From: masticol@cadenza.rutgers.edu (Steve Masticola)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest
Subject: Re: [ADMIN]: lightbulbs, an' all...
Date: 11 Dec 92 18:48:39 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

blackburn-dean@yale.edu (Dean Blackburn) writes:

>        Actually, I'm not a big fan of wormholes... But, assuming matter can
>safely transverse them, why not light? Further assuming that one or
>more of the rifts were placed sufficiently close to a star, no more
>zero K problem. 

That's a possibility I hadn't considered... but it needs work. The far
ends of the wormholes would have to follow the stars. And if you
REALLY still wanted to avoid day/night cycles, you'd have to put a
diffuser in front of the wormhole.

>        One problem with night is day. If I were to post about something
>happening in the 'morning', and someone half way across the country is typing
>in a little note about the night's festivities, there isn't really a
>way to fix the continuity. 

I really don't see why this is a problem. Different threads can occur
at slightly different times. Why not? Not all stories are written at
the same time. 

If you're counting _that_ as a continuity error, I've seen far worse
mistakes already; at least one of the characters is apparently capable
of bilocation. (10 points for figuring out which. :-)

>Because of this, it makes it difficult to discuss the weather
>at all, especially with so much else going on in and outside the Rest. 

Weather is a whole 'nother issue, which I'm going to steer clear of
for now. Anyone who wants to debate weather is welcome to put forward
their own ideas on the subject.

>     Most of all, I think there's a time for science, and a time for science
>fiction. If it doesn't help the plot, why bother? 

First off, SF minus science is fantasy, and (as far as I currently
understand) that's not what a.p.h-r is about. Part of the charm of SF
is that _it_might_really_happen_. A good SF author can stay rigorously
within the bounds of science, and can use the science to his or her
advantage to create conflict, plot twists, color, etc. Read
"Ringworld" or "Rendezvous with Rama" for some classic examples of the
technique.

Only a poor SF author ignores the science to make his/her plotting
easier. (And they're poor BOTH because they're ignoring the science
AND because they're trying to make things cushy for themselves.)

In specific, a decent author shuld be able to USE the suns in a plot,
to his/her advantage. ("Power had just set when Spaceman Spiff sighted
Haven's; Glory cast an eerie shadow of something huge and tentacled,
following him.")

>adding the suns, at least in
>my meager opinion, creates more problems than it solves.  

Look at them as opportunities, not problems. (You'll feel better. :)
  
>  And, as far as I understood the story, the colonists didn't pick the Dip by
>choice, but rather made do with what they had.

Quoth Chairman Shaffer:

"   Fictional history of the Havens-rest
"         Many years in the future, the Colony ship "The Haven" got caought
"       in a tear dimensional tear while traveling through hyperspace and was
"       thrown to a interdimensional space.  In this space was an alien
"       (and abvandoned it seemed) artificial planetoid.  The settlers thought
"       this was as good a place as any to settle down and did.

Sounds like they had a choice to me...

>   Flame me if I'm wrong, but do it in mail. I never get any mail.

This is not a flame, just a discussion. But I'll mail you a copy. :-)

- Steve (masticol@cs.rutgers.edu).
Newsgroups: alt.pub.havens-rest