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clash_bowley
About
- Username
- clash_bowley
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Comments
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I picked Tripoint because it's very interesting but flawed. That kind of book tends to generate a lot of discussion.
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(Quote) <3
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I love Protector! Great concept! Yes, Niven is the grandfather of StarCluster if Cherryh is the the grandmother... :D
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I understand who he is and where he comes from, but he does feel artificial coming so late in the book without warning.
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(Quote) It's the same thing I deal with all the time as an RPG designer. Core book + supplement, or self contained game. With the StarCluster 4 line I have elected to write games that are complete unto themselves, and always run into the criticism o…
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Generally speaking, I would say so, by the old definition. She doesn't really care if she is thought to be Hard or not, calling what space ships run on fuel, for example, but she uses science well, and her tech feels tight.
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The relativistic effects are not so severe as in Forever War, as they are jumping short distances, rather than going full on STL. Cherryh explores this in Finity's End, where a pregnant crew member is trapped on station during the war, and commits s…
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I believe it is deuterium, heavy hydrogen, and thus the ships use a deuterium-deuterium fusion. if so it is far harder to find than normal hydrogen, and must be refined - probably by some combination of centrefuge, breeding with irradiation, and fil…
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(Quote) I believe you are correct on all counts
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In a sense, yes. Exploration is very difficult - most of the known settled stars were explored by STL before Jump was known, thus you already knew what was on the other end - i.e. food and fuel - before exploring a Jump route. All of this long serie…
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(Quote) Capella is a strange character indeed.
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Patrick is a spy for one faction of the Mazianni, the one time Earth Company navy shattered by the war, and now turned pirate. Signi Mallory's Norway works for Pell and is 'legitimated' as the Alliance Navy. The others are on the run or destroyed. C…
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BTW, Cherryh never gives infodumps like the previous. You learn by inference and experience.
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Downbelow is the hisa (aka downer) name for their planet. It's a quasi-habitable world for humans, who need supplemental oxygen there, just as hisa need lesser amounts of oxygen and use masks when working on the station. The Human name for Downbelow…
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Her name is Beatrice Perrault, Gaby Perrault's aunt. She is the Corinthian's truly excellent pilot, and a prima donna bitch. She is mostly offscreen throughout the story, but omnipresent by implication. Often the unnamed pilot pulls shit with the sh…
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Cherryh was a huge influence on StarCluster, no question! I also wrote a supplement called Merchanters and Stationers which works with StarCluster 4 Free - or any StarCluster 4 game - to really Cherryh-ize the game, but I only give it away to someon…
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(Quote) As have I. (Quote) Yes! That is a book I would be fascinated to read, and why I asked that question.
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(Quote) My mistake! Saby is the NIECE of Christian's mother, and thus Christian's cousin. She is still no blood relation to Tom, however.
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Saby was Christian's mother's much younger sister, IIRC. Thus no relation to Tom.
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I am currently re-reading it again in preparation!
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(Quote) :D
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(Quote) Huh... I read Lost City of Z, and had utterly forgotten the Author's name!
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(Quote) Exactly!
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Desolation Island by Patrick O'Brian is an Aubrey/Maturin novel concerning a ship's crew surviving on the islands of Kerguelen in the far south of the Indian Ocean, and is riveting. His fictionalized book on the Wager affair, The Unknown Shore is g…
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I actually liked both Cheap and Bulkley the most. I felt both had very valid points, and their prideful antagonism created the rest of the story. Byron was playing Hamlet.
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Did the stories influence the Court Martial? Of course it did! Did it change the Court's opinion? Who knows? Any ship lost requires the Captain be Court Martialed. Without exception if the Captain is living. That was going to happen regardless. Did …
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I would entirely agree with Mr. Abbott here. There was wide latitude for interpretation and enforcement, and the Courts Martial used their discretion, tacitly agreeing with the justification.
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I literally grew up with Mr. Midshipman Easy by Marryat and Mr. Midshipman Hornblower on the bookcase built into my bed, and they were favorite reading for my early childhood; and I have read immense amounts of naval fiction, particularly Age of Sai…
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(Quote) No. it's derived from "fleet" meaning fast moving. Something which is 'fleeting' moves past very quickly. See also 'flit'.
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I read a couple Norton books when I was a teen, and that was it. Didn't make any particular impression on me, one way or the other. Never sought her out or avoided her. Other people sing her praises, so I welcome a chance to see if I missed somethin…