Aug. 15th, 2008

stoutfellow: My summer look (Summer)
I don't have much to say about my visit to San Diego. I saw most of the family and got some pictures of two of the great-niblings; other than that, it was a quiet and, above all, restful few days - which I needed, in between the busy-ness of MathFest and Denvention.

My flight landed in Denver at about 5:30 local time. Moments after we deplaned and the plane was unloaded, a thunderstorm rolled in and lightning struck the field. Several planes (thankfully, not mine) had to sit on the tarmac, their cargo holds full, until the storm subsided. It was after six when I finally got to a taxi, and I asked the driver how long it would take to get to the hotel. (Registration for the convention closed that day at seven, and I was concerned about checking in at the hotel and getting registered.) By the time we reached downtown Denver, the timing was tight enough that I just had him drop me at the convention center. Fortunately, the P-Z line at registration was empty, so I could just walk up and get my packet. I asked how to get to my hotel, and was told to go two blocks north, then catch the westbound MallTram and get off at Arapahoe. (She was insistent that I take the tram; it was too far to walk. In fact this was not true; it was a total of five or six short blocks, a pleasant walk on a cool morning or a clear evening. However, given that it was raining and I was hauling my luggage, I have to say that her advice was sound.)

After checking in at the hotel, I hurried back to the convention center, in hopes that the Summerfaire event would still be in progress - there, if anywhere, was a chance to catch some other Bujold listies. There weren't many people there when I arrived, but I finally spotted someone in a Barrayaran uniform, who turned out to be Steve Salaba. I'm not sure he remembered me - another not-since-Komarr - but he pointed me at [livejournal.com profile] mbernardi, who did, and in turn pointed out [livejournal.com profile] filkferengi amid a cluster of listies. (In addition to [livejournal.com profile] filkferengi, the crowd included [livejournal.com profile] dan_ad_nauseam, [livejournal.com profile] mmegaera, and Sasha, whom I'd met before, but also [livejournal.com profile] nlbarber, Mary, Franz, Little Egret, the Bartons, Stellan, and Frank Kempe, whom I hadn't. There was some discussion of the disparity between mental images and reality; for instance, I had been sure [livejournal.com profile] nlbarber was taller and dark-haired. For some reason, people's mental images of me were pretty close to the reality....)

Not much else happened that day; [livejournal.com profile] filkferengi, Stellan, and I wandered over to the con suite in search of food, and after a while I excused myself and headed for bed.
stoutfellow: My summer look (Summer)
One of the books I picked up at Denvention was an old used paperback anthology, Northwest Smith by C. L. Moore. I'd heard of it, of course; those stories, together with Jirel of Joiry, made Moore's reputation back in the 1930s. I'd never read any of her solo work, though; Vintage Season and "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" were joint work with Henry Kuttner. I'm about halfway through the collection now.

I don't quite know what I was expecting, but this isn't it.

First point: the stories remind me just how strong the link between pulp SF and pulp Westerns was. Smith is a gun-toting semi-outlaw; that the gun is a "ray-gun" makes little difference. His milieu is one of flop-houses and saloons, smugglers and lawmen. (That link isn't dead; "Firefly" is, for the most part, a throwback, and much of Mike Resnick's work is in the same vein.)

Second point: Smith is strong and resourceful (and a good shot), but as often as not it is someone else who saves him - his Venusian cohort Yarol, or any of several doomed and beautiful women (of several races) who sacrifice their lives for his.

Third point: Moore's work, despite its space-operatic elements, is much more like that of Clark Ashton-Smith than that of Doc Smith. The cosmological background isn't quite as bleak as Lovecraft, but Elder Gods and similar monstrosities abound. Beings with strange hypnotic powers, shapes and colors that can't quite be described or focused on, lost planets and their lost gods, all the Cthulhuesque paraphernalia appear.

It's entertaining, and I certainly can't grouse over the two bucks it cost me. It's just... not what I expected.

That's probably a good thing.

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