Philip Hart <philiph at SLAC.Stanford.EDU> writes: > On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 Talpianna at aol.com wrote: > > > In a message dated 11/10/2003 3:15:40 PM US Mountain Standard Time, > > philiph at SLAC.Stanford.EDU writes: > >> I'm not qualified to speculate on this, but my gut tells me that FTL > >> travel isn't possible in this universe. > > > I think the possibility is pretty well canvassed (and dismissed) in Poul > > Anderson's TAU ZERO. > > > > talpianna > > > > What's this? Incidentally, is Poul Anderson worth reading? I must have > encountered his work as a kid, but can't remember anything about him. Generally speaking, very much so. His work runs from above-average (for the period) to first-rate. Some of his later works continuing earlier series may revert more to the standards of when the initial part of the series was written. _Tau Zero_ is something of a classic. A lot of the stories in the "technic" history, including the Dominic Flandry tales and the Nicholas Van Rijn tales, are still worth reading, especially the early to middle examples. The early Hoka stories (with Gordy Dickson) are among the more amusing humorous works from the period. Some of his fantasy was first-rate, too, to the point where we had him as guest of honor for the 1993 World Fantasy Convention in Minneapolis. And then there's _Operation Chaos_, an early magic-as-technology story. Very much worth reading all around. He's written such a wide variety of stuff that you'll probably find areas you don't much care for; if so don't bang your head against the wall, try something else. (I don't care for his mythological stories much, stuff like _The King of Ys_). -- David Dyer-Bennet, <dd-b at dd-b.net>, <www.dd-b.net/dd-b/> RKBA: <noguns-nomoney.com> <www.dd-b.net/carry/> Photos: <dd-b.lighthunters.net> Snapshots: <www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/> Dragaera/Steven Brust: <dragaera.info/>