Elf Sternberg

Last updated

Elvis M. Sternberg (born May 7, 1966) [1] is an American writer, and the former keeper of the alt.sex FAQ. [2] He is also the author of many erotic stories and articles on sexuality and sexual practices, and is considered one of the most notable and prolific online erotica authors. [3]

Contents

Sternberg's best known piece of writing is probably the erotic short story “The Only Fair Game”, which became famous/infamous for raising legal questions about fan fiction. Its speculation about homosexual and BDSM practices among Larry Niven's Kzinti got Sternberg a cease-and-desist letter from Niven's lawyers in an incident that to date remains notorious within the SF fandom community. Elf Sternberg claims the story is covered under parody protections; Larry Niven maintains that the story is a violation of copyright, but has not pursued further legal action. Larry Niven commented directly on this issue in a Slashdot interview. [4] Sternberg is also the creator of The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, a long-running series of short erotica featuring a massive body of work covering the fictional ringworld Pendor (The Pendorwright Projects), and the wide variety of humans, humanoid species, robots, and artificial intelligences that inhabit it. [5]

He has been a regular poster on the Usenet groups alt.sex, rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.composition and alt.atheism, and is listed on the Net.Legends FAQ. [6]

Pendor

Pendor is a fictional ringworld from the Pendorwright stories written by Elf Sternberg. It rotates around a center star Pin, its day-night cycle simulated by a ring of shadow blocks rotating between Pendor and Pin, creating 292 day/night cycles per earth year. The system also includes a planet called Pandora, its moon Pindam and a space station called Parma.

In one of the earliest Journal Entries, Kennet Shardik travels back in time to give an earlier version of himself his Artificial Intelligence, named Fawn Destiniere. The earlier Shardik, after consultation with Fawn, decided to create Pendor. They created it in a "pocket universe", where it developed while Shardik was in suspended animation. When it was ready to support life, Shardik, Fawn, and other AIs developed new species to live there, including Centaurs, Dragons, Felinzi, and Tindals. Immediately before the first Centaur was decanted, Shardik delivered Fawn to himself and, on his return, dumped all of the databanks, so that the inhabitants, both silicon- and carbon-based, would have to explore and learn about it on their own. [7] 93 Pendorian years later, the pocket universe was opened up and Pendor moved into our universe. [8] As Pendor is explored, a network of SDisks is built, facilitating transportation around the world.

At the end of the universe, Fawn maintains a base on Pindam through to the singularity, and then causes a second Big Bang, speaking the words, "Let there be." [9]

Pendor, and the races originating from Pendor collectively known as "Pendorians", are the subject of many of Sternberg's "Journal Entries", which form one of the oldest [10] and certainly one of the largest erotic science fiction story collections ever created within a single universe.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flash Crowd</span>

"Flash Crowd" is a 1973 English-language novella by science fiction author Larry Niven, one of a series about the social consequence of inventing an instant, practically free displacement booth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hard science fiction</span> Science fiction with concern for scientific accuracy

Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's Islands of Space in the November issue of Astounding Science Fiction. The complementary term soft science fiction, formed by analogy to hard science fiction, first appeared in the late 1970s. The term is formed by analogy to the popular distinction between the "hard" (natural) and "soft" (social) sciences, although there are examples generally considered as "hard" SF, such as Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, built on mathematical sociology. Science fiction critic Gary Westfahl argues that neither term is part of a rigorous taxonomy; instead they are approximate ways of characterizing stories that reviewers and commentators have found useful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Niven</span> American science fiction writer (born 1938)

Laurence van Cott Niven is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are Ringworld (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye (1974) and Lucifer's Hammer (1977). The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named him the 2015 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. It also often includes elements of detective fiction and adventure stories. His fantasy includes the series The Magic Goes Away, rational fantasy dealing with magic as a non-renewable resource.

Known Space is the fictional setting of about a dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories written by Larry Niven. It has also become a shared universe in the spin-off Man-Kzin Wars anthologies. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) catalogs all works set in the fictional universe that includes Known Space under the series name Tales of Known Space, which was the title of a 1975 collection of Niven's short stories. The first-published work in the series, which was Niven's first published piece was "The Coldest Place", in the December 1964 issue of If magazine, edited by Frederik Pohl. This was the first-published work in the 1975 collection.

<i>Ringworld</i> 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven

Ringworld is a 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe and considered a classic of science fiction literature. Ringworld tells the story of Louis Wu and his companions on a mission to the Ringworld, a rotating wheel artificial world, an alien construct in space 186 million miles in diameter. Niven later added three sequel novels and then cowrote, with Edward M. Lerner, four prequels and a final sequel; the five latter novels constitute the Fleet of Worlds series. All the novels in the Ringworld series tie into numerous other books set in Known Space. Ringworld won the Nebula Award in 1970, as well as both the Hugo Award and Locus Award in 1971.

<i>Ringworld</i> (role-playing game) Science fiction tabletop role-playing game

The Ringworld science fiction role-playing game was published by Chaosium in 1984, using the Basic Role-Playing system for its rules and Larry Niven's Ringworld novels as a setting.

alt.sex.stories is a Usenet newsgroup for erotic stories created on May 7, 1992, by Tim Pierce as an alternative to pre-existing alt erotica newsgroups. The group was initially unmoderated, a feature that was not shared by some of the other Usenet or altnet newsgroups. This feature allowed for greater user freedom.

M. Christian is an author and anthologist working in a variety of genres including horror, science fiction, erotica and crime. Much of his work combines sexual themes with the horror or science fiction genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wirehead (science fiction)</span>

Wireheading is a term associated with fictional or futuristic applications of brain stimulation reward, the act of directly triggering the brain's reward center by electrical stimulation of an inserted wire, for the purpose of 'short-circuiting' the brain's normal reward process and artificially inducing pleasure. Scientists have successfully performed brain stimulation reward on rats (1950s) and humans (1960s). This stimulation does not appear to lead to tolerance or satiation in the way that sex or drugs do. The term is sometimes associated with science fiction writer Larry Niven, who used the term in his Known Space series. In the philosophy of artificial intelligence, the term is used to refer to AI systems that hack their own reward channel.

<i>Man-Kzin Wars</i> Series of military SF short story collections

The Man-Kzin Wars is a series of military science fiction anthologies and is the name of the first. The short stories detail the eponymous conflicts between mankind and the Kzinti, set in Larry Niven's Known Space universe. However, Niven himself has written only a small number of the stories; most were written by other science fiction writers, as Niven opened this part of the Known Space to collaboration in the form of a shared universe. The cover art for the books in the series is created by Stephen Hickman.

<i>The Flying Sorcerers</i> 1971 novel by David Gerrold and Larry Niven

The Flying Sorcerers is a humorous 1971 science fiction novel by American writers David Gerrold and Larry Niven. It was originally serialized in 1970 as The Misspelled Magishun in If magazine.

<i>N-Space</i> (short story collection)

N-Space is a collection of short stories by American science fiction author Larry Niven released in 1990. Some of the stories are set in Niven's Known Space universe. Also included are various essays, articles and anecdotes by Niven and others, excerpts from some of his novels, and an introduction by Tom Clancy. Its sequel is Playgrounds of the Mind.

Circlet Press is a publishing house in Cambridge, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It was founded by Cecilia Tan, who is also its manager. It specializes in science fiction erotica, a once uncommon genre, and its publications often feature BDSM themes.

The 29th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Noreascon I, was held on 2–6 September 1971 at the Sheraton-Boston Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

<i>Tales of Known Space</i> Book by Larry Niven

Tales of Known Space: The Universe of Larry Niven is a science fiction collection by American writer Larry Niven, collecting thirteen short stories published between 1964 and 1975 along with several essays by Niven and a chronology. This book was collected in Three Books of Known Space.

A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, characters, or world of the overall project. It is common in genres like science fiction. It differs from collaborative writing in which multiple artists are working together on the same work and from crossovers where the works and characters are independent except for a single meeting.

The Ringworld series is a series of science fiction novels written by American author Larry Niven. It is part of his Known Space set of stories. Its backdrop is the Ringworld, a giant artifact 600 million miles in circumference around a star. The series is composed of five standalone science fiction novels, the original award-winning book and its four sequels:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Jones (artist)</span>

Edward John Jones was a British science fiction illustrator; initially known as a fan artist, he later became a professional freelancer. He illustrated numerous science fiction book and magazine covers, some under the pseudonym S. Fantoni, and provided interior illustrations for books and magazines. Jones was active in the field from 1953 to 1985, and reprints of his artwork continued to appear on book covers until his death in 1999.

This is a complete bibliography by American science fiction author Larry Niven:

References

  1. ↑ "elfs - Profile". Livejournal. Archived from the original on 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  2. ↑ "CNN - CNN - American Edge: Sex and the internet: a volatile mix when kids are involved - Dec. 14, 1996". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  3. ↑ "alt.sex.stories: Author profiles (Ole Joe's Guide)". www.asstr.org. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  4. ↑ "Ladies and Gentlemen, Dr. Larry Niven - Slashdot". interviews.slashdot.org. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  5. ↑ "Website Review: Elf Sternberg". Clean Sheets Erotica Magazine. August 22, 1997. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved 2007-09-25. Elf Sternberg has been writing erotic fiction since 1989. That's a long time. Almost 10 years' worth of fiction has been uploaded to this website, the equivalent of two 360-page paperbacks a year...putting him in the ranks of the most prolific writers I've seen.
  6. ↑ DeLaney, David. "Net.Legends.FAQ (Noticeable Phenomena Of UseNet)". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-09-24. Lesser Lights (Honorable Mention): not all of these are loons (many are quite sane), but all are notable in more than one group to some degree, or notorious in one group. There are *far* too many odd people on the net to mention all of them, or even a fraction thereof; these are some of the ones that have stuck in *other* peoples' minds as...distinctive.
  7. ↑ Sternberg, Elf. "Days Before". Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  8. ↑ Sternberg, Elf. "Starlight, Starbright, First Star I See My Life". Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  9. ↑ Sternberg, Elf. "The Last Journal Entry". Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  10. ↑ "Website Review: Elf Sternberg: The Pendor Wright Projects". www.asstr.org. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.