From: Michael Hohensee (michael@sparta.mainstream.net)
Date: Sat Feb 08 1997 - 12:41:27 MST
On Sat, 8 Feb 1997, Anton Sherwood wrote:
> Date: Sat, 8 Feb 1997 09:33:39 -0800
> From: Anton Sherwood <dasher@netcom.com>
> To: extropians@extropy.org, spooner-l@netcom.com
> Cc: caliban@gate.net, marquee@creative.net
> Subject: lib fic
>
> With the reissue of _The Probability Broach_, everyone has had a new
> opportunity to say how wonderful it is. I found it deeply flawed.
> Here are the gripes that I remember after ~13 years:
>
> - All female characters are Heinlein heroines.
If you mean that they're all tough, independent, and good shots. Sure.
> - The goodguys survive because the badguys never use their guns.
Well, the bad guys don't want to die in a firefight any more than the
good guys. There is plenty of shooting in the next few novels, if thats
what you go in for.
> - Unable to stop the badguys' evil plan preemptively (because that
> would be coercive), our heroes blow them up accidentally.
> This is described as a triumph of free will.
Sure, the bad guys got it in the end. :) This leaves the good guys
triumphant.
> - As is Bear's double existence, as if gametes were chosen consciously.
Well, they're parallel universes, guess the Bear family-trees were
identical. Do *you* understand the way parallel universes work? I know
I don't--never had a set to study.
> - Griswold's chilling reputation is presented but never justified.
They aren't at the center of the story, so why should they be focused on?
> - I can accept a talking gorilla. I can accept a gorilla with an English
> surname. But a gorilla with an English *hyphenated* surname?
> (And does the wrist-gadget pronounce it Fanshaw?)
Well, if you're going to have a surname, why *not* have a hyphenated
surname? And yes, the wrist-gadget quite likely *does* pronounce it
Fanshaw.
Jeez, looks like you've got no sense of humor.
>
> Am I alone in my opinion? Did I misread or misremember?
> Are some of the flaws corrected in the new edition?
>
I hope not. I did hear a rumor that it was an "unexpurgated version"...
Michael Hohensee
> Anton Sherwood *\\* +1 415 267 0685 *\\* DASher@netcom.com
>
> Bond: "At least tell me what your plan is before I die."
> Blofeld: "I'm not falling for that one again!" (The Simpsons)
>
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