Conference noted::sf

I read a series in ANALOG magazine that was pretty good.  It takes place 
sometime during the 1700 or 1800's I believe and it's a world where there is
another human species besides Homo Sapiens. This particular story centers 
around a hunter/trapper who goes into the woods and encounter this other 
species.  This other species, some kind of hominid, is misunderstood, feared,
and looked upon as inferior by the technologically superior Homo Sapiens. 
It's almost similar to how whites looked at Indians in the early days of 
American history.  Supposedly its the same time-period.  Anyway, this hunter
encounters them, lives with them and learns to respect them. Sounds almost like
the movie "Dances With Wolves" but its not quite the same.  The hominids live
in sort of a loose tribal society - they are more like apes than men.  The
way Turtledove describes them remind me more of "Gorillas in the MIst" than
"Dances With Wolves".  All in all it was an interesting story.  I forget the
title of the series.  Its probably out in book form by now but I don't know
the title of that either.

ktlam... 

    I recently read NONINTERFERENCE which I thougt was a good read.  The
    basic plot has to do with a the effect of interference by a high-tech
    space going society in a non-technical society/world.  The novel
    explores the ramifications of one such interference.  It also deals
    with the politics of the high-tech society.

    The survey service does covert monitoring of progress of these low-tech
    societies.  Some political factions would prefer to leave these
    restrict these surveys.  One small intererence is done 1500 years in
    the past and it has extreme long term effects.  A subsequent survey
    reveals the effect of the interference and attempts at a coverup lead
    to murder and other crimes.

    In summary, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it as a good read
    for casual reading.

    I have recently picked up A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE but have not started it
    yet.

    I recently bought _Toxic_Spell_Dump_, a fantasy set in a world
    where magic works.  Yeah, it's been done before, but this is a
    good fun story.  Lots of punny jokes, like the one about medical
    impplants (yes, it's two "p"s and not a typo, and yes, it took
    me a second look).  
    
    I don't know how he got this kind of stuff through the various 
    editing programs, unless they took extra care and didn't use
    spell-check programs.  It's possible they did, as so far I've 
    only noticed one typo ("it" for "if"), which is well below the
    usual level these days.
    
    The hero is an EPA agent investigating a possibly-leaking toxic
    spell dump.  The magic is based on gods, and they in turn are
    based on (or powered by) belief--so the government runs artificial
    cults for useful gods (like Hermes) who have no real worshippers
    left.
    
    The book was inspired by a remark that every technology produces
    waste, Harry Turtledove says in a preface.  It's a cute idea and
    a cute book--not deep nor thought-provoking nor blessed with 
    characters you'll remember, but a quick, fun, entertaining read
    that kept me up later than I'd planned.
    
    		-John Bishop

Article: 4583
From: danny@staff.cs.su.oz.au (Danny Yee) 
Subject: Book Review - Agent of Byzantium
Sender: mcb@postmodern.com (Michael C. Berch)
Organization: Basser Dept of Computer Sciece, Uni of Sydney, Australia
Date: Mon, 15 Aug 1994 05:07:43 GMT
 
     title: Agent of Byzantium
        by: Harry Turtledove
 publisher: Hodder & Stoughton 1988
  subjects: science fiction, history
     other: 246 pages
 
What if Justinian had succeeded in rebuilding the Roman Empire and
Mohammed had been a Christian archbishop and saint?  In the alternative
13th century world of _Agent of Byzantium_ a powerful Byzantine
empire faces a Franco-Saxon kingdom in the west, Persia in the east
and nomads on the steppes.  In a series of six short stories our hero,
Basil Argyros, soldier and secret agent, confounds the enemies of the
empire, in the process discovering smallpox inoculation and ferreting
out the secrets of the telescope, gunpowder, distillation and the
printing press.  This is a bit implausible really, but it makes for
a good story (the emphasis on technological discoveries is probably
due to the intended audience - the stories were originally published
in hard science fiction magazines).  _Agent of Byzantium_ is hardly
very deep, but it's a lot of fun as simple adventure, even if you
don't enjoy the alternative history.
 
%A 	Turtledove, Harry 
%T 	Agent of Byzantium
%I 	Hodder & Stoughton 
%C 	Sevenoaks, Kent UK
%D 	1988
%G 	ISBN 0-450-42172-4
%P 	246pp
%O 	paperback
%K 	science fiction, history
 
--
Danny Yee (danny@cs.su.oz.au)
14 August 1994
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
All book reviews by Danny Yee are available via anonymous FTP to:
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Copyright (C) Danny Yee 1994 : Comments and criticism are welcome
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    I recently picked up a copy of "Krispos Rising" at a used book store.
    It was a great read and it lists a not-yet-written sequel in the cover
    notes.
    
    Does anyone know whether Turtledove has written this book?
    
    Thanks,
    
    JP

    Off the top of my head, there are three books...

    "Krispos Rising"
    "Kryspos of Videssos"
    and "Kryspos the Emperor"

    The books are set in an earlier time of the world Turtldove created in
    his 4-book 'Videssos cycle'.
    
    DEW

    
    Thanks for the info.
    
    Darn, just last week I picked up volumes 1 through 3 of the Videssos
    cycle ("The Misplaced Legion," etc.) and thought I had the complete
    set...
    
    Fortunately, I don't regard reading Turtledove as a chore.
    
    JP