[ReacTor] "Bad Books", and the Readers That Love Them

[James Nicoll]

"Bad Books", and the Readers That Love Them

Inexplicably not titled "Why I Own Most of Hal Clement's Novels."

https://reactormag.com/bad-books-and-the-readers-that-love-them/

[Cryptoengineer]

Post by James Nicoll
"Bad Books", and the Readers That Love Them
Inexplicably not titled "Why I Own Most of Hal Clement's Novels."
https://reactormag.com/bad-books-and-the-readers-that-love-them/

Sometimes the setting is extraordinary enough to grab the attention,
regardless possible presence of plot holes and poor characterization.

examples:

Rendevous with Rama
Ringworld
SeveneveS

pt

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by James Nicoll
"Bad Books", and the Readers That Love Them
Inexplicably not titled "Why I Own Most of Hal Clement's Novels."
https://reactormag.com/bad-books-and-the-readers-that-love-them/

Your bad book is my exciting young men's adventure story.

Lynn

[John Savard]

Post by James Nicoll
"Bad Books", and the Readers That Love Them
Inexplicably not titled "Why I Own Most of Hal Clement's Novels."
https://reactormag.com/bad-books-and-the-readers-that-love-them/

A great column!

Why do I think this column is great? Clearly it's a bad column; it
advocates wrongthink!

Ah, but it scratches my itch! It defends the right to exist of genre
fiction in general, and golden age pulp SF in particular! In
*addition* to the lesser-quality, much derided, 'bad' science fiction
of today which dares to offend the sensibilities of this more advanced
time by attempting to cater to the same audiences as consumed pulp
science fiction in days of yore.

Despite the much higher price of newsprint these days, as well as the
availability of the Internet, video games, and other distractions,
which are the cause of print fiction being almost wholly conquered by
those left-wing Arts graduates who insist on three-dimensional
characters and all the rest of the ingredients of real literature.

I remember, ages ago, reading a magazine article from a "Sunday
Supplement" (actually came with the Saturday edition, as here in
Canada our newspapers were influenced by old blue laws) titled "A Tree
Grows in Brazil", I think, about how a super-fast growing tree variety
developed to grow in Brazil was going to put the Canadian forestry
industry out of business.

Since the high cost of newsprint has contributed to the decline of
pulp genre fiction including pulp SF, this has given me a
science-fiction story idea. A science fiction fan who wishes to bring
back the good old days decides to go into silvicultural research.

Hilarity, or at least something on the order of kudzu, ensues.

John Savard

[John Savard]

On Wed, 17 Apr 2024 15:33:44 -0600, John Savard

Post by John Savard
Since the high cost of newsprint has contributed to the decline of
pulp genre fiction including pulp SF, this has given me a
science-fiction story idea. A science fiction fan who wishes to bring
back the good old days decides to go into silvicultural research.
Hilarity, or at least something on the order of kudzu, ensues.

Of course, the title "The Word for World is Forest" has already been
taken, for a story of quite a different kind...

John Savard

[Christian Weisgerber]

Post by James Nicoll
"Bad Books", and the Readers That Love Them
Inexplicably not titled "Why I Own Most of Hal Clement's Novels."
https://reactormag.com/bad-books-and-the-readers-that-love-them/

| Sometimes readers simply want ripping adventure stories inspired by
| the unusual behavior of water at 374 C under a pressure of 218
| atmospheres.[3]

_Close to Critical_, I guess? It's been too long, I don't recall
anything about it.

"Unusual", of course, is betraying your biased viewpoint. Everybody
knows that water is... a rock. (_Still River_, where the human is
the very literally hot-blooded one.)

| [3] Yes, yes, eutectic water/ammonia mixes are also cool.

_Star Light_. Possibly others. Clement really had a thing for the
properties of water/ammonia mixes, but I think _Star Light_ was his
only novel basically built around that. And Dondragmer got to be
more than the reliable second-in-command, although you could still
get a paper cut from his character.

[Robert Woodward]

Post by Christian Weisgerber

Post by James Nicoll
"Bad Books", and the Readers That Love Them
Inexplicably not titled "Why I Own Most of Hal Clement's Novels."
https://reactormag.com/bad-books-and-the-readers-that-love-them/

| Sometimes readers simply want ripping adventure stories inspired by
| the unusual behavior of water at 374 C under a pressure of 218
| atmospheres.[3]
_Close to Critical_, I guess? It's been too long, I don't recall
anything about it.
"Unusual", of course, is betraying your biased viewpoint. Everybody
knows that water is... a rock.

Ahem, a gas - see _Ice World_.

[Scott Dorsey]

Post by Robert Woodward

Post by Christian Weisgerber

Post by James Nicoll
"Bad Books", and the Readers That Love Them
Inexplicably not titled "Why I Own Most of Hal Clement's Novels."
https://reactormag.com/bad-books-and-the-readers-that-love-them/

| Sometimes readers simply want ripping adventure stories inspired by
| the unusual behavior of water at 374 C under a pressure of 218
| atmospheres.[3]
_Close to Critical_, I guess? It's been too long, I don't recall
anything about it.
"Unusual", of course, is betraying your biased viewpoint. Everybody
knows that water is... a rock.

Ahem, a gas - see _Ice World_.

Water is a liquid except under very unusual circumstances. I know there are
places like "Buffalo" and "Michigan" where water can be seen in solid form
but this is not normal and not to be encountered under conditions capable of
supporting human life. Also it is ruins perfectly good whisky. Beware at
all times of solid water.
--scott

[John Savard]

Post by Scott Dorsey
I know there are
places like "Buffalo" and "Michigan" where water can be seen in solid form
but this is not normal and not to be encountered under conditions capable of
supporting human life.

Our expedition to the planet Earth has shown that humans are more
capable of adaptation to extreme environments than you give them
credit for. For example, we have observed a place called "Canada".

As another example, the political unit which contains both "Michigan"
and "New York" (in which "Buffalo" is contained) also includes an area
known as "Alaska", which does have numerous human occupants. However,
it is possible that extreme cold has deleterious effects on human
intelligence; we have noted the individual human "Sarah Paliln" who
hails from "Alaska".

They also have a competition called the "Iditarod" which some have
taken to jocularly naming the "Idiot Rod", so this may indicate some
correlation between the effects of extreme cold and risk-taking
behavior, although that is far from being necessarily true;
exaggeration to avail oneself of an opportunity for humor is known
even among our race.

John Savard

[Michael F. Stemper]

Post by Scott Dorsey

Post by Robert Woodward

Post by Christian Weisgerber
"Unusual", of course, is betraying your biased viewpoint. Everybody
knows that water is... a rock.

Ahem, a gas - see _Ice World_.

Water is a liquid except under very unusual circumstances. I know there are
places like "Buffalo" and "Michigan" where water can be seen in solid form
but this is not normal and not to be encountered under conditions capable of
supporting human life. Also it is ruins perfectly good whisky. Beware at
all times of solid water.

You have it backwards. I lived in Minnesota for 37 years, and know that
0 C is defined as the temperature at which water temporarily goes into
its liquid state.

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Michael F. Stemper

Post by Robert Woodward

"Unusual", of course, is betraying your biased viewpoint.  Everybody
knows that water is... a rock.

Ahem, a gas - see _Ice World_.

Water is a liquid except under very unusual circumstances.  I know
there are
places like "Buffalo" and "Michigan" where water can be seen in solid form
but this is not normal and not to be encountered under conditions capable of
supporting human life.  Also it is ruins perfectly good whisky.
Beware at
all times of solid water.

You have it backwards. I lived in Minnesota for 37 years, and know that
0 C is defined as the temperature at which water temporarily goes into
its liquid state.

My Minnesota engineer programmer agrees with you.

Lynn

[The Horny Goat]

On Tue, 30 Apr 2024 14:48:51 -0500, Lynn McGuire

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Michael F. Stemper
You have it backwards. I lived in Minnesota for 37 years, and know that
0 C is defined as the temperature at which water temporarily goes into
its liquid state.

My Minnesota engineer programmer agrees with you.

And having gone through 4 Winnipeg winters are amazed water ever goes
non-solid...especially in downtown Winnipeg where the arctic winds
blow through the towers of the downtown...

[James Nicoll]

Post by The Horny Goat
On Tue, 30 Apr 2024 14:48:51 -0500, Lynn McGuire

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Michael F. Stemper
You have it backwards. I lived in Minnesota for 37 years, and know that
0 C is defined as the temperature at which water temporarily goes into
its liquid state.

My Minnesota engineer programmer agrees with you.

And having gone through 4 Winnipeg winters are amazed water ever goes
non-solid...especially in downtown Winnipeg where the arctic winds
blow through the towers of the downtown...

Waterloo Region's transit system gives every sign of being designed
by people who don't ever plan on using it. One glaring example is
the bus stop at King and Victoria, which is a narrow island between
the ION tracks and King Street. The buildings around the intersection
focus wind down past the bus stop and because the island is so narrow,
the pathetic shelter is completely ineffective. Rain is unpleasant,
snow is also bad (1) but neither is as awful as freezing rain.

That was the stop where I had to fend off some guy trying to strangle
me. It posed an interesting tactical challenge, as I didn't want to
be forced back onto the tracks and I didn't want to push the guy into
heavy King Street traffic [2]. Happily, it turned out I am much better at
blocking than he was at grabbing.

The way the crowd came to my assistance after he ran off was very
heartening.

1: Especially last year, when the private contracter just didn't
bother to remove the icy bank blocking the access end of the island.

2: I had somewhere to be and at the least there would have been
paperwork. Before anyone asks, I couldn't hit him with my cane
without risking charges, as he was unarmed.

[William Hyde]

Post by Michael F. Stemper

Post by Robert Woodward

"Unusual", of course, is betraying your biased viewpoint.  Everybody
knows that water is... a rock.

Ahem, a gas - see _Ice World_.

Water is a liquid except under very unusual circumstances.  I know
there are
places like "Buffalo" and "Michigan" where water can be seen in solid form
but this is not normal and not to be encountered under conditions capable of
supporting human life.  Also it is ruins perfectly good whisky.
Beware at
all times of solid water.

You have it backwards. I lived in Minnesota for 37 years, and know that
0 C is defined as the temperature at which water temporarily goes into
its liquid state.

Molten ice has been falling from the sky hereabouts of late. The only
reasonable conclusion is that there's a volcano in the area.

William Hyde

[Joy Beeson]

I'd make the definition still narrower: Fan Fiction is fiction
written by a fan of a work *as a way of enjoying the original work*.


When one *really* enjoys a work, one thinks about it afterward. The
fanficcer takes it one step further and writes those thoughts down.

Sharing fanfic is a way of talking about the story.

[Default User]

Post by James Nicoll
"Bad Books", and the Readers That Love Them
Inexplicably not titled "Why I Own Most of Hal Clement's Novels."

I think just a general "what's right with the book resonantes enough
with the reader that the other things can be overlooked."