Not A Book Review: Necessity by Jo Walton
I just finished it tonight AND I AM SO FRUSTRATED because I had been looking forward to it SO MUCH and FOR A YEAR and...it was not what I was expecting/wanting. >_< Which is, you know, my fault, but still:
The last book concluded with The Just City (per Plato) being removed from ancient Greece to another planet in the 25th century, and they were about to make contact with outside humanity. I was looking forward to a great deal of conversations centering around philosophy, ethical differences and evolutions, and technology.
What I got was a time travel caper where Apollo and others have to rescue Athene because she wanted to go to the primordial Chaos and she got stuck there. While I appreciated what Walton did with her discussions of time, Fate, and Necessity (which roundabouts reminded me of the Prophets from DS9), the whole re-contact plot was relegated to the margins. Not the sidelines, the margins. There is ONE on-page conversation between the "future" humans and the Platonists, which, frankly, felt like a waste of an awesome idea.
What I take from this is I need to find time to write a version of the story that I want. Because that's how I roll. but oy.
~
IN OTHER NEWS:
I beta'd a lovely story for fritz42, posted here.
I found out via another friend that I was quoted in a keynote at this year's Slayage which makes me feel extraordinarily delighted and slightly important. ;)
I'm so behind on so many things. How does this happen to me? IDEK.
The last book concluded with The Just City (per Plato) being removed from ancient Greece to another planet in the 25th century, and they were about to make contact with outside humanity. I was looking forward to a great deal of conversations centering around philosophy, ethical differences and evolutions, and technology.
What I got was a time travel caper where Apollo and others have to rescue Athene because she wanted to go to the primordial Chaos and she got stuck there. While I appreciated what Walton did with her discussions of time, Fate, and Necessity (which roundabouts reminded me of the Prophets from DS9), the whole re-contact plot was relegated to the margins. Not the sidelines, the margins. There is ONE on-page conversation between the "future" humans and the Platonists, which, frankly, felt like a waste of an awesome idea.
What I take from this is I need to find time to write a version of the story that I want. Because that's how I roll. but oy.
~
IN OTHER NEWS:
I beta'd a lovely story for fritz42, posted here.
I found out via another friend that I was quoted in a keynote at this year's Slayage which makes me feel extraordinarily delighted and slightly important. ;)
I'm so behind on so many things. How does this happen to me? IDEK.