Well, seeing that the links on that page go to my web site I'd better give my ten cents worth. Kipling wrote very good SF and was way ahead of the rest. With the Night Mail (http://www.forgottenfutures.com/game/ff1/night.htm) is the best example of world building you'll find pre the 1950s, a travelogue "written in 2000 AD" with a huge wodge of background appearing as ads, articles, etc. Its sequel As Easy As ABC (http://www.forgottenfutures.com/game/ff1/abc.htm) (which is a better story than the first) manages to pack in stun weapons (lights and sounds that cause temporary blindness, nausea, etc.), force fields, death rays, radio-controlled robots, a post-apocalyptic future, a world government, and a fairly well-reasoned argument on human values, all in about ten thousand words. His other quasi-SF stuff is more tending towards the mystical, e.g. Wireless, and Horror, e.g. They.
People who assume that he's only about The Jungle Book and his military stories miss a hell of a lot.
(grin) Marcus, Peter tells me that he's known about this stuff for ages from your "Forgotten Futures" work, and he claims that he told me about it quite a while back. And he's almost certainly right. But heaven forbid I should tell him so. ;) Anyway, it doesn't do to have one's husband think one's listening to him all the time. It might give him Ideas. :)
Forgot to add that I have, of course, written RPG stats for both stories (http://www.forgottenfutures.com/game/ff1), as part of my Forgotten Futures RPG. In fact I'm reasonably sure I gave you a copy many years ago.
It's probably a sign of my literary unworthiness that I immediately started thinking of science fiction Just So Stories. "How The Camel Acquired FTL Drive" would be a fun one.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-01-13 02:30 pm (UTC)A: "I don't know, I've never kippled."
Neat article, though. I'll have to look up those tales.
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Date: 2006-01-13 02:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 08:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 02:37 pm (UTC)People who assume that he's only about The Jungle Book and his military stories miss a hell of a lot.
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Date: 2006-01-13 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 02:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 02:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 07:10 pm (UTC)(I don't actually know if camels gronk, but they certainly look like they should.)
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Date: 2006-01-13 08:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-14 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-14 12:31 pm (UTC)(Oh, BTW, hiyas. Love your writing. I'm one of the aforementioned influx from a few days ago.) :)
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Date: 2006-01-14 04:29 pm (UTC)