Lightray

Re: Jane's Superhumans
 
Now we're starting to see what sort of can of worms would be opened by this sort of thing. The question is, how do we handle "living weapons" compared to ordinary citizens. How can we allow someone on a plane who is far more powerful than an assault rifle while we don't allow people to bring firearms onto planes? Where and how do you draw the lines in these cases?
 
Is it all right for precognatives to buy lottery tickets? Can telepaths work on Wall Street or in other professions where access to information can lead to serious issues? Again, where and how do you draw the lines in these cases?

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...
 
Just finished the final two parts of the Windsinger Quartet by Megan Lindholm. Very low power action focussing on a gypsy trader and her friend.
The third book looks at a trap weaved by a Windsinger against Ki (the gypsy trader) which sends her into another realm. Here she becomes entranced and tries to create a new marvel which is what the thing in the realm wants until she is rescued by her friend.
The fourth book deals with transporting human cargo, an empath which they don't discover until later. A rebellion and a villainous Duke complicate matters.
 
I would give this 7 to 7.5 out of 10.

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...
 

Yeah, a lot of OSC's stuff tends to affect me that way. Cool ideas, pretty good writing, and then... thud. Treason, same way.
 
I just finished Perdido Street Station which was a cool book seriously infected with kitchen-sink-itis. It didn't have a few innovative or weird ideas -- it had hundreds and hundreds of them. And every single one of them showed up again at some point (Jack Half-A-Prayer mention, cameo later, check. eye-stealing criminal mentioned, throwaway mention later, check).
 
Lots of people I've talked to gushed about PSS because of it is so different, but a little restraint would not have been amiss on the author's part.
 
The Khepri, though, just bugged. Pun intended. They're a race with womans' bodies and beetles as heads -- not with beetle heads, but beetles AS heads. So they have headlegs and headwings, why, exactly? Complete disbelief suspender-snapper, every time that showed up.
 
But otherwise, a good book.