Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Remembering Cordwainer Smith: Full-Time Sci-Fi Author Part-Time Earthling - Ted Gioia
"One could spend many pages considering these sociological and political themes, but the main attraction of Cordwainer Smith is not the theoretical implications, but the extravagant and often disturbing plot elements that make his stories stand out from the pack. When Smith submitted his first sci-fi story "Scanners Live in Vain" to John Campbell, Jr., the mastermind behind the influential Astounding magazine, the seasoned editor turned it down because it was, in his words, "too extreme.""
3.5 out of 5
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/03/remembering-cordwainer-smith-full-time-sci-fi-author-part-time-earthling/274344/
Thursday, February 21, 2013
The Intricate World of Cordwainer Smith - Ross Hetherington
"Every one of Smith’s stories takes place within a single, projected future history spanning 14,000 years from the present (a history which has only ever been incompletely reconstructed – Linebarger lost his one notebook to a sailing trip). In them, after global collapse near to our present time, there is founded a single governing power – The Instrumentality of Mankind. Though the Instrumentality is willing to use any means at its disposal to preserve humanity, its dictatorship is neither that of abstract utilitarian computation, nor of pure bureaucracy. The Lords of the Instrumentality, when we meet them, are human, whatever methuselan age they have lived to, or whatever skills and technologies they employ. And, however vast and rigid the hierarchy sits under them, they retain their individuality and autonomy. Ultimately, that they will serve humanity above all other concerns is a matter of trust in the subtle wisdom of the system they serve."
3.5 out of 5
http://glasgowguardian.co.uk/culture/the-intricate-world-of-cordwainer-smith/
Thursday, December 13, 2012
A Game Of Rats And Dragon - Tobias S. Buckell
I prefer my program pet-colleague, thanks.
4 out of 5
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-game-of-rats-and-dragon/
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
4 out of 5
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
The Game of Rat and Dragon - Cordwainer Smith
"Protecting Project Pulp No. 10: Cordwainer Smith"
4 out of 5
http://protectingprojectpulp.com/protecting-project-pulp-no-10-cordwainer-smith/
4 out of 5
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Earthport - Technovelgy
A massive spaceport that reared up from the surface of the earth to the edge of the atmosphere.
"...Earthport stood like an enormous wineglass, reaching from the magma to the high atmosphere. Earthport had been built during mankind's biggest mechanical splurge. Though men had had nuclear rockets since the beginning of consecutive history, they had used chemical rockets to load the interplanetary ion-drive and nuclear-drive vehicles or to assemble the photonic sail-ships for interstellar cruises. Impatient with the troubles of taking things bit by bit into the sky, they had worked out a billion-ton rocket, only to find that it ruined whatever countryside it touched in landing. The Daimoni-people of Earth extraction, who came back from somewhere beyond the stars-had helped men build [Earthport] of weatherproof, rustproof, timeproof, stressproof material."
4 out of 5
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Content.asp?Bnum=2066
"...Earthport stood like an enormous wineglass, reaching from the magma to the high atmosphere. Earthport had been built during mankind's biggest mechanical splurge. Though men had had nuclear rockets since the beginning of consecutive history, they had used chemical rockets to load the interplanetary ion-drive and nuclear-drive vehicles or to assemble the photonic sail-ships for interstellar cruises. Impatient with the troubles of taking things bit by bit into the sky, they had worked out a billion-ton rocket, only to find that it ruined whatever countryside it touched in landing. The Daimoni-people of Earth extraction, who came back from somewhere beyond the stars-had helped men build [Earthport] of weatherproof, rustproof, timeproof, stressproof material."
4 out of 5
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Content.asp?Bnum=2066
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Erba in Tour Uniform - Joel Glaine
"In the shadow of Earthport, a rabbit-derived undergirl signals to you and your friends that the tour of Earthport will now begin. Triangle tours runs tours from Earthport, to the sprawling city of Meeya-Meefla at it's base to the top of Eathport, 20 km up. "
3 out of 5
The E'telikeli - Lifetake
E'telikeli is an Underperson from author Cordwainer Smith's sci-fi universe...he shows up in uhh...."The Ballad of Lost C'mell" and Norstrilia. I think that's it....? Someone can correct me if I'm wrong; C.S. has a billion short stories. Anyway Underpeople are animals modified to look and act like people, but basically they are treated as second-class citizens (if citizens at all, actually...can't remember). Anyway they do mundane jobs to make everyone's life easier. E'telikeli was a badly-formed Underperson and was discarded but he survived and then he does some important stuff. Oh and the E stands for Eagle; he was derived from an eagle.E'telikeli is an Underperson from author Cordwainer Smith's sci-fi universe...he shows up in uhh...."The Ballad of Lost C'mell" and Norstrilia. I think that's it....? Someone can correct me if I'm wrong; C.S. has a billion short stories. Anyway Underpeople are animals modified to look and act like people, but basically they are treated as second-class citizens (if citizens at all, actually...can't remember). Anyway they do mundane jobs to make everyone's life easier. E'telikeli was a badly-formed Underperson and was discarded but he survived and then he does some important stuff. Oh and the E stands for Eagle; he was derived from an eagle."
3.5 out of 5
M'inga Mouse Under-girl - Joel Glaine
"12000 years in the future,in the shadow of Earthport,Animal derived under-people scurry to fulfill the wishes of their human masters,leastways according to Cordwainer Smith. Inspired by the novel, Norstrilia, This is one of three pieces I did.
M'inga is a mouse-girl technician that keeps the engines and factories in the Down-deep-down-deep, far below the human city of Meeya-Meefla Around Earthport. The under-people who aren't to come in contact with true-men aren't allowed many clothes."
4 out of 5
Russian Blue a Girly-girl - Joel Glaine
"12000 years in the future,in the shadow of Earthport,Animal derived under-people scurry to fulfill the wishes of their human masters,leastways according to Cordwainer Smith. Inspired by the novel, Norstrilia, This is one of three pieces I did. Earthport hostesses are called "Girly-girls" and are expected to wait hand and foot on visitors from the stars like Geishas. Russian-blue is a cat-girl derived from a russian blue cat."
3.5 out of 5
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Ballad of Lost C'Mell - Cordwainer Smith
A version done for 'Sci-Fi Radio' on NPR in 1989.
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Haberman - Technovelgy
"Haberman
Modified humans controlled by cybernetic implants.
A human that have been modified from most sensory reception, while their bodily functions are controlled by cybernetic implants. Habermans are needed to crew spacecraft, since unmodified humans would not be able to withstand the "pain of space". The Pain is a side effect of interstellar travel, which causes a desire for death in living beings."
3.5 out of 5
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=1975
Modified humans controlled by cybernetic implants.
A human that have been modified from most sensory reception, while their bodily functions are controlled by cybernetic implants. Habermans are needed to crew spacecraft, since unmodified humans would not be able to withstand the "pain of space". The Pain is a side effect of interstellar travel, which causes a desire for death in living beings."
3.5 out of 5
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=1975
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Cordwainer Smith: The Ballad of Lost Linebarger Part 2 - Frederik Pohl
"There was a problem. After a few more fine stories about the associates of Lord Jestecost and C’Mell the cat lady and all, I got a saddening letter from him. He wouldn’t be writing any more stories about the Instrumentality, he said, because he had totally run out of additional story ideas. He hadn’t thought that would happen, he told me, because for years he’d kept this little pocket notebook with him, filling it with ideas as they occurred to him, including a number for additional stories in the series. But, alas. he’d been in a small boat somewhere — maybe it was on some Italian lake or Mediterranean bay — and he had leaned incautiously over the side … and the notebook had fallen out of his breast pocket into the water … and he been able to watch it dropping through the crystal-clear water until at last it was out of sight, and was gone. Along with all those never-to-be-written stories"
5 out of 5
http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/12/cordwainer-smith-the-ballad-of-lost-linebarger-part-2/
5 out of 5
http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/12/cordwainer-smith-the-ballad-of-lost-linebarger-part-2/
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Underpeople
From Technovelgy
"An animal modified to be human in shape and intellect.
"...there had been the problem of the underpeople- people who were not human, but merely shaped from the stock of Earth animals. They could speak, sing, read, write, work, love, and die; but they were not covered by human law, which simply defined them as "homunculi" and gave them a legal status close to animals or robots...""
3.5 outof 5
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Content.asp?Bnum=1959
"An animal modified to be human in shape and intellect.
"...there had been the problem of the underpeople- people who were not human, but merely shaped from the stock of Earth animals. They could speak, sing, read, write, work, love, and die; but they were not covered by human law, which simply defined them as "homunculi" and gave them a legal status close to animals or robots...""
3.5 outof 5
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Content.asp?Bnum=1959
Planoforming
"A form of "faster than light" travel allows for interstellar travel.
"Planoforming was sort of funny. It felt like like— Like nothing much. Like the twinge of a mild electric shock. Like the ache of a sore tooth bitten on for the first time. Like a slightly painful flash of light against the eyes. Yet in that time, a forty-thousand-ton ship lifting free above Earth disappeared somehow or other into two dimensions and appeared half a light-year or fifty light-years off." "
3.5 out of 5
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=1964
"Planoforming was sort of funny. It felt like like— Like nothing much. Like the twinge of a mild electric shock. Like the ache of a sore tooth bitten on for the first time. Like a slightly painful flash of light against the eyes. Yet in that time, a forty-thousand-ton ship lifting free above Earth disappeared somehow or other into two dimensions and appeared half a light-year or fifty light-years off." "
3.5 out of 5
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=1964
Monday, December 13, 2010
Cordwainer Smith: The Ballad of Lost Linebarger Part 1 - Frederik Pohl
"It was a story that had appeared in a semi-pro sf magazine from California called, if I remember aright, Fantasy Book. Its title was “Scanners Live in Vain.” It was about a bizarre kind of spaceflight, set in a bizarre future world, .and it was signed as by someone named Cordwainer Smith. So I included it in my lineup, and then had the problem of finding out who could sign a permission for the use of the story and accept the payment for it. “Cordwainer Smith” smelled very much like a pseudonym to me. But for whom? "
5 out of 5
http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/12/cordwainer-smith-the-ballad-of-lost-linebarger-part-1/
5 out of 5
http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/12/cordwainer-smith-the-ballad-of-lost-linebarger-part-1/
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Cordwainer Smith and A. Bertram Chandler - Steve Davidson
"My second reason for raising Chandler is the homage he paid to Cordwainer Smith in no less than two of his novels.
That it was a deliberate tribute to his fellow author is without question; Chandler actually placed Cordwainer Smith’s name right on the page for everyone to see, and used it in a way that any but the most uneducated, ignorant and unconnected reader could possibly miss. (Well, back up a bit: that only applies if you’re already familiar with Smith and Chandler.)
The two novels in question are The Inheritors and The Far Traveler.
Allow me a few paragraphs for background so I can bring the few poor souls amongst you who have never read Chandler up to date."
4.5 out of 5
http://cordwainer-smith.com/blog/cordwainer-smith-and-a-bertram-chandler.html
That it was a deliberate tribute to his fellow author is without question; Chandler actually placed Cordwainer Smith’s name right on the page for everyone to see, and used it in a way that any but the most uneducated, ignorant and unconnected reader could possibly miss. (Well, back up a bit: that only applies if you’re already familiar with Smith and Chandler.)
The two novels in question are The Inheritors and The Far Traveler.
Allow me a few paragraphs for background so I can bring the few poor souls amongst you who have never read Chandler up to date."
4.5 out of 5
http://cordwainer-smith.com/blog/cordwainer-smith-and-a-bertram-chandler.html
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Inheritors - A. Bertram Chandler
Apart from tangling with a nemesis, Drongo Kane, this novel is also a homage to Cordwainer Smith, including the names of the inhabitants of a planet, and cat-bred underpeople, among other things, so that is a nice touch.
Here, Kane is indulging in slavery - because currently the catpeople inhabitants are not classed as 'true' humans, so there are no laws against doing so.
This planet, Morrowvia, is a another Lost Colony, so likely to get away with it, until the Federation Survey Service and one John Grimes and crew come calling.
--
Large excerpt here :- http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0441370624/0441370624_toc.htm
Here, Kane is indulging in slavery - because currently the catpeople inhabitants are not classed as 'true' humans, so there are no laws against doing so.
This planet, Morrowvia, is a another Lost Colony, so likely to get away with it, until the Federation Survey Service and one John Grimes and crew come calling.
--
Large excerpt here :- http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0441370624/0441370624_toc.htm
The Lords of the Instrumentality - Ralph Benko
Find out just who is keeping down the Underpeople, here. Other than Lord Cordwainer of course.
Unfortunately has wretched performance in any browser I try. Interesting idea. Terry Dowling is Lord Afervarro, for one.
3 out of 5
http://www.instrumentality.com/
Unfortunately has wretched performance in any browser I try. Interesting idea. Terry Dowling is Lord Afervarro, for one.
3 out of 5
http://www.instrumentality.com/
Cloud Permutations - Lavie Tidhar
"MJ: The narrative voice of Cloud Permutations is at times self-reflexive and almost non-fictional in style, often referring to where pieces of the story were collected from primary and secondary sources. Why did you choose to tell Kal’s story in this way?
LT: It’s partly homage to one of my favourite SF writers, Cordwainer Smith. And it’s an interesting way of telling a story. Settling on the right voice for a story is always challenging. Different stories need different approaches and this one just felt the most natural for a story that is as much about the world as it is about its hero. There is a lot more going on beyond Kai’s story – a lot of other stories, and some intersect with his and some are in the distant past and some have not happened yet."
Unseen.
http://www.apexbookcompany.com/2010/09/an-interview-with-lavie-tidhar-on-cloud-permutations/
LT: It’s partly homage to one of my favourite SF writers, Cordwainer Smith. And it’s an interesting way of telling a story. Settling on the right voice for a story is always challenging. Different stories need different approaches and this one just felt the most natural for a story that is as much about the world as it is about its hero. There is a lot more going on beyond Kai’s story – a lot of other stories, and some intersect with his and some are in the distant past and some have not happened yet."
Unseen.
http://www.apexbookcompany.com/2010/09/an-interview-with-lavie-tidhar-on-cloud-permutations/
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Fife of Bodidharma - Cordwainer Smith
Short Story
Number of words : 2900
Percent of complex words : 10.3
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 16.0
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 10.5
Flesch : 64.5
Flesch-Kincaid : 8.2
PEOPLE
Goldsmith
Made the fife and died as a result.
Bodidharma the Blessed One
Ancient religious leader who is given the fife.
German explorer
Found the fife.
Wolfgang Huene
A nazi who hates Hitler and finds the fife.
Hagen von Griin
One of the German rocket scientists who worked at Huntsville, Alabama.
TECHNOLOGY
Magical fife
A musical instrument. A chancy prediscovery of psionic powers with sonic triggering. Made of gold.
Onyx
A type of quartz.
Case No. 34 of the Dorotheum
Where the fife resided in Germany.
PLACES
Cathay
Another name for part of China.
Loyang
Chinese city.
Anyang
City in South Korea.
Rhine
German river.
Cape Canaveral
Site of USA space launches.
ORGANISATIONS
Northern Wei dynasty
Ancient Chinese rulers.
Toba Tartars
Chinese barbarians.
Volkssturm
German military group.
Harappa
A proto-Indian culture.
ANIMALS
Tiger and wolf and fox and jackal and snake and spider
Encountered by the Bodidharma.
VEHICLES
B-29s
Allied planes.
PLOT
A goldsmith makes a fife with special properties which has different owners over time from Bodidharmas to nazis. Eventually a rocket scientist uses it as a replacement strut in a launch and wonders if it matters in what setting he left it.
2.5 out of 5
Number of words : 2900
Percent of complex words : 10.3
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 16.0
READABILITY INDICES
Fog : 10.5
Flesch : 64.5
Flesch-Kincaid : 8.2
PEOPLE
Goldsmith
Made the fife and died as a result.
Bodidharma the Blessed One
Ancient religious leader who is given the fife.
German explorer
Found the fife.
Wolfgang Huene
A nazi who hates Hitler and finds the fife.
Hagen von Griin
One of the German rocket scientists who worked at Huntsville, Alabama.
TECHNOLOGY
Magical fife
A musical instrument. A chancy prediscovery of psionic powers with sonic triggering. Made of gold.
Onyx
A type of quartz.
Case No. 34 of the Dorotheum
Where the fife resided in Germany.
PLACES
Cathay
Another name for part of China.
Loyang
Chinese city.
Anyang
City in South Korea.
Rhine
German river.
Cape Canaveral
Site of USA space launches.
ORGANISATIONS
Northern Wei dynasty
Ancient Chinese rulers.
Toba Tartars
Chinese barbarians.
Volkssturm
German military group.
Harappa
A proto-Indian culture.
ANIMALS
Tiger and wolf and fox and jackal and snake and spider
Encountered by the Bodidharma.
VEHICLES
B-29s
Allied planes.
PLOT
A goldsmith makes a fife with special properties which has different owners over time from Bodidharmas to nazis. Eventually a rocket scientist uses it as a replacement strut in a launch and wonders if it matters in what setting he left it.
2.5 out of 5
Tiger and wolf and fox and jackal and snake and spider : The Fife of Bodidharma - Cordwainer Smith
Encountered by the Bodidharma.
3.5 out of 5
3.5 out of 5
Case No. 34 of the Dorotheum : The Fife of Bodidharma - Cordwainer Smith
Where the fife resided in Germany.
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
Magical fife : The Fife of Bodidharma - Cordwainer Smith
A musical instrument. A chancy prediscovery of psionic powers with sonic triggering. Made of gold.
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
Hagen von Griin : The Fife of Bodidharma - Cordwainer Smith
One of the German rocket scientists who worked at Huntsville, Alabama.
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
Wolfgang Huene : The Fife of Bodidharma - Cordwainer Smith
A nazi who hates Hitler and finds the fife.
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
Bodidharma the Blessed One : The Fife of Bodidharma - Cordwainer Smith
Ancient religious leader who is given the fife.
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
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