Jo Walton's TOR columns from 2008 to now:
http://www.michaelcross.me.uk/jowalton/TorComAllPosts.htm

From this entry page:
http://www.michaelcross.me.uk/jowalton/index.html

My favorite column:
https://www.tor.com/2008/07/27/citizengalaxy/

"What Heinlein was unbeatable at was writing total immersion. His
universes hold together perfectly, even though he describes them with
very few strokes. From the first words of Citizen you’re caught, you’re
there beside the slave block that stands by the spaceport in Jubbalpore
as a beggar buys a slave. There’s something so compelling about the
prose, about the story, that I find myself totally sucked in every time.
There are books I can re-read in a fairly detached way — I do know
what’s going to happen, after all — but this isn’t one of them. I’d love
to analyse how Heinlein does it — I’d love to be able to copy how
Heinlein does it, and so would a lot of people — but no, the sheer force
of storytelling drags me through at one sitting without pause every
single time."

One of my next rereads:
https://www.tor.com/2009/06/14/the-worst-book-i-love-robert-heinleins-friday/

"Friday is one of Heinlein’s “late period” novels. The general rule if
you haven’t read any Heinlein is to start with anything less than an
inch thick. But of his later books, I’ve always been fond of Friday.
It’s the first person story of Friday Jones, courier and secret agent.
She’s a clone (in the terms of her world an “artificial person”) who was
brought up in a creche and who is passing as human. It’s a book about
passing, about what makes you human. I think it was the first female
out-and-out action hero that I read. It’s also a book about being good
at some things but with a large hole in your confidence underneath. No
wonder I lapped it up when I was seventeen!"

So, is Jo Walton an affirmed Heinlein apologist ?

Lynn

On 8/11/2022 6:00 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> Jo Walton's TOR columns from 2008 to now:
> http://www.michaelcross.me.uk/jowalton/TorComAllPosts.htm
>
> From this entry page:
> http://www.michaelcross.me.uk/jowalton/index.html
>
> My favorite column:
> https://www.tor.com/2008/07/27/citizengalaxy/
>
> "What Heinlein was unbeatable at was writing total immersion. His
> universes hold together perfectly, even though he describes them with
> very few strokes. From the first words of Citizen you’re caught, you’re
> there beside the slave block that stands by the spaceport in Jubbalpore
> as a beggar buys a slave. There’s something so compelling about the
> prose, about the story, that I find myself totally sucked in every time.
> There are books I can re-read in a fairly detached way — I do know
> what’s going to happen, after all — but this isn’t one of them. I’d love
> to analyse how Heinlein does it — I’d love to be able to copy how
> Heinlein does it, and so would a lot of people — but no, the sheer force
> of storytelling drags me through at one sitting without pause every
> single time."
>
> One of my next rereads:
>
> https://www.tor.com/2009/06/14/the-worst-book-i-love-robert-heinleins-friday/
>
> "Friday is one of Heinlein’s “late period” novels. The general rule if
> you haven’t read any Heinlein is to start with anything less than an
> inch thick. But of his later books, I’ve always been fond of Friday.
> It’s the first person story of Friday Jones, courier and secret agent.
> She’s a clone (in the terms of her world an “artificial person”) who was
> brought up in a creche and who is passing as human. It’s a book about
> passing, about what makes you human. I think it was the first female
> out-and-out action hero that I read. It’s also a book about being good
> at some things but with a large hole in your confidence underneath. No
> wonder I lapped it up when I was seventeen!"
>
> So, is Jo Walton an affirmed Heinlein apologist ?

And if you do not know who Jo Walton is, she wrote the 2011 Hugo winning
fantasy book, “Among Others”, about growing up in mixed human-fae family
in Wales. She managed to review 40 or 50 SF 1960s – 1970s books in the
book which made it unique and interesting.
https://www.amazon.com/Among-Others-Hugo-Award-Winner/dp/0765331721

Lynn