Alternative theory to "Why Galton?"

kzt wrote:It feels more a desperate retcon. We just don’t fully understand what he’s trying to fix.

Well, it puts the MAlign back into the shadows. With that done and the Solarian League in shambles - what other external pressure will there be to keep the grand alliance on track without devolving into dirty politics and the members self interests?

The answer to that question is very likely why we got Galton.

OTOH, we might all of us missed something obvious. It would not be the first time rfc placed a Chekhov's gun in front of our eyes without us noticing it.

We see trouble in the Alignment Garden with McBride and friend being brought into a some very quiet off-the-books operations. Like perhaps too many (or just enough) people have decided that the Detweilers and the LRPB are off the rails and about to go on killing millions of Alignment members just to make a smokescreen to hide themselves?

Discovering that your organization is apparently headed by rabid, blood thirsty cultists and all they want is more deaths to protect themselves. Ah well, wait for another book or two.

Joat42 wrote:Well, it puts the MAlign back into the shadows. With that done and the Solarian League in shambles - what other external pressure will there be to keep the grand alliance on track without devolving into dirty politics and the members self interests?

The answer to that question is very likely why we got Galton.

OTOH, we might all of us missed something obvious. It would not be the first time rfc placed a Chekhov's gun in front of our eyes without us noticing it.

I agree that it will be difficult to keep the pressure up, even if the Intelligence teams do find the discrepancies we've been talking about. The upper levels of the governments will probably know this but may be unable to sell it to their constituents, who are war-weary.

The problem I have with this theory is that it lengthens the storyline again. If David were publishing one book every 6 to 9 months like clockwork, I'd accept it and think we could get to the conclusion within 4 years. That's not what it looks like he wants to go with the main Honorverse plot.

He has said he was looking for a co-author for the main plot. So it is possible that his plans for 3 or 4 books are only his part and the deal is that this other author would finish with another 4 books or more. I am skeptical of this, though. I'd expect the main plot to end with David's contributions, leaving this co-author to proceed on their on for another plot line, like Tim & Tom for the Manticore Ascendant portion.

Brigade XO wrote:Discovering that your organization is apparently headed by rabid, blood thirsty cultists and all they want is more deaths to protect themselves. Ah well, wait for another book or two.

Mass murder was always the plan. It’s how this sort of government works. Did Staline, Mao or Hitler ever say, “We can’t kill any more people”? They all knew this was how it worked when they signed up and that was fine, as long as it was other people dying.

IMHO, the plan is for Honor to get some family time, until the day Zilwicki notifies her that he and Cachat have found out where the Alignment lurks. This gives us a book or two with the Deadly Duo.

Once Honor learns that the people who turned loose Oyster Bay are all holed up in one place, she comes roaring out of retirement and pulls together an even grander Grand Fleet. All of the old gang (that survived) will pitch in, and they'll descend upon the MA with blood in their eyes. We'll get the big pitched battle, and some up close and personal mayhem as the crew smacks the baddies down for good. The series ends with the Alignment decapitated, and Honor retired again.

Or maybe RFC will kill her off this time.

dscott8 wrote:IMHO, the plan is for Honor to get some family time, until the day Zilwicki notifies her that he and Cachat have found out where the Alignment lurks. This gives us a book or two with the Deadly Duo.

Once Honor learns that the people who turned loose Oyster Bay are all holed up in one place, she comes roaring out of retirement and pulls together an even grander Grand Fleet. All of the old gang (that survived) will pitch in, and they'll descend upon the MA with blood in their eyes. We'll get the big pitched battle, and some up close and personal mayhem as the crew smacks the baddies down for good. The series ends with the Alignment decapitated, and Honor retired again.

Or maybe RFC will kill her off this time.

RFC has dropped a hint a couple of times in interviews/cons that Audrey O'Hanrahan will play a big part in the Malign’s demise as she learns the whole story and is pissed.

dscott8 wrote:IMHO, the plan is for Honor to get some family time, until the day Zilwicki notifies her that he and Cachat have found out where the Alignment lurks. This gives us a book or two with the Deadly Duo.

Once Honor learns that the people who turned loose Oyster Bay are all holed up in one place, she comes roaring out of retirement and pulls together an even grander Grand Fleet. All of the old gang (that survived) will pitch in, and they'll descend upon the MA with blood in their eyes. We'll get the big pitched battle, and some up close and personal mayhem as the crew smacks the baddies down for good. The series ends with the Alignment decapitated, and Honor retired again.

That's exactly what we were promised at the end of UH, but then it's also exactly what happened during TEiF, except it wasn't the end. So repeating the plot line of TEiF in the last book doesn't sound right either. Since he's already used this up, the end has to be something different.

kzt wrote:It feels more a desperate retcon. We just don’t fully understand what he’s trying to fix.

I think I understand why.

DW is feeling his mortality wishing to finish the series before he either goes senile or dies. Passing out etc has made him realize he is not immortal and needs to immortalize Honor by finishing the series.

He essentially laid this out a ~year ago in his post regarding how he is now writing slow, forgetting, and has more projects than he can shake a stick at and he likewise is trying to push his knowledge into the next generation. I saw this with my grandparents as their health started to decline and I have seen this with my own father especially.

He does not want to be Robert Jordan... or name numerous other authors who never finished due to age/health.

Relax wrote:I think I understand why.

DW is feeling his mortality wishing to finish the series before he either goes senile or dies. Passing out etc has made him realize he is not immortal and needs to immortalize Honor by finishing the series.

He essentially laid this out a ~year ago in his post regarding how he is now writing slow, forgetting, and has more projects than he can shake a stick at and he likewise is trying to push his knowledge into the next generation. I saw this with my grandparents as their health started to decline and I have seen this with my own father especially.

He does not want to be Robert Jordan... or name numerous other authors who never finished due to age/health.

That is probably all true, but doesn't explain what needed retconning in the first place. As I've argued, if he wants the story to finish within the next 3 or 4 books, then he can't be thinking of introducing new characters and new complications. The most likely explanation is that this was needed to shorten the story, somehow, but it's not clear why.

Or, like my OP said: maybe they just needed a big space battle that at the end advanced absolutely nothing.

ThinksMarkedly wrote:
That is probably all true, but doesn't explain what needed retconning in the first place. As I've argued, if he wants the story to finish within the next 3 or 4 books, then he can't be thinking of introducing new characters and new complications. The most likely explanation is that this was needed to shorten the story, somehow, but it's not clear why.

Or, like my OP said: maybe they just needed a big space battle that at the end advanced absolutely nothing.

Personally, I think the second series ended with Uncompromising Honor. I see the first series ending with At All Costs where Crown of Slaves was the beginning of the 2nd series. I suppose in service of the sword could also be the beginning of 2nd series. Anything past Uncompromising Honor is just bonus material in my book. Far as I am concerned the series is wrapped up in my mind, but maybe not in the authors or most other readers. And yes, TEiF should honestly be 2 books and personally I think it got jammed into 1 with maybe a bit of it in the next installment which really should be part of a 2nd book