Serge Storms, #15. Serge tries prevent the assassination of a Latin American President. Plus other stuff.
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"The Canadians! Christ!"
"No shit. They scare the hell out of me," said Serge.
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"Where's the rule that says you can't just unilaterally declare yourself a spy and snoop around for no reason?"
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...in dim light that only came from the glowing bars and cocktail tables, fitted underneath with special diodes. -- "Special diodes"? What are those???
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"Federal agent!" Serge flashed his badge. "Open this room! Now!"
"No inglés." -- Why Felicia is right there, why doesn't she translate?
Serge Storms, #26. Serge takes on COVID. The Alexa/Seri interaction is hysterical. Fart.
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"It's all there in black and white," said Serge. "You all should read the rules instead of embarrassing yourselves." -- I did this in Monopoly too. People were mad!!
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The immoral song "Let It Be" was winding down... -- Huh??
Segre Storms, #16. Recently unemployed teachers Pat and Bar McDougal go to Florida for a vacation, while Coleman finds he is famous.
I feel like I might have read this before, but it's not on the list!
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"That's wrong," said Coleman.
Serge resumed work on his Spanish fort. "I knew I should have bought those cannons ahead of time."
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A two-stroke engine gunned.
...
"He's on a motorcycle," said Coleman.
...
"[...]...Now he's offering a ride[...]."
...
"He's gunning the engine again."
...
A final fuel injection of the V-twin. -- A two-stroke V-twin?
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Serge examined the gift. "That is cool. I'm jealous." -- I never figured out what the cool gift was.
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The trio nodded. "I think we got it."
"Repeat it back," said Coleman.
"Use sunscreen; don't do heroin."
Coleman nodded. "Carry on."
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"I didn't invent coffee; I just do what it tells me."
Serge Storms, #5. Serge is still chasing that suitcase, and it takes him on a railroad trip from New York to somewhere in Florida, I forget exactly where.
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...and a fishing guide named Skip. -- A nod to Hiaasen?
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"... Wait! Look! There's something shiny down there! Help me move these bales of dope."
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"I'm glad I was never part of the drug culture," said Serge, loading an automatic pistol in his lap.
"This isn't about the drug culture--it's about women," said Lenny.
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Serge raised up and exploded: "I did it my way!
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"... As long as you know the gauge conversion, which happens to be three-point-five millimeters to the foot, the rest is easy..." -- I would have gone with scale conversion there.
A nice family moves to their new home on Triggerfish Lane in Florida. Serge, Coleman, and Sharon move in across the street. A very funny book with lots of great quotes. None of which are repeatable here.
Serge Storms, #14. It's Christmas time in Florida. Will there be any snow this year?
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I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph. --SHIRLEY TEMPLE
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"How about some ice cream? There's the food court."
"Jim, why do you always think a woman just needs ice cream to put her in a better mood?"
"It doesn't?"
"No, it's true. Where'd you see the ice cream parlor?"
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"Last time you went the wrong way on the interstate. The semi missed us by inches."
"The traffic signs were confusing."
"'Do Not Enter,'" said Eunice. "Yeah that's a mystery for the ages."
Ted and sister Kate try to figure out how their cousin Salim disappeared from the London Eye "Ferris" sort-of-wheel. EDIT--There was no Read date, don't know when I read it!
Words I Had To Look Up:
Oesophagus (pg. 2) -- British spelling of esophagus. Duh!
Shreddies (pg. 5) -- British breakfast cereal, from Post. Looks like Wheat Chex to me!
Lilo (pg. 42) -- An inflatable mattress.
Topological (pg. 45) -- A simplified map not necessarily related to geography. The famous London subway map is an example.
Topographical (pg. 45) -- Basically, has contour lines showing hills and such.
Dialled (pg. 258) -- Same as dialed, I guess.
Jamie's brother enlists in the Army, to the objections of their officer father, as a medic and is sent to Vietnam. She volunteers at the base rec center and learns to develop and print the photographic film he sends home to her.
A whole bunch of stories (37), edited by Dozois, which I cannnot imagine how one pronounces, that were mostly pretty good, some excellent, and a couple I didn't care for. I think my favorite was Even The Queen, by Connie Willis. I remember I read a story of hers in Galileo twenty years ago, and was charmed by it.
Read:
7/2006
Best science fiction stories of the year Sixth annual collection
Eight stories pub. in 1976 selected by Dozois. John Varleys "Air Raid" Ive read before, it is mind-blowing. "Custer's Last Jump" by Utley and Waldrop goes on a bit, but it's pretty good. Michel Bishops "The Samurai And The Willows" was kinda sad on a very depressing weekend.
Edited with Johnathan Strahan. Nineteen stories, most of which are too esoteric for my plebeian tastes. My favorites was the Scalzi, but I may be prejudiced.