A very talentless sonnet, heavily leaning on Barrett Browning’s #43, and just barely:
How much do I enjoy Niven? Let’s count All The Myriad Ways.
His books and short stories are outta sight.
Collaborative series of Kzin fights.
For all his tales about outer space.
Reclined on the sofa, I read and laze.
So many good ones I just might.
Read past bedtime well into the night.
I hang on his words, his ev’ry phrase.
Hoards of little mutants on the loose.
Give earthling heroes a merry chase.
I read with tea, and sometimes booze.
The stories from the covers we cannot guess.
The man’s an icon, he’s paid his dues!
We’re sorry (not sorry!) this cover’s a mess.
PS – I dub this font “Larry Niven Funky 70s Computer”, appeared to be the go-to for several covers…
@GSS ex-noob: It might be “Inconstant Moon”, but if so the artist has the wrong bunch of people dropping dead: it’s not the people who can see an over-bright Moon, but the people on the other side of the planet, those foolish enough to not be Californian, who are screwed.
@Bruce: I think you’re right. It was supposed to be “Inconstant Moon”, except the Moon didn’t get bigger/closer (just brighter), all the people either died or didn’t, no in-between, and the story takes place entirely in the middle of Los Angeles, no empty plains involved.
I wonder if anyone was disappointed, expecting some cosmic cataclysm from this cover.
@GSS ex-noob: it was definitely one of the more easy-going “most of humanity dies” stories I’ve read. (What’s the British SF term? “Cozy catastrophe?”)
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April 6th, 2022 at 9:51 am
The truth about those No. 10 Lockdown gatherings.
April 6th, 2022 at 11:32 am
And @THX has won the thread right off the bat.
April 6th, 2022 at 12:18 pm
Pink Floyd’s ‘Eclipse’, the lost lyrics.
April 6th, 2022 at 2:41 pm
Another day in the Metaverse – suspiciously like another day in Hell.
April 6th, 2022 at 11:29 pm
I told them to put on some Moontan lotion before they went out, but no…
April 7th, 2022 at 1:55 am
A very talentless sonnet, heavily leaning on Barrett Browning’s #43, and just barely:
How much do I enjoy Niven? Let’s count All The Myriad Ways.
His books and short stories are outta sight.
Collaborative series of Kzin fights.
For all his tales about outer space.
Reclined on the sofa, I read and laze.
So many good ones I just might.
Read past bedtime well into the night.
I hang on his words, his ev’ry phrase.
Hoards of little mutants on the loose.
Give earthling heroes a merry chase.
I read with tea, and sometimes booze.
The stories from the covers we cannot guess.
The man’s an icon, he’s paid his dues!
We’re sorry (not sorry!) this cover’s a mess.
PS – I dub this font “Larry Niven Funky 70s Computer”, appeared to be the go-to for several covers…
April 7th, 2022 at 2:24 am
@Emster: Excelsior!
April 7th, 2022 at 2:25 am
GSS to everyone, especially @Emster.
I don’t know if this has anything to do with any of the stories in the book, but it definitely isn’t the title story.
April 7th, 2022 at 7:35 am
@GSS ex-noob: It might be “Inconstant Moon”, but if so the artist has the wrong bunch of people dropping dead: it’s not the people who can see an over-bright Moon, but the people on the other side of the planet, those foolish enough to not be Californian, who are screwed.
April 7th, 2022 at 4:42 pm
I’m just trying to figure out how the guy in the red shirt got yellow ‘mud’ on his jeans when the planet’s soil is red.
Or maybe he just got finished painting the golden city that’s supposed to be in the background.
April 8th, 2022 at 2:32 am
@Bruce: I think you’re right. It was supposed to be “Inconstant Moon”, except the Moon didn’t get bigger/closer (just brighter), all the people either died or didn’t, no in-between, and the story takes place entirely in the middle of Los Angeles, no empty plains involved.
I wonder if anyone was disappointed, expecting some cosmic cataclysm from this cover.
April 8th, 2022 at 3:29 am
@GSS ex-noob: it was definitely one of the more easy-going “most of humanity dies” stories I’ve read. (What’s the British SF term? “Cozy catastrophe?”)