The Science Fiction Book Club Reviews Revisited: 1999 (January)

[james_davis_nicoll]

ength has forced me to go to month by month.

Lists courtesy of Andrew Wheeler.

Contents for anthologies and omnibuses from the Locus Index to Science Fiction www.locusmag.com/index/

Here be spoilers.


1999
JANUARY


THE LAST DRAGONLORD by Joanne Bertin

I missed this.


GREEN RIDER by Kristen Britain

And this.


MOONSEED by Stephen Baxter

This was a diaster novel of average quality, which is to say infinitely better than Baxter's Titan. Some mechanism whose exact nature I forget (although the vector is an Apollo sample) threatens to destroy Earth. As one might expect with Baxter, the solution to humanity's problem is to leave Earth. Coincidentally, the Moon proves to be remarkably easy to terraform.

[And although billions of people die, they didn't live in space and so can hardly be said to be human.


The story requires nothing from the Moon to ever have been blasted off by an impact and sent in the direction of Earth. This is my incredulous expression]


ECHOES OF HONOR by David Weber (Alternate)

I missed this.


BEHOLDER'S EYE by Julie S. Czerneda (Alternate)

And this.


THE CHILDREN STAR by Joan Slonczewski (Alternate)

And I think I read this but the only part that I remember is the protagonist, having figured out what to do about the microscopic entities colonizing his body, discovering that to the Nth generation little guys his body is now the Old Country, from which they will not leave without a fight.


THE DRAGON IN LYONESSE by Gordon R. Dickson (Alternate)

Missed this. Another _Dragon and the George_ story?


THE SILVER WOLF by Alice Borchardt (Alternate)

Missed this.


THE HIGH HOUSE by James Stoddard (Alternate)

Missed this.



COLLECTOR'S ISSUE #2

THE COMPLEAT DYING EARTH (4-in-1 of THE DYING EARTH, THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD, CUGEL THE CLEVER and RHIALTO THE MARVELOUS) by Jack Vance

And I have missed all of these, including TDE.

[I don't think that's true, actually. I don't recall it but I am pretty sure I have read The Dying Earth]


SNOW CRASH by Neal Stevenson

This can be read as a piss-take on the standard icons of cyberpunk, beginning with the ultrakewl dude who is a pizza delivery boy for the mob. I remember really liking this at the time, and it was good enough to make me buy everything by NS on sight (I think Quicksilver has cured me of that). Unlike later novels by Stevenson, this one even has a plot, of sorts.


This might be the most recent SF novel I have read where Julian Jaynes' theories play a major role.


VALENTINE OF MAJIPOOR (3-in-1 of LORD VALENTINE'S CASTLE, MAJIPOOR CHRONICLES and VALENTINE PONTIFEX) by Robert Silverberg (Alternate)

It's been too long since I read LVC so no comment.


First Contacts: The Essential Murray Leinster Murray Leinster (NESFA Press 0-915368-67-6, Aug '98, $25.00, 464pp, hc, cover by
Hannibal King); Collection of 24 stories, two original,
including the Hugo-winning "Exploration Team". Introduction by
Hal Clement. Edited by Joe Rico. Order from NESFA Press, PO Box
809, Framingham MA 01701; add $2.00 postage.

+ 13 o Will o Hal Clement o in * [Will F. Jenkins]
+ 17 o Editor's Introduction o Joe Rico o in
+ 19 o A Logic Named Joe [as by Will F. Jenkins] o ss
Astounding Mar '46

Notable as being one of the few stories to predict something like the web, where any answer to any question might be found.


+ 33 o If You Was a Moklin o nv Galaxy Sep '51
+ 49 o The Ethical Equations o ss Astounding Jun '45
+ 63 o Keyhole o ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Dec '51
+ 77 o Doomsday Deferred [as by Will F. Jenkins] o ss The
Saturday Evening Post Sep 24 '49
+ 85 o First Contact o nv Astounding May '45
+ 109 o Nobody Saw the Ship o ss Future May/Jun '50
+ 123 o Pipeline to Pluto o ss Astounding Aug '45
+ 133 o The Lonely Planet o nv Thrilling Wonder Stories Dec '49
+ 157 o De Profundis o ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Win '45
+ 167 o The Power o ss Astounding Sep '45
+ 181 o The Castaway o nv Universe Jun '53
+ 201 o The Strange Case of John Kingman o ss Astounding May
'48
+ 213 o Proxima Centauri o na Astounding Mar '35

Humans travel to PC, where the natives are distintly unfriendly. Features one of my least favourite devices from a safety point of view, the total conversion process that is contagious to any nearby matter.

+ 251 o The Fourth-Dimensional Demonstrator o ss Astounding Dec
'35
+ 261 o Sam, This Is You o nv Galaxy May '55
+ 277 o Sidewise in Time o na Astounding Jun '34
+ 315 o Scrimshaw o ss Astounding Sep '55
+ 327 o Symbiosis [as by Will F. Jenkins] o ss Colliers Jun 14
'47
+ 339 o Cure for a Ylith o ss Startling Stories Nov '49
+ 353 o Plague on Kryder II [Calhoun (Med Service)] o na Analog
Dec '64
+ 385 o Exploration Team [Colonial Survey] o nv Astounding Mar
'56
+ 419 o Introduction to the Unpublished Stories o Joe Rico o si
*
+ 421 o The Great Catastrophe o nv *
+ 461 o To All Fat Policemen o ss *

In general, most of these stand up. Perhaps a little old-fashioned by current standards; not terribly surprising, given that Leinster was born in the 19th century.


The Good Stuff ed. Gardner Dozois (SFBC #02879, Jan '99 [Feb '99],
$15.98, 982pp, hc, cover by Vincent Di Fate); Omnibus of two SF
anthologies: The Good Old Stuff (Griffin 1998) and The Good New
Stuff (Griffin 1999). This special SFBC edition has ISBN
0-7394-0044-4; it lacks a price and has the SFBC number on the
back jacket.

+ 1 o The Good Old Stuff o an Griffin, 1998
+ 9 o Preface o Gardner Dozois o pr
+ 19 o The Rull [Rulls] o A. E. van Vogt o nv Astounding May
'48
+ 45 o Second Night of Summer [Vegan Agents] o James H. Schmitz
o ss Galaxy Dec '50
+ 70 o The Galton Whistle ["Ultrasonic God"; Viagens] o L.
Sprague de Camp o nv Future Jul '51
+ 93 o The New Prime ["Brain of the Galaxy"] o Jack Vance o nv
Worlds Beyond Feb '51
+ 116 o That Share of Glory o C. M. Kornbluth o nv Astounding
Jan '52
+ 145 o The Last Days of Shandakor o Leigh Brackett o nv
Startling Stories Apr '52
+ 173 o Exploration Team [Colonial Survey] o Murray Leinster o
nv Astounding Mar '56
+ 215 o The Sky People o Poul Anderson o nv F&SF Mar '59
+ 254 o The Man in the Mailbag o Gordon R. Dickson o nv Galaxy
Apr '59
+ 281 o Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons o Cordwainer Smith o nv
Galaxy Jun '61
+ 302 o A Kind of Artistry o Brian W. Aldiss o nv F&SF Oct '62
+ 325 o Gunpowder God [Kalvan; Paratime Police] o H. Beam Piper
o na Analog Nov '64
+ 368 o Semley's Necklace ["The Dowry of Angyar"] o Ursula K.
Le Guin o ss Amazing Sep '64
+ 386 o Moon Duel o Fritz Leiber o ss If Sep '65
+ 397 o The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth o Roger
Zelazny o nv F&SF Mar '65
+ 428 o Mother in the Sky with Diamonds o James Tiptree, Jr. o
nv Galaxy Mar '71
+ 453 o Recommended Reading o Misc. Material o ms
+ 457 o The Good New Stuff o an Griffin, 1999
+ 463 o Preface o Gardner Dozois o pr
+ 469 o Goodbye, Robinson Crusoe o John Varley o nv IASFM Spr
'77
+ 497 o The Way of Cross and Dragon o George R. R. Martin o nv
Omni Jun '79
+ 515 o Swarm [Mechanist-Shapers] o Bruce Sterling o nv F&SF
Apr '82
+ 540 o The Blind Minotaur o Michael Swanwick o ss Amazing Mar
'85
+ 556 o The Blabber o Vernor Vinge o na Threats...And Other
Promises, Baen, 1988
+ 611 o The Return of the Kangaroo Rex [Mama Jason] o Janet
Kagan o nv IASFM Oct '89
+ 645 o Prayers on the Wind o Walter Jon Williams o na When the
Music's Over, ed. Lewis Shiner, Bantam Spectra, 1991
+ 686 o The Missionary's Child o Maureen F. McHugh o nv IASFM
Oct '92
+ 710 o Poles Apart [Trimus] o G. David Nordley o na Analog
mid-Dec '92
+ 753 o Guest of Honor o Robert Reed o nv F&SF Jun '93
+ 783 o Flowering Mandrake o George Turner o nv Alien Shores,
ed. Peter McNamara & Margaret Winch, Aphelion Publications,
1994
+ 820 o Cilia-of-Gold [Xeelee] o Stephen Baxter o nv Asimov's
Aug '94
+ 844 o Gone to Glory o R. Garcia y Robertson o nv F&SF Jul '95
+ 870 o A Dry, Quiet War o Tony Daniel o nv Asimov's Jun '96
+ 891 o All Tomorrow's Parties o Paul J. McAuley o ss Interzone
May '97
+ 907 o Escape Route [Night's Dawn] o Peter F. Hamilton o na
Interzone Jul '97
+ 956 o The Eye of God o Mary Rosenblum o nv Asimov's Mar '98

Notable stories, new and old. I've had the anthologies in my TBR pile for ages.

[yeah, eyeballing that doesn't hint at a great f/t]


GATEWAY by Frederik Pohl (Alternate)

This is the story, told in flashback during therapy, of a troubled young man who uses a lottery ticket to join in the great star race, using a recently discovered asteroid full of alien starships. Since no user manuals are handy and the humans have no idea how the ships work, the casualty rate is rather large but the money keeps people coming.

Well, I liked it, but of course they had me with the Berkey cover. Each sequel is progressively less interesting, alas.


THE MOON AND THE SUN by Vonda N. McIntyre (Alternate)

All I recall is this was unreadable and I think set in France of the Sun King?



THE TOUGH GUIDE TO FANTASYLAND by Diana Wynne Jones (Flyer)

A somewhat unkind tour through the cliches of Extruded Fantasy Product. Fun stuff but it would have helped if I had read more Lackey before reading this.


ICON by Frank Frazetta (Flyer)

An art book?

Comments

[roseembolism.livejournal.com]

At 300 m/s acceleration, I get 250 hours to get to 90% lightspeed, which is the range where the fun relativistic stuff happens. Dang. I thought it would take longer than 10 days. And then again, even at 1G, that's only about two months.

So according to my Ringworld rpg book (still the best done SF rpg ever made),the safe limit for Sol system is 7 billion kilometers. So at 30G that's a little over two days. Of course a cautious Belter will leave a hefty safety margin, so 3 days.

And I tried doing the energy requirements for a 1000 ton ship. Ouch.

I'm glad I did these calculations, because for my current project I have starships that use to accelerate at tens of Gs, and have to go to the outer system to jump. I was thinking weeks of travel, but it actually looks like a couple of days. I was thinking of changing it, but I actually like the element of limited time to respond to intruders it creates. Planetary defenses would have limited time to decide whether arrivals would be welcome visitors or attackers trying for a KT event. Likely the response to any arrival on a direct intercept course for an important installation would be to give one warning, and then attack.

Hmm. I like this.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the big obstacle to fast relativistic interstellar travel is really the energy involved, not so much the time required to get up to an interesting speed at a reasonable acceleration. If you have some magical free source of acceleration, a lot of things become possible.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

...The thing that really brings it home is that the energy-to-rest-mass ratio is exactly the same as the time dilation factor (up to an overall c^2). Want to benefit from time being slowed down by a hundred? Fine, your ship will need to have a total energy of 100 times mc^2. And then, of course, there's whatever extra you have to spend with whatever propulsion method you're using.