A review by jlsjlsjls
Heavy Planet: The Classic Mesklin Stories by Hal Clement

4.0

A fun set of tales that made me wish there were more about Mesklin and the Mesklinites and reminded me how hard science fiction hooked me way back in my youth because it made classroom math, physics, chemistry and biology so much easier to learn and retain by showing me real life uses for them (a Heinlein in-story explanation of plotting interplanetary interception courses and orbits is responsible for me passing high school trigonometry). And I loved the characters of the Mesklinites: Barlennan with his trader's wheeling and dealing and never-let-on-what-you're-really-after approach to his relations with humans, automatically assuming that all humans are doing the same with him (which can work to his, and his people's, benefit ... the University and the opportunity to travel to and explore other worlds) ... but can as easily cause problems (some of the issues on Dhrawn in the last novel that are due to his being a little too devious), and the contrasting personalities of Dondragmer and other members of the Mesklinites; far too often SF (usually the older stuff but it still happens in the new) falls into the lazy convenience of all other species having near identical clone minds/personalities (and, in movies and television, identical appearance/garments/ornaments/hair) rather than individuality. Here I see, alongside the science, some of the psychological/sociological SF I also love.

Also enjoyed the plots of the stories themselves ... everyday practical problem solving and species in the early stages of getting to know each other rather than flashy "Crises!" and "Drama!" ... I appreciate a quiet tale just as much, usually more, than one that skews too much towards being exciting just for excitement's sake.

Now I need to dig up some more classic Clement to enjoy.