3rd January 2004
  • Finally, a US release date for Ringworld's Children has been posted on Amazon's website, so you can now pre-order your summer reading material.. The title will be available from June 2004. Still no news of a US release date for Burning Tower but we can keep on hoping.

  • Also spotted a very, very, very, welcome re-release of The Flying Sorcerers by Larry Niven and David Gerrold in April 2004.

    For those that don't know, this was one of Larry's first collaborations and David Gerrold was the writer of the classic "Trouble with Tribbles" episode of the Original Star Trek. This book has been out of print for nearly two decades now, [it was first published the year I was born - Nesssus]. Read this site's review of Sorcerers. The book is very funny and given Gerrold's Star Trek background it pokes fun at Star Trek's Prime Directive something cronically.

  • Carol Phillips went to visit Larry over the Thanksgiving period this year. She visited his home and saw for herself just how close the wildfires had come to destroying his home. Carol also gave Larry a gift, a miniture Fi' which Carol had made herself holding it's own miniture bottle of Glen Niven whiskey.

22nd November 2003

To give you some idea of what the animation will look like here are the links to the preview animations. These are only pre-viz, (previews), the Snapshot file contains coloured rendered individual frames from the animation and the Wireframe Preview shows what the finished fly-by will be like. Manuel is continuing to work on them.

The format is rar-compressed Quicktime.

You will need to download Win Rar to unzip the files first. This can be downloaded here.

31st October 2003

Larry and his wife Marilyn evacuated on Saturday when they saw the first of the fires cresting the Western Ridge. The Nivens went to stay with friends during the crisis and were never at any time in any personal danger.

Larry returned home on Tuesday to find that the fires had burned right up to the front and side doors of his house, but the house itself is intact. None of his possessions were harmed, the only "damage" being the smell of smoke in the house. Even Larry's Koi collection in the garden survived unscathed.

To read his own account of the fire, here's a letter he sent to Carol Phillips.

Buy from AmazonIn a odd prophetic turn of fate, Larry Niven's and Jerry Pournelle's Most Recent Collaborative Novel was entitled "The Burning City" (published in 2000 by Simon and Schuster). In the fantasy novel, set in California circa 14,000 years ago; the magical power of "mana" is being drained from the world, leaving humanity at the fate of gods. The fire god of the story is called Yangen-Atep who periodically sets fire to Wandall's (the hero of the story) village.

I recently asked Larry in an email how he now felt after being at Yangen-Atep's mercy. He replied:

"Yangen-Atep was released from the La Brea Tar Pits by my ancestor, Edward Lawrence Doheny, at the beginning of the last century. Nothing could surprise me less than to find him running loose through California"

The sequel to The Burning City, "Burning Tower" will be published next year.

3rd October 2003

RWC Cover20th September 2003

  • Hal Colebatch, the successful author of Man Kzin War stories, including the most recent release, MKW 10: The Wunder War also produces factual works, and a recent title "Return Of The Heroes: The Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter And Social Conflict" is Hal's attempt at explaining the popularity of these heroic characters and people's need to believe in something, which has become all the more inportant is this post-911 world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downlaod Analog from Fictionwise11th September 2003

If you can't get hold of a traditional paper-copy Fictionwise.com are currently offering this in Ebook format. Click on the title cover to download.

26th August 2003

8th August 2003

  • Man Kzin Wars 10: The Wunder War containing four stories by Hal Colebatch has now started shipping and Scatterbrain an anthology collection by Larry is now due out any day - hopefully our review copies will be with us soon.

  • More and more "flash mobs" have started happening around the world, with instances in London, Rome and Vienna. A flash mob is very similar to the "flash crowds" that Larry wrote about in the 60s. In Niven's Universe Flash Crowds occur when large number of people teleport into areas where news is being made at the moment, i.e. riots.

    A "Flash Crowd" happens like this: Riot begins, more rioters transport in after seeing riot begin on the news, more news reporters transport in, every johnny-come-lately wanting a view of the riot transports in, every mad religious cultist wanting exposure transports in as well as looters who are coming in to take advantage of the overwhelming crowds. By this point, no one can transport out of the area as the transport booths are blocked by even more hawkers wanting to view the riot.

ABC Online News reported:

Is it performance art or the ultimate surprise party? A social phenomenon known as the 'flash mob', which began in New York and relies on e-mail, appears to be spreading worldwide.

Using mass e-mailing, the organisers bring together what their invitations describe as 'inexplicable mobs' - large crowds that materialise in public places and suddenly dissipate 10 minutes later.

Since the first flash mob was organised in Manhattan in May, by a mischievous underground group called the Mob Project, the practise has already spread to other U.S. cities, while plans are being drawn up for events in London, Rome and Vienna.

The concept's creator, a shadowy figure known only as Bill, started off by e-mailing 50 friends to gather at a retail store in downtown Manhattan. The plan was foiled after the store was tipped off, forcing Bill to introduce an element of subterfuge.

For mob number two, participants were asked to gather in advance in one of several bars and only then were handed a leaflet detailing the target - Macy's department store.

More than 100 people suddenly appeared on Macy's home furnishing floor and, as instructed by the leaflet, began discussing whether to purchase a 'love rug' for their fictitious commune. To the bewilderment of the sales staff, the crowd then melted away as quickly as it had formed.

As Bill's e-mail pool has expanded, so has the size of the gatherings. Mob number three saw nearly 200 people flood the lobby of the swanky Hyatt Hotel and erupt into synchronised applause in front of bemused guests, while number four involved the invasion of a shoe boutique in Soho with participants pretending to be hick tourists from the northern U.S. state of Maryland on a bus trip.

"It's a spectacle for spectacle's sake - which is silly, but is also, as I've discovered somewhat to my surprise, genuinely transgressive, which is part of its appeal, I think," said the mysterious Bill in an e-mail exchange. "People feel like there's nothing but order everywhere, and so they love to be a part of just one thing that nobody was expecting."

A spokesman for the New York police department was wary about commenting on the legality of the mobs, but said the police would intervene only if there was criminal intent. For the most recent event, on July 24, one group gathered in an Irish bar, trying vainly to act casual as they loitered around the jukebox mentioned in the invitation.

"Are you with the mob?" whispered one anxious first-timer, only to be shushed with a knowing nod and wink, followed by a nervous giggle. A Mob Project representative surreptitiously handed out instruction leaflets, guiding that group and others to a grassy knoll in Central Park, opposite the American Museum of Natural History.

The mob began at 7:18 pm precisely - the 300-plus participants having synchronised watches with a time zone website - and the surreal instructions were followed to the letter:
· For the first three minutes, make as little noise as possible. If you can make a realistic bird call, you may occasionally do so.
· By 7:21 pm, you may make all bird calls, unrealistic or no.
· By 7:23 pm, you may also mumble, 'bird noise'.
· By 7:25 pm, you may also call out, "Nature here! Come get some nature," to passers-by.
· At 7:26 pm, chant "Na-ture" for 20 seconds, cheer and disperse.

"It was over before I could work out whether it was really clever or really dumb. But either way I kind of enjoyed it," said Lorien Poole, 24, who was e-mailed by a friend.

Just a few hours later, the event was the subject of heated discussion on several website chatrooms devoted to the flash mob trend. "It seems to me that while this is all fun, harmless and interesting for now, that it is just a matter of time before a fight breaks out and the mob becomes a riot," wrote one pessimistic participant.

Bill has made it clear he intends to wind up the project before it gets out of hand, although the concept appears to be taking on a life of its own.

San Francisco, Minneapolis and Phoenix have all staged their own events, while the first European mob took place this week in Rome, when 300 people entered a music and bookstore and asked for non-existent titles. The idea has also been adopted and given a more political agenda by other groups.

In Detroit, a group of gays and lesbians organise the 'Detroit Guerrilla Queer Bar', which targets a local straight restaurant or bar for 'swarming' on a designated night. And in Boston, Reggie Cummings, a black software developer, coordinates 'friendly takeovers' by crowds of black yuppies of downtown bars with a traditionally white clientele.

Cast Your Vote

18th June 2003

Click to View the Ringworld Art Gallery13th June 2003

8th June 2003

13th May 2003

30th April 2003

22nd April 2003

May's Analog with new Draco Tavern story12th April 2003

19th March 2003

18th February 2003

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