ext_5333 ([identity profile] juliansinger.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll 2014-06-11 07:19 pm (UTC)

I sort of debated on whether to answer this more extensively, or to just say, "Well, yeah, obviously."

But here I go.

First of all, "Well, yeah, obviously."

Second of all, I don't know Jo Walton, I've never met her. I read her LJ sometimes, mostly (at one point) to get pointers to Tor.com columns, but otherwise I don't have a connection. So I'm speaking mostly as a reader of her book.

Third of all, the deliberate ignoring of the SF community on this issue was/is, obviously, a problem.

But I really think that this is book which is, in large part, an exploration of the after-effects of both a recent trauma, and a childhood abuse history. It's also about someone who is transitioning to a new culture and having to figure it out. Two new cultures, if you include the SF club, which I do.

Yes, there is a patina of The Golden Age of Science Fiction (as in, 13), but it really could be about a chess club and be doing the same things.

The people who glorified it for being All About Someone Reading SF Novels didn't... really get the point.

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