McDonald, Ian

SPEAKING IN TONGUES (Spectra Special Editions)

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Someone to watch

SPEAKING IN TONGUES (Spectra Special Editions)
Ian Mcdonald
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Short Stories | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0553292390
Release Date: 1992-09-01

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Someone to watch.......2002-09-06

This is a collection of short stories from one of SFs brightest new hopes. I made notes after each individual story as I read it:

* "Gardenias" -- Fancifully written, but ultimately plotless. Interesting for the mix of poetry and prose, and the way the narrator speaks to the reader and character. Ultimately not my cup of tea, though.
* "Rainmaker Cometh" -- I believe I read this before somewhere (in The Year's Best Fantasy?). Nicely oblique tale of small-town desperation and the mysterious stranger. Well done, but we've seen it all before.
* "Listen" -- Okay, it's obvious that McDonald can write, and can write well and stylishly. But what about plot? What about a little less deus ex machina? What about a little more substance? This story is clearly indicative of my problems so far with McDonald: a lot of style, a lot of imagination, but nothing more on the ball.
* "Speaking in Tongues" -- I didn't follow this story at all. I suspect there was something that tied the parts together, but McDonald gave me no clear clues to find that something. Bleah.
* "Fragments on an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria" -- Now this is a story worthy of recommendation. Excellent use of historical and fictional, the hysteria originally unfounded except when the story rolls around and we find out, no, it is merely foreboding. The grafted-on bit with the Wandering Jew could just as well been excised for all that it does (and only served to sell the story originally, to Brian Stableford's theme anthology Tales of the Wandering Jew). It is the rest that makes this story satisfying.
* "Approaching Perpendicular" -- Poetical story about the dreams and agonies of a poet, analogous to the struggles of any artist who braves the fears and sometimes oversteps the bounds in trying to be art. Or perhaps I'm reading too much into it. Perfect prose-poetry, to be so ambiguous, yet allow interpretation.
* "Floating Dogs" -- Post holocaust story updated to today's foreseen technology, nanotech. As such, really nothing new said here.
* "Atomic Avenue" -- Nice idea, but seems overlong. Once again, the fine line between mood (poetry) versus information (prose) seems stretched too tightly to the mood side for a story.
* "Fronds" -- Well realized alien/human contact, with added development of Chinese/Japanese company rule mirrored in a Dr. Moreau-like Delphic (for dolphins) law. This kind of story has been done better, but not by many, and I found myself thoroughly enthralled by the world-building.
* "Winning" -- Well done tale of translating modern culture and mores and positing a prospective future. That is, science fiction. Not as clever as "Fragments," but very worthy.
* "Toward Kilimanjaro" -- Reminiscent of Shepard & Frazier's "mutant rainforest" stories, which are probably recalls of Brian Aldiss' Hothouse. There is a lot of Conrad symbolism here (which I can recognize, even though I've never read Conrad). What is it about Heart of Darkness that appeals so to the SF spirit? Interesting, but overlong to be so unoriginal in plot.

Overall, I enjoyed the McDonald collection, even though when I look back over my notes, I would only recommend half of the stories (and that to a dedicated reader of SF). He's got real style, though--a talent with words--that will prove to be useful in the future when his plots and ideas become more original than the recycled ones in these stories.

River of Gods
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River of Gods
Ian McDonald
Manufacturer: Pyr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
McDonald, Ian | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Since 1955, this landmark masterwork has been revered for its authoritative presentation of the entire state of scientific and clinical knowledge about multiple sclerosis. The state-of-the-art 4th Edition presents the most recent information on the genetics and epidemiology, clinical neurology, pathogenesis, and management of this common neurological disease. Amply illustrated and referenced and beautifully written, McAlpine's Multiple Sclerosis has been described as "A standard reference for multiple sclerosis researchers, embryonic 'MS-ologists' and hard-pressed clinical neurologists alike" (Brain, review of the last edition).

Market Segmentation: How to do it, how to profit from it

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Market Segmentation: How to do it, how to profit from it
Malcolm McDonald , and Ian Dunbar
Manufacturer: Butterworth-Heinemann
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General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0750659815

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This is a key book, in a vital area. The Butterworth-Heinemann edition of what was previously published by MacMillian, is a thoroughly revised and updated version.

* Highly developed and well illustrated treatment of a key marketing technique
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* Leading author team in the field

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Brasyl
Ian McDonald
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General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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Evolution's Shore
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Manufacturer: Spectra
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Desolation Road
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Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0553270575
Release Date: 1988-01-01

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Bus Eireann
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General | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Elections, Parties, Democracy: Conferring the Median Mandate (Comparative Politics)

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Elections, Parties, Democracy: Conferring the Median Mandate (Comparative Politics)
Michael D. McDonald , and Ian Budge
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Mapping Policy Preferences: Estimates for Parties, Electors, and Governments 1945-1998

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This bold venture into political theory and comparative politics combines traditional concerns about democracy with modern analytical methods. It asks how contemporary democracies work, an essential stage in asking how they can be justified. An answer to both questions is found in the idea of the median mandate. The voter in the middle - the voice of the majority - empowers the centre party in parliament to translate his or her preferences into public policy. The median mandate provides a unified theory of democracy - pluralist, consensus, majoritarian, liberal, and populist - by replacing each qualified 'vision' with an integrated account of how representative institutions work. The unified theory is put to the test with comprehensive cross-national evidence covering 21 democracies from 1950 through to 1995. This exciting book will be of interest to specialists and general readers alike, representing as it does a reaffirmation of traditional democratic practice in an uncertain and threatening world. Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. The General Editors are Max Kaase, Professor of Political Science, Vice President and Dean, School of Humanities and Social Science, International University, Bremen, Germany; and Kenneth Newton, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Southampton. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.

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