revelation of the secret history
wasn't particularly exciting.  There's a long-winded explanation of
what's *really* going on that reads like dull exposition in sanitized
textbooks.
--
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: paul@econ.yale.edu (Paul McGuire)
Subject: Re: _Jaran_ by Kate Elliott
Organization: Economics Department, Yale University, New Haven, Ct.
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1992 17:22:41 GMT

In article <1zfmh1#.dani@netcom.com> dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) writes:
>
>It's Standard Plot #17 (compare, for example, "The Blue Sword"), but yes,
>well enough written to keep the reader going.
>
>I imagine we have a sequel in store, as a number of details were
>deliberately left up in the air, such as
>
I enjoyed it too, but I have my doubts about a sequel since the
book is a romance with SF trappings.  The core of the plot is the
heroine's dithering about whether the local alpha-male is Mr. Right.
Romance (based on my limited exposure) doesn't deal with happily (or not)
ever after.

>-- Ilya's Cossackish Horde is about to burn civilization to the ground.
>
And our heroine seems remarkably unconcerned that her brother and the
people she grew up with are going to be raped and pillaged, but she _has_
found true love.  Nor does anyone find a planet full of non-earth humans
with Russian names (her note at the beginning feels added) a compelling
mystery.  For an SF book explaining this would be central; here I feel
it is just background.

Paul McGuire
Yale Economic Growth Center
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: elwin@gamma.phys.clemson.edu (Lawrence E. Brown)
Subject: Re: Dick bio
Reply-To: elwin@gamma.phys.clemson.edu (Lawrence E. Brown)
Organization: Clemson University
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 16:26:24 GMT


In article <1992Jul29.152843.15347@gvl.unisys.com>, rafem@gvlf7-e.gvl.unisys.com (Ralph Marrone) writes:
In article <1992Jul29.023308.25503@cs.uow.edu.au> u9161910@cs.uow.edu.au (Gareth William Omeara) writes:
>>Can anybody recommend a good biography of Philip K. Dick.I read in the
>>afterword to my copy of Clans of the Alphane Moon that he believed
>>in later years there was a cosmic force centred on his apartment
>>guiding his career and I would like to know more about the life of
>>this obviously totally fucked up guy who wrote such great novels.
>
>


>_Divine Invasions_.  Sorry, I can't remember the author's name.

Lawrence Sutin.  It should still be available in trade paperback
from Citadel Press.  It's an excellent book and the bibliography
of Dick's published, unpublished, and lost works in the back is
invaluable (assuming, of course, that you care about him in the
first place).




--
Larry Brown                        "Philip K. Dick is dead, alas
elwin@gamma.phys.clemson.edu        Let's all queue up to kick God's ass"
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy      --Michael Bishop in _The Secret Ascension_
Clemson University