Difference between revisions of "ISFDB:Research Assistance/Archive 07"

Revision as of 21:53, 14 February 2017

This is an archive page for the Research Assistance page. Please do not edit the contents. To start a new discussion, please click here.
This archive includes discussions from January 2015 - September 2016.

Unlike earlier archives, this page will contain requests/issues which have not been resolved. Please do not respond to requests on this page or add new requests to this page. If you're able to respond to any of these requests/issues, please post it on the talk page of the editor who made the original request. If the editor is no longer active, you can post a response on the ISFDB:Community Portal.

Archive Quick Links
Archives of old Research Assistance.

1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11

Expanded archive listing

A Short, Sharp Shock

Can anyone compare the "novel" version of this Kim Stanley Robinson work with the short fiction entry? If there really is a difference between the two, the awards should point to the short version, and at least the Tor double should have the novella instead of the novel. --Willem H. 08:36, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

After a quick check between the Ziesing HC and the 11-1990 IASFM, the texts seem to me strictly similar, except for one sentence omitted in the magazine at the very beginning of chapter 4 ("And the only happiness is action."). Hauck 12:18, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

You should ask Albinoflea. He's the KSR expert on the ISFDB. The work appears to be less than 40K words (it was nominated for a Hugo in the novella category), so those five book publications will have to be converted to CHAPTERBOOK with a SHORTFICTION content record which should then be merged with the current one. That note in the current SHORTFICTION record about it being an abridgment or excerpt is incorrect. One shouldn't compare the page count of stories in magazines with that of book publications. Apples and oranges... Mhhutchins 18:27, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

You're right. I'll draw his attention here. The conversion to type CHAPTERBOOK is logical if the two are the same. --Willem H. 19:11, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Well, I haven't entirely determined all of the permutations of this story yet, but I can say this much at least:

1) The IASFM version is shorter; there are 24 sections/chapters in the magazine version, and 30 in the Ziesing HC, which correspond to 16-20 and 27 in the Ziesing HC. There are some other continuity changes through the text to account for these missing chapters, but if you're reading them in parallel you have a bit to do before you encounter the major differences. So, technically the magazine version is abridged, by 20% if you go strictly on chapter count.

2) The Tor Double version has 30 chapters, as does the Bantam Spectra version and the version in the UK collection Down and Out in the Year 2000. The magazine version appears to be unique in its shorter nature, although I have not been able to verify the German and Italian translations, and it is very possible that these are derived from the magazine version, but as these are not in the DB as of yet that is a bridge we can cross later.

3) I recently scanned the entirety of the Ziesing HC and after OCR it comes to just shy of 36,200 words. So, as suggested, even at its longest it does not qualify for novel status.

4) There are other small differences between the Ziesing text and the other 30-chapter versions which as far as I have been able to ascertain are limited to corrections of typographical errors that slipped through the first publication.

So, to sum up, there are two versions, but whether they qualify as different enough to maintain different entries in ISFDB I will leave up to the moderators; however, the length of the unabridged work is not of novel length, so we will need to convert the books to chapterbooks as Michael suggests. I'm happy to create a title note(s) which explain what I know once we get things straightened out. Albinoflea 04:38, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

Thank you very much! I merged the titles (see here) and created the chapterbooks. Please add the title notes you think necessary. --Willem H. 18:19, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

I just noticed that all of the reviews associated with this title are now attached to the SHORTFICTION title for the novella rather than for the CHAPBOOK title; presumably this is incorrect and is a leftover detail from the clean-up that began in this thread, but just wanted to check before I started moving stuff around. Albinoflea 19:47, 21 February 2015 (UTC)

The Hugo Winners, Volumes One and Two

I am in the process of verifying this pub. I believe I should have the same publication because my book does have gutter code "M51" on page 849. I noticed that in my copy of the book on page 264 there is an essay by Asimov titled "Postscript". This does not appear in the pub record. Could anyone of the other 4 verifiers please doublecheck their copy? Thanks, Patrick -- Herzbube ^Talk 22:12, 24 August 2014 (UTC)

On a side-note: I don't understand this pub note "The appendix is listed as "Hugo Awards" in the table of contents and as "Hugo Awards 1962-1970" in the body of the book." This is not true, at least for my book: There are two appendices, one for each of the two collections in the omnibus, and both appear with the correct title in their respective table of contents. Any comments? Patrick -- Herzbube ^Talk 22:12, 24 August 2014 (UTC)

Sorry I'm so late in responding, but your comments fit my copy (N40 gutter code) as well as yours. I suspect that the incorrect pub note was based on an observation of the TOC for the first volume and the appendix of the second volume. Bob 22:03, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. I just returned from a 6 month break, and finding your response triggered me to actively direct the other verifiers to this request. My proposition, if the others agree, is to 1) add the essay to the pub; and 2) remove the incorrect pub note. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Herzbube (talk • contribs) 06:53, 14 June 2015.

I have gutter code N27 (July 1972 or July 1983). My copy has the "Postscript" essay on page 264. I missed that when setting up the original record as it's not in the table of contents.

Patrick, does your copy list the "Postscript" essay in the table of contents? I suspect it's not in your copy's TOC and that we should add the essay to the ISPDB contents and to add a pub-note with

An essay titled "Postscript" by Isaac Asimov appears page [264] and 265. This essay is not listed table of contents on page [ix].

The pub-note about the Hugo awards needs to be fixed. It's something I did as part of comparison process of the TOC to the body of the publication but I copy/pasted from the wrong source when writing the note. My N27 copy has:

Page [ix] is the Contents page and has "APPENDIX: The Hugo Awards 266
Page [266] has "APPENDIX" in the upper-right corner and "THE HUGO AWARDS" centered over the text.
Page [271] is the Contents page for part II and has "APPENDIX: Hugo Awards 1962–70 847
Page [847] has "APPENDIX" in the upper-right corner and "HUGO AWARDS 1962–1970

My original note was

The appendix is listed as "Hugo Awards" in the table of contents and as "Hugo Awards 1962-1970" in the body of the book.

This should have been:

The appendix is listed as "Hugo Awards 1962-70" in the table of contents and as "Hugo Awards 1962-1970" in the body of the book.

In hindsight, I should have also noted which TOC had the discrepancy and propose that we revise the note to have:

The appendix is listed as "Hugo Awards 1962-70" in the table of contents on page [271] and as "Hugo Awards 1962-1970" in the body of the book.

Patrick, while you wrote that both appear with the correct title in the TOC can you double check that you have "...-70" on page [271] and "...-1970" on page [847]? The only difference is they shortened up the title a little by removing the "19". --Marc Kupper|talk 19:16, 14 June 2015 (UTC)

My copy (gutter code "O12") agrees with Marc. If we add a note about the postscript, it should also include the introduction (not on the TOC on page [ix]). --Willem 19:47, 14 June 2015 (UTC)

I agree with that. If we add the postscript essay then the pub-note could be "The "Introduction" on pages [x] to xiv and the "Postscript" essay on pages [264] and 265, both by Isaac Asimov, are not listed in the publication's table of contents on page [ix]." FWIW, I'm fine with adding the postscript to the ISFDB contents as we already have a title record at Postscript (The Hugo Winners). I don't think we need a VT as the essay title is "Postscript" in all English language editions and "(The Hugo Winners)" or "(The Hugo Winners, Volume 1)" suffix is ISFDB specific. --Marc Kupper|talk 20:13, 14 June 2015 (UTC)

@Marc: As you suspect, my copy does not list the "Postscript" in the TOC. All the other facts that you state about your book are true as well for my copy, including the shortened appendix title (I missed that when I made my comparison last year).

@Marc and Willem: I agree with both your suggestions regarding the pub note and the title record to add.

Thanks, Patrick -- Herzbube ^Talk 18:20, 15 June 2015 (UTC)

(unindent) I have updated the publication to add the notes discussed here and to add the "Postscript" essay to the ISFDB contents. --Marc Kupper|talk 21:52, 15 June 2015 (UTC)

Painting of a Domed City

This is not technically a ISFDB question, but I'm hoping someone here might have some insight to lend.

A colleague recently received a gift of an original painting of a domed city "by a famous SF artist"; the person who was gifting the painting said it was given to his parents directly by the artist, but that he didn't have any other information. I don't have the experience to infer who painted it from the style or the signature.

Here are links to a reasonably high-resolution scan of the painting as well as a more detailed photo of the signature.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Albinoflea 21:49, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

Nice work. Sorry, I don't recognize the signature. I hope someone else will be able to help. Mhhutchins 22:40, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, no idea. It doesn't ring a bell on style, either. Stonecreek 03:20, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, rings no bells. Any idea when this was painted? --Willem H. 09:53, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Sadly, no. Albinoflea 15:29, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

I don't recognize it, either. Was it painted on glass? ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 20:47, 8 June 2015 (UTC)

No, it was painted on cardboard. Albinoflea 14:58, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

Hmm...Tineye didn't find anything. You can look through the Google Image results, but I didn't see anything after a quick glance. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 18:13, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

Yeah... that's where I started. I'm pretty sure at this point that it's a one-off. Albinoflea 12:49, 10 June 2015 (UTC)

Ausgezählt by K. H. Scheer / Roger Kersten

Would anyone happen to know whether Ausgezählt by K. H. Scheer is non-genre? It's the only supposedly "genre" title in the Roger Kersten series. Ahasuerus 18:29, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

This book states that all of the novels in the series are crime novels, so I have changed the title to non-genre. Stonecreek 19:04, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks! Ahasuerus 19:04, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

Artist Signature "Vanpala"

In Galaxy, October 1950, no artist credits were given, but the artwork was generally signed. The story "Later Than You Think" illustration was by an artist whose signature looks like "Vanpala" to me. This artist is not in the data base, nor are a number of variations (Vaupala, Vanpola, Vonpola, Vonpala). Is anyone familiar with this artist or someone with a signature I could confuse with "Vanpala"? Bob 22:12, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

Maybe this scan will help: Mhhutchins 00:19, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

Looking through various pages which list illustrators for Galaxy around then, the closest I've come is someone credited only as "Vidmer". The image doesn't really look like a "Vidmer", though. I haven't looked through all the pages, but you're welcome to look at them, too. There are over 70 pages of them, though not all are for Galaxy magazine (most of them, though). ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 04:25, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

This is the highest resolution image I could find. Maybe it will be of use? ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 15:06, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

Five Star (UK)

I have a number of books published by them but this page doesn't tell me anything else. I checked my copies and they all say "published ....by PBS Limited, Victoria Mills, Pollard Street, Manchester." Is that information worth adding to the wiki page - and should the publisher be changed to Five Star / PBS Limited. ? --Mavmaramis 06:43, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

You can add the info but, IMHO, the publisher (for simplicity's sake) should stay as it is. Hauck 08:38, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

Super Science Stories - Artist Signature

Can anyone help identify the signature on this interior artwork:

It illustrates "Cham of the Hills" by Charles R. Tanner in the UK edition of Super Science Stories for September, 1952 (issue No.10). This is a partial reprint of the August, 1942 US edition, so I would assume the same artwork was also in that edition.

It is very difficult to decipher due to all the stippling surrounding it, but it looks like it could be Stholl (there is an entry for Stholl in the database, but he seems to have been active in the early 70s, so this looks too old for him).

I also don't know whether what looks like an L on the left is part of the signature or just part of the background image.

Any help from people with reference books would be much appreciated. Wobber 12:12, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Most likely Leo Morey. According to this site there were two illustrations, the second has a more readable signature. --Willem 14:09, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Thanks Willem. If I squint really hard, I can see how this would read Leo Morey. My copy of SSS only has the first illustration - the second one makes it much clearer. Problem solved. Wobber 14:53, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Bulgarian Green Mars

Does anyone perchance recognize the artist whose work is featured on the cover of this Bulgarian translation of Green Mars published by БАРД in 1997? Thanks, Albinoflea 03:02, 19 July 2015 (UTC)

Legends

The book Legends http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?29401 is credited to Geoff Taylor and Josh Kirby for some of the unverified books, but only to Geoff Taylor for the verified ones. Also the ones with Kirby have two cover entries. As this does not look like Kirby at all I'd like to know, if the Kirby entries can be removed. If Kirby was really involved at least they should be converted into one cover entry. One of the German parts is by Kirby, but yet uncredited. Also this pub is by Kirby: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?928716. --Stoecker 12:46, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

The source for the double credits is Locus1. It is considered a reliable one and while subject to errors as any human-created source, the records should reflect the data from that source until a primary verifier comes along. I will combine the cover art records into one. Mhhutchins 17:58, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

I think this is interpreted wrong. There are Legend pubs covers by Geoff Taylor and Legend pubs by Josh Kirby, but not one by both. I think someone mixed the "OR" into an "AND". --Stoecker 18:36, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Also Geoff's webpage does not tell anything about a collaboration with Kirby: http://www.geofftaylor-artist.com/galleries/cover-art/art/legends --Stoecker 18:42, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

If you believe the Locus1 data is wrong, please contact the maintainers of that database and inform them. Until then, Locus1 remains our source for the data, and will until the publications are primary verified (by you, if you're so inclined to obtain the publications.) Mhhutchins 21:27, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Well, I see that all of this discussion is moot, since an moderator has accepted your submission to change the credit without providing a source for the data in the publication record. I give up. Mhhutchins 21:34, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Please fix the publication record that you submitted an edit against. That record is still showing a verification against the Locus 1 database, and it is still showing a note that the data came from the locus database. A Cover title note is insufficient. If you are going to deviate on a publication then you must note your suspicions of incorrect data on the publication involved. - Thanks Kevin 22:40, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Well, we do have a primary verified publication of the cover art, which credits only Taylor. Christian Stonecreek 03:43, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

Oh, I am not disputing the data that's been input (shrug). I've got no issue with that. All I ask is that publication record that currently claims to be sourced from Locus, be updated to document the fact that the Locus information is suspect, deemed incorrect, and has been indexed differently than listed in the Locus Database. It would also be nice if a sentence was included that laid out the evidence (Lack of Primary verifications, no other dual credit covers, etc) was also recorded in the publication record for posterity. If data is not properly sourced, then any random editor would be justified submitting a change back to the old data to match Locus. Kevin 12:35, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

Asimov "The Rest of the Robots"

I think this http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?430956 and this http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?11991 actually are the same book, but have different titles entered. One time the "Eight Stories from" is in the title, one time not. Also the contents of the pubs from http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?37675 and http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?25329 are usually identical (with exception of three pubs which have two novels included). Something is wrong here and should be fixed. Either one should be varianted to the other or varianted and the ones with the novels split into a separate title or whatever. But like it is now it is broken. --Stoecker 18:47, 12 September 2015 (UTC)

The way to resolve such conflicts is to post a message on the talk page(s) of the primary verifier(s). In this case, the verifier of this record should be told that there is a near-match to another record (or post a note directing him to this page.) Mhhutchins|talk 18:01, 13 September 2015 (UTC)

Methuselah's Children - cover art credit

Can anyone give a source for the cover art credit for this edition of Methuselah's Children? I can only find a few scattered credits for David O'Connor for other images on Tumblr etc, but nothing in the way of biog or a website. Thanks, Astrodan 10:59, 11 October 2015 (UTC)

Star Beast -cover artist ID?

Here's another one for art fans - can anyone ID the artist on this 1987 NEL edition of Heinlein's Star Beast? The PV1, Zflip, has pointed out the monogram 'SA 86' on a green leaf at bottom-right of the front cover, but the 'A' on my book at least looks indistinct, and could be a 'K', 'R', or even 'H' or 'M'.

My searches online have come up with Stephen Hickman's website here, which shows similar looking work, and Stephen Martiniere's site, here, although he is possibly too recent. Astrodan 13:05, 11 October 2015 (UTC)

I'm 99% certain it's not Stephen Hickman, and 100% certain it's not Stephan Martiniere, who has only worked digitally since 2000.

This cover query also came up in 2014, and I did some research then which kind of fizzled out. Before anyone suggests it's Danny Flynn, it isn't: Danny did eight Heinlein covers for NEL but not this one, even though it looks like his style. Danny suggested I ask the art director for NEL at the time, Ian Hughes, who tells me he'd put money on it being Steve Crisp, but he can't state that categorically as they used quite a few artists. I've contacted Steve Crisp and I'm still awaiting a reply. Another strong possibility is Gerry Grace who was certainly illustrating for NEL at the time, although Gerry's work is probably a bit more refined. PeteYoung 20:40, 11 October 2015 (UTC)

Science Fiction Yearbook, Number 4 and Science Fiction Yearbook, Number 5

We have two INTERIORART records currently attributed to Astorita, apparently a misspelling of Astarita. I can't get to my verified copies of Science Fiction Yearbook, Number 4 and Science Fiction Yearbook, Number 5 right now, so I will be asking the other primary verifiers to check their copies to see how the artist is credited. Ahasuerus 01:01, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

In Yearbook #4, there is no printed credit for the author, only the signature on the art. There the 4th character does look like on "o", at least that's how I would read it, but it's easy to see how it could have been an "a". And that signature is absolutely identical to the one posted as the second signature for him on Pulp Artists. (The T's are particularly specific to him.) So I would call it a misspelling in our data entry, i.e. not a pseudonym/variant. Chavey 05:25, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

Mr. Jinx

This title is in the database as by Fredric Brown and Robert Arthur, but it was only published as by Robert Arthur alone. There's no explanation for the credit to Fredric Brown, and I can only find internet sources that probably got their data from ISFDB. Does anyone know if this story was really co-written by Fredric Brown, and where the credit came from? Thanks, --Willem 21:17, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

I would ask the primary verifiers for the six verified publications in which it's included. They should be able to look it up. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 18:20, 19 December 2015 (UTC)

No mention of this fact here, here, here, here and here. The fact that Mr. Jinx was immediately followed by a short story by Brown is perhaps the cause of the confusion. Hauck 19:15, 19 December 2015 (UTC)

Howard Phillips / David Wayne

Does anyone know the source of the pseudonym relationship between Howard Phillips and David Wayne? --MartyD 12:29, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

I didn't create it, but looking at the Amazon look-inside for the pubs containing Satyrday: The TOC for the tp by Angelic Knight Press lists the author as Wayne. The TOC for the ebook by JournalStone lists Phillips. So it looks like one publisher used the wrong name. I don't see anything in the look-insides to indicate which one is the correct credit so not sure how that was determined. -- JLaTondre (talk) 13:16, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing that out; I completely missed it. The PDF sample on JournalStone's journal-store.com site has this bio in it:

Howard Phillips is a veteran with multiple combat deployments afflicted with terminal wanderlust, a perpetual student raised by books, and a professional liar, that is, a fiction writer.

so that credit appears deliberate. The Look Inside has the same text, cut off in the preview after "perpetual," but uses David Wayne in place of Howard Phillips. I did send mail to Stephen Theaker (Howard Phillips' alter-ego) to confirm this is NOT him, but I think those two views are enough evidence to keep both credits and to split the Howard Phillipses up. --MartyD 14:44, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

I split them, making this one Howard Phillips (I). I also received a reply from Stephen Theaker confirming this is not him. --MartyD 11:52, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

Le syndrome du scaphandrier

Our title record and OCLC 31740675 claim that this novel first appeared in 1991 while Wikipedia and OCLC 463725049 give 1992 as the publication year. I wonder if perhaps the book was copyrighted in late 1991 and published in early 1992? Ahasuerus 21:38, 4 December 2015 (UTC)

As per Sprauel's 1993 paper bibliography of Brussolo, the book was printed in January 1992 with à February 1992 "Dépôt Légal" (date where it was deposited at french national library). According to our standards, the publication date should be 01-1992. I've corrected the lot.Hauck 12:40, 5 December 2015 (UTC)

Thanks! Ahasuerus 15:52, 5 December 2015 (UTC)

Mystery sig on Cloudcry

I have a mystery signature on April 1983 Berkley edition of Cloudcry.

I uploaded a copy here. --Auric 01:22, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

It's probably David Heffernan who did covers for Berkley and Ace during that period, including other books by Van Scyoc. Mhhutchins|talk 02:33, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

That makes sense. I'll add the corrections. Thanks.--Auric 21:03, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

Same author?

Does anyone know if Dale Rippke and Dale E. Rippke are the same author? It would be nice, but I don't know enough to pseudonym them.--Auric 21:19, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Dale E. Rippke's blog confirms that it is indeed him who created maps for David Gemmell novels. I am going to go ahead and pseudonym the names, with Dale E. Rippke as the primary one since that seems to be how nearly all his published work (such as comics, as well as the book here) is signed. --Vasha77 21:39, 8 October 2016 (UTC)

The Engineer ReConditioned -- inquiry to previous verifiers

I have in hand a copy of the trade paperback edition of The Engineer Reconditioned and would like to verify it with some changes. I have the following questions for previous verifiers User_talk:Alvonruff, User_talk:Hauck, User_talk:Teddybear:

On the actual Table of Contents page in the book, are the page numbers for the last 3 stories wrong? Mine has The Torbeast's Prison as p. 76, Tiger Tiger as p. 81, and The Gurnard as p. 86. The pages listed in ISFDB are the correct ones.
Title on cover, title page, copyright page, and bottom of every odd page has either “reconditioned” (all lower-case) or “RECONDITIONED” (all caps). No evidence in book for title as “ReConditioned.”
On my copy, the publisher is listed as Cosmos Books on the title page, copyright page, and back cover. There is no mention of Wildside Press. Is that how it is in your copy? (Cosmos was an imprint of Wildside Press at the time this book was published.)
I see a Canada price of $18.00 on the back cover above the bar code.

If the other verified copies match this, I would like to make the following changes:

Change Publisher to "Cosmos Books / Wildside Press" (the notes on just "Cosmos Books" suggest not using it for books after 2000).
Change the Notes section to:

No exact edition, printing date or printing number given on copyright page.
Detailed information from copyright page:

Copyright © 2006 by Neal Asher
Cover art copyright © 2006 by Ian Field-Richards,
Cover and Interior design © 2006 by Garry Nurrish

Month from Locus1.
Publisher given as Cosmos Books on title page, copyright page, and back cover. No mention made of Wildside Press. ISFDB notes for the pubisher “Cosmos Press” says books after 2000 should be listed as “Cosmos Books / Wildside Press.”
Table of Contents lists all stories. Page numbers are incorrect for last 3 stories - given as 76, 81, and 86. The ISFDB listing gives the correct page numbers, 210, 221, and 236.
Title in book has the word “reconditioned” either in all lower-case or all-caps. No evidence in book for title with “ReConditioned.” However, the book appeared on the Wildside Press site as “The Engineer ReConditioned” per <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20061110090610/http://www.wildsidepress.com/The-Engineer-ReConditioned-by-Neal-Asher_p_1-18.html">this archived link</a>.
Canada price C$18.00
OCLC: <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/68651484">68651484</a>
Exact publication date 2006-01-15 per archived <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070115084536/http://www.amazon.com/Engineer-ReConditioned-Neal-L-Asher/dp/0809556146">Amazon.com</a>.

Thanks for checking! BungalowBarbara 04:32, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

For your questions : Yes for all four. For your suggestions : I'm for entering credit "as it is" regardless of what is said anywhere else than on the book (in this case it's likely because as POD, the layout wasn't changed when Cosmos was absorbed by Wildside and later printing were sold by Wildside), so publisher should be corrected to Cosmos Books (or Press). Hauck 09:19, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

Biography Summery

A Series of documentaries an Full Biography are available video. Every Day, "Kill Em All-Knock Em Dead-Never Give Up-Just Keep Painting," Carl Quintiliani.Like none other, by notable comparison, and having the opportunity to establish a team; I did. Carl Quintiliani, is so often refereed to as a walking legend of St. Pete. for evolving to be the worlds Media:"Fantasy 3d Street Art Master" I believe we are seeing history, being made out of Pinellas county, Florida. In my opinion, we can only compare the spirit of an artist thats been seen in history, over and over and time again, and it is quite clear with Carl Quintiliani's public tenacity, being far out and past the typical limits of most, or as he quotes to "Knock Em Dead." Stories were produce published on Quintiliani's works online as well —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Gabriel A Toney Sr (talk • contribs) .

I have no idea of what you are speaking or how it relates to speculative fiction. Mhhutchins|talk

Spam post. Probably worth deleting. Chavey 09:11, 5 April 2016 (UTC)

I deleted the links. Who knows what they would lead to? Stonecreek 09:21, 5 April 2016 (UTC)

Blighted Profile

I recently bought an Aldiss story collection (The Complete Short Stories: The 1950s) and now I am trying to find out which version of the story Blighted Profile appears in that collection. I know that the story was completely rewritten for the 1979 Panther edition of Galaxies Like Grains of Sand. Because I own a copy of the 2nd printing I have been able to compare texts and now know that my newly bought book does not contain the rewritten version. I therefore assume that it contains the original version, as originally published in the 1950s. However, because of the complicated publishing history of the story, I would like to make sure that there is not a third version of the story floating around. I am therefore looking for editors who own publications that contain "Blighted Profile" and that are older than the 1979 Panther edition, to help me with a text comparison.

Version 1 from "The Complete Short Stories: The 1950s" begins and ends like this ("[...]" denotes the omitted main text):

Yalleranda sat in the Vale of Apple Trees, watching the old man on a horse. She was eight, and rode the treetop branch as gracefully as the old man sat the white stallion. [...] Like a man riding under a stretch of water, Turan Hwa rode without crying out or looking back - into the infinite future."

Version 2, the rewritten version from "Galaxies Like Grains of Sand" begins and ends like this ("[...]" denotes the omitted main text):

The hooves of the slow-treading horse stirred ancient dusts which quickly settled again. Occasionally they crushed a rare clover or lavender, and tiny pseudo-bees rose humming to dart for safety. [...] The undiminished thing that was in him, and the undiminished thing in Leg of Leather - both were free at last. They rose to a galaxy inaccessible to consciousness or to machines, where generations are unknown, and continued still to rise.

Please write which one of the above texts appears in which publication that you own. I will invite several editors here, but feel free to comment if you think you can also help. Thanks, Patrick -- Herzbube ^Talk 14:11, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

Version 1 appears in No Time Like Tomorrow (1959) --Willem 19:03, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

I have put a hold on the USA ebook version of Galaxies Like Grains of Sand from my public library. I'll let you know what I see once the hold comes due. BungalowBarbara 00:35, 21 April 2016 (UTC)

The Canopy of Time has:

Yalleranda sat in the Vale of Apple Trees, watching the old man on a horse. He was eight years old and rode the treetop branch as gracefully as the old man sat the white stallion. [...] Like a man riding under a stretch of water, Chun Hwa rode without crying out or looking back—into the infinite future.

--AliHarlow 04:33, 21 April 2016 (UTC)

Interesting, that last one is a variation of version 1 where the girl Yalleranda "mutates" into a boy. I added the information we collected so far to the notes of the story title record. I'll edit more if anything else crops up. Thanks all for your help. Patrick -- Herzbube ^Talk 21:57, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

The New York Review of Science Fiction, January 1997

The sole verifier of http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?61526, Mhhutchins, isn't active ... so, if you can verify this pub please check to see if the author of the essay "Writing a Book" is really the same as this Lucy Clifford: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?24047, who died in 1929. Thanks Markwood 18:54, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Whose signature on Jules Verne's "The Mysterious Island"

I can't make out the last few letters on this signature which appears on this pub of an abridged version of Jules Verne's "The Mysterious Island". There are no existing authors that start with McClai that seem appropriate. Can anyone identify the artist? Doug 19:07, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

It looks like "McClain", to me. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 16:32, 23 July 2016 (UTC)

Length Conundrum

The Falls: A Luna Story is set as novelette in isfdb 3 times. Locus identifies it as short story in the recommended reading list. A review online that calls it novelette lists the words number at ~6800 (which would mean it is a short story) here. It is close to 7500 but it is shorter I believe. Can someone verify size in some way (or find a way to confirm one way or another). I have both the Kindle and Paper version of Dozois's book (which I was planning to work on when I decided to first clear this...) but I have no idea how to count the number of words there. Can anyone figure out a definitive answer? Anniemod 01:17, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

Count the number of words on a page, then multiply by the number of pages, after subtracting for fractional pages and illustrations. A little less accurate, count the words in ten or so lines, find the average, then multiply the the number of lines on a page, then by the number of pages.--Rkihara 07:05, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

~550 on the page I counted, 13 pages and that one was not the one with the least white space. Which makes it a short story but is a bit too close to call it. The next one in the same book (same typeset so it is comparable) Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight is identified as a short story here and in Locus -- it is also 13 pages and it does have as much space between paragraphs as The Falls. Anniemod 07:29, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

I've changed the length. Hauck 10:01, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

Thanks :) Anniemod 11:43, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

Tag Removal Or Editing

Hello / Hauck moderator wanted me to resubmit this request here. I do not like to see the theme tags bogged down by entries like Merril03 04 05 06 et cetra. These are the main ones like this but there may be more and if allowed could get worse. What is happening here is that someone is mol (= more or less) using the tags for a personal record. I submit that any tag that is not a theme-tag be removed and the Merril tags are the most noticeable guilty ones right now.

There are also tags like : 1968 Best Anthology. Now there are a lot of these kind of anthologies for every year and the tags do not need to single any out. Then there is a tag labeled 'todo' - what the hay?? My request is that some people be in charge of weeding out tags as a whole before they get bogged down as I say by useless or personal ones. Maybrick 17:27, 4 August 2016 (UTC)

I made that one to be able to pinpoint all the 'best of the year' anthologies published in a given year (five in this case, more or less in other years as the mumber of anthologies differs over the years).--Dirk P Broer 14:09, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Is there a way to make such tags invisible to anyone other than the person who created them and the moderators? If so, that may be the best thing to do with them. If this can't be done, I think it would be a good feature since it would allow people to use them to categorize things their own way that isn't visible to everyone. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 23:38, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

Also, here's a list of all tags. It may be useful to invite Swfritter here, since the examples used in the original post are his/hers. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 23:39, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

Moderators can label tags "private". Private tags like "read by dgeiser13" are only viewable by their owners.

Of the 10 "MerrilNN" tags that we currently have, 4 are labeled "private". However, I am not sure they are really private. They simply indicate that a title was listed as "noteworthy" or "recommended" in one of Judith Merril's anthologies, which is similar to the tag "Anatomy of Wonder 1 Core Collection". It's the only way we can recreate various recommendation lists short of adding new "award types". Ahasuerus 23:50, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

Can we edit the tags to make that more clear? ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 23:56, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

The ability to edit/merge tags is currently not supported by the software. At one point I looked into the issue and it turned out to be a bigger can of worms than expected. I'd like to revisit it at some point, but it's not as high on the list of priorities as adding transliterated authors or translators. Ahasuerus 01:40, 23 July 2016 (UTC)

I concur with Maybrick, I usually find the displaying of the tags a bit of a nuisance but appreciate the effort that has been put into their entereing. Perhaps can something be done at the displaying level only ("Show Tags: Y/N"). Hauck 09:42, 23 July 2016 (UTC)

So basically a new User Preference not to display tags? Ahasuerus 22:55, 23 July 2016 (UTC)

That would be nice. Hauck 06:54, 25 July 2016 (UTC)

I would like that, too. What Linguist suggested below would be a good implementation. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 18:52, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

(outdent) That or find a better way to display tags. When there are a lot of them, the display can become a bit cluttered as they're currently shown. Perhaps moved to the bottom of the page and use 'graphical' boxes (like in several of these examples)? -- JLaTondre (talk) 00:07, 24 July 2016 (UTC)

Would there be a simple way of having a "Tag" button with an option to click on it to display the tags ? Or some kind of mouse-over system ? Linguist 13:04, 25 July 2016 (UTC).

Let me make sure that I understand correctly. Does the problem arise when an author has a lot of tags, e.g. Kim Stanley Robinson, who has 198 (sic!) tags associated with his works? Or does it arise on Title pages, e.g. Blue Mars?

If the issue is limited to Author pages, then keep in mind that we already limit the display to the top 20 tags plus a link to a separate page -- see Kim Stanley Robinson's Summary page for an example. If 20 is too many, we can change it to 15 or 10. Ahasuerus 01:14, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

It looks like this is getting some healthy attention even if it may not be a serious problem yet. The concern right now are some USELESS tags not TOO MANY; but that also could become a problem in the future. For that I'd recommend showing several of the main or more specific tags - if some are less general - and then have a reserve next to that that says '8 more tags' or '5 more tags' that can be clicked. For the present, most tags look like they can fit in the space allotted. As for the 'recreate various recommendation lists' comment above - well this COULD crowd things out if a lot of these kinds of lists are uncovered even if it is limited to pre-2000 years. Maybrick 17:21, 4 August 2016 (UTC)

But 'USELESS' to you is very helpful to me (e.g. 1968 Best Anthology).--Dirk P Broer 09:43, 4 August 2016 (UTC)

That's the thing about user-defined tags: different users find different tags useful. Amazon ran into this issue a while back and eventually discontinued the feature. We have experienced somewhat similar issues on a smaller scale, but our response was to let moderators make tags "private", which seems to have worked out well.

Eventually we will want to give moderators more control over tags, specifically the ability to edit misspelled tags and to merge similar tags like "werewolf" and "werewolves". However, it won't be a straightforward software change and it's not a priority at the moment. On the other hand, adding a new User Preference to suppress the display of tags on Summary and Title pages would be fairly easy and I have created an FR in support of this functionality. Ahasuerus 14:35, 4 August 2016 (UTC)

Other than plot synopsizes (synopsii?), the tag system is the closest thing this site has to a plot review system, and even then, I'm sure, somebody is going to complain about plot spoilers. However, back to the point, werewolves, werecat, weredragons, and weregerbils (I’m sure there’s one out there) might all be Shape shifters, they’re not all the same and differentiating between these is good.

However the clutter happens when we get werewolves, and werewolf in the same tagging system. I suspect one was started because the other couldn’t be found by the tagger. The tags of werewolves and werewolf, for instance, could be combined into werewolf(s). Yeah, it isn’t proper, but it reduces the clutter. Or, look at how many ways apocalyptic fiction can listed in the tagging system.

Reducing the clutter on the tag page would also reduce the clutter on the author’s home page. MLB 20:50, 5 December 2016 (UTC)

Oh yes, werewolves/werewolf, superheroes/superhero, etc have been a pain and will be the first to go when we implement tag editing/merging. The trick is not just to let moderators merge tags, but to ensure that subsequent attempts to enter "superhero" instead of "superheroes" (or vice versa depending on what the moderator decides to do during the merge) would not cause yet another bifurcation. Ahasuerus 21:36, 5 December 2016 (UTC)

Perhaps have it keep a table of merged tags, and if anything on that table is attempted in the future, it would advise the person that a similar tag already exists and it was switched to that one. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 00:21, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

Yes, something like that. We could even replace entered tags with their standardized equivalents automatically, but we'll need to make sure that the editor understands what has just happened. There will be a fair amount of coding involved. Ahasuerus 00:46, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

Extremis by Steve White & Charles Gannon

The book Extremis by Steve White & Charles Gannon Baen Books Credit for the cover is given credit to Kurt Miller, yet it is found Artstation.com as belonging to Davisd Seeley https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zKZD —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Aardvark7 (talk • contribs) . 15:35, 15 August 2016 (UTC)

I can check it when I get home, but it looks like Kurt Miller work to me. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 23:32, 15 August 2016 (UTC)

Looks like I was wrong. Dave Seeley's official website has the cover here. I'll submit corrections and make a note on each of them that uses this cover. This cover is not found on Kurt Miller's site. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 04:53, 16 August 2016 (UTC)

I've left notes for Kraang, Biomassbob, and Sjmathis, pointing them to this discussion. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 05:02, 16 August 2016 (UTC)

The Graybes of Raath

Just noticed that this short story by Neal Barrett Jr, which appeared in the June 1961 issue of Galaxy, is incorrectly listed as "The Graybes of Wrath". It's undoubtedly word-play with the well known novel "The Grapes of Wrath" but the word Raath in the title is the name of a planet and definitely not Wrath. Well loved and remembered as one of the funniest SF short stories I ever read. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sky Sailer (talk • contribs) .

Thank you for letting us know. As this has been primary verified, I have notified a primary verifier to re-look at it. -- JLaTondre (talk) 20:26, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

We do have the incorrect title. I'll make the correction and notify the other editors. --Ron ~ Rtrace^Talk 01:31, 25 August 2016 (UTC)

Norwescon Program 1950

I'm new here, so unfamiliar with procedures and just how to contact folks. I'm trying to find out some information about the 1950 WorldCon, Norwescon, http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1770716 specifically if it names Kenneth Arnold as being a guest. I'm researching an article on him, and this site http://fanac.org/worldcon/NorWesCon/w50-p00.html has what they believe is a photo of him speaking at the event, but it's unverified. If there's a list of guest in the program, it would help confirm things.

Thanks you,

Curt Collins sentry579@gmail.com

Welcome to the ISFDB! :) I have left a note on the Talk page of the editor who verified this publication record in 2014. Hopefully, his copy is readily available and he will be able to check the GoH information. Ahasuerus 14:06, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

The program book does not have a list of guests or attendees. Kenneth Arnold is not listed among the named participants in the program. Neither is there an obvious program item about flying saucers, though, FANAC isn't clear whether that was the subject of his talk, or just his credentials. I also have two progress reports which do list the first 231 members. Unfortunately, the list is by member number. I've been over it twice and haven't found his name. I don't know if there were additional progress reports. The two I have are numbers 1 & 2, but they aren't dated. Since the Worldcon Long List gives the attendance as 400, there were certainly more members than are listed. Sorry that I wasn't able to find his name. Good luck with your research. --Ron ~ Rtrace^Talk 11:26, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

Mark J. Ferrari's cover

According to FantLab, the 1997 Russian edition of Farmer's The Unreasoning Mask "borrowed" the cover from Mark J. Ferrari without attribution. Here is the cover:

https://fantlab.ru/images/editions/big/50207

I haven't been able to find the original. Would anyone happen to be familiar with it? Ahasuerus 20:21, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

Not sure if that is the original (or later reprint) but this looks the same http://www.tentacules.net/toc/toc/tocyclo_fiche.php?type=crea&id=96 I think. And if you increase the picture in the middle of here: http://www.tentacules.net/toc/toc/pagedyn.php?toc_action=jdc_vue&serie=dreaml&jeu=mythos&num=179, the attribution to Ferrari is at the bottom Anniemod 23:34, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

And knowing the name and the author, here it is on his site: http://markferrari.com/art/colored-pencil/16847411 . The original is an interior illustration from S. Petersen’s "Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands" by Chaosium Games :) Anniemod 23:50, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

Excellent. Many thanks! Ahasuerus 01:59, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

Armenian edition of Alexander Volkov's "The Wizard of the Emerald City"

We know that Alexander Volkov's Волшебник изумрудного города ("The Wizard of the Emerald City") appeared in Armenian in 1962. Unfortunately, we don't know the Armenian title or the Armenian spelling of the author's name. Any additional information/corrections would be greatly appreciated. Ahasuerus 15:52, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

The Armenian title of The Wizard of the Emerald City is Զմրուխտ քաղաքի կախարդը (Zmrukht k’aghak’i kakhardy); just see the Armenian Wikipedia page devoted to Վազգեն Տալյան / Vazgen Talyan, last two lines; also quoted here. Volkov's name in Armenian is Ալեքսանդր Վոլկով / Alek’sandr Volkov. Linguist 22:16, 17 September 2016 (UTC).

Updated, thanks a lot! Ahasuerus 22:22, 17 September 2016 (UTC)