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I'm not sure that it's right to say that Slaughterhouse has 'lost' his wife and son - he hasn't lost them, but rather driven them away by being such a miserable git.

I think the story is terrific, but I'm not convinced by the characterisation; Slaughterhouse is supposed to be a man who doesn't know how to quit, is saved from certain death by his brave and selfless wife, and given a new body with fantastic abilities (love the shootable hand). And all he does is mope around saying he'd be better off dead. Where did his grit and steel go? It seems like short-cut storytelling to me.

Hey! Someone else who patronises the Black Hole! I thought I was their only customer as I haven't seen another soul in there since last October. I assumed that it was designed to discourage customers on the grounds that they'll touch the comics and even try to take them away.

I will be coming over on the Sunday with the Scotsman, getting there late morning - is there anywhere I'm likely to find other boarders, given that I've never met any of you?

I got my prog (rhymes with 'dog') late this week, but I have to add my tuppenceworth on the cover: after I read the prog I folded it over so no one else would see the cover, as I would have been so embarrassed. P.1 of Mandroid looks much better as a cover.

And actually it's an excellent prog when you get beyond the awfulness: moody Mandroid, imaginative Leatherjack and intriguing Breathing Space.

I've only seen the episodes which relate to bits of the country which I know, but I think certaina reas suffer because the approach is quite formulaic - they want to have one nature item, one industrial, one archaeological etc, and so the resources of the area tend to be shoehorned in to fit.

I thought South Wales came out of it quite well, with the Red Lady at Paviland, a bit about Cardiff and a bit about sand dunes, but the archaeology of the North East was obviously weak, with that feeble Stone Age house, and the ship-breaking section went on far too long.

I suspect that the more varied the stretch of coastline, the better the programme, and also that they prefer rugged cliffs to the flat landscapes of the east coast, because it fits the popular image of coasts better.

All yours! Mail me an address and I'll post it tomorrow.

I just renewed my sub (yay!) and received the very zarjaz free MC-1 poster.

BUT my lifestyle is not really poster-friendly, and I doubt that I'll be able to use it as Tharg intended.

So instead of putting it away in a cupboard, I thought I'd see if there's a non-subber out there who'd like it? I'll mail it in a reinforced envelope anywhere inside Saturn orbit.

Anyone?

I just renewed my sub (yay!) and received the very zarjaz free MC-1 poster.

BUT my lifestyle is not really poster-friendly, and I doubt that I'll be able to use it as Tharg intended.

So instead of putting it away in a cupboard, I thought I'd see if there's a non-subber out there who'd like it? I'll mail it in a reinforced envelope anywhere inside Saturn orbit.

Anyone?

If Cursed Earth Koburn wins, can we have a poster?

I've always liked Farscape...

But I've always thought Dune was way overrated. The first half of the first book is OK, but the others are unreadably dull.

I was in Dundee yesterday, and live not far away - mail me if you think I can help.

I second Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz, but think you can do better with Philip Dick than The Man in the High Castle - I'd go for A Scanner Darkly or The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, which are much more imaginative.

I rejoice in being Feridian, MAD Phil.

DD said he wouldn't be around as much once he changed jobs.

Before I go into a long-winded explanation of Inversions, one question: did you realise that it was a "Culture" novel?


I'm even more baffled.

I liked Feersum Endjinn a lot, much more than Consider Phlebas.