Future Mythologies

Also, I'm TOTALLY in favor of the idea of e-books. I love books, of course. I love the smell of the paper and the carrying them around and being seen with them. (Sidenote: I came VERY close to taking my driver's test with a paperback copy of Crash on the dashboard, but I wussed out at the last minute. Probably a good idea as I barely passed. I think the instructors like to give the impression that it's only by their grace that you get your license.) The thing about e-books is that they don't have to be any less pleasant than real books. Yes, it's horrible to stare at a computer screen. I have my lids shut tight and they're burning at this very second. But that's just the technology of the present. Computer screens will become a lot more pleasant to look at soon enough, and carrying about a computerized book won't be any heavier either. You will be able to cross reference, carry around lots of books at once, and search through the entire text at will. How many times have I seen a character make an entrance and then spent 30 minutes searching through the book to see who the author's talking about? Maybe that doesn't happen to smarter people, I don't know.