From: jdnicoll@panix.com

Geodesic Dreams: The Best Short Fiction of Gardner Dozois by Gardner Dozois

A selection of Dozois' best, from the first half of his half century career.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/helping-you-out
--
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From: quadibloc@invalid.invalid

On Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:52:11 +0000, James Nicoll wrote:

A selection of Dozois' best, from the first half of his half century
career.

While the odd sad story may be very much worth reading, as often great
stories are more likely to be found among those with more weighty
themes... I read science fiction for pleasure, and am more likely to be
pleased by something positive and inspiring.
Of course, though, this can be pandered to too far, as the AI-assisted
stories in the Humanity F- Yeah genre littering my YouTube suggestions demonstrate.
The Campbellian limits are too restrictive, even if much ov interest lies within them.

John Savard

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From: quadibloc@invalid.invalid

On Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:52:11 +0000, James Nicoll wrote:

Geodesic Dreams: The Best Short Fiction of Gardner Dozois by Gardner
Dozois

A selection of Dozois' best, from the first half of his half century
career.

Also: when you referred to the United States of America simply as
"America", rather than simply as the "United States", as some prefer, and followed that by a footnote marker, I was expecting a mention of the controversy.

Basically, in some foreign languages, particularly the Romance languages,
the term cognate to "America" is used to refer to what English speakers
know as "the Americas", and therefore they are left with the name of its
form of government within the full, formal name of the country to use to
refer to it.

I was not expecting, in the footnote, to find a paraphrase of a famous
remark about Carthage.

While the Trump Administration needs to be somehow ended, rather than
America itself being destroyed, the goal is to _prevent_ the United
States, as it once was, from being destroyed. Otherwise, just as Donald J. Trump has found it within himself to get along just fine with the Russia
of Vladimir Putin, I have no doubts he will, despite his current rhetoric
in that direction, be able to get along with the China of Xi Jinping as
well.

With *none* of those three countries being democracies any longer, one can
take the science-fiction stories of the Co-Dominion as describing our
likely future in this scenario. Of course, by permanently banishing the
threat of nuclear war, Donald Trump will... almost... deserve the Nobel
Peace Prize, thus bringing him closer to one of his desired
accomplishments. He had apparently hoped that putting an end to Iran's
nuclear weapons program would qualify him for the award, but the Nobel
Peace Prize is not awarded for military victories, even if they do
contribute to world peace. Otherwise, Golda Meir would have gotten one for winning the Six-Day War.

John Savard

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From: psperson@old.netcom.invalid

On Sat, 20 Sep 2025 09:20:09 -0000 (UTC), John Savard <quadibloc@invalid.invalid> wrote:

On Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:52:11 +0000, James Nicoll wrote:

Geodesic Dreams: The Best Short Fiction of Gardner Dozois by Gardner
Dozois

A selection of Dozois' best, from the first half of his half century
career.

Also: when you referred to the United States of America simply as
"America", rather than simply as the "United States", as some prefer, and >followed that by a footnote marker, I was expecting a mention of the >controversy.

Basically, in some foreign languages, particularly the Romance languages, >the term cognate to "America" is used to refer to what English speakers
know as "the Americas", and therefore they are left with the name of its >form of government within the full, formal name of the country to use to >refer to it.

"United States" doesn't mean "USA" in Mexico. Well, not exclusively,
anyway; context, of course, matters
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

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From: kludge@panix.com

Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

"United States" doesn't mean "USA" in Mexico. Well, not exclusively,
anyway; context, of course, matters

Es Gringolandia!
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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