Recommend Me a Good Book

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers
on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Hmm, _Balance Of Trade_ by Lee & Miller perhaps.

In some ways a later Heinlein Juvenile with echos of Norton's Solar Queen.

James Nicoll

2015-10-08 14:59:42 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers
on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Hmm, _Balance Of Trade_ by Lee & Miller perhaps.
In some ways a later Heinlein Juvenile with echos of Norton's Solar Queen.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly without
the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could very well be a
Far Trader.

(btw, there is a new edition of the Mongoose Traveller coming out)

Maybe some of the John Grimes books, the ones after he leaves the
Survey Service?

I think Jefferson P. Swycaffer's books were supposed to be based on
Classic Traveller but they have none of the look and feel of CT. Avoid.

Dumarest, obviously.

Norton's Solar Queen. Although they're worse at delivering stuff successfully
than most Traveller traders.

Witches of Karres.

There are, btw, a crap ton of sequels to Piper by people who are not Piper.
I have not read them and have no opinion but they do exist:

http://www.pequodpress.com/ebookstore.php

--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My Livejournal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll
http://www.cafepress.com/jdnicoll (For all your "The problem with
defending the English language [...]" T-shirt, cup and tote-bag needs)

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-08 15:14:31 UTC

On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 14:59:42 +0000 (UTC), James Nicoll

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is
band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or
scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Hmm, _Balance Of Trade_ by Lee & Miller perhaps.
In some ways a later Heinlein Juvenile with echos of
Norton's Solar Queen.

Or vice versa; I can’t decide.

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with
aliens, on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

[...]

Brian

--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-08 15:43:26 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 14:59:42 +0000 (UTC), James Nicoll

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is
band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or
scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Hmm, _Balance Of Trade_ by Lee & Miller perhaps.
In some ways a later Heinlein Juvenile with echos of
Norton's Solar Queen.

Or vice versa; I canât decide.

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with
aliens, on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

I took a look on Amazon. It looks great, and I want it, but it's
only in hardback (for twenty-five bucks) or Kindle (which I don't
have.) Bookmarked for the future when I have the money.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-08 16:16:58 UTC

On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 15:43:26 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 14:59:42 +0000 (UTC), James Nicoll

[...]

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with
aliens, on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

I took a look on Amazon. It looks great, and I want it,
but it's only in hardback (for twenty-five bucks) or
Kindle (which I don't have.) Bookmarked for the future
when I have the money.

I will point out, as others have done in the past, that you
do not need a Kindle. You don’t even need one of the
Kindle apps for reading Kindle books on your computer. All
you need is to be running Firefox, Chrome, or Safari as
your browser: you can then go online and use the Kindle
Cloud Reader to read any Kindle ebook that you’ve bought
through an Amazon account.

<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200701430>

This requires absolutely no technical expertise.
Alternatively, if you’re running Windows XP or later, you
really can simply download and install the Kindle app for
PC and automatically download ebooks to it when you buy
them:

<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201245960>

It’s not my favorite reader, but it’d dead simple to use.

Brian

--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-08 22:14:17 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 15:43:26 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 14:59:42 +0000 (UTC), James Nicoll

[...]

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with
aliens, on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

I took a look on Amazon. It looks great, and I want it,
but it's only in hardback (for twenty-five bucks) or
Kindle (which I don't have.) Bookmarked for the future
when I have the money.

I will point out, as others have done in the past, that you
do not need a Kindle. You donât even need one of the
Kindle apps for reading Kindle books on your computer. All
you need is to be running Firefox, Chrome, or Safari as
your browser: you can then go online and use the Kindle
Cloud Reader to read any Kindle ebook that youâve bought
through an Amazon account.

Except I don't have Chrome (I have read disturbing things about
it, including that it's about to go away), hate Firefox with a
passion, and never heard of Safari.

Post by Brian M. Scott
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200701430>
This requires absolutely no technical expertise.

Brian, I think you've been around this forum long enough to
remember the long long exchange between Gary Farber and me about
how *easy* it was (for him) to do various web things that were
completely incomprehensible to me. My technical expertise is
probably measurable in negative numbers.

Post by Brian M. Scott
Alternatively, if youâre running Windows XP or later, you
really can simply download and install the Kindle app for
PC and automatically download ebooks to it when you buy
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201245960>
Itâs not my favorite reader, but itâd dead simple to use.

Hm. I wonder if ESET will let me download it? It balks at most
things.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

J. Clarke

2015-10-08 22:50:53 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 15:43:26 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 14:59:42 +0000 (UTC), James Nicoll

[...]

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with
aliens, on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

I took a look on Amazon. It looks great, and I want it,
but it's only in hardback (for twenty-five bucks) or
Kindle (which I don't have.) Bookmarked for the future
when I have the money.

I will point out, as others have done in the past, that you
do not need a Kindle. You donâ€?t even need one of the
Kindle apps for reading Kindle books on your computer. All
you need is to be running Firefox, Chrome, or Safari as
your browser: you can then go online and use the Kindle
Cloud Reader to read any Kindle ebook that youâ€?ve bought
through an Amazon account.

Except I don't have Chrome (I have read disturbing things about
it, including that it's about to go away), hate Firefox with a
passion, and never heard of Safari.

Post by Brian M. Scott
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200701430>
This requires absolutely no technical expertise.

Post by Brian M. Scott
Alternatively, if youâ€?re running Windows XP or later, you
really can simply download and install the Kindle app for
PC and automatically download ebooks to it when you buy
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201245960>
Itâ€?s not my favorite reader, but itâ€?d dead simple to use.

Hm. I wonder if ESET will let me download it? It balks at most
things.

Safari is Apple's browser, however they have a version that runs fine on
PCs.

But, regardless, Chrome works fine--even my highly security-conscious
employer installs it on the thoroughly locked-down work machines.

Lawrence Watt-Evans

2015-10-09 04:32:50 UTC

On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 18:50:53 -0400, "J. Clarke"

Post by J. Clarke
Safari is Apple's browser, however they have a version that runs fine on
PCs.

But you don't want it. Its most recent upgrade has finally gotten it
up to the level of merely crappy, instead of absolute garbage.

--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

Greg Goss

2015-10-09 06:21:54 UTC

Post by Lawrence Watt-Evans
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 18:50:53 -0400, "J. Clarke"

Post by J. Clarke
Safari is Apple's browser, however they have a version that runs fine on
PCs.

But you don't want it. Its most recent upgrade has finally gotten it
up to the level of merely crappy, instead of absolute garbage.

I liked Safari before Chrome came out.

About a year ago, my latest laptop died and I replaced it with a
barely adequate one, that has got massively worse with each W7 bugfix
(unless I'm running into Windows' famous installation rot -- We used
to advise people to re-install from scratch every two or three years.)

Anyhow, my main problem is memory, and Chrome sucks up every available
bit, leaving me waiting for the HD to issue pages.

Remembering my sister's 8 MB system from the late nineties, I tried
Opera on it -- Opera used to do really well on memory restricted
systems, but its current version was no better than Chrome.

I re-tried Safari, but it was no better. I used to surf the web with
12 MB, and my sister surfed with 8 MB. How come 1500 MB is absolute
starvation?

--
We are geeks. Resistance is voltage over current.

unknown

2015-10-09 10:08:51 UTC

Post by Lawrence Watt-Evans
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 18:50:53 -0400, "J. Clarke"

Post by J. Clarke
Safari is Apple's browser, however they have a version that runs fine on
PCs.

But you don't want it. Its most recent upgrade has finally gotten it
up to the level of merely crappy, instead of absolute garbage.

I liked Safari before Chrome came out.
About a year ago, my latest laptop died and I replaced it with a
barely adequate one, that has got massively worse with each W7 bugfix
(unless I'm running into Windows' famous installation rot -- We used
to advise people to re-install from scratch every two or three years.)
Anyhow, my main problem is memory, and Chrome sucks up every available
bit, leaving me waiting for the HD to issue pages.
Remembering my sister's 8 MB system from the late nineties, I tried
Opera on it -- Opera used to do really well on memory restricted
systems, but its current version was no better than Chrome.
I re-tried Safari, but it was no better. I used to surf the web with
12 MB, and my sister surfed with 8 MB. How come 1500 MB is absolute
starvation?

All 3 of those browsers are now based on the same rendering etc engine
Webkit so will be very similar. If you want different the only choices
are Firefox or MS browsers

--
Mark

Jaimie Vandenbergh

2015-10-09 23:09:56 UTC

Post by Lawrence Watt-Evans
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 18:50:53 -0400, "J. Clarke"

Post by J. Clarke
Safari is Apple's browser, however they have a version that runs fine on
PCs.

But you don't want it. Its most recent upgrade has finally gotten it
up to the level of merely crappy, instead of absolute garbage.

Recent upgrade? It was tracking versions with the Mac release, which is
currently 9.0.1. Safari on Windows is 5.1.7. It's about three years old
at this point, and a moribund project.

Cheers - Jaimie

--
Remember, "persistence" is just a euphemism for "serial failure"
-- Tim Dawson

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-09 15:14:50 UTC

On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 22:14:17 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 15:43:26 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 14:59:42 +0000 (UTC), James Nicoll

[...]

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with
aliens, on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

I took a look on Amazon. It looks great, and I want it,
but it's only in hardback (for twenty-five bucks) or
Kindle (which I don't have.) Bookmarked for the future
when I have the money.

Except I don't have Chrome (I have read disturbing things
about it, including that it's about to go away),

Seems a bit unlikely: it’s the most widely used browser in
the world, by a fairly large margin.

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
hate Firefox with a passion,

Out of curiosity, why? I’ve been using it as my primary
browser since version 0.7, I think, and while I’ve a few
complaints, on balance I still prefer it. I use Chrome for
a few things. I could never stand IE, though I gather that
it’s much better than it used to be. Once in a blue moon I
use Opera, which was my primary browser for several years
back around versions 4-7 or so.

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
and never heard of Safari.

It’s for Macs. What do you use? Amazon Cloud Reader
definitely works with IE 10 and up, and I’ve read that it
also works with SeaMonkey, though it’s not among the
officially supported browsers. It definitely does not work
with Opera: I just tried..

Post by Brian M. Scott
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200701430>
This requires absolutely no technical expertise.

I’m aware of that. That’s precisely why I suggested Amazon
Cloud Reader: no technical expertise is required. None.
Zero. If you can use a browser, you can use Amazon Cloud
Reader.

Post by Brian M. Scott
Alternatively, if youâre running Windows XP or later,
you really can simply download and install the Kindle
app for PC and automatically download ebooks to it when
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201245960>
It's not my favorite reader, but it's dead simple to use.

Hm. I wonder if ESET will let me download it? It balks
at most things.

I run ESET NOD32 on my desktop and have not had any trouble
downloading things.

Brian

--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

Greg Goss

2015-10-09 15:28:18 UTC

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
hate Firefox with a passion,

Out of curiosity, why? Ive been using it as my primary
browser since version 0.7, I think, and while Ive a few
complaints, on balance I still prefer it.

I've played with it from time to time ever since "Phoenix" or whatever
name preceded Phoenix. I'm not your correspondent here, but Firefox
has always felt klunky where IE, Safari and Chrome have a cleaner
feel.

Back in the very early days, I switched to IE as soon as it became
available because IE had better support for hands-on-the-keyboard use
while Netscape sent you to the mouse more often. That excuse broke
with the rise of frames.

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
and never heard of Safari.

Its for Macs.

They've always had a Windows version. It was my primary version for
three years or so before Chrome arrived on the scene.

--
We are geeks. Resistance is voltage over current.

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-09 15:40:29 UTC

On Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:28:18 -0600, Greg Goss

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
hate Firefox with a passion,

Out of curiosity, why? I've been using it as my primary
browser since version 0.7, I think, and while I've a few
complaints, on balance I still prefer it.

IE?! It had a perfectly awful feel, and it was broken to
boot.

[...]

Brian

--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 19:25:28 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:28:18 -0600, Greg Goss

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
hate Firefox with a passion,

Out of curiosity, why? I've been using it as my primary
browser since version 0.7, I think, and while I've a few
complaints, on balance I still prefer it.

IE?! It had a perfectly awful feel, and it was broken to
boot.

Well, I've been using one version or another of IE since 1998,
when I had to switch to it in order to be an Advocate (in-game
volunteer help desk) for Asheron's Call. I'm using a later
version now, I forget which one. I can just about hear you all
shuddering, but I'm used to it.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-09 19:59:16 UTC

On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 19:25:28 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt
<***@kithrup.com> wrote in<news:***@kithrup.com>
in rec.arts.sf.written:

[...]

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
Well, I've been using one version or another of IE since
1998, when I had to switch to it in order to be an
Advocate (in-game volunteer help desk) for Asheron's
Call.

Ah, okay; in that case you can use Amazon Cloud Reader,
provided that you’re using at least IE 10.

Brian

--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 20:19:36 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 19:25:28 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt
[...]

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
Well, I've been using one version or another of IE since
1998, when I had to switch to it in order to be an
Advocate (in-game volunteer help desk) for Asheron's
Call.

Ah, okay; in that case you can use Amazon Cloud Reader,
provided that youâre using at least IE 10.

A quick search (on Hal's part, I wouldn't know where to look)
tells me it's IE 11.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-09 21:08:49 UTC

On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 20:19:36 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 19:25:28 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt
[...]

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
Well, I've been using one version or another of IE since
1998, when I had to switch to it in order to be an
Advocate (in-game volunteer help desk) for Asheron's
Call.

Ah, okay; in that case you can use Amazon Cloud Reader,
provided that you’re using at least IE 10.

A quick search (on Hal's part, I wouldn't know where to look)
tells me it's IE 11.

Well, 11 was at least 10 last I looked. :-)

Brian

--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

Ahasuerus

2015-10-09 21:56:28 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 20:19:36 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 19:25:28 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt
[...]

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
Well, I've been using one version or another of IE since
1998, when I had to switch to it in order to be an
Advocate (in-game volunteer help desk) for Asheron's
Call.

Ah, okay; in that case you can use Amazon Cloud Reader,
provided that you're using at least IE 10.

A quick search (on Hal's part, I wouldn't know where to look)
tells me it's IE 11.

Well, 11 was at least 10 last I looked. :-)

Easy for you to say -- you are a mathematician. The rest of us
have to start by proving than 0 is less than 1
(http://www.math.colostate.edu/~adams/teaching/math431spr2015/ProofZeroIsLessThanOne.pdf)
and go from there.

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-09 22:02:28 UTC

On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 14:56:28 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

On Friday, October 9, 2015 at 5:08:47 PM UTC-4, Brian M.

[...]

Post by Brian M. Scott
Well, 11 was at least 10 last I looked. :-)

Nah, you use applied math, specifically, this rule of thumb
(and fingers):

Can I count 10 on my fingers? Yep.
Can I count 11 on my finters? Nope.
Okay; 11 is bigger than 10.

Brian

--
It was called ‘Birdsong at Eventide’, and it went, ‘Ting
_pling_ ting pling _ting_, ting tong, ting tong, ting
tonggg clonk, bother!’ At least, that is how it went
when Myrtle played it. -- _Larklight_, by Philip Reeve

p***@gmail.com

2015-10-09 22:09:02 UTC

Brian
--
It was called 'Birdsong at Eventide', and it went, 'Ting
_pling_ ting pling _ting_, ting tong, ting tong, ting
tonggg clonk, bother!' At least, that is how it went
when Myrtle played it. -- _Larklight_, by Philip Reeve

ARRRRGGGGHHHH! He's changed it! (I always enjoyed the old one)

pt

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-09 22:13:09 UTC

On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 15:09:02 -0700 (PDT),

Post by p***@gmail.com

ARRRRGGGGHHHH! He's changed it! (I always enjoyed the old one)

Not to worry: the other one is my default, and I just
switch to this one once in a while for a change. I also
very occasionally use the one that I’m using this time.

Brian

--
Using her breasts as a shelf was the most practical thing
Helene had done all day. -- Meljean Brook, _The Kraken
King_

Ahasuerus

2015-10-09 22:38:39 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 14:56:28 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

On Friday, October 9, 2015 at 5:08:47 PM UTC-4, Brian M.

[...]

Post by Brian M. Scott
Well, 11 was at least 10 last I looked. :-)

Nah, you use applied math, specifically, this rule of thumb
Can I count 10 on my fingers? Yep.
Can I count 11 on my finters? Nope.
Okay; 11 is bigger than 10.

You are assuming universal pentadactylism, hardly a safe assumption
on the internet!

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-09 22:49:12 UTC

On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 15:38:39 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 14:56:28 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

On Friday, October 9, 2015 at 5:08:47 PM UTC-4, Brian M.

[...]

Post by Brian M. Scott
Well, 11 was at least 10 last I looked. :-)

Nah, you use applied math, specifically, this rule of thumb
Can I count 10 on my fingers? Yep.
Can I count 11 on my finters? Nope.
Okay; 11 is bigger than 10.

‘Finters’?! A case of morodactyly there, I fear.

Post by Ahasuerus
You are assuming universal pentadactylism, hardly a safe
assumption on the internet!

Ahem. That's ‘pentadactyly’. But you’re right; our very
own Chironex fleckeri presumably can count to 60.

Brian

--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

Don Kuenz

2015-10-09 23:48:59 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 15:38:39 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 14:56:28 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

On Friday, October 9, 2015 at 5:08:47 PM UTC-4, Brian M.

[...]

Post by Brian M. Scott
Well, 11 was at least 10 last I looked. :-)

Easy for you to say -- you are a mathematician. The rest of us
have to start by proving than 0 is less than 1
(http://www.math.colostate.edu/~adams/teaching/math431spr2015/ProofZeroIsLe

ssThanOne.pdf)

and go from there.

Nah, you use applied math, specifically, this rule of thumb
Can I count 10 on my fingers? Yep.
Can I count 11 on my finters? Nope.
Okay; 11 is bigger than 10.

?Finters??! A case of morodactyly there, I fear.

Post by Ahasuerus
You are assuming universal pentadactylism, hardly a safe
assumption on the internet!

Ahem. That's ?pentadactyly?. But you?re right; our very
own Chironex fleckeri presumably can count to 60.

The polydactyl people in Lafferty's "The Six Fingers of Time" [1] do
more than simply count to twelve on both hands. They also use their
bodies as an organic hypertime vessels.

Note.

1. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31663

--
,-. There was a young lady named Bright
\_/ Whose speed was far faster than light;
{|||)< Don Kuenz KB7RPU She set out one day
/ \ In a relative way
`-' And returned on the previous night.

What you do speaks so loud that I can not hear what you say.-JFK/Emerson

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 23:54:23 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 15:38:39 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 14:56:28 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

On Friday, October 9, 2015 at 5:08:47 PM UTC-4, Brian M.

[...]

Post by Brian M. Scott
Well, 11 was at least 10 last I looked. :-)

Easy for you to say -- you are a mathematician. The rest of us
have to start by proving than 0 is less than 1

(http://www.math.colostate.edu/~adams/teaching/math431spr2015/ProofZeroIsLessThanOne.pdf)

and go from there.

Nah, you use applied math, specifically, this rule of thumb
Can I count 10 on my fingers? Yep.
Can I count 11 on my finters? Nope.
Okay; 11 is bigger than 10.

âFintersâ?! A case of morodactyly there, I fear.

Post by Ahasuerus
You are assuming universal pentadactylism, hardly a safe
assumption on the internet!

Ahem. That's âpentadactylyâ. But youâre right; our very
own Chironex fleckeri presumably can count to 60.

And he's pretty, too.

But, nothing personal, SW, but I don't think I'll ever go
swimming with you.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Ahasuerus

2015-10-10 00:07:27 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 15:38:39 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 14:56:28 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

On Friday, October 9, 2015 at 5:08:47 PM UTC-4, Brian M.

[...]

Post by Brian M. Scott
Well, 11 was at least 10 last I looked. :-)

Nah, you use applied math, specifically, this rule of thumb
Can I count 10 on my fingers? Yep.
Can I count 11 on my finters? Nope.
Okay; 11 is bigger than 10.

'Finters'?! A case of morodactyly there, I fear.

I certainly hope so, considering what
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=finter has to
say about it!

Post by Ahasuerus
You are assuming universal pentadactylism, hardly a safe
assumption on the internet!

Ahem. That's 'pentadactyly'. But you're right; our very
own Chironex fleckeri presumably can count to 60.

Hey, if it's good enough for the OED, it is good enough for me!

William December Starr

2015-10-10 01:37:23 UTC

Post by Ahasuerus
You are assuming universal pentadactylism, hardly a safe
assumption on the internet!

Ahem. That's 'pentadactyly'.

Not 'pentadactylia'?

(Me, I think 'pentadactylism' looks the most right, but of
course I'm no linguist.)

-- wds

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 22:14:40 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 20:19:36 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Fri, 9 Oct 2015 19:25:28 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt
[...]

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
Well, I've been using one version or another of IE since
1998, when I had to switch to it in order to be an
Advocate (in-game volunteer help desk) for Asheron's
Call.

Ah, okay; in that case you can use Amazon Cloud Reader,
provided that you're using at least IE 10.

A quick search (on Hal's part, I wouldn't know where to look)
tells me it's IE 11.

Well, 11 was at least 10 last I looked. :-)

Oh, no, no way am I going to go there.

I once had a cute little book called _Professor E. McSquared's
Guide to the Calculus._ Nicely illustrated with cartoons.

Chapter One was all about set theory. I gobbled it up.

Chapter Two was about number lines, and there I quit. No amount
of brain sweat could prevent me from making fencepost errors.
Numbers don't fit in my head.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Joy Beeson

2015-10-09 14:43:13 UTC

I . . . hate Firefox with a passion,

Pale Moon is Firefox with all the stuff you don't use removed to make
it run faster. Would that make it less hateful?

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

James Nicoll

2015-10-08 16:53:24 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 14:59:42 +0000 (UTC), James Nicoll

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is
band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or
scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Hmm, _Balance Of Trade_ by Lee & Miller perhaps.
In some ways a later Heinlein Juvenile with echos of
Norton's Solar Queen.

Or vice versa; I canât decide.

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with
aliens, on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

I took a look on Amazon. It looks great, and I want it, but it's
only in hardback (for twenty-five bucks) or Kindle (which I don't
have.) Bookmarked for the future when I have the money.

Library? Or did Proposition whatever back when effectively defund those?

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-08 22:16:58 UTC

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 14:59:42 +0000 (UTC), James Nicoll

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is
band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or
scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Hmm, _Balance Of Trade_ by Lee & Miller perhaps.
In some ways a later Heinlein Juvenile with echos of
Norton's Solar Queen.

Or vice versa; I canât decide.

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with
aliens, on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

I took a look on Amazon. It looks great, and I want it, but it's
only in hardback (for twenty-five bucks) or Kindle (which I don't
have.) Bookmarked for the future when I have the money.

Library? Or did Proposition whatever back when effectively defund those?

More like, the City of Vallejo went bankrupt a while back when
the Navy moved off Mare Island, and though it's now manaed to get
out of it, all city services are woefully underfunded. I've been
in the Vallejo library. It contains a very large selection of
rare books on the history of Solano County; I think somebody died
and left them his collection. Other than that, it contains
multiple copies of the current best-sellers and self-help books.
I've never found there anything I wanted to read.

I'll save my nickels and dimes.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Shawn Wilson

2015-10-08 18:05:32 UTC

Post by Dorothy J Heydt
I took a look on Amazon. It looks great, and I want it, but it's
only in hardback (for twenty-five bucks) or Kindle (which I don't
have.)

http://ebook.online-convert.com/convert-to-epub

It will convert various file formats into other formats. I use it to convert to epubs (I have a Nook) but if you need something else it will do that too.

Michael R N Dolbear

2015-10-08 23:58:03 UTC

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with
aliens, on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

I took a look on Amazon. It looks great, and I want it, but it's

only in hardback (for twenty-five bucks) or Kindle (which I don't
have.) Bookmarked for the future when I have the money.

A rather expensive (because UK) paperback is due in December.
http://www.bookdepository.com/Long-Way-Small-Angry-Planet-Becky-Chambers/9781473619814

--
Mike D

William December Starr

2015-10-09 01:59:41 UTC

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens,
on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

"Went commercial?" I'm guessing that means that it used to
be available for free but these days it costs monety.

-- wds

Kevrob

2015-10-09 02:23:38 UTC

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens,
on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

"Went commercial?" I'm guessing that means that it used to
be available for free but these days it costs monety.
-- wds

Perhaps an allusion to following new and obscure rock 'n roll
bands, before they have The Hit and all the posers jump on the
bandwagon?

ObTheTubes: "I Was A Punk Before You Were A Punk"

Kevin R

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 04:16:55 UTC

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens,
on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

"Went commercial?" I'm guessing that means that it used to
be available for free but these days it costs monety.

I searched on the title and found, not only the Amazon listing
but an article describing how a Kickstarter fund had succeeded in
getting it published, after it succeeded in getting the author to
finish it. :)

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-09 15:19:08 UTC

On 8 Oct 2015 21:59:41 -0400, William December Starr

Firefly without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens,
on what could very well be a Far Trader.

That is an excellent book (and I was fortunate enough to
find it before it went commercial).

"Went commercial?" I'm guessing that means that it used to
be available for free but these days it costs monety.

Not for free, but at a typical indie low price, if I
remember correctly. It was originally published thanks to
a Kickstarter project, but it was then picked up by Hodder.

Brian

--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

Shawn Wilson

2015-10-08 18:03:31 UTC

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers
on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly without
the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could very well be a
Far Trader.

Sounds cool. Sadly, not available to me. I mean, it's RIGHT THERE in the library system... as an ebook I can't access because that involves installing software, which you can't on library computers.

Post by James Nicoll
(btw, there is a new edition of the Mongoose Traveller coming out)

As a SYSTEM I have never actually been impressed by Traveller. It's... OK.

Post by James Nicoll
Maybe some of the John Grimes books, the ones after he leaves the
Survey Service?

Author? Titles?

Post by James Nicoll
I think Jefferson P. Swycaffer's books were supposed to be based on
Classic Traveller but they have none of the look and feel of CT. Avoid.

Not available.

Post by James Nicoll
Dumarest, obviously.

Got those, haven't read them though.

Post by James Nicoll
Norton's Solar Queen. Although they're worse at delivering stuff successfully
than most Traveller traders.
Witches of Karres.

Have Norton, haven't read yet.

Post by James Nicoll
There are, btw, a crap ton of sequels to Piper by people who are not Piper.
http://www.pequodpress.com/ebookstore.php

I tend to avoid even elevated fanfiction. I mean, I know they exist too...

-dsr-

2015-10-08 17:49:34 UTC

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers
on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Hmm, _Balance Of Trade_ by Lee & Miller perhaps.
In some ways a later Heinlein Juvenile with echos of Norton's Solar Queen.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly without
the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could very well be a
Far Trader.

Seconded. Also notable for being a complete story in one book.

A little more Heinlein juvenile -- the Solar Clipper series by Nathan
Lowell. Covers the career of a space merchant crewman; notable for
violence-avoidance and no war in foreground or background.

-dsr-

Shawn Wilson

2015-10-08 18:50:43 UTC

Post by -dsr-
A little more Heinlein juvenile -- the Solar Clipper series by Nathan
Lowell. Covers the career of a space merchant crewman; notable for
violence-avoidance and no war in foreground or background.

Acquired, at least Quarter, Half, Full and Double.

William December Starr

2015-10-09 02:05:39 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

That Whedon was playing a "roughly analogous to the post Civil War
U.S." game doesn't mean, to me, that the correspondence has to be
one-to-one enough to assume that the Browncoats' cause had included
slavery or other atrocities.

In fewer words: I'm not creeped by it.

-- wds

Don Kuenz

2015-10-09 15:32:48 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

Joss Whedon emphatically states that the Browncoat's cause did not
include slavery. In _Serenity - The Official Visual Companion_ Whedon
says:

The basic tenet was that [Firefly] was [analogous to the
post-United States Civil War] Reconstruction era. Mal had
fought for the South - not for slavery, I can't stress that
enough [laughs], but for [the losing side].

Mal's first mate Zoe Washburne is swarthy. She's also a veteran
Browncoat.

On a different note, Mal wears a woman's bonnet and dress to disguise
himself in the "Our Mrs Reynolds" episode. Even though Zoe, who sits
nearby in the back of Mal's covered wagon, *is* a woman.

(Perhaps only a Captain such as Mal is allowed to hold the reins? Back
in the day sudhaus rumor had it that Augie Gussie Busch was very
possessive of the reins of his Clydesdales.)

LWE wrote an essay for _finding Serenity_ named "The Heirs of Sawney
Beane." It's a story that creeps out most everyone who hears about it
from my lips.

--
,-. There was a young lady named Bright
\_/ Whose speed was far faster than light;
{|||)< Don Kuenz KB7RPU She set out one day
/ \ In a relative way
`-' And returned on the previous night.

What you do speaks so loud that I can not hear what you say.-JFK/Emerson

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 19:26:54 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

Joss Whedon emphatically states that the Browncoat's cause did not
include slavery. In _Serenity - The Official Visual Companion_ Whedon
The basic tenet was that [Firefly] was [analogous to the
post-United States Civil War] Reconstruction era. Mal had
fought for the South - not for slavery, I can't stress that
enough [laughs], but for [the losing side].
Mal's first mate Zoe Washburne is swarthy. She's also a veteran
Browncoat.
On a different note, Mal wears a woman's bonnet and dress to disguise
himself in the "Our Mrs Reynolds" episode. Even though Zoe, who sits
nearby in the back of Mal's covered wagon, *is* a woman.
(Perhaps only a Captain such as Mal is allowed to hold the reins? Back
in the day sudhaus rumor had it that Augie Gussie Busch was very
possessive of the reins of his Clydesdales.)
LWE wrote an essay for _finding Serenity_ named "The Heirs of Sawney
Beane." It's a story that creeps out most everyone who hears about it
from my lips.

The title creeps me out sufficiently, thanks.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

p***@gmail.com

2015-10-09 20:35:13 UTC

Post by Don Kuenz
LWE wrote an essay for _finding Serenity_ named "The Heirs of Sawney
Beane." It's a story that creeps out most everyone who hears about it
from my lips.

The title creeps me out sufficiently, thanks.

My thoughts exactly.

pt

Lawrence Watt-Evans

2015-10-10 04:11:08 UTC

Post by p***@gmail.com

Post by Don Kuenz
LWE wrote an essay for _finding Serenity_ named "The Heirs of Sawney
Beane." It's a story that creeps out most everyone who hears about it
from my lips.

The title creeps me out sufficiently, thanks.

My thoughts exactly.

Huh.

--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

David Johnston

2015-10-09 19:37:48 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American Civil War
had been East versus West instead of North versus South."

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 19:45:06 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American Civil War
had been East versus West instead of North versus South."

Hm. I can see the West typified as cowpokes in SPAAAAACE; how are their
enemies particularly Eastern?

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

David Johnston

2015-10-09 20:19:29 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American Civil War
had been East versus West instead of North versus South."

Hm. I can see the West typified as cowpokes in SPAAAAACE; how are their
enemies particularly Eastern?

Eastern United States. (Ignoring half of the core worlds being
dominated by the Chinese.)

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 20:52:23 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American Civil War
had been East versus West instead of North versus South."

Hm. I can see the West typified as cowpokes in SPAAAAACE; how are their
enemies particularly Eastern?

Eastern United States. (Ignoring half of the core worlds being
dominated by the Chinese.)

What I meant was, what about the Eastern US typifies the winning
side/bad guys?

(Note that I've never seen the series, though my daughter dotes
on it so I can't avoid having heard of it.)

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

William December Starr

2015-10-10 01:52:19 UTC

Post by David Johnston
In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American
Civil War had been East versus West instead of North versus
South."

Hm. I can see the West typified as cowpokes in SPAAAAACE; how are their
enemies particularly Eastern?

Eastern United States. (Ignoring half of the core worlds being

dominated by the Chinese.)

What I meant was, what about the Eastern US typifies the winning
side/bad guys?

Urban-ish, developed, civilized, the opposite of the (in archetype
if not always in reality) wide-open western frontier where A Man Can
Roam Free Beneath an Open Sky.

-- wds

David Johnston

2015-10-09 20:22:34 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American Civil War
had been East versus West instead of North versus South."

Hm. I can see the West typified as cowpokes in SPAAAAACE; how are their
enemies particularly Eastern?

In any case the Core consist of the part of the 'Verse that was
colonized first and is most developed and dominate the legislature
through numbers and wealth.

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 20:53:18 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American Civil War
had been East versus West instead of North versus South."

Hm. I can see the West typified as cowpokes in SPAAAAACE; how are their
enemies particularly Eastern?

In any case the Core consist of the part of the 'Verse that was
colonized first and is most developed and dominate the legislature
through numbers and wealth.

Well, okay. The Establishment.

Does the series ever go into why there was a civil war in the
first place (yes, I already know it wasn't slavery)?

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

David Johnston

2015-10-09 21:11:25 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American Civil War
had been East versus West instead of North versus South."

Hm. I can see the West typified as cowpokes in SPAAAAACE; how are their
enemies particularly Eastern?

In any case the Core consist of the part of the 'Verse that was
colonized first and is most developed and dominate the legislature
through numbers and wealth.

Well, okay. The Establishment.
Does the series ever go into why there was a civil war in the
first place (yes, I already know it wasn't slavery)?

Not for specifically. But it was before the war that they attempted to
secretly keep an entire colony under mood altering chemicals to make the
colonists docile and while that was over the line even by Alliance
standards, all the indications are the the Alliance government are big
control freaks with little respect for civil liberties even though they
are a multi-party republic.

p***@gmail.com

2015-10-09 21:55:28 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American Civil War
had been East versus West instead of North versus South."

Hm. I can see the West typified as cowpokes in SPAAAAACE; how are their
enemies particularly Eastern?

In any case the Core consist of the part of the 'Verse that was
colonized first and is most developed and dominate the legislature
through numbers and wealth.

Well, okay. The Establishment.
Does the series ever go into why there was a civil war in the
first place (yes, I already know it wasn't slavery)?

An argument can be made that the Alliance were the good guys, and Firefly
and its crew were a bunch of lawless (if romantically portrayed) pirates:

and similar

https://misterkristoff.wordpress.com/2015/02/09/newsflash-the-firefly-guys-were-villains/

pt

pt

David Johnston

2015-10-09 22:14:49 UTC

Post by p***@gmail.com

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American Civil War
had been East versus West instead of North versus South."

Hm. I can see the West typified as cowpokes in SPAAAAACE; how are their
enemies particularly Eastern?

In any case the Core consist of the part of the 'Verse that was
colonized first and is most developed and dominate the legislature
through numbers and wealth.

Well, okay. The Establishment.
Does the series ever go into why there was a civil war in the
first place (yes, I already know it wasn't slavery)?

An argument can be made that the Alliance were the good guys, and Firefly
http://youtu.be/r-OujQhrjkg
and similar
https://misterkristoff.wordpress.com/2015/02/09/newsflash-the-firefly-guys-were-villains/
pt
pt

I have heard those arguments. I do not find them very compelling (as
regards the Alliance being good guys) because not a single Alliance
representative showed up at any point without engaging in what a modern
day Canadian would call abuses of authority.

William December Starr

2015-10-10 01:57:55 UTC

Post by p***@gmail.com
An argument can be made that the Alliance were the good guys, and
Firefly and its crew were a bunch of lawless (if romantically
http://youtu.be/r-OujQhrjkg
and similar
https://misterkristoff.wordpress.com/2015/02/09/newsflash-the-firefly-guys-were-villains/

I believe that Whedon said that it goes both ways, with the Alliance
sort of analogous to the United States at the time (end of the 20th
century) -- it does a lot of stupid and sometimes evil control-freak
shit to other people/nations, sometimes deliberately and sometimes
just without even noticing who it's stepping on, and at the exact
same time it also does a lot of good. He didn't want black-hats and
white-hats, just Browncoats and, um, whatever the Alliance soldiers
wore.

-- wds

Lawrence Watt-Evans

2015-10-10 04:09:54 UTC

I was going to say "blue gloves," but really, that was just the
minions of evil, not the ordinary Alliance soldiers.

--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

Don Kuenz

2015-10-10 00:44:23 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Firefly
without the creepy Lost Cause stuff, with aliens, on what could
very well be a Far Trader.

In a lot of ways the war in Firefly was "What if the American Civil War
had been East versus West instead of North versus South."

Hm. I can see the West typified as cowpokes in SPAAAAACE; how are their
enemies particularly Eastern?

In any case the Core consist of the part of the 'Verse that was
colonized first and is most developed and dominate the legislature
through numbers and wealth.

Well, okay. The Establishment.
Does the series ever go into why there was a civil war in the
first place (yes, I already know it wasn't slavery)?

_Serenity_ the movie says this about that:

GIRL #1
Now that the war's over, our soldiers get to come home, yes?

TEACHER
Some of them. Some will be stationed on the rim planets as Peace
Enforcers.

BOY #1
I don't understand. Why ere the Independents even fighting us?
Why wouldn't they look to be more civilized?

TEACHER
That's a good question. Does anybody want to open on that?

...
[classroom argument over cannibals known as Reavers deleted by me]
...

TEACHER
(Chinese)
BAI-tuo, AN-jing-eedyen!
[English: We will enjoy your silence now!]
(continued; calmer)
It's true that there are... dangers on the outer planets. So let's
follow up on Borodin's question. With all the social and medical
advancements we can bring to the independents, why would they
fight so hard against us?

RIVER
We meddle.

TEACHER
River?
(Chinese)
Shuh-MUH?
[English: I'm sorry?]

RIVER is a dark, intense little girl, writing with one hand and
"typing" with the other. (Typing consists of holding a long wooden
stylus and tapping either end down different columns of chinese
characters on her desktop screen.) She is a good two years younger
than the other kids.

RIVER
People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do,
what to think, don't run don't walk we're in their homes and in
their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome.

--
,-. There was a young lady named Bright
\_/ Whose speed was far faster than light;
{|||)< Don Kuenz KB7RPU She set out one day
/ \ In a relative way
`-' And returned on the previous night.

What you do speaks so loud that I can not hear what you say.-JFK/Emerson

William December Starr

2015-10-10 01:46:53 UTC

Post by Don Kuenz
On a different note, Mal wears a woman's bonnet and dress to
disguise himself in the "Our Mrs Reynolds" episode. Even though
Zoe, who sits nearby in the back of Mal's covered wagon, *is* a
woman.
(Perhaps only a Captain such as Mal is allowed to hold the reins?
Back in the day sudhaus rumor had it that Augie Gussie Busch was
very possessive of the reins of his Clydesdales.)

I'd assumed that that was just tactical -- Mal putting his
differently-talented (and armed) people in the optimal locations
for the most-likely-scenario firefight should it develop.

-- wds

James Nicoll

2015-10-09 16:53:24 UTC

In article <mv60ct$jn5$***@reader1.panix.com>,
James Nicoll <***@panix.com> wrote:

snip

Post by James Nicoll
Norton's Solar Queen. Although they're worse at delivering stuff successfully
than most Traveller traders.

The Solar Queen series has a recurring detail Traveller GM should steal.
Those situations where there's an insanely profitable trade route the players
use to pay off their morgage in six months? Either those are locked up by
the Big Guys or the Big Guys will take a keen interest in persuading players
to voluntarily sign over the rights in exchange for their brother in law the
Duke of Regina not having them thrown onto the Prison Planet for sedition.

Shawn Wilson

2015-10-08 17:44:24 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers
on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Hmm, _Balance Of Trade_ by Lee & Miller perhaps.
In some ways a later Heinlein Juvenile with echos of Norton's Solar Queen.

OK, I already have (but haven't read) those. Good.

Butch Malahide

2015-10-08 05:36:57 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

If you will settle for a big truck instead of a small starship, and don't
mind the absence of rocket-propelled grenades (or whatever RPG means),
I recommend John DeChancie's "Skyway Series": Starrigger, Paradox Alley,
and Red Limit Freeway.

Greg Goss

2015-10-08 08:01:00 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

If you will settle for a big truck instead of a small starship, and don't
mind the absence of rocket-propelled grenades (or whatever RPG means),

"Role Playing Game" ... in his case a game named "Traveller".

Post by Butch Malahide
I recommend John DeChancie's "Skyway Series": Starrigger, Paradox Alley,
and Red Limit Freeway.

--
We are geeks. Resistance is voltage over current.

Kevrob

2015-10-08 12:01:24 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

If you will settle for a big truck instead of a small starship, and don't
mind the absence of rocket-propelled grenades (or whatever RPG means),

"Role Playing Game" ... in his case a game named "Traveller".

Post by Butch Malahide
I recommend John DeChancie's "Skyway Series": Starrigger, Paradox Alley,
and Red Limit Freeway.

As a non-gamer, I usually read RPG and think "rocket propelled grenade."

I imagine there is some crossover.

Kevin R

William December Starr

2015-10-08 12:33:33 UTC

Post by Kevrob

Post by Butch Malahide
If you will settle for a big truck instead of a small starship,
and don't mind the absence of rocket-propelled grenades (or
whatever RPG means),

"Role Playing Game" ... in his case a game named "Traveller".

As a non-gamer, I usually read RPG and think "rocket propelled
grenade."
I imagine there is some crossover.

Probably quite a lot. By the way, those are the top two listings at
https://www.acronymfinder.com/RPG.html. Also in the Top Ten is
"Rounds Per Gun," which I imagine may also show up in present-day or
futuristic games. (Also, "Repeating Plasma Gun" if the game is Star
Wars-based.)

Rebounds Per Game is, I think, somewhat less likely to occur.

--wds (and let's not even get into the Rape Prevention Glasses)

Gene Wirchenko

2015-10-09 04:13:37 UTC

On 8 Oct 2015 08:33:33 -0400, ***@panix.com (William December
Starr) wrote:

[snip]

Post by William December Starr
Rebounds Per Game is, I think, somewhat less likely to occur.

I suppose it depends how hard you throw your dice.

Post by William December Starr
--wds (and let's not even get into the Rape Prevention Glasses)

I have to ask.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

William December Starr

2015-10-09 14:30:56 UTC

--wds (and let's not even get into the Rape Prevention Glasses)

I have to ask.

See:

http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20120120/NEWS/201200321/Military-dumps-infamous-8216-BCG-eyeglasses

("Birth Control Glasses" -- same object, alternate name.)

-- wds

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 15:10:02 UTC

--wds (and let's not even get into the Rape Prevention Glasses)

I have to ask.

http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20120120/NEWS/201200321/Military-dumps-infamous-8216-BCG-eyeglasses
("Birth Control Glasses" -- same object, alternate name.)

Hmph. They're not so bad-looking, relaly. Verizon used to have
a guy wearing them on posters touting their product, as if to
say, "We are nerdy engineers, we understand electronics." I
always thought that guy was rather cute. But then I've been
married to an engineer for, hmm, coming up on 45 years.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Robert Carnegie

2015-10-09 16:28:08 UTC

--wds (and let's not even get into the Rape Prevention Glasses)

I have to ask.

http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20120120/NEWS/201200321/Military-dumps-infamous-8216-BCG-eyeglasses
("Birth Control Glasses" -- same object, alternate name.)

The picture in the article is the new-for-2012 more attractive
spectacles. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_glasses> shows
some of the older versions that are relatively less appalling,
and describes some others that are more so.

As a civilian and bicyclist, I've usually picked the widest
lens size on the shelf, with metal frame, for the best side
vision.

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 19:33:04 UTC

Post by Robert Carnegie

--wds (and let's not even get into the Rape Prevention Glasses)

I have to ask.

http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20120120/NEWS/201200321/Military-dumps-infamous-8216-BCG-eyeglasses

Post by William December Starr
("Birth Control Glasses" -- same object, alternate name.)

&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.classicfm.com%2Fcomposers%2Fschubert%2F&docid=vCfy1ftqe_DPaM&tbnid=_gT5SAXWBv4FZM%3A&w=298&h=298&ved=0CAIQxiBqFQoTCKm265-QtsgCFUkqiAod-c0F2A&iact=c&ictx=1

which I don't care for much, but he's forty years old and can
wear what he likes.

Post by Robert Carnegie
As a civilian and bicyclist, I've usually picked the widest
lens size on the shelf, with metal frame, for the best side
vision.

I like wide lens sizes too, for the same reason, and it's getting
increasingly difficult for my ophthalmologist's office to find
any.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

p***@gmail.com

2015-10-09 20:39:56 UTC

Post by Robert Carnegie

--wds (and let's not even get into the Rape Prevention Glasses)

I have to ask.

http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20120120/NEWS/201200321/Military-dumps-infamous-8216-BCG-eyeglasses

Post by William December Starr
("Birth Control Glasses" -- same object, alternate name.)

Hm. Well, I find none of them appalling. Maybe I just prefer to
look at guys who make themselves more intelligent by wearing
serious glasses?
(My son, last time I saw him (he lives in New York now and it's
been a few years) was wearing little round Franz-Schubert-like
glasses, e.g.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fassets2.classicfm.com%2F2012%2F37%2Fyoung-schubert-1347455176-hero-promo-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.classicfm.com%2Fcomposers%2Fschubert%2F&docid=vCfy1ftqe_DPaM&tbnid=_gT5SAXWBv4FZM%3A&w=298&h=298&ved=0CAIQxiBqFQoTCKm265-QtsgCFUkqiAod-c0F2A&iact=c&ictx=1
which I don't care for much, but he's forty years old and can
wear what he likes.

Post by Robert Carnegie
As a civilian and bicyclist, I've usually picked the widest
lens size on the shelf, with metal frame, for the best side
vision.

I like wide lens sizes too, for the same reason, and it's getting
increasingly difficult for my ophthalmologist's office to find
any.

Try online services, once you get the prescription.

I've used zennioptical.com, with good results.
(and you save a bundle)

pt

William December Starr

2015-10-10 02:06:10 UTC

Post by Robert Carnegie
The picture in the article is the new-for-2012 more attractive
spectacles. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_glasses> shows
some of the older versions that are relatively less appalling,
and describes some others that are more so.

"At one time, they were officially designated as regulation
prescription glasses, or RPGs."

Aha, that helps explain the evolution of the derisive slang term
(genteelly worded "Rut Prevention Glasses" in the Wikipedia article).

Post by Robert Carnegie
As a civilian and bicyclist, I've usually picked the widest
lens size on the shelf, with metal frame, for the best side
vision.

I'd do that too, but past a certain size you can't slap fit-over
sunglasses over them. And I like my eyesight.

-- wds

Robert Bannister

2015-10-10 03:09:26 UTC

Post by William December Starr
I'd do that too, but past a certain size you can't slap fit-over
sunglasses over them. And I like my eyesight.

I've been using light-sensitive glasses for years and years now. They're
expensive, I suppose, but I like them and because they're designed for
me they're much more comfortable than sunglasses and much lighter than
those clip on thingies.

--
Robert Bannister
Perth, Western Australia

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-08 13:10:22 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of

adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.
If you will settle for a big truck instead of a small starship, and don't
mind the absence of rocket-propelled grenades (or whatever RPG means),

Generally means Role-Playing Game.

Post by Shawn Wilson
I recommend John DeChancie's "Skyway Series": Starrigger, Paradox Alley,
and Red Limit Freeway.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Quadibloc

2015-10-08 15:47:13 UTC

Post by Butch Malahide
and don't
mind the absence of rocket-propelled grenades (or whatever RPG means),

Traveller, like Dungeons and Dragons, is a Role-Playing Game, of course.

John Savard

Shawn Wilson

2015-10-08 17:49:59 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

OK, acquired.

What are the 'castle' books (Castle Kidnapped, Castle Murders, etc) about?

David Johnston

2015-10-08 20:51:42 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

OK, acquired.
What are the 'castle' books (Castle Kidnapped, Castle Murders, etc) about?

A magic castle/pocket universe whose exterior entrances connect to
various worlds. It's kind of like Amber.

Ahasuerus

2015-10-08 22:04:02 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of
adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala
Serenity/Firefly.

If you will settle for a big truck instead of a small starship,
and don't mind the absence of rocket-propelled grenades (or
Starrigger, Paradox Alley, and Red Limit Freeway.

OK, acquired.
What are the 'castle' books (Castle Kidnapped, Castle Murders, etc) about?

A magic castle/pocket universe whose exterior entrances connect to
various worlds. It's kind of like Amber.

I think "Amber-lite" would be a reasonable description.

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-09 15:23:52 UTC

On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 15:04:02 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

On Thursday, October 8, 2015 at 4:51:43 PM UTC-4, David

[...]

Post by Shawn Wilson
What are the 'castle' books (Castle Kidnapped, Castle
Murders, etc) about?

A magic castle/pocket universe whose exterior entrances
connect to various worlds. It's kind of like Amber.

I think "Amber-lite" would be a reasonable description.

The description doesn’t make it sound at all like Amber to
me: Amber is altogether unlike doors/gateways to various
worlds. The only books that I can recall that really did
do something like Amber are the three by Elizabeth Willey,
starting with _A Sorcerer and a Gentleman_.

Brian

--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

Ahasuerus

2015-10-09 17:59:50 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 15:04:02 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

On Thursday, October 8, 2015 at 4:51:43 PM UTC-4, David

[...]

Post by Shawn Wilson
What are the 'castle' books (Castle Kidnapped, Castle
Murders, etc) about?

A magic castle/pocket universe whose exterior entrances
connect to various worlds. It's kind of like Amber.

I think "Amber-lite" would be a reasonable description.

The description doesn't make it sound at all like Amber to
me: Amber is altogether unlike doors/gateways to various
worlds. The only books that I can recall that really did
do something like Amber are the three by Elizabeth Willey,
starting with _A Sorcerer and a Gentleman_.

The details are different, but it has a similar "a bunch of
people with magic/superpowers traveling to different worlds
with different magic systems" vibe going. Except that it's
much more shallow and saturated with sophomoric humor.

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 19:39:59 UTC

Post by Brian M. Scott
On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 15:04:02 -0700 (PDT), Ahasuerus

On Thursday, October 8, 2015 at 4:51:43 PM UTC-4, David

[...]

Post by Shawn Wilson
What are the 'castle' books (Castle Kidnapped, Castle
Murders, etc) about?

A magic castle/pocket universe whose exterior entrances
connect to various worlds. It's kind of like Amber.

I think "Amber-lite" would be a reasonable description.

Hm. Maybe you'd prefer deCamp and Pratt's _The Complete
Compleat Enchanter,_ if you can find a copy (it's been OP for a
while). Two ... I'm going to call them philosophers, since they
travel not by means of magic but by means of logic and set theory,
travel to various worlds of fiction and/or mythology. Norse
mythology just before Ragnarok, Spencer's _Faerie Queene,_
_Orlando Furioso_, the Kalevala....

Amazon seems to have a few used copies.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

David DeLaney

2015-10-08 06:56:58 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a
small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Well, there's always Jim Butcher's latest, starting a new series, _The
Aeronaut's Windlass_... Could also try Peter Hamiltion, _The Abyss Beyond
Dreams_, a new Commonwealth novel.

And there's always all the Heinlein or Piper you want to reread. Lots of Piper
at gutenberg.org!

Dave

--
\/David DeLaney posting thru EarthLink - "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://gatekeeper.vic.com/~dbd/ -net.legends/Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

Shawn Wilson

2015-10-08 17:52:39 UTC

Post by David DeLaney

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a
small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Well, there's always Jim Butcher's latest, starting a new series, _The
Aeronaut's Windlass_... Could also try Peter Hamiltion, _The Abyss Beyond
Dreams_, a new Commonwealth novel.

Sadly, not available to me in either case.

Post by David DeLaney
And there's always all the Heinlein or Piper you want to reread. Lots of Piper
at gutenberg.org!

I HAVE all the Piper and Heinlein. I wanted recommendations for stuff that previously escaped my notice.

Richard Hershberger

2015-10-08 12:55:12 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Not quite the same genre, but I recently downloaded the original Conan the Barbarian stories. For all that Conan has been a part of my cultural background, I had never gotten around to reading them. They are surprisingly readable: hardly a given for pulp fiction of that era, even the "classics."

Richard R. Hershberger

Quadibloc

2015-10-08 15:49:36 UTC

Post by Richard Hershberger
Not quite the same genre, but I recently downloaded the original Conan the
Barbarian stories. For all that Conan has been a part of my cultural background,
hardly a given for pulp fiction of that era, even the "classics."

I'm in the process of re-reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom oeuvre.

John Savard

Shawn Wilson

2015-10-08 18:06:25 UTC

Post by Quadibloc
I'm in the process of re-reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom oeuvre.

A Fighting Man of Mars is my favorite. I mean, the hero is SO clueless...

Shawn Wilson

2015-10-08 17:55:58 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Oh, yes...

If you liked those (and it seems you did) some other Swords and Sorcery books you might like that people who like Conan almost always like as well-

Fafhred and the Grey Mouser (series) by Fritz Leiber.

Elric of Melnibone (series) by Michael Moorcock.

I won't mention Lord of the Rings, Discworld, or Harry Potter.

Moriarty

2015-10-08 20:42:38 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Oh, yes...
If you liked those (and it seems you did) some other Swords and Sorcery books you might like that people who like Conan almost always like as well-
Fafhred and the Grey Mouser (series) by Fritz Leiber.
Elric of Melnibone (series) by Michael Moorcock.
I won't mention Lord of the Rings, Discworld, or Harry Potter.

Or he could read Robert E Howard's non-Conan material, all of which is available freely. I've recently read his Solomon Kane stories for the first time and they're excellent.

-Moriarty

Robert Bannister

2015-10-10 03:14:05 UTC

Post by Moriarty

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Oh, yes...
If you liked those (and it seems you did) some other Swords and Sorcery books you might like that people who like Conan almost always like as well-
Fafhred and the Grey Mouser (series) by Fritz Leiber.
Elric of Melnibone (series) by Michael Moorcock.
I won't mention Lord of the Rings, Discworld, or Harry Potter.

Or he could read Robert E Howard's non-Conan material, all of which is available freely. I've recently read his Solomon Kane stories for the first time and they're excellent.
-Moriarty

For those who read German, I have to recommend Michael Peinkofer's
"Orks", which was I think recommended to me by Erilar. At nearly 1600
pages long, it's value for money and I haven't quite finished it yet.
LotR from the Orks' point of view. Quite funny.

--
Robert Bannister
Perth, Western Australia

Richard Hershberger

2015-10-09 12:41:27 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Not quite the same genre, but I recently downloaded the original Conan the
Barbarian stories. For all that Conan has been a part of my cultural
background, I had never gotten around to reading them. They are surprisingly
readable

and, I neglected to mention, homoerotic...

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 13:13:52 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of

adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Post by Richard Hershberger
Not quite the same genre, but I recently downloaded the original Conan the
Barbarian stories. For all that Conan has been a part of my cultural
background, I had never gotten around to reading them. They are surprisingly
readable

and, I neglected to mention, homoerotic...

The original Howard Conan stories??? Evidence, please.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)

2015-10-09 16:45:33 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of

adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Post by Richard Hershberger
Not quite the same genre, but I recently downloaded the original Conan the
Barbarian stories. For all that Conan has been a part of my cultural
background, I had never gotten around to reading them. They are surprisingly
readable

and, I neglected to mention, homoerotic...

The original Howard Conan stories??? Evidence, please.

Yeah, that doesn't track for me, either. Sounds like projection.

--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Website: http://www.grandcentralarena.com Blog:
http://seawasp.livejournal.com

David Johnston

2015-10-09 18:02:18 UTC

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of

adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Post by Richard Hershberger
Not quite the same genre, but I recently downloaded the original Conan the
Barbarian stories. For all that Conan has been a part of my cultural
background, I had never gotten around to reading them. They are surprisingly
readable

and, I neglected to mention, homoerotic...

The original Howard Conan stories??? Evidence, please.

Yeah, that doesn't track for me, either. Sounds like projection.

Perhaps that's referring to the stories spending more time describing
Conan's body than that of any of the wenches.

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-09 19:42:19 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of

adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

Post by Richard Hershberger
Not quite the same genre, but I recently downloaded the original Conan the
Barbarian stories. For all that Conan has been a part of my cultural
background, I had never gotten around to reading them. They are

surprisingly

Post by Richard Hershberger
readable

and, I neglected to mention, homoerotic...

The original Howard Conan stories??? Evidence, please.

Yeah, that doesn't track for me, either. Sounds like projection.

Perhaps. God knows Howard was living his own fantasies, and
Conan was a larger, tougher, braver version of himself. And he
was not exactly adapted to an independent life; when his mother
died he killed himself. But I don't remember Conan winding up
with anybody but girls, one of whom he even marries.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Brian M. Scott

2015-10-09 15:31:19 UTC

On Thu, 8 Oct 2015 05:55:12 -0700 (PDT), Richard
Hershberger <***@gmail.com> wrote
in<news:4856d659-91dd-4b9d-8c9f-***@googlegroups.com>
in rec.arts.sf.written:

[...]

Post by Richard Hershberger
Not quite the same genre, but I recently downloaded the
original Conan the Barbarian stories. For all that
Conan has been a part of my cultural background, I had
never gotten around to reading them. They are
surprisingly readable: hardly a given for pulp fiction
of that era, even the "classics."

They’re readable, though from that era I prefer C.L.
Moore’s Jirel of Joiry. And from a later period I find
that oddly enough I also prefer Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane,
though Conan is a much nicer fellow.

Brian

--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

J. Clarke

2015-10-08 22:54:20 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.

You might like the Chanur stories by Cherryh--Merchanter's Luck is the
first--most action takes place on a trade ship, although there are lots
of interactions outside the ship.

Dorothy J Heydt

2015-10-08 23:43:49 UTC

Post by Shawn Wilson
I want Heinlein/Piper-esque adventure.
I am fond of the RPG Traveller, whose primary MO is band of

adventurers on a small starship- trader or scout, ala Serenity/Firefly.
You might like the Chanur stories by Cherryh--Merchanter's Luck is the
first--most action takes place on a trade ship, although there are lots
of interactions outside the ship.

_Distinguo_: Merchanters' Luck is part of the Union/Alliance
series. The Chanur stories take place in the same universe, but
are connected to the others by the merest thread. The Union and
Alliance are terrified at the thought of a group of space-faring
aliens out there theoretically within reach, and the Compact are
terrified of a collection of space-faring aliens (to them) out
there who are busy warring with each other. One human ship made
it into Compact space; all the crew were killed except for one,
who now voyages with Pyanfar Chanur. Both sides shrink from
making any further contact.

My take: having read all (I think) of the Union/Alliance stories,
I don't care for them much, except Cyteen. I like the Chanur
stories better, especially the last, Chanur's Legacy. But one
has to have read the other four first.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

Ahasuerus

2015-10-09 15:10:45 UTC