Kurt Vonnegut - "Jenny" (short story, robot): Sad love story of a romantic

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 6/18/2013 1:25:00 AM

'A brilliant engineer builds "Jenny", a robot refrigerator - a fridge that can walk around, & with a woman's flexible face mask attached to the door with springs. It connects with its "brain", a big computer nearby, via radio; computer also connects to a controller in the form of over-sized shoes with control buttons under toes - an experienced wearer can use them to make Jenny say things & give appropriate expressions.Then he begins finding his wife "imperfect" in ways Jenny(...)'

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William Tenn's "Time in Advance" (collection): Annotated table of contents & review

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 6/16/2013 8:29:00 PM

'Four stories. I'd read "Firewater" long back - communications difficulties during first contact with aliens, & modeled after the (presumably) historical European invader/native American interactions.There is only story one I really loved - "Time in Advance", but others are still readable.Where I have a separate post on a story, link on its title goes there. Table of contents.[novelette] "Time in Advance" (A); Galaxy, August 1956: There is a 50% discount on conviction provided (...)'

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William Tenn's "Winthrop was Stubborn" aka "Time Waits for Winthrop" (novella, time travel): What will the world look like in 25th century?

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 6/15/2013 7:50:00 PM

'This is about as colorful an adventure as you're likely to see in science fiction. And from William Tenn, of all people! Alive sidewalks that help you move & help prevent your fall, "government machine" you can order materialized out of thin air to discuss things governmental, "Shriek Field" where you can play mad (but only in nude!) to relive stress, telepathic semi-sentient food that will work all it can for your enjoyment, "Oracle Machine" that can solve any problem, floor th(...)'

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William Tenn's "The Sickness" (novelette): A cure for cold war mistrust between US & USSR

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 6/12/2013 6:11:00 PM

'This is a story of two epidemics caused by bugs - one physical & literal, other metaphorical as in US/USSR standoff. Knowing Tenn, I won't be surprised if he intended it as a satire on cold war war-mongering at both ends.Story summary.US & USSR not only are constantly at each other's throat, they also have independent programs to send people to Mars. An India-mediated joint expedition to Mars might hopefully help understanding & ease tensions - so the ship that goes ther(...)'

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William Tenn's "Time in Advance" (novelette, free): 50% discount on pre-murder conviction!

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 6/10/2013 7:34:00 PM

'I'd recently read a story from Astounding, August 1958 (British ed) where I liked the concept: Stanley Mullen's "Fool Killer". Looks like that was an imitation of this excellent original.Story summary.On this future earth, you get a 50% discount on a murder sentence, provided you seek conviction before committing the murder! 7 years on deadly prison planets. You can, of course, change your mind part way through the sentence & return without prejudice, but then you forfeit the s(...)'

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Evelyn E Smith's "The Venus Trap" (short story, free): Man brings hope to a dying alien species

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 6/9/2013 2:42:00 PM

'Man has just began colonizing an alien world called Elysium, a world full of intelligent native plants. But most males of these plants died out of a disease; the world is now full of female intelligent plants, with no hope of a future generation.One of the colonists men will develop a special relationship with Magnolia, one of these female plants, leading to much acrimony & jealousy on the part of his wife. But things turn hopeful near end, with a new arrival from earth...See (...)'

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Eric Cline's "Red Star Falling, in Multimedia" (short story, free): "True" story of the first man in space

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 6/8/2013 3:57:00 PM

'I'm not sure what to think of it - it's an unusual story with an unusual structure.There is a back story - Yuri Gagarin wasn't the first man in space; a year before him, another Russian named Viktor was the first man. But he died up there & event was hushed by a secretive Soviet authority.This story is about telling the "true" story of Viktor now, using various media.Fact sheet.First published: Cosmos, 6 June 2013.Download full text from publisher's site.Rating: B.'

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"Astounding Science Fiction", December 1942 (ed John W Campbell, Jr) (magazine, free): Annotated table of contents

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 6/2/2013 4:15:00 PM

'"The Weapon Shop" is among the best known stories of the genre. "Piggy Bank" is among the more pulpish stories of Kuttner/Moore, but features a very curious robot.Where I have a separate post on a story, link on its title goes there. Link on author's name fetches more fiction of author.Note: There appear to a half dozen odd additional flash fiction length pieces by multiple authors listed as a single entry called "Probability Zero" in table of contents. I have not included them in T(...)'

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Free fiction: Jack Vance's "The Moon Moth"

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 6/1/2013 4:15:00 PM

'@RealPulp. [via QuasarDragon & SF Signal]This is among Vance's better known stories.'

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Stories from Nature magazine, May 2013 issues

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 6/1/2013 3:20:00 PM

'Five stories, all flash fiction length, all online. List below is in order of my preference, best first. Only story that somewhat worked for me is the first one, Haynes'. 23 May: Michael Haynes' "An alien named Tim" (B); download: A solo alien stowaway on a human starfaring ship is captured, & tells the crew: "I'm going to steal your ship, hijack your cargo, take it to my homeworld, and thereby use it to launch an invasion of your worlds."He's confined but no one takes him serio(...)'

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RIP: Jack Vance (28 August 1916 - 26 May 2013)

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 5/30/2013 4:06:00 AM

'"Jack (John Holbrook) Vance passed away Sunday, May 26 at the age of 96. Jack died peacefully in his sleep in his home in Oakland, California."'

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"Analog Science Fiction and Fact", June 2013 (ed Trevor Quachri) (magazine): Annotated table of contents & review

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 5/29/2013 8:16:00 PM

'I don't have all parts of the serial; so skipped that.If I have a separate post on a story, link on its title goes there. Links on author name fetch more fiction of author. My rating is in brackets.Table of contents (fiction only, best first, unread last).[novelette] Mark Niemann-Ross's "A Cup of Dirt" (A): Turning dirt into soil...Added to my "best of 2013" list.[ss] Linda Nagata's "Out in the Dark" (B): When presumed dead for 30 years returns... [ss] David D Levine's "Wavefronts o(...)'

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My "best of the year" picks: 2013

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 5/28/2013 4:10:00 PM

'The list is in order in which I found the stories. Stories were all originally published during 2013.The list.Links on author or publisher name fetch more matching fiction. Where I have a separate post on the story, link on story title goes there. If I'm aware of an online copy, I include download link too.[novelette] Mark Niemann-Ross' "A Cup of Dirt"; Analog, June 2013: Turning dirt into soil...Related.Fiction originally published during 2013.My "best of the year" 2006, 200(...)'

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Mark Niemann-Ross' "A Cup of Dirt" (novelette): Turning dirt into soil

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 5/28/2013 4:09:00 PM

'This is easily the best I've seen so far of 2013 fiction. And, at least in my book, among the better all-time stories of the genre. Modern sensibilities & technology, in a classic fun story of a tinkerer who thinks he can make living a little more interesting...Story summary.In the sterile atmosphere aboard an under construction earth-orbiting space station, hydroponic food is not really well loved. So hero sets down on growing tomatoes "in soil". Only problem is: there is no so(...)'

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David D Levine - "Wavefronts of History and Memory" (short story)

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 5/27/2013 7:04:00 PM

'There is an idea here that I've not seen before in this form: radioarcheology. Humanity's radio emissions leaking into space form an useful archeological resource in the hands of someone with the right technology.PS: I'm not clear how telegraph transmissions leaked in this way, however. I thought they were mostly sent over physical wires.Apart from this idea, however, it's a very ordinary read.Story summary.Thousands of years in future, earth is no longer habitable & only archeo(...)'

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Free fiction: Murray Leinster's "Creatures of the Abyss" (novel, 1961)

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 5/27/2013 4:20:00 AM

'@Internet Archive. [via Greg Weeks @pbscans]Related: Stories of Murray Leinster.'

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Linda Nagata's "Out in the Dark" (short story, reincarnation): When presumed dead for 30 years returns...

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 5/26/2013 7:11:00 PM

'In a world where brain dump is normal & human body can be easily manufactured in lab, travel to other planets of Sol is by leaving your body in cold storage here, sending your brain dump electronically there, & setting it up in a custom made body "husk" at destination.But law requires that only one body of an individual can be animated at a time; if two are found, the one animated later must be destroyed.This is the story of complications: Someone is presumed dead in acciden(...)'

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Cory Doctorow's "Pirate Cinema" (novel, free): Political campaign against a "bad" law

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 5/25/2013 6:48:00 PM

'This is the story of a political campaign in UK to make the parliament repeal a bad law. Point of the story seems to be: the disproportionately high influence a few Hollywood companies seem to have on legal aspects of internet use is very bad for society. Because their side effects have crippling effect on everything we do on the net.I didn't find it always believable, but it's by & large readable. A penniless runaway kid in London, with a taste for remixing movies, will lead(...)'

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Nebula Awards 2012: Winners announced

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 5/25/2013 6:43:00 PM

'@SFWA.PS: I wonder if I'm making mistakes or Blogger has started behaving in a weird way. I'd posted this several days back, but just noticed it was marked "Draft!"'

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Alex Shvartsman's "The epistolary history" (flash fiction, time travel, humor, free)

Author : Tinkoo      Blog : Variety SF      Date : 5/10/2013 6:17:00 PM

'While the idea is like any number of old time travel stories - a man travels to make a "minor" tweak to past to make a better present, it made me smile more than once.Fact sheet.First published: Nature, 25 April 2013.Download full text from publisher's site.Rating: A.Related: Stories of Alex Shvartsman.'

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