paulb@hcr.UUCP (Paul Bonneau) (04/15/84)
[]
Does anybody like Spider Robinson? I recently finished one of
his books (as far as I know his only book), "Mindkiller" and in
spite of the raw edges I rather enjoyed it. This is the only
book of his I have been able to find, and I searched a really big
bookstore here in Toronto (they call themselves "The World's
Largest Bookstore", but it's still only a Coles) to no avail.
This is typical however - heavy sigh.
One more query, some time ago I read a "novella" (there were two
of them in the book I read) called "True Names". It was all
about computer gaming taken to a higher level. Well, I lost the
book, but liked that author too. Anyone know who (s)he is?
--
Paul R. Bonneau
{decvax|watmath|utzoo}!hcr!hcrvax!paulbariels@mako.UUCP (Ariel Shattan) (04/16/84)
Does anybody like Spider Robinson????!!!??? Do the Osmonds have TEETH?????!!!??? If you like puns at all, run, don't walk, to your friendly neighborhood bookstore and request, nay, demand that they order "Calahan's Crosstime Saloon" and "Time Traveler's Strictly Cash" for you (publisher?). The Calahan's stories can also be found in various Analogs. They rank with Clarke's "White Hart" tales, etc, as some of the best 'bar' stories around. He is also, with his wife, Jeanne, the author of the Hugo award winning "Stardance." A most unusual combination of Science Fiction and Ballet. He used to do the book reviews for Analog, too. I'm sure there's an SF bookstore in Toronto. They'll surely have a complete selection of Spider's stuff, or, at least they won't look at you funny when you ask to order some. Some bits about Spider himself: Ex-New-Yorker, lives in Nova Scotia Filk and Folk singer extraordinare Punster and Dirty Jokester Also wrote: Antinomy (short stories and essays) Telempath Various short stories in Analog, Omni, other zines? there's gotta be more, but I'm not sure what Did I leave anything out? Ariel (I like Spider Robinson, too) Shattan ..!tektonix!orca!ariels
bethan@ariel.UUCP (04/16/84)
Spider also wrote, with his wife, STARDANCE. It's an excellant book, although
nothing like MINDKILLER. I thoroughly enjoyed boyh of them. Did he write
any others??
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The one & only me,
Bethanchuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) (04/16/84)
Spider Robinson is one of my favorite authors Highly recommended are
'Callahan's Crosstime Saloon' and 'Time Travellers Pay Cash', two
collections of his "Callahan's Bar' series from Analog. Also look for
Stardance, which he wrote with his wife.
chuq
--
From under the bar at Callahan's: Chuq Von Rospach
{amd70,fortune,hplabs,menlo70}!nsc!chuqui (408) 733-2600 x242
Never give your heart to a stranger, unless you are sure that you are dead.amigo@iwlc6.UUCP (John Hobson) (04/16/84)
Spider Robinson has written other books than MINDKILLER. Three books of his (all short stories), just off the top of my head, are CALLAGHAN'S CROSSTIME SALOON, TIME TRAVELERS STRICTLY CASH, and ANTINOMY. There is also a novel by Spider and Jeanne Robinson (his wife) called STARDANCER. All of these are available (at least in the US) in paperback. I am surprised that they are not obtainable in the wilds of Toronto, especially since the Robinsons live in Nova Scotia, and hence qualify as Canadian authors, albeit transplanted from the States. John Hobson AT&T Bell Labs--Naperville, IL ihnp4!iwlc6!amigo
boyajian@akov68.DEC (04/17/84)
Spider Robinson is a terrific writer (as well as a terrific blues gui-
tarist and a terrific person). Other books of his include:
CALLAHAN'S CROSSTIME SALOON (short stories --- a *must*!!)
TIME TRAVELLERS STRICTLY CASH (more Callahan's stories, among others)
ANTINOMY (more short stories --- note: it's AntiNoMy, not AntiMoNy)
TELEMPATH (a novel -- not great, but fairly good)
STARDANCE (with his wife Jeanne --- another must!)
I'm sure that CALLAHAN'S and TIME TRAVELLERS (both from Ace) and STARDANCE (from
Tor) are currently in print. I don't think TELEMPATH is. I'm not sure about
ANTINOMY.
***
"True Names" was written by Vernor Vinge (ex-husband of Joan Vinge). He's had 2
books out in the past. His first, GRIMM'S WORLD (Berkley, circa 1968) has been
long out of print, but is worth scouring the used-book stores for. His second,
THE WITLING (DAW, circa 1976), *may* still be in print, but I doubt it. Not as
good as GRIMM'S, but still a nice read. He currently has another novel being
serialized in ANALOG ("The Peace Game", starting with the May 1984 issue).
--- jayembee
(Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard)
UUCP: (decvax!decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian)
ARPA: (decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian@Shasta)wombat@uicsl.UUCP (04/18/84)
#R:hcr:-65500:uicsl:10700099:000:678 uicsl!wombat Apr 18 13:33:00 1984 "True Names" was written by Vernor Vinge (former husband of *Snow Queen* author Joan Vinge). You probably read it in *Binary Star 5*, which is an incredibly hard book to get hold of. Had the book been better distributed, it probably would have won the Hugo in 1982. But most people don't vote for books/stories they've never read (unless the the author is Asimov, or Heinlein, or Clarke, or ..) Someday, maybe, if we're all good, they might reprint it. There was a lot of discussion on the ARPANET during the spring/summer of 1982. It's a pretty neat story, recommended to hackers and netters everywhere. Wombat "I have no true name" ihnp4!uiucdcs!uicsl!wombat
eric@aplvax.UUCP (04/19/84)
Some other Spider Robinson trivia. He has made a deal for a third Calahan book. He is currently working on a book about a group of Black terrorists who take over Manhattan island. (This information was gleaned from an author's reading at Worldcon in Baltimore last year). -- eric ...!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!eric
Jaffe@RUTGERS.ARPA (04/19/84)
From: Saul <Jaffe@RUTGERS.ARPA> I recently read two of Spider Robinsons other books and enjoyed them very much. The first of them "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon" is a collection of short stories that take place in this bar. All the stories center around some theme and all of them are filled with the worst (best?) puns you can possibly imagine. Or then again maybe not. I've seen some from Asimov as well as Zelazny and I've been known to make quite a few of my own. In fact, at Boskone there is an event known as Punday Night which is taken from this book. I recommend it to all who have not read it yet. The second book is "Time Travelers Strictly Cash" and has some more stories in it from Callahan's. It also has in it some of the stuff that Spider wrote for various magazines including a defense of Heinlein. All of those people who have in recent issues of this digest been putting down Heinlein should read this essay by Spider Robinson. -------
mwm@ea.UUCP (04/19/84)
#R:hcr:-65500:ea:11700008:000:1103 ea!mwm Apr 19 15:15:00 1984 Nobody has mentioned Robinson's novel "Telempath". That, plus "Stardance" (co-authored with his wife) and "Mindkiller" are what Robinson has out in the way of novels. There's also three collections of short stories: "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon," "Time Travelers Strictly Cash," and "Antinomy." All recommended, the first two if you like puns and other low humor. The third contains the short story (I think it's the title story) which grew up to be "Mindkiller." Finally, he alternated in the Analog & Destinies review columns for a long while. He is no longer doing this, much to my dissapointment. Blast it, I enjoyed reading the man's *reviews*, and wish he would start doing them again - if only every once and a while. Having read all three of his novels, I've noticed that he doesn't seem to be able to kill people. In all three of them, someone you thought was dead and gone reappears at the end of the novel - usually to explain all. Does this annoy anyone else? I was very off-gepissed *all three times* he did it to me. Especially since I'd thoroughly enjoyed the books until then. <mike
jsq@ut-sally.UUCP (John Quarterman) (04/20/84)
SF bookstore in Toronto: Bakka. I forget the address,
but it's in the phone book. The name comes from Dune.
--
John Quarterman, CS Dept., University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712 USA
jsq@ut-sally.ARPA, jsq@ut-sally.UUCP, {ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!jsq
moskvax!kgbvax!mcc!ut-sally!jsqpalmer@uw-june.UUCP (04/21/84)
<>
Spider Robinson compiled an anthology ("The Best Of All Possible
Worlds", Ace books, 198?) containing good but relatively unknown
stories. These include Heinlein's "The Man Who Travelled In
Elephants", Niven's "Inconstant Moon", an extract of William
Golding (S. Morgenstern)'s "The Princess Bride", and many other's you
may not have heard of.
I've only seen one copy of this book (mine), but that one copy says
that there will be a sequel ("The Second Best..." perhaps :-) ).
This guy has taste, and I will buy the sequel if and when I see it,
does anybody know anything about it?
AdvThanksance
David Palmerchuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) (04/21/84)
I heard that the sequel to the book 'Best of All Possible Worlds' was
canceled because the original just didn't sell as well as hoped. Oh, well.
--
From under the bar at Callahan's: Chuq Von Rospach
{amd70,fortune,hplabs,menlo70}!nsc!chuqui (408) 733-2600 x242
Never give your heart to a stranger, unless you are sure that you are dead.chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) (04/22/84)
<Wow! Another neat place for my quotes! ?
The third contains the short story (I think it's the title story)
which grew up to be "Mindkiller."
The story that grew up into Mindkiller was called 'God is an Iron' and was
originally published in Omni.
Finally, he alternated in the Analog & Destinies review columns for a
long while. He is no longer doing this, much to my dissapointment.
Blast it, I enjoyed reading the man's *reviews*, and wish he would
start doing them again - if only every once and a while.
Actually, he started doing the reviews for Galaxy magazine (for, as he puts
it, cheese sandwiches) before it went under. He did it because he realized
he needed the exposure in the industry. The problem with book reviewing is
that you put an enormous amount of time into it reading and get very little
money back. I miss his reviews enormously, but I can't blame him and I'd
rather have him spending that time writing his own stuff!
--
From under the bar at Callahan's: Chuq Von Rospach
{amd70,fortune,hplabs,menlo70}!nsc!chuqui (408) 733-2600 x242
Never give your heart to a stranger, unless you are sure that you are dead.alanr@drutx.UUCP (04/23/84)
I have several books by Spider. Among them are Stardance, Mindkiller, Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (highly recommended -- unless you can't stand puns), and one or two others (that I can't remember the titles of). -- Alan Robertson ihnp4!drutx!alanr AT&T Information Systems