Conference noted::sf

Thanks muchly for the review.  I've been seeing full page ads for this
accompanied by "like Heinlein at his best" quotes from Spider Robinson.
Considering that Robinson feels Heinlein can do no wrong, I had some
doubts about whether I really wanted to buy it.

It sounds very interesting.

John

Having read both Emergence and the sequel (the name of which escapes me)
in Analog (I believe the sequel was sometime last year, and the original
the previous year), I would like to second the recommendation.  If the review
refers to an actual novel, it's possible (nay, even likely) that it contains
both Analog stories, which would probably be good packaging.

	/dave

And now from the opposition.........

I read these stories when they first appeared in Analog, and I was
really peeved at the terse first person style.  It's a hard read,
there is no flow to the narrative.  I hadn't noticed the likeness to Heinlein
until I read the .1 and .2 above, but I see that's it's true - another
minus, because it's got that preachy Heinlein approach.  What I disliked
about Friday was the condescending nature of Heinlein's first person
monologs.
Also, the emphasis on the style adversely impacts the story.  In the
second appearance in Analog, the story ends - really ENDS - when
her savior enters the room.  The only way that this cliff hanger
makes sense given the style of the story is if you believe that at that
moment she ran out of the room to write it all down before finding out
who this guy was.

The review above fails to note the prime feature of the story, that
she and presumably her savior are engineered, or at least selected,
(through mutation) as the sucessors to Homo Sapiens.  As I recall,
certain mutations were discovered as arising out of the 1918 world-wide
influenza epidemic, and these were seized on through selective breeding
to lead to the current generation.  Simultaneous advantageous mutations
advancing intelligence, resistance to disease, and physical prowess
all at once in an era of relatively little environmental pressure?
Very unconvincing....

I give it a four.

- tom]

	Uh, Tom - I think we're talking about different stories.
	The book goes far beyond that - so I think judging it by the preceding
	short stories is unwise. To clarify the ** SPOILER ** in .3,
	Homo ad hominem is a mutation evolving as a side-effect of Swine
	Flu - with the mutation expressing itself in the maternal second
	generation. Thus, if your grandmother had swine flu in 1916, you're
	a candidate for being homo ad hominem.

	I don't find this premise too hard to swallow. In fact, many other
	novels have been successfully built on weaker premises.

	The reference to the "terse English" style and Heinlein focuses not
	on Friday, but on "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" - reviewed a while
	back in this file.

					Clarity...

Just for the record, "Emergence" appeared in the 5 January 1981 issue of
ANALOG, and its sequel, "Seeking", in the February 1983 issue. The book
includes both of those stories, but is greatly expanded from them.

--- jerry "bibliography is my business" boyajian

	And I see now that Emergence is nominated for the 1984 Best Novel
	Hugo.  I'm glad to hear it, and hope it wins...

    	Just went back and reread this book.
    
    	I don't have time to write a review.  Just wanted to say find
    and read this book.
    
    tlh
    

    Definately read it!  It has to be one of the most un-let-go-able
    (is that a word?) books I've read.  While the 'terse' style is hard
    to deal with at first, you forget about it shortly and just concentrate
    on reading.
    
    Read it!
    
    Willie

    
    	Does anyone know if Palmer ever followed up with a sequel to the
    book version of Emergence ? Has Palmer written anything else ?
    
    				jim

    Yes, he has. No, I can't recall the titles at the moment. I'll check
    my references at home.
    
    --- jerry

	He wrote one other novel that I know of.

	THRESHOLD. 

	It is not a sequel to EMERGENCE but it reads strongly as if it were
expected to the be the first of AT LEAST two books.  However, I've never 
seen a sequel to it.  I'd be interested to here if there has been a sequel and
I just missed it.

tlh

Re .11

There never has been a sequel to THRESHOLD, and from what I understand there 
never will be.  I was told by an editor or author at Boskone (I forget whom,
but they were in publishing) that Palmer decided that he wasn't having fun 
writing, so he stopped.  So the readers are left hanging, and the universe
in THRESHOLD will, I guess, be destroyed (since Palmer isn't available to
write his protagonist out of any more fixes).  Too bad; it had the
sensibilities of grand space opera, combined with a decent prose style.
Hard to find, these days.

				Andrew

    	Over the weekend I was in a bookstore and on the cover of Emergence
     was "New afterword by author" or something to that effect. I read the
     afterward and Palmer does say that he WILL be coming out with a sequel
     to Emergence (he even had a title) as well as 2 more novels in the
     THRESHOLD series (of one so far). He did say that he had stop writing
     for financial reasons. He also said that the Emergence sequel would be
     after the Threshold sequel.

Re .13

I'm very glad to hear that Palmer is going back to writing, and that the
editor I spoke to last Boskone was incorrect regarding Palmer's exit from
the field..  I'm very much looking forward to the THRESHOLD sequel.

				Andrew

    I was just in the bookstore yesterday, and noticed that this book has
    been reissued (with new cover art). If you've missed it, now's the time
    to pick it up.
    
    I liked the old cover art better, but then again, nobody asked my
    opinion, did they? (sniff)
    
    - M
    

    Wasn't there some sort of revision or an afterword or something added?
    I didn't want to buy the new version to read just a few more pages, but
    am wondering what is in there.   (Figure it would be impolite to read
    those parts while in the store ;-) )

    
    
    	See reply .13 of this note. I guess I wasn't as polite as -.1 as I
      did just read the afterword in the store. Hopefully we will be seeing
      some new stuff from Palmer.
    
    					Jim