(Anonymous) 2016-02-18 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
I didn't try Crystal Rain (Buckell's first) because it was described by the author as "steampunk," a sub-genre I've had little luck with, and skipped the others as they were apparently set in the same universe. The review doesn't make it sound very steampunk, though.

I'm vaguely familiar with Landis' idea of Venusian cloud settlement. (I know Buckell's story is not set on Venus).

But for people more familiar Landis' paper, I have a question: okay, sure, the pressure is Earthlike, you get radiation shielding, etc.., but is there any conceivable reason you would want to put a significant manned settlement in Venus' atmosphere (as opposed to a robotic planetary science lab)?









[identity profile] jessie-c.livejournal.com 2016-02-18 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Rule of Cool (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool). There is no other justification necessary.

[identity profile] w. dow rieder (from livejournal.com) 2016-02-18 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Jurisdictional arbitrage.

"No, we can't just go in there and arrest him. They signed the Planetary Treaty, so Space Patrol doesn't have authority--it's inside an atmosphere. And the Martian and Jovian moon colonies would raise a stink if Earthgov tried anything."