”I don’t believe that…A thing just can’t develop that fast, Fay. It’s against nature.� “Ha, but we’re not in nature, we’re in culture.�
”Day by day, in ”I don’t believe that…A thing just can’t develop that fast, Fay. It’s against nature.� “Ha, but we’re not in nature, we’re in culture.�
”Day by day, in every way, you’re learning to listen…and obey.�
”Maybe it’s man’s destiny to build live machines and then bow out of the cosmic picture.�
This classic, short, Leiber novella was first published in 1962. 1962. That’s significant, because this tale seems more relevant to our present moment than to its own time. It gives Leiber entrance to the Sci-fi Prophet’s Club alongside such luminaries as Ray Bradbury and Jules Verne.
The plot of the story revolves around a culture that becomes addicted to and dependent on an amazing and convenient technology. It is about the rapid (and nearly accidental) development of AI, and what happens when that AI technology makes the leap to the Singularity. In 1962 much of this would have seemed far fetched science fiction. Now, its broad points could be ripped from the headlines, or the subject of earnest (and ironic) online discussions.
Leiber sets his story in an ongoing Cold War America taken to extremes. The smart set, the affluent professionals, have built entire underground cities to protect themselves from random missiles. While there are still surface dwellers, they are decidedly déclassée. Much of the story’s tension is based in the exchange of two friends � Gusterson, a smart, independent and cantankerous writer of insanity novels who chooses to live on the surface, and his outgoing friend Fay, a research and development executive who works underground and who milks his friend’s brain for ideas. The technology at the root of the plot was originally an off-handed idea of Gusterson’s which Fay then developed into a major technology (an AI personal assistant that doubles as a self-help guru) and that eventually becomes an out of control existential threat. The relationship between the two has been cast as wise old sorcerer and foolish sorcerer’s apprentice.
As I have seen in other of Leiber’s sci-fi tales, he keeps the telling of it light, with low keyed humor throughout and nearly hackneyed characters. It gives the impression that you are reading a light entertainment, while Leiber wraps this framework around serious, philosophical questions. It’s as if he is saying, “pay no head to the man behind the curtain! This is just silly, old time sci-fi.� He gives a heaping spoonful of sugar to make the philosophical medicine go down. ...more
”There was, and was not, a nakhudha named Amina al-Sirafi who sailed with a cunning crew all over the Indian Ocean, dashing after magical treasures an”There was, and was not, a nakhudha named Amina al-Sirafi who sailed with a cunning crew all over the Indian Ocean, dashing after magical treasures and talismans, outwitting cruel sorcerers and battling incomprehensibly powerful creatures from legend. This is her story.�
This is a fascinating historical fantasy, set in the maritime world of the Indian Ocean in the early twelfth century. Though festooned with fantasy elements, this setting is well researched, and creates an alluring picture of this rich, medieval world. The tale is told in the first person voice of Amina al-Sirafi herself, a long retired pirate/smuggler coaxed out of retirement to take on a final adventure.
This book is a light entertainment, as insubstantial as ocean foam, yet a fast and fun read. The narrator/hero portrays herself as extremely human and flawed, yet is able to competently rise to fantastical challenges, including sea monsters, evil, Frankish wizards, supernatural avian bureaucrats, legendary, enchanted chamber pots, and even an infuriating estranged demon husband. The book also introduces several interesting members of her crew, yet fails to develop any of them as fully as the narrator.
I really enjoyed this book � it is a solid 3.5 star effort. It appears to be setting up a continuing series, and if another book appears, I will certainly read it. Yet there are several reasons why I’ve rounded my rating down rather than up. The book’s premise � the old rogue coming out of retirement and putting the old crew back together for one, last, rich job —works here, but is still incredibly hackneyed. The primary villain is completely one dimensional, and is supernaturally unbeatable until it becomes necessary for him not to be. As previously mentioned, Amina al-Sirafi’s primary crew appear to be interesting characters, yet are underutilized in favor of developing the narrator protagonist. These things do not ruin the story, which remains fun and recommend, but they did keep me from rating it higher....more
”Was there enough disinfectant in the world to cleanse the House of Usher?�
”The dead may walk, but I will not walk among them.�
This atmospheric retell”Was there enough disinfectant in the world to cleanse the House of Usher?�
”The dead may walk, but I will not walk among them.�
This atmospheric retelling of Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher contains all of the gloomy dread of the original, but actually manages to ratchet up the creepiness. Who knew that fungi could be so utterly alien, or that hares could radiate such menace?...more
Do you remember that scene from Bull Durham when the team is on the bus and Kevin Costner’s Crash Davis is schooling Tim Robins� Nuke LaLoosh on how tDo you remember that scene from Bull Durham when the team is on the bus and Kevin Costner’s Crash Davis is schooling Tim Robins� Nuke LaLoosh on how to give an interview?
Crash Davis: “You’re gonna have to learn your cliches. Your gonna have to study them, you’re gonna have to know them. They are your friends. Write this down. We gotta play ‘em one day at a time.�
Nuke LaLoosh: “That’s pretty boring…�
Crash Davis: “Of course it’s boring. That’s the point. Write it down.�
That scene always struck me as funny and spot on � an honest baseball moment. It also explains the problem with this book. Clint Hurdle has spent his lifetime in baseball, as a player, as a coach, and as a manager. He had to learn the simplified, positive thinking, cliche-speak of baseball necessary to keep young athletes focused on their game and skills. In this book, he shares that simplified wisdom with us.
This isn’t the book I was hoping for. It’s not a baseball book at all. It’s a self help book � a most basic one, built around 25 sayings Hurdle has learned to live by. He leads off by listing all 25 of them, then moves forward to fill each of them out. “One day at a time� is not one of the 25 Hurdle-isms, but it does get mentioned a couple of times as a backup cliche. Hurdle mentions a few baseball related incidents tangentially along the way, but not at all as baseball stories. They are simply illustrating incidents for his 25 phrases to live by. He drops some baseball names as well, but the book isn’t about the players or their stories, it’s about the Hurdle-isms to live by.
I have a lot of good will for Clint Hurdle. I’m old enough to remember when he came up as a hot, young, can’t miss player who missed. He was the manager who led my favorite team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, out of their 20 year losing streak and into three straight seasons of post season contention. He was an upbeat, affable guy. I picked up his book because of that, hoping some of the “wit and wisdom� advertised in the title would involve substantial stories from those years. He disappointed me here, just like his Pirates team’s disappointment me by failing to move deeper into the off season. But I still have good will for him, which is why I gave this book an extra star. ...more
”Sir Richard’s achievements will be remembered not because he followed the mob, or did as he was told, or allowed others to make decisions for him, bu”Sir Richard’s achievements will be remembered not because he followed the mob, or did as he was told, or allowed others to make decisions for him, but because he didn’t.�
Author Mark Hodder is best known for his wild, steampunk series of six novels that follow heroes Sir Richard Burton and poet Algernon Swinburne through time traveling shenanigans and constantly altering alternative histories. This short story is not related to Hodder’s fun steampunk adventures. But apparently, Hodder is well grounded in Burton’s actual history, because the details he presents in this story are perfectly in line with Burton’s final years, and his last, great project � the translating of the unexpurgated Perfumed Garden. Weaving the aged Burton and his sad final chapter into a fine Sherlock Holmes pastiche is a fitting tribute to both the fictional detective and the irascible and roguish genius that was Sir Richard Francis Burton. Hodder’s portrayal of both Lady Isabell Burton, and, particularly, the final, poignant meeting between Watson and Swinburne were nicely done, indeed!...more
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