EP148: Homecoming at the Borderlands Café

[Tango Alpha Delta]

And so, I hereby declare this to be the NEW 100th reply to this topic!

What do I win?

[stePH]

And so, I hereby declare this to be the NEW 100th reply to this topic!

What do I win?

Tell him what he wins, Bob!

"Well stePH, our lovely parting gifts include a full week's supply of D'artagnan's Onion Rings, Ronco's Bondage-In-A-Bottle, it won't chip, it won't slip, it won't crack, it won't peel, it won't fade, and of course a brand new, absolutely brand new, new, new, and of course, but also, a new car!"
 

[wintermute]

Is the car second-hand?

[Tango Alpha Delta]

Hmmmm..... Dumas' Funions... NOM NOM NOM

[DDog]

I don't really know what to say about this story. I definitely can't get through all the pages of discussion, scintillating as I'm sure it was, so I would be bound to repeat myself.

I don't think it's necessarily fair to criticize the story as just being full of 2D stereotypes--or rather, that in being so it is following in the footsteps of many a great science fiction story. It is difficult to juggle all the aspects of Story in a brief format, especially if the main point of writing the story is not necessarily Story but...Point. This story had a Point To Make, Damn It. In most of those cases, character development, plot, setting all bow to the conveyance of said Point. I listened to the first chapter or two of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, courtesy of Mur Lafferty, and the point is clear: Watching people is dumb; the System is dumb; the tools "necessary" to retain the System are not worth their price, etc. But of course, that is one of Cory Doctorow's Points, both in fiction and out of it. Whether or not Doctorow's story ends up more than just a vehicle for moral injunction, I do not yet know, but I don't think this story succeeded in that way at all.

This story makes its Point, yes: whatever "side" you're on, you don't get everything right, and what do "sides" mean anyway? But I care nothing for the characters and therefore the story doesn't work for me. Plenty beloved science fiction stories rely on tropes, or have a single driving question or thought experiment, which is okay as long as I can form an emotional connection to the characters (or the thought experiment is really interesting), but it just didn't happen here. There's Story and then there's "story."

Sorry, but a meh.

[Prince Bacarrati]

I am still not sure this is really science fiction.  And, overall, it was a rather dull and boring story. 

[Boggled Coriander]

I think if Harry Turtledove's "Joe Steel" (EP 72) is SF, then so is this story.  Alternate history may not always fit comfortably into mainstream SF, but there's a lot of room under the big tent.

[Russell Nash]

I am still not sure this is really science fiction.  And, overall, it was a rather dull and boring story. 

Arguements about whether or not something is SF are worthless.  We use to have story threads where 85% of the posts would be about that and it does nothing.  If you want to go to Gallimaufry and start a SF or not thread, go right ahead. 

Warning: it will be about the tenth thread like that and won't get very much action.

[rokin]

If i ever met the mother from this story, I'm not sure i could refrain from punching her in the face. So if nothing else the store made me consider anger management training.

Btw, I love it when a story kicks my emotions i the groin.

[Unblinking]

I didn't like this one at all.  Way too preachy.  I didn't see it as anti-conservative or anti-liberal:  both sides were painted as having plenty of bad traits.  I'm neither or both depending on the exact topic at hand.  Too often, people approach political parties like they approach sports teams--team loyalty trumps clear thinking, and party members are encouraged to follow party lines and villainize the other team.  But... that's a whole nother barrel of monkeys.

Rather than anti-conservative or anti-liberal, the message that I saw throughout the whole thing: "discrimination, for skin color or religion or any other reason, is bad".  Which is a worthwhile message, but not it's been done better in other stories.  If it'd had a great story attached to it, then I could cheer for it, but the story only existed to support the preach.

Also, I was confused for a little while about "Columbia".  Since it was audio, I assumed they were talking about "Colombia" the actual real-world country.  I suppose this would've been clearer in the original text form, but a country name that was audibly not an existing country would've helped clear that up.

It probably didn't help that I literally listened to this back-to-back with the newest Pseudopod episode "Charlie Harmer Looks Back", which began in a diner in the 50s, talking about an interracial couple during segregation, and that story also didn't do anything for me.

I really would've liked having someone that I could root for.  While the protagonist was supposedly less racist than his mother, I just never really believed that.  He had a Native American girlfriend, supposedly, yet the only thing he ever says about her is that she is Native American, her name is Nona, and she is his girlfriend.  How heartfelt.  Their relationship felt very hollow, and maybe even non-existent.  Maybe she doesn't consider herself his girlfriend at all, which would explain the lack of any sort of further information about her.  Though he disagreed with his mother, I got the impression that he was not disagreeing with his mother because he felt that she was wrong, but because she was his mother.  He uses Nona as his proof of his non-Racism, but by using her only to proclaim his belief and not treating her like a thinking human being he is no better than his mother.  So I had trouble really rooting for the guy.