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I just recently read this and enjoyed it. One criticism is that although the physics is "hard" (i.e., relatively accurate), the sociology and psychology of the
by jessriedel 6y ago
I just recently read this and enjoyed it. One criticism is that although the physics is "hard" (i.e., relatively accurate), the sociology and psychology of the creatures is silly. Despite dramatically different biology, the creatures act extremely similar to humans with only a few bizarre tweaks (e.g., widespread polyamory and orgies, which play essentially zero role in plot development).
- watersb 6y agoYes, Forward does not have characters, in terms of agents with motivations and opinions. They are engineering constraints. If you can treat these books as something like Socratic dialogue, or Medieval theatre, then you can get a feel for Forward's facility with gravitational dynamics. Quadrupole radiation. Relativistic mechanics.
- jessriedel 6y agoThis is a different criticism than the one I was making, although it's also basically valid.
- solipsism 6y agoName a book where the sociology and psychology of alien creatures is not silly and similar to that of humans. Seriously, please do, because I'll read it :)
- jessriedel 6y agoI agree this is a perennial problem. I think at least there are books where the aliens basically cannot be interpreted.