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Author Topic: I got a letter from John Varley!  (Read 3811 times)

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AugustWest

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« on: May 04, 2004, 01:21:43 am »
I'm so tickled I could just about bust!

Apparently he was watching Jeopardy last Wednesday and saw me mention that he was one of my favorites (which he is. Steel Beach is one of my favorite books evar.)  He thanked my very kindly for the mention and told me how pleased he was that I'd enjoyed his stories over the years.

He's having a new retrospective collection of his stories coming out in September and promised to send me one of his author's copies.

I'm all giggly like a little girl!
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jough

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2004, 01:34:53 am »
I don't know who that is, but I'm guessing he's a pulp fiction author?

That's so cool.
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AugustWest

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2004, 01:47:33 am »
Science Fiction.  Kind of a precursor to cyberpunk.  Pretty well-known in the SF world, but hasn't done much since the 80s.  Remember the movie Millenium?  Based on his novel.
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Nabubrush

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2004, 02:50:01 am »
That's fuckin' A dope, AW. I heard you mention that and I was all down with it. Also, for those who don't know him, Titan/Wizard/Demon is all good. Actually, all his shit is pretty good, if you like that sort of thing.

Aside: AW, do you like Fredric Brown?
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AugustWest

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2004, 02:55:01 am »
Quote from: "Nabubrush drinks (a lot)"
That's fuckin' A dope, AW. I heard you mention that and I was all down with it. Also, for those who don't know him, Titan/Wizard/Demon is all good. Actually, all his shit is pretty good, if you like that sort of thing.

Aside: AW, do you like Fredric Brown?


Yeah, and I got the man's E-mail address.

Don't know Fredric Brown.  Guess I'll be checking him out.
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Nabubrush

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2004, 02:58:51 am »
FB's best-known is probably "Arena" which I believe was adapted for an original Star Trek episode. There was a few old movies made of his stuff, too. His SF is usually pretty comic, his mystery pretty pulpy/private dick type stuff.
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jough

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2004, 07:04:34 am »
Quote from: "AugustWest"
Science Fiction.  Kind of a precursor to cyberpunk.  Pretty well-known in the SF world, but hasn't done much since the 80s.


Him and me both.  

Quote
Remember the movie Millenium?
 

Ugh.  Yeah, it was awful.

Quote
Based on his novel.


Oh.
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andalucia

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #7 on: May 04, 2004, 11:23:45 am »
Quote from: "Nabubrush drinks (a lot)"
FB's best-known is probably "Arena" which I believe was adapted for an original Star Trek episode.


This man is fine by me.
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AugustWest

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #8 on: May 04, 2004, 12:48:50 pm »
Quote from: "jough"

Quote
Remember the movie Millenium?
 

Ugh.  Yeah, it was awful.


Agreed.  The book is much better.  It was complicated premise that didn't translate well to film.
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Carlos del Vaca

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2004, 02:41:13 pm »
I read and enjoyed some John Varley series years ago, but now I can't remember what they were called.  I think Wizard was one of them?

Fredric Brown has been called "The O. Henry of science fiction."  I had a book of his short stories that was quite amusing.
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Bozack

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #10 on: May 04, 2004, 02:51:04 pm »
Quote from: "carlosdelvaca"
Fredric Brown has been called "The O. Henry of science fiction."

From Rags to Cybernetic Arms
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Nabubrush

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #11 on: May 04, 2004, 03:10:49 pm »
It's interesting to me how rarely good SF books become good SF movies. At this point, anytime one is in production, I feel a great deal of dread.
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jough

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I got a letter from John Varley!
« Reply #12 on: May 04, 2004, 03:18:15 pm »
I hardly read any novels, let alone sci-fi, but when I was a teen I enjoyed Harlan Ellison's work.  I actually just borrowed his published screenplay for "I, *****" (which was passed on so that they could make the upcoming Will Smith piece of shit) so I could see how great it could have been if the people making it were interested in making a sci-fi film instead of a Will Smith cop action flick.

I read the first like, five or six of Asimov's "Foundation" series until it just got to be too much - if there were only 8 or 9 books I may have finished out the series, but there was something like 47 and that's just too much.

However, some Salvor Hardon and Harry Seldon (can't remember if I'm spelling the characters' names correctly) phrases still work their way into my standard Maxim Delivery System™ (MDS), like "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
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