Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
> https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/

Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.

In Re the Brunner. Last week(?) the afternoon sun here in MA was a strange orange-red, due
to the fires in West Coast states.

pt

In article <09ef3adc-8907-4f7a-9886-c33f1050ab9dn@googlegroups.com>,
pete...@gmail.com <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
>>
>https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
>
>
>Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.

I am astoundingly poorly read in Ballard.

>In Re the Brunner. Last week(?) the afternoon sun here in MA was a strange
>orange-red, due
>to the fires in West Coast states.

TBH, the air quality warnings we've been getting inspired this.

--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 07:34:47 -0700 (PDT), "pete...@gmail.com"
<petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
>> https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
>
>Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.
>
>In Re the Brunner. Last week(?) the afternoon sun here in MA was a strange orange-red, due
>to the fires in West Coast states.

Are you one of the areas being flooded out by the rains?

Perhaps you should collect that water and send it to the West!
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

In article <j6otfgdrdqmjrri0o5l97h34tq86jrtus4@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 07:34:47 -0700 (PDT), "pete...@gmail.com"
><petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
>>>
>https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
>>
>>Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.
>>
>>In Re the Brunner. Last week(?) the afternoon sun here in MA was a
>strange orange-red, due
>>to the fires in West Coast states.
>
>Are you one of the areas being flooded out by the rains?
>
>Perhaps you should collect that water and send it to the West!

If only!

FWIW, here in the Bay Area it's been dry as a bone, and both fire
control and agriculture could use a series of
not-quite-flood-level rainstorms. The temperatures, on the other
hand, have been in the mid-70s Fahrenheit. The weather page
keeps on predicting temps in the 80s next Tuesday, but Tuesday
comes and the 80s don't. Today, it's saying 85 tomorrow and
various 80s through Friday. We'll see.

OTOH, friends of mine who live further inland have had to
evacuate, taking necessities such as computers, plus their cats
(they have no children), to go live with Mom out of the danger
zone. (They've been living in that part of the State for years,
because they inherited a house there. It was a good deal, till
recently.)

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) writes:
>In article <j6otfgdrdqmjrri0o5l97h34tq86jrtus4@4ax.com>,
>Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>>On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 07:34:47 -0700 (PDT), "pete...@gmail.com"
>><petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
>>>>
>>https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
>>>
>>>Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.
>>>
>>>In Re the Brunner. Last week(?) the afternoon sun here in MA was a
>>strange orange-red, due
>>>to the fires in West Coast states.
>>
>>Are you one of the areas being flooded out by the rains?
>>
>>Perhaps you should collect that water and send it to the West!
>
>If only!
>
>FWIW, here in the Bay Area it's been dry as a bone, and both fire

Although there is a 20% chance of thunderstorms today in the
Bay Area, and they've already had a few hundreths of an inch
today in Pasadena.

Unfortunately, they're more likely to start fires than supress them.

On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 11:13:59 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <09ef3adc-8907-4f7a...@googlegroups.com>,
> pete...@gmail.com <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> >> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
> >>
> >https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
> >
> >
> >Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.
> I am astoundingly poorly read in Ballard.

Well, you can skip the first one, "The Wind from Nowhere".

Ballard was trapped in a job that didn't leave him time to write, so he wrote this
fantasy novel in his vacation of eleven days. Naturally it's not as well thought out
as his others, and he himself later said "The wind thing wasn't that interesting"
But it paid enough that he could write full time.

"The Drowned World" is vastly better, basically SF (the sun gets a wee bit warmer, and
given how little we knew about stars then, it wasn't that implausible). The ending
confused his New York publisher ("shouldn't it be the reverse?"), but it's not
really a new wave story.

"The Drought" is also SF. Pollution causes a film of junk to form atop the ocean,
severely restricting evaporation. More of a new wave feel than it's predecessor. As a
kid I had no idea what the ending meant.

"The Crystal World". What happens with a very slow moving version, more or less, of Ice-9.
I haven't seen a copy in decades and wonder how it would read now. As a kid I
had no idea what the novel was really about, but I got lost in Ballard's imagery.

William Hyde

On 7/26/2021 8:14 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
> https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/

Zero for five here.

I might include "Blind Waves" by Steven Gould here. Might since it was
published in 2000, not a classic.
https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Waves-Steven-Gould/dp/0312864450/

Lynn

On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 7:01:58 PM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> On 7/26/2021 8:14 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
> > Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
> > https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
> Zero for five here.

I think "The Kraken Wakes" is one you will enjoy. And the Niven, if you like fantasy
and/or Niven.

William Hyde

On 7/26/2021 6:09 PM, William Hyde wrote:
> On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 7:01:58 PM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> On 7/26/2021 8:14 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
>>> https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
>> Zero for five here.
>
> I think "The Kraken Wakes" is one you will enjoy. And the Niven, if you like fantasy
> and/or Niven.
>
> William Hyde

I love Niven. I have three XXXXX five of his books in my SBR right now.

Lynn

On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 12:21:13 PM UTC-4, Paul S Person wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 07:34:47 -0700 (PDT), "pete...@gmail.com"
> <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> >> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
> >> https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
> >
> >Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.
> >
> >In Re the Brunner. Last week(?) the afternoon sun here in MA was a strange orange-red, due
> >to the fires in West Coast states.
> Are you one of the areas being flooded out by the rains?
>
> Perhaps you should collect that water and send it to the West!

Some parts of the state have had the wettest July on record - over 100 years.
..
Pt

On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
> https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/

Another 'cozy catastrophe' author you skipped is John Christopher. Aside from the 'Tripods'
(YA alien invasion) series, also wrote 'A Wrinkle in the Skin' (vast earthquake), 'A Death of Grass'
(What it says), and "The World in Winter" (ice age descends on Britain).

Pt

On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 14:36:34 -0700 (PDT), William Hyde
<wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 11:13:59 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> In article <09ef3adc-8907-4f7a...@googlegroups.com>,
>> pete...@gmail.com <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> >> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
>> >>
>> >https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
>> >
>> >
>> >Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.
>> I am astoundingly poorly read in Ballard.
>
>Well, you can skip the first one, "The Wind from Nowhere".
>
>Ballard was trapped in a job that didn't leave him time to write, so he wrote this
>fantasy novel in his vacation of eleven days. Naturally it's not as well thought out
>as his others, and he himself later said "The wind thing wasn't that interesting"
>But it paid enough that he could write full time.
>
>"The Drowned World" is vastly better, basically SF (the sun gets a wee bit warmer, and
>given how little we knew about stars then, it wasn't that implausible). The ending
>confused his New York publisher ("shouldn't it be the reverse?"), but it's not
>really a new wave story.
>
>"The Drought" is also SF. Pollution causes a film of junk to form atop the ocean,
>severely restricting evaporation. More of a new wave feel than it's predecessor. As a
>kid I had no idea what the ending meant.
>
>"The Crystal World". What happens with a very slow moving version, more or less, of Ice-9.
>I haven't seen a copy in decades and wonder how it would read now. As a kid I
>had no idea what the novel was really about, but I got lost in Ballard's imagery.

Is that the one that I first encountered as a novellette set in
Africa, and then as a novel set in Florida? Telling the same story
both times?

I was not amused -- once was quite enough, thank you very much.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 16:57:43 GMT, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
Heydt) wrote:

>In article <j6otfgdrdqmjrri0o5l97h34tq86jrtus4@4ax.com>,
>Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>>On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 07:34:47 -0700 (PDT), "pete...@gmail.com"
>><petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
>>>>
>>https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
>>>
>>>Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.
>>>
>>>In Re the Brunner. Last week(?) the afternoon sun here in MA was a
>>strange orange-red, due
>>>to the fires in West Coast states.
>>
>>Are you one of the areas being flooded out by the rains?
>>
>>Perhaps you should collect that water and send it to the West!
>
>If only!
>
>FWIW, here in the Bay Area it's been dry as a bone, and both fire
>control and agriculture could use a series of
>not-quite-flood-level rainstorms. The temperatures, on the other
>hand, have been in the mid-70s Fahrenheit. The weather page
>keeps on predicting temps in the 80s next Tuesday, but Tuesday
>comes and the 80s don't. Today, it's saying 85 tomorrow and
>various 80s through Friday. We'll see.
>
>OTOH, friends of mine who live further inland have had to
>evacuate, taking necessities such as computers, plus their cats
>(they have no children), to go live with Mom out of the danger
>zone. (They've been living in that part of the State for years,
>because they inherited a house there. It was a good deal, till
>recently.)

A week ago, when I went out to take my garbage bin (which the
collectors leave sitting, uncovered, on the lid) I saw ... water ...
inside!

I wouldn't say it rained, but "sprinkled" might not be unreasonable.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

In article <0tc0ggt368l4lknoliopd9sj1sa29215pi@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 16:57:43 GMT, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>Heydt) wrote:
>
>>In article <j6otfgdrdqmjrri0o5l97h34tq86jrtus4@4ax.com>,
>>Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>>>On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 07:34:47 -0700 (PDT), "pete...@gmail.com"
>>><petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>>> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
>>>>>
>>>https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
>>>>
>>>>Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.
>>>>
>>>>In Re the Brunner. Last week(?) the afternoon sun here in MA was a
>>>strange orange-red, due
>>>>to the fires in West Coast states.
>>>
>>>Are you one of the areas being flooded out by the rains?
>>>
>>>Perhaps you should collect that water and send it to the West!
>>
>>If only!
>>
>>FWIW, here in the Bay Area it's been dry as a bone, and both fire
>>control and agriculture could use a series of
>>not-quite-flood-level rainstorms. The temperatures, on the other
>>hand, have been in the mid-70s Fahrenheit. The weather page
>>keeps on predicting temps in the 80s next Tuesday, but Tuesday
>>comes and the 80s don't. Today, it's saying 85 tomorrow and
>>various 80s through Friday. We'll see.
>>
>>OTOH, friends of mine who live further inland have had to
>>evacuate, taking necessities such as computers, plus their cats
>>(they have no children), to go live with Mom out of the danger
>>zone. (They've been living in that part of the State for years,
>>because they inherited a house there. It was a good deal, till
>>recently.)
>
>A week ago, when I went out to take my garbage bin (which the
>collectors leave sitting, uncovered, on the lid) I saw ... water ...
>inside!
>
>I wouldn't say it rained, but "sprinkled" might not be unreasonable.

Some is better than none, and it's also better than way too much.

Weather page is still saying Vallejo's going to have a high of 83
today. At 11 AM, it's just reached 70.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

On Tuesday, July 27, 2021 at 12:25:35 PM UTC-4, Paul S Person wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 14:36:34 -0700 (PDT), William Hyde
> <wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 11:13:59 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> >> In article <09ef3adc-8907-4f7a...@googlegroups.com>,
> >> pete...@gmail.com <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> >> >> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
> >> >>
> >> >https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.
> >> I am astoundingly poorly read in Ballard.
> >
> >Well, you can skip the first one, "The Wind from Nowhere".
> >
> >Ballard was trapped in a job that didn't leave him time to write, so he wrote this
> >fantasy novel in his vacation of eleven days. Naturally it's not as well thought out
> >as his others, and he himself later said "The wind thing wasn't that interesting"
> >But it paid enough that he could write full time.
> >
> >"The Drowned World" is vastly better, basically SF (the sun gets a wee bit warmer, and
> >given how little we knew about stars then, it wasn't that implausible). The ending
> >confused his New York publisher ("shouldn't it be the reverse?"), but it's not
> >really a new wave story.
> >
> >"The Drought" is also SF. Pollution causes a film of junk to form atop the ocean,
> >severely restricting evaporation. More of a new wave feel than it's predecessor. As a
> >kid I had no idea what the ending meant.
> >
> >"The Crystal World". What happens with a very slow moving version, more or less, of Ice-9.
> >I haven't seen a copy in decades and wonder how it would read now. As a kid I
> >had no idea what the novel was really about, but I got lost in Ballard's imagery.
> Is that the one that I first encountered as a novellette set in
> Africa, and then as a novel set in Florida? Telling the same story
> both times?

As far as I can recall, I've only read a novel set in Africa. But then, rewriting a novelette or
short story into a novel is common practice in SF. 99% as common would be people saying
"The novelette/short story was better!).

William Hyde

On 27/07/2021 13.08, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <0tc0ggt368l4lknoliopd9sj1sa29215pi@4ax.com>,
> Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:

>> A week ago, when I went out to take my garbage bin (which the
>> collectors leave sitting, uncovered, on the lid) I saw ... water ...
>> inside!
>>
>> I wouldn't say it rained, but "sprinkled" might not be unreasonable.
>
> Some is better than none, and it's also better than way too much.
>
> Weather page is still saying Vallejo's going to have a high of 83
> today. At 11 AM, it's just reached 70.

They say that Wisconsin will cool down to that range tomorrow, but I'm
not holding my breath.

--
Michael F. Stemper
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him talk like Mr. Ed
by rubbing peanut butter on his gums.

"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> writes:
>On 27/07/2021 13.08, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <0tc0ggt368l4lknoliopd9sj1sa29215pi@4ax.com>,
>> Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>
>>> A week ago, when I went out to take my garbage bin (which the
>>> collectors leave sitting, uncovered, on the lid) I saw ... water ...
>>> inside!
>>>
>>> I wouldn't say it rained, but "sprinkled" might not be unreasonable.
>>
>> Some is better than none, and it's also better than way too much.
>>
>> Weather page is still saying Vallejo's going to have a high of 83
>> today. At 11 AM, it's just reached 70.
>
>They say that Wisconsin will cool down to that range tomorrow, but I'm
>not holding my breath.

Note that in Vallejo, when the high temp is 83F, the RH will
likely be less than 10%, while in Wisconsin, when the temp is
83F, the RH is likely to be over 60%. BTDT.

A few miles south of Vallejo, in santa clara county wine country, the
RH curve is the inverse of the temperature curve. The
hygrometer read 1% RH a couple of days ago when it was 88F, and
55% when it was 54F that morning.

In article <sdrr8u$3c8$1@dont-email.me>,
Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 27/07/2021 13.08, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <0tc0ggt368l4lknoliopd9sj1sa29215pi@4ax.com>,
>> Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>
>>> A week ago, when I went out to take my garbage bin (which the
>>> collectors leave sitting, uncovered, on the lid) I saw ... water ...
>>> inside!
>>>
>>> I wouldn't say it rained, but "sprinkled" might not be unreasonable.
>>
>> Some is better than none, and it's also better than way too much.
>>
>> Weather page is still saying Vallejo's going to have a high of 83
>> today. At 11 AM, it's just reached 70.

Update: it got to *93*.

Weather page, which *was* predicting 80s through Friday, is now
talking about mid-70s for the rest of the week.

>They say that Wisconsin will cool down to that range tomorrow, but I'm
>not holding my breath.

Crossing fingers.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

In article <TteMI.8802$Dk6.4923@fx20.iad>,
Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> writes:
>>On 27/07/2021 13.08, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>> In article <0tc0ggt368l4lknoliopd9sj1sa29215pi@4ax.com>,
>>> Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>>> A week ago, when I went out to take my garbage bin (which the
>>>> collectors leave sitting, uncovered, on the lid) I saw ... water ...
>>>> inside!
>>>>
>>>> I wouldn't say it rained, but "sprinkled" might not be unreasonable.
>>>
>>> Some is better than none, and it's also better than way too much.
>>>
>>> Weather page is still saying Vallejo's going to have a high of 83
>>> today. At 11 AM, it's just reached 70.
>>
>>They say that Wisconsin will cool down to that range tomorrow, but I'm
>>not holding my breath.
>
>Note that in Vallejo, when the high temp is 83F, the RH will
>likely be less than 10%, while in Wisconsin, when the temp is
>83F, the RH is likely to be over 60%. BTDT.

Ouch.

>A few miles south of Vallejo, in santa clara county wine country, the
>RH curve is the inverse of the temperature curve. The
>hygrometer read 1% RH a couple of days ago when it was 88F, and
>55% when it was 54F that morning.
>

Sort of counter-intuitive, but if thoser were the numbers....

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

On Tue, 27 Jul 2021 13:12:49 -0700 (PDT), William Hyde
<wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Tuesday, July 27, 2021 at 12:25:35 PM UTC-4, Paul S Person wrote:
>> On Mon, 26 Jul 2021 14:36:34 -0700 (PDT), William Hyde
>> <wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 11:13:59 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> >> In article <09ef3adc-8907-4f7a...@googlegroups.com>,
>> >> pete...@gmail.com <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >On Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:15:02 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> >> >> Five Classic SFF Novels About Environmental Disaster
>> >> >>
>> >> >https://www.tor.com/2021/07/26/five-classic-sff-novels-about-environmental-disaster/
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >Surprised you didn't include Ballard - he did at least 4 of these.
>> >> I am astoundingly poorly read in Ballard.
>> >
>> >Well, you can skip the first one, "The Wind from Nowhere".
>> >
>> >Ballard was trapped in a job that didn't leave him time to write, so he wrote this
>> >fantasy novel in his vacation of eleven days. Naturally it's not as well thought out
>> >as his others, and he himself later said "The wind thing wasn't that interesting"
>> >But it paid enough that he could write full time.
>> >
>> >"The Drowned World" is vastly better, basically SF (the sun gets a wee bit warmer, and
>> >given how little we knew about stars then, it wasn't that implausible). The ending
>> >confused his New York publisher ("shouldn't it be the reverse?"), but it's not
>> >really a new wave story.
>> >
>> >"The Drought" is also SF. Pollution causes a film of junk to form atop the ocean,
>> >severely restricting evaporation. More of a new wave feel than it's predecessor. As a
>> >kid I had no idea what the ending meant.
>> >
>> >"The Crystal World". What happens with a very slow moving version, more or less, of Ice-9.
>> >I haven't seen a copy in decades and wonder how it would read now. As a kid I
>> >had no idea what the novel was really about, but I got lost in Ballard's imagery.
>> Is that the one that I first encountered as a novellette set in
>> Africa, and then as a novel set in Florida? Telling the same story
>> both times?
>
>As far as I can recall, I've only read a novel set in Africa. But then, rewriting a novelette or
>short story into a novel is common practice in SF. 99% as common would be people saying
>"The novelette/short story was better!).

Well, it was certainly /shorter/!

I didn't really find it all that good in either form. In fact, I think
I purchased the one set in Florida in the hopes that it would be
different enough to provide additional information about what was
going on.

I wish I could say that I had some idea "what is was about", but for
all I know it was about the author's ability to mystify his readers.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

On Wed, 28 Jul 2021 15:20:47 GMT, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
Heydt) wrote:

>In article <sdrr8u$3c8$1@dont-email.me>,
>Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
>>On 27/07/2021 13.08, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>> In article <0tc0ggt368l4lknoliopd9sj1sa29215pi@4ax.com>,
>>> Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>>> A week ago, when I went out to take my garbage bin (which the
>>>> collectors leave sitting, uncovered, on the lid) I saw ... water ...
>>>> inside!
>>>>
>>>> I wouldn't say it rained, but "sprinkled" might not be unreasonable.
>>>
>>> Some is better than none, and it's also better than way too much.
>>>
>>> Weather page is still saying Vallejo's going to have a high of 83
>>> today. At 11 AM, it's just reached 70.
>
>Update: it got to *93*.
>
>Weather page, which *was* predicting 80s through Friday, is now
>talking about mid-70s for the rest of the week.
>
>>They say that Wisconsin will cool down to that range tomorrow, but I'm
>>not holding my breath.
>
>Crossing fingers.

Some years back (10 years? 15 years? 20 years?), while the /rest/ of
the country was experiencing hot weather (not necessarily unseasonably
hot, but hot nonetheless) we were experience ... grey skies and temps
in the sixties.

For about two weeks, the forcast for the current and following four
days was:

60s
60s
60s
60s
90s

That is, if you put them together, you got:

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Mon 60s
Tue 60s 60s
Wed 60s 60s 60s
Thu 60s 60s 60s 60s
Fri 90s 60s 60s 60s 60s
Sat 90s 60s 60s
Sun 90s 60s

It was as if their forcasting software was actually capable of only
going out /four/ days, not five, so on the fifth day it just took it
for granted that we would be getting clear sunny skies and hot weather
too.

Morons.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

In article <2113gghqnvd0q89ca9p5kpsu9kva2n4a4b@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>On Wed, 28 Jul 2021 15:20:47 GMT, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>Heydt) wrote:
>
>>In article <sdrr8u$3c8$1@dont-email.me>,
>>Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>On 27/07/2021 13.08, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>> In article <0tc0ggt368l4lknoliopd9sj1sa29215pi@4ax.com>,
>>>> Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>>> A week ago, when I went out to take my garbage bin (which the
>>>>> collectors leave sitting, uncovered, on the lid) I saw ... water ...
>>>>> inside!
>>>>>
>>>>> I wouldn't say it rained, but "sprinkled" might not be unreasonable.
>>>>
>>>> Some is better than none, and it's also better than way too much.
>>>>
>>>> Weather page is still saying Vallejo's going to have a high of 83
>>>> today. At 11 AM, it's just reached 70.
>>
>>Update: it got to *93*.
>>
>>Weather page, which *was* predicting 80s through Friday, is now
>>talking about mid-70s for the rest of the week.
>>
>>>They say that Wisconsin will cool down to that range tomorrow, but I'm
>>>not holding my breath.
>>
>>Crossing fingers.
>
>Some years back (10 years? 15 years? 20 years?), while the /rest/ of
>the country was experiencing hot weather (not necessarily unseasonably
>hot, but hot nonetheless) we were experience ... grey skies and temps
>in the sixties.
>
>For about two weeks, the forcast for the current and following four
>days was:
>
>60s
>60s
>60s
>60s
>90s
>
>That is, if you put them together, you got:
>
> Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
>Mon 60s
>Tue 60s 60s
>Wed 60s 60s 60s
>Thu 60s 60s 60s 60s
>Fri 90s 60s 60s 60s 60s
>Sat 90s 60s 60s
>Sun 90s 60s
>
>It was as if their forcasting software was actually capable of only
>going out /four/ days, not five, so on the fifth day it just took it
>for granted that we would be getting clear sunny skies and hot weather
>too.
>
>Morons.

Have you seen Rick Mercer's Seven Day Weather Report?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkDvqQKGgDA
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) writes:
>In article <TteMI.8802$Dk6.4923@fx20.iad>,
>Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> writes:
>>>On 27/07/2021 13.08, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>> In article <0tc0ggt368l4lknoliopd9sj1sa29215pi@4ax.com>,
>>>> Paul S Person <psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>>> A week ago, when I went out to take my garbage bin (which the
>>>>> collectors leave sitting, uncovered, on the lid) I saw ... water ...
>>>>> inside!
>>>>>
>>>>> I wouldn't say it rained, but "sprinkled" might not be unreasonable.
>>>>
>>>> Some is better than none, and it's also better than way too much.
>>>>
>>>> Weather page is still saying Vallejo's going to have a high of 83
>>>> today. At 11 AM, it's just reached 70.
>>>
>>>They say that Wisconsin will cool down to that range tomorrow, but I'm
>>>not holding my breath.
>>
>>Note that in Vallejo, when the high temp is 83F, the RH will
>>likely be less than 10%, while in Wisconsin, when the temp is
>>83F, the RH is likely to be over 60%. BTDT.
>
>Ouch.
>
>>A few miles south of Vallejo, in santa clara county wine country, the
>>RH curve is the inverse of the temperature curve. The
>>hygrometer read 1% RH a couple of days ago when it was 88F, and
>>55% when it was 54F that morning.
>>
>
>Sort of counter-intuitive, but if thoser were the numbers....

It's the marine layer that floats in most nights that raises
the humidity. Zones above the marine layer (1000-1500 feet ASL typ.)
will stay warmer and drier overnight - hence the issues with
humidity in the mountains during wildfires.

On 28/07/2021 10.12, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> "Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> writes:
>> On 27/07/2021 13.08, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>> In article <0tc0ggt368l4lknoliopd9sj1sa29215pi@4ax.com>,

>>> Weather page is still saying Vallejo's going to have a high of 83
>>> today. At 11 AM, it's just reached 70.
>>
>> They say that Wisconsin will cool down to that range tomorrow, but I'm
>> not holding my breath.
>
> Note that in Vallejo, when the high temp is 83F, the RH will
> likely be less than 10%, while in Wisconsin, when the temp is
> 83F, the RH is likely to be over 60%. BTDT.

All together now: "But it's a dryyyy heat!"

I'll take any respite we get, and it now looks as if we'll stay under
90 F today. Small blessings.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.