Aye, actually Sundiver is my favorite of David's books. I think his writing is better in later books, but I enjoy the audacious technical ideas and the classic 'closed room mystery' plot.
I met David earlier this year at the NASA NIAC symposium, and spent a nice afternoon hanging out with him and Joe Haldeman and his wife. Very nice people! We toured the Swampworks and launch sites at KSC, and talked about practical methods for moving planets. It was a very enjoyable day.
Very cool. You seem to be familiar with him and his work, so I'll ask this; I seem to recall that him and Vernor Vinge have sidelines doing 'scenario planning' for government agencies, is that something you've ever heard of? I've always wondered what that consisted of. Maybe I'm just searching for a reason to explain Vinge lack of productivety and imagined that?
I'm sorry. but I don't know much about that. However, you could ask them about it. Most sci-fi authors I have spoken with are very open to answering questions, as long as they are addressed in a respectful manner. I don't know about Vernor Vinge, but I know that David Brin has a website that you could email him at.
I met David earlier this year at the NASA NIAC symposium, and spent a nice afternoon hanging out with him and Joe Haldeman and his wife. Very nice people! We toured the Swampworks and launch sites at KSC, and talked about practical methods for moving planets. It was a very enjoyable day.