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Galaxy thirty years of innovative science fiction
This is a great book I picked up from the free books box at the library. It has some wonderfull stories. My favorite was "The model of a judge" by William Morrison.
Words I Had To Look Up:
meretricious --pg. 32.:
like or relating to a prostitute; brassy: tastelessly showy; gilded: based on pretense; deceptively pleasing; Found at:
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
adiabatic--pg. 142: Changes in temperature caused by the expansion (cooling) or compression (warming) of a body of air as it rises or descends in the atmosphere, with no exchange of heat with the surrounding air.
spieltier--pg. 132: [“The Lady Who Sailed the Soul” by Cordwainer Smith] shapeshifting pet
Quote:
"Hitler had once said that the true victory of the Nazis would be to force its enemies, the United States in particular, to become like the Third Reich - i.e. a totalitarian society - in order to win. Hitler, then, expected to win even in losing. As I watched the American military-industrial complex grow after World War Two I kept remembering Hitler's analysis, and I kept thinking how right the son of a bitch was. We had beaten Germany, but both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were getting more and more like the Nazis with their huge police systems every day."
-- Philip K. Dick, Notes on Oh to be a Blobel! (1979)Read:
8/2005
SFWA Grand Masters Vol. 3
Stories by Lester Del Rey, Frederik Pohl, Damon Knight, A.E. Van Vogt, and jack Vance. I'd say my favorites were The Miracle Workers by Jack Vance, and Day Million by Frederick Pohl.
Read:
12/2006
How To Age Disgracefully
Senior citizen Daphne makes a plan to make friends to re-integrate herself into society, as it were. She doesn't have any friends, having lead a seemingly "interesting" life. As in, she can pick locks, knows how to open a safe without the combination, and knows about guns. Also, how to deal with punks.
Quote:
She Googled "hookup," which, it transpired, was all about sex. Daphne hadn't had sex for over fifteen years, and wasn't sure it all still worked.Quote:
The building appeared to be suffering from both rising damp and dry rot. One would have thought that these two afflictions might meet in the middle and cancel each other out, but apparently not.Quote:
She appeared to have jumped out of the frying pan of sexism and into the fire of ageism. The final frontier of isms.Quote:
He said "luxury apartments" in the tone that most people would use to say "rat-infested slum."Quote:
dauphinoise potatoes. -- There is them potatoes again!!Quote:
"whteveur," said art, in a cod fench accent. -- I have NO idea what "cod fench" means!Read:
12/2024
Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting
I am writing this even though I have not finished the book. I was reading along this evening and it occurred to me that all of a sudden I liked this book very much. The first have was kind of OK, I had been thinking, but right about the half-way mark I had this revelation. So, we shall see how it goes...
Later: Yes, this book is fabulous! Gave me a lot to think about.
Quote:
"Here, do it harder," said Iona, leaning forward across the table and giving him a hefty thump with a closed fist, which she found rather more enjoyable than she should have done, given the circumstances.Quote:
"It was an earwig," said Piers. "Eric."Quote:
When, Iona wondered, had people started reaching out, instead of merely calling?Quote:
Harry picked up his pillow, held it in front of him, and, with surprising amount of force, plunged his fist into it several times. "Take that, you arrogant, annoying bastard," he said.Quote:
"Who'd have thought I'd end up basing my life choices on an eccentric lesbian?"Quote:
They want us to be small. You have to stand tall.Read:
12/2024
The Authenticity Project
I always start one of her books thinking "Why am I reading this, there are no space ships, no murders, no dragons." Then she drops one of her fabulous sentences and I am hooked.
Quote:
"She used to hate it when people talked about 'fighting' or 'battling' the disease. She'd say, How am I expected to fight something I can't even see? It's not a level playing ground, Monica." Quote:
Sometimes you didn't want a room to make a statement or to say anything about you, you just wanted it to shut up and be a room.Quote:
Rather confusingly, there were three Elsas currently registered. That film, Frozen, had a lot to answer for.Quote:
"You can't put food that's been on the floor back on the plate! Think of the bacteria," said Monica
"You see. You have standards."
Don't you?" she asked.
"Oh yes, of course I do. But they're low. Barely off the ground." Read:
2/2025
The Perilous Gard
Kate Sutton is sent off to live in the odd fortress of Elvenwood Hall when her sister Alicia (the pretty one) innocently sends a critical letter to Queen Mary. Good story! A Weeded Copy.
Read:
4/2013
Lark
A high school girl is abducted and left to die in the woods. The story is told alternately by herself and two girls she knew. I really enjoyed reading this, but I wonder who the other girls in the trees were, and why Eve and Nyette (and Ian) went to the island. I guess I'll have to read it again! I read the Uncorrected Proof edition.
Words I Had To Look Up:
fauxhawk (pg. 44) -- A type of hairstyle, a fake mohawk.
Read:
2/2011
Gringos
Some guy in Mexico is looking for some other guy.
Read:
2/2005
Norwood
Some guy named Norwood goes to New York to recover seventy bucks some guy owes hiim.
Read:
2/2005
The Dog Of The South
Some guy goes to Belize via Mexico to retrieve his Ford Torino and maybe his wife.
Read:
2/2005
Playing With Trains
The former race car driver talks about his hobby of model railroading.
Read:
2/2005
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
Julie acknowledges she has a potty mouth, which I could have done without, but I liked the book rather much. I felt ashamed of myself for judging Julia Child (and others) so superficially on looks and, in Julia's case, her raucous laughter. I hereby acknowledge that I am an ass, and I know it.
Read:
12/2010
Expiration Day
In a time when humans are having great difficulty conceiving babies, a teen girl finds out she is actually a robot. Nicely written story.
Read:
2/2015
Bahamas Blue
Tiller Galloway is shanghaied by a former boss.
QUOTE:
"To San Rasario in the fall, the ganja came down from the mountains in two-hundred-poiund bales. Even covered with ripe bananas in the backs of the trucks, it sweetened the dusty air with the autumnal aroma of marijuana." BONUS QUOTE:
"Ought to learn some Spanish, he thought. No, to hell with that. If he got out of this, he wasn't even going to Taco Bell anymore."Read:
7/1999
Hatterass Blue
Tiller Galloway is hired to find a nazi submarine.
QUOTE:
"To San Rasario in the fall the ganja came down from the mountains in two-hundred-poiund bales. Even covered with ripe bananas in the backs of the trucks it sweetened the dusty air along the roads with the autumnal aroma of marijuana."Read:
7/1999
As The Wolf Loves Winter
Old timer C.T. Halverson finds corruption in oil-country Pennsylvania.
QUOTE:
"That was the worst part of getting old. You got so goddamned setimental. Nobody cared about the stuff he remembered. It wasn't important, just people who worked and had kids and got old and died. So why did it feel important, precious and irreplaceable, and as if somehow it must mean something?"Read:
7/1999
Black Storm
Dan Lenson goes into Baghdad during the Gulf War looking for Saddam's ultimate weapon. The Laws Of Patrolling 1. Look cool. 2. Don't get lost. 3. If you get lost, remember to look cool.
Read:
7/2002
Deep War
Dan Lenson #18. The war continues, a massive Chinese AI dominates.
Read:
9/2023
Down To A Sunless Sea
Tiller Galloway goes cave diving in Florida. Trapped in small places, drowning, asphixiation, the dark...all my fears in one book!
Read:
7/1999
Hunter Killer
China nuked a U.S. Navy task force in a previous book, and the war continues on.
Read:
9/2023
20 books displayed
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