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Dancing with Myself
This collection contains sixteen stories and science articles by the remarkable author, Charles Sheffield. A mix of SF short stories and science fact essays, the ideas explored here in fact and fiction, nanotechnology, the future of space flight, and more, are going to shape our world as surely as communications and electronics have been shaping our present. The stories range in length from being barely a page ('The Seventeen-Year Locusts') to long novelettes ('The Courts of Xanadu'). They also range in mood from the very silly to very somber. Each of them provides a unique and highly imaginative look at the impact of technology on the human condition. Sheffield's longer works include Earthwatch, Man on Earth, Cold as Ice, and Brother to Dragons.
Contents:
Introduction (Dancing With Myself) • essay by Charles Sheffield
Out of Copyright (1989) / short story by Charles Sheffield
Tunicate, Tunicate, Wilt Thou Be Mine? (1985) / novelette by Charles Sheffield
Counting Up (1988) • essay by Charles Sheffield
A Braver Thing (1990) / novelette by Charles Sheffield
The Grand Tour (1987) • short story by Charles Sheffield
Classical Nightmares ...... And Quantum Paradoxes (1989) • essay by Charles Sheffield
Nightmares of the Classical Mind (1989) / novelette by Charles Sheffield
The Double Spiral Staircase (1990) / short story by Charles Sheffield
The Unlicked Bear-Whelp: A Worm's Eye Look at Chaos Theory (1990) • essay by Charles Sheffield
The Seventeen-Year Locusts (1983) / short story by Charles Sheffield
The Courts of Xanadu (1988) / novelette by Charles Sheffield
C-Change [Probability Zero] (1992) / short story by Charles Sheffield
Unclear Weather: A Miscellany of Disasters (1988) • essay by Charles Sheffield
Godspeed (1990) / short story by Charles Sheffield
Dancing With Myself (1989) / short story by Charles Sheffield
Something for Nothing: A Biography of the Universe • essay by Charles Sheffield
.
Contents:
Introduction (Dancing With Myself) • essay by Charles Sheffield
Out of Copyright (1989) / short story by Charles Sheffield
Tunicate, Tunicate, Wilt Thou Be Mine? (1985) / novelette by Charles Sheffield
Counting Up (1988) • essay by Charles Sheffield
A Braver Thing (1990) / novelette by Charles Sheffield
The Grand Tour (1987) • short story by Charles Sheffield
Classical Nightmares ...... And Quantum Paradoxes (1989) • essay by Charles Sheffield
Nightmares of the Classical Mind (1989) / novelette by Charles Sheffield
The Double Spiral Staircase (1990) / short story by Charles Sheffield
The Unlicked Bear-Whelp: A Worm's Eye Look at Chaos Theory (1990) • essay by Charles Sheffield
The Seventeen-Year Locusts (1983) / short story by Charles Sheffield
The Courts of Xanadu (1988) / novelette by Charles Sheffield
C-Change [Probability Zero] (1992) / short story by Charles Sheffield
Unclear Weather: A Miscellany of Disasters (1988) • essay by Charles Sheffield
Godspeed (1990) / short story by Charles Sheffield
Dancing With Myself (1989) / short story by Charles Sheffield
Something for Nothing: A Biography of the Universe • essay by Charles Sheffield
.
384 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1993
20 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Charles Sheffield
218 books172 followersCharles A. Sheffield (June 25, 1935 – November 2, 2002), was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction author. He had been a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronomical Society.
His novel The Web Between the Worlds, featuring the construction of a space elevator, was published almost simultaneously with Arthur C. Clarke's novel about that very same subject, The Fountains of Paradise, a coincidence that amused them both.
For some years he was the chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company analysing remote sensing satellite data. This resulted in many technical papers and two popular non-fiction books, Earthwatch and Man on Earth, both collections of false colour and enhanced images of Earth from space.
He won the Nebula and Hugo awards for his novelette "Georgia on My Mind" and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel Brother to Dragons.
Sheffield was Toastmaster at BucConeer, the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.
He had been writing a column for the Baen Books web site; his last column concerned the discovery of the brain tumour that led to his death.
He was married to writer Nancy Kress.
His novel The Web Between the Worlds, featuring the construction of a space elevator, was published almost simultaneously with Arthur C. Clarke's novel about that very same subject, The Fountains of Paradise, a coincidence that amused them both.
For some years he was the chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company analysing remote sensing satellite data. This resulted in many technical papers and two popular non-fiction books, Earthwatch and Man on Earth, both collections of false colour and enhanced images of Earth from space.
He won the Nebula and Hugo awards for his novelette "Georgia on My Mind" and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel Brother to Dragons.
Sheffield was Toastmaster at BucConeer, the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.
He had been writing a column for the Baen Books web site; his last column concerned the discovery of the brain tumour that led to his death.
He was married to writer Nancy Kress.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 2, 2021
This is a fine collection of stories and articles of the hard-sf variety, challenging and thought-provoking with the strong speculative science but some a bit weak in characterization. I especially remember Out of Copyright and The Grand Tour as being excellent, along with my favorite, Godspeed. The most memorable and notable thing about it, for me, is the title... I saw Sheffield several times at conventions back in the day, and he impressed me as as remarkably cultured, reserved, dignified, polite, dignified, and urbane; the very picture of a quiet and courteous conservative English gentleman. I thought the fact that he was inspired to title a book with a line from a snarly punk Billy Idol song was something truly profound... what could he have done with a rebel yell?
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April 17, 2018Collection on sale through 4/17/2018 for $3, usual outlets.
The standout story here is the first, "Out of Copyright" (1989) -- it's the one where famous dead people become available for computer-construct "resurrection" after so many years, and are directing megacorp-competitions for big contracts. I think the winner used Al Capone, as a "fixer", to make sure .... [spoiler]. 5+ stars. Online at
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sheff... Don't miss!
Other story titles are familiar, but I don't think I have a copy of the book. Reasonably sure I read most or all of them, back in the day. So, likely not one of his great collections.
The standout story here is the first, "Out of Copyright" (1989) -- it's the one where famous dead people become available for computer-construct "resurrection" after so many years, and are directing megacorp-competitions for big contracts. I think the winner used Al Capone, as a "fixer", to make sure .... [spoiler]. 5+ stars. Online at
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sheff... Don't miss!
Other story titles are familiar, but I don't think I have a copy of the book. Reasonably sure I read most or all of them, back in the day. So, likely not one of his great collections.
October 7, 2012
This book is a collection of short stories. The book is worth buying for the incredible short story - "Out of Copyright". I have found that the science fiction writers that people enjoy is as much about writing style as it is about the scope of the stories themselves. Maybe this is true in all genres. Anyway, Charles Sheffield is one of the science fiction writers I love, and I think that it is impossible to explain his writing style, you just have to experience it. So here is the beginning of the short story - "Out of Copyright" :
Trouble-shooting. A splendid idea, and one that I agree with totally in principle. Bang! One bullet, and trouble bites the dust. But unfortunately trouble doesn't know the rules.
Trouble won't stay dead.
I looked around the table. My trouble-shooting team was here. I was here. Unfortunately they were supposed to be headed for Jupiter and I ought to be down on Earth. In less than twenty-four hours the draft pick would begin.
That wouldn't wait, and if I didn't leave in the next thirty minutes I would never make it in time. I needed to be in two places at once. I cursed the copyright laws and the single-copy restriction, and went to work.
"You've read the new requirement," I said. "You know the parameters. Ideas, anyone?"
A dead silence. They were facing the problem in their own unique ways. Wolfgang Pauli looked half asleep, Thomas Edison was drawing little doll-figures on the table's surface, Enrico Fermi seemed to be counting on his fingers, and John von Neumann was staring impatiently at the other three. I was doing none of these things. I knew very well that wherever the solution would come from, it would not be from inside my head. My job was much more straightforward; I had to see that when we had a possible answer, it happened. And I had to see that we got one answer, not four...
Hopefully, that is enough of a teaser to get you interested. Enjoy!
Trouble-shooting. A splendid idea, and one that I agree with totally in principle. Bang! One bullet, and trouble bites the dust. But unfortunately trouble doesn't know the rules.
Trouble won't stay dead.
I looked around the table. My trouble-shooting team was here. I was here. Unfortunately they were supposed to be headed for Jupiter and I ought to be down on Earth. In less than twenty-four hours the draft pick would begin.
That wouldn't wait, and if I didn't leave in the next thirty minutes I would never make it in time. I needed to be in two places at once. I cursed the copyright laws and the single-copy restriction, and went to work.
"You've read the new requirement," I said. "You know the parameters. Ideas, anyone?"
A dead silence. They were facing the problem in their own unique ways. Wolfgang Pauli looked half asleep, Thomas Edison was drawing little doll-figures on the table's surface, Enrico Fermi seemed to be counting on his fingers, and John von Neumann was staring impatiently at the other three. I was doing none of these things. I knew very well that wherever the solution would come from, it would not be from inside my head. My job was much more straightforward; I had to see that when we had a possible answer, it happened. And I had to see that we got one answer, not four...
Hopefully, that is enough of a teaser to get you interested. Enjoy!
May 26, 2018
Dated but still interesting
This collection of pop sci articles and scifi short stories definitely has all the hallmarks of 80s scifi. Chaos theory, nuclear war, and the mystery of the human genome are among the topics Sheffield explores. I read most of the nonfiction in Jim Baen's New Destinies magazine, but many of the short stories were new to me.
This collection of pop sci articles and scifi short stories definitely has all the hallmarks of 80s scifi. Chaos theory, nuclear war, and the mystery of the human genome are among the topics Sheffield explores. I read most of the nonfiction in Jim Baen's New Destinies magazine, but many of the short stories were new to me.
May 31, 2016
This was a book I picked up at my local library's annual book sale. Pickings were slim (2011) and this was all I came away with. It turns out to have been a real gem.
As the description states, this was a collection of short stories and science essays. The geek factor was really high for the non-fiction portion. If you don't share Sheffield's fascination with math and physics then you'll be bored with a third of the book (Fortunately for me, I do). Although the book was released in 92, the science holds up.
The short stories were primarily hard sci-fi and proved to be entertaining, despite a noticeable absence of action. These stories were more cerebral, particularly the one whose title lent itself to the collection. I credit Sheffield with coming up with concepts not explored before (or at least haven't been played out): a bicycle race is space ("The Grand Tour"), interstellar travel by increasing the value of the speed of light ("C-change"), holding draft days for the DNA of deceased geniuses ("Out of Copyright"), proposing the idea that cultural sophistication and high technology do not necessarily go hand in hand ("The Courts of Xanadu").
My only real complaint is that some of the endings were a bit flat and didn't really provide the zinger ending I was hoping for. Overall, this is a good book to for hard sci-fi fans who aren't familiar with Sheffield (like me).
One last note: my paperback copy did not age well. About an inch all around the edges, the pages were darker, as if exposed to UV light for too long. The dry and brittle pages cracked and crumbled despite my careful efforts. I felt like I was the last person to read this book as it disintegrated with every turn of the page.
As the description states, this was a collection of short stories and science essays. The geek factor was really high for the non-fiction portion. If you don't share Sheffield's fascination with math and physics then you'll be bored with a third of the book (Fortunately for me, I do). Although the book was released in 92, the science holds up.
The short stories were primarily hard sci-fi and proved to be entertaining, despite a noticeable absence of action. These stories were more cerebral, particularly the one whose title lent itself to the collection. I credit Sheffield with coming up with concepts not explored before (or at least haven't been played out): a bicycle race is space ("The Grand Tour"), interstellar travel by increasing the value of the speed of light ("C-change"), holding draft days for the DNA of deceased geniuses ("Out of Copyright"), proposing the idea that cultural sophistication and high technology do not necessarily go hand in hand ("The Courts of Xanadu").
My only real complaint is that some of the endings were a bit flat and didn't really provide the zinger ending I was hoping for. Overall, this is a good book to for hard sci-fi fans who aren't familiar with Sheffield (like me).
One last note: my paperback copy did not age well. About an inch all around the edges, the pages were darker, as if exposed to UV light for too long. The dry and brittle pages cracked and crumbled despite my careful efforts. I felt like I was the last person to read this book as it disintegrated with every turn of the page.
August 13, 2012
This book is a collection of short stories and essays by the late Charles Sheffield. The subtitle showing up on Goodreads ("A Constable Ben Cooper Novel") is wrong - must've come from some other book but I don't see any way of submitting changes.
It was quite a while ago that I read this collection but I remember enjoying it. The stories are generally idea-oriented and originally published around 1989 to 1992. Looks like it's a bit hard to find these days.
It was quite a while ago that I read this collection but I remember enjoying it. The stories are generally idea-oriented and originally published around 1989 to 1992. Looks like it's a bit hard to find these days.
July 5, 2019
1.5 stars if I could. Some of the stories were interesting, others were 'eh'.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews