@jdnicoll@wandering.shop
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jdnicoll

@jdnicoll@wandering.shop

Essays @ http://tor.com. 5x Hugo finalist. Editor:4x Aurora-nominated Young People Read Old SFF. CSFFA Hall of Fame nominee. Perennial Darwin Award nominee.

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I feel like television forensic science shows would be a lot more amusing if they had the success rate of decyphering evidence as Time Team Geophys guy did. "Oh, this blur is a skull fragment!" but it turns out to be an entire 19th century locomotive. Also it gets revealed a later show some of the equipment does not work on organic materials, or in a nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere, or in a gravity field greater than two milligees.

jdnicoll,
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@cstross @feorag I love Time Team! But if there was any episode where Geophys was actually useful, I missed it.

At least once it turned out the equipment does not work in the rain. That seems a poor design choice for the UK.

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Embrace life with the same boundless enthusiasm as a lefty about to savage an ally.

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I once avoided being embroiled in a spectacularly unpleasant and unnecessary SFnal controversy because I assessed the subject matter as outside my expertise and not something on which I could have a valid opinion. Have I betrayed Western Civilization in general or just masculinity in particular?

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A City on Mars by Kelly Weinersmith & Zach Weinersmith

A discussion of the substantial issues between humanity and space settlements.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/leaping-through-the-sky

jdnicoll,
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@photos_floues @nyrath @isaackuo I am reminded of those old time space colony books that would revel in the abundance of elements in regolith while inexplicably treating Earth as nearly out of resources. If I can make and feed Lunagrad out of moonstuff, the same tech should work just fine on Earth. Except if it did, there's no need for space colonies.

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Incompetence Is Inevitable: Five Books That Illustrate the Peter Principle

Five stories in which competence is tested by going beyond its limits.

https://www.tor.com/2024/01/17/incompetence-is-inevitable-five-books-that-illustrate-the-peter-principle/

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Which 1966 Nebula Finalists Have You Read? Part One

The Star Fox by Poul Anderson ✔
Nova Express by William S. Burroughs
Rogue Dragon by Avram Davidson ✔
Dr. Bloodmoney or How We Got Along After the Bomb by Philip K. Dick
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
The Genocides by Thomas M. Disch ✔

jdnicoll,
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Which 1966 Nebula Finalists Have You Read? Part Two.

The Ship That Sailed the Time Stream by G. C. Edmondson ✔
Dune by Frank Herbert ✔
A Plague of Demons by Keith Laumer ✔
All Flesh Is Grass by Clifford D. Simak ✔
Open Prison by James White ✔
The Clone by Theodore L. Thomas and Kate Wilhelm

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Exiles at the Well of Souls (Saga of the Well World, volume 2) by Jack L. Chalker

Who will save the conformist and frankly awful-sounding worlds of humanity from even worse tyranny?

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/adventure-calls

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Fallen Angels by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle & Michael F. Flynn

Spacers trapped in rapidly cooling America depend for rescue on the legendary ingenuity and organization of science fiction fans.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/really-cant-stay

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Five Strategies for Taming an Unruly TBR List

How to select the next book from all the possible next books.

https://www.tor.com/2024/01/10/five-strategies-for-taming-an-unruly-tbr-list/

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Okay, all Superheros are, at least, marginally problematic, but what Superhero do you think is the most problematic, and why?

jdnicoll,
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@RickiTarr Marvel's Starfox uses his emotion-manipulating powers to get laid, and to orchestrate relationships that amuse him.

jdnicoll,
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@gooba42 @jargoggles @GayDeceiver @RickiTarr Reed is also not the most socially aware guy in the room.

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Tor.com To Become Reactor, Debut New Site, On January 23rd

Tor Publishing Group announced today that Tor.com will become Reactor (www.reactormag.com) on January 23, 2024, coinciding with the launch of a completely redesigned website.

https://www.tor.com/2024/01/09/tor-com-to-become-reactor-debut-new-site-on-january-23rd/

jdnicoll,
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@cstross I do not know. I am someone who sells material to them, not a person in the room where the decisions are made.

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The Empire of Gold (Daevabad, volume 3) by S A Chakraborty

In which the subjects of Daevabad learn the important difference between a coup, a revolution, and reform. Well, the survivors do.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/meet-the-new-boss

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Fake Candidates, Invented Enemies: Five Fraudulent Personas in Classic SF

Need a very specific person who does not actually exist? No worries! Simply invent them!

https://www.tor.com/2024/01/08/fake-candidates-invented-enemies-five-fraudulent-personas-in-classic-sf/

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Which Retro-Hugo Winners have you read? Mark them with a check.

(For purposes of having read, it counts if you read them as part of longer versions)

The Mule by Isaac Asimov ✔
Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein ✔
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury ✔
The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White ✔
Slan by A. E. van Vogt
Beyond This Horizon by Robert A. Heinlein ✔
Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber, Jr. ✔
Shadow Over Mars by Leigh Brackett ✔

jdnicoll,
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@nyrath Nope.

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Stranger From the Depths by Gerry Turner

Two boys confirm the Silurian hypothesis. Humanity is not the first civilized species on Earth.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/songs

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Which Hugo Winners Have You Read?

(Stolen and updated from a 2006 Andrew Wheeler post)

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/which-hugo-winners-have-you-read

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Five SFF Stories Involving Intentional Body Modifications and Transformations

The other side of the coin from yesterday: what if you could choose radical body modification?

https://www.tor.com/2024/01/03/five-sff-stories-involving-intentional-body-modifications-and-transformations/

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January 2024 Patreon Boost!

Would you like to join James Nicoll Reviews' supporters? Here's how!

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/post/january-2024-patreon-boost

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The Gold at the Starbow’s End by Frederik Pohl

Five stories from famed SF satirist Frederik Pohl.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/gateway-to-adventure

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