> But first, you, Mr. West, may be my favorite person of the month for
> loving H&I. As you know, that is the most reviled of my reviled TNE
> efforts, but I still maintain there's something to it.
If it makes you feel any better, one of my favorite parts of H&I is
probably the one thing that your detractors hated the most: your
"rubber mask" aliens essay. It was a beautiful treatment of the subject
and helped me truly put a framework around the issue in a way I had
not been able to before. And explaining why it is *required* also spelled
out something I was not able to fully verbalize before, too. I have
actually used the essence of what you wrote there both in discussions
on Traveller aliens and in other genres on their aliens.
Also, I forgot to mention, that I also loved the Regency book. Martin
allowed me the privilege of writing the Spinward States book for 1248.
While I now know (because of your appearance on CotI back whenever) that
Martin and I went in a different direction than you would have, the
whole of the effort was totally grounded in the Regency Sourcebook. I
read it so many times for my effort that I was able to start "reading
between the lines" for even more meanings. From the hidden possibilities
you set up for Norris, to the way you carefully crafted Caranda to be
the perfect blank slate for the setting. I liked the last item so much
that I took the idea and did it for the "future heir" of the 1248 setting.
(Though I didn't pull it off with the same skill. You left it to the
reader to figure out what you were doing. I was blatantly transparent
and overt.)
Irrespective of all else, I respect you for your skill and ability in
pulling off those two books.
Mike West