rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (06/07/85)
[] hmmm. Interesting to me that while I am an inveterate lover of what I consider good space opera, I couldn't get past page 19 of STAR SMASHERS OF THE GALAXY RANGERS before consigning it to the "read or never will be " pile. Yet Harrison is the author of the Stainless Steel Rat Series. I habitually use page one of The Stainless Steel Rat as a hook to ensnare new readers to SF. I hand them the book open to page 1. I say, "As a favor to me, just read this first page. You can stop there if you want to." So far no one has yet ever been able to stop without reading the whole book and then going on from there to the world of Science Fiction. Of course, I don't just do this with everybody, only those I think from other evidence will like SF if they ever try it. -- "It's the thought, if any, that counts!" Dick Grantges hound!rfg
long@oliveb.UUCP (A Panther Modern) (06/09/85)
In article <1207@hound.UUCP> rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) writes: | [] | hmmm. Interesting to me that while I am an inveterate lover of what | I consider good space opera, I couldn't get past page 19 of STAR | SMASHERS OF THE GALAXY RANGERS before consigning it to the "read or | never will be " pile. Yet Harrison is the author of the Stainless Steel | Rat Series. That's because STAR SMASHERS is *bad* space opera, being a satire of some of the early "pulp fiction". Try reading some E.E. "Doc" Smith, then rereading STAR SMASHERS. You'll notice some resemblance. Dave Long -- {hplabs,fortune,idi,ihnp4,tolerant,allegra,tymix}!oliveb!long
rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (06/10/85)
[] How can anyone mention STAR SMASHERS in the same sentence with E.E. Smith PhD.? I grew up on Doc Smith and while much is dated (Skylark was decades old when it was first printed, I believe) no one has yet captured sense of wonder quite like doc. I would no more think of satirizing him than I would of breaking stained glass church windows from the 13th century. I realize some would, but I consider them subhuman. Sorry, thats how I feel about it. -- "It's the thought, if any, that counts!" Dick Grantges hound!rfg
ccrrick@ucdavis.UUCP (Rick Heli) (06/11/85)
Dick Grantges writes > hmmm. Interesting to me that while I am an inveterate lover of what > I consider good space opera, I couldn't get past page 19 of STAR > SMASHERS OF THE GALAXY RANGERS before consigning it to the "read or > never will be " pile. I suggest that maybe you missed the point. STAR SMASHERS is supposed to be SATIRE! If you had read a little further, this would have been obvious. For example, on page 21 (as I recall) one of the protagonists speaks to the other in German so that the villain can't understand them. The translated footnote reads something like "You divert him while I get the girl," but when you translate the German you find that it really means, "I would like a room on the second floor with bath." Etc. throughout the book with an ending that'll knock your socks off... or something... -- --rick heli (... ucbvax!ucdavis!groucho!ccrrick)