Collects ONLY A-rated free fiction posts from main feed of Variety SF. http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=KJ7tjwxc3hGSabpe_vrsUA Fri, 25 May 2012 12:12:25 +0000 http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/ http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2012/05/henry-kuttner-hercules-muscles-in-as-by.html <div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;"><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Henry%20Kuttner?max-results=100" style="clear:right;float:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em;"><img alt="Quote from short story Hercules Muscles In by Henry Kuttner" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xlvQeZVlVz0/T7e877qYfDI/AAAAAAAAB8A/RuUCgiYAU_8/s1600/Henry+Kuttner+-+Hercules+Muscles+In+%28quote%29.GIF" style="border:none;"/></a></div>Two friends in New York end up time traveling to "city of Tiryns ... in the Peloponnesos" in Greece of "Beyond 700 BC. Maybe 800 BC", to possess the body of two locals - one of them Hercules of the legend, other a run-away slave. They must use their wits to survive, &amp; end up bringing bits of American life to Greece &amp; helping write some of the Herculean legends...<br /><h4> <span style="font-size:100%;">Fact sheet.</span></h4><span style="font-style:italic;">First published</span>: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Thrilling%20Wonder%20Stories?max-results=100"><i>Thrilling Wonder Stories</i></a>, February <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/1941?max-results=100">1941</a>.<br /><i>Note</i>: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?923719">ISFDB</a> describes this as an essay, but it's clearly a story.<br />Download full text from <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://henrykuttner.bravehost.com/Kuttner,%20Henry%20-%20Hercules%20Muscles%20In.html">this unnamed site</a>.<br /><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arthur-clarke-fansite.blogspot.com/2007/04/note-my-on-story-quality-ratings.html" style="font-style:italic;">Rating</a>: B.<i> </i><br /><i>Related</i>: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Henry%20Kuttner?max-results=100">Stories of Henry Kuttner</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7172359179613729870-5427492578420323519?l=variety-sf.blogspot.com' alt=''/></div> noreply@blogger.com (Tinkoo) tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post-5427492578420323519 Sat, 19 May 2012 15:29:00 +0000 http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2012/03/mark-w-moffett-picnic-with-ants-flash.html <div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;"><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v482/n7385/full/482434a.html" style="clear:right;float:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em;"><img alt="Illustration accompanying the original publication in Nature magazine of short story Picnic with ants by Mark W Moffett" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sTpwfEACYrg/T15naSSAAgI/AAAAAAAAB3U/JSbZ5gp5PGc/s1600/Mark+W+Moffett+-+Picnic+with+ants+%28illustration%29.jpg" style="border:none;"/></a></div>Funny diary of a field worker's observations of an ants' colony...<br /><h4>See also.</h4><ol style="text-align:left;"><li>Story makes a reference to Prof E O Wilson, author's teacher. There is a good hard sf story about an ant colony by <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/E%20O%20Wilson?max-results=100">E O Wilson</a> - "<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/2010/01/e-o-wilson-trailhead-short-story-hard.html"><b>Trailhead</b></a>" (<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/01/25/100125fi_fiction_wilson?printable=true">download</a>) (reads like a documentary, but I liked it).</li></ol><h4><span style="font-size:100%;">Fact sheet.</span></h4><span style="font-style:italic;">First published</span>: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Nature?max-results=100"><i>Nature</i></a>, 16 February <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/search/label/2012?max-results=100">2012</a>.<br />Download full text from <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v482/n7385/full/482434a.html">publisher's site</a>.<br /><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arthur-clarke-fansite.blogspot.com/2007/04/note-my-on-story-quality-ratings.html" style="font-style:italic;">Rating</a>: A.<br />Added to <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-best-of-year-picks-2012.html">my "best of 2012" list</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7172359179613729870-1176856603536663970?l=variety-sf.blogspot.com' alt=''/></div> noreply@blogger.com (Tinkoo) tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post-1176856603536663970 Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:11:00 +0000 http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2012/03/john-frizell-knowledge-flash-fiction.html <div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;"><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/483118a.html" style="clear:right;float:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em;"><img alt="Illustration accompanying the original publication in Nature magazine of short story Knowledge by John Frizell" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ckRjGcn2kzA/T1x1sGPXnpI/AAAAAAAAB3M/MCezR5Ybc04/s1600/John+Frizell+-+Knowledge+%28illustration%29.jpg" style="border:none;"/></a></div>A giant squid discovers a way of storing knowledge outside of his own body...<br /><br />Interesting presentation, though I could not figure out what the transparent threads are.<br /><h4><span style="font-size:100%;">Fact sheet.</span></h4><span style="font-style:italic;">First published</span>: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Nature?max-results=100"><i>Nature</i></a>, 1 March <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/search/label/2012?max-results=100">2012</a>.<br />Download full text from <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7387/full/483118a.html">publisher's site</a>.<br /><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arthur-clarke-fansite.blogspot.com/2007/04/note-my-on-story-quality-ratings.html" style="font-style:italic;">Rating</a>: A.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7172359179613729870-7560429456565021188?l=variety-sf.blogspot.com' alt=''/></div> noreply@blogger.com (Tinkoo) tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post-7560429456565021188 Sun, 11 Mar 2012 09:54:00 +0000 http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2012/03/piers-anthony-toaster-short-story-humor.html <div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;">Some consumers don't welcome feature-bloat in their gadgets...<br /><h4>See also.</h4><ol style="text-align:left;"><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Henry%20Kuttner?max-results=100">Henry Kuttner</a> &amp; <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/C%20L%20Moore?max-results=100">C L Moore</a>'s "<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2008/02/lewis-padgett-twonky-short-story.html"><b>The Twonky</b></a>" (<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://henrykuttner.bravehost.com/Kuttner,%20Henry%20-%20The%20Twonky.html">download</a>): Very funny story of a feature-rich "radio".</li></ol><h4><span style="font-size:100%;">Fact sheet.</span></h4><span style="font-style:italic;">First published</span>: Piers Anthony's "<b>Anthonology</b>" (coll) (<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/search/label/1985?max-results=100">1985</a>).<br />Read online at <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/7233857/The-Toaster">Scribd</a>. (slow page load).<br /><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arthur-clarke-fansite.blogspot.com/2007/04/note-my-on-story-quality-ratings.html" style="font-style:italic;">Rating</a>: A.<br /><i>Related</i>: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Piers%20Anthony?max-results=100">Stories of Piers Anthony</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7172359179613729870-9200379089310451431?l=variety-sf.blogspot.com' alt=''/></div> noreply@blogger.com (Tinkoo) tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post-9200379089310451431 Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:54:00 +0000 http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2012/03/henry-kuttner-c-l-moore-wild-surmise.html <div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;">This is nonsense. Or may be not. But quite funny.<br /><h4>Story summary.</h4>Timothy Hooten is being treated by a psychiatrist, Dr Scott, at 2 pm, &amp; by Dr Rasp at 2 am. He's human in one, but a bug in another. Which one is "real"? <br /><br />It becomes really interesting when he gets an appointment from both doctors for the same time.<br /><h4>See also.</h4><ol style="text-align:left;"><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Rog%20Phillips?max-results=100">Rog Phillips</a>' "<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/2009/04/rog-phillips-yellow-pill-short-story.html"><b>The Yellow Pill</b></a>" (<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070126100555/www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/phillips/index.html">download</a>): Psycho patient thinks the doctor is really the patient...</li></ol><h4><span style="font-size:100%;">Fact sheet.</span></h4><span style="font-style:italic;">First published</span>: <i>Star Science Fiction Stories</i>, February <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/search/label/1953?max-results=100">1953</a>.<br />Read online at <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/64354311/A-Wild-Surmise-Henry-Kuttner-C-L-Moore">Scribd</a> (slow page load, may need Flash enabled in browser).<br /><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arthur-clarke-fansite.blogspot.com/2007/04/note-my-on-story-quality-ratings.html" style="font-style:italic;">Rating</a>: A.<br /><i>Related</i>: Stories of <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Henry%20Kuttner?max-results=100">Henry Kuttner</a>, <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/C%20L%20Moore?max-results=100">C L Moore</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7172359179613729870-8470695117118687888?l=variety-sf.blogspot.com' alt=''/></div> noreply@blogger.com (Tinkoo) tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post-8470695117118687888 Sat, 03 Mar 2012 13:22:00 +0000 http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2012/02/nicole-rendall-everything-old-is-new.html <div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;">Sometimes the latest &amp; greatest gizmos are less desirable than old working ones...<br /><br />Funny thing is: it reminded me of my switch from Nokia dumbphone to Android smartphone. My mother has been bugging me to put the SIM card back in Nokia, or get a new SIM to keep Nokia alive. She finds Android's phone feature hopelessly complicated.<br /><h4><span style="font-size:100%;">Fact sheet.</span></h4><span style="font-style:italic;">First published</span>: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Antipodean%20SF?max-results=100"><i>Antipodean SF</i></a>, February <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/search/label/2012?max-results=100">2012</a>.<br />Download full text from <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.antisf.com/the-stories/938-everything-old-is-new-again?tmpl=component&amp;print=1&amp;layout=default&amp;page=">publisher's site</a>.<br /><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arthur-clarke-fansite.blogspot.com/2007/04/note-my-on-story-quality-ratings.html" style="font-style:italic;">Rating</a>: A.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7172359179613729870-1641385031442899936?l=variety-sf.blogspot.com' alt=''/></div> noreply@blogger.com (Tinkoo) tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post-1641385031442899936 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:16:00 +0000 http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2012/02/mari-ness-and-hollow-space-inside-short.html <div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;">We've come a long way since <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/C%20L%20Moore?max-results=100">C L Moore</a> invented cyborgs in "<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2008/06/c-l-moore-no-woman-born-novella-science.html"><b>No Woman Born</b></a>". Moore's version was an extreme one: only brain of a fire victim could be saved; so she got a steel body. Since then, most (but not all) cyborgs have had an intermediate form - some parts of the body are mechanical.<br /><br />I liked this story for a single reason: this is one of the rare stories that looks at the other extreme form of cyborgs as the central idea: what if someone is born deformed, where deformity is a complete lack of brain tissue? In this case, the baby is saved by providing computer to complete the individual.<br /><br />The story, however, does not share the spirit of Moore's original. Moore doesn't demand the reader's sympathy; we're happy &amp; inspired to meet a complete &amp; competent individual. This one is more like many modern stories of the ilk - emotional scenes galore.<br /><h4><span style="font-size:100%;">Fact sheet.</span></h4><span style="font-style:italic;">First published</span>: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.in/search/label/Clarkesworld?max-results=100"><i>Clarkesworld</i></a>, February <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/search/label/2012?max-results=100">2012</a>.<br />Download <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ness_02_12/">text</a>/<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/audio_02_12">audio</a> from publisher's site.<br /><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://arthur-clarke-fansite.blogspot.com/2007/04/note-my-on-story-quality-ratings.html" style="font-style:italic;">Rating</a>: A.<br />Added to <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-best-of-year-picks-2012.html">my "best of 2012" list</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7172359179613729870-7125261543938550194?l=variety-sf.blogspot.com' alt=''/></div> noreply@blogger.com (Tinkoo) tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172359179613729870.post-7125261543938550194 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:01:00 +0000