On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 23:57:54 -0230, Travis Edmunds <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >From: Julia Randolph <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Subject: Re: The Mercies of The Vatican
> >Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 22:46:59 -0500
> >
> > > On Aug 31, 2004, at 6:47 PM, Alberto Monteiro wrote:
> > > I don't really buy the idea of someone becoming "immortal" by
> > > putting his consciousness into a machine. There'd be immediate
> > > divergence which would only grow over time; in essence you'd have two
> > > distinct entities in very short order. (Oh, you could kill the body --
> > > but that would end the distinct consciousness in the body. I don't
> > > think there's one "essence" allotted to a person, IOW.)
> >
> >Poul Anderson explored this some in his series beginning with _Harvest
> >the Stars_. I recommend it. (Not just for that, but for other
> >"divergence" issues.)
>
> But would you recommend it for it's quality as a novel? Personally I thought
> it was a poor book.
It wasn't as good as the second in the series, which I read first. If
I read a series out of order, I'm expecting the first one not to be
quite so good. (I'd gotten the second one as a gift from a friend
who's recommended books that weren't so great in quality as novels,
but which explored some ideas new to me and those ideas were the basis
for recommendation.)
It beats a lot of pulp, certainly, but it's not in the league with any
of the recent Hugo winners, how's that? :)
Julia
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