The bores of her eyes, the eyes of her bores

Damien Broderick (damien@ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au)
Wed, 17 Feb 1999 17:09:09 +0000

Jfvirey@aol.com wrote:

>> I wonder if A.A.Attanasio has even been discussed in Extropian circles. I
>> personally consider him the best science-fiction and fantasy writer ever

Yeah! Wow! Golly! Get this, Proust!


>From AAA's new novel CENTURIES, extract (presumably selected by the proud
parent) at

http://www.qed.net/rebnj/centext.html

The Machine cast a slackfaced glance over a shoulder glossed with sweat and cobwebbed
in wet hair, and the bores of her eyes met the bore of Tabor's pistol. The blue bolt struck
her in the temple, and she flew sideways and collapsed with her startled eyes locked open
in a rigid death stare.

Rafe von Takawa sat upright as if propelled from a nightmare. Before his angry face could
blink, the next bolt of bluehot energy burned a hole through his forehead and cauterized a
path into his brain. He fell back soundlessly on the mat.

Tabor returned the laser pistol to a thigh pocket, and a flimmer of regret troubled him that
there had been no opportunity to flaunt his victory over his oldest rivals before killing
them. But a fellow Maat and a machine intelligence were not enemies to be underestimated. Rafe had helped save his life on Earth at CIRCLE when mad Nandi
attacked. If he had hesitated, that memory could well have stymied him.

A gasp from behind turned Tabor to confront Ellen


Take that, Updike! Cop an eyeboreful, Joyce! Oh, sorry, they're not sf writers, are they?

Damien Broderick