Neal Stevenson got away with this by getting rid of Adam and adding six additional Eve's.
Re:Stories We’ve Seen Too Often
by fknorangesite on Monday May 15, 2023 @01:28PM
(#35951598)
He also got away with it by not making it a sudden twist at the end; it was never a surprise - it's the title of the book.
Re:Stories We’ve Seen Too Often
by readthenotes1 on Monday May 15, 2023 @02:42PM
(#35952721)
I was left in suspense how seven eyes fit in until I reread the title after reading the book...
That second introduction to the TC Lexicon describes - exactly! - the process used in a poetry workshop I attended back in the late 80s[1]. The outcome of each session was also the same, drowning our sorrows in a nearby pub after the meeting, but also forming some strong and long-lasting bonds with our fellow masochists. I'd say I learned 80% of what I know about writing poetry from that workshop, and un-learned 100% of what I thought I knew before I started.
[1] Poetry in the Making, led by Laurie Smith at the City Lit - the critique was brutal, but worth it in the end! https://www.citylit.ac.uk/
I have the old (1975) book "Writing And Selling Science Fiction" by Science Fiction Writers of America (ie various).
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1739693
and it has lots of good advice. Pretty sure it has the Adam and Eve Trope.
https://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/18/turkey-city-lexicon-a-primer...
It's also aimed directly at aspiring science fiction writers, but it's been referenced enough times on Charles Stross's blog (and other SF venues) that some of its terms have entered my vocabulary and that of other SF readers I know.
EDIT: this list does contain the story type lifefeed mentions in a sibling content.
- Adam and Eve Story
Nauseatingly common subset of the “Shaggy God Story” in which a terrible apocalypse, spaceship crash, etc., leaves two survivors, man and woman, who turn out to be Adam and Eve, parents of the human race!!