sf-lovers (07/27/82)
>From JPM@MIT-AI Tue Jul 27 02:37:40 1982
SF-LOVERS Digest Thursday, 22 Jul 1982 Volume 6 : Issue 22
Today's Topics:
SF Books - Little,Big & The Best of Randall Garrett &
Lensman Series & Dennis Schmidt & Babel 17 & "The Digital Dictator",
SF Movies - Das Boot & Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,
SF TV - HHGttG, SF Topics - Brain Use,
Humor - Genderless Video Games
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Date: 22-Jul-82 1:23PM-EDT (Thu)
From: Steven Salzberg <Salzberg at YALE>
Reply-to:Salzberg@Yale
Subject: Little, Big
I just looked at Crowley's "Little, Big" in a bookstore, after seeing
it on this bboard recently. I didn't buy it because I could tell in
my brief perusal what sort of story it was. Could anyone out there
enlighten me, provide a few plot details, recommendations, etc.?
Also, I'd be interested in the titles of good fantasy (a la Tolkien)
where writing style and plot create absorbing reading -- too many
books I find have one or the other, and I've been reading non-fiction
for so long that I'm out of touch with who the good writers are now.
Thanks.
--Steven
------------------------------
Date: 23 Jul 1982 05:39:16-PDT
From: decvax!duke!uok!uokvax!mwm at Berkeley
Subject: The Best of Randall Garrett.
I just finished reading this truly marvelous book. I advise everyone
to go out and buy this book to read and enjoy and read and enjoy and
...
For those of you not familiar with his work, Garrett published a lot
of stuff in ASF during the 50's and 60's. This work tends to be
entertaining. There were a couple of stories whose plot I remembered
after 15+ years, even though I didn't remember the author/title/
magazine related to them. Among other things, Garrett demonstrates
how far you can mislead someone by giving them the truth and nothing
but the truth.
Over the last decade, Garrett has been turning out Lord Darcy stories.
Darcy is a detective in an alternate time stream, where Richard the
Lionhearted didn't die young, and John Lackland (Black John) was never
a king of England. And somebody published a book that laid out the
mathematical laws of magic. Given a working magic, science doesn't
stand a chance. The result is some interesting whodunits from
Garrett. Not hard science fiction, but just as good. (Hard magic
fiction?)
Then there are the reviews. Garrett reviews (in verse, no less!)
Bester's `The Demolished Man,' Asimov's `The Caves of Steel' and
Anderson's `Three Hearts and Three Lions.' There's also an hilarious
parody of the Foundation stories.
Finally, for those who like personal comments from the writers, there
are comments on Garrett by various authors strung between the stories.
All good stuff.
Share and Enjoy!
mike
------------------------------
Date: 16 Jul 1982 1927-PDT
From: Henry W. Miller <MILLER at SRI-NIC>
Subject: Book review: The Lensman series
Berkley Books has just come out with a re-release of the
famous Lensman series, by Edward E. "Doc" Smith. These books have
been out of print for five years, and with some luck, you might have
been able to scrape together all six books by visiting many book
stores.
And, surprise of surprises, this re-issue has brand new cover
illustrations, brilliantly done by David Mattingly. For once, the
covers actually match the stories.
These books are good old fashioned space opera, complete with
blaster fire, damsels in distress and epic space battles. (Pure Star
Wars genre.)
To give you a brief idea of the story line, two galaxies
passed through each other a few billion years ago. Two races of
beings, each immensely old discover each other.
The bad guys are concerned with universal domination, while
the good guys are only concerned with the advancement of civilization.
The good guys, the Arisians, discover that the bad guys, the
Eddorians, can only be destroyed by intense mental force. Therefore,
the Arisians set forth to develop in other, lower beings minds of
sufficient power to perform the task.
The six books of the series are, "Triplanetary", "Galatic
Patrol", "First Lensman", "Gray Lensman", "Second Stage Lensman", and
"The Children of the Lens".
Smith wrote another book which is a spinoff of the series
called "The Vortex Blasters", and later renamed to be "The Masters of
the Vortex". This book has not been re-issued at this time.
After Smith's death in 1965, a close friend of his, David A.
Kyle, used Smith's notes, and penned "The Dragon Lensman", a book
about the adventures of Worsel, one of the main characters of the
series. This book has not been re-issued yet, but is still in print.
There are rumors that Smith intended to write two more books
about particular Lensmen mentioned in the series, but nothing has
materialized yet.
Rumor also had it that Smith was going to write additional
Lensman books as sequels to the "Children of the Lens", but as yet, no
one has gathered his notes.
If you love good old fashioned SF adventure, whether you're
young or old, I highly reccomend the Lensman series. Cost is $ 2.50
per book.
-Henry
------------------------------
Date: 26 July 1982 01:21-EDT (Monday)
From: Robert A. Carter <CARTER at RUTGERS>
Subject: Review of Das Boot ("The Boat")
The German film Das Boot ("The Boat") takes place during World War II.
However, the plotline is so intimately concerned with the effects of
an enclosed micro-environment that it might as well take place in
orbit, or in deep space, thus should interest many who follow
science-fiction movies.
Pico-review: Best submarine movie ever.
Mini-review: This movie tells the story of one short patrol by a
German U-Boat in l941. The plot concerns the crew's
conflict with the British, their inhospitable
environment, and their own fear, in ascending order
of importance. This is a powerful and moving picture;
seeing it after this summer's crop of Spielbergian
sentimentality is a good reminder of what real
movies are about. See it.
Review: Das Boot is "science fiction" in all but date, and
certainly deserves the title better than any of the
SW or ST movies. It concentrates primarily on the
personal and environmental stresses suffered by the
members of a German U-Boat crew, and reproduces the
submarine environment with much more detail and
truthfulness than any similar movie I have ever
seen. In particular, it is far superior to what
I had thought the best such picture, The Enemy Below.
It makes references to TEB and to other submarine
pictures that must be conscious, but plot and
character development are far superior. The movie
is in German, and subtitled. I have German,
and saw Das Boot with a group, some of whom also spoke
it and some of whom did not. The non-German-speakers
liked it just fine, although those of us who could
understand (some) of the dialogue agreed that the
subtitles failed to capture some of the jokes
(especially the locker-room humor, which not
objectionable, but about what you would expect in
a submarine). The acting was first rate, as was
the set design. You will be amazed at how small
it is inside a sub. My only quarrel with the movie
as that some effects (i.e. model work) had the sub
moving much too fast through the water. By all means,
see this picture. If you still think it has nothing
to do with science fiction, compare it to Silent
Running. I think you'll agree it is fundamentally
the same kind of picture, but much better.
_R. Carter
------------------------------
Date: 22 July 1982 10:41-PDT (Thursday)
From: KING at KESTREL
Subject: Hitchhikers' Guide broadcasts
I started watching Hitchhikers' Guide yesterday. I'd like to
maintain continuity when I go to Fair Lawn, N. J. and to Washington DC
towards the end of August.
Does anyone know of TV stations in these areas which are
broadcasting HHGttG reasonably close to synchronously with channel 60
in Palo Alto? They just aired the first episode yesterday and will
air one per week.
Thanks.
Dick
------------------------------
Date: 20 Jul 1982 1406-PDT
From: Lynn Gold <G.FIGMO at SU-SCORE>
Subject: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
According to the current KFJC program guide, the program is being
aired Wednesday nights, I believe at 9:30PM (I don't have it in front
of me as I type this, but I believe it to be right.).
--Lynn
------------------------------
Date: 22 July 1982 20:55-EDT
From: Howie Daniel Trachtman <HDT at MIT-AI>
Subject: HHGtG and TRON
Date: 12 July 1982 15:08 edt
From: Boebert.SCOMP at MIT-MULTICS
To: SF-LOVERS at MIT-MC
Re: HHGtG and TRON
1. HHGtG snuck into town this Saturday. A 30-minute segment on
PBS, so presumably we are going to get the whole thing.
Special effects a little above the Dr. Who level; an adequate
Dent and a perfect Prefect.
I know about HHGtG on radio in the Boston area, but WHEN is it on PBS?
--Howard--
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Date: 21-Jul-82 5:28PM-EDT (Wed)
From: Todd Allen <Allen at YALE>
Subject: JUST JOINED!
Just took a look at the SF-LOVERS drop bax here at Yale CS Dept.
WOW!! But there sure is a lot of stuff out there!!!
About TWOK:
Have seen the movie twice (and enjoyed it greatly) and was lucky
enough to see the Creatures Features thing out in SF (my sister was
married in Berkely that weekend). However, all this analysis of the
movie and refering to the book and all is begining to leave a bad
taste in my mouth. As I watched the movie I certainly picked up on
all the things mentioned in these columns and more, but all this back
biting begins to wear. As for the book, well the movie has to stand
on its own. Perhaps the book contains info left on the cutting room
floor, and just maybe it sets out to correct deficiencies in the
movie. But either way, the movie is a finished product separate from
the book and not helped by it. Personally, I hope the flood of
commentary on TWOK dries up!
By the way, Ricardo Montalbon is/was quite impressive. The interview
with him was nice. Though not particularly informative, it did give
me the measure of the man. I am glad to see that others think (as I
do) that Shatner is a rather shalow actor.
An endorsement for Dennis Schmidt:
Enjoyed seeing the reviews of "Way-farer", "Kensho", and "Sartori".
Have read and enjoyed "Kensho" though I do not fall into any of the
catagories mentioned by your reviewer. Mr Schmidt is an extremely
competent author who tends to study contemporary issues in futuristic,
pan galactic settings. I highly recommend him, and all his works to
those as yet unfamiliar with him.
On Samuel Delaney:
Whew! For a while I was wondering why I couldn't make head or tail of
"Dahlgren" and "Triton". It's good to see that others also find him
impenetrable.
On the other hand, "Babel 17" by Delaney is GREAT! Read it several times many
times many years ago, and probably will read it again soon. Here is a
brief synopsis from (possibly faulty -- "fuzzy") memory:
This a we vs they pan galactic espionage situation. "They" are
wreaking havok with sabotage, but no information can be gained as to
who ar where they are located. To make maters worse, "they" have
invented a language, Babel 17", which is used for all "their"
communication. This language and its underlying assumptions and logic
are so alien, that anyone learning to think in the language eventually
becomes one of "their" agents and starts to perform acts of espionage
and sabotage in a sort of fugue state. The protagonist is a
cosmetically altered human (?) female ship master (captain) with the
required skills (primarily languages) and contacts to be co-opted to
break "their" code.
The book is well written and highly accessible. You may have trouble
with the story's basic assumptions about the effects of language, but
it deserves careful consideration. this is a *MUST READ* book.
Holographic memory:
To whome it may concern: Tanx for the info on the holographic nature
of memory. If you or anyone else has comments on "Electronic
Dictator" a short story in a recent edition of Analog (or Fantasy & SF
or IASFM - I'm not sure which), please broadcast them. The story
proposed mitachondria (mitachondron according to the author) as the
means of holographic memory, and proposed that virutally every cell in
the body contains a "fuzzy" copy of your memory.
------------------------------
Date: 25-Jul-82 5:51PM-EDT (Sun)
From: Todd Allen <Allen at YALE>
Subject: Holographic memory
A few days ago I sent a message to SF-LOVERS reguarding a recent
novellete that seemed related to recent a recent item on the
holographic nature of memory. The correct reference is:
"The Digital Dictator" by Ian Stewart, in the August 1982 Analog (last
month)
The story is weak (particulary from the cs point of view) but
humorous. What i'd like to know is: is there any truth in the
biological assertions / assumptions of the story?
------------------------------
Date: 20 July 1982 17:27 edt
From: SSteinberg.SoftArts at MIT-MULTICS
Subject: % of brain
There was some work reported in SciAm in which pictures of oxygen use
in the brain were made. One amusing result was that counting from 1
to 10 out loud used a different section of the brain from that used
when counting to oneself. Needless to say there was no obvious dead
load in the typical brain.
As far as picking a percentage it might be a good idea to remember
that the knee joints take a disproportionate fraction of the forces
involved in walking but I imagine that removing half of one femur
would make walking next to impossible.
BTW If people are going to accuse ADA of being SF related I should
mention that Peter Graves's (of I, Claudius fame) Hercules My Shipmate
is in print again. It is an excellent renedering of the voyage of the
Argo set near the end of the reign of the Triple Goddess. The novel
itself is excellent in its renderings of Hercules, Orpheus and Jason
but the book is worth reading for the appendix alone.
------------------------------
Date: 14 Jul 1982 1648-EDT
From: Roger H. Goun <VLSI at DEC-MARLBORO>
Subject: Humorless video games
Where are they filming the new Pacman movie?
On a Hollywood PAClot.
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End of SF-LOVERS Digest
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