Lucas Blogs About D.A.
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| Hmm, I know I've seen this book cover before . . . somewhere. |
So, what's this book's de—motherf—
Last one, I promise.
I just think you're setting a bad precedent. What if you finally finish one of your phonebook sized short story collections?
We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.
You know that's not the expr—
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| Oh, and spoilers for "Remake," I guess. |
AUGH! So, the deal?
All right, so Theodora Baumgarten finds her life transformed when she's whisked away to the IASA's (International Air and Space Administration, I assume) academy. And get this, it's in SPACE! SPACE! SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE!
So I take it that she's excited?
Naw, her bunkmate, Libby, is ecstatic, but Theodora hates it, not least of all because she didn't apply to go to the academy—she wanted to go to UCLA. However, when an assembly is called to announce the latest Academy appointee, it's Theodora. After a few hours, she's whisked away on a shuttle bound for the Robert A. Heinlein space station (get it?) better known as the RAH. Surely there's been some kind of a mistake, but the registrar (eventually) shows Theodora a very convincing application and test results with her name. Fortunately, she doesn't give up that easily, and has an equally stubborn friend back on Earth who's able to hack into the Academy's comm systems and contact Theodora through her phone. It all starts to seem like maybe there's some kind of conspiracy going on. I'd say more, but, well, it's a really more of a long short story than a novella. It's only forty-one pages.
So maybe it was a mistake for you to cover each of the stories in Terra Icognita as individual blog posts?
I stand by that choice! Anyway, this story is a fun twist on more conventional space military academy type stories like Starship Troopers or Ender's Game. However, it isn't a parody or genre pastiche; it's definitely a for realsies science fiction story. Theodora may not like or even excel at the Academy, but by the end of the story, the revelation of the twist (by far the most guessable of the story twists in the volume) does make a certain kind of sense.
Is that the real reason you split these up?
What?
So that you wouldn't have to awkwardly talk around three twist endings in one blog post?
No, I just thought I could lazily squeeze three blog posts out of a single book. Although, now that you mention it, I was wondering why these three novellas were published together, and I think I've worked it out.
Do tell.
I will. So, each story sets up a problem: Carson and Finriddy don't know why Bult is acting weird, Tom can't figure out how Alis's face is popping up in old musicals, Theodora doesn't know how she was selected to go to the Academy without applying. And each of them, while not impossible, seem difficult to resolve without breaking some established rule of the setting.
Okay, I think I see where you're going with this. It's sort of like I, Robot.
Yeah, it's like I, Robot, where each story is essentially a mystery where the roboticist or technician has to figure out how the weird thing the robot is doing makes sense under the three laws of robotics. Each of these three stories is a mystery where the answer is sort of sitting in front of your face the whole time because the resolution actually works within the framework of the science fiction worlds they take place in.
Neat.
Yeah. It's just that unlike I, Robot, these stories aren't set in the same universe. So anyway, yeah, overall I'd say that Terra Incognita is a pretty fun reading experience.
All right . . . buuuuut, do you have anything else to say about "D.A." specifically?
Well, after those two longer novellas it's nice to have something you can read in one sitting. Willis is an engaging writer and efficiently sketches the characters and setting to make for a quick, zippy read.
Zippy?
You know, it's got a lot of pep–verve–vim & vigor.
I'll pretend I know what you mean and we'll move on.
Well, I think we're done.
All right, so did you learn your lesson about trying to squeeze too much content out of a single volume?
. . .
Well, did you?
. . .
Lucas?
Goddamnit!
So maybe it was a mistake for you to cover each of the stories in Terra Icognita as individual blog posts?
I stand by that choice! Anyway, this story is a fun twist on more conventional space military academy type stories like Starship Troopers or Ender's Game. However, it isn't a parody or genre pastiche; it's definitely a for realsies science fiction story. Theodora may not like or even excel at the Academy, but by the end of the story, the revelation of the twist (by far the most guessable of the story twists in the volume) does make a certain kind of sense.
Is that the real reason you split these up?
What?
So that you wouldn't have to awkwardly talk around three twist endings in one blog post?
No, I just thought I could lazily squeeze three blog posts out of a single book. Although, now that you mention it, I was wondering why these three novellas were published together, and I think I've worked it out.
Do tell.
I will. So, each story sets up a problem: Carson and Finriddy don't know why Bult is acting weird, Tom can't figure out how Alis's face is popping up in old musicals, Theodora doesn't know how she was selected to go to the Academy without applying. And each of them, while not impossible, seem difficult to resolve without breaking some established rule of the setting.
Okay, I think I see where you're going with this. It's sort of like I, Robot.
Yeah, it's like I, Robot, where each story is essentially a mystery where the roboticist or technician has to figure out how the weird thing the robot is doing makes sense under the three laws of robotics. Each of these three stories is a mystery where the answer is sort of sitting in front of your face the whole time because the resolution actually works within the framework of the science fiction worlds they take place in.
Neat.
Yeah. It's just that unlike I, Robot, these stories aren't set in the same universe. So anyway, yeah, overall I'd say that Terra Incognita is a pretty fun reading experience.
All right . . . buuuuut, do you have anything else to say about "D.A." specifically?
Well, after those two longer novellas it's nice to have something you can read in one sitting. Willis is an engaging writer and efficiently sketches the characters and setting to make for a quick, zippy read.
Zippy?
You know, it's got a lot of pep–verve–vim & vigor.
I'll pretend I know what you mean and we'll move on.
Well, I think we're done.
All right, so did you learn your lesson about trying to squeeze too much content out of a single volume?
. . .
Well, did you?
. . .
Lucas?
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| Sneak peak at the next six Lucas Blogs About X. |
Goddamnit!
"D.A." from Terra Incognita: Three Novellas by Connie Willis, Del Rey trade paperback edition, 2018 (originally published in 2007), 41 pages, pairs well space sickness meds, the other stories in this collection
Links:
Once again, in case you're into that kinda thing, the author's website.
Links:
Once again, in case you're into that kinda thing, the author's website.
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