[Barbara Hambly tangent] Actually, Roger, Icefalcon's Quest is the Hambly that I could not get through. Having just glanced through it, I remember why. It's not just the excess introspection (although there is an awful lot of that! Pages and pages -- at least two short chapters that are ONLY introspection!).

Dragonsbane seems to have quite a lot of introspection and internal dialogue as well. And her ST novel Ishmael actually has a fair amount too. (You said ST novels -- what others did she write?) The difference to me, is that I cared a lot about the characters in Dragonsbane. And most of the introspection in Ishmael is Spock. What ST fan didn't want to know what the heck went on inside that mind? laugh

But the characters in Icefalcon I just could not bring myself to care about. The more introspective they got, the more bored I was. And when they did things, I didn't care either.

You've met Barbara Hambly? Lucky! I know she's a local -- she and Octavia Butler are two local sci-fi authors I have wanted to meet for a long time.
[/Barbara Hambly tangent]

Labby, if your pop-up blocker is giving you trouble, try the new Google toolbar instead. Its pop-up blocker is far better than either of the ones I had tried previously. Has a couple other nice features too.

Laura, you needn't learn how to spell -- just install ieSpell . I love it -- and it catches most of my typos too. thumbsup

Do you know the most surprising thing about divorce? It doesn't actually kill you, like a bullet to the heart or a head-on car wreck. It should. When someone you've promised to cherish till death do you part says, "I never loved you," it should kill you instantly.

- Under the Tuscan Sun