Discussion of "The Game of Rat and Dragon", by Cordwainer Smith

Can't get respect.

Times have changed, a month of recuperation in the hospital isn't a benefit.

What capability do the "partners" provide that humans are short on?

What's the aspect of faster than light travel in this story that makes the story possible?

Career longevity? Similar to sports? Intense activity for a decade then retire? Start young and burn out by 26.

For the time when it was written, Smith was ahead of his time in including females in the corps of pin-lighters. Young, but diverse enough for giggles and serious fighting.

What did the partners base their relationships with the humans on?

What about the images Smith builds in the story? What makes them work, in a story with very little dialog?


Wordsmith Jarvinen