Triffids Beard 2 - The Bearded Triffid

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with large gaps in his memory and a penchant for driving boats he doesn't own. The wit and subtlety makes this his best novel since The Choirboys. Nancy Kress has carved out a niche for herself as a biological speculator. In Maximum Light we find a world where the world-wide fertility rate has declined enormously. Children are rare and treasured (though some of the children find all the attention suffocating). We are shown the society through the eyes of both young and old, and the morality of the young and the old is contrasted, particularly in regard to the rather sick way criminals are taking advantage of the downturn in fertility. Spider Robinson's new collection User Friendly is probably his weakest yet. There are too many stories about SF (as opposed to being science fiction stories -- not at all the same thing), and some have seen the light of day in other collections. The essays are weak and the "ras" (his word) are incomprehensible. From the titles of the three Janet Evanovich novels, it is easy to deduce that there will soon be a fourth. I, for one, can't wait. Stephanie Plum has lost her job as a seller of lingerie and, in desperate need of money, visits her cousin Vinnie (a well known pervert) and blackmails her way into a job with his bail bond company by threatening to tell Vinnie's wife exactly what he did with the duck. So now Stephanie is a bounty hunter -- when one of Vinnie's clients skips bail, Stephanie has to bring him in. The three novels are virtually plotless (Stephanie chases a bad guy and gets threatened). What makes them so delightful are the brilliant characterisations, particularly Stephanie's horrible grandmother whose hobby is going to viewings at funeral parlours and who shoots the bum off a chicken with Stephanie's gun (which is probably more than Stephanie can do). Stephanie has a pet hamster called Rex and in the last book her hair turns orange. I hope the fourth book appears soon -- I need to know whether or not her hair will ever return to its normal colour. Caesar's Bicycle is the third in John Barnes' timeline wars series. If you have read the other two you will love it. If you haven't read them you won't have a clue what's going on, but you might enjoy the vision of Roman legions conquering the world on bicycles rather than horses! Showstopper is a book for computer nerds. It details the design and development of Windows NT from the inside and clearly demonstrates how much it derives from the poisonous personality of Dave Cutler, its chief designer, whose hobby appears to be arguing with and insulting everybody in sight. The history is absolutely fascinating, and the book is much on a par with Tracy Kidder's Soul of a New Machine which did the same sort of expose of an old Data General system. Showstopper reveals that many of NT's weak points (some of which have been the subject of much controversy) were almost afterthoughts, shoved in at the last minute to placate political factions within Microsoft. Sometimes the joins show, which might explain why every new release has been so radically different from what went before. Walter Jon Williams' City on Fire is a most unusual thing, a sequel that is more rivetting than its predecessor. It takes up where Metropolitan left off. Aiah, who had supplied Constantine with sufficient plasm to lead a revolution to overthrow the corrupt dynasty of the Keremaths, now has a position of high authority in Constantine's new government. The novel is about the loss of innocence that even a hardened rebel can suffer when exposed to the machinations of government and the corrupting influences of power. This one deserves to win every prize going. Sooner or later every fantasy/horror writer turns out an Arthurian tale. The Chalice is Phil Rickman's. It concerns, of course, the holy grail; but from a uniquely Rickmannian point of view. It is probably one of his weaker novels in terms of plot, but it is rich in character, full of new age eccentrics and aging hippies. It is a huge, fat book but I read it in a sitting. Carl Hiaasen Lucky You Random House Joseph Wambaugh The Golden Orange Bantam Nancy Kress Maximum Light Tor Spider Robinson User Friendly Baen
Janet Evanovich One For the Money Penguin Two For the Dough Three to Get Deadly John Barnes Caesar's Bicycle Harper Prism G. Pascal Zachery Showstopper Warner Walter Jon Williams City on Fire Harper Prism Phil Rickman The Chalice McMillan
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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
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I Can't Lift up My Book Phoenixine
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There was a time, many years ago, w
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Moronicity Phoenixine Ninety-Three,
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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 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 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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