Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1a 7/7/83; site rlgvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!seismo!rlgvax!tom From: tom@rlgvax.UUCP (Tom Beres) Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: Re: James P. Hogan Message-ID: <893@rlgvax.UUCP> Date: Mon, 25-Jul-83 18:58:38 EDT Article-I.D.: rlgvax.893 Posted: Mon Jul 25 18:58:38 1983 Date-Received: Mon, 25-Jul-83 23:39:42 EDT Organization: CCI Office Systems Group, Reston, VA Lines: 22 I like Hogan's attempts at scientific accuracy. If they are not totally accurate, they are close enough for me. Consistency is what counts. What bothers me about his works are his human, psychological, and emotional inaccuracies. Good guys are ultra-good, and ultra-smart, too. Bad guys are the opposite. Not only are his characters a bit shallow, but his societies are too! His idealism, while noble, is naieve enough to make me blush -- more important, it injects a substantial amount of disbelief into the story. Actually, that is my complaint about most science fiction -- after spending all the effort to make the science credible, individual characters and society are shallow, stereoptyped, and portrayed in an unbelievable manner. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Hogan's works, and I enjoy sf. However, it is the stories which use strange new worlds, characters, and situations to point out or develop a point of psychological/emotional insight (even if it is non-human) that I cherish. Ursala LeGuin's (sp?) "Left Hand Side of Darkness" was such a book. I need more. Anyone got some to recommend? - Tom Beres {seismo, allegra, brl-bmd, we13, mcnc}!rlgvax!tom