All the Myriad Ways
by Larry Niven
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Detective-Lieutenant Gene Trimble faces an increasing number of bizarre suicides in a world struggling to come to terms with its place in a multiverse of different timelines, where every decision ever made by anyone becomes an alternate universe.Tags
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I only read the titular story, which was a standard piece of science fiction based on the multiverse theory. It was an okay yarn, though the idea was clearly of more importance to Niven than the characters or the story. The exploration of how people would react to the multiverse theory being proven true was trite.
A collection of short stories by Larry Niven.
I would say it is quite different from his normal stuff and regardless what you think of his politics this is separate from those and worth reading regardless. Some classic short segments in here - the famous "Man of Steel, woman of Kleenex" springs to mind, although the two discussion on the therory of teleportation and time travel are also an interesting read.
Some excellent short stories too, if a little predictable at times.
All in all a good average book, well worth a read but nothing to get too excited about.
I would say it is quite different from his normal stuff and regardless what you think of his politics this is separate from those and worth reading regardless. Some classic short segments in here - the famous "Man of Steel, woman of Kleenex" springs to mind, although the two discussion on the therory of teleportation and time travel are also an interesting read.
Some excellent short stories too, if a little predictable at times.
All in all a good average book, well worth a read but nothing to get too excited about.
This is an excellent collection of short stories/editorials by Niven. He is always interesting and smart. There are some real gems here.
The best story is the, award winning, "Inconsistent Moon".
This collection was recently done as an audio book by Blackstone Audio, Inc. under the title: "Madness from the Inconstant Moon: A Collection of Short Works from Larry Niven"
The best story is the, award winning, "Inconsistent Moon".
This collection was recently done as an audio book by Blackstone Audio, Inc. under the title: "Madness from the Inconstant Moon: A Collection of Short Works from Larry Niven"
Stories:
* "All the Myriad Ways" explores the philosophical implications of multiple universes on people.
* "Passerby." A spaceman is shocked when he realizes what humanity means to races from other worlds.
* "For a Foggy Night" suggests that foggy nights are portals to alternative worlds.
* "Wait it Out" is a chilling, and chilled, meditation on emergency procedures on a hostile planet.
* "The Jigsaw Man" speculates on criminology in the future.
* "Not Long Before the End" examines magic as a natural resource.
* "Unfinished Story #1" is a short-short shaggy dog story.
* "Unfinished Story #2" is a short-short shaggy dog story.
* "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" is Niven's extrapolation of Superman's sex life with normal humans.
* "Exercise show more in Speculation: The Theory and Practice of Teleportation"
* "The Theory and Practice of Time Travel" is a story based on the previous speculation.
* "Inconstant Moon" is one of my favorites. An amateur astronomer notices that the moon is unusually, unprecedentedly bright.
* "What Can You Say About Chocolate-Covered Manhole Covers?" In spite of its whimsical title, this is a serious and sobering story.
* "Becalmed in Hell." Could an emergency fault with a space ship controlled by a human brain be psychosomatic? show less
* "All the Myriad Ways" explores the philosophical implications of multiple universes on people.
* "Passerby." A spaceman is shocked when he realizes what humanity means to races from other worlds.
* "For a Foggy Night" suggests that foggy nights are portals to alternative worlds.
* "Wait it Out" is a chilling, and chilled, meditation on emergency procedures on a hostile planet.
* "The Jigsaw Man" speculates on criminology in the future.
* "Not Long Before the End" examines magic as a natural resource.
* "Unfinished Story #1" is a short-short shaggy dog story.
* "Unfinished Story #2" is a short-short shaggy dog story.
* "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" is Niven's extrapolation of Superman's sex life with normal humans.
* "Exercise show more in Speculation: The Theory and Practice of Teleportation"
* "The Theory and Practice of Time Travel" is a story based on the previous speculation.
* "Inconstant Moon" is one of my favorites. An amateur astronomer notices that the moon is unusually, unprecedentedly bright.
* "What Can You Say About Chocolate-Covered Manhole Covers?" In spite of its whimsical title, this is a serious and sobering story.
* "Becalmed in Hell." Could an emergency fault with a space ship controlled by a human brain be psychosomatic? show less
I bought the paperback in 1976, but I haven’t kept track of how many times I’ve read each story since then. I’ve just now read the whole book, which I don’t normally do, because as usual I like some stories more than others.
“All the myriad ways”: Two stars, and that’s generous. The title story is the one I like least: I neither enjoy it nor agree with it. But it’s not quite bad enough for one star.
“Passerby”: Three stars. An unlikely story, but not a bad one.
“For a foggy night”: Four stars. Preposterous but delightful; I’m fond of this one.
“Wait it out”: Two stars. Unlikely and not particularly entertaining.
“The jigsaw man”: Two stars. First published in 1967, this was at the time a reasonable and show more interesting attempt to predict the future; but the prediction hasn’t yet come true, and it’s not particularly entertaining as a story.
“Not long before the end”: Four stars. A fantasy story in which magic is found to be a non-renewable resource. A good idea and a nice story.
“Man of steel/woman of Kleenex”: Three stars. A non-fiction but amusing discussion of Superman’s unique and inevitable sexual problems.
“The theory and practice of time travel”: Three stars. A quite interesting non-fiction essay.
“Inconstant moon”: Four stars. A good story about a night when the moon was much brighter than usual, and what that may mean.
“What can you say about chocolate covered manhole covers?”: Three stars. This is quite fun, but there isn’t really much to it, beyond the central idea.
“Becalmed in hell”: Two stars. This is the oldest story in the book, dating from 1965, and it shows. It reminds me of [a:Hal Clement|70180|Hal Clement|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1208188359p2/70180.jpg], although not at his best. show less
“All the myriad ways”: Two stars, and that’s generous. The title story is the one I like least: I neither enjoy it nor agree with it. But it’s not quite bad enough for one star.
“Passerby”: Three stars. An unlikely story, but not a bad one.
“For a foggy night”: Four stars. Preposterous but delightful; I’m fond of this one.
“Wait it out”: Two stars. Unlikely and not particularly entertaining.
“The jigsaw man”: Two stars. First published in 1967, this was at the time a reasonable and show more interesting attempt to predict the future; but the prediction hasn’t yet come true, and it’s not particularly entertaining as a story.
“Not long before the end”: Four stars. A fantasy story in which magic is found to be a non-renewable resource. A good idea and a nice story.
“Man of steel/woman of Kleenex”: Three stars. A non-fiction but amusing discussion of Superman’s unique and inevitable sexual problems.
“The theory and practice of time travel”: Three stars. A quite interesting non-fiction essay.
“Inconstant moon”: Four stars. A good story about a night when the moon was much brighter than usual, and what that may mean.
“What can you say about chocolate covered manhole covers?”: Three stars. This is quite fun, but there isn’t really much to it, beyond the central idea.
“Becalmed in hell”: Two stars. This is the oldest story in the book, dating from 1965, and it shows. It reminds me of [a:Hal Clement|70180|Hal Clement|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1208188359p2/70180.jpg], although not at his best. show less
Dec 17, 2024 (Edited)English (UK)
Indeholder "All the myriad ways", "Passerby", "For a foggy night", "Wait it out", "The jigsaw man", "Not long before the end", "Unfinished story #1", "Unfinished story #2", "Man of steel - Woman of kleenex", "Exercise in speculation: The theory and practice of teleportation", "The theory and practice of time travel", "Inconstant moon", "What can you say about chocolate covered manhole covers?", "Becalmed in hell.".
"All the myriad ways" handler om en jord, hvor man har opfundet en måde at besøge alternative universer på. Man kan også komme tilbage og man kan tage gode ideer og opfindelser med tilbage. Hver eneste valg som nogen træffer giver en opsplitning i to nye universer. Og alle mulige valg. Så hvorfor ikke begå selvmord? I show more et andet univers lever du videre. Hvorfor ikke begå mord? Hvorfor ikke?
"Passerby" handler om en mand, der har som hobby at iagttage andre. Han lægger mærke til en, der virker så speciel at han må være en rammer, dvs en pilot på en ramjet, der er kommet tilbage efter en tur til et andet stjernesystem. Det er rigtigt og piloten har en besynderlig historie at fortælle. Hans ramjet var havareret, hvilket burde være den visse død, men han var blevet reddet af en alien med fantastiske kræfter og sat tilbage på Jorden. De overvejer lidt hvad den alien har været. Og det passer med et barn, der bemærker en larve på vejen og sætter den op på et træ.
"For a foggy night" handler om mand, der i en pub møder en tankelæser, der fortæller ham at tåget vejr er et resultat af tidslinier, der mødes og skilles. Så hvis han går ud i tågen for at komme over til sit hotel på den anden side af vejen, er det ikke sikkert at hotellet længere er der! Senere begiver manden sig så ud i tågen og da han når frem til hotellet, viser det sig at være lavet om til et hospital for folk, der ikke kan læse tanker.
"Wait it out" handler om en rejse til Pluto i 1989, hvor Pluto er i perihelion. Overfladen er is, så landingsfartøjet smelter det lidt og fryser så fast. De to, der landede, er derfor dødsens og den ene tager sin rumdragt af og fryser i løbet af sekunder ved de 50 grader Kelvin. Faktisk bliver han superledende, så han fortsætter med at tænke selv om kroppen er bundfrosset.
"The jigsaw man" handler om Warren Lewis Knowles, der bliver dømt til døden ved ophugning til organbanken, fordi han er kørt over for rødt lys flere gange.
"Not long before the end" handler om en duel mellem en sværdfægter ved navn Hap og en troldmand. Troldmanden, The Warlock ved at magisk kraft er en ressource, der kan bruges op og derfor laver han et våben, der blot bruger al magien i et område. Sværdkæmperen er besat af Glirendree, som er en vældig og ond dæmon. Warlock prøver en del ufine tricks, som fx at slippe den dæmon løs, han ellers har låst i et pentagram tatoveret på sin ryg. Det virker ikke, så han bruger en roterende skive til at opbruge al manna. Glirendree visner bort, men når først at bide den ene hånd af Hap. Troldmanden ældes i grusom fart uden magi.
"Unfinished story #1" handler om Maxwell's dæmon lavet med magi.
"Unfinished story #2" er blot en sætning om at ikke al viden er tilgængelig for mennesker.
"Man of steel - Woman of kleenex" handler om at Superman har et fysiologisk problem, hvis han vil være far. Fx vil hans sperm sikkert bevæge sig med nærlyshastighed.
"Exercise in speculation: The theory and practice of teleportation" handler om hvordan teleportation mon kunne tænkes at fungere i praksis og hvilke konsekvenser det ville få hvis det fx var nemt og billigt.
"The theory and practice of time travel" handler om at tidsrejser ville bryde så mange naturlove at historier om tidsrejser i praksis er ren fantasy også selv om man putter det ind i en science fiction kulisse.
"Inconstant moon" handler om solen, der laver et så kraftigt soludbrud at hovedpersonen Stan og hans kæreste Leslie først tror at den er blevet nova. De kan ikke se solen, men kun at Månen lyser kraftigt op og nogle minutter senere Jupiter. Senere går det op for dem at man formentlig kan overleve på deres side af Jorden og de belaver sig på at overleve orkaner og oversvømmelser og Stan overvejer om deres børn måske en gang vil kolonialisere Europa, Asien eller Afrika.
"What can you say about chocolate covered manhole covers?" handler om en Tom Findlay, der har det med at få skøre konversationer i gang, fx hvad man kan bruge et chokoladeovertrukket kloakdæksel til. Han viser sig at være en robot og spejder for nogle aliens med god tid. Engang for længe siden startede de mennesker op på Jorden med 500 småkolonier med 4 i hver. Efter et stykke tid havde indavl sørget for at luge ud i dårlige gener og opfindsomhed fik de overlevende kolonier til at finde sammen. Nu leder de efter gode kandidater til at fortsætte på en ny planet, så Hal Grant, Joy Benjamin og fortælleren og hans kone Carol bliver pludseligt transporteret til Alpha Centauri A, planet 2 og får et chokoladeovertrukket kloakdæksel med. Ikke helt dumt, for som Carol siger: indtil videre er chokoladen det eneste de ved at de kan spise.
"Becalmed in hell." handler om en rejse til Venus hvor besætningen er en isoleret hjerne a la Donovans brain og en almindelig astronaut - de småskændes om hvorvidt en fejl i ramjetstyringen er psykosomatisk.
Glimrende novellesamling med en masse gode ideer. Jeg kan godt lide The Warlock. show less
"All the myriad ways" handler om en jord, hvor man har opfundet en måde at besøge alternative universer på. Man kan også komme tilbage og man kan tage gode ideer og opfindelser med tilbage. Hver eneste valg som nogen træffer giver en opsplitning i to nye universer. Og alle mulige valg. Så hvorfor ikke begå selvmord? I show more et andet univers lever du videre. Hvorfor ikke begå mord? Hvorfor ikke?
"Passerby" handler om en mand, der har som hobby at iagttage andre. Han lægger mærke til en, der virker så speciel at han må være en rammer, dvs en pilot på en ramjet, der er kommet tilbage efter en tur til et andet stjernesystem. Det er rigtigt og piloten har en besynderlig historie at fortælle. Hans ramjet var havareret, hvilket burde være den visse død, men han var blevet reddet af en alien med fantastiske kræfter og sat tilbage på Jorden. De overvejer lidt hvad den alien har været. Og det passer med et barn, der bemærker en larve på vejen og sætter den op på et træ.
"For a foggy night" handler om mand, der i en pub møder en tankelæser, der fortæller ham at tåget vejr er et resultat af tidslinier, der mødes og skilles. Så hvis han går ud i tågen for at komme over til sit hotel på den anden side af vejen, er det ikke sikkert at hotellet længere er der! Senere begiver manden sig så ud i tågen og da han når frem til hotellet, viser det sig at være lavet om til et hospital for folk, der ikke kan læse tanker.
"Wait it out" handler om en rejse til Pluto i 1989, hvor Pluto er i perihelion. Overfladen er is, så landingsfartøjet smelter det lidt og fryser så fast. De to, der landede, er derfor dødsens og den ene tager sin rumdragt af og fryser i løbet af sekunder ved de 50 grader Kelvin. Faktisk bliver han superledende, så han fortsætter med at tænke selv om kroppen er bundfrosset.
"The jigsaw man" handler om Warren Lewis Knowles, der bliver dømt til døden ved ophugning til organbanken, fordi han er kørt over for rødt lys flere gange.
"Not long before the end" handler om en duel mellem en sværdfægter ved navn Hap og en troldmand. Troldmanden, The Warlock ved at magisk kraft er en ressource, der kan bruges op og derfor laver han et våben, der blot bruger al magien i et område. Sværdkæmperen er besat af Glirendree, som er en vældig og ond dæmon. Warlock prøver en del ufine tricks, som fx at slippe den dæmon løs, han ellers har låst i et pentagram tatoveret på sin ryg. Det virker ikke, så han bruger en roterende skive til at opbruge al manna. Glirendree visner bort, men når først at bide den ene hånd af Hap. Troldmanden ældes i grusom fart uden magi.
"Unfinished story #1" handler om Maxwell's dæmon lavet med magi.
"Unfinished story #2" er blot en sætning om at ikke al viden er tilgængelig for mennesker.
"Man of steel - Woman of kleenex" handler om at Superman har et fysiologisk problem, hvis han vil være far. Fx vil hans sperm sikkert bevæge sig med nærlyshastighed.
"Exercise in speculation: The theory and practice of teleportation" handler om hvordan teleportation mon kunne tænkes at fungere i praksis og hvilke konsekvenser det ville få hvis det fx var nemt og billigt.
"The theory and practice of time travel" handler om at tidsrejser ville bryde så mange naturlove at historier om tidsrejser i praksis er ren fantasy også selv om man putter det ind i en science fiction kulisse.
"Inconstant moon" handler om solen, der laver et så kraftigt soludbrud at hovedpersonen Stan og hans kæreste Leslie først tror at den er blevet nova. De kan ikke se solen, men kun at Månen lyser kraftigt op og nogle minutter senere Jupiter. Senere går det op for dem at man formentlig kan overleve på deres side af Jorden og de belaver sig på at overleve orkaner og oversvømmelser og Stan overvejer om deres børn måske en gang vil kolonialisere Europa, Asien eller Afrika.
"What can you say about chocolate covered manhole covers?" handler om en Tom Findlay, der har det med at få skøre konversationer i gang, fx hvad man kan bruge et chokoladeovertrukket kloakdæksel til. Han viser sig at være en robot og spejder for nogle aliens med god tid. Engang for længe siden startede de mennesker op på Jorden med 500 småkolonier med 4 i hver. Efter et stykke tid havde indavl sørget for at luge ud i dårlige gener og opfindsomhed fik de overlevende kolonier til at finde sammen. Nu leder de efter gode kandidater til at fortsætte på en ny planet, så Hal Grant, Joy Benjamin og fortælleren og hans kone Carol bliver pludseligt transporteret til Alpha Centauri A, planet 2 og får et chokoladeovertrukket kloakdæksel med. Ikke helt dumt, for som Carol siger: indtil videre er chokoladen det eneste de ved at de kan spise.
"Becalmed in hell." handler om en rejse til Venus hvor besætningen er en isoleret hjerne a la Donovans brain og en almindelig astronaut - de småskændes om hvorvidt en fejl i ramjetstyringen er psykosomatisk.
Glimrende novellesamling med en masse gode ideer. Jeg kan godt lide The Warlock. show less
Jun 9, 2011 (Edited)Danish
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331+ Works 98,117 Members
Larry Niven received his B.A. in mathematics in 1962. His first novel, World of Ptavvs (1966), was a success and launched his career. Niven has won five Hugos and one Nebula award, testimony that his colleagues in the science fiction world respect his work. Perhaps Niven's most well-known creation is Ringworld, a distant planet that may be taken show more as a metaphor for Earth, as it was once great but has since fallen into decay. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Original title
- All the Myriad Ways
- Original publication date
- 1971-06 (collection) (collection)
- Dedication
- to MARILYN alias Fuzzy Pink who starred in a couple of stories and inspired others
- First words
- There were timelines branching and branching, a megauniverse of universes, millions more every minute.
- Quotations
- From For a Foggy Night: “I walked into the fog one afternoon,” said the brown-haired man. “The fog was thick, like tonight. A cubic mile of cotton as we say. I was just going out for a pouch of snuff. When I reached the... (show all) tobacconist’s, he tried to sell me a bundle of brown paper sticks with a Spanish trademark.”
“Uh huh. What did you do?”
“Tried to get home, of course. Things changed oddly while I wandered in the fog. When it cleared and left me stranded, even my money was no good. The worst of it was that I couldn’t even tell my story. Nobody could read my mind to see that I was sane. It was find another fog bank or try to make a life for myself.”
“With no money?”
“Oh, I just sold my ring and found a poker game.” - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I guess I'll have to.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- This is an anthology. Please do not combine it with the short story of the same name.
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