Hello  Am researching and writing a paragraph or two to replace the simple allusion to critics pinning ignorantly usually the space opera label on work by Simmons  It is taking more time than I would have hoped  so I am taking a  minute break on doing this to tell you I am working on it  Simmons does not write classic hard science science fiction like the old masters Asimov Clarke and Heinlein  Instead he writes a form of grandiose social SF which is sometimes related to the social SF or Soft science fiction tradition of Bradbury Le Guin Vance and others  I wanted to do fast justice to his continuation in his own very particular style of that tradition by making a rapid allusion to the fact that his literary approach is really not space opera Well yes that justice was too fast and I am correctng it By the way it is customary to add messages at the bottom of somebodys talk page and not at the top like you did The fact that it is at the bottom does not make it less visible