SciFi on Heinlein, my favorite SciFi author of all time!

asimov is one of my top scifi authors. asimov, as a top notch chemist has written a number of non-fiction texts, he also is the discoverer of thiotimoline, a chemical now incorporated into HI khukuris and knives/swords. isaac discovered it by accident, it has the property of temporal activity or 'endochronicity'. he found that it dissolved a fraction of a second before he added a solvent to it. he tried fooling it by threatening to pour, but not actually, but thiotimoline was able to sense when he didn't, and refused to dissolve unless he carried thru the threat. it is a carbon compound where one bond between two of the carbon atoms is so stressed it opens up a mini-time portal as it warps space.

soaking the car springs in thiotimoline prior to working on them has, as well as it's carbon atoms adding to the alloy, the unique result that the edge is so sharp that it severs the target a few milliseconds before the edge actually hits.
 
kronckew said:
discoverer of thiotimoline, a chemical now incorporated into HI khukuris and knives/swords... it has the property of temporal activity or 'endochronicity'. he found that it dissolved a fraction of a second before he added a solvent to it...is so stressed it opens up a mini-time portal as it warps space.
Click to expand...

I wonder how this effects Aunties Mailing method? Perhaps it is the basis for her postal service worm hole...
 
​SF

What happened to the old SF,
replaced by elves & trolls,
replaced by horror movies --
no more galactic goals?

The arching sky is calling
spacemen back to their trade,
but we watch in the growing darkness
as Bob Heinlein starts to fade ...

So it's either silly season
or commercial hardware flying.
The Sense of Wonder's gone away,
Suspension of Disbelief is dying.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
​SF
What happened to the old SF...
Click to expand...

use the force, esav, these are not the films we are looking for.

yoda__y_o_d_a__yoda_by_brokensandwich.jpg

at lucasfilm space opera alive and well is.
 
Last edited:
kronckew said:
.... soaking the car springs in thiotimoline prior to working on them has, as well as it's carbon atoms adding to the alloy, the unique result that the edge is so sharp that it severs the target a few milliseconds before the edge actually hits.
Click to expand...

A blade like that is at the center of the storyline in Philip Pullman's book, The Subtle Knife. This is the middle volume in the trilogy that starts with The Golden Compass. The first volume was made into a movie with the same title.

The trilogy is well worth reading, although I felt that the author didn't fully resolve all the issues in the last volume. Warning: Some people might find the trilogy offensive, since the main villain throughout is a modernized version of the medieval church.
 
CJ Cherryh is another one to check out-her "Faded Sun" trilogy and the Gate books (4 of them) had a lot to do with who I am as an adult today
Her Foreigner series is some great alien contact stuff, too-and there are a lot of 'em
 
Esav Benyamin said:
​SF

What happened to the old SF,
replaced by elves & trolls,
replaced by horror movies --
no more galactic goals?

The arching sky is calling
spacemen back to their trade,
but we watch in the growing darkness
as Bob Heinlein starts to fade ...

So it's either silly season
or commercial hardware flying.
The Sense of Wonder's gone away,
Suspension of Disbelief is dying.
Click to expand...

Try this guy,
http://whatever.scalzi.com/about/books-by-john-scalzi/
and this guy,
http://www.dansimmons.com/books/new_books.htm
 
kronckew said:
david, can HI sueP. Pullman for patent infringement?
Click to expand...

It depends. The Subtle Knife was published in 1997, so it might have priority. Also, the knife in question was double-edged. One edge could cut anything made of matter, which made it difficult to sheath and dangerous to carry. In fact one of the main characters cuts off his own finger when he first picks up the knife, which reminds me of some accidents involving HI blades. The stump refuses to heal, which means that the blade is magical or is coated with some kind of anti-clotting agent.

However, the other edge of the subtle knife has the ability to cut open windows between dimensions. We find this out early on, so it's not a spoiler. This ability has some unpleasant side effects that I won't describe, since that would be a spoiler.
 
Last edited:
Esav Benyamin said:
​SF

What happened to the old SF,
replaced by elves & trolls,
replaced by horror movies --
no more galactic goals?

The arching sky is calling
spacemen back to their trade,
but we watch in the growing darkness
as Bob Heinlein starts to fade ...

So it's either silly season
or commercial hardware flying.
The Sense of Wonder's gone away,
Suspension of Disbelief is dying.
Click to expand...

Sarah Hoyt is often compared favorably to Heinlein. I've not had a chance to read a lot of her stuff, but I've read one of her novels and will be buying more. I've also interacted with her online and quite like her.
 
I am a huge Heinlein fan. I have read almost every book.

My favourite Sci-FI authors are:

David Weber- Honor Harrington Series

Lois Bujold McMasters- Miles Vorkosigan Series

John Ringo is also pretty good.
 
In my opinion Esav has a valid point. The older Sci-Fi did not always worry about the Science of the Fiction. For instance one of my favorite authors "Doc" Smith used phrases to describe how he viewed his new style space opera. "scientific detail would not be bothered about, and in which my imagination would run riot."
Indeed he used very vague phrases to describe the science and focused on the humanity of the story. Heinlein, Smith, Cherryh, Bujold, Harrison et al. you can take their stories and place them on earth and they are just as fascinating though they use space to make for an exceptional setting the stories are about humanity and usually it's ability to adapt and overcome adversity.
 
miserable creatures

luminiferous ether
glaring in my eyes
blinds me as I leave here
for my alien skies

nothing wrong with earthlife
that logic wouldn't cure
but mathematic certainty
they surely can't endure

without a dose of raw emotion
they'd still be fish beneath the ocean

-- EB
 
ancient apemen actively advancing

pithy people
anthropologists say
ruled the world once
long ago and far away

in africa pithecanthropus
gave rise to folks like us

changed their name to homo
left their ancient home
grew a larger dome
learned to write a poem

sapient siblings continue to write
showing our new intellectual might

-- EB
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top