Friday, July 11, 2008

Some online stories of Murray Leinster & Keith Laumer

I just became aware of online MP3 versions of Murry Leinster's "First Contact" (download) & "A Logic Named Joe" (download). They probably have been around a while, but I didn't know that.

"First Contact" is not only a first rate story, but one that is said to have introduced the word "first contact" into the language of sf in the sense of human/alien first contact; in fact, according to Wikipedia, Leinster's heirs unsuccessfully sued Paramount Pictures for use of these words in the title of the movie "Star Trek: First Contact".

According to Wikipedia, "A Logic Named Joe" 'contains one of the first descriptions of a computer ... in fiction. In the story, Leinster was decades ahead of his time in imagining the Internet. He envisioned logics in every home, linked through a distributed system of servers..., to provide communications, entertainment, data access, and commerce'. I haven't read this story.

And Free SF Reader linked the online collection of Keith Laumer stories titled "A Plague of Demons" (compiled by Eric Flint) today. It includes a full length novel, plus many shorter works. I've not read any of these stories. My experience with Laumer is restricted to "The Last Command" (my post on this fantastic story follows in a few minutes).

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