sci fi blog http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/ en-us 2006-12-01T21:33:10+00:00 'Without companionship he knew that he could not endure' http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/12/without_compani.html It is difficult for me to know what to say about Phyllis MacLennans atmospheric short story "Thus Love Betrays Us". It is a story about being marooned, it is a first contact story, and it is one of those classsic... lisav 2006-12-01T21:33:10+00:00 'Ilsa changed herself to meet the empty centuries' http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/11/ilsa_changed_he.html 'Long Shot' by Vernor Vinge This is one of the few SF stories I can think of that's based on problems and speculations from Computer Science rather than the traditional hard sciences. (Although some Engineering and Astrophysics do enter into... lisav 2006-11-22T00:53:42+00:00 On Frankenstein and Krakatoa http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/11/on_frankenstein.html Another interlude - Ive been reading Simon Winchesters Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, prompted by a vague memory of the book The Twenty-One Balloons. Winchesters book has a great more geology than Id anticipated (but, alas... lisav 2006-11-10T01:07:04+00:00 'It was right then when it hit me ...' http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/10/it_was_right_th.html It was right then when it hit me, and I still dont really know why. It was as though Id turned a page in an until then incomprehensible story and suddenly found myself looking at the key to the whole... lisav 2006-10-31T22:55:38+00:00 'In sorrow, in compassion, in absolute determination' http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/10/in_sorrow_in_co.html Wallace MacFarlane had a modest career and reportedly published a short story collection which is out of print. 'Changing Woman' is about a Jicarilla Apache-Navaho woman and a Blackfoot bush pilot who go to work for a secretive organization in... lisav 2006-10-19T22:31:50+00:00 'Mercurial and Perverse' http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/10/mercurial_and_p.html Im leaving off Annual Worlds Best SF for the moment to discuss something else. I was recently trying to describe to a friend how Fantasy is different from other types of fiction. I finally concluded that Fantasy uses the same... lisav 2006-10-12T22:37:41+00:00 "There is such a thing as accepting a responsibility." http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/09/there_is_such_a.html Seecond favorite quote: "I aint no gentleman .... But I need a lawyer." "To Walk a Citys Street" is a story told almost completely as dialogue. Its plot is centered around a simple moment of realization that turns the entire... lisav 2006-09-29T22:50:31+00:00 'The recreation is not to help them make the trip; it is the whole purpose of the trip.' http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/09/the_recreation_1.html Hm, maybe I shouldnt bring the Sponge Bob Sodoku sticker book on my next trip... This story calls to mind the Mark Twain quote, 'Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions.' Or (to... lisav 2006-09-28T00:43:10+00:00 Oh, Valinda! http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/09/oh_valinda.html This story is by Michael G. Coney (1932-2005), author of more than a dozen novels, a short story collection (which does not include this story), and the Song of Earth series. He was nominated for the Nebula award for "Tea... lisav 2006-09-15T22:54:13+00:00 "Dust from the future ... What's it going to tell you? That the future has dust in it?" http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/09/dust_from_the_f.html A friend recently sent me an aerial photo with an odd curved line though it, asking me if I thought it was the remains of an old road. (Sure why not? I replied.) What I thought first, however, was "We... lisav 2006-09-14T22:23:49+00:00 Another note on Orpheus http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/09/another_note_on_1.html Read the Classical poet Ovid's telling of the story -- it is far stranger and more moving than any opera, or summary of Roman myths, or encyclopedia entry on "Orpheus." Go to this link and skip down to "Orpheus and... lisav 2006-09-14T22:17:37+00:00 The 1972 Annual World's Best SF http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/09/the_1972_annual_1.html I love old SF anthologies like this one: I grew up reading every single one I could get my hands on from small libraries and rural second hand bookstores. As a result Ive probably read something by every author active... lisav 2006-09-01T23:57:55+00:00 The Black-Bordered Blog http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/08/the_blackborder.html One of the few SF authors I ve spoken to died recently: David Feintuch. Those who knew him better remember him as an accomplished, imaginative lawyer and SF/F author who loved antiques. Having struggled until midlife to become published, he... lisav 2006-08-07T22:13:44+00:00 Sci Fi in Claremont http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2006/04/sci_fi_in_clare.html Want some fun reading? Click here to see what we have in all of Claremont's libraries. To see the item's location without clicking away from the results screen, click on 'extended display.'... jez 2006-04-11T22:22:07+00:00 Douglas Adams http://athena.libraries.claremont.edu/~jez/scifi/archives/2005/05/friday_morning.html Friday morning as I was driving into work I was very surprised to hear a segment about Douglas Adams on NPRs The World. The segment noted that Adams read little science fiction and characterized himself as a satirist; he preferred... lisav 2005-05-03T21:45:23+00:00