Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation

Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.

https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/
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In article <u9e3tm$b77$2@reader2.panix.com>,
James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:
>Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation
>
>Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.
>
>https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/

Would Diane Duane's A WIZARD ABROAD meet the rubric? The "time off"
is anything but voluntary, so I don't think it would count as
"vacation" even were the MC not a teenager who likes to get her peace
and quiet on the moon.

-GAWollman

--
Garrett A. Wollman | "Act to avoid constraining the future; if you can,
wollman@bimajority.org| act to remove constraint from the future. This is
Opinions not shared by| a thing you can do, are able to do, to do together."
my employers. | - Graydon Saunders, _A Succession of Bad Days_ (2015)

> James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:
>> Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation
>>
>> Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.
>>
>> https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/

I do not enjoy reading Joanna Russ' writing and would not recommend it.
IIRC her violence is scarily boring and clinically realistic rather than
monstrously outrageous and shockingly entertaining.

I would recommend an oldie which is somewhat dated but worth reading if
only for his Theory of Searching: Robert Sheckley's Mindswap.

Another even better oldie is We Can Remember It Wholesale by PK Dick.

On Saturday, 22 July 2023 at 03:58:23 UTC+1, Garrett Wollman wrote:
> In article <u9e3tm$b77$2...@reader2.panix.com>,
> James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
> >Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation
> >
> >Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.
> >
> >https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/
> Would Diane Duane's A WIZARD ABROAD meet the rubric? The "time off"
> is anything but voluntary, so I don't think it would count as
> "vacation" even were the MC not a teenager who likes to get her peace
> and quiet on the moon.

I suggested that magic is excluded this time, so I'll only
say here that I've remembered Terry Pratchett's
_Witches Abroad_, but I didn't consciously remember
that its title is nearly the same as yours.

On another Tor page, I joined in rebutting another
reader's claim that Terry Pratchett doesn't write about
War. In _Good Omens_ - with Neil Gaiman - she's one
of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and any place
she visits gets to know about it.

Titus G wrote:
>> James Nicoll wrote:
>>> Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation
>>>
>>> Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.
>>>
>>> https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/
>
> I do not enjoy reading Joanna Russ' writing and would not recommend it.
> IIRC her violence is scarily boring and clinically realistic rather than
> monstrously outrageous and shockingly entertaining.
>
> I would recommend an oldie which is somewhat dated but worth reading if
> only for his Theory of Searching: Robert Sheckley's Mindswap.
>
> Another even better oldie is We Can Remember It Wholesale by PK Dick.

Rekal's recursive recall fillip, so to speak, is pure PKD.

PR52 "The Pseudo One" ends with a promise of a vacation in the next
installment PR53 "The Damned of Isan." Here's a re-post of the pertinent
parts of my previously posted PR53 thread:

> Perry Rhodan, John Marshall, Laury Martin, Pucky, and a 400 year old
> Spaniard have escaped the Ara planet Tolimon, home of the huge Ara zoo.
> With all of the space ships searching for them, they are worried about
> revealing the fact that Earth is still alive so they stop at a planet to
> let the searchers get tired and go home. But, they find that the planet
> has undergone a horrible nuclear war eight years earlier and the few
> survivors are starving in huge underground bomb shelters.

Moewig Nr. 53 "Die Verdammten von Isan" is noted for its solid R,
squishy X rated, not safe for work, ad on the back:

https://postimg.cc/3ygm67w9

The non-Ackermanized translation of "Die Verdammten von Isan" is
"The Damned of Isan." And the latter story title better captures the
zeitgeist of the story, IMHO. But, if we follow Ted's logic in an
earlier thread, "Unknown Sector: Milky Way" sounds more sfnal.
In Perry Rhodan Moewig Nr. 53 "Die Verdammten von Isan" / Ace #45
"Unknown Sector Milky Way" a politician betrays his own people to try to
secure himself a comfortable position with his better armed enemy.

Never trust a traitor. Not even one you created.
- Baron Vladimir Harkonnen _Frank Herbert's Dune_

The better armed enemy's Commander-in-Chief sends a squad of
bodyguards to guard the traitor. And the traitor in turn betrays his
patron and convinces them to turn against their own Commander-in-Chief.
What a wicked web we weave.

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.

On Saturday, July 22, 2023 at 12:15:23 AM UTC+10, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation
>
> Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.
>
> https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/

There was at least one Miles Vorkosigan novel where he's on holiday. IIRC "Diplomatic Immunity" began with Miles and Ekaterina on their honeymoon. Maybe others too, but it's been a while.

-Moriarty

On Friday, July 21, 2023 at 11:58:19 PM UTC-5, Titus G wrote:
> > James Nicoll wrote:
> >> Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation
> >>
> >> Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.
> >>
> >> https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/
> I do not enjoy reading Joanna Russ' writing and would not recommend it.
> IIRC her violence is scarily boring and clinically realistic rather than
> monstrously outrageous and shockingly entertaining.
>
> I would recommend an oldie which is somewhat dated but worth reading if
> only for his Theory of Searching: Robert Sheckley's Mindswap.
>
> Another even better oldie is We Can Remember It Wholesale by PK Dick.
I was going to mention *Mindswap* but I don't have to because you did. Not sure
what you mean by "dated". Instead I will mention *To the Vanishing Point* by
Alan Dean Foster. Not in the same class with Sheckley but not bad.

In article <3a673aeb-6dfd-4e7a-ab9e-3ee651727223n@googlegroups.com>,
Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote:

> On Saturday, July 22, 2023 at 12:15:23?AM UTC+10, James Nicoll wrote:
> > Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation
> >
> > Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.
> >
> > https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/
>
> There was at least one Miles Vorkosigan novel where he's on holiday. IIRC
> "Diplomatic Immunity" began with Miles and Ekaterina on their honeymoon.
> Maybe others too, but it's been a while.
>

_Warrior's Apprentice_ might fit as well. IIRC, in all other books,
Miles is either working or is in the hospital recovering.

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

In article <robertaw-BE254C.21461924072023@news.individual.net>,
Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:
>In article <3a673aeb-6dfd-4e7a-ab9e-3ee651727223n@googlegroups.com>,
> Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote:
>
>> On Saturday, July 22, 2023 at 12:15:23?AM UTC+10, James Nicoll wrote:
>> > Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation
>> >
>> > Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.
>> >
>> > https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/
>>
>> There was at least one Miles Vorkosigan novel where he's on holiday. IIRC
>> "Diplomatic Immunity" began with Miles and Ekaterina on their honeymoon.
>> Maybe others too, but it's been a while.
>>
>
>_Warrior's Apprentice_ might fit as well. IIRC, in all other books,
>Miles is either working or is in the hospital recovering.

(Hal Heydt)
Not SFF, not written, but fiction... There was an episode of
"Dragnet" where Friday and Smith go off to the mountains NE of
Los Angeles to spend a weekend fishing. Nothing happens. They
just spend the weekend fishing.

djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) writes:
>In article <robertaw-BE254C.21461924072023@news.individual.net>,
>Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:
>>In article <3a673aeb-6dfd-4e7a-ab9e-3ee651727223n@googlegroups.com>,
>> Moriarty <blues95@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Saturday, July 22, 2023 at 12:15:23?AM UTC+10, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> > Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation
>>> >
>>> > Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.
>>> >
>>> > https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/
>>>
>>> There was at least one Miles Vorkosigan novel where he's on holiday. IIRC
>>> "Diplomatic Immunity" began with Miles and Ekaterina on their honeymoon.
>>> Maybe others too, but it's been a while.
>>>
>>
>>_Warrior's Apprentice_ might fit as well. IIRC, in all other books,
>>Miles is either working or is in the hospital recovering.
>
>(Hal Heydt)
>Not SFF, not written, but fiction... There was an episode of
>"Dragnet" where Friday and Smith go off to the mountains NE of
>Los Angeles to spend a weekend fishing. Nothing happens. They
>just spend the weekend fishing.

There was an episode of _Emergency_ (created by Jack Webb),
where Gage and Desoto go fishing in NoCal - in a time before widespread
EMT availablity and end up working instead of fishing...

On 25/07/23 15:46, Butch Malahide wrote:
> On Friday, July 21, 2023 at 11:58:19 PM UTC-5, Titus G wrote:
>>> James Nicoll wrote:
>>>> Five SF Novels About Going on Vacation
>>>>
>>>> Sometimes taking time off just means tackling problems for free.
>>>>
>>>> https://www.tor.com/2023/07/21/five-sf-novels-about-going-on-vacation/
>> I do not enjoy reading Joanna Russ' writing and would not recommend it.
>> IIRC her violence is scarily boring and clinically realistic rather than
>> monstrously outrageous and shockingly entertaining.
>>
>> I would recommend an oldie which is somewhat dated but worth reading if
>> only for his Theory of Searching: Robert Sheckley's Mindswap.
>>
>> Another even better oldie is We Can Remember It Wholesale by PK Dick.
> I was going to mention *Mindswap* but I don't have to because you did. Not sure
> what you mean by "dated".

There is a particular writing style that relates to Sheckley's era which
I think I can identify. Applicable not just to comedy, it seems to me to
be less sophisticated and more 'spoonfeeding'. But I am no literary
critic nor student of English.

Instead I will mention *To the Vanishing Point* by
> Alan Dean Foster. Not in the same class with Sheckley but not bad.