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Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons
"Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons" is a classic science fiction short story by American writer Cordwainer Smith, first published in ''Galaxy Magazine'' in 1961, and partly based on Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. It is collected most recently in ''The Rediscovery of Man''. It details the methods by which the Norstrilians (or "Old North Australians") of Smith's fictional "Instrumentality of Mankind, Instrumentality" universe maintain their monopoly on the precious immortality drug ''stroon''. The story details part of the background to the novel ''Norstrilia'' (which references the Kittons once in its introduction as a sure method of death). The story has been alluded to in Charles Stross's ''Glasshouse (novel), Glasshouse''. Background Cordwainer Smith is a pseudonym of Paul Linebarger, the noted China expert, who wrote most of his published science-fiction stories within the setting of the Instrumentality of Mankind. For many millennia, the rather static structure of this soci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galaxy 196106
A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. Galaxies, averaging an estimated 100 million stars, range in size from dwarf galaxy, dwarfs with less than a hundred million stars, to the List of largest galaxies, largest galaxies known – Type-cD galaxy, supergiants with one hundred 10^12, trillion stars, each orbiting its galaxy's center of mass. Most of the mass in a typical galaxy is in the form of dark matter, with only a few percent of that mass visible in the form of stars and nebulae. Supermassive black holes are a common feature at the centres of galaxies. Galaxies are categorized according to their visual morphology (astronomy), morphology as elliptical galaxy, elliptical, Spiral galaxy, spiral, or irregular galaxy, irregular. M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, extraterrestrial life, sentient artificial intelligence, cybernetics, certain forms of immortality (like mind uploading), and the singularity. Science fiction predicted several existing inventions, such as the atomic bomb, robots, and borazon, whose names entirely match their fictional predecessors. In addition, science fiction might serve as an outlet to facilitate future scientific and technological innovations. Science fiction can trace its roots to ancient mythology. It is also related to fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Science fiction, in literature, film, television, and other media, has beco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cordwainer Smith
Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (July 11, 1913 – August 6, 1966), better known by his pen-name Cordwainer Smith, was an American author known for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a US Army officer, a noted East Asia scholar, and an expert in psychological warfare. Although his career as a writer was shortened by his death at the age of 53, he is considered one of the more talented and influential science fiction authors. Early life and education Linebarger's father, Paul Myron Wentworth Linebarger, was a lawyer, working as a judge in the Philippines. There he met Chinese nationalist Sun Yat-sen to whom he became an advisor. Linebarger's father sent his wife to give birth in Milwaukee, Wisconsin so that their child would be eligible to become president of the United States. Sun Yat-sen, who was considered the father of Chinese nationalism, became Linebarger's godfather.Stimpson, Ashley and Irtenkauf, Jeffrey,"Throngs of Himself" ''Johns Hopkins Magazine'', Fall 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galaxy Magazine
''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L. Gold, who rapidly made ''Galaxy'' the leading science fiction magazine of its time, focusing on stories about social issues rather than technology. Gold published many notable stories during his tenure, including Ray Bradbury's "The Fireman", later expanded as '' Fahrenheit 451''; Robert A. Heinlein's '' The Puppet Masters''; and Alfred Bester's '' The Demolished Man''. In 1952, the magazine was acquired by Robert Guinn, its printer. By the late 1950s, Frederik Pohl was helping Gold with most aspects of the magazine's production. When Gold's health worsened, Pohl took over as editor, starting officially at the end of 1961, though he had been doing the majority of the production work for some time. Under Pohl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popular ''Arabian Nights'' tales, it has been widely retold and performed in many media across the world, especially for children (for whom the more violent aspects of the story are often suppressed). In the original version, Ali Baba ( ar, علي بابا ') is a poor woodcutter and an honest person who discovers the secret of a thieves' den, and enters with the magic phrase "open sesame". The thieves try to kill Ali Baba, but Ali Baba's faithful slave-girl foils their plots. Ali Baba's son marries her and Ali Baba keeps the secret of the treasure. Textual history The tale was added to the story collection ''One Thousand and One Nights'' by one of its European translators, Antoin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rediscovery Of Man
''The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith'' () is a 1993 book containing the complete collected short fiction of American science fiction author Cordwainer Smith. It was edited by James A. Mann and published by NESFA Press. Most of the stories take place in Smith's future history set in the universe of the Instrumentality of Mankind; the collection is arranged in the chronological order in which the stories take place in the fictional timeline. The collection also contains short stories which do not take place in this universe. Within the context of the future history, the Rediscovery of Mankind refers to the Instrumentality's re-introduction of chance and unhappiness into the sterile utopia that they had created for humanity. Other than Smith's novel, ''Norstrilia'', which takes place in the same future history, the book collects all of Smith's known science fiction writing. List of Instrumentality of Man stories *"No, No, Not Rogov!" *"War ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Instrumentality Of Mankind
In the science fiction of Cordwainer Smith, the Instrumentality of Mankind refers both to Smith's personal future history and universe and to the central government of humanity within that fictional universe. ''The Instrumentality of Mankind'' is also the title of a paperback collection of short stories by Cordwainer Smith published in 1979 (now superseded by the later ''The Rediscovery of Man'', which collects all of Smith's short stories). Origin and history In the history of Cordwainer Smith's "Instrumentality" universe, the Instrumentality originated as the police force of the Jwindz or "perfect ones" on a post-nuclear holocaust Earth. After attaining power and the expansion of humans in space, they eventually entered a somewhat stagnant phase in which a fixed lifespan of four hundred years was imposed on the human inhabitants of the planets where the Instrumentality directly ruled, all the hard physical labor was done by rightless animal-derived "underpeople", and children w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norstrilia
''Norstrilia'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Paul Linebarger, published under the pseudonym Cordwainer Smith. It is the only novel he published under this name, which he used for his science fiction works (though several related short stories were once packaged together as a short novel ''Quest of the Three Worlds''). It takes place in Smith's Instrumentality of Mankind universe, and was heavily influenced by the classic Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. The novel is in part a sequel to Smith's 1962 short story "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell", featuring some of the same characters and settings. Plot Setting The planet "Old North Australia", or simply "Norstrilia", is the only planet in the Instrumentality of Mankind fictional universe which produces the precious immortality drug "stroon", which indefinitely delays aging in humans. Stroon (or the "Santaclara drug") is harvested from the huge diseased sheep the Norstrilians raise, and has resisted all attempts at ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Stross
Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine '' Computer Shopper'' and was responsible for its monthly Linux column. He stopped writing for the magazine to devote more time to novels. However, he continues to publish freelance articles on the Internet. Early life and education Stross was born in Leeds, England. He showed an early interest in writing and wrote his first science fiction story at age 12. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Pharmacy in 1986 and qualified as a pharmacist in 1987. In 1989, he enrolled at Bradford University for a post-graduate degree in computer science. In 1990, he went to work as a technical author and programmer. In 2000, he began working as a writer full-time, as a technical writer at first, but then became successful as a fiction writer. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glasshouse (novel)
''Glasshouse'' is a science fiction novel by British author Charles Stross, first published in 2006. The novel is set in the twenty-seventh century aboard a spacecraft adrift in interstellar space. Robin, the protagonist, has recently had his memory erased. He agrees to take part in an experiment, during which he is placed inside a model of a late twentieth/early twenty-first century Euroamerican society. Robin is given a new identity and body, specifically that of a woman named "Reeve". Major themes of this novel are identity, gender determinism, self-image and conformity. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a sequel to his 2005 novel '' Accelerando'', although Stross has stated that the two novels are not obviously incompatible. ''Glasshouse'' won the Prometheus Award for 2007, and was nominated for the Hugo, Campbell, and Locus Awards in 2007. Production Stross wrote of the book's production: Plot introduction It is the 27th century, when technology has enabled huma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth II Of The United Kingdom
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime, and was head of state of 15 realms at the time of her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female monarch in history. Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother Edward VIII, making the ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NESFA Press
NESFA Press is the publishing arm of the New England Science Fiction Association, Inc. The NESFA Press primarily produces three types of books: * Books honoring the guest(s) of honor at their annual convention, Boskone, and at some Worldcons and other conventions. * Books in the NESFA's Choice series, which bring back into print the works of deserving classic SF writers such as James Schmitz, Cordwainer Smith, C. M. Kornbluth, and Zenna Henderson. * Reference books on science fiction and science fiction fandom. Works published by NESFA Press This is a reverse chronological list of books published by NESFA Press. 2020s 2020 * ''Stan's Kitchen'' by Kim Stanley Robinson * ''Believing'' by Zenna Henderson 2010s 2019 * ''On the Road with Gardner Dozois'' by Gardner Dozois * ''From These Ashes'' by Fredric Brown * '' Ingathering'' by Zenna Henderson * ''Transfinite'' by A. E. van Vogt * ''The Immortal Storm'' by Sam Moskowitz 2018 * ''Making Conversation'' by Teresa Nielsen Hayd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
