HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mdl@phelixsalt (Michael Lynch)
Subject: Re: Coming of Age novels (was Re: Count Geiger's Blues and Jumper)
Reply-To: mdl@phelixsalt (Michael Lynch)
Organization: Bellcore
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 11:44:21 GMT

In article <STEINARB.92Sep30102749@vier.idt.unit.no>, steinarb@idt.unit.no (Steinar Bang) writes:
|> >>>>> jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (James Davis Nicoll) writes:
|> 
|> > 	I happened to recently read 'Orbital Resonance' and 'Rite of
|> > Passage' back to back. What are the great SF 'coming of age' novels?
|> > I'd put 'The Wild Shore' on the list (and, I suppose the other two
|> > books in that series), but what else should go on the cannonical
|> > list of CoA books?
|> 
|> "Citizen of the Galaxy", Robert Heinlein
|>  (actually a lot of Heinlein's juveniles would fit the bill, but none
              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

So would most (if not all) of Andre Norton's juvies....*Star Born* and
*The Stars Are Ours* come to mind immediately.

Mike Lynch

mdl@oscar.bellcore.com
From: dpn2@po.CWRU.Edu (Damien P. Neil)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Books I Love to Hate (e.g., Orbital Resonance)
Date: 2 Oct 1992 03:25:07 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: dpn2@po.CWRU.Edu (Damien P. Neil)
NNTP-Posting-Host: thor.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, swf@teradata.com (Stanley Friesen) says:

>In article <1ad8hgINN3lp@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> dpn2@po.CWRU.Edu (Damien P. Neil) writes:
>|
>|Have you read the original ending to _Podkayne_? You should LOVE it... :-)
>
>O.K., that's the second time I've seen a reference to this.
>
>What is this *original* *ending*!

The original ending may be found in the book _Grumbles From the Grave_. In
it, Podkayne dies at the end instead of ending up in a coma. The editor
thought that everyone would hate it (true), and had Heinlein change it.
Heinlein thought the original ending was better (true), but bowed to the
editor's will.

Personally, I prefer the original ending intellectually, and the revised
ending emotionally.
-- 
+-------------+------------------+---------------------------------+
| Damien Neil | dpn2@po.cwru.edu | Case Western Reserve University |
+-------------+------------------+---------------------------------+
Organization: Masters student, Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 16:29:15 -0400 
From: Richard Iswara <ri0a+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: _Winds of Change_ by Mercedes Lackey (spoilers now)
	<1992Sep28.235649.13411@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>

On 28-Sep-92 in Re: _Winds of Change_ by Me..
user Laura Hayes Burchard@far writes: 
>Another point... do you get the feeling we are being set up for another
>trilogy? Unless Lackey really speeds up what has been a rather
>leisurely paced series, there's hardly time to go chat with Vanyel,
>train new mages, finish off Ancar, *and* deflect the Mage Wars echo.
> 

I don't think that there would be no new mages training, at least until Ancar
is finished. The new (or is it reinforced) heartstone will be more than enough
as a powersource for the mages. And as for deflecting the Mage Wars echo, I 
think it is already been done by casting Mornelithe into the Void.

Richard
From: steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu (Steinn Sigurdsson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Coming of Age novels (was Re: Count Geiger's Blues and Jumper)
Date: 30 Sep 92 13:30:34
Organization: Lick Observatory/UCO
	<STEINARB.92Sep30102749@vier.idt.unit.no>
	<STEINLY.92Sep30132740@topaz.ucsc.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: topaz.ucsc.edu
In-reply-to: steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu's message of 30 Sep 92 13:27:40

In article <STEINLY.92Sep30132740@topaz.ucsc.edu> steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu (Steinn Sigurdsson) writes:


   In article <STEINARB.92Sep30102749@vier.idt.unit.no> steinarb@idt.unit.no (Steinar Bang) writes:

      >>>>> jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (James Davis Nicoll) writes:

      > 	I happened to recently read 'Orbital Resonance' and 'Rite of
      > Passage' back to back. What are the great SF 'coming of age' novels?

Star Maker by Stapleton!!!

:-)

Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.written:13147 rec.arts.books:17072
From: curtis@cs.berkeley.edu (Curtis Yarvin)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Ian McDonald's _The Broken Land_: review
Date: 29 Sep 1992 06:19:50 GMT
Organization: CS Dept. Snakepit - Do Not Feed.
NNTP-Posting-Host: rattler.cs.berkeley.edu

In article <1992Sep28.215640.261@math.ucla.edu> dstein@rhea.math.ucla.edu (David Stein) writes:
>In article <1992Sep28.153316.14827@wam.umd.edu>, sheilah@wam.umd.edu
>(Sheila Herndon) writes:
>|> dstein@rhea.math.ucla.edu (David Stein) writes:
>|> [about Ian McDonald's "Fragments of a Case..."]
>
>   In any case, I would be delighted if you tried to explain
>   why did the author throw in all the disparate elements
>   (Freud, sex, Judas-like Wandering Jew character, Ann Frank
>   type story, Holocaust, mice, and so on and so on) without
>   having hardly any story to tell?

Because he was trying to boil shit in a pot, and it didn't come
out; but the result is, I dare say, more a reflection on shit
than on pots.

Did "Fragments of a Case of Hysteria" really make a major
anthology?  It _is_ an awful story.

If you're interested in investigating the writer and not just
making pleasantly rude comments :-), hunt down a bookstore which
has McDonald's new anthology, _Speaking In Tongues_.  It's a
new mass-market paperback, so it shouldn't be hard to find.
Read the teaser for _TBL_, in the back.  

And maybe "Atomic Avenue" while you're at it; McDonald is
generally better at novel-length, but some of his stories
are quite passable.

c
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: xtifr@netcom.com (Chris Waters)
Subject: Re: Chanur Series
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 23:17:49 GMT

In <1992Oct5.162742.2764@walter.bellcore.com> mdl@phelixsalt (Michael Lynch) writes:

>My question is, do you suppose that "Chanur's Venture" and "The
>Kif Strike Back" were originally one book, and that someone (Cherryh?
>An editor? DAW Books?) decided it was too long, and had to be split?

Chanur's Venture, The Kif Strike Back, *and* Chanur's Homecoming were
all three written as one long, continuous story, and split into three
parts for publication.  This is mentioned in the afterword to TKSB.
Compare this to Cyteen, which *was* published as one book in HC, but
split into three, like the Chanur books, for PB release.

Note: just in case you missed it, there is a new (5th (or is that 3rd?
:-> )) Chanur book out, called Chanur's Legacy.  From the blurbs (my
SFBC copy hasn't arrived yet), it stars Hilfy.  Looks interesting.
-- 
Chris Waters    | the insane don't | NOBODY for President!
xtifr@netcom.COM| need disclaimers | Because Nobody's perfect!!
From: mwnorman@bcarh929bnr.ca (Michael Norman)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: julian may
Date: 2 Oct 92 14:11:40 GMT
Organization: Bell-Northern Research

In article <9210021209.18063@holly.bnr.co.uk>, S.L.Fagg@bnr.co.uk writes:
>
>I guess I'll have to wait quite a while yet for "Jack the Bodiless" as
>it's only recently appeared over here in hardcover...
>
>Regards
>Steve Fagg      ( S.L.Fagg@bnr.co.uk +44-279-402437 )
>BNR Europe Ltd., London Road, Harlow, Essex, CM17 9NA, UK
>*** "Better drowned than duffers. If not duffers, won't drown". ***

I did buy _Jack_the_Bodiless_ in hardcover and felt it was
worth the $$$ - absolutely the BEST work Ms. May has done to date
viz. the Milieu/Metapsychic.

By the way, my copy of _Intervention_ (hardcover) had a printing
errors where pages 187-234 were inserted twice and I'm missing
about 40 pages between 234 and 294 - anyone else seen this?  I
may have to get the two paperbacks separately to piece together
a few things I'm unclear about!!
------------
Mike Norman,c/o Bell-Northern Research 
P.O. Box 3511 Station 'C' Ottawa 
Ontario Canada K1Y 4H7 M/S 115      Internet: mwnorman@bnr.ca
tel: (613) 763-7717 (FAX:613-763-7742) 
"Hasta la vista, Baby!" A. Schwarzenegger
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: scs@lokkur.dexter.mi.us (Steve Simmons)
Subject: Re: Ross Perot and SF: From the NYT.
Organization: Inland Sea
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 92 22:02:34 GMT

YANJUNA@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu writes:

> . . . am posting selections from "Ross Perot or
>Superstoe?  Science Fiction Got There First"  from New York Times Week in
>Review Section page 4, from Oct. 4 1992 . . .

> . . . The object is the eventual abolition of Congress so
>the people can make Government policy.

Joan Vinge presented this system as almost a dystopia in "Outcasts Of
Heaven Belt."  It's postdates Superstoe and Jack Baron by a few years,
but is a heck of a lot more believable than the latter (haven't read
the former).
-- 
 "When Dexter's on the Internet, can Hell be far behind?"
		-- Steve Simmons, scs@lokkur.dexter.mi.us
Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.written:13174 rec.arts.books:17142
From: spb0457@venus.tamu.edu (SubGenius)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Science Fiction books with linguistic content
Date: 29 Sep 92 20:00:00 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

Curtis Yarvin writes...
> 
>An analogy is not an argument.  An analogy is an illustration of an argument.
>Provide me with an argument, and I shall be happy to rebut it.
> 
>If you're interested in learning that your analogy is bogus,
>though, I thought I'd already done that.  For those short of
>memory:  Twain and Joyce used existing dialects to illustrate
>existing subcultures, without altering orthography; Burgess
>used new words to mean new things; and Heinlein sucks.

+-----------------------------------SubG---------------------------------------+
So, the dream-dialect in _Finnegan's Wake_ existed before Joyce set it down?

Quite facinating.  Do tell where it is that folks speak this dialect;  I'd like
to spend a holiday there.

Conversely, it's interesting to learn that Burgess created the Russian tongue
along with a large parcel of Polish.  Wait 'till my grandfolks hear about this.
+-----------------------------------SubG---------------------------------------+

[deletia]

>The best case I've heard for Hoban is, in fact, one I received by email.
>The author points out that Riddley Walker's dialect is quite
>similar to Middle English.  He opined that this makes it
>"legitimate English," which I found it hard to agree with, and
>that it gives the narrative a distinctly medieval tone, which
>augments the theme.  I found this last very easy to agree with,
>and am on the verge of going out & buying _RW_ to see if it does.
>c

+------------------------------------SubG--------------------------------------+
This might qualify me for the 1,000 metre conclusion-jump, but that sounds like
yer implying that you haven't even bothered to read the novel that you're
criticising.  If that is indeed the case, I think I'll just stop wasting my
time discussing it with you.












Intrafrastically,
Yours etc.,



SubGenius
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: morrow@fnalo.fnal.gov (Lake Elmo, MN)
Subject: Re: Books I Hate to Love
Organization: Calm Blue Water...and a Muskie the Size of Boise
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 07:27:36 GMT
X-Posted-From: fnalo.fnal.gov
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

In article <1ad5nsINNqrj@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>, sdh5@po.CWRU.Edu (Scott D. Hurley) writes:
> This train of thought reminds me of an observation I've made
> lately--is it just my imagination, or does there seem to be
> a shifting trend towards protagonistic villains, antagonists so
> wonderfully shaped that one ends up rooting for them instead of
> the 'Good Guys'?
> 
> Classic examples are Kahn Noonion Soong (I think that's how it is
> spelled), of Star Trek:  The Saurons of Pournelle's Co-Dominion
> universe: and The Lady of Glen Cook's _Annals_of_The_Black_
> Company_ series.

	Quibble:  Lady switched sides.  She's a good guy, now.  The
transformation was well developed over a long time, and Cook is to be commended
for his craftsmanship.
	Damn, but I wish the next book would come out!  Lady's got her magic
back and she's PISSED OFF....
-- 
"Don't be humble.  You're not that great."                                     
--Golda Meir                                                                   
  
elmo (morrow@physics.rice.edu,morrow@fnal.fnal.gov)
From: mmaxwell@ucsd.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Ann Maxwell bibliog. list (long)
Followup-To: mmaxwell@ucsd.edu
Date: 1 Oct 1992 18:01:48 GMT
Organization: UC San Diego
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: irpsws82.ucsd.edu

Due to the amount of requests for this, i felt it would be best to 
post the following list.

List of titles and Publishers
Ann Maxwell

All the following are SF written as Ann Maxwell:

Timeshadow Rider, TOR 6/86
Dancer's Illusion, NAL 1983
Dancer's Luck, NAL 1983
Fire Dancer, NAL 1982
The Jaws of Menx, NAL 1981
Name of a Shadow, Avon 1980
A Dead God Dancing, Avon 1979
The Singer Enigma, Popular Library 1976
Change, Popular Library 1975

DANGER.  People who get uptight about non-sf material being on
r.a.sf should just hit 'N' now and save themselves some bile. :)

The following books were written under the name 'Elizabeth Lowell'.

Historical Romance
Only You, Avon 7/92
Mnly Mine, Avon 2/92
Only His, Avon 7/91
Reckless Love, Harlequin 1/90

Contemporary Suspense
Tell Me No Lies, Worldwide 12/86
	reissue by Silhouette 8/92

Contemporary Romance for Silhouette Desire
Warrior 4/91
Granite Man 3/91
Outlaw 2/91
Fire and Rain 1/90
Dark Fire 11/88
Fever 4/88
Love Song for a Raven 6/87
Too Hot To Handle 12/86
	reissue 9/92
The Fire of Spring 3/86
Summer Thunder 7/83

Contemporary Romances for Silhouette Intimate Moments
Chain Lightning 9/88
Sweet Wind, Wild Wind 2/87
	reissue 10/92
Fires of Eden 5/86
Sequel 1/86
Valley of the Sun 9/85
Travelling Man 6/85
A Woman Without Lies 2/85
Forget Me Not 10/84
Summer Games 7/84
	reissue Silhouette Classics 6/88
Lover in the Rough 1/84
The Danvers Touch 9/83
	reissue Silhouette Classics

Written with Evan Maxwell (under the name A.E. Maxwell)

Mystery/Suspense
Come Hangman! Come Vulture! (in progress)
The King of Nothing
	Villard 7/91
	Harper Paperbacks 2/93
The Art of Survival
	Doubleday 5/89
	Bantam 5/90
	Harper Paperbacks 6/93
Just Enough Light to Kill
	Doubleday 5/88
	Bantam 8/89
	Harper Paperbacks 5/93
Gatsby's Vineyard
	Doubleday 6/87
	Bantam 8/89
	Harper Paperbacks 4/93
The Frog and the Scorpion
	Doubleday 6/86
	Bantam 7/87
	Harper Paperbacks 3/93
Just Another Day in Paradise
	Doubleday 2/85
	Bantam 9/86
	Harper Paperbacks 2/93
(The above novels are a series)

Steal the Sun
	Richard Marek Publishers 1981
	TOR 9/83

Historical Fiction
Redwood Empire
	Worldwide 12/87
Golden Empire
	Fawcett 10/79

Non-fiction
The Year-Long Day (non fiction, written with Ivar Ruud)
	Lipincott 1976
	Pocket Books 1977

Writing as Ann Maxwell (with Evan M. as co-author)

Suspense
The Secret Sisters
	Harper paperbacks 5/93
The Diamond Tiger
	Harper paperbacks 6/92

writing as Lowell Charters

Suspense
Thunderheart (novelization)
	Avon 4/92

Writing as Annalise Sun
The Golden Mountain
	Pocket Books 12/90

Hope this all helps.

-------------------
Matt Maxwell
mmaxwell@ucsd.edu

"He took personality tests
 and stapled them to his lower lip" -- Stan Ridgway

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: pciszek@nyx.cs.du.edu (Paul Ciszek)
Subject: Re: Coming of Age novels (was Re: Count Geiger's Blues and Jumper)
Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci.
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 01:42:45 GMT

jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (James Davis Nicoll) writes:

>I'd put 'The Wild Shore' on the list (and, I suppose the  other two  
>books in  that series), but what else  should  go on the cannonical
>list of  CoA books?

_Child of Fortune_ by Norman Spinrad

--
Paul Ciszek, pciszek@nyx.cs.du.edu | No nation was ever drunk when wine was
                                   | cheap.   -- Thomas Jefferson
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: clc@kepler.unh.edu (Llamist Lliason)
Subject: Re: Name query
Organization: Holy Church of the Llama
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 21:31:27 GMT

In article <1992Sep28.180427.3359@pbhyc.PacBell.COM> djdaneh@PacBell.COM (Dan'l DanehyOakes) writes:
>JN> Does anyone know where I might have read the name 
>JN> Melisende? I'm not sure whether it was in a book or 
>JN> not, but it is certainly slightly familiar. The 
>JN> character might have been a queen, although again, I 
>JN> cannot be sure.
>
>There is a queen or princess named Melisande in one of James Branch Cabell's
>books -- I can't be sure without my references to hand, but I _believe_ she
>is one of the daughter of Dom Manuel (the hero of FIGURES OF EARTH and by
>implication of all its sequels), though that may be Melicent (Cabell has one
>of each name, as I recall).  Anyway, my Cabell is packed at the moment so I 
>can't help much more than that.
>
Um, there's a piece of Celtic folklore with someone named Milisande.

Does that help?


					Christian, the obscure
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 \ Christian Longshore Claiborn, Resident Soothsayer, NASA Special Division /
  \ Friend of the Great, Roommate of the Mediocre, Blood-brother to Cher   /
   \    clc@kepler.unh.edu, C_CLAIBORN@unhh.unh.edu, Christian@unh.edu    /
    \  Proud, charter member of the "Friends of Pame Smart" support club /
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      \       And a proud, politically incorrect liberal Democrat.     /
       ----------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: ss1@kepler.unh.edu (The Rink)
Subject: Re: Piers Anthony: Tantham Mound
Organization: Turkey Hall
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1992 01:14:17 GMT

>>I got this info from him when I visited last Spring Break.  I say go for
>>it.  Only you can decide, especially if you've seen the various response
...
>>from netters on his work.  I personally <no joke> love all that I have
>>read, and that is upwards of 60 books of his.
>>
>>Good luck, and if you have any other questions, feel free to mail me.
> 
>You KNOW Piers Anthony?  Personally?  (That's what you seem to imply
>in the above post...)  

Of course he knows him.  From the sounds of it, I'd say he IS Piers Anthony,
posting under a fake name to keep his identity from being known -- why,
heck, if he used his real name, you realize how full his email box would be?

But there's no question.  Enough hints have been dropped.  This poster *IS*
Piers Anthony.


-- 
\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/
/\     Samuel Stoddard                                ss1@kepler.unh.edu     <>
><                                                                           /\
\/      "Savior and Destroyer, Mirror of Life and Death."--Terry Brooks      ><
<>                      "No.  There is another."--Yoda                       \/
/\ "So why don't you make like a tree, and get out of here!"--Biff  (BTTF 1) <>
><                                                                           /\
\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/<\>/
From: mwiz@mpd.tandem.com (Marc Wiz)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Books I Hate to Love
Date: 1 Oct 92 14:34:08 GMT
Organization: Tandem Computers (MPD) Austin, TX

In article <1ad5nsINNqrj@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> sdh5@po.CWRU.Edu (Scott D. Hurley) writes:
>
>This train of thought reminds me of an observation I've made
>lately--is it just my imagination, or does there seem to be
>a shifting trend towards protagonistic villains, antagonists so
>wonderfully shaped that one ends up rooting for them instead of
>the 'Good Guys'?

IMHO one of the best examples of rooting for the bad guys is
in "The Godfather".  

By the time I was 2/3 of the way through the book I was rooting for
the Corleones even though they committed illegal acts, etc.

Marc
-- 
Marc Wiz			Yes that really is my last name.
MaBell:				(512)244-8780
Internet:			mwiz@mpd.tandem.com
The views expressed are my own.  Mine all mine!
From: billd@informix.com (William Daul)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Any comments on  ENTROVERSE  by James Hogan?
Date: 28 Sep 92 05:23:58 GMT
Organization: Informix Software, Inc.

Thanks,  --Bill
-- 
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 William Daul             Advanced Support      INFORMIX SOFTWARE INC.
 4100 Bohannon Dr.        (415) 926-6488 - wk
 Menlo Park, CA. 94025    uunet!infmx!billd  or  billd@informix.com
From: gemerson@cherry.ucs.indiana.edu (gennis emerson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Diane Duane, _Door Into Fire_
Date: 3 Oct 92 20:06:04 GMT
Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington


In article <BvK2Gn.LGB@acsu.buffalo.edu> v075q5fr@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Scott J Gorcey) writes:
>In article <3OCT199205195127@rosie.uh.edu>, st1rk@rosie.uh.edu (Maxwell, Darin) writes...
>
>>Anyone interested in the scenario?  The world is set up such
>>that members of the same sex often are lovers, with the caveat
>>that you must produce at least one child. The plot is heavily
>>mythological and, at least for me, the outcome is totally
>>irrelevant. The mood of the books is enough to satisfy me.

>     It's one of the richest worlds I've read 


Hmm. I picked up a copy of _The Door into Fire_ at a used book store last
weekend based on discussion of the books here. My main reaction was that
the book should have been subtitled "Sex the Way I Wish It Were". (On an
almost unrelated note, my 10th grade math class spent most of that year
working on MTW(IW)^2.) The plot seemed sort of a side issue to the
presentation of the relationships and the "look how reasonable we are about
sleeping with each other" attitude. It does lead to an interesting feel to
the book, but it feels like the wrong balance to me. I think I would have
preferred slightly more story and slightly less sexual treatise. It's still
an enjoyable couple of hours, though. Whenever I get time to track them
down, I'll probably read the rest of the books. 

As for it being a rich world, I couldn't agree with that, at least not based
on the first book. It feels like a few parts exist, but the rest are just
names, tossed in for effect. What I notice most is that the only parts that
seem real are the places the characters are at at any given point. It's not
just this book; I've read several fantasies that give me that feeling.
Names are escaping me; CS offices do that to my brain. I'm going to use a
bad word here for lack of a better, but there seems to be a sort of "New Age"
feel to some fanatasies, full of all-embracing religions and goddess
worship and hit-you-over-the-head-with-it gender equality. Occasionally I
find that annoying, although I can't help wondering how I'd feel if I'd
read a little more of that and a little less Heinlein back when I was young
and impressionable.

One final note : the next book I picked up after DiF was Iain Banks's
_Player of Games_. Interesting how it felt like some of the same themes in
two very different works.

-- 
Gennis Emerson 
gemerson@cs.indiana.edu