On Jun 8, 2005, at 9:42 AM, Carole McDonnell wrote: > O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from Him, whose > name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and > the Hereafter, and one of those brought near unto Allah. > > (Sorry I had to go look at my Koran for all these references but am > just trying to prove the point that the book seems as if it's written > by someone whose knowledge of the Koran is nil. I feel much the same > way when someone writes about Christianity and has Christian > characters doing stuff that they simply would not do.) > So Christianity is so intertwined into the Koran, it is way too > convenient (and unresearched) for an author to make an Islamic world > where Jesus doesn't really amount to much. Why didn't Barnes talk > about the original cultures that were destroyed by Islamic Jihads? > Ethiopia for instance, which was originally Christian. It was too > convenient for him to simply have Christianity kinda peter out. And > way too convenient for him to have characters who dis Jesus. Jesus is > pretty respected in the Koran. > > I just found the book unresearched and careless. Its a subtle dissing > of Christianity because it makes the religion on which its > characters' religion is based seem so unimportant. It just turned me > off by not being more true to its characters. And by not seeming to > know the major religion of its characters. But, as I've said, I > didn't finish reading it. Maybe Lions Blood redeems itself in the > end. >
This is excellent, and another general example of what I am referring to. The king of alternate history is Harry Turtledove. I don't like all of his works, but what characterizes his works is a deep understanding of history and the causal mechanisms that drive them. His worldbuilding skills are unparalleled. Now he's got a white supremacy thing going on, like most white american sf authors. Until Barnes, no one thought to ask the question "what would happen if Africa actually had AGENCY?" And he should be applauded for that. But to get to the next level, Barnes has to improve significantly on his worldbuilding skills. If he's going to do alternate history, he's got to do some serious work to GET THE HISTORY RIGHT. lks > Dr. Lester K. Spence Assistant Professor, Political Science, Afro-American Studies Washington University Kellogg Scholar in Health Disparities [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/pkgkPB/SOnJAA/Zx0JAA/DtIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Community email addresses: Post message: SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe Digest Mode: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SciFiNoir_Lit/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SciFiNoir_Lit/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
