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Interstellar Pig
''Interstellar Pig'', published in 1984 by Bantam Books, is a science fiction novel for young adults written by William Sleator. It was listed as an ALA Notable Book, a SLJ Best Book of the Year, and a Junior Literary Guild Selection. Plot When Zena, Manny, and Joe move into the cinder-block cottage next door, Barney is intrigued by their glamorous, exotic lifestyle. His fascination grows when Zena introduces Barney to their favorite pastime: Interstellar Pig, a board game in which the key objective is to finish the game with the Piggy card in hand. Zena quickly briefs him on the rules: each player picks their character from a box of cards depicting different aliens. Every alien race has its own strengths, weaknesses, and IRSC (Interstellar Relative Sapience Code, with lower numbers favorable). When the time runs out, every home planet will be obliterated ''except'' the one belonging to the holder of the Piggy. Barney is amazed when the neighbors keep choosing the same charact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penguin Group
Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initially owning 53% of the joint venture, and Pearson PLC initially owning the remaining 47%. Since 18 December 2019, Penguin Random House has been wholly owned by Bertelsmann. Penguin Books has its registered office in City of Westminster, London.Maps ." City of Westminster. Retrieved 28 August 2009. Its British division is Penguin Books Ltd. Other separate divisions are located in the |
Keelhauling
Keelhauling (Dutch ''kielhalen''; "to drag along the keel") is a form of punishment and potential execution once meted out to sailors at sea. The sailor was tied to a line looped beneath the vessel, thrown overboard on one side of the ship, and dragged under the ship's keel, either from one side of the ship to the other, or the length of the ship (from bow to stern). The common supposition is that keelhauling amounted to a sentence of either death by extreme torture, or minimally a physical trauma likely to permanently maim. The hull of the ship was usually covered in barnacles and other marine growth, and thus, keelhauling would typically result in serious lacerations, from which the victim could later suffer infection and scarring. If the victim was dragged slowly, their weight might lower them sufficiently to miss the barnacles, but this method would frequently result in their drowning. There was also a risk of head trauma from colliding against the hull or keel, especially ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1984 Science Fiction Novels
Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). * January 10 ** The United States and the Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations. ** The Victoria Agreement is signed, institutionalising the Indian Ocean Commission. *January 24 – Steve Jobs launches the Macintosh personal computer in the United States. February * February 3 ** Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer from one woman to another, resulting in a live birth. ** STS-41-B: Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' is launched on the 10th Space Shuttle mission. * February 7 – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk. * February 8– 19 – The 1984 Winter Olympics are held in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novels By William Sleator
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself from the la, novella, a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ''novellus'', diminutive of ''novus'', meaning "new". Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ann Radcliffe, John Cowper Powys, preferred the term "romance" to describe their novels. According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, in Chivalric romance, and in the tradition of the Italian renaissance novella.Margaret Anne Doody''The True Story of the Novel'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996, rept. 1997, p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2014. The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, especially the historica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fictional Games
Fictional games are games which were specifically created for works of fiction, or which otherwise originated in fiction. Many fictional games have been translated into real games by fans or Wiktionary:ludophile, ludophiles by creating pieces and rules to fit the descriptions given in the source work. For example, unofficial versions of Fizzbin can be found in reality, and Mornington Crescent (game), Mornington Crescent is widely played in online forums. Billiards games *Dom-Jot - ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', a game similar to bumper pool played on an irregularly-shaped table Board games *The Player of Games#Azad, Azad - a tactical game featured in the novel ''The Player of Games'' by Iain M. Banks *Cyvasse - a strategy game in George R.R. Martin's ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series, which appears to be a combination of ''Chess'' and ''Battleship (game), Battleship'' *Dejarik or Holochess - a variant of chess played in the ''Star Wars'' setting *Gatlopp - a drinking game f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1984 American Novels
Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). * January 10 ** The United States and the Vatican City, Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations. ** The Victoria, Seychelles, Victoria Agreement is signed, institutionalising the Indian Ocean Commission. *January 24 – Steve Jobs launches the Macintosh 128K, Macintosh personal computer in the United States. February * February 3 ** Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer from one woman to another, resulting in a live birth. ** STS-41-B: Space Shuttle Challenger, Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' is launched on the 10th Space Shuttle mission. * February 7 – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered spac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Boy Who Reversed Himself
''The Boy Who Reversed Himself'' (1986) is a science fiction novel by William Sleator. The novel deals with an exploration into other dimensions, and provides a journey into the world beyond our own. Plot summary A high school girl, Laura, grows suspicious when a report of hers appears in mirror writing Mirror writing is formed by writing in the direction that is the reverse of the natural way for a given language, such that the result is the mirror image of normal writing: it appears normal when it is reflected in a mirror. It is sometimes u ..., and Omar, the weird boy next door, makes it go back to normal. Furthermore, he seems to be parting his hair on a different side than usual. He first refuses to explain what is happening, but after she repeatedly coaxes him, he reveals that he has access to the fourth dimension, where he accidentally "reversed" himself. Omar eventually allows Laura to visit the fourth dimension under his supervision, but he warns her that it is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Duplicate
''The Duplicate'', published in 1988, is a science fiction novel for young adults written by William Sleator. Plot summary The main character, David, finds a device at the beach that can duplicate any living organism. After testing the device on his pet fish, David makes a clone of himself so that he could go on a date with his crush, Angela, while his clone attends his grandmother's birthday. His plan backfires because the Duplicate believes himself to be the original, and refuses to take orders. David ends up having to go to his grandmother's birthday after he loses a coin toss to the duplicate. David's real problems begin when the Duplicate uses the device to create a clone of himself. The new duplicate is a less-than-perfect reproduction, being a copy of a copy, and has goals and desires that differ from the original David. Eventually, the second duplicate turns on Angela and the original David, and he has to find a way to stop him. Later, he stumbles upon something th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasite Pig
''Parasite Pig'' is a young adult science fiction novel written by William Sleator. It is the sequel to the 1984 book ''Interstellar Pig''. Plot ''Parasite Pig'' follows the character of Barney, who has been working part-time at an after-school job in order to pay for the repairs for his house. The aliens still have plans for Barney and he must deal with talking parasites, giant crustaceans, and a wasp woman. Reception Critical reception for ''Parasite Pig'' has been mostly positive. Booklist and Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ... praised the book, with Kirkus saying that the book's secondary characters gave the book a freshness and "keeps it from being merely a sequel". The Horn Book also reviewed the book, praising the book's aliens as "well devel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiccups
A hiccup (scientific name ''singultus'', from a Latin word meaning "to catch one's breath while sobbing"; also spelled hiccough) is an involuntary contraction (myoclonic jerk) of the diaphragm that may repeat several times per minute. The hiccup is an involuntary action involving a reflex arc. Once triggered, the reflex causes a strong contraction of the diaphragm followed about a quarter of a second later by closure of the vocal cords, which results in the "hic" sound. Hiccups may occur individually, or they may occur in bouts. The rhythm of the hiccup, or the time between hiccups, tends to be relatively constant. A bout of hiccups generally resolves itself without intervention, although many home remedies are often used to attempt to shorten the duration. Medical treatment is occasionally necessary in cases of chronic hiccups. Incidence Hiccups affect people of all ages, even being observed ''in utero''. They become less frequent with advancing age. Intractable hiccups, la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planetary System
A planetary system is a set of gravitationally In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stron ... bound non-Star, stellar objects in or out of orbit around a star or star system. Generally speaking, systems with one or more planets constitute a planetary system, although such systems may also consist of bodies such as dwarf planets, asteroids, natural satellites, meteoroids, comets, planetesimals and circumstellar disks. The Sun together with the planetary system revolving around it, including Earth, forms the Solar System. The term exoplanetary system is sometimes used in reference to other planetary systems. Debris disks are also known to be common, though other objects are more difficult to observe. Of particular interest to astrobiology is the habitable zone of planetary sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judgement Of Paris
Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle suggested we think of the ''opposite'' of different uses of a term, if one exists, to help determine if the uses are really different. Some opposites will be included here to help demonstrate that their uses are really distinct: * Informal – opinions expressed as facts. * Informal and psychological – used in reference to the quality of cognitive faculties and adjudicational capabilities of particular individuals, typically called ''wisdom'' or ''discernment''. The opposites are ''foolishness'' or ''indiscretion''. * Formal - the mental act of affirming or denying one thing of another through comparison. Judgements are communicated to others using agreed-upon ''terms'' in the form of words or algebraic symbols as meanings to form ''p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
