![]() ![]() There are usually compromises to be made when reading sci-fi, which is frustrating but it wouldn't put me off entirely. Has Columbus Day put you off other books in this genre? I think it takes more skill than Alanson has to splice the two, if it were even possible. Write a serious book about a soliders' experience of cutting edge war in space, or a lighthearted satire of humanity when shown to be idiotic in the face of greater intelligence. However, it's not really either element of the book that really bothered me, it was the rather crude splicing of what felt like two different ideas together. Humour is really difficult to pull off (Adams was a master) and Alanson frankly isn't all that funny - obvious gags about Facebook and Cat videos don't really cut it. ![]() ![]() Suddenly we're in Douglas Adams territory - being invited to laugh at ourselves as a species. ![]() However, the abrupt shift in tone halfway through the book (the character 'Skippy' is introduced) is jarring. There's very little hard sci-fi here - by limiting us to our Sergeant's perspective we're never allowed/invited to grasp any of the mind-blowing changes that alien contact might have initiated, and I was left dissapointed by the limiting of perspective. Indeed, the book contains all the gung-ho Americana you want, if that's your thing (it's not my thing). The book is written from the perspective of a Sergeant in the US Army. What disappointed you about Columbus Day? Heinlein or Adams? Maybe pick one and run with it ![]()
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