His fuzzy stories are also quite good and would fit in with a Traveller style universe. The paratime stories are also worth looking into (Gunpowder God, in particular) but deal with a completely different set of themes.Double ditto. Fun quick read, and not just for its Traveller-ness. It's fun to recognize parts of it lifted by other authors/creaters. Even mentions a planet named... no spoilers from me
I picked it up this year for my Kindle in a Piper Mega Pack for just a buck
OTU Only: Third Imperium Inspiration
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Supplement Four
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Foundation, the novel, is split into five "books". I just finished the first. It looks like there is a massive amount of time between each "book".
The book has a quick pace. I like it. That's refreshing when compared to modern books that pad out ideas into large page counts.
Ian Fleming could tell a hell of a yarn in his Bond books, and all of those are very small books compared to today's publishing standards. I guess the publishers push for more pages.
I think a book should be as long as it needs to be. I like short books, and I like long books, as long as it is a story well told.
I recently read a massive tome about Vietnam--The 13th Valley--that was so doggone good in parts that I would have given the book 5/5 stars. But the author dragged on so long that I also couldn't wait to complete the book and ended up giving the thing only 3/5 stars.
Same thing for a memoir I read early this year: Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' book, Hollywood Animal. I would have given that book 5/5 except that the ending just drug on and on, taking it to a 3/5. He couldn't stop telling his reader about how much he loved his new wife after he cheated on the first wife (with the second wife, among others), the mother of his kids. I mean, "OK, got it. I don't need you to tell me that 20 more times."
The book has a quick pace. I like it. That's refreshing when compared to modern books that pad out ideas into large page counts.
Ian Fleming could tell a hell of a yarn in his Bond books, and all of those are very small books compared to today's publishing standards. I guess the publishers push for more pages.
I think a book should be as long as it needs to be. I like short books, and I like long books, as long as it is a story well told.
I recently read a massive tome about Vietnam--The 13th Valley--that was so doggone good in parts that I would have given the book 5/5 stars. But the author dragged on so long that I also couldn't wait to complete the book and ended up giving the thing only 3/5 stars.
Same thing for a memoir I read early this year: Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' book, Hollywood Animal. I would have given that book 5/5 except that the ending just drug on and on, taking it to a 3/5. He couldn't stop telling his reader about how much he loved his new wife after he cheated on the first wife (with the second wife, among others), the mother of his kids. I mean, "OK, got it. I don't need you to tell me that 20 more times."
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
More similarities with Traveller and Foundation: The description of a groundcar (though I think that's pretty generic scifi stuff--I've seen it in other books). The way interstellar trade is referenced feels very Traveller. The general make up and feel of the Empire, although the Imperium in Foundation spreads across the entire Milky Way galaxy.
On Terminus, one of the three Foundation worlds, there are very few local minerals. All sorts of metals and composites have to be imported. Steel is used for monetary exchange on that world (move over Dragonlance!).
I wonder...what's to stop an enterprising tramp merchant captain from minting steel coins on a metal rich world and then importing those coins on Terminus?
That's a neat idea for a Traveller campaign that uses local currency, in place of or in addition to, the Imperial Credit.
Another thing that struck me about Foundation are how the nobles are regarded. It's not like Dune or Medieval England where the nobles are all powerful (though, in Foundation, the closer one gets to the Emperor, the stronger the noble command becomes). And, it's not like the royalty of Britain today, where the King or Queen is more of a celebrity without any real power. The nobles of Foundation are like I picture those in the Third Imperium. They're more like the nobles of 17th/18th century England, where they do have some power, but are not as strong as those with noble blood back in the Dark Ages.
On Terminus, one of the three Foundation worlds, there are very few local minerals. All sorts of metals and composites have to be imported. Steel is used for monetary exchange on that world (move over Dragonlance!).
I wonder...what's to stop an enterprising tramp merchant captain from minting steel coins on a metal rich world and then importing those coins on Terminus?
That's a neat idea for a Traveller campaign that uses local currency, in place of or in addition to, the Imperial Credit.
Another thing that struck me about Foundation are how the nobles are regarded. It's not like Dune or Medieval England where the nobles are all powerful (though, in Foundation, the closer one gets to the Emperor, the stronger the noble command becomes). And, it's not like the royalty of Britain today, where the King or Queen is more of a celebrity without any real power. The nobles of Foundation are like I picture those in the Third Imperium. They're more like the nobles of 17th/18th century England, where they do have some power, but are not as strong as those with noble blood back in the Dark Ages.
I was just killing a few minutes while having a bite to eat tonight and fired up Elysium.
The shots of shuttles breaking orbit, manoeuvring about and heading for the orbital were great. I may use those as colour for similar scenes in future games. It doesn't matter that the vessels in the movie were just spaceships in T-parlance, they were often seen at a distance in the film so their actual size is a bit of a non-issue.
The shots of shuttles breaking orbit, manoeuvring about and heading for the orbital were great. I may use those as colour for similar scenes in future games. It doesn't matter that the vessels in the movie were just spaceships in T-parlance, they were often seen at a distance in the film so their actual size is a bit of a non-issue.
GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
Terminus was off the beaten path on purpose. As the decline continued there were periods when Terminus was the only world with ships that went very far, but it was set up with the idea of being an observer instead of an influencer.
Of course, it was also set up to eventually fail at maintaining that distance. Fed high minded "updates" and promised that it was the pilot light for a future resurgence, Terminus was doomed to jump the gun. Especially after the Mule...
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
I don't know about the Mule yet.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
After the Mule, I lost all interest in the Foundation series. I just am not a fan of Asimov fiction.
For those interested in some military Piper, I would recommend the Cosmic Computer, as he uses recon drones and bomb-carrying robots among other things. Also, Uller Uprising, which is a science fiction version of the Great India Mutiny in 1857.
I agree: I'm ~1/2-way through Revelation Space, and though it has many neat ideas I keep thinking "this should be two books".
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
As I said, I'm quite enjoying it, but I haven't quite read half the first book yet. Maybe my opinion will change.
Jumping the 50 years, reading about new characters in the "Book Sections" does keep one from investing too much in one character.
On the other hand, reading this is kinda like playing one of those computer games where you grow a kingdom from scratch. I'm getting a kick at the Traveller Easter eggs, too.
I started Revelation Space when it first came out in paperback. I couldn't finish it.
I haven't picked up another Alistair Reynolds book since.
My tastes have matured a bit in the last two decades. Maybe I'd like it today.
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
Foundation: I'm finishing the second book section, and it makes me think of what it must be like for those who lived through the Fall of the Rule of Man, before the Long Night set in.
EDIT: Oh! And, there's the use of "i" in place of "y", as in Hari Seldon instead of Hary Seldon.
EDIT: Oh! And, there's the use of "i" in place of "y", as in Hari Seldon instead of Hary Seldon.
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It's a slog for me, and every time I pick it up I ask myself "Should I finish this? Or read the four Andre Norton books I just picked up?"
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
That sounds like the book I remember.
Another one I remember is the Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton. I read the first book, The Reality Dysfunction, and at first, I was really excited about it. The guy could write! And, the universe he created was fascinating.
The book started out with this excellent space combat where the humans had no artificial gravity. They strapped themselves down into acceleration couches while the ship went into battle, making high G turns. One of the crew didn't quite make it, and his leg was broken just by the G force.
Combat primarily used missiles. It was awesome.
And, there was higher tech. Nano-tech, in a person's blood stream. You have access to the equivalent of the internet inside your eye.
Nasty people could sometimes take over human with too many nanonics--like a hacker taking over another computer. In this sense, the victim would be possessed--controlled by someone else via his nano implants in his bloodstream. How awesome is that!
There were human aliens in the book, reminding me of Traveller (like the Zhodani) who live in these huge, living organisms called habitats, constantly in touch psychically with the habitat. The also flew around on living starships, whose description reminded me of living coral with a control cockpit anchored to the outside of it.
There were a couple (three, I think) real aliens in the universe--and these were not Klingons. They were like Traveller--very alien aliens that we knew little about.
It was fast becoming one of the best science fiction novels I had ever read.
And, then the author totally screwed the pooch. He messed up all this amazing universe he had created.
He brought the dead back to life.
The book turned into kind of a horror novel--but not quite. It was stupid. Al Capone (yes, from 1930 Chicago) became one of the main bad guys.
I couldn't believe it. The entire book focused on this.
And, I had to stop reading.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
You should have kept going.
The return of dead people made sense once it was explained, and the full details of the Kiint were worth the price of the third book
I met the author once at a book signing and asked him lots of questions about his plot choice, he answered the lot.
Loved the trilogy.
The return of dead people made sense once it was explained, and the full details of the Kiint were worth the price of the third book
I met the author once at a book signing and asked him lots of questions about his plot choice, he answered the lot.
Loved the trilogy.
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
You should have kept going.
The return of dead people made sense once it was explained, and the full details of the Kiint were worth the price of the third book
I met the author once at a book signing and asked him lots of questions about his plot choice, he answered the lot.
Loved the trilogy.
I dunno, man. Freakin' Al Capone! Ugh!
I dunno, man. Freakin' Al Capone! Ugh!
Well, you wove a pretty compelling summary there, and I've seen it in stores back home, so with Mike's comments and your initial interest it sounds like it's worth having a look into.
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
Check out the reviews on Amazon. The book gets high marks for everything except the main plot!
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
I would like to echo what you said upthread about the setting of the book.
Take away the returning dead and you have a very rich setting for a Traveller game.
A variety of polities nominally under the confederation banner, planets that restrict their own use of technology, planets that embrace technology, a faction that has set itself apart due to the use of biotechnology, a model for world colonisation that is ripe for an adventure or two.
The second two books in the trilogy have embraced the plot, but reveal a lot more of the secrets within the setting, so much so that I would recommend reading all three - and the short stories collection and the companion volume called the Confederation Handbook.
Then turn the clock back on the setting to well before the events of the book so you don't have to worry about them.
An interesting point made is that eventually every high technologically advanced race discovers the nature of these 'souls' and the 'afterlife' and come up with a variety of ways to deal with them:
Take away the returning dead and you have a very rich setting for a Traveller game.
A variety of polities nominally under the confederation banner, planets that restrict their own use of technology, planets that embrace technology, a faction that has set itself apart due to the use of biotechnology, a model for world colonisation that is ripe for an adventure or two.
The second two books in the trilogy have embraced the plot, but reveal a lot more of the secrets within the setting, so much so that I would recommend reading all three - and the short stories collection and the companion volume called the Confederation Handbook.
Then turn the clock back on the setting to well before the events of the book so you don't have to worry about them.
An interesting point made is that eventually every high technologically advanced race discovers the nature of these 'souls' and the 'afterlife' and come up with a variety of ways to deal with them:
Spoiler:
I was talking with a visiting friend about it last night and she said "I love books like that", so I'll gather up the lot and gift them to her today, as I simply can't see myself finishing. On to something new.
You really got me with what you posted about his descriptions of ship combat. That could link neatly into Robs threat about writing prose about ship combat.
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
Funny you bring that up. I almost suggested that scene to Rob in that thread.
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