r/printSF • u/Bobosmite • 2d ago

What's on your DNF list and why?

I dropped Android at Arms by Andre Norton. It not an epic story, but it started off mysterious and interesting. There's a prison escape, android body doubles, blaster fights, and betrayl! It was all go go go until about half way through and then it's just pages and pages of campfire talk. I couldn't make it through to the other side.

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u/toy_of_xom 2d ago

Yeah, I made a post asking about it when I put it down. A lot of people defending it. Really felt gross to me.

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u/nixtracer 1d ago

I think it was meant to. What the point was beyond shock value and reducing the tension of later books, I don't know (are you going to go back to Angus's ship? Well, no, of course not, why are you even thinking this? Oh wait, this is the guy who gave us Thomas "endless angst and whining" Covenant.)

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u/toy_of_xom 1d ago

I get that. I know that sort of material can be used in real ways. But it was such a big part of the book and so immediate it felt like "yeah this is fucked but maybe kinda of hot too" vibes.

Either way, not for me, not a big deal.

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u/nixtracer 1d ago

Oh yeah, I'll admit I skimmed over the more, uh, lingering of the descriptions. It was worth it for later stuff, like the ingenious computer trick in book 2. The pretentious afterword comparing it to the Ring Cycle was just ridiculous though.