Sunday, 13 August 2017

Hugo Awards - Best Sci Fi Novels - 1980s

This is a list of the best novel award for the 1980's
The Hugos have been awarded since the 1950s.

The official Hugo Awards website is:
http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/

My personal favourites from this decade are: Ender’s Game & Speaker for the Dead
Neuromancer by William Gibson,  Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh
+The golden Torc by Julian May (1982) ... didn't win any award, but a personal fave.
Consider Phlebas, by Iain Banks (1987), The player of Games by Iain M. Banks (1988).


1980
The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke [Gollancz, 1979; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979]
***
PublisherVictor Gollancz (UK)
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (US)
Publication date
1979
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages256
ISBN0-575-02520-4

First UK edition, precedes the U.S. first edition.







1981
The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge [Dial Press, 1980]

Publisher    Dial Press (USA)
Publication date
    1980
Media type    Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages    471
Award    Hugo Award for Best Novel,
Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (all 1981)
ISBN    0-8037-7739-6

***








1982

Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh [DAW, 1981]
Published    1981 (DAW Books)
Media type    Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Hardback has 439 pages
I understand that the Book club edition (SFCB - Science Fiction Book Club) was the first edition in hardcover.
L10 gutter code page 438 

Award    Hugo Award for Best Novel
ISBN    84-7002-376-4

This is the first book in the  Union-Alliance novels
It's part of the space opera covering the rebellion between Earth and its far-flung colonies 

***

 



The Paperback first edition has 420 pages
This peceded the Science Fiction Book Club edition. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, *4-103. Cover art by David Mattingly.

Award    Hugo Award for Best Novel
ISBN    84-7002-376-4
***









1983

Foundation’s Edge by Isaac Asimov [Doubleday, 1982]

Published    1982 (Doubleday)
Media type    Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages    367
Awards    Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1983)
ISBN    0-385-17725-9











1984

Startide Rising by David Brin [Bantam, 1983]


Publisher    Bantam Books
Publication date
    1983
Media type    Print (Paperback & Hardback)
Pages    462 (first edition, paperback)
Award    Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1984)
ISBN    0-553-23495-1 (first edition, paperback)
This is the second of 6 books in the "Uplift War Series".

The six books are:
 Sundiver
Startide Rising
The Uplift War
Brightness Reef
Infinity's Shore
Heaven's Reach

1985

Neuromancer by William Gibson [Ace, 1984]

Publisher    Ace
Publication date
    July 1, 1984
Media type    Print (paperback and hardback)
Pages    271
ISBN    0-441-56956-0











1986
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card [Tor, 1985]

Publisher    Tor Books
Publication date
    15 January 1985
Media type    Print (Hardcover, Paperback & Ebook)
Pages    324
ISBN    0-312-93208-1



Ender's Game was recognized as "best novel" by the 1985 Nebula Award and the 1986 Hugo Award

 There are four sequels—Speaker for the Dead (1986), Xenocide (1991), Children of the Mind (1996), and Ender in Exile (2008)




The book originated as a short story of the same name, published in the August 1977 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact.

***
















1987
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card [Tor, 1986]

This is an indirect sequel to the novel Ender's Game.
Like Ender's Game, the book won the Nebula Award in 1986 and the Hugo Award in 1987.

Publisher    Tor Books
Publication date
    March 1986
Pages    415
Award    Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1987)
ISBN    0-312-93738-5







1988

The Uplift War by David Brin [Phantasia, 1987; Bantam Spectra, 1987]

Publisher    Bantam Spectra
Publication date
    1987
Media type    Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages    506
Award    Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1988)
ISBN    0-932096-44-1

nominated as the best novel for the 1987 Nebula Award and won the 1988 Hugo and Locus Awards.

 

 

 

This is the third of 6 books in the "Uplift War Series".

The six books are:
 Sundiver
Startide Rising
The Uplift War
Brightness Reef
Infinity's Shore
Heaven's Reach
 

1989

Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh [Warner, 1988]

Publisher    Warner Books
Publication date
    May 1988
Pages    680 (Hardback)
Awards    Hugo Award for Best Novel (1989)
Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1989)
ISBN    0-446-51428-4
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Sci Fi Links
+ Hugo Awards Best Sci Fi novels of the 1950's
+ Hugo Awards Best sci fi novels of the 1960's
+ Hugo Awards Best Sci Fi novels of the 1970's
+ Hugo Awards Best Sci Fi Novels of the 1980's
+ Hugo Awards Best Sci Fi novels of the 1990's
+ Hugo awards Best sci fi novel of the 2000's (2000 - 2009)
+ Hugo Awards Best Sci Fi novels for the decade 2010-2019
+ Foundation - Isaac Asimov's
+ Dune - The Chronological order of the novels
+ Dune Universe Timeline
+ I, Robot - Isaac Asimov - novels & Magazines
+ Star Wars 
+ vorkoisgan saga reading order - Lois McMaster Bujold


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sci Fi Index

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Thursday, 10 August 2017

Roland TR - 727

Some pics of the modded 727.

This is the sister of the Roland 707. Its sounds are completely different.
This came out in 1985. That display lets you see exactly what you are doing.

You wont find your expected Kicks and claps here.
Its very unusual sounds are a welcome addition to the standard ones you find on drum machines these days.Great for tribal, Indian & Latin beats. There are 15 digital, sample based (12 bit) sounds.
Though I don't think it has the punch of the TR-626 or 505 which have (almost?) all the same sounds (I think it has the sounds of the 707 & 727). With the 626 you can adjust the pitch of each individual sound.

I love the built in mixer which allows you to adjust the volume of each sound. And the matrix sequencer display makes programming it a breeze. 64 patterns.

 This version has some yummy mods. The standard effects are Shuffle & Flam.
With lots of efx this machine can do wonders. You would be surprised how a little reverb or distortion completely changes the sound of this machine.

The layout is the same as the 707.

Aphex Twin, Freddy Fresh, and Luke Vibert have used the TR-727.
Though the PCM wave samples are all digital, the envelope and VCA is analog.
This is something that the new TR-8 doesn't have. The TR-8 uses "Roland's analog circuit behavior technology"

There are individual outputs for each sound and there is full midi (in/out) & Dinsync implementation so you can use your old TB 303 and modern Midi drums with this. Even if you didn't care for the sounds its so useful just for the DYN-Sync to Midi converter capability.


As mentioned earlier, my 727 is modified.

Its a unique example of circuit bending using banana cables.
A post shared by jono (@dj_jondent) on
It produces unusual sounds.
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For more info on the history of Roland Drum Machines click here

Burma - U-Bein Bridge - travel pics

This bridge spans the Taungthaman Lake near Amarapura in Myanmar.

 The bridge was built from wood reclaimed from the former royal palace in Inwa.

 It features 1,086 pillars that stretch out of the water, some of which have been replaced with concrete.

 construction began in 1849.
 The teak posts were hammered into the lake bed 7 feet deep.

 The 1.2-kilometre (0.75 mi) bridge is believed to be the oldest and longest teakwood bridge in the world.

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For more travel postcards click here:

Thursday, 3 August 2017

Walk to the Eibsee (lake) - Bavaria Germany

 Eibsee is a lake in Bavaria, Germany, 9 km southwest of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and roughly 100 km southwest of Munich. It is 973.28 metres above sea-level and its surface area is 177.4 hectares. 
 
It is at the northerly base of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain
 
 
These pics were taken in Garmish - P
The country side is so peaceful.
I started the walk from the town of 
Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
 













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