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From: friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: "Footfall" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Message-ID: <908@psivax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 18-Dec-85 12:49:31 EST
Article-I.D.: psivax.908
Posted: Wed Dec 18 12:49:31 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 21-Dec-85 19:01:11 EST
References: <981@utai.UUCP>
Reply-To: friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen)
Distribution: net
Organization: Pacesetter Systems Inc., Sylmar, CA
Lines: 31

In article <981@utai.UUCP> perelgut@utai.UUCP (Stephen Perelgut) writes:
>
>Footfall is the latest collaboration between Niven and Pournelle.  This is 
>a BIG book (500 pages).  It has to be.  It has a BIG cast.
>
>The aliens are well thought out and their culture (what little of it appears
>within the story) makes a kind of sense.  I don't quite believe it, but...
>
>The story itself is nothing to write home about.  There is a cast of thousands
>all of whom turn out to know each other (quite frequently in the biblical sense
>of the word "know").

	To a large extent this is because they really *do* know each
other! Yes, that's right, a large part of the cast is based on *real*
people that Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle know.

>Remove the gratuitous sex, stupid coincidences, extra characters that don't 
>add much to the plot (an entire survivalist group that exists in the book 
>for one purpose [last 100 pages], which purpose is only there to move one
>character to the right place at the right time, who is only there to ...)
>and you have a 125-150 page book without a lot to recommend it.

	Actually, the survivalist group is probably there because
Jerry Pournelle is a leader of the local survivalist group!
>
-- 

				Sarima (Stanley Friesen)

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