HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: lairdb@crash.cts.com (Laird P. Broadfield)
Subject: Re: _Oracle_, by Mike Resnick (no spoilers!)
Date: 10 Sep 92 00:30:17 GMT

In <1992Sep08.100055.1177@kithrup.COM> sef@kithrup.com (Sean Eric Fagan) writes:

>My last, and major, gripe with it is:  THE ENDING SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED!
>Given the abilities of the title character, what happened at the end is...,
>well, almost inconceivable.  I felt cheated when I read that part of it, if,
>for no other reason, it was over in a few seconds of story-time (about two
>paragraphs or so).

Although Resnick does excellent characters, and his, ummm, scenery and 
stage dressing shall I call it? is worth the price of admission, I found
_Soothsayer_ just a touch irritating: "It's been done before!", I thought.

The Soothsayer (the character) is basically the same gimmick as the Teela
Brown gene.  Realized in a different way, but the same net effect.  As
I said, Resnick has great characters (_Adventures_ is still one of my
favorite "fun" books) and great settings, but this bothered me.

Anybody else have the same feeling?

-- 
Laird P. Broadfield     lairdb@crash.cts.com    ...{ucsd, nosc}!crash!lairdb
Hi!  I'm a shareware signature!  Send $5 if you use me, send $10 for manual!
From: kbos@carina.unm.edu (Kurt Bose "of Biscayzee")
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Piers Anthony
Date: 14 Sep 92 15:02:05 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

In article <1992Sep14.142618.9763@cs.rochester.edu> steyn@cs.rochester.edu (Gavin Steyn) writes:
>
>Well, yes, actually, it does bother me.  I don't go around flaming 
>Anthony (or Eddings, or whoever), and their earning money doesn't particularly
>bother me.  And if their sales didn't impinge on the rest of the market
>I wouldn't care.
>  But it kind of pisses me off that Anthony gets shelves-full of bookshelf
>space, when I can't buy, say, Dunsany or Lafferty for love or money.
>I don't care if you read Brooks, Anthony, and co all the rest of your
>life--I care when that prevents me from reading authors who are
>(flame-bait coming up...) inarguably finer in every way.
>

<Insert image here of Piers Anthony keeping the aforementioned authors in a
small cage, so that it is not even humanly possible for them to write, thereby 
preventing people from special ordering their work, or preventing people from
going to a book shop where the solution to the problem of shelf space is 
neatly solved by...MORE SHELF SPACE!!!><seems to me that person might need to
change book shops, not disparage authors....>

<And as for punning...seemed to work well for Spider Robinson...and the last
person to write about _Callahan's_ didn't get NEARLY as many derisive replies>

-- 
Kurt Bose (as in Daisy, not Rose) *  kbos@carina.unm.edu * Make outs, not walks!
Keeper of the R.S.BB FAQ, and Junior Stathead {tm} * OK, so I AM the AntiChrist.
Be kind...don't disillusion the RBI-lovers. * Net.Agent, "Doublin" David Rossing
Less widely published as Noel Steere; less likely to rampage than Gary Huckabay.
From: steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu (Steinn Sigurdsson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: When is the next Uplift book due?
Date: 14 Sep 92 20:20:44 GMT
Organization: Lick Observatory/UCO
NNTP-Posting-Host: topaz.ucsc.edu
In-reply-to: pcp2g@astsun.astro.Virginia.EDU's message of Mon, 14 Sep 1992 00:34:13 GMT

In article <1992Sep14.003413.26879@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> pcp2g@astsun.astro.Virginia.EDU (Gilligan) writes:

 Real Soon Now! 

;-)

Seriously, "Brightness Reef" is "in preparation".

|  Steinn Sigurdsson	|I saw two shooting stars last night		|
|  Lick Observatory	|I wished on them but they were only satellites	|
| steinly@lick.ucsc.edu |Is it wrong to wish on space hardware?		|
| "standard disclaimer"	|I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care - B.B. 1983	|
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: bobm@Ingres.COM (Bob McQueer)
Subject: Re: Minority opion of Iain Banks
Date: 16 Sep 92 00:49:15 GMT

In <1992Sep15.213447.5883@u.washington.edu>,
	dated 15 Sep 92 21:34:47 GMT,
	merritt@provolone.bchem.washington.edu (Ethan A Merritt) writes:

> ... I haven't bothered to post an opinion til now, but since you raise
> the subject....
>    After seeing several threads praising Iain Banks go past on my newsreader,
> I eventualy went out and got a copy of Consider Phlebas.  In my humble
> opinion, it was terrible.  ...

I'm not going to attempt to change Ethan's opinion.  I just consider it rather
interesting to note that I first ran into Ian Banks when somebody who was
living in Great Britain a couple years ago sent me a copy of "Player of Games",
knowing I was an SF fan, and that Banks was highly praised in Britain.

I thought it was terrible, but kept it since it was a gift.  After seeing a
fairly universal stream of praise for "Consider Phlebas" floating by in this
group, I went out and got it.  I found that it held my attention, and thought
it was pretty interesting space opera, in a well thought out setting.  Then
I went back and reread "Player of Games" (billed on the cover as a sequel -
it is actually an independent story occurring at a later date).  I found I
liked it a lot better than a couple years ago, and possibly more than
"Consider Phlebas", in fact.  Just finished "Use of Weapons".

My initial impression of Banks would have been something like "A highly
contrived version of yet another galactic empire, giving the author an
excuse to beat us over the head with his breathtaking scope."

I'm occasionally reminded that my opinions of authors can change, and Banks
is a case in point.  Maybe someday someone will convince me that Gene Wolfe
is worth wading through - yeah, I'm a phillistine.
From: mab@buphy.bu.edu (Michael Burstein)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: HUGO Awards?
Date: 10 Sep 92 19:59:30 GMT
Organization: Boston University Physics Department

Gee, guys, when I asked for a list of the Hugo winners, I didn't realize
I'd start a discussion about them! :-)

At any rate, I thought I'd put in my own two cents about Asimov's story
"Gold."  While I didn't think it was necessarily his best, I did think
it was of Hugo quality, and better than any of the other stories that
were nominated.  Hence, I voted for it.

As for the tribute issue: maybe there was some of that in the voting,
but you must remember that the nominations took place BEFORE Asimov
passed away.  In other words, enough people must have liked it on its
own standards before thinking of voting for it simply as a tribute.

My own theory is that people liked it because of the Campbell tie-in.

-- 
Michael A. Burstein
Physics Department, Boston University         mab@buphy.bu.edu
590 Commonwealth Ave.                         (617) 353-9437 (o)
Boston, MA 02215                              (617) 735-9433 (h)
From: riawelch@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Mad City Blues)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Who was Philip K. Dick ???
Date: 15 Sep 92 13:03:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <mcirvin.716520367@husc8>, mcirvin@husc8.harvard.edu (Mcirvin) writes...
>wayne@sw.stratus.com (Wayne Newberry) writes:
> 
>>One piece of trivia.....I think that Dick got some early notice for trashing
>>A.E. vanVogt's work.  He became much more "noticed" after he tore the man's
>>work to shreds.  I think his theme was that vanVogt's stuff was scientifically
>>impossible, and therefore not worth reading.
> 
>Philip K. Dick criticized someone else's work for being scientifically
>impossible?  Is this the same Philip K. Dick who wrote some of the
>most scientifically ridiculous (though wonderful) SF of the century?
>The one who filled _Ubik_ with gobbledygook about "protophasons" and
>included the statement that "all ions are negative"?  Whose favorite
>plot devices included "psychotronic" microwave transmitters?  Dick's
>stuff shone in many ways, but accuracy was hardly one of them.  
>-- 
>Matt McIrvin, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 

Actually, Dick imitated Van Vogt rather closely in his earlier stories and
novels.  Damon Knight was the critic who achieved some notoriety for his essay
on Van Vogt (in Anatomy of Wonder, I think, but someone will correct me).  I
recall that he criticized Van Vogt not simply for his "science" but for his
rather terrible writing.  This caused a furor because at the time (the early
1950's) Van Vogt was regarded as one of the dominant figures of science
fiction; he ranked right up there with Heinlein, Kuttner, Asimov and Clarke. 
He was one of Campbell's favorite writers and his novels Slan and The World of
Null-A were among the first novels to come out of the American pulp tradition
to be issued by a major U.S. publisher.  Knight was one of the first to point
out that Van Vogt's work is largely incoherent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin W. Welch  riawelch@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu   

Some other places were not so good but maybe we were not so good when
we were in them.--Ernest Hemingway
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: fscem1@acad3.alaska.edu
Subject: looking for a book by C.J. Cherryh(?)
Organization: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 06:14:14 GMT


I read a book several months ago that I could have sworn was by
C.J. Cherryh, but I can't remember the name and nothing I've seen
by her looks familiar.  To my embarrassment and horror, I can't
remember many details, either, but what I do remember is this...

The main character - or one of them - was this terribly warped
wizard-type who had, in exchange for eternal life and ultimate
power (or things along those lines), killed his beloved family
in a gory arcane mess.  He's become a legend and lives in the
middle of a Deep Dark Forest, which he only comes out of at night,
and then to hunt Tender Young Things for dinner/power.  He 'courts'
one TYT one evening and, for his own personal amusement, promises
that he'll never hurt her.  Later she ends up in trouble as a
result of something he's done, and he's got to join up with a
group of motley adventurers to clear his evil name.  

Various other things happen, as it's a long book - our hero (of
sorts) and company kill the real bad guy, whom, I believe, is
a woman, and near the end of the book, he goes back to his forest,
despite having been invited on further adventures.

And then, at the very end, a very disgruntled him shows up to
go on further adventures, after all.  I particularly liked the
ending, I recall.

Anyway, the book was hardback, and if anyone could tell me
what it was, I'd be forever in their debt.  Or practically
forever, anyway.  *grin*  Thanks in advance...

Cheers,
Catie
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: sdt8s@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Steve Tilson)
Subject: Re: S.R. Donaldson
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1992 02:07:07 GMT

Am I missing something here? (Probably.)

Someone said he (or she) was reading the third book in the Gap
cycle. Is it out already? I thought it was supposed to be
October or November before it was published.

It's not November already, is it?

Steve
--
Language is a virus from Outer Space.      |-----------------------------|
And hearing your name                      | Steve Tilson                |
Is better                                  | sdt8s@poe.acc.virginia.edu  |
Than seeing your face.   (Laurie Anderson) |-----------------------------|
From: ap1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Andrew C. Plotkin)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: _Fire Upon the Deep_ jokes? (PUN SPOILERS)
Date: 14 Sep 92 16:01:05 GMT
	<y3xnq2a.dani@netcom.com>
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Excerpts from netnews.rec.arts.sf.written: 13-Sep-92 Re: _Fire Upon the
Deep_ jo.. Dani Zweig@netcom.com (572)

> You've got it wrong.  The names are intended neither as puns nor as jokes.
> Tines' names are descriptive, and are being translated literally.  There is
> plenty of Earth precedent for this.  

Sorry, I can't accept that... Peregrine and Scriber, yes, fine,
descriptive. But *both* of Flenser's hobbies translate as "Skinner", and
he can't possibly know that (unless the Tines somehow found a textbook
on the history of 20th-century-Earth cognitive psychology.) It was a
deliberate jab by Vinge. He pulled it off without a hint of a smile, for
which I salute him, but it's there.

> Woodcarver, btw, started life out as
a wood-working artist.

Excerpts from netnews.rec.arts.sf.written: 14-Sep-92 Re: _Fire Upon the
Deep_ jo.. Gilligan@astsun.astro.Vi (590)

> Gee, I can't think of any mid 20th century German dictators with that
> name [Whittler].

And I think that was, too. (Thanks, Gilligan.) More of a stretch, but
given the other one... "one coincidence is a coincidence, but two
coincidences are not a concidence at all."

--Z

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
From: dpn2@po.CWRU.Edu (Damien P. Neil)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Are the Moties us?
Date: 7 Sep 1992 00:28:27 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: dpn2@po.CWRU.Edu (Damien P. Neil)
NNTP-Posting-Host: thor.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, szabo@techbook.com (Nick Szabo) says:

>>>That's a phobia. And according to the student psychology sitting over here,
>>>phobias aren't considered inheritable/genetically codable.
>
>The "student psychology" needs to rethink the matter.  The most common
>phobias deal with heights, enclosed places, and animals like insects
>that were dangers during the hunter-gatherer period when our
>genetically influenced behaviors evolved.  If phobias were culturally
>based, they would be directed against things we _really_ need
>to be afraid of, such as guns, cars, etc., but these do not typically produce 
>such strong reactions.  
>
>

I'm no psychologist, but this dosn't sound quite right to me. I can think
of NO time when I, or anyone else, has noticed a family, for example, with
a history of acrophobia. It seems more likely to me that we fear certain
things due to reasons which have little to do with the actual danger
represented by them. I have a mild fear of heights, for example. I would
guess that this is not due to cultural or genetic coding, but to the fact
that I have little exposure to heights. (Looking out the window of a tall
building does not count -- the 'feel' is not the same.) I have less fear of
guns because I see them all the time on television and in movies. The
exposure acclimatizes me to the danger.

-- 
+-------------+------------------+
| Damien Neil | dpn2@po.cwru.edu | 
+-------------+------------------+
From: gulla@Lise.Unit.NO (Anders H}kon Gulla)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Amber, Books
Date: 9 Sep 92 22:13:52 GMT
Organization: Norwegian Institute of Technology

I hate this country! (Norway that is).

I have tried all summer to get hold of the Amber books, and the best I could
get was a "We can order it, but it will take you 2.5 months, and we won't send
it in a couple of months."  Besides, they carge me WAY too much.

Therefore I need help.  Can anyone get me the adress of someone who can sell
me the Amber series. I want all 10 books, and I am willing to pay for
hardcowers if that is nescesary (sp?)

Thank you ppl :-)

-- 
"Mane, simul atque expergefactus es, Pu" dixit postermo Porcellus,
"quid est primum, quod tecum dicis?"
"Quid mihi in ientaculum paratur? Tu autem quid dicis o Porcelle?"
"Dico: Scire avco, quid magni momenti bodie accidat," dixit Porcellus.
Pu meditabundus adnuit. "Est idem," dixit.
ex Winnie ille Pu.
AH! Gulla
gulla@lise.unit.no
From: LUNDYM@CITADEL.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: ROLE OF INFORMATION IN SF
Date: 13 Sep 92 23:40:43 GMT

I hope that this isn't too obscure an interest but I am
looking for science fiction books that feature information,
uses of information, who owns information,, etc. as a theme.
The work knowldege might be more appropriate than information.

For example, in Roger MacBride Allen's book _The_Ring_of_Charon_,
something called "The Knowledge Crash" is discussed.

     Briefly put, the K-Crash theory was that Earth 
     had reached a point where additional education,
     improved (but more expensive) technology, more
     and better information, and faster communications
     had a negative value.

Michael Flynn's _In_the_Country_of_the_Blind_ gives us a
secret organization that uses knowledge to become secret
rulers of the world.

In _Footfall_ (Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle?), the
government calls upon science fiction writers to help
analyze the actions of the unknown craft when it enters
the solar system.  This may be streaching my interest
a little.

I am also looking at movies, such as the recently released
_Sneakers_ for examples.

If there is any interest in this topic, send replys to me
at LUNDYM@CITADEL.EDU and I will summarize for SF-LOVERS.
From: chuq@gallant.apple.com (Chuq Von Rospach)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Looking for a good SF novel
Date: 4 Sep 92 15:42:50 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: I is a writur

steelem@rintintin.Colorado.EDU (STEELE MARK A) writes:

>I am looking for some advice on good SF novels... My tastes lean heavily
>towards the SF of Robert Heinlien of the 50's.

Orbital Resonance by John Barnes (Tor) is the closest thing I've found to a
Heinlein juvenile in years, and was written almost as an homage to the man
and form (and done quite well). 

-- 
Chuq "IMHO" Von Rospach, ESD Support & Training (DAL/AUX) =+= Member, SFWA
  chuq@apple.com | GEnie: MAC.BIGOT | ALink:CHUQ =+= Editor, OtherRealms

    I believe there should be a constitutional amendment outlawing the
From: Fritz.Niespodziany@p4.f41.n2403.z2.fidonet.org (Fritz Niespodziany)
Sender: postmaster@p2.f41.n2403.z2.fidonet.org
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 12:21:36 EDT
From: <CMH114@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: HUGO Awards?
Distribution: usa
 <1992Sep09.032133.9793@clarinet.com> <1Q9PBD82@cc.swarthmore.edu>
 <6ftn=da.xtifr@netcom.com> <1992Sep14.172332.7725@hubcap.clemson.edu>
 <1992Sep14.230425.6404@physics.ucla.edu>


ARrrrrrrrghh! Have you all actually *read* some of her novelettes, instead of
breezing though on surface level autodrive? God, even some other fans I know
got confused as hell when I reviewed that collection Borders of Infinity and
described them mostly by their underlying themes. Can you honestly say that
the Mountains of Mourning didn't inspire thought, or the novelette Borders of
Infinity?
 Admittedly, she is not the most stable of writers, and seems to write best
when dealing with a Vorkosigan. But, then again, just because she's writen some
 lesser books, Free Falling comes to mind, doesn't change the value of some of
her stuff. Warrior's Apprentice deserved an award. Vor's Game and Brothers in
Arms were not great novels, just good reads. I'm almost of the opinion that her
best medium is that of the novelette. Kinda like Brin, his most interesting
stuff is his short stories, but he gets the awards for overblown monsters like
Startide Rising.

tirade over.

Mitch                    Quest Labs: Making The World a Better Place
Quest Laboratories                          to
Terraforming Division                    Dominate
State College, Pa
cmh114@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: jefft@athena.mit.edu (Jeff Tang)
Subject: Re: John Steakly (sp?) books
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 20:46:18 GMT

In article <92254.183859TJS107@psuvm.psu.edu> TJS107@psuvm.psu.edu (Sime) writes:

   I have read Armor and thought it was amazing.  Any comments? (see below first)

   Anyone ever read Vampires?  I was thinking about getting it.  It has Jack Crow
   from Armor in it...

From the author's not in vampires: "This Jack Crow is no other Jack Crow.
This Felix is no other Felix."  or something like that.
--
Jeff Tang
jefft@athena.mit.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: hoahosth@halls1.cc.monash.edu.au (ANDREA HOSTH)
Subject: Elisabeth Moon - "Liar's Oath"
Organization: Halls of Residence, Monash University 
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 18:43:54 GMT

An excellent book (following on, somewhat, to the "Deed of Paksenarrion").
I am, however, slightly confused on one point...

Spoilers ho...













The iynisin that plague Luap and his mageborn so appear to know perfectly 
well who Gird is. They refer to Seri as "Girdish" and so forth. Yet these 
are iynisin who have been trapped in stone for some long time and it has 
been only a few years since Gird died. If they are aware of his elevation to 
Sainthood through some means of magic (Look guys, a demi-god!), why do they 
not know that Seri is Gird's paladin? I find that it is *possible* that they 
read the facts about Gird from the minds of the mageborn, much as they seem 
to have read the facts of Luap's life, but it just seems to not gel right, 
if you know what I mean. Does anyone out there have an opinion on this? 
Anyone read the book?

Ankh
From: fuller@athena.cs.uga.edu (James P. H. Fuller)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: _The Bobbit_ Wanted
Date: 11 Sep 92 23:51:48 GMT
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens

clong@remus.rutgers.edu (Chris Long) writes:

>I thought _Bored of the Rings_ was great, so I just have to have
>this.  Anyone have a copy they wish to sell?

     I wasn't aware of _The Bobbit_ until I read about it in this group
recently.  When was it published?  By whom?  Was it also written by the
BOTR people?
                                               -- jf
From: adrian@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Adrian Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Tad Williams
Date: 7 Sep 92 14:28:52 GMT
Organization: Virginia Tech Computer Science Dept, Blacksburg, VA

Anyone know when Tad William's will put out the next book to the series that
includes the Dragonbone Chair and The Stone of Farewell and what that book
will be called?
From: trevorl@spider.co.uk (Trevor Lyall)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Asimov Book list
Date: 8 Sep 92 12:50:27 GMT
Organization: Spider Systems Limited, Edinburgh, UK

Does anybody out there have a book list for Asimov???
In particular I'm after his fiction books.

If you do could you please mail me the list.

Cheers,
	Trev.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|		//-n-\\			Trevor Lyall.                          |
|       _____---=======---_____		      e-mail: trevorl@spider.co.uk     |
|   ====____\   /.. ..\   /____====               or  txl@dcs.ed.ac.uk         |
| //         ---\__O__/---         \\	         Tel: +44 31-555 5166 (work)   |
| \_\                             /_/                 +44 31-667 1224 (home)   |
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