James Alan Gardner

ISFDB
Wikipedia
Encyclopedia of SF

14 Quotations from James Alan Gardner

cyborging n. 1997 J. A. Gardner Expendable xiv. 227 ‘Another who dwells in this place appears to have the proper bloodline, yet has knitted himself to unliving metal and is therefore discounted.’ That had to be Tobit, ‘knitted’ to his prosthetic arm; the League disapproved of cyborging, and had obviously programmed the AI to disqualify anyone equipped with any augmentation.
ftl adv. 2001 J. A. Gardner Ascending v. 48 Okay, toots…you’re on the air. And no matter what, keep talking till we’re ready to go FTL.
in-system adj. 2000 J. A. Gardner Hunted v. 38 While I waited for the Outbreak Team to arrive from some other starbase, I used the captain’s vidscreen to watch outside the ship. I didn’t see much—nothing came or went at Starbase Iris, not even in-system shuttles. Once I noticed a merchant vessel passing within range of Willow’s hull cameras, but it didn’t come very close; it was aiming for the planet Celestia, a light-minute nearer the local sun.
jet pack n. 1992 J. A. Gardner Young Person's Guide to the Organism in Amazing Stories Apr. 84/1 I…searched the sky, hoping to see one of the supply ships docked close enough that a jet pack could bridge the gap.
light-minute n. 2000 J. A. Gardner Hunted v. 38 While I waited for the Outbreak Team to arrive from some other starbase, I used the captain’s vidscreen to watch outside the ship. I didn’t see much—nothing came or went at Starbase Iris, not even in-system shuttles. Once I noticed a merchant vessel passing within range of Willow’s hull cameras, but it didn’t come very close; it was aiming for the planet Celestia, a light-minute nearer the local sun.
off-planet n. 2001 J. A. Gardner Ascending xiv. 163 No dangerous animals except in zoos…and of course, with the League of Peoples, no one has to worry about attacks from off-planet.
off-planet adv. 1997 J. A. Gardner Expendable (1997) xiv. 230 The synthesizers made that axe… As long as no one took weapons offplanet, the League didn’t care.
planetography n. 1997 J. A. Gardner Expendable (1997) iv. 68 His programming skills were at least as good as mine, and his planetography intuition was superb.
space lane n. 2001 J. A. Gardner Ascending x. 109 One more ship must have been dispatched hours behind its companions, on its way from New Earth to my planet. Since Starbiter was headed for New Earth now, we must be traveling in the same space lane.
starbase n. 2000 J. A. Gardner Hunted v. 38 While I waited for the Outbreak Team to arrive from some other starbase, I used the captain’s vidscreen to watch outside the ship. I didn’t see much—nothing came or went at Starbase Iris, not even in-system shuttles. Once I noticed a merchant vessel passing within range of Willow’s hull cameras, but it didn’t come very close; it was aiming for the planet Celestia, a light-minute nearer the local sun.
uplift n. 2001 J. A. Gardner Ascending xix. 235 Nimbus spoke of diverse alien races—Earthlings and Divians and Cashlings and several other species whose names did not stick in my mind—but they all had two qualities in common. First, they had been ‘uplifted’ by the Shaddill: approached in their native star systems, given new homes elsewhere in the galaxy, and presented with sophisticated Science Gifts as a welcome to the League of Peoples. Second, ever since their uplift, these species had all grown more decadent, temperamental, and culturally sterile…particularly those uplifted for the longest period.
uplift v. 1997 J. A. Gardner Expendable (1997) xiv. 226 That’s an AI for you: probably trying to ‘uplift’ me by setting an example of ‘correct’ speech.
uplift v. 2001 J. A. Gardner Ascending xix. 235 Nimbus spoke of diverse alien races—Earthlings and Divians and Cashlings and several other species whose names did not stick in my mind—but they all had two qualities in common. First, they had been ‘uplifted’ by the Shaddill: approached in their native star systems, given new homes elsewhere in the galaxy, and presented with sophisticated Science Gifts as a welcome to the League of Peoples. Second, ever since their uplift, these species had all grown more decadent, temperamental, and culturally sterile…particularly those uplifted for the longest period.
vidscreen n. 2000 J. A. Gardner Hunted v. 38 While I waited for the Outbreak Team to arrive from some other starbase, I used the captain’s vidscreen to watch outside the ship. I didn’t see much—nothing came or went at Starbase Iris, not even in-system shuttles. Once I noticed a merchant vessel passing within range of Willow’s hull cameras, but it didn’t come very close; it was aiming for the planet Celestia, a light-minute nearer the local sun.