Re: Communication and Travel

On Sun, 14 Jun 1998 22:03:39 -0400, Christopher Pratt
<valen@gatecom.com>
wrote:

>This whole discussion remind me of a Larry Niven novel (which list
discussion don't remind somebody of a Larry niven novel)
>anybody ever read footfall...a great book about an alien invasion by
little elephants :)
>don't let that turn you away from a really great book though
>the aliens used the ships to ruthlessly maintain control of both air
and orbit and did much of 
>what we have been talking about here
>
>an excellent read

<<shudder>> Ooooo, sorry, but I thought Footfall was pretty stinky. I
hated
the ending. It's almost like they had no way of ending the novel. They
kill
off one character for no reason whatsoever, too, just out of the blue.
Roundly
considered by SF critics to be the worst of the Niven and Pournelle
books.

On the other hand, it does have some neat DS2 applications. You're right
about
how the critters handled air and orbit. There's also the nuclear bomb
powered
launch vehicle, that would make an interesting FT ship. I think Mote in
Gods
Eye has better GZG applications, though.

Allan Goodall	      agoodall@sympatico.ca

I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like 
my grandfather. Not screaming in terror like
his passengers.