Transfigurations (novel)

Transfigurations is a novel by Michael Bishop published in 1979.

Plot summary

Transfigurations is a novel in which an anthropologist studies the Asadi, a culturally and technologically primitive alien race.[1]

Reception

Greg Costikyan reviewed Transfigurations in Ares Magazine #8 and commented that "Despite its narrative flaws, Transfigurations is exceptionally well written, and Bishop is a writer whose work deserves close attention."[1]

Kirkus Reviews states "Some intriguing speculations about behavior -- but Bishop's usually engaging curiosity blends poorly here with the traditional furniture of outer-space fiction."[2]

Reviews
  • Review by Tom Easton (1980) in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, January 1980
  • Review by Charles N. Brown (1980) in Locus, #230 February 1980
  • Review by John Clute (1980) in Foundation, #19 June 1980
  • Review by Joseph Nicholas (1980) in Vector 98
  • Review by Theodore Sturgeon (1981) in Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine, June 1981
gollark: No.
gollark: The hilarity of a joke is directly proportional to the square of its length, you know.
gollark: (note: I like Linux and this is a joke, do not potato me)
gollark: What do Linux users do to change a lightbulb?First, a user creates a bug report, only for it to be closed with "could not reproduce" as the developers got to it in the day. Eventually, some nights later, someone realizes that it is actually a problem, and decides to start work on a fix, soliciting the help of other people.Debates soon break out on the architecture of the new lightbulb - should they replace it with an incandescent bulb (since the bulb which broke was one of those), try and upgrade it to a halogen or LED bulb, which are technically superior if more complex. or go to a simpler and perhaps more reliable solution such as a fire?While an LED bulb is decided on, they eventually, after yet more debate, deem off-the-shelf bulbs unsuitable, and decide to make their own using commercially available LED modules. However, some of the group working on this are unhappy with this, and splinter off, trying to set up their own open semiconductor production operation to produce the LEDs.Despite delays introduced by feature creep, as it was decided halfway through to also add RGB capability and wireless control, the main group still manages to produce an early alpha, and tests it as a replacement for the original bulb. Unfortunately it stops working after a few days of use, and debugging of the system suggests that the problem is because of their power supply - the bulb needs complex, expensive, and somewhat easily damaged circuitry to convert the mains AC power into DC suitable for the LEDs, and they got that bit a bit wrong.So they decide to launch their own power grid and lighting fixture standard, which is, although incompatible with every other device, technically superior, and integrates high-speed networking so they can improve the control hardware. Having completely retrofitted the house the original lightbulb failed in and put all their designs and code up on GitHub, they deem the project a success, and after only a year!
gollark: Minetest is already a thing.

References
  1. Costikyan, Greg (May 1981). "Books". Ares Magazine. Simulations Publications, Inc. (8): 34.
  2. "TRANSFIGURATIONS by Michael Bishop". Kirkus Reviews. October 29, 1979.
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