Distraught because his adopted exogene son, Daniel, is missing, Joshua Coffin unnecessarily lectures Judith Svoboda on the importance of exogenes. Three thousand colonists provide too small a gene pool, especially since rapid adaptation to a new environment is essential. The exogenes will total a million new colonists.
Judith knew that but did the readers? Several times, Dominic Flandry, conversing with colleagues, summarizes known information ostensibly to ensure that they do not overlook any implications but really to update the readers.
Because of the small chance of success and also the considerable danger, Jan Svoboda refuses to help Coffin search for Daniel. However, the manipulative mayor, Wolfe, is able to blackmail Svoboda because he knows about the latter and Helga Dahlquist. That surname is an echo of Heinlein's Future History. The attached image is a clue.
See also Echoes Of Heinlein II.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
The use of infodumps is a feature peculiar to science fiction. Mainstream literature set in the here and now has little need of such a device. As you said, infodumps are meant to provide readers with necessary information. When done clumsily they are an interruption to the flow of the story. I think, most times, Poul Anderson manages to avoid this when he uses infodumps. One infodump I've found useful was Flandry's discussion of the various methods of interrogation in Chapter V of A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS.
Sean
Post a Comment