Just a few chapters into "Rendezvous with Rama" by A.C. Clarke (I recently enjoyed "Childhood's End" so I thought I'd read a few more of Clarke's better-known works). So far, it's pretty good, although kinda cringe-worthy when he talks about how distracting women's breasts can be in zero gravity. Nerd :-)
Thanks for this - I'll come back to it once I've finished.
I have read 'Eon' (love Greg Bear, esp. 'Blood Music'), but it's been a long long time.
Heh - I did a quick search and found the passage I was referring to - here it is :Some women, Commander Norton had decided long ago, should not be allowed aboard ship; weightlessness did things to their breasts that were too damn distracting. It was bad enough when they were motionless; but when they started to move, and sympathetic vibrations set in, it was more than any warm-blooded male should be asked to take. He was quite sure that at least one serious space accident had been caused by acute crew distraction, after the transit of a well-upholstered lady officer through the control cabin.
Agreed - but you have to admit, it's very old-school to talk about the jiggliness of a "well-upholstered lady officer".