This is known as “bad luck”
The creative class drives cultural and economic flourishing, Richard Florida argued (in The Rise of the Creative Class), but now the “superstar cities” that attract the creative class have grown...
View ArticleAmbiguous, longed for and desolate
Science fiction illuminates the dreams of the new moon-rushers: Take the origins of Pence’s reference to the “lunar strategic high ground”. In one of the first moon novels written after the second...
View ArticleA toy, suited only to make pretty scars for girls to admire
Our Slovenian guest recently suggested that I take a look at the traditional German sword-fighting art called Mensur, which reminded me that I’ve discussed Germany’s odd fencing fraternities before,...
View ArticleThe head is mostly teeth
I recently mentioned that Robert Heinlein’s Glory Road introduced me to Germany’s tradition of fencing in order to earn a dueling scar. The other tidbit that stuck with me from this book was his...
View ArticleNobody knows where it comes from but it can’t be ignored
When I read a friend’s copy of Robert Heinlein’s Glory Road back in high school, only a couple things stuck with me: (1) dueling scars, and (2) methane-burning dragons. When I recently re-read it, it...
View ArticleInstead of the tawdry, lousy, fouled-up mess it is
Robert Heinlein’s Glory Road is chock-full of Heinlein-isms— plus dueling scars and methane-burning dragons — but one passage stands out for stating his theme outright: I wanted a Roc’s egg. I wanted a...
View ArticlePermanent employment, very high pay, glorious adventure, great danger
Ernest Shackleton famously ran this ad in the newspaper to recruit men for his Endurance expedition: Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe...
View ArticleA sword never jams
In Glory Road Robert Heinlein makes the case for his hero to carry a sword: A properly balanced sword is the most versatile weapon for close quarters ever devised. Pistols and guns are all offense, no...
View ArticleOne should never be killed by a stranger
In Glory Road, our hero faces another skilled swordsman — “an ugly cocky little man with a merry grin and the biggest nose west of Durante” — who does something he had heard of, never seen: He...
View ArticleDon’t do anything
The MacGuffin in Glory Road is the Egg of the Phoenix, a cybernetic record of the experiences of two hundred and three “emperors” and “empresses,” most of whom “ruled” all the known universes — and...
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