Gah -- Input

Read the rest of Rainbows End last night. It's a science fiction novel that amberley recommended and I'm very glad he did. Vernor Vinge being really really good again. Just that one step further into the future (maybe five or ten years?) that's still really understandable, but still really amazing to just see.

I loved it, utterly, for the characters as much as the world and the main thrust of the plot line. I love how well Vinge slices through his storyline, leaving everything that supports what his characters do, and using the cumulation of all that development to make the ending work. It's really astonishingly good writing, and I really enjoyed it at that level, too.

I also gulped down all of Saiyuki Gaiden last night. I love the way it expanded the characters, and I found myself with a much deeper appreciation of all of them from it. I thought Kenren (Goyjo) was really astonishingly cool by the end of it, and I fell in love with Tenpou as someone rather different than Hakkai. That was interesting to find out.

One of the things about Tenpou that I loved was his habit of working until he passed out. I used to do that. Literally. 72 hours on a project and I finished enough of it that when I passed out under the lab desk, no one bothered me until grading time.

( Cut for various spoilers. )

Gah -- Input

Read the rest of Rainbows End last night. It's a science fiction novel that amberley recommended and I'm very glad he did. Vernor Vinge being really really good again. Just that one step further into the future (maybe five or ten years?) that's still really understandable, but still really amazing to just see.

I loved it, utterly, for the characters as much as the world and the main thrust of the plot line. I love how well Vinge slices through his storyline, leaving everything that supports what his characters do, and using the cumulation of all that development to make the ending work. It's really astonishingly good writing, and I really enjoyed it at that level, too.

I also gulped down all of Saiyuki Gaiden last night. I love the way it expanded the characters, and I found myself with a much deeper appreciation of all of them from it. I thought Kenren (Goyjo) was really astonishingly cool by the end of it, and I fell in love with Tenpou as someone rather different than Hakkai. That was interesting to find out.

One of the things about Tenpou that I loved was his habit of working until he passed out. I used to do that. Literally. 72 hours on a project and I finished enough of it that when I passed out under the lab desk, no one bothered me until grading time.

( Cut for various spoilers. )