HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: pmoloney@maths.tcd.ie (Paul Moloney)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Use of Weapons by Banks
Date: 7 Apr 92 22:52:30 GMT
Organization: Somewhere in the Twentieth Century

ecmtwhk@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Thomas Koenig) writes:
>jefft@athena.mit.edu (Jeff Tang) writes:

>>Is Banks' other stuff as good as this?

>"Consider Phlebas" is better, from my and other people's experience; it is
>more along the lines of classical space opera (or classical tragedy, for
>that matter).
>"The Player of Games" is ok.  I found it a bit too preachy for my taste, but
>other people disagree.
>They both are worth reading, in any case.

And don't let genre boundaries cause you to overlook his "mainstream" stuff - 
which is weird enough to satisfy any SF fan; "The Bridge" and "Espedair 
Street" being my favourites.

P.
-- 
moorcockheathersiainbankshamandcornpizzapjorourkebluesbrothersspikeleepratchett
clive P a u l  M o l o n e y "Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the  rem
james Trinity College,Dublin PMOLONEY%MATHS.TCD.IE@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU mind." vr
brownbladerunnerorsonscottcardprincewatchmenkatebushbatmanthekillingjoketolkien
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: maxson@cerl.uiuc.edu (K R Maxson)
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe
Organization: UIUC Computer-based Education Research Lab
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 00:41:11 GMT

In article <9204050614.AA05715@rutgers.edu>, BECKS@TAUNIVM.TAU.AC.IL (Sara Beck) writes:
> Anyway, I think that Wolfe's  (or his characters) consistently have a weird
> attitude towards women.  Women in Wolfe's books seem to be a somewhat alien
> species.  They are assumed to have their own agenda which is completely
> hidden from men, and to be more or less dangerous to men.  "There are Doors"
> is exhibit A, of course.  Also check out the references to sexual activity in
> the Torturer books (honesty compells me to admit I only read the first 2); the
> atmosphere is like a soldier reporting on an encounter with the enemy.  Yes he

I think you are mistaking Wolfe's fascination with "The Other" for his
perception of women.  You are right that in _There Are Doors_ women are
alien, but I don't think that is representative.  Rather, in most of
Gene Wolfe's stories, there is a shadowy, elusive-but-familiar alien
presence: the abos of _Fifth Head_, the doctor in _The Death of Doctor
Island_.  Wolfe writes a great deal about identity, and makes many ordinary
things appear uncertain, illusory, deceptive; or even dangerous, malevolent.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: eliz@ai.mit.edu (Elizabeth Willey)
Subject: Re: Raymond's Reviews #190: Stations of the Tide
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
	<s32fdINNnrj@stanley.cis.Brown.EDU>
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 15:32:57 GMT

Eric S. Raymond wrote:

	It doesn't have to be that way.  Michel Swanwick is one of the members of a
	notional organization of writers calling itself the Pre-Joycean Fellowship,

Michael Swanwick is *not* associated with the group calling itself the
Pre-Joycean Fellowship, which largely consists of Scribblies from the
Midwest.  Sheesh.

Then Curtis Yarvin added:

   I didn't expect it.  Swanwick's first novel, _Vacuum Flowers_[...]

His first novel was _In the Drift_.

Double Sheesh.


Elizabeth Willey
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: aaron@space.ualberta.ca (Alfvaen)
Subject: Re: Cliff hangers
Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 20:12:58 GMT

Lynn Alford writes
> P.J. Farmer is worse though.  The last volume of the world of Tiers
> series that I have ends with a cliff-hanger, and I don't know if he has
> yet produced the promised sequel.  And that book was published ages ago.

In Canada, I saw the book _Red Orc's Rage_ in hardcover a few months ago.   
It doesn't mention World of Tiers on it anywhere, but it was Red Orc in  
_The Lavalite World_, wasn't it?  So I would expect it would be a sequel  
of some kind...it took me a couple of years to find _The Lavalite World_  
after I read the fourth book, so...

> Lynn

--

---Alfvaen(and no, this isn't my real name!)
Canadian Network For Space Research, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
If you stand on your head, you will get footprints in your hair.
Current Album--She's Having A Baby Soundtrack
 "I know you have a little life in you yet
  I know you have a lot of strength left."
From: murphy@npri6.npri.com (David P. Murphy)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Irish/Celtic Fantasy
Date: 13 Apr 92 02:32:10 GMT
Organization: NPRI, Alexandria VA

>I have read one thing by Morgan Llewellyn and enjoyed it.
                          ^^^^^^

are you referring to _Red_Branch_ by Margaret LLewrllyn?

*highly* recommended --- i've been waiting for someone to mention it!

ok
dpm
-- 
murphy@npri6.npri.com 602 Cameron St. Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 683-9090

              When every one is dead the Great Game is finished, not before.
                              --- Hurree Babu, "Kim"
From: regard@hpsdde.sdd.hp.com (Adrienne Regard)
Subject: Another Story Request - old timers!
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, San Diego Division
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 1992 18:58:49 GMT

In article <1992Apr6.124725.4306@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov> puckett@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov (Jim Puckett) writes:
>The story I am looking for is, I believe, by Fred Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth.

I'm looking for a Kornbluth story, too:

The Lady who Sailed the Soul.  I saw it (decades ago) in a collection
called (something like) The Mind Benders.  And the net told me it had
appeared in other collections as well.

I'd appreciate it if anyone who has this story would consent to sell me
their book.  I've looked and looked and looked, and have a crink in my
neck from all the sideways titles.... (-:

Adrienne Regard
at regard@hpsdde.sdd.hp.com

Yes, I know it's a weird address.
From: Peter_L_Zavon.Wbst843@XEROX.COM
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Asimov9s robots
Date: 14 Apr 92 01:23:35 GMT
Reply-To: plz.wbst843@xerox.com

On 12 Apr 92 20:39:52 GMT, crispin@csd.uwo.ca (Crispin Cowan) writes about
Asimov's Laws of Robotics:
	>They bear no resemblance to how AI research is done, and offer no
insight. . . .
and
	>Asimov never had a clue about how robots worked, and wasn't even
original
	>about it.  For a really thoughtful treatment of artificial
intelligence,
	>check out . . .

The Laws of Robotics were not intended to resemble AI research, which did not
exist when they were formulated, or to offer insight into how a robot works.
It is pretty clear to me that they were intended to provide a logical "robot
psychology" on which to hang SF/mystery hybrid story lines, and as a reaction
to the Frankenstein-monster view of robots.  Let's remember that Asimov wrote
the first of the robot stories in the 1940's (or was it the early 1950's?) and
that even in the 1960's and later, the malevolent, destroying robot was the
most widely held stereotype.  Even Robby the Robot on Lost in Space got shifted
into that mode from time to time, as I recall.

Most of the examples of "thoughtful" treatments of AI mentioned by Crispin date
from the 1980's (only Clarke's 2001 is earlier) and naturally have the "look
and feel" of more contemporary activity.  If you are going to judge reasonably
the contribution of a seminal writer in a field like science fiction,  I think
you must be able and willing to suspend your disbelief to the point that you
can accept those seminal writings with reference to what was THEN seen as
correct science.  Judging by exclusive reference to what we NOW see to be
correct science limits your ability to appreciate works more than a decade or
so old.

I guess it may be a matter of having some historical perspective.

Peter Zavon
Operations Safety
Xerox Corporation
Webster, NY 14580

plz.wbst843@xerox.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: holger@vmars.tuwien.ac.at (Holger Reusch (Dipl. ALF in spe))
Subject: Re: humorous science fiction
Organization: Technical University Vienna, Dept. for Realtime Systems, AUSTRIA
Distribution: intergalactic
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 09:16:10 GMT

I'm astonished that nobody mentioned _Allamagoosa_, a short story by
Eric Frank Russel (I think.) which makes fun of the military narrow-
mindedness.  I read it in part 2 of Jerry Pournelle's _The Stars at
War_ series.  Must be one of the funniest stories I ever read.  
Definitely recommended.

Has anybody mentioned the _Spellsinger_ series by Alan Dean Foster?
They are very light-hearted and sometimes downright comic.  Of course
this is fantasy, but to my mind readable to die-hard SF readers, too.
I don't have titles handy, but there is a thread on Alan Dean Foster
in this newsgroup where they are mentioned.

-- 
| Holger Reusch                             |
| Technical University of Vienna, Austria <-+--- No kangaroos here,
| Dept. for Real-Time Systems               |    sorry!
| holger@vmars.tuwien.ac.at                 |
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Use of Weapons by Banks
From: ecmtwhk@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Thomas Koenig)
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 00:47:12 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: University of Auckland, New Zealand.

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, from my and other people's experience; it is
more along the lines of classical space opera (or classical tragedy, for
that matter).

"The Player of Games" is ok.  I found it a bit too preachy for my taste, but
other people disagree.

They both are worth reading, in any case.
-- 
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: ed@wente.llnl.gov (Ed Suranyi)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: ASIMOV list again
Date: 16 Apr 92 03:50:03 GMT
Organization: UC Davis Dept of Applied Science at LLNL

In article <18517.9204142001@thor.cf.ac.uk> spedpr@thor.cf.ac.uk (Paul Richards) writes:
>It is generally said that Asimov wrote around 500 books. Does anyone
>know what they were. From memory, the previous list seemed quite
>complete. I don't believe he wrote that many non-fiction books.
>
>Does this figure include all his short stories as well?

Well, as it turns out, I've just been corresponding by e-mail with
someone who is a collector of Asimov's books.  He sent me a list
of books he doesn't have, and one of books he has duplicates of.  Just
on these lists there are a total of 166 books.  Of these, 3 are humor,
17 are fiction, 27 are edited anthologies of stories by many authors,
and the remaining 119 are all non-fiction.

Just go to your local public library.  Even a small one like the 
Livermore Public has over 150 different non-fiction books by Asimov.
Maybe many of them were not published in the UK.  Do you know of such
titles as:

The Clock We Live On
Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare
Words on the Map
A Choice of Catastrophes
The Roman Empire
A Short History of Chemistry
etc., etc. etc.

I'm certainly not going to list them all, but take my word for it,
he wrote hundreds of books of non-fiction.  So no, the "almost 500"
figure doesn't count his short stories separately.

Ed
ed@wente.llnl.gov




From: zornow@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Claudia Zornow)
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 16:17:12 GMT
Subject: Isaac meets Rocky?
Organization: HP SSD R & D
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written

Yesterday I was browsing through the online card catalog at the 
Sunnyvale (CA) Public Library, looking for Asimov titles.  (There
were 273 listed.)  As I got to the end of the list, I saw one title
which gave me pause:  _Yo, Robot_.

It was, of course, the Spanish translation of _I, Robot_.

Claudia
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: paul@econ.yale.edu (Paul McGuire)
Subject: Re: What is this book about??
Originator: paul@oberon.econ.yale.edu
Organization: Economics Department, Yale University, New haven, CT.
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 04:17:26 GMT

In article <1992Apr7.210229.4695@hamblin.math.byu.edu> bill@mathnx.math.byu.edu (Bill Smith) writes:
>While wandering through Dalton's on several occassions some years ago,
>I noticed a sci-fi book with a cover illustration like this:
>The view is the inside of a space craft, the pilot is sitting in
>his chair with a look of horror on his face, and there are these
>lobster-like critters crawling around the cabin, one of them is
>dangling its tenticles over the pilot.  I was always intrigued by
>the picture, but I never picked up the book.  Later I noticed what
>was apparently a sequel to this book.  The subject had to do with
>the spread of some kind of organism I think - something vaguely like
>the puppet masters idea.  Anyone know these book(s) and be willing
>to give me a synopsis?  Thanks.

The Vang: The Military Form by Christopher Rowley.  You got the general
idea, but it much more carnographic.  Foolish human discovers egg of 
presumed extinct alien horror and brings it home.  Alien germinates and 
and reproduces and they proceed to eat everyone.  Okay for that sort of thing.

The Vang: The Battlemaster by Christopher Rowley.  More of the same.
It's a sequel in that it is about another Vang caste, but otherwise
different people and a different planet.

If he writes another, I'll probably buy it, but I like a bit of gore
now and then, and I read a lot.

Paul McGuire
Yale Economic Growth Center
From: unixwiz@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu (Asimov Fan)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: ADF:  Book 2 of the Damned (anyone seen it)
Date: 11 Apr 92 00:45:32 GMT

being out in the bloody boonies, I haven't seen any word on _The False
Mirror_, which is supposed to be Book 2 of the Damned....

do any of you people close to Del Rey books know anything about it...I'm
waiting for this series to continue...speaking of which, does anyone know
how long it will be??  Spellsinger, for example, ran 6 books...how long
will this one run??  (and can I afford them all...)

thanx,

k.mencher
unixwiz@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu
From: ogorman@unix1.tcd.ie (Lucifuge)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: David Eddings
Date: 15 Apr 92 11:29:19 GMT
Organization: Trinity College, Dublin

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

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

Are you being sarcastic?

The Belgariad is an enjoyable light read until it dies at about book
three. The other two are rehashes of the Belgariad with near identical
characters. Doesn't anyone think 13 books with out an original idea is
just *slightly* dodgy?

To quote: 'It should not be cast aside lightly, it should be flung with
great force across the room.'

Ollie...
From: jefft@athena.mit.edu (Jeff Tang)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Zelazny/Amber (Spoilers)
Date: 7 Apr 92 23:33:01 GMT
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In article <4062@ucsbcsl.ucsb.edu> rible@vorpal.ucsb.edu (Max Rible) writes:

   > 6.  How will mandor and dara try and manipulate Merlin now?
   By begging and pleading?

I think they'll be far more subtle and dangerous than that.

   > 7.  How will Random like having a nephew who's the King of Chaos?
   A lot better than having a mortal enemy on the throne, I'll bet, but
   he'll still not be particularly pleased...

Random may have a problem with the fact that Merlin has a fair claim to the
Amber throne, himself.  This is, after all, why he was conceived in the
first place.


--
Jeff Tang
jefft@athena.mit.edu
From: puckett@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov (Jim Puckett)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: A Rumor about Asimov
Summary: they say hs is dead...
Date: 6 Apr 92 16:00:13 GMT
Organization: NASA/MSFC

I heard  a rumor this morning that Issac Asimov is dead.
 
I admit to a sad feeling about this. I know it became Politically Correct
to deride the mans works lately, but I read the Foundation Trilogy very
young, and he brought me much joy in many other works.

I miss him. I suppose that I have missed him for a while. His fiction
speaks to me of a simpler time in my own life, when characters _weren't_
that complicated, and sex stayed off the page8-)

just thought I'd share that with you...


jim p.


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

*****!Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty!*****
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: emma@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Emma Pease)
Subject: Re: Miles Vorkosigan
Keywords: bujold
Organization: Stanford University CSLI
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 20:45:30 GMT

In <9441@wrgate.wr.tek.com> dant@logos.wr.tek.com (Dan Tilque) writes:
>emma@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Emma Pease) writes:
>>
>>Time line.  I'm taking the death of Emperor Ezar as point 0.
>>
>>-80 - Recontact with the rest of humanity
>>    - Piotr born.  Ezar mentions that he was Piotr's apprentice in the
>>      Cetagandean invasion.  Elsewhere it is stated that they were
>>      contemporaries.  Conclusion: they are near in age but Piotr is a
>>      bit older.

>Somewhere I worked out that Piotr was about eight or ten years younger
>than Ezar.  Ezar was 77 when he died.  Seventeen years later, Piotr
>died.  I think it said that he was in his mid eighties at death.  Ezar,
>if still alive, would have been about 94.

>>    - Cetagandean invasion and first war with the Cetagandean Empire.
>>      Probably took place between 10 and 20 years after recontact.

>I thought the war started only a few years after recontact and lasted
>about 20 years.

Problem with the First Cetagandan War starting soon after the contact
is that Piotr and Ezar would be extremely young to be fighting in it,
much less Piotr being a general, even if the war lasted 20 years.  I
did glean one extra fact in "Barrayar".  Kly, the backcountry man who
leads Cordelia and company, mentions he is two years short of being a
triple 20 year man and that he started in the service when he was 14
fighting against the Cetagandans in the Dendarii mountains under Piotr
and Ezar.  This would mean that the war was being fought some 58 years
before Ezar's death and some 22 years after recontact (Ezar would have
been 19 at the time; if you are correct about Piotr, he would have
been 11 at most).  His mention of 14 implies that that might have been
the starting age for military service during the time.

I believe you got the reference to Piotr dying in his eighties from
his stating to Miles that there had been three major changes on
Barrayar in his life

Between the time he was 10 and 20
Between the time he was 20 and 40
Between the time he was 40 and 80

It does not imply that he is in eighties now only that he is over 80.
He does not mentioned what are the major changes.  One almost certainly
is the Cetagandan Invasion, and, I assumed it was the first change.  

>>    - Komarr invasion

>The Komarr invasion was about -4 or -5 on your timeline.

Tung in "The Warriors Apprentice" mentions being a defender of Komarr
23 years before.  Miles is about 17 at this time so the invasion is
probably some 5 or 6 years before Ezar's death.

Emma
From: eric@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Terrible book:  The Red Tape War
Date: 14 Apr 92 13:02:13 GMT
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In <13APR199211162901@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov> Susan E. Kayser NSSDC/STX (301 wrote:
>This is to warn people not to waste money on "The Red Tape War", by Chalker, 
>Resnick, and Effinger.  They have a couple of cute ideas, they milk them for 
>all they are worth, and then milk them again.  About 70% of the book is filler 
>(telling you who wrote each chapter, telling you they just did it for the 
>money, and so on), and 2/3 of the rest is repetitive.  Don't waste your time, 
>either. 

You're obviously either among the humor-impaired or have never read enough
bad SF to appreciate the sendup job they're doing.  I thought it was hilarious.
-- 
      Eric S. Raymond = eric@snark.thyrsus.com  (mad mastermind of TMN-Netnews)
From: cgy@cs.brown.edu (Curtis Yarvin)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: SF about Science
Date: 10 Apr 1992 03:00:13 GMT
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
NNTP-Posting-Host: hobbes.cs.brown.edu

In article <1992Apr9.192026.19884@u.washington.edu> kellmer@u.washington.edu writes:
>Another one to read is _Twistor_ by John Cramer, who is a physicist here 
>at the University of Washington.  It's about an experimental physicist who
>discovers a new effect and what that discovery generates.  Goes a little 
>heavily into the physics in the first quarter of the novel for my taste, but
>on the whole, quite good.

Yup.

Why, it's at least two solid notches above "See Spot Run."

And the science is, like, _really accurate_, too, even if maybe it's not
quite real.

Sounds like Hugo material to me.

c
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.books
From: jcp@islay.dco.dec.com (Jolly C. Pancakes)
Subject: Re: Difference Engine: Request for Information
Organization: Electric Otter Eel Emporium
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 15:13:41 GMT

In article <1992Apr2.134746.3740@cs.hw.ac.uk> smc@cs.hw.ac.uk (Steve McGowan) writes:
>	Also, as a mildly interesting footnote to Countess Ada, I believe
>	that after devoting a life to the development and refinement of
>	her mathematical skills, she got so fed up that she directed the 
>	rest of her life to the joys of sex, and became something of a loose
>	woman. I think she may even have become a prostitute.


	I've fallen behind in reading this group so perhaps this has
been answered already, or should I say, perhaps someone has corrected
this utter and total twaddle by now.

	No, Ada Lovelace did not become a prostitute. Sheesh. She did,
however, have a certain fascination for gambling and sought to apply her
mathematical skills to finding a "system" for winning. SHe did not, and
lost most of her fortune in the process.


-- 
jcpatilla						jcp@decuac.dec.com

Do your otters dance the morris? Do they shake their bells and bows?
Do they love that fiddle music? Do they leap and kick their toes?
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: rjk@iastate.edu (Russell J Kraemer)
Subject: Re: SF-LOVERS Digest   V17 #160
Summary: quick reply
Keywords: lost swords
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 02:17:50 GMT

In article <01GIOY74UPJ496VRD5@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU> STU_GLMCELHA@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU (Lord Drizzan) writes:
>You may want to try out the Lost Swords series--each book focuses
>on one Sword, and the state of the world after the Swordwars...
>In order (so far), they are:
>
>Woundhealer's Story
>Sightblinder's Story
>Stonecutter's Story
>Farslayer's Story
>Coinspinner's Story
>Mindsword's Story
>Wayfinder's Story (July 1992)
>
>Oh, each book is also "The nth book of Lost Swords", so the new one
>this July'd be _The Seventh Book of Lost Swords: Wayfinder's Story_.
>The series has gone up and down (and waaaaaaay down with Stonecutter's
>Story) but I'm enjoying it.
>
Hmm, actually I really liked stonecutters story. It was  BIG departure
from the style of the other books, maybe that's why you didn'y like it?
I think it was Saberhagen's try at Sherlock Holmes, and I think he
did rather well.  (For those who havent read it, it's more of a mystery
type of story)


Jeff



-- 
rjk@iastate.edu                 

I think therefore I.......shoot, was I saying something?
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written