Re: Highlights and Lowlights - September-October 2024

On Sat, 23 Nov 2024 09:53:33 -0800, Robert Woodward
<robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:

In article <8p14kjl4nb5jcv5fqudbns65eba8mnvcdq@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>

On Fri, 22 Nov 2024 15:47:53 -0500, Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com>
wrote:
 

On 11/17/24 7:32 PM, Ahasuerus wrote:

On 11/11/2024 11:57 AM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
[snip]
 > [re: The Stainless Steel Rat books and Harry Harrison]
 > I believe I read all the SSR books at one time but I cannot now
 > recall any specifics beyond the premise.  Perhaps time for another
 > go.
 
I loved the first book (1961) and liked the next two (1970-1972). I
thought that the series began to deteriorate around book 4 (1978).

>
Thanks - that's good to know, and is in line with a few other things
I've seen as well. I enjoyed the first three, but to me, the third was a
bit of a step down from the first two.

 
SPI, in its short-lived /Ares Magazine/, published /The Return of the
Stainless Steel Rat/, a board game
[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3531/the-return-of-the-stainless-steel-ra
t].
 
Although confirming this online proved difficult, my recollection is
that Harrison also wrote a short story that appeared in the magazine,
about the same situation as the game.

>
While a brief search failed to find my issues of _Ares_, I did find the
ISFDB page for that issue, <https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?411709>
(I used the "Magazine Directory" link in the "Other Pages" box on the
home page). BTW, that is the only appearance of that short story.

I'm sure I have my copy (of both magazine and game, separately) around
here /somewhere/, but I didn't even try to find it because I knew it
would be a long and arduous endeaver.

But thanks for the confirmation. The rights probably went into limbo
when SPI was taken over and/or the magazine was scrubbed. The people
behind DG acquired MOVES and S&T and a bunch of classic SPI games. If
the deal included Ares, then DG might hold the rights to the short
story.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"