James Nicoll

James D. Nicoll

Shopkeeper and SF reviewer

Verified

• "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
  • Usenet article <1990May15.155309.8892@watdragon.waterloo.edu> (1990), updated in <bi5d3u$hjl$1@panix1.panix.com> (2003)
• "John Barnes is incredibly variable. Pete's Rule (Never buy a Barnes with sodomy in it) is a good one but unfortunately the publisher does not put that kind of stuff on the cover."
• About Scott Gier 's Genellan: Planetfall: "Aha! The Alien Planet Canada series, where the planet the characters are marooned on seems to be Manitoba . Bad bad world building."
  • Both from Usenet article <a393v8$pen$1@panix1.panix.com> (2002)
• "I have hated every Kress I read, especially this one, but the Bear is a standard Bear and if you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you'll like."
  • Usenet article <at2mut$at9$1@panix1.panix.com> (2002)
• About James Clemens 's Wit'ch Storm: "Nothin'g sa'ys q'uality fantas'y l'ike misuse'd apos'tro'phes."
  • Usenet article <c0dug0$4te$1@panix3.panix.com> (2004)
• "All gone. Zelazny was one of the first times I looked at something I had had familiarity with to find the spot where the memory should have been empty, replaced by a scrawled 'Moved South for the Fishing' sign. Calculus was another loss. It was quite upsetting to reach for a skill and find nothing."
  • Usenet article <c2nsoc$aqk$1@panix3.panix.com> (2004)
• About Robert Zubrin 's First Landing: "Someday I'd like to read a story about competent people on Mars."
• About Terry Brooks 's Antrax: "I wonder if he's planning a book called SRS? Or F'lu?"
  • Usenet article <c3i93p$iu$1@panix3.panix.com> (2004)
• "In point of fact, the meteor was something like 30 km when it exploded. It was over north Waterloo and I was north of St Agatha. Two spherical clouds, and two explosions. Unfortunately, I was dealing with a goat that was trying to eat an oil truck's fuel line, goats having this optimistic 'Well, maybe it has become edible since they last time I tried this' worldview, and I missed seeing the explosions."
  • Usenet article <cbp39u$gbq$1@panix1.panix.com> (2004)