Date: Sat, 11 May 2002 12:01:51 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Whacking Weber With A 2 x 4
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/05/07/review.excalibur/index.html
(You may have to cut & paste the URL; looks fine at this end.)

A review of "The Excalibur Alternative" By David Weber

Juicy bits:

" Writers who can weld a good idea to a good story are hailed as "grand =
masters" of the genre.

That is not a distinction David Weber is likely to claim for his novel =
"The Excalibur Alternative." He got the "good idea" half of the equation =
right, but he failed to attach it to a good story. Indeed, calling the =
plot of the book a "story" at all stretches the definition of the term. "

"Those who attempt to gain respectability for the genre would be horrified =
if this
book became a success. Weber sets science fiction back 50 years, to the =
days of ray guns and bug-eyed monsters."

 . . . oh well . . .

mjw