Triffids Beard 2 - The Bearded Triffid

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her technical expertise. But therein lies the flaw. If her research and experience in this area let her down so badly, it is tempting to ask just how much reliance one can place on her expertise and research into other areas; most notably the medical evidence on which so many vital plot threads hang. I found the medical information convincing and absorbing, but I am strictly a layman here. Would a real pathologist be as convinced? The seeds of doubt have been sown, so perhaps the nit is not so tiny after all. On the other hand the books are novels, not text books. I do not read them to learn about the inner workings of a computer's plumbing (or the inner workings of a person's plumbing for that matter). I read them for entertainment and grue and on that level they succeed magnificently; hence their enormous popularity and hence Patricia Cornwell's correspondingly enormous riches. There is no doubt that she has tapped a popular vein. So to speak. I came home to discover that my ginger cat (called, with complete lack of imagination, Ginger) had a lump. It was so large that she looked distinctly lop-sided and while it appeared to be affording her no discomfort, a visit to the vet was obviously called for. Much to her disgust she was bundled into a cage and off we went. "Looks like an abscess," opined the vet after poking around. "I'll just see what's inside it." She stuck a syringe into the lump and pulled on the plunger. The syringe filled up with a custardy liquid. "Yes," said the vet in tones of deep diagnostic satisfaction, "full of pus. Definitely an abscess. We'll have to drain it. Come back in an hour or so." I filled the next hour by wandering around the bookshop in the shopping mall across the road. I didn't buy anything because there were no new Patricia Cornwell books to be had. She hadn't written anything in the last week. Pity that. When I reappeared at the vets I was shocked to find that Ginger had been shaved all down her left side and she had two holes at the top and bottom of the abscess. A plastic strip poked coyly out of each, connecting them together, and it was secured in place with a couple of rough stitches; the idea being to keep the wound open and let it drain. "Bring her back next Wednesday," instructed the vet, "so we can remove the stitches and the drain." I took her home. She dripped unmentionable fluids. The next day being Sunday with the vet presumably enjoying a well-deserved day of rest, Ginger decided to pull the drain out. She succeeded in rupturing the stitches and bit off the top of the protruding plastic. What had once been a neat little oozing hole became a gaping wound that flowed with foulness. There was nothing for it -- we had to visit the emergency, after-hours, hideously expensive vet. I packed a couple of credit cards and off we went. The vet took his glasses off, the better to peer at the wound. "Draining nicely," he observed, and took Ginger into the back room. When he emerged again a few minutes later the wound was nicely stitched and Ginger was wearing an Elizabethan collar -- a large plastic ruff around the neck. "That'll stop her getting at the wound again," he said smugly. "Keep her indoors until Wednesday. Probably best to keep her in the cage." This was duly done, though it was not without incident. The Elizabethan collar had to come off for meals since not only could she not get at the wound while wearing it, she couldn't get at anything else either. I'll draw a veil lightly over her toilet arrangements. Suffice it to say that she didn't like them, and made her displeasure copiously plain. Wednesday saw the stitches and drain successfully removed. The holes soon scabbed over and healed, but the fur on her naked side is taking forever to grow back. Currently she sports a light coating of uneven fluff and looks remarkably silly. Baldness does not suit cats. Mind you, neither do lumps. I have one more Patricia Cornwell book to read. It is called Hornet's Nest. It is not about Kay Scarpetta -- indeed it has no connection at all with Cornwell's other books except for the trivial connection that it too is a thriller/police procedural. I am told by those who have read it that the style is quite different from
the Kay Scarpetta stories. Other than that I cannot say, since I appear to have overdosed for the moment on Patricia Cornwell and Hornet's Nest is still sitting unattractively on my "to be read" shelf. In retrospect, eight books non-stop was probably a rather foolish reading marathon to set myself. Patricia Cornwell Post Mortem Warner Books Body of Evidence All that Remains Cruel and Unusual The Body Farm From Potter's Field Little, Brown Cause of Death Unnatural Exposure Hornet's Nest
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Trimmings From The Triffid's Beard
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Foreword Unlike most holics, (if, a
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Buster Keaton and the lateral mind
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Movie Go Round Phlogiston Thirty-Fi
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crisps and a most revolting orange
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Lingua Frankly Phlogiston Thirty-Si
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tranquil islands of San Serif as th
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linguistic analysis. It is a theme
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up is laughable (feudalism across t
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perhaps over six feet." or "The per
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A Dozen Drabbles Phlogiston Thirty-
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This sort of thing had been going o
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In the story Jack Connie Willis cho
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(assuming the author describes them
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You should also consider whether or
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The Lesser Spotted Science Fiction
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. . . She peered at the cracked man
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stick. He hit the bed, and it was s
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Funny Business Phlogiston Forty-One
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...A large bottle. And in the bottl
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His wit and wisdom are highly prais
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16 novels, a Companion and a Mappe,
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weekends, many fine fictional works
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Zelazny brought Corwin's struggle t
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ordinary). He has also written some
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using them. Such ideas are reinforc
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that is quite frightening in the ra
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(v = velocity of aeroplane, c = spe
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press in recent years about people
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John Kilian Houston Brunner (1934-1
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In the Beginning Phoenixine Seventy
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It's Only Words Phoenixine Seventy-
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Alan Dean Foster Montezuma Strip As
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Drachenfels is absolutely brilliant
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There's a Pigeon in the Hole Phlogi
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detective story. Currently, under t
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Shock -- The unofficial Iain M Bank
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worlds (The Two Timers), interstell
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that were published in the Azazel c
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they came out and his new one is ju
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To Be Continued Phoenixine Seventy-
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searching out and nullifying sabote
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various acquaintances. Most of the
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The Mixture As Before Phoenixine Ei
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Paul J. McAuley's new novel Fairyla
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John Barnes Kaleidoscope Century Mi
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and move hastily on. It is also qui
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outside of these areas it is corres
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Bushell of the Royal American Mount
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Genre? Phoenixine Eighty-Two, July
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example, it is genuinely moving. On
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ody, and the game is afoot. The res
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Living in an SF Novel Phoenixine Ei
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Robyn Gossett is an entertaining wr
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Youthful Vices Phoenixine Eighty-Fi
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story is ever continued, I will be
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Connections Phoenixine Eighty-Six,
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have worried. She is on the top of
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New Things Phoenixine Eighty-Eight,
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novel with a lot of libertarian pre
Page 155 and 156: Oh Frabjous Day Phoenixine Eighty-N
Page 157: Falco, the detective in Vespasian's
Page 160 and 161: autobiography and several smaller a
Page 162: anyone to be proud of. But Malafren
Page 165 and 166: It sounded good and I dived into it
Page 168 and 169: Real Hols Phoenixine Ninety-One, Ma
Page 170 and 171: few months ago and complained that
Page 173 and 174: I Can't Lift up My Book Phoenixine
Page 175 and 176: There was a time, many years ago, w
Page 178 and 179: Moronicity Phoenixine Ninety-Three,
Page 180 and 181: my body opening in anticipation of
Page 183 and 184: Cats Phoenixine Ninety-Four, June 1
Page 185 and 186: With Higher Education, Sheffield an
Page 188 and 189: Food Phoenixine Ninety-Five, July 1
Page 190 and 191: through. His books pull you up with
Page 193 and 194: Snot Phoenixine Ninety-Six, August
Page 195 and 196: I have no hesitation in recommendin
Page 198 and 199: Tower Blocks and Graffiti Phoenixin
Page 200: picture had appeared on the wall an
Page 203: As I collected my luggage, the clou
Page 208 and 209: Ah -- so now I was having earthquak
Page 210 and 211: went back to the dentist. "Oh yes,
Page 213 and 214: Tony Phoenixine One-Hundred, Decemb
Page 215 and 216: ut when she puts her mind to it she
Page 218 and 219: Bouncy Phoenixine One-Hundred and O
Page 220 and 221: slammed shut as the wind screamed p
Page 222 and 223: A series of bizarre murders is shak
Page 225 and 226: The Universe Hates Me Phoenixine On
Page 227 and 228: humour with which this farrago of n
Page 230 and 231: Diatribe on Language Phoenixine One
Page 232 and 233: unless your school principle says s
Page 234 and 235: with large gaps in his memory and a
Page 237 and 238: Toilets Phoenixine One-Hundred and
Page 239 and 240: wall rather than recessed into it.
Page 241: Richard Matheson I am Legend Orb Ro
Page 244 and 245: almost a reprise of the war of 1812
Page 246 and 247: McConnell's book Code Complete proc
Page 249 and 250: Fiji Phoenixine One-Hundred and Six
Page 251 and 252: Every night the resident trio of mu
Page 253 and 254: The next day I flew home and the vi
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Triffids Beard 2 - The Bearded Triffid

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