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dustydigger
Posted 2019-04-28 11:15 AM (#20807 - in reply to #19521)
Subject: Re: Pick & Mix 2019 challenge		Quote Reply



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Location: UK		March.
I read some Stanley G Weinbaum short fiction,starting with A Martian Odyssey.Back in 1964 it was voted as the second best SF short story to date by the SFWA. It has now slipped down to #42 on the SF Lists site. I would guess the somewhat cheesy humour and dialogue do it a bit of a disservice today,but it was hugely influential at the time - 1934. I suppose its a common fate. A new brilliant thing appears,everyone copies it,improves on it,and the next generation says ''looks pretty ordinary to me'' It did however save the alien contact genre from its Bug Eyed Monster,(BEM),reputation.It was pretty cool and unusual then to show aliens,OK,as very alien and incomprehensible,but intelligent and likable.
Sadly Weinbaum's career was tragically cut short.He published this story in mid 1934,and was dead of cancer within 18 months,aged only 35.
I was delighted to locate a Wildside Megapack of some of his most famous stories for the princely cost of 55 cents,(74p)Brilliant! :0)
Was very sad to hear of the death of Vonda Macintyre. I loved Dreamsnake and her Star Trek books
Finally got round to Karel Capek's R.U.R.,Rossum's Universal Robots,the source of course of the word robot ,Czech for ''forced labour'',though Capek's robots are more like androids than like Robbie the Robot. The whole idea must have been pretty alarming back in the 20s,and of course the play was very influential. The play itself is very brittle,full of twenties Bright Young Things and their sophisticated artificial dialogue,but the ideas are there,and are today more relevant than ever! Interesting.
In Charlie Stross's The Delirium Brief enemies have brought about the dismantling of the Laundry! Another fun episode of this enjoyable series. And a major and unexpected major plot development too for the next book.Cant wait to read it
Stross has a mighty poor opinion of the British government,as many of the Cabinet are infested with alien worms that will force them to carry out the wishes of an ancient evil creature.
Could do with such an infestation of Parliament at the moment,at least there would be a single focused course of action so something would happen with Brexit! lol

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