Re: Sheffield's novel (was Re: H. G. Wells)

From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Mon Mar 06 2000 - 19:13:32 MST


Damien Broderick wrote:
>
> This is symptomatic of a lot of sf treatments of cool [ahem] ideas: because
> we sf guyz work in an entertainment medium, the readers want lots of
> thrills and chills [ahem, ahem] and expectably-unexpected disaster,
> narrowly averted by sheer pluck and grit. Saying `then the Spike happened
> and, um, everyone went to heaven and lived incomprehensibly ever after'
> wouldn't sell many novels...

It wouldn't sell many _sequels_, no... but Damien, if any of your SF
pals seem to be thinking that unvarnished reality contains insufficient
plot tension to make for a good novel, you just have them talk to me, okay?

-- 
       sentience@pobox.com      Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
          http://pobox.com/~sentience/beyond.html
                 Member, Extropy Institute
           Senior Associate, Foresight Institute



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