psc@lzwi.UUCP (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (08/07/85)
I hold in my hand a book that proves that good story and hard
science aren't incompatible. It has characters that come to life, a
gripping story line, and a wealth of ideas.
The book I hold in my hand is not Sheffield's BETWEEN THE STROKES
OF NIGHT.
BETWEEN THE STROKES OF NIGHT begins on (and around) Earth, in the
early twenty-first century. Things are going to pot. The main
characters are researching how to eliminate people's need for sleep, so
everyone will be more productive and help get Earth out of its jam. The
rich, eccentric-but-wise trillionaire, who's built several thriving,
lucrative habitats and factories in orbit, is interested in this
research.
Cut to: the two hundred and eightieth century (more or less).
Several young (sixteen to twenty) men and women have just competed in a
planetary Olympics for the honor of getting trained for some sort of
leadership. Some of them are "troublemakers", which means they're not
content with going along on this trip through (or to) whatever awaits
them. They're all bright, and constantly impress each other (and naive
readers) by deducing what's going on. They stumble (by risking their
lives in truly incredible ways) on to several secrets, which may lead
them to What's Really Going On.
Like Asimov's Foundation trilogy (plus one), nothing happens. Or
at least, it all happens off screen. Unlike FOUNDATION and its sequels,
no one actually does anything that has any effect during the "action" of
BETWEEN THE STROKES OF NIGHT. The characters are so thin, they could be
built up with a single ply of tissue paper. The "scientific" basis for
the Big Secret is ludicrous. The romantic relationships transcend
"unbelievable" and pass into "silly". Mankind, his technology, and his
culture don't change as much from 2010 to 28000 as they did during any
ten year period this century.
There was some discussion as to where the good books would go after
the Baen/Pocket split. Baen did a terrific job at GALAXY. Baen did a
good job at Tor. I'm sure there's some dynamite novels coming out of
Baen Books - somewhere. . . .
--
-Paul S. R. Chisholm The above opinions are my own,
{pegasus,vax135}!lzwi!psc not necessarily those of any
{mtgzz,ihnp4}!lznv!psc telecommunications company.
(*sigh* ihnp4!lzwi!psc does *NOT* work!!! Use above paths.)
"Of *course* it's the murder weapon. Who would frame someone with a fake?"peter@baylor.UUCP (Peter da Silva) (08/12/85)
> I hold in my hand a book that proves that good story and hard > science aren't incompatible. It has characters that come to life, a > gripping story line, and a wealth of ideas. And one of the weakest endings I've ever heard of... not to mention a total disregard for the general cussedness of Homo Sapiens. Not only that, but you neglected to add a spoiler warning. -- Peter da Silva (the mad Australian) UUCP: ...!shell!neuro1!{hyd-ptd,baylor,datafac}!peter MCI: PDASILVA; CIS: 70216,1076
jeffh@brl-sem.ARPA (the Shadow) (08/13/85)
Sorry to post this to the net, but the mail system spit it back at me (very rude of it, if you ask me). In article <239@lzwi.UUCP> you write: > > I hold in my hand a book that proves that good story and hard >science aren't incompatible. It has characters that come to life, a >gripping story line, and a wealth of ideas. > The book I hold in my hand is not Sheffield's BETWEEN THE STROKES >OF NIGHT. THEN WHAT THE HE** IS IT? pardon the shouting, but you shouldn't tease your audience like that. "It's actually not difficult to build a physically superior human specimen. The tough part is finding someone gullible enough to work at it." the Shadow ARPA: <jeffh@brl> UUCP: {seismo,decvax}!brl!jeffh