Science Fiction Trivia

[Disembodied]

Malacandra takes the zimmer! The Atalanta in Calydon is indeed from M. John Harrison's The Centauri Device - a novel which I suspect in many ways influenced Iain M. Banks (most notably in Consider Phlebas), perhaps even inspiring his fondness for unusual ship names …

[Cody]

The Centauri Device...

a novel which I suspect in many ways influenced Iain M. Banks

Strange, the things one finds...

Perhaps the most significant detractor of the novel is Harrison himself who, in a 2001 interview with SF Site, described it as "the crappiest thing I ever wrote."

[Malacandra]

Malacandra takes the zimmer! The Atalanta in Calydon is indeed from M. John Harrison's The Centauri Device - a novel which I suspect in many ways influenced Iain M. Banks (most notably in Consider Phlebas), perhaps even inspiring his fondness for unusual ship names …

Nothing wrong with unusual ship names. While I was writing Claymore Mine last summer (and if you've not read it yet, why not? ) I dipped into The Long Arm Of Gil Hamilton and spotted a quote there that became a ship name: I Often Wonder What The Vintners Buy. But of course that's not Larry Niven originally -- where's it actually a quote from?

[Disembodied]

Perhaps the most significant detractor of the novel is Harrison himself who, in a 2001 interview with SF Site, described it as "the crappiest thing I ever wrote."

It's not without its flaws, as a novel, the main one being the main character, who is (deliberately) not protagonistic, and spends his time running, hiding, and being forced to do things by other people … but a crap novel by M. John Harrison is still quite a lot better than a lot of good novels by other a lot of other writers! Given that it was written in 1974, The Centauri Device did take the clichés of space opera and stretch them in strange new ways, and it helped to raise the bar for SF writing generally.

I think Harrison is a bit harsh in his judgement … in the interview, he's lamenting that other novels he's written remain out of print, while The Centauri Device is republished in the SF Masterworks series. Personally, I think it has earned its place there!

[Malacandra]

Meanwhile, there is a question pending (my previous post).

[spud42]

Meanwhile, there is a question pending (my previous post).

I Often Wonder What The Vintners Buy. But of course that's not Larry Niven originally -- where's it actually a quote from?

this? i wasnt sure if that was a question or a general enquiry?

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubaiyat_of_Omar_Khayyam

Disclaimer: google used

[Malacandra]

General enquiry? No, I already knew - I can not only bore on at some length about the Ruba'iya't but I've written a parodied version of it to show what A Christmas Carol would have looked like if Omar wrote it. Yes, I desperately need to get out more.

What the line refers to in "The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton" would take a mite of explaining, which I'll provide only on request.

Over to you!

[spud42]

I prepared a question a couple of weeks ago....it should be somewhere on my desk...... brb

[spud42]

ok cant find the question in this mess .... will have to make one up....

Book then movie. after author of the book, differences between book and movie but after 1 specific major difference character wise. explain the difference.

now for your clue ...... range of pH 7.39 to 7.43

[ffutures]

Easy, that's the pH of Sodium Chloride, e.g. Salt. There was a book with that title by Adam Roberts which I've never read, Wikipedia tells me the book had a male lead character and is set on an interstellar expedition. There's a recent spy film also called Salt and starring Angelina Jolie as the female lead, but it doesn't appear to have anything to do with the book apart from the title. Was that what you wanted?

[Disembodied]

It's also the pH range of arterial blood gases … but Clive Barker's The Books of Blood, and the film The Book of Blood, were horror, not SF, which was where my confusion was coming from. And Greg Bear's SF novel Blood Music hasn't been made into a film …

Although: googling on this has thrown up this pH range as being critical to the virus in The Andromeda Strain. In Crichton's novel, there's a character called Dr Peter Leavitt; in the film, this character becomes Dr Ruth Leavitt.

[Smivs]

...there's a character called Dr Peter Leavitt; in the film, this character becomes Dr Ruth Leavitt.

Well, everybody's doing it these days, it seems, but back then...

[spud42]

We have a winner!!!!
well done Big D. yes indeed peter becomes ruth. half the book is ignored but a decent movie after all.
not the first characters in a movie version of one of Crichtons novels to have the gender changed. all without surgery or drugs...lol

im not sure what this thing is any more but quick take it.... its left a mark on the carpet in the front room...

[Disembodied]

OK, name the novel: a young girl visits an old man on his deathbed, to give him a message from the future, to take back to the past.

[Cody]

A stab in the dark - Counter-Clock World?