“But even without sex, swordplay isn’t the hottest thing on Mars. Outside the polar regions, everyone runs around essentially naked. The universal Martian costume is the “harness,” an arrangement of straps and belts designed for little more than supporting weapons and ornaments. While Martian women may be oviparous, Burroughs makes clear that they can easily [...]
I am not sure what went wrong here, but this is not remotely up to the standard of De Pierres other books.
This series seems to sort of peter out here, focusing more on some subsidiary characters than the actual protagonist built up in the last couple of books. So not sure if this is [...]
First swale or anything, Neuter Kimball.
3.5 out of 5
Continue reading about That Leviathan Whom Thou Hast Made – Eric James Stone
“The sculpture had been mounted on a rock which, though far from the Northern Mountains of the continent, Chanter knew to be the tip of a mountain itself submerged in the underlying tricone-generated soil of the planet Masada. After studying the screen display for a moment longer, he turned to the other displays arrayed before [...]
Trouble, Venus needs posto.
4 out of 5
Songeen of the elder race, I think I like you.
3.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/7/0/32709/32709-h/32709-h.htm
“”I’m not joining the enemies of the All-Sovereign,” I said. “I’m already in the club, you boobs! I’ve got the membership card and the god-damn secret decoder ring! He killed the Doc and tried to kill me! He declared war on Violet DeVere, and Violet DeVere is happy to return the favor!”
“That seems adequate to [...]
Continue reading about Queen of the Iron Sands 5 Part 1 – Scott Lynch
Short Story
Number of words : 1900
Percent of complex words : 13.3
Average syllables per word : 1.6
Average words per sentence : 14.3
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Johnny Mayhem, man without a body, woman with one.
2.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/8/2/32827/32827-h/32827-h.htm
Continue reading about Think Yourself To Death – C. H. Thames
Short Story
Number of words : 4800
Percent of complex words : 10.2
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 14.5
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
“The immense slugs hoisted themselves up the stairs. One crawled up the door, obscuring it. Infinity stood back, motioning to the other people not to crowd the slugs too closely. A haze of acid and vaporized stone spurted from the entryway. As the door collapsed, the slug slumped with it, then crawled into the building. [...]
“She wore neither protective suit nor breathing apparatus, only an LTM, for broadcasting to Chi and to Starfarer, on her collar. The alien beings assured her that it was safe to go outside, and she chose to believe them.
Satoshi’s voice reached her through the exterior speaker.
“They’re right about the air, J.D.,” he said. [...]
“J.D.’s imagination created a scene that bore no relation to the inside of a computer or to the inside of an organic system. She had wondered what she would see when her attention left the main room of the partnership’s house, whether she would enter a phantom world of hugely magnified digital gates or pulsing [...]
““I must sound completely paranoid,” Victoria said. “It’s not as if I think we’re in some horror movie being stalked by The Creature from the Genetics Lab.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She started for the hallway, carrying the fruit juice. “But I sure never heard of any kind [...]
I didn’t like this as much as The Quiet War. Perhaps because it felt more meandering, and not as tightly focused as the earlier novel. This may have been deliberate, to show that the post combat, and post Brazilian governmental collapse was messy and people didn’t know what they were doing. Certainly characters [...]
““The spacecraft of alien beings,” J.D. said aloud, forgetting not to interrupt.
“Oh, now!” Gerald Hemminge exclaimed. “Alien beings waiting for us?” He snorted.
“Quite likely it was an observation post,” Avvaiyar said. “It must have been here — who knows how long? Automated. An AI. Like the dome. It detected us, it went to [...]
“Her heart was pounding. The strange warmth of her metabolic enhancer created a physical pressure within her body. The artificial gland, implanted in her abdomen, pumped out extra adrenalin, endorphins, adenosine triphosphate. It raised her blood pressure, her heart rate. She could call on it to increase her endurance beyond her usual limits when she [...]
Let’s co-op.
3 out of 5
http://www.archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_173/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_173_Martian_Chronicles_09.mp3
Continue reading about Martian Chronicles 09 – Cory Doctorow
Utmost confidence dark secret.
3 out of 5
http://www.archive.org/details/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_172
Continue reading about Martian Chronicles 08 – Cory Doctorow
Game, planet, all the same thing, kid.
3.5 out of 5
http://www.archive.org/details/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_171
Continue reading about Martian Chronicles 07 – Cory Doctorow
What is dad’s problem?
3.5 out of 5
http://www.archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_170/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_170_Martian_Chronicles_06.mp3
Continue reading about Martian Chronicles 06 – Cory Doctorow
“Orca grinned. “They discovered I’m not quite human.” She laughed. “I don’t think any of the techs ever had a diver to work on before. One of them was as nervous as a barracuda. He must be one of those nuts who believes they can catch the carrier virus.” She bared her prominent canine teeth, [...]
““No,” the driver was saying. “I can’t get any closer to the blockhouse until the runway clears. Unless you want some squashed pedestrians.”
“Not a bad idea,” Vasili said.
“Then you drive.” ”
3.5 out of 5
http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/Vonda-N.-McIntyre/Novels/McIntyre-Superluminal13
What would you do if you were going to go on the first starship to meet aliens in fairdinkum outer space? Be pretty happy, scared, whatever, all at once.
What would you do if the politicians on Earth and the rest of the people were too hopeless to keep it together so that you couldn’t?
Yes, [...]
Game, new planet, all the same thing, really.
3.5 out of 5
http://craphound.com/?p=2436
I’ll get the answers if it kills me.
3.5 out of 5
http://martyhalpern.blogspot.com/2010/05/permanent-fatal-errors-by-jay-lake-part_31.html
“He squatted beside the cactus and slid his fingers in between the thorns. Frowning, he stroked the leathery skin.
“It looks okay to me,” Esther said.
Infinity shrugged unhappily.
“Maybe it’s got cactus blight,” Esther said.
“It shouldn’t have anything. It’s cloned from a cell stock. Virus free.” ”
3 out of 5
http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/Vonda-N.-McIntyre/Novels/Transition-04
Volition box Melding Plague ship chip dead man fix.
4 out of 5
Novelette
Number of words : 11800
Percent of complex words : 8.3
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 11.4
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about Stark and the Star Kings – Leigh Brackett and Edmond Hamilton
Novel
Number of words : 60000
Percent of complex words : 6.9
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 12.7
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about The Reavers of Skaith – Leigh Brackett
Novel
Number of words : 60000
Percent of complex words : 6.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 11.7
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about The Hounds of Skaith – Leigh Brackett
Novel
Number of words : 55000
Percent of complex words : 6.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 11.0
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
The Martians got us, so no kids.
1.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/6/8/32683/32683-h/32683-h.htm
Continue reading about The Next TimeWe Die – Robert Moore Williams
“That’s it,” said Paimei. Her fingers closed on his shoulder. “You’re out the airlock, buddy.”
3.5 out of 5
http://martyhalpern.blogspot.com/2010/05/permanent-fatal-errors-by-jay-lake-part_31.html
“Instead of trying to work that out, he stared at Tiede 1’s churning orange surface. “Who are you? What are you doing in there? What does it take to fake being an entire star?”
3.5 out of 5
http://martyhalpern.blogspot.com/2010/05/permanent-fatal-errors-by-jay-lake-part_28.html
“Handicap Haven is leaving the Solar System.”
3.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/5/9/32597/32597-h/32597-h.htm
Backwards, forwards, still got the psi-powers.
3.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/6/4/32641/32641-h/32641-h.htm
Cluster Queen fix, Brad.
2 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/6/5/32657/32657-h/32657-h.htm
A comprehensive guide to the people, places and stuff of Barsoom.
5 out of 5
http://www.erblist.com/abg/Bozarth-ABarsoomGlossary-illus.pdf
http://www.erblist.com/abg/index.html
Continue reading about A Barsoom Glossary – David Bruce Bozarth
“Along the way I think I also figured out why a thousand moving pictures aren’t worth some of the best printed words in the genre.
Burroughs’ very first novel, A Princess of Mars, first appeared in 1912 as a six-part serial in All-Story Magazine titled “Under the Moons of Mars.” It recounts the tale of John [...]
Martian Raster fightback.
2 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/6/1/32618/32618-h/32618-h.htm
“”Right.” She brushed off the concern. “We’re not getting hijacked out here. And if someone tries, I am the meanest fighter on this ship by a wide margin. I can take any three of this crew apart.”
“Any five of us, though?” he asked softly.
“That’s another use for you.”
“I don’t fight.”
“No, but you’re a Howard. [...]
“Maduabuchi liked to sit in the smartgel bodpods and let the ship perform a three-sixty massage while he watched the universe. The rest of the crew were like cats in a sack, too busy stalking the passageways and each other to care what might be outside the window. Here in the lounge one could see [...]
Don’t want any old Earth junk on Mars, darling.
2.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/5/8/32587/32587-h/32587-h.htm
And their terrible science.
2 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/5/9/32590/32590-h/32590-h.htm
“I am Shir K’han, of the people of Tegur, detailed to interpret your meager tongue, oh frozen primate.”
2.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/5/3/32531/32531-h/32531-h.htm
A Glimmer that it is not just worm slime, slag.
3 out of 5
A fun old-style sf adventure where a rich young hellion get into trouble and is rescued by a genetically engineered boy. Cat, of course.
One society not found of this particular sort of humans, the other not fond of the genetically engineered.
Whose parents have the most evil plans?
A book that actually improves a bit from [...]
Novel
Number of words : 39500
Percent of complex words : 5.9
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 12.5
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about People of the Talisman – Leigh Brackett
Novella
Number of words : 23900
Percent of complex words : 5.3
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 15.3
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about Black Amazon of Mars – Leigh Brackett
Vignette
Number of words : 690
Percent of complex words : 15.6
Average syllables per word : 1.6
Average words per sentence : 17.7
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Vignette
Number of words : 920
Percent of complex words : 19.8
Average syllables per word : 1.8
Average words per sentence : 27.1
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Novelette
Number of words : 12500
Percent of complex words : 8.1
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 9.7
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about Beyond the Aquila Rift – Alastair Reynolds
“Spaceships have been a staple of science fiction stories since its earliest days of imagining ourselves beyond the stars. We asked this week’s panelists:
Q: If you could ride on any spaceship from written science fiction, which would it be? Why?”
4 out of 5
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010/05/mind-meld-the-best-spaceships-in-written-science-fiction/
Continue reading about MIND MELD: The Best Spaceships in Written Science Fiction – John DeNardo
“Peer again: shapes moving in the haze, flowing so you cannot be certain it is one thing or many. Silver in silver. Then the shadows flow, silver out of silver: a winged woman, wing-arms folded back, breasts out-thrust, hair streaming in the wind. In your amazement you almost do not notice that the
track is roaring. [...]
Short Story
Number of words : 2800
Percent of complex words : 11.2
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 14.4
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
“It looked like granite, not like malleable rock foam. It was sculpted into the shape of a lithe little animal, so sinuous that at first she thought it might be a serpent. Then she saw its legs, back legs holding it upright on dainty feet, the front legs held in close, the front paws precisely [...]
“Starfarer’s two huge hollow cylinders revolved to produce the effect of about seven-tenths of one gravity on their inner surfaces. All the people lived in one half the ship, in the pleasant, pastoral campus cylinder. The wild cylinder existed as a backup, an ecological storehouse, a safety net. People visited the wild side; they camped [...]
Novelette
Number of words : 8800
Percent of complex words : 8.9
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 21.4
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Novella
Number of words : 28000
Percent of complex words : 5.4
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 12.4
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about The Secret of Sinharat – Leigh Brackett
Novella
Number of words : 25000
Percent of complex words : 5.0
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 12.5
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about Enchantress of Venus – Leigh Brackett
Novella
Number of words : 22000
Percent of complex words : 5.2
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 12.0
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about Queen of the Martian Catacombs – Leigh Brackett
Tellur warp.
3 out of 5
Continue reading about The Heart of the Serpent – Ivan Yefremov
“Well flown, Captain. Though I may have to agree with Simon’s evaluation of your mental stability.”
3 out of 5
http://seawasp.livejournal.com/191657.html#cutid1
“The double-arrowhead racing ship leaped forward and began spinning like a drillhead along its main axis, whirling multiple times a second. It literally bored through the swarm, batting aside zikki like fish caught in a paddlewheel. Inside Ariane felt the world spinning crazily, the ship shuddering with impact after impact as it drove through the [...]
Martian Freedom drunken rant.
2 out of 5
Continue reading about The Corkscrew of Space – Poul Anderson
“”Wait a minute!” she said, stepping forward despite her inherent squeamishness. But even as the creature stepped backward, the shadows seemed to simply grow heavier, obscuring, blending with the black robes… and then the light strengthened, and there was nothing but shadow under Skylark’s rearmost wing.
Dammit but I hate that! And right before the race? [...]
” As Ariane had no Human vessels at all appropriate to an Arena-focused race, Nyanthus had proposed – with Orphan supporting – that both contestants use essentially identical vessels (with controls modified to fit their expectations) from some other race’s base designs, so that neither would be any more or less familiar with the [...]
Taking him back to Mars.
2.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/0/5/32054/32054-h/32054-h.htm
G-Boat Mars experiment.
1.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/0/6/32067/32067-h/32067-h.htm
“She shifted away from those eyes that watched her too closely. “I already have your ship. It’s a shame to dismantle such a beautiful piece of machinery, but she’s worth more as parts. No buyer would dare fly an ELF ship loaded with C.O.I.L. technology out here. Too many pirates would be gunning for them.” [...]
” She felt her grin broaden, and saw Steve’s eyes suddenly go wide with understanding, as she answered. “I will accept your Challenge, Sethrik. And the nature of that Challenge will be…”
DuQuesne, never slow on the uptake, let out an abrupt chortle of comprehension, as she finished,
[...]
Poison Earth parapsychic Mars control.
2.5 out of 5
http://www.archive.org/stream/Space_Travel_Volume_5_Number_4_#page/n29/mode/2up
An interesting story that is a precursor of work like Larry Niven’s Dream Park, but on a bigger scale.
A very settled Galactic Society uses a live action roleplaying historical scenario as entertainment and an outlet for those that seek adventure. The game scale has compressed time to allow for different eras to be played [...]
“The source of Nyusa’s invisibility is also the source of both sides of the narrative tension in the story. Nyusa is the daughter of some god of Darkness, echoes of “Dunwich Horror” here, and that god’s worshipers use Nyusa by having her dance under the eerie green illumination as a part of their prayer rituals [...]
Continue reading about Blogging Northwest Smith: Nymph of Darkness – Christian Lindke
“The March 1935 issue of Weird Tales featured “Julhi,” the fifth of Catherine Lucille Moore’s Northwest Smith tales. That same issue also featured Robert E. Howard’s “Jewels of Gwahlur,” a classic Conan tale.
After a year of writing Northwest Smith tales, Moore’s “Julhi” manages to integrate what are now the “old stand-by’s” of the Smith series [...]
Continue reading about Blogging Northwest Smith: Julhi – Christian Lindke
“China Miéville argues convincingly in his introduction to Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness that it was a retelling of Poe’s Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, and not in any way a sequel. I think he is right, but I think that Moore’s “Dust of the Gods” is a sequel to both the Lovecraft and [...]
Continue reading about Blogging Northwest Smith: Dust of Gods – Christian Lindke
“Throughout the story, there are references to a beast of some sort that was responsible for the murder of the young woman’s sister — beast that eventually comes for everyone when their time has come. Smith is unworried, and the girl is fatalistically accepting of her mortality. Life in this world is idyllic, yet the [...]
Continue reading about Blogging Northwest Smith: Scarlet Dream – Christian Lindke
“The beauty that Moore has the Alendar describe is in itself horrifying, yet it is also an interesting spark for discussion. Vaudir — who has asked Smith for assistance and led to his current state of danger — is beautiful, but she possesses something more. She possesses and intelligence and free will that make her [...]
Continue reading about Blogging Northwest Smith: Black Thirst – Christian Lindke
“”Shambleau” opens with a prefatory paragraph which sets the tone of the tale, establishes a sense of history and place, and gives readers some foreshadowing regarding the turn the tale will take. The paragraph is reminiscent of the paragraphs Robert E. Howard used to open his Conan tales. Where his paragraphs represented excerpts from the [...]
Continue reading about Blogging Northwest Smith: Shambleau – Christian Lindke
Novel
Number of words : 40000
Percent of complex words : 5.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 9.6
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
“Well, he was generally humanish, I guess, but he had a lot of features that were just wrong. Six fingers on his hand, three pairs of two opposed digits, for one thing. But I wasn’t scared… or even all that surprised.”
3 out of 5
http://seawasp.livejournal.com/178078.html
Novelette
Number of words : 10000
Percent of complex words : 7.5
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 11.4
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about The Sorcerer of Rhiannon – Leigh Brackett
Novelette
Number of words : 13000
Percent of complex words : 6.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 12.8
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about The Road To Sinharat – Leigh Brackett
Novelette
Number of words : 14900
Percent of complex words : 6.0
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 12.1
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about The Beast-Jewel Of Mars – Leigh Brackett
Short Story
Number of words : 5700
Percent of complex words : 6.2
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 9.7
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about Quest Of the Starhope – Leigh Brackett
Novelette
Number of words : 12000
Percent of complex words : 5.9
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 11.8
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about The Last Days of Shandakor – Leigh Brackett
Short Story
Number of words : 6900
Percent of complex words : 8.5
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 14.8
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
Continue reading about Purple Priestess Of the Mad Moon – Leigh Brackett
Short Story
Number of words : 6200
Percent of complex words : 6.8
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 10.4
: Martian Quest – Leigh Brackett
CHARACTERS
Martin Drake : Martian Quest – Leigh Brackett
A chemist pretending to be a secretary coming to [...]
Novelette
Number of words : 8000
Percent of complex words : 6.5
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Number of sentences : 689
Average words per sentence : 11.4
READABILITY INDICES
Fog [...]
All your space bases belong to us pirates.
3.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31767/31767-h/31767-h.htm
” Small blue sparks danced suddenly along Laila’s body and rippled almost playfully across Mandallon’s hand. The alien priest stiffened. “I… I see her! Creators and watchers, helpers and healers, heed me now! Bring back this woman, Laila Canning, from the place within herself, regather her memories and feelings, her loves and joys, return [...]
Universe history pollution Horde stardive.
3.5 out of 5
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kressel_03_10/
Continue reading about The History Within Us – Matthew Kressel
David Hartwell, Alastair Reynolds, Justina Robson, John Meaney
“Twenty years ago, did you predict that British SF was on the verge of a long-term boom in producing large-scale exuberant space opera? You were laughed at, weren’t you? And here we are, in 2005…”
“AR — I’m functionally incapable of writing a book without a space ship in [...]
Venusian lizardmen love.
2.5 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/6/8/31686/31686-h/31686-h.htm
“J.D. Sauvage, the alien contact specialist, drifted in zero g and waited for a message from an unknown civilization. ”
3.5 out of 5
http://www.bookviewcafe.com/Vonda-N.-McIntyre/Novels/Transition-01
I’m a radio-tonguing imaginary companion.
2 out of 5
http://www.archive.org/stream/Worlds_Of_Tomorrow_Volume_1_Number_3_/Worlds_Of_Tomorrow_Volume_1_Number_3__djvu.txt
M’koog drinking tank.
3 out of 5
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/6/6/31664/31664-h/31664-h.htm
“”The world is approximately 43 percent intact,” the angel said. “However, portions of the superstructure remain beyond my reach. I am blind and numb there. Before the supernova, based on incomplete available data, integrity was at 64.3 percent.””
3.5 out of 5
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780553591088&view=excerpt&ref=email_drin031610
“DuQuesne frowned. I think I might see where he’s going with this already, and I don’t like it one little bit. And it fits way too well with what I told Simon way back about our unmanned expeditions. “You mean if I were – not here in the Arena, where the stuff doesn’t work, but [...]