That makes me want to read Very Bad Deaths very much, which was probably not your intended effect.
Oh no, I thought it was quite good, but it’s not really for the weak of stomach. One of the main characters is also basically Spider Robinson himself, so if that’s not your cup of tea I would suggest looking elsewhere—personally, though, I did find it quite entertaining.
Are you sure you’re not making the mistake of confusing a character’s beliefs with the authors?
No—in fact I’m nearly positive that I am making that mistake, but I find it comparatively hard to not make given Robinson’s general style. The whole thing just squicks me out.
I would also argue that, for much of Robinson’s work, the characters’ beliefs are those of the author (and indeed the characters themselves are essentially the author)-- though I don’t think Night of Power suffers from this.
Just curious, have you read Heinlein’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”? Night of Power is full of allusions to it and it may not make as much sense if you haven’t.
Certainly I have. Robinson has always struck me as sort of a bargain-basement Heinlein.
I’m trying to understand exactly what squicks you, and I’m not doing a very good job… the Revolution in Night of Power was pretty peaceful as revolutions go.
Ok, but… wouldn’t the same objection apply to virtually any action/adventure movie or novel? Kick Ass, all the Die Hard movies, anything Tarantino, James Bond, Robert Ludlum’s Bourne Identity novels and movies, et cetera. They all have similar violent scenes.
I can’t think of any point in Die Hard where John McClane kills prisoners in cold blood (in fact, there are two times where he almost dies because he tries to arrest terrorists instead of just shooting them). And I do consider all such scenes objectionable—for instance, in Serenity, when Zny fubbgf gur fheivivat Nyyvnapr thl sebz gur fuvc gung qrfgeblrq Obbx’f frggyrzrag, or when gur Bcrengvir fnlf ur vf hanezrq, fb Zny whfg chyyf n tha naq fubbgf uvz, I had the same squicky reaction.
See, I liked that scene. Gur Bcrengvir jnf gelvat gb pngpu crbcyr haqre Zny’f cebgrpgvba fb gurl pbhyq or neerfgrq naq gbegherq be rkrphgrq. Ur jnf jvyyvat gb xvyy Zny naq rirelbar ryfr ur pnerq nobhg va beqre gb qb fb. Pngpuvat uvz bss thneq naq xvyyvat uvz jbhyq unir fnirq n ybg bs yvirf, rira vs vg jnfa’g va nal jnl snve. Squicky? Sure. Actually the wrong thing to do? Not so much.
I can’t think of any point in Die Hard where John McClane kills prisoners in cold blood (in fact, there are two times where he almost dies because he tries to arrest terrorists instead of just shooting them). And I do consider all such scenes objectionable
Which scenes are you saying are objectionable? The ones where MClane puts the lives of himself and all those he is trying to protect in danger by not shooting terrorists when he should have? Those squick me out. Utter negligence when so many lives are at stake.
McClane is probably too far in the other direction, but to be fair he’s a cop (so he has extra rules to abide by, not just normal morality) and he definitely doesn’t understand the magnitude of the situation at first.
Oh no, I thought it was quite good, but it’s not really for the weak of stomach. One of the main characters is also basically Spider Robinson himself, so if that’s not your cup of tea I would suggest looking elsewhere—personally, though, I did find it quite entertaining.
No—in fact I’m nearly positive that I am making that mistake, but I find it comparatively hard to not make given Robinson’s general style. The whole thing just squicks me out.
I would also argue that, for much of Robinson’s work, the characters’ beliefs are those of the author (and indeed the characters themselves are essentially the author)-- though I don’t think Night of Power suffers from this.
Certainly I have. Robinson has always struck me as sort of a bargain-basement Heinlein.
I’m trying to understand exactly what squicks you, and I’m not doing a very good job… the Revolution in Night of Power was pretty peaceful as revolutions go.
Gur cneg jurer gur znva punenpgref zheqre n pncgvir (be pncgvirf? Vg’f orra n juvyr) ol fcenlvat tyhr vagb gurve abfr/zbhgu naq pnhfvat gurz gb nfculkvngr vf n tbbq rknzcyr bs jung V sbhaq fdhvpxl nobhg gung obbx.
Jura gurl’er nobhg gb encr Wraavsre? Ur qrfreirf gung naq vg’f frys-qrsrafr
Ertneqyrff bs jurgure fbzrbar “qrfreirf vg,” zheqrevat pncgvirf va tehrfbzr naq rkpehpvngvat znaaref vf orlbaq gur cnyr. Gung’f nyfb abg frys-qrsrafr ol nal fgnaqneq gung V xabj bs, fvapr gur crefba va dhrfgvba jnf nyernql haqre gurve pbageby.
Ok, but… wouldn’t the same objection apply to virtually any action/adventure movie or novel? Kick Ass, all the Die Hard movies, anything Tarantino, James Bond, Robert Ludlum’s Bourne Identity novels and movies, et cetera. They all have similar violent scenes.
I can’t think of any point in Die Hard where John McClane kills prisoners in cold blood (in fact, there are two times where he almost dies because he tries to arrest terrorists instead of just shooting them). And I do consider all such scenes objectionable—for instance, in Serenity, when Zny fubbgf gur fheivivat Nyyvnapr thl sebz gur fuvc gung qrfgeblrq Obbx’f frggyrzrag, or when gur Bcrengvir fnlf ur vf hanezrq, fb Zny whfg chyyf n tha naq fubbgf uvz, I had the same squicky reaction.
See, I liked that scene. Gur Bcrengvir jnf gelvat gb pngpu crbcyr haqre Zny’f cebgrpgvba fb gurl pbhyq or neerfgrq naq gbegherq be rkrphgrq. Ur jnf jvyyvat gb xvyy Zny naq rirelbar ryfr ur pnerq nobhg va beqre gb qb fb. Pngpuvat uvz bss thneq naq xvyyvat uvz jbhyq unir fnirq n ybg bs yvirf, rira vs vg jnfa’g va nal jnl snve. Squicky? Sure. Actually the wrong thing to do? Not so much.
Which scenes are you saying are objectionable? The ones where MClane puts the lives of himself and all those he is trying to protect in danger by not shooting terrorists when he should have? Those squick me out. Utter negligence when so many lives are at stake.
McClane is probably too far in the other direction, but to be fair he’s a cop (so he has extra rules to abide by, not just normal morality) and he definitely doesn’t understand the magnitude of the situation at first.