Re: [FH] Pantropists and John Crimmins was ecofundamentalists

On Mon, 18 Nov 2002 16:36:02 -0500, "laserlight@quixnet.net"
<laserlight@quixnet.net> wrote :

> >One idea that might work as an SGII scenario is a hapless force
that's
> landed on a planet that's been settled by Pantropists.  Those local
animals
> are a lot more intelligent -- and hostile -- than they first
appear.... 
> 
> The "unreasonably hostile critters" thing has been done, though--Harry
> Harrison's Warworld IIRC, and David Drake's Redliners, among others. 
What
> sets the Pantheistic Eco Terrorist Association apart?  Maybe instead
of
> vicioiusly attacking with weapons, they try to convert the soldiers
instead.

Ah, but the old chestnuts make for fine wargame scenarios, don't they?

As to the other, though....  I recently read an excellent SF book called
_Fallen
Dragon_, by Peter F. Hamilton, that had a *very* similar scene.  The
natives 
do their share of killing the invaders, but seem far more interested in
teaching
them the error of their ways and comverting them to *their* life-style.

Wonderful book, and SGII applicable in a lot of different ways what with
the PA
infantry who are one of the focuses of the book.

This does have me wondering whether there's any place for Transhumanism
in
the Tuffleyverse.  It's a different kind of hard SF, but writers are
treating it with
just as much rigor and accuracy as the traditional stuff.

It allows for a fascinating variety of cultures, something always worth
considering.

And I have no doubt that the Alrishi have a few such cultures
germinating within
their territory....

-- 
John Crimmins
johncrim@voicenet.com
http://www.voicenet.com/~johncrim