Honorverse ramblings and musings

cthia wrote:hrrrmph!

Walt Disney is the authority on mermaids. And 'The Little Mermaid' would never!

Until "The Little Mermaid" wussified mermaids in general (and, BTW, Disney --- in yet another atrocity perpetrated upon a helpless bit of fiction [or history: Pocahontas, the Movie; "I could in my shell of shells vomit," as per Alan Dean Foster's humanx] --- made Andersen's original crime a thousand times worse), no one thought they were cute, cuddly, or particularly loving.

And rightly so.


Just saying.

runsforcelery wrote:

cthia wrote:hrrrmph!

Walt Disney is the authority on mermaids. And 'The Little Mermaid' would never!

Until "The Little Mermaid" wussified mermaids in general (and, BTW, Disney --- in yet another atrocity perpetrated upon a helpless bit of fiction [or history: Pocahontas, the Movie; "I could in my shell of shells vomit," as per Alan Dean Foster's humanx] --- made Andersen's original crime a thousand times worse), no one thought they were cute, cuddly, or particularly loving.

And rightly so.


Just saying.

About Disney and "The Little Mermaid" ...
About humanx ... not familiar with it.

About "Pocahontas" — the pot can't call the kettle black.
I won't even GO there.

cthia wrote:<snip>

About humanx ... not familiar with it.

<snip>

I *really* suggest you read those books. Alan Dean Foster, same guy who ghost-wrote the novelization of Star Wars, wrote Splinter of the Mind's Eye (the first non-film Star Wars novel written), many other film novelizations (all the Alien films' novelizations were written by him), and a huge number of other SF, Fantasy, and Horror books. I've got all the Honorverse books, and I probably have just as many books by Foster - at least three times that of any other author whose books I own. He also wrote Star Trek Logs 1-9 (or 10? I don't know how many there are), which are written and expanded versions of the Star Trek animated series. I don't have any of those.

The Humanx Commonwealth books are great in that there's an overarching "main" storyline that follows Flinx, a teen (at the beginning of the series) who doesn't know his real parents, was sold to an old shopkeeper when he was very young, and has no idea about his history, but starts to search for his real parents. He's accompanied by Pip, an Alaspinian Minidrag, which is a flying snake that spits poisonous and corrosive venom at anyone's eyes who tries to harm Flinx - 60 seconds of life left if you don't rub your eyes; 30 if you do. They aren't "bonded" in the way that Honor and Nimitz are, but Pip is empathic, and can sense when someone means to harm Flinx.

Flinx has a few latent abilities of his own, but he can't control them, and as the series goes on, he also gets headaches that can knock him out. They seem to be tied to his mysterious past.

That's the main series. There are many side novels that also take place in the Commonwealth, ranging from Nor Crystal Tears, which deals with the first meeting of humans and the insectoid Thranx, who resemble 5-6 foot long praying mantis',set before the formation of the Commonwealth, to Cachalot, about a water planet where all the cetaceans from earth moved to after they got intelligent enough to communicate, to the Icerigger Trilogy (quadrology? I think there may be a fourth book), that takes place on an ice planet (Hoth, anyone?) where the natives are basically bipedal cats whose claws have evolved into skates and skin "wings" have developed between their arms and torsos to use as "sails" for getting around on the ice.

It's a pretty well-developed universe, if not quite as technical as the Honorverse - SF-lite, basically, but still, they're all good reads. Occasionally, characters from some of the side novels will show up in the Flinx and Pip novels, and vice-versa.

Here's his bibliography on his website: http://www.alandeanfoster.com/version2.0/frameset.htm

I would just love to see From the Highlands done as a broadway play. The scene between Cathy and Jeremy

Cathy frowned. "Nobody will believe—"
"Me? The Audubon Ballroom? Of course not! What a ridiculous notion. We're just a lot of genetically deformed maniacs and murderers. Can't trust anything we say, official lists be damned. No, no, the list will have to be made public by—"
Cathy understood where he was going. "Absolutely not!" she shrieked. "That idea's even crazier!" She began stalking back and forth, her long legs moving as gracelessly as a bird on land. "And it's fucking impossible, anyway! I'm a disreputable outcast myself! The only living member of the nobility cast out from the House of Lords except that fucking pedophile Seaview and—"
Her screech slammed to a halt. So did her legs. She stumbled, and almost fell flat on her face.
A very pale face—paler than usual—stared at Jeremy with eyes so wide the bright blue irises were almost lost.
Jeremy left off his cackling and hand-rubbing. But he made up for it by beginning a grotesque little ditty, sung to the tune of a popular nursery rhyme, and waving his fingers in time with the rhythm.
“Oh! Oh! The witch is back!
The witch is back! The witch is back!
Oh, woe! The witch is back!
The wickedest witch
In the wo-orld!"
The ditty ended, replaced by—for Jeremy—an unusually gentle smile. "Oh, yes, Lady Catherine. Tell me again, why don't you—now—just how likely d'you think it is that some holier-than-thou Duke or Duchess is going to get up in the House of Lords and huff and puff about just who belongs and who doesn't. Today? After their most notorious outcast just shoved their own crap down their precious blue-veined throats?”

MaxxQ wrote:

cthia wrote:<snip>

About humanx ... not familiar with it.

<snip>

I *really* suggest you read those books. Alan Dean Foster, same guy who ghost-wrote the novelization of Star Wars, wrote Splinter of the Mind's Eye (the first non-film Star Wars novel written), many other film novelizations (all the Alien films' novelizations were written by him), and a huge number of other SF, Fantasy, and Horror books. I've got all the Honorverse books, and I probably have just as many books by Foster - at least three times that of any other author whose books I own. He also wrote Star Trek Logs 1-9 (or 10? I don't know how many there are), which are written and expanded versions of the Star Trek animated series. I don't have any of those.

The Humanx Commonwealth books are great in that there's an overarching "main" storyline that follows Flinx, a teen (at the beginning of the series) who doesn't know his real parents, was sold to an old shopkeeper when he was very young, and has no idea about his history, but starts to search for his real parents. He's accompanied by Pip, an Alaspinian Minidrag, which is a flying snake that spits poisonous and corrosive venom at anyone's eyes who tries to harm Flinx - 60 seconds of life left if you don't rub your eyes; 30 if you do. They aren't "bonded" in the way that Honor and Nimitz are, but Pip is empathic, and can sense when someone means to harm Flinx.

Flinx has a few latent abilities of his own, but he can't control them, and as the series goes on, he also gets headaches that can knock him out. They seem to be tied to his mysterious past.

That's the main series. There are many side novels that also take place in the Commonwealth, ranging from Nor Crystal Tears, which deals with the first meeting of humans and the insectoid Thranx, who resemble 5-6 foot long praying mantis',set before the formation of the Commonwealth, to Cachalot, about a water planet where all the cetaceans from earth moved to after they got intelligent enough to communicate, to the Icerigger Trilogy (quadrology? I think there may be a fourth book), that takes place on an ice planet (Hoth, anyone?) where the natives are basically bipedal cats whose claws have evolved into skates and skin "wings" have developed between their arms and torsos to use as "sails" for getting around on the ice.

It's a pretty well-developed universe, if not quite as technical as the Honorverse - SF-lite, basically, but still, they're all good reads. Occasionally, characters from some of the side novels will show up in the Flinx and Pip novels, and vice-versa.

Here's his bibliography on his website: http://www.alandeanfoster.com/version2.0/frameset.htm

Seconded

Yow wrote:Seconded

Motion carried.

And another five books just went on my re-read pile, oh bother.

While I am rather partial to Eric Flint's Mother of Demons, I do find Nor Crystal Tears a very evocative first contact story, probably my second-favorite in that category.

I tend to read the Icerigger Trilogy about once a year, finding the Flinx arc slightly less engaging, but that may just be me.

First on the Flinx series is btw. For Love of Mother-Not, so new readers could start with either of these three (four) title drops.

MaxxQ wrote:

cthia wrote:<snip>

About humanx ... not familiar with it.

<snip>

I *really* suggest you read those books. Alan Dean Foster, same guy who ghost-wrote the novelization of Star Wars, wrote Splinter of the Mind's Eye (the first non-film Star Wars novel written), many other film novelizations (all the Alien films' novelizations were written by him), and a huge number of other SF, Fantasy, and Horror books. I've got all the Honorverse books, and I probably have just as many books by Foster - at least three times that of any other author whose books I own. He also wrote Star Trek Logs 1-9 (or 10? I don't know how many there are), which are written and expanded versions of the Star Trek animated series. I don't have any of those.

The Humanx Commonwealth books are great in that there's an overarching "main" storyline that follows Flinx, a teen (at the beginning of the series) who doesn't know his real parents, was sold to an old shopkeeper when he was very young, and has no idea about his history, but starts to search for his real parents. He's accompanied by Pip, an Alaspinian Minidrag, which is a flying snake that spits poisonous and corrosive venom at anyone's eyes who tries to harm Flinx - 60 seconds of life left if you don't rub your eyes; 30 if you do. They aren't "bonded" in the way that Honor and Nimitz are, but Pip is empathic, and can sense when someone means to harm Flinx.

Flinx has a few latent abilities of his own, but he can't control them, and as the series goes on, he also gets headaches that can knock him out. They seem to be tied to his mysterious past.

That's the main series. There are many side novels that also take place in the Commonwealth, ranging from Nor Crystal Tears, which deals with the first meeting of humans and the insectoid Thranx, who resemble 5-6 foot long praying mantis',set before the formation of the Commonwealth, to Cachalot, about a water planet where all the cetaceans from earth moved to after they got intelligent enough to communicate, to the Icerigger Trilogy (quadrology? I think there may be a fourth book), that takes place on an ice planet (Hoth, anyone?) where the natives are basically bipedal cats whose claws have evolved into skates and skin "wings" have developed between their arms and torsos to use as "sails" for getting around on the ice.

It's a pretty well-developed universe, if not quite as technical as the Honorverse - SF-lite, basically, but still, they're all good reads. Occasionally, characters from some of the side novels will show up in the Flinx and Pip novels, and vice-versa.

Here's his bibliography on his website: http://www.alandeanfoster.com/version2.0/frameset.htm

Yow wrote:Seconded

He has some really good books, and some clunkers too.

The Flinx storyline (and assorted other related offshoots) was a lot of fun, though I've never read the most recent books.

His short story collections are really great. His first collection "With Friends Like These" has "Why Johnny Can't Speed", which has inspired more then a few games.

MaxxQ wrote:

cthia wrote:<snip>

About humanx ... not familiar with it.

<snip>

I *really* suggest you read those books. Alan Dean Foster, same guy who ghost-wrote the novelization of Star Wars, wrote Splinter of the Mind's Eye (the first non-film Star Wars novel written), many other film novelizations (all the Alien films' novelizations were written by him), and a huge number of other SF, Fantasy, and Horror books. I've got all the Honorverse books, and I probably have just as many books by Foster - at least three times that of any other author whose books I own. He also wrote Star Trek Logs 1-9 (or 10? I don't know how many there are), which are written and expanded versions of the Star Trek animated series. I don't have any of those.

The Humanx Commonwealth books are great in that there's an overarching "main" storyline that follows Flinx, a teen (at the beginning of the series) who doesn't know his real parents, was sold to an old shopkeeper when he was very young, and has no idea about his history, but starts to search for his real parents. He's accompanied by Pip, an Alaspinian Minidrag, which is a flying snake that spits poisonous and corrosive venom at anyone's eyes who tries to harm Flinx - 60 seconds of life left if you don't rub your eyes; 30 if you do. They aren't "bonded" in the way that Honor and Nimitz are, but Pip is empathic, and can sense when someone means to harm Flinx.

Flinx has a few latent abilities of his own, but he can't control them, and as the series goes on, he also gets headaches that can knock him out. They seem to be tied to his mysterious past.

That's the main series. There are many side novels that also take place in the Commonwealth, ranging from Nor Crystal Tears, which deals with the first meeting of humans and the insectoid Thranx, who resemble 5-6 foot long praying mantis',set before the formation of the Commonwealth, to Cachalot, about a water planet where all the cetaceans from earth moved to after they got intelligent enough to communicate, to the Icerigger Trilogy (quadrology? I think there may be a fourth book), that takes place on an ice planet (Hoth, anyone?) where the natives are basically bipedal cats whose claws have evolved into skates and skin "wings" have developed between their arms and torsos to use as "sails" for getting around on the ice.

It's a pretty well-developed universe, if not quite as technical as the Honorverse - SF-lite, basically, but still, they're all good reads. Occasionally, characters from some of the side novels will show up in the Flinx and Pip novels, and vice-versa.

Here's his bibliography on his website: http://www.alandeanfoster.com/version2.0/frameset.htm

Thanks Maxx. I have placed the material on my reading list. The posted link to the site is awesome; thanks for it also. And a hearty thanks to all who chimed in as well. The aforementioned author received a one, two, three thumbs up. So how can I pass.

kzt wrote:

Yow wrote:Seconded

He has some really good books, and some clunkers too.

The Flinx storyline (and assorted other related offshoots) was a lot of fun, though I've never read the most recent books.

His short story collections are really great. His first collection "With Friends Like These" has "Why Johnny Can't Speed", which has inspired more then a few games.

Yeah... there's a few of what could be called "clunkers" but even those are an enjoyable read for me. Maybe I'm just not quite as critical as others?

Why Johnny Can't Speed is one of my favorites of his short stories, as well as Gift of a Useless Man, which I first read in either Analog or Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (I had subscriptions to both). I can't recall if GoaUM is in With Friends Like These... or ...Who Needs Enemies?, and my books are currently packed awaiting my move to S. Carolina next week. After 10 months of being unemployed, I finally got a job.

cthia wrote:Thanks Maxx. I have placed the material on my reading list. The posted link to the site is awesome; thanks for it also. And a hearty thanks to all who chimed in as well. The aforementioned author received a one, two, three thumbs up. So how can I pass.

Here's a link to the suggested reading order for *just* the Flinx and Pip books: http://www.alandeanfoster.com/version2.0/frameset.htm

This is a link to the chonological reading order of *all* the Commonwealth books (and short stories) he's written (as well as a timeline for the entire Commonwealth - Note: B.C. is Before Commonwealth, and A.A. is After Amalgamation (the forming of the Commonwealth)): http://www.alandeanfoster.com/version2.0/frameset.htm

Novels are in orange and short stories are in green

Edit: Well, it appears both links only go to the main page, so just go to the sidebar and click on the FAQ. The chronological order of the Flinx and Pip books are the first question there. To get to the chronological order of *all* the Commonwealth books, go to the same sidebar and click "Chrono Data" under the Data category.

Could Honor have somehow been promoted while she served in the Elysian Space Navy?

Just humor me here. If Honor & Co. had remained on Hades for quite some time more, they could have set up their own command structure. Honor could have made Fleet Admiral before leaving Hades.

That would have made her a hell of a Fleet Admiral.

Grayson would have accepted it.

She's a hell of a Fleet Admiral now.
She just could have made it sooner.