Good point - I think there's something to be said for that. I picked up an Amber prequel awhile back (not written by Roger Zelazny) and was wincing for the few chapters that I could get through. I really should finish the book just out of respect for Roger and the series that I have such fondness for, but at this point, it feels like work. I don't know anything about the author and won't disparage him here because I'm not sure it's his fault that he's not Roger (freaking) Zelazny, but still, he's not, and that's all there is to it. I'm not sure if it's me being a Zelazny snob or the work not being up to snuff, all I know is that I didn't like it. With that said, I've been having a /great/ time reading David Brin's _Kiln People_, which reassures me that there is still some good Sci Fi out there. He's pulling off the trick of sketching what appears to be a /practically/ impossible plot and making it not only work, but sing. It inspires me. If he can animate clay golems, I tell myself I can surely animate real people. johne (phy) cook wisconsin, usa personal blog: http://breezeway.blogspot.com aerie blog: http://aeriepress.blogspot.com/ stormfort list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stormfort/ "There are only three rules to writing a novel; unfortunately, no one knows what they are." --Somerset Maugham >From: Steve Simmons <scs at lokkur.dexter.mi.us> >To: Steven Brust <skzb at dreamcafe.com> >CC: "Derrill 'Kisc' Guilbert" <lister at insaneninjahero.com>, "roger n. >tospott" <rone at ennui.org>, SKZB List <dragaera at dragaera.info> >Subject: Re: Neil Gaiman at slashdot >Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 08:53:14 -0500 > >IMHO ones tolerance of mediocre fiction writing declines over time. >Non-fiction is driven as much by the interesting-ness of the facts, >and one can tolerate mediocre prose in pursuit of those interesting >facts. > >Plus non-fiction doesn't suffer as much from unbelievable characters >or impossible plots. _________________________________________________________________ Frustrated with dial-up? Get high-speed for as low as $26.95. https://broadband.msn.com (Prices may vary by service area.)