Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five Entertaining SFF Stories With Relatively Low
 Stakes
Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2024 09:35:22 -0400
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 28
Message-ID: <v8g2ut$269qp$1@dont-email.me>
References: <v8dgdi$glj$1@reader1.panix.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Injection-Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2024 15:35:26 +0200 (CEST)
Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="10b15ac586b7b6eb271c80dbbf3b9020";
	logging-data="2303833"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org";	posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+obipn4UjVxw+nfYhDRhu/PnR2GQyLrBY="
User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird
Cancel-Lock: sha1:B++N7c++P9CrlK1JLem9TnVT/uI=
Content-Language: en-US
In-Reply-To: <v8dgdi$glj$1@reader1.panix.com>
Bytes: 2034

On 7/31/24 10:06 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Entertaining SFF Stories With Relatively Low Stakes
> 
> The whole world doesn't need to be in imminent danger for a story to
> be compelling, as these more personal adventures demonstrate...
> 
> https://reactormag.com/five-entertaining-sff-stories-with-relatively-low-stakes/

Interesting topic - I do indeed get "end of the world" fatigue sometimes 
in my reading.

I've read the Leiber, and I am thinking I need to pick up the Baldree 
and Lee.

Just a few that come to my mind:
I don't recall that any of Hughart's Master Li and Number Ten Ox stories 
have very high stakes for the world at large.

Same for Williams' Drake Maijstral stories (which I now see are already 
mentioned in the comments).[1]

Most (all?) of Cook's Garrett stories fit here as well.

And a great many of Vance's works focus on a protagonist and his 
personal trials and tribulations.

Tony
[1] As are the Ethshar stories that also came to mind.