Sonja Hemphill

cthia wrote:An aside:
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is the second-most popular song in the English language, following "Happy Birthday to You" and followed by "Auld Lang Syne". It is frequently used instead of "Happy Birthday to You" in films and television to avoid possible copyright issues.

Just a correction, Scots is generally considered (by linguists at least) to be a sister language of English, or maybe a daughter language. But definitely a distinct language. So 'Auld Lang Syne' wouldn't be an English song ;-p

hanuman wrote:

cthia wrote:An aside:
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is the second-most popular song in the English language, following "Happy Birthday to You" and followed by "Auld Lang Syne". It is frequently used instead of "Happy Birthday to You" in films and television to avoid possible copyright issues.

Just a correction, Scots is generally considered (by linguists at least) to be a sister language of English, or maybe a daughter language. But definitely a distinct language. So 'Auld Lang Syne' wouldn't be an English song ;-p

To quote the title of one of the Bonus Features on my Brave Blu-Ray:

"It *is* English - sort of."

It's in Field of Dishonor. Yound was up for court martial due to his actions at the end of Short Victorious War. The panel was split right down the middle on whether to convict Young due to politics. Hemphill was the deciding vote. Due to her connections to the Young family, voting to convict Pavel Young of cowardice and sentencing him to death would have killed her career and earned her the enmity of her family and political alliance. However, voting to dismiss all charges would have been a betrayal of the military she loved which she couldn't bring herself to do. She broke the deadlock by suggesting the panel convict Young of all charges but the most serious one, which carried the death penalty, and kick Young out of the military. She hoped this would have been enough to appease her ties to the Conservatives and keep the military intact. She had no idea what Young was going to do next.

cthia wrote:I plum forgot about her input in the Young court martial. I must reread that. Does anyone readily recall the book that was in?

RFC, you had me at "Horrible Hemphill". If I could have met RFC at a convention or messaged him in a forum when On Basilisk Station originally published, "Who is Sonja?" not Honor would have been my first question. I always wondered about her. What was she really like. What else did she do to become an Admiral. I thought then "Wow, a female starship captain that kicks ass but wait! Who is this female Admiral?" If RFC had written it all from her point of view I know I would have followed the series still. Sonja's appearances both in person and through others discussions of her such as the one between Hamish and Honor absolutely enthralled me. I wanted more. Alas she was cloaked in secrecy From the beginning I felt for her and thought of her as perhaps a misunderstood and much maligned Agent Q. I am glad for the recent developments of her character. More Sonja Please.

Yow wrote:SNIP

More Sonja Please.

I CANNOT SECOND THIS STATEMENT LOUDLY ENOUGH.

A modern day Sonja Hemphill that might have slipped your radar.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

Yow wrote:A modern day Sonja Hemphill that might have slipped your radar.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

"Amazing Grace" has always been one of my heroes. Heroines?

Hi Hutch,

Yep, Adcock is also one of my heroes.

Remember too that Mckeon worked on the FTL.com, and surreptitiously reviewed the WDB recommendations that HH made earlier in IEH at Adcock's request to get the 'shooter's PoV', which he then revealed to HH before they got captured.

L

Hutch wrote:Remember, Sonja wasn't (and never claimed to be) a lone wolf--she had been part of the weapons development projects for many years, and learned from the best, including a couple of smart guys named D'Orivile and Winton....

And I expect that while the WDB might have it's flakes, like the Commander that approached Honor at the end of On Basalisk Station, it also has its' share on very bright, very creative people whom look to Sonya for approval and input and deeply care about their work.

And it is Soyna's job not just to think of things to keep them busy, but get those genius-level folks working together and on target--not the easiest job in the universe, I'm sure.

All that said, for all that Soyna Hemphill has and will do, quiet, unassumming, and incredibly capable Admiral Jonas Adcock will always be my hero, after House of Steel.

runsforcelery wrote:

Yow wrote:A modern day Sonja Hemphill that might have slipped your radar.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

"Amazing Grace" has always been one of my heroes. Heroines?

I know this lady.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Kennedy

Despite some controversies (or perhaps exemplified by them?), I will tell you with confidence that her soul could have posed for Honor's when you were creating her. And that is the highest praise I could give either one of them.

dreamrider

I found it interesting in the fleet games, when it was hinted on the flavor of tactics indicative of Hemphill. She wasn't the subtle type fighter, yet more of a material fighter who would bore right in with overwhelming odds — win by attrition. It seems to parallel the jeune ecole material kind of warfare. Even though it didn't help him, this is how D'Orville picked up on something being amiss when Honor set him up. It wasn't Sonja's style. Sonja's style reminds me of Sandra Crandall, except that Sonja knows she's playing with superior hardware!

I didn't like this about the jeune ecole...

Her mind begin to pick and pry at the problem. It was probable, she decided, that she could get away with it at least once, assuming the Aggressors hadn't cracked Hemphill's security. After all, the idea was so crazy no sane person would expect it!

Suppose she arranged to join one of the screening squadrons? That was a logical enough position for a light cruiser, and the big boys would tend to ignore Fearless to concentrate on the opposing capital ships. That might let her slip into lance range and get off her shot. It would be little better than a suicide run, but that wouldn't bother Hemphill's cronies. They'd consider trading a light cruiser (and its crew) for an enemy dreadnought or superdreadnought more than equitable, which was one reason Honor hated their so-called tactical doctrine.

Because a light cruiser with your MVP is more valuable than a fleet of Superdreadnaughts!

A moral question. What is Honor worth in ships and lives? How many Superdreadnaughts and lives would you be willing to sacrifice to save Honor? That's one hell of a sobering question.