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RichardAbbott
About
- Username
- RichardAbbott
- Joined
- Visits
- 6,155
- Last Active
- Roles
- Member, Administrator, Moderator
- Games I like
- Sundry, mostly board
- Books I like
- Science fiction, fantasy, some historical fiction
Comments
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Something that I wondered about was the way the (transformed) crew kind of stumbled into the conflict between the centaurs and the angels and tried to broker a peace, only to find that in fact warfare had been programmed into them so that Gaia could…
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I did feel disappointed by this, I'm afraid - the switch from story to setup of the next bit seemed forced to me, and as mentioned before I'd have been happy for a stand-alone novel. Right now I don't feel drawn to read the next bit but that could e…
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Arguably the ability of Cirocco and Gaby to travel all the way up the cable was a transformation from their original condition. (As well as the language stuff, and some changes in sexuality). In passing, I found this journey the least convincing par…
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Agreed - his writing was competent and fluent, but not exciting or memorable. The most interesting departure from some SF was the conscious and creative inclusion of Greek mythology into the mix. I didn't find it dull, and was never at any risk of g…
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Yes very Ringworld like, and my impression was that some of the descriptions were nearly verbatim (though it's a long time since I read RW so that might be mistaken). But... one big difference was the introduction of the Greek mythic elements. S…
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Turning up late to the party :) I kind of agree with what has been said. The crew in their original personas were OK but not overwhelmingly convincing... but then they were all changed in one way or another, and the changes were (IMHO) more interest…
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Hey @clash_bowley any thoughts when you'll be setting up discussion starters for Titan?
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(Quote) That's a great point, and reminded me a bit of how early musical notation didn't bother to show details of (say) the bass continuo line, the assumption being that any skilled person rooted in the tradition would know exactly what was intende…
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Yes I agree these stories were very abbreviated, to the point where it was sometimes hard to see how a "proper" story version might build up from these. My best guess (going back to the transmission of oral tradition) is that the "wor…
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A few days ago I finished Queen of Candesce, the next in the series. Unlike the first it follows just one character throughout rather than multiple storylines, but the person is Venera Fanning. You get to find out what happens after she cuts loose f…
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Yes, totally agree. I'm more interested as a lay reader in how faithful Galland was to his source, rather than the accuracy of the next stage on. I suppose the only exception to that would be if Galland used some idiomatic word of his time that had …
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I agree: not a great deal to stay except the mild curiosity of seeing what features of the story were thought important as a bare-bones summary. In the world of games, how do players / GMs balance the two levels of character involved, viz their own…
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Yes I agree with this. The tales felt a lot more like shorthand notes than stories. However, it did make me wonder about the process of transmission of these stories. A few years back I read up on oral traditions, mainly focusing on Alfred Lord's bo…
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Maybe add that cleverness and plot resolution are often accomplished by female characters despite operating within superficially strict social constraints? Also, disguises are a Big Thing and often used by Goodies and Baddies alike.
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I'm with @Apocryphal on this in that I would like to finish the book. However, I also think you're right @NeilNjae about diminishing returns. How about we stick to the planned schedule as regards sections? This takes us, I think, up to the end of th…
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I should also have said that it made me wonder how many of the "talking creatures" stories of our own culture owe a debt to this - Wind in the Willows, Heather Hill, Narnia etc? Or is it just such an obvious thing that pretty much everyone…
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Another story I enjoyed. It has lots of echoes with other tales we know, but was told in a vigorous and inviting manner. Yes, I thought of Moses and Sargon in relation to the babies. The Sargon one is closer in some respects - the mother was a high…
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Hi all, quick reminder that as discussion of Sun of Suns has died down, this month's choice is Titan, by John Varley, as selected by @clash_bowley
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It would be interesting to to see if at least some of these points get addressed in later ones - I'm thinking maybe there's a parallel with Larry Niven and the alterations he made to the Ringworld as a result of reader feedback and analysis, such as…
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Kind of like an iceberg - lots more is never explicitly seen than exists. But I totally agree that right now I am speculating that this back-story stuff may have been in Karl Schroeder's mind, and for whatever reason not put down on paper. Kind of &…
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(Quote) I was thinking a bit about this while out for a walk today, like you do, and - just playing devil's advocate here for a bit - had some thoughts about these points... (Quote) The ancient Egyptians had a similar problem - unless they could im…
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I guess for me this felt like a kind of weird ending to the story. I didn't mind the palace-in-a-night business - why not, with a genie on your side? But it was never really clear what the vizier was trying to achieve by claiming it was all done by …
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(Quote) I'm guessing that the later books in the series will go into the wider setting a bit more. Presuming that whoever-is-on-the-outside is now aware of Aubri's failure to complete the mission, it would be logical to have another go via a differe…
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(Quote) The main character surely has to be called Swing Low... :)
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(Quote) There was some discussion of the guys that both Slipstream and Aerie perceive is the real enemy, viz "the cold dictatorship of that notorious bureaucracy". So whatever minor cultural differences there are between the first two name…
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(Quote) That's a nice connection which hadn't occurred to me
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(Quote) Except, no doubt, to a discerning few :)
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(Quote) I had no idea there were so many zero gee air filled settings around! Must be a popular trope
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(Quote) I almost read Smoke Ring years ago while I was having a Niven fest but never got round to it... perhaps I should look it up again!
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Discussion starters for Sun of Suns now posted...