HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: djdaneh@pbhyc.PacBell.COM (Dan'l DanehyOakes)
Subject: Re: Piers Anthony's Xanth Series
Reply-To: djdaneh@PacBell.COM (Dan'l DanehyOakes)
Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 22:00:15 GMT

In article <86985@netnews.upenn.edu> weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener) writes:
>In article <5859@transfer.stratus.com>, savoia@sw (Rick Savoia) writes:

>>I'd start with 'A Spell for Chameleon', the first one and 
>>read the next four and then STOP.
>
>I'd just look at the covers and then STOP.

A note of thanks to Mr. Anthony:

Some of you know that I've been following his work with a sort of horrified
fascination for many years, trying to figure out how the author of CHTHON and
MACROSCOPE could sink so low as to write (X).  I've pretty much broken the habit
since I last spouted publicly on the subject, but I confess I'd continued to 
follow the Xanth books, as the most horrifying of the bunch.

No more.

And it's all Piers Anthony's fault.  What he couldn't accomplish with sheer
bad writing -- driving me finally away from his work -- he's managed with a
coarser form of poor taste.

Go hence to your book store.  Check out the title of the new Xanth book.  Ask 
yourself if you'd be caught dead carrying around a book called that. . .

Oh, and PS:  Those who want to see a wonderful example of quoting out of
context should look at the inside-the-front-cover page of Anthony's other new
book, MERCYCLE, at the quote from my review (in OTHERREALMS) of BIO OF AN OGRE.
It's delicious.  I wonder if I can sue them for misquoting me by putting in
that exclamation mark. . .?  :*)


		The Pavlov dog and the Schroedinger cat
		Side by side in my forebrain sat
		With Shakespeare's monkey's crowding in behind. . .
		. . . it's all in your mind.
			-- Visual Purple

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, Net.Roach
My opinions do NOT represent Pacific Bell,
Professional Development, or anyone else.
But I'm willing to share.
From: luther@i5160e.nrl.navy.mil (Luther)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: COVINGTON CROSS
Date: 27 Aug 92 20:46:32 GMT
Organization: US Naval Research Laboratory, Acoustics Division

Well, since I was the one who posted the reminder to watch
Covington Cross, I'll add my 2 cents to the fray:

After hoping for a fantastic premier, I was quite disappointed.
However, I think the show has potential. As long as the writers
calm down and don't try to float five or six subplots to the point
wherer none of them can be sufficiently detailed, and as long as
Ione Skye signs up for emergency acting lessons, there could be
hope.

I remember not being horribly impressed with the premiere of ST:TNG,
either. But after giving it a chance, and after letting the actors
become more comfortable in their roles, I began to like it more and
more. 

I hope the same thing happens with CC.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming of 
sf.written.

-----------------------------------------------------------
" 'Eureka' is Greek for 'This bath is too hot'. "
               Tom Baker / Doctor Who
Ken Luther, Mathematician Extraordinaire
NRL, Code 5162         | Washington, DC. 20375 | (202)767-3149
1667 S. Hayes St, Unit A | Arlington, VA 22202 | (703)521-6973
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: slg7m@cc.usu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: _Here Come the Spartans_
Date: 1 Sep 92 11:39:22 MDT
Organization: Utah State University

Does anyone know if Dave Duncan ever wrote a sequel to _Here Come the Spar
tans_?  I think that's the author and title.  IT's about a Roman 
legion that gets sold into slavery to an Alien merchant guild who
used the legion to battle on low tech worlds.

Thanks,
Tanya
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: whheydt@pbhya.PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt)
Subject: Re: COVINGTON CROSS
Reply-To: whheydt@PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt)
Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 15:53:26 GMT

In article <1992Aug31.210108.16306@pica.army.mil> SteveWall@aol.com (Steve Wall) writes:
>Let me try a more diplomatic version of this question.  Could someone in the
>Societ for Creative Anachronism (SCA) form a new newsgroup by the name
>of rec.history.reenacted (or whatever...)?  This thread has really strayed a 
>little far from the 'rec.arts.sf.written' subject matter.

The problem is actually one of mildly questionable cross-posts.  There
*is* an SCA-specific newsgroup: rec.org.sca, and Covington Cross has
been discussed there at some length.

The reason I say 'mildly questionalbe' is because the social issues
that CC is dealing with are a lot more SF than SCA.

	--Hal
-- 
Hal Heydt                    |    "Boycott Time-Warner"
Analyst, Pacific*Bell        |         --J. Danforth Quayle
510-823-5447                 |    "... kill all the lawyers."
whheydt@pbhya.PacBell.COM    |         --William Shakespeare
From: stef@Apple.COM (Stef Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Gormenghast
Keywords: Mervyn Peake, Fantasy
Date: 2 Sep 92 04:30:23 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA

karls@aurora.physics.utoronto.ca (Karl Schroeder) writes:

>I thought The Lord of the Rings was the greatest fantasy ever written
>until I discovered the Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake.  Anyone
>else have this experience (maybe it's just me).  Both books are
>encyclopedic fiction in which you can immerse yourself completely,

Yes, I felt the same way about Gormenghast. I thought I was the only person
who had ever read it, though. :-)

However, I was not able to finish the third book. Did anyone finish it, and
did it finish well? I heard (OK, so I did meet one other person who read
it) that the third book sort of trailed off into proto-schizoid musings
(this person said Peake went bonkers by the end, dunno if it is true but I
wouldn't be surprised).

--
Stef                 In the force if Yoda's so strong, construct a 
stef@apple.com       sentence with words in the proper order then 
                     why can't he?                         /fortune
From: Crawford_Kilian@mindlink.bc.ca (Crawford Kilian)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Karel Capek (was Re: 'Science Fiction' Stage Plays)
Date: 23 Aug 92 17:23:35 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

I read Capek's RUR when I was in college; I recall it as somewhat dated, but
intelligently put together. The robots (from the Czech word for "workers") were
indeed androids, and at the end of the play they inherit the earth from humans.
The play is a straightforward allegory of class conflict in the immediate
aftermath of the Russian revolution, with some sharp digs at 1920s-style
capitalism.

War with the Newts is a much less dated novel. The newts are intelligent and
prolific, and make themselves useful as underwater technicians. But as their
numbers increase they make life much harder for humans, and end up steadily
dismantling the continental coastlines to create more living space for
themselves. Here the allegory is an attack on 1930s fascism, which the western
powers (in Capek's view) found too convenient to resist.

One consolation of falling into obscurity is that you can then reappear to a
new generation as a genuine discovery. Go discover Capek.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: lindgren@sics.se (Thomas Lindgren)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Kay's Mulitverse: Tigana & Fionavar
Date: 31 Aug 92 14:07:03 GMT
Organization: Swedish Institute of Computer Science, Kista

In article <17s93iINNd1t@darkstar.UCSC.EDU> rod@cats.ucsc.edu (Rodrick Su) writes:
   > ... It was a particularly nice touch that
   >on the map at the front of the book, the compass has South marked off
   >instead of North as is customary in our world - if you replace the S by an N,
   >then the geography fits that of the Mediterranean pretty well: Ygrath is
   >Egypt, Khardun is Carthage (Tunis), Chiara is Sicily, and I have been trying
   >to figure out where the Barbadians come from and who the Quileians (sp?) are.

	   I have always thought that though geography are flipped, some remains
	   the same.  I think that Barbadians are suppose to be either Byzenteen
	   or Ottoman Empire.  

   >The Barbadians could be Iberian (Spanish), though that seems to be something
   >of a stretch.

If I rememember history correctly, sometime after the sacking of Rome, the Vandals
were driven out of Italy and crossed the Mediterranean to today's Tunisia. They
became pirates, and a motley crew of pirate kingdoms became the Barbary in that
region. I can't remember how long it lasted.

	Regards,
		Thomas

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas Lindgren, UPMAIL, thomasl@csd.uu.se, lindgren@sics.se

"I know what I've told you I'm going to say, I'm going to say.
 And what else I say, well, I'll take some time to figure out --
 figure that all out." -- George Bush, 4 December, 1990.

"Hey, hey, nihao ma. Hey, yeah, yeah. Heil, heil -- a kind of
Hitler salute." -- George Bush, 29 March 1992.
From: liuwu@acuson.com (Wu Liu)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: _Here Come the Spartans_
Date: 3 Sep 92 02:35:57 GMT
Organization: Acuson; Mountain View, California

slg7m@cc.usu.edu writes:
>Does anyone know if Dave Duncan ever wrote a sequel to _Here Come the Spar
>tans_?  I think that's the author and title.  IT's about a Roman 
>legion that gets sold into slavery to an Alien merchant guild who
>used the legion to battle on low tech worlds.

Uh, unless I'm mistaken, the book is _Ranks of Bronze_ and the author
is David Drake, not Duncan.  And no, I'm not aware of a sequel to this
story.
-- 
Wu Liu                          Software Engineer, User Interface Group
liuwu@acuson.COM                Acuson
Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.written:11615 rec.arts.sf.science:2706
From: kasprj@isaac.its.rpi.edu (Jim Kasprzak)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.science
Subject: Re: Are the Moties us?
Date: 30 Aug 92 12:41:25 GMT
Reply-To: kasprj@rpi.edu
Organization: The Big Wedge


 I wave the white flag of surrender to Michael Friedman in my part of 
this endless debate. We're not going to convince each other of anything;
time will tell which one of us was right.
 
 Besides, the Ringworld thread is much more fun.
------------------------------------------------------------------
     __  Live from Capitaland, heart of the Empire State...
 ___/  | Jim Kasprzak, computer operator @ RPI, Troy, NY, USA
/____ *| Pro-Environment. Pro-Education. Pro-Family. Pro-Choice. 
     \_| Pro-Change. Pro-America. Pro-Clinton.
      ====  e-mail: kasprj@rpi.edu or kasprzak@mts.rpi.edu 
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.org.sca
From: habura@vccnorthb.its.rpi.edu (Andrea Marie Habura)
Subject: Re: COVINGTON CROSS
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 19:33:52 GMT

I, on the other hand, hope it *doesn't* die, smellily or otherwise. Think of 
it as indirect PR: if somebody's watching _Covington Cross_, they may be more
inclined to see us as a hobby group, rather than some sort of Satanistic cult.
None of us have to watch it to have it help us.

Alison MacDermot
(Who will happily take good publicity wherever she can get it.)
From: gdg019@cck.coventry.ac.uk (Ridley McIntyre)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Tad and stuff...
Date: 26 Aug 92 10:00:07 GMT
Organization: Ironpig Arcadia, Coventry, UK

In article <1992Aug24.062030.11029@neptune.inf.ethz.ch> qvortrup@inf.ethz.ch (Michael Qvortrup) writes:
>In article <t2dpbn3y@cck.coventry.ac.uk> gdg019@cck.coventry.ac.uk (Ridley McIntyre) writes:
>>[...]
>>                                           It almost made me want to start
>>getting her fantasy stuff as well, but because of the price of books here I
>>plumped for Tad Wiliiams instead (Kerr's 600-page book is 5 pounds, Tad's
>>900-page book is 6 pounds).
>
>In that case, Tad Williams looses :-)
>
>I would recommend that you try _Daggerspell_. Then you can always decide
>if you really like it. If you like _Memory, Sorrow and Thorn_, I kind of
>doubt that _Daggerspell_ is for you, but if you got fed up with the de-
>pressive feeling of _Memory, Sorrow and Thorn_, then _Daggerspell_ might
>be of interest - not that it hasn't got its bleak moments. The whole premise
>is kind of depressive, actually.

I'll give it a go when the grant comes through. Right now I'm keeping my
fantasy mood alive with intermittent bursts of Tolkein and Time Of The 
Twins (I've read neither before, believe it or not, and I'm not the sort
of personm who rereads whole books more than once)... But I have a wee
question for those Friends of Tad out there...

What nationality is Tad Williams? His knowing Michael Whelan makes me 
believe he's an American, but there's something utterly British in the
kind  of dialogue in MST. It's just something I really need to know. Like,
now!

Thanks... 

-- 
		 **Ridley McIntyre - Ronin Ironpig**
		     gdg019@cck.coventry.ac.uk
		 -----------------------------------
		  "Like your new haircut." - Bishop
From: curtis@berkeley.edu (Curtis Yarvin)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Continuing Time
Keywords: Continuing Time Trent Long Run
Date: 27 Aug 92 17:16:23 GMT
Organization: CS Dept. Snakepit - Do Not Feed.

In article <BtMMuG.83C@news.cso.uiuc.edu> ndj20710@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Nathan D. Johnson) writes:
>
>whole in wall. Trent projects hologram over hole.

Holograms not opaque.

c
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: karls@aurora.physics.utoronto.ca (Karl Schroeder)
Subject: Vinge's singularity
Keywords:  Malthus
Organization: University of Toronto Physics/Astronomy/CITA
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 15:39:31 GMT

As far as I understand it, Vernor Vinge believes that at the present
exponential rate of technological change, we will soon reach a
'singularity' where the rate becomes effectively infinite.  Isn't
this a bit like Malthus concluding that the human race was inevitably
going to breed itself to death?  --Not that that won't happen, but
it's clearly not inevitable; it depends on economic conditions, among
other things.
  Technological change only continues as long as the conditions forcing
it persist.  If one sees science and technology as self-contained and
self-propelling, then the argument might make sense.
   I find it more interesting to consider that the singularity is a
clear symptom of our civilization's blind spot:  we can't imagine what
culture is going to follow ours, any more than any previous culture
imagined ours.  The idea that we will dissolve in some kind of technologicaL
Rapture probably reflects our current anxieties better than it reflects
(or predicts) the future.
   On the other hand, it's sure made for some good stories!  :-)
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karl Schroeder                         |  karls@aurora.physics.utoronto.ca  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- 
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karl Schroeder                         |  karls@aurora.physics.utoronto.ca  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: karls@aurora.physics.utoronto.ca (Karl Schroeder)
Subject: Karel Capek/SF on stage
Keywords: Makropolous casE
Organization: University of Toronto Physics/Astronomy/CITA
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 19:32:50 GMT

As a follow up to the postings on R.U.R. (origin of the world Robot), and
SF on stage: two (I think) years ago the Canadian Opera Company put on a
performance of an opera called The Makropolous Case, which is an adaptation
of a story by Karel Capek.  This adaptation dates from the thirties or
forties (too bad I don't remember the composer or exact dates) and concerns
an elixir of immortality.  No... not Death Becomes Her, though now that
i think of it, the idea's relateD:  A WOMan bewitches several
men, one of whom discovers her involvement in a VERY old legal case 
involving inheritance (anybody who knows this better than I please feel
free to correct me).  In the process of trying to crack the legal case,
he finds out she is two hundred years old.  She took a potion of life
extension two centuries ago, but it only lasts so long; now she must decide
whether to take a second dose.  It's all about trying to hang onto the past,
if I remember, and was played very atmospherically to appreciative audiences
(the tuxedo set) here in Toronto.
-- 
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karl Schroeder                         |  karls@aurora.physics.utoronto.ca  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: ddb@tdkt.kksys.com (David Dyer-Bennet)
Sender: FredGate@tdkt.kksys.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Books On Magic Vs Science
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 11:41:16 -0600

 CB> Gee, about 15 or 18 years ago I remember reading what I remember
 CB> as a really good magic vs science novel called, I think _The Last
 CB> Unicorn_. Don't remember the author, but the gist was that the
 CB> Earth was split up into nations who used magic and nations who
 CB> relied on science, and they were at war. The main character was
 CB> an intelligence agent for the science guys who was infiltrating
 CB> the magicians and something about looking for a unicorn.

There's a very famous book by that title written by Peter S. Beagle.  I don't
remember it well, it may correspond to your description above, but if so those
aren't the parts that caught my attention.

 * Origin: May these events not cost thy servant money (1:282/341.0)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: novak@wri.com (John M. Novak)
Subject: Re: Books on Magic vs Science
Organization: Wolfram Research, Inc.
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 20:45:31 GMT

>In article <1992Aug25.131931.1@vaxa.strath.ac.uk>, ciar04@vaxa writes:
>>Are there any books that dwell on the battle between magic and science? 
>>I seem to recall seeing some (or at least one) books on this, but I
>>don't seem to be able to find any at the local book stores.

I can't think of anything that focus on the conflict, but I came up with a
couple where the conflict is in the background (where the technology is early
industrial era.)
Barbara Hambly - _The Silent Tower_, _The Silicon Mage_
Robin McKinley - _The Blue Sword_

All are excellent reading, whether it is what you are looking for in this
regard or not...
--John N.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
John M. Novak												novak@wri.com
My opinions are my own; licensing available for reasonable fees!  :-)
From: ecl@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: A Really Good SF Short Story
Date: 31 Aug 92 16:40:33 GMT
Organization: AT&T

In article <1992Aug31.142006.23205@awdprime.austin.ibm.com>
craigb@ot.austin.ibm.com writes:
> to do the Good and Right thing. In fact, the best "Quayle Joke" in the
> story wasn't even insulting (ref: when DQ assumed that the black woman
> was a basketball fan).

You must have a different definition of "insulting" than I do.

Evelyn C. Leeper  |  +1 908 957 2070  |  att!mtgzy!ecl or  ecl@mtgzy.att.com
--
"IQ describes how big your gas tank is, but it doesn't tell if you're
running on empty." -- Harvey Newstrom (hnewstro@x102c.ess.harris.com)
From: dac@prolix.pub.uu.oz.au (Andrew Clayton)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Blind Prejudice
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 12:02:00 GMT
Reply-To: munnari!labtam!eyrie!prolix!dac
FollowUp-To: rec.arts.sf.written
Keywords: 
Organization: More like Dis~, really.

In article <87082@netnews.upenn.edu>, Matthew P Wiener writes:

> In article <1992Aug25.215445.23279@pbhyc.PacBell.COM>, djdaneh@pbhyc (Dan'l DanehyOakes) writes:
> >>Personally, I've avoided reading WotF winners.
> 
> >Personally, you're reading one now.  Nyaaaah.
> 
> Not any more.

Matthew P Wiener : net censor.

Has a kinda kooky ring to it.

[Ducks as several dozen readers suggest that 'censorship' is
somewhat different from choosing not to read certain people's
work :-)]

Dac
--
munnari!labtam!eyrie!prolix!dac      David Andrew Clayton.           // _| _  _
  prolix!dac%eyrie@labtam.oz.au      Canberra, Australia           \X/ (_](_](_
        dac@prolix.pub.uu.oz.au      I post .
prolix!dac@sserve.cc.adfa.oz.au            . . I am.             +61 6 290 2215
From: HADCRJAM@admin.uh.edu (MILLER, JIMMY A.)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: _Here Come the Spartans_
Date: 3 Sep 92 15:34:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: menudo.1992Sep3.153413.25304
Organization: University of Houston Administrative Computing
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.20

In <1992Sep2.164212.10495@menudo.uh.edu> HADCRJAM@admin.uh.edu writes:

> In <1992Sep1.113922.58548@cc.usu.edu> slg7m@cc.usu.edu writes:
> 
> > Does anyone know if Dave Duncan ever wrote a sequel to _Here Come the Spar
> > tans_?  I think that's the author and title.  IT's about a Roman 
> > legion that gets sold into slavery to an Alien merchant guild who
> > used the legion to battle on low tech worlds.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > Tanya
> 
>   Actually, this sounds more like a David Drake (of Hammer's Slammers fame) 
> book that I read.  Exact same plot, but the title escapes me at the moment.
> I'll dig it out and post again tomorrow.
> Jammer Jim Miller 

  Found it.  It was called _Ranks of Bronze_, and was indeed written by Drake.


Jammer
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: bhv@areaplg2.corp.mot.com (Bronis Vidugiris)
Subject: Re: What are the best fantasy books involving dragons?
Organization: Motorola, CCR&D, CORP, Schaumburg, IL
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 15:39:56 GMT

In article <1992Aug24.145700.10369@pica.army.mil> smwall@aol.com (Steve Wall) writes:
)OK, don't shoot me if this is a repeat, (I probably haven't read this whole
)thread) but, howzabout "the Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien.  A pretty fair dragon
)tale, which of course, just leads you into an even better fantasy (The
)Lord of the Rings).

I don't think about 'The Hobbit' for some reason when dragons are mentioned
(I dunno why not, its very logical), but I'd have to agree that it's one of
(if not the) best dragon tales around.
From: mmaxwell@ucsd.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Lovecraft question
Date: 4 Sep 1992 19:44:35 GMT
Organization: UC San Diego
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: irpsws80.ucsd.edu

In article <16858C8C2.ADELEKTA@kentvm.kent.edu> adelekta@kentvm.kent.edu
writes:
(snip)
> While noticing the influence of H.P. Lovecraft in modern science fiction,
>someone pointed out to me that Lovecraft was in turn influenced by an early
>20th century writer, whom I believe wrote a book called something like The
>King in Yellow, and who was responsible for many places/concepts generally
>attributed to Lovecraft.
> 
> Does anyone know if this is true? If so, does anyone know the name of this
>author, and/or the titles of his works?
> 
(snip)

I don't know about Lovecraft influencing early science fiction, but....

Lovecraft was probably influenced by many writers, most notably Poe, but
the one you're thinking of is Robert W. Chambers, who wrote "The King
in Yellow", which is a collection of short stories.  I seem to remember
that Chambers originally used the name "Hastur", and perhaps a couple
of fantastic locations that Lovecraft picked up later and incorporated
into his own works.  As far as i know, "The King in Yellow" is Chambers'
only well-known work.
-------------------
Matt Maxwell
mmaxwell@ucsd.edu

"He took personality tests
 and stapled them to his lower lip" -- Stan Ridgway