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Jason Taverner - world-famous talk show host and man-about-town - wakes up one day to find that no one knows who he is - including the vast databases of the totalitarian government. And in a society where lack of identification is a crime, Taverner has no choice but to go on the run with a host of shady characters, including crooked cops and dealers of alien drugs. But do they know more than they are letting on? And just how can a person's identity be erased overnight?
This science fiction novel describes the epic voyage of the spacecraft Leonora Christine. From practically the very first minute, Tau Zero sets scientific realities in dramatic tension with the very real emotional and psychological states of the travelers, exploring the effect of time contraction due to traveling at near-light speed on the human psyche. This tension is a dynamic that Anderson explores with great success over the course of the novel, as 50 crewmembers settle in for the long journey together.
Charlie Gordon, a floor sweeper born with an unusually low IQ, has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that doctors hope will increase his intelligence - a procedure that has been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon. All Charlie wants is to be smart and have friends, but the treatment turns him into a genius. Then Algernon begins to fade. What will become of Charlie? Read by Adam Sims.
John Wainwright is a freak, a human mutation with an extraordinary intelligence which is both awesome and frightening to behold. Ordinary humans are mere playthings to him. And Odd John has a plan - to create a new order on Earth, a new supernormal species. But the world is not ready for such a change...
Harlan Ellison has won more awards for imaginative literature than any other living author, but only aficionados of Ellison’s singular work have been aware of another of his passions…he is a great oral interpreter of his stories. His recordings have been difficult to obtain…by his choice. In 1999, for the first time, he was lured into the studio to record this stunning retrospective.
Time is running out for the passengers and crew of the tourist cruiser Selene, incarcerated in a sea of choking lunar dust. On the surface her rescuers find their resources stretched to the limit by the mercilessly unpredictable conditions of a totally alien environment.
Jason Taverner - world-famous talk show host and man-about-town - wakes up one day to find that no one knows who he is - including the vast databases of the totalitarian government. And in a society where lack of identification is a crime, Taverner has no choice but to go on the run with a host of shady characters, including crooked cops and dealers of alien drugs. But do they know more than they are letting on? And just how can a person's identity be erased overnight?
This science fiction novel describes the epic voyage of the spacecraft Leonora Christine. From practically the very first minute, Tau Zero sets scientific realities in dramatic tension with the very real emotional and psychological states of the travelers, exploring the effect of time contraction due to traveling at near-light speed on the human psyche. This tension is a dynamic that Anderson explores with great success over the course of the novel, as 50 crewmembers settle in for the long journey together.
Charlie Gordon, a floor sweeper born with an unusually low IQ, has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that doctors hope will increase his intelligence - a procedure that has been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon. All Charlie wants is to be smart and have friends, but the treatment turns him into a genius. Then Algernon begins to fade. What will become of Charlie? Read by Adam Sims.
John Wainwright is a freak, a human mutation with an extraordinary intelligence which is both awesome and frightening to behold. Ordinary humans are mere playthings to him. And Odd John has a plan - to create a new order on Earth, a new supernormal species. But the world is not ready for such a change...
Harlan Ellison has won more awards for imaginative literature than any other living author, but only aficionados of Ellison’s singular work have been aware of another of his passions…he is a great oral interpreter of his stories. His recordings have been difficult to obtain…by his choice. In 1999, for the first time, he was lured into the studio to record this stunning retrospective.
Time is running out for the passengers and crew of the tourist cruiser Selene, incarcerated in a sea of choking lunar dust. On the surface her rescuers find their resources stretched to the limit by the mercilessly unpredictable conditions of a totally alien environment.
In a world policed by telepaths, Ben Reich plans to commit a crime that hasn't been heard of in 70 years: murder. That's the only option left for Reich, whose company is losing a 10-year death struggle with rival D'Courtney Enterprises.Terrorized in his dreams by The Man with No Face and driven to the edge after D'Courtney refuses a merger offer, Reich murders his rival and bribes a high-ranking telepath to help him cover his tracks. But while police prefect Lincoln Powell knows Reich is guilty, his telepath's knowledge is a far cry from admissible evidence.
When London is lost beneath the rising tides, unconscious desires rush to the surface in this apocalyptic tale from the author of Crash and Cocaine Nights. Fluctuations in solar radiation have melted the ice caps, sending the planet into a new Triassic Age of unendurable heat. London is a swamp; lush tropical vegetation grows up the walls of the Ritz and primeval reptiles are sighted, swimming through the newly-formed lagoons.
This is the way the world ends. Again. Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, masquerading as an ordinary schoolteacher in a quiet, small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Mighty Sanze, the empire whose innovations have been civilisation's bedrock for a thousand years, collapses as its greatest city is destroyed by a madman's vengeance.
Glen Runciter runs a lucrative business - deploying his teams of anti-psychics to corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. But when he and his top team are ambushed by a rival, he is gravely injured and placed in "half-life," a dreamlike state of suspended animation. Soon, though, the surviving members of the team begin experiencing some strange phenomena, such as Runciter's face appearing on coins and the world seeming to move backward in time.
If it had another name, I never knew, but the locals called it the Loney - that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune where Hanny and I went every Easter time with Mummer, Farther, Mr. and Mrs. Belderboss and Father Wilfred, the parish priest. It was impossible to truly know the place. It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water.
It isn’t easy to get a group of bestselling SF authors to write new stories for an anthology, but that’s what Elizabeth Anne Hull has done in this powerhouse book. With original, captivating tales by Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Ben Bova, David Brin, Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Joe Haldeman, Harry Harrison, Larry Niven, Vernor Vinge, Gene Wolfe, and others, Gateways is a SF event that will be a must-buy for SF readers of all tastes, from the traditional to the cutting edge; from the darkly serious to the laugh-out-loud funny.
In 1972, Robert Silverberg, even then an acknowledged leader in the science fiction field, published a book that was immediately hailed as a masterpiece. More than three decades later, Dying Inside has stood the test of time and has been recognized as one of the finest novels the field has ever produced. Never wasting a word, Silverberg persuasively shows us what it would be like to read minds, painting an unforgettable portrait of a man shaped by that unique power; a power he is now inexorably losing.
Acclaimed upon first publication by SF critics and mainstream reviewers alike, Dying Inside is overdue for reintroduction to today’s SF audience. This is a novel for everyone who appreciates deeply affecting characterization, imaginative power, and the irreplaceable perspective unique to speculative fiction of the highest order.
This one's a keeper. Despite Silverberg's reputation as a great SF author, this book isn't a genre work. It's has a lyrical feel, maybe like a memoir with telepathy as a kind of stand-in for the creative process. The performance was wonderful with lots of colour, but never overbearing. Best book I read or listened to all year.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
THE OLD ACADEMIC BULLSHIT
This book reads like a diary and each day could start with the words, Oh Woe Is Me. The main character can read minds and this leads to all sorts of problems. For most of his life he knows no one else who can do this and he can not tell anyone else. As a small child, he reads the minds of his parents as they have sex, argue, lie to each other, etc. I had high hopes for this and thought it was going to make an interesting story. The story meandered and sometimes into meaningless side stories. David makes money by doing term papers for college students. In chapter 4 he does a paper on THE NOVELS OF KAFKA, and we get the entire paper in this book. Chapter 14 is THE "ELECTRA" THEME IN AESCHYLUS, SOPHOCLES, AND EURIPIDES and once again we get to read the entire paper.
Evidently there is no upside to reading minds and then when you lose the power that has haunted you all your life, there is no upside to that either. As they say were I live, this guy would bitch if they hung him with a new rope.
TIME FOR MIND MOVIES
18 of 21 people found this review helpful
Dying inside is written in a subjective style from the point of view of its protagonist, David Selig, a man who is losing his telepathic abilites, and he is struggling to compensate for the lose. The novel is every bit as much a literary masterpiece as it is classic science fiction. The novel actually trancends the science fiction genre, practically anyone could enjoy this book.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Wistful without being morose. A book that could have been very depressing but wasn’t. Humor, depth, outstanding fiction perfectly believable. No profound ending. Just a thorough examination of and acceptance that loss will occur in life. Recognition of that fact gives us reason to cherish what we will lose before it is lost - our youth, our wits, our loved ones, our lives. Living we fret, dying we live. Recognize our blessings.
This book was very thoughtful, and did a good job of detailing the inner workings of the protagonist's mind. I was blown away.
Any additional comments?
I purchased this book because I like first person perspective stories and the premise was interesting. The story is a nauseating diary of inane interactions. The narration is equally poor. The narrator has a deep, slow droll that puts you to sleep.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
People who enjoy self-pity.
What could Robert Silverberg have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Explored beyond the premise of the title.
Would you listen to another book narrated by Stefan Rudnicki?
His voice is the only reason I listened to the whole thing.
What character would you cut from Dying Inside?
The protagonist. (The agonist?)
Any additional comments?
I expected real science fiction. This is a novel with a quirky premise.
1 of 7 people found this review helpful