Siaynoq

As I walked to the park for the matsuri the other night, I was strangely reminded of the festival city of Onn.

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Last night I decided to take a break and read a bit more of The Gripping Hand by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. And was reminded that space-opera collaborations can remain true to genre and be well written. (I reread The Mote in God's Eye—and most of the Ringworld series as well—while home in the States the summer before last. The earlier book is even more "space-operatic", but it didn't bother me all that much.)

Even though these books rely on fictional devices just as improbable as genetic memory and space-folding (e.g., the alien Moties and Alderson Drive), they remain true to to the limitations of their universe and ours, insofar as the latter are applicable. None of this "racing" about within and between star systems. A journey takes time, measured in hours, days, and weeks.

The same can be said of writing a good book. Or series.