tim (03/19/83)
"Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers" by Harrison is indeed every bit as funny as Hitchhiker's Guide. It sends up space opera with what I might tritely call devastating accuracy. Harrison is at his best with humour. Another good one is "Bill, the Galactic Hero", which focuses on the adventures of an ignorant farmboy tricked into joining the military by a high-tech recruiter. Finally, the adventures of Slippery Jim deGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat, are well worth the read; there are five books, but you can get the first (and best) three together in a paperback. deGriz is that rarest of things in the happy future, a criminal who hasn't yet been reconditioned. I don't think my capsule descriptions are doing these books justice. My advice is to read BtGH first, then follow up with the deGriz books if you like it. Tim Maroney
turner (03/20/83)
#R:pegasus:-28300:ucbesvax:13500008:000:420
ucbesvax!turner Mar 19 05:53:00 1983
Has anyone heard of "Space War Blues", by Richard Lupoff? If so,
can you place it anything like the same SF sub-genre as "Star-Smashers"
and "Hitch-Hiker's Guide"? Or perhaps all these books stand alone.
And then, of course, there's those wonderful Retief novels. I understand
that a NEW one is coming out! Any news?
A Revived Science Fiction Reader,
Michael Turner
ucbvax!esvax:turnerCAD:kalash (03/20/83)
#R:pegasus:-28300:ucbcad:36600002:000:112 ucbcad!kalash Mar 20 12:41:00 1983 Space War Blues is not a spoof, just a bad book (but then there isn't any Lupoff I have liked). Joe Kalash
jss (03/25/83)
To a certain extent, the smaller the delta, the funnier the parody. There is a *very* fine line. Anna Russell's monologue on the Niebelungen Ring operas is a splendid example. She tells the story. At one point on the recording (and I suppose she always does it that way) the audience is screaming with laughter and she says, "I am NOT making this up, you know!" And she is sure enough not. judith