Re: Unofficial GZG Fiction

On Sun, 1 Feb 1998 19:55:00 +1000, "Glover, Owen"
<oglover@mov.vic.gov.au> wrote:

>What's "Rod-and-Don-ism"?

It's a science fiction literary term. It's where one character
explains something to another character--which the second character
should already know--for the sake of exposition. It comes from a
conversation by two characters, typically "Rod" and "Don."

"Oh, no," said Rod, "they've broken out the Vorpal Ray!"
"You mean that weapon that can cut through our armour in a single
shot?" asked Don.
"That's right! And, as you know, only Venusians have the Vorpal Ray.
That must be a Venusian starcruiser!"
"Which means that it is susceptible to our Prune Mines!"
"Right you are, Don!"

The story in question wasn't anywhere near this bad, but I got the
feeling a couple of times that characters were saying something that
the other characters should have already known.

Allan Goodall	     agoodall@sympatico.ca

"Once again, the half time score, 
 Alien Overlords: 142,000. Scotland: zip."
  - This Hour Has 22 Minutes