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Nor the many-colored fires of a star ring
31 pages
About the author
George R.R. Martin
1,452 books113k followersGeorge Raymond Richard "R.R." Martin was born September 20, 1948, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.
Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: The Hero, sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.
In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.
As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.
In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.
Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.
Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/george...
Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: The Hero, sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.
In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.
As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.
In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.
Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.
Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/george...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 6, 2022
A clever little sci-fi thought piece that I quite enjoyed.
Humans have fairly recently discovered spots in the near space-neighborhood where “jump” travel is possible, and have built Star Rings around them to facilitate the process. Interestingly, despite study, observation and exploration, they cannot map where - in the universe – the exit points of these jump gates sit. There are competing theories as to why, but no one knows for sure. It certainly hasn't stopped mankind from making the jumps and expanding beyond them...except at the Nowhere Star Ring. Beyond the Nowhere Star Ring is nothing. No stars, no planets, no Matter at all.
Kerin is a lone philosopher on a station full of scientists who are experimenting at the Nowhere Gate to see if they can spin up enough energy to make the Star Rings self-sustaining. While everyone else is focused on the Ring, Kerin cannot look away from the nothingness beyond the gate...
This short ends with a stylish ambiguity that makes the whole thing satisfying, but suffers drag from both the “hard” science included, and all of Kerin's introspection.
I'm a bit sad that my little Skype group didn't get around to this one, as my mind is made up on a specific interpretation of the ending, and I would have enjoyed some outside perspective.
This is not a part of George's 1000 World Universe, and gets less attention because of that, I think. This and “The Second Kind of Loneliness” seem to be the only Star Ring stories...
Humans have fairly recently discovered spots in the near space-neighborhood where “jump” travel is possible, and have built Star Rings around them to facilitate the process. Interestingly, despite study, observation and exploration, they cannot map where - in the universe – the exit points of these jump gates sit. There are competing theories as to why, but no one knows for sure. It certainly hasn't stopped mankind from making the jumps and expanding beyond them...except at the Nowhere Star Ring. Beyond the Nowhere Star Ring is nothing. No stars, no planets, no Matter at all.
Kerin is a lone philosopher on a station full of scientists who are experimenting at the Nowhere Gate to see if they can spin up enough energy to make the Star Rings self-sustaining. While everyone else is focused on the Ring, Kerin cannot look away from the nothingness beyond the gate...
This short ends with a stylish ambiguity that makes the whole thing satisfying, but suffers drag from both the “hard” science included, and all of Kerin's introspection.
I'm a bit sad that my little Skype group didn't get around to this one, as my mind is made up on a specific interpretation of the ending, and I would have enjoyed some outside perspective.
This is not a part of George's 1000 World Universe, and gets less attention because of that, I think. This and “The Second Kind of Loneliness” seem to be the only Star Ring stories...
August 14, 2023
More of a 3.5 for me because I really can't decide if it is a 3 or 4 for me. I liked the story a lot, but I don't think it delivered it's point as well as it tried to. I love stories that end and leave you thinking about them or trying to figure things out in your head, but this story did not leave it in a state where I was thinking about it after finishing it, but seemed like it was definitely trying to. But putting this aside I still enjoyed it while reading, and I did feel things when reading it. It's a short read, so I recommend reading for yourself.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews