tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29616976.post4888487624951962128..comments2024-02-20T07:06:56.933+00:00Comments on THE SKINNER: Article 3: Cities in Flight.Neal Asherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13933911904170752700noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29616976.post-72563920120391589992007-07-31T17:15:00.000+01:002007-07-31T17:15:00.000+01:00I think about lines 3 to 9 were the basis of this ...I think about lines 3 to 9 were the basis of this article - my annoyance at picking up magazines and reading yet another story from that perspective. Anyway, it was one of my BSFA Focus Magazine articles, the series of which had the overall title 'Neal Asher Gets Rabid', so I needed something to get irked about. The stories were Blade Runner chic, but with annoying angst-ridden characters and and without much in the way of plot.Neal Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13933911904170752700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29616976.post-40684970873992296292007-07-31T17:00:00.000+01:002007-07-31T17:00:00.000+01:00I've always enjoyed reading stories with an 'urban...I've always enjoyed reading stories with an 'urban' feel, and I've spent most of my life in cities, and tend to feel a bit 'lost' out in the country.<BR/><BR/>I used to feel that the blade runner style of a neglected acropolis sprawl was the future of the planet, but now I'm starting to wonder if we'd ever actually build that kind of existance given what we know about the human mind, and the social disaster areas we've created.<BR/><BR/>There was a report I read many years ago as a student which studied a population of rats. They let the rats breed until then overcrowded, then all hell broke loose. The stronger dominant animals killed the weaker ones, and the population then fell back into a stable state again. This wasn't a cyclic thing, it just blew up once, then became self contained. Almost as though a silent switch had been clicked and the resulting population knew the consequences of stepping over the line.<BR/><BR/>I guess what I'm saying is the social interaction of the population is so much more captivating that the place itself.<BR/><BR/>Tony Ballantyne captured this rather well in his book Capacity. <BR/><BR/>There are many interactions in society which keeps things moving, the location is mearly the grease. In my own humble opinion of course !<BR/><BR/>--JoolsJoolshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04914642063755401034noreply@blogger.com