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from a woman whose name he doesn't recognize, and that someone called
Heinzlichen Jura de Syrtis Major has taken out a hunting license on him. Baffled, he eventually encounters the woman from the party who he believes is called Tip. She maintains she is Adne Bensen, the woman whose messages he has been ignoring. Apparently she got on so well with Forrester that she is ready to begin a relationship. She takes him back to her apartment, where he finds she has two children, around 8 years old, who seem somewhat precocious for their years. With names like "Tunt" and "Mim" flying around, he mistakenly assumes those are the children's names, baffling them when he uses them that way.
208:). Earth is in a state of preparation for a Sirian attack it is expecting. When the alien ship was first encountered, the Earth ship shot first and asked questions later. The only thing stopping an attack, it is believed, is that the Sirian's home world population has no idea where Earth is. The captured Sirians live on Earth in a state of virtual house arrest, with their movements restricted and monitored. Forrester's job is to be the Sirian's guide to Earth culture and history, and he is paid handsomely for it. Unfortunately Adne and the others shun him for working for the alien.
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also has no idea what "German" signifies. He takes out a "hunting license" on
Forrester because of a perceived insult when Forrester accidentally stepped on his feet during a party. The license is very expensive, requiring Heinzlichen to post bonds and undertake not to damage Forrester's brain, as well as paying all medical costs. In the later sections of the novel, Forrester encounters another Martian, Kevin O'Rourke na Solis Lacis, who also sounds "German" to Forrester despite his Irish name, and who also has no idea what is meant by "German", or "Irish".
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one used only between two close friends or intimates. Each uses it only to address the other, as "Tunt" was the children's name for each other, and "Mim" was the name used between Adne and the children. Tip was the name she and another close friend used, so
Forrester could not use it. The friend wanting Forrester to join his Club was in fact offering him a paying position in the organization, though Forrester is not sure he likes what the Club stands for.
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218:, watching over some machinery, until he learns that all the previous holders of the post are in cryopreservation after being blasted with radiation. Against the warnings of the Joymaker, he quits in the middle of a shift. In this time, this is a huge error, and all his funds are taken in fines. He is reduced to nothing, and forced to live with all the other bums on
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employed as a consultant of sorts, giving her response to consumer products, and is rated by the number of potential customers she represents, and the chance that a favorable reaction from her will mean that the product is going to sell that many copies. She has two children, who are equally frank about her emotional and physical needs.
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The remote-access computer transponder called the "joymaker" is your most valuable single possession in your new life. If you can imagine a combination of telephone, credit card, alarm clock, pocket bar, reference library, and full-time secretary, you will have sketched some of the functions provided
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Eventually Adne sets him straight. Firstly, he'll be broke soon because, unbeknownst to him, all the 20th century foods he likes are very expensive, as are all the other
Joymaker functions he enjoys. He needs to get a high-paying job. Secondly, the "name" she was asking about was a "reciprocal name,"
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Later
Forrester encounters Heinzlichen with a few friends, who without much ado beat him up so badly he goes to the hospital. It transpires that Heinzlichen's hunting license allows him to kill Forrester providing he pays for the revival, and the whole vendetta is over some insult at the party, which
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Only the medical capabilities are missing from devices carried by people in industrialized nations in the early 21st century. These devices, however usually have far more computing power than the
Joymaker as conceived, and more even than the 1960s mainframe computers that provided the inspiration.
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Adne Bensen is a liberated 26th century woman. She styles herself as "natural flow", meaning that she does not use artificial hormones and is only receptive to men at certain times. She is quite open about this, much to
Forrester's chagrin. Her profession is that of "Reacter". This means that she is
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The ship heads into space and escapes, but not before the whole world learns that the alien has escaped, though not
Forrester's role in the affair. The entire human population goes into a panic. Most commit suicide in order to hide in the cryopreservation banks. Heinzlichen comes after Forrester one
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Mistake follows on mistake, compounding confusion. Forrester comes to believe that Adne is attempting to entrap him in fatherhood, presumably for his money, when she leaves a message saying that "we have to choose a name". He is equally disdainful of a friend who keeps asking him to join his Club,
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Jobs not requiring physical presence. One character is a "Reacter," someone who samples new products and reports her reactions using the
Joymaker. The central computer analyzes her reactions in the light of her known psychological makeup and is able to statistically predict how well the product
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Heinzlichen Jura de Syrtis Major is a
Martian colonist visiting Earth. He speaks English with a strong accent that Forrester identifies as German, though Heinzlichen insists that all Martians speak that way because the thinner atmosphere on Mars eliminates some of the higher audio frequencies. He
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and are bent on dismantling the world's technological base by subverting central computing systems, believing this will improve human welfare. Ominously, they are "helped" by the Sirians in doing so. In the end, medical technicians and the Luddites are the only people left awake. Forrester learns
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After a heavy night partying, with some distant memory of an argument with somebody, he wakes in his new apartment, and over a 20th-century breakfast, checks in with his Joymaker. The Joymaker communicates by voice, and addresses him always as "Man Forrester". He is informed that he has a message
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The existence is actually quite comfortable. Nobody can afford a Joymaker, but rich people pass through doling out money to 26th century panhandlers, and there are cash-only eating places with coin-operated Joymakers at the tables. However, there are also people looking for thrills on the cheap,
251:
Charles Dalgliesh Forrester is a man born in the 20th century, revived 500 years later. He initially believes he is rich because he has a quarter of a million dollars in his investment, a considerable amount at the time of writing. He eventually discovers that although that amount would have
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In its basic form, the Joymaker is a remote time-sharing terminal which uses radio communications instead of wire lines, and interacts with its user via voice rather than a keyboard and text output. It is small and light enough to be worn or carried, resembling in some cases a small
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in the year 2527, having been killed in a fire 500 years earlier. Thanks to his insurance, after the expenses of his revival are paid he has a quarter of a million dollars, a fortune in his eyes. He can afford the luxuries of 26th century life, such as a Joymaker, a
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wanting to kill someone without having to pay for the revival. After a near miss, he runs into the Sirian again, who drugs and hypnotizes him. Under the delusion that he is helping Adne take a trip, Forrester places the Sirian in control of a spacecraft.
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Fortunately the medic, reacting to its programming to save lives over that set up by the Luddites, gets him to a medical facility in time, and he is able to abort the revolution. Eventually people start being revived, and he is reunited with Adne.
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about the conspiracy of the Luddites. Forrester cannot reach the technicians because all the computer terminals have been programmed against him. His only hope is to kill himself. He walks up to one of the automated medics, and cuts his throat.
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However, Forrester's woes are not over. He first takes a high-paying job for what turns out to be an alien life form. The alien is known to all as a Sirian, but only because that's the star system in which he was captured
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computer systems. These allowed multiple users spread over a wide area, connected by good quality telephone or data lines, to simultaneously use one or more large (for the time) computers for a variety of purposes.
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The Sirian asks many questions about seemingly arbitrary topics of human history. When Forrester fails to respond to one of the Sirian's requests in time, he is promptly fired by the Sirian.
159:, extrapolated to the point where anyone with enough money can command huge resources and essentially live forever. There are some unusual social consequences of these advances, however.
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Forrester can barely remember. It's possible Forrester trod on Heinzlichen's foot. Since Heinzlichen is from the human colonies on Mars and is adapted to low gravity, this is a major
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Locating people. The central computer can track the position of any Joymaker, and by extension, its owner. This information can be made available at the owner's discretion.
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Ordering other goods for delivery. Since payment is automatic, the expense of items is not always apparent to the buyers. The protagonist rapidly depletes his "fortune".
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supported him comfortably in a 20th-century lifestyle, his use of the joymaker and all that it can bring him means that he is rapidly running out of money.
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Public Address system - any group of people can hear a public announcement on their Joymakers, removing the need for loudspeakers in public places.
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Health - the Joymaker can sense heartbeat, respiration etc. and the central computer can order it to dispense medication, or it can send help.
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more time, and Forrester kills him. This was simply Heinzlichen's way of getting into the freezer. Eventually Forrester is almost alone.
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The story's joymaker bears a remarkable resemblance to devices in common use in the years following the start of the 21st century.
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Forty years after the publication of the novel, most people of 2005 would recognize the functions of the Joymaker in the
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Some of the actual social effects of portable communication and computing parallel those predicted in the novel.
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The novel was inspired by Pohl's own experiences in a local volunteer fire department and by the early computer
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At this point the Club he had been asked to join goes into action. They are a 26th-century version of
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Pohl himself, in an afterword to the novel, made the following statement about the world he foresaw:
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in three parts, starting in October 1965. It was later published as a standalone novel in 1969.
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The story concerns a 20th-century man placed in what came to be called
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It was conceived by Pohl in the 1960s after he saw one of the earliest
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expecting that also to be just a ruse to get at his money.
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Access to basic computing power, for money management etc.
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Educating children, each of whom has a special Joymaker.
754:(1985 Omnibus) (this is a two-in-one volume containing
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He then takes a high-paying job which is an apparent
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Works originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction
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provided most of the functions in a single package.
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437:Frederik Pohl Got Computers Right - The Joymaker
180:with some extra features like a drug dispenser.
308:Access to libraries at any time, in any place.
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167:Charles Dalgleish Forrester is revived from
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301:The Joymaker had the following uses :
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1118:Novels first published in serial form
424:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
7:
405:Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials
274:by your joymaker. - from the novel
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1103:Fiction about suspended animation
970:The Day the Martians Came (1988)
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106:Print (hardback & paperback)
31:Cover of first hardcover edition
1098:American science fiction novels
934:The Coming of the Quantum Cats
577:The Boy Who Would Live Forever
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545:Beyond the Blue Event Horizon
993:The World at the End of Time
1093:1966 science fiction novels
16:1966 novel by Frederik Pohl
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370:. By 2015 the ubiquitous
368:personal digital assistant
346:Relation to actual devices
878:The Best of Frederik Pohl
561:The Annals of the Heechee
433:at the Internet Book List
129:novel by American writer
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20:The Age of the Pussyfoot
862:The Age of the Pussyfoot
430:The Age of the Pussyfoot
419:The Age of the Pussyfoot
122:The Age of the Pussyfoot
1113:Novels by Frederik Pohl
133:, first published as a
725:Space Merchants series
690:(with Jack Williamson)
659:(with Jack Williamson)
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140:Galaxy Science Fiction
1001:Outnumbering the Dead
918:The Years of the City
687:The Starchild Trilogy
613:The Far Shore of Time
605:The Siege of Eternity
597:The Other End of Time
422:title listing at the
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33:(Trident Press, 1969)
1088:1966 American novels
1065:All the Lives He Led
1037:The Voices of Heaven
1009:Stopping at Slowyear
579:: A Novel of Gateway
1108:Fictional computers
1017:The Singers of Time
854:A Plague of Pythons
756:The Space Merchants
733:The Space Merchants
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839:Cyril M. Kornbluth
827:Cyril M. Kornbluth
795:Cyril M. Kornbluth
783:Cyril M. Kornbluth
760:The Merchants' War
745:The Merchants' War
738:Cyril M. Kornbluth
698:The Reefs of Space
675:Wall Around a Star
553:Heechee Rendezvous
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926:Black Star Rising
822:Presidential Year
321:, later known as
319:Store and forward
178:computer terminal
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95:Publication place
49:Cover artist
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1058:Arthur C. Clarke
1053:The Last Theorem
790:Gladiator-At-Law
645:Thomas T. Thomas
589:Eschaton trilogy
569:The Gateway Trip
485:Undersea Trilogy
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163:Plot summary
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90:October 1969
870:Day Million
752:Venus, Inc.
624:Mars series
372:smartphones
157:transplants
147:Inspiration
1082:Categories
1045:O Pioneer!
958:Land's End
814:Slave Ship
714:Rogue Star
341:will sell.
323:voice mail
246:Characters
985:Homegoing
950:Chernobyl
910:Starburst
706:Starchild
640:Mars Plus
360:cellphone
75:Publisher
834:Wolfbane
632:Man Plus
382:See also
317:Message
265:Joymaker
235:Luddites
220:Skid Row
216:sinecure
190:faux pas
57:Language
537:Gateway
289:sceptre
174:scepter
60:English
1068:(2011)
1048:(1998)
1040:(1994)
1032:(1992)
1012:(1991)
1004:(1990)
996:(1990)
988:(1989)
980:(1988)
953:(1987)
945:(1986)
942:Terror
937:(1986)
929:(1985)
921:(1984)
913:(1982)
905:(1981)
902:Syzygy
897:(1981)
889:(1979)
881:(1975)
873:(1970)
865:(1965)
857:(1964)
849:(1960)
817:(1956)
748:(1984)
717:(1969)
709:(1965)
701:(1964)
678:(1983)
670:(1975)
635:(1976)
616:(1999)
608:(1997)
600:(1996)
581:(2004)
572:(1990)
564:(1987)
556:(1984)
548:(1980)
540:(1977)
519:(1958)
511:(1956)
503:(1954)
488:(with
366:, and
206:Sirius
135:serial
125:is a
39:Author
770:Other
758:and
473:Works
111:Pages
65:Genre
886:Jem
475:by
137:in
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