Triffids Beard 2 - The Bearded Triffid

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A series of bizarre murders is shaking the gypsy community and baffling the police. The gypsies give the murderer the name Mulengro and though the police are searching for a purely human killer, the gypsies know that he is a supernatural being; their wise women have dukkerin, (the sight). The strength of the book lies in the contrast between the world views of the gaje and the gypsies and the interpretations they put on the events that they share. Jack Faust is probably Michael Swanwick's weakest book. It is hard to call it a failure (it is beautifully written) but somehow it just doesn't work. It re-tells the standard Faust story. Faust uses his knowledge to institute a scientific revolution (to that extent you could regard the book as a parallel world story) and Swanwick uses the framework to tell (or re-tell) the history of Western scientific thought. Unfortunately that begins to turn the book into more of a lecture than a story and as a result the characters fail to come alive -- they are simply puppets dancing on the strings of the larger, more overt purpose that Swanwick has for the book. And therein lies the book's great weakness. It is, perhaps, too clever by half. The lady with the keys and the walkie-talkie thumped the door hard. The walkie-talkie said "shhhhhh -crrrrrr aaaaaaccccckkkkkklllleeeee -- hhhiiiisssss", but she ignored it and thumped the door again. A surprised looking man opened it and they engaged in a serious discussion that involved much arm waving and staring at computer printouts. Eventually, with bad grace, he gave in and we strode through into the domestic terminal. "Awwwwww, mate! Here it is mate!" Kevin J. Anderson's anthology has one of the best thematic ideas I have ever seen. War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches presents the H. G. Well's Martian invasion of Earth as witnessed by Mark Twain, Pablo Picasso, Jack London etc. (Obviously the invasion was world wide and Wells gave us only his view of it in England -- what happened in other countries?). The stories range from a straight forward ERB pastiche by George Alec Effinger to a hilarious scholarly paper by Connie Willis on the effects of the invasion on Emily Dickinson. The anthology has its strengths and weaknesses, but by and large it is an outstanding success. The new Christopher Fowler novel Disturbia will teach you more about London than you ever wanted to know. Vincent Reynolds has fallen foul of the League of Prometheus, a secret society with a lot of power to manipulate the wheelers and dealers. The League sets him ten challenges, cryptic clues that can only be solved by those with an encyclopaedic knowledge of London. If he fails to solve the challenges he will be killed. At first it seems a game -- crossword puzzle clues to take him across the city. But the League has more at stake than simply tormenting Vincent. It gradually becomes clear that there many ulterior and sinister motives behind the game. Disturbia is a paranoid's wet dream, but at the same time it is an elegiac paean of praise to London. That vision haunts the book and raises it from a simple chase story to something almost mystical in its outlook. It is a hauntingly beautiful story as a result. I hastened to the baggage claim area. All the adverts for Ansett claim that the priority baggage arrives on the conveyor simultaneously with the passengers (if not before). After the huge delay in the toileted expanse of the International Terminal I expected to find the bags circulating forlornly, waiting for their owners. I was wrong. Despite the sense of isolation, the passing of geological aeons and the strident cries of "Awww, mate", we had obviously been under close surveillance all the time. As I arrived in the baggage claim area, the conveyor whirred into life and three seconds later my suitcase rolled into view. Adverts never lie. Robert Rankin The Brentford Chainstore Massacre Doubleday Larry McMurtry Commanche Moon Simon & Schuster
Mary Doria Russell The Sparrow Black Swan Stephen King Wizard and Glass Plume Peter Straub The Hellfire Club Harper Collins Damon Knight Creating Short Fiction Saint Martins Rick Cook Mall Purchase Night Baen Richard Grant Tex and Molly in the Afterlife Avon Terry Pratchett Jingo Gollancz Stephen Fry Moab is my Washpot Hutchinson Bill Bryson A Walk in the Woods Doubleday Frederik Pohl The Siege of Eternity Tor S. P. Somtow The Pavilion of Frozen Women Vista Charles de Lint Mulengro Pan Michael Swanwick Jack Faust Avon Kevin J. Anderson (Editor) War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches Bantam Christopher Fowler Disturbia Warner
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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
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Oh Frabjous Day Phoenixine Eighty-N
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Falco, the detective in Vespasian's
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autobiography and several smaller a
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anyone to be proud of. But Malafren
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It sounded good and I dived into it
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Real Hols Phoenixine Ninety-One, Ma
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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 and 204: As I collected my luggage, the clou
Page 205: the Kay Scarpetta stories. Other th
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 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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