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The Shadow Of The Torturer
''The Shadow of the Torturer'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Gene Wolfe, published by Simon & Schuster in May 1980. It is the first of four volumes in ''The Book of the New Sun'' which Wolfe had completed in draft before ''The Shadow of the Torturer'' was published. It relates the story of Severian, an apprentice Seeker for Truth and Penitence (the guild of torturers), from his youth through his expulsion from the guild and subsequent journey out of his home city of Nessus. In 1987, '' Locus'' magazine ranked ''The Shadow of the Torturer'' number four among the 33 "All-Time Best Fantasy Novels", based on a poll of subscribers. • An older edition of the website links multiple pages providing the results of several polls and a little other information. • See als"1987 Locus Poll Award" ISFDB. Retrieved 2012-04-12. ''Locus'' subscribers voted only two Middle-earth novels by J. R. R. Tolkien and ''A Wizard of Earthsea'' by Ursula K. Le Guin ahead of Wolfe's '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WikiProject Novels
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is an affinity group for contributors with shared goals within the Wikimedia movement. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within Wikimedia project, sibling projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by ''Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ursula K
Ursula commonly refers to: * Ursula (name), feminine name (and a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Ursula (''The Little Mermaid''), a fictional character who appears in ''The Little Mermaid'' (1989) * Saint Ursula, a legendary Christian saint Ursula may also refer to: * ''Ursula'' (album), an album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron * Ursula (crater), a crater on Titania, a moon of Uranus *Ursula (detention center) Ursula is the colloquial name for the Central Processing Center, the largest U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention center for undocumented immigrants. The facility is a retrofitted warehouse that can hold more than 1,000 people. It was ope ..., processing facility for unaccompanied minors in McAllen, Texas * Ursula Channel, body of water in British Columbia, Canada * 375 Ursula, a large main-belt asteroid * HMS ''Ursula'', a destroyer and two submarines that served with the Royal Navy * Tropical Storm Ursula (other), a typhoon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simulations Publications, Inc
A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in which simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the simulation represents the evolution of the model over time. Another way to distinguish between the terms is to define simulation as experimentation with the help of a model. This definition includes time-independent simulations. Often, computer simulation, computers are used to execute the simulation. Simulation is used in many contexts, such as simulation of technology for performance tuning or optimizing, safety engineering, testing, training, education, and video games. Simulation is also used with scientific modelling of natural systems or human systems to gain insight into their functio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ares (magazine)
''Ares'' was an American science fiction wargame magazine published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI), and then TSR, Inc., between 1980 and 1984. In addition to the articles, each issue contained a small science-fiction-themed board wargame. Publication history Through the 1970s, SPI had specialized in military history wargames. But the 1977 publication of Metagaming Concepts's science fiction MicroGame titled ''OGRE'' proved enormously popular, and other publishers such as Task Force Games, Operational Studies Group, and Chaosium started to develop their own microgames. SPI also started to develop their own line of science fiction microgames, but went a step further, creating a new science-fiction magazine titled ''Ares'' in 1980 as a bi-monthly science-fiction/fantasy publication to complement their military wargame magazine '' Strategy & Tactics''.''Ares'', like ''Strategy & Tactics'', included a free game with every issue, complete with a foldout stiff paper map, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Costikyan
Greg Costikyan (born July 22, 1959), sometimes known under the pseudonym Designer X, is an American game designer and science fiction writer. Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including: hex-based wargames, role-playing games, boardgames, card games, computer games, online games, and mobile games. Several of his games have won Origins Awards. He co-founded Manifesto Games, now out of business, with Johnny Wilson in 2005. Personal life and education Greg Costikyan was born in New York City, the son of attorney and politician Edward N. and Frances (Holmgren) Costikyan. He and game designer Warren Spector were friends since high school. He is a 1982 graduate ( B.S.) of Brown University. (subscription required) He married Louise Disbrow (a securities analyst), September 4, 1986. They have three children. He is a frequent speaker at game industry events including the Game Developers Conference and E³. Career Greg Costikyan has been a game designer since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lazaretto
A lazaretto ( ), sometimes lazaret or lazarette ( ), is a quarantine station for maritime travelers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. In some lazarets, postal items were also disinfected, usually by fumigation. This practice was still being done as late as 1936, albeit in rare cases. Etymology The word comes from , derived the name of Santa Maria di Nazareth, the Venetian island where this type of institution was founded in 1423 - the passage from "nazzaretto" to "lazzaretto" was probably influenced by the previous use to dedicate hospitals for lepers to Saint Lazarus. Originally it was conceived as a hospital for the people affected by the plague. Later on, the construction of the "Lazzaretto nuovo" (1468) on another Venetian island introduced the practice of the quarantine. Throughout history In 1592, a lazaretto made of wooden huts was built on Manoel Island in Malta during a plague epidemic. It was pulled down in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiacre (carriage)
A fiacre is a form of hackney coach, a horse-drawn four-wheeled carriage for hire. In Vienna such cabs are called . Origin The earliest use of the word in English is cited by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as from 1699 ("Wikt:fiacre, Fiacres or Hackneys, hung with Double Springs"). The name is derived indirectly from Saint Fiacre; the Hôtel de Saint Fiacre in Paris rented carriages from about the middle of the seventeenth century. Saint Fiacre was adopted as the cab drivers' patron saint because of the association of his name with the carriage. In Paris In 1645, Nicholas Sauvage, a coachbuilder from Amiens, decided to set up a business in Paris hiring out horses and carriages by the hour. He established himself in the Hôtel de Saint Fiacre and hired out his four-seater carriages at a rate of 10 sous an hour. Within twenty years, Sauvage's idea had developed into the first citywide public transport system: ''les carosses à 5 sous'' ("5-sou carriages"). These 8-seater carriage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hipparchos (cavalry Officer)
Hipparchus (; , ; BC) was a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician. He is considered the founder of trigonometry, but is most famous for his incidental discovery of the precession of the equinoxes. Hipparchus was born in Nicaea, Bithynia, and probably died on the island of Rhodes, Greece. He is known to have been a working astronomer between 162 and 127 BC. Hipparchus is considered the greatest ancient astronomical observer and, by some, the greatest overall astronomer of antiquity. He was the first whose quantitative and accurate models for the motion of the Sun and Moon survive. For this he certainly made use of the observations and perhaps the mathematical techniques accumulated over centuries by the Babylonians and by Meton of Athens (fifth century BC), Timocharis, Aristyllus, Aristarchus of Samos, and Eratosthenes, among others. He developed trigonometry and constructed trigonometric tables, and he solved several problems of spherical trigono ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two embryos, or ''dizygotic'' ('non-identical' or 'fraternal'), meaning that each twin develops from a separate egg and each egg is fertilized by its own sperm cell. Since identical twins develop from one zygote, they will share the same sex, while fraternal twins may or may not. In very rare cases, fraternal or (semi-) identical twins can have the same mother and different fathers ( heteropaternal superfecundation). In contrast, a fetus that develops alone in the womb (the much more common case in humans) is called a ''singleton'', and the general term for one offspring of a multiple birth is a ''multiple''. Unrelated look-alikes whose resemblance parallels that of twins are referred to as doppelgänger. Statistics The human twin birth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlatan
A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. One example of a charlatan appears in the ''Canterbury Tales'' story " The Pardoner's Tale," with the Pardoner who tricks sinners into buying fake religious relics. Synonyms for ''charlatan'' include '' shyster'', ''quack'', or ''faker''. ''Quack'' is a reference to ''quackery'' or the practice of dubious medicine, including the sale of snake oil, or a person who does not have medical training who purports to provide medical services. Etymology The English word comes from French '','' a seller of medicines who might advertise his presence with music and an outdoor stage show. The best known of the Parisian charlatans was Tabarin, whose skits and farces – which were influenced by ''commedia dell'arte'' – inspired the 17th century playwright Molière. The word is also simil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sword
A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed tip. A slashing sword is more likely to be curved and to have a sharpened cutting edge on one or both sides of the blade. Many swords are designed for both thrusting and slashing. The precise definition of a sword varies by historical epoch and geographic region. Historically, the sword developed in the Bronze Age, evolving from the dagger; the Bronze Age sword, earliest specimens date to about 1600 BC. The later Iron Age sword remained fairly short and without a crossguard. The spatha, as it developed in the Late Roman army, became the predecessor of the European sword of the Middle Ages, at first adopted as the Migration Period sword, and only in the High Middle Ages, developed into the classical Knightly sword, ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archon
''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same root as words such as monarch and hierarchy. Ancient Greece In the early literary period of ancient Greece, the chief magistrates of various Greek city states were called ''archontes''. The term was also used throughout Greek history in a more general sense, ranging from "club leader" to "master of the tables" at '' syssitia'' to "Roman governor". In Athens, a system of three concurrent archons evolved, the three office holders being known as ''archon eponymos'' (), the '' polemarch'' (), and the '' archon basileus'' (). According to Aristotle's '' Constitution of the Athenians'', the power of the king first devolved to the archons, and these offices were filled from the aristocracy by elections every ten years. During this period, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
