I did (stupidly) point out to him that SF is a big conversation, and lots of authors write about similar subjects to further the conversation. He just read that as my acknowledging I had read his book and was responding to the idea. (He had trouble reading what I was saying and picked-and-chose just what he wanted to hear.)

When I was in grad school, I read Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men and Star Maker, and these books depressed me because I felt he had written about all the ideas there were in those two books. Well, sure he did, but he treated most of the ideas in such a superficial way that it leaves lots of room for the rest of us to write about those things.

Even if this guy's novel is set in the same time, after the same events, and uses the same setup, I'll bet my story and his novel have nothing in common.

Even so, ugh.

Thank you for the kind words.