The Pak Library

”The Pak library was as old as the radioactive desert which surrounded it. How old was the library? Phssthpok never wondered and never knew how old the library was. However, the section on space travel was at least three million years old.

The library was huge and rambling, a composite of at least three million years of Pak knowledge, cross-filed into sections according to subject. Phssthpok spent thirty-two years in one vast room. A floor to ceiling labyrinth of bookshelves.

And there were books! They were nearly indestructible, those books. They would have emerged like fluttering meteors from the heat of a hydrogen fusion explosion.

There were treatises on the philosophy of space travel. There were records of interstellar and interplanetary flights, tens of thousands of them starting with a fantastic trip some group had made almost three million years ago.

There were technical texts on anything that could possibly bear on space and space travel: space craft, astrogation, ecology, miniaturization, nuclear and subnuclear physics, plastics, gravity and how to use it, astronomy astrophysics, records of the mining of worlds and nearby systems, diagrams of a hypothetical Bussard ramjet, ion drives diagrams, plasma theory, light sails…

Even though the libraries offerings were quite extensive, there are many holes in their collections. The Pak have been migrating for millions of years. These experiences could no way be included without someone from the original migration transmitted their manuscripts back to rom a system near the Galactic Core. Nor do you have the accounts of many victims of various wars that plagued this civilization. Those would have been accounts from protectors and the new weapons systems they invented to wipe out their opponents.”

Protector, Larry Niven

Books that Mention Books

I have read three books that mention books. These are not ordinary books. These books provide the reader with special abilities. The three titles that I have read that mention these special books are The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson, The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis, and The Book of Dragons, which is written by Edith Nesbit.

These titles were read in the in the order in which they were mentioned. I will start with my current reading, the mention of the book in The Book of Dragons.

Lionel, the boy King had wandered in a library that was full of books, not realizing that all the books in this library were his (Lionel had just became king). These books were purchased by his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather. His ministers insisted that he not touch or read any the books in this library in that they supposed the books to be magic in some way.

Lionel insisted that he wouldn’t touch any of the books in the library, except one he had spied his eyes upon. It was a great brown book that lay on the study table. “It had gold patterns on brown leather, and gold clasps with turquoises and rubies in the twists of them, and gold corners, so that the leather should not wear too quickly.”

The book was entitled “The Book of Beasts” and inside the book were images of all types of creatures. Some of the creatures were common creatures like the butterfly with its “many-colored wings on the yellow old page of the book”, or the shining bird with its blue feathers; while others were creatures that might have been found in some fantasy story, like the red dragon, the Manticora the sworn enemy of the dragon, and the Hippogrith with its pure white mane and kindly eyes.

This book was special and held magical qualities. As one opened the book to these creatures the creatures would become animated and alive and fly out of the book to cause delight as was the case of the blue bird, butterfly, and the Hippogrith; or as with the red dragon and Manticora trouble and desolation.

I shall like to know of other books that mention books.

Norrel’s Books

It is well known that Mr. Norrel has an extraordinary library made up his books on magic. Although I have probably missed other mentions of specific books that are found in Norrel’s library this title was mentioned in my recent reading.

“Curiose Observations upon the Anatonie Faeries, Holgarth and Pickle”

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Suzanna Clarke

Alien Spaceship Invades my Science Fiction Library

I awoke this morning to find this ceature examing my science fiction library. The stack continues to grow and as well, my list of unread books.

The flying scaucer measures approximately 35w by 30mm tall and is fashioned from resin. It does include fare amount of moulded in details to a silver body with some red and green paint to some molded details. THe clear canopy sits on top of a black center with a set of small colored spheres.

The Singularities of the Count of Monte Cristo #1-A Five Thousand Volume Library

‘“I had nearly five thousand volumes in my library at Rome, but after reading them over many times I found out that with one hundred and fifty well-chosen books a man processes, if not a complete summary of all human knowledge, at least all that a man need really know.”’

Abbe Faria, The Count of Monte Cristo

More of the Duke of Roxburghe’s Library

Formally I made a post that listed the texts of magic that were part of the Dukes collection. What I didn’t mention was the type of books the Duke typically collected. “His grace was fond of poetry, chivalry, history and theology. He collected rare exquisite illuminated manuscripts, editions of the very first printed books produced in the workshops of men of such genius as William Caxton of London and Valdarfer of Venice. Old books delighted him. At the start of 19th century his library was considered one of wonders of the world”

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke, 2004.

The Library of Hurtfew Abby

“The library of Hurtfew Abby was dearer to its possessor than all of his riches. Norrell constructed a beautiful jewel box to house his hearts treasure. The bookcases which lined the walls on the room were built of English woods and resembled Gothic arches laden with carvings. There were carvings of leaves (dried and twisted leaves, as if the season artist had intended to represent autumn,) carvings of intertwined roots and ivy-all wonderfully done. But the wonder was nothing to the wonder of the books.

The student of magic learns that there are books about magic and books of magic. Both are available, the former for two or three guineas from any reputable book seller. The later are extremely rare and can be had for above the price of rubies. At Hurtfew all the walls were lined with bookcases and all the shelves were filled with books; books of magic.”

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

This is my second reading of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Although there are a couple subjects I am interested in, these subjects that I somehow over looked or gave them a very lite coverage, I am sure to find other nuggets along the way.

The Disembodied Whispers

“There was the distinct sound of low, whispered words! Gabrielle held her breath to listen. She tried to distinguish what the words were, but in vain. Then she endeavoured to determine whence they emanated, but was unable to do so. Again they sounded—again—and yet again. Then there was another voice, still low, still whispering, but not quite so deep as the first. It sounded like a woman's.

Local tradition had it that the place held the ghosts of those who had died in agony within its noisome dungeons; but she had always been far too matter-of-fact to accept stories of the supernatural. Yet at that moment her ears did not deceive her. That pile of grim, gaunt ruins was a House of Whispers!

...But her thoughts were very naturally full of the weird story told of the dead and gone owners of Glencardine. She recollected that horrible story of the Ghaist of Manse and of the spectre of Bridgend. In the library she had, a year ago, discovered a strange old book—one which sixty years before had been in universal circulation—entitled Satan's Invisible World Discovered, and she had read it from beginning to end.”

Chapter XI Concerns the Whispers, House of Whispers, William Le Queux

I, Robot

"Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics"

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law."

Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A. D.

I, Robot, Isaac Asimov, The New American Library, © 1956.

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I know that I had read Isaac Asimov’s I Robot when I was still young, and now that I am reading it again, after all these years, I suspect I must have read in again since then. The stories within seem awfully familiar to me.

This volume is copyrighted March 1956 and although this collection-I, Robot is copyrighted by Asimov in 1950 the stories contained here had been copyrighted starting in 1940 and through 1950.

The book includes nine short stories: Robbie, Runaround, Reason, Catch that Rabbit, Liar!, Little Lost Robot, Escape, Evidence, and the Evitable Conflict. Susan Calvin, is a Robotpsychologist who had worked for U.S. Robotics for over fifty years, recalls the early days of Robotics.

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"The Place is Earth

The year is 2058 A. D.

A time when robots are on the march!!"

A Random Quote from a Random Book

After the invasion of the raven, books from Norrels library were strewn everywhere. Strange picked one up randomly, a book titled Seven Doors and Forty-Two Keys, by Piers Russinol. Strange opened the book and started to read a random selection of text:

“…and there you will find a strange country like a chessboard, where alternates barren rock with fruitful orchards, wastes of thorns with fields of bearded corn, water meadows with deserts. And in this country, the god of magicians, Thrice-Great Hermes, has set a guard upon every gate and every bridge: in one place a ram, in another place a serpent…”

The Ravings of Vinculus

Vinculus is the magician of Threadneedle Street, a theatrical magician. He has broken into Mr. Norrel’s home and has found his way to Mr. Norrel’s library. He startles Mr. Norrel with the following fragmented quote from the book of the Raven King.

“I reached out my hand, thought and memory flew out of my enemies heads like a flock of starlings; my enemies crumpled like empty sacks.

I came to them out of the mist and rain. I came to them in dreams at midnight; I came to them in a flock of ravens that filled a northern sky at dawn. When they thought themselves safe I came to them in a cry that broke the silence of a winter wood.”

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke

Maps of Fictional Places

I have always fancied maps and charts, especially old maps. I have studied cartography, have a couple books in my library about maps and have a small collection of maps and charts.

By viewing old maps you see how people envisioned their world back then. Some of the oldest maps indicate sea monsters and ships actually falling off the side of the earth. They actually believed the world to be flat.

Viewing the maps that accompany a novel has always fascinated me, maybe even more than the story itself. I believe a map makes the story even more believable. Over the years I have encountered several maps of fictional places. Here is a short list of maps I have encountered through my readings.

Earthsea

I read what, was then a trilogy, of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea fantasy novels during my late teens. The location for the novel takes place on a vast archipelago of hundreds of islands surrounded by uncharted ocean. The islands are peopled by a few different cultures that use weapons created out of wood and iron. There are dragons, peoples, cultures, and wizards with their magic spells.

The Hobbit

Middle Earth

Middle-earth is the fictional universe created by the author J. R. R. Tolkien for his fantasy writings of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Jurassic Park

Isla Nublar

Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction action film directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie is based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. Jurassic Park was the much publicized theme park that never was. You must watch those disgruntled hackers.

The Lost World

Isla Sorna

The Lost World is another novel written by Michael Crichton. The Lost World is a sequel to his Jurassic Park. Isla Sorna is an island that is purported as being the location for the manufacture of the beasts found in Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park has been abandoned and something has went terribly wrong.

The Land that Time Forgot

Caprona (Caspak) Island

Caspak Island is a fictional island used in Edgar Rice Burroughs's Caspak trilogy, including The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot, and Out of Time's Abyss. Caspak is described as a land mass near Antarctica that through its unique geology is much like a tropical island.

Diverting of Beneficent Forces into Strange and Dangerous Channels

"I glanced around at the books upon my shelves. Often enough, following some outrage by the brilliant Chinese doctor whose genius was directed to the discovery of new and unique death agents, we had obtained a clue in those works of a scientific nature which bulk largely in the library of a medical man. There are creatures, there are drugs, which, ordinarily innocuous, may be so employed as to become inimical to human life; and in the distorting of nature, in the disturbing of balances and the diverting of beneficent forces into strange and dangerous channels, Dr. Fu-Manchu excelled. I had known him to enlarge, by artificial culture, a minute species of fungus so as to render it a powerful agent capable of attacking man; his knowledge of venomous insects has probably never been paralleled in the history of the world; whilst, in the sphere of pure toxicology, he had, and has, no rival; the Borgias were children by comparison. But, look where I would, think how I might, no adequate explanation of this latest outrage seemed possible along normal lines."

Chapter 14, The Return of Dr. Fj-Manchu, Sax Rohmer

More Fictional Titles

Sometime ago I made my first post of "special books", those titles that were referred to in some piece of fiction. In the past I have researched the titles and have come upi empty. They prove to be fictional titles that were mentioned within the test, a figment of the authors imagination.

Here are a few more of these "made-up" titles.

"These, however, were but a prelude to his shelves of books, designated for deposit to the university library. Some appeared fabulously old, so old in fact, that they bore no dates and must have decended, to judge from their appearence and their written characters, from medieval times. The more recent of these were not dated beyound 1850:

Pnakotic Manuscripts
R'lyeh Text
Unaussprechlichen Kutten, von Jungt
The Book of Eitho
The Dhol Chants
The Seven Crypical Books of Hson
Ludvig Prumn's De Vermi's Mysteries
The Celalno Fragments
The Cultes desGoules of the Conte d'Erlette
The Book of Dzyan
Photostat copy of the Necromicon

The Battle of Greenbrier River a Print and Play Game

The Battle of Greenbrier River took place on October 3rd, 1861 near Bartow, West Virginia. The battle between Confederate and Union forces was a limited engagement.

The Battle of Greenbrier River zip download contains the games print and play components for this historic battle. The game hex board is about the size of an 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper. There are twenty-nine counters representing sixteen and thirteen Union and Confederate units respectively. There are Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery units for each side.

The markers are placed in numbered hex boxes that represent beginning positions for each side. Each counter includes the size of the unit. III being regimental strength, II means it is a battalion, while an I represents a company, or battery. There are also movement, firing, and the strength of the unit factors.

Fran and I have played this game and I will be posting the battle report of our first attempt of this battle shortly.

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Other Resources

Library of Congress Map of the Battle Ground of Greenbrier River

Battle of Greenbrier River Wiki

Two New Titles have been added to my Reading List

I just purchased two hard copied books from my local library. They had been out on the cart in the libraries lobby waiting to be purchased. I found a hard copy of Twain’s “Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and a soft copy of “That Darn Cat”, by the Gordans. I have read the former a few times already; it is one of those books I like to read from time to time. The other I haven’t read, but did see the movie as a child by the same name which was produced by Walt Disney Movies. The film was produced in 1965 and starred Hayley Mills and Dean Jones.The story is a light-hearted movie about a cat who becomes a secret agent and blows the cover on a couple of bank robbers who are holding a bank tellers hostage.

The two volumes will be added to spring 2013 reading list.

Science Fiction Super Six-pack

M 33 Andromeda is the title of one of the stories within this volume and also the title of this book, by A. E. Van Vogt. As you will notice most of these stories were written sometime ago, making Van Vogt one the was one of the "most popular and influential practitioners of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century". This collection of Van Vogt short stories was copyrighted in April 1971 and published by Paperback Library, New York.

Siege of the Unseen

“For Slade, that shocking third eye was his entry into a strange dimension of terror and adventure that would wrap itself around him forever!”

Siege of the Unseen was originally published as The Chronicler in Astounding Science Fiction, © 1946.

Discord in Scarlet

“It was utterly unkillable, frightfully armed and armored – and ready to rule a new universe as it had ruled the old!”

Discord in Scarlet was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, © 1939.

M 33 Andromeda

“From a tiny puff on invisible mist it had grown to fill a galaxy...and the death of others was its life.”

M 33 Andromeda was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, © 1943.

The Expendables

“To the fifth-generation colonists aboard the Hope of Man, the alien invader was less dangerous than their private power struggles.”

The Expendables was originally published in If Magazine, © 1963.

Heir Unapparent

“For 50 years Arthur Clagg had been emperor of earth. Now he had a revelation on his hands. A four-day poison in his veins – and a successor who might be the poisoner!”

Heir Unapparent was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, © 1945.

The Weapon Shop

“From the moment the shop appeared. It had been Fara Clark’s enemy… Until is sold him the gun that he needed to kill himself.”

The Weapon Shop was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, © 1943.

Magical Books from the Duke of Roxburghe Library

"When an auction of the Dukes books was announced there were seven texts dealing with magic among his collection. Mr. Norrel and Arabella, Jonathan’s Strange’s wife were both interested. Norrel to add to his collection and Arabella meant to surprise her husband with a volume or two of magical texts. Mr. Norrel out-bid everyone to obtain all seven texts, one in which, he paid the princely sum of 2000 guineas.

Rosa et Fons was a mystical meditation upon magic by an unknown fourteenth century magician.

Thomas de Dundelle was a text describing the life of the Raven Kings first human servant, Thomas Dundelle.

The Book of Loveday Ingham was a day-to-day account of the fifteenth century magician of Cambridge.

The History of Seven: although the text was rather muddled and was written in English, Latin, and an unknown fairy language. The text told of the city in Faerie named Seven. The text was quite jumbled. The author would often leave off his narration of Seven and make numerous accusations against some person that had did him some harm.

The Parliament of Woman: was a sixteenth centaury allegorical account of the wisdom and magic that belongs particularity to woman.

Exerciatatio Magica Nobilissima:  was a seventeenth centaury attempt to describe all English magic.

Two last text were snapped by Norrel on the last day of the auction.

The Mirrorir of the Lyf of Ralph Stokesie:  was a volume that Mr. Norrel was totally ignorant about of its existence. This was the wonderful book that Norrel paid the 2000 guineas for. In addition, Norrel also purchased the Decameron."

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel, Suzanne Clarke

Martin Pale/Cold Henry

The following excerpt was taken from Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel by Susanna Clarke. This is a paperback edition with close to thousand pages. This book looks like it might provide many extracts of text and hours of enjoyable reading.

Autumn 1806-January 1807

“Mr. Segundus took down ‘The Instructions’ of Jacques Belasis and read the following passage. The passage he read had to do with one of England’s greatest magicians, Martin Pale. The reading…’In Gregory Absalon’s ‘The Tree of Learning’, there is a famous passage which relates how, while journeying through Taerie, the last if the great Aureate magicians, Martin Pale paid a visit to a fairy-prince. Like most of his race the fairy had a great multitude of names, honorifics, titles, and pseudonyms, but usually he was known as Cold Henry. Cold Henry made a long and deferential speech to his guest. The speech was full of metaphors and obscure allusions, but what Cold Henry seemed to be saying was that fairies were naturally wicked creatures who did not always know when they were doing wrong. To this Martin Pale, briefly and somewhat enigmatically, replied that ‘not all Englishmen have the same size feet’. “

Chapter 1: The library at Hurtfew, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke.

A Collection of Redwall Resources

Here a few random Redwall resources I recently found online. I already mentioned two of these in previous posts, but I thought it might be nice to mention them again in this list.

The OO Cities site offers among other things maps from the Redwal l series. It seems that each book offers a different map of the Redwall and its vicinity.

RPG Redwall offers information boards on many different aspects of Redwall and on how you can get started playing this online RPG.

Redwall Net offers links to forums, an extensive collection of recipes based on the series, a library where you can read descriptions and summaries of all of the Redwall books.

The Redwall Wiki offers information about all things Redwall, like characters, locations mentioned in the book and images of the characters as they were depicted in the animated series.

The Official Redwall site features the work of Brain Jacques the creator of Redwall. The site offers the visitor the chance to download e-pubs, read up on upcoming works by Brain, and purchase copies of the Redwall series that you might have missed.