From: "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL> To: "WSFAList (E-mail)" <WSFAList at keithlynch.net> Subject: [WSFA] Mix and Match I Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 09:30:25 -0400 Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> O.K. Keith is suggesting that we have too much free time on our hands and not enough chat.... Topic for discussion I: Two authors, not necessarily science fictional, agree to write in each other's universes. What stories would they produce? Answer One (suggested by Sam Lubell and mangled by Lee Strong): Heinlein versus Asimov. Heinlein follows _I, Robot_ with _Robots Enough for Love_ which reveals that the founder and chief scientist of US Robots & Mechanical Men is actually Lazarus Long who is trying to build a robotic substitute for his mother Maureen. Chief robopsychiatrist Susan Calvin investigates why all the female robots are anatomically correct and attempts to cure Long of his Oedipal complex. Instead, he seduces her and their children's doctorial theses in psychiatry are all descriptions of their actual family relationships. Most of these manuscripts are banned in West Virginia. Writing as Paul French, Asimov writes _Lucky Star and the Return of the Pirates of the Asteroids_ in which Star rescues Pokayne of Mars from a kidnap attempt by the pirates, setting off a gigantic space battle in which the pirates fight off the combined Sirian and Terran space fleets. With Poddy's help, Star infiltrates the pirates and discovers that thery are now headed by Hazel Stone, assisted by Cas and Pol Stone and Clark Fries. Our hero enlists the aid of a Martian named Smith and a Terran cop named Kinnison, and floats a rumor that Hazel is dead. Cas, Pol and Clark start fighting over who will become the new Galactic Overlord, and the pirate operation breaks up in factional fighting. The pirates of the south end of their headquarters asteroid win, but are easily captured by the Council of Science. Smith marries Hazel and Podkayne, and Star goes on to his next adventure.