>To illustrate what I mean by profound concepts, consider Asimov's
>Foundation Trilogy (never mind about the later books in the series).
>The one truly profound idea that threads through the story is that
>of Psychohistory: The almost exact prediction of global human
>behaviour through the use of mathematics.
More to the point, it's horseshit. You can't even establish
reliable econometric models, let alone mathmatic historical models.
The degree of chaotic variation is wrong - you *can't* make a
science of history. History is an art, not a science, and as
long as the human heart is a black box, it will remain so (by the
exact multiple of the number of human hearts involved in the
system).
> Another example is the
>idea of the "First Ones" in Babylon 5 (which is almost the same idea
>as that of the "Progenitors" in David Brin's Uplift War series BTW)
>Yet another example is the Borg in STTNG... These are all mind-opening
>concepts which leave one thinking afterwards.
Really? I would call them all moderately lame McGuffins.
> And this is what's
>lacking in LoGH. (LoGH does have a lot of technical innovations,
>like the Iserlohn Fortress, Thor's Hammer etc. but these do not
>constitute any advanced concept, but are mere extrapolation of what
>we know)
LoGH's largest fault is in it's pretensions, not in any absence. It
pretends to historical versimilitude, and falls short. It offers
heroes without fault, and opponents largely without their moments of
brilliance. BGen Fork, for instance, demonstrates an *obvious* lack
of competence- such individuals never arrive in that kind of situation
without some prior evidence in their favor, much like John Pope arrived
in the Army of the Potomac with the evidence of a number of famous
victories in the East in 1862, only to have it all contradicted
by his dreadful defeat and rout at Second Bull Run. In the American
Civil War, we also have the "hero" Grant, who would have gone down
in the history books as a second Pope (he was defeated in the Wilderness
by all measures except his own) except for the fact that he was able
to bull through his own failure, and make a virtue of rout.
I find nothing like this in LoGH, and Shelby Foote's _Civil
War_ still makes more riveting drama than this anime, side by side.
Mitch Hagmaier
Quest Labs