lmc@denelcor.UUCP (Lyle McElhaney) (01/15/85)
> I discovered another new (to me) author on that same trip ... > Robert L. Forward. His first novel, DRAGON's EGG, was published five > years ago and is a real treat. Forward's latest book, "The Flight of the Dragonfly" has been released in a trade edition. Like "Dragon's Egg", the science is absolutely first rate (as you would expect); very solidly based and yet imaginative in the style of Hal Clement's planets. The engineering of the spacecraft and especially the Christmas Bush robot(s) is unique. The characterizations of the scientists in Dragonfly is, like his first book, very stilted. To a man (and woman), the characters are *absolutely* dedicated to their arts-science (all are multiply talented), and are extremely well-adjusted to each other and their fates (they cannot have children, will never return from their voyage, and experience relativitic alienation). They have no faults. The story would be very boring if it had to depend only on the characters and their interactions. Buy it to read a world-class scientist speculate on inter-stellar travel. The plot, in this case, is not the thing, nor the style. I've certainly paid a lot more (than the trade price) for books that taught less without half of the interest. Lyle McElhaney ...denelcor!lmc -- Lyle McElhaney {hao, stcvax, brl-bmd, nbires, csu-cs} !denelcor!lmc