Re: OT - Sci-Fi/Fantasy Question

In article <dg9lec$6tn$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
jdnicoll@xxxxxxxxx (James Nicoll) wrote:

> In article <suzych-B1E329.10485314092005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> Suzy Charnas <suzych@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >> > >My question is, "Do all sci-fi/fantasy stories revolve around some big
> >> > >war?" I can understand the battle between good and evil, but are they
> >> > >all just Lord of the Rings clones?
> >> >
> >> > No. To drift even farther off-topic, in the TV show DEAD LIKE ME the
> >> > focus is on a bunch of working stiffs doing a job.
> >> >
> >> > Pratchett's GUARDS series (GUARDS! GUARDS! and others) are
> >> > about a somewhat corrupt police force some of whose members have
> >> > ambitions
> >> > of being something better, in a time great social change in their city
> >> > (which is about one part Florence to one part Paris circa 18something
> >> > to four parts London and a jigger of Budapest).
> >
> >Do, please, try Pratchett; if he's not for you, you never have to try
> >again, but if he strikes you right, you will have several worlds of fun
> >with his books. The Night Watch series (of whch GUARDS! GUARDS! is
> >one) is one of my favorites. So are the witches books, though; and some
> >of the Death books. The author was publicity man for the nuclear power
> >industry in England until he couldn't stand telling lies (about safety)
> >any more and quit, to become one of the best of best-selling authors in
> >the fantasy field.
>
> As I recall, and I may be improving the truth here, his first
> day on the job coincided with Three Mile Island. I am guessing "At
> least it's better than to what happened at Windscale" was right out.
>
> Two OT comments: There's a new UN report on the medical
> effects of Chernobyl. The predicted radiation related deaths*

True, but I keep coming across new stories about higher-than-normal
incidences of various diseases; do you know of any site that deals with
all of this in a comprehensive and honest manner?

I heard Terry talk about his old job once, and his point seemed to be
not that he was being directed to tell lies by his bosses so much as
that he knew from observation that by the time their safety and
maintanance standards got translated into actual twists of the wrench by
the guy in the overalls -- who might have had too many beers or might
have not enough bolts on hand and so might quite casually "make do" with
fewer than called for -- they were reduced to discrete little jobs that
were all too easily, and all to commonly, messed up via simple human
error. He was horrified by the rate of dumb mistakes made, in other
words, not by chicanery or deliberate misleading of the public.

But he may have dealt differently with the subject in other talks.

Suzy
.

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