Read? See?

[howardfanatic]

Okay, so I'm new to Classic Traveller. (I got in on that big JTAS sale. That is just a great deal.) I've only ever played it a few times in a Star Trek campaign in college. I liked the system, but really the GM's style.
Anyway, I'll probably be asking a lot of questions in the days ahead.
But my first one is one of inspiration. I'm a huge sci fi nut, with particular love for hard science fiction and philosophical science fiction.
But I wanted to hear from Old School Travellers:
What movies invoke a Traveller feel? Why?
What books or comics invoke a Traveller feel? Why?

I am sure this has probably been asked a thousand times, but with an English degree and a passion for writing I personally never tired of talking about favorite books and movies, and I hope I can be forgiven for asking you to discuss yours. Thanks.

 

[aramis]

Movies/TV with traveller feel:
Firefly & Serenity
Space Above and Beyond

Movies/TV with a travellerish feel:
Pitch Black (tho Chronicles pushes a bit far)
5th Element
Stargate SG1, Stargate: Atlantis
Alien series. (Thanks to reminder from S4...)

Comics:
Crimson Dark (online at http://www.davidcsimon.com/crimsondark/ )
Freefall (online at http://freefall.purrsia.com/ )
Firefly
Outrim http://outrim.comicdish.com/

Stories, dead on:
Unnamed Short Story by Leitz... PM him.

Novels, REALLY close but not quite:
Fuzzy series by H. Beam Piper
TNE novels (TNE itself doesn't feel like traveller to me, either.)
Vorkosiverse novels by Bujold (different drive tech)
Flight Engineer series by Doohan & Stirling (Different drive tech)
Hammer's Slammers (different weapons tech)
Sten series by Cole & Bunch (different drive tech paradigms; feels TL10 ish but with TL18+ drives)
Power Lines series by McCaffrey
Star Risk series by Cole
Phule's Company series by Asprin (just a bit too silly)

 

[ShapeShifter]

There is a gritty, Traveller-esque webcomic called Supermassive Black Hole. (See my post in the Lone Star Forum.)

Here is a good link on the lit behind Traveller: http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10119

Tubb's Dumarest series is regarded as a VERY strong inspiration for CT.

I just found THIS volume, but I don't know if its available.

 

[stealth]

Scott Kellog wrote some pretty good Traveller fiction and it's online.

here:

http://traveller.mu.org/archive/Fiction/

 

[Supplement Four]

For me, films like Aliens and Outland have a very Traveller-ish feel.

 

[impala]

C..J. Cherryh's "Alliance-Union" novels have a very Traveller feel, especially the Chanur novels (which seem very much to have been a real inspiration for the Aslan.)

 

[beowulf2044]

Really? Which came first?

 

[BlackBat242]

A. Bertram Chandler's Grimes series has a good Traveller vibe, both for Navy and Merchant campaigns.

Traveller Fiction (fiction similar to Traveller)
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=15069&highlight=fiction+like+traveller

What SF influenced YTU? (includes both books & TV/movies)
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=15583&highlight=fiction+like+traveller

What TV shows or movies remind you of Traveller? (6 pages_)
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=21086

Best TV SF for Traveller
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=16108&highlight=fiction+like+traveller

 

[BlackBat242]

C..J. Cherryh's "Alliance-Union" novels have a very Traveller feel, especially the Chanur novels (which seem very much to have been a real inspiration for the Aslan.)

The first novel in the series is The Pride of Chanur (1981).

A little late to be the source of Aslan, I'd think.

 

[beowulf2044]

Could be the other way around.

 

[Bob Weaver]

Howardfanatic,

Andre Norton's Solar Queen series (Sargasso of Space, Plague Ship, Voodoo Planet and others) are a good inspiration for a Free Trader themed Traveller game. And I never pass up the chance to plug for H Beam Piper's books. Start with Space Viking or Uller Uprising.
For me, any time the characters and the plot are front & center and the technology resides comfortably in the background, it feels like Traveller. Our beloved game has, I think most will agree, always been more about the players than their magical weapons (like some fantasy games) or the gee-whiz technology (like some sci-fi TV shows). But the great thing about Traveller is you can play it the way you want to.

Cheers,
Weaver

 

[FreeTrav]

Another very definitely Travelleresque book series - which hasn't been mentioned up to now, surprisingly - is Vatta's War, by Elizabeth Moon. I'd call it a good mix of politics, military, and mercantile action, in a small-ship, small-polity universe.

 

[howardfanatic]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll definitely get to reading some of these. I'm a little surpised not to see David Weber or John Ringo make anyone's list. I thought those guys were the alphas of military sci fi.

Thanks again.

 

[Supplement Four]

The first novel in the series is The Pride of Chanur (1981).

I thought the first novel in the Alliance-Union novels was Merchanteer's Luck (or was it Downbelow Station?).

 

[impala]

My bad about Chanur vs. Aslan in re printing dates... I read "Pride of Chanur" long before I had my hands on Aslan. "Pride of Chanur" was the first book of the Chanur series, the first book of the Alliance-Union books is "Downbelow Station" IIRC.

Pournelle had a batch of books that smack of Traveller, including some co-written with Niven. "The Mote In God's Eye" and its sequel "The Gripping Hand" are very Traveller-esque novels IMO, as well as "King David's Spaceship."

 

[howardfanatic]

Chanur? I thought the Aslan were based on the Kzin? So what is the difference between the Chanur, Aslan, and Kzin?

 

[beowulf2044]

Kzin were once interesting.

 

[Jame]

I thought the first novel in the Alliance-Union novels was Merchanteer's Luck (or was it Downbelow Station?).

I tried reading several of Cherryh's novels; they did have a very Trav feel.

Or, to be specific, the parts I read did. Unfortunately, I found her books a bit too hard to get into, because of her writing style, which is a shame because I very much enjoyed the concepts of the books.

 

[FreeTrav]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll definitely get to reading some of these. I'm a little surpised not to see David Weber or John Ringo make anyone's list. I thought those guys were the alphas of military sci fi.

Thanks again.

Weber and Ringo write EXCELLENT MilSF, but in large part it doesn't really have the Traveller feel. Both the Honor Harrington series (Weber) and the Legacy of the Aldenata series (Ringo - also called the Posleen series) have been mentioned elsewhere as having Traveller possibilities, but IMO, neither is quite as THERE as e.g., Vatta's War or Drake's Republic of Cinnabar Navy series (the latter is also called the "Leary/Mundy" series, after the two main characters).

 

[BlackBat242]

I thought the first novel in the Alliance-Union novels was Merchanteer's Luck (or was it Downbelow Station?).

Neither of those is part of the Chanur series... which is what both impala (in the second part of his post) and I were discussing (in the context of the origin of the Aslan).