Re: The Sparrow

On Thu, 15 May 2008 15:08:52 +0000 (UTC), mchary@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (Michael
Alan Chary) wrote:

>In article <evkn245e38sa9jcsc45pa3j20vjeov4gt1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
>Lawrence Watt-Evans  <lwe@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>On Thu, 15 May 2008 05:43:22 GMT, Gene <gene@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>>>Lawrence Watt-Evans <lwe@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in 
>>>news:k0hn24p8famrqd7mu927kqdtncdgv0tpi3@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>
>>>* I have a Hugo.  I've never read _A Case of Conscience_.
>>>
>>>You've never had a book compared to it either. But really, you should.
>>
>>Why should I have a book compared to it?
>
>Because The Spriggan Mirror was so similar, that I thought it was a
direct 
>swipe...
>
>I think he is merely saying that had someone compared one of your books
in 
>such a fa****on, you might be considered to have some impulse to read that

>other book.

Yes, but he phrased it badly, suggesting not that I should read books
to which my work has been compared, but that I should arrange for my
books to be compared to _A Case of Conscience_.  I found this amusing.

> Your books are somewhat unique, and I don't see much of other 
>authors in them, even where you try to do so deliberately.

Oh, nonsense.  There's lots of similarity to earlier work -- just not
the obvious choices.  One reviewer described _The Chromosomal Code_ as
being exactly what he'd have expected as a lead serial in STARTLING
STORIES if STARTLING STORIES had still been going in 1984, and I think
that's just about right.

I had some of my early short fantasy compared to Leiber -- in fact,
one story was rejected by FANTASTIC because the editor thought my
characters were too much like Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, which did in
fact prompt me to track down Leiber's stories about them.  I didn't
think the similarity was that strong, but I loved Fafhrd & Mouser --
and I eventually sold one story about my pair, "The Temple of Life,"
despite the alleged resemblance.

On the other hand, I've been compared to Dave Duncan several times,
and I've still never read anything by him.  

>That being said, _A Case of Conscience_ is a good book and worth reading,

>but I'd stick Doctor Mirabilis ahead of it. (As did Blish, for that 
>matter.)

Both of those are so far down my list I may never get to them.




-- 
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com
The eighth issue of Helix is now at  http://www.helixsf.com