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  • Clarke Award Finalists 1998

    From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to All on Mon May 26 13:28:09 2025
    1998! The Good Friday Agreement gives Tories something new to undermine,
    Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Enoch Powell makes his greatest contribution to Britain by dying, and Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent paper
    puts him in the running with Thomas Midgley Jr. for single individual
    who did the most to undermine public health.

    Which 1998 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
    The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
    Days by James Lovegrove
    Glimmering by Elizabeth Hand
    Nymphomation by Jeff Noon
    The Family Tree by Sheri S. Tepper
    Titan by Stephen Baxter

    I have only read the Russell, which was Xtian tosh, and the Baxter, which
    was much worse. Would not be surprised if I read the worst two of that
    set.
    --
    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

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Titus G@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Tue May 27 17:04:41 2025
    On 27/05/25 01:28, James Nicoll wrote:
    1998! The Good Friday Agreement gives Tories something new to undermine, Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Enoch Powell makes his greatest contribution to Britain by dying, and Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent paper puts him in the running with Thomas Midgley Jr. for single individual
    who did the most to undermine public health.

    Which 1998 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

    I have read
    The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
    Nymphomation by Jeff Noon

    I have only read the Russell, which was Xtian tosh, and the Baxter, which
    was much worse. Would not be surprised if I read the worst two of that
    set.

    I thought that the Sparrow was absolutely brilliant as a horror story
    which basically addressed the Xtian question of whether great suffering
    was necessary to produce great art. There were further complications to
    result in a great read. Five stars.

    Nymphomation was enjoyable but I didn't think it was award winning
    stuff. I had already read five star VURT so Nymphomation lacked the high novelty value of first reading Noon.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From a425couple@21:1/5 to Titus G on Tue May 27 08:19:13 2025
    On 5/26/25 22:04, Titus G wrote:
    On 27/05/25 01:28, James Nicoll wrote:
    1998! The Good Friday Agreement gives Tories something new to undermine,
    Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Enoch Powell makes his greatest
    contribution to Britain by dying, and Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent paper
    puts him in the running with Thomas Midgley Jr. for single individual
    who did the most to undermine public health.

    (Strange! I sent a reply yesterday. And as I view the newsgroup,
    it is marked as a little bluish arrow next to Nichols original post,
    but then when opened, there is nothing there. It is also not in my
    "sent mail", nor in "drafts", nor in the backlog. ???)

    Which 1998 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

    I have read
    The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

    I have only read the Russell, which was Xtian tosh, and the Baxter, which
    was much worse. Would not be surprised if I read the worst two of that
    set.

    I thought that the Sparrow was absolutely brilliant as a horror story
    which basically addressed the Xtian question of whether great suffering
    was necessary to produce great art. There were further complications to result in a great read. Five stars.

    I read "The Sparrow" quite recently. (Gave a copy of it to a friend,
    who loved it. He also loved the sequel.) I quite enjoyed the sci-fi
    and the world expanding and loving creation of new situations. I did
    not enjoy the torture and 'abandonment' acts and feelings.

    I got about 1/3 of way through the sequel, then due to sadness and
    onfusion, stalled out.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Gary R. Schmidt@21:1/5 to All on Wed May 28 21:26:55 2025
    On 28/5/25 01:19, a425couple wrote:
    On 5/26/25 22:04, Titus G wrote:
    On 27/05/25 01:28, James Nicoll wrote:
    1998! The Good Friday Agreement gives Tories something new to undermine, >>> Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Enoch Powell makes his greatest
    contribution to Britain by dying, and Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent
    paper
    puts him in the running with Thomas Midgley Jr. for single individual
    who did the most to undermine public health.

    (Strange!  I sent a reply yesterday.  And as I view the newsgroup,
    it is marked as a little bluish arrow next to Nichols original post,
    but then when opened, there is nothing there.  It is also not in my
    "sent mail", nor in "drafts", nor in the backlog.  ???)

    It's probably in "Local Folders->Sent".

    Cheers,
    Gary B-)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Titus G@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jun 3 17:42:51 2025
    On 28/05/25 03:19, a425couple wrote:
    On 5/26/25 22:04, Titus G wrote:
    On 27/05/25 01:28, James Nicoll wrote:
    1998! The Good Friday Agreement gives Tories something new to undermine, >>> Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Enoch Powell makes his greatest
    contribution to Britain by dying, and Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent
    paper
    puts him in the running with Thomas Midgley Jr. for single individual
    who did the most to undermine public health.

    (Strange!  I sent a reply yesterday.  And as I view the newsgroup,
    it is marked as a little bluish arrow next to Nichols original post,
    but then when opened, there is nothing there.  It is also not in my
    "sent mail", nor in "drafts", nor in the backlog.  ???)

    Which 1998 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

    I have read
    The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

    I have only read the Russell, which was Xtian tosh, and the Baxter,
    which
    was much worse. Would not be surprised if I read the worst two of that
    set.

    I thought that the Sparrow was absolutely brilliant as a horror story
    which basically addressed the Xtian question of whether great suffering
    was necessary to produce great art. There were further complications to
    result in a great read. Five stars.

    I read "The Sparrow" quite recently.  (Gave a copy of it to a friend,
    who loved it.  He also loved the sequel.)  I quite enjoyed the sci-fi
    and the world expanding and loving creation of new situations.  I did
    not enjoy the torture and 'abandonment' acts and feelings.

    I understand. That was probably the most horrible horror I have read.
    There was also the horror of the injustice in regard to the death of the
    young girl.

    I got about 1/3 of way through the sequel, then due to sadness and
    onfusion, stalled out.

    I have the sequel but because of my dislike of that type of horror, I
    have not opened it.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)