[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Overall, I liked it. The anthropomorphising of the spiders is in large part
because Sherkaner has goals which are so similar to our own, rather than
because all spiders are human-like.
I don't think you can make an alien too alien or it ceases to be of interest
to humans. This is after all fiction. Until and unless we encounter a true
alien intelligence (whatever that means) I don't think it is possible to know
what an alien intelligence that we would recognize as intelligent would be
like. So, it is almost necessary to give the aliens human mind sets and
aspirations. Within that limitation I thought Vinge did a great job of
creating his aliens. At least they were physically alien and this did have
some consequences for their behavior. The spider model is much more
interesting than the bug/reptile model used for most aliens in SF.
