Pixel Scroll 9/18 Brackets and Black Dice

(1) Some of these antics would be perfectly at home in the U.S.

While China’s vice president is meeting with the respectable author of Three-Body Problem, other officials are occupied cracking down on fake aliens and zombies says the New York Times.

Science fiction and fantasy tales have been growing in popularity in China, where some creative efforts have earned official endorsement. Vice President Li Yuanchao met this week with authors — including Liu Cixin, who wrote the Hugo Award-winning novel “The Three-Body Problem” — and called on them to inspire young people’s interest in science and encourage “faith in realizing the Chinese Dream,” the state news agency Xinhua reported.

But even as the Chinese leadership offered praise for the writers, the police have been less tolerant of social media users’ flexing their creativity. Several people have been punished in the past few years for relaying tales of the walking undead and extraterrestrial invaders for fear of touching off public panic….

In 2013, a farmer in Shandong Province claimed to have encountered five extraterrestrial creatures, one of whom was killed by an electric fence. The farmer’s story, and photos of the purported alien corpse he kept in a freezer, drew widespread attention online. The local authorities investigated and held a news conference to announce that the dead alien was actually made of rubber, Southern Metropolis Daily reported. The farmer was sentenced to five days of detention for disturbing public order, Xinhua reported.

I guess if Orson Welles had pulled his “War of the Worlds” stunt in China, they’d have made him the star of 20,000 Years in Sing Sing instead of Citizen Kane….

(2) Your 2015 Ig Nobel Prize winners include these scientific advancements —

PHYSICS PRIZE — Patricia Yang [USA and TAIWAN], David Hu [USA and TAIWAN], and Jonathan Pham, Jerome Choo [USA], for testing the biological principle that nearly all mammals empty their bladders in about 21 seconds (plus or minus 13 seconds).

REFERENCE: “Duration of Urination Does Not Change With Body Size,” Patricia J. Yang, Jonathan Pham, Jerome Choo, and David L. Hu, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014: 201402289.

LITERATURE PRIZE — Mark Dingemanse [THE NETHERLANDS, USA], Francisco Torreira [THE NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM, USA], and Nick J. Enfield [AUSTRALIA, THE NETHERLANDS], for discovering that the word “huh?” (or its equivalent) seems to exist in every human language — and for not being quite sure why.

REFERENCE: “Is ‘Huh?’ a universal word? Conversational infrastructure and the convergent evolution of linguistic items,” Mark Dingemanse, Francisco Torreira, and Nick J. Enfield, PLOS ONE, 2013.

(3) “How did George R.R. Martin end up at Janis Ian’s wedding in Toronto?” asks CBC Radio in its post “Janis Ian’s Toronto wedding, where Game of Thrones’ creator was a best man”.

That’s a question we had after reading this Sunday’s New York Times. The newspaper featured a story on the well-known musician’s relationship with Patricia Snyder. It turns out they were the first same-sex couple to be featured in the newspaper’s ‘Vows’ section. You can read more here.

But, it was a photograph published farther down the article that also caught our attention. A short caption reads as follows:

“In 2003, before same-sex marriage was legal in the United States, the couple wed at Toronto’s City Hall. Author of the ‘Game of Thrones’ series George R.R. Martin was best man.”

 

janis-ian-wedding-with-george-r-r-martin

Seated: David Axler, Mike Resnick, Parris McBride, George R.R. Martin. The couple: Janis Ian and Patricia Snyder. The minister is Malcolm St. Clair. Photo by Steve Payne.

This turned out to be a simple why-was-this-celebrity-at-another-celebrity’s-wedding post, not a sly juxtaposition of real life Martin attending a wedding with a reference to the Red Wedding episode of Game of Thrones. That is left as an exercise for cheesy fan bloggers. Oops.

To make up for it, this fan blogger can name all the people in the photo, which the CBC incompletely captions, “In 2003, before same-sex marriage was legal in the United States, the couple wed at Toronto’s City Hall. Author of the ‘Game of Thrones’ series George R. R. Martin, fourth from the left, was a best man. (Steve Payne)”

They are, in order, David Axler, Mike Resnick, Parris McBride, George R.R. Martin. The minister is Malcolm St. Clair.

(4) Lunar rocks brought back by Apollo astronauts have a tendency to change characteristics once scientists start handling them notes a Space.com article “Some Apollo Moon Samples ‘Crumbling to Dust’”

Between 1969 and 1972, Apollo astronauts brought 842 lbs. (382 kilograms) of lunar rocks and dirt back to Earth. Eighty-three percent of that material remains unexamined in nitrogen storage at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Cooper told Space.com via email. The other 17 percent has been allocated to researchers for study in a number of different laboratories….

The most likely explanation for the degradation is damage caused by water vapor, the scientists say.

“Leaching by water vapor causes the specific surface area of a lunar soil sample to multiply, and a system of pores develops,” they wrote in the study, which was published online last week in the journal Nature Geoscience. “These structural changes may be attributed to the opening of existing, but previously unavailable, pore structure or the creation of new surfaces through fracturing of cement or dissolution of amorphous particles.”

The new results suggest that the Apollo soil samples being studied by scientists are not pristine, Cooper said.

“People should not assume that the Apollo lunar soil samples remain representative of soils found in the natural environment of the moon, especially if they have been exposed to air,” she told Space.com via email. “In addition to particle size distribution, other geotechnical properties (such as strength and cohesion) must also have changed. Also, for example, water found in the sample might be taken to be lunar in origin when in fact it is the result of contamination.”

(5) Yesterday I linked to Kameron Hurley’s commentary, from the viewpoint of someone with ascending sales. Today at Mad Genius Club, Pam Uphoff, who hasn’t had the success yet (“my sales had flat-lined”), talks about the jump start she got from the site’s Labor Day Sale.

Umm, how about the book that had just crept past 200 sales in almost three years selling over a hundred in a week? Call me gob smacked. It briefly broke into the top fifty in its sub category. Call me impressed. And that was before the KU pages counts skyrocketed.

(6) Here are more positive numbers about another market segment — “Nielsen Summit Shows the Data Behind the Children’s Book Boom” – from Publisher Weekly.

The book team at Nielsen held its second-annual Children’s Book Summit at Convene in downtown NYC on September 15, to discuss trends found in their data for publishers to make use of, in an effort to better reach consumers. The days’ panels touched on many aspects of the industry, including adult readers of YA, suburban teens, and multicultural consumers.

Jonathan Nowell, president of Nielsen Book, began the day with plenty of figures: for the time period between January 2014 to September 2015, children’s book sales are up 12.6% in the U.S., 28% in Brazil, and 10% in China, with 11 of the 20 bestselling books in the U.S. being children’s titles. The proliferation of tablets has brought the age kids start reading e-books down from seven to five. And board books have seen 20% compound growth over the last three years.

(7) Naturally, the Neil Gaiman Humble Bundle is selling great guns. It went live on September 9 and was raising huge amounts in no time at all.

It’s broken all the previous Humble Bundle records for Books.  As I type this, about 7000 people have already bought the  Bundle. It’s raised $133,000.

The bundle is on sale for four more days.

Gaiman isn’t the only author in it, and the others aren’t necessarily donating their proceeds to charity like he is –

I’m giving my entire portion of Humble Bundle creator-money directly back to the Gaiman Foundation. (My agent Merrilee has donated her fee, too, so 100% of what comes in to me goes to the Foundation.) There are, obviously, other authors and artists and publishers involved. Some have asked for their money to go to charities, and some are, perfectly sensibly, paying the rent and buying food with it.

But no doubt the Gaiman rarities in the bundle are driving sales.

Books that were long out of print, stories and such that collectors would pay hundreds of dollars for, obscure and uncollected comics and pamphlets and magazine articles. Even the things I am still vaguely embarrassed by (like the Duran Duran biography, a hardcover copy of which, as I said, can set you back thousands of dollars these days, if you can find one).

Books which have been out of print for 30 years, like GHASTLY BEYOND BELIEF, a collection of quotations from the strangest SF and Fantasy books and movies that Kim Newman and I made when we were 23 and 24 respectively. Things that were absolutely private and never before sold, like LOVE FISHIE, a book of poems and letters from my daughter Maddy (aged 8) to me, and from me back to Maddy, that was made into a book (with help from my assistant the Fabulous Lorraine) as a gift for my 42nd birthday.

Two long out-of-print books from Knockabout Comics: OUTRAGEOUS TALES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT and SEVEN DEADLY SINS, with stories written and or drawn by me, Alan Moore, Hunt Emerson, Dave Gibbons, Dave McKean and a host of others.

Rare out-of-print comics stories by me and Bryan Talbot, by me and Mark Buckingham, even by me and Bryan Talbot and Mark Buckingham.

There would be small-press short story & suchlike collections like ANGELS AND VISITATIONS and the LITTLE GOLD BOOK OF GHASTLY STUFF containing stories that went on to win awards and be collected in the more big, official collections (Smoke and Mirrors, etc), and stories no-one has seen since, not to mention non-fiction articles, like the one about the effects of alcohol on a writer, or the one where I stayed out for 24 hours on the streets of Soho, that are now only whispered in rumours.

There would even be a short story of mine, “Manuscript Found in a Milk Bottle”, published in 1985, that is so bad I’ve never let it be reprinted. Not even to give young writers hope that if I was that awful once, there is hope for all of them.

Han Solo mini fridge(8) I need hardly tell you what the Han Solo mini-fridge is a reference to, although this post on Yahoo! Games drops a heavy hint —

 The refrigerator’s design references, of course, the state that the hero is left in at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Wal-Mart notes that your hibernating Solo fridge is an “official” Star Wars product, and can hold up to six cans of soda.

That silly thing could wind up on my Christmas list….

(9) Rocket Stack Rank (RSR) aims to help casual SF fans efficiently identify, obtain, and discuss great original short fiction to nominate for the annual Hugo Awards.

“My husband and I have created a new website to make it easy for people to find good SF short stories and figure out how to read them online,” explains Gregory Hullender. “Lots of people are setting up sites to recommend stories, but I think we’re the only ones to put a lot of work into helping people find online copies once they’ve decided they wanted to read a particular story.”

Here’s what they’re planning to do.

After witnessing the problems with this year’s Hugo Awards, we decided to create a website to encourage readers of science fiction and fantasy to read and nominate more short fiction. Lots of other people are doing this too, but we specifically wanted to tackle the problem of helping people get copies of short stories, novelettes, and novellas once they decided they wanted to read them.

The three big professional magazines, Analog, Asimov’s, and F&SF are all available online by subscription, but they don’t make it easy to get back-issues online. Our 2015 Magazines page covers just about every possible way to do this, and there are good strategies for people with tablets and smartphones, people with eReaders like Kindles and Kobos, people who want to read everything on their desktop or laptop, and even people who want to stick with print.

Our rating system, on a scale from one to five stars, aims to produce a small “bucket” of five-star stories by the end of the year. These are the stories we think are award-worthy, and there should be few enough of them that a person with limited time could read just that subset and find things worth nominating. Since we’re trying to apply fixed standards rather than hit a particular target, we’re not sure how many there will be in each category, but it won’t be more than a dozen or so.

(10) You can tell Fred Kiesche is Paul Weimer’s friend.

(11) This Screaming Marmot loop needs an caption from File 770 readers. (Via Boing Boing.)

[Thanks to Daniel Monson, Will R., Susan de Guardiola, Gary Farber, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Shambles.]

195 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 9/18 Brackets and Black Dice

  1. Inspired by the brackets, I have finished “The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden” and added the sequel to my Nook wishlist so I won’t get distracted and forget it. The book is very much its own thing, but it makes me nostalgic for the collections of the “Castle Waiting” comic, and for Tanith Lee’s Tales of the Flat Earth (I have always loved the explanation for the origin of cats).

    It is a little annoying that there don’t seem to be ebook editions of the Lees. I’ll need to figure out where my book club editions are, or the paperback copies.

    I am well into “Daughter of Mystery” and liking it a lot: another reason to be grateful to the brackets, since I would not have tried it otherwise. The combination of the title and cover art are too romancey, and I passed a point a number of years ago where, at best, I find myself wanting to slap the heroines of most romance novels and tell them to stop being idiots. I’m not sure how to find books like this and Swordspoint, and College of Magics and other Ruritanian fantasies when I’ve developed an aversion to some of the likely iconography.

  2. @emgrasso. I am sure you’ve read Stevermer’s first novel, The Serpent’s Egg. It’s more Tudoresque, but still has the same style (and like the Chocolate Pot novels was born in a letter game). Recommended.

    Also, Tamara Pierce’s Tortall has a similar feel, if YA.

  3. jayn on September 19, 2015 at 9:40 am said:

    I just read Seveneves. It was thought-provoking enough to drive me crazy over the past few days:

    Post-Seveneves Syndrome is a thing it seems 🙂

    //Nsgre fbzr rneyl ohzcf (bxnl, vs vg VF cbffvoyr sbe uhznavgl gb fheivir haqretebhaq, lbh jbhyq guvax tbireazrag fpvragvfgf jbhyq unir abgvprq gur snpg naq znqr zhpu orggre haqretebhaq ohaxref sbe fheiviny guna gurl pbhyq unir cebivqrq VFF?) //

    V sryg gur fnzr vavgvnyyl ohg nf jr frr yngre gur ceboyrz jvgu haqretebhaq ohaxref vf gurer vf yvzvgrq pncnpvgl gb rkcnaq. Zvavat bhg arj nernf trarengrf n terngre ibyhzr bs jnfgr guna lbh tnva hayrff lbh unir fbzr jnl bs zbivat gur jnfgr zngrevny bhg bagb gur fhesnpr. Lrf, gurer pbhyq unir orra fbzr fhcre pyrire jnl bs fbyivat gung ohg ba ersyrpgvba V jnf BX jvgu gung nf n ernfba jul fcnpr jnf n orggre bcgvba (cnegvphyneyl nf sebz n cbyvpl crefcrpgvir vg jnf zber bs n ‘yrgf xrrc ohfl hagvy jr nyy qvr’ bcgvba engure guna n cyna gung gur yrnqref gubhtug jbhyq jbex.)

    //Fur unq ibjrq gb fgnl ng ure cbfg gb gur raq – n ibj gung nyy jbeyq yrnqref xrcg rkprcg ure. Fur oebxr gung ibj naq syrq gb gur VFF nsgre univat beqrerq n ahpyrne nggnpx gur Qrfvtangrq Tbbq Thlf oryvrirq haarprffnel. Jura fur neevirf, gurl qvfthfgrqyl pbafvta ure gb gur Nexf, jurer fur fjvsgyl tnguref znal jvyyvat sbyybjref. Guvf frrzf haoryvrinoyr.//

    Rnfl sbe ure gb cerfrag gung nf ure Frperg Freivpr/HF Znevarf fnivat ure ntnvafg ure jvyy. V

    //Ohg bapr pbasebagrq jvgu gur snpg gung Whyvn UNF gung fhcreangheny punevfzn, gur Qrfvtangrq Tbbq Thlf – qb abguvat.//

    V gubhtug guvf jnf irel oryvrinoyr. Gur centzngvp guvat gb qb jbhyq or gb xvyy ure. Nfvqr sebz gung gurl qvqa’g unir nal pncnpvgl gb vzcevfba ure orlbaq fgvpxvat ure va na nex. Ure cbyvgvpny cbjref jrera’g fhcreangheny, gurl jrer whfg n fvzcyr qrivngvba sebz gur pber rguvp bs rirelobql ryfr – v.r. fur jbhyq npg va jnlf gung jbhyq freir gb ohvyq ure cbjre onfr va gur pbzzhavgl ENGURE guna npg sbe gur trareny tbbq. Bar fbpvbcnguvp crefbanyvgl pna qb n ybg bs qnzntr va n pbzzhavgl gung jnl, ol qenjvat va bguref jub jnag gb npg va tbbq snvgu. Frr erprag rirag va gur FS/S pbzzhavgl.

    //Guvf znl abg or gur vagragvba bs gur nhgube, ohg jura ur ershfrf gb qenj gur Nex punenpgref jvgu nal fbeg bs qrcgu nf pbzcnerq gb uvf VFF fpvragvfg fgnss, bar pna’g uryc ohg srry ur’f cynlvat snibevgrf.//

    Lrf. V thrff uvf cbvag jnf gung va nqinapr vg fvzcyl jnfa’g pyrne jung gur orfg fheiviny fgengrtl sbe gur jubyr pbzzhavgl fubhyq or ohg gung juvpurire nccebnpu arrqrq gb or gnxra, vg arrqrq rirelobql gb sbyybj vg. Hasbeghangryl gung vf n pvephzfgnapr uvtuyl yvxryl gb perngr qrrc qvivfvba. Gur Nexvrf unq tbbq ernfba gb snibhe bar fgengrtl naq gur VFF crbcyr nabgure ohg obgu arrqrq gur bgure fvqr gb wbva va. Ab pbzcebzvfr jnf frafvoyr – vg jnf bar be gur bgure.

    //V’z ab fpvragvfg, ohg NSNVX gur ribyhgvba bs enprf bppheerq orpnhfr cbchyngvbaf eryngviryl vfbyngrq sebz rnpu bgure ng terng qvfgnaprf tenqhnyyl qviretrq trargvpnyyl. Gur vqrn gung gurfr rvtug jbzra naq gurve vzzrqvngr qrfpraqnagf -jub ner nyy yvivat va n gval fcnpr sbe uhaqerqf bs lrnef – znantr gb xrrc gurve bja frcnengr oybbqyvarf fb cher nf gb riraghnyyl perngr naq znvagnva rvtug frcnengr enpvny vqragvgvrf va gung gval fcnpr fgergpurf perqhyvgl (gb chg vg zvyqyl).//

    Guvf vf nqqerffrq va gur obbx. Orgjrra gur raq bs gur svefg fgbel naq gur fgneg bs gur frpbaq, uhznavgl qvq qvivqr vagb frcnengr, bsgra qvfpbaarpgrq pbzzhavgvrf. Va gur ybat crevbq jura arj unovgngf jrer orvat pbybavfrq va beovg, gurfr pbzzhavgvrf bayl unq veerthyne pbagnpg.

    //Vzntvavat vg erdhverf gung bar npprcgf gung nyy rvtug Rirf pbyyhqr gb cnff ba gurve bevtva fgbel gb gurve qrfpraqnagf jura gubfr puvyqera jrer lbhat rabhtu naq vzcerffvbanoyr rabhtu gb or vaphypngrq. //

    V guvax guvf jnf fvzcyl na bhgpbzr bs gur bayl pbzzba erpbeqrq zrqvn orgjrra gur zhygvcyr qvfpbaarpgrq pbzzhavgvrf orvat gur erpbeqf sebz gur VFF rgp. Gur fgbel va gur svefg gjb-guveqf bs gur obbx vf gur sbhaqvat zlgu bs gur svany guveq. Anghenyyl gur qrfpraqnagf bs rnpu ‘Rir’ graqf gb frr gurzfryirf va gur npgvbaf bs gur naprfgbe naq engvbanyvfrf uvfgbel nppbeqvatyl. V sbhaq gung nfcrpg zber cynhfvoyr guna gur trargvp ratvarrevat cneg.

  4. My first suggestion for what the marmot was saying (Dude, where’s my tank!) was ninja’d already so instead I’ll go with:

    “This! Is! SCALZI!!”

    Hamilton’s Pandora’s Star/Judas Unchained duo has some pretty good space action with humanity pulling out the big guns once they realize they’re up against a genocidal threat.

    Second on Neal Asher, anything involving the Prador (giant alien crabs with a bad attitude) is likely to end up with major warships knocking chunks out of each other.

    Also Gary Gibson’s Shoal sequence: Stealing Light; Nova War; Empire of Light; Marauder, was pretty decent.

    Oldies worth looking out for, We All Died at Breakaway Station and The Sky is Filled With Ships both by Richard C Meredeth.

    ETA @Camestros, go easy on the ROT13 old chap. I’d just taken my new contacts out (after 30+ years of glasses) and thought I’d done something horribly wrong…

  5. @Jon Ziegler
    Thanks – I have a few of them in paper, and quite a number of the short stories. I will have to pick up the rest. I am not averse to Baen – they publish Susan Matthews too.

    @Chris S.
    I can’t remember Essex villages in space with Peter F. Hamilton. That would be unusual. Rutland and Fenland towns and villages are the usual. Hamilton lives in Rutland. Of course with The Great North Road I learned more about Newcastle than I really wanted to know.

    Personally I prefer Hamilton’s work to Asher’s.

  6. ETA @Camestros, go easy on the ROT13 old chap. I’d just taken my new contacts out (after 30+ years of glasses) and thought I’d done something horribly wrong…

    ROT13 contacts would be a thing though. 🙂

  7. ROT13 contacts would be a thing though

    Good for dealing with JCW’s purple prose, sort of like Zaphod’s Peril Sensitive Sunglasses.

  8. Might recommend Mike Shephard’s Kris Longknife novels. Occasionally fleet-y, but always milSF. Mostly Kris and her besties ending up in unexpected situations way above their pay grade. Her personal AI is delightfully snarky. Kinda like Honor Harrington but not so… SO, IYKWIM. Lighter in touch, span, and prolixity.

    I met Janis Ian at Chicon 2012. Very kind, even when I fangirl-blithered at her. I think Mike Resnick dragged her into writing SF and fanac.

  9. On behalf of the sea otters whose uplifted descendants will inhabit the Seattle Archipelago in the distant future, please lay off the anti-otter propaganda. They have nothing to do with marmots, tank-raised or otherwise. Otters are extremely cool. If it weren’t for the whole eaten-by-orcas thing I would want to be reincarnated as one.

    Regrettably, there is precious little otter-themed SFF. The only thing that comes to mind is Kat Richardson’s Seawitch. This is a mixture of genres (horror, mystery, fantasy) with a healthy dollop of noir on the side and a great sense of place. If you’ve ever been to the San Juan islands you will recognize them in this book, not just physically but how it feels to be sailing through them. Among the eldritch critters are the dobhar-chu, Irish otter-like magical beasties which migrated to the Pacific NorthWest. This is one of her best IMNSHO, and even her least is pretty darn good.

    Marmots can be cool too. One brushed against my wife’s leg once, looking for an M&M she dropped at a rest stop on a mountain hike. It was completely chill. Don’t tar marmots based on a rabid outlier.

  10. Camestros Felapton on September 19, 2015 at 3:30 pm said:

    ROT13 contacts would be a thing though.

    That would be a great application for Google Glass, especially if you could program them to recognize which parts of the text are rot13.

  11. Simon

    I got a little confused with your recommendation of Serpents Egg, since it didn’t seem the familiar CJC’s book I’ve been rereading every few years for quite a while now, and then I realised that I was locked on her Serpents Reach, and Cuckoo’s Egg which are completely different books, and I haven’t a clue about Serpents Egg , and thus should go and read it…

  12. Morris Keesan on September 19, 2015 at 4:26 pm said:

    That would be a great application for Google Glass, especially if you could program them to recognize which parts of the text are rot13.

    I did find a short list of words that transform into other words under Rot13. I can’t assemble them into a meaningful message. The best I can manage is:
    Noon. Try pyrex ABBA or green ink. Abjurer envy. Be gnat.

    I assume others have attempted this before.

  13. It would be way cool if Google Glass (or some other product) could handle rot13. Of course this would only help Glassholes.

  14. Serpent’s Reach is excellent! And I hope it gets an eBook release shortly after Chanur’s Homecoming.

  15. Post-Seveneves Syndrome is a thing it seems 🙂

    Heh. The first third: holy [compound obscenity deleted]. The second third: less intense, but only because the first third was off the scale. The third third: still making up my mind.

    Gur qrfpevcgvba bs gur Uneq Enva jnf fcvar-puvyyvat. Gur qrfpevcgvba bs gur ernpgvbaf bs gur crbcyr ba fcnpr enat pbzcyrgryl gehr. Gung jubyr frpgvba unq ol sne gur zbfg rzbgvbany vzcnpg bs nalguvat V unir ernq ol Fgrcurafba. V qvqa’g xabj ur unq vg va uvz.

    Naq jung’f guvf nobhg Cerfvqrag Whyvn orvat n Uvynel pybar? V’yy gnxr “Cebwrpgvba” sbe $40, Nyrk!

  16. Rick K, re: otter fiction: Dreamrider by Sandra Miesel. Heroine in dystopian future meets otter people from an alternate universe.

    It was first published in 1982 by Ace, with a revised reprint from Baen in 1989. I enjoyed the first version but haven’t read the second.

    You’d think there would be more otters in SF, but no other examples occur to me offhand.

  17. Third endorsement for Serpents Reach! Cherryh excels at alien minds.

    Different Cherryh series but I still have trouble figuring out the Regul though. How could a species with no imagination ever advance? Sure they have infinite eiditic memory but how many accidents would have to occur to invent technology to any level when everything is retrospective.

  18. @Estee —

    The cover art for the 1989 reissue (called Shaman) shows an otter with a dulcimer. What’s not to like?

    I buy ebooks these days, but it looks like this isn’t available in that format. So before I buy a paperback for 1 cent + $3.99 shipping which I probably won’t be able to read without a magnifying glass, I have one important question: sea otters or river otters?

  19. The only thing I can say about SevenEves is that it was probably a mistake trying to read it immediately after finishing Touch.

    Whatever it is that people love about Stephenson has always eluded me. It’s looking more and more certain that I’m not going to care what happens to these characters, either.

  20. My next book has, as minor characters, six giant talking white otters that pull the Snow Queen’s sled. Their dialogue was incredibly fun to write.

  21. @Maximillian: (milSF recs)

    To second Lurkertype…

    Have you looked at Mike Moscoe/Mike Shepherd’s “Kris Longknife” series? He invented the setting as Moscoe several years ago, in what is now known as the “Jump Universe” trilogy (to which he has added a fourth book under the Shepherd name). The 12-so-far Kris books take place two generations later, starring the granddaughter of some of the Jump Universe characters. He has recently started a new line, focused on Vicky Peterwald, which spins out of the Kris books to show a different part of the setting from a rival’s point of view. (The Peterwalds and Longknifes are the royal families of competing kingdoms/empires.)

    I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read in that setting, although I am a couple of books behind. The Vicky books are an examination of what happens when an Emperor’s daughter ceases to have the luxury of living in decadence, because her stepmother is pregnant and has decided to prune that branch of the royal family tree. As a result, Vicky gets drafted into the Navy, learns what duty and responsibility are, and begins to see how bad things are in some parts of the Empire. I finished those three books (including the almost-novel-length setup novella) in short order and am eager for more. It’s more politics and sex than traditional milSF, but I found it worth reading.

    One thing to watch out for is that the Kris/Vicky book titles follow the “Name: Word” pattern, which can make it hard to keep the sequence straight. Also, although the Jump Universe material is interesting, you can jump right into Kris Longknife: Mutineer without having read them. The two-generation gap turns them into “neat backstory” for me: “oh, so THAT’s how those two met!”

  22. RedWombat on September 19, 2015 at 7:43 pm said:
    My next book has, as minor characters, six giant talking white otters that pull the Snow Queen’s sled. Their dialogue was incredibly fun to write.

    I can’t help thinking that having otters pulling your sled could result in all sorts of serious issues.
    I mean, an otter’s idea of the best path between two points is unlikely to be mine.

  23. My next book has, as minor characters, six giant talking white otters that pull the Snow Queen’s sled. Their dialogue was incredibly fun to write.

    Sounds like fun. Although Lauowolf has a point.

  24. Lauowolf, well, if it’s the Snow Queen’s sled, you’re unlikely to have watery detours, even if they ARE otters pulling the sled. Although I grant you they might find ice-slides irresistible…. <envisioning otters going up and around and *wheee* down, again and again, like a demented sled roller-coaster ride…>

  25. Lauowolf on September 19, 2015 at 8:02 pm said:

    I can’t help thinking that having otters pulling your sled could result in all sorts of serious issues.
    I mean, an otter’s idea of the best path between two points is unlikely to be mine.

    Even more worrying, to me: are six otters likely to agree on what the best path is? Even if they can talk?

  26. emgrasso on September 19, 2015 at 2:06 pm said:

    I am well into “Daughter of Mystery” and liking it a lot: another reason to be grateful to the brackets, since I would not have tried it otherwise. The combination of the title and cover art are too romancey, and I passed a point a number of years ago where, at best, I find myself wanting to slap the heroines of most romance novels and tell them to stop being idiots. I’m not sure how to find books like this and Swordspoint, and College of Magics and other Ruritanian fantasies when I’ve developed an aversion to some of the likely iconography

    Hmm.

    Well, there is The Mystic Marriage, also by Heather Rose Jones.
    Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
    The Cecelia books by Wrede and Stevermere
    Stevermere has College of Magics and Scholar of Magics
    Mairleon the Magician and the Magician’s Ward by Wrede
    The Glamour books by Mary Robinette Kowal
    Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Clarke

    That ought to keep you busy for a while!

  27. Morris Keesan: ESPECIALLY if they can talk. I immediately pictured them discussing/arguing and boinging about in different directions. It would be otterly adorable, but not efficient.

  28. @Camestros, re Seveneves:

    “Rnfl sbe ure gb cerfrag gung nf ure Frperg Freivpr/HF Znevarf fnivat ure ntnvafg ure jvyy.”

    Qvq fur npghnyyl cerfrag vg gung jnl va gur choyvp urnevat ba gur znggre? V qba’g guvax crbcyr jub’ir whfg jngpurq gurve ybirq barf qvr jbhyq arprffnevyl or qvfcbfrq gb tvir n crefba jub’q fgbyra n evqr gur orarsvg bs gur qbhog.

    “V gubhtug guvf jnf irel oryvrinoyr. Gur centzngvp guvat gb qb jbhyq or gb xvyy ure. Nfvqr sebz gung gurl qvqa’g unir nal pncnpvgl gb vzcevfba ure orlbaq fgvpxvat ure va na nex.”

    V jnfa’g gnyxvat nobhg xvyyvat ure. V jnf gnyxvat nobhg Qbbo qbvat uvf qnza nffvtarq wbo nf pbzzhavgl yvnvfba orgjrra gur fpvragvfgf naq abafpvragvfgf va n pevfvf, jura Whyvn znqr biregherf gbjneq uvz, vafgrnq bs whfg vafhygvat ure naq phggvat ure bss. Lrf, fur’f n fpvragvsvp vqvbg, fur’f sbphfrq ba cbjre sbe urefrys, naq fur’f chggvat bguref va qnatre ol vg. Gur snpg erznvaf gung fur UNF cbjre bire bguref juvpu raqnatref rirelbar. Jr’er fcrpvsvpnyyl gbyq gung fur yvxrf gb srry vzcbegnag, gb or erfcrpgrq, gung guvf vf ure znva zbgvingvba. Guvf vf n pevgvpny gvzr. Qbbo’f yrnqre vf bss srgpuvat vpr, naq Whyvn’f npgvbaf ner raqnatrevat gur Nex naq Vmml. Qbbo arrqf gb ohl gvzr. Jul qbrfa’g ur gel qvcybznpl gb synggre ure ol npprcgvat ure nf n ercerfragngvir bs gur Nexf, artbgvngvat jvgu ure, nterrvat gb zrrg jvgu ure naq gur Nexvrf, fvzhygnarbhfyl tvivat ure gur srryvat bs univat n erfcrpgrq fgnxr va Vmml’f cbjre fgehpgher naq er-rfgnoyvfuvat gur fpvragvfgf’ ibvpr nzbat Nexvrf jub’ir yrnearq gb qvfgehfg vg? Vafgrnq ur onfvpnyyl fnlf “shpx bss, V’z abg artbgvngvat jvgu greebevfgf,” naq tbrf fhcvar.

    “Ure cbyvgvpny cbjref jrera’g fhcreangheny, gurl jrer whfg n fvzcyr qrivngvba sebz gur pber rguvp bs rirelobql ryfr – v.r. fur jbhyq npg va jnlf gung jbhyq freir gb ohvyq ure cbjre onfr va gur pbzzhavgl ENGURE guna npg sbe gur trareny tbbq. Bar fbpvbcnguvp crefbanyvgl pna qb n ybg bs qnzntr va n pbzzhavgl gung jnl, ol qenjvat va bguref jub jnag gb npg va tbbq snvgu.”

    Vf Whyvn rira n fbpvbcngu, gubhtu? Jr ner gbyq gung fur frrxf cbjre, naq gura engvbanyvmrf gb urefrys gung gur guvatf fur qvq gb frrx cbjre jrer gur zbenyyl evtug guvatf gb qb. VZB, na npghny fbpvbcngu jbhyqa’g obgure jvgu gur fgrc bs engvbanyvmvat gb UREFRYS gung fur vf zbenyyl evtug, orpnhfr fur jbhyqa’g pner nobhg gur zbenyvgl. VZB, gur punenpgre bs Whyvn vfa’g pyrneyl qenja rabhtu sbe hf gb gryy JUNG gur uryy fur vf. (Nvqn frrzf gb zr zber n fbpvbcngu, SJVJ – juvpu vfa’g zhpu, orpnhfr jr yrnea arkg gb abguvat nobhg ure rvgure.)

    Naq juvyr V gubebhtuyl qvfyvxrq Whyvn, V’q yvxr gb cynl qrivy’f nqibpngr sbe n zbzrag. Vs lbh ybbx ng vg sebz gur Nexvrf’ cbvag bs ivrj, juvpu tebhc bs Nexvrf qvq jbefr – gur barf jub sbyybjrq Whyvn, be gur barf jub sbyybjrq gur fpvragvfgf? Bs Whyvn’f sbyybjref, jr unir gjb fheivibef – bar bs juvpu obhtug gur eryhpgnag tbbqjvyy bs gur fpvragvfgf ol gheavat ntnvafg Whyvn ng gur evtug zbzrag, trggvat ure vawherq rabhtu gb fgnl va gur fnsre VFF. Jr’er gbyq gung nyzbfg unys gur Nexvrf pubfr abg gb sbyybj Whyvn ohg gb tb jvgu gur fpvragvfgf naq borqvragyl qb jung gurl fnvq. ABAR bs gurfr fheivirq. Jr qba’g urne nobhg gurz orvat gnxra vagb gur fnsre VFF. Gur pber fpvragvfg punenpgref qba’g rira yrnea gurve anzrf, zhpu yrff pner nobhg gurz. V qba’g xabj jurgure jr’er fhccbfrq gb oryvrir gur fpvragvfgf’ nggvghqr gbjneq gur Nexvrf vf gur fnzr nf gbjneq gur uhzna fcrez naq rttf oebhtug hc gb VFF sebz Rnegu – n fghcvq oheqra sbvfgrq ba gurz sbe hafpvragvsvp fragvzragny ernfbaf gung gurl jrer jryy evq bs. Ohg gur ynpx bs aneengvir jrvtug nffvtarq gb gurz ol gur nhgube znxrf zr srry gurl unq yrff bs uvf flzcngul guna gurl fubhyq unir.

    “Guvf vf nqqerffrq va gur obbx. Orgjrra gur raq bs gur svefg fgbel naq gur fgneg bs gur frpbaq, uhznavgl qvq qvivqr vagb frcnengr, bsgra qvfpbaarpgrq pbzzhavgvrf. Va gur ybat crevbq jura arj unovgngf jrer orvat pbybavfrq va beovg, gurfr pbzzhavgvrf bayl unq veerthyne pbagnpg.”

    V trg gung. Ohg VVEP, sbe gur svefg gubhfnaq lrnef nsgre gur Rirf, gur jubyr pbzzhavgl jnf pbasvarq gb gur gval Pyrsg, jurer gurl yvirq purrx ol wbjy. Lrg qhevat gung gvzr nyy frira oybbqyvarf nccneragyl xrcg fpehchybhfyl frcnengr, ershfvat gb zngr jvgu rnpu bgure, fb gung rnpu bar pbhyq nccneragyl genpr vgf yvar bs qrfprag hazvkrq naq haoebxra onpx gb na Rir SVIR GUBHFNAQ LRNEF YNGRE, ybat nsgre gurl tbg gur erfbheprf gb rfpncr gur Pyrsg naq tb jurer gurl jbhyq. Gung frrzf gb vaqvpngr gung gung frcnengvba fgnegrq va gur ren bs gur Rirf gurzfryirf – gung gurer jnf AB gvzr ng gur ortvaavat jura gur Rirf’ tenaqxvqf zneevrq rnpu bgure va nal dhnagvgl vafgrnq bs bayl jvgu gurve bja arne-gjvaf gb cerfreir gur chevgl bs gurve crqvterr. Naq fvapr vg unccrarq va gur gvzr bs gur Rirf, (jr’er fcrpvsvpnyyl gbyq gur trargvpvfg urefrys znantrq gb znxr n L puebzbfbzr ol gur frpbaq trarengvba) V ubyq gur Rirf erfcbafvoyr sbe fnqqyvat gurve puvyqera fb gubebhtuyl jvgu gur fvaf bs gurve zbguref. Juvpu ehvaf zl flzcngul sbe gurz naq gur fbpvrgl gurl pubfr gb ranpg. Yvxr V fnvq, vg frrzf gbb snesrgpurq sbe zr gb oryvrir gung gurl pbhyq sbepr gurve qrfpraqragf gb erranpg gurve byq tehqtrf fb fhpprffshyyl, naq gbb eribygvat bs gurz gb qb vg sbe zr gb pner sbe gurz nalzber vs V QVQ oryvrir vg.

    Gura ntnva, znlor gur “enprf” ner n svpgvba. Gur nhgube fgngrf gung fbba nsgre gur pnzrenf jrag bss, erpbeq-xrrcvat jrag gb ‘beny uvfgbel’ orpnhfr gurer jnf nccneragyl ab zber ebbz va gur qngnonfr (juvpu, ernyyl? Gurl pbhyqa’g unir renfrq n srj ivqrbf bs crbcyr znfgheongvat gung jr’er fcrpvsvpnyyl gbyq rkvfgrq va dhnagvgl gb znxr ebbz sbe n srj inyhnoyr uvfgbevp grkg abgrf?) Znlor gur Rirf’ tenaqxvqf QVQ pebffoerrq gubebhtuyl, naq bayl znal trarengvbaf yngre qvq fbzr snzvyvrf vairag n gnyr nobhg ubj gurl’er cher Qvana be Vila be jungrire sbe gurve bja ernfbaf, naq nygrerq gurve beny uvfgbel (rnfvyl snyfvsvnoyr) gb zngpu. Ohg VVEP, jr’er GBYQ ol gur nhgube va bar bs uvf vasbqhzcf gung gur nagvcngul bs gur Qvanaf sbe gur Pnzvf bevtvangrq orpnhfr Qvanu jnf znq ng Pnzv ‘phm fur gubhtug Pnzv onqzbhgurq ure qrnq oblsevraq, naq gung gur Vmml Sbhe fuhg Pnzvyn bhg orpnhfr bs guvf, naq guvf nagvcngul jrag qbja gur trarengvbaf. V guvax gur snpg gung gur nhgube GBYQ hf guvf qverpgyl zrnaf vg qvq unccra.

    “Post-Seveneves Syndrome is a thing it seems.”

    Oh yes, it was a very powerful premise which huge potential, which made what I felt were its shortcomings all the more maddening.

  29. @ Rick K
    “Naq jung’f guvf nobhg Cerfvqrag Whyvn orvat n Uvynel pybar? V’yy gnxr “Cebwrpgvba” sbe $40, Nyrk!”

    Jub,zr? Ybbxvat zber pybfryl, Whyvn frrzf gb or zber yvxr n znfuhc bs Pyvagba (ybbxf, oenvaf naq ybir bs cbyvgvpf) naq Cnyva jvgu ure varkcyvpnoyr (gb zr) xanpx ng trggvat crbcyr gb nqber naq sbyybj ure, nf jryy nf ure puvyq jvgu Qbja’f flaqebzr. Ohg VZB, gur punenpgre’f culfvpny qrfpevcgvba vf Uvyynel’f fcvg naq vzntr, fb V qba’g guvax vg’f GUNG vanpphengr gb fnl fur’f n Uvyynel pybar (culfvpnyyl, ng yrnfg).

  30. Camestros Felapton: ROT13 contacts would be a thing though.

    They’d have to be bifocal: normal text, read through the top half, rot13, read through the bottom half.

  31. Rick K: I have one important question: sea otters or river otters?

    Why, I don’t know that — AAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!

  32. jayn, I’d just like to say how much I appreciate the way you’ve articulated what I felt to be so many of the problems with Seveneves. A lot of this stuff was kind of percolating in my mind, without me necessarily being able to put a definitive finger on a lot of it.

    I loved Diamond Age and Anathem and Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle. I wanted so much to love Seveneves — but I just couldn’t. I felt as though Stephenson was “phoning it in” (and taking way too damn long to do it).

  33. Imma hand-wave this one with “maaaaagic otters who have been working together for a couple of centuries.”

    (Obviously with remarkably designed traces to not get tangled as they go ottering over each other.)

  34. Perhaps not so much traces as yokes that they can slip in and out of to go make mysterious otter side trips, or to scuffle over position without missing a step.

    Otters should not get asthma.
    But I’m glad about the inhaler.

  35. ROT13 contacts would be a thing though.

    Or an iPhone app… and there are open source OCR apps out there already. I couldn’t get that javascript snippet to do anything useful, but there’s *got* to be a way to make a Safari extension.

  36. Otters in SF? The Family Tree by Sheri Tepper has a few, but not as main characters. They are delightful.

  37. Another to add to the Otters in SF collection: The Demon Breed by James H. Schmitz. Originally in Analog in 1968, then an Ace Science Fiction Special, and most recently, in the Baen omnibuses of Schmitz edited by Eric Flint, included in The Hub: Dangerous Territory. Recommended.

  38. @RedWombat —

    River otters, I assume? As has already been said, the queen is in for a wild ride when the otters find a good slidey slope.

    @James Nicoll —

    Alien Art. I’m trying to decide if I read it. I don’t remember the story but the cover looks familiar and the summary on Amazon rings a bell. I used to read Dickson so maybe.

    @LunarG —

    I’ll check out the Tepper. Thanks.

    @Jeff Smith —

    Thanks. I’ve Been thinking of picking up the Baen omnibuses anyway. Though not the sequels to Witches.

  39. Otters: there are lots of ’em in Alan Dean Foster’s Spellsinger talking animal epic fantasy series.

  40. Otters in SF: well, Emmett Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, besides being written by a sometime science fiction author, could be considered SF since it takes place in a world where rats and snakes have learned to play electric rock and roll instruments.

  41. Argh, complete parse fail.

    Surely it should be “… play electric instruments and roll rocks”, I thought. I might not make an editor.

  42. So since there will be 12 of them instead of 10, this is not a slate. Perfectly sensible and internally consistent.

Comments are closed.