This is the April 2004 update of my New Year's Resolution.

QUICK STATS:
   STARTING SF-POINTS^©: 117
   SF-POINTS^©EARNED THIS MONTH: 32 (QUOTA: 30)
   YEAR-TO-DATE SF-POINTS^©: 149 (YTD QUOTA: 121)

PREVIOUS MONTHS: Jan   Feb   Mar  

DATE READ	STORY	AUTHOR	YEAR WRITTEN	SOURCE	RATING	TYPE	POINTS	YTD POINTS
04/01/04	The Clear Blue Seas of Luna	Gregory Benford	2002	The Year's Best Science Fiction #20		NV	2	117
04/02/04	The Baum Plan for Financial Independence	John Kessel	2004	SCI FICTION		SS	1	118
04/02/04	The Little Lamb	Frederic Brown	1953	SCI FICTION		SS	1	119
04/07/04	Caught in the Organ Draft	Robert Silverberg	1972	SCI FICTION		SS	1	120
04/10/04	V.A.O.	Geoff Ryman	2002	The Year's Best Science Fiction #20		NA	4	124
04/10/04	Winters are Hard	Steven Popkes	2002			SS	1	125
04/12/04	At the Money	Richard Wadholm	2002			NV	2	127
04/12/04	Agent Provocateur	Alexander Irvine	2002			SS	1	128
04/13/04	Singleton	Greg Egan	2002			NV	2	130
04/16/04	Slow Life	Michael Swanwick	2002			NV	2	132
04/16/04	A Flock of Birds	James Van Pelt	2002			SS	1	133
04/17/04	The Whisper of Disks	John Meaney	2002			NV	2	135
04/17/04	The Hotel at Harlan's Landing	Kage Baker	2002			SS	1	136
04/17/04	The Millennium Party	Walter Jon Williams	2002			VI	0	136
04/18/04	Turquoise Days	Alastair Reynolds	2002			NA	4	140
04/23/04	Fermi and Frost	Frederik Pohl	1985	Armageddons edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois		SS	1	141
04/25/04	A Desperate Calculus	Gregory Benford	1995			NV	2	143
04/27/04	It's the Thought That Counts	Jerry Oltion	2000	Analog Science Fiction & Fact - December 2000		SS	1	144
04/28/04	Evolution	Nancy Kress	1995	Armageddons		NV	2	146
04/29/04	A Message to the King of Brobdingnag	Richard Cowper	1995			NV	2	148
04/29/04	"...The World, as We Know't"	Howard Waldrop	1982			SS	1	149

KEY:VI=Vignette (.25 points), SS=Short Story (1 point), NV=Novelette (2 points), NA=Novella (4 points)

NOTES:

• Some reviews are yet to be posted (Analog Science Fiction & Fact - December 2000)
• Miscellaneous reviews follow

The Baum Plan for Financial Independence by John Kessel
[Read: 04/02/04]
[Rating: ]
[Source: SCI FICTION]

	Synopsis: A scamming couple, reunited after one serves time, follows a lead to some easy money. They go to a deserted house and, inside a closet, discover a seemingly impossible palace where they ask for a large amount of money and get it.
	Review: Good writing here but this was nothing more than a "wonder what's around the next corner" tale. The plot was a bit too simplistic. The Wizard of Oz References are cute, but not significant enough to mean anything.

The Little Lamb by Frederic Brown
[Read: 04/02/04]
[Rating: ]
[Source: SCI FICTION]

	Synopsis: A painter suspects his wife of cheating on him.
	Review: Excellent, top-notch story where the suspense keeps increasing. Fantastic writing.

Caught in the Organ Draft by Robert Silverberg
[Read: 04/07/04]
[Rating: ]
[Source: SCI FICTION]

	Synopsis: Concerns a society where government "drafts" young people to donate organs to older people.
	Review: Excellent premise superbly executed. A simple idea that makes for a great story. Lots of interesting analyses about the process dictated by the elders as seen through the eyes of one young man intent on draft dodging.

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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday May 01, 2004 at 12:42 AM
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