OT: Hard SF Niven (was "Memorare" hardcover)

Jeff Wilson · 08 Dec 2007, 16:08 · from 2007-December.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 10:08:17 -0600
Subject: (urth) OT: Hard SF Niven (was "Memorare" hardcover)
In-Reply-To: <39ed084f0712072200p36388869t8bbf5b2c4227c58c at mail.gmail.com>
References: <39ed084f0712051723i21ca06fejc1e91cb376710b43 at mail.gmail.com>	<4758D574.8070806 at io.com>	<3207E7A2-4325-445B-A617-EB4361C994D2 at gmail.com>
	<39ed084f0712072200p36388869t8bbf5b2c4227c58c at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <475AC171.8090200 at io.com>

Matthew Groves wrote:
> On Dec 7, 2007 12:22 PM, Matthew King <automatthew at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Dec 6, 2007, at 11:09 PM, Jeff Wilson wrote:
>>> [Niven is] not truly a hard SF writer, though he puts on
>>> such
>>> a good show that most people don't notice he's swept the fossil record
>>> under the rug, for example.
>> Do you mean the Protector-breeder origin of humans?
> 
> I did have that reaction when I read Protector:  If the breeders where
> homo habilis, then why does homo habilis seem to share ancestory with
> other Terran species?

The shared ancestry among primates is explained by induced mutation, but 
  no explanation is made to connect primates with the rest of earthly life.

> However, from what I've read of Niven's, his greatest sin against
> scientific plausibility, in my opinion, is "luck breeding."

To be sure, that part is metafictional one-upmanship rather than an 
integral part of the plot. Psi powers were very popular among genre 
fiction at the time, and it's hard to top the power to control the 
author/editor/publisher.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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