Via Locus Online comes a report that as part of its acquisition of Bookspan, Bertelsmann is starting to (ahem) reduce waste by laying people off. What will this mean for the future of the SF Book Club (part of the Bookspan line)? The SFBC's senior editor has been given "early retirement". Jonathan Strahan speculates on the SFBC's future (if any).

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The list can now be seen here.

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Anyone who can't use a slide rule is a cultural illiterate,
and should not be allowed to vote.

—Robert A. Heinlein

Well, I used to know how to use a sliderule. I still can do some basic calculations on it and have a book on how to use a slipstick that I hope to get to this summer. Just to show that these "obsolete" devices can still be used, I present The International Slide Rule Group, The International Slide Rule Museum and The Slide Rule Universe!

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(Halfway through 2004!)

The Illustrious Mr. Chung has found a great quote by Robert A. Heinlein which neatly spears the RIAA, DRM, etc.:

Before we leave this matter I wish to comment on the theory implied by you, Mr. Weems, when you claimed damage to your client. There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest.

This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back, for their private benefit. That is all.

—Lifeline, Robert A. Heinlein

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(Halfway through 2004!)

I've been reading Isaac Asimov's massive two-volume original autobiography (In Memory Yet Green and In Joy Still Felt). Yesterday I picked up Foundation, the first of the original Foundation novels, and finished most of it while traveling to and from a picnic. Between the autobiography and the novel, I was curious to see what the names of the original stories were. A query to a list I run (Space Opera, on Yahoo) turned up a link to this page by Raja Thiagarajan, who has done an excellent job of pulling together original art, changes in titles, and changes between magazine and book versions.

Interjection (May 23, 2007): This next section was posted as three separate items few days later at the Late, Great Planet Blog, so I'll post it here insrtead of as another item triplet.

more...

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(From the past of 2004 to even further in the past!)

From the amazing Winchell Chung comes two links to artwork from the classic SF magazine Astounding. This one has John W. Campbell Jr.'s The Mightiest Machine and E.E. "Doc" Smith's The Skylark of Valeron in it. If you look at the bottom of the page you'll see links for the years 1930 to 1971. Lots of stuff to browse in the second site! more...

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(2004 continues!)

Kilts have made an occasional appearance in science fiction. One of Robert A. Heinlein's most famous characters, Lazarus Long, wore a kilt.

I wonder if this would be practical? Would it replace my Scott eVest? more...

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(Wandering through 2004...)

Or so it says on the box. Yep, I have my copy of Attack Vector from Ad Astra Games, though the universe has conspired against me since the box arrived and I haven't had much time to delve into it.I'm pretty darned impressed with what I have seen. Nice artwork, lots of text to fool around with (in terms of background—a bunch of ships, plus details on the major worlds), and what appears to be a clearly written rulebook. more...

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(Posted from 2004. We're catching up!)

One of my favorite works of that much-maligned portion of science fiction known as "space opera" is a book called The Legion of Space by Jack Williamson. Much of the action takes place at "Barnard's Runaway Star", a star with a large proper motion. more...

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(Still in 2003...)

John Varley is one of my favorite SF authors. Unfortunately, he is also one of the least prolific, at least after a good burst of stories and a novel in the 70's (all set in his Eight Worlds universe). Things are looking up. First we had Red Thunder earlier in the year. Now he's got a website. Maybe next he'll bring us Irontown Blues, the last of the Metal Trilogy.

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(2003 starts to wind down!)

A couple of sites about the Golden-Age SF author.

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(2003! 2003! 2003!)

Keeping on the science fiction theme (not much news to report in the world of space, so far today!), here's a link to the website of SF author David Gerrold.

Gerrold got his start as a write of short SF and screenplays for the original Star Trek series. He's also written a number of SF novels. One, The Man Who Folded Himself, is an interesting time travel/parallel universe novel. Another, When Harlie Was One, is one of the few SF novels dealing with the development of artificial intelligence where the AI doesn't go berserk and try to kill the human race (the other is Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress). more...

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(From the text, I'll bet you can figure out when this is from!)

Here's a talk that Terry Bisson gave in 1993. Good stuff here about and for those of us who grew up with Willey Ley, Apollo, the promise of the shuttle and more.

Oh yes, and a bit about the state of science fiction in 1993 that certainly still applies to the state of science fiction in 2003.

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(We're gonna party like's it's 2003!)

Here's an article that appeared in SFRevu by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. If you don't know who they are, seek out any one of the books that they have edited or co-edited for Tor Books. Among the excellent titles that I own are The Ascent of Wonder and The Hard SF Renaissance.

I hope this article is an indication that they are working on another massive tome, this time dedicated to the subject of space opera. more...

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(2003: The Year We Posted A Lot)

Along with my love of old science fiction, comes a love of old science fiction art. Here's a wonderful site that features many of the covers of the classic SF magazines Astounding and Amazing. more...

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Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you're probably aware that there's a big Star Wars anniversary a-coming. Here's a site that celebrates that fact. I wonder about some of the "scholarship", though. For example:

The targeting grid used for the Millennium Falcon's canon is based on a paperweight Lucas saw on Arthur C. Clarke's desk.

First off...canon is usually spelled cannon...and second...why on earth would Arthur C. Clarke given George Lucas the time of day before SW was filmed...

Anyway, true or not, there are some amusing bits in there.

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(We're gonna party like's it's 2003!)

E.E. "Doc" Smith is one of my all-time favorite authors in the science fiction sub-genre of "space opera". Very few could do it as well or better--John W. Campbell, Jr., Edmond "World Wrecker" Hamilton and Jack Williamson among a scant few others.

There have been a few folks who have tried to write sequels to the original stories. More are but pale imitations (and forget about that horrid Japanese anime version!). Here is some "fan fiction" set in "Doc's" universe: Doomed Lensman (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and the unwritten sequel!)!!!

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(We're gonna party like's it's 2003!)

A website dedicated to my favorite books as a kid (other than the Robert A. Heinlein young adult books, the Tom Swift series and the Chris Godfrey series).

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(2003 continues to roll along!)

John Brunner was a science fiction writer who, unfortunately, is pretty much forgotten by today's readers. Most active in the 1960's and 1970's, he died, appropriately enough, during the 53rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, Scotland (1995). more...

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(Another classic from 2003!)

Robert A. Heinlein still remains one of my favorite authors. Here's a website that quotes bits and pieces of his wit and wisdom. The only downside is that the site is not updated (no changes since June 14, 2000!) and the person running the site does not seem to respond to e-mail. But, keep hitting your "Refresh" button for a stream of comments... more...

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