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Knights of the Limits
Obscure genius Little known even inside the genre of science fiction, Barrington Bayley has been composing tightly plotted work for almost 50 years in relative obscurity.
This astonishing selection of nine short stories has been loudly admired by almost all the stalwarts of the genre; Mike Moorcock recently named it one of his top ten sf books in an article for The Guardian. Bruce Sterling has praised it to high heavens in a piece he wrote for Cheap Truth, calling Bayley "the zen master of modern space opera." John Clute, Brian Stableford, Charles Platt and even the late, great William Burroughs have all spoken of Bayley in fervently admiring words.
Despite all the accolades, strangely and sadly nobody has even heard of the book. Originally published in 1978 it came and went in the blink of an eye, remained unavailable for the past few decades and commanded ridiculous prices in the used book market.
So why all the fuzz Bayley is one of the great ideas guys of the genre science fiction. When he actually gets mentioned, the response usually is a smile and a gasp; "Oh, he's that wild guy!" Exuberant, weird, metaphysical, astounding, thrilling are all words that apply. Trailing Borges with a serious nod to A. E. Van Vogt, his stuff perplexes and confounds you with the barrage of bizarre ideas he weaves into these stories. He belongs to the great freewheeling tradition of imaginative writers; forget Kim Stanley Robinson and Arthur C. Clarke, think Charles Harness, Olaf Stapledon and Rudy Rucker - he invents his science (that's why it's called fiction, eh?) and bounces off to the nomansland like some mutant kangaroo. This is stuff you can barely find on the shelves today as franchise poop is being pushed on all the fronts.
Bayley knows his science but isn't limited by it - his writing bellows straight from his subconscious pool of theoretical thought, winging it with gusto and joy. For an example, "Me and My Antronoscope," -- one of his signature stories -- describes a universe completely filled with rock. The existing life inhabits pockets of space within. With obvious delight Bayley pauses at the thought and starts imagining "what would it be like?" He finds the answer and runs off with the thought, goes off to describe their version of space travel and the obvious problems facing any such attempts. It is a brilliant vision, conceptualized with wonder, but as much of what is called science fiction today is really just extrapolations of current sciences many readers will simply not see the point of it.
The same is true of most of the rest of Bayley's fiction - it doesn't portray the future; it imagines, dreams and invents new cosmologies, universes, alien life and their respective philosophies. He writes existential pieces about robot consciousness, he tinkers in his workshop wondering about the nature of space, mixing and matching analytical philosophy, mathematics, physics, biology and anthropology in a melodramatic and exuberant manner.
One should be forewarned that his powers of characterization and dialogue are more restrained -- the function of people in his stories tends to simply be setting off the scenery. His love of old pulp science fiction is obvious, and the bizarre juxtaposing of robots and rayguns with rigorous metaphysical invention can be startling, but with a sly satirical touch he succeeds laudably.
It is distressing to see such a vividly entertaining thinker miss the boat -- if Bayley had been born in Poland or Argentina we'd all be reading him now alongside Stanislaw Lem and Philip K. Dick, but as Kubrick never filmed THE SOUL OF THE ROBOT (instead using it as fodder to his conception of A.I.), he remains unread in the English language while the Japanese devour his translated works. So if you feel you're attuned to this brand of extravagnce, THE KNIGHTS OF THE LIMITS is the perfect intoruction, presenting 9 of his key stories. If you decide to give it a try, keep in mind that this most certainly is not extrapolative hard science fiction. It is wildly original speculative stuff that will literally boggle the mind and open new venues of thought and invention.
Related Links:
- Astounding Worlds of Barrington Bayley
- Annihilation Factotum
- Cheap Truth
- Jorge Luis Borges
- A. E. van Vogt
You can purchase this book at Fatbrain.
I bet it doesn't run on LUNIX!!!1
Boys and girls,
Children of all ages!
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I just want to know what all this means to those who develop linux apps and all..
Will linux be able to develop more stuff without M$ crying foul..
I will say this, I am not a fan of science fiction and the like (flame away if you like), but I do believe that persuing non-terrorist related news and events is important to the recovery of the nation. Obsessing over the events of Sept. 11 are in no way the method to cope and deal with the tragedies that have and might still occur. A nation of morose and frightful individuals is not what is needed, as that is exactly what the terrorists desire. Our strength as a people comes from our resilience, be it the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the assassination of a president, or a terrorist attack. The power of the US lies in its ability not to disregard events, but to deal with them. I believe that the nation needs to pursue other interests, for no matter how much of our attention we give to the problems of terrorism and related issues, for unless we are part of the government or in other positions of power, there is very little we can do. So please, do not ignore what has happened, but rather cope with the events in any way that you can.
feel free to respond to: beac4554@blue.unco.edu
The most annoying thing about the GPL is the way people (mostly Americans) can't bring themselves
to admitting that it's a half-baked socialist ideal, because they don't even understand socialism,
let alone dare claim support for it. Nay, even communist, because RMS believes all software *must
* have this licence.
The GPL argument seems to be based on, "software has no monetary value because it can be easily co
pied". If software were an expression of an idea that only existed on non-replicable medium, it wo
uld have such value, right? Excellent. All I have to do then is to make a Star Trek Replicator (I'
m sure it will happen eventually) and, by RMS, _everything_ replicable will lose all financial val
ue.
The placement of software on a bit of media is no different than Coca Cola saying, "hey, this woul
d be a cool mix of sugar and goo!" and mixing the ingredients together into a can. Or a carpenter
saying "hm, I know how to make a more sturdy chair" and building it with his tools. Each is the se
quence idea -> implementation of idea.
I can't possibly fathom why ideas should be free. (that is to say, the mere product of man's mind)
but the expression of those ideas (say in a chair, the product of man's mind and hands) may not.
Worse, why campaign for ideas to be free, but let those who restrict their ideas (the majority of
companies) use their ideas for further restriction?
Trying to figure out an answer:
1. Expression takes more effort? No it doesn't. Thinking the ideas often takes more effort than im
plementing them, e.g. developing a new drug compared to mixing the ingredients.
2. Research into new ideas costs no money? Ha. This might explain why GNU / Linux is so uninnovati
ve, and its main role is to play catchup. Yes, Linux has some wonderful efficiences, say in the in
terrupt processing code. But there are never any *big new ideas*. Research takes much money and ti
me, the gathering of data, the use of equipment, and the use of people who have to eat and be hous
ed, etc.
3. Ideas can be copied without cost. No, someone pays for the communications medium. Usually Big B
ad Corporations, unless you wish to free the implementation of ideas too. _Cheaply_, maybe. You te
ll a man stuck in the middle of Africa, "Dammit! Just download the source! It's Free!" and he may
ask you for (food..) education in the English language, a computer and an Internet connection. Fre
e software may lower the barrier to enlightenment, but only for rich Westerners with lots of time
on their hands to learn.
Consistency please!
Have I come to the right place?
Yes, cope with that scary thought that there's a one in a million chance of getting anthrax in your mail, or *worse* your mail might be opened by the authorities to check for anthrax.
Oh no, what horrible things to cope with.
Get a clue. The only people who need some serious help with coping are those who are being bombed out of house and home. So fuck your prissy tears, and start worrying about the real effect of this war.
Also got a bulletin from Amazon.co.uk that he's got a 'childrens' book coming out shortly, too, Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, a Pied-Piper tale that goes awry (doesn't everything?) set in Diskworld.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
As far as monsters go, have you seen these face scans of those felonious softwar gangsters? Talk about whoreabull.
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fud IS dead?
Starting pissing matches with people who just wanted to read about a book seems a bit silly, and inconsistent with your professed solemnity.
vergiage