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Downbelow Station
''Downbelow Station'' is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh, published in 1981 by DAW Books. It won the Hugo Award in 1982, was shortlisted for a Locus Award that same year, and was named by ''Locus'' magazine as one of the top 50 science fiction novels of all time in 1987. The book is set in Cherryh's Alliance–Union universe during the Company Wars period, specifically late 2352 and early 2353. The book details events centering on a space station in orbit around Pell's World (also known as "Downbelow") in the Tau Ceti star system. The station serves as the transit point for ships moving between the Earth and Union sectors of the galaxy. The working title of the book was ''The Company War'', but Cherryh's editor at DAW, Donald A. Wollheim, believed that the moniker lacked commercial appeal, so ''Downbelow Station'' was selected as the title for publication. It was the first novel edited by current DAW president Elizabeth Wollheim, who worked along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alliance–Union Universe
The Alliance–Union universe is a fictional universe created by American writer C. J. Cherryh. It is the setting for a future history series extending from the 21st century into the timeline of the far future, far future. To date, the corpus of the Alliance–Union universe consists of 27 science fiction novels along with a series of seven short story anthologies edited by Cherryh and a few other miscellaneous works. It encompasses both books for which Cherryh won the Hugo Award for Hugo Award for Best Novel, Best Novel, ''Downbelow Station'' and ''Cyteen'', and also incorporates various other series books such as the ''Faded Sun Trilogy, Faded Sun'' trilogy, the ''The Chanur Novels, Chanur'' novels, the four ''The Morgaine Cycle, Morgaine'' books, and the ''Merovingen Nights'' shared universe series. Description The Alliance–Union universe is a fictional future history created by Cherryh. It spans the third and fourth millennium, millennia, and is centered around humanity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planet
A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young protostar orbited by a protoplanetary disk. Planets grow in this disk by the gradual accumulation of material driven by gravity, a process called accretion. The Solar System has at least eight planets: the terrestrial planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, and the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These planets each rotate around an axis tilted with respect to its orbital pole. All of them possess an atmosphere, although that of Mercury is tenuous, and some share such features as ice caps, seasons, volcanism, hurricanes, tectonics, and even hydrology. Apart from Venus and Mars, the Solar System planets generate magnetic fields, and all except Venus and Mercury have natural satellites. The giant planets bear plan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer Age of Sigmar'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake (game designer), John Peake, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson (UK), Steve Jackson, Games Workshop was originally a manufacturer of wooden boards for games including backgammon, mancala, nine men's morris and Go (board game), Go. It later became an importer of the U.S. role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and then a publisher of wargames and role-playing games in its own right, expanding from a bedroom mail-order company in the process. It expanded into Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia in the early 1990s. All UK-based operations were relocated to the current headquarters in Lenton, Nottingham in 1997. It started promoting games associated with The Lord of the Rings (film series), ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy in 2001. It al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Dwarf (magazine)
''White Dwarf'' is a magazine published by British games manufacturer Games Workshop, which has long served as a promotions and advertising platform for Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures products. During the first ten years of its publication, it covered a wide variety of fantasy and science-fiction role-playing games (RPGs) and board games, particularly the role playing games ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D''), '' Call of Cthulhu'', ''RuneQuest'' and '' Traveller''. These games were all published by other games companies and distributed in the United Kingdom by Games Workshop stores. The magazine underwent a major change in style and content in the late 1980s. It is now dedicated exclusively to the miniature wargames produced by Games Workshop. History 1975: ''Owl and Weasel'' to ''White Dwarf'' Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone initially produced a newsletter called ''Owl and Weasel'', which ran for twenty-five issues from February 1975 before it evolved into '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Langford
David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most Hugo Awards, with a total of 29 wins. Personal background David Langford was born and grew up in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales before studying for a degree in Physics at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he first became involved in science fiction fandom. Langford is married to Hazel and is the brother of the musician and artist Jon Langford. His first job was as a weapons physicist at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, Berkshire from 1975 to 1980. In 1985 he set up a "tiny and informally run software company" with science fiction writer Christopher Priest, called Ansible Information after Langford's news-sheet. The company has ceased trading. Increasing hearing difficulties have reduced Langford's participation i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mayfair Games
Mayfair Games was an American publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games that also licensed Euro-style board games to publish them in English. The company licensed worldwide English-language publishing rights to ''The Settlers of Catan'' series between 1996 and 2016. On February 9, 2018 they announced they sold their remaining IP right to Asmodee North America. History Mayfair Games was founded in 1981 by Darwin Bromley in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The company was created to publish ''Empire Builder'', a railroad game designed by Bromley and Bill Fawcett. In 1982, Mayfair Games expanded its focus to include ''Role Aids'', a line of role-playing game supplements. In 1993, Mayfair was sued by TSR, Inc., who argued that ''Role Aids'' violated their 1984 trademark agreement, being advertised as compatible with ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''. The court found that some of the line violated the trademark, but the line as a whole did not violate the agreement, and Mayfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Board Game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a competition between two or more players. To show a few examples: in checkers (British English name 'draughts'), a player wins by capturing all opposing pieces, while Eurogames often end with a calculation of final scores. '' Pandemic'' is a cooperative game where players all win or lose as a team, and peg solitaire is a puzzle for one person. There are many varieties of board games. Their representation of real-life situations can range from having no inherent theme, such as checkers, to having a specific theme and narrative, such as ''Cluedo''. Rules can range from the very simple, such as in snakes and ladders; to deeply complex, as in ''Advanced Squad Leader''. Play components now often include custom figures or shaped counters, and distin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firebreak
A firebreak or double track (also called a fire line, fuel break, fireroad and firetrail in Australia) is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebreak may occur naturally where there is a lack of vegetation or "fuel", such as a river, lake or canyon. Firebreaks may also be man-made, and many of these also serve as roads, such as a logging road, four-wheel drive trail, secondary road, or a highway. Overview In the construction of a firebreak, the primary goal is to remove deadwood and undergrowth down to mineral soil. Various methods may be used to accomplish this initially and to maintain this condition. Ideally, the firebreak will be constructed and maintained according to the established practices of sustainable forestry and fire protection engineering, also known as best management practices (BMP). The general goals are to maximize the effectiveness of the firebreak at slowing th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azi (clone)
Azi are a fictional type of human clones invented by science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. They appear in various books in her Alliance-Union universe. "Azi" is an acronym for "artificial zygote insemination". The subject is treated at length in Cherryh's 1989 novel ''Cyteen'' and its 2009 sequel, ''Regenesis''. The azi are first developed by Union just prior to the "Company War" in the early twenty-fourth century. Although derived from human gene sequences, they are both genetically engineered and psychologically conditioned for specific occupations, such as soldiers or farmers. They are created to supplement the low human reproductive rate and bring a given settlement to self-sufficiency and economic viability. Because of these modifications, azi are seen as an abomination by many on Earth, and this revulsion is an exacerbating factor in the start of the war between the Earth Company and Union. During the Company War, Union produces large numbers of azi for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martial Law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martial law can be used by governments to enforce their rule over the public, as seen in multiple countries listed below. Such incidents may occur after a coup d'état ( Thailand in 2006 and 2014, and Egypt in 2013); when threatened by popular protest (China, Tiananmen Square protests of 1989); to suppress political opposition ( martial law in Poland in 1981); or to stabilize insurrections or perceived insurrections. Martial law may be declared in cases of major natural disasters; however, most countries use a different legal construct, such as a state of emergency. Martial law has also been imposed during conflicts, and in cases of occupations, where the absence of any other civil government provides for an unstable population. Examples of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
