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dustydigger
Posted 2016-07-29 5:05 AM (#14093 - in reply to #12239)
Subject: Re: Pick and Mix 2016		Quote Reply



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Location: UK		Larry Niven's The Integral Trees,a Locus award winner, was a hugely enjoyable romp,but as is usual with Niven it has a jaw dropping setting
.500 years ago the ship Discipline was exploring with an eye to colonization,under the watchful eye of a computer tasked with monitoring the crew's loyalty for the all powerful State. They came across the Smoke Ring,a massive gas torus surrounding a neutron star with no planets,but with a variety of plant and animal life-forms evolved to thrive in conditions of continual free-fall. A mutiny occurred,and the crew abandoned ship, setting up home on some of the vegetation,setting up a variety of social and political systems.Scratching for a living on the tree like vegetation,and now with no memory of their past,and a pitiful amount of old tech slowly dying out,life is hard.
A small group of survivors from a dying Tree have a hair raising series of adventures,including slavery, before they steal an aged shuttle craft and make brief contact with the ship Discipline's computer,which is still patiently obeying orders to monitor the crew,before setting up a new colony on a new Tree.
Sketchy characterization of course,but lots of derring do,narrow escapes and wild adventures. A fun,quick read,and of course that weird and wonderful setting of the Smoke Ring. Excellent.
That makes 28/46 Locus award winners completed.I am trying to read 2 or 3 Hugo,Nebula or Locus winners per month,it should take about two more years to complete them all! lol.
But now the nice short,easy SF/F reads are going to give way to all the massive wristbreaking tomes,so progress may be a bit slower. Having a great time though,and have had some wonderful reads since getting back into the genre after decades away.
Next up for August on the awards roster are Pat Murphy's The Falling Woman,and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's The Healer's War,both new author's to me.(Scarborough did some rather dull collaborations with Anne MacCaffrey many moons ago,but I havent read any of her personal stuff.)

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