Dragaera

Below Hypothesis

David Dyer-Bennet dd-b at dd-b.net
Mon Nov 10 15:01:07 PST 2003

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/>
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Dragaera/Steven Brust: <dragaera.info/>