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  • (ReacTor) Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels

    From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to All on Thu Apr 18 16:09:51 2024
    Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels

    A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
    more commercially viable novels.

    https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From Robert Woodward@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Thu Apr 18 09:42:10 2024
    In article <uvrgkf$h0v$1@reader1.panix.com>,
    jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

    Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels

    A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
    more commercially viable novels.

    https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

    I have read four of them (and several short stories that ended up in _Accelerando_).

    --
    "We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
    Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. ‹-----------------------------------------------------
    Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

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  • From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to lynnmcguire5@gmail.com on Thu Apr 18 22:04:31 2024
    In article <uvrsj3$2e3pk$1@dont-email.me>,
    Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 4/18/2024 11:09 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
    Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels

    A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
    more commercially viable novels.

    https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

    "A Canticle For Leibowitz" is pretty good, I have not read the other four.

    I would add "Ender's Game" to this list.

    That's not a fixup. That's an expansion of a single short work into a
    novel, like Flowers for Algernon or Second Game. I cannot offhand
    think of an example where the novel was as good as the novella, although
    I suppose there must be at least one.
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From Chris Buckley@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Fri Apr 19 01:01:15 2024
    On 2024-04-18, James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:
    In article <uvrsj3$2e3pk$1@dont-email.me>,
    Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 4/18/2024 11:09 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
    Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels

    A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
    more commercially viable novels.

    https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

    "A Canticle For Leibowitz" is pretty good, I have not read the other four.

    I would add "Ender's Game" to this list.

    That's not a fixup. That's an expansion of a single short work into a
    novel, like Flowers for Algernon or Second Game. I cannot offhand
    think of an example where the novel was as good as the novella, although
    I suppose there must be at least one.

    Depending on your definitions, _Startide Rising_ as an expansion of
    "The Tides of Kithrup". From what I can gather, the longer work was always envisioned with much of it written, but the novella/novelette was
    published two years earlier.

    Again depending on your definitions, there's several Ace doubles that
    were improved when they got expanded later, IMO. You've been reading Brunner;
    I think several of his improved.

    Chris

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  • From Ted Nolan @21:1/5 to tnusenet17@gmail.com on Wed Apr 24 22:15:59 2024
    In article <v0bma0$2gai3$1@dont-email.me>,
    Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 4/24/24 9:07 AM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
    On 18/04/2024 11.09, James Nicoll wrote:
    Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels

    A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works into
    more commercially viable novels.

    https://reactormag.com/five-superb-sff-fix-up-novels/

    I was glad to see the Nourse, which was my first encounter with fix-ups,
    and for which I've always had a soft spot in my heart.

    Another example is _Masters of the Vortex_ (a/k/a _The Vortex Blaster_).
    <http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1203>


    I forgot about that one!

    While we're on the topic, is Triplanetary a fix-up?
    - Tony


    The Gnome/Pyramid version, yes. The original magazine version no.

    However, thinking on it further, it may stretch the definition of fix-up
    as I don't believe the new material was ever published separately.
    --
    columbiaclosings.com
    What's not in Columbia anymore..

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  • From Default User@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Wed May 22 07:01:56 2024
    James Nicoll wrote:

    Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels

    A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works
    into more commercially viable novels.

    One I read quite some time ago was Starfinder by Robert F Young that
    was a fixup of stories that ran in F&SF.

    The stories were:
    Jonathan and the Space Whale
    Star Eel, The
    Haute Bourgeoisie
    Mindanao Deep, The
    As a Man Has a Whale a Love Story

    It featured some large living creatures that could travel through space
    and time. Humans would get inside and destroy the higher brain
    function, to leave a controllable ship. Jonathon is on the job when a
    whale communicates with him and convinces him that they should instead
    run off together.

    The novel was somewhat different, but I don't recall the specifics.


    Brian

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  • From Ted Nolan @21:1/5 to Default User on Wed May 22 12:18:15 2024
    In article <v2k594$12ii5$1@dont-email.me>,
    Default User <defaultuserbr@yahoo.com> wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:

    Five Superb SFF Fix-Up Novels

    A celebration of the SFFnal tradition of transforming short works
    into more commercially viable novels.

    One I read quite some time ago was Starfinder by Robert F Young that
    was a fixup of stories that ran in F&SF.

    The stories were:
    Jonathan and the Space Whale
    Star Eel, The
    Haute Bourgeoisie
    Mindanao Deep, The
    As a Man Has a Whale a Love Story

    It featured some large living creatures that could travel through space
    and time. Humans would get inside and destroy the higher brain
    function, to leave a controllable ship. Jonathon is on the job when a
    whale communicates with him and convinces him that they should instead
    run off together.

    The novel was somewhat different, but I don't recall the specifics.


    Brian


    Hmm. I remember that one: The space whale had a rare secondary brain
    that escaped the original cull. I thought it was an "Orbit" story though..
    --
    columbiaclosings.com
    What's not in Columbia anymore..

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