HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: anthony@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Anthony J Stieber)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Isaac Asimov
Date: 8 Apr 92 04:53:28 GMT
Article-I.D.: uwm.1992Apr8.045328.25852
Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee


Forwarded message:
>From chapman@silver.lcs.mit.edu Tue Apr  7 08:40:02 1992
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 92 09:36:26 -0400
From: chapman@silver.lcs.mit.edu (Gary Chapman)
Message-Id: <9204071336.AA23886@silver.lcs.mit.edu>
To: cpsr-activists@csli.stanford.edu, cpsr-boston@saffron.lcs.mit.edu,
Subject: Isaac Asimov


As most of you probably have learned by now, Isaac Asimov died yesteday
at the age of 72 in New York City.

Asimov was a solid and enthusiastic supporter of Computer Professionals
for Social Responsibility.  He gave us some very generous financial
support and he was always very cordial and warmly supportive whenever we
talked.  He sent a large check the first time I told him about CPSR,
with an energetic note of congratulations and good work.  We
occasionally spoke about the status of opposition to "Star Wars," which
was one of his major bete noirs.  I once asked him to sign a letter
endorsing our opposition to "Star Wars," and he said that although he
agreed with everything we were saying, he thought that his well-known
and very strong condemnation of the SDI would taint us with his famous
bias.  (He wrote a widely read, angry and devastating attack on "Star
Wars" as a funding appeal for Americans for Democratic Action, a letter
that became a rancorous controversy in the science fiction writers
community.) 

Several times I asked Asimov to be the keynote speaker at the CPSR
Annual Meeting, and each time he very politely turned me down -- he was
notoriously home-bound and it was said that he almost never left
Manhattan.  (He reportedly wrote 14 hours a day six days a week, which
accounted for his output of nearly 500 books, 10 books a year in recent
years.)  He always told me that I had a standing invitation to come see
him at his home in New York, something I'm very sorry I never got around
to doing.

Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics are a very succinct expression of
the core principles of CPSR, something that he and I talked about a few
times, especially around the time of the publication of *Computers in
Battle*, which he read and praised.  He frequently said that CPSR is an
important organization that is critical to preserving the best qualities
of human nature in the face of massive technological and political
onslaught.  It's too bad we've lost his voice, probably one of the most
widely read and prolific authors in history.  He was a good soul.

Gary Chapman
Coordinator
The 21st Century Project
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
Cambridge, Massachusetts
chapman@lcs.mit.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: lmann@jjmhome.UUCP (Laurie Mann)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Where to Send Contributions in Isaac Asimov's Memory...
Date: 9 Apr 92 01:41:31 GMT
Organization: Survivors R Us

Beth Meacham (Senior Editor at Tor) made the following announcements
on GEnie tonight:

If you'd like to make a contribution in Isaac's memory, please
send it to:

	NYU Medical Center Development Department
	316 E. 30th St.
	NY, NY 10016
	Attn:  Mark Watson

Please don't send flowers.  Janet has been deluged and asks that people
please don't  Thanks.

**  lmann@jjmhome.uucp ** Laurie_MannVOS@vos.stratus.com   **
* NeXT: lmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com  GEnie: Laurie.Mann *
*** Use your energy to empower, not your rage to destroy. ***
From: v075q5fr@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Scott J Gorcey)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Chris Claremont's _First_Flight_
Date: 15 Apr 92 19:01:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <31672@sdcc12.ucsd.edu>, bkoike@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Bryce Koike) writes...
> 
>	I'm curious about people's opinions on the above book.  I
>picked it up at a whim and nearly became immediately disappionted
>with it.  

     What, you mean the "What If The X-Men Were Astronauts in a Novel?"
     Novel?  	

>	Not a bad read (heck, I finished it in under 2 hours), but
>sadly this idea has been done much better before...

     And by Claremont himself, no less.  At least five, six times...

                ^She's My Cousin But Doesn't She^
                      ^Look Almost Exactly^
           ____________^Like Laura Palmer^____________
          ^Scott Gorcey, v075q5fr@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu^
From: lightnin@parrot.WPI.EDU (...And it Hardly Ever Blows Up Anymore)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Book List?
Date: 13 Apr 92 19:50:11 GMT
Article-I.D.: parrot.LIGHTNIN.92Apr13145011
Organization: DeityCo: Major and Minor Deities Placement Agency


I vaguely remember the existence of an anonymous FTP site that had lists of
books by author.  Does it still exist?  What is it's location?  Is this an
FAQ?  (Sorry, if it is)  

Thanks.

Derek G Bacon        | "But his bosses didn't like him, so they shot him into 
lightnin@wpi.wpi.edu |  space."     - MST3K Love Theme
Gadaiyio Takeimienei |=========================================================
Writer of USFP       | "Oh Fluffy, I never knew." -Earth Girls Are Easy
From: mcjunkin@hpspkla.spk.hp.com (Bart L. McJunkin)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 19:41:12 GMT
Subject: Re: Cliff hangers
Organization: Hewlett Packard Company, Spokane, Wa.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written

In rec.arts.sf.written, matt@oddjob.uchicago.edu (Not the kind you have to wind up on Sunday) writes:

    Cliff hangers.  Don't talk to me about cliff hangers.  When Chanur's
    Venture (C.J. Cherryh) first came out I bought it and read it.  There
    was no indication that it was part of a series until, on the last page,
    when the Chanur ship is all repaired and re-outfitted and they are ready
    to go flying off with their allies to go after the bad guys ...

    		TO BE CONTINUED


    ARGH!

I hear you.  The sequel 'The Kif strike back' came out with
such a whimper that I didn't find out about it until 2 years
after it was published.  I found it in a used book store!

Refresh my memory, is the Morgaine series finished?

Bart.
Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.written:5442 rec.arts.sf.misc:1272 rec.arts.books:7565
From: mss2@quads.uchicago.edu (Michael S. Schiffer)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc,rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Asimov Dies
Date: 6 Apr 92 13:13:19 GMT
Reply-To: mss2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations

In article <"6-Apr-92.8:43:37".*.Peter_L_Zavon.Wbst843@Xerox.com> plz.wbst843@xerox.com writes:
>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.

Ave atque vale.

Asimov was a seminal figure in sf and an extremely good popularizer
of a vast number of subjects, including science, literature, and
history.  Like many here, I had some complaints about his later
fiction, but we should not let that blind us to his contributions
to science fiction and his role in making various areas of human
knowledge more accessible to a lay audience.  I, for one can say
that it was reading his series of history books in high school which
ultimately led to my majoring in history in college.  We can debate
the merits of his later work in the future, but for now, let us
honor him for all of his positive contributions.

Mike
-- 
Michael S. Schiffer, LHN, FCS	"Never let your sense of morality prevent
mss2@midway.uchicago.edu	 you from doing what's right!"
mike.schiffer@um.cc.umich.edu	 --Mayor Salvor Hardin of Terminus
mss2@usite-next.uchicago.edu     Isaac Asimov, _Foundation_
From: rkh@ucs.att.com (Robert Halloran)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Irish/Celtic Fantasy
Date: 10 Apr 92 15:02:18 GMT
Organization: AT&T Universal Card Services, Jacksonville FL

If you want to stretch things, you could look at Kennealy's
Keltiad books; pre-Xian Celts in space.  Four books to date:
Silver Branch, Copper Crown, Throne of Scone making up the
first trilogy, and Hawk's Grey Feather, the first book of
a re-working of Arthur.

If you can get past the plot device used to create the setting,
they're a pretty good read.  And does anyone know when the next
one's due out?!?!?

	Bob Halloran
	AT&T Universal Card
	Jacksonville FL

	rkh@ucs.att.com
Any similarity between opinions stated here and AT&T's 
  corporate opinion are purely coincidental.

"How can you tell a politician is lying?  His lips move..."
	-- M-m-max Headroom
"Read my lips - no new taxes" -- George H. W. Bush, 1988
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: puckett@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov (Jim Puckett)
Subject:  A story request
Organization: NASA/MSFC
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 12:47:25 GMT

The story I am looking for is, I believe, by Fred Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth.

I think. But it doesn't _read_ like the rest of their stuff.

It is about a father, whose child has some emotional/mental trouble.
It doesn't seem to be getting any better, either. Their is a rich man,
whose son has an excellent working mind, whose body is sick in some
way.

	The rich man wants to have his son's brain transplanted into
the body of the protagonist's son.

	The short story ends with the father making his decision, and
getting up to make the phone call. But the story ends before he makes
the call - and we never know what his decision is.(8-(

	A definite tearjerker. Anybody out there read it, and remember
it? 


thanks, 

jim p.

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

*****!Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty!*****
Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.written:5449 rec.arts.books:7571
From: cgy@cs.brown.edu (Curtis Yarvin)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Use of Weapons by Banks
Date: 7 Apr 1992 04:49:15 GMT
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
NNTP-Posting-Host: cslab9b.cs.brown.edu

In article <1992Apr7.004712.10834@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz> ecmtwhk@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Thomas Koenig) writes:
>jefft@athena.mit.edu (Jeff Tang) writes:
>
>>I just finished the book (in paperback), and boy am I impressed.  I'm going
>>to have to read it again in a few months to get everything.
>
>>Is Banks' other stuff as good as this?
>
>"Consider Phlebas" is better.
>"The Player of Games" is ok.

I'd rate them, descending:

Use of Weapons
Player of Games
Consider Phlebas

but they're all pretty close, really.  Iain Banks has taken a subgenre so
hackneyed that, since the '60s, even the hacks have avoided it - space opera
- and made some damn fine books out of it.  All three are highly
recommended, whether you're into fast-moving plots or elegant writing.

Banks also does excellent mainstream lit (eg _The Wasp Factory_, _Canal
Dreams_).

c
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: scs@lokkur.dexter.mi.us (Steve Simmons)
Subject: Re: Raymond's Reviews #187: Good Omens
Organization: Inland Sea
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 92 13:40:37 GMT

eric@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond) writes:

>Anybody who's read any of Pratchett's previous work at all knows the
>results are going to be hilarious.  I'm not sure what Neil Gaiman brought
>to the party, but the collaboration is just as witty and wise as
>Pratchett's solo stuff.  Everyone from the Dukes of Hell on downward (or,
>er, upward) bumbles around with all the cheerful, vague incompetence and/or
>deranged intensity you'd expect (frequently both at once).

>But the real stinger in this book is that underneath the humor Pratchett at
>Gaiman really are addressing the Problem of Evil . . .

What Gaiman brings are exactly those elements you mention in the second
quoted paragraph above.  Gaiman seems to have an inexhausible store of
knowledge on Christianity, mythology and philosophy.  He recently won
the World Fantasy Award (forget the category -- short story?) for an issue
of the comic book SANDMAN, with the story "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
It's collected in DREAM COUNTRY with the stories "Calliope" (a writers
physically captures and abuses his muse), "Dream Of A Thousand Cats"
(ever wonder why humans run the world and cats don't?) and "Facade" (a
story only of interest to comics fans).  IMHO, "Cats" is a better story
than MSD.  DC (I think), ISBN 1-56389-016, $14.95.  Strongly recommended
for the fantasy fan.

Now, back to GOOD OMENS . . .

The book is rife with accurate references to Christianity and the history
of the Catholic church.  Looking up the characters names (especially
the daemons and angels) is a good place to start.  Some stock heresies
are lampooned or promoted.

"Oil and water" was my first thought on hearing those two were collaborating.
I was most pleased to be wrong.
-- 
When Dexter's on the Internet, can Hell be far behind?
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: mnemonic@eff.org (Mike Godwin)
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe (Was: Re: Mercedes Lackey (Was: Re: Flame War about sucky Fantasy and SF))
Originator: mnemonic@eff.org
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1992 15:38:44 GMT

In article <1992Mar29.022829.26894@midway.uchicago.edu> gac2@midway.uchicago.edu writes:

>Yes, but Donaldson was at least enjoyable.  Indeed, so was Wolfe...at first.
>His premise held a lot of promise, but he crippled his efforts by making
>the series into a set of increasinbly bizarre vignettes.

If only more writers would "cripple" their fiction the way Wolfe does.



--Mike



-- 
Mike Godwin,     |"Les vrais paradis sont les paradis
mnemonic@eff.org | qu'on a perdus."
(617) 864-0665   | 
EFF, Cambridge   |          --Marcel Proust
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: sef@kithrup.COM (Sean Eric Fagan)
Subject: Re: Steven Brust
Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ltd.
Date: Wed, 08 Apr 1992 08:05:58 GMT

In article <ru5acINNi6d@agate.berkeley.edu> goldfarb@ocf.berkeley.edu (David Goldfarb) writes:
>	He also mentioned the possibility of a sequel to _The Phoenix Guards_
>set about 500 years later. (Me: "500 years later? Wouldn't that be right
>around the time of..." Brust, grinning: "Uh-huh.")

Come on, tell.  500 years after TPG would be around the time of...?  (I
assume _Brokedown Palace_.)

>	(We know from _The Phoenix Guards_, of course, that Khaavren 
>survived the Interregnum. What took me more by surprise was his cameo
>appearance in _Teckla_.)

Where?  I don't know if I remember him in _Teckla_.  No, wait.  I remember.
I remember rereading it after I'd read TPG and thinking, "Hmm... wonder how
far he has got this stuff plotted?!"

I WANT MORE BRUST!  Wish he could clone himself and work on two books at
once 8-).

-- 
Sean Eric Fagan  | "One form to rule them all, one form to find them, one
sef@kithrup.COM  |  form to bring them all and in the darkness rewrite the
-----------------+  hell out of them" -- sendmail ruleset 3 comment from DEC.
Any opinions expressed are my own, and generally unpopular with others.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: stiller@escher.cs.jhu.edu (Lewis Stiller)
Subject: Asimov
Organization: The Johns Hopkins University Computer Science Dept.
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 16:03:42 GMT

I loved many of Isaac Asimov's books. I was rereading Prelude to
Foundation when I heard the news.  I am very sad he is gone.
--
Lewis Stiller
Dept. of Computer Science, The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD 21218-2686
email: stiller@cs.jhu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: peterco@eff.org (Peter A. Cohen)
Subject: Re: Star Trek "Novels"
Organization: ON Technology, Inc.
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 21:20:31 GMT

In article <9204071523.AA22032@rutgers.edu> IQTI400@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU
("Slow-Children@Play") writes:
>
>This "novel" is merely another piece of evidence demanding the
>Star Trek novel series to be considered nothing more than pulp
>fiction at best as the quality continues to slide rapidly downhill.

Is it any wonder that Gene Roddenberry never accepted _ANY_ of the books
(except the movie and television show script novelizations) as canonical?

- Peter
From: v075q5fr@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Scott J Gorcey)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Vonda N. McIntyre
Date: 15 Apr 92 22:04:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41


     Is anyone also a fan of Vonda's work?  I just found a copy of
     _Fireflood and other stories_, which is brilliant so far.  
     Still looking for _Dreansnake_, among others.  


                ^She's My Cousin But Doesn't She^
                      ^Look Almost Exactly^
           ____________^Like Laura Palmer^____________
          ^Scott Gorcey, v075q5fr@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu^ 
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc
From: ckd@eff.org (Christopher Davis)
Subject: SFWA classifications (was Re: Awards procedures)
Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.misc
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation Tech Central
	<65011@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 01:28:07 GMT

[followups to misc, since it's not about written SF itself]

 Chuq> == Chuq Von Rospach <chuq@Apple.COM> 

 Chuq> To be an active [SFWA] member, you have to have sold one novel or
 Chuq> three shorter pieces to professional markets. Other classes
 Chuq> (affiliate, associates, institutional, et al) can't participate.

What classes are there, and what are the qualifications (including dues,
especially for any classes that are of the form "radiate at about 37 C
and pay us $x/yr").

This is more from curiosity than practicality, since I'm unlikely to
sell much (well, *any*) SF in the near future (or far future for that
matter).  I'm just, well, curious.
--
Christopher Davis <ckd@eff.org> |    ECONOMIC OBSERVATIONS DEPARTMENT
System Manager & Postmaster     |  "There's always something going out of
Electronic Frontier Foundation  |      business in Central Square."
+1 617 864 0665  NIC: [CKD1]    |   -Rita Marie Rouvalis <rita@eff.org>
From: frank@burma.csee.usf.edu (Scott Frank)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Asimov's Last Book; A Question
Date: 15 Apr 92 14:55:35 GMT
Reply-To: frank@burma.csee.usf.edu (Scott Frank)
Organization: University of South Florida, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Does anyone know for sure whether or not Asimov finished the last book
that he was working on?

He was doing a new Foundation novel which was supposed to be published
as 5 novelettes in IAsfm.  The first two were published but I don't know
if the rest were ever written.  It was also supposed to come out as a
whole novel in book form.

In one of his latest editorial for the magazine, he said that he was
near death and probably wouldn't be able to finish the book.  He also
said that he was very sorry for this.  He said,  more sorry than you can
possibly be.  (That's only roughly a quote, I don't have it in front of
me.)  

Anyway, anyone know if he made it or not?

Scott Frank
frank@eggo.csee.usf.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: SF about doing science ? 
From: ecmtwhk@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Thomas Koenig)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 01:53:58 GMT
Organization: University of Auckland, New Zealand.

doom@elaine5.Stanford.EDU (Joseph Brenner) writes:

>I want to ask here for recommendations for "science" fiction
>stories that are actually about the social process of doing
>science, as opposed to engineering (or psuedo-scientific
>magic or mysticism, for that matter).   

One book which I can definitely recommend is "Cantor's Dilemma" by
(forgot the name of the author, unfortunately), which is about how a
ficticious Nobel prize is awarded.  It's written by the guy who invented
the birth control pill, and he got just about every honour in the field
except - you guessed it - the Nobel prize.  I think it is a very good read
for non - scientists and scientist alike.  For the former, it is a good
introduction of how scientists operate, much different than most people
imagine, and for the latter, it might help them to define their own 
attitudes about their work. It's not science fiction in the traditional
sense; the working environment described is those of today's biochemists,
but that is probably stranger to the average guy on the street than many
things SF authors have thought of :-)

Asimov's "Lunatico" also comes to mind, as does (with some reservations)
"Inherit the Stars" by Hogan.
-- 
Thomas Koenig, ecmtwhk@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz
Snail-Mail: 
c/o Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Auckland,
Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
From: nesiusra@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Rob)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGHHHH!
Keywords: ARRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHH!
Date: 13 Apr 92 03:55:34 GMT
Distribution: na


I suppose He'll be one of those guys who gets talked about more
after he's kicked the bucket and pushes up the daisies.  I do not
intend irrevence(God (or Asimov?) FORBID!).

He may soon rival Tolkein for "Most talked about dead guy" on this group.
BUT. . . .  WE KNOW HE'S DEAD!  

Rob
From: cgy@cs.brown.edu (Curtis Yarvin)
Subject: Re: SF about doing science ?
Keywords: Don't read _Twistor_
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 19:20:36 GMT

In article <4160@ucsbcsl.ucsb.edu> jhh@cosmic.physics.ucsb.edu writes:
>
>Well, I tried to read Cramer's _Twistor_ over the weekend, and hated
>it.
>
>For one thing, many of the science details were just plain wrong.  It
>is quite distressing seeing such major mistakes from a real physicist.
>He must not attend too many department colloquims.
>
[mucho glaring examples deleted]

It's interesting that, if so much of Cramer's science was indeed bogus, that
most people who liked _Twistor_ did so because the science was so
realistic.  It suggests that the most effective way to write hard sf is not
to do some research and get the science right, but to simply make it all up
as you go along.  Any decent writer can invent "scientific" details that
sound realer than the real thing; since most readers are non-specialists,
it's foolish not to.

I doubt Cramer doesn't know, as in one example, the proper name for a
high-temperature superconductor; in his book he chose to use not what was
right, but what worked best.  I loathed _Twistor_, which is written at about
the E.E. "Doc" Smith level, but my respect for Cramer's skills is increasing.

c