(no subject)

On finishing David Drake's With The Lightnings:

Me, to Mark: "I love Drake's characters. He makes these rich, distinct personalities and gives them interesting, tough jobs to do, then it's like he pulls out a quarter and goes down the list, 'okay, heads-this one's a guy, tails, it's a chick' to assign gender. It's just another piece of data, and not even a terribly important one. But the plots. This one has its father's eyes."

Mark: "O'Brian?"

Me: "SO O'Brian! Why is this not shelved nearer the Aubrey/Maturin stuff?"

Mark: "It's a space opera, and it goes with the rest of Drake, which looks more like Heinlein."

Me: "Then the O'Brian needs to be closer to the other end of the Drake."

(a little later, reading Lt. Leary Commanding, )

Me, reading aloud: "...Of course he'd take Adele, who was far too good a friend for Daniel ever to think of her as a girl. ~headshake~ I kindof like knowing that there won't be that cheap plot point of a romance, there."

Mark: "I don't know. I think Daniel'd be pretty well off if he thought of Adele more as a girl."

Me: "Eh? No. She doesn't work that way, hasn't any inclination to. It would make her uncomfortable."

Mark: "But the two characters work so well together!"

Me: "Jack and Stephen worked better, were more familiar. While I'm sure there's a lot of lovely Aubrey/Maturin slash out there..."

Mark: "You could've gone all night without saying 'Aubrey/Maturin slash'."

Me: ~chuckles~