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

QUICK STATS:
   STARTING SF-POINTS^©: 234
   SF-POINTS^©EARNED THIS MONTH: 35 (QUOTA: 31)
   YEAR-TO-DATE SF-POINTS^©: 269 (YTD QUOTA: 244)

PREVIOUS MONTHS: Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul  

DATE READ	STORY	AUTHOR	YEAR WRITTEN	SOURCE	RATING	TYPE	POINTS	YTD POINTS
08/01/04	"Great Wall of Mars"	Alastair Reynolds	2000	The Year's Best Science Fiction #18 edited by Gardner Dozois		NV	2	236
08/02/04	"Glacial"	Alastair Reynolds	2001	The Year's Best Science Fiction #19 edited by Gardner Dozois		NV	2	238
08/05/04	"For White Hill"	Joe Haldeman	1995	Year's Best SF #1 edited by David G. Hartwell		NA	4	242
08/06/04	"In Saturn Time"	William Barton	1995			SS	1	243
08/13/04	"A Crowd of Shadows"	Charles L. Grant	1976	SCI FICTION		SS	1	244
08/14/04	"Coming of Age in Karhide by Sov Thade Tage em Ereb, of Rer, in Karhide, on Gethen"	Ursula K. Le Guin	1995	Year's Best SF #1 edited by David G. Hartwell		NV	2	246
08/14/04	"The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker"	Roger Zelazny	1995			SS	1	247
08/17/04	"The Day the Aliens Came"	Robert Sheckley	1995			SS	1	248
08/17/04	"Microbe"	Joan Slonczewski	1995			SS	1	249
08/18/04	"The Time telephone"	Adam Roberts	2002	Infinity Plus		SS	1	250
08/19/04	"The Ziggurat"	Gene Wolfe	1995	Year's Best SF #1 edited by David G. Hartwell		NA	4	254
08/25/04	"The Sword of Damocles"	Bruce Sterling	1990	Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (February 1990)		SS	1	255
08/25/04	"Fool to Believe"	Pat Cadigan	1990			NA	4	259
08/26/04	"A Braver Thing"	Charles Sheffield	1990			NV	2	261
08/27/04	"Joyride"	Deborah Wessell	1990			NV	2	263
08/28/04	"Travelers"	Damian Kilby	1990			NV	2	265
08/30/04	"The Cookie Monster"	Vernor Vinge	2003	Analog		NA	4	269

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

NOTES:

• Miscellaneous reviews follow

"A Crowd of Shadows" by Charles L. Grant
[Read: 08/13/04]
[Rating: ]
[Source: SCI FICTION]

	Synopsis: A SF murder mystery where the suspect is a boy android.
	Review: I liked Grant's descriptive writing style; he says much with few words. It lent to the feeling of being a classic murder mystery. It wasn't exactly a fast read, though. The poignancy of the boy's suffering from the public prejudice against androids was a nice touch.
	Note: Winner of the 1977 Short Story Nebula Award

"The Time Telephone" by Adam Roberts
[Read: 08/18/04]
[Rating: ]
[Source: Infinity Plus]

	Synopsis: "Neutroelectrons" allow for telephone calls into the past and future.
	Review: Very intriguing idea, but a bit poor on the delivery. The ending was just lost on me.

"The Cookie Monster" by Vernor Vinge
[Read: 08/30/04]
[Rating: ]
[Source: Analog]

	Synopsis: Dixie Mae is a customer support representative of a huge technology company. She receives an email revealing something about her childhood that only she knows about. The email leads her on an adventure that proves things are not at all like they appear to be at LotsaTech Company.
	Review: Very good story because halfway through it reveals itself to be something completely different (and much cooler) than the average mystery story set in a corporate environment. Hard to explain further without giving it away.
	Note: Finalist for the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella

Comments (2) | PermaLink | Category: Books
Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday September 01, 2004 at 12:00 AM
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