The Sword and Laser discussion

Or, shoud I say, THE PROLOGUE!
I do not think of Peter F. Hamilton as a particulry funny writer, there are not much jokes in his books in general. But years after I read Pandora’s Star even thinking about the prologue makes me laugh. :-D

My feelings exactly.

The Prologue reads almost like a very serious "Golden Age" SF story - then there's that twist!

To be honest I think that if you published that Prologue without the rest of the book it would still stand out as Hamilton's best.

A student adapted it on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q6OO...

WTH was that?

There's a mistake in the video though. Ozzie should be black with a big afro.

Tamahome wrote: "There's a mistake in the video though. Ozzie should be black with a big afro."

I also assume the American announcer should have an American accent. 😆

There's a similar scene in Red Thunder, published a year earlier. It's probably a coincidence, but I think of that scene every time I think of the prologue. (view spoiler)[The protagonists feel they HAVE to beat the Chinese, and a genius has developed a constant propulsion method that will get them there first. They arrive, go to where the Chinese are putting up their flag, and do the Wizard of Oz skip step over to them to say Hi. (hide spoiler)]

Yeah, not bad for a student effort. I can see this being a final project in a TV Production class. I mean, I could pick nits all day long, from the fx to the silly switches to the secondhand ladder to the...well, you get the idea. For a bunch of students on no budget, they got it done.

Don't recall the intro being a snide slam on America tho. Memory is a bit dim but IIRC the Mars landing was an international effort. Was amusing to see the "American" announcer say "YOOL-iss-ees" when an American would more likely say "you-LISS-ees." Anyhoo, this video captures the essence of the intro if not all the particulars.

The prologue reminded me of something that feels at home in Larry Niven's Ring World.