Web Poll now up on the Varley Vade mecum

Try the new Web-Poll on the Varley Vade mecum site. (freewebs.com/herbboehm) You can now vote for your favorite Varley novel, short story, and character. Vote early, and vote often. I would like to see how this works.

(Deus Vult)

Litle Fuzzy Misdirection in MAMMOTH

MAMMOTH notes: I now realize that the chapter naming conventions are patterned after Asimov for the reason I mentioned earlier, and because Varley needed a diversion for the Little Fuzzy storyline. To say more would be to spoil the fun. I will explain more fully after we have finished the book. I am about half way done and at about page 140, it elevated itself from ordinary to extraordinary. The Varley touch is now evident. It took a while to lay the ground work for the main event. I suspect that the section I am going through now is still not in the center ring of Varley's three-ring circus.

(Deus Vult)

HMTP Ideas for the well rounded 21st century man

A recent conversation with Rick led me to post these reading suggestions so we don't forget them.

This just in: Michael McCollum ANTARES VICTORY. [ISBN 1929381093 ]

I ran across this book accidentally. This looks to be the long awaited, by me
at least, sequel to ANTARES DAWN and ANTARES PASSAGE, which, along with Niven and Pournelle's THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE and THE GRIPPING HAND, represent the greatest Faster Than Light travel systems ever put forth in SF. No joke.

For the Creation Sylabus here are some ideas on intelligent design. This category would include Denton's EVOLUTION A THEORY IN CRISIS and NATURE'S DESTINY, and Behe's DARWIN'S BLACK BOX. There are several recent books that would fit well in this category:

William A. Dembski

Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science & Theology [ISBN: 083082314X]
The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions About Intelligent Design [ISBN: 0830823751]
The Design Inference : Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities (Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction and Decision Theory)

Norman Spjnrad.

We have BUG JACK BARRON on the list, but he has done a lot of
work recently that I haven't read. His older stuff was cyber-punk before it was cool. I can't help but believe that he is even better now than he used to be. We need to give his recent stuff a try.

Harlan Ellison. The Essential Ellison: A 50 Year Retrospective (Revised and Expanded) [ISBN 1883398606 ]

Ellison is the most decorated writer of our time and he only writes short
stories. The only problem with Ellison: where to start? The book above is just
one of many candidates. Visit his web site for more ideas.

William Tenn

Immodest Proposals: The Complete Science Fiction of William Tenn, Volume 1 and Here Comes Civilization: The Complete Science Fiction of William Tenn, Volume 2 .
I have read the first, and came away with three stories that made it to my all
time favorite list. [This is now officially on the list]

I would also like to recommend we read Phillip K. Dick's META NOVEL; consisting of ten novels that fit together thematically. I listed them in my Eight-Worlds Essay on the Varley Vade mecum. We have already read two of them.

Philip K. Dick's Metanovel:
Eye in the Sky (1956)
Time out of Joint (1959)
The Man in the High Castle (1962)
The Game Players of Titan (1963)
Martian Time Slip (1964)
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965)
UBIK (1969)
A Maze of Death (1970)
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (1974)
Valis (1981)

Here again is the book recommended by John Savage of The Savage Nation: Secrets of the Kingdom: The Inside Story of the Secret Saudi-U.S. Connection by Gerald L. Posner.

David McCullough's 1776. [ISBN 0743226712 ]

Rick wanted to add a book about the Ottoman Empire but I found too many to determine which one it was.

Readers Read
Do You?

MAMMOTH Chapter Numbering

MAMMOTH: You will notice immediately that Varley begins this novel with two odd devices: (1) He uses excerpts from a fictitious children's book about Wooly Mammoths in the ice age. I haven't figured out how this becomes significant to the novel yet. So far (page 45) it is a distraction to the plot. (2) The first chapter js numbered '5.' This is reminiscent of Isaac Asimov's THE GOD'S THEMSELVES, where the telling of the story differs from the internal chronology but the chapter numbering leaves no room for confusion.

(Deus Vult)

August and September Meeting Dates

Due to unexpected circumstances we are delaying the meeting date for John Varley's MAMMOTH. Rick is still reading Walt Brown's IN THE BEGINNING (chiefly because he fealt compelled to re-read most of Renald Showers' MARANATHA). The August meeting has already been postphoned once because I had go to The Land of Enchantment to work for two weeks. I don't think the HMTP will need alteration at this time if we keep to the schedule below. We will try to hold a make-up meeting to discuss the last two books, then plan a full meeting devoted to MAMMOTH.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, August 30th, at an as yet undisclosed location. Main topic: Eschatology. (I would suggest Steak-Night at Country Buffet, about 6:30.)

Then on Saturday, September 10th, we will meet to discuss MAMMOTH. My place, six o'clock.

Be there. Aloha.

(Deus Vult)