Post by Fabrizio J BonsignoreI counted more than 32 Belindas, women who can be confused among them
and the people I mean. I was threatened not to post or they would
suffer consequences. I have had no further news. There were several
stories of what could happen to them. I need to see them in person to
see they are well. ***I have much more information than they may
have.*** Videoconference is an option. The previous email account's
server was closed, so now I am using this account. This is a serious
plight. I found the other mathematician friend tortured and now he
dissapeared.
You know, I once heard a rumour cleverly disguised as science-fiction,
that mathematicians had used virtual reality to discover a quick and
easy way to manufacture reliable antigravity. This was cleverly
published by a writer mostly noted for his short-story horror.
In this novel, the governments of the USSR and the USA had become almost
indistinguishable from each other, except for their unrelenting enmity.
On a very overpopulated Earth, everyone longed for escape from the
repression. A huge government research project discovered an interesting
mathematical anomaly while exploring the upper atmosphere of the planet
Jupiter. Gravity has hidden eddies which propagate into other domains of
the quantum scale, as shown in the Leigh-Brackett Derivation.
Additionally, a private-corporation medical research effort discovers
the ultimate antibiotic. And one fine day, a group of physicists
publishes their paper into every e-mail box on Earth, and apply their
new knowledge to evacuate a dying planet which was killed by the
power-seeking of bureacracies. By modulating electron spin-differential,
they can create bubbles which are effectively isolated from spaces
exterior to the generated field, and all of the forces therein,
including light-speed limitations and the entirely entertwined
phenomenon of "gravity". And suddenly, all over Earth, there are _Cities
in Flight_.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585676020/qid=1136856930/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1422271-8615804?n=507846&s=books&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/1585676020/ref=cm_cr_dp_pt/103-1422271-8615804?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=507846&s=books
<quote in-part>
Probably the only way Mr Blish could have made the title anymore
self-explanatory would be to call it "Cities in Space" but that's not
really as poetic. Mostly due to that teeming mass we fondly call pop
culture, if you've heard of James Blish at all it's probably by way of
his novelisations of Star Trek episodes, which is where I first heard of
him (and they really aren't half bad, honestly) but as it turns out he
was one of the smarter SF writers of the fifties. His SF reputation
basically rests on two novels, A Case of Conscience (which is a decent
examination of original sin from a SF perspective) and the collective
groups of novels known as Cities in Flight, which we'll be talking about
here. Over the course of time Blish wrote four average sized novels
depicting over time man discovering the ability to launch entire cities
into space and the culture that developed around them as the centuries
wore on. The first novel "They Shall Have Stars" mostly serves as a
really long prologue to the proceedings, showing how the technology was
developed, as well as the secret to halting the aging process,
indispensible to staying in space for a really long time. The story also
functions as a political thriller on some level, showing the earth of
the future as more narrowminded and religious (always an easy target,
alas) and focused more upon itself, crumbling even as he moves forward.
Still, it's really just prelude for what's to come. "A Life for the
Stars" is next, and is basically a better introduction to the culture of
the flying cities, as they weave their way through space, taking odd
jobs. Blish does a decent job making a somehow plausible stab at what a
wandering space culture would be like, although I do have to agree that
he rarely gives you a sense of the massiveness of a city and all the
people inside it, instead focusing only on a small handful (I mean
they're on NYC, for pete's sake) which takes some of the epicness away
from it, although the fact that it's a giant city rocketing through
space helps. "Earthman Come Home" is probably my favorite of the group
(and it's the longest) focusing on the mayor of NYC, John Amalfi (who
was glimpsed in the last novel but takes center stage for this and the
next one) as he deals with some crises over the course of a novel,
showing the downsides of a wandering culture (what if there's no jobs?)
and what drastic actions those people might take, it's the widest
ranging examination and description of Blish's future history. The last
novel "Truimph of Time" mostly ties things up, bringing the crew back
one last time after centuries have past to deal with the one thing
they'll never be able to deal with and wrapping up things nicely, on a
real poetic note. Blish's novels are hugely readable and move at a good
clip, the characterization isn't what it could be (a common complaint
for fifties' SF, since putting the idea forward was more important) and
since the novels were written so long ago some of the science is suspect
(a lot is outdated and the rest is just babbling) . . . also, the novels
sometimes act more like collections of short stories, as the city moves
from one unrelated crisis to another. But in terms of ideas and scope,
Blish was standing nearly alone and I have to admit I have a fondness
for the type of SF that liked the idea of strapping giant engines onto
things and sending them into space. Sure it's not as graceful but it's
much for a better mental image. If you're looking for cutting edge,
sophisticated SF for the new century, this probably isn't what you're
looking for, but for those who like to see one man lay out wild ideas in
a calm, level fashion, this is probably some of the best stories you can
get from this era and well worth the look.
</quote>
_Cities in Flight_ by James Blish, published in separate volumes
throughout the 1960s, collected as one volume as _Cities in Flight_.
Available in used bookstores everywhere for under a dollar, and it will
probably be the best dollar you've ever spent.
--
nam primi in omnibus proeliis oculi vincuntur.