The Science Fiction Book Club Reviews Revisited: 2000 (June)

[james_davis_nicoll]

Lists courtesy of Andrew Wheeler.

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




JUNE


DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST by Juliet Mariller

I missed this.

STAR WARS: ROGUE PLANET by Greg Bear

And this.



ASHES OF VICTORY by David Weber (Alternate)

And this.



Exploring the Horizons ed. Gardner Dozois (SFBC #11247, Jun 2000,
$17.98, 916pp, hc, cover by John Berkey)

Yay, John Berkey!


+ o Explorers
+ 5 o Preface o Gardner Dozois o pr
+ 9 o The Sentinel ["Sentinel of Eternity"] o Arthur C. Clarke
o ss Ten Story Fantasy Spr '51
+ 16 o Moonwalk o H. B. Fyfe o nv Space Science Fiction Nov '52
+ 46 o Grandpa o James H. Schmitz o nv Astounding Feb '55
+ 63 o The Red Hills of Summer o Edgar Pangborn o nv F&SF Sep
'59
+ 91 o The Longest Voyage o Poul Anderson o nv Analog Dec '60
+ 114 o Hot Planet o Hal Clement o nv Galaxy Aug '63
+ 131 o Drunkboat o Cordwainer Smith o nv Amazing Oct '63
+ 154 o Becalmed in Hell o Larry Niven o ss F&SF Jul '65
+ 164 o Nine Hundred Grandmothers o R. A. Lafferty o ss If Feb
'66
+ 173 o The Keys to December o Roger Zelazny o nv New Worlds
Aug '66
+ 192 o Vaster Than Empires and More Slow o Ursula K. Le Guin o
nv New Dimensions I, ed. Robert Silverberg, Doubleday, 1971
+ 214 o A Meeting with Medusa o Arthur C. Clarke o nv Playboy
Dec '71
+ 244 o The Man Who Walked Home o James Tiptree, Jr. o ss
Amazing May '72
+ 256 o Long Shot o Vernor Vinge o ss Analog Aug '72
+ 266 o In the Hall of the Martian Kings o John Varley o na
F&SF Feb '77
+ 297 o Ginungagap o Michael Swanwick o nv TriQuarterly #49 '80
+ 322 o Exploring Fossil Canyon o Kim Stanley Robinson o nv
Universe 12, ed. Terry Carr, Doubleday, 1982
+ 341 o Promises to Keep o Jack McDevitt o nv IASFM Dec '84
+ 355 o Lieserl [Xeelee] o Stephen Baxter o ss Interzone Dec
'93
+ 369 o Crossing Chao Meng Fu o G. David Nordley o nv Analog
Dec '97
+ 395 o Wang's Carpets o Greg Egan o nv New Legends, ed. Greg
Bear & Martin H. Greenberg, Legend, 1995
+ 420 o A Dance to Strange Musics o Gregory Benford o ss
Science Fiction Age Nov '98
+ 438 o Approaching Perimelasma o Geoffrey A. Landis o nv
Asimov's Jan '98
+ o The Furthest Horizon
+ 463 o Preface o Gardner Dozois o pr
+ 467 o Guyal of Sfere [Dying Earth] o Jack Vance o nv The
Dying Earth, Hillman, 1950
+ 496 o Old Hundredth o Brian W. Aldiss o ss New Worlds Nov '60
+ 506 o Alpha Ralpha Boulevard o Cordwainer Smith o nv F&SF Jun
'61
+ 528 o Day Million o Frederik Pohl o ss Rogue Feb '66
+ 534 o Bumberboom o Avram Davidson o nv F&SF Dec '66
+ 559 o Coranda o Keith Roberts o nv New Worlds Jan '67
+ 574 o Nightwings [Watcher] o Robert Silverberg o na Galaxy
Sep '68
+ 611 o Pale Roses [Una Persson] o Michael Moorcock o nv New
Worlds 7, ed. Hilary Bailey & Charles Platt, London: Sphere,
1974
+ 637 o Anniversary Project o Joe W. Haldeman o ss Analog Oct
'75
+ 646 o Slow Music o James Tiptree, Jr. o na Interfaces, ed.
Ursula K. Le Guin & Virginia Kidd, Ace, 1980
+ 679 o The Map o Gene Wolfe o ss Light Years and Dark, ed.
Michael Bishop, Berkley, 1984
+ 690 o Dinosaurs o Walter Jon Williams o nv IASFM Jun '87
+ 710 o The Death Artist o Alexander Jablokov o nv IASFM Aug
'90
+ 733 o Sister Alice [Sister Alice] o Robert Reed o na Asimov's
Nov '93
+ 774 o Recording Angel o Paul J. McAuley o nv New Legends, ed.
Greg Bear & Martin H. Greenberg, Legend, 1995
+ 796 o Genesis o Poul Anderson o na Far Futures, ed. Gregory
Benford, 1995, 1995
+ 871 o The Days of Solomon Gursky o Ian McDonald o na Asimov's
Jun '98


This looks like a pretty solid collection, just one of many worthy Dozois collections I have overlooked until now.

[And now I look at it and notice that aside from Le Guin and Tiptree, this is pretty short on fiction by women]


MANHUNT: USA VS. MILITIA by Ian Slater (Alternate)

Uh huh.


THE MASTER OF ALL DESIRES by Judith Merkle Riley (Alternate)

I missed this.


FORTRESS OF DRAGONS by C.J. Cherryh (Alternate)

And this.



THE TOWER AT STONY WOOD by Patricia McKillip (Alternate)

And this.



COLLECTOR'S # 1


The Past Through Tomorrow Robert A. Heinlein (G.P. Putnam's, 1967, hc)

+ o Introduction o Damon Knight o in
+ o Life-Line o ss Astounding Aug '39

An inventor develops an infallible method of predicting lifespans. For some reason the insurance companies object, although it seems to me I can think of several ways for them to make money (well, more money) from this.

+ o The Roads Must Roll o nv Astounding Jun '40

Silly technology. Distractingly silly technology.

[This is the story a union-supporting customer first read of Heinlein. Also the last]


+ o Blowups Happen o na Astounding Sep '40

One of those stories that violate the stereotypes of SF: this one is by an Old Master of SF and it takes the view that there might be hazards associated with nuclear power. In this case, the hazards are because RAH, writing before actual nuclear power was developed, has reactor designs that lend themselves to cascade reactions if control slips. Job stress for the guys who have to made sure the state they are in doesn't head for the Moon in tiny particles is rather high.

+ o The Man Who Sold the Moon o na The Man Who Sold the Moon,

A short novel about a well to do man who isn't quite well to do enough to afford to finance the first trip to the Moon, and how he deals with this problem. RAH notes somewhere that "Blowups", having established that the US had orbital flight, put him in a bit of a plot pickle as getting to orbit is "halfway to anywhere", as I think he put it. Note that his comment was prior to the shuttle getting us halfway to nowhere.


+ o Delilah and the Space-Rigger o ss Bluebook Dec '49

Women! In Space! And They Want Our Jobs!

Considering that this was written about the time women were being coerced out of the work place and back into unpaid labour, this is actually fairly progressive.

+ o Space Jockey o ss The Saturday Evening Post Apr 26 '47

Gone from memory.


+ o Requiem o ss Astounding Jan '40

I can't discuss this without risking spoilers for another story but it's about the lengths someone will go to realize a long delayed dream.

+ o The Long Watch o ss American Legion Magazine Dec '49

Who watches the watchers? Does this really fit into the same history as Scudder?

+ o Gentlemen, Be Seated! o ss Argosy May '48

Minor story about a life support problem.

+ o The Black Pits of Luna o ss The Saturday Evening Post Jan
10 '48

Gone from memory.

+ o It's Great to Be Back! o ss The Saturday Evening Post Jul
26 '47

And this.

+ o We Also Walk Dogs o ss Astounding Jul '41

Some events involving a problem-solving company. Definitely not part of the Future History.


+ o Searchlight o vi Scientific American Aug '62

Forgotten.

+ o Ordeal in Space o ss Town & Country May '48

Astronaut deals with some PST.

+ o The Green Hills of Earth o ss The Saturday Evening Post Feb
8 '47

Bio of a space poet.

+ o Logic of Empire o na Astounding Mar '41

Minor story about labour relations on Venus.

+ o The Menace from Earth o nv F&SF Aug '57

Young girl deals wit the challenge of a more sophisticated rival putting in an appearance. One of many stories in which male free will plays a very tiny role in what will happen to the male involved.

+ o If This Goes On-- o na Astounding Feb '40 (+1)

Revolt against an American theocracy, told from the POV of a naive believer.

+ o Coventry o na Astounding Jul '40

Short tale of a man who chooses to be exiled rather than bow to the rules of society, with consequences in.

+ o Misfit o nv Astounding Nov '39

Slipstick Libby deals with a problem in orbital mechanics.


+ o Methuselah's Children o n. Astounding Jul '41 (+2)

The revelation that there is a group of long lived humans causes society to react poorly. The Methuselahs flee in search of a safe homeland.

[what they find isn't exactly safe]

It's a shame no subsequent FH stories were ever written...

This is old enough that I had to grab the contents from contento.

This is arguably one of the best value-for-dollar buys I ever made as a kid, up there with the Healy and McComas _Adventures in Time and Space_ and the case of John D. MacDonalds a used book store sold me for Not Much (It was over-stock).


THE HITCHHIKER'S TRILOGY (5-in-1 of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE, LIFE, THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING, SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH and MOSTLY HARMLESS) by Douglas Adams

I think I only read the first three of these. The comic adventures of a young British man in an absurd universe, of which I have fond memories.


THE IMPERIAL STARS (3-in-1 of ENSIGN FLANDRY, A CIRCUS OF HELLS and THE REBEL WORLDS) by Poul Anderson (Alternate)

Three novels about Flandry, a competent but increasingly cynical agent for the Terran Empire. The first is about a low tech, uninhabitable-by-humans world divided between two hostile species and the role the world plays in Terran-Mersian rivalry, the second I forget and the third is, I think, the story of an honorable officer doing exactly the wrong thing for understandable reasons.


THE EMPIRE OF ISHER by A.E. Van Vogt (Alternate)

I missed this.


CITIES IN FLIGHT by James Blish (Alternate)

This is a collection of four linked novels: _They Shall Have Stars_, _A Life for the Stars_, Earthman Come Home_ and _The Triumph of Time_. Blish wrote these tales of interstellar adventure using Spengler's historical models as his template.

Rereading them a few years back I was struck by the odd lack of New York subcultures in the future, not just that ones around in the 1950s or the 1990s weren't there but that no new ones had taken their place.


THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien (Alternate)

A child's tale of a middle aged hobbit who is manipulated by a friend into going on an ill-advised treasure hunt. Interestingly, Tolkien doesn't stop the story with the treasure's recovery but then examines the consequences of having succeeded.


THE AVRAM DAVIDSON TREASURY by Avram Davidson (Alternate)

I can't seem to find the contents for this.


DARKER THAN YOU THINK by Jack Williamson (Alternate)

A classic _Unknown_ werewolf story.


DARKWERKS by Brom (Altiverse)

No idea.


ELMINSTER IN MYTH DRANNOR by Ed Greenwood (Altiverse)

Missed this. Greenwood's a pleasant fellow, though.



TRANSMETROPOLITAN: BACK ON THE STREET and TRANSMETROPOLITAN: LUST FOR LIFE by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson (2-vol unsplittable set) (Altiverse)

A graphic novel, I think.

When I read second rate knock-offs of classic Hunter S. Thompson fare, I prefer to read HST's own lesser works, even if they lack SFnal props.

Comments

[oh6]

If the Avram Davidson Treasury is the one I have, the contents are:

1950s:

"My Boyfriend's Name Is Jello"
"The Golem"
"The Necessity of His Condition"
"Help! I Am Dr. Morris Goldpepper"
"Now Let Us Sleep"
"Or the Grasses Grow"
"Or All the Seas with Oysters"
"Take Wooden Indians"
"Author, Author"
"Dagon"
"Ogre in the Vly"
"The Woman Who Thought She Could Read"

1960s:

"Where Do You Live, Queen Esther?"
"The Sources of the Nile"
"The Affair at Lahore Cantonment"
"Revolver"
"The Tail-Tied Kings"
"The Price of a Charm, or, The Lineaments of Gratified Desire"
"Sacheverell"
"The House the Blakeneys Built"
"The Goobers"
"The Power of Every Root"

1970s:

"Selectra Six-Ten"
"Goslin Day"
"Polly Charms, the Sleeping Woman"
"And Don't Forget the One Red Rose"
"Crazy Old Lady"
"'Hark! Was That the Squeal of an Angry Thoat?'"
"Manatee Gal, Won't You Come Out Tonight"
"Naples"
"Full Chicken Richness"
"The Hills Behind Hollywood High"
"The Slovo Stove"
"Revenge of the Cat Lady"
"The Last Wizard"
"While You're Up"
"The Spook-Box of Theobald Delafont De Brooks"
"Yellow Rome, or, Vergil and the Vestal Virgin"

I recall most of these, but have pretty much completely forgotten "Where Do You Live, Queen Esther?", "The Affair at Lahore Cantonment", and "Revolver".

[dsgood]

Cities in Flight: Seems to belong to an alternate history in which Italians were the last to immigrate to NYC.

[geekosaur]

If I were forced at gunpoint to assign "The Long Watch" to a particular continuity, it'd probably be "Gulf" and the later equally (or more) clumsy shoehornings. But I think it actually stands alone.

[james_davis_nicoll]

I think it's referenced in Space Cadet.

[chrysostom476.livejournal.com]

THE AVRAM DAVIDSON TREASURY contents:

11 • Oh, Avram, Avram, What a Wonder You Were! • (1998) • essay by Robert Silverberg
17 • Starship Avram: A Writers' Memorial Party • (1998) • essay by Grania Davis
25 • My Boy Friend's Name Is Jello • (1954) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
30 • The Golem • (1955) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
37 • The Necessity of His Condition • (1957) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
46 • Help! I Am Dr. Morris Goldpepper • [Dr. Morris Goldpepper] • (1957) • novelette by Avram Davidson
60 • Now Let Us Sleep • (1957) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
72 • Or the Grasses Grow • (1958) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
80 • Or All the Seas with Oysters • (1958) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
90 • Take Wooden Indians • (1959) • novelette by Avram Davidson
110 • Author, Author • (1959) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
124 • Dagon • (1959) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
133 • Ogre in the Vly • (1959) • shortstory by Avram Davidson (variant of The Ogre)
142 • The Woman Who Thought She Could Read • (1959) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
153 • Where Do You Live, Queen Esther? • (1961) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
159 • The Sources of the Nile • (1961) • novelette by Avram Davidson
183 • The Affair at Lahore Cantonment • (1961) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
195 • Revolver • (1998) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
205 • The Tail-Tied Kings • (1962) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
213 • The Price of a Charm; or, The Lineaments of Gratified Desire • (1963) • shortstory by Avram Davidson (variant of Price of a Charm)
219 • Sacheverell • (1964) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
226 • The House the Blakeneys Built • (1965) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
236 • The Goobers • (1965) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
244 • The Power of Every Root • (1967) • novelette by Avram Davidson
263 • Selectra Six-Ten • (1970) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
271 • Goslin Day • (1970) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
277 • Polly Charms, the Sleeping Woman • [Doctor Eszterhazy] • (1975) • novelette by Avram Davidson
297 • And Don't Forget the One Red Rose • (1975) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
302 • Crazy Old Lady • (1976) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
306 • "Hark! Was That the Squeal of an Angry Thoat?" • (1977) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
315 • Manatee Gal, Won't You Come Out Tonight • [Jack Limekiller] • (1977) • novelette by Avram Davidson (variant of Manatee Gal Ain't You Coming Out Tonight)
344 • Naples • (1978) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
355 • Full Chicken Richness • (1983) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
365 • The Hills Behind Hollywood High • (1983) • novelette by Avram Davidson and Grania Davis
382 • The Slovo Stove • (1985) • novelette by Avram Davidson
402 • Revenge of the Cat-Lady • (1985) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
409 • While You're Up • (1988) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
412 • The Spook-Box of Theobald Delafont De Brooks • (1993) • novelette by Avram Davidson
429 • Yellow Rome, or, Vergil and the Vestal Virgin • [Vergil Magus] • (1992) • shortstory by Avram Davidson
442 • Night Travel on the Orient Express, Destination: Avram • (1998) • essay by Ray Bradbury
445 • Turn Out the Lights • (1998) • essay by Harlan Ellison

[kithrup.livejournal.com]

An inventor develops an infallible method of predicting lifespans. For some reason the insurance companies object, although it seems to me I can think of several ways for them to make money (well, more money) from this.

The most surprising thing about this story to me, even after all these decades, is: there is no discussion, ever, about what this means for free will. (Now, that universe does have immutable time travel, so I guess that fits in.)

THE HITCHHIKER'S TRILOGY (5-in-1 of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE, LIFE, THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING, SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH and MOSTLY HARMLESS) by Douglas Adams

I think I only read the first three of these. The comic adventures of a young British man in an absurd universe, of which I have fond memories.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is my favourite, by far, of them, so I think you should read that. Mostly Harmless is amazingly awful.

[chrysostom476.livejournal.com]

Thanks for All the Fish felt like Adams trolling his fans. E.g, "Skip ahead to the next chapter which is a good bit and has Zaphod in it."

Mostly Harmless escalated from trolling to a raised middle finger.

[kithrup.livejournal.com]

I liked Fish because it was a funny SF story, not a funny story that had SFnal elements thrown into it. (Which is my opinion of the first three. Not entirely deserved, but not entirely undeserved either.)

I don't think what you quoted was trolling; I think it was admitting that he wanted to tell a particular story, and knew that it was different from what he'd done before and this would displease some of the fans.

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

The most surprising thing about this story to me, even after all these decades, is: there is no discussion, ever, about what this means for free will.

Elias Canetti, Die Befristeten. Play dealing with some social consequences of people knowing from birth how long they will live.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

The most surprising thing about this story to me, even after all these decades, is: there is no discussion, ever, about what this means for free will. (Now, that universe does have immutable time travel, so I guess that fits in.)

The mention of Pinero that popped up in a later story in the sequence seems to imply that he was generally believed to be a fraud and his story sank into obscurity, so I don't suppose there would have been much discussion of it in-universe.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

...Though, of course, it's mighty peculiar that nobody ever rediscovered his principle, given that it seems to be easy enough to cobble up a working machine with limited resources.

[chrysostom476.livejournal.com]

Space Jockey - Day in the (stressful) life of a Terra-Luna shuttle pilot.
The Black Pits of Luna - Boy Scout on the Moon has disastrous trip.
It's Great to Be Back! - Expatriate Terrans dislike Luna, make return visit to Terra, realize it's not that great, either.
Searchlight - Spaceship crashes on Luna, survivor is a blind girl.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

"Space Jockey" is a minor story about a space pilot forced to deal with, among other things, the bratty kid of a VIP messing with the controls. As I recall, the kid acts like he's about 5, though he's supposed to be considerably older than that (a teenager?); this annoyed me.

[laetitia-apis.livejournal.com]

Doesn't wreck WSOD for me -- I once went around the gym behind a guy of thirty or forty whose behavior would have embarrassed a kindergarten kid.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

...Remember that study that got some press a while back, claiming that reading mainstream literary fiction benefits one's theory of mind and capacity for empathy, whereas genre fiction (including SF) does not?

In the actual experiment, the one and only instance of science fiction used was "Space Jockey."

[andrew barton (from livejournal.com)]

Silly technology. Distractingly silly technology.

The segway is distractingly silly now?

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Would you describe it as anything else?

(I think the interstate-highway-sized conveyor belts with buildings on them were more likely what he was talking about.)

[(Anonymous)]

Slightly surprising to see that The Long Watch was purchased for American Legion magazine. You'd expect the Legion would have wanted the version where the Colonel has to figure out how to get the well-meaning but dangerously naive liberal out of the bomb bay.

The first couple of Hitchhikers books are recycled radio scripts. The radio scripts were [SIMPLIFICATION don't kill me Who fans] based on a bunch of rejected Doctor Who scripts[/SIMPLICATION]. If you're looking for it, you can see both the radio influence (explanations must be made funny, or the listener will twiddle the dial) and the Who DNA.

Hunter S. Thompson is one of those authors who, while good in and of himself, has done tremendous damage by having a very distinctive style that turns out to be very very hard to emulate successfully. People are still trying and failing horribly. Ellis half solves the problem by writing a *character* who is partially based on Hunter S. Thompson, or more accurately on an idealized image of Thompson.


Doug M.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

The third book was a character-swapped adaptation of a rejected Doctor Who treatment (and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency had a chunk of the unfinished serial Shada in it); I hadn't heard this about the radio scripts.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

...though he did drop a reference to Oolon Colluphid into one Who episode.

[seth ellis (from livejournal.com)]

one of those authors who, while good in and of himself, has done tremendous damage by having a very distinctive style

The besetting sin of 20th-century art generally. The breakdown of earlier forms meant that aesthetics came to rest more and more in the personality of the author, which isn't really possible to copy unless you've already got it in you. See also Fitzgerald and Kerouac, who in different ways taught thousands of writers that telling stories about your own experiences really is as fascinating as you think it is.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

"The first couple of Hitchhikers books are recycled radio scripts"

This is selling them considerably short. While they are certainly based on his radio plays, those first two books add a *lot* of entirely new material, and are also quite heavily restructured.

"based on a bunch of rejected Doctor Who scripts"

This is simply false. Mmcirvin's comment, above, is correct. Doctor Who was certainly an influence on Adams; according to wikipedia "Adams sent the script for the HHGG pilot radio programme to the Doctor Who production office in 1978, and was commissioned to write The Pirate Planet (see below). He had also previously attempted to submit a potential movie script, called "Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen,""

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Transmetropolitan and so have no opinion on it. But it took me a while to realize that a significant fraction of the second-rate Hunter S. Thompson imitators I see ranting away on the Internet are actually Spider Jerusalem imitators, which is to say, Hunter S. Thompson imitation imitators.

[scott-sanford.livejournal.com]

It occurs to me that someone out there must think Spider Jerusalem is based on Duke from Doonesbury, which would be yet another layer of Hunter S. Thompson imitation...

[seth ellis (from livejournal.com)]

In general, I often think that Warren Ellis' works are placeholders for stories that are actually as smart as Ellis thinks they are. Even the much-lauded Nextwave, which is indeed a lot of fun, spends a fair amount of time congratulating itself for taking on easy targets.