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From: chuqui@cae780.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: inherit the stars
Message-ID: <216@cae780.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 16-Dec-83 12:31:31 EST
Article-I.D.: cae780.216
Posted: Fri Dec 16 12:31:31 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 21-Dec-83 01:36:09 EST
Organization: CAESystems, Inc. Sunnyvale
Lines: 23

Since James Hogan was GOH at Baycon, I decided that I should probably read
some of his work (someone, obviously likes him). Well, I got ahold of a
copy of 'Inherit the Stars' and dived in...

James Hogan writes hard SF. He writes what used to be known as Cambellian
SF, although I don't think Campbell would have liked Inherit the Stars. Its
not a bad book if you like technology, because what he has done is set up
an impossible fact and let the scientific world try to explain it. This he
does very well. Unfortunately, I got the feeling from the book that there
was simply no plot. You went from discussion to discussion until the entire
mystery is solved. There was also very little time for minor things like
character development (many of them existed solely to divulge their special
bits of knowledge).

Overall, I was disappointed, because while Hogan can obviously write well,
this book was very lopsided, since it was so strong on the technology but
very weak in the other areas of storytelling. If he can get that tendency
under control, he might be a very good writer. From what I have heard of
his other books, he hasn't yet, and I, frankly, have other authors I'd
rather read...